Author's Note: Me again! Well, guys, here we are: Chapter 3 (I say that as if it's a huge number) Please, tell me what you think of the story, and how I can make it better grammar/structure/prose-wise. Read and review, please! I will always respond if you have a question-it's my promise of a lifetime! Enjoy!

Naruto watched with what he could only assume was pity as Nagato wobbled in his familiar stance, trying desperately to duplicate Naruto's poise. Quite frankly, it was like watching a fledgling try to fly at only ten minutes old. Of course, Naruto had no problem assuming the traditional "Ju Mae" fighting stance, considering he had been practicing for three consecutive years. He patiently waited for Kakashi's starting signal, hoping to get the match over with, given the fact that everyone knew who was going to win.

"Gee," Naruto wondered sarcastically, "who's going to win? Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, or Uzumaki Nagato, who probably weighs about ten pounds? Give or take a few." Amidst laughing over his one-sided joke, Naruto almost missed Kakashi waving his hand with a flourish,

"Begin."

Without hesitation, Naruto sprinted forward, clenching his fists tightly and abandoning all technique. Nagato let out a light shriek before turning tail and running away, only slightly faltering. Seeing he would require the extra manpower, Naruto lowered his ring and pinky fingers on each hand and thrust his right hand into his left, forming the most basic of seals: Ram. He focused all of his energy into his fingers as he shouted,

"Clone Jutsu!" To say the least, it did not pay off as he had anticipated it to. Instead of a lively copy of his devilishly handsome self, Naruto was running alongside a rumbling, bumbling travesty of a ninja with pale, slimy gray skin and frost white hair.

Backhanding the absurd failure of a jutsu, Naruto scoffed as it dissipated in a dense puff of smoke. He then turned his attention back to his opponent, whom he had trapped at the edge of the Third's cliff face. For added effect, he reached downward and grabbed a handful of the reddish-brown dirt at his feet, lifted it to eye level, and announced,

"Nagato-kun, you're done," while tossing the contents of his fist to the light breeze, forcing the ends of his lips upward into a sort of maniacal grin.

Nagato stumbled backward, landing directly on his back end about a foot away from the edge of the rocky cliff. The young blonde could see genuine fright in his eyes. He took his dear sweet time as he strolled toward the redhead, whistling Roll Boys, Roll as loud as he possibly could. Just as he was within five feet of Nagato, a low, hushed laugh came from his sensei's mouth, muffled by the mask that cover a fair portion of his face.

"Game over." Naruto smirked smugly, turning on his heel gracefully just in time to be struck in the face by a massive ball of dirt and gravel, knocking him out cold.

"Damn, Nagato-kun, you got him good," Kiba's voice called unnecessarily loudly, though it sounded as if his voice was trapped underwater.

"I didn't mean to," Nagato answered weakly, sounding as if he'd been crying (again). With a small amount of strength, Naruto was able to open his eyelids, and stare upward in the pink-orange sky, already able to see the moon.

"I wasn't scolding you, I was congratulating you," Kiba laughed.

Despite a few pairs of hands trying to make him lie down, Naruto utilized what little strength he could muster to sit up, his eyes only half-open.

"Well? How do you feel?" a new voice asked indifferently, one that Naruto was only partially pleased to hear.

"H...Hayate-sensei?" Naruto guessed, balling his hands into fists and shoving them into his eyeballs. Without another word, Naruto felt a slender, masculine hand clamp its bony fingers on his collar and yank him upward, leaving him wobbling on his weak feet.

"If you have enough energy to talk, you have enough energy to train," Hayate coughed, making a grinding noise with the rocks under his feet as he promptly turned around and began to walk away, calling for both Uzumaki's one last time before he sprinted off in the direction of the mountains. Naruto hesitantly followed, with an apprehensive Nagato at his heels.

After fifteen minutes of leaping and diving through the fresh, lively forests of Konoha, Naruto yawned in dreariness, calling out to his second sensei,

"Hayate-sensei! Where're we goin'?" The young Jōnin contemplated the question before grunting quietly and replying,

"The place where I was trained." Although Naruto didn't care much for the man leading him and his half-brother (he had decided Nagato was probably something like a step-sibling) he couldn't help but feel a small sense of intrigue building in his mind, eager to be fulfilled.

