‡

Summary: Sarutobi has an epiphany the day Itachi leaves Konoha. He is busy thinking of who could manage to defeat the crazed owner of the Sharingan. When all of a sudden... It hits him. The last being that could halt shinobi in their tracks? Kyuubi. He felt satisfied, knowing that he could entrust the future Hokage the job of annihilating the most dangerous criminal Konoha has ever seen. He lifts Naruto's file from the Academy Records. He changes them. And by doing so, he creates the strongest user of Genjutsu that Konoha will ever see.

Disclaimer: If I said I owned Naruto, would you believe me? Well, maybe if Sasuke used some of his Mind-Hax on you. I don't own it.

Previously: Sandaime changed Naruto's records, assigning him, Sakura and Sasuke to tutelage under Kurenai Yuuhi the Illusionary Expert. Naruto was given a training itinerary by Iruka- the two would train every morning before practice with Kurenai. Sakura found a new motivation to train and grow stronger. Sasuke decided it would be best to go it alone.

‡

Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes lazily with his right hand, before letting his left hand thump the ancient alarm clock that sat on his bedside table.

"BEEEEPBEEEEPBEEE-"

The blond yawned as he lifted himself from his springless mattress, and he brushed his light sheets off of his body. Still rubbing at his eyes, he rolled off of the side of his bed and stood up straight. He yawned and stretched, tired tears emerging from their ducts. The wanna-be Hokage scuffed the salty water from his face with grim determination.

He discarded his pyjamas, letting them drop to the floor before marching into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. The time was 07:31, and the sun had crept through Naruto's large windows hours ago.

He turned the shower on before waiting patiently for the water to warm. He tested it with his hand once, feeling it was cold, before drying his hand on a towel he kept handily on the floor. He waited patiently for a minute or so before trying again. The water was still cold.

Must be another problem with the boiler. He would tell the Superintendent about his problem after he had a freezing shower. He grit his teeth together.

"I'm goin' in."

‡

Sakura brushed her silky pink hair from her face as she emerged from her slumber. Her mother had called into her minutes ago, telling her she needed to "go buy some flowers for Grandma's grave." Sakura grumbled, not feeling guilty in the least.

Her Grandmother was a horrible woman.

But that was okay. She wasn't buying the flowers to please her Grandmother, just her mother. She pinned her hair to the side of her head, noticing it sticking outwards at a strange angle, and she scowled. She liked to have her hair the same everyday. If it were any different, there was a chance that someone wouldn't like it.

The pin was purple in colour, meaning that it clashed with Sakura's usual red dress. With a groan, the girl hopped into the bath her father had prepared for her and relaxed for a few minutes. The time was 07:47, and the sun had beamed through her bedroom window to reveal swirling dust within the ornately decorated room.

Sakura rubbed the suds from her body and stood up from the bathtub, gripping a towel and wrapping it around herself. She bounced out of the bath and looked at her reflection in her en-suite bathroom's mirror. The pinkette slid a hand into a pot of face cream before rubbing it over her forehead, then her cheeks. She pulled her pastel pink toothbrush from her bathroom cabinet and sighed, before doing the tedious task of brushing her teeth.

‡

Sasuke brushed the sweat from his forehead before it slipped into his eyes. The time was 08:03. The raven haired boy had been doing his daily target practice for half an hour. He decided to give it one last try. He slung a kunai from his pouch, quickly darting out another, and another. Each of the kunai struck the centre of targets placed around the wooded training field. He tossed two more, one pistolled upwards, and the other rocketed into it's side to hit the hardest target on the other side of a tree, at it's very base. The kunai bounced off each other unremarkably, hitting no targets, and the Uchiha yelled in frustration.

"I need to do this! Until I have completed this task, Itachi will be forever from my reach!" He told himself, collecting the kunai sullenly.

From the top of the tree, Kurenai watched Sasuke with a frown. 'Perhaps I can get some help for him.' She thought, knowing full well that her boyfriend was tutoring a Weapons Specialist.

