Author Note: For those who already know the pattern regarding my updates, I decided that a little change was in order. For instance, next story would be "Tired", but now I'm going to update this one instead and "Tired" will follow next.

Now on to the chapter...

Chapter 10 - A friend's call for help

Beta: Dreetje

After Naruto and Sakura's test against Kakashi, everyone went to their respective homes, but not Jiraiya and Tsunade as the latter invited her teammate for some sake in order to talk about the village's newest Chuunin shinobi. Tsunade was dumbstruck the entire fight and she wanted answers, answers that only he could supply; well Yuugao could as well, but the Godaime wasn't in the mood to ask one of her subordinate Anbu for a bottle of sake…or two for that manner. So, now, both she and the Gama Sannin were pouring cup after cup down their throats, before Tsunade smashed the sake bottle on the table and looked straight at Jiraiya, who by the way was showing, maybe, the biggest grin possible as he knew that Naruto impressed her in more ways than anyone thought possible.

"I take it you want answers about the brat's skills"

The look of sarcasm on her face was enough to satisfy his answer as he smiled and poured one more cup of sake, before smiling at the blond. Jiraiya never thought he would enjoy this so much; the look on her face, daring him to speak or else she would take action was too much to his drunken state, but he knew not to push her buttons any longer, since Tsunade had quite a short temper and could land quite a punch at his jaw.

"What did you expect Tsunade, three years ago I told you that he had potential to be great; you saw the results yourself, didn't you?"

"Yeah I did, but his growth is unheard of dammit. In three years, he managed to correct every flaw he had regarding Taijutsu and weapon accuracy; he learned and mastered two elements and I happen to know, from his file, that he's attuned to the wind element, not both wind and water. He learned a new element from scratch, don't tell me you don't think this surprising, even Minato took longer to learn the lightning element and he was considered the strongest shinobi in existence. Come on Jiraiya, spill it!"

Tsunade was getting irritated at each passing second with Jiraiya's nothing but vague answers. The man for his part felt the urge to tell about Naruto's "other" skills, but then, he would actually fear for his life. The Godaime was already impressed with what she saw of Naruto's skills; there wasn't any need to further fill her agony right now in understanding all this, especially when her mind was already emerged in alcohol, thus devoid of any rational judgment.

"Okay, Tsunade calm down for a second and I'll explain. Time is a hard reality for shinobi; you and I both know that. It takes a long period of one's dedication and compromise in order to learn a certain skill, yet alone master one. However, because of the blond's abundance of chakra, time doesn't apply to him the same way as it does for us. You would do well to remember the usage of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, his signature move" – By this, Tsunade was already drawing to the needed conclusions, but Jiraiya continued the explanation. "Kage Bunshin was mostly used for reconnaissance, simply because whatever memory the clone gathers, it's immediately transferred to the original, upon being dispelled. Now, with Naruto's chakra capacity, he isn't limited to four, five or six clones. He can summon two hundred of them and still possess the chakra to train his techniques. Now, with one real and one clone, you do a task half the time needed; imagine the same principle with a hundred clones. The blond trained in three years the equivalent of ten years easily".

The woman had the decency to be shocked at the number of clones Naruto manages to create and still possess enough chakra to train on his own. However, this ability was unheard of in Tsunade's opinion. If such ability was real, then there wasn't anything Naruto couldn't learn with the help of his clones. Looking at her teammate's eyes, she was getting suspicious; true Naruto did accomplish a lot already Taijutsu, elemental ninjutsu, weapon accuracy…but what if the blond had more up his sleeve? Surely, the Chuunin could've used his skills with clones to learn a totally different new art. Looking at him with a smug look on her face, Tsunade questioned the man while holding the sake bottle on her left hand.

"Okay Jiraiya, I'm convinced of the blond's growth, but we're talking about the skills that he showed throughout the fight against Kakashi. What of the rest, Jiraiya? Certainly, with the Kage Bunshin style of training, Naruto could certainly learn other valuable skills that would better mold his skills as a shinobi"

The pervert had to smile at his teammate's deduction, not enough for him to tell about Naruto's skills in dispelling mid to high level Genjutsu as well as in wielding the bo-staff.

"Surely, he would show everything he has learned at the fight against Kakashi, Tsunade. You can't fight someone of Kakashi's caliber and even still manage to hide his skills. We focused, mainly, on those two elements and his Taijutsu. We sparred every day until we returned and Yuugao helped as well. She managed to correct one flaw with his stance as well as helped him with suiton manipulation. She was greatly beneficial to his training, you know"

Jiraiya knew what he was doing by adding Yuugao to the conversation. By adding her name, Tsunade forgot entirely about Naruto's hidden skills and thought about a relationship between an Anbu captain and a Chuunin. The Hokage, for her part, frowned at the pervert's sudden change in discussion, but didn't create a fuss over it. She was just as interested in the blond's romantic relationship as she was regarding the blond's shinobi abilities.

"Speaking about Yuugao, what…or rather how did it happen? I mean, before she would go on suicidal mission after another in hopes that some lucky kunai would slice her jugular" – Tsunade said.

"I still don't know Tsunade. Ever since she started travelling with us, she and Naruto quickly formed a bond of friendship. Every day, both of them shared a lot of stories together, until one day, I wake up to see they both hugging each other. Afterwards, feelings started to bloom for one another. One thing that both the gaki and Yuugao have in common is that they could keep a secret better than anyone I've seen and that's saying a lot, considering my spying network. There was one night they went out in Water Country's capital that I still want to hear about. The damn brat just won't tell a thing, dammit"

Jiraiya's mumbling managed to get a rise out of Tsunade as she, then, poured some sake down her throat.

