"Jiraiya."

"Well hello there, Is this one of your friends ga-oh, It's you."

"Yes, it is me."

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I happened to be walking by when I noticed you training Naruto. I decided to stop by to make sure you were remaining professional while teaching."

"O-of course I was! You expect anything less of the great jiraiya?!"

I leveled him a deadpan stare. After a few seconds I turned to Naruto.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a pervert has he been?" I asked.

Naruto was happy to jump into the conversation despite not knowing the full context of what was going on.

Naruto thought for a moment, putting a hand up to his chin in a thinking position. After a moment, he gave his reply, "At least an 8."

I looked back at jiraiya for moment, then back to naruto.

"Less then I expected." I mumbled to myself, ensuring both the other shinobi could hear me.

Jiraiya glared at both me and Naruto.

"Oi bra-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was cut off.

"How do you even know this guy Bāsuto?" Naruto asked, looking between myself and the Toad sannin.

I sighed, knowing this was gonna be a long story. I leaned against a nearby tree, both for comfort and the distinct air of dissatisfaction it seemed emanate, all directed towards jiraiya.

"Well, I was travelling through waterfall country when I was about 7 years old, when I saw this old man walking through town. He looked pretty weird, so I thought it would be interesting to follow him and see what he was doing. Turns out he was a pervert and was peeping on the womans hot spring." Jiraiya was red from rage by this point, despite having only begun my story. "After following him a bit longer, I found out he was Jiraiya of the Sannin, and asked him for some seals."

Within seconds of mentioning anything to do with fuinjitsu, Jiraiya's rage disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"That's right, I forgot about that detail. You never did say what you were gonna do with then."

"And I don't intend to."

"Well, I suppose I'll see them during the final exams then? Unless you've managed to lose them that is. They were quite hard to make, and costed quite a bi-oh shit." He cut himself off from his ramblings as he realized his mistake.

I glared at him with an intense passion, my expressionless mask falling away in the blink of an eye. It would be impossible to keep the facade of uncaring considering the circumstances.

"Yes. It did cost quite a bit didn't it?" Jiraiya took a nervous step back.

"Well what did it cost?" Naruto asked, innocently unaware of the tension between the two of us.

I continued to glare at him, even as I moved towards Naruto and cupped a hand to his ear.

"h......tr.......tsu.......and......sha....." naruto's eyes grew to saucers as I whispered an explanation. After I finished, he stared at me for a second before turning and glaring at jiraiya with just as much intensity I had.

"If you think that your gonna make me do that to get your training, think again you pervert!" Naruto exclaimed, extravagantly pointing a finger at jiraiya.

The man was about to give a come back, but was silenced by my glare returning with just as much intensity.

"O-of course not. I would never do anything like that again, I l-learned my lesson the first time." He stuttered out his reply. I glared at him for a moment longer, then nodded my head and walked off.

As I was almost out of hearing range, I give one final reply.

"I expect great things Naruto-kun during the exams Jiraiya-sama."

°•○o○•°•○o○•°•○o○•°

Jade's P.O.V

I will admit this is going to be more anoying then at first glance. With what little I know of my opponent, and with how much they counter my normal fighting style, I may have to train in my more, unique combat style.

Now that I think about it, should I really be out here training on my own without the rest of my team? Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine without me.

°•○o○•°•○o○•°•○o○•°

"This is much harder without Jade."

Yugito's team was training. Well what was left of her team. Yoshi was still recuperating in the hospital, and Jade had run off for 'personal training' as she put it. That left her with only Sachi, who would be fighting in the third round as well as Jade.

"Listen, I know it's a bit more difficult without Jade here to try your techniques on, but she's busy with more personal training." Yugito explained with a sigh. While it was good to have a team bond, she didn't like how much the two relied on Jade. She supposed it had never occurred to them that Jade had someone important to her before now, and had incorrectly assume they would always be her main focus.

Thinking of said person, Yugito couldn't quite make him out. While her being a jinchuriki wasn't exactly a top secret, it was still private enough that there should be no way for a Konoha genin to not only know who she was, but also know that she was the jinchuriki of the Niibi. And yet he knew. He even knew his own teammate was one aswell, despite the short time they've been together. It doesn't seem as if his blond teammate is aware that he knows.

That kind of knowledge had to come from somewhere, either someone had told him, or he had found the information on his own. Either way it meant there was a breach of information. One meant someone was aware of who the jinchuriki were, and was using the genin boy as a middle man, or there was a breach of information big enough that a genin had been able to find it.

She would have to take it up with the Raikage, and Bee, when she got into contact with them again. That would have to wait until they arrived for the final round of the chunin exam, she would not trust a carrier bird with such sensitive information. For now though, all she could do was wait, and train her student.

"Sachi, when you do a kick like that after a strike, you need to not overextend and leave yourself open to counterattacks. I'll show you the correct way again."

Honestly, she couldn't fault Sachi for wishing Jade were here. Despite being their sensei, her students sometimes need a more unique approach, and Jade was admmitly much better at that then her. Her entire combat style was so incredibly unpredictable and quirky, it shouldn't possibly work. If anyone else attempted it, they probably couldn't have made it work, and yet Jade somehow managed to make such a unique and weird style work so well.

I'll never understand how you do the things you do, Jade.

°•○o○•°•○o○•°•○o○•°

Team 8 was having it's first training session since before the exams.

