Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I own none of it.

Summary: A wife's plea answered, Their son would not be raised alone. Raised by the Toads Naruto is bound to become a fearsome Toad Warrior

Chapter 6 - Genin Days

Author's Note: Now we start getting into the glorious good stuff.

Most jonin's favourite thing about a new genin team was the same, in fact a good chunk of the village was in on the joke. So while Team 8 was very excited for their first mission the morning after being made a team, discussing all the super epic things they could be doing the rest of the village was holding back laughter.

"We could have a super diplomatic mission to the land of Iron, and train under the samurai while we're there!" Naruto rubbed his sword, eager to learn its ways.

Kiba guffawed. "As if toad-boy. We're obviously gonna escort a princess home to reclaim her rightful throne." He boldly proclaimed.

"Nonsense." Shino interjected. "Why? Because we are genin, and will have a genin sized mission. Like saving a local species of bees." He nodded, very sure of himself.

Anko's grin kept growing more and more predatory as the kids went on about it, walking ahead of them absolutely terrifying the villagers that saw her all but salivating venom. Chunin around the village saw them walk and snickered knowing the joke they were in on.

Somehow the usually somewhat observant young shinobi completely missed all of this. Eyes metaphorically covered by their shinobi headbands. Only not for long, as they arrived at the administrative building for mission assignment they were shocked to be let right into the Hokage's office.

Of course Lord Hiruzen didn't usually hand out missions. He was just a fan of the joke himself. Keeping a straight face as he smokes his pipe for a moment while the young shinobi bowed to him. "Ah yes, genin Team 8 under Anko Mitarashi, yes?" The genin looked nervously between themselves as Sarutobi continued. "Here for your first mission. Luckily for you we always have an abundance of D-rank missions." He gestured at a small pile of scrolls he'd arranged and Anko started to fidget behind her team. "Feel free to peruse them at your leisure and pick the one that suits you best."

The genin in question shared a final look before all but leaping at the pile of scrolls. Tearing them open the read quickly as a look of confusion began to set in on their face. They sideyed each other as they read the scrolls again. Eventually Naruto ventured to take a second scroll reading that as well.

"This is a joke right?" The blonde boy ventured hesitantly.

Only for Anko to fall over laughing. Hiruzen started chuckling to himself at the same time.

For a second the genin smiled, now sure this was a joke before the wizened Hokage broke their spirits. "Oh I'm afraid there's no joke here boys. Your choices today are to paint the orphanage fence, walk all the dogs at the Inuzuka vet, deliver the mail for the day, or weed the Hyuga watergarden."

The boys shared a dejected look once more as Kiba went to raise a hand in objection. Only to have Shino reach out to keep it lowered. Naruto just nodded solemnly as he picked what he thought would be the best one. "We'll paint the fence, Lord Hokage." They all started to make their way from the room as Anko patted them on the shoulder.

"Don't worry brats, you'll have princesses and samurai someday." She looked at Shino. "I'm gonna be real bees are unlikely but hey, anything can happen." She hummed cheerily as they set off for the orphanage.

It only took them around 4 hours to finish up the fence, the boys letting their animal companions play with the children in the yard. Overjoyed at the talking toad and the very soft puppy.

Shino kept his insects to himself.

After turning in their mission the boys thought they were done for the day, only to be quickly disillusioned by Anko. "What? You brats thought that was it for being a genin team? One D-Rank and the rest of your day to yourselves?" The boys shared a look as Kiba sorta nodded and Naruto shrugged, "Well, that's not how this works. You want to be the best? You want to lead clans, prevent wars, save the weak? Gotta be strong, real strong. So lets get to the training grounds and get started on you guys."

Now at the training grounds Anko once more sat down with her genin. "Okay listen up brats." She pulled a dango stick from nowhere and munched as she talked. "So basically, we're gonna start every day doing a d-rank mission. It's basically just for your mission log and to keep some money in your guys pockets. They don't really affect me. I get paid for training you guys." She ate another dango. "Now, after that we'll probably do lunch, up to you brats if you want to spend money going out or make it yourself, just eat lots you'll need the calories." More snacking. "Like seriously, all the training we're gonna do? Need lots of fuel in the tank. We'll start with a little one on one time, pick something technical to work at while you're still focused and full of energy. After that we'll do your fitness routine, it will include everything from running to swimming to stretches and weights. We do it all at Fitness Mitarashi after all." Boy she sure ate a lot of dango. "Then when you're good and tired, I'm gonna run you through mock mission scenarios. Your bones will ache, and your chakra paths will burn, and it'll be hard to think. So in other words, we'll be preparing for when things go tits up, or we wind up in a stupid war or some shit and you have to do back to back missions. Either way you'll be ready. Any questions?"

