"Mmm, finally some real food! This stuff is amazing, especially after five days of ration bars, fish, and instant ramen!" I was with my team and sensei, enjoying the best barbecue pork I'd ever tasted at the Akimichi restaurant. Kakashi had offered to pay for everything, and Naruto and I were taking full advantage.

"How do you two eat so much?" Sakura asked, bewildered. "I'm used to Naruto putting it away, but you weren't eating like this in Nami, Makoto." I shrugged.

"I don't eat as much as usual when I'm someone else's guest. Besides, considering who I have to fight in the finals, I think I deserve to go a little overboard before getting into the most intense training of my life." I probably shouldn't have said that, since both Naruto and Sakura looked worried at the mention of my upcoming battle with Gaara.

"You're not actually going to fight him, are you?"

"I can't just forfeit, Sakura. Not with so many important people watching."

"But he'll kill you!"

"We'll step in if it looks like that's about to happen," Kakashi assured her.

"Right," I agreed. "Besides, I think I actually have a decent chance with some training. If Samui's lightning sword could cut through that sand, then the Chidori should be able to do the same. I just need to work on increasing my speed."

"I can help you with that, Makoto. In fact, I have plans for all of your training for the next month."

"But how are you going to train us all, Kakashi-sensei? We can't train together if we're competing against eachother."

"Don't worry, Sakura, I've already thought of that. I've made certain arrangements so that you all receive the best possible training. But we can talk about that tomorrow – for now, just try to relax and enjoy your meal." His expression turned ominous. "Because you won't be relaxing again until the month is out." We all gulped.

"Y-yes, Sensei!"

It was late in the evening when we left the restaurant, and the full moon was just rising in the east. I froze at the sight.

A full moon, right after the preliminaries. I knew what happened tonight.

This was the night that Hayate Gekkou died.

Not if I have anything to say about it. I used the Body Flicker to quickly make my way to Kikyou Castle, where Kabuto and Baki would be meeting, and concealed myself in the shadows on a nearby roof by using a Henge to turn my entire body dark except for the eyes, making myself look like a walking shadow. Now I just had to wait.

Hayate Gekkou had orders from the Hokage: he was to follow Kabuto Yakushi and report on any suspicious activity. While there was no concrete reason to suspect treachery, his behaviour during the chuunin exams had raised eyebrows, especially combined with Orochimaru's appearance. To make it all the way through the Forest of Death without issue, only to forfeit at the last second because of an injury sustained before the exams even started? An injury that had apparently not impeded his confidence, concentration, or ability at the time it was inflicted? That was sketchy. And then there were those 'ninja info cards' he had shown off before the first exam. A genin who had failed the exams six times should not be able to gather that much information, especially on shinobi from other villages.

Apparently they had been right to worry, as the boy was now meeting with the Suna jounin, Baki, at an isolated location in the middle of the night. And the things they were talking about...

"...Remember, you need to make the first move," Baki reminded Kabuto. "Kazekage-sama is unwilling to commit without first seeing Otogakure doing its part."

"Of course. There's nothing to worry about, Baki-san. Orochimaru-sama understands that your village is in a delicate position. Here are the plans, make sure your subordinates read and understand them." There was the sound of something being put into a pouch.

"Then we're done here?" Baki asked.

"Just one more thing… We've got a rat." Hayate froze up.

"You let yourself be followed!?" the Suna nin bellowed angrily.

"Relax, it's not a problem. It'll be a simple matter to take care of it."

"No, I'll do it. Think of it as a… Symbol of our commitment."

Shit! Gekkou fled in a Shunshin, leaping from roof to roof, but the Sand shinobi was hot on his tail. I have no choice, I have to fight! He stopped on a nearby rooftop, drawing his katana.

"Well well, if it isn't the proctor." Baki spoke casually, not a hint of tension in his voice, or in his stance. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you live after what you heard."

"Konoha-Ryu: Mikazuki no Mai (Leaf Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon)!" Using a pair of Bunshin to disguise his approach, Hayate came in from the left and slashed his sword down at Baki's shoulder. Blood sprayed from the wound, but his blade did not pass completely through and sever the arm as he had intended. Rather, it was lodged inside his foe, trapped by Baki's armoured vest.

