Later that day, Kyuu bounded from the forest, racing towards the tower. I saw a few of the shinobi panic at the sight of his tails but I called them away.

"Oi! Don't touch him, he's with me," I shouted to the nervous ninja. They didn't relax, only held their kunai aloft as I jumped down to Kyuu. Seeing me, he skid to a stop and starting laughing quietly. His laughter got louder until his voice echoed off the trees.

"You… should have… seen their faces!" he laughed, breathless. He winced and a tail went to his ribs. "I'm laughing… too hard!"

Of course, that got me laughing. When the Sand Siblings arrived minutes later, both scrolls in tow, both Kyuubi and I were rolling on the grass laughing as we shared the image of the Oto nin being… greeted by the most powerful tailed beast. Kankuro glanced at us before walking inside, followed by Temari. Sandstorm and Gaara stayed behind, kneeling by us while we recovered. After a while, Gaara cleared his throat.

"Do you need medical attention? You seem a little…" Gaara drifted off at a loss for words. Glancing up at us, Sandstorm cut in.

"Insane?"

"Exactly," he said, smiling at the kitsune. I recovered slowly, holding my now aching sides. "What happened?"

"Oto, Kyuubi, lots of growling and screaming," I chuckled. Gaara's eyes lit up with humor and he chuckled, nodding.

"Did you see Orochimaru?" he asked quietly. I nodded, scowling.

"Teme bit me," I said, shaking my shirt to the side to show the seal. "Don't worry, Kyuubi killed the soul fragment before it could get comfortable. I'm not really sure what'll happen now. It might be possible for me to go into the curse seal stages and the demon cloak at the same time."

"Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that you don't hate me?" Gaara said after a long silence. I chuckled and glanced at Kyuu.

"Do you want to stay out a little longer? Introduce yourself to the other jounin?" I asked, studying him. The demon fox thought about it for a while before nodding, shaking his fur and sending grass into the air.

"Yeah, I could go for that. Fainting jounin are always funny," he chuckled, growing a few inches so he reached my waist. Waving Gaara to follow me, I opened the doors and led the way to the other shinobi.

Most of the room was occupied by jounin sensei and exam sentinels. I saw Anko debriefing a few ANBU in a corner.

Stepping into the room, the shinobi flew silent before reaching for weapons. I sighed and stepped in front of Kyuubi, who was now growling quietly at the ninja.

"Yes, he's a demon. Get over it," I said tiredly. A few of the shinobi narrowed their eyes, tightening their grip on their weapons. "Relax, he isn't going to hurt anyone."

Gaara chuckled at the assembled ninja before walking towards his siblings, waving to Kyuu and I. Kakashi walked up to us, smiling.

"Yo, Naruto, Kyuubi," he greeted, not disturbed. I chuckled, remembering his first reaction as I summoned Kyuubi for the first time in front of him.

~Flashback~

"Naruto-kun, you need to summon him!" Hina-chan shouted over the fires. We were in Ame, once again caught in the middle of a Great Shinobi War.

"I can't! There are still civilians in here!" I shouted back, trying to help Kakashi move rubble away from the few survivors of the ongoing attack.

"They'll all be dead if you don't do something!" she shouted, ducking as Sasori's tail flew towards her. She growled as she jabbed a kunai into one of the joints, temporarily jamming the weapon. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Kabuto?"

"Everyday!" I shouted back, trying to find a solution. I glanced at Kakashi, desperate. He nodded, pulling a small girl out of the collapsed building. I closed my eyes briefly, knowing that this would terrify more of our forces than Kabuto's resurrected army.

Get ready Kyuubi. Battle time.

Hell, yeah. I'll kill everyone all over again, he grinned in my mind. I sighed, my hands flying through the seals.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A roar filled the air as civilians and shinobi alike froze in terror. I glanced at Kakashi, now on one knee from the wave of killing intent pulsing from my oldest friend. "Hatake Kakashi… meet Kyuubi no Kitsune," I said quietly. I jumped onto Kyuubi's head and we began our assault on the enemy ninja, trying to buy time for the Ame citizens to escape the last of the battle.

