Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and only use it for entertainment purposes.
Three days had passed since Naruto brought Tsunade back to Konoha to be the Godaime Hokage. In that time she had been extremely busy; first she had to inform Kakashi about Naruto's hidden abilities, then she had to break the news to Gai that his student Rock Lee may never be a shinobi again, she had to arrange training for Naruto from the one person that could help and finally she had to oversee the results of the recent Chunin Exam. All in all she was already starting to regret taking the position of Hokage.
Currently she was talking with the judges of the final part of the Chunin Exam reviewing their decision for who was to get promoted. "I agree with the promotion of Nara Shikamaru," Tsunade said. "But what I am most interested in is the actions of certain Gennin during the actual invasion. Because it was technically a time of war a field promotion can be given."
"You are referring to the Gennins that chased after Sabaku no Gaara and his teammates correct," one of the Chunin asked. "Not counting Nara Shikamaru there were four Gennins that followed the trio; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Aburame Shino."
"Yes, yes, I know the result of the fights," Tsunade said. Naruto had described in detail what had happened during his fight with Gaara. At first she thought he was exaggerating as he seemed to have a tendency to do but Jiraiya had confirmed Naruto's telling from listing to one of his summons. Apparently Gamabunta and his son Gamakichi were telling stories about the their latest summoner and the battle with the Shukaku. "What I wish to know is do you think anyone of them deserve the rank of Chunin."
"From what his fellow Gennin said about Aburame Shino he would be the only one that should get a promotion from that fight," the Chunin said. "Unfortunately because no Chunin or Jounin witnessed his battle with Sabaku no Kankuro we cannot give him the rank of Chunin. The regulations state that in a field promotion at least one Chunin or Jounin must be a witness."
Tsunade sighed, the Chunin was right about the regulations so she had no choice to deny Shino's promotion even if Konoha could use another Chunin. "Alright it's agreed, only Nara Shikamaru will receive the promotion to Chunin."
"Good day Hokage-sama," the Chunin stood and bowed then left the office.
A knock on her door indicated that Tsunade had another visitor wanting to see her, "Who is it this time Shizune?"
"It the one you sent for Tsunade-sama," her assistant answered. Shizune stepped sighed and an Anbu Captain entered the office.
"You wished to summon me Tsunade-sama?" the Anbu asked.
"Yes," Tsunade answered. "I have a mission for you that only you can accomplish."
Kakashi was at the usual spot he went to when he wanted to think, the memorial for shinobi killed in action. He had been spending his time here just about every waking moment after Tsunade had told him about Naruto's ability to use the Mokudon (wood element). It was news that caught him totally by surprise never imagining his loudest student had such a powerful 'bloodline.' He was not really sure if he could call it a Bloodline Limit, but it was the only thing he could come up with at the moment. In reality Naruto's ability to use wood was similar to his ability to use the Sharingan, it was a part of him but the ultimate source was artificial.
The real problem was he had no idea how to approach Naruto with this. The truth was Kakashi had nothing to really contribute to his training anymore, only one person could really help Naruto with learning the Shodaime's jutsus and Jiraiya had already taken Naruto under his wing. The report about the fight between Gaara and Naruto was proof that Naruto had grown much farther then he would have if Kakashi had trained him. Imagine a Gennin being able to summon a Boss Summon in order to fight the equivalent of another. The news came as a slap in the face over the inadequacies he had as a sensei when the student he taught personally failed and the one he brushed aside succeeded.
He looked up at the Hokage Monument focusing on the fourth face. "So what do I do know sensei? You always seemed to have the right answers when we were stuck on something."
"For now you can either move over or actually go on that mission you received an hour ago," a female voice said. A woman in an Anbu uniform came up to the Memorial.
"Yagao," Kakashi greeted. "You've been spending a lot of time here."
"The same can be said about you Kakashi," Yagoa returned. "I'm only here to pay my respects to a departed friend. I come to pay my respects to the past not hide from the present and future." Without another word she walked up to the memorial and said a small prayer in silence then left but not before saying, "You really should get on that mission I hear that the knew Hokage has quite a temper when it comes to lateness, and then there is her open dislike for your favorite book," Kakashi looked worried and patted his pouch to make sure his book was still present, "Looks like you're twice as unlucky as
With your habits this time Kakashi."