A girl that supposedly never misses a target.

‡

Naruto shot down the stairs of his apartment block in a fluster. His first day of private tutoring, and he was late? 'How is this even possible?' He moaned internally, hurdling over a sleeping dog in the hallway. He looked at the sun through one of the hallway's large open windows. 'Okay, it's about ten past eight. Hopefully Iruka won't be too pissed off.'

The demon-host shot through the already bustling town of Konoha, it's inhabitants setting up shop outside for the early morning market. He took off down a side ally, knowing that it would take longer. 'The people in that market… All of them see me as the Fox.' He thought bitterly, before scaling the wall of a building on his left and leaping over the roofs.

He was headed to meet Iruka-sensei at Training ground 1 to receive tutoring that would help his base skills. Luckily for him, Iruka was his closest friend and he would undoubtedly be kind to the young blond.

"NARUTOOOO!" The boy winced. Iruka was definitely pissed.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei, I'll be on time tomorrow!" The boy blabbered out, "There was a black cat crossing my path, my alarm clock broke, I had to help an old granny with her shopping!"

Iruka's annoyance grew. "Naruto?"

"Yeh?"

"Shut up."

"Yes sir."

‡

Kurenai watched Naruto's conduct with a mixture of dread and exasperation. 'Stupid boy…' She thought with endearment. 'Although, it's not like he's had any role model. I shouldn't be too harsh on him.'

"Iruka-sensei, I don't get what tree climbing will do for us!" Naruto whined pitifully, making both the Chunin and the spying Jounin wince.

"Naruto! I explained it to you before. It enhances your use of chakra, and it brings up your control." The instructor said before demonstrating once more.

"But what use would it have as a ninja?" Naruto said sullenly, kicking a rock away from his feet. "Why should I learn this, and not some kick-ass ninja technique?"

"Don't question me, or my teaching methods. You and I don't have the time to be doing this Naruto! Why are you fighting against me? I am trying to help you. Listen to me, and do as you're told!" Iruka snapped, his voice raising with his anger.

"… Fine." Naruto said, before channelling the energy through to the soles of his feet and walking up the base of the tree. Before falling down again after two steps.

"Test your chakra, every time you step you need to keep in mind the surface of the object, then you need to regulate your chakra to match it according to the reaction you receive." Iruka lectured, writing in a scroll, while sitting down under the shade of a tree opposite the blond boy.

Naruto was struggling. Kurenai frowned. The academy instructor knew the technical aspects of the tree-walking exercise, but teaching it to Naruto seemed beyond him.

Iruka sighed dismally. 'At this rate we'll be here all week.' Kurenai gave Iruka a glimpse of disapproval, before dropping down in front of him. She was clearly not pleased.

"Iruka, pleased to see you." The red-eyed Jounin said in a clipped tone, her annoyance clear.

"Hello Kurenai-sensei," Iruka greeted, continuing to write in the scroll.

"Iruka, I'm here to speak to you about your teaching methods." Kurenai said bluntly, and quietly as Naruto noticed nothing and continued to train.

‡

Sakura arrived at the training spot half and hour earlier than planned. It was 08:30, and she was the only person that had arrived. She knew Naruto wouldn't get there to prepare, but she had thought that at least Sasuke-kun would be there early!

She sat down under the shade of a picturesque small tree, and brought out the scroll Kurenai had prepared for her the day before. Her bright jade eyes sought out phrases on the scroll which could be remembered due to their importance, such as: A NINJA MUST NEVER SHOW THEIR BACK TO THEIR ENEMY, A NINJA MUST ALWAYS BE PREPARED, A NINJA MUST ALWAYS CONSERVE THEIR CHAKRA, A NINJA MUST NEVER SHOW THEIR EMOTIONS, A NINJA MUST NEVER LET DOWN THEIR GUARD…

Sakura memorised them putting her photographic memory to good use. Before she came across a phrase that Kurenai-sensei had highlighted just for her.

