The moment that Naruto laid eyes upon the lower half of Yuki Onna's face, his mind was invaded with a plethora of images. There were only a few in total, but they repeated and repeated in his mind. Had his arms not been tied to the post, he could have clutched his head in pain.

The first of the images to appear was of a girl with short blue hair, a soft smile upon her lips while her pale lavender eyes showed a look of worry. Naruto believed that he didn't know who she was, but he must have to have seen Her in a memory.

Another image was of a more brazen girl with platinum blonde hair. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, and from the right angle it appeared to look like a music note.

Next, a much older man appeared. He wore white robes with red trim, and had a small beard of sorts. Despite his frail appearance, he held an aura of power.

The last of the images was of a figure that Naruto could only describe as beautiful. They had long black hair and a pink flowery kimono.

The constant influx of memories, coupled with the speed at which they appeared, caused Naruto to groan in pain.

Hearing the boy, Anko and Yuki Onna looked at him with worry. They pulled themselves away from their food to go and tend to Naruto.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Yuki Onna asked him, pulling her mask back fully over her face. She set her food down on the ground to crawl slightly over to the boy in pain.

He did not reply instantly, waiting until the barrage of memories was over before doing anything else. His breathing was choppy and short, a small strand of sweat trailing down his face as he recovered from the brief assault on his mind.

As time passed, his breathing became even, and his emotions were evened out.

"There... There were people..." He said quietly, his head still hurting a little from the images. "I t-think I remember them... I-I don't know..."

He had seen the images, and now he could look back at them, but he still felt like any idea of who they were was out of his reach.

His eyes moved to Yuki Onna, whom he could feel her worry from just by looking at her mask. He looked at her for a long minute, unsure of why he was unable to look away.

Once the minute was over, Naruto looked around at Anko and Zabuza, the latter just arriving at the scene.

"What'd ya see kid?" Zabuza spoke to him.

"Some people. I knew them, I think..." He replied to the swordsman, still unsure about who exactly he had seen.

Anko looked at her surrogate brother with interest. "Can you describe them?" She asked him eagerly. She knew a few of the genin that were in Naruto's class for his safety, and assumed that she would be able to help if he happened to describe any he knew.

Naruto hummed as he attempted to concentrate. As easy as it was to see them in his head, describing them verbally seemed to be something else entirely. He showed difficulty with it for several minutes before sighing and shaking his head. "Sorry..." He muttered to the three people around him. "I can see them, I just can't... it's weird..." His thoughts began to jumble up the more he tried to think about the people that he saw.

The three faces before him all showed concern, even if one of those faces couldn't actually be seen. Yuki Onna and Zabuza sighed in resignation, understanding that they just needed to keep waiting for him to get a better grasp of all of the memories he lost.

However, Anko was not backing down. She scooted closer to him and examined his face carefully.

"There has to be something." She said to him. "A face, their clothing, anything."

Naruto was quiet once more. His eyes shut tight and his brain working its hardest.

It was another several minutes before anyone said anything, and Naruto's head dropped low in self-loathing. "Sorry.. I just..." His eyes squeezed tighter than before. "Bl... Blonde... Purple... White eyes, I think." He did his best to describe the things he had seen, but the words escaped his mind as he attempted to say them. The whole thing gave him another headache. "Black Hair... Robes... Ice..."

The thoughts were all scrambled, but that was the best he could get out.

His breaths became heavy once more, but mind clouded with thoughts he couldn't yet process. It took another few minutes of help, but he was able to calm down again.

Yuki Onna cut Naruto free from the stump in the ground, and moved aside to allow Anko to hold the boy close.

"It's alright, kid. You're remembering, and that's the important part." She said into his ear, slowly letting go of him and allowing him to stretch.

Yuki Onna stepped forward and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Once she had his attention, she spoke to him. "She's right. It may hurt now, but it should get better as time passes."

The masked woman knelt down and grabbed her box of food before handing it to Naruto.

"Are you sure?" He asked her, getting only a nod in return. Hesitantly, he ate the food that was offered to him.

Zabuza, who had been rather quiet for the last few minutes, stood up and moved just behind Yuki Onna. They both watched as Naruto stepped away and sat down to eat.

"Catalyst." Yuki Onna could hear Zabuza whisper.

