"Nice work you did
You're gonna go far, kid"

The Offspring- You're Gonna Go Far Today

Chapter 3

Kakashi slipped into ANBU headquarters and groaned when he saw the pile of paperwork awaiting him. There was a reason he'd been trying to retire off and on, and also a reason he was never going anywhere near the big hat either.

"How did their test go?" Itachi asked, setting yet another pile of paperwork on his desk.

"They passed, and rather impressively too. Didn't get the bells or anything but Team 7 will officially start their duties tomorrow."

"I'm sure the boys will be ecstatic. Have you told them what their D rank options will be?"

Kakashi just grinned and Itachi smirked back. D ranks were the bane of all ninjas but it had become a rite of passage as much as anything else.

"Well, I'm sure they won't require you keeping them at D ranks for long. Even with a weak third member, the boys can cover well enough for higher ranked missions," Itachi mused.

Kakashi went to respond, but then paused.

"Shit, they passed."

"You already said that Captain."

"But they actually passed, which means they'll be on missions. And it's Naruto, which means they can and will go wrong. Oh god what was I thinking?" Kakashi could see it now. It would start out with a harmless D or C rank, and then somehow they'd be fighting missing nin or dodging maniacal freaks with face masks.

"It'll be fine," Itachi said soothingly. "You'll be there to watch out for them."

"It's Naruto," Kakashi said flatly. "With Sasuke. Do I need to remind you about their trip outside of the wall at five years of age? Or how about the time they were kidnapped from the academy despite being under protection?"

"I see your point," Itachi said, paling as he thought back to those early days.

"I can just stick them in the ANBU bunks. They can stay there for a few years, and then it'll all be better," Kakashi said. "I'm sure they'll be fine doing D ranks. Who needs C ranks after all."

"Might I recommend putting them through a modified ANBU crash course before allowing them out of the village instead? It won't miraculously bring them to our level but it should give them the ability to not get killed until you get there."

Kakashi just stared at Itachi and the younger boy sighed.

"I'm not any happier about them being in danger but that is why you negotiated to be their Jounin sensei and that is why you've been training these last years. If anyone can keep them safe, it's you."

"Maybe I should ask Jiraiya to take them on. They'd be a great team for him, and he hasn't taught anyone recently."

"Kakashi, you're already sending Naruto to Jiraiya as an apprentice." Itachi said, irritation leaking into his voice. "And you can't coddle them. Train them, make them as strong as you can, and believe in them."

Kakashi stared at him before he sighed and let his shoulders fall. "Fine, you're right. I had to agree to at least another year of this job just to take them, and you're right. I've made plenty of ANBU strong. How hard can it be to make a group of genin strong?"

"Just try not to kill them Kakashi."

The next morning Naruto woke up to breakfast left on the table and a note saying Kakashi would meet them for team training. So he shrugged and dug in before taking care of the dishes left over. After that he got his things together and was out the door with time to spare.

Sasuke was already waiting and Sakura showed up mere minutes after him but they still had a good fifteen to twenty minutes before training actually started.

"Should we warm up while we wait?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded and the two of them went to the clearing to start stretching. Sakura followed them and joined in as well.

"Is Kakashi-sensei really going to work us that hard?" Sakura asked.

"Um, well since we're a team now I guess we can tell you. Nii-san is the ANBU commander, and so he trains with them and they helped train Sasuke and I when we were still in the academy," Naruto said.

"Keep that to yourself though," Sasuke added. "My nii-san is ANBU as well or I wouldn't have known."

"Alright." Sakura was a bit unnerved by the information but she was also excited to have such a strong sensei.

As they continued stretching the meeting time came and went.

"I wonder if something came up. Nii-san was out of the house before me," Naruto said with a frown.

"He would have sent someone though right?" Sakura asked. Sasuke snorted and Naruto just looked at her.

"He may be strong, but he's also really stupid sometimes Sakura-san."

