Chapter 13: Jiraiya the Toad Sage


June 7th, 64 AFL

It was early in the morning when Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze awoke from his slumber to the sounds of Sakura's breathing on his shoulder. He slowly looked around the room and saw Hinata in her hospital bed and suddenly the events of the last few days replayed themselves in the boy's mind.

Remembering Kakashi's words from yesterday Naruto decided he would head to his apartment for a quick shower and breakfast before meeting his mystery trainer at the hot springs. He tried getting to his feet without disturbing the cherry blossom sitting next to him but it was to little avail as she suddenly awoke, blinking a few times before looking his way,

"Are you heading out now?" she asked him while he stood by Hinata's bedside gazing at her with affection, "Yea, I'll need all the time I can get if I'm going to defeat Neji and avenge Hinata, believe it, Sakura-chan," he stated honestly. Sakura looked at Naruto and Hinata with a small smile before the boy started speaking again,

"I promise you Hinata-hime, I'm going to prove that everything you said in that arena was true," he said softly as he rubbed his fingers over her hand and then slowly leaned down and kissed her cheek. With that Naruto straightened himself up and embraced Sakura tightly,

"Watch over her for me please, I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to either of you," he asked causing the young kunoichi to blush and smile, "I promise Naruto-kun, you just train hard and make sure to kick Neji's ass when you get back, cha!" she said happily trying to heighten his spirits. Naruto smiled back before tightening their embrace just a little and pecking her forehead, with that he waved goodbye and left for his apartment.

As soon as the blonde arrived he showered quickly before scarfing down half a dozen bowls of whole grain cereal. With those tasks thoroughly finished he dressed in one of his standard orange jumpsuits strapped his cloak to his back, grabbed his weapon holster and headed for the hot springs.

Once Naruto arrived he was greeted by the man he knew only as Konohamaru's closet pervert of a sensei Ebisu, "Ebsiu sensei no offense but what exactly do you have to teach me that's going to be of any use," the blonde asked Ebisu causing him to chuckle. He formed a quick hand sign and quickly walked into the hot springs, without falling in.

"Wow sensei you can walk on water," Naruto grinned somewhat impressed. Ebisu continued to chuckle, "You can to Naruto, just try it but don't worry if you don't…" Ebisu was cut off as the blonde easily walked onto the water, stumbling at first but after a good five minutes Naruto had mastered the technique. "So what's next sensei?" the blonde grinned at the man causing him to sigh,

"The truth is Naruto I didn't expect you to master that so quickly someone else is supposed to show up here sometime today and take over for me but until then all I have for you is to practice the water walking technique," Ebsiu finished causing the blonde to scowl, "So your just throwing me away to, whatever I'll just work on building and controlling my chakra then, believe it,

Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted causing four clones to appear and just like the original they all began practicing his new technique. Ebsiu looked at the boy astonished as he asked, "Naruto where did you get that idea, to implement your clones into your training I mean?" The original Naruto looked to man with a smile as he told him,

"Sakura-chan figured it out during her match, we figured if the clones experience the same things we do, then training should work the same way, you know," he finished as he began concentrating at building his chakra and improving his control. Ebisu smiled at the young blonde for once as he looked at the boy who he simply viewed at as the demon brat just a few short months before,

'I was so wrong about you Naruto, first you work your way up from dead last of your year to someone potentially worthy of becoming a chunin. Then you help and inspire young Konohamaru in a way I never possibly could. I am proud and grateful to be your sensei Naruto and I truly am sorry,' the man thought as he just watched the young ninja and his clones train for several hours stopping only for very short breaks every now and again.

Without warning Ebisu's attention was snapped from the genin in training to the sight of an old white haired man who was giggling slightly while glancing through a peephole. Ebsiu smirked before fixing his glasses and charging the aged pervert full force screaming,

"How dishonorable peeking in the women's bath house is unforgivable, your despicable actions will continue no longer!" Naruto turned his head in response and saw his sensei charging an old man who was now sitting upon a toad that was roughly three times the size of it's rider. Without warning the toad opened his mouth extending his lengthy tongue grabbing poor Ebisu and launching him high into the sky all the way to the other side of the Leaf Village while it's rider screamed,

"Shut up you dumb ass, do you want to get us caught!" The man with long white hair standing at the edge of the spring then turned his gaze to the genin as he began eyeing him oddly. "Umm, who are you and why did you send my sensei into orbit?" the blonde questioned causing the old man to grin mischievously, "I am Jiraiya the Toad Sage of Mt. Myoboku!" he nearly yelled causing the blonde to wonder, 'Who is this nutcase?' he thought and as if reading the boy's mind he answered smugly,

"I'm your real trainer," was all he said before the blonde baka fell into the hot springs with a look of utter shock and devastation. Jiraiya started laughing hysterically at his secret godson's reaction but held his hand out to help him out of the water which caused the shocked blonde to actually smile as he got to his feet, "So what's the plan Pervy Sage!" he said with excitement causing the sannin to sigh,

'Damn, already no respect,' he looked at Naruto again and couldn't help but match the boy's smile with his own as he replied, "You look exhausted, come on grab your stuff and follow me, I have a camp site set up just outside of the village and don't call me Pervy Sage," he finished and started heading toward the direction of the village gates and out of the hot springs. Naruto quickly got to his feet, grabbed his gear and followed close behind the elder man as he said gratefully,

"Thanks Ero-sensei, you know I was wondering who was I going to find to train me after Kakashi dumped me for the teme but now I see what he meant, believe it!" he stated grinning like the fool he was. Jiraiya grinned for a moment before suddenly exploding, "Don't call me Ero-sensei either you brat!" he yelled out but the blonde only chuckled hearing no malice in his new sensei's voice,

"Ok it was one or the other but since you wouldn't even let me have me one I think I'll just use both, believe it, Pervy Sage, Ero-sensei!" he declared while laughing and then sprinting ahead of the white haired man with delight apparent in his voice and expression. Pervy Sage sighed again but smiled as he quickened his pace to match the boy's and the two quickly made their way to Jiraiya's campsite before having a tasty meal. As soon as Naruto was done devouring everything in sight he collapsed into a state of utter bliss into the world of his dreams.


