Chapter 10: Trips and Training.

"So where are you taking me?" The blonde genin asked. Instinctively jumping from branch to branch.

"To some nearby towns. Apparently people have started disappearing, but my spy network has not been able to find out where to."

"Disappearing huh?" Naruto said with a frown. Noticing his expression Jiraiya asked, "Know something about it?"

"Just a situation that happened back at the red light, but it was a month ago and no one has gone missing since."

"Hoh? And what happened in your little kingdom, little fox prince." The toad sage said, making the blond groaned at the nickname. He really hated when he was called prince. Just because he had taken up the power of the red light while considerably young, someone had decided to nickname him prince as a joke.

A joke that had spread faster than a fire style jutsu in a timber storing wooden shed.

"A newbie group of Yakuza kidnapped a bunch of girls in order to test drugs on them." The teen replied. The I dealt with them, unneeded between the two. "I sent some henged clones to the place where the new shipment of drugs would arrive... but it didn't."

Jiraiya nodded. "So they either found out, there had to be a condition for their arrival or they sensed your clones."

"There must have been a set condition, my clones and henge are perfect and the people of the red light, even the new ones, know better than to cross me."

Jiraiya looked at the blond unimpressed. "You are a little bit arrogant don't you think?"

"It's no arrogance when it's true." He answered without missing a beat.

Jiraiya came to a stop, Naruto stopping once he noticed the lack of the sannin by his side. "Then, care to prove me wrong?"

Naruto grinned as his chakra flared around him.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

No matter where she looked there was nothing about secondary chakras. She had found about the differences between spiritual and bodily chakra, nature types and a whole plethora of theories. Yet nothing that could clue her to the weird chakra she had felt for the second time today.

Closing a yellow paged book with a frustrated sigh, she stood and left towards the bookshelves. Sakura had spent the last few hours in the Konoha public library and she was starting to get tired. The training Kakashi had made her go through was not helping either.

"Talking about him, I am pretty sure he knows what's going on with Naruto-baka...Izumi-san probably does too." another sigh escaped her as she placed the book in it's rightful place. "But Kakashi-sensei wouldn't reveal any important secret of someone he considers a comrade, and Izumi-san is, if not mistaken, dating the guy. No way would she tell me something like that."

The voice of the librarian brought her out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry Tanigushi-san can you repeat that?"

"Don't worry dear, it seems you are troubled. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh...well I have been looking for a certain information, but I didn't manage to find anything."

"That's weird. I can surely say that Konoha's library is one of the best if not the best. Maybe you didn't look in the correct place?"

Sakura looked down in thought. She knew she had searched thoroughly, but maybe she just missed it. Giving the older woman a smile she asked. "Could you help? I am looking for information on secondary chakras."

The green eyed librarian slammed her book shut. The sound making the girl flinch. Peering over her glasses, she studied the girl. "You are right Sakura-san. That knowledge is not on this library since it's classified information of the jonin level."

"I-I see." Sakura replied feeling anxious with the look she was receiving. Not being able to stand it any longer she said. "W-well then I...I better go." And with that she ran.

Though not fast enough to miss the older lady's last piece of advice. "For your safety I wouldn't look into that anymore.

Jiraiya looked in surprise as Naruto's chakra boasting suddenly stopped. Following the blond's gaze he felt a familiar presence approaching. Not a minute later did the purple haired anbu with the cat mask landed in front of them.

"Yo Neko-neechan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto-kun," the anbu answered back. The two could hear the smile she wore when answering the blonde. "Jiraiya-sama, I've come with a message from Sandaime-sama."

Jiraiya nodded with a smile as the woman approached him with a scroll. He was going to take the scroll when his hand moved towards the anbu's chest, and proceeded to give her a chakra infused punch.

Naruto smiled as the woman grunted before dispersing in smoke. "So how was it?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "I must admit, I am pretty surprised with it. The chakra signature, it's denseness, the smell, movement, voice and pretty much everything else was perfect."

"So what gave it away?" the Uzumaki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Something quite simple. You see my boy that was a perfect copy of Yugao-chan. You even managed to copy the fondness with which she says your name."

"But?"

"But that was the Yugao-chan of a month ago! The Yugao-chan of today has 0.0984 cm more of bust!" the white haired Sannin shouted with an accusatory finger pointed towards the blond. His words echoing around him and through the forest.

Silence reigned across the place once the echo faded. Naruto looked at the man with cold uncaring eyes while his godfather continued standing in his pose.

It was here that birthed the name that would define the relationship between Naruto and his godfather.

"...Ero-sennin."

"Well...wasn't that a nice little pre-workout?" Kakashi asked with his ever famous eye-smile. The person the question was directed to was currently sprawled on the floor, a thin sheet of sweat covering her.

Through pants she managed to say, "Is this...an acquired trait...of strong people?"

"Hmm. What is?"

With a grunt, Izumi rolled over her body. Managing to lift her upper half she looked at her teacher. "You know...taking pleasure in...Uug! Grinding your students into literal dust."

He was about to retort when he realized, that yes, most good and strong jonin did in fact enjoy running their students ragged.

Or at least he did.