"Serves you right pervert, stop messing in other people's lives. Now, that's enough drink for me, I'm afraid. I'm going home to have some sleep before Shizune comes barging in lecturing me to stop drinking"

Once Jiraiya paid for the huge tip, both Sannin went on different ways with Jiraiya knowing that Tsunade was safe, considering that Anbu was following her every step, preventing the almighty Godaime Hokage from making silly mistakes that could endanger her image regarding both the village as well as others throughout the elemental nations.

===Next Day===

The next day, at his Office, Tsunade was reading the mission requests while rubbing her temples, in hopes of reducing the painful hangover she was feeling right now. It was even worse since, on top of the alcohol still lingering inside her blood vessels, she still had to hear her assistant's nagging voice, lecturing her to stop drinking, especially because of her status as Godaime Hokage. Looking at a B-ranked mission request, Tsunade was still rubbing her temples as she realized what the mission entailed. Clearing her mind of her pain, Tsunade smiled finding the right time to test the newly formed team.

"Shizune…Shizune, call the shinobi written in this mission request for me A.S.A.P, will you?"

The black haired woman frowned at the lack of control in the Hokage's voice, but took the mission scroll, before looking at the people designated for the mission. With a smile on her face, she assigned one Anbu to get the Jounin that will be responsible for the assignment as well as his team.

===At Naruto's house===

Naruto was having a peaceful slumber as the clock near his bed showed it was already seven o'clock in the morning. Usually, Naruto would have to meet his team at only ten or twelve, if Kakashi's tardiness wasn't yet cured. Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door, jerking him out of bed instantly while mumbling some curse words at the damn morning lover who would think of waking him at…seven o'clock in the morning. Okay, now the blond was pissed as he marched towards the door with very intent on knocking some sense into this person's mind, except if Yuugao were to make a surprise visit, then the blond wouldn't be mad.

Opening the door in a normal manner, Naruto was half expecting to see Yuugao, only to see a silver haired Jounin waving his hands in a greeting manner.

"Morning Naruto…"

It took a while for the scene to be registered in Naruto's mind. He knew the clock wasn't broken…it was seven o'clock in the morning right now, the sun was just now getting up and the birds were beginning their morning songs of joy. With all this adding up, it was impossible for someone like this guy to show up this time of the hour. Kakashi, for instance, was looking at the blond's questioned looks with a frown on his face, as his students had so little expectation from their sensei. It made matters worse when Naruto moved his hands to dispel a supposed Genjutsu, before Kakashi had to intervene and prove that it was real.

"It's not a Genjutsu, Naruto. We have a mission, get dressed. I'll be right here"

"Sorry, if I was a little shocked Kakashi-sensei, I'll be ready in a few minutes" – Naruto said.

===At the Hokage's Office===

Half an hour later, Team Kakashi was joined in front of Tsunade and Shizune as the Hokage addressed the mission that they were about to undertake.

"Team Kakashi, we've received call from a city ten miles northeast from here, near the Fire Country's capital city. The Fire Daimyo would normally send his samurai to investigate, but he passed the mission to us instead. It's a B-ranked mission consisting of releasing the village from a group of missing-nins from Amegakure that are terrorizing over there. Proceed with utmost caution, from what I understand from the mission request; their group is quite extensive, probably two to one. Oh and they managed to capture the village mayor's ten year old daughter. You three are to leave immediately, any questions?"

The Chuunin on the team nodded their heads in the negative as Kakashi was reading the mission scroll with a relaxed and a somewhat bored visage on his face, before he faced the Godaime Hokage.

"Any known skills we should be aware of?" – Kakashi asked.

"We're talking about civilians here Kakashi; they wouldn't be able to give us a thorough report on what ninja techniques they're using. We're lucky to at least know their numbers. Team Kakashi is to leave right now"

Suddenly, two amounts of leaves and a small tornado appeared in Team Kakashi's place, before they vanished via shunshin, towards the mission at hand, leaving Shizune and Tsunade alone as the Hokage turned to the next mission assignment. The Hokage was without a care in the world as she assigned a Genin team to handle a C-rank document delivery mission, before Shizune decided to interrupt. She was worried for the mission that Team Kakashi was about to undertake.

"Tsunade-sama, wouldn't it be better to send another team with Team Kakashi. The missing-nins are quite a few for a three man cell?" – Shizune asked, before hearing Tsunade's warm laughter.

"Do not worry Shizune, Kakashi is one of this village's elite Jounin and Sakura was tutored by both of us, she'll be fine. Last but not least, there is Naruto. The pervert confided me some information about his training and I can say for sure, is that no one deals against groups of shinobi enemies, better than him. You saw him yesterday, didn't you? That brat surprises me every day and this mission will be a piece of cake for them. Now, call me Ebisu's team, I have an errand for them to run"

After Shizune left the office, Tsunade was remembering what the pervert said to her, before they left the bar last night.

===With Team Kakashi===

After leaving the Administration Building, Team Kakashi were jumping through rooftops towards the east gate. According to the scroll, time was of the essence in this manner; the entire village was being bullied by the missing-nins and they even have the mayor tied down, because of her daughter being kidnapped. Both Naruto and Sakura were aware of the sensitive situation they were in as the last few buildings passed by them before handling the documents to the Chuunin on duty at the gate.

It wasn't long until they went back to the sky, but instead of rooftops, team Kakashi now was travelling through the heavy forest that surrounded the village. The temperature was staggering, but with the speed they were travelling, the wind gathered was more than enough to cool their skin enough to withstand the heat. Not that it mattered, though, as they were born in Fire Country and this hot temperature is common this time of the year. One person, in particular, was enjoying in comfort silence, the great many sights that surround the hidden village in the leaves. The almost quiet but smooth sound of a river that crossed the forest as well as the glistering image of the sun being reflected on the water; the animals minding their own business as all of them decided to refresh their bodies because of the extremely hot temperature.

