Happy b-day to me, bit late now though.

Team 7 stood shoulder to shoulder in the mass of applicants. A woman at the front was explaining the test. They had to find a group with the complimentary scroll to theirs and bring it to the tower. It was actually a pretty interesting test. You had to scout out an opponent, form a strategy, and then defeat that team to secure their scroll. They received a Heaven Scroll.

Of course, there was also the option of trickery.

Or thievery.

Takai eyed up his competitors. He didn't have any idea of the foreigner's abilities, but he did know a bit about his classmates'. He looked around in the crowd of people until he spotted Ino. She was between Shikamaru and Choji. The only person on that team who might pose a problem is Choji. While Shikamaru had a brilliant mind, it only went so far in the face of overwhelming might. His eye slid to the scroll that Choji tucked away into his pocket.

Heaven.

Damn.

The Konoha teams all had Heaven scrolls apart from the one with the Hyuuga boy and Might Gai's apprentice.

He could feel his muscles ache just at the sight of the boy.

Takai turned away and looked around some more. Really, he couldn't spot anyone as they had put their scrolls away already. Oh well, they would just have to come to him and his team.

Takai took a deep breath as he looked around the tree. The same "Genin" was approaching. He was apparently from the village hidden in grass, but he didn't buy that for a second. This supposed Genin had chakra comparable to the old man in the tower. He looked to his teammates. Naruto was already unconscious and on the branch to his right was Sakura while Sasuke was on the very end.

He exhaled deeply as he picked up Naruto and passed him to Sakura who barely managed to hold him. "Take him to the tower. The Hokage needs to know there's someone interfering with the exams. Me and Sasuke will try to distract him." Sakura looked like a kicked puppy as Takai nudged Sasuke and they started to climb up the tree to get the drop on the man below.

The branch rustled gently as Sakura dashed off.

One shaky breath later, the duo was directly above the man who had stopped. His blood ran cold as he looked up and smiled grotesquely. It was unnatural in every way.

"Kukuku, you think you can defeat me?" The man teased.

They had to try. The duo of real Genin made eye contact before dropping down, running through the same handsigns.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

Two massive spheres of fire erupted from the pair, twirling together in a double helix until merging into a roaring inferno shooting towards the man who simply smiled.

The man shot through hand signs so quick neither boy saw any of them even with their Sharingans active.

A jet of water as thin as a wire shot from his mouth and cut the fireball in half. The once again separate attacks veered off to either side of the man. The explosions were louder than anything they had heard before. The fire consumed all the material it impacted before ending up two flaming craters in the ground.

The two boys landed on the ground to either side of the man with cat-like agility. They each pulled out a kunai and dashed at the man in the middle. Takai went high and Sasuke went low. They watched the man's twisted smile elongate as he turned into a pile of snakes!

Each Genin went sailing through the venomous reptiles. They were quick to dislodge them. They skidded to a stop and looked around, backing towards each other until they met in the middle.

A sadistic laugh echoed through the forest. Sweat built on Takai's brow and his grip tightened. He heard footfalls off to his left. His enhanced gaze snapped over there in a heartbeat.

"Sasuke, you see-" Pain exploded in his jaw and he went flying off into the woods. The wind whistled in his ears and darkness consumed his vision.

A moment later and he hit a large boulder with a mighty thud. His eyes shot open. He dropped to the ground on his front, groaning in pain. It felt like his back got turned inside out. His jaw was definitely broken. He growled like an animal as he spat out a molar and scrambled up. Before he had a chance to speak, a hand wrapped around his throat.

He was hoisted up and pressed against the boulder. He coughed blood up onto the pale arm holding up him. His one eye met with the man's two. He had yellow irises and slit pupils.

His one-tomoe eye flew open in fear.

Takai's hands went to the man's arm desperately. He wrenched and he pried, but to no avail. The man was far stronger than him: Orochimaru of the Sannin.

