Chapter 8:

Training Ground 7…

Naruto and Shikamaru were going through their usual warm-up exercises to start the day of training. Naruto was doing one finger hand stand pushups while Shikamaru sat in what looked like a meditative trance to get his mind clear. They had been there long enough that their warm-up exercises were nearly complete and they knew that their sensei Kakashi Hatake would be there soon as well. Sure enough, just as Naruto was doing his last push up and Shikamaru was coming out of his trance like state Kakashi casually strolled up with his all familiar book in his hand giggling the whole way there.

Naruto and Shikamaru sweat dropped at his never ending pervertedness as he stopped in front of them actually closing his book to speak to them. "Well you two I must say how proud I am to call myself your sensei. You two performed greater than even I expected and as such you are both advancing to the final round of the chunnin exams and are one step closer to being some of the youngest chunnin we have had in a long time."

At this statement Naruto and Shikamaru both smirked in confidence.

Kakashi continued, "Now we have exactly one month's time to push the two of you to the next level. I am going to be honest with you both, you are both already far above regular chunnin level and at the end of this next month I plan to have both of you to the level of being able to handle yourself against regular jounin. It will be a tough next few weeks for you but I have no doubt that you can accomplish this task and even ascend past it."

Naruto and Shikamaru were surprised at what their sensei had just said. Not only had he never really been this serious with them before, but they sure did not think that they were at the level that he was saying they were at now, let alone being at jounin level in a months' time.

Kakashi took in their gob smacked expressions and smirked under his mask. 'It seems these two really have no clue just what they are capable of do they….'

After a moment of silence Kakashi went back to addressing them. "Alright, now in order to get you ready for what is to come this next month is going to be a living hell for both of you."

This statement caused the other two to gulp nervously but they were ready and willing to face whatever Kakashi had waiting for them if it meant getting as strong as he said they would.

"For this next month I have enlisted the help of a fellow leaf shinobi. We shall each take one of you to teach solo for two weeks and then for the second two weeks we will swap so that you each get equal time with the two of us." Kakashi was deliberately leaving out the name of the other shinobi to try and build up the suspense in his young charges.

Naruto noticing what he was doing quickly got fed up with the antic, "Come on you one eyed pervert tell us who this other sensei of ours is going to be already!"

Shikamaru was smirking at this statement trying to suppress his mirth at the name that Naruto had given Kakashi, while at the same time Kakashi was sweat dropping at how accurate of a description his student had just given him and how degrading it truly was.

After recovering from the scathing insult, Kakashi continued. "Alright, alright I was just trying to build up the suspense. The second sensei that you will have for the duration of the month will be.."

Just as he was about to finish his sentence, something caught all of their eye falling from the sky above their heads. At first it was just a small black dot but as it got closer and closer it got larger and they realized that whatever it may be it was about to land on all of them, so the three quickly jumped back out of the way just as it came crashing to the ground breaking the ground under its weight and shaking the surrounding area. As the dust that was kicked up cleared all three stood attack ready waiting to see what exactly it was that had almost squished them to death.

They dust settled and when they could finally see the two genin face faulted at the sight while Kakashi just looked on in amusement.

Standing above them on what appeared to be a large horse sized, rather flamboyant, looking toad was a man. He stood tall, though they were not how sure because they were not on equal ground but if they had to guess they figured he was taller than Kakashi. He had long flowing whitish hair that spiked everywhere as it reached down past his lower back. He wore a brown and red kabuki suit and had old world style ninja sandals on. Atop his forehead he wore a horned head protector with the kanji for oil on it. The man was standing in what had to be one of the worst attempts at a victory pose, and all previous anxiety that the two genin felt quickly vanished as they sweat dropped and face faulted at the man before them.

The strange man looked down at his audience and slumped at their less than entertained reactions. Jumping down he turned toward Kakashi. "Man they just don't make gakis like they used to eh, Kakashi?"

Kakashi just gave him his signature eye smile and waved him off. "Ah I don't know these two may surprise you."

At this point the two in question were getting themselves back up off the ground. Watching the toad the gazed at it for just a moment before it disappeared in a puff of smoke back to its home world. Intrigued at seeing a summons animal for the first time the pair turned to address their sensei and the newcomer.

Naruto being who he was spoke first. "Hey Kakashi-sensei who is the old gramps and what is he doing here?"

