Author's Note: Wrote this fanfic because I was very disappointed in the lack of progress after timeskip, both in Naruto and the other characters. I'll be using Japanese honorifics mainly as its fairly important in this story, but also because all attempts I've seen at translating honorifics have been disasters. I once saw someone use -baby as a English substitute for -chan, which didn't end very well. Much of this, especially later, is, as will be obvious, different from the actual story. For one, Sai isn't in it (pretty boring guy, yet another brainwashed evil assassin with little character, atleast at the current chapters), and most of the characters are far more powerful than before, especially "The Nine Genin", many from the Sand Village, most Kages, and some of the Akatsuki and especially most tailed beasts and their hosts.
The term Commoners is used to refer to people neither ninja nor nobles, as it seems feudal lords and their kin have a lot to do with ninja, while there are also a lot of non ninja around, especially in lesser countries. I use Demon Hosts, or simply Hosts as a translation of "Jinchuuriki."
I sincerely hope that even in the real Naruto, commoners don't jump from the trees like ninja, or have weapons capable of cutting through actual metal (so any guy can't become like Rock Lee with enough training.) This story is to some extent inspired by the story "Chuunin Exam Day" by "Perfect Lionheart."
There might also be some irregularities. I havn't read the entire manga yet, so while I'll probably not include some stuff like Sora and pseudo-tailed hosts, there'll probably be some stuff that ain't a part of the manga due to my ignorance. Obviously this is, as you put it, OOC and AU. There'll probably be some light yuri too, although probably nothing too explicit.
I don't know how much I will write or at what frequency, but it depends on feedback. If this is garbage (honestly, I can't imagine it to be much worse than the stories without capital letters at all, or some crappy plot about Gaara being in a mental facility) then I probably won't write much more, seeing as I hardly have time to make a very serious effort, but in the best case scenario I have quite a few more ideas. As you might have guessed, this is my first fanfic.
It was a sunny day, hardly uncharacteristic for the Fire Country, when Izumo and Kotetsu, the Chuunin guarding a gate into Konoha, saw perhaps the most interesting thing they had seen in months. A man they instantly recognized as Jiraiya of the three legendary ninja, one of the greatest ninja ever to wear the Konoha headband, walked through the gate, a few steps behind a rather tall teenager.
What was however most eye-catching was the fact that the teenager was the spitting image of The Forth Hokage, perhaps the most recognized man ever to walk the streets of Konoha. As it was in the middle of the day, there were many people near the entrance, and Izumo saw that some of them again gave the entering pair stares of bewilderment and even shock. Although both Izumo and Kotetsu were little more than children at the time The Forth ruled Konoha, he was undoubtedly the person Izumo admired most, even after he was long gone. He saw at once that Kotetsu was eyeing the new comer with a similar expression, and asked "Who was that..?" earning him only a "uh..." for answer.
Naruto was seeing his beloved Konohagure again for the first time in years with very different eyes then before. He gave a slight sigh when he saw the confused faces of many villagers and the ninja guarding the gate whose names he had long forgotten. Jiraiya had predicted this. He had told Naruto of his true lineage, that his father was the legendary forth Hokage, despite thinking that Naruto would be angry for not knowing. To his surprise, Naruto had answered in an unusually serious tone; "Don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei, I'm glad. Despite my mistreatment from the villagers, I'd rather prove myself as Naruto Uzumaki rather than Naruto Namikaze. I would've probably been treated with more foolish reverence than Sasuke, and more like a fragile object than Konohamaru."
Bearing much resemblance to Minato's famed robe-like coat, Jiraiya had made Naruto one such similar piece of clothing, although orange in colour, adorned with black symbols, ranging from whirls and Konoha leaves to clouds split in two halves and a large nine tailed fox on the back, with its tails reaching upward, much like flames. Under the coat he was wearing a fairly simple pair of pants and a shirt, both seemingly in black silk. It was in great contrast to his previous jumpsuit. It was strange that very few in Konoha who did not know Minato in person knew that Naruto was his son. They bore much resemblance to each other, but it seemed like most people focused on his strange whisker-like markings and his jumpsuit more befitting a toddler, and could not even compare him to the popular genius of past.
"Its strange, now that I'm finally here again, I have no idea what to do... Where should we go first, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked his teacher, having mixed feelings of excitement and nostalgia while hardly wanting to rush around town looking for Sakura. "Don't get too excited right away. Before you can see your friends, we'll have to report to Tsunade." Jiraiya, looking like he'd lost ten years rather than less than three, was surprised at Naruto, indecisiveness and reluctance was uncommon for him, especially after their travels.