"This little rat chase was fun. I didn't know there were three wielders of the Sharingan in Konoha." The laugh the man let loose made his skin crawl.

Takai could feel his demise was imminent. It sucked so hard. He had a lot to do still. He hadn't finished his training. He hadn't matured his Sharingan. He hadn't helped Naruto reach his goal. He couldn't even pass the Chunin exam. So, he might as well be defiant to the end.

Takai grinned as he pushed up a wad of blood and spat it onto the face of the Sannin. It landed on the man's face with a wet splat. His smile disappeared as an unnaturally long tongue left his lips and licked up the blood.

"Kukuku, that was very rude. I might not bestow my gift onto you now..." He seemed thoughtful as he examined Takai. Takai raised his right arm weakly and sent a punch at the man who leaned away marginally to dodge.

"Like a cornered rat desperate for survival!" Orochimaru spat at him, his expression shifting to one of annoyance.

Takai's grin widened at his reaction. He would give the man a snarky remark, but his hand was clamped down on his throat.

After another few seconds, Orochimaru spoke again. By then, Takai's vision began to get spotty and darken.

"But two is better than one, no?" He said, his voice washing over Takai like an oil or slime. He vaguely registered a searing pain in his neck before he passed out fully.

Takai's one eye cracked open to the darkness of bandages. It seemed his face was wrapped in bandages. Fair. That punch probably broke several bones. He heard some shuffling and a weight settle on his bed. He thought about it for a moment before recognizing the person's chakra: Kakashi.

Takai tried to speak but his mouth was wired shut. Damn that snake. He quickly discovered he had trouble moving as well. With no other options, he pulsed his chakra. The person's weight shifted in surprise. "Takai? I didn't think you'd awaken that quick."

"Mhmfmmmhm!" He huffed from within his bandages.

He could practically hear Kakashi give him an eye-smile. "What was that? I didn't quite catch that. Care to speak up?"

Takai growled at him before sighing.

"Hmmhmn?"

"A couple of hours. You should be able to make the next part of the exams."

Takai grunted and closed his eye, not that it made much of a difference.

He felt Kakashi's eye on him for much longer than needed.

"Hmf?"

"Do you remember what happened?"

Takai shook his head weakly, but the action caused pain on the left side of his neck. He grimaced beneath the bandages.

"You were ambushed in the forest. Orochimaru of the Sannin put his Cursed Seal on your neck." Takai grunted for him to continue.

"I've put my own seal on top of it to help with the effects, but it won't stop you from actively drawing from it." He felt the man shift again.

"You have some time until the next part of the exams begin. Just rest for now." The man stood up and walked out of the room. He heard a door click shut.

He listened to the wind stream into his room gently. Someone left the window open. It was like that for several minutes before someone walked in.

"Hmf?"

"Hello, my name is Amai. I'm going to be your doctor until you heal!" A perky voice chirped. It was a woman. From the feel of her chakra, most definitely a medic-nin.

Takai grunted in acknowledgement.

"Right," The woman stepped over to his bed, standing directly to his left."because of the nature of the break and the rest of our more talented doctors hard at work healing the most serious injuries, you'll be on a treatment plan rather than just being healed and sent on your way." He heard papers get shuffled around.

"I'll be healing you with my Shosen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Jutsu) a bit at a time. We can't do it all at once because your bones won't set back into place properly." A clipboard was laid on the bed and he felt the woman's hands begin to unwind the bandages. It took a couple of minutes to undo them fully. Once his eye was exposed to light, it snapped shut and he cringed. The light was bright, as if he hadn't seen any in years.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Her voice sounded panicked. He grunted in reassurance.

Another moment later and her soft hands were on his face, healing chakra flowing into his broken facial bones. He cracked his eye open and looked at the woman. She was fairly short, probably about five feet tall or so. She had a gentle smile on her face as she worked. He was quickly enamored by her appearance. She had soft, brown eyes and a kind face. Her dark brown hair was done up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face.