Sakura was wondering through the village for once not looking for her crush Sasuke. She was in fact looking for her other teammate Naruto. After the Finals she had thanked Sasuke for saving her from Gaara for, in her mind, only the Uchiha genius could have saved her from that monster. However that was shot down when Sasuke had informed her that is was Naruto that rescued her. She had actually meant to thank him but got distracted by the amusing sight of the blonde trying to learn Chidori. Then when she tried to thank him later she found out that he went on mission with someone. Which was very odd for Gennin very seldom went on missions without their assigned teams, just one more reason she wanted to find Naruto. It seemed he was changing faster than anyone could have guest before the Chunin Exam.
She continued to walk when she caught sight of a depressed looking Lee just staggering around with his crutch. This caught her by surprise because just a few days ago she saw him training his non-injured limbs with more enthusiasm and determination she had ever seen in anyone, except for maybe Naruto. To see the Gennin like this was a rather disturbing sight. "Lee-san are you alright?" Sakura asked.
The usually over excitable Gennin gave her a sad frown for a brief moment then a smile came to his face at the idea of talking to Sakura. "Oh I'm fine Sakura-chan," Lee said. He was lying though he was actually very upset. He had been told by one of if not the greatest medical-nins in the world that he no chance at continuing his life as a shinobi, something that meant absolutely everything to him. To come as far as he did with such a handicap as great as his and then have it taken away was very devastating. But the absolute last thing he wanted was to upset anyone so he put on a happy face whenever he was not alone. "So what are you doing here Sakura-chan?"
"Oh I was just taking a walk that's all," Sakura said. "I guess I can tell Naruto thank you later, Lee looks like he could use a friend." It was rather odd thing about Sakura, she could see behind false fronts rather well in everyone else but her team. She could tell that Lee was feeling down and thought she could bring his spirits up. "Care to join me?"
Lee actually liked that idea. H had never been one that would wallow in self pity and taking a walk with her would at least distract him from his problems for a little while. "I would love to Sakura-chan!" Sakura actually gave him a small smile as she could tell she had genially cheered him up.
Naruto was off in the forest practicing the Mokudon: Seicho (Growth). This was actually the base for all of the Shodaime's jutsu and consent practice helped in learning all the other jutsus. Thus he was constantly practicing this jutsu in preparation for his new training in the rest of Shodaime's jutsus.
Mokudon: Seicho was a jutsu that did just what is said, it stimulated the growth of the plants around the person using the jutsu. In this case a tree that was about five meters high. While it was not all that impressive compared to the rest of the trees in and around Konoha it was impressive in that it was just over a year old. Naruto had planted and growing this tree with the jutsu for nearly a year now.
He stepped back from the tree and inspected its growth. "Heh, not bad," Naruto said. "All this extra training and chakra control is really paying off." He then grabbed the pendant that Tsunade gave him on the return trip. "I wonder if this has anything to do it. Obachan was right my control has gotten better since I put it on." After taking a look at the tree satisfied with the results he decided to change his training tactics. "Well that's enough creating now lets do some destroying." He then looked around, "Just not hear." He never really did like destroying the trees not since he could make them. He felt it was like destroying a part of himself.
Back in Tsunade's office she had just going over the details on Naruto with the Anbu that she summoned. The Anbu, who still had his mask on, let out a sigh of relief. "Because she also lived through Orochimaru's experiments Minako was like a sister to me. I was on an extended mission when the Kyuubi attacked, and the Sandaime told me that she and her child were killed. I'm glad that at least a part of her remains."
"Yamato, do you know who might be Naruto's father?" Tsunade asked. She had been wondering about Naruto's father ever since she got back. By his looks one might guess he could be related to Yondaime, but then again the same could be said of the Yamanaka family as well. She could order a blood test and compare the records but that could take weeks to months before she found out anything. Yamato and Minako were close so if anyone could narrow her search he could.
"I'm afraid not," Yamato sighed. "She never said anything about whom got her pregnant. Because these can things happen while on long missions no one questioned her about it." Tsunade understood exactly what Yamato was saying. On very long and often dangerous missions emotions often become very intense that lead to acts that a person would not normally take. And because of this it was not unheard of that a kunoichi might become pregnant out of wedlock. There was no shame in it because it was just one of the aspects of the lives they led. "What surprises me is that Sandaime never told me about Naruto. I wonder what is motivation for keeping the information a secret was."