As they headed towards the Hokage building, they saw that the mountain above now had the head of Tsunade engraved. The toad sage let out a sight. "Tsunade sure looks as grim as the others, doesn't she?" But Naruto was deep in though, something that occurred with much greater frequency after a few months with Jiraiya, after some of his latent intelligence was awoken. This was the first time he had looked upon Minato's stern face and seen him as his father. Even before he became a ninja, The Fourth had always been his favourite Hokage and main inspiration, as The First and The Second were dead long before Naruto's time, and he had never seen The Third as much else than an old man. And now Tsunade, who he had often called baachan (AN: I feel grandma is insufficient here, as at least neechan can be used to refer to a woman not related to the user. I am under the impression that baachan could refer to a woman who is merely old.), had her face carved in solid stone, at least as authoritative as her legendary, male predecessors.
When he and Jiraiya entered Tsunade's office, Naruto saw a rather peculiar sight, not bothering to knock. Tsunade was sitting in her chair, with Shizune leaning over her shoulder at some documents, oddly intimately. When he thought back, he would often find them in similar positions, although this was the first time he had thought anything about it.
When they looked up in surprise, confusion and recognition, Naruto saw what one would think would be most eye-catching. Shizune, although she had not changed much besides wearing her hair longer and freely, now looked easily Tsunade's senior, and Tsunade looked like she had not yet seen twenty years. She looked slightly smaller mostly, a little less tall, her face more frail and youthful, although not more beautiful by many standards. Most notable, her immense breasts, which he had largely dismissed as a twelve year old, but which now caused him reactions not limited to blushing, were now notably smaller, although still easily amongst the largest Naruto had feasted his eyes upon.
When they noticed their guests, they were both quick to break into smiles, even the usually brisk Tsunade. "Finally back, eh?" was heard from Tsunade, as Shizune simultaneously exclaimed "Welcome back!" Gazing closer at Naruto's aesthetic changes, mainly the fact that he seemed almost twice as tall as the little squirt she remembered, and his new choice in clothing, resembling The Fourth more than ever, Tsunade asked "I hope you've made progress in other things than clothing and... I take it that cloak means that you have told Naruto of his descent?" "Indeed, I know of my parents, Minato and Kushina, and the cause for The Third's actions." Answered Naruto, with a tone and choice of words far different than the Naruto of past.
Tsunade felt a small pang of sorrow for this, although his change was for the best, perhaps even necessary with the Akatsuki ever plotting, she was going to miss the boy who resembled her dear deceased brother so much. One of the things she had most benefit from in Konoha was the opportunity to visit her brother and lover's graves every day, despite the sorrow it brought, and she now dealt with her sorrow in a way less limited to alcohol, which a doctor of another kind would surely deem more healthy.
Jiraiya, who seemingly had a change the opposite of Naruto's, barged in on the conversation with. "What you thought that anyone spending years under the legendary Jiraiya would end up anything less than the best!? Naruto has become adept in both wind and fire jutsu, and is quickly learning earth jutsu, and although I couldn't teach him much about wind jutsu, he is now able to make decent genjutsu better than most Chuunin though it is still one of his weak spots. He is however quickly becoming an expert at detecting and dispelling even advanced genjutsu. I have also taught him a much more sophisticated style of taijutsu, and his mastery of the Rasengan is much greater than before. He can now also summon greater toads with easy, although he can't summon Gamabunta without using the Nine Tails' chakra. But most importantly, he has much more control over the Nine Tails' chakra, and is able to do jutsu related to it almost like Gaara only to a much lesser degree."
"That's good, I look forward to you proving your words later. More importantly, did you encounter the Akatsuki while training?" Tsunade did for once not anger at Jiraiya's nonchalant tone, or the fact that Jiraiya was giving her younger-than-ever body indecent looks, while scribbling something down at a notepad. "Yes, we encountered a pair named Hidan and Kakuzu, two especially resilient ninja. We killed neither of them, but sustained no notable injury either. One of them, the one called Hidan, was seemingly immortal, surviving even the most powerful jutsu. In the end, we managed to split the pair up and bury Hidan in a cavern, but he is almost definitely okay now. We'll give you the full report later." Tsunade was quite impressed with Naruto already, the old him would probably just shout something about a incredible ninja.