A NINJA MUST BE COURTEOUS AND FRIENDLY TOWARDS THEIR COMRADES.

Sakura's eyes softened as she thought of Naruto and Sasuke-kun. And how she was only courteous and friendly towards one of them.

But Sakura had done nothing wrong. 'Kurenai just doesn't understand how annoying, idiotic and frustrating Naruto is!'

‡

"Iruka, I understand it perfectly!" Kurenai responded through gritted teeth, "however your teaching is not helping Naruto! It might help others his age, but he clearly is not responding through these methods. Try explaining to him! Try it differently!"

"I didn't ask for this job Kurenai," Iruka retorted hotly "I only accepted because Hokage-sama gave me no other option."

"So you don't care if Naruto can defend himself or not?" Kurenai said disappointed, 'I'd hoped I could count on him.'

"Of course I do!" Iruka denied, "are you insinuating that I don't care about Naruto?"

"The way you spoke to him doesn't show your care for him! You put him back into the Student-Teacher relationship that you've always had. The reason the Hokage picked you was because he trusts you, not because the Hokage thought you should keep yourself distanced from Naruto!"

"Neh, Iruka-sensei, are you going to buy me ramen now?"

Iruka's eyes softened, and grew misty.

"I don't have anyone waiting at home for me anyway, ner!" The blond retorted, blowing a raspberry at him.

"Naruto wants a friend Iruka, you're being…" Kurenai was beginning to get red in the face, something that was uncommon for her, "you're being…" she could only think of the young boy, who solely desired acknowledgement and bonds of friendship. "You're being stupid."

Iruka looked surprised. His surprise steadily grew into a wide smile that ran parallel with the scar that marked him as the sunny-carefree teacher of Konoha's Ninja Academy. "I'm so glad Naruto found you, Kurenai."

Kurenai could only smile back at him, while Naruto slipped off the trunk of the tree once more with an "Ouch!"

‡

Sasuke walked steadily through the sunny street of Konoha, his hands in his pockets and a frown etched onto his face.

"Good morning Uchiha-sama!"

"Good morning Sasuke-kun!"

"Nice to see you, Sasu-chan!"

His frown withered into a look of disgust as he took in the simpering of Konoha's populace. That crowd was just waiting, waiting to strike at him when he was most vulnerable.

They wouldn't damage him like Itachi did. They were after him for reputation's sake, and for financial gain. The old women would try to marry him to their ugly fat daughters, and the girls his age would swoon and whine as they always did. As they always would.

Sasuke slipped into a dark alleyway to escape their eyes. They didn't see him as Sasuke. Each and everyone of them saw him as the "last Uchiha." The boy that needs saving.

He snorted humourlessly, hopping up onto a fire escape before leaping to the top of the building with a series of smooth jumps. 'I'm the best of our graduating class, I hardly need saving.' He looked out over the bustling town, and over to the trees east of the town centre. His team was probably waiting. Well, Kurenai and Sakura at least. Naruto was probably late.

He pounced to the next roof, and the one after that. 'Hopefully Naruto won't hold me back.' He thought dismally as he considered his team. Sakura would hopefully have her uses due to her intellect, and Iruka said that Kurenai was an Illusionary specialist. 'The Uchiha clan's Sharingan is capable of casting off illusions with relative ease. Kurenai will help my growth.'

Sasuke Uchiha whipped through the air, knowing they would help him to grow stronger. He knew he would get the strength to defeat the man who slaughtered his clan. Itachi Uchiha. His "big brother."

‡

The time had come for the ending of Naruto's training with Iruka. Kurenai had spirited herself away under an Illusionary technique, knowing that Naruto might not appreciate her interference with Iruka, his closest and only friend.

Her ebony hair itched at her shoulders lightly, and Kurenai considered pulling it back into a ponytail as she did in her ANBU days. She shook her head lightly. She had promised herself she wouldn't think about the ANBU, about all of the blood that had been spilt. All the comrades she had lost.

