Mhmm. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 5: The Spiral's Return

(One Year Later - Naruto Age 15)

"There's the gate Ero-Sennin."

Stopping for a second, Naruto was flanked on either side by Shizuka, who was looking at Naruto's home for the first time, and Jiraiya who was just smiling. Naruto's blue eyes shimmered for a second before he took a strong whiff of the air and let it out in a relieved exhale. It felt good to see Konoha again. It meant one thing.

"I'm home," said Naruto in a content voice before turning to look at Shizuka. Shizuka only gave him a warm smile as Jiraiya did the same when Naruto turned to him. Naruto turned back to Konoha and just looked at it again. "It looks the same doesn't it?"

"Always does kiddo."

"Hmm, they added baa-chan's face to the mountain," said Naruto spotting the fifth face on the mountain.

"Oh ho! Look at that," spoke back Jiraiya seeing his teammate's mug. The Sannin then realized they were just standing there and not moving and decided they might as well continue. "Shall we?"

Naruto nodded his head as the trio continued their gait to Konoha. They arrived at the main gate and just strolled into Konoha, bypassing the gate guards who were awestruck at the three of them. The guards were looking at the blonde the most.

"Dude, that's Naruto? The kid got big!" exclaimed one of the chunin gate guards, his name Izumo, to his partner, Kotetsu.

"Yeah, the little guy is all grown up," said Kotetsu now noticing the girl he was walking with. "And he got himself a babe during his travels! Oh yeah, Naruto!" shouted the gate guard before realizing something. "Dude, we just got disrespected. They walked in without stopping here first."

"Well, Jiraiya-sama never stops. I've never seen it since I started working here."

"True but, Naruto isn't Jiraiya-sama," spoke Kotetsu nodding his head. He'd correct this next chance he got. "We'll have to talk with him about disregarding protocol."

"Yeah yeah," said Izumo watching the group get further away. "And we'll have to tease him about that babe he brought back. Where the hell did he find her? And could he get me one?"

Naruto, Jiraiya, and Shizuka all continued their walk through the village. Konoha noticed Naruto and Jiraiya as uncertainty and respect was given to the two respectively by the civilians. The shinobi were all happy to see the blonde back and were all impressed with how much he looked to have grown. The trio didn't pay much attention to what was going on as they headed to the leader of the village.

It was a relatively short walk before they arrived at the Hokage Tower and walked in. Well, Naruto and Shizuka did as Jiraiya took to scaling the tower to enter the window as he usually did. Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, recognized Naruto immediately as she hugged him in greeting before leading him and his lovely companion to Tsunade's office. Opening the door, Naruto found himself the recipient of a bear hug the moment he walked in by Tsunade.

"Welcome back gaki."

"Glad to be back baa-chan."

While Naruto hugged the busty Kage, he never noticed, or at least acknowledged, that Sakura stood by the woman's desk. And Sakura was utterly shocked to see Naruto. Naruto was back? Sakura didn't know how to react to that.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. A simple statement that was wholeheartedly true in most cases to warrant numerous life lessons. Especially from people who've experienced losing something and the heart-wrenching moment of knowing they'd never get it back when it is all you ever wanted. Those people obviously didn't know how badly they wanted it. If that was the case, they'd have gotten it when they had the chance. At least in the case of Haruno Sakura as she stared absentmindedly at the black-haired beauty standing awfully close to her recently returned teammate.

"Ino was right." thought Sakura with her mind going numb to her surroundings as she watched Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, and the aforementioned beauty named Shizuka all converse.

They were smiling, all of them, and Sakura found out she couldn't take her eyes off the boy who vied for her affection since she could remember. And yet at this moment, she was strongly considering that their roles had reversed with a simple look at him after years of separation.

Naruto was Naruto now. Different inflection to his name needed to be given when speaking about him. Before, he was an idiot with an effervescent personality and known to everyone in Konoha to have an unhealthy and near-obsessive infatuation with Haruno Sakura. Now, he probably had his personality and was an idiot still. Only he was taller, his voice had bass in it, and grew into something-

Sexy

"Sexy." thought Sakura hearing a second voice in her head as she looked at her teammate.

Now standing a good half a head taller than her, Naruto had grown into a man. Broad shoulders, sharp jawline, and despite his 'light up every room with his presence' demeanor, he had a more feral look and composure about himself. That all combined was effortlessly attractive while showing his obvious improvement as a shinobi, both mentally and physically, due to the way he spoke and how he carried himself. He looked coiled and ready to strike despite his friendly disposition.

He was wearing a fishnet shirt hidden behind his chunin flak jacket that went into black pants and shinobi sandals. He had a black forehead protector on his forehead and each wrist was tapped lightly. Sakura could see muscles that weren't on Naruto before and they looked taut and sinewy. Naruto had really matured and he looked-

Sexy

Sakura heard the voice in her head again before she realized that she'd been staring at her teammate for way too long without having made her presence known. Upon snapping back to reality though, Sakura saw the blonde walking toward her with his arms outstretched. Sakura blinked at that because she didn't think Naruto had seen her.