June 8th, 64 AFL

Early the next morning a groggy looking blonde was standing in front of a grinning Jiraiya as he yawned the blonde heard the sounds of girls giggling nearby and could hear the sound of water running. He looked past the older man to see just enough of a gap through the trees and bushes to spot a waterfall with several gorgeous women swimming in the pool at the waterfall's bottom. Naruto's attention returned to the sage and seeing the man's massive nosebleed could only think,

'Great he's an even bigger pervert than Kakashi sensei,' "So who the hell are you really!" he suddenly asked again. Jiraiya only smiled as he suddenly announced loudly again, "I'm your trainer and like I said before, my name is Jiraiya and I'm the toad sage of Mt. Myoboku," he repeated but seeing the blonde's scowl he decided to add, "I was also the teacher of the Fourth Hokage," Naruto's eyes widened and he asked without hesitation,

"Wait you trained my dad!" Pervy Sage maintained his composure but inside his emotions were mixed in a state of shock and anger, 'Shit, who fucking told him!' the sage thought but started laughing trying to cover up his true involvement with Minato Namikaze, "Yeah a really long time ago and now aren't you lucky to have me as a trainer," he teased. Naruto huffed, this guy was hiding something but he knew he couldn't force it out of the older man.

Remembering Hinata in her bed back at the hospital he decided it was best to drop the subject for now and get down to training, "Ok Ero-sensei, so what do you have to teach me?" he asked genuinely curious as to what the old pervert had up his sleeve. Pervy Sage grinned at the blonde's change in subject, "Well, what do you got?" he asked his young apprentice.

Naruto scratched his head and started raising fingers as he listed his techniques using his hand, "Water walking, tree climbing, transformation, and shadow clones," he finished proudly. Pervy Sage only frowned, he stayed that way for a few moments before throwing his arm's up into the air while constantly hearing the giggling girls behind them, 'This kid's not advanced enough yet, damn you Kakashi,' he thought. He looked back to his secret god son as he replied seriously enough so the blonde would get the message,

"Screw this, your not advanced enough for me yet," he announced and with that he moved to the perfect peeking position to spy on the lovely lady's swimming area. Naruto fell over backwards but got to his feet in anger and frustration as he screamed out, "Pervy Sage, ero-sensei, your a joke, a joke, believe it!," he repeated but just as quickly an extraordinary idea came to mind causing him to smirk oddly enough in a more Sasuke like manner than Naruto,

'Ok pervert you want girls I'll give you girls,' he thought. Suddenly the pervert felt a tap on his shoulder but shoved it away ignoring it until he heard a desperately cute and seductive voice, "Oh Jiraiya-sama how can you be so rough," he heard, in surround sound. Pervy Sage instantly turned around to see several Narukos surrounding him. The female clones started leaning up against him and the suddenly the elder knew no more as he passed out from a mix of blood loss, shock, and bad thoughts flowing through his mind.

Unfortunately for Naruto as he dispersed his harem jutsu the girls swimming in the area heard the pervert's cry of pleasure and were all surrounding the pair giving the two a look he knew all too well, "Harem crap," Naruto muttered under his breath and with that the girls began their vengeful assault on the blonde boy and his sensei who was still bleeding from his noise and lost in the world of his fantasies.

A few minutes later Jiraiya recovered and got to his feet, he noticed the girls had all vanished, including the ones in the swimming area. He immediately turned to Naruto but the blonde was in his own dream world as he muttered incoherently in his sleep, "They hit hard but nowhere near as hard as my Sakura-hime, believe it," he giggled while still passed out.

Pervy Sage could only sigh, "Damn masochist," the white haired man muttered but as he started to wake the blonde he suddenly shot up and looked around worriedly for a second before seeing the old man and sighing in relief. Jiraiya grinned at the boy,

"I was wrong, your a genius kid, don't worry I'll train you good," he said but Naruto only looked at him with fire in his eyes, "Look, I really don't have much time and the truth is…" Naruto explained the situation with Neji and Hinata as well as the Hyuga clan's and it's aggravating rules. The old perv suddenly cocked at smug smile,

"So your bonded with the Hyuga heiress then," Naruto could only return the man's smile, "Yeah, the sweetest moonlight, and the feistiest cherry blossom," he replied while gazing into the clear blue sky caught in some sort of daydream. Jiraiya smiled but asked curiously,

"What do you mean?" Naruto's attention snapped back to his Ero-sensei, "That doesn't matter right now, please Ero-sensei, I need to get stronger now, believe it!" he said in desperation.


A few minutes later Naruto and Jiraiya were sitting across from each other as the elder of the pair pulled up a large scroll, "This is the toad summoning contract, once you sign it you'll gain the ability to summon toads in combat just like me and your dad could," Pervy Sage explained happily. Naruto signed the scroll without hesitation and the sage quickly taught the boy the correct hand signs. Naruto went to try but the pervert stopped him,

"Wait take off your shirt and jacket first," Naruto actually turned around and scowled at him, "Why the hell would you want to see my seal, that's the only thing i can think of Pervy Sage or whoever the hell you really are!" he said in anger. Naruto didn't want anyone except Oji-san tampering with that thing, he never wanted to use the evil power he had displayed on the bridge again, not after killing Haku, not after almost killing Sasuke. Jiraiya actually lost a bit of his composure from the boy's reaction, 'Damn you Sarutobi teme sensei!' he thought in annoyance. The old pervert could only sigh as he explained,

"I just want to make sure that the seal is secure, remember I was your dad's sensei. I started him in seal work, although he eventually surpassed me," the sage reluctantly admitted. Naruto begrudgingly agreed and removed his top to reveal his stomach, quickly forming a hand sign infusing his chakra causing the fox's seal to appear. Jiraiya examined the seal closely, "Have you ever felt two chakra's inside of you?" he asked causing the blonde to frown,

