Yo guys. I'm back with the second chapter of this fic.

Thanks for all the reviews that I received for this fic. I'm sure you will like this chapter, if want some action.

So, without further adieu, let's get to the story.

…

What! You want me to put disclaimer! This was not what I signed for, when I wrote this fic! Go to hell!

Chapter 2: Here comes the hero

It was so beautiful.

The sight in front of him was one which was like a bitter sweet pill for him. On hand, the place that was in front of his eyes was one where he grew up. The one, which he had recognized as his home. The place which he sworn to protect with his life.

It was a great sight to see.

But, on the other hand, this was a place where he had to endure meaningless ostracism, alienation and loneliness. It was a hard life for him in this place. A hard childhood, that left much to be desired.

Even still, he loved this place dearly.

It was not the fault of this place, if the villagers in it had started to be a bit resentful. It was still a place that he called as his home. It was still the place that he was born at.

That left a bit patriotic feeling towards this place, no matter how much he had to endure here.

Maybe, that's the reason why he was still striving to earn recognition in this place. Maybe it's because he wanted to prove to the people here that he was worthy of being a resident of this village. That he was worthy of being someone that this village could be proud of.

That he was worthy to be a Konoha Shinobi.

Naruto sighed to himself, as he ran a hand through his wild blonde locks, while gazing silently at the Konoha village in front of him, from atop the Hokage monument, all the while standing on top of the Yondaime Hokage's face. His Father's face.

Yeah, still a bit of a shocker for him.

He can't actually remember how he felt, when he learned the truth about his father from the pervy sage. He might have cried, because he was able to learn about his parents at last. He might have been angry, because his own father condemned him to a life full of hatred. He might have laughed out in joy, because of his pride in his father being the legendary Fourth Hokage. He might have done many more things, which he can't even seem to remember.

His memory was that jaded.

And for a good reason too. Because he had gone through a lot. Experienced a lot. The memories of the past year still fresh on his mind…

Naruto shook his head to clear his mind from his wandering thoughts. No need for him to venture into that memory lane. It was his past. He now had a future to look forward to.

"So this is where you ran off to." A voice came from his back, making Naruto turn around, to see his Godfather Jiraiya standing there with crossed arms.

"Ero-Sennin." Naruto responded automatically, resulting in Jiraiya twitching his eyebrows in irritation at the nickname.

"Gaki! How many times have I told you…forget it." Jiraiya gave up, as he sighed in resignation at the hope that Naruto would, for once, call him properly by his name or title.

Naruto just gave an irritating smirk to Jiraiya, as if he was mocking the toad Sennin.

Jiraiya just shook his head, as he looked at his apprentice. "You know, I thought it was determined that we would be passing through the check post at Konoha gate. Wasn't it?" He spoke to Naruto in a questioning manner.

The person in question merely turned around, as he once again gazed at the village that was his home. "Yeah, we did…I just wanted to see this site after a long time." He replied back in a soft tone, as he said nothing else.

Jiraiya's expression softened, as he observed the mood of his apprentice. He didn't say anything for the next few minutes, as they silently gazed at the village, before he once again turned towards the blonde "Naruto, we have to meet Tsunade" He informed his apprentice, before he let a smirk don his lips "And of course, we have to inform the whole village of your comeback. Isn't that right, Naruto?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

Naruto chuckled a bit at his godfather's statement. "Yes we do, Ero-Sennin," He let a mischievous smirk appear on his face. "Yes we do."

With that, both the apprentice and teacher duo vanished away from the place.

The birds were chirping. The sun was shining brightly. And, the village was bustling vibrantly with life.

This was the scenery that Miya Uzumaki was witnessing through the window of her Uzukage office. As she gazed at the village that she had founded due to her Ashikabi's dreams, her thoughts unconsciously drifted towards the man she loved.

This was something that no amount of mental conditioning she developed could qualm, as she always got lost in her own little world about her Ashikabi. The very same Ashikabi, who had rejected her.

That particular memory still stung her. In the past, she had aimlessly mused on why Naruto had rejected her. Was she not beautiful enough for him? Or was she not smart and strong enough for him? Or was it the other way round of her being too powerful, that his manly pride couldn't take it. She had aimlessly mused like that.

But now, she knew the real reason as to why he did what he did.

The moment she had learned the truth of her Ashikabi's past from her her spies in Konoha was the moment she could remember herself being the most enraged in her entire life. The melancholic past of Naruto enduring a childhood of loneliness and hatred were the causes of his insecurities and mistrust, just because he happened to be the unfortunate infant that night to have Kyuubi sealed within himself.

At that moment, she had half a mind to race towards Konoha, and level that village into a giant crater. The sole reason that Naruto still cherished that place was the cause why she held herself back from doing so.