It didn't take too long for her to finish and begin wrapping fresh bandages around his face. "We should be able to take the wire out later today and let you out. Thanks to chakra, you already have a faster recovery rate than a normal person. I'll talk to you later!" She picked up her clipboard and left the room. The door clicked shut softly and he was once again, alone.

Takai popped both sides of his jaw. It was still sore, but he would live. Two nurses in scrubs quickly left the room while Takai sat up and got to the edge of his bed. His clothes were thankfully undamaged in the fight, so they were on a table to his left. His eyes jumped to the brown wooden door as the first nurse walked in.

Her eyes met his one...then drifted down. Her cheeks flushed a radiant bright red. She nearly threw her clipboard into the ceiling trying to cover her face with it.

"Eek! Put on your clothes!"

Takai looked down and realized he was shirtless and in nothing but shorts. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." He teased.

"What?!"

Takai grinned devilishly as he reached for his clothes and donned them, discarding the shorts on the bed. He adjusted everything before standing. "Its safe to look now, Amai-chan."

"C-chan?!" He could practically feel the heat of her blush. She slowly lowered her clipboard before sighing in relief at seeing him fully clothed.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before returning to her job. "Right. You're being released. Follow the signs and you'll find the housing for the examinees."

Takai gave the woman a once over. He quite enjoyed teasing her. Time to try something new. "You're pretty cute, want to go on a date after the exams are over?" Takai gave her a big eye-smile.

Her blush returned and she stuttered before answering. "Sure! I'd love to!" She said cheerily.

"Alright, I'll come find you, yeah? Catch you later, cutie."

He walked towards the open door and left.

The woman wobbled on her feet and leaned against the wall. That boy was very attractive.

Takai did indeed follow the signs. Until he heard the roar of a crowd. He walked through the concrete halls until he saw light at the end of one. He kept going until he reached the spectator's seats in an arena.

"Takai!" He spun to the left, spotting Naruto waving at him. He made his way over and found a couple of their other classmates.

"Hey guys." He greeted simply.

There was a couple of greetings and a head nod from Shino.

"We're doing one on one fights!" Naruto was practically vibrating in excitement.

Takai was about to comment until he heard two names called out. "Takai Tekkan and Yoroi Akado!"

"Yeah! Go get him Takai!" Naruto cheered. Sakura patted his arm and Sasuke grunted.

He watched a Genin jump over the railing and descend into the arena. He shrugged and followed his lead. He took a spot opposite of him. The person in front of him just looked like he deserved a punch to the head. He had a Konoha headband, but his respect for him ended there. He wore a black cloth that covered his face and sunglasses. The rest of his getup was extremely forgettable. Black sleeveless shirt and a white shirt underneath with black pants that went most of the way down his legs along with black sandals.

"I'm gonna crush you, kid!" He yelled.

Takai tilted his head. "No need to get upset, sweetheart." The man ground his teeth together and adopted a runner's stance. He looked to his right and looked over the proctor. He was a pale man who looked extremely sick.

"Start!" The man called as he backed away.

Alright, one on one matches.

He activated his Sharingan and looked at the man charging him. Despite his sunglasses, the man met his eyes. Takai blinked and his Sharingan activated.

"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique)!" His one eye widened as far as it could as he cast the genjutsu.

The man stumbled. Takai whipped a kunai out and threw it at the man. It hit his shoulder and threw him to the ground.

"Gah! You brat!" He screamed as he ripped out the kunai and tossed it at Takai. It didn't even travel straight, instead twirling wildly and flying over his head. Was this guy really a Genin? He seemed more akin to someone who was just given shinobi gear. Takai weaved some hand signs together before spitting a roaring fireball.

The man scrambled to the right only to catch two shuriken in the torso. He moaned in pain as he tried to stand. Takai popped his his neck in preparation and looked at the proctor. "You gonna call this?"

