The day after the preliminaries, Naruto, Kurama, Shino, and Ino were all waiting for Asuma to show. The man had talked about figuring out what they would do as far as training went, but Naruto also wanted to talk to him about what Gaara had said in regards to an invasion.

The blond knew that doing so would mean that he had to talk to the Hokage as well, he wasn't looking forward to that. It wasn't that he hated the old man, he didn't really have it in him to hate anyone. It was part of the reason why he would only kill as a last resort. He would much rather spare someone and see them redeemed then to kill them. He just wasn't as comfortable around the old man anymore. Not after his eyes had been opened to the Hokage's real motivations and character.

How could he trust the man that had lied to him his entire life while expecting him to bear the scorn of the village with a smile on his face? It wasn't fair of the old man to expect him to just smile through it all, even if that is exactly what Naruto did. It wasn't fair of him to expect that Naruto would just be alright with everyone hating him.

Still, talking to the old man in this circumstance would be unavoidable. He hoped that in speaking to Asuma first, his sensei would take on most of that burden.

He wouldn't even be mad at the old man if the Hokage had merely told him to wait until he was older and more in control of himself to learn the information. That was what Kurama had done after all, but Naruto felt like if a relationship, of any type, was filled with lies then it wasn't one worth having.

He couldn't see the old man as his grandfather in all but blood anymore considering that he couldn't trust him to be honest with him. Shaking his head free of those thoughts Naruto noticed Asuma appearing in the centre of the clearing in a swirl of leaves.

The man smiled at his team and Naruto noted the pride in his voice when Asuma spoke.

"I would think congratulations are in order for you three. All three of you have managed to make it to the finals, and all three of you performed remarkably throughout this entire exam."

Ino beamed at the man and Shino ducked his head into his high collar to hide his own large smile. Naruto for his part, smiled brightly at both his teammates and his sensei. Asuma looked them all over before continuing on.

"However you three might end up facing each other. At least Naruto and Shino might. I am sorry to say you will likely lose, Ino, since you are fighting a Jinchuuriki. However, I do believe that you can display enough power, skill and intelligence to get promoted if you take your training seriously. You don't have to win the fights to become a chunin."

The three nodded already knowing this, although Naruto imagined Ino was still cursing her luck at having to face Gaara in the first round. Then again with there only being four matches in the first round and three Jinchuuriki participating… Well, Shino was certainly lucky when it came to his match against Neji.

"Ino and Shino… I have talked to your fathers and they have said they wish to train you in your family jutsu's away from the team. That leaves me with Naruto. However, if you get stuck on something and have some free time, you are more than welcomed to seek me out. Before we get to training though, I would be honored to take you three out to eat in celebration of your progress so far."

His proposal was met with raucous approval from Naruto, and happy acceptance from the other two genin. After they had eaten and once Shino and Ino had headed towards their clan compounds, Naruto turned to his teacher with a frown.

"Asuma before we go our separate ways for the day, as training doesn't start until tomorrow, I need to tell you something that Gaara informed me of."

Asuma motioned for him to continue, "Gaara told me that there is a plan to invade during the finals. A plan that has been made by Suna and Oto. Apparently, Oto is connected to Orochimaru and the man has had dealings with the current Kazekage. Gaara has already said he won't have any part in the invasion and he warned me of it. I wanted to tell someone before the preliminaries but I didn't want to start a panic."

Asuma acted rather quickly to the news, forming a few shadow clones and sending them off. "I have my clones going to gather a few people but we are going to go see my father, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, having known that it would be an unavoidable situation once he had told Asuma. There was no other logical route the conversation could have taken after all.

(Break)

It didn't take long for a group to assemble in the Hokage's office. Amongst those that were brought to the old man were, Naruto, Asuma, the Sand Siblings, The Jonin and ANBU commanders, and a few elite Jonin and ANBU members. It was actually a rather crowded meeting.

During the meeting, Gaara told the Hokage what he knew of the invasion plans and his siblings chimed in, knowing they didn't have a choice with Gaara already talking. Then slowly everyone was dismissed with jobs to do, all except for Naruto and Asuma.

With everyone else gone the Hokage looked towards the Uzumaki.

"I would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention and for not letting it slip around those that shouldn't have known as you were right in assuming this would cause a panic. Now we can counter the measures that we know about and we can keep those from Suna from sending out a warning to their village.

Knowing about the plans, we can stop any Oto shinobi from coming into the village since none of them are in the finals and those from Suna will not do anything when the invasion never starts. You have likely prevented a war."

