Konoha

It had been a month since that fateful mission in the desert where Kakashi had manhandled another A-rank shinobi right in front of his team. They had come back into Konoha three weeks ago and the sensei of Team 7 thought it was high time to up their training.

"Sensei.. please, mercy" begged an exhausted Naruto, grime covered his face and his ocean blue eyes looked ready to spill tears, the other two members would have voiced their agreement, but they were both face down in the ground struggling to breathe. Kakashi didn't pull his punches. The last three weeks of training had been absolute torture, it seemed Kakashi had taken their weakness as a personal insult. One that he was more than willing to rectify.

"Sorry Naruto, mercy isn't in my vocabulary. I guess you guys deserve a bit of a break though, you've worked hard today. That and none of you seem to be able to move anymore." Kakashi looked at his downed team 'They've really come so far in such short time. No wonder Hokage-sama assigned them to me.'

'Oh thank Kami-sama' All three genin thought simultaneously. Kakashi dragged his three kids towards the river and gave them a canteen each. From their reactions it must have been something more than just water in them. All three of his students were almost drowning themselves in the contents of the canteen. He took a sip of his own. 'Huh, just water. Maybe I did push them a bit too hard.'

Naruto was the first to recover and managed to get himself into a sitting position before asking the question that was on all of their minds. "Kakashi-sensei, what's with the increased intensity? I thought we were already the strongest genin team in Konoha?"

"Well you see little Naruto-chan, I still firmly believe that. Last month's mission however, changed my mind in leaving things to chance. I'm going to make damn sure you're ready for not only the threats in your own career but also so that you can hold your own and escape against any enemy that thinks they can beat me. You'll find that most people that try to attack me are either incredibly stupid or incredibly strong. You need to be prepared for both."

"Oh okay that makes sense I guess."

"Aaaaaand I may not have mentioned this but there might be a Chuunin exams happening kinda soon in Konoha, and by kinda soon I mean two weeks from now."

….

….

….

"HUH?!" Chorused all three of his students

"Is that why we haven't been allowed to see our friends for the past month?!" moaned Sakura.

"A little bit, I also actually wanted to make you guys stronger, I have to run a personal errand for the Hokage, we have recently gained new intel that I have to act on effective immediately. Don't worry though I've pulled a lot of strings and a few favours and managed to get you three some training for the time I'm gone."

Time without Kakashi-sensei? It didn't seem feasible. All three of them had gotten so used to seeing him everyday and spending the day doing training and missions that they had kind of forgotten anything outside of that. Hopefully whoever took care of them while he was gone wasn't someone useless.

Kakashi handed all three of them two pieces of paper. One was a chuunin exam entrance slip. "I expect you all to have signed up for this and to be participating in the exams. It's in Konoha this year so they want a strong showing and you guys are the best we have." The second paper simply had a place they had to be at with a time beside it. "You'll notice that the slips all have different locations and times, that's because you'll be training separately for the next two weeks."

Before they could protest, he put up his hand to stop them. "There is a very real chance you guys might be facing off against each other, I can't have you guys knowing all of each other's tricks. All three Sensei have been chosen specifically to help nurture an extra skill or refine one you guys want to sharpen up on. You're in good hands, I expect you to show your temporary sensei respect and not to disgrace me okay?"

"Hai sensei, we'll be good." The three mulishly responded.

"Alright before I go I'll treat you guys to some food, after that I'll be gone for at least a week if not right up until the chuunin exams so behave yourselves!"

The next morning Kakashi had been briefed by the Hokage and left the village in order to complete his mission. He hoped that his kids would behave themselves in the hands of their new sensei, as well as coming home alive. The things he did for his kids, this mission was going to be as tricky as the last time he did this.

With Naruto

'Meet at the hotsprings?'

Naruto made his way over to Konoha's onsen and looked around. Seeing nobody he decided to go about this the way he normally would.

"OIIIII! IS THERE ANY NEW SENSEI IN MY AREA?"

He looked around again, hmmmmm. Oh? what's this? On top of the wall, yeah that was curious there seems to be a person up there. Maybe it was his sensei? Time to test it out. Naruto pulled his sandal off his foot and launched it at the man.

"Naruto style: Chancla No jutsu!"

His sandal soared through the air and drilled the mane of hair right in the back of the head. Said mane of hair was apparently wearing Geta sandals. In other words, not the best footwear for balancing on top of a tiled roof. Said mane of hear unceremoniously fell head-first into the hot springs. First there was shock, then there was pain. Naruto would feel bad for the guy but clearly, he was up to no good.

The commotion continued for quite some time until said mane of hair was thrown over the wall, now soaked, bloodied and bruised.