The mask woman nodded silently, a fierce blush appearing underneath her mask. "Even if his memories don't fully return... He seems to remember him..." She drifted off quickly, the blush on her cheeks.

Zabuza's smile twisted into a smirk. "Telling him would make things so much easier for your fantasies." He whispered into her ear, causing the woman to turn her head to the other masked ninja.

"Zabuza-sama!" She spoke quietly. "If it was meant to be, it will happen. Rushing things may cause negative results."

Her voice rose unconsciously, causing the boy to look at the two of them before widening his eyes slumping forward. The honorific used for Zabuza by Yuki Onna had sent him into another state of shock. The light in his eyes died quickly. He was unconscious once again, and the three people near him tended to him as much as they could.

~~~Meanwhile, in Konoha~~~

Konoha was divided, which was rather surprising considering the matter to which they were divided about.

A large majority of the civilian population, as well as a fair handful of shinobi, were still joyous about the dissappearance of Naruto Uzumaki, who they hadn't seen in almost a week. They assumed what they considered the best, and believed that he died somewhere far away from the village.

However, everyone else in the village was morose about the dissappearance of the Uzumaki boy. Some of them didn't care for or enjoy the boy's presence, but soon found that it was difficult to make it throughout the day without seeing his million-watt smile. He made people happy, and cheered people up whenever they seemed to be down.

Not many personally knew Naruto, and those who did were the most upset about his lack of presence in the village. Some had even noticed that another person had gone missing as well.

There were only three people on the entire civilian side of the council who were sad to see Naruto missing. The biggest name of the three was Councilman Ichiraku, who had recently been enstated due to his slowly growing control over the ramen shops in the village, and to a smaller extent food imports and exports.

The more militant members of ninja clans, as well as the village elders, were more angered than saddened. They no longer had their weapon at their disposal. These people, surprisingly did not include the shinobi councilmen and councilwoman. These people were mainly the Hyuuga elders, who had the same opinion of Naruto as Danzo.

There was only one person in the entire village who was completely calm about the situation, and only he knew the truth behind Naruto and Anko's disappearance.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at the council table, overlooking everyone on both the Shinobi and civilian councils. Sitting in his comfortable and padded seat, he recalled the events of just less than a week ago.

Hiruzen was the first person to kick down Naruto's door a day after he had been confirmed missing. He had made sure that he would be the first to investigate, as he considered anything having to do with Naruto a personal matter.

The old and whithered man still had a great deal of strength inside of him, and while his instincts were dulled from age, he was still rather capable as a ninja.

The first thing he noticed about Naruto's home was that it was picked bone dry. There was only a single thing inside.

A note.

It was adressed specifically to Hiruzen himself, and whoever had made the note either knew that he would be the first to respond, or that others would evaluate it to make sure it was safe for the leader of the village.

Without a sound, the old man bent down and picked up the note in the center of the bedroom. It was more than just a note; it was an envelope with at least two papers inside.

Hiruzen opened the envelope and pulled out the first of the papers. There was much more in the envelope than he had expected, but nonetheless, he had read everything.

It certaintly wasn't what he was expecting, but he went along with the plan, for Naruto's health and safety.

Just as quickly as he entered the house, he left with the letters, and retreated to his office in the Hokage Tower.

Now, Naruto had been quite the topic for the council meetings, normally with the majority of the Civilians making a snide remark about his disappearance, and the shinobi defending the boy and wishing that they could have helped him, but also commenting on how they had been deliberately prevented from doing so.

"We should send out search parties." Inoichi Yamanaka told the people around him, his concern evident for the boy, and not for his status of what he was. The shinobi heads, as well as three civilians nodded in agreement to the suggestion.

"Why?" Scoffed one of the civilian council members. "If he actually is alive, he could kill anyone we send after him. We don't want to waste any men on him. Just let the wilderness claim him." Just about all of the civilians, save the previously mentioned three, agreed with letting him die by whatever wilds beasts might be out and about.

The air in the room became tense once more. Both sides were stone still in their stance when regarding the boy. They both knew that they stood for, and what the other side stood for. Both sides had been rather relaxed up until Naruto's disappearance. Now they were taking shots at one another left and right. Down to the core of every argument, it was down to how they wanted the missing boy to be treated.

