Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.
A/N: A few people have commented that Naruto seems a bit immature for being 20-something years old. The way I see, Naruto has always and will always be immature, it is just his nature when dealing with emotions and other people. Also count the fact that when he traveled back in time he was still a child or rather early-teen. He didn't need to grow up, he just needed to act as a child and be a child. There was no reason for him to grow up beyond his age at the time. All of his training and planning was done at the Kyubi's advice and instruction so it wasn't necessary for him to think as an adult would. Naturally he did mature a little bit but not much. And for anyone who has had their heart ripped out by the object of their affection you know how painful it can be, adult or not. In Naruto's case he had even more on the line by revealing his secrets to Hinata, so not only did she reject him but he risked having all of his friends turn against him as well.
Naruto was slow to open his eyes and even when he did he wished he hadn't. He ached all over the place and his head was hurting horribly.
"Naruto-kun," came a soft and worried voice that Naruto had burned into his memory by now.
"Hinata-chan, not so loud," said Naruto closing his eyes again.
"You're alright," said Hinata sounding relieved.
"That poison did a number on me, even Kyubi had trouble fighting it," said Naruto, "I don't know how Sandaime survived for so long with that working against him."
"Naruto, were you there when he died?" asked Hinata worriedly.
"Yeah," said Naruto sadly, "He fought Orochimaru the whole time. He died a true hero to the village."
"Naruto, was Orochimaru dead?" asked a voice that Naruto recognized as Kakashi's.
"No, Sandaime was only able to seal away Orochimaru's arms," said Naruto, "But it will slow him down for a while. If only that poison hadn't affected me so. I could have killed him." Naruto was angry with himself.
"It is okay Naruto," said Kakashi, "You still did a good amount of damage to him. The Oto-nin will be lucky if he didn't die from blood loss after you removed his leg."
"Well, that's something I suppose," said Naruto, "Is everyone else okay?"
"All of the Rookies are fine," said Kakashi, "Lee is a bit banged up from one of the explosions but he'll be fine eventually."
"That's good," said Naruto, "When is the funeral?"
"Tomorrow," said Kakashi, "Did Sandaime give any instruction before he died?"
"He told me to protect the village and make my father proud," said Naruto with a distant smile, "What was he like Kakashi-sensei? Did he have my sense of humor? Or was he serious all the time?"
Kakashi seemed surprised for only a moment, "You're father was amazing Naruto. He always knew just what to say when my team was feeling down or when we were in trouble he always protected us and looked after us. He definitely had your sense of humor and was probably more of a pranking terror than you ever were, or at least that is what I was told. He knew when to be serious and when not to. He was very much like you."
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto with a smile, "When we have more time, could you tell me more about him?"
"Of course Naruto, anytime," said Kakashi, "But I really must be going, there are a lot of repairs to complete." With that Kakashi left the pair alone.
"Where's Gaara?" asked Naruto.
"He's getting all of his village registration paperwork filed," said Hinata, "Sandaime-sama already filed everything to make him official but Gaara still needs to sign some of it and then he said he was going to look for a new apartment. I think he wants to get a two bedroom apartment to share with you so you might need to talk to him about it."
"I will, I think that would be nice," said Naruto as he reached for Hinata's hand, "Did you ever leave my side?"
"It's only been one night," said Hinata, "It wasn't necessary for me to leave and check in with my family for such a short time."
"Is your family okay?" asked Naruto.
"They are all fine," said Hinata, "In fact, I saw my father briefly yesterday when I was bringing you here and he smiled at me."
'That's great Hinata," said Naruto squeezing her hand.
Hinata then did something that surprised him and Hinata both. She got up of the chair she was sitting on next to the bed and when into the bathroom. When she came out she was wearing one of Naruto's sweatshirts only. She then slid into bed next to him a snuggled up close.
"You need to sleep more and I haven't slept at all," said Hinata with a yawn as she wrapper her arms around one his and used his shoulder as a pillow. It wasn't long before Naruto could tell she was deeply asleep and not long after that he too was deeply asleep and very happy.
BREAK
The next day was a sad affair in which even the heavens cried for Sandaime's passing from this world to the next. Naruto, Hinata and Gaara all attended the funeral together. Sasuke attended with Kakashi. All the other rookies were there as well. Lee was using a single crutch to help him along, but as he had told them later the doctors said he'd be as good as new in a few days.
After the funeral Naruto, Hinata, Gaara, and Sasuke were asked to meet with Kakashi.
"Yo," said Kakashi showing up an hour late to the meeting he'd called for.
The four just nodded solemnly, they weren't really in the mood to listen to his lame excuse.
"I know you're all sad to have lost Sandaime-sama and so am I. However, we are shinobi and must continue on strong for the village. Everyone will have to start working harder now to make up for the loss of shinobi to the village. We can't show any weakness to other villages during this time so part of that includes the following. Sasuke, you've been promoted to Chuunin rank and will be entering into Hunter-nin training starting tomorrow at five A.M. You're trainer will collect you then," said Kakashi with a small smile.
Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara could all see the look of triumph in Sasuke's eyes and as if to add insult to injury he sneered at Naruto to show his superiority.
"With Sasuke leaving the team, Gaara has been selected to fill the spot. Gaara, welcome to the team," said Kakashi with a smile, "Now, you are all going to have to help with repairing the village for the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I have my own missions to attend to."
"We understand Kakashi-sensei," said Hinata, "Just be careful."
Kakashi nodded and smiled at the girl, "Thank you Hinata."
Hinata nodded and returned the smile.
"Also, Jiraiya-sama wants to see all of you at some point today," said Kakashi.
"We'll go, but first I need to go to the Hokage's office and pick up a scroll," said Naruto, "Sandaime said he left it for me."
"Alright then," said Kakashi, "See ya." He then just popped away in smoke.
"I've got to learn how to do that," said Naruto with a small grin. Naruto took a deep breath before he turned to Sasuke and extend his hand to him, "Congratulations on your promotion Sasuke. I wish you all the best in fulfilling your ambition."
Sasuke looked at the hand cautiously and then into Naruto's eyes but saw no malice or false feeling there. He accepted the hand and shook it strongly, "Good luck to you too and the rest of your team."
