Sorry for the wait, although I guess it's not as bad as my other stories have had to go through. In any case, chapter 2 is here and I am continuing the story, and I'll try to update as quickly as I can. Particularly this first arc, since the story doesn't really get interesting or into the main plot until its end. So for that reason, I'm going to try to get the next 4 chapters written and uploaded as fast as I can.

Anyway, this is the plot outline for the story so far. I'll probably add an updated version at every new arc to signify the end/beginning of the previous and new arc.

Part I - Konohagakure
Arc 1 - The Years
Arc 2 - ???
Part II - ???
Arc 3 - ???
Arc 4 - ???
Arc 5 - ???
Part III - ???

Outsiders

2 - A Family Woven Together

Xxxxx

Namikaze Minato was breathing heavily, studying his opponent's move. It was quite unexpected. Foreseeable, of course, and yet…

Minato narrowed his eyes.

This upset his entire stratagem. He would need to retreat and reevaluate before making another offensive move. Being forced into a defensive position meant he had to risk losing everything that he had worked for all this time, everything he had…

He could not allow that to happen. He studied his enemy carefully. What had he missed? What advantage could he still make use of? Certainly there had to be something. Had he really been so bested, so cornered that he had nothing remaining in his arsenal?

Careful, Minato, he told himself. You've been in this position before. You've been in worse places. You can handle this; this is nothing!

He bit his lip. To do this…he had to risk a gambit. But there was no alternative; it was this or lose it all. With all his might, his courage, he struck.

Tick.

"Moved your Silver General, huh? That's what I was hoping for."

Dammit!

Minato face-palmed(1), realizing his move had been entirely set up and countered. How could he allow himself to fall for this trap?

Just like his father.

The young Nara yawned as he finished the Shogi match himself. Minato knew he had a better chance of winning by letting the boy move his pieces for him. In thirty seconds, the match was done and the boy was off. "Good game," said Shikamaru, in his lazy manner that reminded Minato so much of Shikaku.

Minato stood himself, watching Shikamaru walk away. "Maybe I ought to actually pay attention the first twenty minutes from now on…" he said, but only loud enough for himself to hear.

It had been eight years since the Kyubi's attack on Konoha. Inwardly, Minato wondered how Konoha had faired in the time that had passed, but all he knew was the few bits of information he gained from his former teacher, Jiraiya, whenever the old pervert passed by. By the way he gathered, however, it seemed that neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade took many chances to visit Konoha. Both had been repulsed by their former teammate's leadership.

Be that as it may, he still managed to learn much about the dealings of the shinobi world from Jiraiya's visits. Having faked his death, Minato had been cut off from the shinobi societies and had no alternative way to find any news. He couldn't risk revealing his existence, and yet he felt bound by his own identity to keep track of current events.

He had also made it a point to keep Jiraiya away from the orphans. On the surface, he simply acted as though he did not want the man to corrupt their young minds. However, he knew inside that he had become deeply afraid of teaching them Ninjutsu. It was in their heritage, in their blood to become shinobi. And yet, they were so young…so innocent! He could not bear the thought of any of them growing up to become trained killers, as he had. And whenever Jiraiya paid him a visit, he realized, he feared the chance that he may overexpose them to the ninja arts.

Part of him did feel somewhat guilty, of course. He was robbing these children of their only inheritance. In the shinobi world, one did not gain land or money from his or her parents. They were given an art; a weapon, unique to themselves, something that only they could possess. To bar them from that inheritance was an insult to their parents and a grievance upon the children.

So for the time being, he decided, he would simply wait. If they showed that they could mature enough for the shinobi ways, he would allow them to study ninjutsu. Otherwise, they would grow up as they were; simple villagers.

Minato casually followed Shikamaru's path outside of the building they had come to call home. Minato had taken heavy concern in where he would settle down to watch after these kids. He knew he needed to get far away enough from Konoha to make sure that Naruto was a good strong distance from the village. He also didn't want anyone coming through the village and finding them, so he had chosen a rather secluded area that wasn't likely for any shinobi to go through.

In the end, they had settled in a village called Satowa, in the southern territory of the Fire Country. Minato had winded up there during a mission once, injured. A few of the villagers had taken him in and helped him to recover. He had offered to return the favor by protecting the village, but due to the mission he currently completing, he had not been able to fulfill that favor. Now, however, he was living there, and was able to do so. The villagers who had taken him in once had done so a second time, allowing for a comfortable home for Minato, as well as the orphans.

Needless to say, he knew nearly nothing of caring for children, so it was a great relief that the villagers did. They helped him raise all five. Not one of the kids was able to call any person "father" or "mother", but what they had made due. Despite the lack of a standard conventional family or childhood, they at least had a surrogate family, woven together both by luck and tragedy.

Although, Minato had to admit, it was still quite a strange family.

Minato exited the rather large building that served as their house, blocking the sudden onslaught of sunshine with his hand.

Looking ahead, he saw that Shikamaru had already settled down for a new game of Shogi, this time with a new opponent. The kid was bright, but just as his father, he was a lazy good-for-nothing, despite his very young age. Most eight year olds were bursting with so much energy that it often seemed as if they had popped a surplus of soldier pills, but Shikamaru was a completely different matter. He was patient, calm, and acted strangely older than Minato himself. He hardly played with the other kids in the village, saying their games required too much effort. In the words of Nara Shikaku, they were too bothersome to deal with.

"Yosh! Today I shall at last defeat you, Shikamaru-kun!"

What Shikamaru was not, Lee definitely was. Minato had stumbled across him during his swift departure from the village. "Rock Lee" were the only words he ever said at that point, so Minato had assumed that that was his name. The boy was energetic and focused. He was Shikamaru's complete opposite; he put everything he had into everything he did and worked harder than anyone Minato had ever seen. And yet, it would seem, he could never match up to Shikamaru's superior and growing intellect.

