"Sakura, that- that's amazing!", I yell. "How'd you convince her to teach you?", I ask. I'm genuinely amazed that Tsunade would agree to that!

Then again, it is Sakura. Not a man or woman on Earth could could resist her charm!

"Well, you see...", Sakura says. "I told her that I don't want to fall behind you or Sasuke, and that medical jutsu is the perfect field for me to study!"

Wait a minute.

I ask, "Sakura, what do you mean you don't wanna fall behind me or Sasuke?" I assure her, "You're already pretty great!"

Sakura sighs, "You're too humble, Naruto. I may have great chakra control, but I don't know any effective jutsu, and my physical prowess is non-existent!"

I shake my head. "That's not what I was talking about, Sakura." I hold her shoulders. "I mean, you're a pretty amazing person - that's what really matters."

I think Sakura's blushing? She responds, "That's very kind of you, Naruto, but I do need whatever training I can get."

I can't help but smile at this. "Then you can train with me!", I excitedly say. "I'm gonna be going around and asking the other jonin senseis if they can help me learn stuff! You can even learn the rasengan from Kakashi-sensei and practice it with me!"

I eagerly look up to Kakashi with puppy-dog eyes.

"Pleeeeeease, Kakashi-sensei?", I plead. "Pleeeeeeeeease?"

Kakashi looks down at me, and replies, "I was kinda hoping that I'd be teaching you 1-on-1, but seeing as how you're pretty excited at the prospect of endless training... Sure, why not? I'll practice the rasengan with you guys."

"That's awesome, sensei!", I exclaim. Then I lower my voice. "Just don't teach it to our bastard Sasuke, okay?"

"I HEARD THAT, DOPE!"

It's been a while since Kakashi dismissed me so I could get started on my other training , and I'm sitting at home, feeling very frustrated with myself right now.

I remember that I wanted to learn taijutsu from Guy's team, but nothing else is coming to mind! I had plans that I'd thought of, and now they're all useless!

Alright, Naruto, just calm down, and think.

Taijutsu with Guy, rasengan with Jiraiya and Kakashi... Damn it, I know there's one more!

Whatever! Maybe If I just get started on the other stuff, it'll come back to me.

I walk up to Training ground 9 (that's where teamn 9 trains, is that a coincidence?), and see that they're doing their taijutsu training.

I yell "Excuse me, I wanna talk to Guy-sensei, please?"

They all stop sparring. Neji looks at me with those tightass eyes, Tenten looks at me in confusion, and Guy and Lee (he's back to training already?) look pleasantly surprised.

Guy sees that it's me and says, "Yes! How may I fan your flames of youth today, Naruto?"

I look at him and ask, "I was wondering if you could help me with my taijutsu, please?"

Guy looks at me apologetically and replies, "I'm sorry, I cannot personally train you, Naruto. I'm busy whipping my youthful students into shape!"

I nod and say, "Oh. Okay, sorry I bothered you."

"BUT.", Guy interjects, "I can give you this scroll with taijutsu exercises sealed in it! You can practice with my hardass lifelong rival, Kakashi." He then asks jokingly, "You do know how to unseal a basic storage scroll, right?"

I tell him, "No, I don't."

The entire team goes slackjawed, except for Neji. He looks at me all puzzled and asks, "How did you even pass the academy?"

That's it! That's what I forgot! The academy! Iruka! I wanted to ask Iruka to help me learn the stuff I ignored in class!

I scream "I love you Neji!", as I give him a big hug and run off to find Iruka.

It's around lunchtime now, so I know exactly where to go: Ichiraku's!

As I expected, Iruka's sitting right there in the usual spot with a bowl of ramen. I make my way up to the counter and take the seat next to him.

"Oh, hi Naruto!" he greets.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei!", I respond as Teuchi gives me a bowl. "I was kinda wondering if you'd be willing to show me some of the stuff I missed out on at the academy?"

"First of all," Iruka replies, "You didn't miss out on anything. You deliberately refused to pay attention. Second, what do you wanna learn that isn't gonna be a pain in the ass for me to repeat after teaching it in class?"

I look at my now-empty bowl of ramen and think for a second. I look back up at him and say, "How about... Un sealing basic storage scrolls?"

Iruka facepalms.

He explains, "Literally all you have to do, Naruto, is apply the appropriate amount of chakra onto the seal."

