"So, what kind of training are we going to have today, Yamato-taichou?" asked the eager Naoko. He looked at Yamato wide eyed, (although it can't be seen) and a huge smiled spread on his face. The young boy slowly came closer to the jounin, waiting for his answer.

The brown haired nin on the other hand, still looked a bit pale. He turned to Naoko with little enthusiasm. "Um… today it's going to be a bit special. We're going to have some other kids who'll train with us."

"Really? Who are they?" asked Konan.

Yamato looked up to the sky, as if he was trying to remember something important. The guy rubbed his forehead, and squinted his eyes. "Yeah… who were those kids again?... I think I've forgotten…"

"Um… they were… uhh..."

"You've forgotten, taichou," said Sai. He continued to make doodles on his sketchpad.

Kohana looked deep into her captain, whose eyes met hers. She had a worried look on her face, which made Yamato feel a bit uneasy.

"What's wrong taichou?" she asked, using her cute voice and charm, "Is something wrong? This isn't very much like you."

Hearing the words, the brown haired ninja stood up, and acted all active and enthusiastic. There's no way he'd want to make such a sweet girl worry about him. "Tch! Don't worry about me, Kohana-chan! I'm more than prepared for this training than anyone else! Are you?"

"We are!"

The kids too, acted all happy and energized, despite the fact that they had a tough and heavy night last night. That was something none of them would ever want to happen again. The alcohol made their heads hurt badly, and it even forced Hidan puke for a whole hour in the comfort room, which was unfortunate for all of them for their bladders were filled up since last night.

Yup, the morning preparations of the soon-to-be-ninjas were very tiring and exhausting this day.

"Great! Why don't we do a few exercises? We need to wait for the other kids."

Naruto looked eagerly at Yamato. "Ne, taichou! I'll lead the exercises today, te bayo!"

"Maybe Sai should do it… that way, he'll get close to the two."

Atop the trees, the artist stopped moving his brush, and went down. He then smiled at them. "Sure, I'll make them do a few simple exercises."

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"K-K-Kohana-chan! There's one to your right!"

The girl quickly grabbed hold of her kunai, and threw it straight to the wild boar. Once it hit, the boar disappeared, leaving a few drops of ink on its path.

"Yatta! I got one, Naoko!"

The pair continued to run for their lives, throughout a little forest near the training grounds of Konoha.

When Sai said exercise, he SO meant EXERCISE. Both of them were just looking forward to a few jumping jacks or push-ups, but instead they got a wild chase against Sai's boars.

They weren't taught yet to jump high up or mold chakra like a ninja, so basically both of them were speeding through the trees with their feet touching the grounds.

And this is very unfortunate for the two.

"AAAH! Naoko-kun, to your left! Hurry!"

"I'm on it!"

CHACK!

"Yes!"

The female ran behind a huge tree, and Naoko ran behind a rock. They both forgot all about the stress they had this morning, and were focused on the activity they're currently having.

Sai, on the other hand, seriously did as he was told.

"You're almost there," he shouted from above. He was riding his bird made of ink. "There's just a few more. You can do it guys! This training will help you increase your ninja skills, particularly when it comes to targeting things!"

"That'll get their hopes up…"

The teen smiled at himself, opened the little bag he was carrying, and brought out a "How to Make Others Feel Better" book. His fingers ran through the pages till it reached Chapter 13: How to Deal with Troubled Kids.

Meanwhile, the ninjas down below hid among the bushes.

"Huff… pant… just… just five more to go…"

Konan inspected her pockets, and realized something bad. "Oh no… I only have two kunais left! What about you?"

"Huh? Me… huff… only three."

Both of them lied on the ground, exhausted.

"Well… we need to be more careful now. Don't miss a single boar."

"So that's why you need to look after these young flowers… of YOOOUUUUTH – "

"Wait a minute! Young flowers of youth? That doesn't even make any - … anyway, I just want you to know, Gai-sempai… that these are MY kids!"

The pink-haired girl got a bit curious. She turned to face the older men. "Yamato-taichou… you have kids?"

"Well… not blood-related… just by law… or mission, maybe…"

"Oooooh… Yamato-taichou's kids…," thought Naruto. "This could be interesting, datte bayo!"

"Do you accept this newly given mission, Yamato? Yes? ALRIGHT!"

"Wait, I-I-I-I-I didn't say anythi-"

"YOSH! Dai-chan! Satoshi-kun! Come forth!"

"H-H-H-Hey! Wait a minute-"

"I said COME FORTH!"

The blonde and the redhead remained hidden behind the bushes. Both looked a bit nervous… after all, Deidara and Sasori had already battled Naruto and Sakura respectively.

And there's a possibility that they would be recognized.

"This is it, danna…," whispered Deidara. He looked deep into the redhead's eyes. "Better not let kyuubi boy find out who I really am, hmm!"

"The same for me here," muttered Sasori. He glared daggers at the pink haired kunoichi. "This is going to be difficult…"

"Tch. We need to put on some extra work in acting from this time on, un."

"I SAID DAI-CHAN! SATOSHI-KUN! COME FOOOORTH!" said Gai, using his announcing voice.

The two, surprised by the loudness, got up quickly and ran towards them.

"Hai, Gai-sensei… AH! DADDY!"

Dai-chan hugged his daddy, who looked a bit worried. "Is this going to be okay for both Kohana and Naoko? I hope they won't think of me treating this pair differently…"

"Aw… the kid called you daddy, taichou! That's so SWEEEET!" squealed Sakura. She tried to fight the urge to squeeze the young girl… boy, but no avail.