Their travel would last another twenty minutes so Naruto had enough time to administer the sight that he could lay his eyes on.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Kakashi were paying close attention to both the path ahead and the blond on their left flank. The day before, Naruto had still to show his face in Konoha, both Kakashi and Sakura were caught wondering about the other member of their group. How much did the blond change? What did he see on his travel that changed him so much?

These questions kept plaguing their minds constantly as they saw the blond looking at all directions with a comfort smile on his face, like he was in peace with the world around him. It was a strange sight; whereas before you would see a guy with unlimited amount of energy, jumping constantly and screaming to the heavens about his undying wish of becoming the next Hokage; now all that energy have seemingly vanished without a trace and it was unsettling to see. Especially for Sakura of all people. The old Team Seven suffered like no other with the betrayal of their comrade Uchiha Sasuke and yet, seeing Naruto like this without a care in the world, kind of forced her to believe that Sasuke never existed in the first place…kind like their time as a team never existed.

Kakashi looked at Sakura's saddened face, before looking forward as their objective was getting closer by the minute.

The Jounin was equally puzzled with Naruto's new behavior…new way to see things. His most important goal upon taking on a team was to teach them the value of teamwork above all other skills. Granted, Sasuke was to blame for this situation, but while he understood that Naruto changed…he now realized something ironic.

He liked the old Naruto more…

The silver haired Jounin couldn't help but feel this way. Yes, back there he was brash, annoying and hyperactive like no one, but his compromise with never giving up despite it all, caused Kakashi to smile at his student. Now, it's like he turned from oil to water. This new Naruto was reserved, kept things to himself, definitely skilled if what Kakashi saw the other day was any indication. He stopped his wonderings as he saw a village on the horizon with a couple houses and a small business center. He couldn't detect any presences at all, but Kakashi had enough experience to be able to detect when an enemy is concealing their chakra so as not to get caught by the opponent. Signaling with his hands, the group stopped to a halt as the mission leader turned to address his subordinates.

"Okay, we are a few miles outside the village, so I'll be briefing you two on the mission specs, so bear with me for a second, since I won't enjoy repeating"

Kakashi looked at the two, who in turn, demonstrated their utmost attention, which pleased Kakashi as he managed their full attention.

"According to the mission request, the enemies are up to ten missing-nins from villages we're still unaware of, so we'll be playing safe at first, gauging their strength. Also, they happen to hold the entire village as hostages for their little scheme, so it will be up to us to get rid of these missing-nins. What's most important, right now, is that these guys could either be narrow-minded thugs with shinobi training or deadly killers with an A or higher status on the bingo book. If the latter happens, we have no choice other than to retreat and call for backup of another team before returning. Now, seeing as Sakura is the medic-nin of the group, she'll be on the supportive side, in the back, with Genjutsu and weapons. That leaves the fight for us Naruto"

Sakura was a smart girl and she could catch things at almost the same pace as Shikamaru and the man was considered a genius amongst the Chuunin population. Therefore, she managed to notice the look the two shared with each other. It was definitely different than before…Kakashi and Naruto was displaying trust in one another against ten missing-nins. She just prayed that these two would be alright.

"Fine by me, Kakashi-sensei" – Naruto said with excitement, which earned a nod from Kakashi. True, in person, Kakashi wished Naruto didn't change much, but he didn't have one negative bad of the blond's skills at the moment and that's saying much in his book.

"Okay...let's proceed with caution for now. As soon as we arrive, both of you must be ready for any kind of trap. Let's go now"

As soon as the order reached their ears, the three vanished in a blur, before arriving in the middle of the village's business center. The place was better described as being abandoned for god knows how many years. No presence that could be seen, no voices that could be heard, nothing.

"Think they left the place with the villagers as hostages? Are we too late?" – Sakura asked, but both Naruto and Kakashi managed to sense a great number of chakra looming inside the houses. It was like the enemy was just waiting for the group to spring the trap, before moving in for the kill. It was when Naruto placed his foot just passed the business center that the ground started to crumble out of a sudden. The team wasn't keen of waiting to see what would happen, so each of them jumped on top of a house, just seconds before all hell broke loss.

The noise was the signal, Naruto considered as they heard the sound of doors breaking under the pressure of one kick, before the group attacked the Konoha team with shurikens and deadly other projectiles towards what seemed the strongest of the team, namely Naruto and Kakashi. The silver haired Jounin parried every projectile with deadly precision by using two kunais on each hand, but Naruto was impaled by all of them, quite to everyone but Kakashi's surprise, before his body was replaced by a log as the blond appeared by the jounin's side.

Kakashi stiffened upon seeing one of the missing-nins looking at him with a smile on his face. The man was tall; heavily build with a scar crossing his forehead. The Ame (Rain Hidden Village) scratched forehead protector was located around the man's neck as his black scythe was screaming bloody murder. Naruto saw the look in Kakashi's face and asked away.

"Do you know him Kakashi-sensei? – Naruto asked, before seeing his sensei briefly nodding, while never taking his eyes away from this terrible enemy.

"Only in the bingo book…A-ranked missing-nin Aomaru, Ame's Maruishi (Boulder). Actually, the one who managed to beat him was Orochimaru, even before facing Hanzou of the Salamander and being, latter, nominated as one of the Sannin. Sakura…" – Said Kakashi, getting the woman's attention as she listened intently. "Right now, our priority is to find the mayor's daughter as well as the villagers to make sure they're alright. Me and Naruto will remain and fight this group. Out of the ten, only Aomaru represents danger, so I'll take him…Naruto, you'll be up against the rest nine. They're genin to low-chunnin level, nothing I know you can't handle, right?"

Only a smile was needed, before Sakura vanished within a blur to look for the little girl's location. Naruto, for his part, smiled at this scenery…fighting multiple opponents was what he trained so hard for these last three years.