I get back home by 1:00 P.M., and I decide to open the storage scroll.

Before I do, however, Jiraiya comes in through my window. With his shoes on.

"Damn it, Pervy Sage!", I yell, "Take your shoes off in my home!"

Jiraiya calls me "Just as pissy as Tsunade" and takes off his shoes at the door.

He sits next to me on my couch, faces me, and says, "Listen, I need you to show me how far along your rasengan. It's the only way for me to help you. Let's leave."

I spaz out, "You couldn't have said that while standing at my front door?!"

Jiraiya smirks, "You're the one that made me take my shoes off."

I am so gonna get him back for this.

We make our way to a secluded training ground.

Jiraiya crests a shadow clone of himself and says, "Alright. Use your rasengan on not-me."

I try to form a rasengan by myself, just to see if I can do it, but it doesn't work.

Jiraiya taunts me, "Come on, Naruto, I'm the old-timer here. It should be me having trouble getting things going, not you!"

I growl and summon a shadow clone.

Then, assisted by the shadow clone, I form a rasengan in my hand.

It's hard to explain, but this rasengan feels different. It's like, before it was a flurry of chakra trying to escape from my grasp, but now, it feels like it's actually molded by hand, and it's following the shape that I command.

I'll have to ask Jiraiya about that.

Once the rasengan is formed, I dash towards Jiraiya's clone and hit it with my rasengan.

It's nothing like when I hit Kabuto. Kabuto just went flying back when I used it on him.

Jiraiya's clone seemed to spin around in the air due to the rasengan, just like that random guy who I saw Jiraiya use it on.

Then, the rasengan dissipates, and Jiraiya's clone is sent flying backwards through a couple trees.

I look at the real Jiraiya and his jaw has hit the floor.

I taunt him, "Come on, Pervy Sage, you look like your one night stand just took her clothes off and it wasn't a 'her' after all!"

Jiraiya glares at me. "Don't remind me of that..." he warns.

I literally have no idea what he's talking about. And I do not want to know.

Jiraiya walks toward me and informs me, "I've seen your rasengan before, kid. It did not look as focused as what you just did. Have you been practicing?"

I look at Jiraiya and tell him, "No, I haven't, Pervy Sage. I've only used it once since we got Granny back, and it was when I fought Sasuke on the hospital roof. Even then, it didn't feel like it did now."

Jiraiya cut me off. "Woah woah woah, kid, it felt different?

I replied, "Yeah. Before it was like I had to try and contain the rasengan, but now it's like the rasengan's just following my will y'know."

Jiraiya stares at me like he's just smelled some rotten eggs. "I need some time to figure this out, we'll talk later, kid."

With that, Jiraiya hauled off, and I don't know which one of us is more confused at this moment.

It's nearly dinnertime, and I'm planning to go out to eat, just not Ichiraku's.

That's right, Naruto Uzumaki is going to eat something other than ramen!

I open my door, and I bump into Sakura - literally.

She immediately apologizes, "Sorry... My big stupid forehead bumped yours..."

I tell her, "We've gone over this, Sakura. Your forehead is wide and charming!"

She responds, "Well, this makes for a nice segue..." She stars fidgeting. "There's something I need to tell you... Don't freak out, okay?"

What's got her so worked up?

"Sure, go ahead, Sakura."

"I love you."

What? I actually can't believe what she just said - what? What am I supposed to say to that?

I stutter, "I- I know you better than to think this is a joke, Sakura, so w-what's going on?"

Sakura reiterates, "I said... I love you."

A wave of confusion washes over me as I try to process what's happening.

Sakura. Loves. Me?

Not Sasuke. Me?

Naruto Uzumaki?

This must be some kind of mistake!

I say, "Listen, Sakura. The last few days have been pretty hectic. This kind of bombshell might be you confusing your feelings - I wouldn't blame you, especially considering how crazy this week's been. I should know! I mean, I died, I was revived, I tried to talk to Sasuke, I fought Sasuke and he tried to kill me and you almost got hurt, then I tried to apologize, and I fought Sasuke again, and he impaled me, then I told you about the nine-tailed fox! Crazy days, y'know!", I chuckle.

Sakura's eyes narrow and she stares deep into my soul.

She simply asks, "You died?"

Good place to end the chapter, eh?

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