SQUEEZE!

"AAH! Let go of me, b****!"

"Hey… something seems familiar about this girl, te bayo…"

Sasori, on the other hand, has no intention of being left out. "DADDY!"

The boy hugged him to, and even requested his 'dad' to carry him. Yamato, being captured in his cuteness, decided to do so.

"Aww… little Sasori's being hugged by his daddy…," she said, as she held tightly on to Dai. Then, after a few seconds of realizing what she has just said, she shouted, "F****** S***! THAT LITTLE GUY LOOKS JUST LIKE SASORI OF THE RED SANDS!"

"Busted!"

"Hmm? Are you sure Sakura? I never saw Sasori before… wasn't he a large puppet with a weird yet intimidating appearance?" asked Yamato. He stared at the young boy he was carrying, who smiled widely at him, trying to mask his real emotions.

And his emotion right now was… worry.

"That was Hiruko, brat. Jeez… I need to start changing the subject…," thought Sasori.

"I'm so sure taichou! The eye color… the hair color and style… even the skin tone!"

The boy turned to Sakura, with a confused expression. "A-ano… is Sasori a relative of mine? I never met him before."

"Really? With those looks, you could pass off as his son! You look so much like that akatsuki-puppet guy!"

"That's because I AM that akatsuki-puppet guy."

He glanced at his partner, who was sweating due to Naruto's scary stare.

"You look incredibly familiar, datte bayo! Have I met you somewhere? You really remind me of someone, te bayo!"

Dai just smiled cutely, and hugged Sakura tightly. "I… I don't know what you are talking about, niichan! I never met you to… maybe I just look the same to a person you've battled before, un."

"Hmm… I'll try to think of it later… te bayo." He stared at the sky, trying his best to remember who THAT guy was.

"Anyway," announced Yamato. "Why don't we start our training now? I think both Kohana and Naoko have done their series of push-ups and jumping jacks-"

"YAMATO-TAICHOU!"

The whole group turned to where the sound came from, and saw two kids who seemed to have gone right through the whole forest. They looked so dirty with mud on their faces, and tiny twigs clinged to their hair.

They both slowly walked towards them, feeling really tired and exhausted.

"T-This is… huff pant… NOTHING! We'll take on the next training right now, taichou!" cried Naoko. But seriously, he looked like some poor old guy who just got out of a buffalo stampede.

Konan seemed to disagree with her partner. And she saw the other kids. "Oh! Hi Dai, Satoshi!"

"Huh? Oh, Hi Kohana-chan!"

Yamato put Sasori down, and went to bring water for the two tired youngsters.

"Why don't you guys rest for a while? You'll need it for this training."

"Okay… this is awkward, un! Why is my left leg being tied to Kohana's right leg, yeah?"

The captain of the group looked at a very confused Dai. He tried to stop chuckling as he saw the little blonde try removing Sai's ink snakes.

"This is part of the training, Dai. Sasori, Naoko, are you guys ready over there?"

Pein turned to his taichou. "By ready, do you mean having my right leg tied up to Sasori's left?"

"Yes."

"If that's so, then we're ready."

The three older ninjas watched as the kids struggled with each other. They weren't getting the point of this new training. Besides, they have never gone through it either.

"What's supposed to be the lesson in this one, te bayo?"

Sai turned to the kyuubi boy. "I think I get the point…"

"Why don't you say it, Sai? I think you have thought of something regarding this training."

The pale guy nodded. "I think that it has something to do with collaboration."

"Exactly," said Yamato. "This is for you guys to build up your teamwork-"

"But dad," interrupted Deidara, "I already know how to do combos with danna, yeah! We can easil do teamwork together, hmm!"

"Well, can you do teamwork with the girl beside you?"

The blonde boy stared at Konan, who merely smiled.

"Um… maybe not."

Yamato inhaled some air, and began to explain the real purpose of the training. "Let's say that a certain team has organized its plans and combo moves, and something happens to one or two involved members? Naturally, the ninja team would have to adjust quickly, and collaborate with any possible person, partner or not."

"Ooooh."

"So, do you get the point?"

"Hai, taichou!"

The brown haired nin smiled at the little kids. "Good."

"Mokuton no jutsu!"

Suddenly, the earth began to shake. There were a few wood blocks that formed around the grounds. It was clear that Yamato was making something.

After a few minutes, the dust cleared, and on the grounds was an obstacle course.

"NANI? You expect us to go through that… with someone clinged to our legs?"

"Yes. As you see, you are separated into two groups: Girls and Boys. Sakura will be guiding the girls, while Naruto would Handle the boys. Sai would help in making the obstacles a little bit more difficult, while I'll keep track of the time. The team who wins, gets more coins."

"Sigh… this is going to be a burden," muttered Konan. "I'm never used to having you around."

"Heh, bear with me, un!"

Pein looked at Sasori, who seemed bored. "You ready, Satoshi?"

"Huh?... Whatevs."

The wood using ninja asked if both teams were ready to go.

"Alright, you guys ready?"

"Hai!"

"On your marks…"

Satoshi adjusted the tightness of Sai's snake doodle.

"Get set…"

Konan whispered something to the tiny Deidara.

"GO!"

And both teams sped off like monkeys carrying a basket full of eggs, running through a track of oil and banana peels.