But it was of no consequence. She would not lose her team, she thought sullenly. She noticed the time, and that Naruto had not yet left Iruka's tutelage for her own training session. Hopefully Iruka would send him over promptly.

The time was 08:59, and a steady countdown of seconds had begun in Kurenai's head. 'Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine…'

Kurenai vanished from the spot in a fluster of leaves, and a whistle of wind. It was time for Team One's first training session. She span as she dropped to the ground in front of Sakura, who fumbled with the scroll and pushed it into her bag.

Sakura stood at attention, and saluted Kurenai. "Good morning, Kurenai-sensei!" She chirped happily.

"Good morning Sakura-kun." Kurenai nodded in response, finding Sasuke's chakra signature approaching at a high-speeded pace. The boy appeared in a moment, and he let his hands slip into his pockets. It was a habit he had to replace his nervous habit- biting his nails. Having hands in your pocket would make you appear nonchalant and cool, a quality that Sasuke thought was desirable. The boy bowed his head in greeting, a gesture Kurenai returned gracefully. He stood next to Sakura, with a grunt of "Morning."

"Morning Sasuke-kun! How did you sleep? Did you find the area alright? As predicted Naruto is last, neh?" Sakura blabbered, the appearance of her crush completely blanking out her resolve to treat her team-mates with equal respect. Kurenai frowned.

She would need to give the girl a 'one-on-one' session if this attitude persisted. Especially if Sakura made a remark like that to Naruto's face. 'I'll leave it for now.' Kurenai decided peaceably knowing that 'girls will be girls,' and that there was no point in getting involved before it was time.

After all, Kurenai was infamous for having good luck unlike 'Tsunade The Legendary Sucker', and she would let the situation play out before she revealed her hand, just like she always did.

"Well, Team One. This will be our first official day of training." Kurenai said, putting Naruto out of her mind. He knew the times, and he knew he had to keep commitments. 'I'm not going to wait for him.' She thought stubbornly, knowing full well that being soft would not help him progress.

Sasuke and Sakura were clearly eager, their eyes were alert and they were standing at attention. However where Sakura's eyes were eager for knowledge and a chance to impress Sasuke, the Uchiha's eyes were blank and dull. Kurenai finished her quick analysis, knowing full well that Sasuke had been more affected by the Uchiha massacre than he had let on.

He had his own personal madness to deal with, and she would make sure to help him. "It's nice to be able to call myself a teacher, after all, I've desired to become one since my own days as an Academy student." Kurenai continued as she felt Naruto's chakra finally start to make it's way to them.

"You wanted to be a teacher?" Sakura said curiously. She let Sasuke's allure drift from her mind, as Kurenai-sensei was clearly more important. "No offence, but why?"

Kurenai stared at the girl and laughed dryly, "Sakura being a teacher has it's own reward."

The pink-haired girl seemed non-plussed, and Sasuke looked bored. 'Who cares about her past?' Sasuke thought with resentment, 'I'd be better off alo-'

"Yo! Naruto Uzumaki at your service!" roared a bubbly squeaky voice. Sasuke felt his blood pressure build, his annoyance at not even being able to finish a thought growing.

"Naruto!" Kurenai greeted with a smile, "you're late! And for your first training session too." She shook her head lightly, "it's a habit you need to remove. I won't stand for bad punctuality."

"I'm sorry Kurenai-sensei," Naruto mumbled, rubbing his back, "my training ran over what it was supposed to."

Sasuke snorted in disbelief, 'the idiot trains?'

Kurenai ignored Sasuke's behaviour and continued chiding the blond. "You arrived late, so you will stay late. I won't accept you being late for either of your appointments."

Naruto squinted at Kurenai in a fox-like way, before answering her with a "humph!"

Kurenai gave a heaving sigh. "What I would like to do for our training today is discuss ourselves, get to know each other and get some physical training done." Kurenai said, deflated for having to already scold a member of her team. "Any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand, asking as she did so, "By physical training do you mean combat, athleticism or obstacles?"

