Hello everyone! I'm back after such a long time! I've finally rewritten chapter 9 and I hope everyone enjoys it! I made so many changes but I'm very satisfied with what I've written. Thank you all for putting up with my terrible consistency of writing chapters. Anyway, please enjoy and review or comment. Your input really means something to me and I'm always willing to listen to what you all have to say!

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto!

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Within the lively Village of Konoha, a specific shade of pink could be made out of the crowds of people that adorned the streets. Many villagers turned to look at the odd color, realizing that it was Sakura Haruno. After three years of training, Sakura had actually begun to make a name for herself as the apprentice of the Hokage. Many people looked at the young woman with smiles on their faces. Most of them were treated by her in the hospital, something they were grateful for.

Green eyes scanned the streets, smiling happily as children ran past her, while many adults ran after them, scolding their behavior. Sakura had been proud of her achievements over the past few years. Medical jutsu had been quite easy for her to learn, and she felt as though she was getting stronger every day. Although, ever since she began her training, she didn't get to see Naruko or Kakashi-sensei that often. In fact, she hadn't seen them in the past couple months.

She sighed. Of course, she was expecting the blonde to be busy, but after talking with Naruko about being a close friend and then never seeing her, Sakura hoped the blonde wouldn't be too upset with her actions.

As she continued through the streets, Sakura reflected over her reason for leaving the hospital. Apparently Jiraiya-sama was back in the village for the first time in six months. Tsunade-sama had decided that it was time to restart team seven, beginning with a spar between Jiraiya, Sakura and Naruko.

Sakura's fist clenched in anxiousness, she couldn't wait to see what Naruko was capable of. Surprisingly, the blonde girl never mentioned anything she learned when they both had time to get together. Kakashi was the same as always, giving unpredictable hints and never mentioning anything in detail. However, today Sakura would get to see her friend fight for the first time in three years. Sakura only hoped that she could keep up.

"Ah…Sakura right?" An older man's voice spoke out through the crowd of people.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts, green eyes glancing towards the sound of the voice. There she saw a man in green and red robes, a large spikey white mane on top of his head. Sakura's green eyes widened when she realized who the person was.

"J-Jiraiya-sama!" Sakura gasped, astonished at the man's sudden appearance. "I'm surprised to see you so soon. I heard you were back in the village."

"Yeah well I was on my way to training ground seven when I saw you. You wouldn't mind walking together would you?" The man asked.

Sakura shook her head and the two walked over to the training grounds on the outskirts of the village. At first, Sakura felt a sense of awkwardness walking next to someone she personally hadn't met, and yet, this man was Naruko's sensei, well one of them.

"You look like you've really grown up since I last saw you. A blossoming young woman!" Jiraiya spoke.

Sakura blushed slightly at the mention of her being grown up. Although she heard this man was something of a pervert. It put Sakura on edge. She continued to walk next to the man, thinking of a question to ask him. The silence between them was awkward.

"What do you think of Naruko?" Sakura asked.

"Hm?"

"How much had she grown…in your opinion?" Sakura asked. She really wanted to know Jiraiya's thoughts on her teammate.

Jiraiya put a finger on his chin. "To be honest, I'm not too sure. I've gotten letters of her progress and suggested other forms of training. But I haven't seen much of her in person. There is something that bothers me though…" Jiraiya's voice trailed off. His sudden halt in the conversation peeked Sakura's interest.

"What bothers you?" Sakura asked.

"Never mind that…we're here!" Jiraiya said, changing the subject and pointing to a large open field.

When the two arrived at the training grounds, Sakura was in deep thought. From the way Jiraiya sounded, it seemed like Naruko had a problem, something holding her back. What could that possibly be?

"Sakura-chan!" A feminine voice yelled out.

Sakura looked up and smiled, recognizing the voice right away. There she was, Naruko Uzumaki running towards her, blonde hair wildly gliding through the air behind her, and bright blue eyes, showing all of Naruko's excitement at seeing her friend.

"oof!" Sakura grunted as she was tackled to the ground, her blonde teammate on top of her grinning wildly. Sakura couldn't help but smile at Naruko's sweet innocent face. No longer was she a small, weak person, nor was she too skinny. Sakura noticed that Naruko's new diet had let the girl fill out…slightly. It was hard to tell with Naruko's black and orange track suit, but when Sakura and Naruko had went to the hot springs a few months back, Sakura noticed the girl's growing was still slowed. Naruko only grew two or three inches in the past three years, making her barely 5'2" and the girl couldn't be heavier than 95 pounds. Even her breasts were still an A-cup, maybe a small B at best, but Sakura knew that Naruko's diet in her childhood had really affected her growth, despite her good habits now. Naruko may be small and petite, but now it suited her build rather than hinder it.