"Hello! Are you my new Sensei?!" Naruto as always was incredibly blunt in his questioning and had no time for action and consequence.

"Who dares interrupt the great Jiraiya-Sama's research!..." Jiraiya trailed off as he saw the kid he was about to pummel. 'It's like staring at Minato all over again. The blonde spiky hair. The deep blue eyes. The innocent look that only promised trouble. He has Kushina's round face though. This is even harder than I thought it would be.'

Jiraiya collected himself and announced his presence like he normally would.

"Am I your sensei?" A cloud of smoke surrounded the man's feet and when it disappeared he was standing on top of an orange toad with green markings.

"I hail from the forests of fire, I have travelled from east to west. I am the envy of men and desire of women. I have scaled the highest mountain and traversed the deepest depths. For I am the most holy hermit sage of the mount myobuko toads, otherwise known as the Toad sage, The great, the gallant, the mighty! Jiraiya-Sama!" Jiraiya finished off his introduction with a dance which looked surprisingly difficult regarding his footwear.

Naruto stared at this man, contemplating why Kakashi would do this to him. Had Kakashi lied? Wasn't he supposed to be precious to him? Why send him to this fiend? Oh well time to do what he does best and wing it.

"Hey I'm Naruto! Nice to meetcha."

Normally there was a negative reaction when his name was said. Naruto waited for it, it would come, as it always does. His name brought out the worst in anyone that affiliated themselves with Konoha. Except, this time it didn't. There was no flinch, no sudden realisation and widening of eyes. Nothing. Hmm maybe this guy was worthwhile. He seemed to be decent enough to give a chance. For now.

"Alright kid, now that the introductions are over, a little scarecrow said you needed a bit of an ace up your sleeve for the upcoming exams. How does training from one of the Sannin sound?" Jiraiya expected widening of eyes and a shock and awe look on the face of this kid. He was Jiraiya if the Sannin, everybody in Konoha knew him right?.. Right? Why was this kid not phased? It was kinda pissing him off. He was either stupid or Kakashi had trained him too well.

'Sannin? Three ninja? What does it matter? This guy had to be strong though, Kakashi had yet to lead him astray. Let's try a patented chokehold on him to see how good this guy really is.'

Then. Naruto moved.

'Fast!'

As Naruto approached behind Jiraiya he was almost assured that he would get this guy. Which was a shame because clearly this guy was either weaker than Kakashi or getting worse in his old age.

He was closing in on him now. He could imagine it perfectly. A beautifully locked in rear naked choke, the guy would pass out and register Naruto as his master. Naruto reached him, started to hook his arm around Jiraiya's neck and lock in the hold. Except at the last second, Jiraiya turned, winked at him and then slammed him into the ground.

"That was a good try kid, but you must have forgotten who I trained if you think someone as slow as you would ever catch me off guard. Kakashi has done a decent job so far but if you want to face off against me then you've got to bring a lot more to the table than just speed ya know. My best ever student was known as the fastest man alive when he was around."

Naruto groaned from his position face first in the ground. "Oi sensei, you're way too rough. How did you catch me though? Fastest man alive? Did you train the 4th Hokage?"

This kid really didn't know who he was huh. Jiraiya is a big deal. He was the man who had squared off with Hanzo and lived to tell the tale. When Iwa threatened a full-scale invasion after the Kanabi Bridge incident Konoha threatened to send Jiraiya. Without a doubt the Third Hokage's greatest student, and the closest to reach the man's prime. Everyone who was trained under him became legendary. Most notably the 4th Hokage. Minato Namikaze, the man who ran with light. The Kiiroi Senko. The grim reaper of Iwa's third battalion.

Jiraiya was no pushover. As much as this kid was Minato's son he was most certainly Kushina's kid. To face off against someone who was so much better than themselves and have absolutely no regard for themselves was most certainly a quality of the redheaded woman. How he missed those two. A sudden overwhelming guilt crushed Jiraiya. If only he had been there for the kid. Maybe his life would have been easier.

Jiraiya had run from his problems like he always had though. He couldn't bare to look at the face of a man he had just lost. No. he refused to get lost in his own past again and wallow in despair. It was high time to make up for the mistakes he had made in the past. Now it was time to make up for it by training Naruto to the best of his abilities. There was no way Jiraiya was going to let another student die before him. Naruto would be the strongest of all of them.

"Yes kid, I the almighty Jiraiya trained the 4th Hokage. Now I have been asked by his student to train you for the duration of the chuunin exams. So let's make the most of it alright? I'll be showing you a few of my tricks, if you're good enough I might even let you sign this contract.

With Sasuke

Sasuke made his way to training field 72. It was very densely packed with trees and shrubbery, basically the perfect environment for any Konoha ninja. He made his way along the semi beaten dirt track to the best of his ability and at the end of it there was a small clearing. The clearing finally allowed him to see the open sky again. In the middle of the clearing there was a rock with a katana perched up beside it.