~End Flashback~

I shook myself from the memory. Wordlessly, I pulled my shirt aside, revealing the seal. Watching Kakashi's right eye widen, I shook my head.

"I'm okay, I had Kyuu track down Hebi-teme's soul fragment before it could get settled. I couldn't get Sasuke away from him in time so I took the bite for him. I'm surprised that Sasuke didn't complain about Hebi-teme's fangs being in his neck. It's really disgusting," I said, wrinkling my nose as Kakashi visibly relaxed.

"And Orochimaru?"

"Still alive. He'll be back, same time and place. Anko showed up right after he retreated. I told her bits and pieces but she doesn't know the big thing."

"All right. How's the rest of the team?"

"Last I saw them, they were all okay. I had them escape after Hebi-teme bit me," I explained. Kakashi nodded and we went back to the main group, ready to wait for the rest of the teams.

At the end of the five days, the same twenty one genin had made it through the second exam. The Hokage was told of Orochimaru's interference and asked me to keep an eye on his movements. The genin were assembled and the meaning behind the Chuunin Exams was explained to them. I watched on the sidelines as Gekkou Hayate jumped down and explained about the preliminaries. I watched Kabuto raise his hand to quit, Orochimaru smiling at him the entire time.

"Excuse me, I'll quit," Kabuto smiled at Hayate. The special jounin nodded and glanced at his clipboard.

"Let's see… You're Yakushi Kabuto from Konoha, correct? Okay, you can leave," Hayate said, glancing back at the older genin.

"Hai," he nodded, walking away. Hiruzen studied the genin.

"I've seen his face before… If I remember correctly, he dropped out of the last main battle as well. What is he thinking?" He asked quietly. Ibiki glanced at Anko and she referred to her notes.

"Yakushi Kabuto… According to his records, he's fail six straight times."

"Background?"

"Hmm… From his time at the Academy, he was a student that didn't really stand out and his grades were average. He didn't pass the graduation exam until his third try. After that, as for the missions he's carried out, he's done fourteen D-rank and two C-rank. Not a battle record to write home about. However…" Anko's voice drifted off.

"However?" Hiruzen asked. I leaned into the conversation.

"It's about before the Academy. Do you remember the story about the boy brought back from the Kikyo Pass battle?" Hiruzen nodded.

"I remember. As I recall, an enemy boy survivor at the battlefield was taken back by a jounin in the medical unit. So he's that boy?" he asked. Anko nodded as Kabuto walked away. Hayate coughed, bringing attention back to him.

"So, are there any others who would quit?" I saw Sasuke's resolve, unmarred by pain from his curse seal.

"Eh, now then. We will begin the preliminaries," Hayate said. "These will be one on one individual battles. In other words, actual battle format. There are now exactly twenty people so we shall have ten battles. The winners of each battle will be the one to move forward to the third exam. There will be no rules in their battles. You will fight until someone dies, collapses, or admits defeat. And, if you don't want to die, I recommend that you admit defeat quickly. Also, if I deem that a match is over- er, I don't want to needlessly add to the number of dead bodies so I will intervene and stop the match." he nodded at Anko, who spoke into her headset. As the wall slid up, Hayate nodded at it, coughing. "This will randomly select the foes for the preliminaries. Now then, let's get right to it and announce the two names for the first battle."

The signboard flickered to life, kanji symbols dancing until they landed as they had last time: Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke.

"Now then, the two displayed on the board, come forward," Hayate said calmly. The two genin stepped up and Hayate raised his hands. "All right, the two for the first battle have been selected. Any objections?"

"No," Yoroi called.

"All right," Sasuke smirked. Orochimaru smiled and I clenched my fist.

"Eh, now then; we will begin the first battle. Everyone else, please move to the upper levels," he coughed. "Now then, let's begin."

