So this took a long time...I know...sorry! I had a temporary writers block, but I'm back on track! And if you don't know what sage mode is (though I'm sure most of you do), look it up. Sorry, but I'm not going to go through and explain it. Once again, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 14

"So wait...if I don't do it right, I'll turn into a frog?"

Jiraiya sighed. "No, we'll be there to make sure that doesn't happen. But remember, this training is going to take a while. I have a suspicion that the Kyuubi will reject Ma and Pa if they try to connect with you. You'll have to do it yourself."

Naruto nodded. "I know, you already told me that."

"I know, but knowing you, if you don't get it the first time, you'll start getting frustrated. Just remember that this training can sometimes take years."

"But I don't have to stay in that frog place all the time, right? I can come back here when I'm done training for the day, right?"

Jiraiya sighed. "I suppose. You probably just want to so you can have a little fun with your Emiko, no?" He said waggling his eyebrows.

Naruto flushed. "T-There's other people I'd see too!"

"Mm-hmm." Jiraiya said, and Naruto grumbled.

"You should probably go home. It's nearly 10." Jiraiya said.

"Oh, yeah. See you later, Ero-sennin!" Naruto called as he got up and headed home.

Jiraiya watched Naruto leave the forest. He had matured so much...and in a month, too. What a difference a woman could make.

The party was finally winding down. Hinata had fallen asleep first, and the only people still up were Sakura, Ino and Emiko. And they were all quickly running out of steam.

Ino gave a mighty yawn, and continued with what she was saying.

"So anyways, I think that..I think that I might like someone..." Ino said, blushing.

"Nani?" Sakura and Emiko shrieked at the same time.

"Sh!" Ino snapped at them.

"Nani?" They both repeated, but in a whisper. "Who?" Sakura demanded.

"Sh-Shikamaru..." Ino said.

"Oo good choice." Emiko said smiling deviously.

Ino laughed. "You better watch out, or some of this might get back to Naruto."

"You'd better watch out, or some of this might get back to Shikamaru." Emiko countered.

Ino blanched, then smiled. "Ah. Touché" She said, and all the girls laughed.

Ino yawned again. "I think it's time to go to bed..." She said, and curled up under the covers.

Sakura made a grunt of agreement, and laid down next to Ino.

Emiko smiled at her sleeping friends. Who would've thought that by some freak accident, she would have a totally different (she assumed) and wonderful life? Naruto, the girls, even the villagers were all wonderful and kind. She was beginning to care less and less about who she was, for fear that might mean she'd have to leave this behind.

Emiko laid down on the other side of Ino, and fell asleep with those happy thoughts buzzing in her head.

Emiko was awakened by loud whispers during the night.

"Sakura, sh! You're going to wake the others up!" She heard Ino shush.

"S-Sorry...but I just had to tell someone...if I didn't, I would've exploded!" Sakura responded.

"So...does this make me a terrible person?" Sakura questioned.

Emiko couldn't see them, but she assumed Ino shook her head.

"No, but it's kinda self-inflicted. If you hadn't turned Naruto down so many times, you would've had him by now." Ino said.

Emiko froze. Sakura liked Naruto? Emiko wasn't sure how she should feel about that. Jealous maybe...maybe even angry. But she didn't. Sakura was Emiko's friend, and Emiko was fairly confident that while they were together, Naruto had eyes for no one but Emiko.

Sakura sighed. "I know...I just have to get over him."

"That's the spirit! Now can I go back to bed?"

Sakura laughed a little. "Sure. Sorry I woke you."

And with that, reassured that her Naruto-kun was safe, Emiko drifted back off to sleep.

As Itachi was flying out of the village, he saw something that made him do a double take.

Jiraiya? One of the legendary sannin? He wasn't supposed to be in the village...that might complicate things.

Itachi sighed inwardly, annoyed that he had to completely remake his battle strategy. At least that'd give him something to do tonight.

Naruto awoke the next morning, surprisingly early for him. It was only around nine. But at least Emiko would be back today. And maybe he'd start his sage mode training today.

Excited, he got out of bed and began to make himself breakfast, though he usually skipped the meal because he wasn't up early enough to eat it.

Naruto quickly made a bowl of cereal and began eating. Despite all the facts he had saying today was going to be a great day, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong...

The girls didn't awake the next morning until around 10. They ordered breakfast and drowsily consumed it. All except Tenten, who was as lively and awake as ever.

"Seriously. How can you be so awake?" Ino demanded.

"I wake up every morning around 6. I can get in some early morning training done." She said.

"I knew it! After all these years of you being able to resist Gai-sensei's 'youthfulness' you've finally cracked! We'll miss you, Tenten!" Ino said dramatically, and they all laughed.

After they were done, Ino checked out of the hot spring, and they all went home. While Emiko was on her way, she found Naruto walking in the direction of the hot spring.

"Coming to get me, Naruto?" Emiko said.

