Kakashi glanced back over his shoulder at his makeshift team of almost totally green Genin. To be totally honest, he was relieved that his first ever mission leading a Genin team, was not with his own Genin. His just never took to the ethos he wanted in a squad that was led by him. Sai kept himself to himself, and to anyone who new what to look for, it was blindingly obvious he had been trained by Danzou. It wasn't that he could control his emotions particularly well, it was more so that he had no emotions to speak of. He had been conditioned to an inhumane level, and Kakashi doubted his ability, or that of the rest of his team, to break him down. Not only that, Sai was streets ahead of any Genin Kakashi had ever seen.

As far as his teams ability to complete missions went, that in itself wasn't a problem. It was how his team reacted to Sai's ability that was. Uchiha Sasuke, was his biggest concern. Openly driven by revenge, the boy had major insecurities about his own ability, well covered by his supposed superiority over his classmates. However, Sai had utterly destroyed that false perception, and Sasuke had been enraged by it. He had closed himself of from the rest of his team, and devoted himself to gaining strength, even more so than before. Kakashi couldn't get through to him, Sai didn't have a reason to and Sakura couldn't see that anything was wrong.

Sakura herself, in comparison to her other team-mates, was a minor inconvenience. She had some serious talent, but no motivation to use it. She spent too much time worrying about diets, clothes and impressing Sasuke to devote any energy to improving herself as a shinobi. Kakashi knew she would eventually learn. Either through her own thoughts and reflections, or the hard way, through losing a team-mate, or suffering a serious injury (even though Kakashi would do his utmost to prevent the last two options).

Trying to lead his first mission as a sensei with his own team would be incredibly difficult. However, as it stood, the three Genin he was now leading, seemed to be getting on incredibly well. Naruto was currently listening to the Inuzuka girl, Hana, tell animated tales of her experiences on missions with her own team; whilst Shikamaru was walking slightly ahead of them, trying to look bored and hide his interest in the conversation, or more specifically, Naruto. The Nara occasionally interjected, attempting to fish for information about the blonde, who was being more open than Kakashi supposed Shikamaru had ever seen him, or at least more true to himself.

Shikamaru's questioning of Naruto indicated to the Jonin that some of the blonde's age group had noticed something wasn't quite right for Naruto, and that maybe, as a result, had tried to make Naruto's life a little bit better. True or not, it made Kakashi feel at least a little bit less guilty. Of course, he would do his best to make it up to Naruto himself, the only ways he thought he could. Firstly by telling him as much as he could about his father, as soon as he got the chance; secondly, by teaching Naruto shinobi arts whenever the opportunity arose. He had already started with the latter, if only a little; and from what he had heard, Naruto had taken what he had said on board, and dived into some extracurricular reading. On top of that, he had managed to learn the jutsu that Kakashi had given to him, and already managed to adapt it in such a way that only he could. 'I mean, an underground Bunshin ambush? Itachi would have been proud of that one.' The thought of Itachi had given Kakashi another idea for a jutsu he could teach the blonde. Unfortunately, that one might have to wait a bit. It was a jutsu that suited Naruto down to a tee, but that was the big risk. This particular jutsu was... explosive, to say the least.

For now, Kakashi thought, eyeing the weapon hastily fastened to the blonde's back; he should probably focus on things that were perhaps a little bit more basic.

"Say, Naruto." Kakashi said, interrupting the conversation between the Genin. "How much do you know about the weapon you have on your back? I know it can't of been that long ago that you first started using it, because there's nothing about it on your file."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in thought before answering.

"Well I only just started using it while I was training with Yuugao-sensei before I got sent out on this mission, so I really don't have any experience with it at all. I only bought it in case I got a bit of free time to experiment with it; I wouldn't risk trying to use it in an actual fight just yet, although I like to think I was pretty good just using it as a staff."

"And what do you mean by 'just using it as a staff', Naruto?" The masked Jonin enquired, his eye curved once again, creating what can only really be described as an 'eye-smile'.

"Well, I know it's called a Sansetsukon, and I've seen them before. They are a like a staff cut into three sections, joined by chains. But this..." Naruto trailed off, indicating to his weapon in order to make his point, which he now held in his hands.