"What no love for Uncle Jiraiya?" Jiraiya asked with a mock pout, making Naruko look up towards the bigger man and stick her tongue out at him.

"Why you!" Jiraiya growled at Naruko's humorous disrespect, attempting to pick her up off Sakura, however Naruko saw the move coming and jumped out of the way before he could grab her.

"Too slow Ero-sannin!" Naruko chided

"Hey I told you to stop calling me that!" Jiraiya yelled.

Sakura silently got up, dusting herself off and watching the interaction between the sensei and the student. A small smile adorning her face. 'I'm glad you turned out so well Naruko…I'm really glad.'

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Naruko couldn't be more excited to fight against Jiraiya. She had waited nearly three years for to face one of the legendary sannin and thanks to kakashi-sensei's training, she honestly felt like she would give the Toad Sage a good fight. Despite the original plan for both Jiraiya and Kakashi to train the young woman, Jiraiya was forced to frequently leave the village for long periods of time to meet with clients. Sure he was able to write letters and send a lists of jutsu and chakra exercises, but with Kakashi being so close, things between Naruko and Jiraiya felt strained.

Naruko kind of felt bad for the older man. He seemed like he was really excited to meet with her and get to know her. She could always use another mentor, however his desire to be in her life also sparked some curiosity as to why exactly.

Naruko grinned at Jiraiya, a playful smirk on her face. Even though he wasn't exactly close to her, Naruko could still say she cared for the man and enjoyed his company. He was a funny man.

When the three ninja finally finished their greetings, Jiraiya's face became very serious, causing Naruko and Sakura to fall silent. Although despite Jiraiya's serious aura, Naruko couldn't stop shaking in excitement. Finally she could show off her skills and she also couldn't wait to see how Sakura had improved over the years. Surely training with the Hokage had been very successful.

"It's time for us to spar." Jiraiya spoke, his tone matching that of a powerful and experienced ninja. "Remember you two, come at me with everything you have. There aren't any bells in this test, just fighting. Once someone is unable to continue we will stop the spar and I will summarize my evaluation. Any questions?"

Naruko and Sakura shook their heads and dug their feet into the soft grass, ready to pounce on the older ninja at a moment's notice. Jiraiya took a deep breath while stepping back away from the two girls and held his hand up in the air.

"Ready…..GO!"

Sakura was the first to move. Her legs launched her high into the air and she pulled her fist back. Jiraiya watched, somewhat surprised that the pink haired girl decided to attack in such a straightforward way. The white haired ninja quickly calculated where Sakura would land and side stepped.

Sakura smirked as she saw that Jiraiya seemed to have forgotten that she was trained by the legendary Tsunade. Sure he had avoided a direct collision, but the area of her damage was much greater than that. The pink haired ninja's fist clashed into the ground and the area around her crippled under her power.

Jiraiya's and Naruko's eyes widened immensely as the once grassy plain was suddenly decimated. Large rocks overturned and Jiraiya tried desperately to keep his balance and avoid flying rubble.

'That monster strength I forgot…Tsunade trained this one. She's like a mini-Tsunade!' Jiraiya thought while cursing his luck.

Naruko stared at her teammate in wonder. She never imagined that Sakura would gain such strength so quickly. The blonde girl didn't quite understand how such massive physical strength was possible but she now held such a huge respect for her teammate's strength.

'Sakura-chan is so cool!' Naruko thought.

The blonde shook her head and focused on the task at hand. Her fighting style required her to get close to her target, and Jiraiya was still too focused on keeping his balance. She smiled to herself as she rushed towards the older man.

While Jiraiya dodged the last large boulder to fly at his face. He suddenly sensed a presence coming in fast behind him. He cursed under his breath and spun around, locking in on Naruko who was approaching at an insane speed. Within seconds Naruko was directly in front of Jiraiya with a kunai in hand. She slashed at his torso but the man batted her arm away and retaliated with a sharp and direct punch at Naruko's collar bone. The smaller girl dipped her body backwards and watched Jiraiya's fist just barely miss the tip of her nose.

