Chapter 21

Insolence and Absurdity

"So I've got about hundred more explosive tags than I need, and I really need a bit of extra pocket change, so-"

Tenten raises a hand into Naruto's face. "Say no more! My dad and I will take them off your hands, and in return, we can either supply cash, or blacksmithing services."

Naruto tilts his head back a bit. "Blacksmithing? Hmmm… Ya know, that's not a bad idea. I might take you up on that, once I figure out what I'll want. For now I'll take the cash, but I'll keep making extra for ya for later."

"Done and done!" Tenten cheers, leaping about the joint training ground as Lee and Gai cannot help but weep with joy at the sight of her so youthful. "Oh, I already have so many ideas for everyone!" She turns and points at Shino. "And I'm gonna need your help brokering a deal for some materials!"

Shino pushes his glasses up and hums. "If you seek to acquire Aburame Silk, I believe I may be able to accommodate for that, but it will be costly, as I'm sure you're aware."

Chouji grumbles a bit. "Ya know, your clan would be a lot more stable if you didn't charge as much. You have a lot of services, but they're pretty niche, and ya don't get customers as often. You'd get a lot more if your prices were more reasonable."

"Sadly, I doubt that will change." Shino shakes his head. "Although the lack of demand would suggest greater success with lower prices, the deal of complexity and cost of producing Aburame Silk is too steep for us to do so without a heavy restructure of our methods which would most likely reduce the quality of the product. Besides, we still receive plenty of orders from the capital."

Sasuke cuts in. "When the hell did this inter-team training meet become an economics lesson?"

Sakura leans into him. "Since the majority of our graduating class turned out to be clan heirs."

Naruto hums. "Gonna have to look more into Uzu and find out what my family sold." He shrugs. "But for now… Where the fuck are our sensei?"

"Sorry, brat!" All eyes turn to the scantily clad kunoichi leading a march onto the field. Mitarashi Anko is followed closely by none other than Momochi Zabuza and Haku, and Gekko Hayate. "Your usual sensei aren't here today. This time, you're getting more specialized lessons, and a few unique guests."

Zabuza hefts his blade over his shoulder and tilts his head as he looks over the crowd of genin. "Hmm… lot of big names here. Speaking of, I'm Momochi Zabuza. One of the last surviving members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This runt next to me is Momochi Haku."

Haku smiles and bows with her usual grace. "Ino-san, Shino-kun, Team 7, it's wonderful to see you all again."

Ino raises an eyebrow and smirks over to Shino, whispering to him. "Shino-kun already, huh?"

He fixes his collar. "No comment."

Zabuza shifts his blade. "Oh, you'll comment later."

"Enoug-" Hayate coughs halfway through his interjection. "Ugh… Don't scare the kid too much. Morning, everyone. I'm Gekko Hayate, one of the village's top swordsmen, accomplished assassin, and former Anbu captain."

"And you all know me quite well." A final voice, source unseen, speaks from seemingly everywhere at once. The wind slowly gathers and swirls around the until leaves blow in and compress into the visage of none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen, the 3rd Hokage, In full combat gear. "Good morning, children. I do hope you're ready for a few lessons! But don't expect me to go easy on you… Last students I trained were the Sannin, after all."

"Jiji!?" Naruto rushes up. "How the hell are you here?! I haven't seen you outside your office in months!"

Neji's jaw drops. "Uzumaki, how dare you speak so callously with our Hokage!"

Hiruzen stares at the Hyuga boy for a moment before huffing in exasperation and returning his attention to Naruto. "Feels like I haven't been out of there in years. It'll be nice to teach again for a while." He sighs and hangs his head. "It's been far too long." Anko shares a quick glance with him as a familiar pain strikes them both, but they shrug it off and return to their duties. "Now, I know you're all going to want to train with me, but do keep your own skill sets and intentions in mind. I'll be teaching a combination of esoteric and lesser-known taijutsu, ninjutsu, and various forms of shurikenjutsu and bojutsu."

Zabuza swings his blade off his shoulder and levels it at the kids. "I'll be working on weight training, survival and stealth tactics, and unconventional weaponry."

Haku bows. "I intend to teach medicine and formulating original jutsu."

Hayate takes a moment to polish his blade. "I'll be teaching more conventional kenjutsu and-" He's cut off by another coughing fit. Once he's settled his lungs, he clears his throat and continues. "unconventional chakra elements."