"Sarutobi-sensei never did anything without his reasons," Tsunade said. "I'll probably be looking through his private journals for the next few weeks. There are a lot of questions that have come up and very few answers." She glanced at the clock noting it was getting late in the afternoon and she still had other important tasks that needed to be done. "You should tell you're squad that you'll be on temporary reassignment for the next couple of months also have the Anbu Commander replace your position in the squad. I have to get some more work done."
"You mean trying to find a way to help that kid Rock Lee?" Yamato asked. He did not need to hear an answer; Tsunade's pause was enough of a confirmation. "I hope you can help him, I've seen him training every now and then. He has the drive to become great it would be a shame to loose him."
Jiraiya was once again doing what he did best, gathering information, whether it was inspiration for his new book or checking on various threats to Konoha there was no one better. Right now he was looking for information on his new book, meaning he was peeping into the female side of the hot springs, again. The problem that often got Jiraiya in trouble was that when he was watching gorgeous women take a soak his normally alert senses became severely dulled. And just as his luck would have it a woman with a bust almost the size of Tsunade's just walked into the spring. This was bad because someone, a certain blond Gennin that had a reputation for being very loud, just happened walk by and hear Jiraiya's perverted giggle as he thought of his new scene for Icha Icha Paradise Volume Four.
Said blonde was wondering where the giggle was coming from and soon found the source. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU PERVERT?"
Jiraiya froze while the women in the spring screamed at the yell, normally he would have turned and punished someone for interrupting his data gathering like he did with Ebisu when he first met Naruto. This time he was panicking because he knew the source of the voice. Well not the individual person but the general source in terms of gender. Turning ever so slowly his eyes confirmed what his ears already told his brain. A girl with blonde hair and bluish green eyes about Naruto's age was standing there looking very angry while reaching into a kunai in order to give Jiraiya a new orifice in his body. "Um well you see," Jiraiya tried to explain but he cut short when several other females that heard the shout about a pervert soon joined the girl. Jiraiya knew it was time to make a very fast exit right then.
After ten minutes of hard chasing after some white haired pervert Yamanaka Ino was becoming very tired. She was the only shinobi in the group of women so at this point she was the only one still in the chase. And with the adrenaline fueled by her anger wearing off she was becoming fatigued quickly. After the pervert she was chasing made another disappearing act and she lost sight of him Ino decided to stop and catch her breath. Much of her anger was still enough to want to find and punish the pervert but not enough to ignore the burning in her legs. "Danm I need to train more!" she fumed. "I can't even catch one old pervert, no wonder I didn't be Forehead-Girl!"
"Rasengan!" a yell from close by followed by a very loud explosion interrupted Ino's thoughts.
"What the hell was that?" she asked surprised. Being a kunoichi it was her duty to investigate disturbances in and around Konoha if she came across one, especially with the recent Suna and Oto invasion. As a Gennin all she had to do was find the general location of the disturbance and tell a higher ranked shinobi. However the explosion was not building her confidence level at all.
"Damn it!" a familiar shout came from the direction of the explosion and previous shout. "I still can't do it one handed!"
"That sound's like Naruto," Ino thought. "What's he doing out here?" When Ino had paused in her pursuit of the white haired pervert she had taken note of just where she was. She found herself at the edge of where one of the forest training grounds end and one of the rocky ones began. It was very far from Team 7's normal training ground so to hear Naruto's voice was very surprising.
No longer worried about the danger of facing an enemy she decided to see what was going on. When she came on of the tree line she found a rocky area littered with craters with Naruto laying down next to one covered in bits of rock. "Ok one more time!" Naruto said.
Ino watched curiously as Naruto held out his hand palm up seeming to concentrate on it. Another couple of seconds she was surprised when a swirling mass of chakra formed in his hand. "Could he be trying to learn what Sasuke-kun did during the Chunin Exam?" Ino thought. Before the Chunin Exam Ino would have never though Naruto could perform such a powerful jutsu. After witnessing his defeat of Hyuuga Neji she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Asuma-sensei did say it was a jutsu made on almost pure chakra," she muttered. "Now what did call it?" she thought for a second, "Oh yeah he called it Chidori! Is Naruto trying to learn Chidori?"
The chakra in Naruto's hand formed into a rough sphere shape just before he dashed towards a boulder that was as of yet undamaged. When he was close enough he thrust the ball of chakra into the boulder, "Rasengan!" the result was another explosion with Naruto flying back with pebbles hitting all over his body. After lying there panting Naruto said, "Still not right."
