Strength of Fist and Heart
by Darklion74

A/N:

Kyuubi is not happy with me, but I am happy with the fic so far. Over fifty reviews in three chapters. Probably no record, but who cares, it's more successful than my other fic, which I am working on, just at a slower pace. Kyuubi is looking at the number of reviews and is seething with rage, probably going to directly involve fewer people. He's getting lazy... well, maybe he won't get to it at all... I see him reading Kakashi's book. 6-.-

Ah well, let's see what trouble I can cause now.

Chapter Four
The Peril of the Springs

Tsunade was still reeling a bit from the last letters that the Hokage had sent according to the continuing correspondence between the two. She was still unhappy about the idea of Naruto having to go back to the village in merely another two years. The young blonde was nine years old now, and Haku himself was ten. The Hokage had ordered a scroll be delivered for the young children to learn, but not to do any of the techniques once at the academy until they become genin.

One of the techniques in the scroll that both could do was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, which both had mastered in a frighteningly short period of time. It wasn't the scroll that bothered Shizune and Tsunade so much, but the contents of the letter. And the description of the curse from what the Hokage had researched. She read the remainder of the letter.

"The curse itself seems to manifest everyone in the village, and the main portions of the curse were the Kyuubi, who was injured through Naruto, and the apparent bite from the kageurufu. Kyuubi apparently used that bite as a conduit to curse everyone in the village. This is reality, my dear pupil, and not another wild story, I promise you. Those affected most are the ones who were most involved (only one of whom survives), and those closer to Naruto's age (most of the eight to ten year olds), who suffer great pain during that day. The rest of us suffer a nightmare of that day, which vanish in the minds of the villagers, but not in mind, nor in those who suffer most."

"It seems the only way the curse will be lifted, is for Naruto to be accepted once again in Konoha. This will not be an easy task, for as everyone, excluding us, believes that Naruto has been long dead and buried. You must take care with this subject around Naruto. Tell as much or as little of the curse as you feel fit. You know him more now than I can ever claim to know him myself. He's been in your care for eight years, Tsunade-chan, and from what I hear, you've raised him well."

"Be cautious with your dealings with Momichi Zabuza. He is not to be trusted, however it seems his former charge can be. Sakuraba Shion is a respected businesswoman and has been a client of the Leaf Village in the past. For now keep a wary eye out for anything suspicious, just as I have taught you. Now go on and raise them as you need to, but remember, Naruto must eventually come home."

"With highest regards and affection, your teacher, Sarutobi."

Tsunade sighed deeply as she burned the letter, just as she burned all the letters that came before it. She kept this letter far longer than the others though, since she was fond of the old man in a distant way, albeit he was a pervert and managed to pass it down to her teammate Jiraya. The letter did have an important note, aside from the effects of the curse. Naruto had to go home. 'Just so he can be used to rid the Leaf of a curse that was well deserved, even if Orochimaru set it up? How can he be so...'

Then it hit her, it wasn't for the villagers' sake at all, at least not all of them. It was for the sake of the innocent ones who were struck down as well, and struck hardest, their children. Eight years ago, before she even met Naruto, she would not have given a damn. Let the little buggers rot for all she cared. But now, having practically raised Naruto and Haku, she had to say that such a thing would be devastating to her if she was a parent.

In a very real sense, she was. She couldn't ignore this call, and knew she had to return to the Leaf in two years, bringing a reluctant Naruto behind her.

She saw the children training outside, and it astounded her at the level of ability they had already attained as youngsters. Naruto had approached a Chuunin level of ability if not higher, and Haku was close to that of a Jounin. They had both taught each other all of the techniques they could. Even now, as Haku practiced some of the medic-nin techniques, Naruto practiced with the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu.

She didn't want to bring them to the leaf. She didn't want to return to the leaf. She didn't want to lose them. With those depressing thoughts, she wept quietly in her bed until the haze of alcohol and exhaustion caught up with her, and she finally slept.

The following day would hopefully be better.

The next place that the group visited was a Hot Spring, not too far away from the Leaf village. It was a little close for Tsunade's liking, but it could have been worse. She declared that both of the boys needed to relax, at least for one day, if they didn't want their muscles to get overworked. They protested lightly, since they were, in truth, still in a bit of pain from overtaxing themselves day in and day out, but quickly capitulated, finding one of the mens' hot springs.

The women on the other hand, were on the other side, in one of the ladies' hot spring areas, and decided to blend in by pretending to talk to the other ladies about female related items, problems, and day-to-day concerns, mostly concerning the stupidity of the male species. This however isn't the real story.