One of the enemies, when seeing the girl vanish, was about to go look for her, but was stopped by Aomaru who ordered him to take care of the blond, much to Kakashi's surprise. Aomaru, Ame's Maruishi, A-ranked missing-nin was eyeing Naruto, a tough fighter, but a Chuunin still. Looking at the blond, Kakashi was surprised when Naruto grabbed a blue scroll strapped with red tape, before he unwrapped it and extended the scroll in mid-air. Immediately, smoke filled their position, before Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise as the imposing black bo-staff now in Naruto's grasp as he fell into a battle position stance. Kakashi would be surprised by the sudden new skill, but he has other concerns at the moment.

Naruto noticed the stare he was receiving from the enemies and even Kakashi's. He knew this would shock his sensei, considering that he had yet to use his bojutsu in a fight next to the silver haired Jounin. Nevertheless, his concerns landed on the nine Ame missing-nins. Of course none of them looked like much, but whereas Naruto would have no trouble fighting one on one, but definitely one against nine was a challenge to say the least.

"I'm not going to ask how or when you learned how to wield the bo-staff and I won't ask why you thought better than not telling about it to me beforehand. What I'm going to ask is for you to be careful Naruto. I'll be extremely occupied with Aomaru and I won't be able to provide cover…" – Kakashi said, before seeing Naruto smile in appreciation.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei; I trained a lot these last three years on how to take on multiple enemies. I'll be fine!"

Kakashi nodded his hand in positive, before focusing all his attention on Aomaru, who for his part was looking directly at Kakashi, as if the rest of the world wasn't suddenly important. However, the same moment he diverted his attention away from Naruto, the blond began a huge series of hand seals in order to divide the fight and let Kakashi alone with his opponent.

Fuuton Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu)

The wind suddenly picked up, alerting Kakashi to the usage of chakra, before he turned to Naruto. Just as he did so, Naruto exhaled a strong gust of wind that managed to send all the opponents flying away from the vicinity, except Aomaru who had enough experience with wind users to focus some chakra to his feet in order to stick to the ground. Nevertheless, he prided himself of being cautious and in the end, this mysterious blond proved to be quite the opponent.

Kakashi had to smile at his student, though he had more important matters to take care of. Naruto, at this time, had already vanished within a small tornado probably towards the position where the others went, thus leaving the two strong opponents alone in a deserted city.

"I was hoping that Konoha would send someone strong to defend this pathetic excuse of a village. I'm glad they sent you, Sharingan no Kakashi. I'll be testing my skills against you" - Aomaru said, starting the challenge.

"Surely, you already battled against tougher opponents than me Aomaru. No matter, though, you won't get out of here alive, Aomaru"

After accepting the challenge, Kakashi fell into a Taijutsu stance, while observing his opponent. The man was obviously built for close to mid range fighting, so Taijutsu wasn't exactly the best alternative of engagement. Plus, the fact that Naruto is facing nine enemies at the same time worried Kakashi, but he didn't have a choice, but to trust the blond.

"There is been twenty years since I faced that snake, Kakashi. After that, no one gave me the rush of a true fighting. You'll provide this for me"

"Enough talking, let's get this over with" - Kakashi said as he lifted his headband, revealing the almighty Sharingan.

===With Sakura===

Away from the fighting, Haruno Sakura was searching for clues within the village territory in order to locate the mayor's kidnapped daughter as well as the rest of the villagers, seeing as the missing-nins captured them all. She didn't want to leave her comrades behind, but orders were orders as she happened to take great pride in being loyal.

The houses were in bad condition, but as she entered in one of the houses, she was dumbstruck to see blood on the ground, pointing towards the windows, as if whoever it was, was dragged away by the missing-nins. Upon looking at the window, she managed to follow the path of blood through the grassy field, quite to her surprise, since a little rain would wipe this blood away instantly.

She shrugged this thought away and followed the path, weary of the presumably obvious clue. Certainly, not even an academy student wouldn't be able to spot the path of blood, thus Sakura was only waiting for a trap to trigger as she followed the path. Eventually, the trail of blood stopped and Sakura looked up to see a cave a few hundred meters in front of her with one man guarding the entrance. Immediately, she rushed to hide behind a canopy tree right next to her.

She waited a bit until she was certain that the man didn't spot her position, before she moved through the foliage, until she was at striking distance with the guard. Taking a shuriken from her holster, she threw with utmost proficiency at a specific point in the man's neck, killing him instantly. The noise he made upon falling on the ground gave her the signal to appear, before she checked his vitals to assure that he was dead. As a medic-nin, Sakura loathed the necessity of killing the enemy, but as both Shizune and Tsunade taught her, sometimes you have to kill one in order to save a thousand. Not that Sakura enjoyed hearing that, however it's in her profession's nature to kill when needed of her. Steeling her resolve, she entered the cave, before she smiled upon seeing a group of frightened people staring at her in fear.

"Do not fear, everyone, we're ninjas from Konoha. We're here to free you, let's go"

===With Naruto===

After Naruto appeared at the clearing, the enemies stared at him with concentration, due to his wind attack earlier. The enemies dressed up pretty much the same. Gray flak jackets with black paints and the usual mask every Ame-nin possesses in order to breathe below water. The only difference between each other was the facial features and their hair with some being raven and a few blonds.

Before the Konoha Chuunin could assess their strength, his enemies charged with intent to kill written all over their face. Quietly grabbing the bo-staff, Naruto started spinning it until it formed a circle spin, while at the same time focusing Fuuton type chakra through his weapon's length.

Just as the enemies were about to arrive and kill the blond, his jutsu sprang to action, forming a concentrated gust of wind out of the staff that enveloped everyone.

Fuuton Reppushou no Hageshii (Wind Release: Violent Gale Wind Jutsu)

The jutsu itself didn't possess a offensive purposes, so Naruto's intention was to keep the entire group from attacking him together, allowing him to strike each one with his bo-staff. Taking advantage of the enemy's disorientation, the blond managed to land a powerful strike at one of them on the shoulder, before he heard the sound of bone cracking under pressure, followed by a huge scream of agony.