The sick looking man with dark bags under his eyes shrugged and coughed into his fist.

Takai then refocused on the man who was charging at him. He snorted as he adopted his stance. One the man neared, he went for a basic lunge to grab Takai. He leaned to the right and delivered a palm strike to the man's side. He heard a rib break. The man went flying, skidding along the floor for a number of feet before stopping.

Takai lazily approached his downed foe. It really wasn't even a competition. He was just kind of pathetic. The man picked himself up slowly before shuffling after Takai. He threw strike after strike and went for several attempts at various holds. Takai weaved away from every single one.

He gave his opponent an eye-smile. "So, how's the weather? I think its quite nice."

"Shut the hell up and stand still, damn you!" The man yelled as he went to wrap his arms around Takai.

"Mmm, I don't think I will." He ducked down low, avoiding the grab and straightened like a spring under pressure, thrusting a fist into his enemy's face.

"GURK!" His head snapped back and he fell on the ground.

Takai looked at him for a few seconds before looking to the proctor, shrugging.

"Winner: Takai Tekkan!" He declared with a swish of his arm. Takai watched as two medic-nin ran out of a metal door with a stretcher and scooped his unconscious opponent up and ran off with him.

Takai made his way to the place he jumped over the railing, used chakra to stick to the wall, and climbed back up.

"Woooo! Good job!" Naruto celebrated. Sakura smiled at him. Sasuke nodded simply. Still a guy of few words.

Takai turned around to look at the next fight. "Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka!"

It wasn't much.

Sakura won. She simply had a bit more experience and strength than Ino, who had pretty much only her clan jutsus. Ino tried to switch minds with Sakura as soon as the battle started, but she avoided the jutsu. From there, Sakura just hurled weapons at Ino until a kunai lodged itself in Ino's stomach. The match was called soon after and medic-nin carted her away.

The rest of the fights weren't too terribly interesting from there.

One boy threw his fight as soon as it was called. He recognized him from the start. Takai felt off when looking at him. That didn't seem right. Kabuto was his name.

Shifty bastard.

The red-haired kid from Suna, Gaara, killed his opponent, an Ame Genin. He was crushed to death in sand. After that, he made direct eye contact with Sasuke, then Takai. It was a clear challenge.

Rock Lee ran circles around the Iwa Genin. He took several punches to the face before he was knocked out.

The last interesting match was between Hinata and her older cousin, Neji. Towards the end, Neji attempted to murder Hinata. He didn't even notice the four adults move to intercept Neji. Kurenai held his left arm, Gai held his body back, Kakashi held his right, and the exam proctor stood in between Neji and Hinata.

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing.

Takai looked up to a large spectator box high up off the ground. It held the Hokage and other spectators.

He watched the Sandaime stand from his seat.

The Third ordered the winners to the center of the arena and began to give a speech.

Takai listened closely to the wizened man.

He essentially summarized the purpose of the Chunin exams as a measure of military power.

"Now, the second part of the third stage will take place one month from now. The remaining participants will heal and train from their previous engagements in order to show up in top shape." He watched the Hokage lower himself back into his seat, his upper body now obscured by shadow.

Takai looked around. "Well, I suppose we should get going Naruto." Takai looked to his left to find the blonde boy had already disappeared. He rolled his one eye and made his way out of the arena.

Three quick jumps and he propelled himself over the structure and landed on a building. He started his sprint towards the training ground he frequented. His mind was occupied by the thoughts of what he had to learn. He already had a few hefty goals. He had to learn the two jutsu he pilfered from that old bunker. They seemed a bit advanced though. He would probably just have to go for some simpler jutsu.

Like the one Kakashi used on him during the bell test.

Its such a simple jutsu, yet its so useful. He would need to track down the man and figure out how to get the jutsu out of him. Then, he would have to complete at least the first stage of training for Doton (Earth Release) to be able to use the jutsu to an acceptable level. Kami, his plans were completely filled to the brim with things to do.

