Chapter 55

[Kakashi Hatake]

The sound of lightning reached his ears as he looked at his student rush towards a rock and thrust his hand forward. The weaponized limb buried itself on the boulder and Kakashi took a moment to assess the situation. Sasuke, first of all, looked relatively fine. His breathing was ragged and his fingers were bleeding a little. However, over all, it was much better than how he had suffered at the beginning of their training.

The destruction on his path had been minimal. The lightning had flashed and thundered a lot, but that was expected from someone that had only actually known the technique for less than a month. The way he had used it, it was more of a normal attack than an assassination technique, but that was fine. If he was honest, Kakashi wished his student would not take one of those missions for a while. He hadn't even wanted to teach the technique to the Uchiha, but with the threat that loomed over the village...

Then he took in the actual damage Sasuke had done to the rock. It wasn't the best, but the thing had cracked and he had managed to bury the whole length of his fingers in the thing. Not a whole lot of process from how they had started, but he had focused more on reducing the damage his student received from his own attack than increasing what he delivered.

Kakashi was pleasantly surprised when, once again, his student proved to have a much more… stable mind, for lack of a better word, than what he had expected. When he had been told that the last loyal Uchiha would be in his team, he had dreaded it, almost wishing to send him to the Genin Corps like he had many others. After all, everyone knew what had happened to his Clan, and there was no way that someone with that blood in their veins would not seek revenge.

He had been right, but also wrong. The kid did want to kill his brother for what he had done to his own clan, but at least he wasn't absolutely consumed by that goal. There were theories about why that was, but Kakashi was just thankful that he didn't have to teach an unhinged avenger.

"It's not enough, is it?" His student asked, looking at his own hand and flexing his bleeding fingers slowly. His expression twisted in a grimace before he turned his head towards Kakashi, who considered the question for a moment.

"Enough for what?" He asked, with a lazy tilt of his head. Since the first day, the Jounin had received different answers for such questions. Most of the time the boy was referring to Itachi. Some others, it was Naruto, who seemed to have some weird friend/rivalry going on with the Uchiha. They were competitive, but not overly so. No, both of them seemed to have someone else in that spot. And that someone was the last answer.

"To beat Eiji," Sasuke clarified.

"No, it's not," Kakashi replied honestly, watching his student's reaction carefully. Months ago, he would have expected anger from such an answer, maybe some shouts, or at least a scowl. Instead, what he got was a deep breath in and a sigh as Sasuke turned his attention back to his training. "By the way, one more try and we are going to the hospital so you have that hand checked. After that, you have a session with the Yamanaka."

That earned him a frown. The Uchiha had, like many others, a dislike for having people in their mind. He did, at least, take the training he had to go through, which was a relief for Kakashi and many in the Shinobi Council. Having such an important Rookie influenced by Orochimaru of all people was something nobody wanted to happen.

"I won't catch up with either of them, will I?" His student asked and, this time, Kakashi actually paused to consider the question. He knew who he meant now, at least. The problem was the actual question though. After all…

"It's difficult to tell," He started, earning himself the full attention of the last loyal Uchiha. "Most geniuses slow down their progress with time. They get complacent, too confident in their talent..."

"But neither of them is like that," Sasuke finished for him.

"True, but that doesn't mean they can train as much as they would need to keep growing." That sentence eased the scowl on his student's face. "Take Itachi, for example." The frown returned with the name, something that Kakashi was used to, by now. "He is out there in the world, probably traveling to keep out of the Villages' eyes while also having to work for a living. I'm sure you can guess how."

Sasuke gave a slow nod.

"That kind of life doesn't give one a lot of time to train," The sensei kept on. He wasn't being entirely truthful, really. Missing ninja could find their own little safe havens to not live permanently on the run. It wasn't like the Villages could see everywhere. "Satou, however, has the perfect circumstances going for him. He has a teacher, he has talent, he has the drive and he has the time to train." Not really the truth either, since Kakashi was privy of Eiji's little side mission during the two months between the Preliminaries and the Finals. He couldn't tell Sasuke that though. Besides, he guessed that it passed as training too.

"I see." Not for the first time, Kakashi found himself unable to read anything on his student's face. After a moment, the boy looked at both of his hands, once more flexing his fingers slowly. "One more try, right?" He asked out of nowhere.

"Yes," Kakashi nodded, side-eyeing the Uchiha. "Something in your mind?"

"I have some more time before the Finals," The boy mumbled as he walked towards a good enough place to start the technique again. "I have an idea I want to try out."