Naruto's other destined Sekireis had somewhat a similar reaction too. While Matsu had looked melancholic at the news, Karasuba didn't show any particular reaction, as she snorted at the news. But her sharp eyes had catched the fact that the grey haired Sekirei was somewhat disturbed by the news.

And Kazehana, in particular, had been an interesting case. In fact, were it not for the fact that she was present there when they learned about Naruto's childhood from their spies, she wouldn't have believed that Kazehana could make an enraged face.

Her musings were cut short, when a man entered her office. At this, she turned her rotatable chair around to face the person, who had entered her office. When she did, she was greeted to the sight of one of Uzushiogakure's loyal spy, who gathered information from the entire elemental subcontinent for her.

As this happened, off to a corner of her room, sitting on a couch was Kazehana, who gained a slight attentive look at the presence of the spy.

It may be due to fact that most of the news that the spy network brought concerned her Ashikabi.

"Ah, Kenshi-san," Miya greeted the spy named Kenshi, who was standing in front of her. "What information do you have this time?"

Kenshi stood stoically in front of his leader, as he replied back monotonously. "Uzukage-sama, this news concerns the Kyuubi Jinchuriki of Konohagakure no sato, Naruto Uzumaki."

All at once, both Miya and Kazehana sat up straight as if they were struck by a lightning bolt, as they started to pay full attention to what the spy had to say.

Kenshi slightly raised his eyebrow at their excitement on the news about Naruto Uzumaki. He, along with rest of the spy network, never knew why the Uzukage, and the infamous 'Wind Queen' took so much interest in the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. They even had specific orders that on getting any news, no matter how trivial it may be, to be brought forth to them. It was due to this reason, that most of the news their spy network brought news concerned mainly about one Naruto Uzumaki.

Miya had a slight anticipated look on her face, as she faced the spy. "Go on, Kenshi-san," Miya encouraged, quite eager to know any new information on her Ashikabi and his health.

Kenshi, seeing the permission given by the Uzukage, continued. "We have got the information that Naruto Uzumaki has returned to his home village, Konoha."

Instantly, both Miya and Kazehan's face brightened, as they for the first time in a long while, got the information about their Ashikabi's whereabouts. And, for them to hear that he has returned to his village meant that his training trip with his sensei was over too.

Miya released her breath, which she didn't know for how long she had been holding, as she heard the news about her Ashikabi. She then observed that Kenshi had not continued briefing, as she looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Kenshi-san…was that all?" She enquired in a curious tone.

At this, Kenshi suddenly had a slightly uncharacteristic deadpan look on his face, as he looked at his leader. "Um…Uzukage-sama. The next few intel that we have got from konoha are pretty much useless and informal. Should I skip them?" He asked in a slightly hopeful tone.

Miya frowned at this, as she looked at her spy. "Does it, in any manner, concerns Naruto Uzumaki?" She asked him seriously.

Kenshi sighed in defeat, as he knew what exactly would entail after this. "Um…yes." He replied resignedly.

Miya looked at Kenshi with her narrowed eyes. "Then please continue, Kenshi-san." She ordered him in an authoritative tone.

Kenshi sighed to himself in defeat, before deciding to continue his briefing, no matter how awkward it would get. "According to our spy network, as soon as the information of Naruto coming back to village spread out, there was a loud explosion on Hokage Mountain. After the cloud from the explosion cleared up, the whole Hokage mountain was found to be colored, with the faces of all the Hokage's being painted in a ridiculous manner. After this, Naruto Uzumaki was found to be running around, with an entire squadron of Anbu chasing him. In a matter of few minutes, the Anbu's were found to be running back to their headquarters in haste, with the underwears of all the Anbu hanging on a poles at different locations, to be clearly seen by the whole village."

Midway through the briefing, both Miya and Kazehana were found to be blushing in embarrassment, as they heard about their Ashikabi's deeds. As soon as the underwear part was over, Miya hid her face in her palm, while Kazehana quickly swung her sake bottle over her mouth, to hide her face behind her sake, all the while wearing prominent blushes on both their faces.

Kenshi looked at both the woman with a slight pitying look. "And...That's all, Uzukage-sama." He finished his briefing.

Miya and Kazehana sighed in a suffering manner, as their cheeks flushed with embarrassment at their Ashikabi's antics. Of course they had the right to be embarrassed in his stead, as he was their Ashikabi and destined one. Any actions they took represented the judgment of their destined one. And, the same could be said in a vice versa manner.

Though oddly, they did felt some pride bubbling up at their Ashikabi being able to outrun and outsmart a whole squadron of Anbu, who are said to be the best of Konoha's Shinobi force.

Miya coughed slightly into her hand, as she tried to hide away her embarrassment. After which, she looked back at the spy with a grateful smile. "Thank you Kenshi-san. I appreciate your work in bringing this news."

Kenshi merely bowed to his leader. "It was my pleasure, Uzukage-sama."

Saying this, Kenshi straightened up, before walking out of the office through the exit door.