Minato watched as the boys made their opening moves. Even this early in the game, Lee was already ensnared in one of Shikamaru's intricate traps.

Minato sighed and left them where they were. They'd be done soon enough anyway.

Heading further into town, Minato watched for his other charges. He knew where to find two of them. Within a few minutes, he found the same flower shop he always found the two in. It was owned by a young woman named Tori, the daughter of one of the women who had helped him raise the kids. She had been somewhat young when Minato and the others arrived in Satowa, but by now she had matured and earned the obsessive attention of the two girls Minato took care of.

"Ah, Tenten-chan, that design is so cute!" Minato heard as he neared the store. That was surely Tori.

"Really?!"

"Uh huh, of course!"

"What about mine? What about mine?!"

"Yours too, Sakura-chan!"

Minato casually slid open the screen keeping out the insects and poked his head in.

"Ah, Minato-san! How are you today?"

"I'm fine, fine."

"Minato, Minato, look! Look what I made!"

Minato looked at the source of the yelling. Like Lee, he had found Haruno Sakura while making his exit from the village. He had found her mother terribly wounded and unlikely to survive, and she had begged him to take her Sakura with him. Of course, her mother was probably not aware that Minato was on his way to leave the village, but Minato knew that medical aid would not be arriving there any time soon and that Sakura would most likely be better off coming with him.

As the years passed by, Sakura had clearly been the exact definition of the average pre-adolescent girl. Minato had watched as she went through her phases; shy, bold, depressed, friendly, unfriendly… Practically everything. And he had no doubt she would continue into the standard trend of teenage females as well. But overall, she got along fine with the others. At times, she would have a rare burst of rage and brutality, most likely directed towards one of the guys. But such an occurance was uncommon.

"Wow, Sakura, that's…beautiful!" He said, looking at the arrangement of flowers that Tori had now placed at windowsill. He honestly had no idea what he was looking at; to him, it just looked like a jumble of colors in a box of dirt, but Tori seemed to approve. Nevertheless, he had succeeded in pretending to be a father who was pretending to understand and acknowledge her work.

"Hey, I made something too!"

Tenten, as well as Lee, was a year older than the other three. She was the daughter of Hasaki Tetsubo, one of the most skilled and courageous shinobi Minato had ever fought alongside of. Tetsubo had been one of those whom he had, reproachfully, led to his death against the Kyubi. She was, already at her age, starting to show what Minato could only describe as "girl power" that he had only seen in Tsunade-sama when she was younger. Undoubtedly, Tenten would have made a great kunoichi had she been in Konoha. Her tough attitude somehow mixed well with her femininity, almost like a young Tsunade, though perhaps not as arrogant.

Minato looked around to see what Tenten had made, but he didn't spot another box of flowers.

"Hm?" He said. "What'd you make…?"

"The box! I made the box!"

"What?"

Tori casually walked by him, saying, "Tenten carved out the container that Sakura's flowers are sitting in." Minato looked at the box-shaped container, noticing the intricate design carved on the outside. He stared at it, impressed by the handiwork.

"What'd she use?" He asked.

"Just a plain old knife. I couldn't believe she was even able to pierce the clay, let alone hollow it out!"

"Huh." He had no idea that Tenten was that strong… She was athletic, of course. Almost as strong as Lee, in fact, despite his excessive practice of everything he had ever learned.

"What brings you here, anyway, Minato?" Tori asked.

"Well, actually…" He scratched the back of his head, thinking about the reason he had come so far into town. "I spent most of the morning waiting for Naruto to wake up. I only just recently realized that he wasn't there to begin with. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Like Naruto would come to a flower shop…" Said Tenten behind them.

"Haven't seen him, sorry," Tori said. "Though, knowing him, he's probably off causing-"

She was cut off by the sound of an angry man yelling. "Hey kid, watch where you're going!"

"-trouble," she finished.

Minato sighed and rubbed his head. He knew this was bound to cause a headache.

"Send Sakura and Tenten home in time for dinner, if you don't mind," he said as he left.

"Will do."

Outside, Minato found quite the scene.

"Sorry, old man! But I can't stop to help, I have to catch this thing!"

"Get back here, brat!"

Naruto, by far, was the most eccentric of the group. Undoubtedly, he was also the most, dare he say it? The most troublesome of the group, as Shikamaru would put it. The blond blurr was filled to the brim with energy 24/7, and seemingly only used that to pull pranks and fill his stomach with ramen. The tiny Jinchuriki was the standard "blessing-that-isn't-really-a-blessing" kind of kid. From the time that Naruto first learned to walk, Minato had realized that the Kyubi was not yet done terrorizing him. Admittedly, pranks weren't as bad as death and destruction, but he would damn it all if Naruto wasn't the most annoying and stubborn little kid that ever lived.

But of course, he still loved the little brat. Minato had always felt some sort of special connection to Naruto that he didn't have with any of the others. Perhaps it had something to do with him being mistaken for Naruto's father, what with their eerily similar appearance. It was strange, and Minato often wondered what really had caused it. But it was almost as if he felt like he was a father to Naruto whereas he was more an uncle to the other four.

"Minato!"

"Hm?" Minato looked up to find the angry man pointing the blame at him.

"Keep that brat in check, will you?! He almost destroyed my vegetable cart!"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry about that! I'll go catch him right now. Now, where did he go…"

Something in the way the man stomped off told Minato he was not at all reassured by his easygoing reaction to Naruto's havoc.