"Sakura-chan, I've missed you," said Naruto smiling warmly at Sakura as he wrapped her up in a gentle but snug hug. Sakura mildly blushed as she awkwardly patted the Kyubi Jinchuriki on the back with a small smile. "How have you been?"

"Naruto! You're back," said Sakura after a moment as Naruto nodded his head and let the pink-haired girl go. She saw him studying her with his blue eyes and remembered he asked a question. "And I've been good...great!"

"I see, you look great Sakura-chan," spoke Naruto returning his eyes up to look back at her green ones.

"You don't look so bad yourself. Look at you all taller than me now."

"I knew I'd hit a growth spurt someday," said Naruto with a grin and chuckle. Sakura did not think that his smile and chuckle was husky. Nope, she did not one bit. "You ready now?" questioned Naruto confusing Sakura who had no clue what he was talking about. "The spar. You and Kakashi-sensei versus me and Shizuka-chan."

"What do you mean? What spar?"

"Baa-chan was talking about seeing how much I've grown. She wanted to see me spar against you and someone special with Shizuka-chan as my teammate. I just figured the special someone was sensei since he's..." trailed off Naruto with a grin causing Sakura to tilt her head curiously. Tsunade and Jiraiya smiled before looking over at the window along with the Kyubi Jinchuriki. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Long time no see, eh?"

"Mah Mah, didn't think you noticed me," said Kakashi looking no different as he sat perched outside the window. His signature icha icha book in hand, Kakashi turned and gave Naruto an upturned eye that looked like a 'U'. It was how he showed he was smiling since the facemask he wore covered his mouth. "It's good to see you again Naruto. You've gotten a bit taller. And the clothes, you've grown up well."

"Good to see you too sensei. You haven't changed a bit."

Kakashi was a tall man with gravity-defying silver hair. He wore the standard infantry clothing of a Konoha shinobi: a flak jacket, dark blue pants, and a long-sleeve shirt. He also wears fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backhand and a blue facemask that covered his nose down to his neck. Interestingly, his shinobi headband was slanted across his head to only allow one eye to be visible. And hearing what Naruto said, Kakashi rose an eyebrow at what he said.

"Not even a little bit?" questioned Kakashi getting a shake of the head from Naruto. "I think I've changed some."

"Nah, not a bit. Not that that's a bad thing," said Naruto before jumping out to land near the masked man. Naruto smiled at him before continuing to speak. "I brought you a present."

"Hmmm," drawled out the lazy teacher as he opened his lone, visible eye. "A present?"

A holy light burst out the moment Naruto flipped his ninja pouch open as Kakashi's eye widened comically.

"Is that?!" exclaimed Kakashi in a rare show of emotion while Naruto nodded his head and handed the shining present over.

"Ero-Sennin's latest book. Icha Icha: Tales of the Golden Fox," said Naruto with a smile seeing the excitement on Kakashi's face. This was the reaction he was hoping for. "He gave it to me to proofread during our trip and afterward, told me I could have the first copy. I figured, why not give it to you since I know how much you like them."

Gratitude was written heavily on Kakashi's masked face as Naruto smiled. Tsunade then clapped her hands to get their attention.

"Right, we have business to handle. Like that of me seeing how the gaki has progressed," said Tsunade with eagerness in her tone as she looked at him. He certainly looked stronger and from his movements just now, he was a much better shinobi. "But I need to spend some time getting to know Shizuka here first. We have some things to discuss. So everyone out and we'll meet at training ground 7 in an hour."

Simple nodding of heads was her answer as Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke. Naruto beckoned Sakura to follow him, which the surprised pink-haired girl dumbly nodded to and hurried after her blonde teammate. Jiraiya wasn't so lucky as Tsunade grabbed his collar and held him firmly in place.

"You stay. You get to help me and tell me all about your trip," said Tsunade as Jiraiya groaned and large tears were shed.

"My research," cried Jiraiya as he was forced to stay and help Tsunade.

(With Naruto and Sakura - 40 minutes later)

"Ji-san! Another bowl!" shouted Naruto gleefully as the man he was addressing twirled his ladle in Naruto's direction to signify another was on the way. Naruto smiled at that before turning to see Sakura staring at him. Her look was one of awe mixed with disgust. "Something on the brain Sakura-chan?"

"Where do you put it all?" questioned Sakura looking past Naruto to see seven empty bowls of ramen. She looked at her own bowl, half-eaten since she couldn't put down anymore, before moving her head back to look at him. Smiling sheepishly, Naruto only shrugged. "Seriously, where do you put it all? I knew you liked ramen but, this much?"

"It was the first food I was allowed to have when I was little. They were the first ones to give me a meal not sanctioned by Hokage-Jiji," said Naruto with a small thank you as another bowl was placed down. "Was kind of hard for me back in the day to get anything."

"I remember that. Why were people like that to Naruto?" thought Sakura watching Naruto grab a large heaping of his noodles with his chopsticks.