As soon as the door closed, both Miya and Kazehana found themselves sinking back into their seats.

"He never changed…" Miya whispered out, before she broke into a fit of giggles. Kazehana joined her shortly, as she too started let out her own giggles.

After a short while, their giggling died down, as they both stared down at the floor with a nostalgic look on their face, as they started to reminisce every bit of the past memory they had on their Ashikabi.

"I want to see him." Kazehana suddenly spoke out, as she got a slight desperate look on her face. Miya could even feel the pleading in Kazehana's tone all the way from where she sat.

Miya looked a little sadly at the wind Sekirei, as she could somehow sympathize with her. "Kazehana," She addressed her in a gentle tone "You don't want the repeat of what happened last time, do you?" she reminded her.

Kazehana remained silently at her seat at Miya's words, as she didn't respond to her leader. Miya, seeing this, shook her head before falling into her own contemplation.

The news that Naruto had returned back to the radar definitely hit them in hard manner. They so desperately wanted to see him, to convince him that they loved him, yet they were forced to sit back and not meddle with his life, in fear of him distancing himself from them even more.

Miya sighed once more, as she turned to look out at the village through the window.

'Naruto…'

A slightly satisfied Naruto stood in the Hokage office, with a large goofy grin adorning his face. On the frame of the window sat Naruto's godfather, Jiraiya, who had a smirk of his own, as he watched the scene before him with amusement. On the Hokage chair sat none other than Tsunade, who was nursing her head for the migraine she was suffering, in part due to Naruto's escapades.

Tsunade looked up at Naruto with a defeated look. "Naruto, did you seriously have to announce your comeback with that prank?" She asked the question, with no less amount of resignation in her tone.

The only reply she got was an even larger grin from Naruto. Tsunade sighed resignedly at this. What else should she have expected from the prankster king from hell?

While releasing another sigh, she turned to look at Jiraiya, who sitting by the window. "Jiraiya." She called him out, gaining his attention. "How was Naruto's training?"

Jiraiya folded his arms under his chest, as he raised his head a bit proudly, while smirking at the Hokage. "What do you expect from me, the one who trained the Yondaime Hokage himself." He boasted to ones present at the room.

Both Tsunade and Naruto looked dryly at him. "Nothing." They replied dryly.

Jiraiya blanched disbelievingly at the immediate reply, as he seemed to visibly deflate. That was a cruel reply…

Tsunade kept a deadpan expression on her face, as she continued. "And, as for Minato…I believe his fame was more because of his talent than your teachings, pervert."

By now, Jiraiya seemed to have an imaginary rain cloud hovering over his head, showering him with depression.

Naruto whistled a little at the vicious shot down that Tsunade delivered to ero-sennin. "Damn Baa-chan. It seems that you are still in full form." He praised the Hokage.

Tsunade merely gave a smirk to the blonde in reply to his praise.

She then turned towards the Toad sage with all traces of humor vanishing away. "Jiraiya. Tell me seriously, how much did Naruto progress?" She asked her teammate with a serious expression.

Seeing that Tsunade wanted a serious answer, Jiraiya turned a bit serious. "He has come a long way from the brawling irresponsible brat that he used to be."

"Hey!"

Jiraiya ignored Naruto's indignant cry, as he continued. "The first thing that I had to do was beat his attitude of bulldozing into a fight."

That was something that Jiraiya really had a hard time beating it out of Naruto. And considering the fact that Naruto had that trait as a part of his inheritance from his mother, Jiraiya really had his work cut out.

"And then, I instilled the importance of strategy into his thick skull."

Oh boy. The pain and hardships he had to endure in teaching and maintaining the patience during the whole process was something that haunted many of his nightmares.

Tsunade raised an incredulous brow at Jiraiya, when she heard this. "Are you saying that you taught him the importance of strategy to Naruto." Even her tone indicated her disbelief, as she emphasized on Naruto's name. "The same Naruto, in whose vein runs the blood of Kushina Uzumaki?"

Jiraiya just gave a smirk in response. "That makes me all the more awesome."

Throughout all this, Naruto developed a massive tick mark over his head, as he looked at his teacher and Hokage with twitching eyebrows. "I'm here you know." He hissed out at them through his gritting teeth. "I know when I'm being made fun off!"

In response, Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a hearty chuckle at Naruto's expense.

After his chuckle died down, Jiraiya continued his briefing "After his mental training, I focused on his physical training. Nothing much to say, except the fact that he is physically more powerful, has more flexibility and has great stamina and speed. Of course not at Gai and Rock Lee's insane physical speed level, but with right application of chakra, Naruto could very well give them a good surprise."

As Jiraiya continued to explain Naruto's growth in Shinobi skills, Tsunade couldn't help but be more astounded and amazed at Naruto's exponential growth rate from the one he had four years ago. She had to give her teammate his credit. He really knew his job, even if he tended to slack off from it time to time.