As the blond went for the second one, a hail of kunais charged at him from the left, forcing him to abandon his charge and fall into defensive position, deflecting the projectiles by effectively positioning his weapon. After the projectile attack, Naruto charged the ones who threw them, while swirling his staff behind his back. The two responsible for the projectiles offensive charged as well, but unlike Naruto, both of them were making hand seals, finishing it with the dragon hand seal, before gathering water chakra inside their bodies.

Suiton Mizutama (Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu)

Out of nowhere, the two enemies shot numerous water bullets towards Naruto, who managed to dodge a few, before jumping in mid-air to avoid the rest. However, as he was about to attack the two with his staff, two came from behind and tried to attack him with spinning kicks aiming for the blond's head. To the Ame-nins surprise, one kick landed, but when they were about to pound Naruto further, before they realized with fear that a log was in his place.

The real Naruto now seeing the four in front of him and another three closing by from his right flank, quickly summoned two Kage Bunshin that managed to stop the ones from behind, before doing a sequence of four quick hand seals. He approached his hand close to his mouth in order to concentrate his next attack.

Fuuton Kaze Dangan (Wind Release: Wind Shot Jutsu)

The numerous wind shots charged the four missing-nins in front of him with speeds unheard of, before hitting the enemies' dead on. And because of wind's abilities, the bullet landed on the enemies' legs, opening a huge hole on it. The four were taken care of, to say the least. Just a little pressure to their leg was enough to pour a large quantity of blood followed by an unbearable pain. This allowed Naruto to charge at them and land powerful strikes on their shoulders, dislocating it and taking them, definitely, out of commission.

The remaining four looked at the blond with fear as he now stood in front of them with a steeling resolve. Their peers were all hit on the shoulder and were on the ground, unconscious. The ninja in front of them was on a whole other level, so they needed to use everything they have in order to beat him. Naruto was about to charge when all four of them started making hand seals, but what alarmed Naruto was the last hand seal used.

Tiger...damn Katon jutsu – Naruto thought as he quickly made a series of hand seals of his own to parry the blow, before he sensed the usage of chakra in front of him.

Katon Kaenhoushaki (Fire Release: Flamethrower Jutsu)

Much to Naruto's surprise, the four techniques managed to merge with one another, doubling the size of the flame beam. The blond managed to finish the dragon hand seal just in time, before he managed to gather as much chakra as he could to strengthen his defense.

Suiton Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Barrier Jutsu)

Just as the fire attack was about to reach Naruto, the water barrier rose in front of him, stopping the fire beam attack from advancing, but because of the joined efforts, Naruto's jutsu proved too weak to parry and his defense wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, forcing Naruto to jump up high and avoid the attack, before watching in morbid fascination as the attack managed to explode a huge rock behind him. The blond was caught by surprise when he felt the temperature rise, before he turned and faced the mighty of a grand fireball technique. Being on the air prevented him from evading, so he was enveloped entirely, much to the enemy's smirk, seeing as the blond did cause a lot of trouble for the group.

However as soon as the group turned to see their master, they were head to head with Naruto crossing his arms in a bored manner. Said attitude was met with question marks followed by shouts from the Ame missing-nins, since they saw the Chuunin being enveloped by the grand fireball technique. Naruto, for his part, smiled at the group's inability to understand what happened up there, so he set himself to explain, seeing as he was about to end this fight anyway.

"That attack actually did take me by surprise; I'd say congratulations are in order. I had very short time to make Kage Bunshin and replace positions with him. Now…" - Naruto said as he started a huge and fast series of hand seals, thus alerting the enemies. One didn't want for Naruto to finish the sequence, so he charged at the blond, quite expecting the Chuunin to stop the hand seal sequence and block any eventual strike that may come after him, but to the man's surprise, Naruto's resolve never faulted as he went through hand seal after hand seal, before he focused on the bird hand sign.

Fuuton Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage Jutsu)

Instantly and with but a surge of both his hands, Naruto exhaled a wide camp of compressed wind towards the enemies, who for their part, couldn't escape. The compressed wind was gaining power from Naruto's chakra as it sliced and shredded everything in its path, leaving nothing standing; trees, flowers, grass, human bodies. Still, the compressed wind field took a while to stop as it leveled the entire clearing in less than a minute. Satisfied with the results of his wind training, Naruto turned to where Kakashi and Aomaru were fighting. Surely, air pressure manipulation was the hardest theory to grasp and surely Soujiro-sensei would be proud to see Naruto's performance.

===With Kakashi===

Back at Kakashi's fight, both he and Aomaru reached a stalemate at the center of the village with Kakashi holding a kunai and Aomaru a broad kodashi. Just after Naruto left, an only ninjutsu fight began; Kakashi with every trick in the book so far acquired by his Sharingan and Aomaru, surprisingly, with only Doton ninjutsu. And while the silver haired Jounin possessed a entire arsenal of Raiton ninjutsu, Aomaru would simply dodge or evade by merging within the ground.

When it was clear that they would reach a stalemate in the ninjutsu department, Aomaru attacked Kakashi with straight out Taijutsu with his kodashi for a supporting edge. Kakashi was faster with the Sharingan, but every blow he managed to land on Aomaru was like he was kicking and punching a damn rock. The Sharingan user couldn't for his life figure out what was happening, but he couldn't let himself give up. Like him, Aomaru wasn't having much luck. The Konoha Jounin was ten times faster than he would ever be, so every blow he prepared for, Kakashi would be two steps ahead of it, thus dodging effortlessly.

Getting frustrated with the useless assault, Aomaru used brute strength and managed to throw Kakashi out of balance long enough for him to use one last jutsu that will assure his victory. Doing a four sequence hand seal, he, then, slammed his hands on the ground with enough force that managed to create a small hole.