Anko twirls a kunai. "I'll be teaching poisons, and for the ladies" She shakes her hips a bit. "Seduction~ You may not be viable for those missions until chuunin, but it doesn't hurt to learn how to throw some into a genjutsu or a transformation to make fools slip up."

Naruto snorts. "Why the hell ya think I developed the Orioke no Jutsu? I've made hardened jonin and a kage slip up with it." He points over his shoulder with his left thumb towards Hiruzen, who audibly facepalms.

Neji visibly twitches. "You've got to be joking."

"Nope." Anko shakes her head. "Sure it would work on the old fencesitter in Iwa, too."

"Naruto's eyes slowly widen and he shivers in pure excitement. "Oh now I have to use it on him."

"Naruto…" Sakura pokes him in the right temple to snap him out of daydreaming. "You know he'd kill you right after if you did."

"Oh, he can try."

"That's it." Neji turns and starts walking away. "I'm done exposing myself to this idiocy. Tell me when we're splitting up, and I'll go to whichever sensei has the least obnoxious class."

Silence falls as everyone watches his back, but a few turn to stare at Sasuke. "… What?" He looks to everyone individually, becoming less and less comfortable. "What?!"

"For once…" Sakura huffs. "For once, we've found someone more stuck-up than you used to be."

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Hayate lowers himself onto a mossy rock for a decently comfortable seat to begin his lesson. "So, let's start with what each of you is looking for…" He takes a handkerchief from his pocket and coughs into it as he waits for a student to speak up.

Once he's finished coughing, Sasuke cuts in with his usual direct approach. "Largely, I was looking to improve my practical kenjutsu skills. My fight with that nobody who stole the Raijin no Ken proved I have a long way to go, if I have to ignore kenjutsu against someone who was never properly trained just due to inexperience."

Hayate nods and holds out an open hand. Sasuke passes him his blade and gives Hayate a moment to inspect it, weigh it, and give a few test swings. "Hmmm… You take good care of it…" He coughs into his handkerchief again. ".. and it's fairly balanced to suit both your current age and what you'll likely grow into." He hands Sasuke's sword back to him. "Alright, I'll help you with kenjutsu. We'll start entirely practical, and I'll teach you some more advanced non-elemental techniques later if you can prove you're up for the task." He switches his attention to his remaining student. "And how about you? Considering my work with your mother, I think I know already, but…"

Kiba huffs. "Yeah, she's told me about you. Which is why I wanted to discuss and practice ambush tactics with you. Heard from her even before your speech earlier that before your lung problems, you proved to be one of Konoha's top assassins and a tactician most other Anbu captains can't match." He slowly grins. "If I'm gonna be a true pack leader, I'm gonna need to be just as good, don't ya think?"

Hayate slowly grins as Kiba's determination sinks in. "Kiba, I think you and I are gonna get along swimmingly."

Akamaru yaps as he pokes his head out from under Kiba's hood, wagging his tail enough to push the hood off and hop down without having to crawl out.

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Hiruzen sighs in relief as he lays back against a tree in central north of the grounds. He'd always liked this one, back when he was training the Sannin. Its roots grew into a gentle slope facing south, letting him lay back comfortably with a canopy large enough for the light to never bother him. It was Konoha's natural beauty at its gentlest. After a moment's rest, he spoke up with his helmet mostly covered his face still. "So, I do believe I already know what each if you is here for. Without uncovering his eyes, he lazily points directly at Shikamaru. "You're looking to tease my brain about my jutsu library and get a scoop on some I think may be useful to your expanded skillset with the addition of water and fire, correct?"

"That's the gist of it." Shikamaru lays back in the grass with his arms behind his head. "You're 'The Professor', so you've obviously got a few good utility jutsu on my level for me to consider. It's troublesome, but I'm gonna have to take advantage of my elements now that I know what they are and how strong of a combination it is."

Hiruzen smirks and digs into his pockets for where he sealed his pipe. "A wonderful approach, Yes, I do believe I know a few off the top of my head. I'm far better with fire than I am with water, but considering your clan's weakness at night, providing solutions to that take precedence over the manipulative methods of synergizing water jutsu with your clan's techniques." He withdraws his pipe and lights it with his thumb and some fire chakra before addressing his next student. "Now, Shino, you're a bit more perplexing, but your father tells me you've been experimenting on your kikaichu with long-term generational exposure to elemental chakras. It's well known I am a master of all five major elements, so I'm sure that ties into your reasoning."