Minato was just contemplating what direction Naruto may have gone in when lady luck struck him a useful favor. The blond was already on his back, but not before a dark blurr ran past. As Naruto flew by, Minato quickly reached out and grabbed him by the collar.

"H-hey! Ah, Minato! Let go, I've gotta catch that rabid beast of a cat!"

"Calm down, Naruto," he said as the blonde squirmed around to get out of his hold. It was a worthless effort, however, as Minato refused to let go. "What are you even doing chasing that thing around? You're causing chaos all over the place. You almost destroyed that poor guy's fruit cart."

"Vegetable Cart!" The man yelled from wherever he had gone, but Minato ignored it.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Naruto responded. "But I've gotta catch that thing to make it up to Mr. Square-head!"

"Mr. Square-head…? What?"

Minato's thoughts drifted to a villager he vaguely remembered as having a peculiar square-shaped head.

"Look, just calm down for a minute and I'll let go," he said.

Naruto begrudgingly stopped struggling and Minato let go of his collar. "Now, explain again. What are you doing?"

"Well, yesterday I pulled a prank on Mr. Square-head's cat and then he got all mad at me… But then Shikamaru talked to him and made him decide to let me off the hook if I catch the stupid cat and bring it back!"

"Shikamaru did that?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Stupid kid knew where Naruto was all along and didn't even bother to tell me…

"My, my, Naruto. You're a handful. Besides, how hard could it be to catch a cat anyway?"

"Hey! That thing's claws are sharp! I'm all cut up from trying to grab it!" The blond boy yelled.

"Whatever, it's alright. Look, I'll catch the cat. You go home and make yourself some ramen or something."

"R-really?! Thanks, Minato!"

Minato sighed as the boy ran off. Of course, catching a cat was a simple task for the Konoha no Kiiroi Senko, "Konoha's Yellow Flash". A blurr could not compete in speed with a flash. But dealing with Naruto's troublemaking had, as he predicted, given him quite the headache.

Xxxxx

That night, Minato sat in a bar with his friend, Sagisu, who was a retired shinobi of Konoha. Minato had quickly befriended the ex-ninja, who was willing to keep Minato's secret. He was only famous among shinobi, and Minato didn't need the villagers knowing he was a powerful and infamous soldier that had almost become Hokage.

Sagisu poured him a drink. "Seems like your brats are giving you a headache," he said, chuckling.

"You wouldn't believe it. Just today, I had to stop Naruto from destroying every food stand in town just because he was chasing after a cat, which itself was only done as reparation for pranking someone."

"Heh, geez. You're so sure these kids wouldn't be better off in Konoha? I mean, between their stamina, intellect, determination, athleticism, and early start, they could make some impressive shinobi one day."

Sagisu was referring to each of their individual talents, for the most part. Naruto's stamina was beyond imagination. Shikamaru could quite possibly be categorized as a genius for his age. Lee could probably make progress in anything considering his work ethic, and Tenten was already showing skill that reminded Minato greatly of her father. After all, who else would be so handy with a sharp weapon at only nine years of age?

"I'm not so sure about that," he answered. "I mean, I don't know what it is. It's just, the thought of those kids becoming shinobi… It just seems a bit off to me. It seems strange. I can't imagine them on missions; escorts, bodyguards, assassins…"

"Hey, they're still young. I doubt anyone can imagine a kid so small becoming a ninja. But they all have potential… And even at their age, it is possibly for a kid to be a shinobi. I hear things when I go out. You're not the only one keeping in touch with the shinobi world. Apparently there's some genius kid in Konoha who graduated the Academy at seven. He was already a Genin when he was the same age as some of your kids are now."

"Seven years old, huh?" Minato's thoughts turned to Kakashi, his old student. The boy was, supposedly, a Chunin by the age of six. Minato had never bothered to confirm that rumor, but no doubt, if it was true then it was due to the tutelage of Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo. The White Fang. What could compare to that?

"Yeah. He's an Uchiha." Sagisu continued.

Oh. Right.

The Uchiha could compare to that.

"That's quite impressive, even for an Uchiha."

"Yep. But, you know, so are your kids. Even though they're not growing up in a Hidden Village… It maybe wouldn't hurt to show them some Ninjutsu. I mean, it's in their blood isn't it? They were all born in Konoha. They should all have it in them to become shinobi."

"Hm. Maybe they do."

But maybe they don't…

"Anyway, it can never hurt to find out."

"What?" Minato knew he probably had a bewildered look on his face. What his friend was suggesting, he was not sure. But he knew it was probably one of those strange, kooky plans of his.

Sagisu chuckled. "Heheh, well. You could give them a test. If they prove that they're worthy and have potential, you train them as ninja. If not to become real, professional shinobi, then at least to be able to defend themselves. You never know what may happen."

"I suppose…" said Minato. "that may not be all too bad of an idea."

"It wouldn't?" Sagisu repeated. "I mean, of course it wouldn't!"

Minato sweatdropped. Was he not being a serious with his idea…?

"Actually, I think I'll try it. I'll give them a test."

"Hmph. What kind of test, then?"

"Oh, I've got something in mind." Inwardly, Minato's thoughts drifted to a memory from oh so long ago. One that Jiraiya-sensei had embedded deeply and heavily in his mind. "You don't happen to own any bells, do you?"

Xxxxx

The next day, Minato stood in a hastily made, makeshift training ground. He had made a clearing in the neighboring woods using a multitude of Rasengans. It wasn't nearly as big as any of the training grounds back in Konoha, but it would have to make due. After all, it wasn't like he was examining a fresh squad of Genin from the Academy. He was testing the potential of five young children.

His memory flashed back to that day, oh so long ago. The day he had acquired the apprenticeship of two new Genin and a young Chunin.

Obito, Rin, Kakashi… I wonder if these kids can follow in your footsteps?

