Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or one piece or any other anime I use in this fic, all the credit goes to the authors of the respective series.

Go ahead and enjoy.

Chapter 11

A month later,

It had been over a month since the highly appreciated graduation exams. And it did serve its purpose. It not only boosted the morale of the civilians of Konoha, and reaffirmed their faith in their shinobi forces and Hokage, but it also influenced all the shinobis who viewed the exams with their own two eyes, to work harder than ever and reach new heights. Because if they remained stagnant, then these kids would definitely over take them. They couldn't let that happen as seniors.

As for the students that graduated, this month had been complete hell for most of them. After they were divided in teams (Team 7 – Sakura, Sasuke, Sai; Team 8 – Hinata, Shino, Kiba; Team 10 – Ino-Shika-Cho, Team 11 – The Hokage's kids, and Team 12 – Kaguya and Ai), all of them were tested by their jonin senseis. And while many of them did do well as shinobis, they lacked a key factor in themselves.

Teamwork.

Team 7 completely sucked at it, and it was only due to Sai using force to make the two idiots on his team work together, did they pass. Team 8 and 10 were decent at it, though there were disagreements frequently. It was a given due to the conflicting personalities of the different members of both the teams.

Team 11 was fairly decent, but they were too reckless and lacked something that essentially was the lifeline of a shinobi: Stealth. Menma and Natsumi were too hyper while Mito, who was usually calm in most situations, got angry at them quite easily, making it difficult for Kushina to manage them. It felt like she was back to baby sitting toddlers and not training future leaders of the Shinobi forces of Konoha. She would definitely have a talk with Minato, maybe he would be able to get these kids in line.

Team 12 was by far the best out of all the rookies. Not only did they not have any problems regarding teammates or anything, that had already fulfilled the conditions to go on a C-rank mission! As shinobi of Konoha, there were a few rules set in place that they needed to follow, especially in peace times. All shinobi had to complete at least 35 D-rank missions to get permission from the Hokage to proceed with a C-rank. They then had to complete 25 C-ranks to get a B-rank, 15 B-ranks to get an A-rank mission, and finally 5 A-ranks to get an S-rank. This system was put in place during peace times, so that Konoha doesn't lose their shinobi early on their life simply because either they or their jonin sensei was arrogant enough to take them on a mission way beyond their limits.

Anyway, about Team 12, the reason they were able to finish these missions so quickly was due to the fact that they were proficient enough in the art of making multiple shadow clones, something not everyone was capable of. This allowed them to breeze through the D-rank missions, while they spent their time training and preparing to become stronger.

When it came to their individual training, Orochimaru put them through hell. For Kaguya, who had a repertoire of jutsus to rely on, he focused on her physical conditioning more. He had often observed that the Uchiha heiress preferred ninjutsu over taijutsu any day, but when she was low on chakra, her preference caused massive problems for her. This did not sit well with him and he put her on a tiring schedule that would make Might Gai cry his heart out with joy.

For Ai on the other hand, he had her spend hours in the jutsu library reserved for Konoha shinobi, and made her master 5 more jutsus for each of her affinity. It was a good thing that she was capable of creating 3 shadow clones, the same as Kaguya, otherwise this would have been a very difficult task for her (A.N – I think this is a pretty solid number because even Adult Sasuke can only create approx. 10 to 15 clones).

All in all, everything was going well for the young rookies.

Which brings us to today.

"Where are we going, sensei?" Kaguya questioned as she walked beside her friend and teammate while their sensei led them through Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death. They had been told the day before to skip out on their usual meeting point and instead meet the Snake Sage at the entrance to one of the deadliest places in Konoha, for a shinobi who is at chunin level or below.

"While the two of you have no doubt improved drastically, you haven't had any experience in something that is crucial to the existence of a shinobi. And that is the resolve to take a life of another human," Orochimaru spoke up as he looked over his shoulder at the girls, who had suddenly adopted a nervous expression on their face. They knew that they would one day have to take a life, but knowing something and doing something were two different things entirely.

"Usually, most Konoha shinobi are taken on bandit camp extermination missions to draw their first blood in battle, however, this has proved hazardous on occasions when the person froze up after killing their opponent, leaving them wide open for attack by another. This is the reason this system was established by the Second Hokage.

The place we are going right now, is filled with prisoners who have been sentenced to death. You will be their executioner today, and tomorrow we will be back at it," Orochimaru explained as he quickened his pace, the girls following behind him.

Soon, they made to the prison where the worst of the worst to ever come face-to-face with Konoha shinobi were help captive. The structure of the building was menacing as well. A massive grey building on the hills past the Forest of Death, along with an execution stand that stood proudly on the side of it. It certainly looked like a prison.

After a quick chat with the Warden, Orochimaru and the girls were led to a room where they found four men, tied up and gagged, but their masks had been taken off so that the girl could see their face when they died. The strange thing was that all of them seemed prepared, and honestly, they would have preferred dying like this instead of slowly passing away from torture over time.

Kaguya went first, with Ai cheering her on as she flicked a kunai into her hands. She wanted to be as efficient and quick as possible, but sadly, she didn't apply enough pressure the first time she stabbed the man through his chest, having to stab him once more. She had a faraway look in her eyes, especially when she saw the life drain out of his eyes, but she steeled herself and moved onto the next one. She killed this one using a simple fireball jutsu, something which Orochimaru had ordered her to do because he knew that the screams of the person haunt them throughout their life and he wanted to get this over with.

Ai went next and just like Kaguya, she too had to kill one with a kunai and the other with a fireball jutsu. Not much was said between the trio as they quickly went back with Kaguya taking off in the direction of her house to speak with her mother and Itachi, while Orochimaru consoled Ai the best he could.

Hopefully, the girls would bounce back from it quick enough.

At the same time, In the Mist

"Are you sure, you want to leave? You can stay here like royalty," a beautiful, melodious voice was heard as Naruto and Karin were packing up their bags. Today was the day they finally left the Land of Water and returned to Konoha. After almost a month filled with celebrations (and debauchery for Naruto), the duo was ready to finally set sail towards the mainland.

"Hmm, you drive a good bargain Robin-chan, but sadly, not good enough. I need to go home after all these years after all," as Naruto looked over to the absolute bombshell of a woman who was looking at him with neutral expression, but even he could see the plea in her eyes.

"I'll tell you what, when you arrive at Konoha for this year's chunin exam, I will give you a repeat of the night that we shared along with Mei," Naruto said as he wore a mischievous smirk on his face, which gradually widened as he saw the busty lady blush in response.

"Well, I don't know about the genins anymore, but I for one cannot wait enough for the chunin exams," Robin said as she smiled in response and moved closer to the red-headed hunk.

"Oi! If you two are done flirting, can we leave now?!" Karin's frustrated and absolutely agitated voice shattered their intimate moment. She was so done with these two. Every day after the war she had seen these two be lovey-dovey with each other while moans filled their house, every single night. She was rightfully annoyed by now.

Naruto just chuckled before whispering something in Robin's ear, leaving her flustered. He left to join Karin soon after and the moment he arrived he was greeted to the sight of her rapidly tapping her foot on the ground with a tick forming on her forehead.

"Follow me, Karin-chan. It is time for us to finally go back home," he said with a slight smile on his face.

Author's Note

Shit happened. College sucks and so does life. Here's a little something from my side. I'll try to upload as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience, guys.

See you soon, hopefully.