"Well at least you are getting what you wanted, right?" He said, making the teen sigh in acceptance. Looking at the almost set sun the silver head spoke. "Let's leave it here for today Izumi. Go home eat something and rest. Tomorrow I will give you guys some non physical lesson and then we will take some D-ranks. After lunch lets meet here again... I will also be looking on what I told you about."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei! Thank you Kakashi sensei!"

Even though tonight the clouds covered most of the waning moon, the blond's gaze was still locked on it. The white light that reflected of it's surface, and the few yet bright stars that danced across it managed to entrance anyone who dare look at them. His thoughts, however, did not even recognize the beauty the heavenly vaults displayed.

After separating himself from his godfather, the memories of the clone in charge of his three new minions hit him. Naruto had decided he would review them when he had acquired a decent hotel room and placed the needed security measures.

And so he had spent the rest of his afternoon and early night. Most information they had pertained to the different missions and training they had performed, and some pretty interesting facts of the current events of the elemental nations. And while he knew they could come in handy, it was not the information he was looking for.

He had been rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes when his head snapped up. With a quick, "Play that part again," to his tenant Naruto felt a grin surface.

The bijuu and it's host watched the memory play again. They saw the clone lead them back to Naruto's house. How one of them, the female stopped in her tracks and observed a woman in the streets. One Naruto recognized as a waitress in one of the few restaurants in the red light. One whose name matched up with Hiromi's teammate. The one who refused to fight Hiromi in their final test and was disposed by Danzo.

"If the bandaged monkey didn't kill that one…"

"Then there may be more out there."

Jiraiya was having quite the pleasant dream, even if his back was screaming and it smelt horrible around him. He giggled as the blond bombshell of his teammate served him another cup of sake, and hugged his arm between her melons. He raised his cup in a toast before he sipped.

The small trickle of alcohol sadly did not reach his mouth. A torrent of water that left him sputtering for air did.

Rolling away he opened his eyes. The sunlight immediately began burning away his retinas and his head decided it was a good time to try and live up its dream of being a professional drum player. He managed to sit against something solid and groggily looked around. He did not recognize where he was, or how he ended up in this alley, but he did recognize the shoes in front of him. Looking up he followed the form of his godson, the black clothing, the blond hair, the empty bottle of water in his hand.

.

.

.

Oh.

That little shit.

"Why the heck did I want to establish a relationship with him?" The sannin thought. "Oh yeah; Because Kushina is probably already mad with me."

"Here," Naruto said as he thrusted a filled water bottle and some pills to the toad sage's face. "For the headache."

"Thanks," Jiraiya croaked out.

"Did you find the information you were looking for." asked Naruto, patiently waiting for the man to drink down the pills and lose any semblance to a drunk perverted vagabond. One of his eyebrows raised as Jiraiya looked at him with a face of sudden clarity before it vanished into a sheepish green.

"So that's what I forgot last night!" He said as he bonked his head and let out what tried to be a cute "Tee hee!"

"...I see…" replied Naruto as he stood up. "I hope you understand that what will soon happen is entirely your fault." With a single hand seal the blond ninja was surrounded by white smoke. As it dissipated in his place was a seven year old version of a female Naruto. With a pink girly yukata and big teary blue eyes, the small girl ran from the alley ready to cause pain and suffering.

Jiraiya barely heard the conversations going outside the alley, but he suspected the worse when an angry mob soon entered the back street he laid in. "No–" He said as the flock approached. "Wait! You gotta hear me! You've been duped!" But no matter what he said they still approached, some taking discarded sticks, that definitely weren't there a moment ago, from the floor.

As the shadows loomed over the man, Naruto, who happened to be standing on top of a near rooftop lifted a small stick of Dango he had and ate one of the balls. As cries of pain wafted through the air he murmured. "Hmm, sweet."

"Not the face! It is worth millions!"

"Really sweet."

"You are late!" came the screech of Sakura, once the silver head Jonin arrived. Although unsurprising, Kakashi couldn't help but notice that somehow it was more subdued. It seemed his pink haired genin was disappointed in something. Seeing as she did not in fact look at the Uchiha male with longing, it must have been something unrelated to Sasuke.

Weird.

"Well you see, I happened to meet an old lady who was lost in the road of life. She asked for directions and I just had to help her. When we finally reached her house, that happened to be at the top of a mountain, the entrance was surrounded by black cats and I had to take her all the way around the mountain to the back of her house."

None of the genins uttered a word, unamused at their sensei's antics. Finally Sakura decided to get on with their day and said. "Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, I heard it comes with the age."

"...Rude. Anyways my dear little genin, today we will be doing another type of exercise!" Said Kakashi as he pulled out a stick and a gangu-daiko*. "I remembered that in our mission to Wave, none of you understood the hand signals Naruto and I exchanged. That's why we will be practicing morse code and basic Konoha signs!"

The three genin reacted as he thought they would. Izumi remained emotionless but her eyes gained a new glint, Sasuke frowned at the mention of the blond (and how superior he seemed to be in the shinobi areas), and Sakura looked in confusion. He waited for the third member of his team to speak up and set forward his plans. When she raised her hand to ask a question, like she was still in the academy, he almost jumped in glee. "Yes, Sakura?"

"But Kakashi-sensei, we already know the basic Konoha hand signals from the academy. And isn´t morse code and these signals a bit useless now? You know with radio communicators and all?"