Well, he was about to find out.

All five stood in front of him, at that very moment.

Naruto.

Tenten.

Lee.

Sakura.

Shikamaru.

Most of them were groggy and wondering what was going on. Little did they know what Minato had in store for them. For this, he had decided it would be time to bring back out the infamous survival examination exercise that had been passed down through several generations. He had little doubt that if Kakashi was attempting to take on students back at home, he would be using this test, although Minato wouldn't have been surprised if the White Fang's young legacy had added his own twists to it.

"Hey, Minato, what're we doing here, anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm… Good of you to ask, Naruto," he answered. "Although, I'd like to know if any of you can guess? Why are we here, any ideas?"

"We're…playing a game?" Lee suggested. Minato shook his head. No.

"Um, are we doing some sort of group exercise?" Tenten asked.

"That's closer to the mark," Minato said, putting a little more seriousness into his voice. It was time to be serious, after all. "What we're doing here today…is a survival exercise."

"S-surival…exercise?" Said Sakura.

"Yes."

"What do you mean by survival?" Asked Naruto.

"Well, let's put it this way… You can consider this like a game of tag you guys might play with the other kids in the village. Although, I guess it's tag…with a mix of those brawls Naruto and Tenten get into."

"Hey, that was only once!" Yelled Tenten. True, she had been protecting Lee, who was too polite to fight. Strange how she was willing to get into a brawl and Lee was not.

"Wait, so we're fighting?" Asked Naruto.

"We're fighting?" Repeated Sakura.

"Essentially…yes."

"Against…against you?

Good. They were starting to get an idea of what he was about to force them to do.

"Well, that's the idea."

This time Lee spoke up. "But if we were to fight against you, what chance do we have of winning? You're bigger than us. How are we supposed to win?"

"I'm glad you asked. The point of the exercise isn't to beat me in a fight, so don't worry."

"It's to survive a fight with you…right?" Shikamaru piped up. It was the first thing he had said since his patented "how troublesome" upon being woken up too early in the morning.

"Sharp as ever, Shikamaru. But still not completely there." Reaching into his pocket, Minato revealed five small bells, each hanging on a short string. "You're task is to obtain one bell for each of you. In order to do that, you have to take me on in a fight. But, like Lee said, beating me would be difficult. Too difficult for even all of you combined, in fact. But of course, that's only true if this is going to be a fair fight."

"What do you mean?" Asked Naruto.

"To put it simply, I call this a survival exercise because the idea is to simulate a battle. The primary priority in a life or death situation is survival, isn't it? Even if you're fighting for some sort of cause, whether it's protecting someone else, escaping your enemy, or obtaining something from your enemy, the fact always remains that you must stay alive. After all, if you get killed in the process of accomplishing your goal, success becomes impossible, doesn't it?"

"But what's the point of all this anyway?" Shikamaru asked.

"There will be times in your lives where you will find yourself in a life or death situation. It's quite likely that it will be a similar situation to this. I want you to be prepared, and to do that, I have to make sure you start preparing early on. And besides, a little exercise never really hurt anyone."

He had left out the fact that this was really a test of their skill and potential. But the rest stood true nonetheless. These kids were all from Konoha. Even though they weren't growing up there, even though they currently didn't even have a clue that they had all been born there, that fact didn't change. They were not like the civilian children in Satowa. Minato could see it already; chakra pathways were growing within them; their bodies were developing into those of a shinobi. Sooner or later, someone was going to notice a difference between them and ordinary kids. Sooner or later, a shinobi from Konoha, or perhaps another Hidden Village, would pass through Satowa. They couldn't stay hidden forever.

And when a time and situation such as that came, Minato wanted them to be prepared, even if he didn't train them in the way of the shinobi.

Not to mention, his own presence was a huge threat to their lives. True, he had faked his death during the Kyubi's attack to escape Konoha. And he knew for a fact that no one had seen him when he gathered the orphans and took his leave. His skill as a shinobi accounted for that. But people would still wonder, why hadn't the infamous "Yellow Flash" of Konoha, rumored to travel at the speed of light without breaking a sweat, not been able to escape the fury of the Kyubi? Even the Demon Fox wasn't that quick.

Conspiracy theories aside, however, the point was that he wanted to ensure the orphans' safety, whether he was there to help them or not.

"In any case," he continued, "you also need to get a grasp of reality. Not everything in life is fun and games, like it has been these past eight years. I'm hoping this exercise will start to show you that."

Minato studied their faces, analyzing every detail and obtaining whatever information he could. Although Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura looked a bit hesitant at the idea, Lee and Tenten seemed anxious to begin. No surprise there. Both of them had already been over a year old when he had smuggled them out of Konoha; the background of shinobi and battles was a little more familiar to them, though subconsciously. Minato was sure they could still remember Konoha, if only a little. In fact, he was quite surprised that they had yet to say anything about it.

"And there's a little more to it that I have yet to explain," he said. "There are five bells, one for each of you. There are also five bento boxes containing your lunches. Whoever gets a bell for themselves will receive lunch and leisure time in return. However, anyone who fails to obtain a bell…doesn't get lunch. And more than that, you'll have to watch as I eat your lunch right in front of your face, while you're tied to a tree."

All their faces fell. He could tell that not one of them wanted to be subject to the humiliation of being tied to a tree while their "siblings" ate, or the starvation that it would cause.

"Tch. How troublesome…"

Anything else? It had been awhile since he had last administered this test. About nine or ten years, in fact.

If this was the original test as he had adopted and redesigned it, then none of them would have had any breakfast that morning. But, as it was, they were still young, and he was afraid of pushing any of them too far. Besides, it wasn't as if they had volunteered for this life and dedicated several years to studying and preparing for it in a school.

