Second Chances

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I would love to have him as a pet.

A/N: Well here is the next chapter. As I have said countless times before thank you to everyone that has been with the story since the beginning and a big hello to first time readers. A few reviews and then the chapter!

MIKE202303: Why thank you for your kind words.

Cousland: I don't think that anyone wants to know how that works, lol. However, in a metaphorical sense Kakashi is saying that dying will not save them as the Edo Tensei can fix that problem so it is better not to die.

Marquis shax: Thank you for pointing that out. I will make sure to clarify further.

Guest: I am well aware that Haku is a boy in cannon. However, the past is set in stone. It has already happened. Therefore in order to change it a slight distortion of the dimensions is necessary. This caused a ripple through time and that ripple made small changes to what would have been, an example being Haku's gender. It is the 'butterfly effect' after all.

Akira Alvina: Thank you for pointing that out. I will be going back through some time this week to fix the spelling and grammar errors in the previous 18 chapters that I didn't get before.

"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking

'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals

"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling

"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking

'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking

hello jutsu

************Hell's Training Pt. 1**********

The first week of the training was hell for everyone involved. Kakashi didn't let up on anyone including the other jonin. Naruto and Sasuke piped up every now and then to offer suggestions but for the most part they merely followed orders or, if they had already completed the exercise, worked on something else. It didn't take to long for the group to see just how much training they needed to do in order to catch up either. Despite being in younger, weaker bodies Naruto and Sasuke were doing laps around them in almost everything. Even Hinata and Shino had surpassed them as a result of training with them. One of the things that the two time travelers were dealing with was making sure that everyone was at the level that they had been at the beginning of the fourth war before teaching them anything new and teaching them the strengths and weaknesses of each of the Akatsuki. Half of the day was grueling physical training and the other half mental and medical training. As a result they were already make leaps towards their final goal.

Looking around at the group of genin training themselves into the ground, Kakashi smiled to himself. After hearing what the two boys had gone through the teams had made it their personal goal to make sure that they don't go through it again. Or at the very least alone. Looking down at a list of things that he had made for their training and the missions that they had picked up he nodded. He had planned for certain missions to be done at certain intervals and it was time for them to start doing their training missions.

"Alright everyone. I want you to take a break and come over here. I think that it is time for the first of the missions. Depending on how these ones go is whether or not we do more right away or do some more training first." Kakashi called getting the attention of the genin who stopped what they were doing and headed over to the silver haired man. They had been working themselves practically to death and this was the first time that he had decided to call for an intermission to that torture.

"Now then, I know that some of you have made your first kills already however, I have been informed that some of your jonins have not made it that far. As such we will be taking care of that today. There is a massive bandit camp to the south of here that has been causing some trouble for the nearby villages. Normally we would have done this sooner but I was waiting for the whole camp to be present so we don't have to take to much of our time to track them down. Gather your missions supplies and be ready to go in five minutes." He informed them as they darted off. The last time that someone wasn't ready in the specified amount of time the whole group was punished. Looking over at his fellow jonin Kakashi smiled at them.

"Enjoying yourselves?"

Several miles away...

The bandits were stretched out relaxing as the door to their hide away closed. They had been fortunate enough to make an abandoned fortress their main home and they had made sure that they were safe in it. It had taken almost two years to repair the damage that had been done to the building but there were few if any problem areas. It was because of that they were comfortable believing that they were safe. After all, who would actually hire ninja for a group of bandits when the total number of enemies was unknown. That was one thing that the kage would want before approving a mission.

"Hey, any luck out there lately?" One of them called to a friend who was lounging himself.

"Not really. I think we will need to spread out more. The areas around here have been picked clean and the boss doesn't want us to bring anyone back here so that the ninja aren't called in." He called back. Sighing he reached for a drink and settled in for a long night. The whole group came back every once in awhile and when that happened it got real noisy really fast. He rather enjoyed it when it was quiet because most of the fortress was empty.

