A/N: Bit of an interlude chapter here. The anime may spend five-dozen episodes on Konohamaru and D-ranks, but I do not intend to.


Wake-up Call

Evening of the bell test.

Hiruzen watched the ANBU guard stationed in his office fall from the ceiling and land on the floor in a heap. He sighed. "Danzo, you gotta stop doing this."

"He'll live." Said the ex-(and current, if some of the Hokage's sources were to be believed)leader of root, stepping into the office. "I needed to talk to you."

"Of course you do." Sarutobi sighed. "Any particular subject, or would you simply like to catch up?"

"Actually, I thought I might discuss the genin teams that have been formed most recently." Said Danzo, taking a chair in front of the desk. "More specifically, team seven."

"What of it?" Asked the third, inwardly groaning.

"How were its members selected?" Danzo asked, innocently.

Hiruzen shrugged. "It's traditional for the best boy, best girl, and worst overall in the year to be put on a team together. Both Hinata and Sasuke are very skilled, and as Naruto technically failed the examination..."

"I see." Danzo replied. "If you'd put, oh I don't know, Haruno Sakura under Kakashi, I might have believed that. But no, you put the young male heir to the Uchiha, the one remaining Hyuuga, and the damn nine tails jinchurikki on the same team under your best and most loyal Jonin."

Hiruzen nodded. "Actually, in hindsight, I suppose that would be" He quoted a term from his grandson, "pretty darn overpowered."

"Hiruzen, would you care to tell me if there's any reason in particular you're trying to recreate the legendary sannin?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sarutobi-"

"Don't 'Sarutobi' me." The third snapped, eyes hard. "You lost that right when you tried to put one of your spies in my school. Sai, was it? If he even has a real name. How young are you grooming your soldiers now?"

"I could ask you the same." Danzo returned. "We both know something's coming. You could use my help."

"The last time I requested your help, I ruined two lives and lost two hundred more." Hiruzen replied. "I have learned not to make that mistake again."

Danzo glared at him for a good few more seconds. "Then I shall act alone. As I always have." He turned and walked out the door. Sarutobi waited a few seconds, then slammed a fist into his desk, sufficient to splinter the wood. He heaved himself out of his seat and walked over to the unconscious ANBU, kneeling down beside the androgynous ninja beneath a boar mask. He slapped them round the face.

"Uhn...what hit me..." they mumbled, before jolting to alertness. "Hokage-sama!" They shouted, getting up. "What-"

"Make sure the rest of my guard is awake." He growled. "Then get me Kakashi. It's time for a wake-up call."


Three years before

"Big brother? Big brother!" Itachi groaned and cracked open one eye, barely controlling the urge to awaken his sharingan and tsukuyomi the fool who woke him. He shifted under the covers and propped his head on one arm. "Sasuke? What are you doing? Its six o'clock."

"You promised you'd show me how to do the multi-kunai throwing." Pouted the nine year old.

Itachi scowled. "I know you act more mature than this at school, brother."

"You said that any morning you weren't on a mission you'd help me with training." Sasuke stated, as though Itachi was trying to deny an immutable law of the universe.

"I just got back from a mission..." The elder protested, weakly.

"Then you are back." The younger pointed out, logically. "So? Come on!"

Itachi groaned again, and pulled himself out of bed. Never mind that said mission had necessitated thirty eight hours of continued consciousness, and he'd only flopped into bed an hour ago. He had promised Sasuke training, so there was training to be done.


Present day

Sasuke groaned and opened one eye, trying desperately to awaken his damn sharingan already so he could genjutsu the fool who woke him. "Itachi." He mumbled. "I appreciate the dedication, I do, but I have a jonin-Sensei now, you don't have to keep-" he placed the identity of the person by his beside and trailed off.

"Yo." Said Kakashi.

Sasuke let out a scream that was entirely undignified for the heir to the great Uchiha clan and leapt to his feet, pulling the kunai from under his pillow and pointing it at the transgressor. "You...you! What are you doing here?"

"You're late." Kakashi said, smiling under his mask.

