"So we're Genin now," Naruto said over a slowly cooling bowl of ramen.
"Yep," Sakura agreed. She was also just staring down at her food.
"I'm going to have to get rid of the rabbit cage and feed."
"Yeah, me too now that I think about it."
There was a long painful silence as they both just sat there quietly staring at their ramen.
"Is there something wrong with your orders?" Ayame asked worriedly. "Normally you two would be chowing down, especially you Naruto."
"There's nothing wrong with the food Ayame-chan," Naruto assured her.
"It's just that something really bad happened today," Sakura explained.
"What? What happened," she asked nervously. Though a civilian she lived in a ninja village and understood that tragedy could occur at any time.
"We became Genin of the Hidden Leaf," Sakura said morosely.
Ayame had a confused look. "Well isn't that a good thing?"
"You would think so," Naruto sighed.
Neither of them volunteered to tell her the details of what had happened and she decided not to ask.
"What are you going to tell your folks about Chibi?" Naruto asked.
Over the last couple years he'd come to the conclusion that his living arrangements gave him the best of both worlds. He was free to drop by and visit Sakura and her family whenever he liked, but was able to come and go from his apartment without giving anyone notice or explaining himself when he made a mess. (Well to a point, Sakura forced him to keep his place neat or she wouldn't come over.)
Though Sakura was now an adult her parents still had a curfew for her and expected to know where she was at all times. That didn't look like it was going to change any time soon. They would certainly ask about what had happened to her new pet.
"I'll just tell them I was forced to let him go. I'll say that was my test."
"So you're going to lie to your mom and dad?" Naruto was a bit surprised. While she didn't tell them everything she did try to be as honest with them as she could and avoided lying.
Sakura didn't look happy, but she nodded. "I have the feeling this is just going to be the first of a lot of lies I have to tell them. Do you think they'd understand if I told them what really happened?"
Naruto knew the answer to that and shook his head. Another truth about ninja life was starting to dawn on them. They would be doing a lot of things they wouldn't be bragging about. Things that only their fellow shinobi would be able to understand.
"Funny how Iruka-sensei and the other teachers never mentioned any of this," Naruto noted.
"Welcome to ninja life."
Naruto gave a sour grunt. "Yeah, I guess."
He took his chopsticks and had some ramen. He was a little surprised that it was still as good as it had always been.
XXX
Konoha had 105 designated Training Grounds. They varied in size and in terrain. It was possible to train in forest, grassland, swamp, hills, mountains, and training ground 88 even had an entire town where you could train for urban missions without putting civilians in danger. The only sorts of terrain that were unavailable were arctic and desert; for obvious reasons. There was a Civil Engineering Corps staffed with ninja proficient in nature and earth jutsus who constantly repaired the damage of intensive training and kept the training grounds in pristine condition. The people and shinobi of Konoha took great pride in their Training Grounds. It was simply taken for granted that just about any sort of terrain could be used and maintained.
Even so, when team 5 arrived at Training Ground 44 they were a little surprised.
There was a fifteen foot high chain link fence topped by barbed wire. Beyond the fence were massive deformed trees that easily dwarfed everything else around them. Beneath the think canopy of tree leaves was an absolute jungle. The heavy vegetation covered everything and made it impossible to see more than ten feet beyond the fence. In the early morning light there was a fragment of mist rising up from the ground filling the place with a gloomy pall.
Naruto thought he saw something in some of the bushes. When he looked more closely it had disappeared. Whether it was gone or just better hidden he could only guess.
The three of them had actually agreed to meet inside the village before the sun came up and had arrived together as a single unit. Sakura was surprised when Naruto showed up with two belts of kunai criss crossed over his chest. They were all bringing extra weapons with them but that seemed kind of excessive. They were all laden down not only with all the weapons they could carry but with their backpacks and tents. After just a couple meetings with sensei they had agreed to bring as much equipment as they could. They were all ready to believe that this was going to be ninja training from hell.
"What sort of place is this?" Naruto asked out loud.
"It's called the Forest of Death gaki." A voice whispered in his ear.
"Ack!" Naruto jumped out of the way and turned around with a kunai in his hand to find an amused Anko standing there grinning down at him.
From the reaction of his teammates neither of them had noticed her either.
"If this were a real mission and I was the enemy all three of you would be dead," she told them pleasantly. "I want you to keep that in mind. All the jutsus and chakra in the world do you no good if you get your throat slit while you're not paying attention. That's something we'll be working on over the next 30 days."
At the mention of slitting throats Naruto couldn't help but shudder slightly. He remembered the feel of her kunai pressed to his neck from their initial meeting.
"Sensei," Sakura questioned. "What is this place? Are we really training here for a whole month?"
Anko began to twirl a kunai about one of her fingers. "That's right pinky. This is Training Ground 44, though most leaf nin just refer to it as the Forest of Death. It's a massive area with a circular perimeter and a base located at the very center. Inside you'll find every sort of poisonous plant and insects along with a host of deadly predators. Even without actual enemy ninja to worry about it's incredibly dangerous, you can get yourself killed in all sorts of ways. Normally a team fresh out of the academy wouldn't be allowed near this place." She flashed them all a big smile. "I had to get special permission from the Hokage to use it."
"And the old man actually agreed?" Naruto said horrified. "Does he want to get us killed?"