The battle went much faster than it had last time. Without the seal, Sasuke could use his Sharingan to it's full potential. He was able to evade Yoroi's chakra absorption technique as soon as he realized what he was doing. With the nintaijutsu I suspected Kakashi had been teaching him, the battle was over in minutes.

"Stop," Hayate ordered. Hr walked to Yoroi's now unconscious body, Sasuke standing tall a few feet away. "This match is over. The winner of the first battle is Uchiha Sasuke. You move onto the finals," he told him. Sasuke smiled victoriously before coming up the steps to meet us on the upper level.

"Eh, now than… We'll get started with the second match right away." The board lit up again, now displaying Abumi Zaku vs. Aburame Shino.

The preliminaries went as they had last time, the same victors and the same losers with the exception of my Hina-chan. When she was called down to battle Neji, she switched away from the gentle fist and going into the early stages of the warau akuma, which I'd been teaching her. Neji never stood a chance facing unknown and effective techniques.

When Haku was picked to go against Kiba, he laughed again. His laughter ended when he and Akamaru found themselves in a dome of ice that not even Fang over Fang could destroy. When the mirrors were dismissed, both Kiba and Akamaru were temporarily paralyzed, vaguely resembling porcupines.

The date set for the third and final exam, the genin and their jounin sensei talked about preparations for the exam and how they would train. Before I could get ambushed by Haku, looking for more medical ninjutsu training, I separated myself from the crowd and tracked down Hayate.

"Hayate-san!" I shouted, waving at the ever-sick special jounin. He glanced over at me, smiling slightly.

"Oh, hello Naruto. What is it?"

"I was wondering if I could convince you to train one of my students in kenjutsu. I'm going to be away from Konoha for a while on a solo mission," I explained. Hayate glanced back at Team Seven, noting Sasuke's sword.

"The Uchiha?"

"Yeah, Sasuke. I've given him my old katana, Kamisora, but I think a straight sword would be better for him. I was going to talk to you about that as well." Hayate studied the Uchiha for a while, watching how he moved. "I'll really owe you a favor," I coaxed. "Kiiroi Kitsune favor…"

He sighed, smiling as he coughed.

"All right, I'll help him," he agreed.

"Thanks! Don't worry about having to train him all the time, he knows he can go to Zabuza and myself when I return." Hayate only nodded and walked away. I chuckled at the ever-sick ninja and walked back to Team Seven.

"Naruto-sensei, can you help me with my medical ninjutsu?" Sakura asked, still fuming after her tie with Ino. I shook my head sadly.

"I can't, I'm going away for a while," I said apologetically. Sakura pouted.

"How long is a while?" Haku asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I'm being sent on a mission, it could take anywhere from two days till after the Chuunin Exams. I'll try to be back as soon as possible to help you prepare, but I can't promise anything." Sasuke looked at me with an expression I couldn't identify.

"What kind of mission?"

"I'm going to track down and bring back two exceptionally powerful ninja: Tsunade the Slug Sannin and Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Finding Tsunade is the main objective, finding Jiraiya is more personal for me." Sakura glanced up at me, confused, and I sighed. "Jiraiya is my godfather. My father named me after the protagonist of Jiraiya's first book, Tales of a Gutsy Ninja. On the other hand, Tsunade is perhaps the best medical ninja in history, better than me in a lot of things. I'm going to bring her back so she can be your teacher, Sakura, while I focus on Haku."

Looking appeased, Sakura backed down. Sasuke wasn't that easily assuaged, staring at me with that unknown expression.

"What about your wedding? Does Hinata know that you might not be back in time?"

"I'll be back for the wedding, that I can promise. Hina-chan's necklace has a Hiraishin seal on the back of it. All she has to do is send a little chakra to the charm before the wedding and I'll come right away. Speaking of which," I pulled out a scroll from my Sage coat. Unsealing it, I took out three necklaces, each with a different charm. The first was a wolf, the second a snake, and the third a small slug, for Haku, Sasuke, and Sakura respectively. I passed each their necklace, turning the charms over to show the Hiraishin seal. "If you ever need me, concentrate chakra into the seal and I will feel it."