Jirayia crossed his arms over his chest at this and looked down at the blonde. "Cheeky gaki huh? Well I guess over the next couple of weeks I am just going to have to beat some manners into you won't I?"

Shikamaru was the one who spoke up at this. Looking at the man incredulously he spoke, "So you are the one that is going to be our second sensei for the next month?"

Seeing a storm brewing, Kakashi took this opportunity to step in. "Yes Shikamaru that is correct. Let me properly introduce everyone. Naruto, Shikamaru, this is Jirayia of the Sannin." Both boys looked surprised at this. "Jirayia-sama this is my genin team consisting of Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara."

At the introduction Jirayia looked down at them as if studying the pair. "So, I've got a blonde haired loud mouth and a lazy Nara. Well this next month is going to be interesting I suppose. Alright Kakashi before we get this part started why don't we see what these two are capable of and have them do a little two on one match with me huh?"

Shikamaru's eyebrow perked up at this. He know that this was Jirayia of the legendary sannin even if he did act a little odd. If Naruto and himself were to face him, even going all out there was no way that they would stand a chance. 'Troublesome' he thought to himself as he resigned himself to the ass whooping him and his energetic blonde teammate were about to take.

Naruto smirked in his foxy way and started brimming with excitement. He too knew who this legend was and even though he knew he would be in for a rough time was still excited to test himself against the kage like man. 'Let's do this' was his only thought.

Kakashi while eye smiling and nodding his approval at the suggestion was having his own thoughts on the matter. 'You better be ready Jirayia because these two are full of surprises and even with your power if you aren't careful they may just make you sweat a little.'

Seeing the green light from all those in front of him Jirayia made his way to one side of the clearing while the two younger ninja took up position on the opposite side. Kakashi likewise shunshined up into a nearby tree as he pulled out his book to get some good reading time in.

Jirayia faced his two opponents. "Alright you two let's see what you got. If either of you are able to land a hit on me then I will aid in your training for the next month, but if I am able to beat you to where you can no longer stand and neither of you manage to touch me, then I'm out of here to do more important things with my time…you got me?"

Naruto became more inspired with this declaration and was determined to at least place a solid hit on the imposing man, while Shikamaru just lowered his head not wanting to even think about the shit storm that was about to occur with him right in the thick of it all.

Jirayia arms crossed over his chest stood there as Naruto and Shikamaru prepared to face off against him. Smirking he spoke. "Alright you two any day now, let's get this show on the road."

Neither boys moved and they just continued to stand there in ready positions. Finally deciding that he was getting bored, Jirayia decided to make the first move and before either could react two shuriken were sent hurtling toward them one aimed for each of their heads. The shuriken got closer and closer and they had yet to move a muscle. Jirayia wondering what the hell they were doing and trying to figure out why they were not dodging went wide eyed as both were struck dead in the center of the forehead by each of the metal objects. Both boys grew shocked expressions on their faces as they fell backwards blood pouring out of their heads from the death blows they just took. This caused Jirayia to have a mild panic attack thinking he had accidentally killed the pair. Just as they hit the ground lifeless, both went up in a puff of smoke to be replaced by logs with shuriken lodged in them indicating the use of a kawarimi by the pair.

Jirayia almost laughed at himself for worrying like that. He had heard from Kakashi what the pair was capable of and should have known better than to think that something like this could take them out. He had to admit though, that he was impressed at the simultaneous and flawless execution of the jutsu even if it was an academy basic. Now realizing he was in the clearing all alone he began to analyze the surrounding woods to try and pinpoint where his opponents were hiding.

Just as he was searching around using is senses, something caught the corner of his eye and he turned to see a shadow from the tree line racing at him at a high speed. Smirking he quickly jumped back and away from the shadow in a weaving pattern until it reached the crux of its path and retreated back to the wood line. He didn't have long however, as his senses told him to look behind him and just as he did he noticed that there was another shadow coming at him from directly behind him and he was much closer to the woods this time than last time and had to race forward to dodge just as the shadow reached his position.

As he continued to dodge the persistent shadow, he then quickly change direction as a second one came out and joined in pursuit of the first rocketing after him all across the field.

This actually shocked Jirayia somewhat. 'Damn gaki, he can control multiple shadows at once? I've fought alongside many Nara in my time but only the most skilled with their clan technique could do that and even then it was rare for them to be able to do it for any period of time or use more than a handful at once. Well it seems there is more to these two than meets the eye. Alright then, let's see what he can do.'