"Haha, one would certainly think so Sakura. Besides those you know are not Konoha's basic signs but the academies basic. Even civilians who know hand signal use them. But before we begin, can you tell me why did Naruto used them in Wave instead of simply whispering?"

"Uhh–"

"...Because it made sure they couldn't hear him." Muttered Izumi with a far away look in her eyes, the sentence seemingly slipping out of her mouth without her consent. Sasuke and Sakura watched as Izumi's face filled with understanding and admiration while she continue her rambling. "They could have used chakra to enhance their hearing, and since he knew where they were he turned around in case they had a way to read his lips. But they could also have a method to read the hand signals? Unless...the signals are advanced enough to vary depending on the sequence, way and or place they are performed?"

"Correct my adorable genin!" Said Kakashi making the girl's head snap up in surprise. Pink coated her cheeks as she realized she had been saying everything out loud. "As Izumi said...and guessed. The use of signals eliminate most of the sound, can't be properly understood unless the person has a deep knowledge on them, and vary depending on sequence, position and terrain." Looking at Sakura he motioned for her to copy him. Once she managed to copy correctly all of the hand positions, the silver head Jonin said, "And right now, Sakura, you have just said that that Sasuke likes taking it hard in the back." The black haired male and the pink haired girl choked on air. Izumi tried to hide her giggles behind her hand.

"And if you change the position like this," He continued. Doing this time two of the signals higher than the rest. "You said that Sasuke's duck-butt hair style attracts pedophiles."

"Could you stop insulting me and start with the lesson?!" asked Sasuke with a sharingan glare.

"You are no fun...Since Sasuke is so eager you'll go first." Kakashi said handing over the drum and the stick. "Ah! Before I forget, this activity will have repercussions on the next one we do today so try to do your best ne?" He finished tilting his head to the side.

*Knock Knock Knock*

Was the sound made by Naruto's fist as it met the door. The blond in question waited patiently for someone to answer. He heard the door creak open while he had been glancing to the prone figure of his godfather. Turning around he found himself staring at a slightly older girl, her brown hair cut into a bob and adorned with a small flower hair clip. "Yes, How can I help you?"

"Hello there Nee-san, is Mother home?" Naruto replied with a smile.

"Yes. Who is looking for her?" She said while giving a small glance to Jiraiya. "We take no responsibility for the clients after they leave the establishment."

"Nah it's not for that. I just need some information regarding something. If you could tell her that a friend of Kayoko is here to see her."

"Sure, please wait a moment." The girl said as she closed the door. As footsteps faded behind the door Naruto turned towards the sannin and murmured "I can't leave you there can I?" With a cross handed seal two more Naruto's appeared. The two looking at the man with contempt. "Go on pick him up." The real said motioning for the two clones to work.

"Stupid boss. Making us do things like this." The first one murmured.

"Hey shut up, he could hear you!" The second whispered.

"Who cares if he hears me what he gonna do dispel me? Ha! I'd like to see him try."

And so he exploded into smoke. The other clone watched in horror as his brother died not three minutes after their birth. He felt his hold slacken and Jiraiya slipping to the floor. The man hitting the ground with a thud. "You know…" The clone slowly turned towards his creator, fear etched in his face. "I sometimes wonder why I don't make you guys mindless workers...guess I am still emotionally weak for you guys…"

"That's good boss! Please love us even more!" Clone shouted dropping to his knees and performing a dogeza.

"Umm...Are you done?" came the voice of the girl. Half her face behind the door and a unreadable expression on her face. "If so please come in, Mama will see you soon."

The two Naruto's looked at each other, realizing just how weird their positions and words were for the cabaret girl. The clone quickly stood up and picked Jiraiya up, following behind the real one. The clone almost crashed into Naruto as he stopped in front of the girl and held a small bag.

"Forget everything you just saw please."

"And that is all you need to know about morse code and Konoha's basic hand signals. Sakura, Izumi if you would please use your headbands as blindfolds and step into the field." Waiting until the two girls stood in place, did Kakashi unseal the scroll he held in his hand. A heavy mist filled the place as objects could be heard crashing down in different positions across the field. Once the fog dissipated Sasuke and Kakashi stared at the obstacle course set by the Jounin. Looking at the three forms of his students. "Remember guys, depending how you do this, the next activity will vary."

"Now Sasuke...Start beating that drum."

He was groggy and in pain...somehow it all felt awfully familiar. He tried to open his eyes but they were too heavy. So he focused on any other sense he could. "Let's see touch...I am pretty numb. Speech...too numb. Smell...quite a nice smell in this place. Wonder what it is, Jasmine perhaps? Focus Jiraiya! Okay hearing...mmm nothing out of the ordinary except for that incessant giggling...wait giggles? Female giggles?" His eyes snapped open, searching for the source of that heavenly sound. Finally discerning that it was coming from behind him, he tried to turn. The ropes he had been tied with stopping him in his tracks. "Damn this ropes!...Wait...Ropes?!" He looked down to find himself in a lot of rope.

And when he said it was lot he meant it.

All of his body except for his head had been covered in the strong flax cord. Cutting out anyway for him to escape out from the chair he had been strapped in. But they had underestimated him. No matter how tied up he was, if there were cute women near he would find them. With forced wiggles he finally managed to make a slight jump, and then another and another. Soon he managed to turn around the chair to quite a sight. One that made him proud yet jealous.