"It's just my way of repaying them for their kindness. Ichiraku's is the first restaurant I ever ate at and I can never thank them enough for their kindness toward me all these years later."

Sakura heard the thoughtfulness in Naruto's voice before nodding her head. She watched him slurp down the noodles he had and smiled at him. He wasn't about to fool her.

"You just like ramen. Nearly three years without this place and you're making up for lost time," said Sakura causing Naruto to laugh a throaty chuckle. A very sexy chuckle it was. "Why do I keep thinking his laugh is hot? It's just a laugh."

"You caught me Sakura-chan," said Naruto taking a moment to cease his laughter to put another mouthful of noodles in his mouth. Sakura let a smile grace her face before she crossed her arms under her chest and adopted a smirk. Naruto noticed this and rose an eyebrow. "What's the smirk for?"

"Even after all these years, Naruto. You're still so easy to read. I thought you left to become a better shinobi?" questioned Sakura with a hint of smugness that caused Naruto to smile.

"I did become a better shinobi Sakura-chan. Ramen's just my weakness is all," said Naruto twirling his chopsticks around his noodles for a second. The action didn't go unnoticed by Sakura. She could see the shift in his demeanor and wondered what happened. The moment before she could ask what, Naruto beat her to it by speaking first. "It's not going to be weird, right?"

The question, so subtle in its asking, carried a bit of weight to it as Sakura couldn't immediately answer. She knew what Naruto meant by his question, which was actually a few questions all in one. It was crazy to think about how many questions were loaded in just that one.

Questions like, would it be weird for team 7 to operate without Sasuke? Would it be weird to replace Sasuke? Would it be weird for Shizuka to be the apple of Naruto's eye rather than her? Would it be weird for Shizuka to replace Sasuke on Team 7? Would it be weird, in general?

It took Sakura a moment to process all of that and she was thankful Naruto wasn't staring at her. Naruto didn't know it or never acknowledged the fact that his eyes were seriously intimidating. The blue in his eyes was piercing and seemed to look at your very soul. Like you couldn't lie to him or else he'd know right away. She was given all the time she needed to think about it and in the end, she knew how to answer.

"Of course it'll be weird Naruto," said Sakura after about a minute or so causing Naruto to finally look over at her. "But it'll be fine. We'll be fine. I miss Sasuke too but what happened is what happened. We can't just leave his spot vacant forever, it'd severely handicap us." continued Sakura answering the multi-question question bit by bit. "And the whole Shizuka thing, it'll be fine. Just don't go PDA-ing around me all the time. I'd rather not be a third wheel all the time."

Naruto grinned at Sakura as he mentally thanked her for dissolving the awkwardness, even if only by a little. He was also happy that she knew his question was about more than one thing. Sakura was always smart so, Naruto should have known she'd hit the nail on the head in responding accordingly. He was even happier that her response was mostly positive too.

"You won't be a third wheel, Kakashi-sensei will be there," said Naruto making Sakura frown.

"Sensei doesn't even pay attention to us most of the time. He's likely to not even notice or care. Thus, making me the third wheel."

"Hmm, true. But me and Shizuka-chan aren't together," informed Naruto causing Sakura's eyebrows to raise.

"Really? You both seem so close. Even that short time in the Hokage Tower said it," said Sakura in a statement that was really a question of 'Why the hell not?'

"Well, I wanted to come to terms with my feelings for you first. Whether it was a boyhood crush or something of substance. And I couldn't do that until I saw you again," said Naruto taking a moment to pause before continuing. "It was just a boyhood crush it seems. I'll always love my dearest Sakurraaaa-chaaannn, but it was just that, a crush. And that love was and is more for a teammate, comrade, now that I've gotten older."

Sakura placed a hand to her mouth to keep from outright chuckling at Naruto mimicking his own 12-year-old self's exclamation of her name as she allowed what he said to sink in.

"I guess it's kind of like how I see him currently. Sure I feel about him like this now but," thought Sakura looking at Naruto before resolutely nodding her head. "There'll never be anything between us in that way."

"Especially since I met Shizuka-chan," said Naruto with a light blush tinting his cheeks. Sakura noticed the blush and saw the boy smile cutely thinking of the girl. "She's so great."

"Aww, Naruto, do you think she likes you back?"

"I know she does Sakura-chan. She's told me repeatedly."

"Hmm? Then why haven't you both-"

"I have to wow her first," said Naruto with a frown. His frown didn't stay long and was replaced with a smile. He then turned to Sakura and gave her a giddy smile. "I'll wow her someday soon don't you worry Sakura-chan. It's bound to happen."

"I believe it, dattebayo," said Sakura with a smile that Naruto reciprocated at his verbal tic being thrown back in his face.

"I'm going to wow you too Sakura-chan," said Naruto getting Sakura to 'oh' at that. "Not the same as Shizuka-chan though. You can't handle all this." continued Naruto with a flippant hand gesture toward himself. Naruto sported a challenging smirk now and nodded his head. "I'm out of your league now Sakura-chan. I'm quite the guy these days if you didn't know."

