Here is the latest ch. I hope everybody enjoys it. Feel free to review afterwards.

I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form, but if I did this is how it would go.

TEAM 8's CHALLENGE BEGINS

The group finally gathered at the entrance of the village. Kakashi surveyed the scene and everything looked good he said. "Looks like we're ready. Let's head out." Before the last word was out of his mouth Naruto and Temari were already moving. Not wasting any time to begin their journey. Kakashi followed wondering about what he had just observed. Temari he could understand, this mission was very pertinent to her, more so than it was to Sakura or himself. Her reaction was understandable what bothered Kakashi though was Naruto, he had taken off in the same manner as Temari. What was Naruto's motivation to act like that Kakashi wondered. He hoped everything would work out well, but only time would tell.

Sakura had taken off right behind Kakashi and was keeping pace with him. She saw he was thinking about something and let him do so for a short ways. After a while though she couldn't suppress her curiosity. "Kakashi-san, ano..." She waited for Kakashi to look at her and when he did she continued. "Back at the Hokage's office she said she would send backup as soon as possible. I assume she meant another team. Who do you think she will send?" She asked.

Kakashi hadn't given this much thought and it proved a little difficult to give an answer he felt confident in. "I'm not really sure Sakura, it could be anybody." He answered. In his mind though he didn't really care, he just hoped it wasn't his annoying rival.

About a mile outside of Konoha a group of people were walking. When all of a sudden one of them had a very intense sneezing fit. His whole body jumped with each sneeze. His companions all stopped to see if he was better. When they saw the sneezing fit passed they started moving on again.

"Kazuntight." Neji said as he walked on.

"Bless you." Tenten said as she followed Neji.

"Aha!" Rock Lee exclaimed. "A secret admirer that can't help but to think of you, master Guy." He let out a whoop and said. "I bet it was a girl that saw us on our mission and can't take her mind off of you.

Gai looked at his beloved pupil and saw the reason in his words. "Yes, you are probably right Rock Lee I am after all a beautiful specimen." With that he flashed a brilliant smile and gave Rock Lee a thumbs up.

Rock Lee spoke to his other team mates then. "Oh one day Sakura will have me dying of sneezes. Neji, Tenten don't you agree. To think she might at this very moment be thinking of thinking about me." He sniffed a few times hoping to sneeze so he could confirm his thought.

Tenten had to try hard not to laugh at Rock Lee and with the utmost effort responded. "You never know Rock Lee, she might be." A giggle escaped her lips and she quickly covered her mouth. Rock Lee hardly noticed he was waiting to hear Neji response.

When he saw Neji wasn't responding he tried to get a response out of him. "Ahh, Neji it is a shame you don't have that kind of relationship with anybody, yet. To have someone special to you think of thinking of you like my dear Sakura is thinking of thinking of me." A short laughter erupted from Tenten's lips. She quickly cut it off though.

When her two team mates turned towards her she said. "Sorry, I just remembered a funny joke." She saw Rock Lee was waiting for her to tell her the joke so she continued. "Ano, sorry Rock it's a girly joke."

As soon as Rock Lee heard those words he whipped his head around and caught Neji's eye before he could look away and avoid the question. The top of Neji's face turned blue. Why did he have to deal with these two guys in his group he thought. He let out a sigh and said. "You know Rock Lee, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe she is thinking of thinking of you." He saw the smile forming on Rock Lee's face and decided he wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction. "Then again she could be training diligently like she should and focusing solely on that, or she could be involved in a mission with her life on the line. You just never know do you, Rock Lee." Neji finished talking and turned around to keep walking. Leaving his team mate behind in thought.

At a practice field in Konoha, in the middle of the field Jiraiya sat in silence. It had been a good while he thought to himself enough for his new team to formulate a plan. Now it was just a matter of waiting for them to make their move so he could see what they were made of.

Shino had explained his plan to Kiba and Hinata now all that was left was to hope it worked. If it didn't Shino had a great view point to see the action and determine if Jiraiya had any weaknesses. Meanwhile Kiba and Hinata had positioned themselves in their places. Hinata crept as close as she could without being noticed and brought out a pack of Kunai's. She looked at Jiraiya and confirmed he was completely relaxed. She then put the pack in a easily accessible position on her hips and took two out. With two quick flicks of her risk she sent them flying. As soon as they had left her hands she ran from her hiding spot to another area and reached for two more kunai's.

Jiraiya heard the kunai's cutting the air and acted immediately. He plucked one out of the air and sent it flying back the direction it had come from. He grabbed the other Kunnai with his other hand and observed the area where he had thrown the kunnai to see if there was any movement. He would have hated to have actually hurt one of the kids so quickly. Unless it was that guy Kiba. When he saw there was no movement he was about to swing his head around to re-assess his surroundings when out of the corner of his eyes he caught two more kunnai's flying towards him. He easily stepped back and avoided one of the kunnai's he caught the second one and put it in his pocket swiftly alongside with the first one he had caught. A thought suddenly occurred to him and it made to much sense to be wrong. He quickly formed his seals and turned around to look around him. Sure enough the Kunnai's were a diversion.