"Yes there's my chakra and the nine-tails but one time I got lost in so much hate and rage that I ended up losing complete control over my body and turned into nothing more than a monster," he said in a solemn tone. "I thought I was going to kill everyone around me and I couldn't stop myself, not even calming down helped and it was so weird I met the nine-tails but he claimed he wasn't in control either. It was like there was something else there or our minds had melded together creating some kind of terrifying inhuman creature or something," the blonde shuttered reliving that fateful day. He slowly started to continue,

"But before I could hurt Sasuke, I heard Sakura-chan's voice and I was suddenly in complete control of my body again and for some odd reason the seal's on my left hand were glowing, believe it" he elaborated while scratching his head. Jiraiya looked at his god son with concern and worry as he wondered to himself,

'What the hell happened when you used the reaper death seal Minato and where did you even find the soul seal jutsu formula you just suddenly had it and forced it into law along with pushing for your clan and Kushina's to be recognized as council level clans, that really wasn't like you. What the hell is going on? What does that jutsu really do and how is affecting Naruto and the nine-tails? The seal you used to contain the beast is meant to siphon it's chakra directly into Naruto and that's what he said has been happening lately but what the hell happened on that bridge? I'll have to have a word with Kakashi and see if he noticed anything weird,' then something clicked in the old pervert's head.

"Wait your bonded with two girls!" Pervy Sage screamed out and suddenly Naruto shouted, "Summoning Jutsu!" and instantaneously a tadpole with a tail and two front legs appeared. Naruto looked back to his sensei with annoyance written all over his face, "Yes and you distracted me Ero-sensei, believe it, trying again," the blonde stated with conviction while weaving through hand signs.

As Naruto practiced his new jutsu with little progress Jiraiya couldn't help but think of all the scenarios he would be having if he had two girls to share his life with. 'I need to meet his girlfriends, then I can properly tease him,' Jiraiya planned, as the hours ticked on by and as the sunset approached, the blonde finally passed out from chakra exhaustion and more than likely ramen deficiency.

Jiraiya chuckled as he carried his apprentice to their tent and laid him down in his sleeping bag watching the baka hug a miniature toad while muttering, "Hinata-hime you look so cute when you wear orange, believe it," he mumbled in his sleep with a smile. The sage departed heading to the training grounds he knew Kakashi was personally training the last of the Uchiha.

Arriving around half an hour later he saw said Uchiha departing with the Yamanaka heiress a small smile actually at the corner of his lips causing Jiriaya to nod contently with the boy's slowly improving attitude but once he saw Sasuke lip the word, "Chidori," Jiraiya's sweat dropped,

'What the hell is he thinking teaching a boy like that a move that's meant for assaniation,' he thought in anger glaring at the silver haired jonin who had noticed his presence and was walking toward the sannin. Jiraiya could only sigh in aggravation remembering the initial reason he was here, "Did you notice anything odd about Naruto during your mission in the Land of Waves," he asked concern evident in his tone. Kakashi replied,

"Yes, he lost control of the nine-tails but managed to suppress the beast. Apparently it had something to do with the seals on Naruto and Sakura's hands and their affection for each other but everything else is still a mystery," he said just as puzzled at the situation. Pervy Sage scratched his chin in thought, "I see, well that mystery will reveal itself in time I guess, more importantly…" Jiraiya's expression actually turned frighnting for a moment,

"What the fuck were you thinking teaching a kid that messed up the Chidori!" he barked out but Kakashi kept his composure as he defended his protege, "You don't know a damn thing about the real Sasuke Uchiha. That jutsu was created to help and defend the people that you love and I told him that specifically. He will not betray my trust, I have faith in him and Naruto does too!" he stated sternly.

The old pervert was angry but Kakashi was right he didn't know Sasuke, he honestly didn't know Naruto too well yet either. He could only huff in annoyance, "Fine, do what you want, I have to go back to Naruto," he replied simply and slowly returned to their shared campsite worrying about the blonde baka and remembering his old rivalry with Orochimaru wondering if the two boys were going through similar trials. Once he finally made his way back he found the son of the Fourth fast asleep and Jiraiya could only smile as he got into his own sleeping bag and drifted off as well.


June 9th, 64 AFL

The next day Naruto was continuing to practice his newly acquired summoning technique making little but begrudgingly slow progress. Pervy Sage groaned in annoyance and disappointment, "You know, if you drain your chakra to absolute zero we can maybe get you access to the nine-tails chakra and then you could summon any toad no problem," he tried explaining. Naruto scowled at him,

"No way in hell, I am never using that power again, not after what I almost did to Sasuke, not after what I could have potentially done to Sakura-chan and Kakashi sensei," he replied and added a middle finger for emphasis as he returned to his training continuing to make little progress as the hours ticked on by.

Late that night a nervous girl who had just received a leaf headband was having a meeting with the Hokage. She gave him her right hand and heard him shout, "Sacred Art - Soul Seal Jutsu!" Somewhere else in the leaf at the exact same time, a true leaf shinobi named Hayate Gecko gave his life for his village and his comrades dying with his will of fire still intact.


June 20th, 64 AFL

It was a warm summer day when Sakura walked into the Yamanaka flower shop and was instantly greeted by her best friend, "What's up Uzumaki-forehead," Ino said teasingly. Sakura actually smiled a bit more, "Hinata's getting out of the hospital today, I was planning on getting her some flowers and picking her up," the cherry blossom explained. Ino smiled as she picked out her own set,

"I might as well go with you and lets get something for Lee too I feel really bad for him," the platinum blonde admitted. Sakura nodded and Ino and herself picked out their choices and headed toward the hospital to meet up with their friends. On the way they walked passed the local barbecue place inadvertently meeting up with the rest of Team 10.