As she had spoken, the boys started looking happy, one on one time with a jonin was nothing to sneeze at. The fitness stuff wasn't a deal breaker either, they all had some sort of regiment already. The mock missions at the end didn't sound very fun but hey, part of being a shinobi they supposed. Leave it to Naruto to ask the question no one quite wanted to ask their kinda scary sensei. "Um, yeah what about dinner?"

Anko nodded. "Good question. Up to you, gotta be able to eat it while you're on mission though. Ration bars are easy but gross, food pills work but aren't very good for you, if you've got seals, food isn't too complicated though." She gestured at Naruto's scroll. "I assume that's what that things for."

Naruto blushed and rubbed his head in embarrassment, forgetting what the Toads had told him about the scroll. "Hehe, yeah I guess so. Sorry sensei."

Perfect, she clapped and sprung to her feat, surprisingly in the same motion. "Good then!" She created two clones. "Everyone pick a sensei and we'll start figuring out your personal development strategy."

A version of Anko, Naruto couldn't tell if it was the original or not now leaned against a tree, in a kinda secluded part of the forest. "Alright brat. So we've got some work to do. I liked your fight against Iruka during the graduation exam and I have some notes. But first I have a few questions, and you gotta be honest with me." Naruto nodded. "Cool. I'm gonna cut right to it, can you control Kyuubi?"

Naruto looked nervous as he bit his lip a little before answering. "I don't really know how to access its chakra, never mind control it." He looked dejected. "The toads told me I should be able to feel it, and talk to it through meditation, but I just can't…" He looked at his feet in shame. "All I can do with it is summon, and I have to use a tattoo on my midsection to do it that way, and if I summon anything powerful you can feel it from a mile away."

Anko patted the boy on the head. "Chin up brat, no moping on team Anko. It's no big deal, I didn't want you to use it or anything I just needed to know if it was a potential. But you can use its chakra to summon? Like however much you want? That's a powerful weapon, kid." Naruto rubbed his head, being somewhat uncomfortable with the topic before Anko continued. "Anyways kid, I've got some notes from your fight. First things first, your edge in that fight was your psychological advantage, your taijutsu's good but not as good as you probably think. So one of the things we're gonna work on is your chirp game, keeping your opponents off guard and being aggressive to make openings for your teammates or yourself." She gestured at the sword. "Any chance you know how to use that?"

Naruto sighed. "No, I just got it. Gamarza said it would just fit into my taijutsu but I haven't even sparred with anyone yet."

Anko nodded. "That's fine kid, no one's good at everything right away. So the other thing I'm gonna work on with you is developing your own summoning style. Jutsu that utilises your connection with the toads, and I'll even help you learn some of the jutsu they already teach. But as it stands you're just too young to fight like Jiraiya without using Kyuubi, trust me I learned that the hard way training under Orochimaru." Naruto looked shocked as she waved him off. "Ah don't think about it too hard kid, it was years ago. Anyways, summon the biggest toad you can with your own chakra."

Naruto concentrated for a minute as his chakra flexed, fueling the powerful jutsu. The young boy's coils are already substantial from daily use of the jutsu and his internal struggle with Kyuubi. Not to mention his clans significant vitality. So he managed a decent sized toad, roughly as tall as himself and probably weighing over 100 pounds. The toad was a combination white grey and black, with hypnotic swirling patterns, his eyes glowing faintly.

"Ah good day, young Naruto." He spoke in a slow drawl. "It's nice to see you, my name is Gamatoransu. I don't believe we met during your time on Mt. Myoboku, I am somewhat avoided."

"Aw, yeah I've heard about you. Ma says you hypnotise things or something." Anko smiled as the toad nodded.

"That is somewhat true. The oil I produce has a trance like effect on most things, making them calm and agreeable. I come from a brood of tadpoles that all produce mind altering oils. We live in a basin by ourselves to protect others, merely touching us can cause the effect."

Anko smiled a fanged smile. "See kid, toads like this are great for learning and creating new techniques." She bowed slightly to the toad. "It's nice to meet you Gamatoransu, I'm Naruto's jonin sensei, Anko." She shot Naruto a glance for not making the introduction. "Would you be open to teaching Naruto the basics of the Toad Oil jutsu style?"