"And what do you know about the wood it was made out of?" Kakashi asked, eye-smile still firmly in place.

"It was made from a tree that can only be found in Kaze no Kuni, and things made from its wood are able to channel chak-" Naruto stopped dead as the realisation hit him, once again seemingly unable to finish his own sentence, and Kakashi had to stop himself from snorting with laughter at the over the top groan of frustration that escaped from the blonde.

"It's so obvious!" The blonde exclaimed, irritated at his own failure to work out how to use the Sansetsukon himself. And while Kakashi partially agreed with him, it wasn't all the blonde's fault. He had spent the vast majority of his life both stunted in his education, and intentionally trying to act the fool as part of the façade he had put up, in order to avoid thinking about how lonely he was. And as a result, the way of thinking developed in those conditions, was incredibly hard to displace. Naruto's desire to improve, as well as the use of the Kage Bunshin, was helping him overcome his deficiencies; however, as Naruto was now finding out, old habits die hard. Whilst he was immeasurably better than he was before, his mind still occasionally slipped up as a result of how rapid his turn around had been. He would still struggle with some things others might call easy, and he might not notice things others would think obvious still, but these occasions were rare, and getting rarer still all the time.

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you try channelling your chakra through it, and we'll see if a can't teach you a few things about the mechanics of the weapon?"

Naruto, in response, turned his attention to the Sansetsukon. Gripping the weapon with his right hand, he concentrated on his own chakra, moulding it within him and gradually channelling it through the weapon. As he did this, the two joints on the weapon seemed to take a blue, almost unnoticeable hue. Naruto, who had been trying hard to use as little chakra as he possibly could, allowed the chakra flow into the weapon increase; and as he did, the blue glow around the became more pronounced, before the weapon finally separated into three distinct sections, the two Naruto was not gripping, dropping downwards. The blonde looked at the weapon, now entirely different, with a look of amazement. The three sections were being held together by two chakra threads, thick enough to be clearly seen between each. What's more Naruto could feel an external force moulding his chakra from within the weapon, meaning he did not have to continually focus on maintaining the threads themselves. It was automatic.

"Sansetsukon crafted for shinobi are incredibly unique, as they use chakra to manipulate the weapon in a way that one simply couldn't do with a plain variation of the weapon. The smith who makes them, weaves several seals into them, and although I don't know nearly enough about fuinjutsu to be able to explain how the work, I know they essentially allow for two things. Firstly, one set of seals create and maintain the chakra threads for you for as long as you are channelling your chakra through the weapon, meaning you are able to fight without having to focus on keeping the threads functional. Secondly, another set of seals allow you to manipulate the weapon by simply changing the way you channel your chakra through it. I'll give you a quick demonstration."

Kakashi reached for the scrolls he had attached to his flak jacket, and removed one seemingly without looking. Unfurling in with one hand, he focused some chakra to the index finger of the other, and applied it to the seal that was visible on the otherwise blank scroll. A sound, not dissimilar to that of a Kage Bunshin being created, was heard at the moment of impact and smoke created by chakra being dispelled masked the scroll and its immediate surroundings. When it cleared, Kakashi was holding his very own Sansetsukon to match Naruto's. He begun channelling his own chakra through the weapon, causing it to separate, and assume the same position at the blonde's.

"Now I want you to watch carefully, and try to guess how I'm manipulating my chakra, in order to achieve what I am. This is the first step towards learning the shinobi Sansetsukon, and you should practice this alongside the forms and stances you will learn, and only combine the two once you are proficient at both."

Kakashi raised the weapon, extending his hand so it was directly out in front of him, and began focusing on his chakra. Slowly, the three Genin watching saw the two sections of the Sansetsukon that Kakashi wasn't holding begin to rise, until the weapon was perfectly straight, as it was before Kakashi had begun to channel his chakra. Next, the very top section began to spin slowly, seemingly of it's own volition, on it's chakra thread. After a few rotations, it straightened again, and the middle and the top section began to spin together in the same way, both staying straight while they rotated. The slow manner in which they spun indicated that the Jonin was in complete control of their movements. Kakashi stopped the sections spinning, and continued to manipulate the weapon's sections in different ways, demonstrating that each section could be controlled and moved independently through manipulating the chakra threads in the joints.