Kakashi rolled his eye at the non-answer.

[}-o-{]

[Jiraiya]

The Toad Sage looked at his student as the blonde snickered and continued scribbling something in his scroll. He hadn't expected the son of his student to be so good at seals, but with those parents, he guessed he should have. Many people were skeptical of fuinjutsu being a hereditary talent, but it was a difficult thing to defend when every single Uzumaki had had a knack for it.

He took advantage of his student's distraction to remember the absolute disaster that had been his attempt at getting Naruto to use the Kyuubi's chakra. Jiraiya had expected it to be a struggle, both because it was something that would be hard and because anything involving the Nine-Tails would set people on edge, nevermind the kid that actually contained the thing. In hindsight, he probably should have expected the wariness that the 'exercise' had earned him from Naruto.

However, the kid needed to learn how to use that power, just like the Jinchuriki in Kumo had. Especially if the rumors he had been hearing as of late from his spy network were true. Rumors that had been all but confirmed by the other brat, Eiji Satou, who had received some information from the shard of Orochimaru left in the Mark.

A scary kid, that one, to be able to turn something that was called literally a Curse and make it be almost a blessing. Not even happy with that, the brat had even managed to get information from the shard that Jiraiya's ex-teammate had left in the seal. Nevermind some of the things he had heard around and from his own student.

His student…

Jiraiya's eyes found Naruto once more.

Shaking his head, he sighed. He really needed to stop thinking about that. Instead, he focused on the kid's training. Initially, he had thought about teaching the blonde the Rasengan after having him sign the Toad Contract. It felt like a good way to give him some of the legacy that was rightfully his anyway.

With how much Naruto leaned towards seals though, he was starting to change his mind. After all, Minato had been widely known for two techniques, one of which was a Fuinjutsu one. It was a shame that he had taken the secret to the Flying Thunder God with him, but the Sage was reasonably sure that Naruto would crack the technique eventually. He didn't know why he was so, but he had a feeling that it would happen.

After all, he had taken a look at the seals the blonde had created himself. They were very basic, yes, but they were also equally as effective for that. A barrier that was as resistant as he wanted it to be so long as he poured an insane amount of chakra inside it, which he could afford, and an illusion not unlike the Clone Jutsu, but that could only act in a previously set behavior.

Jiraiya smirked, remembering the reasons the blond had given for why he had made them. They were great techniques, but to think one was done to prank his teammate and the second because he had always been unable to make the 'stupid ass clone' as he called it. Petty, childish reasons, but they also gave the Sage a peek into how to get the blonde's mind working.

He was sure that the kid would master the Hiraishin if only to prove that he was better than everyone else in the village that couldn't do so. After all, it would be a great way to get back at the people that had spent his whole life ignoring and shunning him. The smirk vanished from Jiraiya's face as the thought crossed his mind.

Not for the first time, he hated how much his job forced him to be away from the village. It wasn't like he had any duties regarding Naruto's well being, he had only been the one to give him his name, that was supposed to be it. However, he had been Minato's sensei, they had been even closer than what a normal teacher and student would be. It felt like an insult to the man's memory, that he had ignored his son for so long.

"I think I did it!" Naruto shouted in that boisterous voice of his that was both annoying and endearing. His hands held up a piece of paper with an intricate seal array drawn on it. Jiraiya blinked, his brain trying to decipher what the thing was supposed to do even when he knew he would have to sit down and analyze the whole thing to do so.

"And what's that supposed to do, huh?" He asked after a moment, earning a wide grin from the boy.

"This," And, instead of speaking further, Naruto set the paper down on the ground and jumped back. Jiraiya blinked at the sudden action, too caught up in his previous thoughts to actually process what was happening until it was too late. The seal activated in the area surrounding it, which obviously had him inside. His eyes caught the small dirt cloud that the kid had kicked up in his rush.

The stuff almost vanished as it fell straight to the ground in a second.

In that same moment, Jiraiya felt a weight being placed on his shoulders, his whole body really. It pushed him to the ground, but his legs didn't give up. Instead, his whole body tensed as he resisted the force. It wasn't enough to restrain him, but he would give the kid credit where credit was due, the seal would have sent a high Chuunin straight to the ground. Hell, it would have probably done so to some Tokubetsu Jounin too.

"Dispel this thing before I throw you off another cliff, brat," Jiraiya grumbled, giving the blond his best glare. The brat had the gall to grin at him and laugh.

Oh, he would make him pay for that.