Shino nods and withdraws a baseball-sized cluster of his kikaichu. These ones are less inclined to fly than the standard of their species, instead forming a dense, shifting orb of carapaces. "That is correct, Hokage-sama. I have already produced a subspecies that feeds predominantly off of one of my elements, but the other is proving a bit more difficult. Frankly, my approach is far too slow. I believe I need to take drastic measures to produce more potent results. I am certain that you can provide the necessities for this procedure."

He hums and scratches his chin. "A very unique proposal. Your father told me you were more creative than the standard of your clan, and I can see quite clearly that he was correct. I'll gladly assist in your experiments. Now, then…" He lazily points over to Lee. "You, Lee, are a bit of a shock to see. Your taijutsu is certainly impressive, and although mine can be, even I will admit that Gai outclasses me in that area. This means you'd have to be coming to me for an expansion to your skillset that's outside his expertise. Perhaps this habit with seals that he mentioned you'd been working on?"

Lee bows on his knees, prostrating himself to his Hokage. "Yes sir! I need a more professional opinion from a true sealing master on the designs of some of my augmentation seals I've created in my downtime between taijutsu training sessions! Gai-sensei says I need formal approval from a fuinjutsu master before I apply them!"

"Right he is, dear boy. I'll gladly take a look and recommend any alterations I see fit if necessary. That said, your dedication to this exoteric and oft forgotten craft is commendable, and I can't wait to see what you've developed with it." He raises his legs and kicks himself up to his feet. "Well, let's get started, then!"

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Haku leisurely strolls across the water in the grounds' eastern pond, hands withdrawn into her sleeves, with her two tag-alongs at her back. "So, Sakura-chan, I've heard your medical jutsu are coming along nicely."

She nods and tests her Mystic Palm jutsu. "I've gotten decent at it, but I feel like I need more practical talents for when I'm low on chakra or treating illness rather than injury." She closes her glowing hand and shuts the jutsu off as she peeks up to the former nukenin assistant. "And I know you've got quite a talent for that yourself. If anyone can teach me proper field medicine right now, it's you."

Haku peeks back over her shoulder with a gentle smile. "I'd love to. I never thought I'd have a chance to pass that knowledge on. I hope you can make as great a use of it as I have." She returns her gaze forwards. "Now, Neji-san, what have you come to me for?"

"Two major reasons, I suppose. For one, I overheard stories of your supposedly indestructible ice mirrors, and wanted to test them myself. My Byakugan should be able to see weak points in them easily and allow me to shatter them with well-placed strikes regardless, and the range of your attacks will be useless against my field of vision." He closes his eyes to hide his frustration with the next part. "And frankly, I wanted to see why and how an enemy with years if field experience would be so eager to tag along with a fool like Naruto."

Haku slows to a stop, then sinks down into the water and suddenly emerges from it behind Neji faster than he can track with his Byakugan deactivated. "If you seek such a test, then be my guest." Neji slowly peeks back over his shoulder, horrified by the killing intent she's radiating. "And Sakura-chan? You can practice medicine on the wounds he'll be receiving from this."

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Momochi Zabuza sits upon a rock in the middle of a pond, polishing his blade as he considers how to approach the three that followed him. Teaching is very far from his strong suit, something he feels he barely managed to do with Haku. She mostly taught herself, in the constant 'sink or swim' lifestyle of running from Anbu.

The sight of one of his students brings to mind someone he fought alongside during the rebellion he staged against his former friend and kage, so he turns his attention there first. "So, princess, what brings you to my lesson? Thought you'd be afraid of someone from the Bloody Mist."

Hinata shakes her head. "Naruto vouched for you, so I know you must be trustworthy. As for why…" She sighs. "He told me about your jutsu, and I believe testing my eyes against the mist could be a good way to improve them. Your proficiency for water jutsu is also considerable, as I'm a water user myself."

"Hmm." Zabuza hefts his blade over his shoulder. "Hell of a reason. Good head on those shoulders, kid. Alright, how about you big guy?" He points his blade at Chouji, who backs away at the sudden motion.