"Thanks," said Naruto with a nod. They may have hated each other but deep down Naruto didn't wish any true ill-will towards Sasuke. Everything was in the past and now they would be going their separate ways in peace.
Sasuke nodded before he turned and left the trio behind.
"Why did you do that?" asked Gaara.
"He's not my problem anymore. No reason to continue being a prick to him if he's no longer a threat to my life or the success of my team," said Naruto with a shrug, "Now, we should be going if we're going to finish everything we need to do."
Hinata and Gaara nodded and followed Naruto to the Hokage tower. Outside the tower they found a lone figure standing looking at the building. It was obvious the figure had been crying and in fact still was.
"Hey Konohamaru," said Naruto as he came up next to the boy and put a hand on his head.
"Naruto-nichan," said Konohamaru with a sniffle.
"I miss him too," said Naruto with a chuckle, "Do you remember the first time we met?"
Konohamaru nodded and sniffled again.
"Do you remember the first time you defeated the old man using the ultimate technique?" asked Naruto.
Konohamaru actually let out a small snort which happened to cause snot to shoot out and hit Naruto's shoe causing the poor child to look mortified.
Naruto though just laughed off, "Do remember what he did when he finally woke up?"
"Yeah, he let me where his hat and robes the whole day," said Konohamaru with a small smile on his face.
"I still can't believe he did that. You got to be Hokage before me," said Naruto with a pout that caused Konohamaru to laugh. "Your grandpa loved you very much Konohamaru and he was very proud of you."
Konohamaru hugged Naruto tightly and sobbed a bit more.
"Just remember those good times and everything he taught you Konohamaru and he'll never really leave you," said Naruto rubbing the kids head.
"Thank you Naruto-nichan," said Konohamaru.
"I'm going up to his office, do you want to come with us?" asked Naruto.
Konohamaru nodded.
"You remember Hinata-chan right?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah, she's the pretty one that always gives me sweets," said Konohamaru with a grin that caused Hinata to blush fiercely.
"This is Gaara, he's our new teammate," said Naruto making the introduction.
"Gaara-nichan, you'd better help Naruto-nichan and Hinata-nechan," said Konohamaru fiercely protective of the couple.
Gaara smiled at the little boy, "You can count on it."
"Good, but if I find out differently you'll find yourself subject to the strongest technique in all of Konoha village," said the boy with a devious grin.
Hinata smacked Naruto in the back of the head, "I still can't believe you taught him that."
"What? He needed it at the time," said Naruto innocently.
Hinata huffed and walked ahead into the Hokage tower.
"She's still mad about that huh?" asked Konohamaru in a secretive whisper to Naruto.
"Not really," said Naruto in an equal whisper, "She's just teasing me. Didn't see how she walked away?"
"Huh?" asked Konohamaru who watched Hinata walking away with a subtle sway to her hips as she went, "Looks normal to me."
"You'll understand when you're older," said Naruto as he quickly chased after Hinata to plead for forgiveness.
"Don't worry," said Gaara, "I don't really understand it myself either."
"Come on," said the boy, "Let's go before Naruto-nichan does something to make Hinata-nechan try to kill him."
Naruto and the other easily entered the Hokage's office to search for the scroll. A lot of the scrolls, such as the scroll of forbidden seals, were already moved and put under heavy lock and key but there were many others that weren't nearly as dangerous but should still have been put under lock and key. Naruto, Hinata and Gaara searched for a long time but found nothing.
"Konohamaru-chan?" asked Hinata.
"Yes," called Konohamaru looking up from his reverie from his grandfather's seat.
"Do you know if your grandpa kept a special scroll for Naruto?" asked Hinata.
"Yeah, there was a scroll from someone name Arashi for Naruto-nichan," said Konohamaru looking concentrate.
"Do you remember where he kept it?" asked Hinata.
"Yeah," said Konohamaru jumping up and running into the closet which was soon followed by a muffle yell.
"What's that Konohamaru?" asked Naruto as he went to help the boy.
"It's not here," Konohamaru yelled again, "Grandpa always kept that scroll together with forbidden scroll in here. But they are both gone."
"They must have moved it to a safe place," said Hinata trying not to show any worry.
Naruto though remained stoic as he left the office.
Gaara and Hinata could both feel the repressed killer intent. Luckily Konohamaru was clueless.
"You should go on home Konohamaru, you're mother is probably worried," said Hinata before she hurried after Naruto to stop him from doing something stupid.
Luckily he didn't go too far. In fact, he only went just down the hall to the council chambers which happened to be in session before he slammed the doors open angrily.
"This is a closed session young man," said one of the council members.
"ANBU, execute this spy now," said another who looked at the boy with disgust. Lucky for Naruto, not one ANBU moved an inch.
"I said execute him," said the same angry councilman.
"With all due respect Yoroichi-sama," said the ANBU captain, "This boy is less likely to be a spy than you are now shut up and sit down before we decide to execute you."
With that the councilman paled and sat down heavily.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked another councilman formally but it was easy to see there was more hate in that man's eyes than any other in the room.
"I want my scroll," said Naruto simply.
"What scroll would that be?" asked the same hateful man.
"The scroll my father left in Sandaime-sama's care to give to me. The scroll that Sandaime said I should collect from his office just before he died. The scroll that will teach me my father's techniques. The scroll from Kazama Arashi to his only son Kazama Naruto also known as Uzumaki Naruto. That scroll, the one that was moved along with the forbidden scroll. You've taken it and I want it."
"I don't know what you're talking about boy," said the same hateful man. It was evident in the man's eyes that he wasn't telling the truth. He was not a skilled shinobi and was not as adept at hiding the truth though he was skilled in the subject matter as a politician.
"You will return it to me now," said Naruto adamantly trying to prevent Kyubi's chakra from leaking out.
"You will leave these chambers now," said the same man, "You are not welcome here. Now get out or I will have the ANBU escort you out and that is one order they will follow without question."
"You've made a grave mistake," said Naruto before he left the room doing his utmost to control himself and not kill the entire council at once.
