XXXII: Preparations

Konoha, Three Months Six Days Ago

Jiraiya dragged Naruto out of bed long before the sun came up. "Come on brat! It's time to start your training for the Chunin Exams!"

Naruto groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "Go 'way…"

"Now, now Naruto" Jiraiya admonished, "There's no time for that." With a flick of his wrists he pulled Naruto's blankets off.

When all Naruto did was whimper, Jiraiya sighed and pulled a bucket of water from a storage seal. It had ice cubes floating in it.

"Last chance Naruto." Jiraiya said in a sing-song voice. When Naruto didn't respond Jiraiya gleefully dumped the bucket on Naruto's head.

"GAH COLD!" Naruto leapt out of bed shivering from the cold. "DAMN IT, YOU PERVY BASTARD! I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP!"

Jiraiya dropped Naruto's towel on his head. "Dry yourself off and let's go. It's been a month and I hear you've managed to learn two new abilities."

"Do we really have to start at three in the morning?"

"We have a month and a half to get you ready for the Chunin exams" Jiraiya answered, "so for the next month you will be training for eighteen hours a day."

"WHAT?" Naruto interrupted, "That's ridiculous!"

Jiraiya shrugged, "The Chunin exams are more than a test Naruto, and Sensei wants your team to be the stars of the show but this Exam is going to have some serious competition."

Half an hour later Naruto, still damp from Jiraiya's wake up call, stood in the center of Training Ground Zero waiting impatiently for Jiraiya. "How is it he can wake me up and still be late?" Naruto asked himself as Jiraiya strolled down the path fifteen minutes late.

"Kakashi tells me you can see and absorb chakra now" Jiraiya began, "so I want to test the limits of your ability before we begin our new routine." Jiraiya extended his arm, "Drain my chakra as fast as you can."

Naruto grabbed his arm with both hands within seconds Jiraiya had tapped out. "Th-that was fast…." He panted, after shoving a handful of Soldier pills into his mouth like candy.

"How much of the person's chakra can you retain after draining it?" Jiraiya asked when he regained his breath.

"All of it. Why?"

"ALL OF IT?" Jiraiya shouted.

"Um… of course. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that that should be impossible!" Jiraiya began to pace back and forth.

"There are a few medical grade Justu that allow you to absorb someone else's chakra, but it's mainly used to unblock chakra channels damaged by Juuken strikes. However only the best of the best can keep even one tenth of the energy they absorb."

"Really?" Naruto asked, "What's so hard about that?"

"Naruto, how does Juuken work?"

"Um… the user forces their chakra into someone else?"

"And absorbing chakra is like a reverse Juuken strike." Naruto still looked puzzled, so Jiraiya continued, "You're forcing foreign Chakra into your channels. Only the most skilled Med-nins can do more than just expel the chakra. To be able to absorb and use all of that chakra…"

"Really? Wow…"

"Well," Jiraiya began, "Make …seven hundred clones…"

"I can't." Naruto hung his head in shame.

"Eh? What? Why not?"

"I can't make more than one clone without getting motion sick…"

Jiraiya's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Why would making clones make you sick?"

"Kakashi-sensei didn't tell you? When I make a shadow clone I can see through their eyes."

"WHAT?" Jiraiya almost fell over in shock, "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THAT SILVER-HAIRED SLACKER!"

"Um…What's the big deal Ero-Sennin?"

"THE BIG DEAL?" Jiraiya took a deep breath, "The big deal is I know of only one Doujutsu that lets the user do something like that."

"Well…What is it?"

"I don't want to get your hopes up yet Naruto." Jiraiya started pacing again, "And if I'm right…well let's just say that people finding out whom your parents are will be the least of your worries."

"Oh… that bad?"

"Worse, there'll probably be daily attempts to kidnap you in order to use you as breeding stock." After a moment of awkward silence Jiraiya continued, "Well I guess we're going to have to focus on getting you used to seeing things through your clones' eyes."

Later that morning the rest of Team Seven gathered in their traditional spot.

"I wonder where Naruto –kun is…" Hinata asked Sasuke.

"Probably training with Jiraiya for the Chunin exams."

"What about us?"

"Well," Kakashi answered as he strolled over to them, a good half hour late, "For the first month each of you will train one-on-one with a Jonin of my choice. Afterwards there will be two weeks of teamwork exercises and training."

"What about the last two weeks Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Free time. We want you three to be at your best for the exams after all."

"All right then… I assume you'll be my personal trainer?"

"Correct. Meet me at Training Ground Seven. I'll be there in a few minutes, I have something need to discuss with Hinata."

Sasuke shrugged and strolled off towards the training ground at a leisurely pace.

Once he was out of ear shot Kakashi began, "I had some trouble finding a Jonin to train you. I wanted Guy, but he says he's entering his own team this year, surprisingly so are Kurenai and Asuma."

Hinata looked crest fallen, "Does that mean you couldn't find anyone to train me?"

