Razamataz22 here, bringing you the latest chapter of Failings. I would say that I had help with Kaka like usual but he's been off in the middle of woop woop on a camping trip.

Disclaimer: TDS does not own Naruto

To any of those who had known the trio beforehand, they would say that the scene before them is exactly how they envisioned it would have been: Naruto standing isolated from Sasuke who was seemingly brooding over some unknown topic while Sakura stood close to the Uchiha's side. The reason it was like this however was completely different to what most would assume.

The previous day after having been left alone with Hinata and the girl having fallen unconscious, Naruto had had the fun job of giving the Hyuga a piggyback back through the middle of the area he had been dragged, before handing her over to the Hyuga clan. Needless to say that when they found the girl passed out they weren't exactly the happiest bunch of people imaginable. Then, having had to sit with the head of the clan and go through a step by step analysis of everything that had happened was unenjoyable to say the least. After having explained the events, Naruto requested to stay by Hinata's side until she awoke, but he had been dismissed and informed that the situation was under their control and that he would merely be in the way despite the good intentions. Frankly, he had no real idea what to tell his teammates and didn't feel up to repeating every little detail that had been forced out of him less than twenty four hours earlier. It didn't help that Sakura and Sasuke were giving him really strange looks.

For the pink and black haired members of the group, they'd continued to watch Naruto closely after having obtained the information they had gotten out of Shikamaru the previous day. The Nara had escaped the first opportunity he had - which was practically half a second after he realised that he was going to be interrogated - and left them with only the answer to their question. Yet that was just like having been told the answer to a complicated question was twenty seven without any actual indication as to how the answer came about.

Sakura and Sasuke had returned to the Uchiha clan compound in silence before laying down everything they knew on a piece of parchment as they tried to understand just how Shikamaru came up with that solution. They simply couldn't believe that he had been told of such a thing, otherwise it would've been common knowledge, and they came to the conclusion that the Nara would have found it too troublesome to simply converse on such a topic with anybody who didn't truly know the blonde.

Working their way backwards from the answer to the question, they came to the conclusion that Shikamaru had actually been on to something. Naruto having been born on the same day that the Kyuubi attacked, all the hateful glares that the villagers sent his way, even the whisker marks on his cheeks. Without any actual solid evidence they had no way to prove their theory but it was undoubtedly the best lead to go off. Yet they couldn't really ask Naruto the big question in case even the blonde didn't know the answer.

"I don't think I've ever seen you three so quiet," said Kakashi as he materialised nearby, startling the trio and allowing them to push their thoughts temporarily to the side.

"Kakashi sensei, you're late!" declared Naruto pointing an accusing finger.

"That's because I had to get somebody to help watch your training today," said Kakashi pointing off to the side to show the white haired ninja that they had been sent to retrieve on their previous mission.

"You're going to be watching us?" questioned Sasuke hoping that by 'watch' it meant that he didn't have to change into a girl again and make out with his teammate.

"Yep, your team is the only group of rookie Genin to not be in the current Chunin exams," said Jiraiya, as he stepped forward until he stood next to Kakashi. "I want to see whether or not that means you're going to be slacking off while they're pushing themselves to the limit, or if you will prove to them that your team is the one to be feared next time around."

When Jiraiya saw their eyes focus at his words, he knew that he had said the right thing, even if they didn't say anything in response. "Good, if you had answered with words I would have been disappointed," he continued. "Show me just what you are capable of."

"Jiraiya here has offered to help with a training session that we've thought up. Your 'mission' is to protect a client, which in this case will be me," explained Kakashi, "from an invader who is trying to kidnap the person underneath your protection."

"I won't be going all out, otherwise that'd just ruin the idea," said Jiraiya. "That being said, you'll have to be going all out at me if you want a chance of succeeding."

"Can we have a scenario?" asked Naruto, causing everybody to turn their attention to him. "It'd be easier to create a protection plan if we had an idea of what we were protecting."

"Makes sense," said Kakashi with a shrug of the shoulders. "Alright then, Jiraiya here is a Chunin who has been hired to take out a competitor in a shopping district, the person having hired him having shown his constant distaste for a business merger that is soon to take place. In order to get the edge on his competition he has hired a bargain ninja to prevent the merger from going through. You three have been hired to make sure that the weaker of the two parties has no problems."