Gaara watched the events unfold and didn't like it anymore than Naruto did but he respected Naruto's choice to be restrained and followed after silently.
"I congratulate you elder council," said Hinata in an ice cold voice, "You've just lost the support of the Hyuga Clan." With that Hinata chased after Naruto in a hurry.
"Damn demons," said one of the councilmen after the trio had left, "Now not only do we have the old one but we've got two of them now. It's an infestation I tell you."
"Elder council," spoke up the ANBU captain, "You've now lost the protection of the ANBU. Until there is a new Hokage appointed and we are ordered to protect you, you can fend for yourselves." With that the ANBU captain and the remaining guards vanished.
"What have you fools done?" asked one of the only councilmen that realized exactly how much sway the boy had over the shinobi in the village. Naruto's weapons were already legendary amongst all the shinobi in the village. He was a bright star within their ranks and commanded more respect than the last Uchiha did. And with his presence in trying to help Sandaime fight off Orochimaru his popularity had grown even further. Despite the ignorance of the villagers and the other councilmen, this one man was aware just how powerful the boy would grow to be. And now that the boy knew of his heritage he would only grow stronger with time.
"The shinobi will once again be at our beck and call once we have appointed a new Hokage," said another man confidently.
"And who are we to appoint?" asked another.
"Jiraiya-sama is in town," said another, "He would be ideal, even if he is a pervert. He is strong and capable and probably the only one strong enough to face Orochimaru."
"Agreed," came the unanimous consent of the council including the one that knew of Naruto's growth within the village.
BREAK
Naruto stormed off mumbling things like 'ignorant ass fucking whores' and several other explicative that weren't proper to be used in public or in the presence of others.
Hinata and Gaara both followed at a distance arguing over who should talk to him.
"You can protect yourself with your sand," said Hinata, "I'd be crushed instantly."
"He can easily break my sand," Gaara argued back, "He loves you. He'd never hurt you or even think about it for a second."
Luckily for both of them Jiraiya happened to find the group first.
"Ah, just the three people I wanted to see," said Jiraiya with a grin that was immediately destroyed by Naruto's fist.
Hinata smiled before approaching Naruto, "There now, feeling better?"
Naruto nodded, "a little."
"Better than nothing I suppose," said Hinata, "I'm sorry about the council. This village is awful to you. It is so unfair."
"I'm used to it," said Naruto, "It just hurts that the only thing my father left for me was a scroll that the elders refuse to give to me because of the damn fuzz-ball."
"Don't worry," said Hinata, "I'm sure the new Hokage will straighten everything out."
Naruto nodded before he finally noticed the pervert's lower body sticking out of a nearby wall.
Once Jiraiya had been set free and revived he wasn't happy, "You little punk. Here I come to offer to teach you a technique and this is how you treat me."
Naruto rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry. I was really angry. That stupid village council refuses to fulfill Sandaime's wishes just because I'm there awful little demonic secret the stupid bastards . . ."
Naruto had known Jiraiya a long time or at least he liked to think he had and never in all the time had he known him had he ever seen Jiraiya so livid.
"You three stay here for a few minutes," said Jiraiya before he vanished looking rather severe.
"And I thought Naruto was angry," whispered Gaara to Hinata who just nodded in agreement.
The pervert returned a few minutes later as promised with a smirk on his face.
"You didn't kill them did you?" asked Naruto curiously, "Because if you did I would like to have helped."
"I did nothing of the sort," said Jiraiya trying not to laugh at Naruto's cheek, "I just convinced them to let me take the two of you away for a while to find an old friend of mine."
"Tsunade-sama?" asked Hinata excited, "She was your teammate right? The legendary healer?"
Jiraiya laughed out loud at the excited look on the girl's face, "The very same."
"What about Gaara?" asked Naruto, "Shouldn't he come with us?"
"He'll be fine here. The fact that he is here now is relatively unknown so we don't have to worry. Besides, there is some training he is in desperate need of," said Jiraiya.
"What training would that be?" asked Naruto curiously.
"Have you met a Jounin by the name of Maito Gai?" asked Jiraiya.
Naruto burst out laughing before falling to the ground unable to stand any longer.
"I don't see what's so funny," said Jiraiya.
"Naruto-kun and I have trained with Gai-sensei for some time now. I believe Naruto-kun is laughing because he is imagining Gaara-kun's reaction to the man," said Hinata trying to stifle her own giggle.
"I see," said Jiraiya as he studied Gaara and tried to suppress his own laughter. "Anyway, I've already asked Gai to train Gaara's Taijutsu while we are away."
"Where can I find this Maito Gai?" asked Gaara not liking the obvious humor the others found in the situation.
"He's always on training field 17 with his prize pupil Lee," said Hinata, "He'll seem rather strange but he can train you really well in Taijutsu."
"So be it," said Gaara disappearing in a whirl of sand.
"How come everyone but me has cool Jutsu to appear and disappear?" asked Naruto slightly miffed, "Yo, Ero-Sennin, I want you to teach me something like that."
"Feh," said Jiraiya, "I have something better to teach you than that."
Naruto knew what was coming but jumped up excitedly anyway, "What? What is it?"
"Not now," said Jiraiya, "We should be going now. Meet me at the gates in an hour."
Naruto and Hinata nodded only to see Jiraiya disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Damn it," shouted Naruto frustrated slightly with all the other shinobi knowing how to vanish like that while he didn't.
"We should go see Gai-sensei quickly to get our gravity seals replaced and then go pack to meet Ero-Sennin-sama," said Hinata.
Naruto nodded and followed Hinata.
BREAK
"So what is this technique you're going to teach me?" asked Naruto.
"It was the fourth strongest technique," said Jiraiya, "We'll start when we reach our destination."
"One of dad's techniques," said Naruto excitedly.
Jiraiya seemed very surprised, "Who told you?"
"The old man did before he died," said Naruto, "Orochimaru knows too."
"He already knew," said Jiraiya, "So don't you worry about that. However, now that you know, I can't stress how important it is that no one else finds out."
"Of course not," said Naruto, "I know that Yondaime had a lot of enemies and if they were to find out he had a son I would have even more problems than I do right now."