"You know for an Uchiha you're relatively simple to trick. Maybe next time I'll set Kurenai on you and let her experiment on you." A disembodied voice came from all around him.

'Huh? I didn't even detect anything changing?'

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and found himself at the start of the path again. He made his way all the way down the path again and found himself looking at the same clearing with the same sky, the same rock and the same katana.

'Why do I feel there is something wrong? It can't be, I have my sharingan active.'

"Come along lost little Uchiha, you find yourself lost again and in the hands of the hawk soaring above. Try again, I won't be this nice next time."

The scene changed and again Sasuke was at the start of the path. The forest seemed far darker this time. How long had he been standing here? Also, his Sharingan hadn't been activated. What kind of illusion was this?

Sasuke took the practical route this time, and stabbed himself with his kunai in the his arm.

The three melted away to show the clearing again. Darker sky, same rock, same katana but this time in the hands of what looked to be a jounin standing on top of said rock.

"Hello little Uchiha, I am Gekko Hayate, that was your first lesson with me. Don't be over reliant on the things that you think will always save you and be prepared to go back to basics. Your enemies will know you far better than you will know them. For the duration of the chuunin exams I will be training you and preparing you to face anyone and everyone. If I deem you worthy you may even be privy to my style of Kenjutsu. Brace yourself!"

With that Hayate exploded forward in a burst of speed and got to Sasuke before he could even activate his sharingan. He received a slash across the chest for good measure.

"Remember what I said Sasuke! Don't be over reliant on a tool! Now come at me, show me what you've got!

With that Sasuke's training under his new sensei began.

With Sakura

Sakura followed her sheet of paper directly to where she was meant to meet her new sensei for the next two weeks, and maybe longer if her sensei was to be believed. The training ground was non-descript and peaceful in its own way. A river flowed behind her and trees were scattered at random around her. Birds sang as they flew through the skies. Just like most other training grounds this was your run of the mill clearing with natural resources nearby for nature release jutsu.

Something was wrong, she was sure of it!

'Genjutsu!' She quietly released her chakra and felt the foreign chakra wash out of her body. As she released the pulse it went in a wave and bounced off of something right behind her. It was something she had through trial and error manage to stumble across. A chakra sonar so to speak, the only problem was that it also gave the enemy ninja a general direction of where she was. Even more unfortunate was that there was someone directly behind her.

"Hmm so she can detect simple genjutu? Kakashi didn't do to bad of a job with you. Guess we have to take you in hard way."

That was the last Sakura heard before she got a sharp pain in the back of her neck and collapsed in a heap.

'A chakra sonar huh? Kakashi may have been right to send this one to me.'

Sakura blearily opened her eyes and woke up in a dark room. Dimly lit by a candle in the corner of the room. She eyed a bed in the corner with a jug of water and a glass beside it, on the far wall a door was situated. Cosy.

She seemed to be alone, so she decided to sit up on the bed and try and figure out what she was going to do from here on. Sakura poured herself a glass of water and as she was plotting, she decided to quench her thirst and at least try the door handle. She knocked back the glass of water and made an attempt to open the door.

'Huh, locked. I should have known.' Her green eyes widened in shock as she felt her body begin to feel weak.

'Oh, poison.'

From the corner of her room a shadow emerged from the corner. Out of it came one of Konoha's silent protectors. A wraith given human form. These were the men and women that saw the first conflict in war and were the last to pull out. The ANBU, short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. These were the most elite killers in the village. They lived breathed and died in the blood of their enemies. Taking only the most high risk missions that Konoha could offer.

Throughout the haze of the poison, Sakura shivered. What could this shadowy force want with her? The pink haired girl tried to focus her mind but could only try for 3 seconds at a time. The main message she told herself to calm herself was that Kakashi wouldn't let this happen without reason.

As she slowly blacked out for the second time that day. That cat faced mask asked her "are you ready?"

She could do nothing but nod as she fell unconscious.

'Responsive until completely unconscious, Kakashi really does know how to pick them. She'll do perfectly.'

The agent laid Sakura in her bed to recover and left the room. Contemplating how to deal with this new situation and how to make his new student as strong as possible.

'This is going to get interesting that's for sure. Kakashi I can't wait to show you the monster I turn your student into.'

With Kakashi

"I wonder how my kids are getting along?" He thought out loud. He had nothing to fear after all. Travelling in the dark was never an issue for him. For he was the boogeyman.

And there we have it. Chapter 12 completed. This is my last chapter of stalling before I finally start the slog that is the Chuunin exam arc. Pog I guess….

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