"More like intentionally annoying. Now come on, next up is the run. If we get it done before he gets here then we'll get to the real training," Sasuke said.

They had run a couple circuits around the training ground and were getting ready to do mock sparring when Kakashi finally arrived.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura both yelled.

"You could have at least sent a messenger," Naruto added.

"Maa maa, sorry. A few things came up here and there. Next thing I knew everyone had lost their armor and you know how they are without their armor," Kakashi said with a grin. "Since you've already warmed up we can get straight to the good stuff. Although first I want to explain a few things I forgot to cover yesterday."

The trio plopped down in the grass around him as Kakashi stood before them.

"Our team is going to be a little unique in that my job is to get all of you ready to either pass the chunin exams this year or at least to move on to an individual teacher. Both Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun have already had teachers picked out for them to apprentice to, however neither teacher is available to take on a student full time right now. They both should be available after this year's exams though. Sakura-chan, for you I'm going to be focusing on finding where your talents lie and then strengthening your basics so that any team or teacher you end up with will have no problems taking your further."

"What? But why?" Naruto asked. "I like this team."

"We'll be a team for a while still Naruto, and we'll still work together later on. However you and Sasuke both are well ahead of your classmates and would benefit from an apprenticeship more than the standard genin team training," Kakashi explained. "And Sakura, your written tests showed aptitude but your physical tests were lacking so we are hoping to correct that. Now I want to clarify, this does not mean you get to skip out on team building. It is still very important. I just didn't want it to be a surprise to you when you get split in the future."

"You really think we can pass the chunin exams this year sensei?" Sakura asked.

"If you train hard enough you'll at least stand a chance," Kakashi said with a shrug. "But it's really up to you and how much work you're willing to put in."

"Let's do it," Sakura said. Naruto and Sasuke just looked at each other skeptically.

"Ne, Sakura-san. Are you sure you want to do that? Kashi-nii can be really brutal if you ask for training," Naruto said.

"I can do it," Sakura replied.

"Well, in this case you will have to do it as a team," Kakashi said. "Since training is done as a team."

"Fine, but you two better not wimp out," Sasuke said with a huff. "And I don't want to hear any complaining either."

"Pretty sure you'll be asking for mercy first," Naruto retorted but he still nodded.

"Maaa, this will be so much more fun that I had planned," Kakashi said, giving the trio an utterly fake eye smile. "Now to start with the basics."

Kakashi walked over to the nearest tree and slowly walked up it until he was standing upside down on one of the branches.

"Every ninja needs to know how to attach themselves to various surfaces using their chakra. Naruto, Sasuke, both of you have started learning this, but you'll need to perfect it before we move on to the next training. Sakura this works by molding the chakra at the sole of your foot. Too much and you'll get pushed away, not enough and you'll fall off. Find the right balance and then maintain it."

With that Kakashi flipped off the tree and landed in front of them.

"Get to it you three."

Despite their head start, Sakura still beat Naruto and Sasuke to the top.

"How did she do that?" Naruto asked in awe.

"It's her control," Sasuke said from his tree. "She has less chakra, so it's easier for her to make adjustments."

"Now now Sasuke, it's more than that," Kakashi said from below them. "She actually has nearly perfect control. If she can build up her stamina and reserves, she could make a very good medic nin, or a genjutsu master even."

"Man, I wish I could do that," Naruto groaned as he slipped again and had to flip off.

"You have your own talents Naruto," Kakashi chided. "For instance, she'll never be able to use the Kage Bunshin like you will, nor will she be able to throw ninjutsu around without having to watch her chakra very carefully."

They continued practicing until lunch, with Naruto and Sasuke finally getting the hang of it just in time. Sakura had continued walking to help build her stamina while she waited on the boys.

Kakashi pulled out four bento boxes for their lunch break and gestured for them to sit around him. As they started eating, he decided to go over a few things.