Naruto nodded. "I just did what every shinobi would have done Hokage-sama."

Hearing the tense tone Naruto used the Sandaime sighed. "Asuma you are dismissed. Naruto and I need to have a discussion, just the two of us."

Asuma for his part wanted to argue but Naruto just gave him a smile and waved him off. When the two of them were alone, well not counting Kurama, Naruto looked the old man in the eyes.

"What is it you wanted to talk about Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen's answer was to take out his pipe and light it. After taking a drag from it the old man sighed.

"I believe I owe you an apology Naruto… In fact, I owe you several. I want to tell you something about my old students first though. You know I taught the Sanin and they are legends now, but back when I first met them, they were just children fresh out of the academy.

What isn't well known anymore, is that at the time Jiraiya was considered a no-talent fool and Tsunade and Orochimaru were considered prodigies. I admit that I thought this way myself for the longest time. It is something I regret to this very day. I spent all my time focusing on Orochimaru and Tsunade.

During this time I always would brush away Jiraiya's requests for training and attention believing my time was better spent with my two prodigies. Jiraiya found others to train him and it got to the point that there almost wasn't a point in calling them a team any longer. Then the war broke out and I half expected Jiraiya to get my two students killed. He didn't though, no, rather he saved their lives countless times and proved to be equal if not superior to my two geniuses.

Then after that war, Tsunade basically abandoned this village due to the death of her brother and fiance. It was sometime during the third shinobi war, that I began to have my doubts about Orochimaru, the things that he said, and did. After the war ended and I named your father my successor, I learned he was performing inhumane experiments."

Hiruzen had to top here and fill his pipe once more.

"Both of my beloved students had turned away from this village and I blamed myself. The only student I had left I had never trained seriously and he has never truly seen me as his teacher, despite how he acts. The method of which I dealt with my students is one of my biggest regrets.

Another of those would be the way I handled you. As you grew and joined the academy I kept likening you to Jiraiya. In this, I thought distance was the best thing for me. After all, Jiraiya was the only Sanin that turned out alright and I had kept my distance from him. Not only that, but I believed that the village really would come around eventually.

These are just excuses I told myself though… The truth of the matter is that I left you alone, lied to you, and ignored you because I thought it was for the best. I thought that my old age made me wise, but my son has recently helped me realize that I am just still making the same mistakes and using past experiences to justify them. It is something I have thought on a lot since I learned that you knew about the Kyuubi and your parents.

I have also heard of your dream though. As such I want to warn you… With the invasion plan… Naruto if I die, I want you to get out of Konoha. There are far too many in the village that will call for your head if I were to die. I regret a great many things about how I handled things regarding you Naruto and all the bad in your life could be traced back to me in one way or another. I hope you know what you are doing regarding the Kyuubi, but I will trust that you do until I am proven otherwise."

With that Naruto felt conflicted. It was almost as if the Sandaime already believed he was going to die even though he had just learned of the invasion today. The fact that the old man was admitting his mistakes as well, it made Naruto see the man in a different light. Sure he made mistakes, but who hasn't. It wasn't like being old kept you from making bad choices.

Hiruzen continued. "If I die I want you to head to a small fortress at the border of Fire Country and Iron Country. I will have someone I trust ready to meet you there. He will be someone that you will be suspicious of at first I am sure, but he is the only man I know that I can trust with this job. I pray that one day you succeed in your dream and make the world a better place Naruto-kun. You are dismissed."

(Shino's Training)

It had been a few days since their team had met and Shino was thinking more on his fight in the finals. He was going to face the only member of Team Gai to make it to the finals. He knew the eyes of the Hyuga clan would let Neji see his bugs and it would be hard to drain the older boy of his chakra.

The Aburame knew that his father had plans in place for that though. After all, his training so far had been in taijutsu to avoid getting hit. His father wouldn't be worried about if he would get hit or not if he didn't have a plan in place to shut the Hyuga down. They would have figured that out first if they needed the plan still.

That being said he wasn't sure what his plan would be. His father would want him to figure it out within the month if he could, his training would be clues as to what should work.

His physical training would occupy the first week, and during the second he would start working on using his bugs in dome-like attacks. This was meant to be a counter-attack after the Hyuga used his ultimate defense.

Shino wasn't sure if Neji would be able to use defense, as he had read that it was a main house technique, but he wasn't going to risk it if Neji was. He also needed to learn a jutsu that would allow him to force Neji to use it after he finished training his bugs. The match would hopefully be over quickly after that.

