Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: This story is a continuation of chapter 1. Naruto spends the majority of his time passed out in a hospital bed next to Kakashi. Our returning team attempts to solve some questions raised by their most recent mission.

You have been warned: Language, Manga Spoilers, Sexual themes and Violence.

"Jutsu" means Jutsu name

"Inner Sakura/Kyuubi" means Inner Sakura or Kyuubi speaking

"Inner Thoughts/Flashback" means Inner Thoughts of a person or a Flashback when stated

CHAPTER 2: RECOVERY

Back in Konoha, beside Naruto's and Kakashi's hospital beds, Team Kakashi stare at Naruto trying to figure out just what had happened back at Orochimaru's lair. As though this would unravel the mystery that is Naruto.

Tsunade walks in, "Naruto should be awake soon. I will discuss my findings with you latter ... Moving onto more important matters, I am surprised he was able to battle Sasuke in this condition, let alone defeat him … Why do you think Naruto threw him back?"

Yamato answers, all business like, "I believe he knew we were outmatched. And he also knew that he was on the verge of collapse. Naruto did the only thing he could to give us a chance of escape."

Sakura sighs and looks to the floor, "I called him an idiot when he was thinking 10 steps ahead of me. I am the idiot Naruto, I am sorry." A tear slowly drops to the floor. She walks towards her friend and clasps his hand in hers.

Tsunade, Kakashi and Yamato look on at the sad display of affection. Sai just stands there and attempts to take this all in, jotting down some notes. "This is gold! I will have friends in no time."

Tsunade, in a more serious tone, continues, "How did Naruto become so fast?"

It was the question on everyone's lips. With some difficulty, Kakashi pulls himself into a more upright position.

"I can answer that question." Jiraiya stands at the window looking concerned at the well-being of his student.

Sakura looks around the room for an indication of his sudden appearance, even looking under Naruto's bed.

"Where did he come from? These legendary sannin are beginning to aggravate me." Inner Sakura shouts.

"During our training, Naruto and I knew that we had to increase his speed to counter the sharingan. He had to become so fast as to become virtually invisible to the moving eye. In actuality, so fast that it would appear that time itself had stopped."

"One day, during an intense training session, Naruto tore his hamstring. Kneeling next to him, I watched as the Kyuubi's chakra healed him. Naruto then simply hopped up, ready to do it all over again." Jiraiya snickers at the fond memory.

"I theorised that if we were stopped this chakra from healing a muscle injury, more chakra would be sent in order to overcome the apparent obstruction. When the Kyuubi's chakra became so large that the obstruction could no longer stem the flow, the obstructing chakra could be merged with the healing chakra of the Kyuubi. I believed that by doing this, the make-up of the injured muscle would be altered dramatically. It would be infused with so much power, that it would become something else, something more."

Tsunade and Sakura, being familiar with the human anatomy stood transfixed.

"At first Naruto had a hard time understanding what I was proposing but he eventually grasped the concept. When he asked if we could try it on one muscle first, I told him that we had to do it to all to see the potential benefit. If we left one muscle unaltered, this one muscle would prevent the others from utilising the apparent change. Basically following the Weakest Link theory ..." Jiraiya paused to gauge the groups understanding and once satisfied continued.

"I told Naruto that I would have to enter his mind. And together we would walk the corridors of his body to each muscle. He would have to prepare for the onslaught of the nine-tailed fox's chakra by readying the release of his own chakra. I was going to then tear Naruto's muscle practically in two. The pain of which would be immense. Once done, there should be a surge of red charka. Naruto would then have to unleash his own chakra in the form of a shield over the damaged area, providing an obstruction. Upon encountering the obstruction, more healing chakra should be sent ... in theory anyway.'

"If this all happened, I told Naruto to increase the power of his shield so as to get the most chakra from the Kyuubi as possible. Once near his limit, he was to remove the obstructing shield and merge it with that of the red chakra, and that he would need to give his chakra purpose ...Think of what you want your muscles to become."

Jiraiya looked up from Naruto's body to Tsunade, seeking forgiveness.

"Naruto of course decided to give it a go. What harm could it do after all?" Jiraiya waited for an answer but none were forthcoming.

"We started on the smaller muscles first. The chakra was easy for Naruto to stop in the beginning and he managed to withhold its healing intent."

"He continued to increase his shield and on the verge of exhaustion, Naruto slammed his chakra into the red chakra. At first the red chakra seemed to fight, but it eventually capitulated and turned into a surprising golden colour. The newly formed chakra then not only healed the torn muscle but transformed its entire structure as I had hoped, extending to even the ligaments themselves. On a molecular level however I wasn't sure what was happening."

"We repeated this process over and over again, and as a side effect, Naruto began getting accustomed to his immense chakra levels. His larger muscles were much more difficult and there were times when Naruto had nearly died from the exertion and the continued pain. But eventually the job was done. He had changed every muscle in his body."

