Serenity Angel: Hey guys! Sorry this took so long. It was a long summer. And it's going to be a long year, but I will try and pump out chapters as soon as possible! Same goes for all my stories if you're reading the other. So let's just get into it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters except Kaiyamei Hatake and others that will be introduced as the story goes on.

Kai P.O.V.

I had to hand it to the new teams: They lasted way longer than I did doing D-ranked missions, which was a whole week. It was only two and a half days before I got bored and had what some would call the 'audacity' to demand higher ranked stuff.

Team seven had it the worse though: having a hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja who had a mouth bigger than the Five Great Nations combined that complained about the missions every chance he got… heh… that must have been at least slightly annoying, even if they agreed with him on the situation.

I alone held the power to get them out of the mundane routine, but me being me, let them sweat it out a week more. I had to deal with adjusting back to village life, as well as fix any and all loose ends that wouldn't mess with my training sessions, though I did deliberately avoid a couple of them. I also realized that if I were to properly train the teams, I would have to evaluate their skills first.

There were a good couple of reasons for this: First off, it has been eight years. Second I really only trained with Naruto, and Hinata and that cousin of hers from time to time, but it was mainly Naruto.

So through a flip of a coin it was decided that Kurenai's team got the honor of going first, followed by Asuma's team and last but not least Kakashi's "group of misfits" as Yukina "affectionately" called them. I really didn't mind. I had gotten through Kurenai's fairly quickly, finding that Kiba really need to back his bite up more with his bark. Shino was good with his talent, and Hinata was still shy as ever too, but they did work well together as a team. Just need to work on building their individual strength and skills.

Asuma's team was sort of a let down. Shika has smarts, there's no doubt about that, just needs to try harder and actually applying it. Ino… needs to work harder and Choji… Well let's just say he's a completely different story. And they really can't work together, like at all, so that definitely needs work as well.

And now for the fun group or at least the one I wanted to toy with most. After their latest mission I just told them to meet me at the training grounds the next day (knowing full well it was their day off) and left it at that. They all had mixed reactions to this request, (well command really) Naruto being the only excited one about it while the other two were confused. Even tried prying out what I had planned, using everything from flattery to bribery, but I kept my mouth shut and told him they'd have to find out together.

So now here I am, in the training grounds with the small pond among the scenery, doing some tai-chi warm-up exercises at the slowest pace I can muster while I waited for them to get their little butts over here.

"You should have specified a time." Yukina muttered to me and I rolled my eyes in their closed sockets as I moved my arms with precision and control, shifting my position form my right leg to my left.

"Eh, eh what's the rule?" I say as I move in another position, breathing in and exhaling deeply.

I just hear her echoing sigh and continue on, closing my eyes and doing a few more deep breaths, holding that position. I open my eyes suddenly and speed up the pace of my tai-chi, adding a few jabs and kicks into the mix. They had decided to show up sometime during the middle of this exercise and stood there watching. I did one more kick before stopping and taking in a slow steady breath of air, my back to the three of them.

"You're late." I tell them turning around.

Both Naruto and Sakura had similar looks of awe on their face while Sasuke still had his stoic, emotionless mask. He looked at me intently, like he was studying my very stance. Yeah, like that isn't weird or creepy. They looked at me confused once what I had told them reached their brains.

"You didn't specify a time." Sasuke said, hands in his pockets.

"Told you." Yukina said with a slight smugness in her voice.

"Shut up." I tell her.

"The element of surprise is everything in our way of life and a shinobi should be prepared for anything and that includes time. Oh and speaking of time, lets get one thing straight right now. I don't have Kakashi's sense of time. So when I tell you to be somewhere by a certain time I'll be waiting." I say with a pleasant smile.

I really wasn't strict on the time thing. Only reason I would get mad at them for being late is if they came like six hours later than I had told them to or if we had an important mission to head off to. I gave them a reassuring smile, well more of a smirk. They smiled back and looked around, as if something was missing. Sakura was the first to look back at me, slightly confused.

"Where is Kakashi-Sensei?" she asked. My smirk kind of widened even more at the question.

"He'll be here later, more than likely after I'm finished with you three." I tell them. They accept the answer all though they look a little suspicious now of my intentions. Before the other two could ask anything Naruto piped up.

"So what are you gonna teach us Kai? Some super cool move that's only for Jonins? A life-saving technique? A stare that can render people unconscious with the slightest look?" He asked, shooting one question right after the other. I couldn't help but let out a laugh at his eagerness, giving him a smile before I answered him.