Up on top of the fortress watching for anyone suspicious the guards were growing bored. No one ever dared to come out this far, so why did they need to stand as lookouts? They would prefer to be inside partying with everyone else. Or better yet raiding some town or village and having a different type of party. Unfortunately, the guards were not ninja and they were easily dispatched when a dark blur raced from the shadows and swiftly broke their necks. Landing on the ground Lee flinched at the bodies below him and did a quick scan of the roof. There were no visible enemies in his line of sight and he waved quickly behind him. Several Naruto clones slid out from the shadows and transformed into the deceased taking their place. The bodies sealed away for later disposal.

Each sector of the fortress that they could get to had a similar chain of events. The groups had been informed that they needed to make it a bloodless kill so that the replacements wouldn't raise any suspicion. So far they had managed without any issues. By the time that all of the sentries had been dealt with Naruto had clones in place of the now deceased bandits. Instead of keeping everyone out, the sentries would now keep everyone in.

Kakashi nodded as all of the advanced infiltration squads reported success. The plan had been simple. Get the faster, less squeamish genin to dispatch the visible guard and then have Naruto's clones take their place. From there they would silently make their way inside of the fortress dispatching any enemies that they find along the way. They would either hide the bodies or seal them away so that they had a longer time to deal with the group. The jonin would interfere, if it was necessary. However, this mission was to prepare them for war and as such they could hold their hands. All kills were to be bloodless is possible. If not then the blood would have to be hidden as well. So far there were no problems. Each team reporting as they went.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea Kakashi? Regardless of them being ninja, they are still kids." Asuma whispered worried for Choji's well being. He was a gentle kid after all.

"They agreed to stop being kids and carry adult responsibilities when they accepted their headbands Asuma. We are merely telling them to uphold that vow." He whispered. Nodding quietly the older man looked at the fortress and felt himself become anxious. They had never practiced a mission with a complete communications blackout before. The genin were on their own and had to rely on their teammates completely. The jonin would only know if something went wrong a chakra flare was sent out. Somehow though Kakashi and Zabuza didn't seem concerned.

"Haku finished her mission and she's heading to Ino's team to act as backup." Zabuza reported smiling as a wall of ice sprang up in front of them.

"What?" Gai asked in shock.

"Haku has replaced every reflective surface with her ice. We can now see everything that is happening inside of the fortress. Thus allowing us to keep track of the genin." Zabuza explained.

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Asuma asked in shock.

"Haku wasn't sure if she could set up that many surfaces or not. If she couldn't then she would have an invisible sheet of black ice follow each team instead." Zabuza whispered back making the man nod. Better to not say anything before knowing what was possible.

The jonin watched almost at an agonizing pace as the genin crept through the hallways sometimes having to pick off members of a group one by one other times able to deal with their enemies without issues as there weren't that many. Internally they were all hoping that they would be alright. Kakashi and Zabuza knew that most of their teams were fine having done this sort of thing before, however, Zabuza still worried about Fu. She had never done anything of the sort.

With Ino's team...

Ino wasn't enjoying herself. When she signed up to be a ninja she had purposefully ignored the more gruesome parts of the job. She knew that she would be faced with reality sooner or later but she had honestly expected it to be later. Now however, she was slinking through an enemy fortress killing everyone that she ran into. She hadn't wanted to kill in the first place but she was NOT going against Kakashi's orders. The last time that she did she was certain that she almost died. Haku rejoining the group almost scared her senseless as the girl seemingly phased from the wall.

Haku couldn't help but give the blonde a reassuring smile as she slid from her mirror. She had hoped that she would be able to give a complete inside view and she had. The training she was doing with Kakashi and the other genin and jonin was improving her Ice release a little everyday and she could already see the results. Glancing over at the other member of the team Haku gave a reassuring smile to the Akimichi who looked more than a little pale. He was a lot like she was. He hated fighting and killing but would happily do so for his precious people. She wanted to give him some words of encouragement but that would mean talking and they weren't allowed to do that.

Choji was struggling to come to terms with what he was doing. He didn't like hurting anyone. He had always seen being a ninja as a way for him to protect his loved ones but he had always tried to ignore the killing part of the job. Yet now, he was being asked to confront it head on. He wasn't sure that he could and in all honesty he wasn't sure how long he could stay silent. However, the girl next to him seemed to have found a way to deal with it on her own despite feeling like he did. Maybe he would ask for some advice. Looking ahead he steeled himself as they came upon another group of bandits.