Jiraiya's eyes widened when he realized how flexible the young girl was. Fighting up close was probably her specialty. However, even though she managed to dodge his punch, Naruko was now wide open. Jiraiya kicked out his leg, sweeping Naruko off her feet and the girl landed on her back with a 'Thud'.

Jiraiya felt pleased until he witnessed Naruko smirk and evaporate into many bolts of electricity. He threw himself away from the body but couldn't stop a few sparks of electricity from homing onto his left arm.

'Damn, she was a lightning clone…impressive.' Jiraiya thought as his left arm numbed from the electricity.

Seeing Jiraiya distracted, Sakura launched herself at him from behind ready to strike at his back. Her fist was inches away from Jiraiya's back before he flung himself in a backwards flip and flew over the pink haired teen.

"No way!?" Sakura yelled, surprised that the man could sense her attack without looking. Then again, he was a legendary sannin.

Jiraiya landed safely on the ground and paused, taking a deep breath. "You two sure like keeping me on my feet."

In the bushes a few yards away from the open field Naruko smiled hearing Jiraiya's comment. Her past three years with Kakashi had taught her a lot. She was determined to show the older ninja how much she'd grown. Her hands quickly formed multiple hand signs before her lightning began to spark around them.

'Here we go!' Naruko thought.

A sudden bright light flashed in the bushes to the left of Jiraiya and his eyes quickly scanned the forest. He slowly searched the area until suddenly a glowing white beast launched itself out of the bushes, racing for Jiraiya.

'That's-!' Jiraiya mentally gasped, before dodging the animal made out of lightning. The beast quickly spun on its heels ready to run back at Jiraiya.

Sakura watched in amazement. 'That must be one of Naruko's jutsu!' She thought before racing towards the sannin.

The lightning beast ran toward Jiraiya once more, however this time the sannin was more prepared. He slammed his hands into the ground and shouted.

"Earth Style: Rock Wall Jutsu!"

A wall quickly rose out of the ground, preparing to stop the lightning beast but a loud battle cry was made and Jiraiya cursed his luck. Sakura smashed through the wall and the beast jumped through the rubble, still charging viciously.

Jiraiya brought his arms close and braced for the impact, not before noticing the sound of rustling leaves a few yards behind himself.

'Dammit. I underestimated them.' Jiraiya acknowledged silently.

The lightning beast crashed into his body, dissipating into strong currents of electricity. His muscles became locked and restricted, but with a decent amount of force and chakra he managed to turn his body, only to witness Naruko leaping out of the bushes from where she was hidden, a swirling ball of chakra glowing in her hand.

'Rasengan!' Jiraiya thought astonished. 'Kakashi, you've taught her so much.' He mentally praised.

True to Jiraiya's suspicion Naruko ran towards the temporarily paralyzed ninja and thrust her arm forward. Time slowed for the sannin as he watched Naruko closing in. He smiled sadly.

'Naruko…' He thought. 'I haven't been a good godfather to you nor a good teacher. I keep leaving and even though it's for the good of the village, I can't help but regret not being in your life more. But after today I see that you are in good hands. You've truly grown into beautiful and talented young woman. I just hope you get over—.'

"Rasengan!" Naruko shouted drowning out Jiraiya's thoughts and the older man felt the world go dark.

XXXXX

Brown eyes scanned the three people standing before them. Tsunade was gazing at a beaten Jiraiya with a sense of mirth. Seeing him so beaten reminded her of the old days when she would beat up the man herself.

"So, Naruko and Sakura did well in their evaluation I see." I slight smirk eased onto the blonde's face, while Jiraiya pouted with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Hey I wasn't trying my hardest Tsunade-hime! You know that!" The Toad Sage whined, while Naruko and Sakura chuckled beside him.

"Anyhow, you both did excellent." Tsunade said, ignoring Jiraiya. "I'm grateful to have such talented ninja under my command. Team Seven will absolutely be reinstated and I'll have a mission ready for you tomorrow."

Naruko nodded appreciably, however Sakura raised her hand in question. "Master, what about a third teammate? We still need one if Team Seven is to be reinstated as a functioning team."

Naruko dipped her head down at Sakura's words. It seemed that Sakura had accepted that the space Sasuke once filled on the team was empty. Naruko still hoped that Sasuke would one day return. He had too!

Tsunade quickly noticed Naruko's shift in behavior and sighed. "Perhaps I will find a temporary new member."