Naruto was surrounded by beautiful women and he did not seem to be paying them for it.

"If I wasn't so jealous right now I would be crying tears of joy." Thought the man, waiting for his future student to look at him. His mouth still a little numb. He waited and waited and waited some more, but the blond brat did not look into his direction. And then he made eye contact with Naruto.

Only to be completely ignored.

"That little bastard." Jiraiya proceeded to make any sound he could in order to get one of the girls attention. Sadly all of them were laughing too loudly and concentrating on the blond a little too hard for his tastes. To his utmost glee someone had apparently noticed him awake, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder. He prepared the most gallant and suave smile he had ever mustered and turned to his savior.

No matter what they say he did not, emphasis in the he did not, scream like a little girl.

All the attention was turned to them as the not so blessed in the looks department woman spoke, "It seems little fox, that your...friend here, is not so brave as I thought he might be."

Not caring about the woman's appearance -Not like he was going to do her or something- the blonde grinned, "Well he is well past his prime Mama. Things have started to drop for him." The woman and girls surrounding the blond chuckled, Jiraiya giving him a betrayed look. "But I am not here for Ero-sennin's virile problems. I have a need for information."

"And what sort of information that may be?" she said taking a seat in the couch in front of the blond, some of the girls giving her space.

"You know rumors. Those of people disappearing to be exact."

"...Those are quite dangerous." A bag landed on top of the table, it's content spilling as it skidded through the glass. Coins and rolls of Ryo sprawled across the table, some jewels scattered around them. "But you do look like a strong young man who can handle himself."

"So?"

The woman sighed. "I do not know much. There hasn't been any uncommon disappearances in here, but there is a new drug in the market. One that is quite dangerous...very addictive. Specially to shinobi. As I said the drug has not appeared in this town, but I know by a fact that some suspicious cargo has arrived to Hashigata. A town north-east and three days from here...apart from that there are rumors about it making appearances in the capital, but I don't know how reliable those are."

"Does this drug has a name?" Asked Jiraiya rubbing his wrists as he stood behind the woman.

"It is called– "

"Dumase," Naruto interrupted. "Isn't it?"

"...So it made it's way to Konoha." The woman stated.

"Yeah, but it was taken care off already. Thanks Mama, hope to see you later!" She watched as the two men left with an uninterested glance, slightly waving back. She felt one of her girls approach her. "Ask away."

"Mama, just who was that blonde teen?"

"He...is a little fox prince, and let's leave it at that. Too complicated for me."

"Well that was...completely awful." Kakashi said looking at the bleeding nose of Sakura and the twig and leaf covered form of Izumi. "Sasuke can you tell me why that went horribly wrong?"

The teen glared at Kakashi, but complied. "Sakura is booksmart. She understood every single command but could not react in time. Izumi could react, but did not understood every command. When the two varied away from the course I had no way of reigning them back in track, and everything went to hell."

"Correct. Sakura what could Sasuke do in your case?"

"Um…He could have done them in a more sedate pace. Giving us time to understand and complete the sequence." She answered giving a nervous glance to her crush.

Kakashi's single eye settled in Izumi. "And in your case?"

"Simpler commands."

"Correct both of you. Now that you know what you need to correct decide what you will do while I go pick up the course." The three teens nodded as the jounin left to reseal everything. Turning to face the other two Sasuke said, "Okay here is what we are going to do one small note will be forward and two small notes stop. A small note and a long one will be right and a long one followed by a small one will be left." The two girls nodded in acceptance and stood to face their teacher who had just finished picking everything up. "Okay. Sasuke and Izumi, headbands on."

Making sure the two Uchihas could not see anything he turned to Sakura. After handing her the drum and the stick Kakashi said, "Since you have corrected your mistakes I will now time how long you guys take." Flinging open a scroll and letting the course set itself he continued. "You will have a limit of four minutes. Timer will run once you start beating the drum...Good luck."

With a gulp and a nod Sakura started. The pink haired girl hesitated sometimes giving the orders but unlike their first run the two blinded shinobi managed to complete most of it. Unfortunately for Sakura there was an obstacle that would force the twins to go in different directions.

What followed was a disaster.

The two Uchihas barely managed to pass that obstacle. Their positions, though, made it so that if they followed Sakura's instructions in any way one of them would get hurt. While this happened the silverhead watched the stumbling genin with glee. His Sharingan in full view and recording this moment for ages to come.

He pulled the headband down when Sasuke finally made it to the end of the course. Deciding to spare them the hurt that would follow if they continued he said, "Okay it's over and your time was...Five minutes thirty seconds. Unsurprising really."

"Okay kids what went wrong now? Sakura?"

"I...I hesitated giving out the orders and that consumed a lot of time. There was also that one obstacle that damaged our synchronization."

"And what could you do to solve this?"

"A new code for each member of the group." Replied Sasuke feeling up the place where Izumi had accidentally elbowed him during this run.

"Well then get to it."

As Kakashi once again picked up the obstacles and set up, the three genin decided on the codes they would use. Finally coming to a decision the trio faced Kakashi. The man had patiently waited on top of a recently erected stone pillar. Standing up in the pillar he said, "Izumi come here, Sasuke and Sakura." Two kunai flew in different directions. "To a Kunai each."

