Hello everyone!
This is a new story I know, but I started this like a year ago and just put it on the side and kind of forgot about it. Just happened to find it and decided to give it a go. Hope you all enjoy!
"It's been a long time hasn't it, gaki?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yeah, it really has. I wonder how everyone is doing; wonder if they've changed as much as I have?" Naruto asked as the giant gates of Konoha came into view.
Heaving a sigh, "Look, I understand that it's been hard adjusting to it, but you just have to stay positive. Remember, you can always talk to me or Tsu-hime. You know we're all there for you." Jiraiya said giving a small smile to his student.
Naruto after leaving underwent a small change. According to the toads an ancient dōjutsu was unlocked, the Uzugan. To say the Toads were happy would be as much of an understatement as Kakashi glimpses at a new edition Icha Icha. Though they knew nothing about the dōjutsu, except what it looked like, they knew it was powerful and very, very rare. The eyes themselves turned into a swirl and kept slowly spinning like a whirlpool, and with Naruto's eyes they're Azure color it truly looked just like the name suggested.
After months of trying to figure out what it did, they unlocked some form of genetic memory and came across a few things. The first a genjutsu that could be cast without eye contact just not as effectively, called Kyōfu no Refumu (Realm of Terror) and as the name suggests it places the victim in a genjutsu showing them their worst fears come to life. With eye contact it becomes unbreakable, though Naruto has only been able to sustain the jutsu for a maximum of 20 seconds. A second effect of the dōjutsu was the fact that he now has perfect chakra control. Along with all of this was also the Hīringuōbu (Healing Orb) which, again, like its name suggests creates an orb of chakra that increases regeneration in everyone around him in a one meter radius. To do it requires his full and undivided attention and is heavily chakra taxing and he was always exhausted to the point of unconsciousness. Naruto and Jiraiya still have no clue if can regenerate a full limbs or cure poisons as they weren't willing to go that far just to figure if it would.
While gaining all of this Naruto was forced to make a heavy sacrifice in the way of his sight. When the dōjutsu activated itself he lost all sight, though it wasn't the first time, he freaked out for a bit. Jiraiya was forced to enlist the help of the elder toads to figure out what was wrong, and when he was told about it he still wasn't all that happy. Needless to say the Toads taught him how to reread using Braille and replacing his sight with a form of 'sight' that they developed by the prophet, called 'Echolocation'where he uses chakra to enhance his already strong senses like hearing and smelling to see everything around him. They developed the technique as a form of sensing in combat but it works perfectly for Naruto as well on an everyday basis.
"I know, I know, still… It's just hard is all…" Naruto said. During his training with the perverted Sannin at the Toads Mountain, he grew taller now standing at 5'11'', and the Toads hadn't just taught him about his dōjutsu and how to see again, they also worked him to the bone in both jutsu after figuring out that he had three affinities, and physical training. He had even been given training in Senpō, and he even accomplished gaining Sage Mode as well, thought it took him a while to activate it. He was still working on that.
Naruto had changed his attire as well, since he grew and changed in many aspects he figured it was time for a new change. He now wore black styled ANBU cargo pants, and a form fitting short sleeved shirt. The Toads even gave him a gift before he left, a coat styled just like the Yondaime Hokage's only black with dark red lining and in red lettering on his back the kanji for 'Whirlpool' was written. The coat also had a hood to pull up over his bright sunkissed blonde hair. His hitai-ate now sporting a black band instead of a blue, was coving his eyes as he didn't want the world to know that he had a dōjutsu.
As they walked through the giant gates, two chūnin observed the pair.
"Well I'll be damned, look whose back…" Kotetsu said while looking over at his longtime friend Izumo who quickly marked the two shinobi down.
"Yeah, it'll be good to have him back." Izumo said, as the two chūnin watched them leave heading to the Hokage's Tower.
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Hokage's Office
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The Gondaime Hokage was currently trying hopelessly to defeat an enemy that every Kage to this day has had to battle against. The infamous Paperwork! Needless to say it was always a losing battle but one that she was forced to fight no matter how much she did.
"Tsunade-sama, here's another stack of paperwork for you to do." Shizune said, setting down a stack of papers, next to the two other stacks that she still had to do.