"Hi Asuma sensei, Choji, Shikamaru," Ino said happily causing Shikamaru to scoff, "Yeah good to see you to Ino it's a shame Asuma sensei isn't putting you through hell like he is with Choji and I," he replied. Choji kept stuffing his face and chose not acknowledge either of the girls. Ino glared at him for a moment before laughing, "Well I'll see you guys later," she said and with that Sakura and Ino returned to their previous journey.

A few minutes later Choji finished his meal and the three headed back toward the training grounds and the two boys had their own varying thoughts. 'This is such a drag, if I have any chance in hell of defeating Temari, I'll have to get impossibly stronger, so damn troublesome… or outsmart her,' Shikamaru contemplated. "If Sasuke thinks I'm strong, I know I can become as good as him and then maybe…" Choji expression shifted to one of giggles and bliss but he quickly snapped out of it and put on a look of determination as the trio entered the training grounds.

Meanwhile Sakura and Ino had finally met up with Hinata, "Hey Hinata are you feeling better? Are you ready to go?" Sakura asked her with a smile as she entered the Hyuga's princess hospital room and handed her the flowers she had picked out for her. Hinata smiled back before embracing the cherry blossom and replying,

"Yeah thank you Sakura for watching over me, you know," she said with sincerity and appreciation. Sakura released the raven haired Hyuga before Ino cut in, "You two are sweet and all but we have someone else to check on to remember forehead," she stated in a bossy tone. Hinata looked at the pair confused before Sakura elaborated,

"Lee's still here we decided we would pay him a visit as well considering…" Hinata realized at once, she had heard rumors about Lee but Sakura had definitely confirmed it, poor Lee would never be a shinobi again. Hinata almost teared up from the boy's situation but Sakura grabbed her hand before she could start, "Come on Hinata, I'm sure everything will be ok, let's just be thankful, that it wasn't, well you know," Sakura explained as she began leading her out of her room and towards Lee's.

Hinata frowned realizing what Sakura meant but looked up when she felt another hand in her free one. She saw Ino smiling at her, "Seriously Hinata smile, your starting to depress me now," the blonde teased. Hinata finally smiled feeling a bit better and the three girls slowly made their way to the bushy browed genin's room. Once they found the right room the tree proceeded inside but saw it was completely vacant,

"What the hell, where is he?" Ino said with some annoyance but also worry clear in her statement. The girl's searched his room for any clues and that's when Hinata saw him and gasped, "Sakura, Ino-san look, look!" she said in a panic as she pointed out the window. The cherry blossom and the platinum blonde quickly rushed to see what the heiress was pointing at and low and behold there was Lee doing one-handed push-ups, with a shattered arm and leg,

"What the hell does that damn baka think he's doing?!" Sakura yelled. The trio looked at eachother shock, anger, and concern written on all three of their beautiful faces before they rushed out the door to get to Lee before he could worsen his terrible condition even more. Within minutes the girls were in front of the boy, "Baka that's enough you're going to make your injuries even worse!" Sakura tried to explain loudly. "Sakura's right dumbass you're pushing yourself way too hard," Ino added but Lee suddenly scowled at the pair of them.

"You don't understand, I know I will become a great ninja, if I can just… just get to one thousand push-ups then these injuries will heal, I know it," he explained with tears threatening to escape his eyes as he looked at them with fire in his eyes. "Lee…" Sakura and Ino echoed but Hinata went right next to the injured boy as he fell to the ground in a mix of pain and exhaustion,

"Lee-kun there's nothing wrong with taking a break especially when your body need's time to heal. How do you ever expect it to become a great ninja if you don't give your body the rest it deserves," Hinata said with compassion and then gave him the biggest brightest smile she could muster. "Hinata-san…" Lee said as his tears finally escaped,

"Thank you for your kindness Hinata-san," he replied while returning her smile. Suddenly Lee went wide eyed and the four genin heard a scream, "Lee what the hell were you thinking!" Tenten wailed sprinting as fast as she could towards the boy that she was technically supposed to be watching and gave him a good bonk to head knocking him out. She quickly apologized to the rookie kunoichi while carrying Lee bridal style back to his hospital bed with the three girls just giving the couple a dumbfounded look.


It wasn't long after that, that the trio were making their way through the Leaf Village when Ino piped up, "Sorry girls but it's getting late and I have to meet Sasuke-kun at the gates in an hour so see ya two later," she informed the Uzumaki-Namikaze pair and quickly departed with a blush and smile on her face. Hinata looked to her and smiled but realized how close they were to her clan's compound and started getting visibly nervous.

Luckily Sakura and Naruto had picked up on Hinata's insecurities and any increase in anxiety any one of them would get. Sakura took Hinata's hand again and smiled, "Don't worry, I asked my parents and they said you could stay with me, at least until the finals are over, believe it!" the pinket stated happily. Hinata was in shock at Sakura's she did the only thing she could, she cried, yes she cried tears of joy at Sakura's generosity embarrassing the cherry blossom,

"It's ok Hinata we should watch out for each other, you know," Sakura said while returning her hug. The pair shared a smile before heading to Sakura's, later that night the girls had an old school sleepover and talked about Neji and what the hell Naruto-kun had been doing for the past two weeks and why he hadn't come to visit since. "I'm sure he's training hard but we should go and make sure he's actually learning something useful," Sakura said annoyance and worry clear in her tone. Hinata frowned,

"We definitely should go check on Naruto-kun and make sure he's ok," Hinata replied wondering herself as to where the blonde was. Sakura got an Uzumaki grin which caused Hinata to look at her curiously, "Well if he's not going to come back until the finals, we'll just have to find the baka ourselves and I know just where to start our search," Hinata's eyes lit up at that but then she remembered something from the preliminaries,

"Sakura what's going on with Sasuke and Ino, I saw that his chakra was tainted... or something and it was originating from around his neck," Hinata asked with pleading eyes. Sakura frowned again but decided to just be honest and explained everything that she knew about the Uchihas and about what had happened in the forest of death. Hinata actually almost cried from the pain that the couple was going through but Sakura brought her into a tight hug before she could,

"Don't worry Hinata there so strong, I'm sure they'll figure everything out, let's just work on finding Naruto-kun for now," she said and then laid down on the futon she had prepared next to her bed. Hinata rolled over in Sakura's pink comforter and coughed into her hand noticing some blood but chose to ignore it and drifted off to sleep, worried about the state of all of her friends but happy Sakura was there to help her get through it.