Once the teen trio got in their positions Kakashi released the third and final course. He glanced at the black haired girl besides him, "Since this one will be a bit more difficult I'll give you another minute to complete it. That's five minutes in total okay? Start whenever you want."

Taking in a breath Izumi began.

"Soooooo," Jiraiya stated. "Nice weather?"

The two had been tree jumping for a while and almost halfway to the next town. Jiraiya had made them stop for a small break, wanting to talk to the blonde for some time. And that is how a famous erotic novel author recognized by all perverts across the world came to utter the one most awkward conversation starter in history.

Naruto gave him a raised eyebrow from where he sat drinking a water bottle. Placing the bottle on his side he decided to humour the man. "Indeed. It is great...perfect to have awkward conversation starters."

"It's was admittedly not one of my best."

"What do you want ero-sennin? Ask about how was my night? Because it was great. I mean I spend quite a bit of money on a good room in a good fancy hotel. You know? Because I was spending the night with my long-lost godfather. The only one who can tell me stories of my father's genin days. One of the three legendary sannin and expert in fuinjutsu. Rings a bell?"

"Okay okay I am sorry."

"Oh you don't have to be. Believe me, the one who missed all the fun was you. Remember what I said about a good fancy hotel? Well you see, the hotel has a good service review because one can order a special room service. In this special service they offer entertainment for the guests and since I said that two were staying and ordered entertainment for two. Well you can guess it no? I had to eat food for two and since I looked so lonely the two Nee-chan's they sent decided to stay and comfort me."

Jiraiya looked at the blond unamused. "That's complete and utter bullshit."

"Is it? Excuse me but when you woke up who was surrounded by beautiful Nee-chan's. Without having to pay at that." Naruto smiled and reached for the inside of his jacket. "Besides there is this."

Catching the object the blond threw at him Jiraiya felt his jaw slacken. In his hands was a picture of the teen besides two women, each one hanging from one of his arms as they placed a kiss on the blonde. His eyes met that of his godson begging for him to say it was all a joke, but the placid smile on Naruto's face declared the contrary.

The photo was very real.

Tears streamed from the man's face as he prostrated in front of the blond. "Please forgive me oh great one! Forgive me and teach me your ways!"

"Jutsus." Jiraiya looked up. "I'll forgive you if you teach me any and all ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu and fuinjutsu you know. Starting now."

The toad sage smirked as he sat up. "Well I can do that."

Naruto huffed with a smile. "Not like you were not planning on it. The only thing I did was hurry up the time were you would do so." Naruto stood up and stretched. "So what's first?"

"Here," Jiraiya said tossing up a scroll. "Kakashi told me of your weirdness already, so I know that you have affinity for the five elements. The first thing you will learn is the Doton: Yomi Numa. Mostly because you can learn it while we go."

"I see...Okay let's do this!"

"That was better than expected," Kakashi said as he watched Sasuke and Sakura rub the places where they had crashed at the end. "Five minutes and ten seconds. You three did well."

The teens beamed at the praise, well Sakura did, the other two barely showed emotion but you could feel the pride in themselves. "Now then for the next activity we will be doing an escape run."

"Escape run?" asked the pink haired.

"Yeah as in the enemy found you and you must run for your lives."

"Will you be the one chasing us?" Izumi piped in.

"No," the jounin replied. He began going through hand seals when he said, "This guys will be doing the chasing."

With a burst of smoke eight new figure appeared in the training ground. Izumi's eyes lit up when the smoke cleared and eight dogs of varying sizes sat before them. "Gang," Kakashi stated, his eyes on the dogs. Pointing with his thumb to the three genin he continued. "meet the guys. Guys meet the gang."

A small brown dog wearing a blue jacket and a forehead protector stepped forward. Raising his paw, the pug surprised the three genin when he spoke in a deep and gruff voice . "Hello, my name is Pakkun. Want to touch my paw?"

No need to say that everyone present was surprised at the speed Izumi exhibited on taking up the offer. Pakkun couldn't help but smile as the uchiha girl murmured about the softness of his paw and his overall cuteness. Turning to his human partner he said, "Oi Kakashi, I like your student summon us around her more would ya?"

He turned to a new page on his book. "If you insist. Sadly Izumi the playing time with my ninken is over, do get ready for the next exercise." Kakashi waited for the black haired girl to finally let go of his dog, before addressing them again. "Okay so considering the results we will divide you guys like this. Sakura, you will be paired with Bull, Shiba, Urushi and Bisuke." In that order a large, intimidating black bulldog wearing a spiked collar, a medium sized dog with light grey fur with a white underside and a black crest on his head reminiscent of a mohawk, one with white and light-brown fur along with long spiky tufts of hair on his head, and a small one with tan-coloured fur with brown highlights on his long ears and legs with the kanji for "shinobi" in the middle of his forehead and dark, circular markings around his eyes stepped forward. "Although you have the most Sakura your's will be the easiest since they will be holding back."

"Now then Akino, Uhei, Guruko you guys are with Sasuke." With that the three named dogs stepped forward. The first one wore sunglasses, while the second had bandages wrapped around his body. The last one had whisker marks reminiscent to that of a certain blond. "One less dog, one more level of difficulty. Go seriously in a sporadic manner okay?"