"And, of course," Jiraiya continued. "There is the matter of Ninjutsu, where Naruto's talent really shined." He gave a smirk at his pupil, who averted his gaze with an irritated face, while a small pink dusted his cheeks due to embarrassment. Seeing this, Jiraiya chuckled, as he saw that Naruto was still not used to praises. "Given the fact that Naruto has monstrous amount of chakra, no thanks to Kyuubi, he is able to throw jutsus around like candies." He then made an expression that spoke of his pride on pupil, as he continued. "Overall, Naruto is currently high Jounin level Shinobi, but due to his inhuman amount of chakra and stamina, if the fight were to drag on, Naruto could even have the scope of defeating Kage level Shinobis."

By the end of Jiraiya's rant, Tsunade was staring wide eyed at Naruto, while an expression of clear disbelief was etched on her face. Slowly, she turned towards Jiraiya with a hesitant look, as she still seemed to be in stunned shock at the revelation.

"You know Jiraiya, it's not that I don't believe you, but…compared to Naruto's skills before he left, I have a hard time believing it."

Tsunade was clear with her words, as she still wore her expression of disbelief at the revelations on Naruto's skills that were dumped on her.

Jiraiya must have anticipated such a response, as he grinned at her. "Then why don't you see it for yourself."

His remark caused Tsunade to raise a visible eyebrow, as she stared curiously at her former teammate. "Jiraiya…what do you have in mind?"

Jiraiya gave her a mysterious smile, as he announced his intention. "Tsunade…I want you to setup a one on one fight between Naruto and Kakashi."

The revelation was something that shattered all the peace in the surrounding, Tsunade gawked at Jiraiya with a incredulous look, while Naruto raised an eyebrow at Jiraiya's intention. But the most prominent one was something that came from outside of the room, as all the occupants in the room heard someone outside the room's window stumble on roof tiles.

Jiraiya grinned at hearing this sound from outside, as he knew that a certain masked Shinabi had been sitting outside the window, silently listening to the ongoing conversation.

"J-Jiraiya!" Tsunade's yelled out in shock and slight outrage "You can't certainly be serious! Kakashi is one the most legendary Jounin this village could offer!"

Jiraiya didn't seem to be affected by Tsunade's outrage, as he calmly stared at the blonde Hokage. "I'm certainly serious about this, Tsunade. I have full faith in the ability of my own student."

Tsunade seemed as if she wanted to say something more, as her mouth opened and closed frequently, before she visibly deflated, as she let out a sigh in defeat.

Seeing Tsunade consent to Jiraiya's demand, Naruto made an exited grin as he turned towards the open window. "You hear that Kakashi-sensei. It seems we would be having a match soon." He spoke to the thin air outside window.

The face of Kakashi soon appeared from window's view, as he made an awkward eye smile at his former student. "You knew I was here all the time, Naruto"

In response, Naruto gave his former sensei a grin. "I have trained in a lot of things, Kakashi-sensei. Sensing is one of them."

Tsunade, along with Kakashi, seemed to be impressed with Naruto's new skill, as Jiraiya seemed extremely proud at his godson's growth.

With a sigh, Tsunade turned towards Jiraiya, who was sporting a victorious smirk at the moment. Tsunade felt herself twitch at the sight of that smirk. Oh how much she wanted to wipe away that smirk from the smug bastard's face.

"Okay," Tsunade consented, as her voice held a tone of resignation. "If Naruto and Kakashi both agree, then we could have the fight after two hours, at training ground three."

Naruto grinned at her words. "I'm ready for any challenge."

Kakashi, who by now had entered the room through the window, just calmly responded. "I'm okay, if Naruto's ready."

"Then it's settled." Tsunade nodded at both the former sensei and student duo. "You two will meet at training ground three. We will be there, along with Sakura and Shizune, as I will inform them." She told them.

Naruto brightened up at the mention of his teammate. "Sakura-chan will be there!" He then gave a wide enthusiastic grin to all the others there. "I can't wait to show her what I have learned!"

Everyone present there chuckled at Naruto's enthusiasm. It seemed that Naruto was still the same kid as he was four years ago, with his enthusiasm and energy never mellowing out.

And they loved him for that.

Sakura, along with Shizune, stood at training ground three, with anticipation clearly written on her face. And why wouldn't she, as she was told mere hour ago that her teammate and close friend Naruto had come back to the village, and would now be having a one on one fight with their sensei Kakashi, who was considered one of the best.

Though, she, along with many others, already got the signal of Naruto's return with the massive prank that ensued that ensued this afternoon.

"When is the baka going to come?" Sakura airily muttered. She was never the patient type, and the news of her friend's return definitely didn't help the case.

