Naruto grumbled as he quickly got out of the hot water. He turned to Ebisu who had a grin on his face. Naruto so wanted to knock that smug grin off his face but he wanted to really get this technique down. His training started when Ebisu came for him in the morning. As they walked he explained the chakra exercise that they would be doing. It was called 'water walking' and it was much harder than 'tree climbing'. Ebisu explained that because of that the water is in constant motion, the chakra used needed to change constantly. They trained near the hot springs as Ebisu taught it would encourage Naruto to learn faster.

After a few more tries, Naruto was starting to get it. Ebisu was impressed as well. Suddenly, Naruto's concentration was broken when he noticed an old, white haired man peeking into the woman's section of the baths. Ebisu saw this and decided to take action. As he charged at him, the man summoned a large toad. Naruto watched as the confrontation ended within a matter of seconds. Naruto checked on Ebisu and saw that he was okay. He stood and faced his attacker.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Naruto spat.

"Keep quiet brat, I'm conducting my research." Jiraiya said and went back to his peeking. Naruto was about to shout but he decided to do something more. The man felt a pulse of chakra and investigated it. He was wide eyed when he was in the presence of a beautiful young blond girl. She was holding a small towel to her person but it gave the pervert a lot to think about.

"Well now, who might you be my dear?" he asked with a bit of drool coming out of his mouth. The girl threw a towel at him and took a deep breath.

"Rapist! Rapist! This pervert is trying to rape me! Help! Help!" the girl screamed. He was shocked by what was going on and in an instant surrounded by the women of the hot springs. They all saw the girl and some knew that it was Naruto using his silly jutsu. Still, whatever this man was going to do to Naruto in this form was sick and twisted. Jiraiya saw no avenue of escape as the women closed in on him.

"You vile, sick man! What were you about to do to Naruto!" one woman shouted.

"Are you okay Naruto?" asked another woman.

"H-He forced me to use my technique for some type of research. H-He said that he was going further." Naruto cried. The woman glared murder at him and wielded some weapons.

"Naruto, it is time for you to leave. You do not what to see this." One of them said. Naruto nodded and walked away. The man watched as the girl gave him a wicked grin before using the Teleportation technique. He realized that he had been tricked.

"Ladies, please. This is all a misunderstanding." He said. It didn't help him as he was attacked by the enraged women.

XXX

Naruto was throwing elbows and knees at a wooden post. After leaving the pervert to his fate, he decided to continue his training until Ebisu was healed. He decided to work on his taijutsu some. While he was not there for the match against Hinata and her cousin, he did hear about it. He had always heard that the Hyūga were masters of taijutsu and to fight them close up was suicide. That didn't mean that he should ignore his taijutsu just because. He had something for last year's 'Rookie of the Year'.

He was suddenly hoisted into the air and thrown toward the river. He flipped in mid-air and attempted to stand on the water. He was still trying but was able to stand on its surface. He looked up to see the old pervert from the springs. He was beaten up and angry. He glared at Naruto.

"You little brat, I barely escaped with my life after that stunt!" he shouted.

"Maybe that will teach," he was cut off when he fell into the water. This amused the man as Naruto shot up out of the water. "Argh! What the hell is wrong with me? My chakra has been all crazy since that run-in with Orochimaru!" Naruto exclaimed. That name caught the attention of the man.

"What did you just say?" he asked. He saw that Naruto looked at him with mistrust. "Don't worry kid; I'm a very high ranking shinobi. Now, what did you mean you ran into Orochimaru?"

"I got my ass handed to me by the guy during the Chūnin Exams. When he defeated me, he thrust his fingers into my gut. Since then, my chakra has been off." Naruto said.

"Let me see your stomach." He ordered. Naruto recoiled into fright, making the man roll his eyes. He held the boy and raised his shirt. He saw the seal of the Yondaime and he saw the seal that was over it. He recognized it as Orochimaru's work because it was crude and unrefined. He decided to do something about it. He focused his chakra into his hands and five symbols appeared on each of his fingertips.

