I do not own Naruto. Slavery is illegal anyhow.

Enter the Sannin

Sarutobi was very pleased. His original plans were progressing faster than he had anticipated. Jiraiya had found Tsunade rather quickly. It did take the man 6 months to convince the slug princess to return to Konoha for a visit. The promise of paying off a hefty portion of her gambling debt was all it took in the end. Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune entered the village on the day of Naruto's grandest prank ever.

Sarutobi had allowed Naruto free reign on his grand prank. It had to be something to get ANBU after him. The only catch was he could not be caught in the process of setting it up. A week of setting rooftop traps that would not be found or tripped ahead of time was extremely difficult for Naruto. He made sure that Hinata was not involved in this one as her father would object to such a performance. Once it was set, he only had to wait for dawn to begin.

Two hours of labor painting the Hokage Monument somehow was unnoticed by all save Hinata and Sarutobi. The stealth genjutsu Naruto had developed rivaled the one Jiraiya used to peep with. Once he had finished the paint, he stood atop the Fourth's head and shouted "HEY KONOHA, LOOK AT THIS!" Killer intent from multiple ANBU squads flushed the boy from his perch and the chase began.

The devastation to the pride of the ANBU was complete by noon. They were extremely hampered by the sole fact that they were under long standing orders not to harm Naruto. Squad by squad they had fallen prey to the traps laid by Naruto. Stink bombs, paint bombs, multiple bunshin in Naruto's sexy jutsu; Naruto had pulled out all the stops and planning he had learned over the years to accomplish his grand prank. The sole member of ANBU to finally catch Naruto was presented with the mission scroll from the Hokage. The ANBU captain in the dog mask was the one to finally reel in Naruto. Kakashi looked at the scroll and simply began laughing at how badly they all had underestimated the twelve year old Academy student. Cleanup went even smoother as Naruto made 5 hand signs and dispersed the special paint he had used in his prank, leaving the mountain pristine once more.

The Great Naruto Chase would be remembered long after his passing.

Tsunade scowled at not being allowed sake during her lunch date with Sarutobi. She was already missing out on a serious pachinko tournament in the Land of Tea to be here. If Sarutobi reneged on Jiraiya's promise to pay off half her debts, she would level this musty old tower. This town had too many bad memories for her to be comfortable for very long. She had told Shizune to not even unpack the bags, only get the dirty clothes washed and repacked.

"So, what did you think of the little display this morning, Tsunade?"

Tsunade scowled, "The ANBU looked like a bunch of idiots. Three hours chasing a kid who should have been caught before the first swipe of paint was dry on the mountain. You've let this place go to crap, sensei."

Sarutobi only nodded at Tsunade's blatant insult but pressed on. "Well, we are slowly fixing something that has developed in the years since the Fourth died. This village lost something special when he sacrificed himself to save it. Something we need to regain before events around us destroy it completely."

Tsunade looked up sharply at that. She was not fond of Konoha but did not want it destroyed. Her teacher had a solemn face and as she looked at Jiraiya, he nodded as well. "There is a new hidden village growing in the Rice Country. It seems that the leader of it is an old friend of ours who has a love of snakes."

"Orochimaru."

"Yes, and I recall his last statement to me, that he would destroy Konoha one day. His village is closer to us than any other hidden village so even our allies would not have a chance to aid us if something were to happen." Sarutobi paused to pour tea for himself and his guests before continuing. "So, again, what did you think of Minato's boy this morning?"

Tsunade almost spit out her tea in surprise. "The blonde gaki who did all that was Minato's boy!"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Yes, it seems he did not like being shunned by most of the population and took up pranking to gain attention. He became quite good at evading the consequences of his pranks as well. His skills at avoiding capture already rival those of his mother. After age ten, no one short of a jonin could apprehend him. His skills make even Kakashi have to put forth an effort."

"For the past nine months, I have had him working for me. He has been planning raids on clan compounds to pull pranks as a test of security. The chase this morning was a direct result of a lack of reporting by ANBU on overall security. They had gotten lax in not reporting the pranks being done so I needed to remind them; that even in peace, we need to watch for unusual activity. Naruto took an entire week to set up his little chase today and I am sure he was spotted several times setting it up but no word of it reached my ears. Had his prank been an actual sabotage attempt, half the village would be destroyed now."