"No, actually… you guys are gonna be teaching me." I said and was met with three identical quizzical looks just like ever other time. I look at them with another smile and explain.

"You're each gonna fight me one on one. No weapons. No ninjustu. No genjutsu. No chakra. Just taijutsu."

"Well, what's the purpose of that?" Sakura asked.

"I get to know more about you and your skill levels." I say and they began to look even more confused, if that was even possible.

"With only taijustu? Doesn't that actually defeat the purpose if we don't use our other skills?" Sasuke asked which actually didn't surprise me that it was him asking.

"Not with me." I said with an all-knowing smirk that they couldn't understand. Before they could ask anything else I decided to get the show on the road. Maybe if we finish early enough, and they're not too sore, both mentally and egotistically, we could all get some lunch together.

"So who's gonna start?" I ask looking at each at them before my eyes landed on one person in particular.

"How 'bout you Sakura? Ladies first?" I say holding out a hand towards her in one of those formal butler fashions. She blinked once before smiling.

"Yeah." She said nodding in the affirmative and walking forward towards me.

The boys went to stand in the shades of some trees nearby so they wouldn't get caught in any crossfire. We meet in the middle of the field, going into immediate fighting stances when were only feet from each other. Once I find that we're both ready, I nod at her to begin and she comes at me fast with a fist to the face. Amateur move. I block it easy, which she just shakes it off, going at a side sweep of my legs with one of her own. I dodge it easily and throw a punch at her. She back-flipped out the way before it could land then comes back at me again. At this point it becomes totally fast pace, but her moves are easy enough to read.

"So how's she fairing?" Yukina decides to ask me sometime during the fight. I dodge another one of Sakura's punches before answering.

"Pretty well. Controls her movements and force to an exact science. Doesn't overexert at all. Most definitely means she's a good chakra controller, but beyond that I don't think she has anything special justu-wise. She's got brains, yes, but I think she's just limiting herself to chakra control and whatever is in her rank range. She's definitely going to need a few extra pushes." I say as I go for one of her legs but end up dodging an oncoming fist.

"I see…" Yukina said and I could hear a satisfied tone in her echoing voice.

"You know you've gotten well at predicting a person through their movements. I'm proud." She added and I could hear the smile in her voice. On the outside I smirked, which thankfully Sakura mistook for cockiness.

"You should be, after all you were the one that taught it to me." I tell Yukina and she made a disagreeing sound.

"That skill isn't something that can be taught. You picked up on it really well though…" She said, this time her voice carried the air of someone that was impressed.

"Ok. I think that's enough with her. Finish it." She said and I only smirk.

"Hai!"

I waited for the right opening and when she had a punch aimed for my stomach I grabbed her arm and twisted it ever so slightly before taking it with me and pinning it behind her back, cutting off her ability to move any further. The look of shock on her face told me she never saw it coming and I just smiled at her.

"Good. Very good." I say letting go of her arm and bowing. She bowed as well and we come up at the same time.

"You fight with a lot of control. That's good, I like that. You can rest." I tell her and she walks over to the boys who I zero in my sight on.

"So who's next?" I ask them looking at Naruto first, then Sasuke.

"Save the best for last." Yukina piped in and I worked hard not to furrow my eyebrows on the outside.

"And that would be…" I ask.

They were both going to be interesting fights, even if they weren't exactly official ones. Naruto undoubtedly grew from time we kids messing around at the park or at one of the other training fields. I so wanted to see how he improved! And then there was the Uchiha, who was not only the last, but a prodigy. That thought itself had me itching for the fight. But before I could choose which of the two I would fight later, Yukina answered for me.

"The Uchiha today. I can even feel his strength. And we both know my current little situation. I think he promises to be a longer and much more interesting fight that Sakura and Naruto combined." She said and I tried hard not to pout on the outside, but more than likely Yukina felt the emotion.

"Hey don't get my wrong. Even though Naruto has the fox and he has grown, you've fought him before many a time..." She said and I sighed. She was right there.

"Ok, ok." I told her in agreement. I look over to Naruto and smirk.

"Ok hot-shot you're next." I told him.

"Me?" he said pointing to himself.

"Yeah! Show me what you got! Let's see if you stand a chance this time 'round!" I say taunting him, wagging my finger in a "come hither" motion to complete the effect. Naruto walks over to me smirking and I return it with a smirk of my own as I go into a fighting stance. I could see the mix of eagerness and worry on his face as he stood in front of me, going into a fighting stance of his own. He stood waiting for my signal and I let out another smirk.

