Chapter 13

Genin

"I have made my decision." Itachi's voice brought the three solemn Genin to attention. He looked each of them in the eye, and in that one moment he truly made his decision. "You all pass."

Silence prevailed for what seemed like an eternity. Two of his three new recruits were just staring at him in a mixture of belief and shock, while the third one simply raised his eyebrows as far up as they could possibly go. Eventually a sound came as Naruto gulped dryly, but it was the female of the team who spoke before he had the chance too. "Sensei, how do we pass? I thought we failed the test."

"Yes," Itachi replied as he walked over to them and started untying them from their bindings, first Ino, then Naruto and finally Shino. All the while he continued to speak. "You failed the objective of stealing these two bells from me, but that was not the real goal of the test. The real goal was to see if the three of you could work together as a team, even if it appears the situation makes teamwork seem unsuitable to an individual."

Naruto grinned, despite his hands rubbing at the sore skin of his wrists, "Told you."

Ino frowned openly at him, but allowed their new sensei to continue as he walked back to the flat rock and picked up his lunch. The Uchiha balanced the bento box, plucking his chopsticks from the interior and began eating again, savouring each mouthful.

"Many villages go by the rule that individual members are not as important as the missions they were assigned. They would gladly sacrifice a team of Shinobi to accomplish this goal. But this is not how Konoha works. Many of the Shinobi of the Leaf believe that in order to survive the lives of the individual are just as important as the team itself, never leave a friend and comrade behind for those who abandon their friends are nothing." He looked each of them in the eyes again. "As your sensei it is my duty not just to mould you into fine Ninja, but to protect you from the dangers you will be facing and to teach you how to survive. That is my oath to you."

He gained looks of respect and admiration from his three students as he took another bite of his sushi. "The three of you have lunch in your packs don't you?"

They nodded and scrambled for their backpacks. Within moments the four members of Team Eight were sitting together, silently eating in the now quiet field of the training ground. There was no complaint from the Genin, who were silent not because of any uncomfortable atmosphere but because they were so hungry that they simply ate. None of them were aware of the Raven that swooped down from above, and all three jumped in surprise as Itachi raised his arm to allow the black bird to land. It cawed softly into the Uchiha's ear, and he nodded in what appeared to be understanding at what it was telling him. Once it was finished the avian creature went up in a small cloud of smoke, and Itachi went back to his meal.

"Um, Itachi-sensei," Ino asked a little timidly, blushing slightly when the teenage Jōnin gave her his attention. "What was that about?"

The Uchiha smiled faintly, "Oh, just a little something I wanted to keep up to speed on, nothing major." So his foolish little brother had also passed his teams examination, if only by the skin of his teeth. Teamwork was never one of Sasuke's strong points. Something Itachi hoped could be remedied with time and experience.

"Anyway, I will now apprise you of the schedule we will keep from now on, and as my students I expect you all to keep to it, understand?" They nodded in agreement. "Meet at this training ground by 09:00 hours. We will spend the first session with me reviewing all of your skills, and what I believe would be the best curriculum and training schedule for each of you. By twelve we will break for lunch. Then meet up at the Hokage Palace at 13:00 hours for your first mission as Shinobi, depending on how quick you accomplish these missions we may be doing two to three a day."

"Cool, our first mission."

The Uzumaki was excited, but Itachi knew it wouldn't last once he found out what type of missions newly promoted Genin were usually selected for. D-rank missions were the most basic of grunt work, from mundane chores such as gardening, walking animals, labourers at construction sites, delivering goods to shops and offices, even babysitting and cleaning. It was nothing like the jobs normal people viewed Ninja doing, but it gave them money and helped them build up their experience with working together.

Itachi finished off the last bite of his sushi before rising to his feet. "That will be all for today, return here at 09:00 sharp and we will begin."

He was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Naruto opened a single eye to look at his new teammate, begrudgingly admitting that he had been slightly wrong about Ino. He had thought that she was just another one of Sasuke's airheaded fan girls, but during the exam she had shown that when she got her head in the game she could think up some pretty good strategies. He and Shino simply set the traps. She told them what kinds and where would be the best place to set them.