The attack was quick and their deaths painless, more than they had allotted their victims in the past. Haku was using her senbon to target lethal spots on the neck while Ino was using poison coated senbon. The poison was so lethal it killed in seconds. A hand over the mouth and a small prick of the senbon was all it took for the enemy to go down. The poison was fast acting and only took a couple of seconds to work so her method was precise. His however, relied on his brute strength to quickly and efficiently break their necks. Unfortunately, his clan relied to much on their brute strength and less on actual stealth tactics. As a result his kills were the more brutal ones and the most traumatic of the group. Sealing those bodies away they continued on.

Shikamaru's group...

Shikamaru was both happy and unhappy at the turn of events. He had always reasoned that he would be required to kill eventually. So the fact that he was wasn't that much of a surprise. Unlike his teammates he never ignored the more gruesome parts of being a ninja and as a result he was less shaken by the experience. That isn't to say that he wasn't shaken at all though. He didn't particularly care to take someone's life however, he also knew that it was a necessary evil. The part that made him happy was the excess of shadows that ran the length of the hallways. He was almost guaranteed to sneak attack his targets with a small fluctuation of chakra. While they were cautioned against using jutsu due to the possibility of ninja, he had little in ways of stealth. He wasn't particularly strong and his knowledge of poisons weren't as complete as Ino's so he stuck with his specialty.

Next to him, Fu was trembling a little. She had never been ordered to kill before and she wasn't sure that she could do it much longer. Unlike Shikamaru she was capitalizing on her natural strength so like Choji her kills were more personal. Each death she cause felt almost self inflicted and she was starting to lose her composure. She as just glad that they hadn't had as many groups thus far. However, she knew that they closer they got to the center of the building the more likely there was to be more people closer together that her team would have to deal with. Jumping a little as a hand landed on her shoulder she gave a feint smile to the boy next to her.

Shino watched worriedly as the girl next to him struggled not to fall apart. Fu was most likely the last person you would expect to kill you. However, the girl was not only a jinchuriki but also a ninja. The fact that she had yet to make a kill in her career only told him more about the type of life that she had lived through. It told him that she was rarely ever let out of the country and less so alone. Then there was the lack of training that the girl had had prior to coming to the hidden leaf. Smiling at her he refocused ahead of the team and reigned in his thoughts. He had been asked to escort this team because he had done this type of mission before. In Nami they had a similar setup. The only difference is that they didn't enter the compound until most of the enemies had been dealt with. That strategy wouldn't have worked this time.

Neji's team...

Initially, Neji had been hesitant when he had been not only split from his original team but also placed under Hinata's command. He hadn't wanted to spend much time with the heiress and he wanted to have to obey the main branch even less. However, as he had proceeded down the hall the reason why had become quite clear. Hinata had obviously already done a similar mission as she quickly and silently dispatched the enemies in front of her with quick juken strikes. He had to admit that she had improved dramatically from the last time that they had spared and even more so than he had thought possible for anyone. His pre-conceived notions of destiny had started crumbling with Naruto's tale of time traveling and ever since then they had continued to fall apart. He wasn't sure what to think anymore.

Lee was silent as he moved down the hall with his teammates. It was unusual for someone one like him to be so stealthy but he had been learning that there truly was a time and a place for his exuberance and this was most certainly not the time. He had been slightly miffed when he had been split from TenTen however, he could see why. While they had done bandit elimination missions before they had never done anything close to this. Apparently team seven had already done one and the jonin had decided to pair a veteran at this kind of mission to each team so that they could be assisted with it. It all made sense and since it seemed that they wanted to keep the groups at three genin or less it was obvious that teams would be split up. Hinata, while an unlikely choice as a leader due to her shy nature had seemingly come out of her shell and was leading the team superbly. He was thrilled to be led by her, even if Neji wasn't.