"No, I did but…"

"Wh-what's wrong Kakashi-sensei?"

"I got Anko to agree to train you for the next month but..."

"What's the problem then?"

After a moment's hesitation Kakashi answered, "Anko is up to something…I'm not sure what, but we're assigning you an A-rank spying mission; keep an eye on her okay?"

"Wh-Wh-what?" Hinata stuttered, "Y-You w-want me to sp-spy on a jonin?"

"Why not? You're actually one of the best I've ever seen at going unnoticed in a crowd."

Hinata frowned, was being unnoticeable really that good?

Kakashi noticed her frown and continued, "Hinata, you stalked Naruto for seven years. It was my job to protect Naruto for five of them. I. Never. Saw. You. Once. If you wanted to kill him there would have been nothing we could have done."

"What's so good about that?"

"It's the stuff legends are made of Hinata. You could make Tokubetsu-Jonin right now if you wanted to."

"I-I c-could?"

"Yes Hinata, You're one of the most talented shinobi I've ever met. In a few years people will talk about you in the same voice they use for Senju Hashirama, Jiraiya, Tsunade , and Sarutobi Hiruzen."

"I d-don't know…"

"Hinata…Ever since you guys got back from those missions the Jonin have started tp compare your team to the Legendary Sannin themselves."

Hinata was stunned, the village Jonin thought that highly of her? "O-Okay…I'll d-do it…"

"Good, Anko will meet you at the Hokage's Tower in half an hour."

Once Hinata left Kakashi headed towards Training Ground Seven. He took the scenic route through Training grounds eight and nine, and arrived half an hour after Sasuke.

"You're late." Sasuke grumbled.

"Sorry I had to help a little old lady up the stairs with her groceries."

Sasuke rolled his eyes before asking, "What are you going to train me in?"

"Let's start by perfecting your Nature Transformations. Naruto is still miles ahead of you in that area. After that…Maybe I'll coach you on better Sharingan usage."

Hinata barely made it to the Tower in time. Anko was already waiting for her when she arrived. "Good, you're on time. I was afraid you might have picked up that slacker's bad habits."

"Wh-What are you g–going to t-teach me Anko-sensei?"

"Well Kakashi tells me you're the team's taijutsu specialist, correct?" She asked while looking at a note written in Kakashi's untidy scrawl. "But you also have no small skill in Suiton Ninjutsu and a little Doton as well…"

"Y-Yes."

"Well I can't help you with those, but Kakashi said you tire faster than your Teammates. So we're going to focus on endurance, both physical, mental, and Chakra."

Each Sensei set a brutal training regime for their students; Jiraiya forced Naruto to defend attacks from angles that only his clone could see, first with his eyes closed, then with them open. When he was comfortable with one clone Jiraiya made him use two, then three then four and by the end of the week Naruto could manage six clones simultaneously without getting motion sick. Anymore than that, it seemed, was beyond him.

Kakashi had Sasuke 'borrow' Naruto's training style, and while Sasuke could only manage fifty clones at once, by the end of the week he had finally fully mastered his lightning transformation and almost mastered his fire.

Anko would wake Hinata at random times, often after only an hour of sleep and force her to run for hours while Anko chased her with her snakes. The course Anko set would include running up and down buildings or across the outside of the village walls.

Team Seven sat together at Ichiraku Ramen at the end of the seventh day.

Sasuke sat with his head on the table clutched between both hands, "My head…How the hell do you do it Fishcake?"

Naruto still looked a little green from his training, "Do what?"

"Train with so many clones…" Sasuke groaned, "My poor head…"

"Dispel them in twos or threes until you get used to it." Naruto said while he picked at his food. "I can't eat…"

"Why?"

"Ero-Sennin had me trying for seven clones all day. I still feel sick."

"Hn."

Hinata had bags under her eyes and barely seemed to be able to keep them open. While Naruto and Sasuke grumbled all she did was shovel down food.

When she was on her fifteenth bowl Naruto asked, "What's wrong Hinata-chan?"

"Anko…evil…" She managed to say. "No…sleep…all…week…" Of course she didn't mention the other reasons he got no sleep, what free time she had she spent following Anko. "So…tired…" She said before laying her head on the table

"So…" Sasuke said, "Still stuck on six clones?"

"Yeah anymore and it becomes too much to handle… At this rate we'll never get to what Jiraiya sensei wanted to teach me…"

"Blindfold…them…" Hinata murmured, before she began to snore.

"Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…" Naruto began banging his head on the table, "I… Can't… Believe… I… Didn't… Think… of… That…" He said between thumps.

"Please stop…" Sasuke whimpered. Hinata didn't stop snoring however.

It was to that scene, Hinata snoring gently, Sasuke whimpering in pain and Naruto banging his head against the table chanting 'Stupid…Stupid…Stupid…' That Anko Kakashi and Jiraiya entered Ichiraku ramen.

"I think we broke them."Anko giggled when she saw the trio.

