First of all, thanks for all the comments on the story, I really appreciate the input.

I'm sorry if some of you are a bit off balance by the shifting from the long chapters to the short chapters, but as I said in the reworked chapter 25, I'll have some bits of free time ahead of me and I hope to be able to write for this story if I produce by short bits instead of large chapters. If you tell me that you prefer to have longer chapters, but really spaced in time, I can adapt...

Kitten Arina, I'm glad to hear from you again, you've been a great input for me in the past, and you have, at the time, confirmed my opinion of my first writing of the Chuunin Exam preparation, which I scrapped. To preserve the flow of each chapters, this one had to be a bit short... To make up for it, I'll post the 28 earlier...

As for the naming, it's partially a choice and a quirky behavior from the site... I wanted it to be a growing thing, with a name nearly the same each time, but the site removed the modification, somehow, to ? are not accepted, I did not notice until your comments...

'Thinking'

"Talking"

"Talking in mind-scape"

'Demon Thinking'

"Demon Talking"

Chapter 28: Training starts? ? ?

"You know, it's not a good idea to peep on an onsen used by kunoichi..." The short blonde was talking in a casual manner, back to a wall, beside a bush which giggled a little from time to time.

The giggles stopped when hearing the voice, and a white-haired head raised from it.

"Leave me be, brat, find yourself another spot, this one is mine." And the head dove back in the bush

"I'm not here for the peeping, I'm here for the peeper."

"I don't sign autographs when I'm doing my research, come back later."

"Someone told me that you would be able to help me train, but it seems that you are too preoccupied by watching at women bodies, or maybe too old..." Naruto said, lifting from his spot.

"I'm not old, and I don't help people train."

"Too bad, I'll have to train by myself then."

"Good luck."

"First exercise, Henge." Naruto change to look like a woman.

"Oh, you might want to warm up a bit..." said the woman voice

The bush did not reply

"Second exercise, acting." The woman disguised Naruto placed her hand in front of her mouth "KYYYYAAAA A PERVERT!"

"Hey! I ain't no pervert!" the man rose from the bush and took a pose "I'm a Super Pervert!"

"Third exercise, workout." The woman started to slap the man in the bush with her handbag.

"Would you stop being silly at once!" the man said, trying to grab the bag.

"THERE!" a handful of voices shouted from the entrance on the onsen, just as a few kunoichis exited the building, like a wolf pack smelling blood.

The man looked at them, then at the boy changed into a woman "Crap!" and then he started to run, quickly followed by the women, leaving the boy behind.

"OK, that's probably who Jijii said to look for, but I doubt it will go smoothly."

"Don't worry Kit, next time he will accept, but you should use another approach." Kurama said in his head.

"You know, gaki, you'll have to pay for that." the old man was looking at Naruto from a tree, on the border of a training ground. "I will have to find another spot it took me years to have that bush at this size at this place."

Naruto stopped the kata he was practicing and faced the source of the sound.

"Don't worry for that, it did not even make a dent in your tab. You still have a lot more you owe me."

"How could I owe you anything, I've never met you."

"You do and I'm also cashing in my parents' debts, since they are no more. I'm not cashing in the one your girlfriend owes me or my parents, be glad." Naruto said, trying to sound like he was doing a favor.

"I left no debts to anyone, I don't know what crap your parents sold you, but I'm in debt to no one."

"Oh, and what about those two?" asked Naruto, as two clones poped around him, changed to look like his parents.

The old man's eyes widen at an impossible size.

"Minato, Kushina... You mean... You are..."

"Uzumaki Naruto, your beloved godson, you old pervert of a traitor." Naruto clones dispersed. "You were supposed to be there for me, take care of me, were you not?"

"It's not that simple..."

"Were you not?" Naruto sounded a bit cold

"I had to track..."

"Were you not?" The voice of Naruto was now cold as ice.

"I had a mission..."

"Were. You. Not?" Kurama's chakra was leaking a bit.

"I was." The old man dropped his head

"I promised to help you, to raise you... but I could not look at you... you looked so much like Minato... It was too hard... And Sensei said that he would take care of you... I left it to him... He had raised three children... I never did this... And I was needed to search for Orochimaru..."

Naruto was breathing slowly but steadily.

"You preferred to exile yourself, on a metaphoric quest, instead of fulfilling your vow." Naruto's voice was cold but sounded nearly like comprehensive. "You spent thirteen years looking for your teammate without finding him just because I looked like my father."

Naruto made a pause, to calm himslef, the old man said nothing.

"I had to leave a life of misery, of hatred, of loneliness...", breathe, "I had nobody...", breathe, "Jiraya, you could have made my life so much easier... Just being there once in a while...", breathe, "I don't need you for that anymore."

The now identified Jiraya raised his head.

"I have family now, I have friend, I am strong physically and mentally. I don't need you to be my family." Naruto's eyes were piercing Jiraya's skull. "I asked you to help on my training because Jijii said that I could find a peep that would help me use the chakra of my companion, but it seems like I will have to do it with the same help you provided me from the first day of my life." Naruto turned to leave.

"Let me help you." Jiraya said, appearing behind him, and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I have failed you in all the ways I could. There is no way that I could make up for it, and I know it. But maybe I can try to win your trust back."

"Mondays and Wednesdays at 1700 and Saturdays at 1400. For one month. We'll see how it goes." Naruto walked to exit the field, and walked towards the village, without turning back.