"Since you want to make an actual attempt at the chunin exams this year, we're going to have to take your training seriously. That means every morning will be dedicated to stamina training and the basics like tree walking. Afternoons will be spent working on individual skills for the first two weeks. During that time I'll build your arsenal of various skills including tracking, traps, and basic jutsu, along with theory to allow you to maximize your strengths."

"What about after the first two weeks?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"After the first two weeks we'll condense your stamina work and then spend a few afternoons of each week taking D rank missions. Once a month has passed, I'll evaluate the three of you to see if you're ready for a C-rank. If you want to do that though, you'll need to work hard, and also put in enough D-ranks to impress Hokage-sama. To take the chunin exams you'll need plenty of D-ranks as well as a few C-ranks or higher," Kakashi said.

"You said we'd be doing individual work in the afternoons sensei, but I thought we needed to work as a team," Sakura said.

"You do, but each of you has different abilities and thus your techniques should reflect that. We'll have time practicing together too, but it is important that you begin learning the skills that you'll need now and then continue to hone them as we approach the exams."

"So we're going to specialize instead of being an all-around team?" Naruto asked.

"Yes and no," Kakashi said with a sigh. "Some skills I will teach all of you, but when it comes to combat, I want you to each know what the other's primary job is. This will keep you from getting in each other's way. Naruto, you and Sasuke already do this naturally from having trained together for so long. When you fight a target together, you run interference while Sasuke waits for a chance to land a more accurate hit. And now you have the Kage Bunshin to add to that. It will take trial and error for you to learn the limitations of the technique."

"Not to mention we can't all learn the same things anyway," Sasuke added. "I have a fire affinity, while yours is wind. It would be a waste of time for you to try to learn complicated Katon jutsu."

"How do you find out your affinity?" Sakura asked. "It wasn't something we did in the academy."

"There are a couple of ways," Kakashi said. "But the easiest by far is to just use chakra paper. We'll take care of that this afternoon. First though, we need to decide what roles each of you would prefer."

"It seems like it would be best for Sasuke and Naruto to be the fighters," Sakura said as she thought over their specialties. "Earlier you said chakra control is good for medic nin and genjutsu, so I could provide a support role that way."

"Don't let their specialties affect yours too much Sakura," Kakashi said. "Just because you don't have a good grasp of taijutsu at the moment doesn't mean you have no talent at it."

"Yeah, Sakura can hit hard," Naruto said. He chuckled and everyone looked at him confused. "Oh come on Sasuke, don't you remember that time one of the other girls was picking on her and she got mad? She tried to punch the other girl and the girl dodged but she totally left a hole in the fence behind her."

"Regardless, you'll learn to dodge and fight defensively if nothing else. Medics, while not frontline fighters, have to be able to get out of the way better than anyone else because they absolutely have to be the last one standing," Kakashi said. "After training today, talk about it as a group and also think about it. You can let me know tomorrow how you would like to specialize."

"And this afternoon?" Sasuke asked.

"This afternoon you'll work as a team on evasion tactics. In the Chunin exams there will often be teams stronger than you. Missions are the same way. So any good team needs to be able to avoid detection, and if detected, run away."

"Ne Ni-san, who is going to be chasing us?"

"Sensei not ni-san when we're training Naruto, and I think we'll start with the pack. If you successfully evade them, I happen to know a new team needing some practice," Kakashi said. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and sighed even as Kakashi just eye smiled.

"Come on Sakura, let's go," Naruto said. "We get a head start don't we sensei?"

"Sure, this time at least."

The three took off and started into the forest.

"Kawarimi is probably going to be best, especially in the trees," Naruto said after they were a fair distance away.

"Water too, if we can find a stream. The ninken hunt by scent primarily so we'll have to leave as little behind as possible," Sasuke added.

"I guess it's a good time to practice tree walking then," Sakura said. With a determine look she climbed into the upper branches followed by the boys.