"Oh really?" questioned Sakura tauntingly while flipping her hair back as she looked at Naruto. She could feel her blood boiling. She liked how Naruto was talking and she aimed to talk her own talk. "We all know I'm one of the beauties of Konoha. Especially with my attributes." continued Sakura with her own flippant hand gesture. Naruto had to give her that because Sakura looked mighty fine. Her pink hair was exotic too so, yeah, Sakura was definitely right in her boasting. "You couldn't handle me, hence why you've decided to pursue other options. You know it's true."

"Mhmm, I can and will handle you in a few more minutes."

"Wanna bet?"

"Thought you'd never ask," said Naruto putting down the money for the bill before sauntering off to the training ground with his teammate.

Things weren't fully settled yet, how could they be? Anybody could say anything. Pretty words were just that, pretty words. Your actions in the future would really tell the story if those words were true. But a step forward was definitely made in the brief moment they shared and for that, Naruto was glad he got it out of the way.

"I'm about to kick your pretty little ass Sakura-chan."

Sakura grinned at her teammate as the two of them made their way to their team's training ground. It was about to be on.

(Training Ground Seven)

"Are you sure Naruto is ready for this?" questioned Tsunade to Jiraiya.

The Toad Sannin stood right next to her in the rather large training ground. Naruto and Shizuka stood opposing Kakashi and Sakura as Jiraiya smiled. Jiraiya gave Tsunade a nod as he looked at his pupil.

"The gaki is more than ready. Even for the likes of Kakashi," said Jiraiya with confidence in his student. Naruto had been ready eighteen months ago. The boy now was something serious that even Jiraiya was proud of. "Trust me, you're going to love how the kiddo has grown."

Tsunade couldn't fault the man for his confidence. But, Tsunade had watched Sakura's growth and she knew very well what Kakashi was capable of. Kakashi could probably take Naruto, Sakura, and Shizuka on at the same time if she'd asked him to but she didn't want to strain one of her best shinobis. Hence the thought of a tag team match which still handled what she wanted to be handled.

"To learn the others' skill levels and abilities since you all will be a team. This is perfect." thought Tsunade clapping her hands together to get the four who would be sparring's attention. "Hope Sakura and Kakashi don't win too fast."

Tsunade looked at each of the four shinobi's faces to gauge their readiness. Kakashi was his usual nonchalant self and Sakura was looking determined as ever. Tsunade turned to see Naruto smiling jovially and Shizuka matching Naruto's happiness. They seemed a bit comfortable but, she could tell they were taking this serious despite their faces betraying that line of thinking.

"Are both sides ready?" questioned Tsunade as four head nods were her answer. "You have until sundown to capture your foes or it is deemed a draw. No killing or maiming blows of course but, don't feel you have to pull punches. I am here after all." continued Tsunade getting more nods at the rules. Seeing they all understood, Tsunade rose her hand before swinging it down. "Hajime!"

A very forward rush came as Naruto sprinted at Kakashi. Kakashi blinked at that before internally shaking his head.

"Hmm, seems he hasn't changed since the bell test." thought Kakashi as he prepared to defend against Naruto.

Naruto reared back for an easily telegraphed punch as Kakashi lifted one hand. Swatting Naruto's punch to the ground and getting the Jinchuriki to stumble past him, Kakashi let an elbow fly into the back of Naruto's head. That elbow caused the Jinchuriki to disappear in a poof of smoke though. Kakashi's lone eye widened when that happened before he flipped up his headband to reveal the Sharingan in his other eye.

"When did he make the switch with the Shadow Clone? Weren't you with him the whole time Sakura?" questioned Kakashi to Sakura as he looked for any sign of Naruto.

Sakura was just as perplexed because she thought she was with Naruto the whole time. She had no clue he'd been a clone. Trying to find Naruto was halted as Kakashi needed to whip out a kunai to block several deadly accurate kunai. Blocking the last kunai, Kakashi took a step back as a kick flew but inches in front of him from the Nadeshiko Princess.

"Those kunai were perfect. And she's fast." thought Kakashi before blocking a wheeling ax kick from the kunoichi. "And flexible. Bet Naruto enjoys that."

Kakashi suppressed a perverted giggle just as Naruto appeared a few feet behind him in a shunshin. Not even looking back, Kakashi didn't make a move to dodge as Sakura had perfect timing to intercept Naruto. Naruto barely noticed the pink-haired medic as a chakra heavy fist went flying a little too close for comfort past his body.

"That punch, just like baa-chan's." thought Naruto before gripping Sakura's arm at the wrist. Sakura noticed Naruto grab her arm as she reared back her other fist to deck him with it instead. Though by the time her fist got there, Naruto was already gone. "Too slow Sakura-chan."

Naruto whipped around Sakura's body and because he was still holding her arm, he whipped her right in Kakashi's direction. Kakashi noticed Sakura flying at him as he picked Shizuka up by her leg and tossed her over him toward Naruto.