Tsunade was not sure if she should raise her view of the boy or lower her view on the village. She remembered the level of ability of Uzumaki Kushina, the woman Sarutobi mentioned. As a girl, she had been part of a refugee family of ninja from the Land of Whirlpool. They had fled to Konoha when their small country had been 'forcibly absorbed' by the Land of Water 24 years ago. A Rock village raiding party killed off all the refugees but Kushina who had been rescued by Jiraiya and his genin team. The team was surprised by the girl as she evaded attacks from a Rock jonin before the raiding party was defeated by Jiraiya's squad. Kushina became at first a mascot and little sister to the squad before becoming a ninja in her own right when she was old enough.

"So how does all of this involve me, sensei? It's not like you to spend time and money to find me just to have lunch and talk of old times. What do you want?" Tsunade asked.

Sarutobi smiled. "Blunt as always Tsunade. What I want is to use you, Jiraiya and one other to train a team for Konoha."

"No," she said bluntly.

"At least hear out the entire proposal first, Tsunade. Part of it has a strong influence from you." Jiraiya put in. "Sensei took into account something you suggested years ago. Adding a trained medic nin to the teams"

"… Fine, I'll listen to it."

"Konoha has lost much of its spark since Minato died. We need to make a team to bring that back and inspire people in the village again. Right now, all we can point to is you and Jiraiya as our achievements and inspiration. But the rest of the countries see Jiraiya as a perverted author and your reputation as 'The Legendary Sucker'. That, coupled with Orochimaru's defection has put a tarnish on the Sannin. Also a few years ago, the Uchiha massacre by one of their own makes things that much worse for Konoha."

"I am very old, Tsunade. I am well past my prime and when I am gone, there are maybe four people who could replace me as Hokage. The two of you, and Kakashi are all that are strong enough. Danzo has the backroom support of many but he wants war and conquest. Jiraiya is a writer of erotic books and in recent years known for his exploits in brothels and bathhouses more than his skills. Kakashi is lazy and lost in his pain. You, Tsunade, are a drunk and gambler who is deeply in debt. Do you see my problem now? Who can we look to for hope in that? The will of fire is dying in Konoha and it must be re-awakened if the village is to survive. I cannot afford to wait for a war to make people feel it once more "

"My proposition is this; a new team of apprentices for the Sannin. People chosen to be the heirs of the title and trained by the Sannin themselves." Sarutobi pulled out 3 folders and placed them on the table.

Tsunade grunted in disdain but did not stop Sarutobi.

"Uzumaki Naruto. The son of the 'Yellow Flash' Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox. He already has many of the traits and attributes of his parents. From his father, he has the Namikaze vast chakra reserves and the same natural stamina. Both are enhanced by the chakra of the Kyuubi itself. From his mother, he has her sense of spatial awareness and acrobatic skill. In battle, he knows what is around him and can use it to his advantage. With taijutsu he can be unpredictable and as you have seen, he is able to evade multiple opponents more skilled than himself. He has a wind affinity and a knack for creating ninjutsu that only is beginning to exploit his vast chakra. He would study under Jiraiya.

"Hyuuga Hinata. Heir of the Hyuuga clan. She has the Byukagan that all Hyuuga possess. Clan taijutsu of Juuken and a strong desire to protect others. Last year while on a half healed leg, she took down three chunnin ranked missing nin who tried to kidnap her sister. She has been tested for elemental affinity and came out as having a primary Water affinity. She is the first Hyuuga in three generations not to have an Earth affinity as their primary." Sarutobi chuckled for a moment. "For her age, she is also the smallest Hyuuga in three generations. I have Hiashi's permission to include her in this under Anko's teaching. Anko's brazen attitude will bring the girl out of her shy self and hopefully make her more aggressive. Hiashi also recognizes Hinata's lack of reach and elemental affinity is a strong secondary reason for her relative weakness at Juuken against larger opponents and will allow a modified version to be developed for her use."

"Haruno Sakura. She has an aptitude for genjutsu. She is highly intelligent with a photographic memory. Her only other claim for anything right now is precise chakra control. She has the kind of control that would make her an excellent choice as a medical specialist. She tested out better in her Academy finals at chakra control than you did Tsunade. You might want to know that she is actually a distant cousin of yours. A detailed search of the records shows she is your third cousin twice removed"

"What? I have no other relatives. Nawaki was my last relative."

"This one was a bit tricky to find. I have met her and found she bore a resemblance in appearance to you. It seems the mother of your grandmother, the wife of the First, had a younger sister. Sakura descends from that line. The entire lineage to her is on the female side. That is why no one knows about it. But Sakura is the first ninja in her family since her great grandfather so she has no clan backing and only Academy level training."