Kurenai considered her for a moment. "I mean… All of them."

"But-but we'd be exhausted!" Sakura moaned lightly, earning a small grin from her teacher.

"Yes, but exhaustion is the way forward right now." She answered cryptically, taking a step back and sitting on the floor. She rubbed a crease out of her dress as she sat neatly before the three of them while they each sat in front of her.

Sakura sat to the left. Naruto sat in the centre. Sasuke sat on the right. Between each of the ninja-in-training was a space of exactly two feet of room.

Kurenai noticed this, and she gave a measuring look to Sasuke and Sakura. 'It's enough room for them to not be caught together in an attack, yet it's close enough to help out Naruto, their central weakness.' Even if this wasn't intentional, they would make a good team, Kurenai noted.

"Moving on," The red-eyed illusionary specialist began, "I'd like to ask you some questions, mainly what you enjoy doing, what you dislike, what you like, your hobbies and your dreams for the future."

Sakura began to speak, but Kurenai cut her off.

"I'd like you to each spend five minutes formulating what you think is a valuable answer." She said with a hint of a smile, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto immediately fell onto his back, before groaning with pain.

Sasuke let his body slouch forward as he began to think on his answer.

Sakura sat straight, she let her brain shoot into overdrive. "Sasuke, Naruto," she said calmly "why do you think Kurenai-sensei left?"

"So we could think?" Naruto answered her. He had rolled onto his stomach and was rubbing his back with a pained expression.

"There's more to it than that." Sakura dismissed his argument within a moment, while Sasuke looked on with shock on his face.

'I'd never thought more on Kurenai's question… Maybe Sakura's right? If she is, then she's more capable than me!' Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. "Maybe she wants us to discuss it?" He blurted out, hoping he could answer before either other Genin.

Naruto glanced at him before shrugging, "why would she want that?"

"So that we would begin functioning as a Team!" Sakura pieced together, "Kurenai-sensei had given me a scroll suggesting the benefits of teamwork yesterday."

"Kurenai gave you a scroll?" Sasuke said doubtfully, "I don't remember getting a scroll."

"You weren't there Uchiha." Naruto drawled, "Sakura and me got tons of ninja-stuff!"

"… Have you even read your scroll Uzumaki?" Sasuke said with the beginnings of a smirk.

"…"

The clearing was silent, as the three ninja-in-training were ashamed of Naruto's laziness.

The blond moaned loudly. "The one time reading pays off, and I don't bother!"

Sakura's facial expression could only be described as scandalised. She opened her mouth to speak, and she screeched out her scholarly heart. Naruto winced for a moment, before looking to Sasuke who seemed to be resistant to her cringe-worthy voice.

Sasuke's eyes had glossed over, and his mental state had retreated into his 'happy place', only receiving Sakura's volatile moans as white noise.

Kurenai watched her team along with Iruka, under a simple illusion that made them temporarily invisible. Of course, with Kurenai's control 'temporary' could last well up to three hours while she remained immobile. She shared a quizzical look with Iruka, wondering exactly how the team would function before patiently waiting for the last two minutes to play out.

‡

Kurenai stood before her three students, while Iruka observed them from his spot on a tall tree. He continued to make notes, while he observed the children he had helped to train.

"So, we'll start with you. Naruto, what do you enjoy doing? What do you dislike? What do you like? What are your hobbies? What are your dreams for the future?"

Naruto scrambled out of his lazy position, and moved to sit forward eagerly. "I enjoy… Yesterday I enjoyed training with Kurenai-sensei and Sakura-chan!" Kurenai's eyes flashed in surprise, but otherwise she was controlled.

"I dislike…" He made a face of disgust, "I disliked training my chakra control with Iruka." Iruka felt his cheeks redden, while Kurenai stifled a grin. "My hobbies are to try different types of ramen! And my dream for the future is to be the village's Hokage!"