"Where's that?" Nagato asked, surprising Naruto with his outspokenness.

"Somewhere you two are not going to like."

After an eternity, Hayate spoke up, "We will arrive in about three minutes."

"It's been three decades!" Naruto shouted above the wind. Nagato kept quiet so as to not further agitate the other members of his cell. Every particle of Naruto's body was screaming,

"Please! Ramen and rest!" Their dreams were unfulfilled, however, as Naruto endlessly dragged on, prevailing in the face of hardship despite how much he wanted to give up.

Within another ten minutes (Naruto could already tell Hayate liked to exaggerate) the group finally emerged from the forest, and onto a snow-covered slope that stretched infinitely for as far as the eye could see, dotted with a myriad of frost-capped mountains. Looking to complain, Naruto froze as he looked at his sensei, who stood smiling and deeply inhaling the air.

"Smells just like peppermint," he groaned before continuing on without warning, much to the half-siblings' displeasure. Hayate led them down the slippery declivity and onward to a particularly high mountain, one whose base and sides appeared to be a bit darker than the others'.

The swordsman only continued to gain speed as they ascended the grand upgrade, leaving Naruto clueless, breathless, and freezing. Turning his eyes to meet his partner's, Naruto gasped as Nagato cupped his palms around a small, inconsistent flame that continued to sputter in and out of existence.

"Gimme some!" he exclaimed, thrusting his palms out and holding them over Nagato's.

"I will give you what I can," Nagato replied feebly. Although Naruto was lucky and appreciative to have such a useful half-brother, how Nagato was able to create fire in his hands completely escaped him.

Finally, after another lifetime, Hayate took one final upward bound toward the summit, followed by his two students. There, he combat rolled so as to not hurt himself, stood up, and stared longingly at a large wooden cabin, outside of which were many, many wooden posts, training dummies, and, oddly enough, thick hickory trees. "How are trees surviving in this environment?" Nagato observed, scratching his head and accidentally singing a few of his hairs.

"They're protected by the Chakra of the monks that once inhabited these mountains. During the First Great Shinobi World War, the Kaathians, worshipers of the Old Swordsmen, Cyro, were mercilessly obliterated by Uchiha Madara and his forces," Hayate formally replied with a hint of anger, balling his right hand into a fist.

"Why?" Naruto asked. After all, he was always one for a good story.

"Madara and his forces were searching for a legendary weapon, the Kazan Barude, or volcano blade, a sword told of in myth that is said to hold an ancient power wielded by the nameless Sinner." Naruto was able to vaguely recall the name from trying to cheat during the Genin exam.

"Did he end up getting it?" Hayate turned and glared at Naruto, belittling him further.

"Yes, totally," he replied sarcastically, "because the blade is completely real and not just a myth."

The young Jōnin shook his head exasperatedly with an annoyed sigh, turning back and ordering, "Follow me." Naruto, despite holding a superfluous amount of enmity for his new teacher, obeyed his instruction without hesitation, with Nagato at his heels. Their sensei led them to the steps at the base of the cabin, where he promptly removed his shoes out of respect for his old training ground. The siblings, unfamiliar with the gesture, simply kept walking, setting their moist, snow-caked sandals onto the thick lumber planks. Before they could even take another step, Naruto was left breathless as Hayate slammed the butt end of his blade into his chest while using his foot to kick Nagato back into the powdery snow.

"What was that for?!" Nagato surprisingly called, hesitantly sitting up and coughing up a ball of phlegm.

"Have some respect, child!" Hayate barked, clicking his tongue as he turned around. He continued to gently press his palms together and deeply bow until his head was nearly touching his knees. Regaining his habitual, abnormally straightened posture, Hayate motioned for the two boys to follow them with his hand. Fortunately, Naruto remembered to remove his sandals, even though he had only been told seconds before. Taking decisive, careful steps forward, he bounded into the cabin as he met the threshold of the already open door, which looked to be about falling off its dilapidated, rusted hinges.

