Chapter 10

Leaving the Sand

***The Next Morning, the Kazekage's office***

"I take it that your mission was unsuccessful then…"

Jiraiya nodded. "Tsunade left the day we made contact, and we don't have time to pursue. Either way, she made her intentions quite clear."

The Kazekage nodded. "Well, I must thank you both for your gift," The Kazekage tapped the advance signed copy of Icha Icha Violence, due to hit the shelves in a few weeks, "And also for what you have done for my son"

Jiraiya put his hand behind his head "Oh, it was nothing really, I just-"

"Thank you, Naruto."

Jiraiya stopped dead. "Eh?"

"Thanks to you, my son is well on his way to becoming a fine ninja. Not only did you notice that the source of his madness was a defective seal, but you befriended him, brought him closer to his brother, and you made him strong in a whole new way he never knew, emotionally and physically. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. "

Jiraiya turned to face Naruto, slack jawed. Since his normal clothes were being washed, Naruto was temporarily wearing his old orange jumpsuit, with the jacket tied around his waist in the heat. Despair was in his bag, by the door, and he was carrying Kitsune in his hand. "Erm… Thanks?"

Jiraiya was clearly annoyed at this, "Well, we really need to report back to the Hokage, so, we should be on our way…"

Kazekage stood up "Please, at least join us for dinner tonight before you leave! It's the least I can offer you!"

"Well…"

Enticed by the offer of free food, Naruto eagerly announced that they'd love to.

As the two made their way back to the hotel, Jiraiya stopped Naruto, disappointment showing on his face.

"Something wrong?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Naruto, how long ago did we leave the village?"

"About four weeks ago, why?" 'He called me Naruto, not good.'

"And how long have we been in the Suna?"

"Three, Why?"

Jiraiya sighed again. "So when were you planning on doing this Elemental Training THEN!?"

Naruto flinched at the sage's anger, while the Kyuubi laughed. 'Busted!'

"I finished it!"

"AND WHEN DID YOU HAVE TIME TO TRAIN OTHERS!?"

"I finished it just before I met Gaara"

"Bull! No-one can do it that fast!"

Naruto sighed and drew Kitsune. Holding it in both hands, it began to glow white. He raised it above his head, and began to say the words "Cutting Whirlwind", when Jiraiya put his hand on the blade, neutralising the chakra.

"I'll take your word for it for now, you've clearly made progress. I won't even ask about the Rasengan, that Oni Rasengan was top notch."

Naruto smiled at this praise.

"Come on Gaki; let's get some training done before nightfall."

That night, Naruto, Jiraiya, Gaara, Kankuro, the Kazekage and Temari all had dinner together. Fairly soon the sake was flowing, and it wasn't long before Gaara was leading the others in a clumsy rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. Temari wasn't quite drunk enough for Gaara Mercury, so she walked outside, to find Naruto was already outside.

"CAUGHT IN A LANDSLIDE!" Came Naruto's voice from inside.

"Noo escAPE FROM REALITY!" came the others.

"Hey." Temari said, sitting beside Naruto. "I haven't seen a clone that can eat before."

Naruto turned to her and smiled. "Shadow Clone, first technique I ever perfected."

Temari was surprised at this revelation, "But, doesn't that require a huge amount of skill and chakra? It should be impossible for a Chunin, let alone a cadet."

Naruto sighed. "I'm like Gaara, remember? Only my dad died, so no-one bothered to teach me anything but the bare minimum. I failed the Genin exam three times you know." Temari seemed really shocked at this. Naruto continued, "Second and third time was my worst technique, the clone." Naruto laughed "I could barely create a single clone that could stand, let alone two that could interact, like everyone else. Eventually, one of the examiners told me about the villages Kage scroll, and I stole it. I only got the first technique down before the same guy tried to kill me a couple of hours after I stole it, Guess what it was?"

Temari stared at Naruto. "Kage Bunshin, obviously."

Naruto shook his head. "Taji Kage Bunshin"

Temari's jaw dropped, "Tha-that's impossible! It'd take a Kage a month to master it to a level to create a hundred clones at once!"

Naruto smirked. "I can do a thousand. Thanks to the fox's chakra, I can keep it up for hours."