"Also, if you don't mind me asking, what's with your body? I mean you seem only a few years older than me. It looks like more than a transformation jutsu" Tsunade was surprised at Naruto's question, she had assumed that Naruto knew from long ago, but she knew he was far from the brightest ninja, or rather, he wasn't three years ago. "I though you knew. Even before, I made my appearance far younger than my true age, and I alternate between different ages between less than twenty to well over forty. However you are right in assuming that it is not just any jutsu. One of my specialities as a medic ninja is modifying the body and little on my body is exactly as it was originally. For example, even without using any chakra or jutsu, I am far stronger than even unusually strong ninja with arms ten times the size of mine, despite never having exercised except fighting and training my students in almost fifteen years. In addition, before, when we met, the changes were merely a strong transformation jutsu, but now, this is how my body is. Even if I lose all my chakra and am near death, it will not disappear. This kind of thing is however very risky, which is why I waited until the last few years when I've had time to perfect it."
Naruto for once, seemed to be able to absorb everything. "Then Tsunade-ba... I guess it'll be weird to call you baachan anymore then..." An angry Tsunade interjected "It was weird before too!" Naruto gave her the first real smile of that day. "Okay, okay. But anyways, why didn't Orochimaru learn this if it could make him young again?" "For good or bad, it only improves you on the outside and your muscles and so forth, I know of no jutsu that can keep your organs from giving up eventually, although some ninja almost reach 200 years of ago provided they do not die in combat."
Their conversation, perhaps one of the few intellectual conversations Tsunade had ever had with Naruto, was interrupted by someone knocking at the door. In stepped a red-headed woman, which it took Naruto quite a few moments to recognize as Sakura. Her hair was now dark red rather than a light pink, and she seemed to have largely adopted her mistress of years' taste of clothes. She was wearing a red coat over a skin-tight top and pants in white.
Again, much like with Tsunade, the most prominent change was that of her bosom. A huge pair of breasts, while not as large as Tsunade's, had seemingly sprouted on her disproportional body. Perhaps due to the cruel tutelage of Tsunade, Sakura seemed as thin as Ino, despite her increase in height and size. It was in sharp contrast to her flat chested body before Naruto's journey, and looking closer, even her unusually large forehead seemed slightly smaller than before. Naruto suspected it might not be all nature's fault.
"Tsunade-sensei, here are the... Oh, sorry, I didn't know you had guests... I'll come back later." Sakura didn't wait long before talking as Naruto remembered well, and was about to turn around when she recognized Jiraiya. "Oh Jiraiya-sama!" She even ran towards him and hugged him, which, by Jiraiya's expression, evidenced that he too clearly had noticed Sakura's changes.
"Ah where is Naruto? Isn't he with you?" Sakura didn't fully have a good look at Naruto until now. After quite a few moments she seemed to recognize him, Naruto couldn't really blame her, he had taken some time recognizing her, and he had undoubtedly changed even more than she. "Ah Naruto! It's really you!" And with that she hugged him, which very much justified Jiraiya's reaction.
Although Naruto had really improved in dealing with people after his journey, especially women, hugging his childhood crush whom he didn't know how to handle, especially now as her considerable new breasts were pressing against him, made him feel awkward for the first time in a long time. For better or worse, he had at least lost his silly crush on her, but she had now easily developed into one of the most beautiful women Naruto had meet, despite him having a rather extensive experience with women, inevitably from travelling with Jiraiya for years, often stopping for weeks near mixed bath onsens, night clubs and taverns, spending the day training and the night watching Jiraiya chat up women, eventually joining him.
Somewhat awkwardly, he replied "Ah.. Hey Sakura, nice br.. I mean, how have you been?" Giving one of her great smiles, perhaps, in Naruto's opinion, her best feature, she answered rather rapidly"I've been great! But how about..." "Sakura-chan, stop your yammering!" She was interrupted by Tsunade. "Yes maam!" Sakura answered with surprising discipline. "Sakura here has been personally trained by me these last years, and has become quite formidable. To test you now, I want you two to fight later today."
Naruto was surprised. "I though you would have me fight Kakashi-sensei or another Jounin?" "Kakashi is not that great a foe as you make him up to be. While he is indeed a senior Jounin, he has an unusually small chakra, especially compared to you. Compared to his strong father, The White Fang of Konoha, he is actually quite the disappointment, despite being trained by The Forth. Before gaining the Sharingan and becoming the Copy Ninja, he wasn't even strong enough to become Jounin. In some regards, I have no doubts that Sakura has surpassed him already. Besides Sakura, unlike you, a Genin, is already a tokubetsu Jounin!"