"Clones Naruto," Sasuke said. A few Kage Bunshin appeared and dashed ahead of them. Once they were far enough, they used the Kawarimi to swap places.

"Hey can the clones Henge?" Sakura asked.

"I think so," Naruto said. He created another clone and had it Henge into Sasuke.

"What if we give a clone a piece of clothing or something, and have them Henge as us and go in a different direction?" Sakura said. "It would buy us more time at least."

"Sounds good," Sasuke said.

Naruto again made a set of clones who ran ahead. They left the clothes on the branches they were on and then switched with the clones. While the clones Henged and darted in a different direction, the main group kept moving deeper into the woods.

After a few more minutes they heard the howling of ninken. Sasuke put a finger to his lips when Sakura went to say something. She nodded and switched to hand signals. It was sloppy but they could communicate without sound at least.

'Find a hideout?' Sakura signed.

'Unfamiliar location.' Naruto signed back. Sasuke signed the same.

'Climb higher?'

Both boys looked at each other and then checked the tree they were on. It was sturdy and should be able to hold them. It might also provide a way to look around without being seen by the ninken. With a nod all three of them scaled further into the tree as carefully as they could.

When they finally broke through the canopy all they saw were more trees with small openings here and there. They could even see the monument's clearing too. However none of them saw any large formations of rocks which meant if there was one, it was going to be close to the ground.

'What next?' Naruto signed.

'We wait.' Sasuke signed back. From their current location they would be difficult, if not impossible to see even from the lower areas of the canopy.

'Move to a different tree first?' Sakura suggested. Sasuke thought about it but then shook his head.

'Too dangerous from here. Would have to go down.' Since doing so would leave more of their scent around, it wasn't worth the risk.

Naruto pulled a spool of ninja wire from his pouch and tied himself to the tree before passing the wire around. Sakura nearly sagged in relief as she finally released the channeling to her feet. While Sasuke wasn't as drained chakra wise, the control aspect was still difficult for him and he was equally glad for the break.

'How long?' Naruto signed.

Sasuke just shrugged and Naruto rolled his eyes. Then he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he relaxed in the sun until Sasuke tapped his shoulder.

'Trouble?' Naruto signed as he scanned the area.

'My turn,' was Sasuke's response as the dark haired boy closed his eyes. Naruto just grinned and took up watch instead.

About an hour later Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a chakra flare.

"Wake up guys, we gotta move now," Naruto said, quickly untying his own wire before starting on Sakura's before she was even fully awake.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, doing the same.

"Sensei just flared his chakra. I felt four flares respond which means if he was serious before, we need to get out of the trees."

"Why do we need to get out of the trees?" Sakura asked, fully awake now and already climbing down.

"ANBU specialize in tracking prey through the trees. And they won't rely on scent to find us," Sasuke said even as Naruto made nine clones. The clones Henged into copies of the team and spread out in different directions.

"Hopefully that will buy us some time to find a spot to hide," Naruto said.

"No more chakra either," Sasuke added. "They'll likely have a sensor, so we need to move quickly and keep all chakra suppressed."

Naruto frowned but nodded.

"I should have made more then. At least depleting my reserves makes it easier to hide them," Naruto grumbled.

"One big batch and that's it," Sasuke said and Naruto nodded. He made another cross sign and this time the clearing filled with Kage Bunshin. Soon they had all gotten into groups of three before putting on a Henge and moving out.

Sasuke went first as he navigated the brush, with Sakura in the middle, and Naruto at the back trying to cover their trail. He was also laying small but effective traps to slow down the ANBU when they inevitably caught up. In the distance they heard a boom as another Naruto's trap went off. The clone's memories flooded back to him and Naruto grinned at the creative use of a smoke bomb, some dirt, and a hornet's nest.

"Looks like they're still pretty close to the monument," Naruto whispered to the other two. "And they're hunting as a team instead of splitting up."

"That may not last long once they realize you are using clones," Sakura said, to which Naruto shrugged.