Temari couldn't believe it 'No wonder he got wind chakra down so fast- he was probably slowing himself' Temari wondered why she didn't just ask him? "Hey, Naruto? Were you deliberately holding yourself back? During our wind chakra training?"

Naruto shook his head "Actually, it was pretty hard, but for once it was something I was doing. Demon Fox has no wind chakra, so I was relying on myself," Naruto smiled as he looked down through his knees "It was a good feeling..."

It was then Temari saw Naruto for who he was: Not dark mysterious ninja, nor as a demon fox, or even as someone who grew up in the same hell as her brother but made something positive from it, but just as… Naruto. She slid her arm round his shoulders, moving closer to him.

"Huh?" Naruto turned to face her, and his blue eye widened in shock as she found pressure around his neck and pushed his back against the wall. Temari's face was close to his. Very close, so close he could smell her clearer then he could smell himself. He quite liked it, her blush was near crimson, her arms around his neck, and she was pressing him against the wall. Her whisper was so quiet he only just heard it, "I wanted to do this since I first met you." She closed the distance

Naruto didn't know how long they kissed for, but he did know it stopped when Kazekage bellowed "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN STONE ME AND SPIT IN MY EYE-YI!" The two broke off quickly, both equally surprised.

The mood was killed and buried when Jiraiya cried out "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN LOVE ME AND LEAVE ME TO DIE-YAAAIII!!!"

Temari and Naruto looked at each other, blushed, then laughed. The whole thing was just ridiculous. After the laughter stopped, Temari stood up, and Naruto grabbed her hand and stood up to kiss her. While Temari was surprised that he took such initiative, it was the pleasant kind. It was Temari who broke of this time, whispering "Fox is there isn't he?"

Naruto smiled, replying "Not when sake's involved…" as he moved in for Temari again "Take it you forgive me?" he said, kissing her.

Temari surfaced again, "You, but I'm gonna kick that fox's ass" she moved back into Naruto.

"An-ny way the wind, Bloows…" Sang Naruto's clone, completely oblivious to what was going on.

Naruto and Jiraiya both ended up staying the night. Jiraiya passed out drunk at the table with the others, while Temari fell asleep in Naruto's arms. Seeing that his clone was wasted out of his skull, he chose not to release the jutsu, summoning twelve more clones instead. They got to work rolling the drunken men onto their sides, to stop them from choking in the night, and got to work cleaning the mess.

'As figured, for every party, there's one loser stuck in the kitchen.'

Naruto started to dispel the sober shadow clones, and started putting blankets over everyone. 'You're back early.'

Kyuubi smirked 'You didn't drink enough kit. Not like you to leave the clone to do the partying while you clean up its mess.'

'I was busy'

'Really. What could be more important than alcohol?' Kyube noticed Naruto's expression as he draped a blanket over Temari's sleeping body. 'Oh, no freakin' way!'

'Yeah? So what?'

Naruto felt an invisible hand -or paw- smack into his shoulder 'Nicely done Kit! You actually got a girl drunk!'

'She was sober.'

'And I thought you didn't stand a chance since- wait, what?'

'I kissed her because I wanted to; I know I wanted to do it because I only drank enough booze to shut you up!'

Naruto then released the Kage Bunshin and felt the Kyuubi fade as the alcohol and memories from his clone rushed in. 'Yep… I had the better night…' and with those thoughts, he passed out on the ground. Twenty pints of sake would do that to a twelve year old boy, demonic host or not.

***That Morning, the gates of Suna***

"Thanks again Jiraiya."

"Oh, it's nothing, nobody likes a hangover!"

Naruto and Jiraiya were at the gates of the city with Temari and Gaara. Kankuro still had a bit of a hangover, even after Jiraiya's healing, and the Kazekage had to get back to work.

Gaara extended his hand for Naruto's. Naruto, who's wearing the dark trench coat once again, shook his hand. He was carrying a rucksack with his belongings and Despair inside, Kitsune hung low across his back. The handshake continued for a few moments, and then Gaara pulled at Naruto and clapped his back.

"See you in a couple of week's man…"

Naruto smiled "I'll kick your ass again at the exams."