Oh well, first step is to track down Kakashi.

Takai homed in on the man's apartment like a perfectly thrown shuriken. He latched onto the wall and looked through the glass. Even though Takai hadn't seen him move, the man had managed to leave the stadium, arrive at his home, and get comfy on his couch to begin reading.

He tapped on the glass, drawing the man's attention. He looked from between his book and Takai for a few moments before sighing over-dramatically. He pushed himself off the couch and trudged over like it was the worst thing he had ever done. "Yes, my dear student?"

"I need some training." Takai's voice held no amusement.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just a shadow clone!" The Kakashi clone scratched his head as if he were embarrassed. "So, sorry, can't help you. Bye-bye!" He went to close the window, but Takai put his arm in the way. "You have the knowledge of the original. You are plenty capable of instructing me."

The Kakashi clone crossed his arms. "And what's in it for me?"

Takai nearly fell off the building at that. "You're my sensei! Its your job to teach me!"

He shrugged as if to say 'Best ya got?'

A growl emanated from Takai's throat. "Same threat as last time. Only, I wonder how your fellow Jonin would react if the clone peaked on them?"

The Kakashi clone glanced at his book which he left on his couch. "Alright, you have me there. We'll go to our usual training ground then." The clone then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Takai shut the window and leapt off the wall, landing on a shorter building and continuing his rooftop run.

Takai found the Kakashi clone waiting at the entrance of the training ground, still reading his book. "First, I really want to learn that jutsu you used on me in the bell test."

The clone nodded. "Okay. You'll have to complete the first step of Doton (Earth Release) training to be able to use it though." It seemed after his earlier antics, the clone finally went into teacher mode. Takai nodded. "I had figured as much. Care to show me the first step?" His voice was hopeful.

The clone looked to be considering something. "Care? No. But you do have me under threat of besmirching my public image. So, do I really have a choice?" His question was obvious rhetorical.

"Nope!" Takai replied honestly.

The clone shook his head. "Follow me, we're going to find a more idea location."

They walked off towards the treeline, Takai hot on the clone's heels. He was honestly surprised the clone was doing this. He had expected nothing to come of it and he would have to go to the Hokage.

The pair didn't walk for long. Kakashi stopped in front of a tree and turned on his heel. "The first step of training Doton (Earth Release) is to make a leaf crumble into soil. The Clone smiled and pointed over his shoulder. "You should be done after you turn say," He glanced back at the tree. "this many leaves into soil?"

Takai coughed into his fist. That would probably take the entire time he had available to him. Good thing the Sharingan let him copy jutsu. He wouldn't have to actually learn the jutsu, just train the stages of their training. Takai formed a hand sign and created a shadow clone.

"Do the exercise. Create another clone and dispel every hour so last time doesn't happen." The clone cringed in remembrance before saluting and following its instructions. The real Takai looked to Kakashi. "Can you show me the jutsu so I can copy it?"

The clone's shoulder sagged and he put away his book. He faced Takai who blinked, activating his Sharingan, the one-tomoe eye spinning lazily. The clone went through the hand signs ram, tiger, and snake. The man then began to sink through the softened earth. Once the surface swallowed him, it returned to its previous state.

Takai looked around for the man. Kakashi emerged from the earth directly in front of him. Not a speck of dirt was on his Jonin uniform.

The clone gave him an eye-smile. "There you go! A nice little jutsu for you to work on. Now, I'm going to-" The clone tried to step away, but Takai grabbed his arm. "I need to be as efficient as possible." Takai looked around. "Show me two water jutsu, the first step in Futon (Wind Release) training, then I'll let you go." The two males stared at one another before the clone relented. "You know, you're pretty good at convincing people of things." It was Takai's turn to eye-smile this time.

The clone walked up to the tree in which the clone of Takai was training. He plucked a leaf down and held it between his index and thumb. "Watch carefully." Kakashi channeled some chakra into the leaf. Takai watched as a clean cut formed across the leaf. "Imagine splitting your chakra in two and grinding the two halves against each other in order to sharpen them."