Meanwhile Ino was leading Sasuke to a special spot she had prepared just for him, "Ino I can tell where we're going, I know where my own compound is," he replied flatly as he dropped his hand from hers but continued to follow nonetheless. "I know Sasuke-kun, trust me I know you don't want to go back there yet, the spot I have planned is just on the outskirts now come on," she said enthusiastically.

Sasuke only nodded but followed her until she came to a treeline and turned to him, "Close your eyes," she said sweetly. Sasuke said nothing but complied and let Ino guide him to wherever they were going. They soon came to a stop and that's when he heard the blonde say, "Open them," he responded quickly and was soon almost brought to tears.

Around him was the most beautiful garden he had ever scene scattered with the roses that he knew all too well along with several other gorgeous wildflowers. In the center of the garden was a large stone that had the Uchiha symbol displayed proudly on the center with a much smaller Yamanaka symbol and Uzumaki symbol underneath it.

Sasuke didn't have control of his brain or his body as he spun around and kissed her cheek instinctively causing her to blush a red brighter than the roses. He looked at her with tears and could only ask, "Why?" Ino smiled and grabbed his hand, Sasuke letting his fingers interlocking with hers as she lead him to the stone. She pointed out an inscription beneath the symbols as Sasuke read he gasped,

Dedicated to Karin Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha wherever you two are just know you will always be in my heart and happy birthday Karin, love and affection always,
Ino Yamanaka Uchiha
. Sasuke couldn't help but look up at her and smile, "You remembered Karin's birthday I don't even remember telling you that," Sasuke teased extremely out of character.

Ino leaned her head into his chest and Sasuke actually put his arms around her, "Well you did dummy," she teased back with a smile. The pair sat like that for hours before falling asleep in each others arms. Meanwhile a blonde on the outskirts of the Leaf Village was getting ready for bed while his new toad friend Gamikichi poofed back home to Mt. Myoboku waving goodbye.


June 25th, 64 AFL

It was a few days later when Pervy Sage and Naruto-baka were sitting in the hot springs together sharing some quality male bonding time. That is until the old man brought up a touchy subject, "You know, we'd make a lot more progress if you would at least try using the nine-tails chakra," he tried explaining again but this resulted in the usual scowl he would get from the blonde. Naruto's scowl was ended when he sighed and tried telling his sensei again,

"Look Ero-sensei, I almost killed my best friend, I almost became the very thing that the village rejects me for. The truth is I'm scared who I'll hurt if I use that power and besides…" Jiraiya asked him to elaborate further, "Besides?" Naruto suddenly grinned that classic Naruto smile, "Besides I want to do it my own way using my own power and chakra," he stated happily.

"Damn right Naruto-kun, cha!" "Exactly Naruto-kun you know we believe in you," Naruto turned around and to his surprise he saw his two loves standing on top of the gate to the male side of the hot springs. Naruto looked down and dove into the water before bobbing his head out,

"Sakura-hime, Hinata-hime get down from there and stop peeking on me," the blonde wailed out in embarrassment causing the two girls to break down in a fit of giggles as they descended to the outside of the spring and headed inside the normal way. Jiraiya laughed his ass off and the blonde's scowl began again, "What the hell is so funny Pervy Sage?!" Naruto asked angrily.

Jiraiya laughing died down slowly, "It's nothing kiddo, I just find your vixens funny," he teased causing Naruto to smirk, "Yeah they can be quite the duo," Naruto said fondly. "I bet you'll find out just how much when you're older," Jiraiya said while giggling. Naruto looked at him in confusion but brushed it off as he grabbed his towel and exited the hot springs to meet up with the two kunoichi he loved so very much.

Once dressed and outside the two quickly embraced their blonde haired baka while smiling at him, "That was quite the speech Naruto-kun," Sakura said honestly. "Yeah Naruto-kun, I'm so proud of you wanting to use your power," Hinata said happily. "Hinata's right we know you can do it whatever you're doing that is," Sakura stated while rubbing the back of her head. Naruto just smiled and took their hands, "Come on, I'll show you," he said simply and with that the trio where on there way to Naruto's training ground Jiraiya following close behind while smirking at his godson and his two soulmates.

Eventually the trio made their way to the spot and Naruto told the girls to stand back while he began infusing his chakra, 'Hinata-hime, Sakura-hime you both believe in me so much, I swear I won't let you down, that's a promise believe it!' the boy thought and unbeknownst to him a fox could only smirk, "Summoning Jutsu!" he screamed and suddenly a large poof of smoke was seen.

Hinata and Sakura began shrieking in fright as they were grabbed by Jiraiya and pulled to safety while the chief of all toads appeared with the naive twelve year old blonde sitting upon his head. Sakura was kicking and screaming like a cat trying to escape her owners clutches while Hinata could only look on in shock at the massive sized creature that had appeared in front of them, "What… What is that thing?" she asked the man holding her.

Pervy Sage came to a landing a safe distance away as he replied, "Don't worry he won't seriously hurt Naru…" he was suddenly silenced by a painful feeling coming from his groan as he looked down to see a very pissed off cherry blossom with her foot lodged into his crotch. She reared again and gave him another good kick as she elaborated,

"Only Naru-kun touches me that way you pervert and now I'm going to teach you a lesson for putting us through all this crap," she said while cracking her knuckles. The sannin actually looked up at her in fear for a moment before the pinkett's image was replaced by a busty blonde with big breasts mirroring the same action, 'Hey, this girls like an exact clone of Tsunade, I wonder… hehe,' the sage's fantasy was interrupted by the memory of said blonde almost killing him for peeking on her in their youth causing him to sigh, not really feeling Sakura's assault at the moment.

