Just within the city limits were the training grounds. The area Rin designated was mostly open field with some boulders and rocky areas. Rin arrived at area 7 shortly, having left the children behind. She was grateful for the moment to think alone. Naruto and Uzumaki were foremost on her mind. Rin was still weirded out by that look Uzumaki had given her. Sure, she had seen such looks on occasion before, usually on undercover missions where she had to pose as a regular woman, but to see it on a five year old? Freaky. He would need to be monitored, of course. Naruto on the other hand was very straight forward. Having been neglected at the orphanage all he wanted was attention. Rin hadn't missed when Naruto bumped into Itachi when the other boy seemed to be ignoring him. The move had been quite deliberate. In the report, Tadaka said he had taught Naruto to gain the attention he sought by being the best ninja he could be. Obviously Naruto didn't think that was the only way to go about things. It was kind of cute.

Switching gears now, Rin remembered that one personality could not recall events that happened to the other. It was an odd situation and she considered how it would affect their missions. She came up with a few obvious things, both good and bad.

There were other factors to consider. The other boys deserved as much consideration. Itachi had just now arrived at the training area, Uzumaki appeared hot on his heels. It looked like they had been racing each other. They were both out of breath, the blond fell to the ground panting. Rin watched Itachi. He already had experience in the field. It was possible he would resent being teamed up with two boys that had none. So far, the dark haired boy wasn't being very personable. Rin made a mental note to have a talk with him. If he would just open up a little, his experience could be a great asset for the whole team.

Several minutes of waiting later, Kabuto finally made it to the training area. He bent over with his hands on his knees, out of breath. How ironic that the oldest of the team should be the furthest behind. Rin knew that would have to be addressed as soon as possible. But he had to be willing to put in the work first.

"Now that we're all here, I'm going to have you do a little sparring. Itachi, Uzumaki, since you've had a couple minutes, lets have you two go first. Hand to hand only." Itachi nodded, Uzumaki smirked, and they both moved away to face off. "Begin," Rin said when they were ready. Uzumaki launched himself at his opponent and they started the fight.

"Kabuto," Rin said softly as the other two boys went on. "You said you like puzzles, right?"

Kabuto turned to her curiously. "Yes?"

"Then can you puzzle out why this particular team was put together?" Rin wondered what he would come up with.

"Well," Kabuto's brow wrinkled in thought. "Itachi is said to be a genius but I heard about his last team. He should be on a team where the other members can keep up with him. For someone as young as Uzumaki to be put on a team he must be some kind of genius. How old is he, anyway?"

"Five."

Kabuto whistled lowly. They watched the other boys sparring for a moment in silence. Uzumaki had good speed but Itachi had the experience and a greater reach. Itachi had knocked Uzumaki down a couple of times which frustrated Uzumaki to no end. It appeared that Itachi had the upper hand. And Itachi hadn't used the Sharingan eye yet. But the few blows the blond did manage to score were powerful, a little more then was really necessary for just a spar, and were taking a toll on Itachi.

"And what about yourself, Kabuto?"

Kabuto frowned. "I'm no genius, I admit. I dont'-" Kabuto paused and turned to Rin as a thought struck him. "You said earlier that you study medicine?"

"That's right," Rin nodded.

"The teachers at the academy knew I had an interest in medicine. I think it stands to reason that I'm here to be a medic nin," he smiled.

Rin returned the smile and nodded again. "Very good. How do you feel about that?"

Kabuto straighted up and smiled "I'm looking forward to it."

"Are you sure about that?" Rin glared. Kabuto's smile faltered. "Not only is there all the studying but you have to be he best fighter on the team. I'm expecting a lot from you Kabuto. I'll push you to your limit and more. Are you prepared for that?"

Kabuto hesitated looking back to the sparring match in front of them. Uzumaki no longer seemed frustrated. Even though Itachi kept knocking him back the blond just kept getting back up. Itachi was now trying to conserve energy but Uzumaki kept hounding him. If this match went on long enough the younger boy would just out last the older.

Kabuto looked down for a moment then turned to Rin with a serious expression. "Whoever put me on this team must have thought I could do it. I swear I'll always do my best."

Rin stared at the boy with a blank face, waiting to see if he would change his mind. He didn't even flinch. She nodded. "I'll hold you to that."

They turned to the sparring match to see Uzumaki get smacked down yet again. "Hold," Rin called out to them. Both boys turned to her breathing hard. Uzumaki was very dirty. "Itachi, let's see a demonstration of the Sharingan, if you please?"

Itachi nodded. "Yes, sensei." He squared off again as his eyes turned a shade of red. Uzumaki eyed him curiously and get in a defensive position.

"Begin."

The two boys returned to battling. This time Itachi clearly had the upper hand. Every move Uzumaki made, Itachi had a counter ready. This of course annoyed Uzumaki. It wasn't long before Rin could feel his chakra level rising. "Hold!" she stopped them before something unfortunate happened. "Uzumaki," Rin pointed down the field where a large boulder rested. "If you please."

He looked then smirked. His chakra built up greatly, he waved a hand toward the boulder. The chakra was strong enough to be solid and it streaked across to the stone digging trenches in the ground. A cloud of smoke rose up from where the stone had been. Once it cleared they could see the boulder had been largely reduced to rubble. Itachi and Kabuto starred in disbelief. As for Uzumaki, he flopped on the ground, exhausted.

Rin walked over to where the little blond had fallen, gesturing the others to join her. "Good job. Now before we go on to the next match, lets have a little talk."