The both laughed and pulled out of their hug. Naruto then turn to Temari, opening his arms for a hug, and was fairly surprised when she kissed him. Although not nearly as surprised as Jiraiya or Gaara.

"See you at the exams, right?" Naruto asked her.

Temari smiled. "Don't you dare take it easy until afterwards."

After Naruto and Jiraiya walked into the distance, Temari and Gaara turned back home. Gaara was the first to strike up a conversation

"So, you two going out now?"

Temari was surprised at Gaara's question, but then smiled. "No way, not yet. First we have the Chunin exams to deal with."

Gaara laughed "Come on, you really think that you and Kankuro are going to have it hard? I'm the one who needs to train, you two'll be fine!"

Temari looked serious. "I thought as much, except Naruto's grades were the lowest in the academy."

Gaara stopped dead in his tracks. "You're joking..."

Temari turned around and shook her head. "He even failed the Genin exam three times, and they only let him pass after he stole a kinjutsu scroll from the Hokage and learnt the Taji Kage Bunshin."

Gaara paled, then spoke. "We need to get Kankuro.

After a mile, Jiraiya stopped Naruto. "Naruto, IN between getting friends and girlfriends, did you actually manage to squeeze some actual training you're your schedule while we were here?"

Naruto sighed, "This again? I told you before, I got it down!"

Jiraiya didn't look happy. "Really? Then show me a Rasengan."

Naruto rolled his eyes and lifted his right palm upwards. As chakra began to collect, Jiraiya poked him in the stomach, and Naruto flinched as a shock went up his spine and into his skull. When he fell down to his knees, Jiraiya looked down at Naruto and said "Without the Fox."

Naruto got up, and tried collecting the chakra again. He then tried doing it two handed, like Jiraiya had taught him, but he couldn't get the right motion for it, and Jiraiya shook his head, disappointed. "I thought so… you've become too reliant on the fox. One day the fox will betray you, and then you'll-"

"KAGE BUNSHIN!"

Jiraiya looked back up as he saw Naruto holding his hand behind him, and a Shadow Clone was waving his hands over a perfectly formed Rasengan in the originals palm. Jiraiya was speechless.

The shadow clone disappeared, and Naruto brought the Rasengan in front of him, saying "I know I tend to use Kyube's chakra and abilities. I know I could do more by myself." Naruto looked up "But I've tried that, and it doesn't work. You can do things alone, but it works better if you do it together. Whether I use the damned Fox or a shadow clone to help me form a Rasengan, is there any difference? It gets formed quicker and stronger with the Kyuubi."

Jiraiya was surprised at Naruto's outburst as he continued; 'Kakashi-sensei has a Sharingan that was put into his body, but he can't control it, that's why he covers it up all the time. Because of that Sharingan, he's now the legendary copy ninja! If you have something, why shouldn't you use it? I have the Kyuubi sealed inside my body, so why shouldn't I use its power?" Naruto then rammed the Rasengan into a tree, obliterating the trunk with ease. "The Forth Hokage died sealing this monster inside of me, it would be an insult to not make the best use of his sacrifice. So what if everyone hates me because of Kyube? We're friends, and we rely on each other. That's why I don't want to fight alone, because it hurts, so please, undo what you just did Sensei."

Jiraiya was stunned at Naruto's words, then smiled, and placed his hand on Naruto's stomach again.

"Also, if you ever mention this again, I will kill you."

Jiraiya removed the seal he had just placed on Naruto with a smile, "Alright."

'Aww, Kit, I'm touched.'

Naruto's blood froze. "You heard that?"

'The whole thing, Friend.' The Kyuubi began laughing his head off 'Ah, that was hilarious Kit,'

Jiraiya stood up, "The Kyuubi's probably laughing at you right now, but here's something that ought to make up for it." He removed a scroll from his back and spread it out.

Suddenly, the Kyuubi was all business 'That's not our scroll, it's a summoning seal'

Jiraiya explained "This summoning seal is a blood contract with the sage frogs. Trust me, they'll be of a great help in the-"

"Can you hear the Kyuubi?"

Jiraiya sighed. "No, but I can guess what it's saying from your face. As I was saying, this summoning contract-"

"Yeah, got that, where do I sign?"