"And that leaves one genin and one dog. Izumi you are with Pakkun. Good luck, he will be going seriously." The teen girl nodded in acceptance. "Well then Sakura, once you start running you will have a two minute head start. Sasuke will have one minute and Izumi a thirty second head start. Once the the two minutes are up my ninken will go and search for you across the village. If they manage to physically stop you in under ten minutes then you'll have to restart the exercise. You can hide anywhere except indoors and finally you can use anything you can to stop my dogs. Manage to escape for ten minutes and you can go home. Understood?"

"Yes Kakashi-sensei!"

"Has anyone ever called you a monster?"

"Yes, some people have indeed called me one. Why?"

"Because no normal person, heck no normal genius, manages to learn and perfect two jutsus in a fifty minute trip." Replied JIraiya as the duo finally entered the town of Hashigata. "Unless you are a genius with a sharingan of course."

"Pfft. The Sharingan is overrated."

"I believe your girlfriend wouldn't appreciate that."

Naruto sidestepped a running civilian. "First of all she wouldn't mind, and second she is not my girlfriend. At least not yet." He murmured the last part.

"Well your cowardice with girls aside, there is the dock. You ready?"

"Let's get this finished already."

"Sandaime-sama a report!"

Looking up from his paperwork the Hokage motioned for the turtle masked anbu to speak. "Sir, some of the border teams who just returned from patrolling on the borders of Kusa (Land of grass) reported on seeing three groups of Iwa ninja."

The hokage placed down the brush. "So they are testing our borders. No doubt they have already heard what happened in Wave or more precisely how the person that did it looks like. Naruto-kun's name being on a bridge does not help either." With a sigh the Sarutobi spoke, "Turtle gather two teams and go to the border. Keep an eye on the Iwa shinobi. If they make the slightest breach into our territory kill all but one and bring him in for interrogation."

"Yes Sir!"

This was not acceptable. He was an Uchiha, an elite. How was it possible for him to not outrun three dogs?!

Sasuke looked up from his new hiding place. This was his third run and Kakashi's ninken were capturing him faster every new run. Seeing no sign of the dogs he slumped back behind the trashcan. "To think I would have to hide in here of all places."

A sound made him tense up. Peering from the side of the metal can he saw a plastic bottle rolling across the ground. Waiting a few moments for any other movement, he chalked it up to the bottle just falling due to its position. Turning back around he met the sunglasses of Akino. With a grin the dog saluted the boy. "Sup Sasuke! Man did you really have to choose the trashcans, huh? I didn't want to come in here I just got myself bathed! But no I had to go and loose on the rock paper scissors didn't I? Man Pakkun sure is lucky to be paired with Izumi, she seems nice. But I guess she is unlucky after all Pakkun is the strongest ninken. Oh well, you just got caught so please surrender peacefully. Don't want any garbage falling on this great fur now do we?"

The dogs tirade was met by a pile of garbage falling on top of him. Ignoring the scream of panic coming from the alley Sasuke jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He could feel the other two following, nipping on his heels. A loud shout from Akino made him falter, "NOW THIS IS PERSONAL!" Faster than his mind could comprehend he was tackled mid jump. The force of the body colliding against him sent him flying.

Directly into a trashcan.

"Karma's a bitch ain't she?!"

Definitely unacceptable.

Shikamaru Nara, as heir of the Nara clan, was someone who was taught manners and propriety since little. He had vowed to his mother, father and clan that he would always act upon this principles he was taught. The most important one for him was to always respect mothers.

And since laziness is the mother of all bad habits.

He was going to respect her because she was a mother. So why? You could ask yourself, was he doing such troublesome things right now? It is quite simple. Everything started with one of his ancestor's generation. He was placed with two other guys from friendly clans and they did well in the ninja world. Due to the fact that this three did so great in the field they started pairing the three clans more often, until it became a tradition.

It was because of this troublesome Ino-Shika-Chou tradition that he was paired with his best friend Chouji Akimichi, and his insufferable childhood friend Ino Yamanaka. It was because of the latter, and her competitiveness with an insufferable pinky over a duck butt haired guy, that he was forced to go and do a C-rank mission. That was completely boring by the way, and when he finally returns it is to a horrible chakra flowing out of Konoha. A chakra that when asked, Asuma had easily disregarded and told them to not worry about it.

Chakra that would have him intrigued and restless for the rest of the following days.

So he researched– His mother almost had a heart attack when she found him studying some books– and found that the mysterious dark chakra was related to another mystery. That of the blonde whisker marked ninja. Finally having a clue he looked for the most knowledgeable man he knew, his father. Solely because he was the closest one and easiest to find. Sadly that bore no fruits. When questioned the man answered with other questions that made him doubt or confused him. One in particular had stuck inside his mind.

"Tell me Shikamaru. What do you think of Naruto?" Shikaku had asked.

"Naruto is...quite intelligent, more so than people give him credit for. He is strong. Physically and mentally. I have never seen someone with the same amount of willpower. He...He is my friend. He's trustworthy and brave. Were I in serious trouble I know he would be one of the few I would ask for help."

"And why is that?"

"Because he would willingly place himself in danger for others, he would give it his all to help those who need it. Because he is Naruto...Because he...is my friend."

"Then if he is such a friend, don't you think were he in trouble or it endangered one of his friends he would not tell?"

"I guess so."

"Then leave it at that. Remember everyone has secrets Shikamaru. Secrets they fear to share in fear of being excluded...but, even if they hold such secrets, that doesn't mean they are not the same person does it?"