Naruto caught Shizuka in his arms as Kakashi turned around and nabbed Sakura out of midair. Naruto held on to Shizuka and upon looking up at Sakura, saw her holding a half ram seal.

"Shit." thought Naruto seeing a paper explosive float right in front of him.

Curling into a ball as he put his back to it to shield Shizuka, Naruto felt immediate heat.

BOOM

Smoke and fire covered the area for a few seconds as Kakashi and Sakura waited to see the damage done. An explosive tag could be enough to kill someone but, Naruto was Naruto, and no way it would put him down. They didn't know what he could do but from that simple exchange and his misdirection, it was enough to tell. And they were proven right seconds later as the fight continued.

Six kunai came flying through the smoke of the explosion as Kakashi sidestepped them and Sakura bent at the waist to avoid the fast-paced kunai. Upon bending back, Sakura looked up to see Naruto in the air. His flak jacket was gone and he had soot on his face, but otherwise, he looked fine. And he was grinning like a madman as Sakura was absolutely helpless.

Before Naruto could drop a murderous double-footed stomp into Sakura's stomach, Kakashi met him a few feet above Sakura and pushed him out of the way. A series of taijutsu spawned from the student and teacher as the two were going blow for blow. Kakashi was impressed with Naruto's fighting as he was managing to keep pace with him.

"You've gotten good," said Kakashi monotone as he blocked one of Naruto's kicks and felt his bones buckle at the force behind it. "Real good."

"And you're just a clone," said Naruto hearing a sizzling noise coming from the clone's back. A paper tag was on Kakashi's back that was halfway done burning. "Not this again."

BOOM

Another explosion rang out around Naruto as Sakura looked on at that one while holding a half ram seal. Naruto didn't notice her slap an explosive note on Kakashi's back when he went flying over her. The real Kakashi appeared next to her in a shunshin and nodded his head. His shadow clone's memories hit him just now and gave him a bit of information.

"Naruto is really good with wind manipulation," said Kakashi with his lone Sharingan's tomoe spinning around his pupil. His clone learned up close and personal how Naruto wasn't as beat up as he should've been by the earlier explosion. And also how he managed to survive the last one. "He shielded himself. With pure wind manipulation. Impressive."

"Forget about me?" questioned Shizuka standing behind Sakura whose eyes widened at her voice.

Pure reaction had Sakura dip her head down as Shizuka's fist went screaming over her head.

"I can feel the wind behind that." thought Sakura raising her head back up to see Naruto in front of her.

A fast punch neared Sakura's face but the timely block from Kakashi saved Sakura from taking a direct hit from Naruto. Then all hell broke loose as the four began an enchanting display of Taijutsu that was really something to watch. Naruto had a clear advantage over Sakura, but anytime he was about to hit her, Kakashi would intervene. And the same with Shizuka, Kakashi was by far greater at Taijutsu than them all, but Naruto was still able to keep pace and help out Shizuka, who was faster than Sakura, who merely threw nothing but haymakers.

"All it takes is one," said Sakura sending out a punch or dodging with each word. Sakura was ready to send out another punch, but a sharp knee from Naruto cut her off as she doubled over. "He keeps catching me. How is he doing that?"

"All that power means nothing if you can't hit them Sakura-chan," said Naruto while raising a hand with his palm up.

Naruto never even got to channel the chakra for a Rasengan as Kakashi managed to snag Sakura and pull her out of harm's way yet again. Shizuka frowned as she jumped next to Naruto to reset the spar.

"So close," said Shizuka having attempted to stall Kakashi to allow Naruto to take Sakura out. She failed to do so considering he managed to help out the in trouble medic. A sheet of paper then fluttered in front of Naruto and Shizuka as her eyes widened. It was burning down as she wasn't ready for this one either. "Another one-"

"Futon: Kami Oroshi (Wind Style: Godly Wind from the Mountains)."

Naruto's reaction time surprised everyone as he extended his palms. A forceful wind blew out of Naruto's hands just as Sakura channeled her chakra to detonate the explosive note. Naruto's jutsu hit the paper seal first and blew it toward Kakashi and Sakura before it detonated in a fiery explosion.

Due to Naruto's jutsu, the paper explosive turned into a torrent of flames that went chasing after the now fleeing Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto ended his technique as he looked up to see a large, cone deep scorch mark in the ground that glowed a deep red. Naruto blinked a few times before straightening up and raising both eyebrows at what just happened.

"My goodness Naruto-kun," said Shizuka shifting her eyes from the glowing Earth to look at Naruto.

Naruto just shrugged before nodding his head. He and Shizuka took a small break before searching for Kakashi and Sakura to continue their fight. They knew this wasn't over by a long shot.

(With Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune)

"That reaction time would make the Yondaime jealous." thought Tsunade in her head seeing Naruto's movements. She'd seen it before with how easily he timed Sakura but, his catching that explosive note was insane. "It's almost like he didn't even have to think of what to do. He just reacted."