Hinata had quickly moved to her third location and sent the kunnai's flying at Jiraiya. However to her surprise he turned away from her. She knew he had picked up on the tactic they were using, but what really came as a shock to her was that when he turned around his hair became longer reaching all the way down to his knees and her kunnai's harmlessly struck his hair and fell to the ground. She surveyed the situation and even though it hadn't worked perfectly it still served its purpose. All she could do now was put her trust in her team.

Jiraiya spun around to see Akamaru leaping towards him. He quickly moved out of the way as Akamaru lept past him. He saw an opening and took it. Stiking with precision he landed a hard downward blow right above Akamarus shoulder blades and below his neck. Akamaru went down quickly and lay there momentarily. Jiraiya wondered if he had hit him to hard. He saw Akamaru stir and that was enough to confirm he had controlled his blow. Another Akamaru jumped directly in front of him and in a puff of smoke became Kiba. Jiraiya was somewhat impressed had their timing been better he would not have been able to decide which one to attack.

Kiba looked down to make sure his friend was okay, when he saw that he was he looked up at Jiraiya with an intense look in his eyes and angrily shouted at Jiraiya. "You'll pay for that you bastard!" He jumped up and lunged at Jiraiya throwing a punch that was meant to take Jiraiyas head off. Jiraiya had not expected Kibas quickness and barely dodged the punch arcing his back. He saw Kiba continue moving forward and thinking he was going to fall he did not notice when Kiba lifted his back foot off the ground and launched a roundhouse kick. It was done so fluidly Jiraiya would have been laid out had he not caught the movement from the side of his eye. He was still in an awkward position so he couldn't block the kick without giving an opening. He jumped back a few feet and prepared to fight his opponent. He saw Kiba looking calm and collect Akamaru had stood up and was standing next to him now. Jiraiya did not know what was going on anymore, but all of a sudden he felt a very strong pull. Kiba looked at Jiraiya and an evil smile crept onto his face. He said to himself "I told you, you'd pay."

Jiraiya had not looked behind him when he jumped back, so he failed to see Shino's insects that had gathered there. Once he landed in their midst it did not take long for them to start feeding on his chakra. He felt the pull of the insects feeding almost immediately.

Hinata and Shino came out of their respective places and stood next to Kiba. They looked down at Jiraiya who was now on his knees covered to his waist by the insects. Shino thought it suspicious that they had defeated him so easily, but as he was taught he was not about about to let his guard down. Hinata walked up and looked at Jiraiya still curious about the jutsu he had used she had never seen it before and seeing how he had handled the situation she began to admire his skills. Even though he lost she thought he had done well considering their plan. Kiba looked at Jiraiya and laughed he then started talking. "So old man how was that we captured you fair and square in only ten minutes." He didn't mention it had taken them half an hour to devise the plan and set it up. "I guess you'll be paying for all of our dinners for a while now huh?" He felt a nudge at his side and looked at his companion. "Even Akamaru's." He added then let out a chuckle.

Even though Kiba was already starting to gloat over their apparent victory Shino and Hinata had noticed that Jiraiya was not the least bit perturbed. Even though they had not known him long his behavior seemed uncharacteristic to them. Hinata noticed it as well, but it was Shino who questioned it. He cut off Kiba's chuckling with his question. "Why are you smiling?" Kiba looked at Jiraiya for the first time and saw that his friend was right. Why hadn't he noticed it before.

Jiraiya looked up at his new team mates and said, "I guess I'm smiling because my new team mates are so smart. I was very impressed by your coordination." Kiba lit up like a light bulb at this compliment and Hinata blushed slightly.

Shino was not buying it though, this was extremely uncharacteristic of Jiraiya. "What's the real reason? Don't fool me with flattery, answer truthfully or my friends will drain you of all your chakra." Shino said in a menacing tone.