Shizune sighed with a smile on her face, when she heard Sakura's complain. "Just be patient, Sakura. He would be here anytime. Isn't that right, Tsunade-sama." She turned towards her teacher for confirmation.

Tsunade merely nodded in response. She then turned to look up at the branch of a tree. "Jiraiya…Why are you sitting up there?"

Jiraiya, who was sitting at the said branch, grinned at her. "Better view." He supplied jovially.

Tsunade shook her head in response to her teammate's childishness.

Off to the clearing, stood Kakashi, as he, for the first time looked to be one waiting for another. Rather a comical sight for the ones seeing this.

Their attention diverted when they heard the sounds of incoming footsteps. When they turned their head towards the direction from which the sound came, they were greeted to the sight of Naruto calmly making his way to the clearing, where Kakashi stood.

His attire was something, that was a stark contrast to the ones they were familiar with in association with Naruto. His clothing was something that was not too bright. In fact, his attire mostly had the color black, a far cry from the orange color he used to have. He was adorning the traditional grey Anbu pants. He also had blue body suit covering his upper body, which was overlapped with a half sleeve high collar black jacket that was zipped opened from the front. Though, he did have occasional orange flame wisps spread all over his jacket.

Guess, old habits die hard.

"My…" Sakura looked astonished at the sight of the once bratty kid turning into this roguishly handsome young man. "He has changed."

Shizune smiled warmly at the sight her brother figure. "That he has."

As Naruto made his way over to the clearing, Kakashi eye smiled at his old student.

"Are you ready for this, Naruto?" He asked casually, while in underneath trying to gauge the determination of his former student.

Naruto rolled his shoulders, as he cracked his neck. After which, he responded to his former sensei with an uncharacteristic confident smirk, that threw the old man off the loop. "You need to worry about yourself, Kakashi-sensei. I'm definitely gonna go wild."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at both Naruto's confidence and words. This was something new for him, as before, he had always thought Naruto to be a cocky boy, who had a lot overconfidence then he could afford to have. But now, Naruto showed none of that, as he stood confidently in front of him, as if he had full faith in his own skills.

Definitely new when it concerned Naruto.

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile. "Then I guess that I would have take this seriously, if you are that confident."

Naruto said nothing, as he waited for Tsunade to give the signal for this fight to start. Seeing this, Tsuande decided that it was time.

"Hajime!"

With her voice echoing through the clearing, both Naruto and Kakashi stood in a stand off against each other, as they eyed each other. Then, as if on an unseen signal, both vanished from their places, as clang sounds of Kunais striking against each other resonated throughout the whole surrounding.

The fight had begun.

Fast.

That was thought that crossed Sakura's mind, as she tried to track the movement of clashing Kakashi and Naruto. Unfortunately, for her, she was unable to do so.

This was an entirely different level of Shinobi skill that she was witnessing. One that made her feel a bit inadequate. Naruto had come a long way from the unskilled genin that he used, and was now going toe on toe with one of Konoha's best.

Even after all these years, she was still behind her teammates.

Tsunade, who watched her apprentice's fluctuating mood, shook her head, as she turned back to the fighting that was taking place in front of her. 'She has to deal with this herself. I can't do anything.'

Back on the clearing, in a momentary lapse of time, both Naruto and Kakashi were found to be fixed to a single place, as they tried to exchange blows with each other.

~~[Naruto Shippuuden Original Soundtrack 2] 21 - Beni Soubi~~

Kakashi, seeing an opportunity, quickly swung his hand with kunai in his hand, but Naruto immediately ducked under him. Kakashi seeing this made a sweep kick with the intention to kick Naruto off his feet.

Naruto was swift to response, as using his hands as leverage he lifted his legs up from the sweep kick, and proceeded to slam them into Kakashi. During the process, Naruto used Kakashi's body as springboard to lift into air into upright position, and landed a few feet away from the masked shinobi.

Kakashi skidded back a few distance away, as he tried to regain his bearing. While his body was positioning itself automatically for the battle, his mind was still reeling from mild shock. Damn, since when did his former blonde student got so good for him to toe on toe with him on full throttle?

He was not given any further time to muse, as he saw Naruto dashing towards him. With reflex honed from his experience, he tried to deliver a kick to the blonde. But, the blonde was a bit too good to fall for such an attack, as he, surprisingly, grabbed his legs that were in process of kicking motion, and used it as a leverage to lift his whole body over the leg.

While being airborne, Naruto gave a roundhouse kick to Kakashi's chest, which was swiftly blocked the said shinobi, as Kakashi tried to grab the blonde's leg. Naruto acted fast, as he fastly twisted his whole body in a reverse corkscrew motion that succeeded in delivering a slam kick to Kakashi's abdomen, resulting in the sliver haired shinobi being lifted off the ground from his place.

Both the shinobis somersaulted in unison while in midair, and landed upright on the ground, a few feet away from each other at the same time.

