Chapter 2

(Going with version 1, just cause I don't wanna have to try and make a harem out of all the older women in Naruto. This also isn't harem, btw)

Kotaro slashed down from above with his sword but his attack was easily blocked by Chiyo's puppet before another one sent him flying into a pile of hay.

"Haha. You've improved, boy. With this level of skill, you could pass for a veteran chunin or even a special jonin," Chiyo complimented Kotaro once more.

This may have sounded like the type of overpraising most grandparents would give to kids but Chiyo was very strict. She would only compliment someone if she truly meant it, even her own family.

Every time she sparred with him, he would surprise her with how much he had improved since the last time.

Hearing her praise, Kotaro smiled brightly.

"Really? Then I can definitely pass the Chunin Exams in 3 months!"

Chiyo smiled to herself and felt pity for the other children that were going to participate while also being very excited. Konoha had invited them to participate in their next chunin exam which Rasa accepted in hopes of forming a better relationship with them.

But Chiyo was not excited about this.

Instead, she was happy that Kotaro was going to participate since the Slug Girl's grandson would most likely also be participating. Thus, if the pair met, she was sure that Kotaro would easily defeat her rival's grandchild.

Chiyo rubbed Kotaro's head absentmindedly as she dreamed of seeing the Slug Girl's tears while Kotaro stepped on her grandchild.

Kotaro stood still and let the old woman do as she pleased. He was used to this happening more and more whenever she thought about the Chunin Exams.

'Granny Chiyo. She only countered your poisons a few times. This grudge is lasting way too long.'

After a few minutes, Chiyo finally snapped out of it before sending Kotaro off to practice on his own.

'Let's see. Today is Monday which means that I should be doing my wind ninjutsu training today. I should go meet up with Nee-san.'

Kotaro began making his way through the village until he reached the Kazekage residence. He could already hear the wind howling before he made it to the back of the house.

'Nee-san is as hardworking as ever.'

And just like he expected, Kotaro walked in one Temari swinging her giant fan as she created strong and sharp gusts of wind that cut through the training dummies around the yard.

"Nice, Nee-san!" Kotaro complimented while giving her a thumbs up

Seeing that her younger brother had arrived, Temari set down her fan and flashed her little fan a smile. It was only in front of him that she would smile so brightly.

"Hey, Kotaro. You're too late. We can't practice today," Temari said apologetically

This got Kotaro's attention. Temari was pretty strict with her schedule for her to miss a day, it meant something important was happening. And her following words confirmed it.

"Father said that the 4th Hokage and several genin teams from their village will be arriving later to have mock battles with us and build a closer bond. They should be here within half an hour which means that we have to start heading towards the entrance."

At the mention of their father, Kotaro instinctively frowned. He knew just how cruelly the man was treating Gaara so the pair had long stopped having a proper father-son relationship.

"Fine," Kotaro said reluctantly before following his sister out of the residence and towards the entrance of the village.

Suna was one of the 5 Great Ninja villages and was located in a desert. While most others would have fallen in this environment, the ninja of Suna thrived. They established a large village within a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock, with passage in and out of the village restricted to a single cleft between two cliff faces.

As the two ran through the village, they were greeted by many of the villagers warmly. Even though they were smiling at them, the pair ignored most of the people except for a few that had higher positions.

Temari was the princess of the village so she was treating them as she thought royalty should. Kotaro was ignoring them for a different reason though.

It was only after Gaara had marked his own head that the villagers started treating Kotaro warmly. But he didn't want this superficial kindness. These were the same villagers that still hated his brother.

The duo soon arrived at the crevice before running through it to make it to the other side. When they finally got to the entrance of the valley, they found Rasa, lady Pakura, and several other high-ranking members of the village.

"Sensei!" Temari greeted when she saw Pakura

Pakura turned to Temari and smiled at the girl before motioning for the duo to stand next to her. Both of them did without a word.

Pakura was Temari's personal teacher like Chiyo was Kotaro's. Pakura was also their official jonin teacher for when they would take part during the Chunin Exams in a few months.

When the two kids stood by Pakura, they could already see over a dozen figures approaching. But since none of the adults look worried, neither did either of the kids.

In a few minutes, the figures stopped running towards them and stood in front of the Suna group. This was the Konoha delegation.

Standing in the front was the legendary 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Standing on either side of him were his 3 personal guards, Itachi Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha.

Behind them were 3 teams of genin that were using this mission as an excuse to complete their necessary C-Rank mission in order to compete at the Chunin Exams. These teams were each composed of some of the best and worst ninjas of their generations.

Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma were each powerful ninja from Konoha with great reputations. Underneath them were teams especially suited for each of them to teach and that were very valuable to Konoha.

Kakashi was put in charge of the team that had one of the last 3 surviving Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha, and the child of the 4th Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. It also had the girl that was the personal student of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade.

Asuma was put in charge of another very important team. He was placed in command of the latest generation of Ino-Shika-Cho, one of the most important clan alliances in Konoha.

As for Kurenai, she was placed in command of a team that had the heirs to the last 2 members of the 4 Noble Clans, the princess of the Hyuga and the heir of the Aburame.

And the 4th Hokage brought all of these important figures to Suna. This showed just how much faith he had in Suna or how much faith he had in his group's combat strength.