Naruto was rendered speechless for a few moments, looking from an oddly smug Sakura to the grinning Hokage, finally making Naruto bite his tongue which was a common occurrence before his departure. Changing the subject, Naruto continued reporting. "A little more than a year ago, we also met Sasuke-kun and Orochimaru again and.." Here Jiraiya interrupted him and continued. "Orochimaru was still too weakened to fight me in a serious battle, so Naruto's match was interrupted when he ran away. Although Sasuke-kun seemed like he was used drugs or something similar, he and Naruto were fairly evenly matched. After a while however, he drew a strange sword, and with his speed and a long blade to keep Naruto at bay, Naruto could not touch him once. He also seemed able to stop Naruto from using the Nine Tails' chakra, probably with his Sharingan."
Naruto took the lead again. "He was very strong, perhaps making as much progress as I, and now there are but six months until Orochimaru will take his body, so we have to hurry." Jiraiya interjected once again, trying to console Naruto. "Although it is far fetched, it is not inconceivable that Sasuke-kun will be able to defeat Orochimaru, although only in his current weakened state."
Sakura had seemingly lost her good mood, looking down and spoke rather carefully. ".. Um, saving Sasuke-kun I mean, that may be pretty hard. Amongst a number of Konoha ninja who have fallen to Orochimaru and Sound ninja while you were gone, three have definitely been killed by Sasuke in person. Even if we manage to bring him back by force or persuasion unscathed, he will still face at the very least fifty years in prison, if not the village decides to kill him. Many look at him as almost as bad as Itachi and Orochimaru, the boy the village treated better than anyone have now killed his former comrades and joined perhaps the man most hated by Konoha."
Tsunade continued. "From an more objective perspective, it is also probably better to leave them alone and have them kill as many Akatsuki as possible. Even if we sent a force strong enough to defeat Orochimaru, Sasuke-kun and that bastard Kabuto, the losses to Konoha would be too great a price to pay. If they manage to hinder the Akatsuki, it also serves to benefit Suna, Konoha and the other villages hiding hosts , and very well the entire world."
Tsunade expected Naruto to throw a fit of rage or deny their words, but serving as further proof of his maturity, Naruto got even more solemn than before. "I see, I guess we can wait for an opportunity then. But I still plan on going to Suna and asking Gaara's sensei to teach me how to use a sword, so I can stand up to Sasuke."
"Then there is something more you should know. Almost everyone you know have improved considerably, not only Sakura. The entire team Gai have all become rookie Jounin at their young age, although they are a year older than you and Sakura. Hinata and Shikamaru have also become Jounin. Kankurou and Temari of Suna have long since become Jounin as you might expect, and high ranking ones at that. Finally, your fellow demon host, Gaara has become the Kazekage. This makes you one of the few Genin of your class. This generation is perhaps the best in over fifty years, and not only since training has become far more serious since Orochimaru's attack." Tsunade seemed very proud, and was rarely one to hide her emotions.
Naruto felt both pride and surprise, accompanied with some good-natured jealousy, although he was now far better to control himself than in the past. "I suppose its no wonder that Kankurou and Temari are Jounin, they were abnormal even as Genin, and Neji and Shikamaru are no surprise either. However, Gaara becoming a kage before me... I can't wait to meet him again."
Tsunade was confused. "I thought you had little eye for anyone in your class except Sasuke, much less the lazy Shikamaru?" "That was when I knew much less than now, and after all, Shikamaru is a genius, no?" Naruto seemed thoughtful.
"However how did Hinata improve so much? I know she got stronger but Jounin?" Sakura answered this one. "After you left Hinata got a lot stronger. She trained much, and even developed some of her own jutsu. After she proved herself, her father started giving her as much attention and encouragement as Neji and Hanabi, and now she has had her right to be the next clan leader restored. She's probably as strong as I am now at least, and even though Neji has also improved a lot, she'll probably surpass him soon. It seems, despite what people thought, she has more raw talent than even Neji, the "genius."
Naruto was very impressed. He had been under the impression that he would return impressing everyone in the village, and although so far he had, it seemed as though some had made perhaps as much progress as him. "I guess Tenten with her talent for weapons is obvious, but what about Lee? I thought you needed genjutsu and ninjutsu to be a Jounin?"