"Why is mine a snake?" Sasuke asked, anxious and confused, probably remembering our encounter in the Forest of Death.

"I picked the charms based on your natural summons, the summons that will be easiest for you to summon on a regular basis. My natural summons are foxes. I'm not sure if that's because I'm Kyuu's jinchuuriki or is that would've been my normal summons. I'm like a fox; I protect what I hold special and I have the senses of a fox. Sasuke, you are similar to a snake. You are strong offensively, making up for low defenses. You rely on your own speed to watch your back, you don't let your team intervene if you think you can handle the challenge. You have a more subtle chakra signature than the girls and would probably make a good spy. Sakura, don't get grossed out but you are similar to slugs. That's not an insult; slugs have a strong defense to balance out their lack of raw power. Slugs are the natural summons of Tsunade and often help her in her medical ninjutsu. Haku, you are loyal and cunning, two attributes associated with the wolf. Wolves do not have as good senses as foxes nor are they as fast, but they are stronger in terms of raw power. If you sign the wolf summoning contract, I assume that your senses will heighten, just as mine did when I signed the fox contract.

"I know where all three contracts are at this moment. The wolf contract is in Ame but I may be able to pull a few strings. The holder of that contract is a friend of mine. The slug contract is currently held by Senju Tsunade, assuming she hasn't gambled it away. When I find her, I'll see if she'll let you sign the contract, Sakura. Unfortunately, I can't get the snake contract. If things go according to plan, I should have it in my possession at the end of the Chuunin Exams. If not, I'm not sure I'll be able to find it."

"He has it, doesn't he?" Sasuke asked quietly. I nodded.

"Yes. I'll try to get it but I can't make any promises. If he doesn't tell me where it is before I kill him, I'll have to track down his subordinates. Orochimaru has bases scattered all over the continent; it could be in any one of two dozen," I said quietly. Sasuke nodded slowly, no anger in his eyes. I stretched. "I'm going to go pack. Things to do, people to see, other people to threaten," I smiled. "Oh, Sasuke, I convinced Hayate to teach you in kenjutsu. Ignore his coughing, he's an expert in kenjutsu. If he changes your blade, let him. I think a straighter sword will work better for your fighting style. Ja ne."

Haku grabbed my arm and we Hiraishined back to the Namikaze manor. I grabbed the already packed scrolls off of my bed and put them in various pockets. Glancing at the large summoning contract leaning on my wall, I sighed and attached it to my lower back. I glanced in the mirror and I smiled. If I was four years older, I'd look identical from how I looked during the Pain invasion. My eyes flashed almost warningly as I unsealed my yellow mask. I turned away from my reflection as I tied the mask on over my face, ready to leave.

~One Week Later~

I glanced at the cards in my hand then around the round table. Knowing how Tsunade thought, I left Konoha for the first poker tournament in the largest gambling town I could find. Sure enough, the blonde kunoichi sat across from me, narrowing her eyes as I raised. She was silent, glancing in between my mask and her cards before she raised, matching me and then some.

"I never thought the Kiiroi Kitsune was a gambler," she said after a long silence. I shrugged and smiled under my mask.

"I'm not," I said, glancing at the other players. "I'm on a mission. If I wanted to find you, I needed to go gambling," I smirked. Tsunade tightened her hand on her cards, the other hand twitching towards a kunai.

"You got guts, kid. Not many people would take a mission to find me," she smiled evilly. I shrugged.

"I requested this mission. I'm too much like my dad: don't know when to quit but usually get what we want."

"And who is your father?" she asked, going all in. I pushed the rest of my chips to the center and smiled under my mask.

"Wouldn't you like to know? I'll give you a hint: he was a hero." Tsunade raised an eyebrow, scoffing.