On the outside as Jirayia was easily dodging the two shadows he caught sight of a third joining the race as he continued to bounce around. Speeding up he got distance from all of them shadows and quickly went through hand seals slapping his hands to the ground. "Doton: Earth wall Shelter!"

As he did this, the three shadows converged on him but as they did they quickly began to rise with the earth as it shot up and formed a large square complete surrounding Jirayia sealing off from the outside world completely. Because of this, the shadows could move all around and on top of the stone fortress but they could not reach the man inside.

Back in the woods somewhere, Shikamaru realized this and retracted his shadows and waited to see what would happen.

Time seemed to creep as nothing happened and the Earth formation made no movement at all.

After what seemed like an eternity, a blue and orange blur came rushing out of the woods rushing straight at the earth wall tossing hand seals as he went. He got about 10 yards away when he thrust his right hand forward calling his attack. "Futon: Gail Palm!"

The attack rocketed towards its target and impacted with it destroying the formation and kicking up dust everywhere. As soon as his attack landed the blonde assailant shot back into the wooded area to observe from cover to see what his opponent would do next.

Kakashi having stopped reading his book to observe his students was quite impressed. 'Damn Naruto has really upped the power on that Gail Palm of his. The power he can put behind that thing has turned it into more of a B-rank jutsu as opposed to a C-rank. Another shock is Shikamaru weaving multiple shadows like that. I had no idea he was that far along in his family jutsu. The strategy they are implementing is a good one. They know that they are outgunned in every way and are staying hidden in cover and only taking pot shots at their opponent when they safely can observing their opponent and getting a better gauge on his abilities.' Kakashi shook his head in an amused way at the pair. 'If they keep advancing at this rate, by the time this thing is over they will be ready for jonin status rather than chunnin.'

The dust finally settled and when it cleared the only thing that could be seen was a pile of rubble courtesy of Naruto.

From their hiding places, the pair of genin were slightly stumped as to where their target could have gotten to but were on high alert knowing he could pop up at any moment.

Jirayia for his part was using his doton: hidden mole technique to hide underground. Luckily he had felt the hair on the back of his neck raise up just as Naruto smashed into his wall with that last attack narrowly escaping being blowing to pieces just like his earth formation. 'Damn those two gaki. They have brains and brawn to go along with it.'

Deciding on his next course of action, Jirayia quickly released his jutsu and returned to the surface smirking and standing just as he was at the beginning of the fight. "Nice try you two but it is going to take a lot more than a couple of hit and run tactics to get the drop on me, better luck next..."

His little speech was cut off as he suddenly had a couple dozen blue and orange blurs headed straight for him ready to bombard him with superior numbers.

Jirayia prepared himself for the onslaught. 'Damn the little shit is fast.' Is about the only thing he had time to think before he was literally being attacked from all sides and every possible angle. While the clone Naruto's were unleashing all hell on the sannin, he was taking it in complete stride evading and blocking every hit that came near him. Eventually he started finding openings and one by one the maelstrom of clones dwindled down until only two remained.

Jirayia while not breaking a sweat was once again impressed. 'Not only is he fast, but his fighting style is nothing I have ever seen. His moves are so unorthodox with no pattern or rhythm to them but at the same time they are lethal and deadly and he seems to stay in control. It's like fighting against a raging storm.'

The two clones that remained new that they were goners and did the only thing they could think of…they threw their hands in the air and turned tail and ran away screaming bloody murder.

Jirayia laughing at the antics of his attackers quickly took off after them and quickly caught up to them swiftly chopping them in the back of the neck dispelling them and leaving himself alone once again in the middle of the open field.

Jirayia once again crossed his arms over his chest and thought to himself. 'I wonder what those two are up to? If that was their opening salvo then I wonder what they have cooked up next?'

Meanwhile Naruto and Shikamaru were crouched together in their hiding place in the woods. They turned to one another as Naruto spoke. "Damn I knew that being a sannin he would be tough, but this guy is impossible. Even Kakashi-sensei would have sweat a bit with that one."

Shikamaru nodded as he spoke. "This is going to take everything we have to touch him let alone land any kind of decent blow. Naruto, I am going to need to you keep him busy for about a minute or so while I think of something that may give us a chance of actually hitting him…can you give me enough time?"

Naruto smirked as he unsheathed the blade from his back. "I may get the shit kicked out of me, but I can give you the time you need and then some Shika."