Nevertheless, he was sure they all would have had they been given the opportunity.

"Just one last thing," he said. All five faces looked up at him. Fear and anxiety looked him straight in the eyes, but there was a tinge of determination as well. "If you want to succeed… You'll have to come at me with the complete intention of hurting me." Saying kill would probably be overkill for these children… "If you hold back, even a little, you won't have any chance at success. Are you ready?"

Naruto, Tenten, and Lee looked him in the eyes and grinned. Shikamaru looked a little less excited at the idea of combat with an adult and their surrogate father this early in the morning, but he was probably telling himself now to just think of it as a new, strange version of Shogi. Lastly, Sakura looked hesitant, but a tad bit of peer pressure and peer encouragement would probably solve her problem.

"Let's begin."

Xxxxx

"Let's begin."

Minato took a stance, his left arm folded politely behind his back and his right held out towards the five kids, palm open.

Nobody moved. Naruto felt sweat building up on the back of his neck. He couldn't take this tension. Nobody wanted to be the first to risk attacking Minato; they feared the consequences of doing so.

Tenten turned her head slowly, making eye contact with Lee. A second of nonverbal communication, and the understanding was met. They both nodded and got in position. Both had been in fights before. They at least had an idea of how to do this, and as long as they fought together they had a better overall chance.

Alright, here we go… thought Tenten.

However, a loud warcry interrupted her thoughts.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Naruto unexpectedly broke the tension, bursting forward. His fist raised, he ran straight at Minato, who merely smirked at the daring assault.

Without taking his eyes off the others, Minato smacked away Naruto's punch, throwing the blond boy off in the wrong direction. Naruto ended up tripping on his own feet and falling forward.

Tenten bit her lip. No point in waiting. She and Lee ran forward at the same time, heading for Minato. However, Tenten swerved off to the right, running around Minato in a circle. If she and Lee attacked from opposite directions, perhaps they could land a hit! It was worth a shot, anyway.

Lee followed Naruto's action and thrust forward with all his strength, aiming as powerful a punch as he could muster to Minato's face. As expected, the tall blond easily intercepted the attack, but before Lee could continue in Naruto's footsteps, Tenten struck.

"Hyaaaaah!" She threw a roundhouse kick at Minato's, but he was too quick. While Lee was still in midair, Minato knocked away his fist and thrust Lee into the air, grabbing him by the shirt. Meanwhile, he spun his torso around and caught Tenten's ankle with his left hand.

Smirking, Minato casually pushed Tenten's leg up. Unable to catch her balance, she fell backward. Minato then used his now free left hand to help hold up Lee above his head.

"Too simple," he said, throwing Lee at Naruto, who was just getting back up. The older boy was thrown right into Naruto's side, sending them both on a long tumble.

"You'll need to try harder than that," Minato continued. "You three have obviously mustered the intention to cause me harm… It makes me wonder how good of a guardian I've really made all these years. But the fact remains, you'll need to come at me with something a bit more intricate than that. I'm no fool."

"Dammit, you hit too hard!" Naruto complained. "How are we supposed to hurt you when you keep hurting US?!"

"Find a way!" Minato yelled. Tenten, who had now gotten back up, gasped as Minato lunged at her. He thrust his palm forward, and she, unprepared for the attack, was thrown backwards. He grabbed her by the ankle once again, but this time Minato used his full strength to throw Tenten at both other boys. Lee managed to get away in time, but Naruto took the hit again.

"Ow! That HURT! Stop throwing people at me, Minato!"

Minato chuckled. "Make me!" He yelled.

Naruto's jaw clenched. In a fit of frustration and anger, he shot back up and ran straight at Minato again. This time he attempted to kick him, aiming down low at the shins. Minato, calm as ever, jumped into the air, completely avoiding Naruto's attack. Naruto, in turn, missed and lost balance due to the momentum of the kick, once again falling to the ground.

"Come on," said Minato. "Is that really all the three of you have? After all those fights you've gotten in, this is all you've learned? I'm surprised you actually beat anyone in those brawls! I'm sure some of the other kids in the village could land at least one strike on me!"

They're just running around throwing punches and kicks like all the other immature brats in the village. It's nothing a shinobi would be proud of. If they can't think of anything more creative than that circle maneuver…

This time, Lee took another shot, sprinting towards Minato while his back was turned. He had slowly edged away after Minato threw Tenten at them, until he was out of sight. As long as Minato couldn't see him coming, he couldn't block, right?

Well, apparently he could.

Lee lunged into the air, taking the position of a flying jump kick. Minato simply twisted around and caught his leg. "I don't have to see you to know you're coming," he said.

Minato, his grip tight around Lee's calf, thrust the black haired boy up above him, using Lee's own momentum against him. He then caught him once again in a bear hug around the chest. However, Lee realized, his hand was still in a fist, causing Lee to literally fall into a punch.

"You're not giving it your all, are you, Lee?" Minato said quietly and calmly, as if he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on. It almost seemed as if he was daydreaming in the middle of all of this.

Nevertheless, Lee was unable to think anymore of the matter, as the blow to his chest caused an intense amount of pain that rendered him unable to move, or to struggle out of Minato's grip.

Naruto and Tenten had now gotten back up and watched as Lee was captured. Now what?

"Well?" Minato asked. Both grimaced at the disappointed and expectant tone in his voice.

As if the "Way of the Schoolyard Fist" would not end, Tenten ran at him again. This was getting a tad repetitive, Minato thought. Perhaps it was time to end it and see what the last two of the group would do if the main three brawlers were all incapacitated. He was getting a tad bit bored.