"I've had enough of heroes. They never last," she said, glancing around her as the other players folded. I sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry for your loss, both of them. They didn't deserve that," I said. The dealer nodded at Tsunade and she showed her cards to reveal a straight. The dealer looked at me and I showed my royal flush. Silence fell and Tsunade stood from the table.

"What do you know about that?" she yelled at me. I stood, leaving the chips behind. "You have no-" She was cut off as I walked up to her, invading her personal space.

"Come with me," I said, spinning on my heel and walking out of the casino. Tsunade followed grudgingly, taking my chips with her. I smiled at the Slug Sannin. Some things never change.

"What do you want, Kiiroi Kitsune?" We stood in a dirty alley, away from the town. I sighed again.

"My father was a hero. He died fighting for what he believed in, just like Dan and Nawaki did."

"Then your father was a fool," she spat. I moved my hand to my face, lifting the mask away from my features. Tsunade gasped at the resemblance.

"Don't insult my father. I'm only here asking you to do me a favor. One Kiiroi Kitsune favor is worth a lot more than the chips in your hand and you can't lose it."

"You're a kid!"

"No, I am a ninja. The second I put on this headband, I wasn't a child anymore. I am a jounin in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I respect you, Tsunade. Don't tell me I was wrong to."

"What kind of favor?" she asked warily. I smiled.

"Two weeks of your time. In my genin team, I have one student who has the most potential as a medical ninja that I've seen in a long time. So much that I don't trust myself to teach her correctly. I want you to spend two weeks with her before the final exam of the Chuunin Exams. If she doesn't meet your standards, you can forget it ever happened."

"What's her name?"

"Haruno Sakura. She is twelve years old, a rookie genin. She knows the mystical palm technique and how to help chakra exhaustion. Sakura has earth natured chakra and can perform the earth dome prison, even though it drains her at her current level of chakra. She has the best chakra control I've seen in my travels, which is saying a lot. Also, her natural summons are slugs."

At the mention of her summons, Tsunade smiled.

"You should've said that first. So, let me get this straight: I go back to Konoha with you and spend two weeks training some kunoichi in medical ninjutsu?"

"Basically. If you agree, you, Shizune, and Tonton can all stay in the Namikaze compound. Right now, the only people living in the entire compound are myself, Yuki Haku, and Momochi Zabuza."

"The Demon of the Bloody Mist?"

"The former. I… convinced the council to grant them Konoha citizenship. Zabuza is currently a jounin and Haku, his former student, is a genin in my team."

"Who's on your team?" she asked, walking back to the street.

"Well, at the beginning of the year there were an uneven number of genin. Right after my graduation from the Academy, I took the jounin test. I defeated four jounin and became a jounin sensei alongside Hatake Kakashi. Our team only had two genin, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, until our first C-ranked mission. The mission turned A-rank when we encountered Zabuza, my old kenjutsu teacher. He agreed to stop hunting the man we were guarding and came back to Konoha with us. Haku joined the team, Team Seven, for the length of the Chuunin Exams."

We maintained silence for the rest of the walk to Tsunade's hotel. Walking into the room, I spotted Shizune carrying Tonton.

"Shizune this is…" she glanced at me and I remembered that she didn't know Kiiroi Kitsune's real name.

"My name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. I'm a Konoha jounin. I'm here to escort you back to Konoha until the end of the Chuunin Exams." Shizune nodded confusedly, distracted when Tonton began to squirm.

"Tonton… What's wrong?" she asked the pig. Tonton glanced at me and squealed. I took a step back apologetically.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. Don't worry about that. Most animals react like that around me," I said, scratching the back of my head. Shizune looked confused while Tsunade noted the whiskers on my face and nodded slowly.

"Naruto… Are you the-" she began to ask. I glanced at her and nodded.

"Yep. You don't have to worry about me going ballistic, I improved the seal so he can't take over." I didn't mention that he wouldn't, assuming that the explanation would be long and tiring. "There is just one stop we need to make on the way back to Konoha."

"Where?" Tsunade asked, trying to calm the pig.