Jiraiya nodded as they continued walking.
"Um . . ." mumbled Hinata, "What will I be learning?"
Jiraiya smiled, "I wondered if you would be asking me that anytime soon. Now, you know that Tsunade is an expert medic-nin. She's also a horrible gambler and a bit of a drunk. You need to impress her enough for her to take you on as a student. You have two options, one, make a bet with her that she bound to lose or two learn one of her hardest techniques."
"Like what?" asked Hinata.
"Like this," said Jiraiya tossing her a scroll, "Tsunade isn't only known for her healing and gambling but also for her freakish strength. That is just the starter scroll for the technique she uses. I don't expect you'll make much progress with it and if she knew I'd given you such a technique she'd probably kill me. Oh well, do what you can I'll deal with the consequences later."
Hinata nodded as she started studying the scroll and walking along behind them.
Several hours later the three entered a large gambling town that was in the middle of festival.
"Okay, training time," said Naruto as soon as they entered the city.
"Why don't you two go enjoy the festival and I'll see if I can't get us any leads?" suggested Jiraiya, "But first do you have any money?"
"No," answered Naruto quickly knowing that Jiraiya would just take it.
"A little," said Hinata not sure why Naruto lied.
"Let's have it then," said Jiraiya holding out his hand to Hinata.
She hand him her little Kitsune-chan coin purse which was fat from the money she had in it.
Jiraiya took all of it and hander her and Naruto each 5,000 ryou, "Money will spoil good Shinobi." He then walked away with a big grin on his face.
"But that was my money," said Hinata in shock.
Naruto though just grinned as he took out his very fat Gama-chan coin purse and showed it to Hinata.
"So that's why you lied," said Hinata.
"I don't trust anyone with my money but me and you and maybe Gaara someday," said Naruto with a snicker.
"From now on, me too," said Hinata taking Naruto's hand and dragging him off to see the different stands. By the end Naruto's poor Gama-chan was completely deflated and empty thanks to Hinata's desire for stuffed animals and other pretty things. Naruto was quickly changing his opinion of trusting Hinata with his money.
"I'm sorry for spending all of your money Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "I've just never been able to have so much fun at festival before. Father always wants us to be formal and proper and playing games at festival is neither of those things."
"Don't worry about it," said Naruto, "It was worth it."
Hinata smiled and then kissed Naruto in thanks leaving him in a daze having forgotten to slap him awake. After that Naruto just followed the girl around completely oblivious to his surroundings. He even ignored Kyubi's mumbling about 'stupid humans' and their 'stupid emotions'.
"Hey Hinata, what's up with the look on his face?" asked Jiraiya looking at Naruto for the first time since they'd met up nearly an hour ago.
Hinata seemed confused and then looked at Naruto before she realized the problem and slapped him hard.
"Hey, how did we get here?" asked Naruto looking around to see they were in a hotel room.
Hinata blushed and the whispered in his ear.
"Oh yeah," said Naruto blushing, "I've really got to work on that."
"We can practice later," said Hinata boldly causing a small trickle of blood to come from Naruto's nose.
Jiraiya though knew something perverted was happening he just couldn't figure out exactly what that was as he studied the two before him. His 'pervy-sense' was working overtime as a result.
The next day and in the next town Jiraiya still wasn't sure what was happening between the two youths as a result he needed to get his pervert fix for the day and left the pair to settle into a hotel room alone.
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata with a bright red blush.
"Yeah," said Naruto trying to meditate as they had been instructed.
"Do you want to practice now?" asked Hinata blushing even more.
Naruto cracked one eye curiously, "I thought we were practicing already."
Hinata seemed to blush even more. Sometimes Naruto's denseness really got on her nerves, especially at time like this. "Kissing."
This time Naruto blushed, "Oh, that practice . . . um . . . sure, okay."
Hinata and Naruto both scooted closer to each other.
"Maybe, you could slap me first this time and then kiss me," said Naruto trying his best not to blush.
Hinata blushed heavily but nodded. With a single swift slap across his face she followed up by kissing him only this time he was kissing her back and it was pure heaven as far as she was concerned. Unfortunately it wasn't to last, as someone decided to knock on the door. She was livid. She finally got the kiss from Naruto that she'd been dreaming of for weeks . . . no months, and now it was being interrupted by some damn annoying housekeeper.
"Naruto-kun, go hang a 'do-not-disturb' sign," said Hinata breaking the kiss.
Naruto seemed equally annoyed at the interruption. He was finally able to fully enjoy a kiss from Hinata and now it was being interrupted.
There was a second knock.
Now annoyed even more he stalked to the door with a bit of Kyubi leaking out showing his annoyance at the interruption. Worse, they seemed to be rather persistent as they knocked for a third time. Somewhere in the back of his mind something was bothering him but at the moment he only had one thing on his mind and that was to kiss Hinata for the rest of his life.
Naruto swung the door open wide, "This had better be damn important or I swear I'm going to kill you where you stand."
"I'd like to see you try brat," said a gravelly voice.
Naruto looked up at the source and suddenly that nagging feeling he'd been having returned in full force.
"Shit," he mumbled even more annoyed, "You know, you two assholes picked a really bad time to show up. I know you've got an agenda to keep and capturing the Jinchuriki for whatever evil purpose your group has is important but I was really enjoying kissing my girlfriend. So do me a huge favor, come back in like, six hours."
The pair in the hall seemed stunned by what the boy just said and then they were more stunned when he just closed the door in their faces.
"Did he really just do that?" asked the gravelly voice.
"I think he did," said a rather silky voice.
"Oh hell no," said the gravelly voice as he pounded on the door nearly breaking through it.
Inside Naruto had just started kissing Hinata again when the pounding on the door began again.
"Hinata, stay here and no matter what happens, do not move. I'll be back shortly to finish what we started," said Naruto as he stood and walked toward the door building up Kyubi's chakra as he released the Gravity seal on his body.
Hinata was equally miffed but seeing Naruto like that was enough to convince her to remain where she was. Whoever was outside that door was about to be introduced to hell on earth.
