Kakashi apparently had words with Genma before he left, because my sensei cornered me alone at the tail end of our lunch break the first day he was back, looking heartbroken.

"Why don't you tell me these things?"

I shrugged, looking away so I didn't have to see that awful expression on his face.

"Because I thought that's how things went? Do as you're told and don't complain? Ninja take hits, it happens." This world was so wildly different from the one I'd known before, it had made sense for a clanless no-one like myself to take hits from those with rank if they deemed it necessary…
"Not at home and not from allies."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?"

"It-!" He stopped himself, taking in a deep breath. "No, you're right. Teaching you about interactions between ranks is part of my job." I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off with a look. "It is. I didn't know you weren't getting paid for being an apprentice, I didn't know you were being stolen for countless high-ranking missions, I didn't know one of our own Jounin hurt you, and the hospital didn't even heal it all. Even if you're promoted you're going to be stuck with learning from me for a while longer yet because apparently, I missed the most important stuff, and you missed learning how to communicate. I'm here to help you, Asuka. You don't have to do everything on your own. Now, up your weights and take a few laps so I can daydream about the chaos Kakashi is causing."

I hated that he was right. I was so accustomed to handling everything myself that a lot of the time it slipped my mind that in the here and now I was a child and I really did have adults I could rely on. Well, I did now. It definitely didn't help things that there wasn't anyone I could go to when we were younger and smaller (too young, too small-)

Kakashi was back that evening, smelling of dog, smoke, blood, and ozone, and I had to wonder if he had stabbed the guy in retribution [why does that thought make this my new favorite scent?]. I didn't ask, content with my own daydreams of deus ex machina Kakashi kicking the shit out of one of my personal demons. After dinner he cornered me,

"We've been slacking on the seals lately, what have you got for me?"

I couldn't help but glance over at where Jiraiya was attempting to explain seals to Naruto, who knew damn well what he was talking about because he'd been through it with me, but was having the time of his life pretending idiocy. Kakashi noticed, obviously.

"Don't worry about him, he has expectations of the Uzumaki name. Now, come on. I know you have something planned for your match with Gaara."

I pulled out my notes, settling in beside him near the campfire so he could easily see over my shoulder, "I had a few ideas."

We fell into our usual argumentative pattern easily, the light of the fire easily showing the seal lines. After a particularly heated exchange over an incorporation of storage and wires, Jiraiya loomed over us, looking over my other shoulder at the seal. I very carefully didn't tense as he spoke,

"Awful informal with your sensei there, kid."

Kakashi snorted, "I'm not her sensei. Asuka is Genma's."

At his name my sensei looked up from the book he'd been reading, waving lazily before going back to it.

Jiraiya looked skeptical, "If you're not on Naruto and Sasuke-kun's genin team, then why all the formation drills?"

Sasuke piped up at that one, not looking away from the sketch he was watching Sai create.

"Asuka's been keeping us alive since before we could read properly, we're not about to stop her now."

A slight exaggeration, I'd taught Naruto to read, so that made sense, but I was fairly certain Sasuke could read when I got him. I narrowed my eyes at him, thinking it over.

"You could read. I'm sure you could."

He looked up, raising a single brow, "Could I?"

It had been a year or so before he joined the academy, but he was the main family of the Uchiha clan, surely he could read at…how old were we? I turned to Kakashi, "Five-year-olds can read, right?"

Kakashi looked up from the seal, "Yes?" He didn't sound even remotely sure of that answer.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the both of us before pointing at a part of the paper, "You'd need both hands free to hold that wire once it was released. No jutsu after that unless you make another seal to hold the wire."

"I don't need hand signs."

"What."

"Yeah, I use them in training because it helps instill good habits in Ichiyo and Sakura, but I don't use them in real fights."

He stared blankly for a second. "Would you mind giving a demonstration?"

That was…worded in an awfully polite way for this guy. I took a deep breath in, throwing my head back and letting the breath out as fire, blooming above us. Sakura clapped politely, the others ignoring us.

Jiraiya gaped blankly into the air where the fire was fading away even as Kakashi stared at me, a wild look forming in his eye. "I need to change your training plan. I've been teaching Sasuke differently because he had the Sharingan and can see the flow of chakra, but I didn't even think…you can feel the flow of chakra just as easily."

The wild look turned a bit maniacal as he glanced back down at the seal, "This could really work. Or…what do you remember of the bijuu seal?"

Jiraiya looked at us sharply, "What?"
Kakashi flapped a hand at him, not looking away from me, "The Ichibi, in the Suna Genin."

I pulled out a clean sheet of paper, humming as I tried to put down what I had felt.

"I already told Hokage-sama about the incompatibility with two intelligences within one being, and the lack of choice given to Gaara himself. I maintain that the bijuu was taken out of a thing and then resealed into a person using the exact same seal as was used on the thing, you know?"

Kakashi nodded, "I'm following you."

"So there's no seal for separation. At all. I think the base looks like this? It's what it felt like when he used a burst of its chakra."