"Obviously, in most situations, you would maintain a two handed grip on the weapon. However, the ability manoeuvre the weapon using your chakra adds an extra dimension to your attacks, and of course, if you're clever, gives you the opportunity to use your free hand for other things if needs be. The reason I was performing these movements so slowly was both to give you the chance to try and work out how I was using my chakra in order to create the movements, and also because this is the speed you should begin your practice at. You will find, that you should be able to move the weapon at faster speeds once you nail the concept down; but you're movements will lack control and precision, and in all honesty, you will struggle to perform at very high speeds in a combat situation. Instead, you should practice everything as slowly as possible, and look to gradually build up the speed. If you are not in total control, you are practicing too fast. You should be able to start practicing whilst we move, we still have a mission to get on with after all."

"Sooooo, is this kind of like, shape transformation? I don't really know much about it, as it's only mentioned briefly in everything I've read so far." Naruto asked, his eyes still firmly focused on the weapon he held in his hand.

Kakashi nodded in response. "Shape transformation isn't as advanced as it sounds. It's simply moulding chakra into shapes, and specific movements, outside of your body. It does however take a lot of practice to get it right. As far as using it with the Sansetsukon, it is much easier to manage, as the weapon acts as a physical construct for you to manipulate, rather than just trying to manipulate pure chakra outside of your body. Learning to use the Sansetsukon is actually a good base for moving onto pure shape transformation. Rather than try to move the sections of the weapon with your chakra, picture the weapon as being made out of chakra, and 'mould' the weapon as you would your own chakra."

"Right! I think I get it. Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, as he turned his attention to his Sansetsukon, seemingly adding the honorific without realising it.

Kakashi would never tell anyone, but secretly, that single moment had made him feel happier than he could remember being in a long time.

Two days passed as the group travelled towards the border of Hi no Kuni, and Naruto was already beginning to grasp the basics of manipulating his Sansetsukon. It took him nearly the entire first day to be able to move the weapon at all with his chakra, but once he had worked precisely how he needed to mould his chakra in order to generate the movement, he figured out the other things incredibly quickly. First, learnt to force the weapon to go rigid, as it was before he channelled his chakra through it, only extended by the chakra threads. Next, he had learnt how to move each section individually, by manipulating the individual chakra threads. He did everything as slowly as possible, and he soon realised Kakashi had been right about control of the weapon. If he tried to move a section faster than he was comfortable with, he would lose control over the amount the section would move, where it stopped, and he would even occasionally cause the other to move too. Now, about an hour since the group had crossed into the barren, rocky area on the border between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni that later led to the deserts of Kaze no Kuni; he was rotating the final section of his weapon on it's chakra thread, incredibly slowly, focusing intently on it's rotation, so intently in fact, he nearly missed Kakashi speak.

"We're here. This is the canyon that Team Kamiko and the injured Suna shinobi are taking cover."

Naruto looked up to take a better look at his surroundings. The stone beneath his feet still hadn't yet given way to the sand, and the area still hadn't given way to the flat, barren expanses of the desert. The terrain was still stone dry, however the landscape around them was craggy and uneven, with various stone outcrops, and rock formations littering their surroundings. Some, in the distance, looked to equal the size of small mountains, seemingly towering above the shinobi, despite their distance away.. Directly in front of him, was the most interesting feature of the entire area. In front of them, stood an enormous stone archway, easily ten foot across, beyond which, the stone ground sunk below and expanded outwards, creating some kind of bizarre canyon, that went on for further than Naruto could see. Rock formations were built up along the tops of the walls of the canyons too, meaning that once inside it would be almost impossible to see anything along the edge once you were inside.

"Kakashi; was this canyon man-made?" It had been Shikamaru that voiced the question, although it had begun to form in the minds of the other two Genin.

"Almost definitely. However, no-one knows how it was done. This canyon, and the people who once lived inside, as far as we can tell, pre-dated ninjutsu by quite a bit."

"People lived in there? Naruto asked, slightly incredulously.