"That was the Leaf Style Crescent Moon Dance, wasn't it?" Baki asked casually, his face not betraying even a hint of the pain he was no doubt experiencing. "Very impressive, especially for one so young. Unfortunately for you, stopping a physical sword is a trivial matter. A wind sword on the other hand, that's different. Those are impossible to-" he stopped as both men heard a noise: a distinctive chirping sound that pierced the otherwise peaceful night.

Kakashi! Gekkou grabbed hold of Baki and held him tight. "Hatake-san, now!" There was a flash of bright blue light as the infamous Lightning Cutter passed centimetres from his face, obliterating Baki's head and sending hot blood spraying all over him. He let out a breath he had been holding, dropped Baki's body, and yanked his sword out of the man's shoulder. "Hatake-san, we need to-" he stopped. The person standing in front of him seemed to be wreathed in shadow, even as they stood in the open, but he could tell they were definitely not Kakashi. They were too short, with the height and proportions of an adolescent, and a matched pair of Sharingan blazed in their eyes rather than just one. With a puff of smoke, the Henge they were using to mask their features dissipated, revealing the Uchiha that had fought in the exams earlier.

"I'm flattered, Gekkou-san, but I am not Kakashi-sensei."

The look on the proctor's face when he realised that he had been saved by a rookie genin was priceless, but we didn't have time for him to be standing around staring.

"Grab the body, we need to get out of here quickly before Yakushi shows up to investigate." It may have been presumptuous of me to try ordering a jounin around, but he didn't complain, instead lifting Baki's corpse onto his shoulders and taking the lead with a Shunshin.

We were met near the Hokage's tower by members of the Anbu Black Ops, who quickly escorted us in to see the old man. Upon seeing the corpse on Hayate's back, he sighed and lit his pipe.

"I see there have been complications already," he said after taking a long drag. "What exactly happened, Hayate-san?"

The jounin swordsman gave his report, and Hiruzen turned to me.

"And just what were you doing out there?" It was bullshit time. Fortunately, I had an excuse at hand.

"Tailing Yakushi. I got a bad feeling about him when I met him alongside the other rookies just before the first exam. He knew too much, especially about the other villages' candidates, to be an ordinary underperforming genin. After my team was attacked in the Forest of Death, I figured Orochimaru had to have a spy in the village, and the best possible position for a spy to be in was an average nobody. Put two and two together, and Yakushi starts looking real suspicious." Hiruzen nodded, apparently accepting this explanation.

"Your perceptiveness is impressive, but you should have alerted your sensei to your suspicions and allowed him to handle this. You put yourself in grave danger attempting to catch this spy by yourself."

"I understand, Hokage-sama. I admit, I have not been acting completely rationally in situations where Orochimaru might be involved." His expression softened.

"After what you experienced in the Forest, that is understandable, Makoto-chan. Nonetheless, a ninja must be able to control their emotions. Now, the two of you are dismissed. I will examine the plans this man was carrying and work to determine a course of action."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi waited until they were gone before speaking up again.

"What do you think of this, Jiraiya-kun?" The man in question stepped out of the shadows in one corner, where he had been standing unnoticed the entire time.

"I think the kid reminds me way too much of Itachi-san." Hiruzen smiled.

"I am inclined to agree. But I meant about this apparent collusion between Sand and Sound."

"I'm not overly surprised. My spies tell me there's a lot of discontent in Suna about the Wind daimyo sending too many jobs our way. If Orochi-teme went over there and offered an alliance, it wouldn't have taken much for the Kazekage to agree."

"We're in a dangerous situation here. With the threat Orochimaru delivered through Anko-san, we cannot stop the exams, but going ahead anyway puts the people of the village at risk."

"We can't make any big decisions until we've read the plans, but right now I think we should restrict in-person attendance of the finals to only shinobi and nobles. Keep the civilians out of harm's way," Jiraiya suggested.

"Agreed. Now let's see what they were planning."

The next morning, I met with my team at the usual training ground, where Kakashi was actually already there for once. At his feet was an object wrapped in cloth, which I figured must have something to do with one of our training regimens.

"So, you're all here on time. Good."
"Coming from you, you damn hypocrite!?" Sakura yelled, and our sensei seemed to smile.

"Well, this is an important day. I wanted you to make a good impression on your teachers for the month."