Slightly ahead of the team, Hinata was trying to calm her heart rate. Yes, she had been on a mission like this before however, she would not have said that she was skilled enough to lead the same type of mission and most definitely not with her cousin on the team. She was still worried that she would do something to strain their already fragile relationship. Yes, Naruto had said that he would talk to Neji but at the same time she was still worried. Plus, the last mission that she had done like this there had been some rather powerful ninja lying in wait. She wasn't sure that she could fight another shinobi like Hiyari. Taking a deep breath she paused as they ducked into the shadows to allow another group to pass. Nodding at each other they made quick work of them, sealed the scrolls and continued on. She would be happy when this was over.

With TenTen...

TenTen could say with certainty that she was not going to like doing missions for Kakashi if they were all similar to this one. ' "Take down the fortress" he said, "It'll be easy" he said.' she grumbled silently to herself. What part of infiltrate an old, literal, fortress and kill everyone inside without getting caught was easy? Plus she had been separated from her team and placed with Naruto and Sasuke to lead her. Not that there was anything wrong with the two of them personally it was just that their teamwork was so good that they were in perfect sync all the time. This made her feel like a third wheel on a date. Granted she knew why she had been assigned to work with them. As a weapons mistress she had very few ways to stealthily kill someone. They were there to teach her. Despite not being able to talk they were doing quite a good job of it to. Another thing that annoyed her! Teaching without speaking! Looking ahead she sighed quietly and wished that the mission would end soon.

Naruto and Sasuke were having a mental conversation with one another over the ease of the mission. They had both agreed that so far it was to easy. There was little to no challenge and no one seemed concerned that people were going missing at an alarming rate. Plus there was something that made them uncomfortable. Neither wanted this mission to get unexpectedly difficult but from the way that it was going that was how it was going to end. Quickly dispatching another group of bandits they headed further into their assigned sector, praying that they were wrong.

Outside...

The jonin were watching the progression of the mission carefully. Unbeknownst to the rokudaime, they to were thinking the same thing. There should have been a slip up or surprise around one of the corners and yet there had been nothing. None of them wanted there to be an unwanted increase in difficulty but at the same time they couldn't help but feel that they were going to get one.

"Well they have cleared out the hallways. It is time for them to move down to the next floor and begin on the rooms." Asuma said taking a calming breath. Gai nodded silently. He couldn't help but feel proud at how well his team was doing. Especially Neji. He had been worried about sending the Hyuga out with his cousin but it seemed that his fears were unfounded.

"Nothing out of the ordinary yet. This seems far to easy." Kakashi whispered.

"I know. Something is going to happen. Though I can't see how. We have the whole building covered from top to bottom." Zabuza said eyes narrowing.

"Not the whole building just the floors and rooms with reflective surfaces. There are probably a mass of rooms and corners that we can't see." Kakashi replied making the jonin tense. "That is when something will happen most likely. Someplace that we can't see."

"Good point. Though I have to admit that I have never seen my team utilize such stealth before." Gai responded making the other jonin gape.

"Have you ever tried to make them use stealth?"

"Good point Asuma." Groaning Kakashi turned his head back to the ice as the genin cleared out one room at a time with surprising ease. It wasn't that hard considering that most of the targets in those rooms were sleeping. However, every now and then they had to work fast to keep any sound from getting out. Thankfully for them the fortress was massive and the rooms spaced a good distance apart. Three floors in each genin team stopped at a door and nodded to one another. Outside of the main area the floor beneath them they were dealing with the last of the stealth kills. As they started to open the doors Kakashi tensed.

"We can't see in those rooms..." Was all he managed to get out before an explosion not only blinded, but destroyed Haku's mirrors cutting off their only way to monitor the genin. Jumping to their feet they headed for the fortress. They had known that this would happen. It was never easy with team seven around. Luckily most of the enemies had been dispatched already so they wouldn't be swarmed. Plus the clones on the roof would be rushing down to prevent anyone from fleeing so they had backup. Kakashi just hoped that it would be enough.

*****************T.B.C**************

A/N: Well that is the end of this chapter. I hope that you liked it and I want to say that the chapter came out faster than my fingers could type so I hope it doesn't seem rushed. As always if you catch any grammar or spelling errors that I have missed let me know and I will fix them. Ja ne!