"The canyon actually goes a lot further than we need to go, and we won't be progressing all the way through it to get to Suna either. Which I'm glad for, if I'm honest. The canyon is about 15 feet across once you move down beyond the archway, and then expands again a while later, by quite a lot into some kind of 'room' if you will. It is a circular space, around the same area as a public training ground. This is where team Kamiko are holding out. However if you go beyond that the area narrows again, for about half an hour at walking speed, before beginning to head even deeper underground, and finally, opening out once again. And there, is what's left of a small village built in to the rock." As Kakashi finished his sentence, the Genin simultaneously drew a breath. An underground village, that predated ninjutsu, seemed both a ridiculous, and impossible notion. Yet here they were, being confronted with one.

"Wait," Naruto said, looking slightly thoughtful. "Was this like a hidden village? Were the people that lived here, like shinobi?"

"That's certainly the most popular theory. As you know, even without ninjutsu, there is a lot included in the shinobi arts, and there is every chance that these people were as deadly as a modern shinobi. Which makes what happened even more unnerving."

"What do mean, 'what happened'?" This time it was Hana that spoke, audibly concerned at the fact a Jonin could be unnerved by something that happened to people so long ago.

"Again we don't know for sure. But what has been found out, was that the entire village was wiped out. Every man, woman and child; killed, and left to rot in that canyon. They knew something was coming for them, too. Doors had been locked and barricaded, there were hastily made fortifications everywhere, too. They knew they were in grave danger, and yet, didn't try and leave. Hundreds of sets of remains have been found, all of the people who used to live here. Women found huddled over their children, the men before them desperately trying to protect their families; warriors on the outside, all ready to give their lives for they're homes, and those that they loved. Every single one. Dead. And we still have no idea what did it. I've had to go down there before, on a mission. And all I know, is that I'll never forget it, and I sure as hell don't want to go back there. But, like i said, we won't be going that far down into the canyon."

All three Genin shared a look. Before, one or two of them might of had ideas of exploring the abandoned village. Somehow, the idea that any of them still harboured those plans, seemed incredibly unlikely.

A figure, hidden amongst one of the rock formations that overlooked the inside of the canyon swore violently, anger tainting his voice, the need for quiet transforming his rant into a low hiss.

"Hatake Kakashi! Hatake fucking Kakashi! What the fuck are we gonna do now? Well? 'Wait for the next fucking team'! What a brilliant idea! Now we're screwed! How are we gonna get it now?" The man paused in his rant, breathing heavily as he finished venting his rage.

"Will you relax?" A second man spoke, from his position atop the formation, sitting casually and seemingly looking over the entire landscape. "We have our trump card still; and in case you didn't notice, that bastard Hatake was with a couple of Genin. He can't fight the both of us, and defend them at the same time. We'll kill the runts, get what we came for, and then exact some much deserved revenge on that arrogant, masked bastard."

"I still think you're underestimating him. He killed so many of us. He's fucking dangerous, man."

"You have the seals, right?" The second man barked out, eliciting a sharp grunt in affirmation from the fist. "Well, wait until Hatake moves past and the other Konoha ninja leave, and lay down every last one. They're trapped, and then, they'll be outnumbered. Like I said, Hatake can't protect the brats and fight us."

"Fine. Let's do this. On one condition though." The first figure stating, drawing the direct gaze of his partner.

"I get to rip that bastards eyes out myself."

They had only been moving for a few minutes and Naruto was already starting to feel nervous. Except, it wasn't the thought of the ghost-village they were getting ever closer to that was worrying him, it was where he was now. The path, as Kakashi promised, had gotten wider as they went deeper; however, about minute down naruto had spotted something in the wall up ahead, on the left hand side. It was a stone statue, carved out of the wall. It stood six feet tall, and held a sword in front of it's own chest, the flat of the blade nearly resting against the body of the figure. However, the outstanding feature of the statue, was not it's weapon, but it's face.

Or rather, lack of face.

No eyes, no mouth, and no nose. Just smoothly carved stone, where the facial features should have been.

And then, Shikamaru saw the others. The entire path ahead, was lined on both sides by the faceless stone warriors, all guarding the path towards the village hidden ahead of them.