"Our teachers? Why aren't you teaching us, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Because it's not possible for me to split my attention three ways, keep all of your training secret from eachother, and also give you all equal time and attention. So I will be training Makoto, since I'm the only other person in Konoha with a Sharingan, and I've arranged special teachers for you two." With that, two people arrived in swirls of leaves beside our sensei. On the left was Kurenai Yuuhi, Konoha's genjutsu mistress, evidently here to train Sakura, and on the right…

"Am I seriously supposed to train with that old pervert!?" Ebisu twitched.

"Naruto, Ebisu-sensei is one of the best instructors in Konoha. Trust me, he'll do a much better job of training you than I ever could," Kakashi explained placatingly. It did not work.

"But I can already beat this guy, Kakashi-sensei! What good is learning from someone weaker than I am?"

"You can beat Ebisu?" Kakashi sounded sceptical.

"Of course, dattebayo! Watch! Harem no-" Ebisu covered Naruto's mouth before he could continue.

"Listen, brat!" he whispered, his voice barely audible from where I was standing. "If you promise to keep that little 'incident' to yourself, I'll buy you as much ramen as you want after all our training sessions. Okay?" Naruto nodded, and the tokubetsu jounin stood up again. "It was a joke!" he insisted a little too forcibly. "Just a good-natured joke between friends! Right, Naruto-kun?"

"Right." Naruto was not convincing at all, but he willingly followed Ebisu away for training anyway.

"Sakura, this is Yuuhi Kurenai. She's Konoha's greatest genjutsu specialist, and she's agreed to train you for the next month."

"Wait, aren't you Team Eight's sensei?" Sakura enquired, and Kurenai nodded.

"Yes, but my students are all training with their clans, so I have the time to teach you for the month. Don't worry, I won't tell Shino-kun anything about our training or your techniques."

"Okay then." Sakura bowed. "Please lead the way, Kurenai-sensei."

Once the others were out of earshot, Kakashi turned his attention back on me.

"Well, Makoto-chan, it seems you had quite the adventure last night."

"You heard about that?"

"I did. You saved Gekkou-san's life. I'm not happy that you went off without me, but I am proud of what you achieved." I awkwardly rubbed my neck.

"Um, thanks, I guess? I'll try to be more careful in the future. So what's going to happen to Yakushi?"

"Oh, he'll be taken care of, don't you worry about that. Now, about your training for the month…" He picked up the bundle at his feet and tossed it to me, only for it to smack me in the chest with significantly more force than I expected, knocking the wind out of me and laying me out on my back.

"What the hell is this thing, a sack of bricks?" He told me to open it, and when I did so, my heart sank. "Training weights?"

"Not just any training weights," he corrected cheerfully. "Those are the same kind of weights that Rock Lee wears, though not nearly as heavy. They have special seals on them that spread the weight equally over your whole body, so every muscle gets a workout at once. You'll need them if you want to get fast enough to bypass Gaara's sand. Go ahead and put them on." I reluctantly did as was asked, and immediately regretted it as the sensation of immense pressure bearing down on me overtook my body.

"Bloody hell, it feels like I'm at the bottom of the ocean. And these are lighter than Lee-san's?"

"Significantly lighter. You're going to wear these weights from now until the day of the finals. By the end of the month, you should be able to fight at your normal speed with them on, and at a dramatically higher speed with them off."

"Is that all of my training?" I asked. "Just physical conditioning?"

"Well, my original intention was to teach you the Chidori for the final exams, but you learned it ahead of schedule. I do have a ranged lightning jutsu that would be useful against Gaara-san, though. Why, did you have any ideas?"

"I was hoping you could teach me the Summoning Jutsu." He seemed surprised.

"You wanted to summon dogs?"

"Not quite." I groaned, taking an immense effort just to sit up. "I've read that performing the Summoning Jutsu without a contract reverse-summons you to the animal most compatible with you." Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"That's a very dangerous thing to attempt, Makoto. If you end up matched with a violent summon, like snakes or tigers, you could be in serious trouble. I'm sorry, but I won't teach you that technique."

"That's okay. I hear Jiraiya of the Sannin is in town, and they say he's a colossal pervert. I'm sure he'll show me the jutsu if I approach under a particularly spicy henge. Or maybe Mitarashi Anko would show me if I told her about how I lit Orochimaru on fire." Kakashi sighed in exasperation.