As both of them panted for breath after the lightning fast physical attacks, Naruto directed a smirk at his former sensei. "Lesson one: Taijutsu, Kakashi-sensei." He told him in a mischievous tone, with an unasked question hidden in his statement.

Kakashi stared at his former student for some moment, as if seeing him in a new light, before he started to chuckle. "Yes Naruto. You pass in it…with flying colors."

Off to the sidelines, Tsunade, along with Sakura and Shizune were gaping heavily at the sight that was presented to them. Naruto, the same Naruto, who never knew the basics of hand to hand fighting, and just went with his brawler style fighting, was exchanging fists and going toe on toe with one of Konoha's best Jounin.

Tsunade turned towards Jiraiya with an amazed look on her face. "Jiraiya…You have really done a good job."

Jiraiya never took his eyes from his godson, as he smirked at Tsunade's words. "It's the result of his hard work, Tsunade-hime. Not mine."

All the others heard this in silence, as they stared at Naruto with amazement in their eyes.

But, the fight was still not over, as suddenly, Kakashi vanished away from his sight. The area was quite silent, as there was no sighting of Kakashi.

Quickly, Naruto saw a glint from the corner of his eyes, which made him quickly reach for his pouch on his left hip, and swiftly throw a kunai to the direction from which the glint came, while another towards the source from which the glint previously originated.

A clang sound resonated throughout the area, as two kunais collided in midair, while the other kunai razed towards a bush. Swiftly, a shadow jumped out of the bush, split second after the kunai embedded into it.

Kakashi landed a few feet away from Naruto, and quickly found himself to be a target of a speeding Naruto, who was dashing towards the silver haired jounin at tremendous speed.

Suddenly, being a few inches away from the masked shinobi, Naruto embedded his legs into the ground, and made a full one eighty to turn around to make to give a kick into the air behind him.

As Naruto did this, Naruto's kick made a solid contact with something invisible that was hiding in the air. The area around blonde quickly shimmered, as the Kakashi that was standing behind him faded away, while the real one appeared to be the one who got kicked by Naruto, and was sailing through the clearing.

But that was not the end of it, as Naruto threw few projectiles of kunais at the midair Kakashi's direction. Seeing this, Kakashi's eyes widened, as he acted quickly, with his feet kicking into ground from his flying postion, and performing a somersault jump using the momentum.

As Kakashi landed away from Naruto, he looked back at the blonde with slight wide eyes, while barely managing to hide away his astonishment. "How?"

Naruto, who still stood at the place where he had performed the kick, raised an eyebrow at Kakashi's question. "How I knew all along that it was genjutsu, when I suck at it. Is that what you are trying to ask, Kakashi-sensei?" At Kakashi's nod, Naruto had a smirk appear on lips. "The answer to your question would be my left pouch." He told the masked nin, while patting the pouch on his left hip.

"Kunai pouch?" Kakashi asked with confusion, as he eyed the pouch with perplexed eyes. But, slowly, the answer started to seep into his mind, as his eyes slowly started to widen.

Naruto, seeing the change in Kakashi's expression, smiled, as he decided to continue. "I didn't have any kunai in my left pouch. Add that with my sensing abilities…you know the rest."

Kakashi had his eyes widened to its maximum limit, when he heard the reason. "Naruto…you willed yourself to believe that there is kunai in your left pouch, when there was none to begin with, and fooled your own mind, causing my genjutsu to give you the loophole, that made you realize from the start that this was a genjutsu." He concluded his thoughts on Naruto's method, while never bothering to hide the astonishment in his tone, as he looked at his former student. "Ingenious."

Within the spectators, Sakura's eyes threatened to bug out of her eye socket, as she saw something that she thought was impossible. "D-Did Naruto do something intellectually spectacular?" Her voice held a tone of disbelief, as she stared at Naruto. "D-Did he really used brain to make an ingenious plan?"

Jiraiya was smirking all along, as he saw the baffled reactions to Naruto's incredible intelligence, something that everyone thought Naruto never had in the first place. "Naruto is a lot smarter than he lets on, pinky."

Tsunade, for her part, was truly amazed by the way this fight was turning out to be. "Naruto…He has come a long way from the kid he used to be." She muttered to herself, as she stared at the blonde with nostalgic eyes.

In the clearing, both Kakashi and Naruto stood in a silent standstill, as they prepared themselves for the final bout.

Kakashi sighed, as he grabbed the Hitaete that was hanging over his left eye. "Naruto. You have proved yourself to be a formidable shinobi today. That's why…" He lifted the Hitaete, to reveal his Sharingan "I'm going use all my powers against you."

Naruto grew an excited smirk on his face, as he took this as a challenge. "Bring it on, Kakashi-sensei."