Jiraiya looked up at Shino and let out a long sigh. He dropped his head and slowly raised it. The smile still on his lips. "I did not lie, I am impressed. Especially with you Shino, but the real reason I'm smiling is because I've wasted some of your time and you're none the wiser. So maybe I shouldn't be impressed." He looked to see if any of them had caught on yet and saw they hadn't. He wondered if he should keep up the charade, but figured he had enough information on them to gage their teamwork. He waited a minute to let them look around and think about what he was saying. He cleared his throat to get their attention and then he started talking again. "I guess I should show you what I'm talking about." They all immediately took defensive positions and prepared for any action. Jiraiya put his head down and suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared and hid him from view. The smoke cleared away quickly and they had not been prepared for the sight their eyes met. Where Jiraiya had been there was now a small blue orb the size of a fist to which Shino's insects were drawn. Team eight was stunned at this development and before they could get a grip Jiraiya's voice spoke from behind them. "So do you like my replacement jutsu. I've been carrying that orb with me for a while so it has my scent." They had turned around and were now looking at Jiraiya. Kiba looked like he was about to blow his top. "Yup, that's why your sense of smell was fooled Kiba. You guys underestimated me." Before they could respond another voice said from behind them, "And me." They quickly spun around to see another Jiraiya standing behind them. They tensed and prepared for a fight, but a few paces away from them a third Jiraiya was walking towards them. "You guys still haven't answered my question. I think my Jutsu was good, it served a purpose and succeeded in fooling all of your senses. I'm actually surprised you didn't catch it earlier Hinata, your byakugan should have seen through it." Hinata was taken aback by his awareness of them all. She felt disappointed in herself. She had only used her byakugan on him before they started planning, but didn't think about using it afterwards. She had been careless.

Shino was also impressed. Jiraiya had tested not only their team work, but tested their individual focus and Hinata not picking up on his trick had apparently been a part of that test. They had severly underestimated Jiraiya. What did he plan to do now though. "So now what, you're using the same technique as Naruto. What do you plan to do?" Shino asked.

All three Jiraiya's jaws dropped. The first on recovered first and spoke on their behalf. Outraged he yelled at them. "I'm not using Naruto's technique, this is a basic technique and I've mastered it long before Naruto could so try me. We'll see if my technique is the same as Naruto's was." He didn't mention that Naruto had also mastered the technique during his three years of training. "Prepare yourselves. You've wasted almost an hour of your time and still aren't any closer to trapping me so I'll take this opportunity to test your individual fighting skills." Jiraiya said.

Kiba needed no further invitation. He and Akamaru went after Jiraiya immediately. Thus began team eights fight against Jiraiya.

Out in the village of sand. Kankerou was trying to recover from the poison. He was still in the same room accompanied by Hirai. They were now joined by two other people. Both ancient these were the siblings. One brother and one sister. Hirai had asked what they thought of Kankarous condition. They had been there for a few hours already thoroughly examining Kankarou and checking their findings with their notes. They looked grim throughout the process, but that didn't tell Hirai anything they had looked grim the whole time they had been in her presence even before they started examining Kankarou. Ebizou the brother answered her concerns. "It does not look good young one. He has been fading in and out of consciousness. Never a good sign. Unfortunately we do not have the antidote to the poison used on him. We don't know if he'll pull through." When he finished addressing Hirai he turned to attend Kankarou once again.

Hirai was not satisfied and voiced her opinion. "What do you mean, you two are supposed to be masters of poison and you can't find the antidote for this? Are you just going to sit there and let him die?" Hirai asked in an anguished voice.

Chiyo, the sister who had also been examining Kankarou now turned to face Hirai. She fixed the young shinobi in a cold stare. "Don't speak of what you don't know. This poison is a complex poison interacting with the blood. In order to break down a poison you have to know the exact ingredients to counteract them. We cannot do this because this poison has arleady mingled with his blood. If we tried an antidote on him and miscalculated he would die even faster. Right now the most he has to live is a little over a day. After that his chances of dying are almost guaranteed." Chiyo saw Hirai was struggling a little bit with this information and scolded her. "Why are you sad this is the life of the shinobi. Dealing with life and death is a part of our life. Don't act so weak in our presence. We have heard you can be a good shinobi don't embarrass yourself in front of us." Chiyo said. She turned once again to tend to Kankarou. Hirai couldn't stand it in that room any more she turned around and walked towards the door. When she reached them she turned to look at the scene behind her. Once she had taken everything in she stepped through the doors.

PREVIEW

How will team 8 fare against Jiraiya? Konohas blue beast is back, what implications will his return have? Will Kankarou make it? Find out in the next ch. Hopefully.

RSO

Dragon987- There is a very good reason I'm sending team 8 with Jiraiya, I know right now it's curious but everything will be revealed in due time. Along with a major shocker. Oh wait I shouldn't spoil things yet. Just keep reading and you'll find out.

Danny- Yeah it does suck, but it really shows Naruto has come a long way. I hope, anyways I think the time apart this time will be good for them. After all absence makes the heart grow fond.

snakeye12- Jiraiya is stronger than you would imagine don't forget he was offered the position of Hokage as well. In answer to your question he's not a bad guy or anything like that, but that doesn't mean he won't keep information to himself. In answer to your second question I'm not sure yet. I guess I'll take a poll after I finish this arc and go with whatever the majority wants.

acrazygirlofmanynames- yeah he is more mature. I'm glad you like that.

Heeroyuyz- Hey I'm not bashing Naruto he's just got back into town of course your not going to see the full extent of his development right away. Keep reading you might enjoy how I develop him.

warprince2000- Done.