Naruto opened the door again simply pissed off, "You stupid assholes, you couldn't just let me enjoy that for a little while could you? Now, I'm pissed off."
"I like this kid," said the gravelly voiced man, "He's got moxie."
"Let's make this quick," said the silky voice.
"If you want to make this quick Itachi why don't you just use that special Sharingan of yours on me," suggested Naruto trying to hide his smirk. Boy would Itachi be in for one hell of a surprise.
"As you wish," said Itachi locking eyes with Naruto only to find he was suddenly looking into Kyubi's eyes. More importantly he was standing just in front of the demon just inside the cage, how he got there he wasn't exactly sure.
"I may not be able to kill you in here, but I can sure as hell enjoy torturing you," said Kyubi with a sickening animalistic grin.
For the first time in his life Itachi felt immense fear and horrible pain throughout his body.
In the hall Kisame stared in awe as his partner began to scream holding his head in pain and then drop to his knees and curl up into a ball and begin to sob uncontrollably.
"Now that he's out of the way," said Naruto looking to the fish man, "So, fishy, your turn now."
Kisame panicked and grabbed his partner and ran for it vanishing just as Ero-Sennin turned the corner of the hall holding a beautiful woman over his shoulder.
Jiraiya had seen many things in his life but for him to see Uchiha Itachi sobbing like a little girl as he and his partner ran for it was definitely one for the record books.
As soon as Itachi and Kisame vanished Naruto dropped to the ground breathing heavily and sweating profusely.
Jiraiya rushed down the hall to check on the boy, "Naruto, what happened?"
"Soul of the Slaying Demon," said Naruto, "I reversed Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan by trapping him inside my head with Kyubi. It was rather weak and definitely not strong enough to kill him but he'll definitely think twice about ever coming after me again."
"You can do that?" asked Jiraiya.
"Yeah, but it sucks," said Naruto, "It took nearly all of my chakra and as much of Kyubi's chakra as I am capable of using for it to work on him. If you hadn't arrived when you did, Kisame would have killed me for sure."
"But he was already fleeing?" questioned Jiraiya.
"I bluffed," said Naruto, "He was so panicked that I took out Itachi so easily that he ran for it."
"You were damn lucky," said Jiraiya, "Don't think you'll ever get away with that again."
"I know," said Naruto, "Now go away, Hinata and I have some unfinished business to attend to."
"Eh?" Jiraiya was definitely confused as Naruto stood and stumbled into the hotel room and closed the door causing Jiraiya's 'pervy-sense' to go into massive overdrive.
BREAK
"Okay brat," said Jiraiya as he tossed Naruto a water-balloon.
"What's this for?" asked Naruto.
Jiraiya then held out his hand with his own water balloon, "Watch carefully," the balloon then expanded in several directions at once before exploding.
"Cool," said Naruto as he held the balloon in his hand. He was actually challenged while trying to do the Rasengan's early stage, but after a few minutes the balloon burst, "This is easy, what's next?"
Jiraiya looked at Naruto stunned. It shouldn't have been possible for him to have learned that so easily but he did it all the same.
"Ah, I see you saw the trick," said Jiraiya acting as though he knew Naruto would figure it out easily, "The first stage is all about control which you seemed to have ace, now let's see if you have power and control." Jiraiya then tossed him a thicker rubber ball.
Naruto seemed to consider the ball for a moment, "It is gonna be a lot harder huh?"
"Much harder indeed, but don't worry, you might get it in a few years," said Jiraiya with a confident smirk.
Naruto was peeved with the pervert's attitude, "Oh yeah, well watch this Ero-Sennin," the ball then shredded in all directions a moment later.
Now Jiraiya couldn't hide his surprise.
"Ha, and you said it would take a few years," said Naruto boastfully just to annoy the pervert.
"Do it again," said Jiraiya throwing him a ball.
Just as the first one did this second one was shredded in seconds.
"Is that all of the technique?" asked Naruto.
"No, now comes the really hard part," said Jiraiya as he formed a perfect Rasengan in his hand, "Now you have to have control, power, and speed and then compress it all in an instant."
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he studied the pervert's hand.
Naruto then held out his own hand and the chakra began to gather rapidly, even faster than Jiraiya's had gathered and within seconds a ball that was the same as Jiraiya's had formed except slightly larger and spinning much faster, "Is this it? Did I get it right?"
Jiraiya's jaw dropped. There was no way that Naruto could have learned his prize student's prize Jutsu in just a few minutes time. "How could you learn it so fast? Even I took years to learn this. It took Arashi three years just to create it."
"I don't know," said Naruto, "It just made sense to me. My chakra control is really good from training with Ikugachi-sensei and my power is excellent thanks to training with Gai-sensei. My Taijutsu style is the same as father used to use and this technique seems to be designed for it. So, it just made sense to me. Is it bad?"
"No," said Jiraiya emphatically, "It's not bad at all. In fact it is really good. I am extremely impressed with you. Your father would be really proud too."
"You think?" asked Naruto excited to think his father would approve.
"Trust me Naruto," said Jiraiya, "He would be very proud of you this day. Well, since you know this I have one more treat for you." Jiraiya then reached into his pouch and removed a scroll which he then tossed to Naruto.
Naruto examined the scroll closely. It was labeled simply, 'To Naruto Fm Arashi'. "My father's scroll, the council refused to give it to me. How did you . . ."
"They gave it to me when I agreed to go find Tsunade, though they weren't very happy about it," said Jiraiya.
"Can you help me learn it?"
"I'm afraid it would do no good for me to help you with that technique," said Jiraiya, "Your father spent years developing that technique, it is your families legacy, your ultimate Hijutsu, the Shunshin no Jutsu."
"Body flicker?" asked Naruto confused.
"You wanted a technique that would allow you to appear and disappear well this is it. This technique is the pinnacle of speed technique, you literally move faster than the speed of light. The only sign that you are using it right is the slight flicker of your body before you vanish." Jiraiya then chuckled, "I remember the first time you father used the technique successfully, he ended up somewhere Hidden Mist Village. It also earned him the nick name the Yellow-Flash."
"Yellow-Flash?"