They had no eyes, yet for the entire time they walked down that path, the blonde could of sworn that he was being watched.

However, as uncomfortable as it may have been for the Genin, the walk to their destination was a fairly short one; and soon, the large opening into the next section of the canyon was visible, and the team of Konoha shinobi they had been sent to meet was visible ahead of them.

"Kakashi, you finally made it! Thank God for that, I'd kill for a shower about now!" The first of the Konoha ninja exclaimed as Kakashi and his squad approached there position. She was definitely an experienced shinobi. She held her flak jacket, indicating her rank was above genin, in her right hand seemingly believing it was too hot to wear it. She was dressed incredibly plainly, wearing the standard shinobi attire of Konoha, and her headband being used to keep her shoulder length blonde hair out of her face. It was her poise, like many of the best shinobi, that set her apart from her Chunin comrades. Every movement she made, perfectly controlled, despite her near-exhausted state.

"Kamiko, you look terrible. How long have you been out of the village?"

"We'd been escorting a pair of rich businessmen from Suna as they travelled to make a high profile business deal in Kumo. They did what they had to do no issues, but on the way back we were attacked by a couple of shinobi. Some hotshot missing nin who had just become a Jonin, with a bunch of his little friends decided they needed the money these two have. They were pretty good, too. Gave us a good fight. Once we had dealt with them, and got moving back towards Suna again; we came across our new friend over there." Kamiko indicated to the Suna shinobi, resting up against a rock, a short while away from the group. "He was unconscious when we found him, and he's banged up pretty bad. Nothing fatal as far as I can see, but he can't walk, has chakra exhaustion and I'm pretty sure he has a broken arm, but I ain't a medic, so you'd be better off taking a look at him yourselves."

Kakashi looked thoughtful before turning to Hana. "Hana, why don't you go and see if you can diagnose him, and see how quickly you can get him on his feet without compromising his recovery." The Inuzuka nodded before heading over to the injured shinobi and getting to work. " He turned back to Kamiko. "What can you tell me about him?" Kakashi asked, referring to the injured shinobi.

"Well, he's spent a lot of time asleep since he regained consciousness, and we've been here for three days now, so we haven't gotten that much from him. We know he was on some kind of retrieval mission, to get hold of some kind of ancient weapon that belonged to Sunagakure and had been lost in battle, because the first thing he did when he became conscious again was check that he still had the weapon in his bag, which he does. We also got out of him that he wasn't alone. His two team-mates were Chunin, and both were killed in the early moments of the fight..." She trailed off, glancing towards Naruto and Shikamaru. "Listen, Kakashi, we can stay if you want. When we asked for assistance, we still didn't know that there was a chance we'd be up against enemy Shinobi, I didn't think Hokage-sama would send Genin to here of all places."

Ideally Kakashi would have liked to take her up on the offer. He really didn't want to be leading Genin into such a dangerous situation. But a glance at Kamiko and her team dispelled those thoughts quickly. She was moving gingerly, and he could tell she hadn't managed to rest enough to replenish her chakra. The rest of her team was just as ragged. They had been out for weeks now, with little to no rest.

"We both know what would happen if you were attacked at the moment Kamiko, I appreciate the offer, but we'll manage. Besides, we have a little help to call upon if things get a little desperate. Get home, Kamiko. rest. you've earned it, I'd say."

"Bah, Kakashi, you noble bastard. We'll head out straight away then, if you don't mind. I'd like to get into Hi no Kuni as soon as possible, I've had enough of trying to sleep on stone. See you back in Konoha." And with that, the four Konoha shinobi left the way Kakashi and his team had came in. The silver haired Jonin turned to the remainder of his team.

"Well what do you two say we go and see how Hana is getting on, and then we'll decide what our next move is." The two Genin nodded, and followed Kakashi towards the injured Suna shinobi.

Suddenly, Kakashi paused mid stride.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, looking curiously at the Jonin.

"That Suna ninja is one of their most respected Jonin, he's listed in the bingo book as being incredibly dangerous. I only just recognised him." Kakashi paused as he took another look at the shinobi, just to be sure.

"His name, is Baki"