"Becuase he's-" Tsume barked, but immediately stopped upon feeling a light gaze from the Hokage himself. The Ibuzika matriarch shuffled in her seat and sat quietly. Her eyes flicked towards the other Shinobi councilmen.

She had seen it, they all had at one point or another. He was so much like them, but at the same time, so much of his own person. She wanted to put them in their place, but it wasn't the right time.

The time would come soon enough though.

It was now the early evening in the Kirigakure rebel camp. Naruto had become the victim of many more headaches, and ended up spending a good part of each day unconscious.

While he did recover more memories, all of the faces in the memories were gone, and everyone he interacted with were just blank slates of memories waiting to be uncovered.

Currently, Naruto was getting some rest in his tent while the others ate. Anko made sure that there was some food left over for him to eat when he woke up again.

Mei's group, consisting of herself, Anko, Zabuza, Yuki Onna, Ao, and Chojuro, all sat together at one of the tables. It was a rather strange group, but they were the best in the camp and proved to be a formidable force.

The group was eating quietly. With so many lakes and rivers nearby, catching food was not difficult in the least. Especially when two members of Mei's team weilded swords of great power to catch the big game with.

None of the people at the table had anything to say. Throughout the day. everyone had had their short turn with training Naruto. It didn't last as long as they had hoped, but they believed that they had instilled at least something in the boy that day.

"So..." Mei spoke just loud enough for the others to hear. "What's all this about Naruto today? I've heard bits and pieces, but nobody's said what actually happened."

The group traded glances at one another.

"He's recovering." Anko was the first to speak, gaining a majority of the attention. Her hands moved about as she spoke. "This and that, but nothing too ground breaking." Her eyes wandered to Zabuza, who snuck in a small nod as he coughed, seemingly having difficulty with his food.

There was a pause before Anko apoke again. "We think Naruto remembers Zabuza. Everything he's getting back is scattered all over the place, so we can't take guesses at what he's going to relearn or remember next,"

Mei sat and ate quietly, occasionally letting out a small hum of thought as she processed the information.

After a number of minutes in silence, Mei spoke. "How much does he remember?"

Zabuza shook his head at the auburn haired woman. "Still hardly anything. Lots of memories, but there all just flashes. Nothing fleshed out just yet."

The rebel leader continued to eat, pausing every so often to speak to the men and women around her. "So, they aren't even really memories yet. Just fragments." She sighed to herself, looking at the food just in front of her face before taking another bite. "On the upside, that means there's still room for improvement before things start settling in again. On the downside, all of these... attacks, let's call them, will hinder him when he goes out and fights."

Anko looked up from her food, which she had continued eating as Mei spoke to them. Naruto wasn't ready for a fight, especially against ninja of Kiri's standard. They had only been training for a few days, and she didn't know how soon Mei was planning on sending him out.

Yuki Onna seemed distressed as well. Her thoughts were similar to Anko's, but she had more faith in the boy and his abilities.

"He's going to be fine out there." Mei told them. "He'll be doing all of his work in a group with you three."

Zabuza was still healing, but he assumed that he would be ready to head back out and fight soon. Maybe it would also help Naruto to learn in the field where actual danger would be present.

The chatter began to grow steadily, and nobody noticed the small boy walking over towards them and sitting next to Anko until he was already there. He hadn't made a single sound on his way there, and didn't say anything as he leaned into the purple haired woman.

Surprised, Anko looked at him, the obvious curiosity etched into her features.

"What's up kiddo?" She asked him. Her hand made it's way to his hair, ruffling it briefly. Naruto, when he still had his memories, would often protest against such childish names, causing her to use them even more. Now, he seemed to enjoy the names, as she seemed to be a person who was close to him and cared for him.

"Nothin'." Was his short reply. "I woke up again, and I went to find you."

The boy looked up at Anko with those wide and innocent eyes of his. They made her happy and sad at the same time. Those were the innocent eyes she had seen a little more than six years ago when she had first met him. However, as the years passed, those eyes of innocence were replaced with eyes of fiery compassion and determination.

The world around him would shatter all over again, and just like last time, she would see it on his face as it happened.

"Want some food?" Anko spoke up once more, trying her best to avoid her previous train of thought.

Before Naruto was able to answer, Anko stood up and walked away to get him some food, leaving him with his new mentors and leader.