"I'm late?" Sasuke hissed, looking to his door hoping he hadn't woken anyone. "What the fuck were you yesterday?"

"Again with the pottymouth." Kakashi scolded. "Did you get that from-"

"Itachi, yeah." Sasuke growled. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"We have training, which you were late to. How rude of you."

"You didn't tell me when it was! Or where, for that matter!"

"You can't become a jonin by making excuses, haircut. But as I am a gracious sensei, I decided to come get you."

Sasuke was incredulous. "So you broke into my house?"

"Hardly a drastic measure for a ninja. Besides, nobody caught me."

"Can you two be more quiet in there?" Itachi's voice came through the wall. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Alright, one person caught me." Kakashi relented, grudgingly. "But since I'm still alive I think that's enough proof that he agrees with my intentions. Now get dressed. You'll have to work extra hard to make up for your laziness."

Shaking his head, Sasuke left the comfort of his bed and walked towards his closet. "Yesterday you couldn't be present for ten, how come now you're starting training at six?"

"It was supposed to be five, actually." Kakashi replied. "And it's not me doing your training."

"...what?"

"Shut up and get out of the closet, Sasuke."


Elsewhere, at the same time, Naruto blinked and opened his eyes. "Oh. Hey." He mumbled.

Kakashi, leaning over him, tilted his head. "That's your reaction? You're not at all worried that a ninja is in your apartment? Standing over you while you sleep?"

Naruto shrugged. "I have ANBU in or near my room basically every night. At first that was confusing, but when I learned I was a jinchurikki it kinda started to make sense. I'm used to it by this point."

"Well that's a habit to kick..." Kakashi sighed. "Get out of bed, whiskers. We have training to do. I already have a shadow clone at Sasuke's place."

Naruto frowned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Not Hinata's?"

"Oh I wouldn't be worried. She's outside your window right now. Training ground 14, you have twenty minutes." Kakashi disappeared in a flurry of leaves. Naruto got to his feet and stretched, sparing a look around his apartment building to check Kakashi hadn't done anything to it (the empty ramen packets were still piled up beside his bin and the kitchen was still a mess, so the jonin certainly hadn't been cleaning up) before walking over to the window. Sure enough, when he looked out and down, there was a girl with blue hair in the alleyway looking incredibly guilty. "Hinata? What are you doing down there?"

The Hyuuga was poking her index fingers together and focusing intently on the floor. "I was, uh...I came to see you! Kakashi woke me up too and you live nearby, so..."

Naruto shrugged. "Oh. Cool, thanks."

Had Naruto paid more attention in certain classes, he might have known that training ground 14 was actually between the Hyuuga compound and his apartment. But he didn't. "I'll get dressed and come down in a sec, then we can go together, okay?" He called out, instead.

Her face went red, and her Byakugan very definitely turned off, but she nodded.

A little confused, Naruto went back inside.


Eighteen minutes later.

The four got together in the woods. Training ground fourteen was apparently just a massive open space, but Kakashi, looking furtively through the entrance, had prevented them from entering and hid them amongst the leaves just outside the area.

"So, I'm sure you're all wondering what you're doing here." Kakashi began.

"Yeah, and why it's so early." Sasuke grouched.

"Yeah, and why we're all hiding in a bush." Naruto added.

"Well, that's very simple." Kakashi replied. "You see, I was planning on taking it easy, letting you play around with D-ranks, maybe teaching you tree-walking..."

"Wasting our time?" Hinata cut in.

"Precisely!" Kakashi agreed, before his expression (at least what could be seen) took on a much more serious edge. "I know full well what it's like to lose your childhood to this profession, and didn't want to force that onto you."

He brightened again. "Until our dear Hokage called me in and reminded me we don't really have time for that, as you're all likely to get assassinated or kidnapped at any point."

"What?" He was met by three outraged children's expressions.

He pointed at Sasuke "you're the youngest member of a prominent blood-release clan," he swung the finger around to Hinata. "you're the only member of a prominent blood-release clan, and have in fact already been kidnapped once," around to Naruto "and I can't tell these two about your little secret but every adult from Konoha (plus everyone important everywhere else) knows aaall about it."