Jiraiya groaned "You're really rushing into this you know-"

But Naruto had already bitten his thumb and stuck it to the correct point, letting the blood flow. "WOAH, Easy there Gaki!"

Naruto stood up. "That's it right?"

Jiraiya just clutched at his head as Naruto walked away. "Where you going?"

Naruto turned back at him, "Need a crap!"

Naruto checked that the Sage hadn't followed him, and he took his shirt off, and pulled his orange jacket out of his bag with a pen.

'What exactly are you planning on doing kit?'

'Looking at that summoning seal gave me an idea' Naruto began copying the markings on his stomach inside the jacket.

'What is that exactly?'

'You'll see.'

Naruto then began to recreate the frog summoning seal around the copy of his own seal, but with a few changes. For one thing, wherever it should have said 'Sage Frog', Naruto instead wrote 'Nine-Tailed Demon'. Kyuubi figured out what Naruto was planning. 'It's not going to work Kit.'

'How do you know? You've never tried anything like this.'

'But the fourth would have thought about this. If I could be summoned that easily, I would have made you do so ages ago.'

Naruto shook his head. 'Jiraiya has a scroll intended to edit our seal, so that must mean that our seal must have been built to be adapted.' Naruto began to look over his handiwork, and burnt it into the lining of the spare jacket with chakra.

"HEY! GAKI!! You crapping your liver out or something?"

"Coming!" Naruto rolled up the jacket and shoved it into his bag. 'We'll finish this later.'

That night, as Jiraiya slept, Naruto was sitting by the fire, scribbling into a notepad.

'Your obsessed with this idea Kit, you know that right?'

Naruto paused for a moment. "That's because if it works, we'll be unstoppable."

'But it won't. That's my point.'

'I'll make it work'

Kyube sighed at Naruto's thick-headedness. 'It won't work kit, that's my point. It can't work because there is a seal, made by a ninja much stronger than you, used a much stronger jutsu than you, and offered a much higher price than you, to keep me IN!'

Naruto fixed his gaze. 'Then I'll get started on it now, so it'll work when I'm a Kage.'

'It's not about power. It's the higher law.'

Naruto blinked. Was the Kyuubi actually about to reveal something?

'Mankind cannot gain anything without first offering something of similar value Kit. You cannot perform Ninjutsu without Chakra, you cannot run if you don't rest, you cannot move if you don't sleep, you cannot eat without paying for the food'

Naruto interrupted 'Actually, I've done that lots of times.'

The Kyuubi shook his head 'Another lesson Kit, Money is worthless. To eat, you pay with work to grow and prepare the food, but it goes deeper than that.'

Naruto was really interested now 'How deep?'

'Very, but I'm not telling you. It's meaningless if you don't figure it out yourself Kit.' Naruto wasn't disappointed, in fact he was impressed that the Kyuubi was actually leaving him room do to things on his own. 'The point you need to get now is that everything has a price. Everything. The more you pay, the more you get. However, you can't outbid Yondaime, Kit. He paid the ultimate price.'

'I know that he died sealing you into me.'

'Death? Death is nothing! Even if there is no afterlife, merely Ending is nothing compared to what that idiot did to himself. You Cannot Undo What He Did Kit. The idiot deserves better than that.'

Naruto shrugged 'You almost sound serious'

'I a m s e r i o u s'

Naruto stopped dead. For the first time since they met, The Nine Tailed Demon Fox actually was serious. This was a line in the sand, and the message was clear. Naruto understood his position. 'Alright then.'

'Good.'

'I'm still going to try and complete this summoning seal'

Kyube froze. 'Was this child really so idiotic?'

'Don't get me wrong, I know I was out of line taking the seal so lightly.' Naruto breathed. 'However, I still think that the seal was meant to be used.'

The Kyuubi was shocked at this, then smiled. 'Heh, don't say I didn't warn you Kit.'