What was happening near the men's hot springs, that was the important thing, at least to a frizzily white-haired man, with war paint near his eyes and a telescope in his hand. Even from across town, he could see the women's bath perfectly. He was unseen within the bushes, but his chuckles could be heard from behind a bush.

Naruto and Haku immediately had deadpan faces, knowing that they were dealing with yet another perverted soul, just like Kakashi. They quickly dried off, clothed themselves, and snuck behind the white haired pervert. He was clothed in an outfit that gave him away as a ninja of some sort, and he seemed to be of some considerable power, but he wasn't paying any attention.

Haku tried the polite approach. "Ano, sir?"

The 'gentleman' replied in a gruff voice. "Keep away, sonny, I'm doing some field research."

Naruto then took away the telescope from the gentleman's hands and looked in it to see what the gentleman was looking at. "Okaasan and Shizune-sensei's hot spring is over there. Haku-neechan, we have a pervert to pummel."

The perverted 'gentleman' chuckled, grabbed back his telescope and pushed Naruto into a tree within a blink of an eye. "Heh, this should be amusing. A couple of scamps think they're a match for me!"

Haku immediately into action throwing a few needles that the pervert managed to dodge, well, most of them anyway. The gentleman grinned until he found out the arm that was hit refused to move. 'A medic-nin technique? How did a brat like this learn something like that?'

Naruto dislodged himself from the tree, and was, in short, pissed off to no end. He then performed a simple technique in order to surprise the pervert, and that was to merely slam his foot into the ground, creating a mild tremor and making a small crack grow toward the perverted nin.

The nin jumped away before the tremor hit but was caught slightly in the shockwave and was hurled back further than he expected. He managed to keep his balance and land on his feet. 'The other brat has strength I haven't seen since... wait a minute... he almost looks like... Yondaime? Could this be Arashi's kid? And his strength... it reminds me of...'

He grumbled and held up his hand. "Hold up, brats, I'd like you to answer something for me."

Haku narrowed his eyes. "Why should we answer you at all, you pervert?"

"Your choice, but I'm posing the question anyway. Do either of you know this woman?" The perverted man took out a picture with three people on it: Orochimaru, Tsunade, and himself.

Haku frowned and Naruto gasped. "Okaasan!"

The white-haired man immediately turned to the blonde-haired boy, and chuckled lightly. "Oi, so you do know Tsunade-hime. I was wondering where the pair of you learned those techniques. It's not everyday that the Toad Sannin, Jiraya, gets to meet students of his fellow teammates."

Haku and Naruto turned to the Sannin in shock. This was Jiraya, one of the three legendary Sannin, the perverted man Naruto overheard about almost four years ago. A man of considerable strength and power.

He was also the man, in Naruto's mind, that tried to have him killed eight years ago. Naruto's face became resolute as he shouted out. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" All of a sudden, forty Naruto clones appeared, all with faces that said that they were prepared to kill. And they all struck at the perverted Sannin.

Haku, remembering the story that Naruto told about overhearing things that night some years ago regarding the Sannin that tried to have Naruto killed, responded in kind with ten Mizu Bunshin, and they in turn all went at the Sannin.

Jiraya was surprised for an instant, he wasn't expecting an attack from Tsunade's students, certainly not attacks that were meant to end his life. He had to look in their eyes for only an instant to know that they were in deadly earnest to kill him. He fought off each of the Bunshin with a surprising degree of skill. However, he was caught off guard as his eyes widened and then rose into the air with a scream as Naruto himself caught him with an attack that poked the Sannin in his ass.

"Ultimate Kinjutsu: 1000 Years of Pain!" This was the 'other' technique on the scroll which Kakashi added at the end as a joke. For some reason the kids took this technique seriously. Jiraya did not find this funny and decided to call in some help, biting his fingers and holding them to the ground.

Haku cried out as he recognized the seals. "Naruto, stop him before he can summon!"

Too late, however, as the Sannin completed his summon. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A bipedal toad-man warrior, a little larger than a man with a blade, then leapt out at Naruto with a sweeping slash of his blade.

Naruto countered by sending his remaining Kage Bunshin's to distract the toad-man. The toad that was summoned, being an expert warrior, easily fended off the chuunin-level bunshins. However, he had a hard time against Naruto who had vanished from sight. As the toad looked for the sneaky kid, he noticed a hole in the ground and immediately jumped back. A crashing noise resounded through the ground beneath him and he was struck by a fist covered in chakra, giving it an inhuman level of strength and damage. The toad-man, having been defeated, vanished in a puff of smoke.