Naruto gulped. "E-Everyone?"

"There is a file in the Hokage's desk detailing all the attacks on you ANBU has foiled." Kakashi elaborated. "It is a thick file."

Naruto went a little pale. Sasuke looked like his brother had already told him more than he should have been told about the blond, and Hinata looked downright murderous.

"The solution to this is to become strong enough to fend off said hostiles as quickly as possible." Kakashi continued. "Which I was feeling pretty bad about, until I realised that you've all barely had childhoods anyway. For the same reasons we just went through, conveniently."

"I had a-" Sasuke paused. "I mean it wasn't a normal childhood but-"

"When was the last time your dad said he was proud of you?" Naruto cut in.

Sasuke actually blushed. "How would I know? It's not like I keep a running-"

"He knows exactly what date it was, how long it's been to the day-"

"Shut up!"

"Anyway." Kakashi interrupted before they could jump each other again. He sighed. "This is why I made my test so hard it's like herding cats with you people...which is precisely the problem. I can't manhandle you through stringent ninja training. Sure in the other hidden villages you'd have your sense of hope and free will broken then be forced into obedience but we can't do that in Konoha because something something will of fire." He looked over them all. "No. I've been ordered to work you hard, but you'd have to put that effort in yourselves. You all gave me your aspirations for the future. How far are you willing to go to achieve those goals?"

"I'd do anything." Hinata spoke up, even before Naruto could break into a speech. "Nothing can stand in my way."

"Working ridiculous hours?" Kakashi probed. "Intense pain? Training methods that could be defined as cruel and unusual punishment?"

"Anything." Hinata insisted.

Kakashi turned to the pair of boys. "That goes the same for you two?"

Both nodded, determination in their eyes.

"Great!" Kakashi beamed. "Then lets get started." He pushed through the foliage and walked onto the training ground proper. As team seven followed him, they noticed that the ground was already occupied by another genin team, as well as a more senior ninja wearing a...questionable outfit.

"Hey Gai." Kakashi called out. "Mind if we talk for a few minutes?"


As the two jonin walked away, Gai's hand around Kakashi's shoulders, their respective teams were left alone with each other. It could have been a standoff, but only the girl actually approached them, with one of the boys (looking like a miniature clone of Gai) doing push-ups in the background. The other, a pale child, simply sat and watched the proceedings.

"You're one of the new teams, right?" Said the girl, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Name's Tenten. What's brought you to our neck of the woods?"

"Damn right!" Said Naruto, immensely proud. "We're team seven! I'm Naruto, this is Sasuke and Hinata. We...don't actually know why we're here."

"Kakashi did go into a long spiel about training beforehand though." Sasuke supplied.

Tenten shuddered. "You poor souls...get out while you still can."

"What?"

"Nothing!" Tenten replied, breezily. She gestured to her companions. "The one in the eyesore of a jumpsuit is Rock Lee. He's...certainly something. And our third teammate is Sai. Good ninja, great painter, but less than perfect at socialising."

Upon hearing his name, the pale boy looked up, and gave a vacant smile. "Hello." He said. "Demon, Orphan, Haircut. It's nice to meet you."

Team seven collectively blinked.

Tenten sighed and turned back to her teammate. "Sai, we talked about this. Don't nickname people immediately after meeting them, and don't give them nicknames that are so negative!"

Sai tilted his head. "But you nickname us offensive things all the time. Just this morning you called Lee a masochistic piece of shi-"

"Insults, Sai, you're confusing nicknames with insults."

She face-palmed and turned back to team seven.

"Well, its good to see we aren't the only dysfunctional genin trio in leaf." Sasuke casually dropped.

"I don't know what you mean." Said Hinata, deadpan.

"You wouldn't." Sasuke sighed, after realising she was being serious.

"Yeah Sasuke, what do you mean dysfunctional?" Naruto added, visibly confused.

The Uchiha looked up to Tenten. "Please help." He mumbled.

The girl put her hand on his shoulder, reassuringly. "I wish I could, fellow sane person. I wish I could..."