Of course the final two weeks, Shino then had to work on upping the resistance that his bugs held to pure chakra based attacks. If he did manage to get them on Neji, it wouldn't do for the older boy to just be able to brush them off with a chakra enhanced swipe of his hand. He also trained himself in a few jutsu that would force Neji to use his rotating defense.

(Ino's Training)

Ino for her part knew that she was going to lose her match. Her mind techniques would be useless against Fuu due to the girl's status as a Jinchuuriki. Something that both her and Shino were aware of due to the time the other two containers spent with Naruto during the break in between the second exam and the preliminaries.

Keeping that in mind, Ino talked to her dad about what she would need to do if she wanted to be promoted. The man's answer had been that she needed to show herself to be of chunin material. She needed to be strong enough to go on harder missions, she needed to be brave enough to face the things thrown at her, and she needed to be smart enough to know when to withdraw if it came to that.

Ino knew that it would come to that too. So she needed a plan. She had to fight as she couldn't just give up. It wouldn't help her to surrender right away as that wouldn't showcase strength or courage.

From what she saw during the prelims though, Ino knew that Fuu was a powerhouse in close quarters. If Fuu made it within Taijutsu range, Ino would be down for the count in a single blow. However, all of Ino's ranged attacks were useless and the girl didn't have the chakra capacity to learn anything useful in a month.

Her clan techniques didn't take too much chakra but any jutsu that would help her she would only have a shot or two a day at performing it before being depleted. Just as she was thinking that there wouldn't be anyway for her to be promoted this year, inspiration struck. There would be little that Ino could do to would slow Fuu down, but poison was one of those things. If Ino could poison Fuu then the girl would be weakened and Ino might be able to go toe to toe with her in Taijutsu long enough to showcase her skills. Then when the poison started wearing off from the Jinchuuriki's healing abilities, Ino could forfeit, showing she knew when to withdraw.

So Ino spent the month training with her mom instead of her dad. Her mother helped her refine her flexible taijutsu style and make several poisons for the matches. By the time the final week of training rolled around, Ino was confident that she would put on a good enough show to get promoted.

(Naruto's Training)

Naruto for his part had several plans made for his training, but no plan ever works out exactly as it is meant to. The blond originally planned on training three days a week with Asuma and three with Kurama. Then one day a week he would rest and relax.

That didn't happen though. No rather Naruto ended up training three days a week with Asuma during the first week and the rest of the month with both his godfather and Kurama. Of course, the worst part about it was that his godfather knew who Kurama really was.

It had all started on Wednesday after Naruto had finished his daily training with Asuma. Before he could leave the training ground, someone had appeared before them. Naruto hadn't known who the white-haired man was, but Kurama was well aware.

The demon informed the blond through their mental link, and Naruto allowed him to approach. As they looked each other over, neither of them said a word. Which was mainly because neither knew where to begin.

Jiraiya had talked with the Hokage a few days prior when he had first come to town. Only believing about half of what the old man had said in regards to Naruto. He also had used his chameleon cloak jutsu to hide in the old man's office while Naruto talked to the old man about the upcoming invasion.

Jiraya had also only believed about half of what the old man said then. While he knew that his sensei might have made some mistakes and regretted them, he also knew that his sensei was still playing the long game in regards to Naruto. After all, the man didn't just distance himself, he made everyone who wanted to watch over Naruto distance themselves as well.

Finally, the two had enough of the tension that Jiraiya spoke up.

"Do you want to sign the toad summoning contract?"

The blond shook his head. "Sorry, I can't do that. I already have the fox contract."

Jiraiya looked from Naruto to Kurama and back again. "Nice story kid, how about the truth?"

Naruto's eyes went wide at that. It had been years since anyone had called him on a lie because Kurama had taught him how to get away with lying.

"What makes you think I am lying?"

Jiraiya gestured with his hand towards Naruto."I will admit that you are pretty good at it, but you can't control your heart rate. I got good ears, due to being a sage, kid. I can hear your heartbeat. On top of that, I can notice even the smallest microscopic twitches on your face. It is why I am Konoha's spymaster. It is next to impossible to lie to me. Very few people can lie like you can kid, and even fewer can lie better."

Naruto froze there. What was he supposed to do or say now?If he couldn't lie to this man then the moment Jiraiya started asking questions was the moment Naruto's secrets were out completely. This was even scarier than when Shino realized Naruto had been lying.