"Tell me Shizune, your just making random work for me to do because your sadist. It's okay you can tell me the truth." Tsunade said, looking at her first apprentice.
"Tsunade-sama you know that's not true. Here I even brought you some tea," Shizune said, handing her mistress a cup of steaming tea. The blonde Kage accepted the cup and quickly took a sip, giving a small sigh of content. Ever since Shizune decided to hide all of her sake, she's been forced to replace most of it with tea. The older woman look out at the village she had sworn to protect and couldn't help but smiled at the memories of a certain blonde genin that came flooding back anytime she looked over the village.
Because of Naruto she was able to move past her old pain, and move on to realize the dreams of her dead little brother and lover, and on top of that found an adoptive son in Naruto himself. Without that blonde she was certain that she would still be blaming herself over and over again.
A knock came at her door and while she was turned away from it she told whoever it was to enter.
"Well Tsu-hime, seems you've taken to the position rather well." Jiraiya said as he walked in with Naruto in tow.
Turning to see her former teammate and the blonde, brought a smile to her face. That is until she couldn't see Naruto's eyes cause his face was pulled back into his hood.
"Ah, I see your back. Your training proved fruitful I hope?" Tsunade asked, still not taking her eyes off Naruto.
"It did indeed. More so than even I thought, though there were a few setbacks…" Jiraiya said, muttering the last part and looking at his student.
"Oh come on Ero-Sannin! You know I needed it, not like it would have mattered anyway. Ma and Pa would have forced me to learn it anyway." Naruto said, crossing his arms and looking at his teacher.
"What setbacks if I might ask?" Tsunade said, crossing her fingers in front of her face while leaning forward.
Naruto looked at the woman before giving a sigh and pulling back his hood. His eyes still covered and looked right at her face, "Well, long story short I somehow activated a dōjutsu and lost my sight. I'm blind now…" Naruto said lowering the band so they could see his eyes.
Both women gasped, earning another sigh from Naruto since he knew that was going to be their reaction, but he figured it was better to get this over with now.
"You don't have to worry. I'm perfectly fine…" Naruto started to say.
"HOW CAN YOU BE FINE?!" Tsunade and Shizune roared at the same time.
"Calm down ladies, the gaki was taught a way how to see again. And to be honest he can use it to frightening accuracy." Jiraiya said, trying to calm them down, "The toads taught him a form of sonar they developed a long time ago, called Echolocation. He uses sound and smells to tell him what and where he is and everything around him, using that he's able to mentally map out everything in a certain area around him, effectively seeing again."
"I'll even prove it baa-chan!" Naruto said, and he quickly whistled into the air before turning around and pointing into a corner, "ANBU 1, is what I'm going to call you, female, long hair, uses some vanilla scented shampoo." Turning back around and pointing to the corner to the left and right of the Hokage, "ANBU 2 and 3, both male, both used a rather bland shampoo from what I can smell. All three have ninjatō strapped to their back, though only ANBU 1 and 3 have it over their right shoulder so I'm guessing they're right handed while 2 is left handed." Naruto stated, folding his arms and looking at Tsunade giving her a smug look.
To say Tsunade was impressed would be like saying she wanted some sake. Quickly snapping her fingers all of the ANBU became visible and dropped from their perches. Needless to say he was correct.
"H-H-H…" Tsunade stuttered out, beyond impressed with the boys abilities.
"By losing one sense, the others became stronger to compensate for the missing, and with what the toads taught me I can see even better than when I did have my eyes though I do kind of miss color." Naruto said nonchalantly.
Tsunade quickly shaking her head to get out her small daze, and looked back at the young man trying to figure out how much he had actually changed, and how must stronger he truly was. "Well then, you do seem stronger. Let's see if your still a little gaki or not." Tsunade smiled at him.
"Question; Are you wanting me to fight someone to see my strength or do you have some other way for me to show you my awesomeness?" Naruto said, as he moved his hitai-ate back over his eyes, but keeping the smug expression on his face.
"You pick up a lot quicker than you used to. Yes it is a fight, and it's with someone I know you're rather familiar with. I've actually kept them off missions the last few days for this." Tsunade said, giving him yet another smile.