"The competition is tough this year. The Hokage wants there to be no doubts which team is the best this year." Kakashi said before he walked over to Sasuke, "Come on Sasuke It's time for you to get some rest" He helped Sasuke to his feet and ushered him out of the ramen stand.

"We all know you're stupid brat, but if you keep that up you'll owe them a new table. You can tell me what finally made you realize your own stupidity in the morning, let's go."

Naruto got up with a sigh, "Yes Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya cuffed him in the back of the head, "And stop calling me that in public."

Anko picked up the sleeping girl, "Alright let's get you home, I'll let you sleep in this time."

The next morning after explaining Hinata's idea to Jiraiya, which had caused the Sannin to begin banging is head on a tree to a chorus of 'Stupid…Stupid…' Jiraiya made Naruto make one thousand two hundred clones.

"Why so many Ero-Sennin?"

"We're already a week behind schedule. You're going to need to leave a batch running all night too."

Naruto gulped, Batches of more than a thousand still gave him migraines. "All right, what are we working on?"

"Rasengan. Your solution to your inability to form it by yourself is cute, but especially now when you're having difficulty with your clones, you need to be able to do it by yourself." Jiraiya continued, "So for now divide your clones in two groups, one group for general chakra control, the other is to focus on Rasengan."

Sasuke only had to wait fifteen minutes for Kakashi to show up, "So are we continuing my Fire Transformation?"

"No. We're working on something else this week."

"What? And why not?"

"You need more combat experience to really complete your transformation, if it wasn't for the Land of Sea; you wouldn't have been able to finish your Lightning transformation so quickly."

"Why not? Naruto finished his without combat experience!"

"It also took Naruto approximately two thousand years to complete all three transformations."

"Oh…"

"You don't have the chakra capacity to brute force your way through training like he does." Kakashi explained, "Hell, I couldn't make a quarter the clones he can and I've been a ninja longer than he's been alive."

Kakashi raised his Hitai-Ate, revealing his Sharingan, "Activate your eyes Sasuke."

As soon as Sasuke's eyes switched from black to red Kakashi attacked. Sasuke barely had time to duck his sensei's vicious right hook. He tried to counter with a leg sweep but Kakashi casually hopped over it and kicked the still crouching Sasuke in the head.

Sasuke bounced off a tree and landed on his feet. He charged Kakashi and feinted with his left but swung with his right. When Kakashi easily caught Sasuke's punch Sasuke shifted position and tried to uppercut his sensei. Kakashi caught that punch too and countered with a headbutt. It connected and while Sasuke was dazed Kakashi swept his feet out from underneath him.

"Why did you lose?" Kakashi asked when Sasuke had recovered enough to sit up.

"Because you're stronger than me?"

"No, I was holding back to your level the entire fight. I fought with the same speed, the same strength and the same skill you posses."

"So how did you beat me?"

"I know how to use my sharingan to read the moves of my opponent."

"So? My Sharingan shows me the moves of my opponents too."

"Sasuke, a Taijutsu expert can read an opponent's body to predict what they are going to do."

"Like a sharingan?"

"Not exactly, they read muscle movement to predict your moves. The sharingan reads chakra movement and creates a picture of what that person is going to do. This is a huge advantage against a normal fighter, true. However against someone skilled in reading your movements the difference in perception speed is negligible."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Learn to read the muscle movements in your opponents' chakra shadow of course." Kakashi answered with a cheeky eye smile.

Anko stepped up her training regime as well, she only let Hinata get sleep in half hour chunks, and would force her to run until she collapsed, then Anko would start the cycle all over.

By the end of the month Naruto could from a flawless Rasengan using both hands, or he could form an unstable one in each hand. Sasuke could read some of his opponent's moves the way Kakashi wanted him to. And Hinata, after a good two days solid sleep found that her chakra reserves had almost doubled and her physical stamina was nearly that of Sasuke.

The next two weeks were spent doing constant teamwork exercises and in-village D-rank missions. By the end of their pre-Chunin exam Training they were stronger and tighter knit than ever before.

Jiraiya's Camp, Present Day:

"So," Tsunade said when Jiraiya stopped for breath, "You're finally going to tell us what happened at the Chunin Exams? It took you long enough…"

"It's important for you to know what he can do and what he's been through."

"Couldn't you give me a list?"

"That would've been boring… Besides I wanted you to like the kid."

"Why?"

"You're the only family he has, Kakashi and I tried to fill that gap but… Do you have any idea what actually meeting his only living relative would mean to the kid?" when Tsunade looked away Jiraiya continued, "Don't just heal them and leave. Please if you won't stay for me, or for the village, stay for your family."

"I… I'll think about it okay?"

A/N:

Next chapter begins the Chunin Exams (which I hope most of you are looking forward to). I expect the arc to be about 10 chapters (Knowing me it'll end up closer to fifteen or twenty…) plus two or three chapters that take place in the present.

Beta'd by harry copperfield dresden