"Five Pronged Seal Release!" he called out and slammed his fingertips into his gut. Naruto felt the air leave him and dropped to his knees. He took a few deep breaths before facing and glaring at the man. He ignored the glare and made a motion to the river. "Try that exercise again." Naruto grumbled but complied with him, not wanting to upset the guy. He did the exercise and he was not sinking. He was completely on top of the water. Naruto cheered as he completed the exercise. The man smiled and vanished, leaving Naruto to his celebration.

XXX

Sasuke hit the ground again. He struggled to his get to his feet. He was beaten up, bleeding from the lip and bruised all over. He glared at Kakashi and his clone that looked at him with a bored expression. The original Kakashi raised his head for his book to look at Sasuke.

"Well, you were able to last longer this time. You still too slow Sasuke. The Suna genin will kill you if you don't speed up." Kakashi said.

"My, my Kakashi, I did not know that you were so vicious." A voice said. Three heads turned to see a white haired man.

"Lord Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked in shock. Sasuke was shocked as well. He had heard of Jiraiya and knew that the man was strong. What was he doing here?

"I heard from Ebisu that you were training the Uchiha on orders. Looks to me like you're trying to break the poor fool." Jiraiya said with amusement. Sasuke was not amused and frowned at his words.

"What can I do for you Lord Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked.

"This is a private matter." Jiraiya said. Kakashi nodded and made a motion to his clone. The clone nodded and dragged Sasuke away. The boy struggled a bit but the clone was not to be messed with. Once away, the two faced each other. "I ran into your other student earlier. He's different from what I remembered."

"He's been attempting to become a better shinobi and is succeeding in it. He's much stronger than he was in the academy. How did you two meet?" Kakashi said.

"That isn't important right now. However, I would like to know if he's in the finals coming up?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes. He's fighting Neji Hyūga in the first round." Kakashi said.

"A Hyūga huh? Okay then, don't worry about him. I'll take care of it." Jiraiya said. He used the Teleportation technique before Kakashi could say something. After a while he smiled as he knew that Naruto would be in good hands.

XXX

Naruto walked toward the training grounds in a hurry. He had come up with this great idea for an attack and wanted to test it out. If he could actually do it, it would really help him in his match against Neji. He was suddenly stopped when the toad from yesterday landed in front of him. On its back was the guy from yesterday.

"Hey kid, fancy meeting you here." Jiraiya greeted.

"What do you want now, you pervert?" Naruto said.

"First off kid, the name is Jiraiya, also known as the handsome and dashing Toad Sage. Second, I'm here so that we can continue from yesterday." Jiraiya said.

"Yesterday, you punched me in the gut." Naruto stated.

"Yet, you were able to master the water walking exercise right?" Jiraiya asked. Naruto couldn't deny that it did. "So, until the finals, I will be the one who trains you."

"Why should I trust you? With Ebisu-sensei, he can control his perverted urges. I wouldn't get anything done with you and any girls around." Naruto said.

"Come on kid, I'm a really powerful ninja and I can teach you some very powerful jutsu." He said.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Naruto asked.

"How about I teach you how to summon my friend here? I heard that you have a lot of chakra to burn." Jiraiya said with a smirk. He could see the boy's interest and knew that he had won.

XXX

Ino found her sensei with Choji and Shikamaru. Choji was currently trying to roll over Shikamaru. She figured that Asuma must have promised Choji a free lunch to help train the lazy sloth. She forgot about them and focused on Asuma. It took a lot of thinking but she decided to go with Naruto's advice. She saw how much stronger he got. Maybe it would work for her as well.

"Asuma-sensei!" Ino called out. The smoking jōnin turned his attention to his third student.

"Hello Ino. Have you come to help out with Shikamaru's training?" Asuma asked.

"As fun as that might be, I came for a different reason." Ino took a deep breath and looked at him seriously. "I would like for you to help me become a better kunoichi." She said. Asuma looked at her for a second before sitting down. He had Ino sit as well.

"That is something that I can do Ino but are you ready to become a better kunoichi? I know that you saw how Naruto is and the results but I'll tell you now that it will be hard work. I will be hard on you and I will be strict. If you are not willing to do the work then you are wasting my time and yours. So I will ask you again, are you ready to become a better kunoichi?" Asuma asked seriously.