Jiraiya chuckled again, "Yeah, he ended up in a women bath house with his pants down around his ankles. He, like you, was blond from head to toe so when he flashed the ladies there he earned the nickname."
"Now I know you're lying," said Naruto with a sour look.
"Am not, where do you think he met your mother?" asked Jiraiya with a giant smirk, "She was the only women there to forget her modesty and beat the crap out him. Little did he know that she was the daughter of the Lord of Fire country. You can only imagine the surprised look on both their faces when he was assigned to guard her a year later for her annual trip to Hidden Mist Village for her vacation. They fell in love on that trip and married about a year later, just after he'd been promoted to Hokage. They married in secret, it was a small ceremony, just her father and myself as witnesses. Her father died a month later, it was believe Orochimaru got to him as vengeance against your father's promotion. You see, Orochimaru believed that your father got the job over him because he married the Lord's only daughter, not because he was just that much better. Anyway, you better get to work."
"Thank you for telling me about my mother and father," said Naruto seriously, "It means a lot to me."
"Don't worry about it kid, now get to work," said Jiraiya, "I have to go check on your girlfriend."
"Tell her I say hi," said Naruto as he sat down and unfurled the scroll and began reading.
Jiraiya shook his head and laughed. It was going to be so much fun teasing him and Hinata about the girlfriend comment.
Jiraiya found Hinata still pounding away at the same tree though she wasn't making much head way and her hands were starting to bleed.
"Hinata, relax for a bit," said Jiraiya as he took a seat nearby, "So, making any progress?"
"No," said Hinata with a heavy sigh, "I just don't get it, it should be working."
"Anyway, your boyfriend says hi," said Jiraiya.
"How is he? Did he learn that technique yet?" asked Hinata.
"Yes, the little brat," said Jiraiya, "It took me three years to learn that technique and he learned it in three minutes. Hell, it took his father three years just to create the technique."
Hinata smiled, "He learns fast when he wants to."
"I see, then did he learn his lessons from you yesterday?" asked Jiraiya slyly.
"I don't know what you're talking about Ero-Sennin-sama," said Hinata feigning ignorance.
"Fine, be that way," said Jiraiya, "Just a suggestion, try that technique using only one finger. It's easier to focus on a finger than an entire hand."
Hinata was confused but decided to try it his way anyway. Once he left she resumed her work on the tree yielding only a slight bit more success than before.
BREAK
Weeks passed with Jiraiya getting drunk and fooling around with any girl that would give him the time. It didn't make much sense to Naruto as it seemed to be a waste of time however that didn't stop him taking advantage of the time available to him to train.
Finally, Jiraiya joined the pair one afternoon, "I've finally got a lead on Tsunade, it seems she's in Tanzaku City."
"How do you know she'll still be there when we get there?" asked Hinata.
"She might not be but at least we have her trail now," said Jiraiya, "We'll start looking there and hopefully get a lead to where she is going."
Hinata and Naruto nodded and followed Jiraiya out of town.
It was only a half day's walk to Tanzaku City but it was far enough for Naruto to have smashed into several trees attempting the Shunshin movement.
"One of these times he's going to run through a tree," said Jiraiya with a laugh as Hinata helped Naruto to stand once again. "Don't worry kid, you'll get it eventually."
On the outskirts of town they could see a lot of debris in the air.
"Well, seems there might be trouble, let's go you two," said Jiraiya as he leapt on to the closest roof top.
They arrived moments later to see a collapse castle and signs that a giant snake had been there as well as a perfectly smashed wall section that was no doubt Tsunade's doing.
"She still here but not for much longer," said Jiraiya.
"And so is Orochimaru," said Naruto examining the snake damage.
"There were five people here," said Hinata as she examined the area with her Byakugan.
"Orochimaru must have brought reinforcements to help him along," said Naruto, "He must be looking for Tsunade to heal him after his fight with Sandaime."
"Hmm, things are worse than I thought," said Jiraiya, "We have to hurry. You two take this picture and start looking for her and I'll do the same."
Naruto and Hinata nodded before vanishing.
Naruto had a better way of searching in mind. "Hey, ojisan, where do they sell the best sake in town?"
The old man in question was a small shopkeeper, "Ain't you a bit young to be drinking sake?"
"It's not for me," said Naruto, "My old man wants the best and sent me out to find it."
"You want to go to Bansai then," said the shopkeeper.
"Thank ojisan," said Naruto as he ran off with Hinata.
"Naruto-kun, why are you asking about sake? Aren't we supposed to look for Tsunade-hime?"
"We are," said Naruto with a wink.
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, picture this, you just met a man who killed your teacher, threatened you with something severe. You're stressed out, maybe even a little panicked. If you could, wouldn't you want the best sake in town too?" asked Naruto.
Hinata nodded, "But I thought she likes to gamble?"
"She does," said Naruto, "But drinking is her second favorite pastime."
A few minutes later they found the Bansai and entered. Naruto approached the host first, "Excuse me, I'm looking for this woman, have you seen her?" He then showed the picture to the host.
"She sitting over there," said the host pointing to the loud drunk woman in a corner booth.
"Is that really her?" asked Hinata.
"Yep," said Naruto with a grimace. Sometimes seeing our hero's in real life can be a bit of a let down.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," said Naruto softly calling up Gamakichi.
"Yo, Naruto man, what's up?"
"Can you go find Jiraiya, tell him where we are and that we've found Tsunade?" requested Naruto.
Gamakichi nodded and hopped away.
"Should we wait for him?" asked Hinata nervously.
"Nah," said Naruto as he approached the table Shizune and Tsunade were sitting at.
"Do I know you brat?" asked Tsunade rather abrasively.
"Not yet," said Naruto with a grin, "But I can guarantee that after today you'll never forget me."
Tsunade chuckled, "You've got some nerve talking to me like that brat."
"And you've got some nerve talking to me like that Obaachan," said Naruto with a devious grin.
"Who you calling old shorty?" asked Tsunade.
"You Obaachan," said Naruto cockily. He knew he was pissing her off but right now she really needed to be pissed off.
"Tsunade-sama, please calm down, he's just a child," said Shizune.
