Chapter 24

The next month passed in a blur of training for everybody; aside from missions the two Uchiha stayed in their compound a lot, apparently both being trained in the Sharingan. Apparently it was some kind of tradition for when an Uchiha reached the three-tomoe state, however it had never happened at such a young age. Naruto missed Shisui's company but he had plenty to keep himself occupied in the meantime and he knew they would all come back stronger for it.

He continued to work on the Rasengan, experimenting with making it bigger or more concentrated. He knew elemental manipulation was a bit out of his league at the moment, only recently getting to grips with his wind affinity to even begin to attempt it. Instead he trained his speed as usual as well as trying to teach Anko the Rasengan. Strangely the girl didn't seem to take to it, apparently finding the concept of moulding her chakra into something visible hard to wrap her head around.

When Naruto had asked the Hokage about this during one of his infrequent visits he had simply replied it had been the same when Minato had tried to teach his own students. Apparently, the technique in itself wasn't all that difficult to achieve, it was just so alien an idea to most that they couldn't wrap their heads around it. Even Sarutobi had to admit that Minato's self-created jutsu was far beyond even him, he was too set in his old, structured ways. However it appeared that one of his father's students had managed to create their own jutsu based off his father's, apparently making it quite famous, the Raikiri.

That wasn't to say Anko had nothing to keep her occupied, Orochimaru turned out to be quite the intensive sensei. As soon as she would master a technique he would give her it would be straight onto the next one. He also proved to be very attentive, always willing to help out Anko as long as it was only to adjust what she was doing. Apparently he praised natural talent, enjoying those that could take a concept and flesh it out on their own without assistance. To be fair, it showed commitment, ingenuity and creativity; all good qualities in a Shinobi.

Naruto often watched the two of them during his own training, at least when Orochimaru actually supervised Anko's training in the Namikaze training ground. When the man had first seen Naruto use the Rasengan, obliterating a training dummy in the process, he had first been stunned. He had quickly recovered, congratulating the redhead on mastering such a difficult jutsu that he, begrudgingly, admitted he could not re-create.

Naruto found the man's company to be pleasant; he was incredibly interesting to listen to and he had many stories from his time as part of the Sannin, at least when they were a team. While he sometimes came off as slightly arrogant, when his reputation was brought into question it was actually understandable. He had once jokingly suggested a spar between the two of them; needless to say he dominated the fight from start to finish. At least Naruto learnt that day that Orochimaru wasn't the kind to pull a punch, or in his case, a snake.

The man was like wind when Naruto wanted to hit him and, despite all the advancements he had made in the area, his speed was nothing compared to the Sannin. His body still burned a little from the toxins the man kept pumping him with with various snake bites. All his attacks would come out of nowhere, all in unconventional means like through the ground or once even out of a tree. In all Naruto could plainly see that he was outclassed hopelessly and, without somehow injecting years of training in the forthcoming months, that wasn't going to change any time soon.

Anko also showed marked improvement under his tutelage, mastering Jutsu after Jutsu, including some unique to the Sannin himself. He had allowed her to sign the snake summoning contract which had involved a frightful experience with Manda, the boss summon, that would be ingrained into Naruto's memory for quite some time. The two of them would be starting missions soon which lowered Naruto's spirits slightly, knowing that they would only see less of one another in the next few years. Still, it only meant that he had to make the time he had no count all the more.

AN: give me stones!!!