The next few days travelling had a new kind of training. Back in the Ninja academy, Iruka-sensei was the only one who had ever bothered trying to teach Naruto, and even that was rarely above the bare minimum. Before he met the Kyuubi, Naruto mostly copied the other students, tried to figure out what the teachers meant, did research in the archives before a librarian took the books from him, constantly telling him that those books were 'not for kids', even the academy books. Because of this, Naruto's actual knowledge of the ninja arts were limited, and even after the Kyuubi started teaching him, that was limited to what the Kyuubi knew, so Naruto knew nothing beyond Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu.

Jiraiya was taking care of this problem though, and Naruto was learning all about herbs, which ones were medicines, which ones were poisons, and which made food taste good.

This was another skill Naruto had to learn. Jiraiya wanted to teach Naruto about using herbs in cooking, but was shocked to learn that Naruto couldn't cook. Naruto spent a whole day with his hands in bear meat, as Jiraiya taught him how to cook.

"Cooking is one of the greatest Ninja Arts Gaki. Right up there with Needlework, Bartering, Listening and Breathing!"

'He's talking crap, no self respecting ninja would do that Kit.'

But Naruto started to see what Jiraiya was trying to get at. As the head of the spy network, Jiraiya taught that ninjas should see and hear without being seen or heard. At first Naruto thought that all spies became invisible and hid behind walls, but Naruto understood that with these basic skills, not only can a ninja take care for themselves, but they could get a job almost anywhere, and gain information easily without having to use a single jutsu. Naruto asked about this, and if combat based ninjas used these.

"Are you kidding Gaki? One of the strongest sword ninjas of all time made a living from selling his paintings and carvings alone, let alone the money he gained from missions, duels, and his books!"

Naruto was very surprised at this: He always thought that if you were strong enough to beat your enemy, then that would be enough. Naruto pulled out his notepad and started to jot down what he had learned that day while they ate supper.

'Writing a textbook Kit?'

"Starting a notebook Gaki?"

The synchronism of the two teachers still scared Naruto slightly. "Kind of, it's just that this stuff is good, I don't want to forget it."

Jiraiya smiled. "In that case, don't forget to write down what the Kyuubi teaches you."

'Huh?'

Seeing Naruto's puzzlement, Jiraiya smiled again. "In fact, why not write down everything you learn? You can be just like Gai's pupil!"

Naruto thought for a moment, "You mean that bushy eye-brows kid? What's-is-name, err…."

Jiraiya laughed. "Rock Lee, and he does have bushy eyebrows, doesn't he?"

'Fairly accurate description if you ask me.'

"That guy's crazy! I'm not pulling out a notebook every time someone says something!"

***Meanwhile, Back in Konaha***

"ACHOO!!"

Rock Lee sniffed and rubbed his nose. "Must be someone talking about me… hope it's Sakura!"

Neji scoffed at his teammate "Why would a girl be talking about you?"

Ignoring him, Rock Lee jumped to his hands and toes. "YOSH! If I can do 1,000 press ups in the next ten minutes, then Sakura is talking about me!"

Tenten looked confused "That makes no sense…"

Rock Lee, however, was in his own world "Ten! Eleven! Twelve! Thirteen!"

Neji turned to leave. "Leave him alone Tenten, you know there's no getting to him when he's like this."

"Hold On" Tenten ran over to Rock Lee and placed a rock on his back, "Just to make sure she's talking about you!"

"Thirty Four! Thanks Tenten! Thirty Five! Thirty Six!"

***Several miles from Konoha***

"What I meant was that you keep track what you learn, it's to help future generations really."

"eh?"

"One day, Gaki, You'll be training ninja, and they could benefit from knowledge that you've acquired, but it's so far in the back of your mind that you forget about it until you need it, or after one of your students could have used it, and they suffered because of something you didn't teach. Battle strategies, even random thoughts are good to log down. Ask Kakashi tomorrow, I reckon he does it."

Naruto was surprised "Really? We'll be back home that soon?"

Jiraiya smiled and shook his head. "Sand to Leaf only takes a couple of days walking, a few hours if you're in a rush. You however, limped there."

"And Who's fault is that?"

'Yours. I told you to dodge.'

"Yours, I to-"

"Don't say it." Naruto climbed into his sleeping bag. "Night."

And The tsunade/suna segement finishes, and to avoind questions, no tsunade doesnt return to Konoha, review please, i want to know if people think this story is good.