Shikamaru smirked at his teammates boldness and sat indian style holding his unique bowl shaped hand sign in his lap as he closed his eyes and began to formulate a plan.

Naruto noticing his teammate in his thinking form dashed of leaving a few clones to stay guard just in case.

Jirayia stood there watching and waiting. He then noticed movement over to his left and turned to see Naruto coming straight at him sword drawn and glistening behind him.

Jirayia was slightly shocked at the frontal assault. 'Just what is this gaki up to?'

Naruto was upon him in an instant and right when he was about to bring his blade up for a sideways slash, he then seemingly vanished.

Jirayia was momentarily surprised at this. 'Damn this gaki really does have some speed on him.'

Naruto then seemingly reappeared behind him bringing his blade down.

Naruto smirked thinking he may have actually gotten his attack through, however at the last second, Jirayia sidestepped avoiding the lethal blade. Naruto momentarily shocked by the sudden move, was caught off guard when a fist was thrown into his stomach sending him flying backward landing hard on the ground.

Jirayia turned to face the genin whose insides he just unraveled with his fist. "Impressive speed you got there squirt I'll give you that, but it'll take more than a little speed to get me, what else you got?"

Naruto shakily stood up using his sword for support. 'Damn that old pervert packs a punch. I can take a beating but another one of those and I may be down for the count on that one. Shika needs to hurry the hell up with this plan of his already.'

Naruto finally righted himself and once again stood to face his foe having put his sword away for his next attack. "Alright you over grown pervert, let's see you try this on for size." He then created a dozen shadow clones as he began to go through handseals as he sent them to occupy the target as his attack was prepared. As he finished his handseals he then threw his hands out as lightening began to crackle around them condensing until the formed two baseball sized moldings of lightening in his hand. The prep ready for his attack he then shot of towards his target just as his last clone was dispelled.

Jirayia noticing what the blonde was planning quickly readied himself.

Naruto then released his first attack and sent it hurtling at break neck speed toward Jirayia.

Jirayia smirked. 'A few years too early kid.' He then did his own move. "Ninpou: Hari Jizo!" As he commanded his attack, his spikey hair started to harden like steel and lengthened to cover his entire form in a needle like cocoon.

Just as the attack impacted the needle like form and seemed like it was going to fry the man on the inside, the ball simply blasted off ricocheting to the left towards the tree line where it impacted causing a small explosion that took out a few trees.

Naruto was stunned. 'What the hell? Even if he did make that defense the electricity in that attack should have left him paralyzed for a week how did it just bounce off like that?'

Still controlling the other ball of lightening in his left hand he jumped back from his attack to analyze the new development.

Not seeing any apparent weakness while his opponent held up that defense, he let the ball in his left hand die out knowing that it was useless at this point.

Just as he was about to try and come up with a new plan, the defense that had been erected seemed to grow and then lightening quick thousands of needles shot out in all directions almost like miniature senbon.

Unable to react in time, Naruto soon found his surprised form riddled with needles. Gushing blood Naruto fell backwards hitting the ground with a soft thud dead to all those watching.

Jirayia was actually stunned as he watched Naruto fall apparently dead. 'aww shit don't tell me I actually killed the little punk.'

Kakashi from his spot in the trees looked up lazily. 'Easy Jirayia or they will actually land a hit on you if you fall for that.'

Jirayia walked over to the still form of Naruto and looked down at him. Just as he was about to kick the body to make sure he was in fact dead, his leg was grabbed by said person.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up at his now captive. "Gotcha! Shikamaru now!"

Just then a raging ball of fire came hurdling straight for Jirayia and just as it was about to fry him to a crispy pervert, he jumped over it bringing the one holding him along for the ride.

Naruto was shocked at this move. "ahhhhh!" he shouted at the abrupt movement.

The fire jutsu sailed under the two of them and hit the earth blowing large junks sky high. As Jirayia was still in the air with a flailing Naruto several shuriken came flying right at him about to strike.

Seeing the incoming attack he parried with a kunai still trying to figure out where the attacks were coming from. He did not have time to search however, as Naruto let go of his leg and started making handseals.

Naruto finished his seals and unleashed his attack. "Fuuton: Gail Palm!"

Being so close to Jirayia, said man had little time to counter and could only wrap himself in his needle like hair again as the jutsu impacted. Even though it did not do any damage being wind based, the attack pushed him higher into the air.