There was an awkward silence. Nobody had anything to say at the moment, and the night continued to be quiet even after Anko returned with his food.

Naruto had come up with a few thoughts regarding the masked ninja around him, but decided to keep them to himself.

Once again we return to Konoha, where a growing ramen company is doing it's best to maintain order within itself.

It was rather well known that Naruto had eaten regularily at Ichiraku Ramen, and since his disappearance, everyone who had supported the boy had taken to eating there regularily. The spike of growth was so large that the man had to get more employees, as well as areas for people to eat at. Of course, this all didn't happen in the course of a week. The popularity of the place had been growing steadily over the past few months, but now the need to expand was greater than ever, and with it, Teuchi was rewarded with a council spot for being so influential over the city recently. The change was so recent and sudden, in fact, that the ramen chef was included in the council meeting at the last moment.

What few ideas Teuchi had suggested to the council for furthering the development of the city as well as maintaining peace were surprising. It wasn't something people were expecting from a civilian, especially one like Teuchi himself, but the ideas were put into thought, and would be reviewed further in the next meeting.

While it was more or less accepted that the ANBU now acted as the police force in Konoha, the Ramen Chef suggested creating another police force, but not allow it to be controlled by any one force or clan. Both civilians and shinobi would be allowed to join and volunteer. They would be given special rights, but nothing that would make them above the laws that they held. There would be stations and monitors in each of the districts, with the main station being integrated into the ANBU offices. It was obvious that they would be working side by side, and it made sense for them to work close to one another. The symbol for the new police force would be a variation on the symbol of Konoha, with the spaces in the swirls being filled in with red, and intricate lines being drawn around the symbol itself, resembling a seal of some sort. Teuchi said that the design could be reworked to work as an actual storage seal, or something similar.

It was needless to say that the idea gained him favor with both sides, but the shinobi clans enjoyed the idea much more. Despite this, everyone saw how well the idea worked on paper, and with a moment of thinking and debating between Shikaku and Inoichi, they believed that it could be finished and worked into the village in less than a year.

While he did have ideas to share with the council, he also had ideas so share with his daughter, who worked alongside him at the main Ichiraku Ramen shack.

"Tou-san, that's a crazy idea!" Ayame giggled at her father, who had begun to create more and more ludicrous ramen ideas by the day. "Nobody would eat ramen with Banana Slugs in them!"

Teuchi chuckled to himself. "There's always a group of people out there who would eat something like this." His smile went away, and the small chuckle he had was replaced with a breath of sadness.

Ayame frowned. The air around them became heavy as recent memories resurfaced. The recent events had kept them busy from mourning over the diappearance of Naruto.

They both continued their cooking in silence.

"If anyone could find him, it'd be her..." Teuchi thought to himself silently, his hands moving on their own as the steam from the broth hit his face. As hot as it was right in front of the boiling broth, the ramen chef felt quite cold. If the courier ninja were as fast as he believed them to be, than the woman on his mind would have gotten his message in a day or possibly even in a few hours.

"Tou-san." A soft and familiar voice broke the old man out of his trance. Teuchi turner his head to look at his daughter, who pointed at the customer sitting in what used to be Naruto's usual spot.

The Ichiraku duo became uncomfortable with their current seating placement, but neither said anything to them.

The old man cleared his throat, still uneasy about the seating of the other man.

"Oh, hello!" He put his cheery front back on, a little trick he had learned a while back from a good friend. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! What will you be having today?"

"Miso." Was the man's simple reply. His relaxed gaze conflicted with his stone cold voice. His voice was distant, as if he was focusing on other things at the current moment. "Please." He added after a moment of silence.

Teuchi nodded slowly. He was many things, but one of them was not stupid. He was sitting in Naruto's spot, ordering Naruto's favorite meal.

"Anything else to add?" He asked the strange man.

He said nothing, simply shaking his head and looking down at the table in front of him.

He had a strange aura around him. It was obvious that he was not a local. He was distant to the people and happenings around him, and his clothing was much more dulled down than the bright and vibrant colors that most normal people wore in Konoha.

Minutes passed, and when his food was finally ready, he was still silent. Teuchi kept his smiling face on as he handed the man his food, and watched silently and patiently as he did so, hardly making a sound.

