Chapter 20: Many Taskmasters

Sakura slowly walked out of the hospital with her parents. Her pace was slowed more by the amount of gifts she was burdened with than from her healed wounds. It seemed everyone who disliked an Uchiha at some point in their life had sent her something. Her father was more laden down than she was. In addition to the gifts, she had several dozen requests for dates and 3 marriage proposals. Those scared the girl. She passed those letters to Anko to deal with. She was just barely 13 and the idea of a 40 yr old wanting to marry her was quite disturbing.

The light outside blinded her for a moment when a small cheer sounded in front of her. Peering around the items she carried, she saw a majority of the 'Rookie 9' waiting for her. The six genin in front of her all reached up to relieve Sakura of her burden. Naruto grinned from the front of the group.

"I invited everyone else, well almost. Shino is off with his father training already so he could not come." The rest of 'Team Apprentice', Team 10 and Kiba with Akamaru were all waiting for her.

She smiled softly and blushed a bit at the friendship they all showed her. She was the last one of their group still in the hospital but Choji still had a cast on his hand from the broken bones. He was scheduled to have them healed by a medic ninja later in the week once all the serious wounds in the hospital to foreign genin were healed.

Team Gai was not present but that was due more to them being unfamiliar to the group. People would also refer to the rookies plus Team Gai as 'the Twelve'. They were the four youngest teams to be entered and of all the teams Konoha had fielded; only they made it to the elimination rounds. Sakura on the other hand had already become familiar with the one named Rock Lee. The strange boy had huge bushy eyebrows and wore a tacky green unitard with orange leg warmers. His shouts about the 'power of youth' had nearly set back Sakura's release as she tried to knock herself unconscious during his rant yesterday while asking Sakura out on a date. Fortunately, Shizune had heard the shouts and threw the boy out. Sakura last saw him doing vertical pushups in the hospital courtyard. She hoped he would not find out where she lived.

With the boys helping her father with the heavier items and the girls sharing the load of the stuffed animals, Sakura was led home. Smiling as she got to her room for the first time in over a week, she had the boys leave the items in the living room and shooed them out while Hinata and Ino disappeared into her room with her.

The boys; Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji; all wandered off to their training. Choji would watch Shikamaru and Asuma spar. Kiba would be get tracking tips in a genjutsu by Kurenai and some easier D rank missions that could be performed solo. Naruto headed to the training field next to the Hyuuga estate.

Hiashi was not as much of a taskmaster as Anko was, but in his own way he was just as demanding. "My training will be different than what you have experienced before Naruto. First, we shall go through your entire library of jutsu. I will help you master them as opposed to simply know them. You throw chakra into your jutsu like Tsunade throws money away at gambling. It is wasteful and needs to be corrected."

As promised, the first day Hiashi had Naruto got through every one of his known jutsu, including the supposedly worthless ones like the Sexy jutsu and ones he had created for pranks. The entire time, Hiashi had watched him with his Byakugan activated and would merely nod and say 'next jutsu' after he observed each one. Once all of his known jutsu had been shown, Hiashi had Naruto show him the incomplete jutsu along with their intended purpose. When Naruto was attempting to show the second stage of training in the Rasengan, Hiashi looked interested. Naruto was having trouble getting the power to increase until Hiashi corrected his initial start rotation so it went with his normal chakra flow instead of against. Naruto managed to add twice the power of any of his previous attempts after that correction. Hiashi dismissed the boy for the day with instructions for Naruto to think of five possible uses for every one of his 'prank' jutsu in a tactical situation by the end of the week.

The second day was much more interesting to Naruto. Once more, Hiashi was having him perform his jutsu, but each time the Hyuuga would make small corrections in the standard ones Naruto knew. In some it was in hand signs. In others, it was informing him of his using too much chakra and overloading the jutsu. Naruto would make the corrections and became pleased to see immediate results. Hiashi would have him perform the jutsu correctly five times before moving to the next one. Hiashi was sparse on verbal praise. Naruto noticed that Hiashi would give short nod when pleased and scowled deeper when disappointed. The nods increased as the day continued and made Naruto perform better.