He looked up to the girl who was wailing him, "Yeah and that's definitely how she'd react if I just used the jutsu without telling her and besides I don't want sensei knowing I'm here," the sage then looked to the blonde and Gammabunta who was trying his hardest to send said boy flying from his head. 'Kinda a moot point now though,' he groaned as he got to his feet not even noticing the Hyuga princess trying to nurse the painting Sakura who had expelled all of her chakra trying to kill the sannin.

He looked to the two girls who were wearing different expressions, one of anger and one of fear and concern, "Like I said, Gamabunta would never hurt him, just trust him, this is part of Naruto's training too," he said simply. Both girls eventually nodded and returned their attention back to the incredible display playing out in front of them.

A few minutes before Sakura's assault Naruto was personally meeting the chief of all toads Gamabunta, "Huh, where am I? Jiraiya where are you, you bastard!" the humongous toad said aloud. Naruto moved in front of the amphibian so that he could see him as he waved cheerfully, "Um actually I summoned you my names Naruto, believe it!" he grinned proud and satisfied with himself but something at the back of his mind was gnawing at him. He chose to ignore it as he stared determitly at his new friend.

The giant began laughing uncontrollably, "Yeah right brat, I can sense your chakra, you're nowhere near strong enough yet," he replied, "Now where is that ugly old pervert?" he asked again. Naruto frowned, "I really did summon you I'm an Uzumaki and I have the nine-tails sealed inside of me, I should have more than enough to handle you," he stated with conviction. Gamabunta stopped laughing and actually looked at the boy for the first time, 'That hair, could he be?' the toad wondered and then chuckled again, "What?" Naruto questioned borderline annoyed at this point.

The toad looked at him and decided to strike a deal, "Alright brat tell you what if you can stay on my head and back for the rest of the day I'll make you my henchmen," he stated, causing the blonde to sigh, 'Not exactly what I was going for but it works I guess,' the blonde thought and then replied with a smirk, "Deal!" With that the chief took off at a destructive pace doing everything within his power to throw the blonde off of his back.

This continued for several hours but whatever Gambunta tried the son of the Fourth refused to give up. While the hours ticked on by a Sand kunochi was lost in her own world of mixed thoughts and feelings, 'Damn why does it have to be this way, fucking drag, damit, I wouldn't even care if it wasn't for that Nara brat maybe if I kill him these damn fellings will go away,' she thought in desperation, "And oh Kami Gaara I hope that thing doesn't take control of you, I can't lose you or Kankuro you troublesome brothers of mine," she worried as she sunk her head into her pillow trying to pull together her resolve for the finals.

As the sun began setting a blue haired jinchuuriki and boy dressed in an oversized coat watched the colors meld together in the sky and then actually shared a laugh as they saw their blonde friend in the distance wailing around on some giant creature. Fu caught Shino's smile and laughter and before he could say a word she pecked his lips giggled and then motioned for her to chase him. Shino smiled again a blush adorning his cheeks from his first kiss and joined Fu in the fun with the day's light finally vanishing just a few minutes later.

Naruto seeing the day's last light disappear beyond the horizon he resigned himself to his fate and finally allowed himself to fall into a state of unconsciousness utterly exhausted from the toad's brutal challenge. Before Naruto could come crashing to the ground however the chief toad showed the blonde mercy by catching him with his gargantuan tongue,

"This kid, I haven't seen someone with this much potential since…" the amphibians's thoughts were cut short once he heard two girls scream, "Naruto-kun!" in moments Sakura, Hinata, and Jiraiya were standing in front of the mighty chief. The chief began laughing as he tossed the blonde over to the trio Sakura catching him and beginning to treat his wounds while she scowled at the giant toad. "He passed if any of you are wondering, by the way," the massive amphibian stated honestly forcing a smile on the group of people in front of him, "He has a lot of potential, oh and Jiraiya,"

"Yes?" the toad sanin asked with a little fear running down his spine. "Don't ever summon me without a good damn reason again!" he barked out and suddenly the giant toad disappeared in a huge puff of smoke. The girls turned to the elderly mad but somehow, he had vanished from their sight as well,

"Come on Sakura screw the pervert we have to get Naruto-kun to the hospital," Hinata explained with a frown as she looked on at Naruto's many scratches and bruises. "Your right Hinata come on let's go," she replied as she picked up her baka and carried him gently all the way back to the Leaf's hospital with the Hyuga heiress following closely behind.


June 28th, 64 AFL

The blonde finally recovered from his injuries and opened his eyes to find one of his oldest friends watching over him, "Hey what's up," Shikamaru said to the blue eyed genin. Naruto rubbed his eyes for a few moments while sitting up, "Hey Shikamaru what's up, how long have I been here?" he questioned his comrade. The Nara snickered,

"You were admitted the night of the 25th and it's currently the 28th, very early in the morning if you have to know you troublesome bastard. Anyway the nurses said you can go once you wake up so get that stupid orange jumpsuit on, Sakura and Hinata are waiting for you outside," the boy explained and then quietly left the room. As Naruto got dressed he realized something that had been pissing him off in the back of his head,

'There's no way I just go from summoning Gamikichi to that big ass toad boss with just Hinata and Sakura watching me. That's means the damn fox slipped me chakra but why damn it!' he wondered in anger. Naruto finished getting dressed and walked out the door and was greeted by two warm smiles and hugs from the cherry blossom and the Hyuga princess that he adored. "I'm going to go check on Lee again real quick and then I'll meet you guys in Choji's room," Sakura said and with that the pinkett kissed Naruto's cheek and skipped away happily.