"Sure," he replied.

"Were you telling the truth, or where you just messing around?" Her gaze seemed a little too piercing for his comfort level.

"What about?"

"About one of your hobbies being gardening." She replied a little bitingly. "Because I swear if that was a crack made at my family I will deck you one."

"Wow, wow, hold the phone." Naruto raised his hands in surrender. The blond Genin remembered the last time a girl decked him, and for such a skinny girl Sakura's punch really hurt. "I wasn't messing around. Gardening is actually a hobby of mine... I'm just a little, well..."

"What?" She asked pointedly.

"Well think about it. If a boy told you that his hobby was something like gardening the other guys would poke fun at me about it. It was something I didn't want to become common knowledge." He smiled slightly in embarrassment before looking at her and becoming as white as a sheet. It made her feel a little worried.

"What?"

"You're not going to make it public knowledge are you," he asked a little fearfully. "I know how much you like to... well-"

"Gossip," she supplied helpfully.

He gulped dryly before nodding his head, "Yea."

She smiled a little teasingly, "Relax whiskers, I only gossip on people I don't like."

He looked at her a little in confusion, "I thought I was someone you didn't like."

"You're in the middle," she replied before looking over at Shino. "So is he."

Shino didn't answer, but instead nodded his head. Naruto however sighed in obvious relief and flashed a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied before turning thoughtful. "So have you two thought up of who will be the unofficial team leader yet."

"I nominate Yamanaka-san," Shino spoke up for the first time, gaining the attention of the two blonds beside him. "She has proven that she can think up better strategies than us."

"He's right," Naruto added with a smile. "If it was up to us we would have just rushed out there and gotten slaughtered, but you thought up of the traps and where to place them, and we lasted longer and showed that we could work together better."

Ino flashed a triumphant smile, "Stick with me boys and we'll survive to become Chūnin."

Naruto decided he liked the idea. He wanted to become a Chūnin, then a Tokubetsu Jōnin, then a full Jōnin. He wanted to climb the ranks and become the best of the best and prove his worth. He grinned at the prospect, excited beyond words. The path began here and now. "So is anyone up for a little celebration? I know this Ramen stand that does the best food you'll ever taste."

Shino seemed to be thinking about it, but Ino on the other hand looked at him pointedly. "I can't, I'm on a diet."

He looked at her for a moment, "Why would you need to be on a diet?"

"To lose weight," was her answer.

"If you lost anymore weight you'd float away." Naruto told her bluntly. "If anything you need to gain weight. You're as thin as a stick."

Ino's fist connected to the top of his head.

"Owe!"

"Jerk," she huffed before stalking away.

Naruto noticed a few things in that moment. That talking to a girl about her weight was not a good idea. His mother would clarify this for him later. And that Ino's punch was nowhere near as sore as Sakura's had been. Ino simply bopped him on the top of the head, Sakura had levelled him. He looked over at his other teammate with a confused look.

"What did I say?"

Shino shrugged his shoulders.

Sasuke stumbled along, absently favouring his right shoulder and grumbling lightly under his breath about how the fates were against him. His clothes were covered in a layer of dirt from his little sojourn buried alive up to his head. The whole day had been one disaster after another, followed by another and finally another just to kick him when he was down.

"Sasuke,"

The young Uchiha wasn't at all surprised when he heard his big brothers calm, deep voice and turned his head to see him appearing beside him. Itachi was now seventeen years old, and towered over Sasuke by at least a head. The prodigy of the clan looked down at him and flashed a small smile. The younger brother had to admit the change he saw in his senior since the revolt, much the same to the change he saw in his mother. Itachi seemed more relaxed ever since the incident, like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and dumped out of reach.

Maybe it was the removal of their father's oppressive aura. Maybe it was because the tensions between clan and village had weakened considerably in the last few years. Maybe it was because of the changes taking place within their very clan. But Sasuke also knew one of the main reasons why his older brother had become more relaxed and carefree, though not to the ridiculous point of his new Jōnin-sensei. He shuddered at the thought of his big brother being three hours late to every meeting and reading dubious books in public.

A middle and index finger made contact with his forehead, poking him out of his reverie. "Owe!"