For the personal jutsu which Naruto created, Hiashi was slightly more critical. He told Naruto what his chakra was doing in each case. Together, they altered the hand sign sequence on several to get better flow and results. Once a solid new sequence was developed, the pair then worked on Naruto's level of chakra input into the jutsu. Naruto was growing to understand much better how his chakra worked within any jutsu and himself. He was able to make corrections to improve his personal ones before Hiashi even could suggest them. The final jutsu was accomplished shortly after dark and a tired but very satisfied Naruto went home.

Naruto already learned several new things about his chakra in the two days of training so far. The Kyuubi's chakra was not a continuous presence in his system. The seal on his body intermittently leaked a tiny fraction into his system. At the same time, a fraction of Naruto's chakra 'polluted' the Kyuubi. This was the reason for several of Naruto's problems. The 'red' chakra disrupted his personal 'blue' chakra so that his system did not use a steady flow. The amount flowing into the Kyuubi would bind the Kitsune to him when he died. The rest was that the seal itself reacted to Naruto's demand for chakra. Hiashi observed Naruto with his blood limit active and noted all of the chakra flows in the boy. Demonic chakra flashed into Naruto's system each time he used a high class ninjutsu. His shadow clones allowed the charka to disperse into the clones and not harm his body greatly.

During chakra intensive jutsu like the Rasengan, the 'red' remained in his system longer which would make his control suffer. The 'red' chakra was not under his direct control so it made any jutsu harder to pull off. Hiashi saw he needed to teach Naruto better control before continuing onto high level training. Naruto needed to do more with less chakra so that his seal would not drain it all off or release so much 'red' chakra into his system. Naruto could get a temporary power boost by stripping chakra from the seal at the cost of passing out afterwards as the drain to maintain the seal asserted itself.

In spite of the control problems, Hiashi was pleased that Naruto was such a hands-on pupil. Hiashi disliked talking as a lecturer and preferred to teach by actions. The Gentle Fist style was a highly disciplined taijutsu art that needed much hard work to master. Hiashi was used to getting results that way.

Hiashi was becoming impressed by Naruto. The boy was definitely much more than anyone had imagined. Even Hinata was not aware of the untapped potential in the boy. Hiashi saw Naruto's biggest weakness was that he bored easily when lectured. He had much better understanding of theory if he could see how things worked. He adapted well to new ideas, took constructive criticism well and strived to improve on himself at every turn. Hiashi could even notice some of the more subtle influences of Hinata on some of Naruto's jutsu. If only people had given him a chance earlier in his life, the boy would have been passed his first genin exam, possibly as rookie of the year in his class.

Naruto was so glad that Hiashi took a hands-on approach. He loved Iruka like a father but the lectures were so boring. He was pleased in having a teacher that enjoyed hard work. At home, Naruto pulled out a scroll and tried to do his homework. He listed each of his prank jutsu and tried to think of useful applications for each. He did not want to disappoint Hiashi-sensei.

Hinata found herself as the assistant PT instructor for Anko. Her job was to set the pace for the running potion of training while having her Byakugan active. With her doujutsu active she could see all the people ahead and behind her and tell who was using chakra to buoy their performance. Anko would have none of that in her sessions. All physical exercise needed to be just that, physical. No chakra allowed. The one time Hinata felt pity for one of the medics was the only time. Anko had her running at top speed around Konoha with a cart sized snake summon after her when she did not report the offender.

Anko addressed her panting genin afterwards, "I am not doing this to be mean or sadistic, Hinata. I am doing this because it is my job. All of these medics need every bit of their chakra in the field for one purpose, to heal the wounded and save those lives. They cannot do that if they are burning it all on themselves to get from place to place. The other benefit I am sure you are aware of. By doing things the physical way, you actually increase your chakra levels. They will not only be getting to a battle with all of their chakra they will be having more of it available when they get there. Letting them cheat now is what they have been getting away with for years. You are not serving Konoha by protecting liars and cheats. You are serving the best interest of every ninja who goes into harms way by doing it. Do you understand that?"