Tsunade was starting to get somewhat tired of answering all those questions, although Naruto was more than a noisy little brat now, but then again, she had some impressive things to say. Konoha had really flourished under her rule. "Firstly, Lee is again a tokubetsu Jounin rather than a usual Jounin, meaning that he has a specialisation, taijutsu in his case, rather than having talents in all directions, much like how Sakura is one with a medic ninja specialisation, and doesn't know how to use any other elements than water.
Secondly, I have performed one of my greatest medical miracles on Lee. After much preparing and research, I managed to heal Lee's chakra system a few weeks before he became Jounin, he had a birth defect, without any permanent damage! The fool still insists on using only taijutsu except in critical situations, but still, this will make me even more famous than I am." She was more smug than ever now.
Naruto had been surprised with all the changes, but he was now bordering on shock. And when he walked to the tower, everything had seemed so unchanged. Now he was looking forward to meeting his friends again, especially Gaara and his siblings, as Gaara had now obviously been accepted fully by his village, a dream he had not yet quite fulfilled. He would also show them that he had grown into a ninja they could depend on, rather than the squirt whom everyone ridiculed, even after he had gained friends.
Tsunade interrupted his train of thought. "Also, if you are truly going to learn to wield a sword, you should know that your mother was quite the famous swordswoman, and wielded the legendary Hurricane of the former Whirlpool Country, a great sword of much value. Now that you know of your parents identity, you will inherit their considerable estate and belongings, including that sword."
Naruto had learned more of his clan in books while abroad. The Namikaze clan had always been rather small and secretive, and that said a lot when it came to ninja clans, and until Minato came along and became Hokage, they had seemingly not achieved much. However, after Minato, many had come to suspect that they may have hiding powerful secrets, and that a figure as public as Minato had been forbidden from using their hypothetical secret Bloodline Limit, despite becoming their clan leader early. They owned a small area in one of the more desolate areas of Konoha, although they were almost as rich as the more known Hyuuga, Uchiha and Senju clans. The entire clan, obviously except Naruto, had been destroyed in the Nine Tails' attack, including Kushina, who went to fight mere minutes after giving birth.
Suddenly Naruto realized that Sakura was standing in the room, not acting surprised by the talk of Naruto's ancestry. "I take it you know that I am The Forth's son then, Sakura?" Sakura acted almost apologetic. "Ah, yes, sorry... I was told a few months after you left, although I did not believe it at first. After all, the stupid, stubborn loser, the last in our academy class, couldn't be the son of perhaps the strongest Hokage, and his famous wife. But then I remembered your growth, and now you have seemingly somehow managed to actually get smarter, so I see it clearly now..."
"I hardly blame you, although I was very quick to believe it when I was told, heh." Naruto gave a slight smile. "Now now, I'll get Shizune to fetch those pesky documents and counter-seals to the Namikaze estate, and then we can take a break until the test later on."If Tsunade hadn't changed in the last years, which seemed unlikely, Naruto would bet much that she was using this opportunity to have herself some alcohol when Shizune's ever watchful eyes were elsewhere.
Twenty minutes later, Shizune and Naruto were approaching the Namikaze land. The relatively small area was covered with a two meter tall fence, with only two gates, one leading out into a part of the forest again owned by the Namikaze clan, and now Naruto alone, and one facing the village. There were only two notable buildings there, one a large mansion surpassed only by the Uchiha, Hyuga and Senji in Konoha, and the second smaller house, perhaps meant for a side branch of the family besides the clan head's family, although it was by most standards also a fine house, far superior in size and beauty to the average around even in a land as prosperous as the Land of Fire.
Thanking Shizune for her help, Naruto went around to look through the area. Both the insides of the buildings and the vegetation around was horrible, untended by humans for almost sixteen years. However Naruto knew that with a few hundred shadow clones, it would take mere hours to restore everything, although he would have to leave for Suna by the next morning.
He prepared himself a few necessary rooms in main house, and found where the sword was standing. The Sword was truly gigantic, perhaps even approaching the size of Zabuza's fabled sword. Despite being that large and broad, it was surprisingly thin. His mother being known for her strong wind ninjutsu, Naruto could presume from the form that it could be used to amplify wind jutsu perhaps by using it as a fan, much like how Temari used her great fan, or as he had learned, as a enhanced sword, after all many ninja used swords and other weapons in combination with elemental jutsu.