The clone then pointed to a tree across the way. "You're doing it with one clone, you can probably do it with two." Takai winced as he made another shadow clone. That was fair portion of his chakra gone.

The clone ran off towards the tree, scaling it and sitting on a branch. The clone immediately set to work.

Takai looked back at the Kakashi clone. "Well, off to the river we go I suppose." The pair set out further into the trees to reach the river that went through the training ground. Thankfully, he could just copy the jutsu from Kakashi's clone and call it a day. The Sharingan felt like cheating sometimes. Speaking of copying...

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, how many jutsu have you copied?"

The clone hummed as he thought about it. "A lot. According to my moniker, over one thousand."

"Is that an accurate count?"

The clone simply shrugged. A moment later and they stepped through the underbrush and arrived at the river. They walked to its bank. Kakashi adopted a thinking pose. Takai watched in silence. Complete silence reigned for a minute. The clone then turned towards the river. "I've got two to show you."

Takai's Sharingan spun to life, watching Kakashi carefully as he performed four hand signs. "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)."

A large stream of water exited his mouth, shooting across the river and digging a trench into the ground. The man had formed water chakra in his stomach, then spit it out. It was fascinating to watch happen.

The younger male stood next to his sensei and went through the same four hand signs. "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)!" Takai's attack was less powerful, but it still carved its own groove in the ground across the river. The torrent lasted for five seconds before he cut off chakra to the jutsu.

Takai turned his head to look at his sensei. The man looked indignant. "Did you copy me?" A smile pulled at the corners of Takai's mouth. "No, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned back to the river and formed ram and tiger hand signs, side-eyeing him all the while. "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field)." Kakashi then spat out a viscous liquid that reminded Takai of mizuame. It mixed with the water as if it were oil, however, it dragged debris along with it, sticking to it. It was amazing! Instead of water, its more akin to a syrup like the name implies. The jutsu edits the property of the water used. That gave him several ideas. What if he could change the properties of a Doton (Earth Release) jutsu and turned it into solid metal? Perhaps its possible to turn a Katon (Fire Release) jutsu into an all-consuming flame of sorts?

Questions for later he mused.

Takai performed the ram and tiger hand signs. "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field)."

He spat the viscous water out onto the river. It was crazy to think how many jutsu he could steal if he just completed his elemental training for each. Takai turned to look at the clone but all that was there was a pile of leaves.

It seems the clone wizened up and left before Takai could deliver a threat.

Oh well, he had other things to do as well.

First, he had to up his physical training. Lee was a complete speed freak. Not even Takai's Sharingan could fully keep up with him. While there was no way he would be able to keep up and surpass him, he just needed to be able to react to his movements. He seemed to only use taijutsu, so that was a no go. Same thing with the Gaara kid, he would just crush Takai in his sand. Neji Hyuga also is a close-combat monster.

Genjutsu however, that seemed very viable. He could put Gaara and Lee under genjutsu and likely beat them relatively easily after words. Neji however, that was a problem. His Byakugan made him highly resistant to genjutsu. Ninjutsu seemed to be the best option for dealing with him.

Takai put a hand on his vest channeling chakra into it. He felt the weight jump. It was definitely much heavier. If he had to hazard a guess, it was probably six hundred and fifty pounds of weight.

He spent awhile getting used to the new weight, doing various exercises. By the time he stopped, it was dark. It was peaceful outside. The sound of the wind rustling the leaves gently and the water of the river flowing lazily. It was beautiful.

Over the course of his physical training he had gotten the memories of his clones several times. They were hard at work. Of course, they had to take breaks occasionally to regenerate chakra to create a new clone and to train. Since he hadn't used his chakra in awhile, his reserves were full. He estimated that his elemental training would be done by the end of the month.

It took some time, but he walked back to his apartment in the town and walked in.