Kurenai grinned broadly at him, "you've definitely grown up in an interesting way," she remarked kindly, "Sakura would you please continue?"

Sakura looked nervous as she began to speak about herself, "I enjoy keeping up with fashion trends…" She glanced expectantly at Kurenai, expecting a reprimand. There was none. She carried on while apprehensively playing with her hair, "I dislike…" She thought for a moment, and a playful glint people who don't understand the value of studying!" She gave Naruto a filthy look while Sasuke snorted with humour, and Naruto yelped, taken-aback. "I like talking with Sasuke-kun, and my hobby is to read romance novels-" Sakura stopped abruptly realising that her dream was the last remaining point. "My dream is to grow stronger, to gain a certain somebody's attention." She said shyly, 'if I tell everyone that my dream is to be Mrs. Sakura Uchiha, then it might scare Sasuke-kun away!'

Sasuke stared at the girl in disbelief, before taking Kurenai's nod as a cue to divulge his own information. "I enjoy training. I dislike most things. I like training. My hobby is to train. My dream, no… My ambition is to destroy one man and to re-create the Uchiha clan." He did not stop once in his explanation, and he held a glare from underneath his long fringe which contained a small amount of killing intent.

Kurenai couldn't withhold her frown, and she introduced herself as well, "I enjoy many things, I dislike many things, I like many things, I have many hobbies, and I have a dream," she concluded with a satisfied smile.

"EH!?" Sakura and Naruto exclaimed, "we didn't learn anything about you sensei!"

"You didn't?" Kurenai replied with mock-surprise, "then find out the answers to these questions!"

Sasuke offered her an inquisitive glance. Naruto squinted, his brain moving at a snail's pace. Sasuke sighed with reluctance, predicting what would be coming next.

"It's your first mission."

Iruka smiled at the group's antics below him, as Sakura and Naruto looked clueless and Sasuke seemed to be cursing the world. 'I'll do my best to help Naruto catch up with them.' He vowed mentally, 'I can be the support he needs.'

Kurenai gathered her patience and then began on what her mind had dubbed 'the journey into the unknown.' "A ninja's job in society is to do missions for the people of it's village," she began, gauging the reactions of her three students. Sakura was nodding, Sasuke was clearly letting his mind wander, and Naruto was…

Climbing a tree.

Or attempting to, at any rate.

"Naruto. Come here. Sit," Kurenai commanded imperiously to which the blond responded with a glare. "You can train later! You sit here, and you listen, now." Her tone left little room for disobedience, and Naruto found himself kneeling at her feet once again. "Good. Focus."

He nodded, his mind clearly elsewhere.

Kurenai sighed internally, understanding Iruka's pain. How could you teach an 'Aspiring Hokage' who had no desire to stick to what she would teach? She knew of his short attention span, and she knew of his raw power.

And she did something that she did not normally do, and she made a split decision.

"On second thought, Naruto, go and train," she said, already hating this new plan. The boy leapt to his feet with gaining control of his power on the brain. "After all, this lesson is really only made for people with the ability of Sakura and Sasuke."

As expected, she was rewarded a look that showed unadulterated disgust. "Hey! I can do everything they can do! And better!"

Sakura and Sasuke looked unbothered by his outburst, already used to his turbulent behaviour. Sasuke however could not let this chance slip from him, "is that why you're the dead last? Is that why Sakura and I are each the top of our respective strengths within the class, and that the only subject you could even pass was moulding chakra?"

Naruto had no retort that could remotely harm Sasuke in the same way, and he had no way of conveying his said superiority. Facts did not lie.

"Right. So I can't claim to be the top of the class! But I can do a Jounin level ninja technique, that's forbidden to boot!" The boy yelled back, conjuring a dozen Shadow Clones who each moved to attack Sasuke, with fists raised.

Kurenai's eyes narrowed, she whipped one hand into her equipment pouch and drew ninja-wire which was readily attached to a kunai. With her other hand she formed a one handed seal, managing to draw her chakra into a technique that would fool the many Naruto's vision. They each ran at a tree and began pummelling the bark, with the original Naruto looking on in confusion.

