Here's the second part. Probably gonna be short too. Oh well. Life goes on.

Age 2: Sensei

It was a glorious morning in Konohagakure; the kind that you only get about a dozen times in your life. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. What could be more serene?

Sadly, this fragile peace didn't last very long, for a particular earth-shaking screech shattered the morning air. It was not entirely unlike that of a succubus from the ninth layer of Hell, but, (for those who knew where it was coming from), it was a lot more frightening.

"JIRAIYA!!!" screeched the banshee, "You think it's funny to grab my ass?!! Well, come back here and I'll really give you something to laugh about!"

Yes, you guessed it. It's everyone's favourite Proto-Sannin, Tsunade. And it appears she's finally got a hold of Jiraiya, and is proceeding to "explain" to him, why exactly he shouldn't grab a lady's unmentionables.

5 minutes later, from the bloody heap that used to be a future Gama-sennin, a faint voice is heard, "…god damn it, that was SO worth it….heh heh…I'm getting better…she only broke TWO ribs today…ha ha Tsunade… Looks like I win this round…" So continued Jiraiya, until, round the corner, who should come, but his sensei, Sarutobi.

"Dum Dee Dum Dee Dum…" hummed Sarutobi happily to himself. Suddenly he stopped. "Oh, look I've stepped in something…aww…and these were my good shoes…" complained sensei. "oh, no wait…good morning Jiraiya. It appears I've stepped in you. Please, let's get moving to the training ground. I've got some things to teach you today." At the thought of learning some new super-cool jutsu, Jiraiya's wounds healed with almost divine speed, and he raced off to the team's personal training ground. Sarutobi just shook his head at the disappearing dust cloud, and made a personal memo to himself.

I really must check with Nidaime-sensei to see if Jiraiya's family has some sort of healing bloodline limit.

As Sarutobi arrived at the training grounds, he saw his students in their usual positions. Tsunade looked pissed at Jiraiya; Jiraiya was bouncing around eagerly, and as for Orochimaru…well…he just looked bored. "Gather round students," said Sarutobi, "I've got an important lesson to teach you today" "What is it?" said Jiraiya, almost shouted, "Are we finally gonna learn how to summon? Huh Huh? Are we? Cause I can't wait to learn how to summon something cool, like a dragon, or even better, a toad!"

"Ha" snorted Orochimaru "A useless summon for a useless ninja"

"Oh yeah?" retaliated Jiraiya "Then what would you summon that's so great?"

" I would summon snakes," said Orochimaru, with a hint of a grin, "Just so they could eat your toads right up"

"Ach please" scoffed Jiraiya "Toads rule."

"No, snakes do"

"Toads!"

"Snakes"

"TOADS!!"

"SNAKES!!"

"RIGHT, THAT'S IT!" bellowed Tsunade, grabbing both genin's heads and banging them together like coconuts. "Shut the hell up!! You're giving me a headache!" As both of her teammates lay stunned, she added as an afterthought, "Besides, everyone knows slugs are the best summons…"

Jiraiya foolishly mumbled to himself, "…stupid Tsunade flat-chest…doesn't know anything about anything…" Sadly for him, Tsunade heard this last comment and gazed at him with a look worthy of a gorgon from the deepest pit of Hades, which reduced Jiraiya to a quivering heap, muttering something about "…all the flames I saw, and what on earth was a nine-tailed fox doing there?"

" All right students, settle down." said Sarutobi as he tried to restore order, "To answer Jiraiya's original question, no, we are not learning to summon, you have to be at least a jounin before you can earn a summoning scroll from a clan."

"Awww…." sighed Jiraiya as he kicked a stone in despair. "So are we at least gonna learn a cool jutsu?"

"No, Jiraiya," Sarutobi said, "We are not going to learn any jutsus today. What I'm going to tell you about is far more important in the long run."

His students looked at him in confusion.

He continued, "What I'm trying to say is, although you all are remarkable gennin, (Jiraiya puffed out his chest like a peacock at this praise), you lack true understanding of the Will of the Flame. And without that understanding, you cannot achieve real power."

"Sensei…" complained Jiraiya, "You already told us about the flame-thingy…back when we met you."

"Yes" Sarutobi said, "But I don't think you understand it properly. Let me ask you Jiraiya, would you be willing to lay down your life for your teammates?" He looked at his other students, "Would any of you be willing for that matter?..."

Jiraiya responded first, "But sensei, Orochi-teme's a cold bastard, and Tsunade get's angry when I touch her…It's a compliment, damn it Tsunade."

" I see…" mused Sarutobi, "And what about you Tsunade?"

Tsunade answered, "Well Orochimaru's just creepy and Jiraiya-baka's a pervert!"

"Tsk tsk," sighed Sarutobi "And what about my prize student? Orochimaru? Would you lay your life down for them?"

Orochimaru looked away and said simply, "Others slow me down. I don't need them, or anyone for that matter…"

Sarutobi hung his head.

"Well, I must say I'm very disappointed in all of you." he said in a curt tone, "You have failed to understand the Will of the Flame at all, or even where the strength of the village comes from. Teamwork is what it is. Teamwork binds us together as a family. Nothing is more important."

"But sensei…" began Tsunade.

"But nothing," Sarutobi continued, "Have you even thought about how much stronger you would be physically if you fought as a team? For example, Jiraiya could use his Swamp of the Underworld jutsu on an enemy, from where Tsunade could use her chakra-enhanced punches to finish the enemy off. Or, Orochimaru could use his ability to dislocate his body to pick up Jiraiya when he's using his Needle Armour and throw him at the enemy. So many possibilities open up if you fight as friends, not just as a genin cell."

Sarutobi watched as his students looked at each other with new expressions on their faces.

"So have you learnt anything from this talk?" he asked.

"Yes sensei." they chirped in unison.

"Good" Sarutobi said as he smiled, "Now I want you to spend the rest of our training-time now working on ways to fight together."

"Hai" the three said before running off.

Sarutobi knew in his heart that this new kinship between his students wouldn't last forever, but he hoped that, for just a few years, they would have each other as true friends and teammates. He couldn't have been more right.

As he turned to catch up with the youngsters, he smiled as he remembered his own youth, and thought one thing.

New leaves are forever growing

Hey, would you look at that, it's actually an adequate length.

Anyway, please read and review, and please, I'm mainly writing this to get reviews on my writing style, so I would greatly appreciate comments on both style and quality.