Jirayia released his jutsu and noticed that he was quite high in the air after being pushed up from the last attack.

He reached the peak of his assent and just as he did he was surprised when he became suspended in the air.

Confused at this latest development, Jirayia looked around and noticed that his arms and legs were being held by what appeared to be shadows.

Just as this realization hit him, he looked down to see Shikamaru apparently appear from the earth itself holding a single hand sign.

Shikamaru looked at his captured prey. "Shadow stitching success."

Kakashi was actually surprised at this. 'damn I didn't realize he was that far along with his family jutsu. They really are pulling out all the stops to get Jirayia. However, I bet he can't hold that long and once he is done he will be too exhausted to do much else. This fight is about over one way or the other.'

Shikamaru was already sweating. "Naruto, hurry up already I am about done in, I can't hold this much longer."

Naruto still riddled with needles nodded as he jumped up to meet his foe to deliver the finishing blow.'

Jirayia smirked as he saw what was going on. Just as Naruto was upon him, he flexed his muscles and the jutsu holding him broke away. He then started falling toward the surprised Naruto and grabbed him by the head both of them falling toward the earth, one of them face first. As he fell, he positioned just right and at the last second grabbed the shell shocked Shikamaru and slammed both of them head first into the ground.

After the dust settled Jirayia was standing over the beaten and battered forms of the two genin who had their heads shoved down into the earth bodies twitching in shock.

Taking pity on the two he pulled them out and sat them down just as Kakashi landed beside him. "Thanks for leaving my two little genin in one piece Master Jirayia."

Laughing at the Cyclops ninja he gave him a pat on the back. "No problem Kakashi, these two were fun to play with. For genin they are something else. They may not have landed a hit on me, but we both know they wouldn't to begin with. The next month is going to be hell for them but I guarantee they will be some of the strongest there. Hell they already have the skill to take on most chunnin one on one. After we are done with them, hell I'm kind of scared to see what they will be capable of. Now for the next month, I think it will be better for you to take Shikamaru for three weeks and I'll take Naruto for three. I know we originally said split time equally but there is only a few things that I can impart to Shikamaru with his type of fighting style and it mostly deals with a couple of earth jutsu that I think would really help him. As for Naruto, he fights almost identically to how I do however, with that speed of his I think I have a method that can have him moving as fast as his old man one day. While not the Hirashin as that would take a decade for him to learn, I think it will be a good stepping stone."

Naruto and Shikamaru were both still too dazed from the fight to pick up this conversation but soon recovered and looked up at the two men standing before them.

Shakily the two stood up, Shikamaru favoring an arm while Naruto began pulling needles out of himself.

This caused Jirayia to raise an eyebrow. "Hey gaki, how did you manage to get back up after taking that hit? I thought for sure that I had killed you."

Naruto had just managed to pull out the last needle wincing as it was stuck in a sensitive area. "It'll take more than just a few needles to take me down. Besides getting hit by an attack and making you think I was down was just a part of the plan. I just had to make sure I avoided any of them hitting any vital spots and put on a good show and there you go."

Jirayia smirked at his answer. "So the two of you had that set up from the very beginning?"

Shikamaru decided to answer on this one. "Not exactly. When he came out of the woods and attacked you head on I was sitting back thinking of a plan. When I was finished, I dispelled one of the clones after telling him the plan and the info was then relayed to him while he was occupying you. I had about 200 other moves planned out but I ran out of steam before we could get any farther."

Jirayia was quite impressed. 'Damn, I knew this kid was sharp but in a few more years he may have a tactical mind to rival even his old man's.'

Jirayia looked the two over once more before speaking. "Well even though you two runts didn't manage to get a hit on me you did show some balls. As such, I will allow you to bask in my presence a little longer and train the two of you for the next month to get you in top shape for the chunnin selection exams."

Naruto and Shikamaru smirked at hearing that they were going to be getting two of the strongest ninja in Konoha to train them.

Kakashi eye smiled at the whole thing. "Alright you two go home and get some rest, because I promise this next month is going to be hell on earth for the both of you."

Kakashi and Jirayia then took on eerie smiles at this as they rubbed their hands together evilly.

The two gulped in fear at this and took off towards their homes away from the two maniacs that they called sensei.

Kakashi and Jirayia watched the two run away and then their expressions got serious.