I turned the seal toward Kakashi only to have it snapped up by Jiraiya. I tamped down the irritation viciously, keeping my face blank. Kakashi wasn't fooled in the slightest but refrained from commenting, instead nudging the Sannin. "Mind sharing that?"

Jiraiya sat down, crossing his legs and leaning into our space, driving me closer to Kakashi to avoid him. "How did you determine the third quadrant?"

"The same way I did all of it? He used the bijuu's chakra, so the seal lit up. I was in the same room, so I sensed each line opening. Of course, it's not nearly the same amount of information as if I had managed any sort of expansion on the seal, but I'll take what I can get."

Jiraiya stared down at the quickly sketched seal before looking up at me, "Has Kakashi shared with you what's going to happen during the third portion of the exam?"

His voice was low enough that none of the other Genin heard it, though the words caused Kakashi to tense minutely, drawing Genma's attention instantly. My sensei snapped his book closed, making his way over even as I shook my head, "No. But I can guess."

Genma settled between myself and Jiraiya, squishing me closer to Kakashi, pressed into both of their sides, comforting lines of warmth.

"Did I miss something here?"

Jiraiya didn't look away from me, shuffling to sit more in front of the three of us to maintain eye contact, "Yes, the planned attack could be largely mitigated by your Genin."

Genma straightened from his slouch immediately, glaring at him. The Sannin just grinned at me, "You didn't even react. Kakashi might not have told you, but someone did."
"No. I'm just in possession of a lot of information that only makes sense with one conclusion. Namely, that a large crowd of vulnerable and potentially important noncombatants in one place with a majority of Konoha forces focused on specific security measures and VIP safety makes a target that can cripple physically and politically. Not to mention we've got shifty shit happening on top of that."

He snorted, "Yeah, that's one way to put it." He eyed me for a moment, "You know enough about seals to apply them," He ignored my sensei's offended sound at the understatement, "We could give you a seal to place on the jinchuuriki."
I tilted my head, eyeing him. I took comfort from the two solid, warm bodies at either side of me, "I could."

"You won't?"
"Disabling an ally jinchuuriki just for the sake of it is an act of war. If they haven't made a move yet, then I'm not going to be the one to do it."

"You will do as you're told, Genin."

I met his gaze viciously, desperately ignoring the flashbacks that phrasing tried to cause, stopping a shudder midway through sheer willpower, though probably not all of the trembling judging by the tensing going on beside me, "Acts of war require specific sorts of authorization and you are not my Hokage. I will hear it from Hokage-sama, or I will not do it."

I let that simmer for a few seconds before dredging up my courage and poking the seal he still held, "However, I am apparently a dumbass Genin who thinks they know sealing and is the first match against the Sand jinchuuriki. It is entirely in character for me to slap a seal on him that may separate him from the bijuu completely. The intention of the dumbass Genin being sanity for the poor teenager in question. The result, a weapon with no impact. At least until he figures out how to draw the bijuu's power on his own without it leaking everywhere and being ripe for the taking."

I met Jiraiya's stare for several too-long moments before he nodded slowly. "That might work. But don't think you'll be making Chuunin, kid. The impertinence isn't cute."

"I've never cared about being cute a day in my life."

He snorted, "Sure, kid. Go play with your friends, we'll figure out the seal."

Genma snagged my arm before I could stand, "No."

Jiraiya looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "No?"

"No, you are not treating my student like this anymore. I heard it from Kakashi, but I thought he was being soft because Asuka." Well, that didn't make any sense. What the fuck, sensei? "What makes you think she isn't capable? The lack of a surname? Like you or Orochimaru? Or is it her gender? Like Tsunade? Or her age? Like Minato? Asuka has been giving ANBU the runaround since before her chakra system was fully activated, you don't get to decide that her sealing is bottom-tier without even taking a real look first."

Goddamn, sensei. The warm and fuzzies were interrupted by Jiraiya huffing derisively, "Fine, we'll see how she does at the big kid table." Well, no pressure there, huh?

The ensuing argument was only barely kept from violence and gained an audience quickly. Sakura seemed to be the bookie, though I had no idea what they were betting on. It didn't take long for me to get over my near instinctive fear of the unfamiliar Jounin, not with Genma pressed in on one side of me and Kakashi on the other. Sannin or not, I didn't think he could take the two of them together. It might be more hero worship than actual threat assessment, but it helped me function like a human being either way.

Dawn was nearing as we argued over a particular calculation, the numbers written in several feet of dirt. I refused to give in here, for all that it had been many years ago I'd still taken Calculus III and several levels of differential equation courses, and then I'd stretched this baby brain the right way, I was right, damn it.

"No! I don't give a fuck if you're a 'Sannin' or not, that's not how math works and I'll prove it!"

"Oh ho! Awful confident for a ten-year-old!"

"Thirteen. And yeah, of course I'm confident, I'm fuckin' right!"

The generic phrase, about breathing fire when angry, I had half a thought about it before I remembered that oh yeah, I can breathe fire. I let out a generous breath of smoke through my nose, noting the Sannin shift nervously even as he argued,

"That's not how it works when there are prime numbers involved."

"Fuck your prime numbers, you're making excuses and you know it!"