The interior of the small settlement was not what Naruto or Nagato had expected. Instead of plush, relaxing furniture or a fireplace, at least, what the siblings found was even more training equipment and a squared-off section of water that seemed extremely glossy, given the minuscule amount of light which shone upon it. Speaking of the lighting, Naruto was partially amazed when he looked upward and saw that the main room was not lit by lightbulbs or sunlight (Hell, how could it be?) but two golden, perfectly circular discs, each giving off the heat and light of a miniature sun.

"I like it," Naruto commented with a yawn, his body growing comfortable with the energy-sapping heat. Unfortunately, his comfortability was fairly short-lived as Hayate motioned for his newfangled students to sit in front of the small, sparkly pond. Practically falling down, Naruto immediately noticed he'd done something wrong when Hayate glared at him and Nagato before shooting a glance toward the floor, trying to direct their attention to his legs. He was sitting discomfortingly on his knees.

Naruto hesitantly followed, occasionally wobbling and wiggling in a fruitless attempt to habituate to the avant-garde sedentary manner. The decaying, frost-wedged wood pressed into his skin, and he could already feel a bead of sweat forming on his brow.

"Before we get into any training, we must review some ground rules." Naruto silently laughed at Hayate's usage of "review." "Upon entry into the dojo, you are to remove your footwear, as well as any electronic devices, if you are to carry any. Second, you will sit reverently on your knees, if you are to sit. Third, you will only stop training if I explicitly tell you you can. Am I understood?"

"Yeah," Naruto mumbled, accidentally being stuck with a splinter as he ran his thumb along the floor.

"I can't hear you," Hayate announced, looking the boys directly in their eyes.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted, rolling his eyes in his sensei's direction and looking at Nagato as if to say, "Can you believe this?" Hayate rose to his feet ever so slowly and strolled behind Naruto, leaning downward and yelling into his ear,

"SIR...YES...SIR! Say it with me, child!" Although his words were directed toward Naruto, Nagato decided to join in, seeing it fit to essentially kiss up to his new leader.

"Sir, yes-"

"I was not talking to you!" the young Jōnin interjected, seeming to break his chronic cough simply to yell at them. Naruto rose to his feet and screamed,

"SIR, YES, SIR!" locking eyes with Hayate, who almost immediately sighed in relief.

"At least you can take directions fairly well," he noted, motioning for them to stand up. "Now, onto some more pressing matters." Their sensei pointed across the room, to a white sliding door, and announced, "Now, this is your home. That room over there houses your beds. After a day of hard work, you both are to come in here and make sure all filthiness is removed. I don't want to see even a speck of dust on this floor when we conclude each day. You are dismissed for the night."

Naruto stood silently with his mouth wide open in the shape of an O, astounded by the extremity of the changes Hayate was imposing on them at such a rapid pace.

"But what about all my stuff!?"

"I'll send for your items. Now, please, go away," Hayate calmly replied, turning majestically on his heel and walking to a door directly adjacent to the one at which he had pointed, a door marked with the kanji for master. When Naruto opened his mouth to contest, he instantly felt a warm, pale palm slam over his mouth.

"Can't you see it's futile?" Nagato agitatedly inquired, furrowing his brow. Unable to contemplate a proper response, Naruto bit the skin of Nagato's fingers, forcing him to retract his aching palm. "That wasn't nice."

"Neither is your face!" Naruto proclaimed, instantly regretting the embodiment of stupidity that had just rolled off his tongue. Nagato was able to hold in his laughter for approximately five seconds before exploding with laughter, followed by Naruto, who too chortled at his own doltishness.

The two eventually replaced their laughter with yawns and set out for the bedrooms, which were a bit under-equipped for the dojo's location. The room consisted of rows upon rows of sleeping bags, each with a single pillow. In the very back of the room, about sixty feet ahead of them, there was what appeared to be a shower room. Thankfully, three more of the golden discs that illuminated the main room were present within the corridor, spreading a little too much heat around. The two practically collapsed into the nearest pair of beds, content with the fact that the beds' insides were not lined with fur, as most standard-issue Ninja sleeping bags were. Before they both passed out, Naruto turned so that he faced Nagato and sighed,

"Nagato-kun, I don't know if making Genin was such a good thing after all." The redhead pondered the statement for a second before mumbling,

"I think I'd rather still be a vagabond." Naruto coughed lightly before laughing, a short, throaty laugh, and descending into the comfortable, welcoming clutches of sleep.