Kakashi spoke first. "Seriously though, I know those two have potential but how strong do you think they really are?

Jirayia considered the question for a moment before he spoke. "From what I have seen they have great potential. They both have more raw talent than both you and Minato at that age. Shikamaru may lack the straight fighting power that Naruto has but with his mind he doesn't really need it. Naruto even without the Kyuubi, has 10x the chakra that you will ever have and I'm not so sure he doesn't have more than I do to be honest. All in all, we could be looking at two of the strongest shinobi there have been."

Kakashi thought this himself but was glad that Jirayia that so as well.

Jirayia figured this was a good a time as any to hit the road. "Well Kakashi this next month is going to be an interesting one. I'll see you here tomorrow morning.." He then turned with an eerie smile that made Kakashi sweat. "…and just make sure that you are on time alright?"

Kakashi just gulped and nodded his head.'

The next day dawned bright and early for the two genin as they made their way to their usual training ground. As the arrived, they were surprised to find both of their sanseis waiting for them. While it was not as much a surprise to see Jirayia it was a complete curveball to see their ever late sensei their on time and ready to go.

As they approached the two tall figures they noticed that one was standing care free and smiling, while the other looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown and kill over on the spot.

Naruto decided to take this time to speak. "Hey Kakashi-sensei you alright? You look like you saw a ghost or something."

Kakashi stood up a little straighter at this. "O-oh I'm fine Naruto just trying to get going for the day."

Jirayia laughed at the pair. "Kakashi here is just sweating a little because I may have threatened him a little to make sure that he was here on time this morning."

Naruto and Shikamaru snickered at their senseis plight.

Jirayia decided it was time to get down to business. "Alright you two, this next month is going to be hell on earth. I will first take Shikamaru here for the first week and Kakashi will take Naruto. We have decided to train you two apart this next month so that if you two should face one another on the battlefield you won't know everything that the other has to offer."

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded as he continued.

"Now for the first week we will all train here in Konoha, but after that I will take Naruto and Kakashi will take Shikamaru for the last few weeks out of the village to train away from prying eyes and so that we can really unleash hell without having to worry about blowing up the village along with it."

Naruto was practically giddy at the prospect of the training he was about to undergo, while Shikamaru had his head hung in grim understanding of the shit he was getting into.

Jirayia laughed at the antics of the two as he got their attention back. "Alright now Kakashi and Naruto will stay here, now come on you lazy bum let's go to where we will be training."

Jirayia and Shikamaru then left the clearing which just left Kakashi and Naruto to themselves.

Kakashi directed his attention to his lone student. "Alright Naruto, for the next week there isn't much I am going to teach you. We are only going to focus on two things. The first will be a building block for what Master Jirayia is going to show you and the other is going to help develop your skills with your sword."

Naruto's attention was peeked at this last one. "I didn't know you knew kenjutsu sensei?"

To answer his question Kakashi pulled from a sheath strapped behind him a gleaming white blade. It was not very long only about a foot or so.

Kakashi brandished it a little as he continued. "I may not use a ninjato like you but back in the day I did use this sword. It was my fathers and it is what earned him the name White Fang. While I know that you do not have any real katas for your style as the unorthodox way of using it seems to suit you, I will mainly focus on making sure you at least have proper technique and show you a few specialty moves that originated from my father himself."

Naruto seemed a bit sheepish at this. "But sensei, I don't wanna take away from your families accomplishments. That is something that is sacred and should be passed down from father to son or daughter."

Kakashi just waved him off and rested his hand on the boys shoulder. "Naruto, as you can see I don't have any kids of my own. Besides I have come to think of you and Shikamaru as somewhat adopted sons and I could think of no one better to pass some of my father's original moves than to you." He finished this with an eye smile.

Naruto was quite dumbstruck at this. He had never had someone say something like that to him before and he wasn't quite sure how to respond. He settled for looking up in the eye of his sensei with a look of determination on his face. He nodded shortly showing his determination to make his sensei proud.

About a half a mile down the road at another of the more secluded training grounds, Jirayia and his young charge had just got set up to prepare for the week long training.

Jirayia noticing that Shikamaru was waiting for him to start spoke. "Alright Shikamaru, this week is going to be less about physical training…" He stopped momentarily when he saw a tear of happiness fall down the young ninjas face. "…and more about battle tactics. The few things I am going to show you consist of helping you refine your earth element and showing you some ways to help improve the your chakra stamina. Our little skirmish yesterday showed me you are seriously lacking in that department. You have one of the sharpest minds I have ever seen but if you can not last long enough for your plans to come to fruition then what good does it do you? You won't always have your juggernaut of a partner with you to keep the steam engines rolling you know."