It was uncomfortable to watch. He knew that something was up, but the man was saying nothing. Teuchi couldn't call him out, however, as it would garner him too much unwanted attention.

As the man finished, he simply placed his money down on the table just beside the bowl and gave Teuchi a rather strange glance before nodding in thanks and leaving.

As the ramen chef picked up the money and counted it all up, he noticed a small sheet of paper hiding between the bills. On the paper were four identical marks with a noticable curve on each one.

Teuchi looked at the direction of where the man was headed, but saw nobody that fit the description of who he had just seen.

He wanted to thank the man.

Ayame, who had yet to see the paper, was confused on the recent turn of events. Her father's presence was now much more different than it had been in the last few days. She had listened in, but could not watch as she had to cook ramen for the other customers.

"Tou-san?" She spoke up, setting a bowl down in front of a young woman and picking up the bowl of the man who had just left.

Teuchi was grinning from ear to ear as he turned to his only daughter. He showed only her the paper in her hand, and once she had seen it, he put it away.

As Ayame set her eyes on the paper the strange man had left, she instantly recognized the mark. With a gulp, she smiled and felt at ease.

Naruto clenched the handle of his weapon with a relaxed but firm grip. The blade of his weapon sitting motionless on his shoulder, waiting for him to pull it forward and attack. His stance was calm and relaxed, his mind counting down and waiting for the moment to strike.

On the other end of the field, his teacher waited in a similar stance. The large and clearly wide sword seemed to be just as big as its wielder. However, the blue haired boy only had a small amount of trouble with weilding it. He was proficient with his weapon, he still had a ways to go before he would be considered a master.

"Alright Naruto, once more." Chojuro spoke rather quietly, but just loud enough for Naruto to be able to hear his words. "We'll keep going until you can fight with your eyes closed."

Naruto nodded. He knew how his teacher felt about his own skills, but he seemed pretty willing to teach another and see just how far naruto could go. The boy showed pomise. He was calm, steady, and eager to learn. It also took his mind off of things while his other teachers were off fighting and doing Oni consisted of Anko, who went under the alias of Hebi whenever she dawned her mask, Zabuza, the de facto leader of the group of which was named after him, and Yuki Onna, who's appearance and identity were unknown to all except two. The three of them worked together and closely with the Rebellion leader herself, as well as her personal bodyguards. Clearing out camps, recon, if one were to name a field task, they had most likely done it.

With a small look of surprise, Naruto thought of an idea that could possibly give him the upper hand. Quickly, he sheathed his sword and made but two hand seals, creating a gust of wind below of him. Subsequently, a thick layer of dust covered the immediate area.

Chojuro's eyes widened. It was surely an interesting turn, and he had to be even more careful now that he could no longer see.

With burst of chakra, Naruto created a trio of clones, all of which were tasked with surrounding Chojuro and keeping him busy. They knew their teacher's position, and had a pretty good idea of how he would move if he were to leave where they expected him to be.

Fortunately, Chojuro stood his ground and prepared himself for an attack from any side. The sound of a blade cutting through the air alerted him of what he assumed to be Naruto's location. His bade clashed with the other, but the sound hit his ears once more. He hardly had enough time to realize and react to the fact that Naruto was using clones against him, and jumped over the blade swinging at his feet, his large blade pushing up to distance himself from the other Naruto.

While he didn't have any idea which one was the real one, Chojuro could not take the offence and aim to dispell them. In the event that he did hit the orignal Naruto, he could be seriously injured. He had to keep on the defencive for his student's safety.

Touching the ground, Chojuro waited for the dust to settle. Little did he realize, when the dust settled, four identical copies of Naruto were pointing their swords at him from all angles. He could make no moves against the boy, and drew his free hand into the air.

"Well done." The teen praised his student. "I couldn't say that I expected it. While it wasn't the drill we were going over, it was good." He smiled briefly, gaining more of Naruto's already undevided attention. "But, if I was aiming to kill of injure you, that might not have worked. If it were real, then you should have impaled me the moment my foot touched the ground. I'd have no way to protect myself from swords in every direction."

A fifth Naruto, the real one, walked out from behind one of the clones as they put away their swords. He nodded with a small smile, accepting the praise that was given to him, as well as the critisism. "Right." He replied. Maybe he'd become good enough to actually beat his masters sometime in the future.