"Yes, I am ready to be a better kunoichi." Ino said. Asuma looked at her for a long time before he smiled at her.

"Well then, let's get started on that." Asuma said. Ino could do nothing but smile.

XXX

Sasuke lay in his bed roll, healing from his injuries. Kakashi was not holding back against him. It didn't feel like training to him. It was as if Kakashi was punishing him for his actions, attempting to humble him. That was not going to happen as long as he breathes. He did not feel sorry for what he did at all. Kakashi was giving the dobe strong techniques and leaving him with nothing. In his mind, it wasn't fair at all. Techniques like that multiple shuriken attack should have been his.

Suddenly he heard the sound of chirping birds. It was soon followed by a huge boom. He forced himself to his feet and made his way out toward the sound. He walked a distance before he found Kakashi. He watched as the man did a few hand seals and cupped his hand. Lightning appeared and was blaring. The screech of birds rang through the area. Kakashi then charged at a boulder that had a few holes in it. He thrust his arm forward and into the boulder, creating an explosion of dust. When it cleared, Sasuke could see that Kakashi's arm deep into the boulder. Sasuke couldn't believe how strong that technique was. A wicked grin appeared on his face and he activated his Sharingan. He stayed hidden and waited.

XXX

Jiraiya watched as Naruto did the Summoning Jutsu again. When the some cleared, he had summoned Gama. Jiraiya was very impressed with Naruto's progress. In only a week and a half, Naruto had gotten the Summoning Jutsu down. His first attempt at the technique was a surprise to him when he summoned a toad. The toad turned out to be Gamakichi. It was an impressive feat that even Jiraiya couldn't accomplish. During the week he was about to summon two more small toads and two man-size toads. It was just so impressive.

However, Jiraiya wanted to see something else. That something else was the chakra of the nine-tailed fox. His reason for this was so that Naruto could get use to using it chakra. Some dangerous men were coming for him and his student would not have sealed the fox within him without a reason. If he was able to tap into that power, he could summon one of the great three toads. The question was how was he going to it? Oh, he had a way but it would put his life in danger.

With a sigh, Jiraiya stood up and caught Naruto's attention.

"Well I have to admit, you truly surprised me Naruto." Jiraiya said.

"I told you so." Naruto boasted.

"Still, I have something serious to talk to you about Naruto." The blond gave him his full attention. "I was wondering have you ever met with your tenant?" he asked.

"You mean the fox? No, I never met with him and why would I want to?" Naruto said.

"That's a shame and a problem. I was hoping that you did. I guess that we're going to have to do this the hard way. For what it's worth, I'm really sorry that I have to do this." Jiraiya said.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya just poked Naruto in the forehead. It didn't feeling like a poke to Naruto who was suddenly sent flying through the bush. When he came to a stop he was hovering over a very deep ravine with sharp stone sides. He began to descend down the ravine at a fast pace. He tried to grab the sides but it was too slippery and he was going too fast. When he ran out of options, Naruto could see his life flash before his eyes. Everything went white for him.

When he opened his eyes, he was suddenly in a puddle of water. He looked forward and saw a large golden cage. He also saw a piece of paper on the gates that had the symbol for seal. As he stood, he began to feel an oppressive force around him. He looked toward the cage and saw two large red eyes and a huge row of teeth. Whatever it was, chuckled at him.

"Hello warden, I've attempted to get in contact with you for a while. We have much to discuss."

XXX

Authors' Notes: Here the new chapter. Sorry that these updates are coming out so slow. I will try to speed then up. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.

P. S. I got word from a reviewer that a group who calls themselves 'Critics United' is the reason behind this little thing with the site. Now, I don't mind critics. If you can criticize me in a positive way then I listen and I attempt to better my skills. However, most of the critics on this site are nothing but haters. I, myself, do not use a lot of lemons. Most of my stuff is pretty tamed, at best, but those that do lemons do put out some really great stories. Now because this group has an issue with it, everyone else has to suffer. I really don't know what your issue is 'Critics United' but maybe you can explain it to everyone so that they don't bash you. You've got to have a reason for what you're attempting to do and we all would like to hear it.