Sakura nodded and both she and Naruko made their way out of the office and towards the streets. Jiraiya watched the two girls leave before turning back to his old time friend and teammate.

"They really are quite something. Sakura definitely has your strength and a good sense of the battlefield." Jiraiya commented.

Tsunade nodded with a smirk on her face. "What did you expect? She is my apprentice after all."

Jiraiya nodded and looked out towards the village. The sun was setting over the buildings, creating a warm orange glow over the streets. He felt his body relax at the sight of the peaceful village.

"Is there anything else you needed Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.

"What mission are you going to give them tomorrow?" The Sage asked.

"Why does it matter to you? They are a capable team." The blonde woman responded.

"Naruko…" Jiraiya whispered against the glass windows of the office.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and reached for a drawer in her desk. She pulled back the wooden compartment and grasped at a brown bottle hidden within.

"You're talking about her condition aren't you?" Tsunade sighed while twisted off the cork in the large bottle and bringing the glass jar to her lips. She let the burning alcoholic liquid travel down her throat before placing the bottle back on her desk.

Tsunade placed her hand on her chin in thought. "Kakashi has been helping her, and I'm sure Sakura will help too once she finds out. It's something that needs to be fixed immediately, but she can't fix it within the walls of the village."

Jiraiya nodded while walking towards the desk and grabbing at the large bottle of liquor. He too took a swig of the Sake and then turned back towards the windows of the office. This time looking beyond the village walls and into the forest.

"Your right…I just hope she doesn't have to struggle much more."

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Sasuke grunted as he fell to one knee. His charcoal eyes blurredly watched sweat glide down his nose and drip onto the scorched grass beneath him. His clothes were practically shredded, and cuts both deep and shallow littered his body. Surrounding him was a once beautiful green field burnt from the use of multiple fire jutsu. Dead bodies littered the ground, most of them charred beyond identification.

This was one of the many bandit camps Madara had him clear out for training. It seemed that these particular bandits were skilled missing-nin among the ranks of chuunin and even some jonin, something that Madara had failed to mention. Sasuke didn't mind though. What chance of protecting Naruko did he have if he couldn't defeat all those that stood before him.

A vortex of swirling air appeared next to the young Uchiha and out stepped the masked ninja that had taught Sasuke almost everything he knew in the past three years.

"Good job Sasuke, I'm sure even Itachi would have trouble taking on all those ninja. It won't be long before you can match him." Madara's dark voice spoke.

Sasuke, too tired to speak, nodded his head. Silently proud of his most recent training success. Madara was an interesting mentor, but effective none the less. Sasuke improved most of his skills in the midst of combat, constantly gaining experience in the battlefield, something he lacked before.

"Come, let's get back to the base and get you healed up. I've already found someone who will truly test how powerful you are."

"Who?" Sasuke gasped, finding it hard to speak but his curiosity had gotten the best of him.

"I believe you've already met…You remember Orochimaru right?"

Sasuke closed his eyes while remembering the Snake Sannin from the Forest of Death. Sasuke would be lying if he said that the Snake Sannin didn't scare him. Sure he had gotten much stronger than the last time they fought, but his experience with Orochimaru was certainly unpleasant. There was a small seed of doubt in Sasuke's mind, but he reminded himself that there was no other way. He had to face Orochimaru now, and he had to win. Sasuke placed his hand over the sealed curse mark on his neck as Madara sucked up the both of them in a vortex, leaving the decimated field.

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As Naruko and Sakura left the Hokage building, Naruko couldn't help but think about Sasuke. Hearing about a possible new teammate slightly angered the girl. No one would ever take Sasuke's place, it wasn't possible.

Sakura noticed how silent Naruko was and coughed to get the girl's attention. Naruko looked up at Sakura, trying to hide her current feelings. Which seemed to work as Sakura didn't make any indication that she noticed.

"I can't believe we actually beat Jiraiya the Toad Sage in a spar! We should go celebrate!" Sakura said, nudging Naruko's shoulder.

Naruko nodded while smiling and suddenly Sakura was dragging her through the streets, eventually arriving at Itchiraku Ramen. Naruko decided to put her issues with the upcoming team seven member in the back of her mind. Right now, she needed to celebrate with Sakura. Besides, when was the last time that they actually got to hang out as friends?

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This particular chapter was somewhat difficult to write due to the time gap, but I think it went well. To be honest I don't think i'm that good at the fight scenes. What do you guys think? Please comment or review! I appreciate you all!

Until next time!