Bonds That Bind
"Jiraiya -sama, how did you ever get so strong and handsome?"
"Oh my darlings! That is a huge secret, but I can tell you if you do something for me", responded Jiraiya.
"Oh anything, anything at all! Just name it!"
"Hahaha! I love you girls!" Jiraiya said as he started thinking of all the fun 'favors' the girls could do for him. "Oh girls!" Jiraiya snickered.
The young girls in bikinis giggled as they gathered around him.
Jiraiya says, "First I want you three girls to…" Just then, an irritating darkness fell over him and the multitudes of young, bikini wearing girls. His world turned black as he felt an annoying voice come through to his head.
"ERO SENNIN! WAKE UP!"
"Damnit." Jiraiya thought to himself.
As he opened his eyes, he found a blonde teenager, with blue eyes, and slight whisker marks running across his cheeks staring at him.
"Naruto! How many times have I told you not to wake me up before?"
"But you were making those weird moaning noises again! And it was creepy." stated Naruto bluntly, " And besides that, I don't want to wait for you to finish your perverted dreams! We're supposed to be headed back to Konoha today. Remember!"
"Of course I remember, but that is still not an excuse for waking up your sensei while he is in the middle of a peaceful nap!"
Jiraiya and Naruto got up from the calm shade that the great oak provided them, and then continue on down the path to Konoha. As they continued to walk, Naruto's mind drifts off to visit old memories of his life in Konoha three years ago. He remembers going to the ninja academy and acting like the class clown so that everyone would notice him. He also remembered the way people would treat him and look down on his very existence. Every single person he could think of always looked down on him, except Iruka-sensei. 'I can't wait to see Iruka-sensei again! He won't believe how much stronger I have become. I'll challenge him to a sparring match, and when I win, I'll make him treat me to ramen.'
"Hey Naruto."
Naruto's mind drifted back to the dirt path surrounded by masses of forest on either side and the clear blue sky above him.
"Huh? What is it Ero-Sennin?"
"Remember that once we get back to Konoha, Tsunade is going to want to debrief you from you training, and please Naruto, don't call me that once we're in public."
"Oh man. How long is the debriefing going to take? I want to go and see Iruka-sensei and show him how much stronger I am now"
"Well, we'll probably get into Konoha late at night, and the debriefing is going to take a while. Your ramen obsession is going to have to wait one more day."
"That's not fair though! I've gone three years without Ichiraku's ramen! Can't we meet with Tsunade Obaachan tomorrow?"
"No Naruto. We must meet with her as soon as we arrive. You have waited three years for Ichiraku ramen. One more day won't hurt."
As night falls upon Naruto and Jiraiya, they see off in the distance the gates of Konoha. As they approach the gates, they encounter an ANBU sentry.
"Halt! Identify yourselves." ,stated the ANBU guard.
"I am one of the three legendary sannin of Konoha, I am the legendary toad sage Jiraiya! And this is my idiot apprentice Naruto Uzumaki."
"Hey! Shut up you perverted old man!"
"What did I tell you about speaking in such a disrespectful manner to your sensei!"
"Well what do you expect when you go around disrespecting the only person who will put up with your perverted antics!"
"There not perverted antics! There my research for my award winning novel."
"You call your stupid book a novel! It doesn't even have a real story line! The entire thing is just talking about…"
"AH-HEM" The ANBU guard tried to stop the useless fight before it was too late.
Both Naruto and Jiraiya looked up, surprised to see the ANBU guard standing next to them. They had both completely forgotten about him while they had their little 'episode'.
The ANBU guard now feeling as though he had the attention of the two proceeded to say, "I'll just take you two to the Hogake's Office and let her deal with it."
Naruto and Jiraiya kept bickering along the dark and cold Konoha street. The ANBU guard simply tuning them out and thinking about why the Hokage would want to see these two. The guard looked back and thought how strangely similar the two of them were. They could be related for all he knew.
The three shinobi continued to walk the dimly lit streets until they arrived at the Hokage's office. The ANBU departing soon after he was sure the other two were inside.
The sannin and his pupil entered the cluttered room filled with an assortment of scrolls and books. The 5th Hokage had fallen asleep reading scrolls again, and she had a smudged copy of the print on her cheek. But of course, Naruto brought it upon himself to wake the twenty year old wannabe. "TSUNADE OBAACHAN! WAKE UP!". He was instantly knocked into the wall across from where Tsunade was napping.
"Ow! What was that for baa-chan?" ,cried the newly bruised Naruto.
"For not showing the Hokage of Konoha the respect she deserves!" claimed the empowered Tsunade, recovering from her nap.
"Well if you hadn't made us come all the way here so late at night, you could still be sleeping." Said Naruto in a Matter-Of-Fact way.
Tsunade, not wanting to have a never ending argument, decided to change the subject, "Well Naruto, Jiraiya, I want a detailed report of your training for the last 3 years. I've heard some rumors that I want cleared up as soon as possible."
"Eh, what kind of rumors?" Jiraiya asked in a sheepish tone.
"Well lets see, I have a report here that two Konoha shinobi were spotted peeping into the women's only hot springs near Water Country." Tsunade continued, "I also have heard numerous reports on an old man wearing a red vest and having long white hair going on multiple drunken rampages near the Rock Country".
"I WASN'T DRUNK!" yelled Jiraiya before realizing that he just admitted to the allegations against him.
"Anyway", Tsunade started, "I need that report, neither of you two can leave my office until I 'day to day' understanding of what you two have been up to while you were out of my village."
Jiraiya and Naruto, after Naruto attempted to escape Tsunade's debriefing from hell, reluctantly stayed well into the morning filling Tsunade in with every detail of their 3 year long training session. After they were done and Tsunade stopped caring, they departed for their respective homes.
Naruto got back to his small apartment that he called home. He opened up the small wooden door to reveal his dust infested living quarters. "Good to be back", he stated as he walked into what his been is sanctuary every since he was young child. It was hard living by himself, it wasn't the fact that he had to clean up after himself, or do his own cooking, etc… It was the fact that he was alone. It was always a pain that he tried to avoid whenever he possibly could. But it always came back to him whenever he returned to his apartment.
He settled down and put his belongings away. Its funny how everything he lived with for the last 3 years could be put away in as little as 5 minutes. He changed into his pajamas and put his animal shaped hat over his head and slowly drifted off to sleep. Knowing in the back of his mind, that he was finally home.