Itachi smirked, "So, how was your Genin Exam, foolish little brother."

"Awful," Sasuke winced and groaned as he walked, sticking his hands into his pockets. "I'm stuck with an Inuzuka who is noisy and stupid, and an annoying girl who doesn't seem to have a mind of her own. Our sensei was two and a half hours late to the meeting, said we had to take these two bells from him and proceeded to completely destroy us."

His older brother seemed to think for a moment. "Did he have wild spiky silver hair, headband over left eye, mask over the bottom of his mouth, reads a little orange book."

"That's him," Sasuke nodded and groaned at the memory.

"Pay attention to him Sasuke," Itachi said in a stern voice which made his little brother look up to him with rapt attention. "That man may seem like a lazy slouch, but appearances are deceptive. He is one of the most powerful Shinobi in the entire village, and was a superior of mine during my ANBU days."

Sasuke looked up at him dubiously. "He was in ANBU?"

"He was a Captain in ANBU." Itachi clarified his statement with a nod of his head. "Hatake Kakashi, known infamously as the Copynin, student of the Yondaime Hokage, master of a thousand Jutsu which puts him on the shortlist of possible Hokage candidates, and believe me little brother that is a very short list."

Sasuke thought of that man as Hokage, and shuddered. "You're not messing around with me are you?"

A middle and index finger connected with his forehead, and Itachi smirked as Sasuke let out a groan of pain. "Foolish little brother."

"Cut it out." His 'foolish little brother' sulked. "Why are you asking me this anyway? You already know."

"How so?"

"I saw your raven."

Itachi blinked before letting out a chuckle, "Good eyes Sasuke. You're getting better at observation. So did you pass?"

"Yeah, we passed." Sasuke muttered before dropping his voice to such a low level a normal civilian wouldn't have heard him, "barely."

Itachi was not a normal civilian and the smirk curling up his lips let his little brother know that he had heard it all loud and clear. He shrugged off the resulting glare with no visual effort. "So what happened?"

Sasuke groaned internally, but relented. "Kiba got caught in several traps, Sakura was knocked out by a wimpy Genjutsu and I was buried up to my neck in dirt."

He heard a snicker from his brother and snapped his head around to glare. Itachi was trying so hard not to laugh, and he had almost succeeded. These shows of emotion had just started to surface in his big brother over the last year, and although he didn't like sharing his older sibling's time he had to admit that she was good for him, exactly what he needed. If she was capable in helping his brother smile, then Sasuke would relent to his second cousin, if just a little.

"So what about your team?"

"They passed."

Silent as the grave she prowled through the brush of the forest, lithe body moving slowly and precisely. If someone had to explain how she moved they would say that it was like watching a big cat, like a lioness or a panther, stalking prey.

Yugito hid a small smile as her eyes surveyed the darkened forest with a calm clarity, not missing a single twitch of movement. She sniffed the air, searching for the familiar scent of the one she was hunting. Her prey was nearby. The smell of dango and sake was rife in the air, as well as another, faded yet still pungent odour.

A sharp whistling noise was her only warning, but it was enough for her to dive to the side, avoiding the trio of kunai which imbedded into the dirt. Yugito rolled across the forest floor to her feet, hands blurring as she sent a kunai flying back to where the attack originated. The blade disappeared into the leafy brush, and there was a thunk as it stabbed into bark.

Another swish of air caught her attention, and with another blur she fished into her weapons pouch and let fly another kunai in its path. The two blades met, sent spinning in opposite directions with a metallic clink. Yugito kept running, hearing the thuds of shuriken biting into the bark of the tree she just ran past. The blonde haired Kunoichi drew another kunai as she took cover behind the thick trunk of an untouched tree, taking a few deep breaths to regain oxygen.

She froze once she heard a silky, purring voice, "Got yooouuu."

Hands grabbed her from behind, a thin kunai a few centimetres longer than the norm pressed against her throat. Yugito shivered when she felt hot breath fan across her right earlobe, followed by a lick. "Do you really have to do that?"

"Nope," her opponent sang in a whisper. "I just love how you shiver like that. You're just so much fun to tease."