"Still trashed." Takai sighed as he went to his room, got ready for bed, and slept.

It was a good thing no one lived in the Uchiha district any more. The sound of Takai and Sasuke's spars would get old quick. Despite the fact that they were off in the woods, they were still noisy.

"UMPH!" Sasuke folded like a chair as Takai punched him in the midsection. He fell to the ground on his back, scrambling up to re-engage Takai. Their fight was a flurry of arms and legs. Takai blocked a spinning kick to his head. He grabbed the offending appendage and swung Sasuke towards the ground. The boy performed the hand signs for a substitution and Takai ended up slamming a log onto the ground.

Sasuke came flying in from behind, landing a kick on Takai's back, throwing him forwards. Sasuke placed a hand on his head and used him as a surface to flip off of. He landed with cat-like agility and dashed forwards, continuing the spar. Sasuke flipped through hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Jutsu)!"

Takai sped through four hand signs to create a jutsu to counter Sasuke's. "Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)!"

Sasuke's Sharingan eyes widened as Takai's jutsu collided with his, canceling it out and continuing, albeit much smaller. Steam blocked Sasuke's view of Takai. Takai flew through two hand signs. "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field)!" Takai's cheeks swelled with his jutsu. He charged through the steam and spat out the attack. Sasuke backpedaled, thinking it would end, but found that Takai poured more chakra into the jutsu. He found himself covered in the syrup-like liquid.

Takai directed the jutsu to completely cover Sasuke, dragging him to the ground.

"Surrender Sasuke, I could throw a kunai into your skull right now and end it." Takai announced from the edge of his jutsu.

He watched Sasuke scowl from within the jutsu for a few more moments before relenting. Takai manipulated the jutsu off of his teammate. Sasuke coughed, happy to regain his ability to breath. Both boys turned their Sharingan off.

"That's the third time!" Sasuke threw his arms in the air as he got up.

Takai nodded. "I just suppose you'll have to up your training." Sasuke nodded in response. "So, what do you want this time? You already took two trips into the archives."

Takai hummed and looked up to the sky as if that held the answer. He wasn't sure to be honest. The Uchiha didn't keep many scrolls on jutsu since the Sharingan let them copy and memorize everything. If a Uchiha wanted to know a jutsu, chances are they could just ask their neighbors.

"My apartment kind of got trashed. Mind if I move into the district?" Takai asked, scratching his head in embarrassment.

Sasuke shrugged, wiping some of the sticky water off. "Sure. You're technically Uchiha." Takai raised his eyebrow at that.

"That easy, huh?" Sasuke shook his head in response.

"Just tell me which house you want before I change my mind."

"I don't know. Pick for me." Sasuke nodded, walking off into the Uchiha's dead district. They walked for quite awhile.

"What was it like here before...you know?"

"It was...nice. Bustling streets. prospering business, happy citizens, the like." Sasuke sounded wistful.

Takai nodded with that reply, remaining quiet the rest of the way.

They stopped in front of a house of modest size. The pair entered the house to find it bare of any furniture. "This is a house that was constructed for a newly married couple. They were going to move in the day of the massacre." Sasuke sounded bitter. "All yours."

Takai put up his hands. "Hold on. You sure?"

Sasuke nodded resolutely before turning on his heel and marching off.

Takai turned back to look around the home. It had plenty of space on the first floor. The biggest room was what he assumed to be a living room. It had sliding shoji doors towards the back of the home that led to a backyard. To the right of the door was a flight of stairs. Further past that was a kitchen. It had basic appliances. The laundry room was connected to the kitchen via a shoji door. The whole house had wooden floors.

Takai stepped up the stairs. The second floor was smaller than the first. There was a master bedroom to the right and a smaller bedroom to the left. Though, both also lacked furniture and only had bathrooms to hint at what the rooms' purposes were. The master bedroom had a balcony with sliding glass doors as well as a closet. Directly in front of the stairs on the second floor was a completely empty room. Takai went back down the stairs.