She finally let loose her other hand, tossing it at one of the surrounding trees before Iruka whisked it from the air, and sped around the tree to tie the Naruto clones in one place. Iruka used a standard ninja technique to knot the wire in place, while Kurenai gave Naruto a strange look that he had never seen before.

"Naruto, I'm ashamed of your behaviour. I thought you were better than that." The boy who had built such a presence in her life within such a short time had already shattered her conception of him. She had assumed him misunderstood, and innocent. She thought that while he had been ignored, that his growth would only be stunted rather than impaired.

But clearly, Naruto was far too quick to anger. And despite the fact that Sasuke's verbal abuse been used with the intention of aggravating him, Naruto had responded all too readily to the insult.

"I will have to speak to you about your use of the Shadow Clone technique Naruto," Kurenai said gently, "not only was your use of it sloppy and manipulated through anger, but your use of it was not what is intended by the Shadow Clone's inventor."

Through all of this, Sasuke and Sakura sat laced with shock at how easily Kurenai had dealt with what appeared to be solid clones. Sasuke's eyes found Naruto with a new respect, despite Naruto's intention to pummel him. 'He can produce a forbidden technique? Was he holding back at the Academy?'

"I only learnt this technique last night!" Naruto responded weakly.

Sasuke sweat dropped, 'Maybe not.'

"Do you expect me to be a master already?" Naruto continued on, his head hung in shame.

"If you aren't a master why did you use it at all?!" Kurenai replied, obviously aggravated.

Naruto jumped with her voice suddenly being raised, not used to the normally calm woman exuding such a dangerous aura.

"Never ever use a technique you don't know how to use!" She flipped through a few hand seals before activating a technique. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" She funnelled an orange ball of fire from her lips in a controlled roaring flame, which completely annihilated the clones within moments, melting the wire, and burning the tree to a cinder. The clones had poofed away in a smoky haze, while the tree cooked under the flame in front of the shocked Genin.

"My team was eliminated due to a stupid mistake from a rookie ninja, who thought they were better than they really were." Kurenai said, her expression stony as the ruby flames reflected in her damp eyes. "There are only a few of us left from that original team. Three out of a squad of twelve."

Naruto lifted his head and looked back at her, not able to say anything but "Sorry."

Sakura and Sasuke, understanding the situation said nothing. What could they say?

Team One stayed silent, watching the fire die out and the ash of the tree stir under the winds of Fire Country. Kurenai turned to them, "I will make sure that each of you live while you are under my leadership. I will ensure that you all achieve the goals you spoke to me about." Her voice was shaky, but the tone was solid.

"Thank you Kurenai-sensei." Sakura replied tentatively.

"Iruka, would you do me a favour?" Kurenai asked softly, as she turned away from them again. The scarred Chunin looked at her inquisitively and gestured for her to elaborate. "Can you take Sasuke and Sakura on a run around Konoha's border?"

Iruka looked shocked, but gestured for the two to follow. The three of them left quickly, not wishing to see anymore of the uncomfortable scene.

"Naruto…" Kurenai muttered, "I want you to be Hokage. But in a team, you can't attack your comrades!"

The demon-container was stunned. "Kurenai-sensei, you just said I had no ability! Why would you want me to be Hokage?"

"Naruto I was using reverse psychology in an attempt to gain your attention, I used your own feeling of inadequacy and capitalised on you feeling this way." Kurenai admitted, "however what I said still holds an element of truth."

The boy gave her an even gaze, clearly wanting to be any place but there as he hated 'these types' of conversations. He despised people recognising his faults.

"You are, as an academic and in many other ways, inferior to Sasuke and Sakura," Kurenai said truthfully, "however as your teacher my aim is to make you all into a balanced squad."

Naruto squinted at her, and he tilted his head foxily. "So what you want is for all of us to make up for each other's bad points?"