The toad bowed in return. "It would be my pleasure ma'am." Turning to address Naruto. "The most basic oil jutsu is the toad oil bullet, these are its hand seals." He demonstrated roughly. "It utilises the summoning jutsu to connect you to a toad and generate its oil, you can then spit this out in a ball. Simply perform the seals, focus the chakra into your saliva glands, and spit."

Naruto did so, managing a small, regular size spit of oil on his first attempt. Anko chimed in. "Do it like the summoning jutsu, build the chakra up then release it all at once." He went through the signs once again, summoning a glob of oil about the size of a beach ball at the tree.

"Marvellous job young Naruto." Gamatoransu drawled as Anko clapped the boy on the back. "Now to use the oil of a specific toad you simply affirm that toad in your mind, much the same way as the regular summoning jutsu."

Naruto nodded in understanding before the toad vanished in a puff of smoke, waving goodbye as it did. Gamakichi, who was snacking over by a tree, decided to chime in at this point. "Yeah boss, the emote-toads are weird. We don't hang out with them much."

That made sense to Naruto, but he had a further question now. "If all toads produce different oils, what's yours do, Kichi?"

The small toad rolled his eyes. "I'm a fire toad, so my oil is both extremely flammable and strangely soothing to burn wounds."

Anko snorted at the irony, before rounding on the boy once more. "Alright brat, it looks like we need to work more on your chakra control to get that ninjutsu up to snuff. Have you started climbing trees yet?"

Naruto shook his head, and so they began.

Some time later the genin were reunited for their daily fitness. Which you would hope would be quite mundane.

Based on the writhing pile of snakes in the centre of the field it would be no such thing. "Good new brats!" She gestures to the snakes. "You're going to get so strong, so fast. These are my resistance and weight training hybrid constrictor snakes!"

Naruto went pale as Akamaru trembled at the sight. Shino just adjusted his shades once more. "I am to understand these snakes are to work as dynamic training equipment, correct? Fascinating…"

Anko just smiled venomously as the snakes suddenly sprung on the boys, wrapping around their joints. "See, just like that every move you make is being resisted and weighed down. Why don't we get started with some stretches then go for a run!"

What was worse than just having the weight of the clinging snakes pulling them down, the snakes were actively and sporadically twisting and pulling on the boys limbs in different ways, altering the resistance offered.

Only when the boys were well and truly exhausted, having run, performed kata, and gone through a variety of strength exercises did the snakes finally poof in smoke, leaving a relieved pile of 12 year olds panting exhausted on the ground. Only for Anko to drop a scroll between the three of them. "Good work kiddos, now you have to deliver this scroll unopened to Kurenai Yuhi before she leaves for dinner tonight, unopened." The boys looked at the sun steadily sinking in the sky as they dragged themselves to their feet. "Oh sorry, and of course you'll be pursued after a five minute head start, by you guessed it, me." She gestured at herself dramatically.

"But, sensei-" Kiba was panting. "How are we supposed to track someone down we've never met?" He managed to get out.

Anko just shrugged. "Not my problem, but I guess I'll give you a hint. Hinata knows her." She waved them off. "Get going then brats, you don't have long!"

They took off running as Anko sighed, looking down at the toad that had fallen off Naruto's head in his haste. "Well little buddy, should we go meet Kurenai for dinner? You can join, I'll just take it out of Naruto's pay." She chortled.

The next day their d-rank was to lay down river rock to make a garden path in the Hyuga garden. Which wouldn't be too hard if they didn't have to find anc haul the massive river rocks themselves.

"Man this sucks." Kiba curses as he slips again.

"Stick to the bottom of the river with your chakra brats, much easier. Best way to pick the rocks up too." Anko chimed in.

The boys all grumbled and nodded as they continued for a while, piling stones on the shore. As they finished up, Kiba started trying to haul stones to the compound only for Naruto to have an idea. "Wait, sensei. We can use ninja tools right?" Anko just shrugged at them in indifference as Naruto smirked widely, whipping out his sealing scroll. Laying it on the ground he instructed the other boys to bring over the stones, as he sealed them into a fresh array he labelled "Mission Specific"

The boys finished the job relatively quickly after that, even earning an approving nod from Hiashi as he walked the path. "How did you place the stones in such an organic seeming path?"