Haku on the other hand had his hands filled with battling the Sannin himself. The perverted nin simply smiled as he dodged all of Haku's attacks, including the water dragon that he summoned to strike at him. The nin's response was give Haku a good boot in the behind and watch him sail into the sky, having a good laugh at the kid's expense. Jiraya stopped laughing as more needles hit his legs, paralyzing them. Haku then performed his bloodline limit ability, he turned enough of the hot water into ice and created the demon mirror technique, surrounding Jiraya in a number of mirrors within an igloo formation.

Haku then struck with thousands of needles which the Sannin was having a harder and harder time dodging them. This was a bad situation that was getting worse. As Haku himself leaped from the mirror to deliver the coup de grace, a torrential gale was spinning in the Sannin's remaining mobile hand, controlled by a tremendous amount of chakra.

Naruto, sensing the danger, cried out an alarm which was too little, too late as the attack connected perfectly with his foster brother.

"RASENGAN!"

A/N: Cliffhanger. Yes, it's evil, deal with it. Kyuubi has run off again, this time with Kakashi's book, so now Kakashi has reluctantly agreed to read off the reviews and... eh?

Kakashi whispers in the ear of the author.

Oh yes, in exchange for the return of his book. Good enough, the fox has had enough fun for one day. All yours, Kakashi-san.

"Ahem. Thanks for your assistance in this manner, Dark-san. Now for my part of the bargain, reading off the more poignant reviews. We start with our resident Sailor Senshi, Lita of Jupiter. Indeed, Haku was part of the greater plan, but as of the end of this chapter, who knows what will occur next? The author did tell me that there would be some elements of romance in later chapters, but not until after people get back, and I think from what I could get from Dark's sick and twisted mind, expect the unexpected."

Very, very true, Kakashi-san. Go on.

"Moving right along, more adulations from mariel4000, gopu, and we have a new reviewer in MELSAMA13. Please don't mention that book-stealing fox. He's probably getting all the pages drenched with either his drool or at the bar with a few dozen hurricanes."

We have our crack teams working on the fox as we speak.

"Next we have Blazer6 and his great review on the work, as well as some issues with Sasuke. I'm trying to work on the kid, so Dark, please don't kill him yet? And I think Blazer has a good point with the pair..."

No comment on that, nor on any hints of pairings until they happen. Expect the unexpected.

"InfernoDragonz is seemingly confused on the curse, izumi, and x1coma also comment on the curse. Agreeably this is a confusing element of your story."

This I believe I addressed in this chapter, hopefully well enough.

"Night-Owl123 returns once more enjoying the tender moment at the end of chapter three broken up by rampant desire to gamble. Tsunade-sama needs another hobby."

She does. Kicking Jiraya's butt is her other hobby.

"Odor is desiring to keep the romantic bits light once you get to them. I was hoping for something more along the lines of..."

Sorry Kakashi, does not allow NC-17 works on their site. Nice try.

"Alas, these puritanical fools. Anyway, Ramen Fox in a Box seems to have the best insight thus far in realizing that Naruto only hearing part of that conversation was misled into believeing Jiraya was the killer. I think this chapter covered that question well enough."

And it continues into chapter five.

"Yes, indeed. Wormkaizer and Hyuga Rain seem to be at odds as to whom the eventual pairing should be."

I was thinking of a Kakashi-Naruto fic... no, no, I'm kidding. Well, the only thing I WILL relate to is that this is not going to be Yaoi. Other than that, it's everyone's guess, and in this case, it's my own guess as well, though I have a good idea of who it will be.

"And they call ME sick and perverted. Next, AngelMidori was happy you brought back Haku. You realize you may have lost a fan there..."

Considering whom the story centers around, and the general premise, what do you think Haku's chances are, hmmm?

"Ah, good point. Angl and PervertedGoofness also give accolades to your dubious fic. Finally, Karibanu believes that Hinata should remain a tool, and not be a major part of the fic. That's the last one."

Can't comment on that just yet, it would give too much away. And yes, we finally found Naruto and your book.

"Yes!!"

Unfortunately, the fox decided if he couldn't have the book, nobody could... as you can see...

Kakashi grabs at the destroyed cover, the drool and bite marks on the book as his precious Itcha Itcha Paradise is ruined beyond all hope of repair. This drops the copy ninja to his knees in despair. "Why? It was just an innocent book of perversion! It didn't deserve this fate! Why? Oh the humanity of it! WHY??"

Calm down there, jeez, get a grip! There's a sale on the book across the street and Jiraya himself is signing... neh?

The copy ninja vanishes across the street and gets at the head of the line with two volumes, the one that was destroyed, and the newest one.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, and for Kakashi-san, rather brief. Please review and try not to be too mad at me! The author hides in a corner.