"I'm not understanding this. How did Naruto-kun survive a point-blank explosion?" questioned Shizune holding her pet pig Tonton in her arms. "Twice."

"Wind Manipulation. Pure Wind Manipulation," said Jiraiya with a smile on his face. He could see how impressed Tsunade already was. And she hadn't even seen anything yet. "Just you wait hime." thought Jiraiya before continuing to answer Shizune. "Gaki has his own perfect defense. He developed it after reaching the apex of Wind Manipulation."

"Wind Manipulation?" questioned Shizune as Tsunade answered for Jiraiya.

"Like the Hyuga Clan's Kaiten (Rotation)," said Tsunade trying to make sense of it to herself of what she saw. "Rather than expelling chakra through his tenketsu like the Hyuga, he's manipulating the air around him and forming a protective barrier."

"Though it's not an 'ultimate defense' like the Hyuga clan's," said Jiraiya watching Shizuka fret over the soot on Naruto's body as his pupil was telling her he was fine. "The moment before impact is made, Naruto shields himself briefly with wind. Powerful wind infused with his chakra so it won't catch aflame and accidentally ignite him. He keeps the air saturated in his chakra to make use of it anytime he needs to. It's quite ingenious of him to come up with that."

"It's pretty impressive that he can do that," said Tsunade more impressed than she let on with her words to not give the pervert joy. "A strong enough fire would set him ablaze if he tried that though."

"Of course. The gaki knows his limits. I made sure of it," said Jiraiya smiling heavily because he knew Tsunade was envious. Her student had been getting finessed the whole time by his. Jiraiya knew he was winning the pupil battle so far and he was going to enjoy it. "But he's steadily pushing the limits further every time. Not to mention, that's not all the gaki has. Not even close."

"If there wasn't more than I'd think you wasted time with my favorite ninja."

"No worries hime. The gaki shall continue to impress."

(Sometime later)

Walking ever carefully through the forest, Naruto and Shizuka were looking for any signs of Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto had assured Shizuka that Kakashi was a tracking expert and that his trail would be difficult, if not impossible, to find given their skill set. Despite that, Naruto just kept ambling forward through the forest with the girl in tow.

"Why'd you decide to start walking this way Naruto-kun?" questioned Shizuka after a moment which caught Naruto off guard.

Scrunching his face up, Naruto only shrugged his shoulders before speaking.

"My gut told me to..." started Naruto before beginning to slow down. "The nearest body of water is over here. After getting burned, water would be the best choice right?" continued Naruto looking for any sign their adversaries were actually here. "Sakura-chan is a medic though so that point is probably moot. It was just a gut feeling really. That's about the best I can come up with."

"Well, I think your gut is probably right. It usually is," said Shizuka faithfully getting a grin from Naruto. The Kyubi Jinchuriki stopped smiling though before sniffing the air and freezing. Shizuka was about to ask what was wrong but she soon realized it. "They actually were here!"

"Okasho (Cherry Blossom Impact)," said Sakura with a grunt before the Earth shook uncontrollably. Sakura's fist hit the ground and an enormous spider web crack formed that extended all the way past Naruto and Shizuka for a dozen feet. "You're all mine!"

Shizuka managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid the uprooted Earth but Naruto wasn't so lucky being in closer proximity to Sakura than Shizuka. Losing his balance, Naruto was defenseless as the pink-haired kunoichi was on him immediately. An X with his arms was brought up by Naruto as Sakura made direct contact with his block. A sickening crack was heard as Naruto went soaring out of sight into the woods behind them, uprooting trees, as he went flying backward due to the sheer power in Sakura's fist.

"Naruto-kun." thought Shizuka having watched him take that super punch before whipping out two kunai and sending them to the right. Nailing her target of the approaching Kakashi, Shizuka's eyes widened when he poofed into a log. "Replacement. He's really good. I see what Naruto-kun meant."

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)" said Kakashi standing behind Shizuka as he let loose a massive fireball.

Shizuka dropped out of the tree she was in as the fireball went sailing above her out over the lake. Upon landing on the ground, Sakura was there waiting for her with a fist prepared. Shizuka's eyes widened at that timing. It was absolutely perfect.

"All to plan. Good night," said Sakura bringing her fist forward. Sakura's fist was inches from hitting Shizuka until a hand pushed her punch to the side. Sakura's eyes widened and turned to see Naruto there diverting her fist. "Naruto?! How did he get up?"

Naruto stood to the side of the medic, palm open, as he used wind to push her fist off target. Sakura was astonished that 1) Naruto was already back and 2) he didn't look like he'd been hurt at all from her punch. Naruto could see the question on her face and grinned.

"Kaze no Tate (Wind Shield) saves me a third time," informed Naruto getting Sakura's eyes to widen.

While Sakura thought she'd stricken Naruto, she actually just punched a wall of wind. She'd sent Naruto flying through trees but, those didn't faze Naruto at all. Jiraiya made sure little things like that wouldn't anymore. Sakura's punch would have knocked him clean out if he took it directly, even with a block, and Naruto wasn't having that.