"Don't hold back on me." I say. He returned my smirk, squaring his shoulders.

"I don't plan to." He says and before I could even shout 'go' he comes at me with full force.

I block his first attack but then he came at me with another hit fast and I almost didn't catch that one in time. Almost. We break apart and go back to fighting stances. I have to admit, I felt pure shock from those first two attacks alone and it probably showed on my face. I quickly turn it into a smirk and this time I went after him. I fake a punch, which he fell for, and swipe at his legs, making him fall to the ground. I look at him with another smirk in place, wagging my finger and making a "tsk tsk" noise to go with it.

"Rule number one: Never let your guard down. Didn't I always say that?" I ask with my hands on my hips and a tilt of the head. He narrows his eyes at me, but not in a menacing way, more like a playful manner, a knowing manner.

"You should," He started and I sensed his body tensing but I really paid no mind to that, just on what he was going to tell me.

"Really follow your own advice!" He finishes and practically jumps me with an attack, though I manage to dodge, even if it was just barely and face him for his next attack.

All too soon we drown out the rest of the world and it really truly felt like I never left. It was just like when we were kids again just messing around on the training grounds. It was almost as if I was teaching him something new again, or if we were just trying to see who was stronger. I wouldn't have ever remembered it was a test of skills if Yukina hadn't piped up again.

"How's it goin?" She asked me and I had to bite back a smile from showing on the outside as I go for a round house kick, only for him to actually dodge it.

"Really well. There's definitely a difference. I can feel a much stronger sense of determination emancipating from him, not to mention his strength went up a good couple of notches. Sure he's still cocky and still hyperactive, but that wouldn't make him Naruto if he wasn't! He still isn't too good on chakra control, but he has potential, much more than I felt when we were younger. But the biggest plus is that he's still the same old Naruto. I'm so glad!" I tell her and I almost felt like I was babbling about him to her, but I could care less. Especially when he had a good onslaught of punches coming my way.

"I can see that… I can also feel the fox's power… It's stronger than when he was younger..." Yukina and I could sense something between worry and cautiousness in her voice.

"Seal's still in tack. Nothing to worry about." I say assuring her and doing an easy back flip from one of Naruto's kicks.

"Yeah, yeah… so… how long you've been at it with him?" She asked and I could almost see her doing the nail check thing, knowing she already knew what I was gonna say.

"Umm… I don't remember." She sighed and I almost laughed. See? I don't fail to disappoint.

"Yeah… it's about time you end this one." She said and I swear I let out a genuine pout at that, but luckily Naruto was too busy trying to kick my butt to notice.

"B-but…" I started, like a little kid that was told to go to bed way too early. I was really looking forward to sparring with Naruto again, even if this was just taijutsu.

"There will be other times, and those won't include it being a test. Give him a rest already." She told me and I sighed.

Like with Sakura, I waited for one particular move and before he knew it, Naruto was on the ground with me sitting on his back, bending his leg back in a not so comfortable position. Okay, let's say a very uncomfortable position.

"Say uncle!" I tell him smirking, my grip on his leg tight.

"Never!" He says with all the determination in the world. I just bent his leg back a little farther and then he let out a yelp.

"Ok, ok! UNCLE!" He screamed.

I let go then, getting off of his back and lent out a hand to help him, smiling. He took my hand, letting me pull him up and he couldn't help but smile back at me.

"Still needs a little work, but you've improved. I'm proud!" I tell him and his smile got even wider.

"Go take a rest." I say ruffling his hair as he passes me and takes a seat over by the treat where Sakura and Sasuke are resting.

I look at Sasuke and motion for him to come forth.

"Last but not least." I mumble as he walks over to me slowly with his hands in his pockets.

He looks at me and I can immediately tell he's sizing me up yet again. I don't even let this faze me. Hell he wasn't the first I had to apparently prove myself to and he definitely won't be the last. I could care less about attempting to entertain the expectations of an Uchiha.

Once he's near enough I go into a fighting stance with yet another smirk. I wouldn't be surprised at the end of the day if it became a permanent look on my face. I could honestly say that this was one fight I was looking forward to. It wasn't everyday I got to fight a member of a kekkei genkai clan. And no, Kakashi didn't even count. Hell, what I really got a kick out of was the fact that I would be teaching this kid. If at all possible, my smirk got wider at the thought.