"Are we talking the three down the hall or the one outside?" Naruto asked quirking his head to the side.
Tsunade again was stunned just as a knock sounded at her door. "Enter!" Tsunade yelled, almost afraid that Naruto was right. The door opened showing Sakura, Shikamaru, and Temari at the exact same time that the window opened and Kakashi was jumping in.
"Tsunade-sama, I've got the repor…" Sakura started to say before her voice caught in her through at the blonde spiky hair she saw before her, "Naruto!" Sakura yelled quickly running up to him. As he turned she had the same look on her face that the previous two kunoichi did, and the same look that Shikamaru and Temari were currently wearing as well, concern and shock.
"Hey Sakura-chan, Shikamaru-kun, Temari-san. Oh and don't think I've forgotten about you either Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said smiling at everyone.
"What happened to you and why is your hitai-ate like that?" Sakura asked, concern laced in her voice.
"Oh you know, a little bit of this and that. I don't really feel like explaining it again, in fact I was just about to ask for a small reprieve from whatever task Baa-chan was going to give me so I could go get some ramen. Stupid toads don't know how to make it and Gamakichi refused to go get me any!" Naruto said, a playful scowl on his face.
"What didn't like Ma's cooking?" Jiraiya teased, though he himself could hardly stand it. He went on a giant food spree when he could get away and sealed a lot of it in scrolls for good measure. Naruto shivered at the reminder of the food. Ma, after hearing how he normally ate, took it upon herself to change his diet from an all ramen one to a much healthier diet.
"That's fine gaki, go eat but be at Training ground 7 in three hours so we can see just how much you've grown." Tsunade said.
With that Naruto left, with everyone staring at his back as he walked out, Sakura still wondering what had happened to her teammate and looked to her mentor for answers. Tsunade sighed seeing the look everyone was giving her.
"Let's just leave it to him changing," Jiraiya said coming to her rescue, "Well I'm going to go, got a lot of 'research' to catch up on!" Jiraiya finished with a quick puff of smoke and he was gone. A vain popped out on Tsunade's forehead and she muttered something about 'fixing' her teammate.
"Well Kakashi-san, you know what you have to do. Your all invited to watch the gaki perform if you so wish to. Now that that is out of the way, what can I do for you Temari-san?"
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Training Ground 7
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Naruto after spending an hour at his favorite ramen stand and catching up with his surrogate family, he had gone to his apartment to clean up. Now he could be found sitting in the middle of the field meditating while listening to everything around him. It had become something he looked forward to now, instead of training. He had begun to just listening to nature around him, and he always felt at peace.
This is the sight that the group of saw as they approached the clearing. To Naruto's slight surprise it was even bigger than what was in the Tsunade's office, apparently someone told Ino (*cough*Sakura*cough*) and she had grabbed both of her other teammates to come watch the spectacle before they went on their mission that night. Kakashi walked away from the group, still holding his book out, though Naruto could feel his eye on him. It was a sixth sense you picked up living as the village's punching bag for most of your life.
"So I was right in my suspicion that it was you I was going up against Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, his back still turned to everyone. To say everyone but Jiraiya was surprised by this was a small understatement.
"I'd ask how you knew it was me, but I'm not sure I even want the answer." Kakashi said, having recovered faster than everyone else except the Kage herself.
With a quick whistle, Naruto stood up and looked him in the face. "Hehe, it's a secret. Let's see if you can figure it out." Naruto said with a snicker. It wasn't true, he would tell him if he asked again, he just wanted a little fun.
Kakashi just chuckled at the comment, before he snapped his book closed which gained everyone's attention. "Alright Naruto, let's see how much you've grown up," Kakashi said as he put his book away and pulling out a single bell, "Same as before only this time it's just you and me."
Naruto nodded and looked past him to Tsunade, who was walking up. The fact that he was so accurate while still being blind was still a little intimidating to her. "Alright, anything goes. Don't hold back, show me everything you've got gaki! Hajimaru!" Tsunade yelled jumping back.