Despite being fairly thin compared to its size, it was obviously a very sturdy blade, easily capable of cutting through solid metal, unlike the weapons used by commoners. Even for Naruto, now an unusually tall ninja, it was very oversized. The handle was so large that even the largest of ninja must have plenty of room for their hands. When Naruto picked it up, it was surprisingly heavy, even for a ninja weapon and for being so thin. Had this been two years ago, he wouldn't have been able to carry it properly, much less use it in actual combat. The blade, which seemed to be made of a similar metal to Asuma's knives, had little decoration besides a whirlwind carved on the blade.
Meanwhile, in Tsunade's office, she and Jiraiya were now alone. "There is one more thing you should know about Naruto, Tsunade." Jiraiya finally seemed serious. "Undoubtedly the greatest change, as you may have noticed, is, for lack of better words, in his intelligence. One of the things that puzzled me most when I first met Naruto, I knew who he was from the moment he gave me his name, was how different he was when it came to his brains, or lack of them. The Namikaze clan, especially Minato, were pretty much all at genius level, many of them graduating quite early from the Academy and such, and his mother was no fool either. In the beginning of our journey, I found out what was wrong. It quickly became apparent that Naruto was practically illiterate in most fields, and that he lacked much of the most basic knowledge. Many years practically raising himself, and more discouragement and mistreatment than I have ever seen did not yield very good results. Before Iruka-kun started teaching him in his last year at the Academy, he had practically learned nothing from anyone else. I am shocked that Sarutobi did not take action, or dismissed Minato's wishes." Ninja orphans were very common. Maybe 25% of all ninja lost their parents at a young age, and very few ninja die of old age. However, few of them received as little love or care as Naruto.
Jiraiya was now quite engrossed in the conversation. "Of course, when I solved most of these problems, I quickly saw a great change in Naruto, although most of his principal ideas are still the same. I don't think Naruto can ever surpass Minato in terms of intellect however, as there is a second problem. As you know, the Tailed Beasts gain intelligence when they have a host, becoming more than mere beasts, but there is also a price for this to the host. You could say that the Nine Tails is using some of Naruto's brain capacity for itself."
Tsunade wasn't shocked, she knew there must have been side effects to such power, besides being ostracised by peers. "Then, is there any danger to Naruto?" She asked loudly in a worried tone. "There is no danger to his life now. And it even seems that the stupidity also increases his natural instincts. And I must say, compared to some of the other Tailed Beasts, the Nine Tails' price is not too great. The Shukaku for example, cause insomnia and madness to its host, although it seems it can come in a lesser extent, looking at the Kazekage. " Jiraiya had calmed down.
"Anyway, I think it will be good for Naruto to visit Suna now. Beyond seeing his friends, the Kazekage should hear our reports about the Akatsuki, who are plotting against him even now." "He can leave as early as next morning, provided he doesn't do too bad against my Sakura-chan." Tsunade slowly stood up from her chair and went to her large window overseeing Konoha. The meeting was finally finished.
As Naruto was making himself something edible in the now-clean and considerably large kitchen of the Namikaze mansion, he had in fact become quite the proficient cook, two and a half years travelling with a man who couldn't make toast had made it inevitable, he heard the before mentioned man walking through the mansion, finding the kitchen at once.
"Woah, been a long time since I've been here before. Naruto, you have no time for eating now, or Tsunade'll forbid you from travelling to Suna merely for being late." With that he dragged Naruto out with no warning, showing the he at the very least had not changed his attitude against his student.
The sun was already about to set as they were walking towards Training Ground Four, for their reunion with Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura had taken a good part of the day. Naruto remembered what he had seen at first. "Oy, Jiraiya, don't you think Tsunade and Shizune-neechan were acting kind of weird?" The old man looked surprised. "No, not more than usual, what are you talking about?" Naruto hesitated. "Well, at first, Shizune-neechan was leaning over Tsunade and one of her hands..." Jiraiya laughed hard, further confusing Naruto. "So, you really didn't know, did you?" "Know what?" Naruto was getting annoyed now, bringing their walk to a halt.
"I know you were stupid but really, you didn't know that Tsunade and Shizune had that kind of relationship?" Jiraiya seemed most amused. Naruto answered him. "Now that I think back, they were sometimes acting strange, but I didn't really think about it back then." "The only reason Tsunade isn't buried in ten meters of ninja steel under the Konoha Mental Facility is because of Shizune. They both lost their entire clans in the last great war, and although I doubt Shizune can ever completely fill the hole Dan's death left, they both need each other." Jiraiya's more serious tone spoke of his respect for Shizune, and he rarely showed any of the sort.
Fighting a very different Sakura and seeing what else had changed in Konoha awaited.