"I need to talk to Jiraiya, he's beginning to poke around my spy network. Right now, he's in-"

"Hot Springs Country?" Tsunade guessed. I nodded and she reddened angrily. "Pervert."

"Tell me about it, I was raised by Kakashi," I said rolling my eyes. "Kakashi thinks Ero-sennin is a good author and he wasn't talking about Tales of a Gutsy Ninja."

Shizune nodded in understanding and Tsunade reached for a bottle of sake. I sighed. Some things never change.

~Two Days Later~

"Heh heh heh." Ero-sennin's perverted giggle was picked up by my ears. My palm flew to my forehead and Tsunade growled.

"Where is he?" she snarled. I pointed towards the women's spa and Tsunade rolled up her sleeve, ready to beat the crap out of her former teammate. Minutes later, screams of pain echoed off of the water. Shizune and I winced in unison.

"You- stupid- perverted-" Tsunade growled. I walked around the fence and saw the Toad Sage, cowering as Tsunade raised her fist. I cleared my throat and she glared at me.

"I need to talk to him alive, Tsunade," I said, neglecting the obaachan out of respect for my life and safety. She growled but stood down. Jiraiya glanced at the fence behind him and chuckled, sitting up.

"Kiiroi Kitsune? Why are you hanging around Tsunade-hime?" he asked. I stalked over to him and put my hand over the hole in the fence.

"Jiraiya, the self proclaimed world's biggest pervert. I should kick your ass," I said clearly. I grabbed his shirt with both hands and pulled him up. His eyebrows drew themselves together and Tsunade grinned.

"Can I know what I did before I kick your ass?" he asked, smirking. I raised an eyebrow, glancing at the Slug Sannin.

"He's cheeky. I'm surprised you didn't kill him," I said. Tsunade chuckled and shrugged.

"Hiruzen-sensei was against it."

"Funny, he didn't say a thing to me," I said, releasing the toad sage. "I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to tell you to stop screwing with my spy network. I'm a Konoha nin, your ally."

"And why should I believe that?" he chuckled. My hand went to my mask once more, taking it off. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he recognized my spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. "Naruto?"

"Hey, Ero-sennin," I chuckled, my hand at the back of my neck. Shizune laughed behind Tsunade as Jiraiya's jaw fell.

"Bet he didn't expect that," she whispered. I chuckled and grabbed the man by his hair, pulling him away from the spas before he could do anymore 'research'.

"So why do you want me in Konoha?" Jiraiya asked, sitting on the couch of our hotel room. I shook my head tiredly.

"I'm getting married. No you can't come to the bachelor's party, the guys already threw it. No, I won't tell you anything that happened. No, if someone else tells you, you cannot use it in your books. Next question," I said expectantly. Jiraiya's mouth closed, thinking.

"Who's the girl?"

"Hyuuga Hinata-chan, the eldest of the Main house," I said. Jiraiya gave a low whistle.

"I'm not sure if I should say good job or good luck… A Main house Hyuuga?" he shrugged. I shook my head, ready to defend her.

"She's different from the other Hyuuga. She cares about people that her father wouldn't. She wants to change the Hyuuga clan into something better than it is now. She knows all about Kyuubi and understands. Kyuu even let her sign his summoning contract," I said. Jiraiya's eyes bulged.

"She signed a demon summoning contract? That should be impossible!"

"It isn't impossible, just unlikely. I signed the contract when I was… four? I don't remember. Kakashi was there in case anything happened," I said, reassuring my godfather. "The reason demon contracts have such a bad reputation is because the people who sign them don't understand the rules. Unlike the other summons where you sign them and then get the approval of the boss, you need to get the approval of the boss before you sign it. If you don't, the scroll will act defensively and protect itself from you, most likely killing you in the process."

"So… You're friendly with the Kyuubi?"

"Best friends. He coached me through Sage mode when I was younger." Once again, Jiraiya's eyes popped out of his head.