"I didn't even notice I only hit wind. How did you learn such an ability?" questioned the medic in her head watching Shizuka pull out a kunai.

Sakura was about to be out of the fight until Kakashi appeared. Kakashi's Sharingan was spinning as he looked at the Nadeshiko princess. Shizuka froze in her attempt at taking Sakura out which let the medic roll through Naruto's pushing her off balance. She was saved again.

"Kai," said Naruto breaking the genjutsu on Shizuka with ease. Naruto hadn't been paying attention though as Kakashi managed to shove a foot in his gut. Naruto grunted in pain before smiling. "Gotcha sensei."

"Another Kage Bunshin?! Then where is-" thought Kakashi before he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Turning his head to the noise, Kakashi saw Naruto approaching fast with his hands in the tiger seal. "Oh no!"

"Taijutsu Ougi: Sennen Goroshi (Ultimate Body Techniques: One Thousand Years of Death)," said Naruto with his hands shooting ahead of him. Kakashi's eyes widened at the approaching Naruto as his student was moving fast. "Payback time!"

Kakashi used every bit of strength he had to dodge Naruto by jumping straight up. Naruto missed Kakashi but due to his continued movement, managed to hit the person only a few feet in front of the copy ninja. One who'd just gotten her bearings back after getting thrown so off balance by Naruto's clone.

A sudden gasp was heard as Sakura fell victim to the dangerous technique. A tint of red appeared on everyone in the area's cheeks as Naruto did the only thing he could do, continue. A simple burst of chakra and Sakura was lifted clean out of the clearing, hands covering her pained backside. Everything paused for a second and Naruto was sure he'd be getting a reprimanding from Shizuka, Shizune, Tsunade, and especially Sakura. He still had a spar to finish first though.

"Suiton: Suiryudan (Water Style: Water Dragon Missle)," said Kakashi landing atop the lake as the water around him swirled and formed into a massive dragon.

Kakashi watched his dragon speed toward Naruto and Shizuka as it detonated in the area in front of the two, sending a massive wave of water at them. Kakashi's original plan had him waiting for Naruto and Shizuka to come back after getting washed away. That would give him time to regroup with Sakura but, that didn't happen. Instead, Kakashi's Sharingan picked up on a chakra chain come flying his way.

"Kushina-sama!" thought Kakashi in his head narrowly avoiding the chain that was about to skewer him.

Kakashi didn't dodge the second chain that came as it wrapped snugly around his waist with the other chain beginning to encircle the copy ninja too. Looking up, Kakashi saw a completely soaked Naruto with a chain around himself and Shizuka that was firmly planted in the ground to keep them from washing away. The two chains around him were extended from his left hand as Naruto grunted in effort.

"Get over here," said Naruto lowly while yanking the chain with a strong tug. Kakashi flew toward his student and attempted to put up a block but, the chains had wrapped around his arms and left them in a 'T'. He was at Naruto's complete mercy. "No escape this time sensei."

The familiar swirl of a Rasengan entered Naruto's hand as he brought it in perfect line with Kakashi. The last thing Kakashi saw was Naruto's madly grinning face. Mainly because that Kakashi was just a shadow clone that poofed away upon contact.

"Should've known that wasn't sensei," said Naruto thinking out loud as his Rasengan slowly faded out of existence. Naruto chuckled to himself before letting his chains retract before turning to look at Shizuka merely snicker at him. "What's so funny?"

Shizuka kept giggling which eventually made Naruto start laughing as he began to realize what she found so funny.

"Get over here," said Naruto and Shizuka at the same time before their faces began cracking with more laughs.

"Sounds like you should be in some battle or something. Like mortal combat or something with that line," said Shizuka as the two began walking to find Kakashi and Sakura once again even as dusk was nearing soon.

"Yeah, and wear a cool mask or something. Be a masked ninja. From Hell or something awesome like that," said Naruto with a smile as he envisioned it.

"Scorpion," said Shizuka.

"Scorpion?" questioned Naruto as Shizuka shrugged.

"Just came to me cause of the chain. You know a scorpion with its tail?" questioned Shizuka as Naruto nodded his head at that eventually.

"I could see it. But for now, we'll go with Naruto for the time being," said Naruto not really liking the scorpion nickname. Scorpions had nothing to do with him. "Hopefully, I can get a nickname like the Kiroi Senko (Yellow Flash). That'd be cool."

"Perhaps. But cooler is finding and actually beating Kakashi-san and Sakura-san," said Shizuka before looking over at Naruto. "Got a plan?"

Naruto kept walking and from his face, looked to be in deep thought as he walked with the black-haired bombshell. Naruto's face then eventually lit up as he then turned to Shizuka with a grin.

"I got it."

(With Kakashi and Sakura)

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to so kill him. How dare he do something like that!" shouted Sakura furiously with a hand rubbing her sore backside.