Minato easily caught Tenten's fist in his own, applying pressure. The girl grimaced in pain under his tightening grip, until he pulled her closer towards him. In a swift motion, Minato twisted both his arm and hers around and, her fist still in his own, caught her from behind by the sleeve of her shirt. Tenten would have fallen to her knees, her elbow twisting painfully around her back, if Minato wasn't keeping her off the ground. His arm wasn't long enough to hold her and let her fall to the ground, and he didn't feel like bending down.

"Gah…dammit," said Naruto. The entire time, Minato's eyes had remained fixed on him. Not once had he looked to see if Lee or Tenten made an unexpected counterattack.

Minato raised his eyebrow, waiting for Naruto to make his move.

Right now… Naruto thought to himself, right now he's using both of his arms… If I attack him, he can't block without letting go of one of the others. That'll do something at least, won't it? Alright!

"Here I come!" He yelled, bursting forward as explosively as he could. He raised his fist, putting as much power as he could muster into this punch. Naruto sped towards him, his fist targeting Minato's upper chest. Once he was close enough, he flew forward, and…and…

Minato brought down his chin in a powerful and quick motion, breaking open Naruto's fist and catching it between his chin and his chest. "Huh…Hwah!" Minato kneed the inside of Naruto's elbow, only then letting go of his fist, and then extended his leg into a powerful kick to Naruto's chest. Before Naruto could fall backward, Minato caught his ankle with his own and somehow managed to spin him around so that he would fall forward onto his face.

Once Naruto's face had made a successful meeting with the ground, Minato casually stepped on his back with one foot. "That's all three of you…" Minato said. "Not only did you all fail to land a hit on me, but you all got captured easily. And what's more is, not one of you even attempted to go after the bells instead of just trying to hit me. My, my. A simple feint and some teamwork could possibly have given you the chance to grab at least some of the bells, which was the whole point. Honestly, it's kind of disappointing that you three couldn't come up with anything more creative…"

"It's not fair…" Naruto said, his face still in the dirt. "You're too big and strong."

"Strategy and teamwork can almost always overcome a difference in skill and power. Speaking of which… Let's see what the smarter two of the group can come up with, now that all of my limbs are busy doing something."

Minato casually turned his head to look at said children, but found, to his surprise, that both were gone.

What? When did they…?

Xxxxx

Sakura was definitely no Naruto. She didn't enjoy fighting and getting dirty. She was a girl, after all!

She couldn't understand why Minato was making them do this! It wasn't like anyone in the village had threatened any of them, and if something did happen, he could protect them, couldn't he? After all, watching from behind the boulder she'd hidden at, he had beaten Naruto, Tenten, and Lee without even breaking a sweat, or, for that matter, moving more than three feet away from where he had been standing! There was no hope to this messed up exercise, beating Minato was as farfetched as running laps around the entire Fire Country!

So for the time being, Sakura was determined to just hide until the others gave up or Minato canceled the exercise. She didn't want to have to fight, and even if she did, she would probably just end up making a fool of herself.

"Psst, Sakura…" She gasped, her eyes widening. Looking up above her head, she found Minato squatted down on the boulder, staring at her from above. "Hiding isn't part of the exercise," he said.

She sat in place, frozen. What did she do now?

Minato sighed, and poked her forehead. Geez… he thought. What do I do with you?

Xxxxx

Shikamaru sat cross-legged, his back to a tree. He was staring at a break in the tree branches above, where the sky was visible.

The clouds are nice today… They're so free…

It wasn't that he was scared to fight Minato… He just didn't feel like bothering. He'd watched as Naruto, Lee, and Tenten went at Minato and got their asses kicked. He didn't feel like following them into a pointless fight. They couldn't beat Minato, not with the gigantic difference in skill and strength. There wasn't any reason in going into a fight that they couldn't succeed in. If they ever ran into this kind of situation in real life, Shikamaru thought, they would probably have a better shot at "survival" by surrendering. However, seeing as Minato was probably not going to be content with him just giving up…

Shikamaru had had no choice but to disappear and stay out of the way. Hopefully they wouldn't bother looking for him and just go on with the fight themselves. He was sure that Naruto, Lee, and Tenten wouldn't give up easily, even if they had no chance. Even if they knew they had no shot, he was sure that Naruto especially wouldn't give up unless forced to. He'd have plenty of time to stare at the clouds while he waited for them to fight it out. That was, unless he was underestimating Minato's ability to beat up little children.

Shikamaru sighed. He knew Minato was probably relying on him to pull the others to victory. He was smart enough to know that beating Minato was only possible with proper planning.

Well, either he was smart enough to know that or he had just heard Minato suggesting the idea for a simple plan to the others instead of just running straight at him and attacking. Shikamaru wasn't sure; he was too lazy to remember what he had been thinking about a few minutes ago.

In any case, this was definitely no game of Shogi. For one, they had an unequal number of "pieces". After all, Minato alone definitely counted as at least ten Queens, while each of them was a pawn. This was an unfair battle, and there was no way to use their individual skills together to defeat a common enemy. The reason for that was, well…

None of them really had any individual skills.

Besides, Shikamaru wasn't in the mood for a fight right now. Well, he never was, but now was particularly a bad time. He had been thinking about what Minato had said before. Shikamaru's personal hobby was, as everyone knew, playing Shogi. But regardless, he also enjoyed figuring out other logic puzzles and such, among other things. And right now, he had something quite interesting on his mind, thinking back to Minato's speech earlier regarding the point of the exercise. He really wanted to know what—

Oh no... He was sure he had just heard something… Deciding not to risk it, Shikamaru took off. Barely a second after he left, Minato appeared among the trees.

"I'm sure he was here just now…" he said. Is he really that good at running away…? He asked himself, a sweatdrop appearing on the back of his head.