Doton Jishin no Jutsu (Earth Release: Earthquake Jutsu

The results were much appreciated as the ground started shaking with utmost intensity, making Kakashi lose even more balance, almost on the verge of falling on the ground. Aomaru wasn't stupid enough to waist this gold opportunity as he charged with his kodashi with the intent of slicing the famous Sharingan no Kakashi's head off. The man knew his opponent was dry of resources of defending himself, if his wide eyes were any indication. However, just before Aomaru's kodashi landed inches away from Kakashi's jugular, he heard something that made his skin crawl. Seconds later, he looked to his right to see a water dragon coming from his left side, before hitting him full force, sending the missing-nin flying towards the nearest tree forest, where he ended up hitting his head, before reaching unconsciousness.

Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu)

Kakashi was surprised at what happened, before he turned to see his blond student landing next to him so as to check on his sensei.

"Are you okay, sensei?" – Naruto asked as he extended his hand to help Kakashi get up.

The silver haired jounin took a first look at his student and saw the battle marks on his clothes and even on his skin, which meant he also had a fierce battle of his own. Smiling at his student for actually saving his life, Kakashi rushed to Aomaru's position and started focusing lightening chakra on his right hand for the killing move. By this time, Sakura and the villagers arrived, before she greeted her teammate and sensei to report the mission well-done. By this time, though, Kakashi already delivered his Raikiri blow to Aomaru's heart, before sealing him to be taken into Konoha's custody.

The mayor, at the end, appreciated the Konoha team for saving their village to which Kakashi replied by saying that they were happy to be of help.

Afterwards, Kakashi Sakura and Naruto returned at a normal pace towards their home village. The mission started as B-ranked, but with Aomaru's presence, it turned to an A-ranked mission. Sakura pouted because her job didn't require much action other than swiftly killing the guard covering the cave entrance, so she ended up asking questions about her teammate and sensei's piece of the action. Unfortunately, both weren't very attentive to details, which actually infuriated her to no end. Naruto just faced nine enemies on his own and the only thing he told her was that he used a couple of Fuuton jutsus, managing to overcome the enemies, but Kakashi knew better. He was the one who saw the bo-staff on Naruto's hand and the fact that the blond's stance was nothing less than jounin skills.

Nevertheless, he chose to stay silent in this whole manner, seeing that he would have other opportunities to question Naruto about it in the future. After a few more hours, Konoha's impossibly penetrating walls surrounded by dense foliage. Upon arriving, they were few things Team Kakashi wanted to do, seeing as this wasn't a long-term mission or anything. They left in the morning and returned a few minutes to sundown, so besides reporting to the Hokage about the mission, there wasn't much to do. Sakura would do her hospital shift later at night and Kakashi was about to finish the last issue of Icha Icha Tactics. Speaking of the book, Kakashi thought that this one was the best one yet. The characters Nagashi and Yugito were a part of a special organization that was responsible for maintaining the security in Fire Country's capital. One time, they went in a mission together and immediately bonded to sexual levels that, according to Kakashi, contained the best sexual scene ever.

Little did he know, though, that the characters Jiraiya based off were real and he happened to meet both of them.

Naruto, actually was the only one of the three that happened to have plans for tonight which didn't include either reading his novel alone at home or spend the night inside some hospital. Yesterday, he didn't have time to accompany Yuugao to that sushi place she was telling so much about and tonight happens to be the time when her team gets the night off to enjoy themselves. So, Naruto only had to report to the Hokage and he was ready to go home and change his clothes to, later, meet with his girlfriend. Probably, that's why he was smiling from ear to ear as the group crossed the gate, before presenting the necessary documentation to the Chuunin responsible for gate keeping.

===At Konoha===

After presenting the documents at the gate, Team Kakashi went straight to the Hokage's office where the report was handled, directly to Tsunade's ears. Normally, the Hokage didn't need an oral report presentation from its shinobis, but when missions regarding other villages security within Fire Country's territory, it's the Hokage's responsibility to conjure a summary report and send it straight to the Fire Daimyou

The report indicated that neither of the three ninjas had any trouble dealing with the enemies, except from Kakashi's momentary lack of concentration which lead to Aomaru almost killing the silver haired Jounin if it weren't for Naruto's prompt response with a high level Suiton jutsu. Tsunade was skeptical about Naruto's part of the mission, seeing as he just faced nine missing-nins without breaking a sweat.

She was more than curious with the blond's real capabilities and she hoped that this mission would force him to show said skills to the public. But, since no one, from the team, was present to witness his fight, she was forced to take his word for it, much to her frustration. She knew something was wrong and both he and Jiraiya were hiding something, but the question was why?

Sure, a ninja's profession is deception and hiding their skills is the difference between killing and be killed. Nevertheless, as Hokage, she should be aware of her ninjas' abilities, for assignment issues. Tsunade sighed in resignation as she couldn't do anything right now, so she dismissed the team with the order of presenting tomorrow for another mission, before everyone, but Sakura, vanished from the office. The girl was to head towards the Hospital and Shizune would accompany her there.

===With Naruto===

With hands on pocket, Naruto was walking aimlessly throughout the streets of Konoha. Looking at the time, he supposed he had a few more hours before he had to leave home to meet with Yuugao at the sushi place. Suddenly, he spotted two familiar faces coming his direction, so he decided a greeting was in order.

However, both friendly faces took a while to recognize the blond, much to his snort, seeing as he didn't change much...or did he?

"Dammit Shikamaru, it's me Naruto" - Naruto shouted at both Shikamaru and Temari, while the former kept looking at the blond with a questioned gaze.

"Ohh Naruto, I didn't recognize you there. When did you return from your trip?"

Temari, for her part, looked at the blond in front of them and wondering if this was the same blond shrimp that wanted to take on everybody and the same one who managed to save her brother from himself.