"That's a pretty shoddy scenario," said Sasuke, wondering if this kind of mission would ever come about.

"But it's a scenario nonetheless," said Kakashi smiling behind his mask. "You have ten minutes to construct a plan on how to best protect the client while they are sleeping in their household."

"Could you mark out an area that would best describe the household, Kakashi sensei?" asked Sakura. "If we actually know the space we are given then it's easier for us to plot our plan."

"Will do," said Kakashi as he went about constructing the scenario, knowing that simple sticks on the ground simply wouldn't cut it.

"Alright," said Sasuke as Naruto and Sakura huddled close while they discussed the best tactics to use. "We've got a limited time to come up with a plan to trap a Sannin. Doesn't matter if he's using only a fraction of his strength, this is the time to prove to everybody that we've learnt something and we are the team to be afraid of."

Sakura and Naruto both nodded before the blond noticed just what it was that Kakashi had constructed for them. "How the hell did you build that?" asked Naruto pointing at the four walls and a roof that Kakashi had built with several Earth Jutsu.

"By using a good portion of my chakra," explained Kakashi, looking fairly winded, which quickly told his students that he wasn't willing to do this on a regular basis. "I'm going to be resting in the main bedroom, be sure to protect me."

With that, Kakashi headed inside the mud building he had constructed allowing the team to quickly look over just what it was that they would have to be protecting. As expected there was a window near the main bedroom which created another opening for them to try and protect. "There are only two main areas that Jiraiya could come through," stated Sakura while pointing at the window and the main door.

"That being said, it would be possible for him to use an explosive tag to burst his way in through one of the walls," said Naruto. "He can either go in stealthily or loud and proud, and knowing the pervert it could be either."

"You guys are starting to run out of time," shouted Jiraiya from a good distance away, not wanting to get any indication of what the trio were planning for him.

"Alright, Sakura do you have any of those poisons you've been working on with you?" asked Sasuke.

"I've got one that I made last night," said Sakura, pulling a vial out of her pocket. Having not been able to sleep after learning of what could potentially be trapped inside of Naruto, she had taken to creating some poisons to take her mind off of other things.

"Naruto, remember how you went over all of those trap lessons with Kakashi? Could you set something like that up to protect Sensei?" asked Sasuke looking to his teammate.

"All that and more," said Naruto, his smile was almost blinding.

"Alright then, here's the plan," said Sasuke as the three huddled close together.

"This should be interesting," said Jiraiya as he stepped forward towards the imminent danger ahead. He knew that he had nothing to truly worry about; if things got a little bit chaotic then he could simply kick it up a notch, but more likely than not, he wouldn't have to worry about such a thing. Jiraiya was aware that this was for the kid's training and because of that, if he crushed all of their hopes and dreams within the timeframe of a couple of minutes it just wouldn't be fair.

Looking towards the building he was meant to enter he saw Sasuke overlooking the front of the house, sitting perched upon the rooftop with his eyes scanning the horizon. Dropping into the trees that surrounded the training ground, Jiraiya quickly realised that he'd have to wait a little while for an opening to appear, and chances were that he wouldn't be making a break for the front anytime soon.

Circling the area, he looked at the window Kakashi had deliberately put in and saw the ninja with his nose buried in one of Jiraiya's books, a sight that the white haired sage couldn't help but beam at. Yet his face became serious when he realised that with two other ninja currently unaccounted for, they wouldn't leave such an opening readily available. Focusing his eyes towards the ground, he saw a glint of sunlight reflect off of a piece of wire that had previously been put in place. Jiraiya couldn't truly see to what end the trip wire would cause but it was enough to make him realise that he would need to try another tack.

"Can't go in from the front, can't go in from the sides, guess that leaves the back," said Jiraiya quickly moving to the back of the house with a dash that few would be able to follow. Standing against the wall, Jiraiya pondered about what would be the best way to proceed but before he could do anything he was forced to brace himself as the back wall exploded outwards and he had to leap away to avoid any harm befalling him. Shielding his eyes from the debris, Jiraiya blinked several times as he found himself surrounded by the three Genin he had been trying to avoid, a kunai dripping with poison held by his side.

"What?" questioned Jiraiya as he blinked several times to make sure he wasn't simply imagining the situation at hand.