Now all he had to do was move his bed, dresser, and his other things into his home.

It would be pretty awkward to carry an entire bed across Konoha.

He was completely right. It was very awkward.

Especially since he ran into Might Guy and Lee who helped him. Guy carried the bed over his head, Lee carried the dresser, and Takai carried a precariously balanced pile of four boxes. Other shinobi steered clear of the trio. One sight of the two training freaks told them all they needed to know.

If it weren't for his Takai's insistence that the two did a good job, he felt that they probably would have set up his entire house for him.

It took some work, but he fit his bed through the balcony doors and then his dresser. He then carried his boxes up.

One was filled with his books. One with his clothes. One with various ninja tools. The last had food items. He told the land lady of his arrangement and promptly left before she could scream at him for the state of the apartment.

He snicked at the thought of her reaction.

He looked around his new bedroom. Not the greatest place to conduct research and practice fuinjutsu. He left the room and walked down the hall, dropping the box of his books in the center. He'd set it up later. Next, he grabbed the box of his food. It took him a bit, but he stocked his kitchen with his food. Thankfully the whole house had electricity. Konoha hadn't bothered to cut power, water, and the like to the district.

His other two boxes could stay where they were.

It was about mid-day. He still had time to train.

Takai hadn't seen Naruto in awhile. Sasuke also spent time training with Kakashi, so it was rare to be able to see him. According to Kakashi from the one other time he had talked to the man's clone, Naruto was off training with Jiraiya of the Sannin. Takai was sure he would bring back a totally unreasonably powerful technique.

About half the time they were given had gone by. About one and a half weeks were left.

Thanks to his clones, his elemental training would be done exactly as the allotted time ended. For now, all he could do is wait and practice with Sasuke whenever he was around.

Or...

Takai knocked on the double doors leading to the Hokage's office.

"Come in."

Takai opened the doors and stepped in, closing them behind him.

The Hokage, grateful for any chance to escape the paperwork for even a moment, set down his pen. "Ah, Takai, what can I do for you?"

"Hello, Hokage-jiji." Takai greeted, walking over to the chair in front of the Hokage's desk. He took his seat and made eye contact with the man.

The Sandaime leaned forwards in response. "I need you to train me. Naruto and Sasuke are getting trained by big names, but I have no one."

The Hokage quirked his right eyebrow. "A sound point, my boy. But I am stuck behind this desk all day. As much as I wish I could help you, I can't."

Takai looked at the piles and piles of paper, then back at the old man. "Have a shadow clone do the work or have it train me."

The Hokage's face was completely blank.

"Since I have my Sharingan, I can just copy jutsu from your clone while also getting martial instruction., so it wouldn't take long for me to pick things up." Takai added.

Another moment of heavy silence.

Takai was about to add more points, but the Hokage just face palmed hard. "I can't believe I, nor my fellow Hokage ever considered that."

Always confused me as to why none of the Hokage just used shadow clones to do their work for them. They would make identical choices. Plenty happened in this chapter. I skipped most of the exam as you can obviously tell. If you've read the first two and a half parts, you've read them all. Really, only the second half of the third part actually gets interesting for me. That's usually when things actually change.

I also got pretty carried away in this chapter. I meant to end it at about 5.5k, but it persisted to nearly seven THOUSAND words. Pretty crazy, right?

Anyway, you all like the lack of big bold letters at the top of each section? I like it without them. Makes it look clean and it feels nicer to read (at least for me).

Would you like to just see the jutsu names in English? We can't read the Japanese anyway. Obviously iconic jutsu like the Rasengan will go by their Japanese names rather than their English.

I made a Discord Server! Its for general discussion, sneak peaks, and bullying me when I don't update for extended periods of time.

Invite: T9sPwzGbMp

See you next time ladies, gentlemen, and M113 Armored Personnel Carriers.