Naruto was in motion as soon as the word began to come out, quickly going through hand seals and biting his thumb, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summon Jutsu)" Naruto yelled, and was engulfed in a plumb of smoke. When the smoke cleared a five foot red frog with a blue vest appeared. "Gamakichi!" Naruto called out throwing a 2 piece of candy into the air which was quickly swallowed by the toad.
Kakashi was confused by this small exchange but kept looking on as the toad turned moved in front of Naruto and made a few hand seals himself. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Jutsu)!" Gamakichi yelled before spitting 10 small fire balls all headed toward Kakashi.
Kakashi knowing the technique, knew he had time to get away from it but he knew he needed to stay alert for Naruto. What he didn't expect was Naruto jumping off the toad's back holding a single hand seal, "Futon: Renkūdan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)" which Naruto quickly fired several into the small fire balls, making them speed up even more and doubling if not close to tripling in size. Kakashi's eyes widened and he quickly was forced to hide himself under the earth using Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole) to escape the blast.
'So he's learned a lot hmm? Combining jutsu together to make it stronger, and from a summons no less. Very impressive Naruto…' Kakashi thought to himself as he started his counter.
After the smoke cleared from the combined from force of the two jutsu, Naruto quickly 'looked' for Kakashi. Not seeing him anywhere around him, Naruto quickly preformed a chakra enhanced jump while running through a few hand seals, "Doton: Yomi Numa (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld)" Naruto called out as he landed where Kakashi had been previously and slammed his hands on the ground, pumping chakra into the jutsu turning the surrounding area into the swamp.
Kakashi hearing the jutsu quickly resurfaced and jumped away from the area just in time to not get caught in the swamp. "Well, well Naruto, it seems you have gotten a lot stronger. I guess I can't hold back anymore" Kakashi said as he pulled up his hitai-ate revealing his Sharingan.
Naruto cancelled the jutsu, allowing the area to turned back to normal, as he stood up. "Haha, happy to know I'm strong enough for you to pull that out. I'll apologize if I don't show my eyes to you right now, but…" Naruto said as he began to run though hand seals again, "Let's see how you deal with this! Doton: Iwa no Hari( Earth Release: Rock Needles)!" Naruto yelled, quickly turning toward his sensei and holding the final seal.
Twin Rocks, the size of small boulders launched upwards from the ground behind Naruto and started to form hundreds of rock senbon that quickly shot out, all aiming for Kakashi. Quickly using chakra to enhance his speed, Kakashi dodged toward his right while running through his own hand seals, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu(Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)" Kakashi called out after he was clear of the still falling barrage of senbon, shooting the fireball at Naruto who just stood there slowly going through a long series of hand seals.
The fireball hit and Naruto still hadn't moved away from the blast area and Kakashi began to wonder if he had maybe gone too hard on his student; That is before he heard two voices calling out from behind him.
"Katon: Kaenhōshaki no Jutsu (Fire Release: Flamethrower Jutsu)"
"Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)"
Kakashi not even bothering to turn around quickly used the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement) and switched with a log he could see. After the switch he turned to see the log and the grounds be incinerated by the combined jutsu, and he could only gulp at the sight. 'Kami, he's really serious about this, and he's gotten a lot stronger with his jutsu. Hell he's even learned jutsu I never knew he knew AND combining them with lethal results' Kakashi thought, as he stayed hidden and watched his student move to the middle of the now blackened area. He knew he had to come up with a plan and fast otherwise he'd just be on the run the whole fight.
Naruto wasn't going to give him that chance, "Kakashi-sensei, you really can't hide from me. Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri (Water Release: Rising Water Cutter)!" Naruto called out, turning to the tree Kakashi was hiding in and gathered the water in his lungs and expelled a high pressured water lance, aiming for his sensei, only for the one eyed jōnin to jump out of the tree and rush his student, not looking back at the hole that was blown through four trees and left a dent in the fifth.
Kakashi engaged Naruto in Taijutsu hoping to even the odds if even but a little. Unfortunately the only style Naruto knew was Kawazu Kumite (Frog Kumite) and that was really only effective with his Sage Mode, which he didn't have activated, so he quickly moved to dodging Kakashi's attacks. Because of his hearing he could listen to the muscles begin to tighten and flex, so he was able to begin dodging early, which allowed him to remain untouched for the most part, well at least until Kakashi pulled the a quick faint, getting under Naruto with almost inhuman speed and kicking him up in the air and preforming the Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf).