Shino's glasses adjusted. "I used kikaichu to follow the natural curves and the bends of the landscapes, and directed Naruto and Kiba on where to place the stones."

Hiashi nodded at the young boy. "I'll be sure to commision your services again for similar tasks." There was a note of genuine sincerity to the man as he walked down the new path, off to do whatever it was he did with his day.

"Man, Hinata's Dad doesn't really warm up much eh?" Naruto shot a smile at his team, having met Lord Hiashi many times during their group training in the academy.

"Yeah right-" Kiba shot a look at Shino. "Not like Shibi ever did more than say hello either."

Shino's eyebrow raised. "Yes, and I suppose Tsume is known for her warmth and compassion. Certainly that's why the ninken chased us around while we tried to train."

Naruto laughed. "Oh I'm sure the puppies just wanted to play." He was so good natured.

"Yeah right, she had my sister Hana spray us with pheromones while we weren't looking. Plus those were not puppies."

Shino deflated. "We were… betrayed?" He could be weirdly dramatic like that.

Naruto and Kiba just clapped him on the back together before Kiba spoke up. "Ah that's just how Inuzuka are, help each other get strong no matter what. Means they view you as family."

Shino blushed lightly as he nodded at the other boys. "This is acceptable."

Back at the training fields, the boys were sitting enjoying a short break to eat a prepared lunch together while they chatted about what they were doing in training the previous day. "Yeah sensei had me work on my clan techniques some, really focusing on how quickly me and Akamaru could start a fang over fang, and how quickly we could bail out of it for some reason. Something about timing being my most important skill since our jutsu was already pretty good. Then we worked on chakra control for a while. What did you guys do?"

Shino put down his chopsticks politely, even dabbing under his coat collar with a napkin. "Anko found my mastery of my kikaichu sufficient after several drills, including having them cover her without consuming any of her chakra or biting her. Then we discussed my control and capacity, and while she found my control adequate she found my capacity lacking. Why? If I am to develop a larger colony I will need a larger chakra reservoir. So she had me hang upside down from a tree branch, holding onto the tree with my chakra, and holding onto a large snake also with my chakra rapidly draining my reserves." He rubbed his shoulders. "It was…. Straining."

The other two nodded in sympathy even as Naruto finished his lunch. "We talked a bit about my role on the team, and we started learning toad style jutsu. Then we worked on chakra control. I think we're gonna work on my swordsmanship at some point." He looked up at Kichi. "I think we're gonna start learning collaboration jutsu too."

The other two boys nodded. "Yeah man," Kiba patted Akamaru. "Combination jutsu are where it's at. Akamaru and I have been practising some manoeuvres for years to get in sync. Haven't the toads done anything like that with you?"

"Um…" Naruto's brain went back to a memory of doing the toad dance with several of the toads in his youth. "Yeah I guess you could say that. Kichi's still a little small for the toad dance though."

Both boys kinda shared a look, muttering the words "Toad dance?" To each other incredulously. Only for Anko to choose this moment to reappear.

"The Toad Dance is probably a good deal more fun than the Snake Slither." She shivered lightly. "But they're necessary parts to developing the relationships and timings needed for combination jutsu." She made a pair of clones. "Now split up brats, more training to be had today.

With Naruto, at the same spot as yesterday.

"So brat, you've got a sword. While I certainly know how to use a sword, I don't know jack about the Toad Kata as a sword style so I asked some Anbu buddies of mine that have studied all of Konoha's sword styles and got some notes" She unrolled a scroll she pulled out from her trench coat. "Okay we've got a bit about history here we probably don't care about-" She rolled a little farther "Alright basic premise 'The Toad Kata utilises powerful full body motions in explosive fashion, ducking and weaving and then lashing out with a single strike. Therefore it is an iaijutsu style, or the art of the single draw and strike.'" She rolled up the scroll and tossed it to him. "So basically we're gonna practise that, and chakra control at the same time. Get up in the trees, use the footwork you learned from the toad kata, and I'm gonna cut leaves off the trees with senbon. Cut the leaves, resheath the sword, and wait for your next opening."

He took a position in the trees, legs slightly crouched like a toad as one hand hovered over Toad Dancer. Kichi croaked which Anko took as a good sign to start, a leaf falling from a tree. Naruto shot out towards it, twisting in the air as he unsheathed his blade.

He promptly missed the leaf, twisting back around to land on another tree on his feet. The exercise wasn't over though, and more leaves started to fall around him as he launched back out at them.