"Good job Naruto, you've only found her five minutes ago and already you've managed to piss her off," said Jiraiya coming up behind the group with Hinata hot on his heals.
"Jiraiya, what the hell do you want?" asked the voluptuous woman as she sipped back on some more sake.
"Can't an old friend visit with another old friend?" asked Jiraiya as he took a seat.
"I've been visited by a lot of old friends today," said Tsunade as she took a long pull on her sake bottle.
"Who was with Orochimaru?" asked Naruto, "What did they look like?"
"Who is the brat?" asked Tsunade ignoring his questions.
"Naruto," said Jiraiya, "Calm down, there is no need to hurry."
"Yes there is," said Naruto, "Orochimaru is obviously not well enough to come here on his own, I can understand bringing one person, a medic maybe, but for him to have two escorts give great cause for concern. Now damn it, answer my question you old hag."
"One had silver hair and glasses, he seemed to be a skilled medic-nin," said Shizune interrupting the oncoming argument.
"Shit, then Kabuto survived Gaara's attack, damn slippery bastard. What about the other one?"
"He had white hair with two dots on his forehead, he seemed very ill himself," said Shizune.
"Shit, then Kimimaro is with him too," said Naruto.
"Who?" asked Jiraiya.
"The last of the Kaguya clan, the bone users," said Naruto, "Sandaime told me about Orochimaru's personal guard before the attack began. I was surprised when he wasn't there but now that I know he's ill . . ."
"Things are indeed more severe than I thought," said Jiraiya, "I'm sorry Tsunade but I don't have time to bull shit with you tonight, you need to return to Konoha and take the title of Hokage."
"Hokage is a shit title, why would I want it? Everyone who takes that title dies," said Tsunade.
"Better to die for something than for nothing you old hag," said Naruto more than annoyed, "But then you wouldn't know about dieing for anything you've ever believed in." Naruto knew that was way below the belt but he needed to get her pissed off enough to make some stupid as bet with him.
"Step outside," said Tsunade coldly as she let the restaurant.
"I hope you know you've really pissed her off this time," said Jiraiya.
"Good, she needs to be pissed off," said Naruto, "Running from the past solves nothing, trust me, I know."
For some reason Jiraiya had a feeling that Naruto did know though he didn't like what it implied.
Tsunade stood a good distance from Naruto holding out a single finger, "I'll use just one finger, that's all it will take to beat you."
"You wish," said Naruto with a confident smirk.
"Why does Hokage mean so much to you brat?"
"Because, unlike you, I would be proud to die protecting the Village, and that's why, someday, I'm going to take the title of Hokage," said Naruto waiting for the first opening to show itself.
Tsunade was caught off guard by the comment and looked away briefly. It was all the opening Naruto needed.
He vanished from sight and attacked with a spinning round house kick.
Tsunade was so surprised by the speed she could react in time to completely block the kick. "That's the last time you'll ever hit me boy."
Naruto just grinned, "I haven't even tapped into Kyubi yet, how can you be so confident?"
Tsunade again was caught off guard by the comment causing her to be unable to block a series of six fast hits that came from all angles.
"I'll admit kid, you're good, but I guess I should get serious now," said Tsunade more than a little pissed off.
"Hah, yeah right," said Naruto, "You and I both know that I'm only playing with you. Do you really think getting serious while you're still drunk is going to help you at all?"
Suddenly Tsunade vanished and Naruto took a heavy punch to the stomach only to explode in a puff of smoke. "Kage Bunshin?" questioned Tsunade as she turned quickly to block the next hit from Naruto.
"Getting slow in your old age," said Naruto playfully.
Tsunade was just getting more and more pissed off only to get more and more sloppy.
"I think it's time to end this," said Naruto standing a good hundred feet away from her.
"I'm going to kill you brat," said Tsunade.
Naruto's body suddenly flickered slightly only to vanish. A loud explosion next to her sent debris everywhere. When the smoke cleared it showed that Naruto had run into a wall
"Ouch," said Naruto as he picked himself up, "I've still got to work on that one."
"Jiraiya," said Tsunade, "What were thinking teaching him the Shunshin? How the hell do you even know the Shunshin?"
"I don't, Arashi left it in a scroll for Naruto to learn," said Jiraiya.
"Hah, as if this no talent kid could learn it," said Tsunade with a laugh.
"Oh yeah," said Naruto now that he'd stood up again, "Want to bet?"
Shizune and Jiraiya both knew right then that Naruto had said the magic words.
"Name the stakes?"
"If I learn Shunshin perfect in a week, you have to become the next Hokage," said Naruto.
"I'll even sweeten the deal, if you win, you get this necklace," said Tsunade showing it to Naruto, "But if you lose, you have to quit being a shinobi forever."
"Deal," said Naruto offering her his hand to shake.
"Naruto, you do realize it took your father seven years to finally get the technique right and then it took two years more to replicate it successfully every time," said Jiraiya slightly worried about the bet.
"I made a promise and I never back out on my promise, that's my nindo," said Naruto, "Now, if you'll excuse me I have a technique to master and a bet to win."
Jiraiya just chuckled and returned to the group.
"Tsunade-sama, that was a bit foolish," said Shizune chiding her sensei.
"He'll never win," said Tsunade with a snort of confidence.
"You've made a grave mistake Tsunade-hime, Naruto has never failed or lost a bet," said Hinata confidently, "You're going to lose the bet."
"A Hyuga?" questioned Tsunade, "Jiraiya, since when do you travel with a Hyuga?"
"She is on Naruto's team and an aspiring medic-nin," said Jiraiya, "She actually shows more promise than you did at the same age."
"Really now?" asked Tsunade before she looked back at Hinata, "What's your name?"
"Hyuga Hinata," she replied a bit uncomfortable with Tsunade's gaze on her.
"And I suppose the pervert brought you along in the hopes of convincing me to teach you?" Tsunade asked already knowing the answer. "Well, if you want me to teach you let me give you your first lesson. Quit, give up and go home, there is nothing I can teach you that will save you."
Hinata's resolve shook for a moment then her face hardened, "You were once what I aspired to become. Now I know that I can never be like you."