"Alright, fine. If you insist on putting yourself in danger, I'll teach you. But only after you can run a complete lap of the training ground with those weights on, without stopping, and have learned the other technique I want to show you."

"Sure thing, Sensei. I knew you were cool."

"You won't think so after we're done here. Now get up and give me thirty squats."

Kakashi's training was unbelievably painful. I must have spent almost as much time panting on the ground as I did actually working out, but as the sun sank low in the sky, he finally had mercy on me.

"That's enough for today," he told me from behind his favourite erotica. "Go home and get some rest, and meet me back here at the same time tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, in case you were thinking of cheating on your training – those weights have built-in alarm seals on them, so I'll know if you try to remove them."

"Oh, come on, Sensei!" I complained, "I know I'm supposed to wear them all month, but I can barely move right now! How am I supposed to get home like this?"

"Well, I would suggest you try walking. But, since I feel a little sorry for you, I'll give you some advice: the Shunshin is only marginally effected by the user's mass. Goodnight, Makoto." On that note, he vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving me to shakily force myself to my feet.

"At least I didn't use much chakra today," I said to myself, fighting the weight to bring my hands together into the tiger seal and perform the Body Flicker. The chakra consumption was a little higher than normal, but other than that, the technique worked just as it always did.

After three days of agonising work, I was able to walk around and even run short distances without collapsing, so Kakashi decided it was time to work on this new jutsu of his in between sets of push-ups. He also insisted I not just use the Sharingan to copy it for some sadistic reason.

"The technique I'm about to show you is a close- to mid-range lightning jutsu designed for non-lethal takedowns, though like any lightning jutsu, it can be made lethal simply by upping the volume of chakra used to cast it," he explained. "It works by disrupting the target's nervous system, causing temporary unconsciousness and leaving them weak and sore when they wake up. The seals are horse, bird, dragon, and snake." He made a Shadow Clone as a target and ran through the seals in question. "Raiton: Teiza no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Taser Jutsu)!" By then pointing two fingers at the Clone, he launched a crackling bolt of blue electricity that caused it to thrash about for a moment before being dispelled. "Now you try." I found that forming seals while my hands felt like they were coated in lead was more difficult than I expected, so I had to go slowly, but I did manage it on my first attempt, though at my gesture only a tiny spark was produced.

"Um, I swear this doesn't normally happen to me," I joked, making my sensei chuckle a little.

"You'll get it with practice. Now, I want another set of push-ups, then try again! Every time you fail to perform the technique, you will give me one set!"

"Yes, Sensei," I groaned. This was going to be a long month.

Ten days. I was ten days into my training before I was able to run one full lap without stopping and also perform the Teiza no Jutsu to Kakashi's satisfaction, and now it was time to learn the Summoning Jutsu as he had promised.

It's time for me to get myself those hawk summons!

"Okay, Makoto, like I said before: this could be very dangerous. It's not out of the realm of possibility that you might die trying this. Are you absolutely sure you want to proceed?" I met his one-eyed gaze confidently and nodded.

"I'm sure."

"Alright. The seals are boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram. Once you've reached the home of your summon animal, you will likely only be able to return by being reverse-summoned back by them, as the summon animals are known to live in extremely isolated locations which they guard zealously. Before you try this, I want to make something clear: if you do not return by the day before the final exam, I will consider you missing, and will report you as such to the Hokage. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Alright, then. Cast the jutsu."

"See you soon, Sensei. Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!" After making the necessary seals, I slammed my palm on the ground and was immediately engulfed in smoke. There was an odd tugging sensation, and when the smoke cleared, I was standing somewhere completely different. However, it was not the mountain range Sasuke had acquired his hawks from in canon.

Instead, I was surrounded by enormous trees dozens of metres tall.

Well, this isn't what I expected. The place was quiet. I looked around, not seeing anything moving in the immediate area. "Hello?" I called out. "Anyone here?" There was a rustling behind me, and I turned to see a dark orange fox the size of a wolf with an eyepatch over its right eye and a bandanna tied around its forehead emerge from the bushes. It wore a dark blue vest with the kanji for 'two' in red on the back, and a wakizashi with a blue wrapped hilt and no guard was strapped to its back, the handle just in range for it to grasp and draw with its mouth.

"You, human," the fox growled, its voice low. "You're coming to see the boss. No objections." It gestured with its head for me to follow, and seeing no alternative, I complied.