He goes into a fighting stance as well, waiting for my call. Everything suddenly went quiet after that, like the world around us was holding it's breath in anticipation for this match to get underway. I give him a short nod and he comes at me quickly with a kick to my side but I deflect it and the sudden punch he had aimed at my chest. I decide to go at him with a punch of my own, only for him to dodge it, grab my arm and throw me at a tree. I managed to ground myself before he had me airborne for too long. I flip away from him and go into a fighting stance again, the both of us circling the grounds like it was a sumo-wrestling ring. He gives me a smirk, a facial expression that must be his trademark and I return it before we both go at it again. He was fast, faster than the pace Naruto had me at just a while ago and definitely faster than having Naruto and Sakura paired against me. Thing was, I was just as fast, if not faster and the whole match was one of speed and almost deadly accuracy. I'll even admit he gave a nick here or maybe a scratch there, but nothing solid, and the same went with me. He was pretty tough to catch, but that just made the match more interesting for me. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen when his kekkei genkai actually develops.

"See, what'd I tell you?" Yukina asked, interrupting my little thought.

"You're right. The last prodigy of the Uchiha's… He overexerts a little when he doesn't need to but he has a lot of strength and potential and I think that's a double-edge sword with him." I say as I block one of Sasuke's attacks with my left forearm and go in with my right for an attack.

"Oh?" Yukina said, surprised by this observation.

"Yeah. I didn't get the greatest of vibes from this guy from the get-go… Like he thirsts for something, thriving on that need to have it… I think he's the type that'll do anything to reach his full potential fast… I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on him." I say, keeping in my frown as I block some low kicks and going for a high kick of my own. I suddenly heard a chuckle from Yukina and I almost raised an eyebrow at the sound.

"This one may be the death of you." She said jokingly and I wanted to give her the biggest deadpanned look.

"Heh, not even. I'm far stronger than him. He has a ways to go to even reach a fifth of my level." I tell her with all the seriousness in the world. He's doing well now, but then again, it is a test and I'm not exactly wasting unnecessary energy for a test.

"Cocky, aren't we?" Yukina said and I could hear the smug little smirk in her voice.

"I have no reason to be so. He may be an Uchiha but I'm an ANBU captain, have been for a good while too. Hell, I might be stronger than the Hokage himself, but in all seriousness, this one is… different. I need to have a talk with Kakashi about him. He and Naruto will be my main focus from this group. I'll try my best not to neglect Sakura but I don't know what will happen… You know, it's weird. These two are like fire and ice." I tell her only for her to let out a laugh at that. Needless to say I was confused.

"Remind you of someone?" She asked with pure humor in her voice.

"Should it?" I ask thinking about the question. No one really came to mind at the moment.

"Yeah, it should. But it's okay for now. I'll remind you later. End the fight." Yukina said, retaining some seriousness by the end of her last statement.

"Right." I said and just like before I waited for the right mistake on their part before putting in an extra move to get them pinned.

This time I had the Uchiha in a headlock and jut like the other times he didn't even see it coming. Unlike the others however, he didn't let the shock show on his face, though he completely was. I gave him a couple of brownie points for keeping his cool. I let him go with another smirk (seriously, my face will end up staying like that by the end of the day.) and do a quick dip of my head before walking over to the others. I didn't feel him follow and just ignored it, even though I did feel calculating eyes boring into my back. Hey, if he wants to say something, he can just come out and say it. He doesn't seem the type to hold something back anyway. I look at the other two and smiled.

"Well, Kakashi's got quite the group on his hands. You guys are pretty good. Each one of you have your own skills and strengths that make the team work... That's pretty good. Okay so now-" I say but then I get suddenly interrupted.

"You were holding back." A male voice suddenly said. I stopped talking at the sudden interruption, blinking in surprise although it didn't show on my face. I look at the other two before turning back to the owner of that certain male voice.

"Come again?" I ask him, undoubtedly with a confused look on my face.

"You were holding back. Just now." He stated, not even asked. Stated. I couldn't help but look at him like he was stupid.

"Yeah, I was." I said like it was obvious.

"Why?" He asked suddenly and my face went back to that of one of confusion.

"What?" I asked, the confusion in my voice matching the confusion on my face.

"Why?" He asked again.

I looked at him, silently assessing if he was crazy or not. I looked him in his face. Holy crap, he's dead serious! Well two can play that game. I look at him with a serious look of my own. I feel Naruto and Sakura drifter closer to us, but I really could care less. Sakura looked pissed off before when I had Uchiha in a headlock so I bet she was cheering him on for the small act of defiance.