"And don't you forget that . . ."
"I will be better than you because not only will I be an amazing medic-nin but I will be willing to protect what I care for," said Hinata before she turned to leave.
"Insolent whelps," said Tsunade with a bit of a drunken slur before she hit the ground with a finger sending a fissure at the retreating Hinata.
Hinata though saw it coming and turned and struck the ground with her own finger creating a fissure to cancel it out. Hinata glared at Tsunade before turning and leaving again.
"Jiraiya," yelled Tsunade as she turned to look for the pervert, "Where the hell is he?"
"He left," said Shizune cowering slightly.
"We're leaving," said Tsunade.
Shizune followed obediently but said nothing for a long while.
"Can you believe those punks?" asked Tsunade after they walked back to their hotel.
"They were rather impressive," said Shizune, "I imagine in a few years there won't be a shinobi alive anywhere that can lay a finger on them."
"You think so?" asked Tsunade, "That Hyuga was a bit impressive, using my technique like that and all."
"Even I haven't been able to master it," said Shizune not looking up, "And with her Byakugan eyes she could be . . ."
"You were the last apprentice I will ever teach," said Tsunade ending the discussion.
"I understand," said Shizune, "Still, I wonder . . ."
"That brat is more obnoxious than Jiraiya ever was," said Tsunade.
"Do you think he will ever learn . . ."
"That boy has no talent and will never become anything," said Tsunade slightly doubting her words now that she was beginning to sober up.
Shizune chose then to wisely shut up.
Meanwhile Hinata chased after Naruto to help him train.
"What can I do to help Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.
"The Jutsu relies heavily on my ability to focus on a specific target or destination. Once I can do that and hit my target accurately I can very my movement quickly enough to be able to move and attack without ever being seen. The trouble is with focusing on the target and performing the technique at the same time," explained Naruto.
"So you need a focus?" asked Hinata, "Could I act as a focus?"
"You definitely could," said Naruto, "In fact that is just what I was thinking of exactly that."
Hinata nodded and moved about ten yards away from Naruto, "We'll start of close and slowly increase the distance. Okay?"
"Sounds great," said Naruto with a nod as he tried the technique only to end up crashing into a tree thirty yards to her left causing her to wince in sympathy. Hinata knew then it was going to be a very long week.
It took three days of crashing into trees and tripping over his own feet before he finally successfully got to Hinata and even then he was off by two yards to the right.
Hinata finally had enough of standing around and decided that if she was going to be standing around she could have a little fun at Naruto's expense.
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata in a seductive voice to Naruto as he lined up to try it again suddenly catching his attention, "I'm lonely over here all by my lonesome, don't you want to keep me closer company?" She bit her lip trying not to smile and give away her game.
Naruto swallowed very nervously at what Hinata was suggesting.
"If you can get to me ten times in a row perfectly I'll give you a big surprise," she said huskily.
Naruto swallowed even harder this time, he suddenly had no more issues with focusing on his goal.
Naruto flickered for only a second before he appeared before Hinata perfectly, "That's one, now only nine more to go." Hinata then skipped ten yards away again for him to try it once more.
Naruto got it right five times before he tripped over a loose rock causing him to start over again with a bit more seductive teasing from Hinata. Naruto must have tried nearly a hundred times more before he was able to get it ten times in a row perfectly.
"Very good Naruto-kun," said Hinata taking off her jacket and tossing it over a tree branch, "Now, do that from twenty yards twenty times and I'll give you and even better surprise."
Naruto by now was having some very strange feelings in his stomach as he noticed her tight fitting sleeveless shirt. He swallowed hard and too fearful to trust himself to speak he just nodded his agreement.
Hours passed once more with Naruto trying and succeeding as well as failing. Finally Naruto was successful in reaching her twenty times in a row. As a reward she took off her shoes and socks.
Hinata smile seductively once again, "Now, I now you want this surprise so thirty times in a row from thirty yards."
Naruto nodded emphatically.
Hinata had to stifle a laugh, it was far too easy for her to manipulate Naruto like this and while it might have been a bit devious it seemed to be working well enough. She was using this time too to get as comfortable around Naruto as possible.
This time Naruto didn't struggle nearly as much now that he was getting used to the movement at such a high speed. He found that a lot of it was just tuning his reflexes to react to the changes in the terrain. Part of it too left him wishing he had the Byakugan so that he could see all the different obstacles as they appeared. However, even without the Byakugan eyes his reflexes were improving rapidly and so was his ability to use the Shunshin no Jutsu.
This time Naruto took far less time to travel thirty yards thirty times in a row and was rewarded when Hinata seductively slid her pants off to reveal black skintight spandex short that were cut very low. It took all of his effort not to get a bloody nose.
Hinata was trying not to blush because she knew that if she did then the seductive factor would vanish and Naruto would lose his focus. Hinata looked over her shoulder at the drooling boy and winked, "Now catch me one hundred times and you'll get the surprise of your life."
Naruto barely snapped out of it as Hinata began moving as fast as she could quickly changing direction every few seconds. Naruto chased her using only Shunshin but because she frequently changed directions he often overshot her or couldn't turn rapidly enough.
After he caught her twenty times she made it that much harder for him by changing directions right next to trees or large boulders or rock faces. Occasionally, she would even turn and head right at him meaning he ran way past her and usually tripped trying to stop and turn so rapidly. Naruto quickly learned the trick to turning so quickly was not using his physical body but pushing out just the right amount of chakra at the exact right moment from exactly the right places on his body. Needless to say it took him a long time to figure that out but he did it all the same just to earn his surprise from Hinata.
Finally Naruto caught her for the one hundredth time and it only took him six days, he still had one day to spare for working out the last few kinks. Sadly though, Naruto was unable to enjoy his final surprise as he fell into a deep sleep. He'd not only exhausted all his own chakra but he also exhausted everything that Kyubi was able to give him as well.
Hinata was a bit disappointed to see he fell asleep when she finally turned around wearing only her spandex shorts and sports bra. "Damn!"
Hinata put all her clothes back on and carried her sleeping hero back to the hotel to get some proper rest and relaxation.