Naruto knew what the technique was and knew he was in trouble. As Kakashi moved into position, Naruto tried to roll only for him to be stopped by Kakashi's leg, which he quickly spun and kicked Naruto into the ground using Sasuke's Shishi Rendan (Lion Combo) which flattened Naruto onto the ground causing a small creator to more under him. Kakashi quickly jumped away, not wanting to get too ahead of himself and get stuck by Naruto's jutsu again.
Naruto was forced to take the hit, unable to get out of it like he did the katon jutsu, and so he quickly urged his body to move and he rolled into a ready position. However doing so ended up causing the knot on his hitai-ate to fiinally come undone and revealing his eyes to Kakashi. To say the jōnin was stunned upon looking at Naruto's eyes would be an understatement, he almost felt himself being mesmerized by the iris until Jiraiya yelled out.
"Naruto Close your eyes!" the old Sannin yelled, which Naruto did immediately, not wanting one of the side effects of the dōjutsu to activate. It had a nasty side effect of causing almost a hypnotic effect when using more than a small amount of chakra, which sounds great except it too uses chakra and at a very fast rate.
"Hehe, well Kakashi, looks like the fun is over with." Naruto said as he quickly picked up his hitai-ate and tied it back over his eyes.
"Oh? And why would you thing that?" Kakashi said, wondering what it was that had affected him enough that he had almost let his guard down completely.
Naruto held up a bell, and smiled at his sensei giving the V sign. Kakashi quickly glanced at his belt that he had tied the bell to and heaved a sigh as he covered up his sharingan, "I was right, you have gotten stronger." Kakashi said, now looking up at him with his famous eye-smile.
"Very good you two, I must say I'm very impressed. Now, what to do with you…?" Tsunade asked to herself while standing in a thinking pose.
Shikamaru walked up with everyone else trailing behind, Jiraiya moving to stand next to Naruto with a smirk on his face. "You did good, though I can't help but wonder what happened there when you switched from Nin to Taijutsu?" Jiraiya asked, looking at his apprentice.
"You know that style isn't any good without sage mode, and you also know it takes me a lot longer then you to activate it. I wasn't prepared to have it active when you all showed up." Naruto said, looking at his elder sensei and ignoring all of the looks around him.
"Wait Naruto-kun, are you saying you know…" Tsunade started to say.
"Well of course I do! I mean I was up on that mountain for so long, and they thought it would be best to teach it to me as well." Naruto said, with a smirk on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well… That's something. I guess with that, plus the skill level you've shown us…" Tsunade gave Naruto a proud smile, "I hereby promote you to the rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin; And that isn't all. You will be doing missions with your old team and gaining experience until we can make you a full jōnin."
Naruto was stunned, he was hoping to get promoted just not straight to a jōnin level right away, "Wait what about chūnin?" Naruto asked more than just a little confused.
"Well," Tsunade said, the smile still plastered on her face, "You've shown you have the skills set of a jōnin to start with, add to it that you are now a sage and you are now possible a mid to high level jōnin so putting at the rank of chūnin would be foolish. Add to that, the perv gave his recommendation, and you get this." Tsunade explained, "Now, show up with your team tomorrow to receive your vest and mission."
"Hai, Baa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, almost leaping for joy. Everyone who had come to see his fight almost swarmed him with congratulations, even Temari who wasn't from Konoha.
"Naruto! I think we need to go celebrate!" Choji said, quickly throwing his arm around Naruto's shoulders almost dragging him off, "Let's all head over to my family's restaurant!" the large man exclaimed.
"Haha, alright, alright." Naruto said, a smile still on his face as the big boned shinobi dragged him, and everyone seemed content to just follow him, well except for Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune. Naruto quickly remember something, pulled out a scroll and tossed it backwards towards the older blonde who caught it with ease. "That's a present from me, don't open it until you're by yourself!" Naruto yelled out as he was still being dragged away.
Tsunade just shrugged and held on to the scroll, not bothering to see what was in it yet. As the trio watched the fleeting sight of the group, Tsunade still had a few questions on her mind. "So, is he ready?"