"Just yesterday...my team and I already had a mission today, A-ranked. Huh, not that is any of my business and all, but why are you together? This isn't a date, right? Shikamaru is too lazy for that"

The pineapple headed Chuunin snorted at the commentary, but Temari bit him too it with the explanation.

"A date? No, hell no!" - Once again, Shikamaru snorted at how much troublesome blonds he knows, before she continued. "...Since the agreement with Suna and Konoha was signed, I was nominated ambassador from my village. Also, both villages assigned me and this lazy ass over here to organize the Chuunin Exams"

"What reminds me, Naruto..." - Said Shikamaru, calling the blond's attention. "Aren't you going to compete this time, if i remember correctly, you're the only one from our age that is still a genin. Even Neji is now a Jounin"

"I was...but the Hokage decided to test my skills against Kakashi-sensei and if I passed, then she would promote me. Me and Sakura managed to defeat him, so Hokage-sama promoted me last night" – Naruto said, earning a nod from Shikamaru, before the blond turned to Temari. "Say Temari, how is Gaara? I imagine him to be at least a jounin as well if his skills, three years ago, was any indication"

"Actually, Naruto...Gaara was promoted to Chuunin on that exam three years ago and just last year, he was nominated the Godaime Kazekage. He and Tsunade-sama has been making plans for a while and the village relations improved tenfold.

That information shocked Naruto, but in a positive sense. He confessed that he wasn't exactly friends with Gaara, but seeing as they share a common feat, Naruto considered him close to family. Shikamaru and Temari considered how Naruto always wanted to become Hokage and, maybe, he was taking this information badly, but it all faded when the blond smiled.

"Well, good for him. It's good to see one of us getting the recognition he deserves. Now, guys, I have to go home, so I'll see you later, see ya"

The blond didn't want for a reply as he continued on his path towards his house, while thinking about how Gaara was now the Godaime Kazekage and how much stronger he must have gotten now. Shikamaru and Temari, though, kept looking at his back with a frown, because both spotted several differences between the old and the new Naruto.

The lazy, though, shrugged his shoulders and began walking towards wherever he was going, before Temari followed him as well, muttering about lazy ass shinobi and the lack of motivation.

===At Naruto's house===

Once arriving at his building, the blond proceeded to climb the stairs towards his apartment for some relaxing, before he had to take a shower. The thoughts on the next Kazekage now vanished from his mind and he was just wondering what he would do for relaxing. Throughout his training trip, he enjoyed reading ninjutsu material. It calmed him down, somewhat, even if he was indirectly training.

Upon arriving on his floor, he looked up to see his sensei seating close to ledge while reading the book Ero-sensei wrote. Naruto somehow knew what Kakashi wanted with him, although he actually preferred that his sensei would focus on reading that book of his and leave him alone tonight.

The sun was almost vanishing by now and the moonlight was already illuminating the village with all its majesty. Nevertheless, instead of enjoying the sight, Naruto was soon to be trapped in an interrogation about his skills with bojutsu.

"I suppose you want answers, Kakashi-sensei"

The sensei managed to show a smile despite his blue mask, before returning to his stoic demeanor as he closed his book and got off from the ledge. Staring in front of Naruto, he placed his hands inside his pockets and gazed the blond's demeanor. He was slightly surprised to see boredom written on his face, but he pressed the subject.

"As your sensei, Naruto, it's my obligation to know about my students' abilities. Normally, I would take you for a beginner at the art of bojutsu, since clearly you never touched the weapon until you left with Jiraiya-sama. However, that stance alone showed Jounin level skills. The only question that I'll ask is why? Why hide it from us, your peers"

Naruto only smiled, though, as he explained to his sensei. He was already thinking of something he could use to turn the table around, but he will only use it in the end.

"We shinobi take pride from deception, Kakashi-sensei. By showing everything I can do in one fight, the enemy will use the information against me and act accordingly. Plus, I already showed enough skills for you to work on, sensei; Taijutsu, wind and water ninjutsu, weapon accuracy. The rest is for me to depend on, in case the enemy knows about it"

"I understand your reasons regarding your enemies, Naruto, but I have yet to hear about why you felt it was better hiding it from both me and Sakura. I know you changed a lot during your training and yes, you have good teamwork skills; but learn how to trust others, it's a vital skill to possess"

Kakashi felt like he was lecturing the blond, but little did he know that Naruto actually wanted him to go down that road for him to explore what Kakashi said and turn it against him.

"What about you Kakashi-sensei?" - Naruto asked, surprising the sensei, at the level of defiance never seen before. "You have the World's most powerful doujutsu, the Sharingan, you are known throughout the Elemental Nations as the man who managed to copy more than a thousand techniques and yet, you use no more than five or ten jutsus with us around; you manage to parry zanbatou with nothing but a kunai. Nobody I know keeps as much secrets as you do and yet here you are lecturing me about trusting my teammates? You have to agree with me about the oddity behind this situation"

Kakashi's single eye widening in surprise was enough proof to the blond that his sensei didn't expect any sort of such retaliation coming from Naruto. Nevertheless, the slap was delivered and Kakashi suddenly didn't feel so good. Naruto's tone remained neutral, though his words echoed inside his brain. The blond for his part, saw the sudden change in behavior and questioned whether or not he hit a tight spot and ended up meddling in his sensei's personal life. However, why Kakashi wants the blond to trust others, if he does the same thing?

"Sensei..." - Naruto said, calling the man's attention."You don't have to worry about me hiding my skills from my friends. Like yours, my hidden skills may allows me to save them and that's what I aim most of all. If I said anything that hurt you I'm sorry; it was never my intention. Everyone has secrets and it's up for each one to trust someone into sharing, you can't just force that trust. Now, I'm sorry sensei, but I'm late...I have to meet someone in an hour, so I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah Naruto, see you tomorrow"

Kakashi didn't wait for Naruto to reply, before he vanished within a swirl of leaves, in order to pay a visit to his fallen comrades. The blond's words hurt deeply. But the problem was that everything Naruto was said was nothing further from the truth. How could he expect his students to trust him if he didn't trust them with his life and skills?