"Well, this was unexpected," said Kakashi as he looked at what had befallen the building he had constructed. Never once during the mission briefing had he said that the house had to remain intact, and undoubtedly when actually out on an proper mission they would have to have a little more consideration for the clients property and valuables, but he couldn't deny that if it saved their life they would be somewhat thankful.

"Alright, you got me," said Jiraiya raising his hands and allowing the Genin to drop their stance. "So walk us through what the hell you did and how the hell you knew that I'd come from the back."

"Well, we've deduced that with the limitations of the training there were only a few places you could come from," said Sasuke with a smirk. "With me guarding the front entrance you'd have to take an alternate route to avoid getting spotted from the beginning. With the limited time that we had, we had Naruto set up several trip wires covering the sides of the building."

"So what did you have set up with those traps?" asked Jiraiya wondering what joys were awaiting him if he had triggered the wires.

"Absolutely nothing," said Naruto with a cheeky smile.

"What?" questioned Jiraiya.

"With the few minutes I had, I wouldn't have had the chance to set up anything elaborate that would be well hidden," explained Naruto.

"We had Naruto create the illusion that the sides were protected when in actuality they would have been the easiest ways to come through," stated Sasuke.

"Cheeky sods," said Jiraiya, now working out that he had seen the wires almost a little too easily. "And the ending?"

"Well, with three of the four walls out, you'd either have to go from behind or above, or below now that I think about it," said Sakura.

"So how did you know what time to strike with the exploding tag?" asked Jiraiya wondering just what the final piece of the puzzle was.

"That was my part to play," said Sasuke revealing that he was holding several tiny wires within his hand. "These were tied to points in the ground and when I felt them loosen I knew that you'd pulled the trigger and I slammed the roof to alert those inside to let loose with the explosions."

"I have to say that it's quite a feat," said Jiraiya, slightly blown away with what he'd been told. Sure they knew practically when and where he would be coming; when out on a mission they would potentially be waiting for hours on end for an attack that might or might not come so they were given a generous heads up on that point. Apart from that, though, Jiraiya couldn't fault what the three had done and knew that all of them would have contributed to this in one way or another. Hardly a second would have been spared while he'd been waiting in the trees for them to set up the trap. "You've got yourself quite a team here, Kakashi."

"Seems like I do," said the copy ninja who was just as surprised at the results as the sage was. He had only really taught his students the basics toward everything that they had just displayed, and he wondered just what they'd be like once he started teaching them more advanced techniques. It had taken a collaborate effort by all of them to create the plan, and had they had more time, they would have likely gone about everything on a different whim. To actually have captured the Sannin, even if he was going easy on them, this had been no simple feat.

"We're awesome like that," bragged Naruto beating his chest with his fist, an act which even caused a small smirk to come across Sasuke's face.

"So what do you want us to do now Kakashi sensei?" asked Sakura wondering what their teacher had planned for them now that the impromptu test had been passed.

"Well I didn't actually expect you to pass that on the first go," said Kakashi sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as he pondered as to what he'd get his minions to do. "Sakura, I'd like you to focus on your water walking and building your chakra reserves at this point. With your teammates on the frontline until you're capable of keeping up with them - which considering how much energy Naruto has might be sometime - you'll be playing more of a supporting role."

Sakura huffed slightly at the comment, though couldn't help but agree with what Kakashi was saying. If the three of them started fighting all at the same time she would be the one to slow down first of all, and as a result, Naruto and Sasuke's performance would drop as they'd have to help her complete the task at hand. Nodding in understanding, she quickly rushed off towards the river to push forward with her training. She wouldn't slack off, not now, not ever.

"Alright, Sasuke," said Kakashi turning his attention towards the Uchiha. "I want you to create a single shadow clone that will spar with Sakura atop the water. As you likely know it only takes a single solid attack to take out a shadow clone, and as such they have to be able to know just how much they can fight without taking damage, thus being able to fight for longer."

"Got it," said Sasuke as he created the single clone, the duplicate nodding in understanding before rushing off towards the river Sakura had headed towards earlier.

"Meanwhile, I'm going to run you through random combinations of hand seals," continued Kakashi. "Once you start copying more Jutsu with your sharingan you'll need to be able to both remember the proper hand seals and be able to replicate them as quickly as possible when you want to use them."