Hinata nodded and reported every cheater after that. The ones who were honest and trained like they should have been appreciated her efforts and the fact that she was in their midst running as they were. The cheaters grumbled at first but when Anko reminded them of Hinata's punishment for not telling, they kept it to themselves. No one cheated in sessions with Hinata present again.

Hinata actually liked the training by the second session. Her needing to keep her Byakugan active for over an hour while running and searching for chakra usage was a good training tool for her eyes. She had to focus to pick up the chakra variances around her as well as keep her running pace.

Anko seemed to see she was growing more comfortable and would increase the pace required of everyone. But Anko, being Anko, needed to keep things lively so after the first week kunai throwing was introduced to the running and keeping up the pace was required while dodging.

Sasuke was slowly beginning to hate Kakashi more than ever. The jonin was actually being on time for training and pushed the Uchiha harder than he had ever been pushed. The only bright spot in all of this was that he was not being saddled with those losers from Team 7 any longer. That was also a bad point as well. Since Kakashi could focus 100 percent of his effort on Sasuke, he did.

Sasuke was being made to run until he dropped in the mornings. He had to repeatedly do jutsu each afternoon until he mastered it to Kakashi's satisfaction before learning another. The learning was upsetting him just as much. He was forced to learn them manually. He could not use his Sharingan to simply copy them. Why could they not understand he needed MORE jutsu, powerful jutsu that could defeat his brother? He needed to get stronger and all of this remedial work Kakashi was forcing on him was wearing at his patience. D and C rank jutsu were not making him stronger.

Kakashi barked at him again for daydreaming. "If you have time to scowl, Sasuke, you are not working hard enough."

"Hai, Sensei," Sasuke choked out. He hated having to be polite but Kakashi insisted on him using proper manners now even if he did not mean them.

Kakashi sighed under his mask once more. He disliked this situation immensely. Sasuke was getting more unstable with time. The boy tuned him out when the jonin tried to explain the reasons for the pace that was being set. Running built speed, stamina and raised chakra levels. Filling in the training time with learning lower ranked jutsu gave Sasuke a more rounded training. Lower ranked jutsu could be performed more often and extend the usable time daily for training. The biggest reason for Kakashi's training style was that using the Sharingan to copy jutsu was an incomplete process. It gave someone the knowledge of how to move the chakra and the hand signs but it imparted no wisdom in how to use the copied technique. It was only through training and hard work that the best uses of the jutsu were learned. Sasuke just wanted more powerful jutsu and did not care to learn more than that.

If Kakashi had followed that logic, he could teach Sasuke jutsu that would kill the boy from chakra drain and still not tap into the most powerful ones Kakashi knew. More than once he was tempted to do just that. Kakashi decided to finish for the day before he gave in this time.

"Ok, Sasuke that is enough for today."

"But why? There are still several hours of daylight left," Sasuke complained.

Kakashi frowned. "Because I have other things that need doing. My life is more than being your teacher. You also need to see the counselor so you had better not be late. Remember, no training on your own. Be back here tomorrow at 9."

'I am not some child to be brushed aside, Kakashi,' Sasuke thought. 'I am an Uchiha and I will get revenge for your insults.'

The counselor was a civilian. Sasuke just lied skillfully and made it sound like he was beginning to come to terms with his past.

'All too easy,' he thought as he walked home.

Shikamaru walked into the bar his father frequented. He saw the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio all drinking together. The large red headed Akimichi Choza was talking loudly and hoisting an impossibly voluminous flagon of some foreign drink called mead. The blonde Yamanaka Inoichi was busy smooth talking the waitress while wielding a kunai in a deft but dashing manner. Shikaku, his darker haired father merely sat with a grim face as he was too bored to make an impression on the people around him.

Shikamaru walked up to his father and nudged the man. "Dad, I made it to the Chunin Exam finals and I need some help training on my shadow techniques."

Shikaku grumbled at the nudge and muttered, "Troublesome."