Xxxxx

"Geez, this fight is practically impossible to win…" said Naruto.

"Just be glad he didn't go all out on us," muttered Tenten.

Currently, the four of them, Naruto, Tenten, Lee, and Sakura were all lying in the clearing. Naruto was still lying exactly where Minato had left him, although his face was no longer stuck in the dirt. Tenten lay on her back, resting after the brutal defeat, yet disappointed in her overall performance. She didn't think they would be that weak compared to Minato!

"What makes you think he wasn't trying his hardest?" Asked Lee. He had been the only one to sit up, as the others were all lying around. Sakura had yet to say anything.

"Well, he barely moved, and he didn't even seem like he was paying attention," Tenten answered."

"And we still got our asses kicked," added Naruto.

Lee looked off towards the woods, in the direction Minato had gone. "Shikamaru is the only one who has yet to fight… But he is also the only one who has yet to lose! We should cheer him on!"

"Please, like Shikamaru's gonna do anything," said Tenten.

"Pfeh, knowing Shikamaru, he's probably just gonna keep running away and hiding as long as he can, until Minato finally catches him," said Naruto. "Then he'll just say he gives up or something. He'll never actually lift a finger to fight."

"You have no hope in him…"

"Naruto's right," said Tenten. "Shikamaru's too lazy to do anything. All he wants to do is stare at clouds and play Shogi. You can't deny that that's the truth."

"I… I suppose it is true…"

It was quiet for a moment, as they all pondered how long it would be before Shikamaru was caught.

"Heh, what's with all of you guys copying me all of a sudden?" Said a voice.

They all looked towards the source of the voice. Speak of the devil! Shikamaru himself was walking out of the woods towards where they all lay.

"Minato caught you already?" Asked Naruto.

"Nope. I just figured that once he knew I was hiding away in the woods, he'd keep on looking for me there. So the safest place to hide would be, well…here."

"Heh…that's just like you."

"I never said it wasn't."

Suddenly, the eyes of all four lying in the grass widened. "Hm? What's wrong with you guys…?" Asked Shikamaru, when suddenly, he felt a hand patting his head. Shikamaru winced, as Minato leaned on him.

"Shikamaru, you've got to be the laziest kid I've ever met. Running away is one thing… Trying to trick me so you can come out here to watch the clouds again, though… Man, what am I supposed to do with someone like you?"

Sighing, Minato eased off of Shikamaru's head and walked forward to face all the others. "Three who can't fight without thinking… One who refuses to fight… and one who's too lazy to even bother trying… You guys are really disappointing, seriously. Well, I guess that's it for today. No point in trying to force this exercise farther than it's capable of going. You all go home and get washed up."

Naruto, Lee, Tenten, and Sakura all got up slowly, some annoyed and some relieved. They, along with Shikamaru, began walking back towards the village when suddenly they all found themselves caught and tied up in ropes.

"Please," said Minato, chuckling. "You thought I was joking with my rules? Not one of you managed to secure a bell… So all five of you will be tied to trees and get no lunch, while I eat all five bentos right in front of your faces."

"No fair!" Yelled Naruto. "I object! Minato, you suck!"

Xxxxx

Despite Naruto's call for fairness and equality, Minato stuck to his word. All five kids spent their afternoon tied to trees, watching as Minato consumed all of their food. And even worse, he drew everything out and made a real show of enjoying it all.

Later on, Minato was back in the bar with Sagisu, reporting on the results of the exercise.

"So, how'd they do?" Asked the retired shinobi as Minato sat down. Minato just shook his head in response.

"That bad, huh?"

"Uh huh." Minato proceeded to giving Sagisu the play by play of the entire exercise. "On the surface, you'd think that Naruto, Lee, and Tenten did well enough on their own… After all, they did all attack me with the full intent of causing harm. Tenten and Lee even tried a few simple tactics… and Naruto seemingly realized the advantage of me having both my arms busy and open for attack."

Sagisu nodded to show that he was following.

"However, none of them considered any kind of strategy that would allow them to steal the bells. They all forgot what the actual task was and only focused on attacking and defeating me. They didn't take the training seriously, all they wanted to do was prove themselves in a schoolyard brawl. They showed no signs of even attempting to think like a shinobi. Honestly… they didn't seem to show any potential."

"And the other two are self-explanatory, I take it?"

"Pretty much. It's not hard to see. Sakura's your average eight year old girl. She likes flowers, love, and the like. Fighting is definitely not on her list of hobbies. Not to mention, she froze up at the idea of fighting. I'm surprised she even managed to hide instead of just staying where she was and watching the others get beat up. I honestly was hoping she'd follow in Tenten's footsteps, somewhat… I mean, she has some potential if she could toughen up. She's smart. And sometimes, she does seem to let out some aggression when she…when she shows her angry side. Who knows, maybe in the future she'll have more hope."

"Right..."

"And then there's Shikamaru. No matter how many times I see it, he always astounds me with his tactical and reasoning skills. I could barely beat him in Shogi if I tried my hardest. That kid's gifted, but… he has the energy of an old man. It's like he doesn't want to do anything with his life except play Shogi and stare at clouds."

"Does he realize there's more to life than board games and clumps of condensed water vapor?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's aware that he'll eventually have to do something more with life, if only just to get by. I was hoping that if I introduced him to the thought of fighting and survival, he could be interested enough to at least try. Since he's not a registered shinobi in a Hidden Village, he won't have any missions or anything but…he seems to lack complete motivation. I suppose even if I did teach him, he'd never train. He would never improve. It's a shame, honestly, to see that the Nara bloodline may never be succeeded simply because its heir was too lazy to bother."

"You can't forget, though, that its heir is also completely unaware that he's a member of a shinobi clan."