On the other hand I could feel that Naruto was pissed. I guess he didn't like the fact that the Uchiha was questioning me as much as I did. Honestly he really had no right. Who was he to question the way I worked? Naruto didn't even demand me to fight him at full strength, and he really, really, really, really, really wanted to. He knew I had reasons for doing what I did, since I used to do the same thing to him when I was younger. From those little spars, I'd advise him on what he needed to work on and whatever. So really, who did this guy think he was?

I looked at him and found that he was actually still waiting for an answer, so I turned to him fully, my mouth set in a thin line.

"You wouldn't last three minutes if I fought you full strength… And that's if I wanted to leave you breathing." I told him, my tone dead serious. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and smirked.

"Cocky… I almost had Kakashi many times on the training mission." He states, and before he could add anything more to that statement I cut in.

"For one thing, I'm different from Kakashi. Extremely so. What he did and what I was doing are two very different things. You were fighting for your right as Genins with him. I was just assessing your skills just now. I'm not gonna fight full strength for that." I tell him, putting it in the simplest terms I can muster. He gives me a hard stare and I only stare back unwavering.

"If you really want to see what I can do then," he says going into a fighting stance.

"Fight me at full strength."

"Hey! I see what he's trying to do! No! Do not, I repeat, do not let him tempt you!" Yukina says to me suddenly. I had realized this too, and I wasn't letting him get his way for a second.

"I'm working on it." I tell her before addressing Sasuke again.

"I extremely advise against that… Not unless you want to loose a vital body part," I say in a mockingly sophisticated manner before letting it fall to a dark smirk.

"Or your life…" I could hear Sakura grinding her teeth together at my statement. Oh, did I strike a bad chord in her? Oh well, I could fix that later… if I remember.

"Oooh, nice one. Play a little of that dark side into the mix." Yukina tells me, thoroughly impressed.

"Hush up." I tell her. I was thoroughly irritated as it was right now, so I really didn't mean to snap at her and she knew that. Hell she is older than me, despite the dead thing, so of course she would put me in place quick. Plus she does inhabit my body and could do something if she was truly pissed off.

"Hushing… For now." She said and I knew her voice held the promise of budding in sometime later.

"You just don't want to be showed up." He says and I raised my eyebrow at this comment.

"You just really have a death wish. It was just an assessment Sasuke. Leave it at that. I'll truly fight you when I'm actually training you. I'll be fighting you so much that you'll get sick of it." I tell him, trying to get back to my more playful side.

"I'd like to be the judge of that. Right here, right now. " He said and I just shook my head slightly before looking at him.

"No. And that's final." I tell him with a look of authority before turning back to look at Sakura and Naruto.

"So as I was saying-"

"Coward." My words stopped dead cold at that one word interruption and anger immediately just boiled with a fury in my body.

I know I must have heard wrong. But Naruto looked beyond pissed and worried at the same time while Sakura almost looked like she was silently cheering for Sasuke, so he must have said what I think he just said and those two had heard it. I turned around to look at the Uchiha heir, the death glare on my face not even able to magnify the intensity of the anger I felt. I know this duck-butt haired, pasty skinned, cocky asshole did not just call me a coward!

"What did you just say?" I said through gritted teeth.

"I called you a coward." He said smirking like he knew he just got what he wanted, not seeing any harm in his one little statement.

Oh, this stupid son of a bitch! He had the freaking audacity to repeat it too! He does not know who the hell he's dealing with! Ok, let it be known now that I have a real problem with being called a coward. I guess you could say it fully developed during my time away, though it was there when I was still in the village. It's so bad a problem that the person who so much as utters that word to me doesn't end up making it after I'm through with them. I went through too much shit to be called a coward. Let alone by a lowly fucking Genin!

"Listen Genin-" I started turning fully toward the boy. Yukina must have sensed some serious danger in those two words for a certain someone because she was right by my ear (or rather in my mind) in the space of a heartbeat.

"Kai! Don't do it!" She all but screamed in my head, but I didn't listen.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? What gives you the right to say that to me?" I spat at him, fiery anger spreading through my veins.

"Stop! Cease! Desist!" Yukina warned me, still trying to get me to stop, and I could almost see the red flags she was waving around to get my attention, but I still ignored her.

"If you want a fight so bad-"

"KAI!" Yukina screamed, but it was too late.

"You've got one." I told him, a wind blowing by ominously once I finished my sentence.

"Ah shit."

To Be Continued

Serenity Angel: Okay guys, that was the fifth chapter of NTL. Chapter six is in the works. I'll try hard to get it out but I'm having slight complications with that. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. Well don't have much to say. Hoe you guys enjoyed it and see you again the next chapter! Reviews would be great! Bye!