"About as ready as I could make him with what time we had. The only time he wasn't training were the few times I had to force him to take a break and we went and visited a few of his friends, though he did go to Suna a lot." Jiraiya said, pulling out a pipe and lighting it. "I've taught him what I could, hell you've seen the results. I can also tell you he was holding back, that gaki is strong. He didn't even bother to use any of his dōjutsu powers, and let's just say he's powerful with them alone. Add to the fact that he still had a few moves left he could have used and I'd say he could give almost anyone a run for their money."
"Anything I should be worried about?" Tsunade asked, hinting on another subject other than Naruto's eyes.
Breathing out a small smoke cloud, he turned to his former teammate, "We tried, and I can say for certain that the gaki gave it his all. It just wasn't possible to fully control the damn fox's power. He's fine up to three tails, and then he loses control. Took all of us to stop him when that happened, hell 'Bunta is still pissed about that. Afterwards he said his mind was just so filled with hatred that he couldn't control anything." The old sage said, his eyes on where they small crowd disappeared from, "And I don't know if it's a bright thing or not, but he doesn't feel that same anymore either. He's not even sure how he feels about Sasuke anymore. He's had time to think it over and he ended up coming to the realization that he did leave on his own. After that he was hurt, then angry, and after a while he just stopped being angry. Now… I just don't know anymore. The gaki's been through hell and back, and it just seems he can never find anything to truly make him happy. I think he's finally come to terms with his friend turning traitor and is probably ready to face him, though I'd hate to see him afterwards. Those two had a bond, and I've had to deal with the aftermath of the severing of said bond." Jiraiya said with a sad smile on his face, as memories of their times at Mount Myōboku were revisited.
"Well he's here now, and here he will stay. I know the Naruto-kun, and we all know he'll find happiness one way or another. That kid, if nothing else, takes after his mother." Tsunade said, bringing a smile to both her and Shizune's face.
"Yeah, about that…" Jiraiya said, having the two girls turned towards him and he slowly started to sweat drop.
"What about his mother?" Shizune spoke up, she didn't even know about his parents too well. She only knew who his father was mainly because of how he looked.
"Well… I may have forgotten to tell the Ma and Pa about not telling him, so…." Jiraiya said, hoping to Kami that his lucky stars were shining and he wouldn't get hurt for what he was about to say.
They weren't.
Shock showed on Tsunade's face before anger slowly followed, "You didn't?!" She growled out.
"Look it wasn't my fault! They told him that his father was the last toad summoner and he happen to remember that only Minato's name was on it. So he figured that out on his own, when he confronted me about it I just could lie to him now could I?!" Jiraiya said, slowly backing away with his hands up in surrender.
"You BAKA! Do you have any idea what you did?! He's not ready damnit! If Iwa found out…" Tsunade yelled out, her apprentice now on to what was going on and shock was still registered on her face.
"Look, they won't okay? He's sworn not to flaunt it, at least not until after the Akatauki are dealt with, and he doesn't care to have his father's name anyway! He's keeping his mother's name." Jiraiya quickly pointed out, hoping that he'd avoid a beating for his slip up.
Tsunade could only slowly rein her anger in as the thoughts worked their way into her brain, "Ugh! Fine, I guess we need to change the name of his clan then. Shizune, please make sure the paperwork for that is on my desk before the end of tonight so I can sign it without the council's interference. They've ruined his life enough, now it's time he gets something back." Then a thought crossed the busty blondes mind and she started to snicker.
"What are you thinking Tsu-hime?" Jiraiya inquired.
"Oh just that since the gaki is now a jōnin in all respects, and 16 now, going on 17…" Tsunade said, still snickering, "That makes means he can…"
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Akamichi BBQ restaurant
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While the missing trios were talking about the new blonde jōnin, said blonde jōnin was being surrounded by most of those who he had missed for so long. When they arrived at the restaurant, Chōji quickly got them a private room for the welcome back and promotion celebration.
They had been going at it for the past hour, regaling Naruto with all sorts' accounts. The friends talked about anything from what was going on in the village, to missions they had completed. Kakashi bowed out after thirty minutes, as Chōji and Naruto were still stuffing their faces, though as he had some paperwork himself to complete on his new team roster.