He certainly was excited to be trained in swordsmanship. From what he had been told, it was a subject that he had never touched on before he lost his memory. He used to be a wild, charismatic, and dangerous opponent, and while he seemed to have lost the second quality, the other two were definately intact. He was as smart as a tack with a reasonable margin for mistakes and blank moments. He was just a kid after all.

Wordlessly, the clones dispelled, a puff of smoke in their places. Given the current context, Naruto had led himself to believe that the lesson was over for the time being. '

Just as he began to walk away, Naruto was stopped by the feeling of something poking the back of his neck.

"Where do you think you're going?" Chojuro asked, edging the sword further just so slightly.

Naruto said nothing, instead making a break for it and running several yards away before spinning around, the sword in both of his hands.

"Final round." Naruto spoke with confidence.

There was only a brief pause before the clashing of steel could be heard throughtout the camp. Naruto was unwilling to hold back, and a simialr thing could be said for Chojuro. He knew he still couldn't go full blast at Naruto, but he was kicking things up several notches to make sure that his student was still challenged.

One hit after another, Naruto and Chojuro continued to battle, seemingly in a stalemate of skill. Their swords connected constatnly. As time passed, Naruto began to grow more and more frusterated. His attack began to slow and become increasingly more sloppy.

Chojuro could see this, but continued to bring the heat. Naruto would have to learn how to deal with this, as an actual opponent would not let him stop.

The more Naruto's blade continued to meet his master's, the more aggrevated he became. It had reached the point in which he had to play dirty in order to ger away.

In a swift motion, Naruto swung his sword at Chojuro, forseeing that the bespeticled boy would block. Their swords pressed against one another, both of them struggling to get the other to fall back.

Naruto then rolled to the side. Chojuro fought with his right hand on top, and Naruto knew this. In order to avoid getting cut, Naruto had to move with Chojuro's swing to the right.

This caused him to lose his balance and stumble forward to avoid falling. With this, he was unable to keep his eyes on Naruto. When he recovered, Naruto was out of sight.

"Wha- Where did he go?" Chojuro muttered to himself.

He looked around. All he could see was Naruto's blade stabbed into the earth before him. He wondered why he was abandoning the sword, but still remained wary. He had just pulled off a rather underhanded tactic, and would need to be ready for anything.

The sword was clowly and carefully pulled out of the ground. Naruto was given a small window of time to escape or devise a trap, so he wasn't too cautious about the scenario.

"Naruto! You know that you should never drop your weapon, even with chakra at your disposal." Chojuro called out to Naruto, wherever he may have been.

A rustling diverted his attention. Chojuro was forced to sheathe the second blade and look to where he had heard a noise.

Another noise caused him to look elsewhere. Either Naruto was pulling clones, or he really was that fast.

A moment later, Naruto appeared before his master, seemingly no longer sporting the sword that he had earlier.

Chojuro sighed in relief. At least he was alright, but what game was he playing.

Without any notice, Naruto lunged towards Chojuro, pulling out the exact same sword Chojuro was carrying.

Instinctively, Chojuro prepped himself for a block. The clashing of steel informed him that he was fighting the real sword, as a person henged into a weapon would be cut in half as if they were real.

They were locked in battle once more, but something was certainly different this time around.

A puff of smoke engulfed Chojuro; the blade that he had been carrying for Naruto was replaced with Naruto!

The Naruto who had been the sword immediately latched onto his master, a kunai pressed against his neck just waiting to cut through.

Chojuro didn't struggle. He knew that Naruto wouldn't actually hurt him, but he did in fact tell him to fight as if he were fighting a real opponent. Even if it wasnt the intention, Naruto was still in the position to easily kill or injure Chojuro.

The older boy chuckled, relaxing his posture and letting go of his massive sword. Naruto took this as a sign to get off, and dispelled his clone.

As the close dispelled, the sword that he had been carrying, as well as it's sheath, dropped to the ground.

Chojuro took notice of this, and nodded his head in understanding.

In Chojuro's time of disorientation, Naruto snuck away and created a clone, giving him the actual sword while he himself henged into the sword so his clone could stab him into the ground, just for Chojuro to pick up.

It was genius, Chojuro had to give him that. While risky, it did work on him, and any bandit or ninja would certainly take a sword if it didn't seem to be trapped. Dumb it may have been, but that was how it worked.

"Good job, Naruto." He praised his student. "I'd say that's enough for now."

The boy jumped into the air, celebrating his victory over an older and more experienced fighter.