"There's a clearing up ahead," Sasuke said. "Let's go around it, but keep an eye out for any dense patches. It may be better to find somewhere to hide and then fortify it as best as possible."

"Ni-san always said moving was better when trying to evade capture," Naruto said.

"Yeah but we're stuck in the training field," Sasuke said.

"Are we?" Sakura suddenly asked. "I don't remember sensei saying we had to stay here."

The two boys looked at each other before they both groaned in embarrassment.

"She's right. If we keep going this direction we should hit training ground 8. As long as we skirt the edges of it, then even if it's in use we won't disturb the other team," Naruto said.

"Let's go. If we can get to training ground 8 and make it out without incident, then we should be able to head back into Konoha normally."

"We could even go get ramen," Naruto joked.

The three set off, hopeful their plan would work. Naruto had made enough clones that even for ANBU it would take time to determine which was the right group, or so they hoped.

Half an hour later the three were standing in front of a cheerful looking sensei. At their backs were four cloaked figures who were looking nearly pristine despite the sheer number of traps the Naruto clones had set.

"We found them on the borders of training ground 8," one of the ANBU reported. Naruto looked up to see that it was Raccoon. While not one of the ANBU specializing in tracking, he had spent a fair amount of time teaching Naruto traps before he had been promoted to team captain.

"You didn't say we had to stay here," Naruto pointed out helpfully.

"Nor did I tell the ANBU they had to either," Kakashi replied with a grin. He had been hoping they would realize the loophole he had left them. Apparently it had taken them awhile to do so though, and they hadn't gotten far enough away before he had called off the ninken and sent the ANBU instead. "Good job with the clones and traps Naruto. They kept these guys amused for a while. Although you should have been able to get further. I gave them orders to stay together as a team to handicap them."

"In their defense, we got lucky some," Raccoon said quietly. "They hadn't used any chakra to track them by after the initial two bursts, and all of the teams were using similar traps and formations."

"Luck is part of being a ninja and a good plan should account for the enemy getting lucky and do everything it can to negate it," Kakashi said, looking at his genin. They all nodded though Sakura was frowning.

"Sensei how could we have negated luck. There was no way to make them more likely to choose one path over another was there?" Sakura asked.

"You tell me? How could you have made them go a different way?" Kakashi asked.

"We should have had the clones act differently, at least a few of them," Sasuke said.

"Exactly. If you had only a small group of clones hiding themselves carefully, it would have lead them to chase those first," Kakashi said.

"But then they would have ignored them after the first one or two were fakes," Naruto complained.

"Yes, but as your clones disperse you get their memories correct?" Kakashi said. Naruto nodded and Kakashi continued. "Then at that point, when you noticed they stopped chasing those clones, you could change how you covered yourself while leaving the rest of the clones to use a different method. At some point they would have stopped relying on those indicators and moved instead to systematical elimination, but it would have bought you time."

"You shouldn't have stuck totally to the ground either," one of the ANBU said. "It's faster to move in the trees and so long as some of your clones are doing the same, the chakra usage won't stand out."

"We're still just learning tree walking though, so we aren't very fast yet," Sakura said.

"The clones still could have done it," Naruto said with a sigh. "And if we had made it back into the village, it would have been a lot harder for them to find us, so even that little bit of time would have been important."

"Exactly," Kakashi said. "However, for your first attempt it wasn't bad. You thought about your orders carefully, and found a solution even if you didn't enact it fully. Now thank your playmates and we'll move on to something new."

The genin turned around and bowed to the ANBU while thanking them. The ANBU just nodded before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Since you three look exhausted, we'll move onto something a little less physical but still equally important. Theory."

Naruto groaned as he plopped down and Sasuke looked bored already but Sakura perked up at the idea.

"Specifically, sealing," Kakashi said. "Now I doubt any of you will be seal masters, but it doesn't hurt to have a good understanding of the basics. Being able to determine if that seal is a variation of an explosive tag versus a summoning circle can be vitally important on a mission. You'll also eventually learn to disable lesser tags and seals as you advance through the ranks."