Shikamaru nodded at the intelligence in his words.

Jirayia nodded and decided it was a good a time as any to get things under way. "Alright now, the first thing we are going to do is teach you the shadow clone technique. Currently you probably only have the chakra to make one solid clone that can last any decent amount of time. As I saw earlier, it seems that you and Naruto have already discovered the true secret genius behind this technique right?"

Shikamaru nodded at this. "Yes, while training one day, Naruto realized that he was able to pinpoint my location as I was hidden but he couldn't figure out where the information kept coming from. I eventually deduced that it was coming from this shadow clones that he had sent in pursuit of myself that I kept destroying."

Jirayia satisfied with the answer continued. "That being the case, the shadow clone is both one of the best infiltration techniques as well as training techniques that is in existence today. By creating a shadow clone you can have it take on some project that you want to learn and cut the learning time in half. The only drawback to this is that you can't do anything physical this way and have it relay back to you. The closest thing you can do is learn katas or something similar and have it ingrained in the muscle memory and that would be transferred back to the original."

Shikamaru contemplated on this new development and then his eyes widened. "But Master Jirayia, if what you are saying is true, with the amount of clones that Naruto can make at any given time, if he were to use this training method, he could potentially get several years of training done in one day. The rate of growth that he could develop with this could make him the strongest ninja to ever exist."

Jirayia was not the least bit surprised that Shikamaru had come to this conclusion so quickly. "While yes that is true, there is a limit to how many shadow clones Naruto can create and learn techniques from at one time. For example, while Naruto may be able create several thousand at any given time, his brain can probably only handle the strain of having around a hundred or so train at one time. Even then, he will have to dispel them a few at a time or get knocked unconscious from the backlash of the swell of information that would come in."

Shikamaru was still perplexed. "Even so, the possibilities that opens up to him is staggering."

Jirayia nodded as he continued. "Yes he is being presented with a unique opportunity here that few others could only dream of. Don't count yourself out just yet though Shikamaru, he won't go run off and leave you in the dust. This purpose of this week with me is to get your chakra stamina up enough so that you can hold atleast ten shadow clones with ease and that will allow you to use them in your training with Kakashi to really speed jump everything. While Naruto will have the advantage, you also have the advantage over just about anyone in the shinobi world…" He then pointed at his head for emphasis. "And that advantage lies in your head. Shikamaru from the small info I have been given and what I have observed, it is clear that you have an extremely high IQ probably over 200 which is way above even what a genius would be considered. This also presents you with a rare opportunity and this next week I am going to try and refine your mind and hopefully next time you can have already thought 300 moves ahead instead of 200."

Shikamaru liked the sound of this and smirked, showing just how eager he was to get things going.

Jirayia smirked in return. And with that they dove into their training with one another.

The week passed quickly for all parties involved, and soon it was the evening of the last day of the first week. Jirayia and Shikamaru were huddled together playing one of the most intense games of shogi ever, while ten Shikamaru clones were off to the side trying to crumble a rock in their hands using nothing but earth chakra.

Down a ways, the clanging of metal could be heard ringing out every few seconds. A white blur rushed forward bringing a side slash to sever his foe in two just as he was met by a blur of blue and orange who countered the strike and parried with his own overhead strike only for it to be countered as well. The two traded blows before jumping back from one another both standing at the ready.

"Alright Naruto, It's getting late, what do you say we end it on this last one alright?"

Naruto nodded his agreement and entered into one of the new forms that he had learned this week. He crouched low turning his body somewhat left hand out front elbow bent. He held his sword in his right hand behind him level with the ground. He spoke low calling the name of his technique. "Piercing Fang." It was said at barely a whisper and if Kakashi wasn't paying attention he would have never even heard the attack. As it was, he got in the same position as his opponent readying the same attack.

A moment's pause was all that occurred before both of them literally vanished in blinding speed. The entire training area now seemed devoid of life as neither seemed to be present any longer. However in a flash, both appeared again on opposite side from which they had started. Both had their swords held out and down from just performing their attacks. They both stood motionless until finally. The smaller of the two collapsed holding his side as blood started to soak his clothing. Kakashi turned and flicked his blade to remove the blood that was Naruto's off of it before running to check on his down genin, who was already starting to heal thanks to his tenant.