~~[Naruto Shippuuden Original Soundtrack 2] 03 - Gekiha~~

For a few minutes, they stood in silence against each other, as they tried to gauge each other with their stares. After a few moments, Kakashi sped through some hand seals and brought it front of his mouth.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

Large amount of fire was expelled from Kakashi's mouth, as a large fireball razed towards Naruto as its target.

With quickness that was previously unseen from the blonde, Naruto created a two handed rasengan, that was humming with large amount of chakra raging in it. As the huge fireball made its way towards him, Naruto launched himself into the fireball and slammed his Rasengan into it, causing the fireball to swirl in a vortex around the Rasengan. Before he knew it, the rasengan had made its way through the entire fireball, causing him to release the technique. After which, Naruto jumped up into the air, as he started to perform high speed hand seals. Finishing the seals, he exclaimed the technique, while thrusting his fist in Kakashi's direction

"Fuuton: Senpuuken!" (Wind Style: Hurricane Fist)

A large vortex of wind shot out from Naruto's fist, as it razed towards Kakashi at frightening speed. Kakashi stood at place with wide eyes at Naruto not only performing high speed hand seals to deliver an elemental jutsu, but also shooting out a B-rank technique out of nowhere.

'Shit!' Kakashi cursed to himself, as he weaved through his own hand seals at tremendous speed, and slammed his hand on the ground, while shouting out his technique

"Doton: Doryūheki!" (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)

A wall of earth rose from the land, in effect colliding with the large vortex of wind that razed towards its location. Even then, it was not enough, as Naruto had put enough chakra foe it to smash into the wall, thrashing apart the wall into tiny boulders.

Kakashi jumped away from his place, as his face broke out into a little sweat 'Just how strong did he grow?' This was his silent question, as he landed close to the lake that situated near the training ground.

As Naruto landed a good few distance away from him, he directed a smirk to his former sensei, before once again jumping high up into the air. It was when Naruto was in the air, that Kakashi noticed something peculiar around Naruto's fingertips with his Sharingan.

~~Naruto Shippuuden OST 2 - Track 14 - Shikku ( Foreboding Skies )~~

'Is that the blade of wind?!' Kakashi felt his eyes widen at that realization, as his body stiffened at whatever the blonde was preparing for him.

Using the wind blade that was around his hand, Naruto channeled an inhuman amount of chakra into the technique that he was going to perform, as he raised his arm to his front.

"Fuuton: Joushou Ryuu!" (Wind Release: Rising Dragon)

With that shout, using the wind blade, Naruto made an enormous hurricane of frightening proportion, as it descended towards Kakashi, intending to devour everything that came in its path.

Kakashi had a frightened expression on his face, as he saw the scale at which Naruto created the technique. 'What the hell?! This has got out of hand!'

Everything else dwarfed, as the raging force of nature descended upon earth, and wreaked havoc. The whole landscape that was in the area of target tore apart, creating a humungous crater that seemed as if it dug to the center of the earth.

Water from the lake started to fill the crater, as the spectators to this fight were standing at their place with slaked jaws.

"W-What the hell!?" Cried out an extremely shocked and stunned Sakura, as she was unable to comprehend the level of power Naruto had achieved.

Tsunade looked at the scene in front of her with disbelieving eyes, before she turned towards Jiraiya. "Jiraiya! What's the meaning of this?! I thought Joushou Ryuu was an A-rank jutsu!" She shouted out at her teammate, with confusion and shock dripping in every bit of her voice.

"That's the fun part." Jiraiya replied with a smirk from his place "Even though the technique is A-rank, the monstrous amount of chakra that Naruto could apply into the technique could very well turn it into a S-rank one."

Tsunade heard all this with a gaping mouth, as her eyes threatened to widen at each word that Jiraiya uttered. Just what kind of training did Naruto went through to turn him into such a monster shinobi?

Back at the vast crater, which by now was filled with lake water, standing in the middle of the water body was Naruto. Off to some distance was Kakashi, who was panting, while struggling to regain his breath.

'I can't believe it.' Kakashi mused through his labor breathing. 'I was forced to use Kamui to escape being torn apart by that hurricane.' He then looked at Naruto with his Sharingan eyes, and saw something that caused his eyes to narrow.

Naruto was exuding a high amount of chakra. For what purpose he didn't know, but it made him all the more wary. That was why, he didn't plan to give Naruto an opportunity to use whatever technique he had in mind, as he quickly weaved through his hand seals, after which he shouted out the name of the technique.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)

As Kakashi exclaimed this, huge torrents of water rose up from the water body they were standing on, as they all converged into the form of a giant, powerful dragon above Kakashi. Though, he found it a bit hard to control the water to shape into a dragon, but theorized that he was pretty much misbalanced with the usage of Kamui, to properly concentrate on the technique he was currently using.

As Kakashi looked at his opponent, he found his eyebrows raising up in confusion and bewilderment, as he found that Naruto was completely relaxed, not even bothering to prepare to defend himself against the water technique.

"Checkmate, Kakashi-sensei."