"Well, it's not like I planned on it, Dad. It was either ask you myself or tell Mom and have her find you. I made it easier for both of us this way."

Shikaku thought for a moment then nodded in agreement. He stood and went to his friends, "I have to go train Shikamaru in family jutsu for a while. Maybe you two could do the same for your kids. Keep Tsunade-sama from being too troublesome with her new programs."

Inoichi and Choza both nodded at the suggestion. Shikaku rarely suggested anything to their team outside of missions but his advice normally kept them out of trouble. Plus helping the kids out would make things easier with the wives.

Sakura was finally getting back to light training. A week of forced inactivity after several days in a hospital bed really showed in her case. Her first morning of running with the medical corps got her winded quickly. Luckily for her, Anko did not send any kunai her way like some of the others. Apparently, Anko's idea of 'light training' was no attempts at maiming the victim, um trainee. Sakura's hardest moment came when the group passed the training fields on its run around Konoha. She saw Sasuke being trained hard by Kakashi. The white haired jonin was standing with his arms crossed and his orange book nowhere in sight while the brooding boy was doing wind sprints. She unconsciously slowed until Anko was behind her yelling at her to keep up the pace. Sakura pushed aside her thoughts and concentrated on finishing the warm up jog.

Sakura was pleased that her endurance was mostly intact. She recovered quickly from the run and faced the other exercises with determination. A random thought occurred to her that both she and Hinata were in this medic group and for them it was considered 'light training'. Compared to their normal regimen, it certainly was. It gave her some time to think if she just allowed herself to go with the rest of the herd. She was not feeling bad from her recent wound but it was something that bothered her. She had almost died and having faced death had left its mark on her. She had lost that feeling of immortality that youth gives a person.

Her thoughts on the subject were pushed aside as the day progressed. But her worry found an outlet in her training with Tsunade that afternoon. Her focus on her healing jutsu increased as she now understood better the consequences of failure.

Tsunade saw the look on Sakura's face and sighed. Sakura was going to be better than Shizune at healing soon if this new focus was any indication. She just wished the price of the girl's improvement had not been so high.

Naruto sweated under the keen eye of Hiashi. The boy wondered how much the Hyuuga clan leader actually knew about taijutsu. After spending nearly a week on his ninjutsu, the man had Naruto constantly in motion on his fighting forms. The second week of workouts had Naruto almost relearning his Academy basics. Hiashi felt there was no room for error on all basic fighting movements and insisted that Naruto learn how to move properly. The use of a shadow clone sped this up drastically. Being able to actually hit someone was the difference in simply knowing the motions and seeing how the correct strikes mattered. Naruto not only learned how to hit but the memories of the dispersed clones allowed him to immediately know the results of his actions and failures at defending. Small things added up quickly and Naruto's level in taijutsu climbed from low genin to near chunin in the first few hours.

Naruto's performance the next day was so improved that Hiashi allowed the boy to demonstrate his own variation on the basic forms with his use of massed shadow clone attacks. Together the pair realized that the mental impact on Naruto was different based on the amount of chakra used in the formation of a clone. More focus in creation led to a clone that could take several hits before dispersing but took many times the chakra of a 'normal' clone Naruto used in combat. These clones gave Naruto the most information when dispelled. Single purpose clones with little more intelligence than a drone had no impact on Naruto at all.

By the end of two weeks of intense work and refinement on Naruto, Hiashi pronounced him fit to 'face Neji without completely embarrassing himself'.

Hinata and Sakura both looked around on near terror as they were being hunted down.

Their evasion training was getting increasingly more difficult. Today was a massive game of 'keep away' against an army of snake and slug summons. Each girl had a water balloon to protect and get to the finish line without it breaking. In theory it was an easy task but against the creatures and their teachers, it became close to hopeless.

Speed was not an option as both girls were slower than their opponents. Instead the girls needed to focus on both dodging and selected counterattacks while keeping their charge safe from harm. Losing the balloon meant they would have to begin again. So far, the girls had zero successes.