[}-o-{]

[Yoshino Nara]

A few years prior, Yoshino would have never believed the sight before her. Actually, she still had trouble accepting that it was really happening. Shocking as the sight was, however, it was just as welcome.

After all, her son was training.

She had expected laziness when she married into the Nara family. One just didn't date someone from the clan having a problem with it, that was just stupid. However, her problem came from the fact that her son was neglecting his training, his few years of preparation before going out into a world that would happily see him dead.

That she had a problem with.

She had tried so much to curb that attitude the smallest bit. Just a little would have been enough. If her son wanted to be a loner that lied on the ground cloud watching, she was fine with it. If her son wanted to sleep twice as much as a normal person, she was fine with that too. What she wasn't fine with was her son not being prepared for the dangers of the world.

However, it seemed that even with all her determination and even Shikaku's, both had still coddled their son. They had wanted him to train, but to not see the ugly side of the world in the meantime and that had worked against them. Without a real reason, brought right to his face, Shikamaru would have never taken their and his teacher's lessons.

That's where Eiji Satou came, honest to the extreme as he explained to her son his fears of the real world. Telling Shikamaru of his commendable determination to protect those he cared about. Laying all his reasons plain for her son to see and understand.

Shikaku and Yoshino would be forever grateful for the Satou's words.

From that day, Shikamaru became everything that Yoshino wished he would. She was so proud she sometimes had to stop herself from squishing her little boy with all her strength, retired as she was, she might still have broken a rib or two. From then on, her nagging was done mostly out of routine, which both her son and her husband seemed to notice. This had the amusing effect of actually getting them to be a little less lazy.

Honestly, the Nara, as smart as they were, made no sense at all.

'I wouldn't have them any other way though,' Yoshino thought as she looked at her husband training their son. It wasn't nearly as hard as anyone else would have had it, but no one could train like a Nara, of that she was sure. After all, while they might not have the most physically demanding routines, they more than made up for it with how much they trained their minds.

In the end, if anyone asked Yoshino, the Nara actually trained more than most people. It was just that they focused on things that most others overlooked or simply trained separately. Not the Nara though, no, they trained their bodies and their minds at the same time.

Like right at that moment, for example. Shikaku was having light spars with Shikamaru while also asking (demanding, more like) for answers to several questions that were shot mid fight. Questions that ranged from battle strategies, to science, to medicine, to politics. Her son had to do both things, fight and think, while also…

Her hand snapped a kunai in Shikamaru's direction, something that he almost didn't manage to dodge in time. Yoshino saw her son's hand twitch, he probably really wished he could take his thinking pose. He had to learn, however, that one didn't always have time to just sit down to think. Sometimes one had to make plans on the fly.

"I think that's enough for now," Shikaku announced, instantly snapping from serious to lazy. Yoshino almost rolled her eyes as her husband raised a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that it was an act to exaggerate that trait of theirs, but they were actually like that, surprisingly enough.

Speaking of surprises…

Shikamaru was frowning, she noticed curiously.

"Everything ok, Shika?" She asked, when he didn't say anything for a few seconds. Her son turned to her and his scowl melted into an expression that hung between frustrated and resigned.

"I want to continue training, can we?" He asked, making both Shikaku and herself freeze. While she found her son's more driven attitude very relieving, this was another thing altogether. This was bordering on hard work. Yoshino would be the first to celebrate if Shikamaru decided to be like that, but still, there had to be a reason for that, and that's what concerned her.

"Why?" Shikaku questioned, eyes narrowed even while his tone remained lackadaisical. "We could go for a nap, you know?" Her husband all but whined.

"Something is happening," Shikamaru almost accused them. Yoshino saw Shikaku tense up at those words and curse under his breath. Apparently, their son had noticed, but she wasn't really surprised. "I saw Eiji the other day," Her son continued, and she focused on what he was saying. "He looked dead on his feet, and while his training is insane like that, he also looked stressed. He's never stressed when just training. He even looked like he had skipped a few night's sleep."

"He's overworking for the Finals. That's actually good for you," Shikaku shrugged. Evidently, his excuse didn't work because Shikamaru continued undeterred.

"You've been sleeping less too. You never do that," He accused then, and Yoshino saw her husbands shoulders sag. "I know you aren't going out to hang out with Inoichi and Chouza for fun. You always come back with the same look you do after Council meetings."

"Yes, something is happening," Shikaku admitted, and she knew that's all he would say on the matter. Evidently, he had decided that there was no point in trying to save the lie.