What the hell?

Kakashi stared at Naruto, with his eyebrows raised further up, as he tried to comprehend Naruto's words. What did he meant by that statement? The silver haired Jounin couldn't help but feel a certain amount of dread, as he pondered over Naruto's words.

And his fears turned out to be for right reasons, as he suddenly found himself losing control over his own water dragon, as small amounts of air bubbles started to escape the water shaped dragon.

"What the hell!" Kakashi exclaimed, as he stared wide eyed at the transformation that his water dragon seemed to be going through, as water was slowly being replaced by air. Before he knew it, all the water vanished away from its place, and there, above Kakashi, proudly hovered a clearly visible wind dragon.

Kakashi felt totally lost, as he stared up at the wind dragon near him, that had formed out of his water dragon, before he turned towards Naruto with confusion evident in his eyes.

Naruto, sensing the question in Kakashi's eyes, decided to explain what just transpired. "It was a hunch, Kakashi-sensei." He told him with a shrug of his shoulders. "As we stood on the water body, I knew that you were going to use a large scale water technique. That's why I started to infuse large amount of wind chakra into the lake, and formed millions of miniscule air bubbles, that were laced with dense fuuton chakra." He then gave a smirk to his former sensei, who was standing opposite to him, with a bewildered expression. "Which you just so happened to carry in your water dragon, Kakashi-sensei." He then gave a victorious smirk to the Jounin. "You have to give up, Kakashi-sensei. You can't escape the close proximity of the wind dragon, no matter how much you try."

Kakashi just stood at his place with a stunned expression, as he dumbly surrendered the fight.

All was quite in the surrounding, as no one dared to speak a word at what just transpired, as their brain tried to compute the information that Naruto relayed to them.

"N-No way!" Sakura was the first to one to exclaim out, as she looked at her teammate in sheer awe and disbelief. "How did you get so cool, Naruto!"

Sakura's statement broke the dam, as Shizune too joined in her praise for the blonde. Tsunade, who had been previously sporting a flabbergasted expression, was currently smiling along with Jiriaya, as they nostalgically looked at Naruto, who had come a long way from the brawling brat he used to be.

After a few moments, Naruto, along with everyone else, came towards the two sannin, as the blonde grinned excitedly at the Hokage.

"So," Naruto asked with barely concealed grin on his face. "What do you think, Baa-chan?"

Tsunade looked at Naruto for some time, before she smiled softly at him. "Naruto…that much amount of power and intellect…is not worthy of a chunnin."

Naruto felt as if his whole world came crashing down, as he looked a little dejectedly at the blonde Hokage "B-But, didn't I do good Baa-chan?"

Tsunade still had the same smile on her face, as she replied "Yes you did, Naruto…which is why…" Her face then donned a grin, as she fondly ruffled Naruto's head "You are being instated as a Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the words, as he stared numbly at Tsunade for a few seconds, before he felt the most brightest grin he ever had dawning on his face, as he shouted out to the sky, while pumping his fist into the air

"YES!"

All the others, who were present around Naruto smiled brightly at their favorite blonde, who had wormed his way into their heart and had made them fond of him. After all the hardships that Naruto had endured through these years, it was the least that he could receive. He was already worthy of everything that he has proven himself to be responsible for.

Naruto Uzumaki deserved this.

Miya, along with Kazehana and Matsu, stared at the projection in front of them with a teary smile on her face. Her face showed the happiness that her Ashikabi was exuding miles away from her. And it affected her in a positive manner.

Ever since the report of Naruto's return, all the Sekireis who were destined for Naruto had been viewing the live projections of events in Konoha, that they had been getting from the satellite that Matsu had developed and launched into space.

They cherished every second of the video feed that they got on their Ashikabi. All the frames on her Ashikabi were like sweet nectar to them. And they were sure to savor every bit of it.

As they saw their Ashikabi cheering and celebrating on his promotion, they felt a loving and longing smile etch on their lips.

"I wish I could be with him." Kazehana said with a longing in her eyes, as she continued to stared unblinkingly at her Ashikabi's projection.

Matsu placed a comforting hand on Kazehana's shoulder, as she gave the wind Sekirei an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, Kaze-tan. We would all be with Naru-tan. Matsu's heart says it would be like that."

Kazehana gave a smile filled with gratitude at the encouraging words from Matsu.

Miya felt a gentle smile tug her lips as she saw all this. She then turned back to the sight of her beloved, as her heart thrummed with love and longing. She too wished to be with her Ashikabi. She also wished to feel the love of her Ashikabi. She also wanted to live a life with her Naruto.

Foremost of all, she wanted to be Naruto's Sekirei.

Phew. That was the second chapter for all of you.

If you liked this chap, then please review. Depending on the response and demand, I will decide which fic's update I should write, whether its Love from Space, or this fic.

Please review.

Ja Ne