"Exactly. That, and to make you all equal if you were to have to fight with each other." Kurenai revealed carefully, knowing that what she was about to tell Naruto could create an added sense of paranoia.

"But you said that you didn't want us to fight each other!" Naruto complained with confusion, hanging his head again.

"Naruto there are some ninja who decide to leave their squad, their village and everything else behind. That is an eventuality that we must be prepared for." Kurenai instructed, "some teachers for rookie teams don't bother telling their students, because they think that it would make them paranoid, or they hold their own skills too highly. However I believe that it's best that we're all prepared for every course of action a potential enemy make take."

"So… I should try to get stronger quickly, because there's a chance that Sasuke or Sakura would leave the village?" He asked dubiously, 'I know Sasuke's a bastard, but I doubt he'd ever leave the village. And Sakura would never even consider it!'

"That is exactly it. Should they leave, you should try to stop them. And if you aren't always on par with them, you won't be able to keep them within the village." Kurenai said, thinking of a man who destroyed the life of a friend of hers. "I'll tell you a story to help you understand it easier: There was a team of three ninja, each of whom were incredibly versed in the art of summoning a different animal and in specific areas. They were all fairly close, and their partnership was said to be unparalleled."

"If they were so close, then why bother with the story?" Naruto asked, already bored.

"…" Kurenai continued, ignoring his complaints "but one of the ninja decided to leave the village for the sake of gaining power, and for doing forbidden experiments. His name was Orochimaru. His other team-mate Tsunade was said to be superior to him in strength, but weak to their other team-mate Jiraiya, and Jiraiya was weak to Orochimaru as they all held equal strengths and weaknesses in specific areas."

"So Tsunade stopped this Orochimaru guy then?" Naruto guessed in monotone.

"No. Tsunade had left the village on a solo-mission, leaving the chase of Orochimaru to Jiraiya." Kurenai corrected, "and Jiraiya was defeated as not only could he not bring himself to kill Orochimaru, but his techniques were weak against him anyway."

"So… Orochimaru escaped? Jiraiya was killed?"

"No. Jiraiya was defeated, and he left the village legally on a training mission. He now ventures to kill Orochimaru."

"But that's not too bad, nobody died! Even if Orochimaru escaped, nobody got hurt." Naruto said with blasé and a slight wave of a hand-gesture.

"Orochimaru is now an S-rank missing ninja who has killed countless Konoha ninja, destroyed numerous clans, and countered many of Konoha's missions due to his knowledge of the village's ways and plans." Kurenai said darkly, "not only that, but he along with a few others is listed in many village's Bingo Books as 'flee on sight', as it's rumoured that if he catches you, then you will suffer a fate worse than death at his hands."

Naruto gulped audibly, "So what's this Jiraiya guy waiting for? And Tsunade! They both have the strength to beat him right?"

"Wrong. Tsunade's been missing-in-action for over fifteen years, also abandoning the village. And Jiraiya may have the strength to defeat Orochimaru, but Orochimaru has many ninja at his disposal, as well as many secret techniques which he developed outside of Konoha's sight. He also has spies within Konoha, keeping track of numerous ninja who he deems to be threats to him."

"How? So much trouble from one failed fight?" Naruto asked dismally, "and you think that we should all be prepared for something like this?"

"The answer to both questions is yes." At his look of dismay, she laughed lightly, "but don't worry. My aim is to make you, Sakura and Sasuke all equal in every way."

His look of horror was impossible to miss.

"Oh yes, you seem to have realised it."

"No Kurenai-sensei, please! I beg you! Anything but… but…"

"I apologise Naruto, but you still have to learn to control your chakra more efficiently."

‡

Sasuke, Sakura and Iruka all jogged around the boundaries of Konoha's jurisdiction at a fast pace, and were currently as far from Konoha's training grounds as one could be while still being safely on Konoha's border.

"NOOOOOO!"

However all three ninja still heard a howl of misery which seemed to originate from the third member of Team One, known as Naruto Uzumaki.