He knew his old man was right, that he should leave it at that and wait for the blonde to come and tell him.

But he couldn't.

This was not for the sake of finding out the mystery that enshrouded Naruto and that chakra. Now it was for the sake of his friend, one who he painfully realized he knew nothing of. He only knew that he had hidden all of his prowess through the academy, was hated by most if not all of the residents of Konoha, and that he was somehow related to that foul chakra they had felt.

And so here he was looking for any of the members of team seven. Originally he had been looking for Shino, but had not found the bug lover anywhere in Konoha. Iruka, who happened to be working on the mission center that day, finally took pity on him and told him team nine had gone out early in the morning for their first C-rank. Apparently Kiba had heard Ino boasting of their mission and he had demanded to do a C-rank too.

Really why did he dealt with that troublesome blonde again?

Still he had been looking for team seven for at least three hours and he still did not see a single hair of the three members. He knew they were not on a mission, Iruka had confirmed that. They were not in their homes, or their assigned training field, nor in a restaurant or public establishment. Heck not even the fangirls and fanboys could tell him where the twins were. It was getting frustrating.

"Well I guess there is only one thing to do." The Nara stopped in the middle of the street,falling to his knees, arms and head looking to the sky. "Oh Log! if you were to hear my prayers I shall become your most devoted follower. Not one of your blessings unto me or my team shall go unthanked. Not one of your brethren unmourned. Not one use of your woody holiness unthanked. Please show me the way! "

"Nara-san, what are you doing?" Shikamaru turned around as fast as physically possible. Behind him in all of her Uchihaness stood Izumi. Although her expression was as stoic as always, her eyes showed a deep concern for her ex-classmates sanity. "Well shit, I guess I am becoming a log worshipper...Praise the almighty Log!"

"Izumi just the person I was looking for."

Her eyebrow raised in confusion.

She had just managed to finish the exercise Kakashi had made them do. A victory she was proud of. At her fifth run did she manage to trick the small pug. A clever use of her sharingan on a reflective surface and Pakkun chased after an Izumi only he could see. Making the dog go towards the training ground Kakashi was still at did she leave to the comfort of her home. Thoughts of falling on her bed after the marathon she did while evading the dog conquered her mind. She honestly didn't want anything to stop her course, but a Shikamaru Nara, on his knees, with his arms and head looking into the sky made anyone stop in their tracks.

Letting out a small sigh she approached her academy classmate. "Nara-san, what are you doing?"

The Nara boy turned impossibly fast before saying, "Izumi just the person I was looking for."

Feeling slightly weirded out by Shikamaru she replied. "How can I help you?"

He was about to answer when he started looking around them. With a, "Not here." Grabbing her arm he began dragging her up to an empty training field. Once in it he turned to the Uchiha girl. "Izumi, some days ago a weird chakra was felt around the village. It was dark and ominous. You felt it right." Once she nodded he continued. "I have been investigating...That chakra is related to Naruto, isn't it?"

Although it was said as a question she knew that he was in fact stating what he knew. Deeming an answer unnecessary she began leaving the training field. Glancing one last time to the Nara she said, "I can not legally tell you what that chakra was. It is a secret only Naruto-kun and the Hokage can tell...But you are smart Nara-san so I think you will figure it out...A hint, a major one actually, it is related to Naruto-kun's birthday."

Shikamaru watched her leave. He had wanted to ask her more but he couldn't. It wasn't the fact that he knew she was not going to answer him that stopped him.

It was the fact he didn't even know his friends birthday that stopped him cold.

"Yeah he is the bald guy over there."

"Thanks for your help." Said Jiraiya to the worker with a smile. Naruto silently followed Jiraiya as they approached the shipyards boss. "Hello my good friend,"

"Huh? Who are you?"

"We are people in need for information." replied Naruto.

"Yes, just like the brat said we are looking for information about a certain shipment. Arrived not so long ago, and is quite mysterious overall."

"Hmm. Sorry but I don't remember any type of shipment like that," The bald man said with a smirk.

"Are you sure?" Asked Naruto as he came closer to guy. With a discreet move, so that no worker noticed, Naruto poked the man with a kunai."How about now?"

Jiraiya watched as the guy gulped in fear. He couldn't blame him, the kunai was in a very precarious place for any male and the grin the blonde had made him uneasy. Sadly for the bald man this method was quite efficient so he wouldn't stop Naruto. "It left almost an hour ago!" The man said half shouted half whispered. "Some guys with weird getup, Shinobi I guess, came and took them."

"Know where?" The kunai went further.

The man responded with a high pitched, "East!"

"Thank you for cooperation. Let's go Naruto." With another unsettling smile to the guy Naruto and Jiraiya vanished.

Even if they had departed an hour before, the caravan filled with crates still made them move slowly. Something he didn't like. While inconspicuous, they had to imitate a civilians pace and their significantly less chakra usage. Blocking out their chakra like this was difficult and tiring.

"If I didn't fear the boss as much I would ask him for a payrise. No ninja should have to do this"

The unimportant grunt was pulled out of his reverie as a liquid drop fell from the sky and unto his shoulder. He frowned as he inspected his limb, the wet spot on his shirt emitted a strangely familiar scent. Ignoring the cry his teammate emitted of "Seriously, rain?!" he tried to recall the smell. His answer came as the team leader shouted, "This is Oil!"