"Rasengan?" Ino whispered. "Guess he's not learning Chidori." Now that she thought about it there were significant differences in what Sasuke did and what Naruto was doing. The Chidori tended to arc like electricity, Naruto's 'Rasengan' looked like a swirling ball of wind. Wanting to find out what he was doing Ino moved closer to the still downed boy. "Hey Naruto was what that you just did?"
"Huh? Oh hi, that was my newest jutsu," Naruto answered. "And it's way better than Sasuke-teme's Chidori."
Not liking Sasuke being called names Ino's anger rose. "Don't call Sasuke-kun that! And besides this jutsu doesn't look all that impressive to me. It looks like it blew you up more than the boulder."
"That's just because I'm doing it one handed!" Naruto countered.
"Yeah right! I bet you would blow yourself up even more if you used both hands," Ino retorted.
Naruto frowned because Ino was actually right in that. Without his Kage Bushin (Shadow Clone) to back up his own hand he could not get enough pressure to hold the sphere. With just one hand he had just enough pressure that would result in an increase the backlash of the jutsu. On the plus side for Naruto he learned all he needed was a Kage Bushin to perform the jutsu freeing up one hand to block an incoming attack. Right now he was working on performing Rasengan without any aide so it would be the proper version he saw Jiraiya do. "Ha I'll show you!" Naruto said jumping to his feet. He like showing off and hated to be told what he should and not be able to do. Now he had a chance to show off and prove someone's conception about him wrong, two of his favorite things in the world. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
"I've seen this one," Ino smirked.
"Shut up and watch!" Naruto yelled as his clone worked to stabilize the forming ball. After only a could of moments the ball completely formed and Naruto dashed off to another boulder. "Rasengan!" The ball drilled into the boulder driving it back several meters before it finally exploded into several thousand small rocks. "So what do you think of my latest jutsu now?"
"Wow," Ino said dumbfounded. She had to admit that was probably one of the most impressive jutsus she had ever seen including Sasuke's Chidori. She just had to know how Naruto learned such a powerful jutsu. "Hey tell me where you learned that."
With Naruto always wanting attention and praise from others was more than happy to tell Ino about his mission to look for Tsunade, even though he did leave out certain parts like the fight involving Kabuto and the Sennins. The reason was because the Sandaime Hokage's death was still a sour subject for everyone, especially his age group because everyone view the old man a loving grandparent. Telling Ino about his killer would have upset the blonde kuniochi. "And so I won the bet and Tsunade-bachan had to give me this," Naruto said holding up the necklace.
After inspecting the necklace and determining that it had to be worth a fortune she bopped Naruto on the head, "You shouldn't talk about Hokage-sama like that!" Ino berated. "And I can't believe you learned from such a blatant pervert!" Naruto had not pulled any punches when describing Jiraiya. Also from Naruto's description of his she determined that Jiraiya was the old man she was chasing after just before she found Naruto. "You said he helped train you for the Finals, what did this Jiraiya teach you then?"
"Well first he taught to walk on water and then he taught me Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning)," Naruto answered.
Again she was impressed, water walking was actually an upper Gennin low Chunin chakra control exercise and learning how to summon properly was rather difficult because it required a lot of power and pretty precise control. "Who would have ever thought Naruto would become so strong?" Ino thought. "So what do you summon?"
"I summon toads!" Naruto said proudly.
"Eww I hate toad!" Ino complained.
Naruto looked indignant at Ino's reaction, "I'll have you know the Yondaime Hokage summoned toads as well," Naruto said. "And because he came up with Rasengan you can say I'm just like him."
"I seriously doubt you're like the strongest Hokage there's been!" Ino said at the proclamation, "I will give you this you've grown a lot more than I think you would have."
Naruto would have frowned at jab about him not being like the Yondaime but Ino had acknowledged the fact that he had become strong and that was good enough for him. A growl of his stomach changed the subject of the conversation. Rubbing the back of his head with a fox-like smile he said, "Guess it's time to eat, want to come to Ichiruka with me?" Naruto always like inviting his friends to his favorite restaurant and Ino had just become his newest friend.
Ino would have decline if her stomach had not joined Naruto's after the invitation. With a slight blush from embarrassment she said"I guess I'm hungry too, so sure."