"You- you know-"

"Senjutsu? Yes. It's strange though… There are different side effects for my Sage mode and yours'. Instead of getting a few fox-like traits, which I already have, I fully transform into a demon fox. It's strange…"

"Demon fox… you… how… traits…" Jiraiya had had enough. His brain began to melt and I sighed, glancing at the kunoichi. Not wanting to have to wait for him to recover, I pushed chakra to my hand. My fingertips lit up with green energy and I poked him in the forehead. Jiraiya jumped at the chakra and pulled out a kunai. I jumped back, drawing Mizuchi in an arc to deflect the projectile.

"Better?" I asked, sheathing my katana. Jiraiya glanced up before nodding. "Good. Everyone grab your stuff, we're leaving now," I ordered.

Narrowing their eyes, the two Sannin collected their belongs. Shizune picked up Tonton and walked over to me, the pig squealing in protest. Sighing, I hide Kyuubi's chakra as best I could. The pig immediately calmed down and Shizune looked at me, surprised.

"What'd you do?"

"Hide Kyuu's chakra. I can't do it for very long, but I can maintain it long enough for a Hiraishin back to Konoha." At mention of my father's signature jutsu, the two Sannin stopped and turned to me. "Yes, I can do the Hiraishin. Hurry up, I want to get back before Anko goes looking for Orochimaru."

Again, I said the wrong thing. Jiraiya clenched his fist and Tsunade narrowed her eyes almost worriedly.

"Orochimaru?" she asked, looking for confirmation. I nodded slowly.

"He attacked during the second part of the Chuunin Exams. He's looking for his next body." Looking a lot less calm, they began to gather random belongings from the room. When they finished, I held out my arm and each shifted their bundles to their other arm or their back. "Close your eyes. It's a little disorienting."

Not obeying my own rules, I kept my eyes open as I concentrated on the Hiraishin kunai I had left in my backyard, a short distance from the porch. I tried to make the Hiraishin as fast as possible, in between blinks. I shut my eyes for half a second and pushed us through space. When I opened my eyes, I saw the sunset reflecting off my pool.

"Naruto-sensei!" I heard a voice shout. Used to the familiar greeting, I ducked before I could get tackled to the ground. Standing, I smiled at Haku, now glaring at me from the ground.

"It's nice to see you too," I chuckled. Haku stood with as much dignity as she could, finally noticing the three other ninja.

"And these are…?"

"Oh, yeah. Yuki Haku, I'd like to introduce you to Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, Senju Tsunade, the Slug Sannin, and Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice."

"I don't think she's been my apprentice for a while," Tsunade said, looking at the raven haired girl fondly. Shizune blushed, hugging Tonton tighter.

"And, that, is Tonton," I said, pointing to the pig. Haku nodded and smiled at the ninja before looking back at me.

"Sasuke is training with Zabuza-san. Sakura-chan and Ino are in the clearing with Hinata-chan getting ready for the wedding," Haku reported. I nodded, still smiling.

"Okay, then. Jiraiya, I'm trusting you to tell Hiruzen that I'm back with Tsunade and Shizune. Mission successful and all that. I'll give him the details later. Shizune-chan, you can go inside and pick out any of the rooms on the second or third floor, just don't go in the doors that have Kyuubi drawn on them." Shizune and Jiraiya nodded and left, leaving myself, Haku, and Tsunade.

"What about me?"

"You are coming with Haku and I to meet your new student," I said, holding out my arm again. The two kunoichi held on and I focus on the Hiraishin I had placed on the gazebo.

Opening my eyes to the clearing, I smiled at the familiar magic. Spotting pink hair among a group of girls, I shouted for Sakura.

"Oi, Sakura!" I called. Sakura's head shot up and she glanced around the clearing. Seeing me, she grinned excitedly before running to meet us.

"Naruto-sensei, I thought you wouldn't be back for at least another week," she said, hugging me. I chuckled and pulled back.

"The mission was easier than I thought it'd be. Haruno Sakura, meet Senju Tsunade, your new shishou."