"Sounds good," said Sasuke realising that this training session would likely do wonders for him down the track.

"Wait, what am I going to be doing?" asked Naruto.

"You're going to be working with me," stated Jiraiya.

"You mean the dobe here is going to be getting one on one time with a Sannin?" questioned Sasuke, feeling like he had drawn the short straw.

"I'm not good enough anymore, am I?" said Kakashi having a little chuckle. "The reason Jiraiya is going to be training Naruto is that there are some things that Naruto needs to be taught, and unfortunately I am unable to teach him these things, hence why Jiraiya has offered to."

"Even if you were sitting in on this, you wouldn't learn anything useful," said the white haired sage. "This is something that only Naruto can learn."

Sasuke's eyes focused at that statement as he recalled the information he and Sakura had been going over the previous day, and couldn't help but wonder if Jiraiya was referring to the Kyuubi or something else entirely. As much as he wished to, he couldn't simply voice his opinion in front of two of the more powerful shinobi in the village, somehow he figured that that would not go down well.

"Are you going to teach me something awesome?" asked Naruto, his voice clearly radiating his excitement.

"Follow me and we'll find out," said Jiraiya, as he leapt away, an orange blur quickly following him.

"Let's commence, Sasuke," declared Kakashi, the Uchiha nodding as he set about getting this segment of training done correctly. He would figure out more about the enigma that was his teammate in his own time.

Peering through the trees near the river, Ino could hardly believe her eyes as she watched her rival go toe to toe against the last Uchiha, in what looked like an attempt for both parties to kill one another. The Yamanaka heiress had come down with the plan of sparring against Sakura to improve her own abilities against the pink haired ninja, and at the beginning of the day she had had no doubt that she would utterly be better than her friend in every way possible.

That had all gone out the window within the first few seconds of seeing her friend for the first time since the opening round of the Chunin exams. Not only was she walking upon water - something that she was unable to do herself as of yet - but here she was, fighting against her crush with such ferocity and malice in her attacks that it looked as if any single one that landed would be a devastating blow to say the least.

Beyond all that however she could see that both Sakura and Sasuke had smiles upon their faces. They were putting their heart and souls into their fists and they looked like they were having the time of their lives.

Ino gasped in shock as Sasuke's fist broke through Sakura's guard and hit her friend across the face, sending the pink haired girl bouncing across the water. On hands and knees, Sakura wiped a small trail of blood from her lips, the smile never leaving her face as she pushed forward to confront Sasuke yet again.

Turning around, Ino felt that she had seen enough. She had wanted to prove to Sakura that she was better than her, but it would take weeks of dedicated training to catch up on the gap that Sakura had created between them.

Hinata stood awkwardly along the edge of the clearing where she saw Naruto in a deep discussion with the unknown white haired man. She had no real idea what she was doing here, especially after the fiasco which had occurred the previous day. When she had awoken, the previous day's activities had played over her head like a busker who only knew the single song. Over and over she had contemplated what she could have done differently, or more importantly whether or not she was capable of having been able to do something differently.

She had been given the perfect opportunity to declare her feelings for the blonde and had choked, the hatred and self loathing having caused the seal upon her neck to respond, her negative emotions feeding it and slowly making it grow in strength. Hinata hated the searing pain that the seal created when it spread across her sin, but how could she prevent herself from activating it when she could hardly look at Naruto without hating herself for not being able to get any closer? Did this mean she should never see the blonde again? The alternative was to be able to get close to Naruto, but that did little more than make her realise just how weak she was.

For her own health, she knew that the best option would be to move on, remove Naruto from her life, but how could she do such a thing? His smile was radiating and his positive attitude directly contradicted the negative opinion she had of herself. Who would ever want to take somebody like that out of their life?

"Naruto-kun," she said softly under her breath as she continued to ponder over just what she should do.

Author's Notes: For those who are interested, we are a group of collaborative writers who combine our efforts to bring you stories such as this one. We're an open group, meaning that anyone can apply to join. Feel free to check out our forums, and perhaps apply to join the group, via the link on our profile. It's a great opportunity for those who would like to better their own writing skills and exchange skills of the trade with fellow authors, or to simply be more apart of a writing community.

Hope you enjoyed.