Sakura sidled up close to me, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "Hey, Asuka, I know you guys are doing sealing shit, but are you going to join us on the morning run?"

The dismayed look from Jiraiya was all I needed, "Of course we are! Science isn't reason enough to neglect our physical health, after all!"
It was stupidly easy to peer pressure a Sannin into doing physical exercise, though Naruto was enormously helpful with his enthusiasm and excellently feigned obliviousness. The man had obviously been using high-level chakra hacks to keep up his conditioning to this point, watching him attempt the same feats outside of battle? Hilarious.

At our lunch break Genma sidled up next to me, "Don't think I don't support this, because I do 100%, but how long are you going to torture our only in-village Sannin?"

I smiled blandly at him, "How is it torture? I'm following the exact same schedule that he is. Such a shame that he can't compete with a teenage girl."

"That's evil. I love it."

For all that I wanted to keep torturing Jiraiya, it wasn't meant to be. Directly after lunch, Kakashi took aside Sasuke and me for more lightning jutsu training. True to his word Kakashi changed how we were doing things. I hadn't noticed at first that our methods were different, but suddenly Sasuke and I were following the exact same instructions. It was easier, from there. I was able to identify where Sasuke fizzled out for a jutsu, pinching him directly over the tenketsu in question, and he was able to see where I fucked up in turn, though his method of correction was more of a gut punch and some sass.

That evening I went directly back to haunting our local Sannin, who had apparently taken a nap while I was training. Rude. This time Genma stopped us just before midnight, enforcing a bedtime. Jiraiya attempted to pout, but the killing intent Genma let out must have done something because he retreated to his tent without further objection.

The next morning Sakura, Naruto, and Ichiyo worked together cheerfully to rouse Jiraiya to run with us, Sai and Sasuke doing an immaculate job of silently judging as the run went on. It was the start of a wonderful routine. Three days later the seal we were after was born. Our resident Sannin fled back to the village almost immediately. I ignored this, Genma had gone back to guard duty, so I went straight to Kakashi.

"I need a second opinion."

"...a second opinion separate from the Sannin seal master?"

"Of course, he's sketchy, you aren't."

"As ego-affirming as that is, he does actually know more about sealing than I do."

"Maybe. He might know more than you. But the way he left the last quadrant without proofreading, I don't like that and I trust you way more than him."

Kakashi sighed but looked it over. In the end he had suggestions for me, making the seal much less likely to catch fire on activation. It still would have ultimately worked, so points to the Sannin, but not nearly as well.

I beamed at him, "See! You totally know more than him."

"Don't say that in his presence. Actually, do say that in his presence, but make sure I'm there to see it."

"Done. Just name the time and place."

He sighed again, heavier this time, "You shouldn't be this agreeable. It's easy to take advantage of that."

"For you to take advantage of that. Someone who can't be trusted with the advantage simply doesn't have access, it's that simple."

Kakashi just shook his head, "Get back to your drills, Sasuke looks like he's slacking, give him a shock."

I was only too thrilled to comply. Sasuke's lightning training was more of a side-effect than anything, he just needed to keep in top shape to be able to take the sand-nin. He was mainly working on training speed with Ichiyo and countering wind with Naruto. Next up on the torture list was Sai, who was just focusing on the fire jutsu used in the first tier. The Kusa-nin who he was expected to face first wasn't a concern in anyone's mind. I'd already shared through genjutsu with Sai how the poor guy screamed and fainted at his treatment at mine and Hinata's hands, there was little respect for him left in that corner. Sakura and I spent many an evening mixing a noxious concoction to trip up the canine nose, though I was certain they wouldn't be needed in this tournament, the experience was still a good one for the girl and helped her confidence in that we prepared for her second-row fight rather than first.

I spent a lot of time running drills with Ichiyo, or creating drills for Ichiyo to run while I was occupied with seals or Sasuke. I was most concerned for him, a fact that came out when Sakura asked, "Why are you making this many weird scenarios?"

"Because I've run over 20 C-ranks with Rock Lee, and refuse to see Ichiyo pummeled like that. Pay attention, maybe use some more poison, work with me here."

It was a delicate line to balance because there needed to be a good showing provided by my comrade, but also the future fight needed to be kept in mind. No matter how important the battle for promotion may seem, an attack on the village was imminent and even the Genin needed to be available when shit really hit the fan. Time ticked steadily forward, my anxiety mounting with every hour we moved closer to all-out warfare.

Higa Jiro and his fuckery happened off-screen, including a lot of the nonsense with the Sonada Nonami situation which interfered with the flow of the story, so that's all relegated to flashback territory at this point.

That said, I have twists coming that some of you won't like (at first, I know what I'm doing and where I'm going with this) and all I ask is that if you come across a twist that you simply do not vibe with storyline wise you finish the chapter at the very least before rage quitting and leaving hate comments. Everything coming up has been planned from the beginning of this, in 2013 when I drafted the first chapter, it was the point to writing this story. Every twist has a point, and a place, and shits going to get worse for our poor characters before it gets better.

~TimeLordOfPie