"U-Um.." Chouji cowers, leaning back and almost falling off his own rock and into the water. "W-Well, um… I-I'm working on my strength training and a few jutsu for d-defensive purposes, and I thought someone as tough as you would be great for training tips and durability tests!"

"Throwing the toughest thing you can find at your walls to see if they hold up?" He grins behind his mask and chuckles. "Now that, I can definitely get behind. Alright, you're on, kid." He turns his blade towards his last student. "And how about you, buns? What's your story?"

Tenten leans in and aside, carefully inspecting his blade and her mouth almost waters. "The legendary Kubikirihoucho. One of the greatest blades ever crafted…" She gently runs her fingers along the edge. "Such solid, refined iron… smooth, textured subtly, like it was forged from powdered materials."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh, I see. You're a blacksmith, aren't you?"

She nods eagerly as her eyes remain homed in on the blade, checking the edge, the weight, the width, everything. "I've already got some commissions coming in from classmates and ideas for others. But I need inspiration and examples to work with." She looks to him with a wide grin. "And I know a guy like you knows some of the best weapons ever made, probably a ton of them I've never heard of!"

"Ya know what? I'm usually not a talkative guy…" He sets his blade on his back. "But if it's telling you about my coolest fights, I'm all for it. Has me kinda interested in seeing what you can make. Alright then, we'll have a good long chat, interspersed with water jutsu lessons and examples for the other girlie, and some water clones to beat up chubby."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME-"

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Naruto finds himself helplessly dodging kunai and senbon that Anko's barely attempting to hit him with as she focuses her attention on Ino. "So what brings you to auntie Anko today? Thought your dad said I was too bad of an influence."

She huffs. "You might be in some ways, but I've been thinking about my clan's jutsu, and I feel like it'll be easier to make them work if I can leave my opponent's mind addled to begin with. You specialize in intimidation and poisons in the Interrogation unit. Applying them to my skills should make me doubly effective at messing with my opponent's head."

Anko grins ear to ear, followed by hearing a yelp from Naruto and looking his way. "Sorry, I got a little excited there! You're healing it already, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm healing! Goddamnit, that was three inches from my-"

"So anyway…" Anko interrupts him upon returning to Ino. "That's a perfect plan, and I can't wait to corrupt you until your dad wants to get into my head."

"Um… why would you want him in there?"

"Cuz I know he'd come out crying like a little bitch."

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Soon enough, everyone returns so the central training ground to find Sakura fuming at the mere presence of her temporary classmate, Neji. He sits across the field from her with a few of his fingers appearing to be broken and attempting to ignore how cold he is, despite almost violent shivering. Haku just looks pleased with herself. "So, who would like to train with me next?" Nobody decides to question the story behind their states. Even Lee can't deny how insultingly arrogant his teammate is.

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This time, Hayate finds himself a bit annoyed with his new entourage. He decides to address the most troublesome student first, and ironically, it's not the Nara boy whose catchphrase he just stole. "Now, Neji…" He coughs and sputters for a moment. "… I saw the looks you were giving the other three sensei you could have followed. Even the Hokage himself has drawn your ire. Why's that?"

He glares daggers into he distance with his Byakugan, clearly homing in on someone he finds detestable, as he completely ignores his most sensible teammate in the process of treating his injured hands. "They've chosen to side with a childish fool who should never have been given a headband. I see no reason to take advice from any one of them."

Silence falls for several moments, and Neji fails to notice that Tenten's stopped working on his hands. He doesn't realize he's been slapped off balance until the resounding smack echoes back their way from the nearby cliff face.

Tenten walks away from her teammate and closer to Hayate, cutting in rather than waiting for him to ask. "I wanna be a master of all sorts of weaponry, so I need someone with experience in a lot of areas to point out weaknesses I need to iron out. Best you leave a clone with Shikamaru and handle me yourself. I can't promise I won't break the clone two minutes in right now."

"Um… right." Somehow, Hayate finds he's too shocked to even cough, and decides to skip over Neji and give him some time to think. "Well, I can certainly do that. Shikamaru?"

He shrugs as he lays back and stares at the sky, as per usual. "Wanna run strategic scenarios by you. You're an accomplished assassin and former Anbu captain. Few brains in the village that're better to pick than yours, and I'd like a perspective outside my father's to work against."

He nods and coughs into his handkerchief once more. "Mm… very well. My clone will stay here with you and Neji while I focus on Tenten. Let's get to work."