"Just the opposite gaki. He wants you to become a strong team able to deal with anything. Trust me, once you get through your training here a real mission will seem like a breeze. I guarantee you that once you get done with my training regimen you'll be head and shoulders above the other two rook squads who were commissioned."
"Which other squads passed?" Sakura asked curious.
"Teams seven and ten with Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma as the senseis. I know them both; their lazy bastards who will just have their teams do a bunch of D-ranks and expect them to figure things out on their own. I have a whole different philosophy on things. As my bastard of a sensei used to say; 'the strongest steels are forged from the hottest fires and greatest pressures.' For the next thirty days you'll be trained and tested constantly in all sorts of ways."
"Team 7 passed?" Naruto grumbled. "Naturally that Uchiha bastard made it."
Anko raised an interested eyebrow. "Oh ho, got a little rivalry going with Sasuke do you?"
"Ah, I wouldn't call it a rivalry sensei," Sakura put in. "Naruto would try and challenge him and Sasuke would always just ignore him."
"I really hate that arrogant prick," Naruto said with feeling. "Everybody just loves him and he doesn't even appreciate it!" For someone like Naruto who had to fight so hard for acknowledgement Sasuke's disdain for others was just infuriating.
"Don't worry about the Uchiha," Anko told him happily. It was always good to know which buttons to push to motivate someone. "By the time we're done here you'll be on a whole different level. Now come on let's get started." Without further ado she leapt up and over the fence.
With a grimace Naruto and the others followed after her.
XXX
"Now to begin with, a team needs to be able to work together to blend all their strengths and cover up all their weaknesses. That's how we make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. You'll learn how to work together so that you can maximize each other's abilities. First step in that is for each of you to show what you can do to your teammates. Don't hold back and don't keep any abilities secret from your team or from me. Knowing what you're capable of may make the difference between life and death one day. I do expect you to keep what you can do a secret from everyone else though."
She sent a pointed look Naruto's way.
"I know," he said. "The Hokage already explained it to me."
Sakura blinked. She already knew Naruto had direct access to the Hokage and that he would often visit him and always be permitted to meet with him. Just why this was had always been a mystery. Yet if Anko-sensei was bringing this up it had to be something important.
"Naruto what is this about?"
Naruto looked at his sensei and waited for her to nod before he explained.
"The day we graduated I met with the Hokage and he gave me a special jutsu to study."
"What sort of jutsu?" Shino spoke for the first time since their initial meeting.
"I think a demonstration is in order," Anko said. "Let's all give him plenty of room first though."
XXX
"Senko Tanken."
For just an instant a yellow sphere flashed into existence around him. In the next all the vegetation within that area became mulch. Even the grass was sliced down to the top of the ground. A couple large trees had been at the edge of his jutsu's effective area. They were both sliced neatly along a curve matching where the edge of the jutsu had been.
Crack.
One of the trees shuddered and slowly fell over as the remainder of its trunk snapped.
Sakura stood here with her jaw hanging open.
Shino actually raised both eyebrows.
"Just so you know," Anko added. "This jutsu will slice up chakra reinforced steel like it was cardboard. Anything within range of this jutsu will be destroyed."
"Wow! Naruto that's amazing!" Sakura exclaimed.
Shino was nodding his head in full agreement. "A very impressive technique."
Naruto was grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks."
"We'll need to develop a signal before you use it in the field to make sure your teammates are far enough away from you. Both of you keep in mind that this jutsu doesn't pick and choose. If you're within range you'll get sliced up. Pay attention to his warning and stay clear of him so he can use it safely."
Both of his teammates nodded.
"Now since Sakura has no special abilities, why don't you go next Shino?"
"Hey!" Naruto interrupted. "Sakura has tons of special abilities!"
"I'm not interested in her, 'Study for the test no jutsu." She looked over at Sakura. "Do you have any special fighting techniques or abilities I should be aware of? Can you use any jutsu beyond the three D-rank ones every academy graduate knows?"
Put on the spot Sakura could only shake her head. "No sensei."
"Then as I was saying, Shino if you would."
"Hai sensei."
From out of nowhere a swarm of bugs appeared.
"Ewwww! Gross!" Sakura shouted.
"Quiet pinky," Anko growled.
"My clan, the Aburame, use kikai insects as ninja tools," Shino explained. "They reside within our bodies and are allowed to feed off of our chakra. In exchange we are able to use them in combat to drain an opponent's chakra or to track or keep watch."
"You've got bugs actually living inside you?!" Sakura cried out and shivered.
"That is correct."
"Cool," Naruto said.
"As for me," Anko said. She stopped twirling her kunai and used it to slice open her thumb. She then ran through some hand signs. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
There was a large puff of smoke.
When it cleared Anko was riding a top a fifty foot long red and black snake. "I can summon snakes. I have plenty of other skills too and you'll get to see them over the next month." With a wave of one hand she dismissed the snake which vanished in another puff of smoke.
Standing there Sakura suddenly felt, very very underpowered. I really am the weakest one here.
"Now then," Anko began twirling her kunai again. "Let me explain to you what the training will be like."
XXX
Author's Notes: I am open to suggestions for the code word or code phrase Naruto will use to warn his team. It cannot be longer than one or two words.