"What is this with Anko filling in as a 'Sannin'?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well, we cannot recruit Orochimaru to do it but everyone is aware of Anko-chan's status as his only surviving team member and apprentice," Sarutobi countered.

"So basically, you want us to take a loud prankster, a midget Hyuuga and an Academy hack nobody and make them into a Neo-Sannin?" Tsunade started to chuckle before bursting out into a loud belly laugh fit that lasted for minutes. "Sensei, as far as jokes go, that is the best laugh I've had in decades. But do you honestly believe anyone could turn those three into anything remotely close to Sannin?

"Tsunade, when our genin team began, did anyone think that WE could have reached the level of Sannin? The class dead last, the man who wanted to know every jutsu in the world and the fan girl princess? But in the end, Hanzo the Rain leader named us Sannin and called us that to the world." Jiraiya quietly said.

"Why don't you watch them for a few weeks first, Tsunade? Give us a month to convince you that these students are worth the effort to try.

"I really should say no, but your idea of having one of the team trained as a medic nin is too strong an enticement. Besides, Shizune needs a few weeks of outside training in new medical theory and the hospital here is still the best in the Elemental Countries. I'll observe these gaki of yours for a month to see how they interact with their peers. No promises beyond that, Sensei."

Tsunade spent the first afternoon watching the trio through Sarutobi's crystal ball. Iruka had set the entire class on a review of basic jutsu. One by one the students had to perform a henge, a kawarmi and create clones. Tsunade noticed the Uchiha and mentioned that he was best in the class already. "Why not consider him for your little project, Sensei?"

"I had considered him for a short time. However his attitude is completely wrong for this. He insists on doing everything alone. He is callus to the other students and considers them all a waste of his time. All he wants is to get stronger to get revenge on his brother for murdering the entire clan. The Council is pandering to his ego in a large amount because he is the last loyal Uchiha. I however am not sure of his loyalties. If someone came by offering him a shortcut to power, I believe he would take it; no matter the cost."

"Sounds a bit like Orochimaru. Everything for power and damn everyone who gets in his way." Jiraiya put in.

Tsunade nodded slowly as Naruto made his clones. The intense concentration he showed surprised Tsunade. Chakra even formed a small aura about his body as he focused before creating five perfect clones. "What was that, Sensei? The amount of focus he put out on that jutsu was way out of line. Is he having trouble drawing out chakra or something?"

"Quite the opposite in fact. As I said before he has his father's chakra levels and the Kyuubi enhances those. The seal that imprisons the Kyuubi is maintained by his chakra so he has been expressing it since he was born. He already has the capacity of a jonin but the control of a normal Academy student. He literally has to force back his chakra when performing an E rank jutsu such as a simple Bunshin. Otherwise he overloads it and it fails. As he is now, he could perform consecutive A ranked jutsu for an hour before making a serious dent in his chakra."

After the rest of the class had done the review, Iruka led the students to the training field for taijutsu practice. The students got into place on the field and went through the Academy taijutsu katas as warm-ups. Iruka then paired them off to spar in individual styles. Sasuke knocked his opponent out in one blow and simply stood in a disgusted fashion while Iruka attended the downed boy. Hinata was taking turns attacking and defending with her partner so both could get a decent workout. Naruto was going all out but seemed to be enjoying himself even when he took a hit. Sakura seemed sluggish in her moves as her opponent would simply dodge and block everything Sakura tried.

Tsunade noted a blonde girl taunt Sakura from nearby and the anger on Sakura's face as she made her next strike. The blow was blocked like most before but this one was different. The girl slid back a few feet and looked surprised. Tsunade knew exactly what caused that and spun to face Sarutobi.

"That girl Sakura used a raw version of my own strength technique! How did she learn that?"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Well, maybe a little monkey talked to her about a few things and gave her a scroll outlining the basic principles behind your technique from the jutsu library."

Tsunade growled. "You mean she taught herself that technique from the scroll I gave you 35 years ago? My strength technique wasn't even half finished then."

"True, but I also did mention that her chakra control exceeded yours at the same age. What is limiting her right now is the fact that her chakra reserves are lower and that one punch likely wore her out. But all in all, not bad for only a month of work with no training in the technique, don't you think?"

Tsunade grumbled again and looked back into the crystal ball to watch the rest of the practice. In spite of her demeanor; these children Sarutobi had picked impressed her.

End Notes:

This chapter was difficult to get done. It took several rewrites to get close to where I wanted it to be. It is hard to use an well worn concept and find a fresh way of dealing with it without using outside characters. Still, the end result pleased me.
Thanks for the reviews and the continued hits.

Edited and Reposted