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, actually." He said, and kissed her forehead.

Emiko forgot how much she loved the feeling of Naruto's lips. "I missed you." He said quietly.

"I missed you too." Emiko said.

"By the way." Naruto said, pulling away reluctantly. "Ero-sennin came to the village last night. He wants to meet you."

"Really? I'd love to meet your sensei!" Emiko said smiling.

"No, you wouldn't, but I suppose there's no avoiding it."

Emiko laughed. "He can't be that bad. I'm sure he'll at least try to act more mature then you describe him around me, right? He wouldn't want to embarrass you."

Naruto laughed humorlessly. "Honestly, that's probably the main reason he want to meet you."

Emiko laughed. "In that case, I'm excited to meet him. I wonder what kind of embarrassing secrets he knows about you, Naruto?" She said playfully.

Naruto grumbled and Emiko laughed again. Today was going to be a good day, she was sure of it. And yet...this feeling in the pit of her stomach...it was telling her otherwise.

Itachi looked at them carefully. Disguised as a raven, he had been flying from tree to tree so he could hear what they were saying. As soon as they were separated...he would make his move. He would have to make sure Jiraiya was a safe distance away before striking...if everything went smoothly, no one should even notice Moriko and Naruto were missing until tomorrow. And that was all the time he needed to make a smooth getaway.

Emiko unzipped Naruto's jacket. Sure, it was an odd time to have a random make-out session; they usually did it at night. But they missed last night's so they had to make up for it somehow.

Emiko ran a hand down Naruto's rock hard abs and Naruto, getting the message, took his black tank top off, along with her shirt.

They were pressed firmly against each other, kissing ravenously. Emiko was teasing Naruto's hair with her fingers and Naruto was sliding his hands down her back. Naruto suddenly had an overwhelming urge to have sex with Emiko. Why were they waiting? She loved him too, right?

"Emiko-chan..." Naruto panted, pulling away a mere inch so he could speak.

"Yes?" She said, panting as well.

He looked her in the eye seriously. "Would you...do you want to have sex?"

Emiko was shocked at his bluntness. Sure, she had thought about it, and the thought of Naruto inside of her made her shiver, but...now that he asked her...she loved him, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.

"I-I don't think I'm ready, Naruto-kun..."

Naruto smiled understandingly. God, did she love him. "I understand. I can wait." Then he smiled devilishly. "In the meantime..." He scooped her up in his arm and laid her on the couch. He straddled her and began kissing her again. He ran his fingertips down her spine and she groaned in pleasure. Naruto chuckled.

"I love you Emiko...so much..." He panted between breaths. Emiko just moaned in response.

After several more minutes of intense making out, Naruto pulled away and laid beside Emiko, panting.

"I'm always amazed by how much I love kissing you. It never gets old." Emiko said.

Naruto laughed. "Likewise."

Emiko turned to face him. "Did Jiraiya-sama give you a specific time that we were going to meet?"

Naruto made a face. "Jiraiya-sama? Too much respect. Just call him Jiraiya or Ero-sennin." Then he turned thoughtful. "Yeah, I think he said we were going to meet where we trained yesterday at 3."

Emiko turned towards the clock. 2:45. "We should probably get going."

Naruto groaned, he so didn't want to introduce them. "Yeah, probably..." He said, and began to get dressed.

Once they were decent, they set off to meet Jiraiya. Naruto was grumbling the whole time about not believing anything Jiraiya said about him. Of course, that just made Emiko all the more excited.

Jiraiya heard Naruto approaching with a soft, sing-songy voice. Jiraiya felt approval at this. A sign of a good woman is a good voice.

Soon enough, Naruto and a girl that Jiraiya assumed was Emiko came out of the trees. And she was a looker.

She had left her hair down today, and happiness radiated from her. Everything about her was just perfect. Jiraiya couldn't believe Naruto could land a girl like that.

But something was wrong. He had seen her before, he just knew it. He wouldn't forget a face like that...but where had he seen her?

"Ero-sennin, this is Emiko, Emiko, Ero-sennin." Naruto grumbled.

And then it hit him.

At blinding speed, Jiraiya swooped towards the couple and took Naruto by the sleeve, yanking him away from Emiko's side.

Naruto whacked Jiraiya's hand away from him.

"What the hell?" He snapped, but Jiraiya wasn't paying Naruto any attention. His eyes were on Emiko.

The was Jiraiya was glaring at Emiko made Naruto so mad he was tempted to punch his sensei in the face.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Naruto yelled, louder this time.

Jiraiya didn't look at Naruto, but he said, "Naruto. She's not who you think she is."

This made Naruto stop. Did Jiraiya know her?

"She's a member of Akatsuki!"

CLIFFHANGER! That's my treat for not adding in so long. Pretty epic, if I do say so myself. The rest of this chapter was mostly filler, because I really wanted to end the chapter with that epic line. Yep. Next chapter will be out sooner then this one was.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Please review!