Kakashi sat next to a tree as he decided to let Sakura get it all out before letting her know what they were going to do. While Kakashi waited, he began to think about all that he'd seen so far.

"Shizuka. A true Nadeshiko kunoichi. Deadly accurate with kunai and her Taijutsu is very good. She complements Naruto in some ways with her more finesse vs his raw power, but she also doesn't mind getting up close and personal." thought Kakashi before thinking about his blonde student. "The difference almost three years can make. I wonder if I'd paid him more attention what he'd be by now? And that's not even counting the Kyubi's chakra he's yet to bring out." continued Kakashi in his head. That last part had him a bit intrigued. "I debate if he fights with the Kyubi's power, could he beat me? I'm already having a tough time trying to figure him out now. He's got such an interesting bag of tricks now."

Kakashi continued to think about what his student had become before looking up to see Sakura still talking.

"With a bat. Then I'll wring his neck. Punch him through a concrete wall and-"

"Sakura, get down!" said Kakashi urgently as Sakura stopped her ranting when she heard Kakashi.

Kakashi tackled Sakura to the ground just as Shizuka came soaring over the two with a foot outstretched. Kicking cleanly through a tree, Shizuka came to a stop in the clearing as she turned to see Kakashi and Sakura both standing up.

"Sakura, I'm going to take Naruto alone and trap him in a Genjutsu. Can you handle postponing Shizuka until I do?" questioned Kakashi lowly to Sakura, who only nodded her head. "Good. Be back soon."

Kakashi then vanished into the woods where he could feel Naruto as Sakura heard a clash. Green eyes boring into green eyes, Sakura shifted into a defensive stance. Sakura then blanched when she saw Shizuka smirk at her before she came sprinting at the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura blocked the first strike from Shizuka before realizing that Shizuka was fighting completely different. Faster, stronger, and eerily just like-

"Naruto," said Sakura with her eyes wide as Shizuka grinned.

"Hi Sakura-chan," said Naruto rising out of the girl's shadow. He was grinning at Sakura who looked utterly confused. "Thank you Ero-Sennin. Gamadaira - Kageayatsuri no Jutsu (Toad Flatness - Shadow Manipulation Technique)."

A jutsu from Jiraiya's personal collection found a perfect use for misdirection by Naruto. After infusing his chakra in Shizuka's shadow, Naruto sunk in the shadow and became one with it. He did have temporary control over Shizuka's mind and body which was why the girl fought like him. However, a two on one was much better. And Sakura realized they'd been had.

"It was all a ploy."

(With Kakashi)

Fighting with Naruto for a few exchanges, Kakashi was beginning to realize that Naruto wasn't fighting like Naruto. Spending the first part of their spar fighting each other in Taijutsu, Kakashi realized Naruto wasn't fighting as hard as earlier. He was just avoiding eye contact and defending for as long as he could.

"You're a clone," said Kakashi too late in his realization. The Naruto clone before him smirked and Kakashi gave a smile. "He knew I would want to separate and get him alone. And he played into that."

"Yeah, Boss did. He's with Shizuka-chan and they should be finishing up with Sakura-chan soon. We both know that and at that point, you'll be stuck," said the clone smiling as the win was in hand.

"It's over Kakashi-sensei," said the real Naruto as Kakashi looked over.

The teacher saw Naruto holding a passed out Sakura on his back with Shizuka standing next to him with a smile. Kakashi couldn't continue since his partner was trapped and captured. Naruto had gotten him perfectly. Well not him, he got Sakura but, he'd won the spar considering the rules. The boy's misdirection was insane. Nothing but a smile was on Naruto's face as Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune all came into view with smiles as well.

"Seems the gaki really did learn something. That was a very impressive finish," said Tsunade, a warm smile on her face which Naruto reciprocated when he turned to her. "You all did well. I really liked what I saw Shizuka." continued Tsunade getting the girl to blush at the praise. Tsunade just nodded her head and looked at Kakashi. "You all start in 3 days as Team 7. Congratulations and I'll see you then."

"Sounds good Hokage-sama," said Kakashi whipping out the Icha Icha that Naruto gave him. He looked at Naruto while sliding his headband to cover his Sharingan. "See you all in three days. Can't wait to work together again."

Naruto nodded as the Jonin disappeared in a poof of smoke. Naruto then felt Jiraiya slap a hand to the top of his head as he looked up to the sannin.

"Way to go kid! You made me a little proud," said Jiraiya getting Naruto to smile. "And you didn't even show your best stuff yet. Good on ya! Dinner on me for the performance."

"Yatta!" shouted Naruto gleefully and mistakenly waking up Sakura. And Sakura hadn't forgotten what Naruto did earlier during their spar. Something Naruto realized with the painful grip on his body. "Sakura-chan, your grip is kind of tight."

"Thousand years of Death Naruto," said Sakura saying Naruto's name in a way that promised pain.

"Anywhere but the face..."

Despite Sakura kicking his ass, Naruto would say he was glad to be home. He'd missed Konoha.

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