"Good job making it to the third round of the chunin exams, Sakura, Shino, and even if you didn't make it, you still did an excellent job kiba. I'm so proud of you all!" Kurenei exclaimed wrapping them in a big hug.

They had resigned themselves to their fate long before then, and didn't bother to struggle. After a moment she released her students who were not so subtly squirming.

She clapped her hands, then continued. "Now, I'll explain what's going to happen in the next month of training. Shino, your father wishes to perform personal training with you during this next month of training." Shino simply nodded his head in confirmation. "Kiba, your sister also wants to use this month to train you with akamaru." A bark was the only response this time, Kiba staying uncharacteristically quiet. "Sakura, you will be personally training training with me."

"Hai sensei."

"Good. Kiba, Shino, your sister and father are waiting for you at your clan estates. Sakura, we will begin your training. To start off, what do you know of genjutsu?"

°•○o○•°•○o○•°•○o○•°

Focus is an integral part of training. The ability to grasp concepts given to you, apply them, and see what went wrong are all things that come from focusing. It's basically pointless to train if you aren't focused.

That was why Kakashi halted his spar with Sasuke, motioning for him to come sit on a rock next to him. After a moment of confusion, Sasuke wordlessly obliged.

"You seem distracted, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing."

"I know you enough to know that isn't true. Come on, tell your sensei what's bothering his cute little genin."

"You are not going to let this go are you?"

"It's clearly weighing heavy on your mind, it doesn't do good to let things like that stir for any longer then they should."

"Hn... fine. A few days ago Basuto came up to me, said he wanted to explain something that happened during the chunin exams."

"Hm? What might that be?"

"Well, I heard him and Jade-the Kumo girl with the axe- talking to each other while in the second stage of the exams."

"I was aware they had previously met as children, but what might they have been discussing?"

"Kakashi-sensei, do you know what a jinchuriki is?"

"Oh... and he mentioned this?"

"Yes, they talked about it for a while."

"That's certainly interesting, and somewhat Concerning all things considered. As for your question, yes I am aware of what a jinchuriki is."

"He explained what they were to me. He said he wanted to try and contact them, to warn them of some danger that might be coming soon."

"Where did he get this information?"

"He said he couldn't tell, that his informant would like to remain anonymous."

Kakashi thought on that bit of info.

All things considered, it was likely the same person who gave him his reincarnation in the first place.

Unknowing of Kakashi's internal thoughts, Sasuke continued.

"It's just, he's trying to help them, to warn them, and I just can't help but wonder, if he needs to find all the jinchuriki, why come to Konoha? That must mean someone here is a jinchuriki, and if so, who is it?"

"Unfortunately Sasuke, that's a village secret, so I'm not allowed to tell you. What I can tell you though, is that you shouldn't focus too much on things like this. It might be someone you know, it might not. The fact of the matter is that no matter who it is, your thoughts shouldn't revolve around it like they are right now. You shouldn't treat them any differently just because of it, you should accept them for who they are."

Sasuke sat in silent contemplation, the only sounds were that of the faint rustling of the wind. Despite Sasukes silence, Kakashi could tell his little speech had helped the Uchiha considerably.

Despite not receiving a verbal response, kakashi stood up anyway.

"Now that that's over and done with, lets continue our spar, ne?

°•○o○•°•○o○•°•○o○•°
an unknown chamber somewhere beneath konoha

Two men stared back at each other, silent as the room around them.

After minutes of silence, one spoke up.

"Orochimaru, what is it you want? You know how risky it is for me to meet you right now because of your recent actions."

"Kukuku, you need not worry so much. I have everything perfectly under control. As you know, I have made recent moves within konoha."

A glare was sent in the Sannin's direction.

"Yes, I am aware of your recent actions, which is exactly why I'm confused on why you called this meeting. I'd assume we would not be of similar interests considering your current... endeavors."

"That is where you are wrong, my friend. Originally my plan was to destroy Konoha, but I've come to the realization I still don't quite have the manpower for that, especially now that I've acquired knowledge that jiraiya is here. Instead, I'm aiming for a much more reasonable goal. I'm going to kill Hiruzen. That not only gives me a small bit of revenge, but it also leaves the Hokage seat open for you to take the position. With you in the seat, my own moves would be less focused upon would they not?"

"An interesting thought to be sure, however I have no need for the Hokage seat. I still need time to strengthen my numbers, and root myself fully within this village. However with Hiruzen out of the way, it will be much easier to do both. Along with the real lack of threat to the village itself, I will make no moves to help, or stop your current plans. You have free rein from me, so long as  Konoha isn't critically endangered."

"Kukuku, I knew we could come to an agreement. You were always a smart man, Danzo. Have fun training your new student."

"What do you know of Hanadji Basuto?"

"Oh nothing much really, just that he is very interesting."

With that, the snake left the room, leaving only an old war hawk.

"He is very interesting indeed."

°•○o○•°•○o○•°•○o○•°

What do mean I forgot to release this at the end of February? That's completely not true.

Joking aside, I'm sorry for another filler chapter, I wanted to have one last chapter to tie everything up before the 3rd round. Things will certainly start to ramp up next chapter though.

I hope you had a lovely time reading, don't forget to Vote, Comment, and share. If your particularly interested you can even follow

I hope to see you all in the next chapter,

-JustSk8n