"YES!" Came a shout from Kakashi's direction. "I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE, KAKASHI!"

There was a blur, and Gai slid to a stop in front of the trio. "Your sensei has always been a tenacious one, genin." He said, eyes closed. "But now he has gone too far, and will finally be defeated!"

"What did he do?" Asked Tenten, apparently used to such dramatic displays.

"Hatake Kakashi has set me a challenge." Gai explained. "He believes that I will be unable to continue my usual training regime while also bolstering his own team physically. And I..." his eyes snapped open. "Will prove him wrong!"

The sun glinted dramatically off his teeth and eyes.

There was a pause.

"Do you make bets like this with Kakashi very often?" Asked Hinata.

"Your sensei has been my rival for years, young ninja." Gai affirmed.

"...what happens to Kakashi if he loses?" Hinata asked, curiously.

"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" Gai exclaimed. "Now come on! I have you every weekday from five until eight and I do not intend to waste any of it!"

Sasuke blew out a breath. Okay, three hours a day. This doesn't sound too much more stringent than what I do usually...

"Get moving ninja!" Gai called. "After we do some stretches we'll get started on some aerobic work! I of course understand that you are all unused to my training methods, so we will begin with only THREE laps around the hidden village! Show me the fires of your youth!"

"He's...joking, right?" Sasuke asked, looking at Tenten.

She shook her head, sadly. "I'm so, so sorry. You're either going to become total beasts or you're going to die."


Three very exhausted genin fell to the floor in front of Kakashi. "He's...he's a monster." Naruto gasped.

"They've done remarkably well, Kakashi." Gai said from behind them, barely sweating. "I look forward to training with them tomorrow!"

"That was hell...and we were late! you want us to do an extra hour on top of that? Every day?" Sasuke exclaimed.

"If all goes to plan, I will be able to up your training to five hours after about a week!" Gai added, beaming, and jogged back to his team.

"I'm this close to giving up on vengeance." Hinata mumbled. "This. Close."

"You asked for it." Kakashi told them. "No take-backs. Now please lie still for a moment, I need to draw a seal on you all..."

"A seal?" Naruto asked, naturally worried about such things. "What seal?"

"A training seal." Kakashi explained, twirling a paintbrush in his hands. "Gai and Lee use weights, but that's not very elegant and tends to be pretty uneven in how it builds your muscle groups up. This, on the other hand, adds resistance every time you try to move, everywhere, like going through water. It also uses your own chakra to produce this effect, so it helps build up those reserves as well as your muscle."

"Wait, I've heard of this." Sasuke had recovered enough to be breathing normally. "Itachi told me about it. Don't they use it to train ANBU? Because I'm pretty sure it's classed as a kinjutsu because of the possibilities for muscle damage and-"

"You'll be fiiine." Kakashi interrupted. "It has different levels of resistance. I'll leave you on level one rather than three, which is what the ANBU generally use and is like swimming through mud."

"You're speaking from experience." Hinata perceived. Kakashi nodded. "I was dog. And due to experience, I will not force you to use it while training with Gai, because that would be a terrible...terrible mistake..." He trailed off, looking into the distance, before shuddering. "Anyway. Get your tops off, I'll need to see your bare backs."

"Pervert."

"Weirdo."

"What are you reading in those orange books?"

"Now now, save your strength." Kakashi replied. "When I'm done my shadow clone is going to go through all the different jutsu categories with you to get a better idea of your capabilities, then over lunch we'll talk through mixed unit tactics and other important theory, then we'll move onto that tree walking we talked about, then-"

"I've changed my mind." Naruto looked numb. "Gai's fine. You're a monster."


And thus, the pain begins. Hiruzen feels threatened by Danzo, so orders Kakashi to make his students actually train instead of, you know, doing nothing until the wave mission. Using an exercise seal is hardly original in fanfiction, but whatevs. And yes, I realized the age change for Neji left a gap on team Gai, which I needed to fill, so...Hello Sai! Next chapter, we meet a drunk wave man, and a bridge with Naruto's name on it. (Not literally. Not yet, at least.) Ciao!