"I guess that's true. But it doesn't change anything. I doubt it would make him any less lazy to know that his father was an elite Konoha Jounin."

"Mm. Well, Minato, looks like you've got your answer. Those kids' future is in village life and farming."

"…"

Inwardly, Minato had to admit that despite being afraid of them adopting the ninja arts, he was earnestly disappointed.

Xxxxx

"Eh, what happened to you, Tenten-chan?!"

"Oh, um… I kind've…fought Minato."

"WHAT?!"

Sakura and Tenten were once again visiting Tori. Except today, Tenten had been unusually covered in many bruises, which had sparked Tori's curiosity. The young woman had suspected that perhaps Tenten had gotten into a fight protecting one of her siblings again, but…this?

This had to be a joke.

"What do you mean, you were fighting Minato? Like an argument?" Was he…beating her?

"No, like an actual fight! All of us fought him! Well, not so much Sakura or Shikamaru… But me, Lee, and Naruto! And he beat us badly, too."

"What?! What…why were fighting your own father?!"

"It was training. Some sort of survival exercise. He said we failed, and we were disappointing. I didn't think we would do that bad… But he was just so strong, it was unfair!"

"What?! Survival…exercise? That's insane! You're so young! What is he doing teaching you to fight! And against himself, too! I've got to do something about it…"

"What? No! I want to beat him next time! I… I have to redeem myself! We lost so horribly…!"

"W-what? You…you actually…want to fight him…again?"

"Yeah, duh!"

A rather fiery spirit had seemed to ignite within Tenten, which, needless to say, freaked out Tori pretty well.

I suppose I'll never understand that man OR his children…

Xxxxx

Ticihimaru the vegetable vender was having a pleasant morning, selling his wares to the passerby of Satowa. Needless to say, he was enjoying the quiet, peaceful morning when suddenly a blond blurr flew past him in what seemed to be a rush.

"Tch… Naruto! You better get back—wait…" he paused, looking around. For once, it seemed almost as if that leacherous boy hadn't actually done anything wrong. If that was so, then why was he…?

His thoughts were interrupted when another blurr suddenly ran by. "If Naruto can complete this course at this pace, then I can too! In fact, I will do it twice as many times as he can!"

Tichimaru stared after Lee as he ran off, following Naruto in a strangely controlled run. They were…running? Not from Minato or angry vendors, but for training?

Tichimaru scratched his head in confusion. What's happened to change them all of a sudden…?

Xxxxx

How troublesome… If that's how it is, then maybe I should have tried in that survival exercise after all…

Shikamaru was currently lying in the same clearing where the survival practice had taken place just the day before. After giving it some long, hard thought, he had finally figured out what had been bothering him. The reason for what Minato had said the day before. That one statement that irked him all this time…

Now he understood

Why do things have to be so troublesome…? Although, this opens some doors, I guess. Some things I've always wondered… Maybe now I can find out some more.

Nevertheless, the knowledge he was now facing did mean some things would have to be done. He knew now he would have to become stronger, if he was right about what it could mean.

Man… Guess I should start listening to Minato, then. But I don't really want to…

He already knew. Training was going to drive him insane.

A sudden sound interrupted his thoughts. Shikamaru cocked his head, spotting a group of bushes in the direction where the noise had come from. It had sounded like a rustle in the bushes… What could it be?

Curious, Shikamaru managed to stand up and walk over. He began to pull apart the bushes so he could make his way through, careful not to cut his hands on thorns. When he got through, he swore.

"W-what the hell?!"

In the grass lay a young boy, probably about his own age. He had black hair and somewhat pale skin, which almost looked as if something had had happened to him that spooked the living daylights out of him. Or at least, the darker pigments in his skin.

But, more importantly…

He was unconscious.

Author's Notes:

This was probably...the most boring and plot-irrelevant chapter of the story. However, I felt it was needed to properly introduce the main characters, show them growing up, and basically just get you used to them and their personalities. If the protagonit(s) of a story isn't/aren't characterized well or enough before the plot really starts to move, then I feel like something would be missing from the story. So my apologies if this chapter was boring. Hopefully, the next few chapters won't be as slow or uninterestining. I can promise, however, that the plot of Part I will be fully prepared and underway as of chapter 6 or 7. So please hold out for a few more weeks until the story begins to unfold.

Anyways, if anyone's wondering what I spent all the time between now and when I started the story doing...well, I basically spent all my time rewatching the entirety of Part I Naruto. Originally, it was for the sake of this story so that I can freshen my memory and knowledge of the Naruto world and story. But watching everything again was actually really nice and fun and reminded me of a lot of things. It's actually helped me with characterization and several plot points. I meant to watch Shippuden through for the first time (never watched it, just read Part II Manga) but I got too lazy and drifted off to writing this. My only complaint about rewatching the anime was that some parts were painfully slow and dragged out... I almost considered going to the manga instead, but I love the soundtrack; it's the only reason I didn't jump ship.

Speaking of which, the Naruto Soundtrack is surprisingly helpful in writing. It actually really helps set the tone and atmosphere of some scenes, and even helps with the creative process of writing battle scenes and coming up with plot. Surprisingly inspirational.

Well... As will always be, critiquing, suggestions, etc... are always welcome. I always like to know what readers think of my writing and how it can improve or is best about it (so, as Kishimoto has well taught us through Naruto, I can make it as good as I can by honing it's best attributes). Any questions regarding the story can be asked in a review or a PM; I'll respond depending on the method of asking you choose.

Lastly: Please review! If anything inspires me to write more than the soundtrack, it's reviews!

(For the record, if it means anything: the longer the review, the more I enjoy it, and the more it propels me towards finishing the next chapter!)