Yugito sighed, not surprised that she was caught the way she was. Anko was an expert in assassination after all, and one of her favourite such techniques was an ability that allowed her to faze through solid objects, like walls or in this case trees. Then again, she wouldn't call herself a Jōnin if she had been caught so easily. Her body morphed into brown mud which began to flow as the clone was dispelled.

Anko jumped out of the tree, signature wicked grin in place as she ducked a clawed hand, backpedalled two steps to dodge the second and brought up her arm to block the third. Yugito had fallen into her Black Tiger fighting stance, looking every bit the elegant feline killer she was known to be. Anko's grin was still in place as she disengaged and jumped back, falling into her Hebi style.

The two rushed each other in unison. Anko feigned to the right then lashed out with a lightning quick strike to her sparring partner's solar plexus, which was swiped away by a clawed hand and countered by an equally quick heel palm aimed for her jaw. The assassin leaned back, missing the strike by millimetres before spinning around to regain her balance, aiming a few lightning quick opened handed strikes as she went, all of which blocked.

After sparring with this woman on and off for the past few years Yugito had gained a lot of experience fighting against the infamous Hebi fighting style. The fighting style could be considered an art form in Taijutsu, designed for the user to deploy lightning quick strikes while not giving their opponent the slightest warning, no recognisable movement before the impending blow unless the opponent knew the slightest warning signs.

Still the Hebi fighting style was unpredictable to even the most experienced of fighters. Not surprising considering it was designed by the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru, to even the odds when fighting against the likes of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans. The palm strike slipped through her guard, and Yugito felt pain blossom in her jaw as Anko delivered the uppercut to her chin. The blonde stumbled back, stunned and unable to stop the follow up kick to her stomach, sending her sprawling to the dirt.

Yugito flipped to her feet, left hand favouring her now sore jaw as she gave Anko a venomous glare, which the Mitarashi returned with her usual cheerfulness. The blonde shrugged her shoulders before falling back into her favoured fighting style, giving her sparring partner a 'come hither' flex of her fingers. A few seconds passed before their deadly danced continued, and once again Yugito was brought back into the defensive as Anko continued to lash out with her lightning quick jabs, each aimed for a vulnerable spot on the human body.

Yugito waited, feeling every jab and punch which managed to get through her guard, allowing Anko to think she had her. Then her chance came. Anko overextended a jab and acting on instinct Yugito grabbed the hand and spun, using her strength to send the assassin expert over her shoulder and slam her against the dirt, satisfied when she heard the air leave her lungs.

Yugito quickly disengaged and hopped back just out of Anko's reach, watching as she rolled to her feet. Taking the brief peace she had gained began rapidly forming seals, finishing just as Anko was rushing to reengage her. There was no need to call out the name of the technique, only to think it.

Yugito slammed her hands against the earth and felt the pulse as her chakra flowed into the soil. The ground before her heaved and a spike of condensed rock shot towards her opponent, literarily ready to pierce her. Anko was just able to substitute herself with a piece of rock, which splintered into a dozen pieces upon impact.

Yugito was immediately forced on the defensive, hopping to the side as her opponent came in close, returning to an assault through Taijutsu. Block left, right, duck, right, left, right, right, jump, bring up right knee to block left, swipe with right, uppercut with left. Anko was once again sent falling backwards, almost sent entirely off her feet this time.

She didn't jump back to her feet.

Instead she lay there, right hand rubbing her sore jaw, motioning it side to side to make sure it hadn't been fractured. "Owe, that bloody hurt!"

"Sorry," Yugito apologised as she relaxed her stance, walking over to offer her training partner a hand, which she accepted. The blonde looked up at the sun and sighed. "Want to get out of here? Our times almost up."

Anko grinned, "Am I getting too much for you?"

Yugito snorted in response, "Hardly."

The two friends started walking back to the well worn track which would take them out of the training grounds. "Oh I get it, you're wondering if that little brat was able to pass his real examination."

"More or less," Yugito responded. "And he's not a brat."