"At first, his speed and strength seemed the same. I attacked Naruto with a myriad of elemental jutsu's and found that his muscles were much more resilient. Either that or they just regenerated so fast that I couldn't see. But even though there was a slight improvement, I was rather disappointed with the result." Jiraiya pauses.

"But then something extraordinary happened … we were attacked by some rogue ninja's. And in the heat of battle, Naruto turns to me; his grin could have split his face in two, and within a mere heart beat; the area looked like it had been hit with a tornado. Debris and bodies were flying everywhere." Jiraiya waves his hands around in the air trying to add some more flare to his story.

Taking in everyone's astonishment, Jiraiya continued, "At that very moment, I analysed his muscles and from what I could gather; they had become exceptionally stronger. Without any form of chakra manipulation he was 100 times stronger than both Tsunade and Sakura combined ..."

"Wait ... wait ... wait a minute", Tsunade interrupts, "Are you telling me that he can do all this without even accessing his chakra?"

Jiraiya answers worriedly, "I am not entirely sure. What I am certain of is that Naruto must have had some reservations about changing himself. So I think he inadvertently moulded into his intent some kind of activation. I am not sure what it is, perhaps it a subconscious decision. Perhaps it's his body's way of self-preservation."

"It's like he has two modes of operation. A stand-by mode; where his muscles are now extremely resilient to damage. And a battle-type mode, where his subconscious decides things are dire and the extra speed and strength are required."

Kakashi, Tsunade, Yamato, Sakura and Sai were having a hard time taking in what Jiraiya had just said. But it had to be true. Most had seen it with their own eyes. Kakashi turned to Yamato to determine whether he too should believe it.

"It's true." Sakura says quietly, breaking the silence. "It all fits. Naruto ran rings around Sasuke. One time, Sasuke was holding his katana, and within the blink of an eye, Naruto had it. It looked as though Naruto hadn't even moved. And each blow he delivered ripped through Sasuke's organs and shattered bones. Also, at the end of the fight, with a mere flick of his wrist, he tossed Sasuke up a 20m high embankment, 30m away."

"This also explains why his burnt hand functioned fine." She thinks to herself.

Sakura gently straightens Naruto's hospital sheets, "Is this all I can do for him?"

Cursing herself for not checking earlier, Tsunade walks up to Naruto and delves her chakra into one of Naruto's muscles. She begins to notice the subtle molecular changes. "How on earth is this possible?"

Tsunade musters all her chakra in her right fist, turns around and punches Jiraiya in the face, forcing him to fly out of the window. Jiraiya screams in pain, "OW OW OW OW OW OW …!"

"YOU IDIOT", Tsunade screams out the window to the now distant Jiraiya. She cups her hands around her mouth in an attempt to have her insult carry. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO NARUTO?"

She glares at the other members. Kakashi feigns sleep whilst the others step back in sheer terror. Tsunade turns her head to the boy under the covers, "IF HE WERE AWAKE, I WOULD CLOBBER HIM TOO." She grabs Naruto's collar and begins shaking him, "IT WAS ABOUT TIME HE WOKE UP ANYWAY. I HEALED HIM HOURS AGO".

Some drool escapes Naruto's mouth as he slowly comes too. The first thing he sees is a glaring old hag. "BWAAHHHHHHHHH", Naruto screams and covers his eyes.

Tsunade stops glaring at the boy and lets him go. It took all her will-power not to beat him senseless.

"So you changed your muscles. Whoop-de-do!" Tsunade says in an angry, child-like voice. "How come you didn't show us this new found ability when fighting Kakashi?" It was a stupid question considering Jiraiya's explanation, but she had to let the boy know that she knew.

Ignoring the question, Naruto sits up, "Arhhh ... I feel much better." He peers passed Tsunade. "Sakura-chan, you really should learn how the old bag did this. If you could have done this earlier, I may have been able to bring Sasuke back."

Inner Sakura's left eye twitches, "What did he just say?" Sakura loses her cool, pushes past Tsunade and punches Naruto in the face. The downward motion of her stroke causes the bed to collapse.

"OW OW OW OW OW OW … MY FACE ..." Naruto clutches his face with both hands. Lying on the floor, Naruto looks back to Tsunade and answers her question, "There was no need." He states simply. He didn't want to be attacked by another angry woman.

"So how about some ramen?" Naruto stands up in his hospital gown and turns to look for his clothes, "Where are my clothes?"

Team Kakashi and Tsunade find themselves staring at Naruto's naked behind.

"Where's that breeze coming from?" Naruto asks, reaching back to scratch his butt. His eyes widen at the sudden realisation.

Inner Sakura snickers, "AW...RIGHT" she pumps the air with her fist, "LOOK AT THOSE BUNS OF STEEL BABY!"

Sakura, all prim and proper, "NARUTOOO!!"

Naruto runs out the door, his gown billowing with the speed of his escape. "I can't let Sakura-chan hit me again …"

Sakura follows in hot pursuit.

Sai's eyes widen as he jots down some more notes, "Note: Upon seeing the naked body (e.g. bum) of a person of the opposite sex, scream and attack them."