And then his feet sank into the ground.

The group of disguised shinobi fought against the mud as best as they could, but their movements just made them sink faster. Just before he was completely pulled into the murky depths of the sludge the grunt was able to see two sets of feet standing before him. He gasped as he was hauled from the brown liquid, air filling his lungs. Even through his coughing fit he could hear the pair's conversation perfectly.

"I sincerely thought you were going to light them up." What?

"I could have, but I sincerely dislike it."Thank Kami. "I hate it when they scream so I prefer to kill fast and quietly." Kami why?!

The man glanced up as the two continued their chat. He didn't recognize the blond teen but he clearly recognized the older man. After all, what ninja worth his salt wouldn't recognize Jiraiya of the fucking Sannin. He had to flee.

"Don't even try it. Believe me it will be better for you." The grunt still tried. With the fastest shunshin he could muster the guy tried to flee only for Naruto's stationary fist to lodge in his abdomen. The man fell unconscious on the clone's waiting hands.

"I told him but noooo. Let's ignore Naruto." The blond went and sat besides the carriage. "Do whatever you are going to do with him."

"I'm no Yamanaka brat. I can't just enter his mind like that and learn everything. This will have to be a meticulous search. In the meantime why don't you look into the carriages and burn the drugs. Find anything important or useful and keep it."

With a grumble Naruto went to do his work. Jiraiya watched him for a moment before he proceeded to body search the knocked out man. He did not left crook unsearched but apart from some kunai and shurikens he had nothing. Jiraiya went over to his student who seemed to have a little more luck than him. "What do you have there Naruto?"

"A headband though I don't recognize it." The white haired ninja catched the tossed headband. Turning it over he felt a grin spread through his face. Noticing the creepy smile of his godfather the blond couldn't help but inquire for it.

"This my boy, is the opening I had been waiting for a while." Pocketing the headband he continued. "This symbol is from a new hidden village by the name of Otogakure. The place is heavily guarded and very few enter. Sensei had asked me to investigate it and define if they are allies or enemies."

"They are smuggling drugs into Konoha and probably kidnapping them later. Not very friendly if you ask me."

"That may be, but we still have to make sure. Here give this scroll to Sensei and bring this guy to the T&I department."

"You are saying this as if you are not coming back to Konoha."

"I am not. We part ways here, in the scroll I gave to sensei are some other jutsu's for you to learn but only he can unseal them. So make sure to deliver it okay?" Naruto scowled at his grinning face. Once the man was out of sight he quickly opened the scroll. Ignoring the report his godfather had written for the old man, Naruto went straight towards the end of the scroll. He examined the seal engraved for a few minutes before cursing up his godfather.

"The bastard wasn't bluffing. I mean when did he have the time to do this?"

"Instead of wondering and cursing, you should be packing up everything here and going home...And stop complaining it's annoying!"

"Ohhh sorry did I wake the furry princess from his sleep?"

"Yes you did you benighted plebeian."

"Well Excuuuuse me princess."

"Did you know you could have better spent this time learning jutsu, making future plans or just spending it with the Uchiha vixen than arguing with me, right?"

":..Sometimes I have to wonder which one of us is the actual brains of the operation."

From the inside of Naruto's mindscape Kurama watched as the blond sped through his objectives before hauling up the unconscious body of the Sound ninja. He let his head rest atop his crossed paws before grinning.

"It's obviously me."

Morning found team seven inside the Hokage's office. After much prodding from one of his students and considering how their last mission went, Kakashi had decided to give into Sasuke's demands and ask for another C-rank mission.

Not that the black haired boy would like it though.

He had seen the little beauty some days ago and after he inquired if it was still active he felt giddy. Staring at his boss he said, "Sandaime-sama, I Kakashi Hatake leader of team seven request this mission for my genin." Receiving the scroll form the accomplished Jounin the third looked through it. With a glint in his eyes he continued with Kakashi's charade.

"Are you sure your team is ready for this Kakashi?"

"Yes sir. They are more than ready."

"Well then Team seven I expect you to complete this mission to the best of your abilities."

By the time they finally arrived to the gates of Konoha did Sakura asked. "Sensei? What is our mission?"

"It's a very important political mission Sakura. One that if done correctly would deepen our alliance with Takigakure." With a happy note he continued. "We, well you, my dear little students are tasked with the monumental job of!" A small pause to give his prolong the excitement. He revealed his sharingan to remember their faces forever.

"Cleaning their river."

The deflated faces of the three teens and Izumi's grumble of, "thanks Sasuke." were definitely worth the waste of his time with this mission.

Gangu-daiko: Small Japanese drum used by children or given as presents.

Hello Guys!

Finally uploading this chapter. Like always sorry for the wait, but many of you know how shitty life can be, and the chapter itself wasn't really flowing. I only managed to write 8,900 something words and it's not really exciting. But I am hoping that the next one will have more of these!

So little summary: Jiraiya and Naruto deepen their relationship. somewhat. Kakashi starts to actually teach things to team seven, and Izumi is gets a new (Yet he already was?) sensei. World effects start appearing and plots are created.

Thanks for the reviews, follow and faves. And please remember to review. It pumps me up and gets me excited to write more.

Until next time!

-Alext