She didn't know how or why it happened, but ever since Naruto and Anko met the two of them had been busy pranking and counter-pranking each other. Yugito wasn't really sure who started it anymore. Either Anko said something to piss Naruto off or her Cub said something to piss Anko off. It was amazing how alike they were sometimes. All she knew now was that it had become something of a routine, and most of the time it had been pretty low key, so Yugito had let them get on with it.

A low predatory growl brought her attention back to reality, and she looked up to see Anko go tense, looking at the shadows a few meters away from them. Yugito didn't go still. Instead she crouched down and responded with a wave. A single panther sleeked out into the light, black fur glossy and dark eyes showing an incredible sentient intelligence. It slinked up beside her, and Yugito leaned her head to the side for it to whisper into her ear. A smile slowly turned into a grin and with a nod and a quick hug to her summon she gave it a dismissal.

Anko looked on, slowly relaxing when she realised the animal was one of her friends summons. "Well, what did he want?"

"She," Yugito corrected, grin not leaving her face. "Naruto passed."

"Good for the brat," Anko replied. "Let's go celebrate his ascension to our ranks, and may the heavens have mercy on us all."

"He's not a brat."

Being at the meeting point wasn't a particularly problem for Shino. His family of insects, as well as being able to aide him in battle and spy for him, were also quite helpful as a sort of alarm. So at eight in the morning, an hour before he and his team were supposed to meet with their new sensei a half dozen of his allies began buzzing around his ears, awakening the young Aburame from his slumber.

Now he was walking through the worn dirt track between training fields, fully dressed in his long light blue, high collared coat, dark pants and sandals. This terrain was where he felt most at peace, away from the hustle and bustle of the village. It was the same for the entire clan, and although their wish for quiet and solitude was frowned upon by not just the villagers but quite a few clans as well they would still not have it any other way.

The sign for their meeting spot, training ground twenty three, came into view and silently Shino moved through the already opened slightly rusted gates and made his way through the often treaded path, listening to the morning sounds of birds and insects. Finally he came to the clearing, and noticed that, once again, someone had beaten him.

Naruto Uzumaki sat against the shade of the oak tree in the centre of the clearing, waving a greeting as Shino approached. Shino admitted that he didn't know the Uzumaki all that well. He had thought Naruto was an average student, excelling in some classes but lagging behind in others. The Aburame thought of himself as a good judge of character, able to identify if someone was telling the truth of lying, but he had to admit that with Naruto he had had the wool literarily pulled over his eyes.

The two waited by the tree, Naruto lying against it and snoozing while Shino simply leaned against the century old bark, hands in his pockets, waiting for their last teammate and sensei to arrive. Yamanaka Ino arrived a few minutes later, looking a little unused to getting up at such an early hour. She grunted a greeting to the two of them before sitting against the tree.

It was barely a minute later when their sensei arrived at nine o'clock sharp, but instead of just arriving in the blink of an eye he appeared at the edge of the forest, walking serenely towards them as they all stood and waited for him. Itachi looked the three of them in the eyes before nodding to himself. "Right, first I want to see exactly what the three of you are capable off. You will face each other in Taijutsu spars, only Taijutsu. Do you understand?"

The three of them nodded their understanding.

"Good," the Uchiha said. "First up is Shino and Ino, get into your positions and wait for my word."

Shino and Ino walked until they stood where their sensei once stood, watching as Itachi walked across the tree and sat down beside Naruto, looking down on him to see if he was really asleep before turning back to his other two students.

"Begin!"

Both weren't specialists in Taijutsu, Itachi realised. If he sized the two of them up he would see that Shino had an advantage in strength and power. He was bigger, broader and stronger while Ino was scrawny, not malnutrition scrawny but teenage girl looking to lose weight scrawny. She was slightly faster than her male teammate, something that Itachi was sure he could help with.

Shino had immediately gained the advantage in the spar, using his larger size and strength to put his female opponent on the defensive. Ino was immediately forced to backpedal, obviously hurting every time she moved to block one of the Aburame's punches with her arms. Even then Itachi knew that Shino wasn't putting all of his strength into his strikes, holding them back and hesitating when he thought he had used too much force.