It took him most of the afternoon to cut a leaf. He had a feeling he'd be doing this exercise often.

After their training for the day was done, the three boys found themself laying on the training field watching the sun go down. They made some idle small talk when the topic of the other genin came up. "I'm sure team 10 isn't working as hard as us, but I wonder how Hinata's doing with that stuck up prick?" Kiba pondered.

Naruto shrugged. "Kakashi's got a reputation with the toads for being a phenomenal shinobi, I'm sure they're working hard. Besides, Sasuke's not so bad."

After a moment of silence Shino made a simple proposal. "You know, we could just go for tea with Hinata and ask her."

Without a good reason not to, other than exhaustion, the three young ninja made their way to their feat. "I suppose tea could be good." Naruto supposed as he wrote out a short note. "We're meeting her there though. Kichi? Can you bring this to Hinata? I know you like her."

The toad seemingly swallowed the note. "Eh, sure thing boss. She's always got great snacks." The toad hopped off into the twilight as team 8 slowly made their way to a popular tea hut.

It didn't take them long to get there, but apparently Hinata was eager to talk as she had beaten them there. In fact she was already at a table with Kichi who was snacking away on mochi, a steaming tea pot already being poured into cups with utmost dignity by the Hyuga heiress as she'd already seen them coming with her byakugan. The table even sat five so Kichi could have his own seat.

"Hey Hinata! Glad you could make it!" Naruto beamed at his longtime friend. "Hopefully Kichi wasn't too much trouble."

Hinata finished pouring the tea and gave Naruto a somewhat strained smile. "Oh Kichi was no trouble, I'm glad you sent him to meet me." Her smile waivered. "So um, how are things with Anko-sensei?"

There was a certain edge to her voice that put team 8 off slightly as Kiba glanced between his team. "Oh um.. They're good. She works us really hard. D-Ranks are dumb though, am I right?" He elbows Shino who nods in agreement. "How's uh… How's things with Kakashi sensei?" He asked hesitantly as the ire in Hinata's eyes became palpable.

"Oh it's…" She pressed her fingers together briefly before she slammed her head against the table. The teacups jumped slightly as she did so. "It's just the fucking worst!" She exclaimed as she started crying exaggerated tears. "Kakashi just takes us on missions! He's late for everything, Sasuke doesn't want anything to do with me or Sakura, he just calls me Hyuga whenever we talk. And Sakura just wants to go on dates with Sasuke and doesn't understand that we need to train. And all Kakashi wants to train us in is team exercises!" She mock cried into her tea. "I just want to get stronger and I don't think I'm going to like this."

The table was somewhat stunned by Hinata's declaration. Shino sipped his tea as they all thought of what to say. "Well um…" Naruto looked to his team for guidance. "I guess you're pretty taijutsu focused…" Suddenly an idea bubble appeared over Naruto's head. "Wait, I've got it."

He started scribbling down a note again, once more offering it to Kichi. "Here bud, can you take this to Sasuke, then lead him back to us at the training grounds? I've got a plan." Kichi made a face before finishing his snacks and hopping off. "Yeah whatever boss, maybe summon a messenger toad next time you need all this running around."

Naruto just shrugged as he paid for their tea before grabbing Hinata by the hand. "See you guys later, this will work better with just me and Hinata."

Hinata blushed faintly as the two shot off together.

Sasuke was enjoying a peaceful evening, taking tea with the ghosts of his family as he read through journals of Shisui Uchiha, hie brother's late best friend. When suddenly a familiar orange toad was on his table. "What do you want, Gamakichi?" He asked before the toad had a chance to speak.

Making a face of offence, the toad spat out the note it had been sent with, narrowing his eyes as Sasuke as he read the letter.

"What's up jerk? Heard Kakashi isn't really doing much for you. Come with Kichi for a more intense workout if you're up to it."

Sasuke made a face but well… Kakashi wasn't exactly pushing his limits and he knew Naruto could. So he followed the toad. Only when they arrived at the training fields he could already hear the sounds of fighting. Coming around to the field he saw Naruto and… Hinata? Mid fight, sweat glistened on Naruto's forehead as he ducked and weaved around Hinata's ferocious palm strikes. Already exhausted from training, even though Sasuke didn't know that Naruto took a serious hit to the shoulder, rolling out of the fight as he signalled an end to the spar.