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Hiruzen can't help but smile somberly as he leads the trio at his back to the northern corner of the grounds. It feels like his youth before earning the Hokage title all over again. A hot-headed unconventional fool with a heart of gold. A cold, calculating young man with immeasurable natural talent and a constant drive for improvement. A determined young woman with a bright vision of the future and a temper that can drive her to achieve it against all odds. He could already see the next generation changing the world as much as the one he personally raised, and then some. He comes to a stop beneath another tree and snuffs out his pipe. "So, Naruto and I already have plans." He reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out an entire bo staff, causing Naruto to marvel at how fluidly it was removed from whatever seal was within, without any smoke whatsoever. He's so stunned by it that he barely catches the staff that's tossed at him. "So how about you two? Sasuke, if I'd have to guess, you're looking to pick my brain for some jutsu I can pass on to compliment your close combat proficiency. A simple task, especially considering my fire affinity. Although I'm not quite as talented with lightning, I can contribute a bit as well in that area."

Sasuke nods and draws his sword. "I was also hoping you could help me train my chakra capacity up enough to use more jutsu as set-ups for more efficient kills."

"Oooh, learning to be as tricky as your teammate? Wonderful. I love making someone think some grand jutsu is my last-ditch effort and blindsiding them with something small and lethal." He chuckles. "And how about you, Sakura?

She sighs and crosses her arms. "To be frank, a lot of earth jutsu on Kakashi-sensei's arsenal aren't the most useful for my medic aspirations, save for mud wall. And water jutsu he uses are all larger-scale stuff that's purely destructive. Worst of all, healing grievous injuries is going to require a lot of chakra, which I frankly don't have. So joining you in Sasuke's chakra capacity training is really in my best interest."

Hirizen smirks and pulls out a second staff. "Well, you've certainly made my day interesting. So many bases to cover, so little time. Alright then! Clones for everyone, and let's see how quickly you can adapt to a chakra exercise I call 'chakra hops'. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like, and yes, it's both practical and an absolute blast to use."

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Haku sits beneath a tree with a fresh cup of tea in hand, sighing in soft relief after taking a long sip. "Thank you, Shino-kun. Sealing up hot drinks for during training is quite the wonderful idea."

"Well, if fire can be sealed and unsealed without compromising it's heat, it makes sense that the same could be done for food and drink." He adjusts his glasses, although wearing them in the shade of the woods may seem a bit odd to those unfamiliar with his clan. "I was saving them for if I found you later this afternoon, but I thought it best to bring them out after you appeared to be so chilled by your own jutsu after your argument with Neji-san."

Ino snorts as she recalls that sight. "What happened with him, anyway? I mean, I wanted to train on my senbon aim with you, but I mostly wanna find out what you did to break him so badly. I've got to hear this one!"

Haku giggles. "Well, I'm not quite a gossip, but that's a tale I'm more than willing to tell. And Shino-kun, are you looking to test your kikaichu against my mirrors?"

Shino nods and bows. "Indeed. I can think of no better challenge for my new hive than to try and drain the power of such a magnificent and conflicting technique."

She sips down the last of her tea and nods. "Very well. Let us begin."

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"So let's see…" Zabuza looks over the two kids with him. One's got his face constantly strained as though smelling something he finds unsavory, and the other is jogging in place with knees high enough to make him wonder if the boy even has a pelvis. "You're an Inuzuka, aren't you? I think I've run into your mother on the field, actually. Fierce woman."

"Yeah, she's mentioned." Kiba huffs. "Mentioned you smell like blood even fresh after a bath, and I see she's right."

He grumbles. "I know, it's one of my few weaknesses in assassination. It's why I specialize in doing them outdoors, since my mist masks the smell by making the air less permeable."

Kiba shrugs. "Makes sense. As for me, I was hoping you could give me a few suggestions. I know Tenten's looking to make a ton of weapons, and I need a solid idea of one to suit me. You've seen my clan in action, and probably fought a lot of people with really weird choices."

"Kid, you have no idea the kind of weird shit I've seen. I can't even begin to tell you half of it until you're a lot older and preferably we're both a bit drunk. So yeah, I can help ya find a good weapon." He turns his gaze to the jogging pair of eyebrows to his right. "And how about you, skippy?"