Itachi continued to watch as his female student began really backpedalling, then diving away from her teammate as he continued his assault. She lacked the physical strength needed for Taijutsu, and lacked the physical strength to defend herself against such attacks. Itachi wondered why her father hadn't tried to help her in that regard.

Inoichi Yamanaka was a good man, and a brilliant Shinobi. He was a fine interrogator and had made quite a name for himself as a member of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio so Itachi had thought he had trained his only child in all forms of Shinobi combat including Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. He should have at least helped her build up her strength so she could adequately defend.

Still she had a fine mind. Itachi noticed the subtle ways she moved to try and lessen the blows and the ways she thought on her feet to gain distance between herself and Shino. There were a few times where he saw her unconsciously move her hands as if to form a seal, only for her to shake her head and begin defending herself once again. Any attacks she tried to implement were quickly intercepted and countered by her teammate.

He would have to help her by teaching her a better Taijutsu form than the academy style. His families own style was too proficient to potential Sharingan users to be of much help, but thanks to his eyes and a few patient teachers he was able to learn a few styles which would be helpful to her.

He looked down at his third teammate, noticing that he was awake and watching the confrontation. "Tell me Naruto, what is it you hope to truly aim by becoming a Shinobi."

The blond didn't answer for a moment, as if thinking, but he sat up and frowned. "To become the best I can be."

"What is your ultimate aim though?" Itachi's gaze didn't waver. This was another reason why he had decided to start with one on one Taijutsu. It allowed him to speak with each student individually, to see what they're true goals and convictions were.

"To become a Jōnin," Naruto frowned at that for a moment, blue eyes showing that he was truly thinking. "No, I want to become more than that. You know what I carry right?"

Itachi only nodded in response.

Naruto looked at the spar for a moment. "I want to truly prove myself as someone who isn't just someone defined by the past. I want to become the strongest Shinobi. I want to protect everyone and be the best Shinobi that I can be."

Itachi raised a black lash at that. "It sounds like you want to become the next Hokage."

Naruto leaned back against the oak. "Yeah, if that proves that me and my mom are more than freaks then that is what I will become."

There was more to this than what the child said. He was tired of being looked at with such disgust and pity. He was tired of being glared at every time he walked down the street. He wanted to prove that he was more than just the container for the most feared monster in the village. He wanted to be respected, to be trusted and to be seen. This wasn't a wish he wanted for himself. He wanted his mother, the woman who raised him, to prove that not just him but the woman who raised him was capable of being trusted and respected.

Itachi saw all this, not just in the way he said it but in his facial expression and in his expressive azure eyes. He leaned fully against the tree, just like his student was, and allowed a small smile. In many ways he saw a lot of his younger brother in Naruto, a young man wishing more than anything to prove himself to the village, yet there were differences. Naruto wanted to prove himself because he held within him the monster which tried to destroy the Hidden Leaf, and Sasuke wanted to restore their clan's honour after such an incredible disgrace in the Uchiha Revolt.

"Tell me what your specialities are? What are your strengths and your weaknesses in your opinion?" Itachi moved on without a beat, and it seemed to work.

"Well my mom says I'm good with Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu." Naruto spoke up thoughtfully. "But I think my real weakness is with Genjutsu. My mom once tried to teach me about illusions and stuff like that but I kind of zoned out every time she tried to explain."

"I see," Itachi frowned thoughtfully. "I might be able to help you with that. Usually a male finds it harder to learn Genjutsu unless they have an advantage. Usually Genjutsu is left to Kunoichi because they are more able to control they're chakra reserves then males can. Do you understand this?"

Naruto frowned for a moment. "Yeah, sort off."

"I will be testing the three of you to see how proficient with Genjutsu you are, as well as Ninjutsu." Itachi explained carefully. "Even if you show no talent I can still show you how to counter them. Are you willing to accept my help?"

"Yes."

"Then I will help you."

Naruto looked up at his sensei, but was unable to ask as Itachi raised his voice enough for his two teammates to hear. "That's enough. The next one will be between Naruto and Shino, once again Taijutsu only."