"So, can we continue training?" Her son asked, almost smirking. 'Is he threatening us with more prodding to train him?' Yoshino had to wonder, and she wasn't sure if she should be proud or not for that.

"What a drag," Shikaku grumbled as he dragged his feet back in front of their son.

Ultimately, Yoshino was just happy that her son would be more prepared.

[}-o-{]

[Inoichi Yamanaka]

Tension was always present at work those days for Inoichi. Which is why he was so glad to have some semblance of peace at home, even if that was somewhat ruined by his daughter asking for training. Don't get him wrong, he had been a very happy man when Ino started asking for it. There were many, many horror stories that were more than true about how the real world treated some kunoichi.

At that moment though, the last thing he wanted was to be reminded that his own daughter would be right there in the middle of what could be an absolute disaster for having passed to the Finals in the Chuunin Exams. Inoichi had never thought that he would be annoyed by his daughter being a good ninja, but that was the case now, apparently.

Still, spending time training with Ino was much better than being at work, where everyone and their mothers were growing more and more paranoid by the second. It was with good reason, but still. They were all doing as much as they could, feeding each other's fears wouldn't help with that.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to focus back on our Clan's Jutsu, Ino," Inoichi told his daughter. "Poisons won't help you with your first opponent in the finals. After all, we know that he uses them too."

"Yeah, make-up-wearing freak poisoned Chouji," Ino grumbled, which the father found somewhat adorable. Despite the name calling, Inoichi found himself proud that his daughter acted so protective of the son of one of his best friends. For a while, he had been worried that her generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho wouldn't be as close as his. "His puppet will be a problem though," She pointed out with a frown. "I can't poison or affect something that doesn't have a real body or mind."

"That's a bit of a counter for us, yes," Inoichi nodded, agreeing with her point. "But you can affect the puppeteer himself. So, much like you did against the Kiri-nin, you could defend his attempts with his puppet while attacking him."

"I don't think I'll have enough time to get the constant version of this Jutsu though," She commented as she slumped down. "We are sure that I can't use the Puppet Switch Cursed Seal with his glorified toy?"

Inoichi had to stop himself from flinching at the 'Cursed Seal' part. Not only because of what he knew of the damned thing that shared that name, which would be enough for some others, but also because of what was now associated with it in his mind. The Void, as Eiji liked to call it. That hell didn't ever get easier to deal with as time passed, if anything, it grew worse.

The Yamanaka clan head almost pitied Kabuto Yakushi for what he had to go through. At least, when he… visited he still retained some of his senses courtesy of the boy, who was only showing him the place and not actually putting him through it. Inoichi was also very glad that the Satou had refused to share his new Genjutsu.

Maybe it was wrong for him to think that, what with him working for the T&I Force, but even he thought that the torture technique was too much. Better to share it as little as possible. It had accomplished its purpose and more already, anyway.

The thing hadn't only gotten the spy to talk, but it had also clearly spooked the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage. Understandable, Inoichi thought. It wasn't everyday that you saw someone break a person so clearly trained against torture and other forms of intelligence extraction.

In less than a minute.

"Dad?" Ino broke him from his musings and he blinked for a second before sighing.

"We've been over this, Ino," Inoichi patiently replied. "You would have to put a seal on that puppet and cast the jutsu on it. By the time you do that, he will have attacked you already. He won't just stand by while you do your thing."

"I know, it's just..." She groaned. "These Exams are supposed to be about showing off, aren't they? And all I'm doing is stuff that nobody can see. First the invisible poison cloud and now a jutsu that only my target can even know it's happening."

The father sighed again. The worst part was that she wasn't even wrong. On the other hand, she was missing the other, much more important part of it too.

"I'm not the flashiest of ninjas either, Ino, and I'm still a Jounin, aren't I?"

"Yes, but you can take control of anyone," His daughter praised, and while it wasn't the answer he wanted, it still made him very proud. "That's cool, but this..." She gestured unintelligently as she struggled to get her point across. "This just… isn't."

"Ino, believe me, what you are training with and what you already know is enough to do well in the Exams. Show as it might be, the judges won't care about how flashy the participants are," Inoichi reassured calmly.

"You sure?" She asked, eyes narrowed.

"I am," He nodded. "Now, back to training, young lady. You still need much of it to start using this jutsu without seals," The father pointed out, much to his daughter's dismay.

"Fiiine!" She all but whined, getting ready to cast it again. Inoichi, meanwhile, got ready to be the target of the practice.