Hinata struggled back to her feet as the water balloon in her hands remained intact after the last skirmish. 'Who would have thought that slugs and snakes would work together on strategy?' she thought. As she looked over at Sakura rising from the ground as well she had a new thought. 'We are getting double teamed and forgetting that we are a team as well.'

Hinata got over to the pink haired girl, "Sakura, carry this for me, I will protect us against the summons." Sakura nodded and cradled both balloons close to her body as Hinata rushed the line of creatures between the girls and the finish line. The melee that followed could barely be described as a battle. With both hands free and the power of her taijutsu, Hinata made short work of the summons and the pair dashed to the finish line.

The teachers glared down at the genin. "Who said that one of you could carry both balloons while the other would fight?" Anko growled. Hinata looked back at her with only a small trace of fear, "Sensei, it was not forbidden to do so. We are part of a team after all." Sakura nodded a touch more meekly both stood her ground against Tsunade's glare. The girls both gawked when the teachers broke out into grins and said, "Well done."

"The purpose of the exercise was not to reach the finish line. It was to make you see that teamwork can succeed where individual effort migth fail. Making you see it in a situation that you were never told to use it was the best way to get you to think of such things."

Jiraiya was heading back to Konoha. His spy network was at a loss on what was happening. The lack of information had made him nearly a week late in his return. 'Sensei and Naruto are both going ot be pissed at me. All I could find out about Orochimaru's village is it is not a single base but scattered ones. Well, I had better hurry if I am going to get back to Konoha before the Finals start'.

The blowing sand in the Wind Country desert was not a kind place to camp in. The genin team prepared to leave back to Konoha. They looked back a single time at the gathered army in the dunes before heading for the border.

The rice fields made a rustling sound as the feet of many ninja trod atop the levees around the fields. Hundreds of ninja in gray camouflage moved toward the line of trees that signaled the border of Rice Country and Fire Country. The Chunin Exam Finals would begin in two days and then war would be coming to the Fire Country in the form of the planned destruction of Konoha. Orochimaru looked at his minions and pawns and laughed. The Sound echoed among the reeds and into the trees. 'Soon, it will all be as I planned'.

Next Chapter: Exam Finals, The Fighting Begins

End Notes: I am satisfied but not pleased with this chapter. I have much more in store for all the characters but getting there is not always easy. I do not like to rehash all the minor points of training. There is only so much you can do with basic training sequences. I intentionally left holes as far as what Naruto learned fighting Neji because I would give up too much away. The Sand siblings are less of a factor so far in my story as they are not really one until the invasion.

I love the Ino-Shika-Cho parents. The first time I saw them I knew they got lifted from Thor's Warriors Three, Shikaku being Hogun the Grim, Inoichi being Fandrall the Dashing and Choza being Volstagg the Voluminous. Even the appearances, colors and attitudes match. I pay them tribute in mention at least

Review Notes: Hiashi's training past what I put will be secret for now. I will be closer to canon as far as the battles between Shikamaru / Temari and Gaara / Lee but with my own spin on things in those fights.

Sasuke will receive everything Naruto thinks he deserves in his upcoming battle.

Last time on Hinata. Hinata is not on the Snake contract for 3 main reasons
1) Hiashi does not want her on it
2) She does not have the chakra to really pull off a decent size summon yet
3) I don't want her on it.

Itachi and Akatsuki will be coming along eventually. I am not sure what I think of that swerve the manga put out yet so I will wait and decide what fits my story best. Uchiha Madara is a liar and not really a great source of information so he might even have told Sasuke whatever it took to get the boy on his side.

One I missed last time, Choji had bones in his hand broken, not his fingers. It was a couple of bones in the palm area. It was enough to disrupt use of most of his fingers on that hand at once.

Parting Shot: You will never see anyone running "a hundred laps around Konoha" in one of my stories. The idea in itself is ludicrous. It is easily a distance of OVER 500 miles. Worse, it is bad storytelling to use such exaggerated numbers. I have read where writers use that distance as a daily warm-up for the ninja.