Naruto was in a daze for a moment but then turned to Shikamaru realizing, "Wait, what happened to Choji?" Naruto asked in concern. Hinata started giggling while the Nara started chuckling, "Nothing, damn fool just ate too much," Naruto looked at the pair dumbfounded before bursting out in laughter himself. The trio began their approach to their friends room while the kind hearted kunochi made her way to Lee's in order to drop off the flowers she had forgotten to leave the week prior.

As the girl did though she'd failed to notice a dark shadow textured like sand slowly encroaching behind her. Sakura finally made her way to the bushy browed genin's room but as she put the flowers in a vase she suddenly sensed something behind her and didn't even have the courage to let out a scream.

A few minutes prior the trio of Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru had run into the Uchiha couple, "Hey Sasuke-teme, Ino," Naruto said with a grin. Sasuke snickered, "Dobe," was all he said as Ino simply replied with a wave, the group of genin opened the door to Choji's room but as they did Naruto felt a deep fear and panic run through his entire core and rushed down the hall faster than Sasuke had ever seen him.

Sasuke and the other genin rushed after the blonde but Naruto was godly fast making it to the room in less than a minute and what he saw turned his stomach. Gaara had Sakura pinned against the wall, she was unconscious but the bastard was slowly crushing her with his sand while suffocating Lee at the same time, placing vast amounts of the substance over the boys mouth and nose.

Naruto's anger immediately soared and the boy unintentionally released a decent amount of nine-tails chakra but it was a good thing because it was enough for Gaara to lose his concentration, releasing his sand as well as his deadly grip on his prisoners. Sakura collapsed to the ground with a loud thud as Lee began coughing up vast amounts of the substance. Naruto scowled at him but suddenly realized he wasn't alone, seeing Fu standing to his left,

"What the fuck are you doing you crazy bastard!" the girl yelled out. Gaara's expression remained emotionless as he responded, "So I was right, your demons are as real as mine is, I can only assume our childhoods must have been very similar. You see in order to ensure I became the village's strongest and most lethal weapon I was taught that I was born a monster, taking the life of the woman who gave birth to me," he said emotionlessly causing Naruto and Fu started to shudder but stood their ground.

"So what are their name's mine is Shukaku, Shukaku the Sand Spirit," Naruto looked at the pair with confusion written all over his face but Fu's gaze never left Gaara as she replied sternly, "Chomei the Spirit of Insects," A million questions were going through the blonde's mind, both of these genin had demons sealed inside of them, just like he did, 'Are they the same as me?' he wondered but before he could inquire the Sand genin started again,

"The only bonds I have are the ones I currently want to break, I was brought into being to be the salvation of my village neglected by my father the Kazekage and left isolated by myself for the longest time and for a while I thought that was love but then I learned the truth," he explained. "What truth you freak!" Fu yelled, "Yeah what the hell are you saying? Are you going to tell us or not," Naruto added. Gaara's face turned into one of sadistic glee,

"From the time I was six years old my own father has tried to have me killed more times than I can count," he explained. "You see the sealing of Shukaku displaced something in my mind and even my own village began to fear and hate me for what I was, so in order to appease the masses my father constantly orders my own assassination. That was the day I realized I had failed in the sole purpose of my own creation and wondered what was left for me but then I found my purpose," he explained.

Naruto and Fu were borderline shaking from the boy's blood lust while giving each other looks trying to get some sort of confirmation from the other that their childhoods mirrored Gaara's as well but before they could speak the son of the Kazekage continued, "To put it simply the reason for my existence is to take the lives of others, I've killed so many already and in doing so I live only for myself, caring only for myself, loving only myself. Now the deaths of others are the only things in this world that can make feel alive and the best part is there's no end in sight. As long as there are people in this world, there will always be more victims," he elaborated grinning sadistically again.

Naruto and Fu turned around quickly and saw the rest of the rookie ten plow through the door but as they turned around to face the Sand nin again he had somehow disappeared. Naruto immediately rushed to the pinkette's side, she coughed up a little and was still out cold but for the most part she was fine,

'Kami damn it I failed again,' the blonde thought in pain and anger, "I'm so sorry
Sakura-hime," he apologized to her but eventually his look of depression shifted to one of determination. Sasuke walked up to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder but Naruto just bolted up and ran out of the hospital full sprint, where he went no one knew.


July 6th, 64 AFL

It was finally the day of the finals but a certain heiress was looking down the road out of the village with concern. This was soon replaced by relief and happiness as her true love Naruto Uzumaki finally came into view, walking slowly toward the gates, with fire in his eyes that was soon replaced with a look of utter love and devotion as he saw his sweet moonlight waiting for him. The boy finally came up to her and inquired,

"Were you really waiting for me? You didn't have too Hinata-chan." The girl could only blush and with that they shared a short kiss before taking his hand and leading him toward the arena, "I know but we both wanted too however Sakura said this was about you and me and wanted us to have a little alone time before your match," Hinata replied. Naruto's smile deepened even more his own blush shining brightly,

"I promise Hinata-hime, I'm going to win, believe it!" he said with determination. Hinata giggled again and coughed into her hand but when the blonde looked at her with concern she simply brushed it off. Naruto was worried but figured she might of gotten a cold or something, "Make sure to take some medicine ok Hinata-hime that cough sounds really bad," she smiled brightly at him, "I will thank you Naru-kun," she said affectionately trying to waver off his concerns.

Naruto simply nodded and the pair continued to laugh and joke until they walked past Naruto's favorite ramen stand and heard an all too familiar voice, "Thank you Ayame-san, I'll give to him right now," Sakrua said to the stand owner's daughter. Naruto and Hinata turned their heads to see a cherry blossom holding an extra large bento box standing alongside a platinum blonde. Naruto gave the pair a warm smile but as he smelled the box's scent he couldn't stop himself from letting out a little drool.