Naruto was still for a moment, watching him, before sighing and rising to his feet, walking over to Shino even as his female teammate strode towards the oak tree. She was panting, a fresh sheen of sweat glistening from her exposed skin. She didn't sit down beside Itachi. She almost collapsed. She had been completely exhausted by that spar, which showed that her stamina and pain threshold was subpar at best. He would have to put her through a serious training regime to get her up to scratch physically.

Within a few minutes Itachi knew exactly who was the best in Taijutsu. Shino may have been able to keep Ino at bay with his size and strength, but with Naruto those supposed advantages had been nullified. The blond may not be as tall or broad as the Aburame, but he had an advantage in almost being a professional at his fighting style of the black tiger, and being able to match Shino blow for blow without even flinching.

When he counterattacked his bigger teammate was immediately put on the defensive, and didn't seem to be able to counter anything other than to block or dodge Naruto's clawed swipes and kicks, and wasn't able to keep himself far enough away to nullify the fighting arts grappling abilities. Naruto was able to grapple with Shino and take the bigger boy to the ground with quick, precise movements.

"So, Yamanaka-san," He didn't miss the young girls blush when he began speaking to her, but acted as if he didn't notice. He could not help her reach her potential if she was nervous with talking to him. "What do you think you are capable off, what do you want to become?"

"I...I want." She frowned as she thought, cheeks reddening more with every moment of silence. But when she spoke she began to gain more confidence with each word. That was good. "I want to become like my father and all the other Yamanaka before me."

"Becoming an expert in spying and interrogation are admirable qualities." Itachi said as he looked at the two boys as they sparred. "However I would advice to wait until you become a Chūnin before learning those skills. May I be blunt with you, Yamanaka-san?"

"Just call me Ino."

"Ino," Itachi corrected before taking a breath. "You're Taijutsu needs work, and while I have not seen you perform Ninjutsu or Genjutsu I think close range combat will be a weakness of yours if you do not take it more seriously." He noticed her flinch at his prognosis, but continued on. She needed to be told the truth now than die in some nameless field later. "Your Aburame teammate is no master of Taijutsu, however he was able to hold the advantage over you during most of your spar. I am willing to help you strengthen your Taijutsu, if you will allow me."

Ino was silent for a moment, looking on as Naruto and Shino continued to spar. "Okay."

"It will not be easy," Itachi warned. "I want you to take that out of your head. If you are to survive as a field Shinobi then you will need what I am willing to teach. You must learn how to defend yourself at close range. The training regime I have planned will build you up physically as well as build up your Taijutsu. It will be a hard regime, but are you willing to let me help?"

"Yes, sensei."

Itachi nodded, noticing gladly that she didn't seem to be so shy around him anymore. That was good. He looked up at Naruto and Shino. As he suspected the girl was not as shallow as she first appeared. She had her own set of goals. "That's enough, good work to both of you. Shino will switch with Ino."

The moment Naruto and Ino began to spar the Jinchūriki slowly started to go easier on her with every strike he took. Ino seemed to notice this, and was starting to strike with more ferocity with every moment that passed. She wasn't the type that liked people going easy on her, and Naruto seemed the type who didn't like to strike at people who were weaker than him, even if they were coming at him with everything they had.

"Tell me Shino. What is your goal in becoming a Shinobi?"

"As I said during our first meeting sensei," Shino replied in his usual calm, even though he was still subtly trying to regain his breath from his match. "I wish to master all of my family's Jutsu, and learn how I can be able to fight with the aid of my allies, both human and insect."

"Admirable, but do you wish to know my opinion?" The Aburame looked up at him for a moment, for all outward appearances calm, yet the crinkling of his brow spoke volumes to the former ANBU.

"Yes, sensei,"

"You need to learn more than just relying on your insects," Itachi looked at Shino critically, assessing his response. Even to the Sharingan the insect wielding Aburame clan was difficult to read. "By focusing on strengthening your relationship with your hive you are lagging behind in other fields, namely you're Taijutsu."

"Sensei?"

"Let me put you in a hypothetical situation." The Uchiha continued. "You are placed in a position, against an opponent who is able to nullify your insect allies. What do you have left to fall upon?"

Shino didn't respond, instead he looked at the ground, brow crinkled as he thought.