"Actually, my plan is quite similar!" Lee speaks at about twice the necessary volume. "I was hoping to test my current choice of weapon as well as my ability to dodge weapons of unconventional size in close combat!"

"Holy shit, I got a hell of a fun set this time. Alright, you're both on!"

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Anko leans forward and nearly into Hinata's face. "Come on, tell me you're finally gonna make a move!"

"A-Anko-sensei?" She stammers and stumbles back, growing redder by the second.

"Seriously! You're getting a lot friendlier with him, and not freaking out just because he gets close! Chouji, you gotta back me up on this!"

Chouji chuckles nervously and shakes his head. "I'd much rather not get involved. Besides, we're supposed to be training! And you're one of the only people I can ask about what I'm looking for next."

"Oh?" She uprights herself and cocks and eyebrow. "That's a bold claim. Wadda ya need?"

Chouji crosses his arms and grumbles. "Well, if I'm gonna be taking the brunt of damage for my teammates, I think I need to develop an immunity to a lot of poisons. You're the best person I could go to for that. Ino mentioned more than enough for me to be sure you'll know where to start to develop a strong immunity."

She nods and digs into her pockets. "Yeah, I got a few samples you can work with for that. Your BMI should make you even more naturally resistant. It'll take a lot more of most poisons to kill you than others. And you've got one other advantage." She passes him a vial. "Ya learn to channel your fire chakra through your blood stream or stomach, and it'll burn the poison off faster. I do the same thing, so I can teach ya to do it properly with your blood. I know your dad's already got ya on the stomach method, so it shouldn't be tough." Hinata sighs in relief over no longer being the center of attention, but yelps and backs up as Anko returns to her. "So, how are we gonna get Naruto all over you?"

"W-What?!"

"Seriously, you're a gorgeous girl, but the kid's dense, so I think ya gotta do something to really impress him. Maybe an original jutsu, or something to break you away from the clan more?"

"U-Um.. well, I was thinking of trying to learn Serpent Style from you, to apply it to my Jyuuken, b-but a new jutsu would help too… but I'm not really the most creative."

"Oh, I'm sure you're better at it than ya think!" Anko uprights herself and starts to stretch a bit. "Let's brainstorm some while I teach you the basics and try to keep Chouji from overdosing on that poison."

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As the genin reunite by the grounds' gates, Neji simply walks past them all and entirely out of sight. Two sensei have gathered to join them in the aftermath, particularly Asuma and Kakashi, both exchanging stories from over Asuma's years away at the capital. Neither of them steps up to stop Neji, as they've both come to realize their intervention would do nothing more than exasperate his flaws.

Kakashi shakes his head as he recalls just how he used to be as a child. Only someone of a similar mindset to his dear lost teammate could possibly make him change his ways. He hopes that revelation comes to him sooner than later, and at far less of a cost.

He barely manages to pull his mind away from the past as he approaches his team. "I hope you're not too tired after today's training."

Hiruzen chuckles as he steps aside to give Kakashi a clear view of Naruto limping up and using the staff he'd been given as a walking stick. "Don't tell me you've got us training with you after all this." Hiruzen shakes his head and pulls his pipe back out, lighting it up and stepping aside to address them, as Naruto grows curious. "So what's up, then?"

Hiruzen straightens his back and returns to his Hokage persona, casting his eyes across the crowd and meeting six specific pairs. "Teams Seven and Ten are to take two hours to recover before reporting to my office to accept a mission of the utmost importance to begin tomorrow morning. Details will be provided in my office, but much of them will await until your arrival to the final destination of this mission, among three separate locations. Keep your wits about you, children. This one will surely be an important trendsetting task for your careers."

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A.N.: Sorry for the long wait! The world sure is goin to hell lately, isn't it? I'm just waiting for it all to actually be on fire at this point. Only so long before this whole black ops thing starts a revolution and civil war.

Anyway, what do yas think of these expansions on everyone's training? I feel like I've really set my version of the cast on a vastly different path that's gonna make things very interesting for you all from here on.

In other news, the first thing to address is that I went and fixed and updated all previous chapters. Much more complete and professional now. Was tired of all the typos caused by doing these in just one draft as a side-project.

Also, I'll soon be cross-posting everything to AO3, so you can look forward to finding me there too!

No, have a wonderful time reading, keep pushing for a better world, and I hope to see you all back here for chapter 22 soon!