Kakashi knew about their student's lives, but his students didn't know a thing about how it was for Hatake Kakashi to grow up during war time under the reign of the Yondaime Hokage.

Without anything left to do for the day, Kakashi just stared at the stone that contained the name of those that he considered family throughout his life.

Rin

Uchiha Obito

Namikaze Minato

With Kakashi, these three were a part of the same team and, together they were...a wreck. Just like Team Seven, he was like Sasuke, a stuck-up genius who considered the Shinobi's Rules of Conduct the manual of his life; next Uchiha Obito, the clown of the team, like Naruto - well like Naruto was three years ago – a proud knucklehead with a heart of gold and last but not least, Rin who, like Sakura, did nothing but fawn for Kakashi like Sakura did for Sasuke three years ago.

While back then, his team lacked teamwork, his sensei Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, managed to correct their flaws. When the silver haired Jounin picked up a team, he considered that teamwork would be the answer to everything.

But today only served to prove that he actually didn't believe in said word.

Smiling in realization, Kakashi found that he was looking directly at his sensei's name, as if he was staring face to face with the Yondaime Hokage, crossing his arms and showing that warm smile on his face. Kakashi offered silent words in approval of Minato's son and how much alike Naruto was from the Yondaime.

I wonder if he will surpass the Yondaime – Thought Kakashi as he gave his back to the memorial stone, before going home to rest.

===next day===

The next day, Naruto rubbed his eyes in order to cover the first rays of sunlight that managed to invade his room. Throughout his trip, the blond got used to waking up with the sunlight, so he never bothered closing the drapes of his window. Looking to his right, Naruto smiled as Yuugao's prone figure slept peacefully with a smile on her face. Instantly, memories flooded his brain as he remembered what happened yesterday on their date.

They went to the sushi restaurant, Yuugao's favorite, where they enjoyed themselves as a couple while eating some sushi and drinking some sake. Even though both chose to remain their relationship a secret, the restaurant was far away from the village's commercial district, so hardly anyone would eat there, save for Yuugao and a few civilians.

Naruto explained about his team's mission as well as Kakashi's curiosity of his skills with the bo-staff, even up to the point of saying that Naruto should trust his peers with this information. He remembered Yuugao snorting at her Sempai for doing something like this, before she grinned when Naruto explained how he turned the tables on Kakashi.

The night was a blast so far and it was even better when Naruto took Yuugao for a walk throughout the village's outskirts, before the couple went to Naruto's apartment to end the night with style. Said style was the reason why Naruto's face was red like a tomato after what he and Yuugao did yesterday.

Looking at the clock, he saw that he had one hour and a half to present at the Hokage for another mission with his team. Not wanting to wake Yuugao up, he stripped his boxers and took a quick shower. By the time he walked out of the bathroom, he saw that Yuugao was already up and in the kitchen, fixing some breakfast for them.

"Morning Yuugao-chan. Had a nice sleep?"

The woman smiled at Naruto's presence, before nodding at his question, even though she heard Naruto's neighbor shouting to the heavens that he was the epitome of youthfulness and silently wondered how Naruto could stand it.

"Yeah, although that Gai woke me up an hour ago with that blatant scream of his. How can you stand it every day is beyond me? - Yuugao said, before the blond smirked.

"That's nothing, you should hear when Lee shows up as well. Imagine a duet of the epitome of youthfulness reverberating on your walls at five in the morning"

Yuugao flinched, before serving breakfast at the table. Surely, one was loud enough and she didn't want to hear two of them screaming at such an early hour. Breakfast was eaten quietly as they simply enjoyed each other company. Half an hour later, the couple was now fully dressed for battle; Yuugao with her Anbu attire and Naruto with his.

Once leaving the apartment, each went to different directions as Naruto headed for the Hokage's office and Yuugao for the Anbu HQ.

===At the Hokage's Tower===

On top of the Hokage's tower, was located the many hawks that were responsible for the communication between villages. Inside the room, were two Chuunin seated near a table with cards on their hands as this happens to be quite a tedious job to have.

Suddenly, though, a special hawk from Suna landed and that meant something important to the Chuunin, since one of them lifted from the chair out of a sudden, dropping it on the ground as he saw the message. The special breed of hawk, they knew, were chosen for urgent message, so when one of them appeared, Konoha needed to know right away.

Reading the message, the man gasped at the importance before he ran towards the Hokage's office, before barging in as expected when carrying important information. Inside he saw a team of shinobi and the famous Hatake Kakashi listening to a mission debriefing by the Hokage. However, seeing the necessity to interrupt, the Chuunin did so without fear of repercussions.

"Hokage-sama, an important message from Suna arrived. The Kazekage was kidnapped by the Akatsuki and they request immediate assistance"

The news shocked everyone including Tsunade for a while, before Hokage mode entered once more.

"Tatsuki, search for Sabaku no Temari in the village and call for her right now, she's probably with Nara Shikamaru right now. Team Seven will be given a new mission, S-ranked. You are to go to Sunagakure immediately and assist them in Gaara's retrieval"

The order was complied right away by the team as the Chuunin left in order to alert Temari. Meanwhile, Naruto was shocked. Gaara being captured, but how? How strong can the Akatsuki be?

Author Note: I decided to create a mission prior to the first Shippuden mission, in order to better show Naruto's new skills both in ninjutsu and his bo-staff.

Now, the Gaara retrieval mission will commence, but with a different twist...I'll let my reader's vivid imagination to guess what changes will occur.

A final piece of information. The company I work for decided to be lenient with little old me, granting me a two-week vacation, since I was the only one in the whole damn building working during Christmas and new year's weeks. So, next story "Tired" will only be updated after I return in February.

See ya then.