He quickly wiped his face clean with his sleeve and gave Sakura a hug, "Is this for me?" he asked her. Sakura blushed and kissed his cheek, "Yes my baka, it has all your favorites and it's nice, hot and ready for you too," Naruto opened up the bento box and saw several ramen container's with varying flavors to choose from as well as other side dishes that looked absolutely delectable. "Thank you Sakura-hime but why?" he asked her a bit confused but still delighted nonetheless. Sakura smiled warmly at him,

"You trained really hard for this, on top of that you saved me last week from Gaara and yes I know, Sasuke and Hinata told me after I woke up," Sakura sighed a bit before finishing, "And then you went as far as to deprive yourself of ramen for an entire month because I exploded at you during my match, you know I wasn't serious right," she looked into the boy's eyes fondly,

"But it didn't matter to you, you always listen to what I have to say and are always there for me when I really need you. Basically what I'm trying to say is…" Sakura got as close to the blonde as she could before looking directly into his eyes and saying, "Thank you," with that she quickly pecked his lips and then backed away giggling at her baka's funny red face.

Ino smiled at the trio, "Well are we going to stand here all day our are we going to get a move on," the bossy blonde dressed head to toe in purple explained. The Uzumaki-Namikaze trio shared a short embrace before Naruto took both kunoichi's hands and the group continued their journey to the Leaf's massive stadium.

Once there Sakura and Ino said their goodbyes heading towards the stands while Naruto and Hinata had a final word with each other, "Naruto-kun," Hinata started but Naruto silenced her with his lips putting her in a state of shock as well as bliss. Hinata came to her senses a few minutes later blinking a few times seeing the blonde boy gazing at her with love and admiration, "Hinata, don't worry, like I said before. I'm going to win, believe it!" Hinata could only look at him fondly,

"Ok, I believe in you Naru-kun," she replied and pecked his lips once again for emphasis before skipping off herself in order to find her pink haired counterpart so she could watch the finals with her and Ino-san. Naruto looked at her until she disappeared behind a corner and he walked into the stadium, the will of fire burning within him.


AN: This one took a bit but finished it and pretty happy with it too, definitely like chapters where I can just have the characters sit and talk besides fighting just easier to write for me personally and yes I will be using both Pervy Sage and Ero-sensei because I honestly don't care sorry if it is aggravating

Retold the hospital scene, Ebsiu, and meeting Jiraiya for that reason just to add more character and detail and I sincerely apologize if that annoyed you but oh well already done

Yup Naruto does not want to use the fox's power at all really would you after almost killing your best friend seriously, which is the only reason why he may seem a bit ruder to Pervy Sage when he brings that stuff up

From what I could see Pervy Sage and little to no communication with Lord 3rd and only Ebisu and Kakashi even knew he was in the village so that is what I went with

Pervy Sage found out about Sasuke's chidori training early and got pissed figured we needed a little drama lol so had Kakashi and him argue about it and yes the sannin does know a little bit about both boys before meeting them, he hasn't actually met Sasuke though

Sakura still visits the hospital in this timeline but instead it's for Hinata who isn't afraid to show her gratitude constantly, she actually visited Hinata a lot. Always intended for both Hinata and Sakura to be close and take care of each other but they will never be for a lack of a better term romantic with eac other in this story. The same will apply to Ino and Karin when the time comes but it will still be a little while before they meet. There will never be any hurt feelings or drama like that. It's not necessary with the plot already in the background and I honestly would hate having to write them fighting because they are jealous of the other for whatever reason

Yup Ino's garden for Sasuke and Karin was a stolen idea from Sakura's head, literally but this one is real and that was the first kiss Sasuke gave Ino considering the mood he was in with learning the Chidori which all jokes aside is an incredible jutsu and with this added bonus it felt it was time and it was only on the cheek. Damn Sasuke's hard to right for and make him feel like he's capable of expressing himself like that

Really sorry not an expert in pervy jokes but I tried my best with the humor and Sakura trying to kill Jiraiya for saving her but mostly for having Naruto fight the toad was funny to me and so was Jiraiya's day dreams about Tsunade and how she would react if it turned out they were meant to be. I know Naruto is not a masochist it was a joke, a joke damn it,

Shortened chief toad's conversation and he actually summoned him a bit earlier if any of you noticed because of Sakura and Hinata inspiring him but yes it was mostly the nine-tails giving him the extra push. Kurama is not evil but still an asshole that will totally kill Naruto to get free but he respects the kit once in a while so screw it got nothing else to do maybe seeing the brat get flung around for several hours will be funny.

No Naruto will not be making peace with the fox anytime soon although he may learn his true name a bit quicker and yes Fu knows about as much as Gaara does about her tailed beast sorry if you don't like the title I gave chomei if there is an official one I couldn't find it and researching was little help as well unless I made it kinda complex and I wanted it to be short and simple like Shukaku's title

Yeah Minato did some sketchy stuff before he died and only he knows all those secrets. I honestly wasn't sure if the Uzumaki clan was considered a major clan already but decided that for this story at least he brought both clans to council level and the reasons are unknown but both seats are obviously currently vacant.

Kami if it's not Hinata getting attacked it's Sakura he should just have clone stationed with them at all times but he got there before Gaara could injure her in the slightest and yeah Hinata is still coughing up blood from her injuries but she's not sick don't want to worry you guys to much. Why was Sasuke was there? Pervy Sage and Kakashi were having a meeting and he told him to piss off today so he spent it with Ino. Yeah somehow Shikamaru got turned into Gandalf but I don't care enough to rewrite, it's at a cringe reference level that I find worthy.

Thank You and I hope you enjoyed hopefully the finals sometime within the next two weeks but I honestly don't know if it will end up being one long ass chapter or two and I won't until I write everything from the start of the finals to the end of the battle with Naruto and Gaara so that I can ensure the conclusion to this ark ends smoothly and I have decided to continue this book until the very end of part 1 of Naruto because honestly I had no idea where we would be chapter and word count wise back then but I think I have a good enough idea now and can say with confidence that this will cover the entirety of Part 1 with the second book being named Naruto Shippuden and the Soul Seal Jutsu or something along those lines, Thank you all and I really do hope you all enjoyed!