Shino was a logical thinker and put emotions aside. He was also Naruto's teammate and had been around Kurama for months before learning the truth. Jiraiya would react more emotionally and had been around for the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago. He also didn't know Kurama.

Kurama hopped out of Naruto's arms at that point and shifted into his five-tailed form before a single tailed wrapped around Naruto's waist and then one circled Jiraiya's arm all within an instant.

The next second all of them were engulfed in flame as Kurama used a demonic travelling method to take them to a deserted field that was covered in burn marks.

"That certainly makes things a little harder to handle in concerns to you, Jiraiya."

The man looked around them before focusing his eyes on Kurama. "So… Kyuubi, how are you out of the seal? I thought removing you would kill Naruto."

Naruto looked towards them both slightly panicked over the fact that Jiraiya might attack Kurama.

"He isn't going… You are calm about this?"

The white-haired man nodded.

"I had a talk with the Sandaime before meeting with you. Several of them in fact. While the old man is never completely honest and likes to twist things around, he knows that I know when he lies. He told me about your summon and how you have had him before he graduated. Of course, I have actually been taught by my summons and know more about how summons work than anyone else."

Kurama nodded. "Makes sense. The toads do enjoy a hands-on training approach. They trained my father to be a sage in much the same way they trained you I guess. While you might not have my father's eyes you most certainly can use sage chakra. That does raise a question of why you aren't attacking me. I expected to have to restrain or kill you."

Naruto's eyes went wide at that. "Kurama-kun-"

The demon interrupted him, knowing what the blond was about to say.

"I didn't say I would kill him for no reason. I would have restrained him first. However, if he were to get back to Konoha and let them all know I am loose then your life would be endangered."

Jiraiya was the one who spoke next. "True enough. If the people in the village thought for even a moment that Naruto let you out willingly they would be calling for his head more than they already do. To be honest the only thing stopping them at the moment is the Sandaime. Which is why he told you to run if he dies. He wants you to be a weapon for Konoha and if they kill you that won't happen."

Naruto looked to the white-haired man. "You know that he told me to run?"

Jiraiya nodded. "I also know who he told you to run to. He told you to run to a man that is not only fanatically loyal to Konoha, but one who has the power to put you under the strongest genjutsu ever created. One that makes you believe something, but does so by fundamentally changing you at your core. It is also unbreakable, not even a bijuu could break it because it is cast with the mangekyou sharingan."

A dark growl came from the demon at the reference to those eyes. "I see… I have never trusted the old fool, but to think that him 'coming around' these past few months was just him leading up to another plot of his."

Jiraya nodded as he saw Naruto's face fall. "To be honest everything the Sandaime does is part of some plan or another for the 'betterment of Konoha.' You would think he would have learned by now, and maybe he has somewhat. Yet, he hasn't changed since I was a genin."

Naruto nodded slowly with a frown. "So what happens now?"

Jiraiya seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment. "Well, we are outside of Konoha… I still want you to sign the toad contract if you are willing and if you do… What if we headed to the toads' summoning realm? We could train you for the finals. I would also like to have a talk with the Kyuubi, actually a few talks over the month if he is going to continue to stay at your side."

And so they did. The three went to the realm of toads and Naruto signed the toad summoning contract. As the month came to an end the three headed back to Konoha. Jiraiya was still confused on why exactly Kurama 'loved' his godson but was at least assured the demon had no bad intentions towards him. Naruto had also made plans to leave Konoha if the council called for his head when and if the Sandaime died or retired.

He would not go to where the Sandaime told him to though. Instead, with Kurama's help he would make his own way. The question then became what would Jiraiya do if Naruto did leave.

Jiraiya had clearly stated that while he loved Konoha, he wasn't fanatically loyal to the village like the Sandaime, Danzo, and some others. The man also said that if it came down to a choice between Naruto and Konoha, he would chose his Godson's side.

It was something that Naruto wanted desperately to believe. After all the past month had been one of the best of his life. He had always had Kurama and knew the demon loved him, but now he felt that he had a family that loved him too.

His training had gone great as well. He could now summon the smaller battle-ready toads and he had been taught the Rasengan. He was started on his instruction into the toad taijutsu stance and had sage mode explained to him.

The toads were all really nice as well and Naruto was happy to be their summoner. They even agreed to lie and say that they came to an agreement with the fox clan to let Naruto be a summoner for both.