"Your sensei was a master wasn't he?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi nodded.

"My sensei was the Yondaime Hokage, and he was one of the greatest seal masters Konoha ever produced. However you'll find that I'm only slightly above average when it comes to sealing. My specialty lies in ninjutsu."

Kakashi then proceeded to pull out a few scrolls, which he handed to each of his students.

"These scrolls have storage seals on them. Storage seals are probably the most common seal you will encounter as a ninja." He then proceeded to explain the differences between the types of storage seals, including ones that kept food cold versus ones for weapons or for things bigger than the seal itself. For each one, he had an example in their scroll, and he had them remove it and then put it back. The only one he didn't have an example in the seal for was the dead body seal.

When he was done he dismissed them and teleported away, leaving them to discuss their roles as a team.

At first none of them said anything, each contemplating what they wanted to do and how it would work with the team. Sasuke spoke up first.

"Because of my Sharingan I'm already suited for genjutsu and ninjutsu, as well as taijutsu if I can strengthen my body. Throwing wise, I have good aim, and thrown weapons mesh well with my Katon Jutsu. So while I can fill most roles, a secondary fighting role would likely fit best."

"I have a lot of chakra which makes me ideal for ninjutsu, and like Kakashi-ni said, I'm used to being the diversion. My taijutsu is a strength too since it's so unpredictable. While I can be stealthy and I'm great with traps, I can't do any genjutsu at all and I get caught in it easily. I'm starting to learn seals at home with Kakashi-ni but I'm not very good at them yet and mostly I like the explosive or trap ones," Naruto said.

"I have very good chakra control, but all of my physical skills need work. I think a support role would be best for me, but I'd still like to strengthen my taijutsu as much as possible so that I can protect myself when we are fighting."

"So we're still going for a balanced team instead of specialized?" Naruto asked.

"Seems so," Sasuke said. "We can still have a preferred attack method but being able to switch our formations fluidly would be a huge asset."

"Yeah, just imagine the enemies' surprise if they tried to go after Sakura and she smashed them to pieces," Naruto said with a grin. Sakura smiled and Sasuke took on a predatory look.

"I think that should be our team focus," Sasuke said. "We'll be hard to counter if we don't always fight the same way and if we aren't stuck in the same role all the time."

"Now we just have to convince sensei," Sakura said.

"Piece of cake. We'll still each learn different things, but then we can practice our formations when we fight," Naruto said.

"I'd still like to start learning to heal I think," Sakura said. "While a few genjutsu would be nice, I'm not as interested in being a genjutsu specialist."

"I'd just like to be able to fight them better," Naruto muttered. "I'll continue to focus on trap setting and taijutsu, along with the more chakra intensive ninjutsu. Might as well use it if I have so much."

"Alright, I'll work on my ranged ninjutsu as support. I think I might like to learn a weapon to give me something else to strike with," Sasuke said. "Maybe a sword or tanto like the ANBU use."

"Cool, we're going to be so badass," Naruto said.

"We have to actually learn it all first," Sakura told him but Naruto just laughed.

"We are going to do it. After all, we're going to become Chunin this year," Naruto said, his eyes going serious. "It's a promise."

"A promise," the other two agreed, equally focused.

Missing moment- Genin celebrations (Because I forgot to work it in earlier)

The day after their graduation Naruto excitedly met up with Sasuke and Itachi for their second celebratory dinner. This one was held at Naruto's house since it made it easier for the ANBU to stop by and congratulate their two mascots.

"So, now the two of you runts are genin, huh. What's the world coming to?" Anko teased. Naruto just stuck out his tongue while Sasuke ignored her.

"We're going to be strong genin and then we'll be jounin and kicking your butt in no time."

"Of course you are kid," Anko agreed. "In your dreams if nothing else. Although I did help train you, so you better make me look good out there."