Naruto sat up shakily. "Damn Kakashi-sensei did you have to cut so deep? It'll take me hours to fully heal from that damn attack."

Kakashi just eye smiled. "Be lucky that you have the kyuubi to help you heal otherwise you would be in the hospital for a week after that."

Just then they both noticed a drop of blood fall from Kakashi's face landing on the ground beside them. Looking up Naruto noticed that there was a very small scratch on his sensei's cheek from where he had just managed to get a cut in on his last attack.

Seeing this had the blonde beaming and he immediately jumped up and started dancing around like he hadn't just been gravely wounded. "Yatta! I finally managed to hit Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi wiped at his cheek and looked down at the small bit of blood in his hand. 'You truly are your father's child. To be able to learn the sword techniques of my father to such a degree in such a short amount of time is damn near unfathomable. I cannot wait to see what your future has in store for you Naruto Uzumaki. Your parents would sure be proud.'

He then looked up to the heavens. 'Are you watching him sensei, Kushina? He very may surpass all of us one day.' He then looked back to the celebrating Naruto. 'I just hope I get to stick around to see it.'

The following day found the four meeting back in their original training ground. Each was packed with a pack on their backs showing that they were ready for the next three week trek outside of the village. Naruto and Shikamaru faced one another as if sizing one another up trying to determine what the other had learned in the week that they were apart. After a moment of staring into each other's eyes, they then stepped forward from their respective tutors and high fived one another trading places to stand where the other had before.

Jirayia getting sick at the nostalgia in the air grabbed Naruto's shoulder and pushed him away from the others. "Gee if you two gaki's showed anymore sappiness I would puke. Come on you blonde gaki let's get out of here already. With that, he shunshined away bringing the unsuspecting blonde with him screaming the whole time.

Kakashi watched as the pair vanished and turned to his new charge. "Did you have a good week with Master Jirayia?"

In response, Shikamaru smirked and held his hands up in a familiar hand sign. As he did this his chakra surged and several puffs of smokes later, ten identical figures stood next to him.

Impressed, Kakashi nodded his head in approval. "Well, I see you weren't idle with Jirayia. Well, we are pressed for time here, dispel those clones and let's get headed out to our destination shall we?"

With that, the pair started walking leisurely towards the gate where they were to exit the village and head to their destination that they would call home for the next three weeks.

Back with Jirayia and Naruto, the pair had arrived at their location, one of them calm as a cucumber while the other was still screaming for his life while checking his person to make sure that all of his body parts were still attached.

Pissed at his sensei Naruto pointed an accusing finger at him. "What the fuck is the big idea huh? You can't just shunshin away with someone and not tell them!"

Jirayia just looked at the finger that was pointed at him and knocked the blonde away sending him into a nearby tree. "Ahh shut it gaki. I didn't feel like spending half the day walking here."

Pulling himself out of the tree and dusting himself off, Naruto turned to glare at his lone companion. "Stupid ero-sensei. You better teach me some damn good stuff these next three weeks or so help me…"

He let the sentence hang in the air trying to be menacing but both he and Jirayia knew that it only served to show that he had no real threat for Jirayia and that if he wanted Naruto would be nothing more than a smear on the ground.

Jirayia figured he better get things underway and addressed his lone student. "Alright gaki listen up. I have a lot of shit to cram into that thick skull of yours over the next three weeks and it is going to take every bit of that to get you up to shape for the final round of the exams. We are not going to cover a lot of ground here but what I am going to show you I am going to drill you into the pits of hell until you do it in your sleep."

Naruto for once was actually frightened of the training regimen that Jirayia seemed to have waiting for him and gulped his response.

Jirayia rubbed his hands together menacingly and gave an evil smile. "Alright, let the three weeks of hell on earth commence." He finished with an evil maniacal laugh that sent all wild life in a half mile radius fleeing from the area.

The next three weeks were going to truly be hell for the two genin but when it was all said and done they would be eternally grateful because little did they know of what awaited them in the final stages of the Chunnin exams…

Sorry once again it took so long to get this chapter up. I just graduated with my Bachelors and am not due for law school for several months so I should have some more free time to move this story along somewhat. Thank you for your patience and I look forward to hearing what you all have to remark.