"You need to learn other abilities than those which use your hive." The Uchiha continued. "I have seen such hypothetical situations become reality, and a few Aburame have died in front of me because someone was able to nullify their hives and render them ineffective. The techniques do exist, even if only a handful knows of them."

Silence prevailed as Itachi went back to watching the match, only to frown when he noticed that it was nearly turning into a brawl. Ino had apparently had enough of Naruto going easy on her and was almost screaming at him. "Stop going easy on me!"

"I can't."

"Why the hell not!"

"Because you're a girl!"

Itachi raised his brow at that, fully expecting Yamanaka to lash out at the statement. He was not disappointed. By the time he broke the fight-turned-brawl up both Naruto and Ino were panting, covered in dirt and light bruises and shooting each other downright hostile glares. Mentally Itachi sighed. This was going to be an interesting experience.

My name is Uchiha Shisui

My name is Uchiha Shisui.

I am the thirty eighth head of the Uchiha clan, and considering that I was eighteen when I took up the position I am hailed as the youngest clan head ever selected in Konoha, perhaps in the entirety of the Elemental Nations. I am twenty two years old, roguishly handsome and basically able to make a woman's heart swoon just by looking at them.

As the new head of the Uchiha clan I have enacted several changes over the last four years. Through my stubbornness and sheer audacity I was able to convince the entire clan to allow non-clan marriages. It took five months, nine days, twelve hours, forty minutes and thirty two seconds to successfully enact but I finally did it. I had to take the criticism of the Hyuga clan head and disagreements from several old farts on the Fire Council but I did it.

Fuck you Hyuga Hiashi.

Fuck you, you old bastards.

Bless you Hokage-sama, whooo!

Now though, after four years as head of the Uchiha clan I could safely say that if Orochimaru walked into this office and asked if he could take my job I would give it to him, pack my bags and go to some beach resort in Mizu no Kuni and have sex with many, many scantily clad women between the age group of eighteen to forty.

Why, do you ask, would I do this?

Because being head of a powerful clan is not what people think it is. At this rate I would rather take the position of Hokage, sure the old man has a small mountain of paperwork but at least he was able to pass complaints on to one of his legion of Administrative Ninja. I may not have nearly as much paperwork but I also don't have the small army of Shinobi under me.

I have to take every single complaint personally, no matter how trivial.

If I have to listen to Chi-Baa about the kids outside her house one more time...

I remember when Itachi came into my office a month after I took the position and say that he wanted to get something off his chest. He explained how he was planning to kill me to gain the ultimate Sharingan to put down the insurrection which was coming. I forgave him, but what really got me was how he explained how he was going to kill me in disturbing detail, right down to using his Sharingan to copy my handwriting for the suicide note.

Me?

Suicide?

Come on.

It freaked the hell out of me, but now I kind of wish he did kill me. At least then I wouldn't have to be stuck in this thrice damned office. I even asked him a couple of times if he would finish what he started. He always said no. The reason was that if I did in his words 'croak' then he would be stuck in this chair.

A knock sounded on the door, which opened showing the petite form of my assistant, a lovely little lady called Megumi. "Shisui-sama, it's Chi-san, something about a couple of kids outside her house again."

I groaned and slammed my head against the table.

My name is Uchiha Shisui.

Kill me.

Please.

Author's Note 1: Mainly a story moving chapter this time, getting the whole team introductions out of the way so we can move on to some of the better stuff. At the moment I have the next chapter done and another half way done. This appears to be my main story now. I'll hold off from publishing the next one until I've done another couple of chapters.

Author's Note 2: I'm not entirely sure if the characters are all in-character or not, if they aren't then I apologise but hopefully this should iron out the more I write about them. Yugito is easy because her lack of any real screen time means not much is known about her character besides what Kishimoto wrote in his sourcebook, so I have a lot of creative freedom with her that I don't have with the other characters.

Author's Note 3: A few people have asked me if I'm going to redo the Wave Arc in my own unique way, and the answer is yes, but not the way you think I will. I'm adding the whole arc with my own unique twist, meaning that it will follow the basic plot, and I mean really basic plot, but with several unique differences and it won't be very long either.