Asuma was the one to break the party up. "Come on you guys, we have a mission to go on." This brought a whine from Chōji. Ino and Shikamaru quickly pulled out some money to help cover the bill, as they dragged the Akamichi to his feet. Naruto also stood up.
"Yeah, I think I'll turn in for the night. It's been a while since I've slept in my own bed." The blind blonde said as he reached for his gama wallet, only to have his hand slapped by Sakura.
"This was your party, you are not paying." Sakura said in a tone that would broker no arguments from the blonde. Everyone quickly fished out and helped pay the tab, Naruto saying he'd help only to be slapped upside the head by Sakura.
During this Shikamaru turned to Temari to ask a question, "You said you were leaving tonight right?" He didn't want to leave his post, though he was assigned another mission.
"I was," The blonde woman said, "But since it's so late, I'm just going to stay the night and leave early in the morning. Don't worry, you'll be fine to go on your mission." Temari said with a roll of her eyes. The Suna kunoichi only agreed to the guard because of Tsunade's insistence.
Seeing as he was let of the hook, the shadow-user just nodded and started to leave with his team. Naruto waved goodbye to everyone as he himself went his own way, and slowly made his way to his apartment.
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With Tsunade
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Tsunade had just gotten home, having made a quick stop to sign a document and make sure that a council meeting would happen before the end of the week. She was eager to make the council pay for what they had done in the past.
As she walked into her bedroom at the Senju estate, she slumped down to take off her kunoichi-heeled sandals. Taking them off she flexed her feet before she remembered something. Pulling out the scroll Naruto had tossed her, she became curious.
"Hmm, wonder what the gaki got me?" Tsunade asked herself out loud. Deciding not to put it off, she unrolled it only to find a simple storage seal right away. Upon further unraveling the scroll, she found multiple storage seals, each closely spaced together. She counted them and came up with 189 seals.
Going to the first seal she pushed a little chakra that was needed to unseal whatever was sealed inside it. A small puff of smoke later and there stood a large bottle of high priced sake, with a note attached to it.
Baa-chan
If you're reading this, I hope that means Shizune didn't figure it out. I know she's taken away, or is still trying to find all of your sake stashes. Well I figure you'd like one she couldn't find so easily. And you can carry it anywhere you'd like. I had Ero-Sannin make the scroll, I just purchased the sake.
Hope you like it!
Naruto Uzumaki.
As she finished the letter, she looked at the scroll, then reread the letter again.
"They're all sake seals? He made a sake scroll?! THE BOYS A GENIUS!" Tsunade cried to the heavens as she hugged the bottle to her ample bosom. She hadn't had a drop of sake in close to nine months when Shizune had found her last secret stash.
"The gaki gets a free pass for this!" Tsunade said to herself as she opened the bottle and took a healthy swig, loving the slight burning sensation running down her throat.
XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX
With Naruto
XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX
Naruto had just reached his apartment. He was half expecting it to be demolished by now, but he had to remind himself that the villagers had lightened up a bit after he had saved them from a rampaging Gaara as well as also making it to the Chūnin Exam finals. He could smell his precious plants that he kept, and he knew that Shizune had kept her word on taking care of the place while he was gone.
Fishing out his key, he unlocked the door and walked inside. He had only one thought on his mind right now, and it was a very simple thought. He was home.
As he dropped his stuff on the table a sound caught his attention at his still open door.
"So are you going to ask me to come in?" a feminine voice asked, in a slightly sultry voice.
Naruto couldn't help the giant, shit-eating grin that appeared on his face. He had hoped he would get some alone time again with her. It had been a while since they'd seen each other. "Of course, please come in! How long has it been?" Naruto asked his guest.
"Oh, I'd say about six months. You were usually not gone that long, that perv normally made you take a break every couple of weeks." The female said in a slightly annoyed tone as she walked in and closed the door behind her.
"I'm sorry about that, why don't you stay here tonight Temari-chan." Naruto said with a smile.
"Oh, I intend to Naru-kun." Temari said with a sulty smirk as she moved toward the blonde young man.