Panting to catch his breath, Naruto waved at Sasuke. "Hey man, sorry you took longer to get here then I thought, Hinata and I got started without you." He rubbed his now injured shoulder. "I heard Kakashi wasn't doing much for you guys so figured we'd kick it up a notch, but it looks like you and Hinata will have to do the next 'bout without me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I've never seen Hinata fight like that before."

Hinata looked down timidly as Naruto gave her a pat on the back. "Psh, yeah at the academy. Hinata doesn't like to showboat, and doesn't like to hurt her comrades. If she's not fighting you hard it's because she doesn't respect you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Hinata tried to interject.

"Naruto-" He waved her off.

"Nah nah, Hinata. No sense pandering to the jerk. Besides, I get it. The whole Uchiha-Hyuga thing. Besides he doesn't even have his family's special eyes yet, not like you. He probably wouldn't be a great fight if you went all out."

Sasuke's fists were clenched at the insult. "Spar, now." He squared off across from Hinata as she hesitantly took a stance.

Naruto whispered in her ear as he walked away from them to start the match. "He's gonna come in hot. Put him down one time firmly and he'll respect you forever, and you'll get all the taijutsu training you need."

Her eyes lit up in understanding as she squared off with the young avenger.

Full of frustration Sasuke shot straight at Hinata as soon as Naruto called a start to the match. Only it didn't last long. Knowing this was her ticket to self improvement Hinata hardened her heart, batting aside Sasuke's somewhat offensively lacklustre jab and returned with a full force gentle fist strike to Sasuke's diaphragm.

Sasuke promptly crumpled to the ground, unable to breath as Naruto quickly flipped him onto his back before Hinata jabbed him with a single finger, returning his ability to breath.

"What-" He gasped. "What was that?" Sasuke managed to get out as Naruto smiled down at him.

"That's your new sparring partner. Try not to be such a douchebag and you might not get hurt so bad next time." Naruto just laughed as Sasuke glared at him.

Hinata blushed as she gave a small bow to Naruto. "Thank you, Naruto." She looked now to Sasuke who was regaining his feat. "Round two?" She raised an eyebrow at the dark haired boy who nodded back to her.

Naruto gave the two a wave as he headed off for his apartment, already exhausted from his days training. A goofy smile on his face knowing he'd done some real good today.

Shocking to everyone. Anko gave them Sunday off! Shino was busy doing something or other with his clan, and it seemed like Hinata was off training with Sasuke (much to Naruto's joy). So Naruto and Kiba decided to spend the day together.

"Alright man, so the trick is to know what Kichi's gonna do before he does it, and for him to do the same for you. You can't be calling for moves all the time, because then Kichi's always gonna be a step behind you. So it's important for you to be constantly aware of each other's chakra so you can better anticipate what you're going to do." He gestured to Akamaru. "He knows what it feels like for me to initiate the fang over fang as opposed to the passing fang. That's important so we don't bump into each other. He can even anticipate which direction I'm gonna turn by the rotation of my chakra."

Naruto nodded along. "The toads said something similar when teaching me the toad dance. To read the next step of the dance from the chakra of the toad I danced with. But I only know how to do it when we're touching?"

Kiba just smirked. "That's just a mind trick. It's no easier to sense chakra when you're touching someone than when just being around them. It's all about familiarity. You just have to recognize the things you already feel as being chakra, and incorporate them into your timing. Give it a try!"

Naruto looked at Kichi, raising his eyebrow at the toad as he started the hand signs for the toad oil jutsu, calling out the name of the jutsu they were attempting. "Toad Art!: Flaming Oil Bullet!"

Kichi timed it just right, sending a small jet of fire into the oil bullet which rapidly ignited. Naruto quickly cut off the stream of oil before the fire travelled back into his mouth.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto exclaimed as Kichi jumped up for a high-five.

"That was great man!" Kiba patted him on the back. "Now it'll just be about practice and developing more techniques with Kichi and the rest of the toads, you've totally got this man." Akamaru and Gamakichi shared a look as Kiba's hand lingered on Naruto for just a moment longer than you'd expect. "Now why don't we go get some lunch, I'm sure our buddies are hungry by now too!"

Naruto gave him a brilliant smile before wrapping an arm around Kiba good naturedly. "Sure thing man, hey thanks for the lesson eh?"

"Anytime." Kiba elbowed him in the ribs before making some space. "Next time it's your turn to teach though.

AN: That's a wrap! Genin days are underway. The infamous wave arc is up next.