"They still don't even have a jounin sensei yet Anko-san," Itachi said calmly. "It would be best to wait for that before you get too excited."

"Hey, we'll pass the second test for sure, right Sasuke!"

Sasuke just nodded before he went back to reading a scroll Itachi had given him as a gift.

"Just make sure you stay focused for the test, Naruto-kun," Itachi said.

"I know, I know. Make a plan and follow through. No charging in recklessly."

"Working together with your team mates will be important as well," Ibiki said from behind him.

Naruto jumped up and gave Ibiki a hug before returning to his seat. The others didn't even blink anymore at the almost cuddly nature Naruto brought out in Ibiki. Especially since you would never guess he had it in him otherwise. Even though he had taken Sai and Shin when they had gotten rid of root, the entire family seemed fairly devoid of emotion.

"We don't know who our team mates are yet," Naruto said with a frown.

"It doesn't matter," Tenzou said as he stepped over to the group. "A good shinobi will be able to work with any of their comrades. You never know who will be needed for a particular task after all."

"But what if they're jerks?"

"You must put those feelings aside until the mission is over," Tenzou replied.

"He's right kid," Anko added. "Like and dislike don't matter in the field. And frankly they don't belong there either."

"Alright, fine. I will find a way to work with anyone on my team."

"Then I'm sure you'll do quite well, Naruto-kun," Ibiki said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Ugh, stop. Why does every single grown up do that?" Naruto asked as he tried to protect his hair.

"You can't protect yourself?" Kakashi said as he then ruffled Naruto's hair as well.

"Where'd you come from? Thought you had to work tonight boss?" Anko asked."

"I set some minions to do it instead," Kakashi replied gleefully. "Maybe I'll even get to let the change be permanent."

"I wouldn't be too sure commander," Itachi said. Kakashi just glared and Itachi gave him a satisfied smile.

"One of these days, I will retire."

AN: Ok so this is super long for me but I didn't want to split the main scene and the other two barely totaled 1k together. A few things: I've explained my reasoning for this team set up. Also I'll be modifying the storyline again to push the Chunin exams out 8 months rather than the 6 (I think) it was in canon. This just makes it a little more reasonable for them to progress more while letting me squeeze in the team 7 bits I want before moving forward with the story I have in mind.

Also, quick question (I can't remember if I've asked before or just meant to ask), do people have a problem with me posting responses to reviews at the end of the chapter? I've had one or two complaints about it but I like having the conversation going and it allows me to share info when someone asks a good question so thoughts?

Lastly, I'm so sorry this is so late. I finished school and all of my little details in June, and meant to spend my summer before student teaching writing my heart out, but then I had a slight change of plans that had me sleeping the summer away quite literally. As it is, I'm having a baby, which is super exciting but also exhausting and leaves me sleeping far more than I ever thought possible. On top of that I've started my student teaching so any writing is going to be done as I can here and there when I don't have massive amounts of lesson plans to write or grading. I really want to finish this before the baby is born though.

ShadowPhoenix, buterflypuss, darkhuntress, Eclipse, Turmanarmo, Maxride, Azfaerydust, Noxy, Rakaan, UchihaLegacy, Mysteriouseyez, Kaito, Woof-chan, LitaofJupiter, Serei Kirite, aWiccan, Silvermist, Alice-Italy, Fluffpenguin, darkangel, Icebabe, Fangirl, tabjoy, Mindy, Brie45, Great guest, Kairilovessora, KaiaRenkin, and anon guest thank you so much for your reviews, I am terribly sorry this was so late. Hopefully it answers most of your questions (Kakashi is still nominal head as the deal, yes there will be plenty of fun ANBU shenanigans, and Kakashi pulled a few strings to be their Jounin sensei). If you still have questions, send me a fresh review (there were so many sitting in my inbox waiting for attention O.o) and I'll be sure to answer it more fully.