Hello readers as I have been saying in all of my new posts there will be TWO meaning that this is the second one up so please realize this or else I am sure you will be just as confused as you were when I accidentally posted the wrong thing as one of the first few chapters. Anyways happy holidays people….now if only the break lasted longer so that I don't have to deal with college for at least a bit longer. But sadly I don't own the world or Naruto

Chapter 17

(ANE: So for some reason for like 15 chapters I somehow managed to lose their original files…so I had to copy them from FF which was…fun…anyways just a little annoying tidbit to share with people)

Early in the morning Naruto woke up slightly confused as to why he had a bruise on his chest until he fully remembered what happened and jumped out of his bed to quickly get ready for the day. He then ran out the door telling Jiraiya that he was going to train. Course said man was just waking up and could only chuckle at his companion's determination. Though he soon went through his own morning routine a bit faster than normal so that he could go 'research' as much as possible before Naruto eventually came back wanting to go find Tsunade again. For he figured that just like normal Naruto would be a fast learner; even more so now that he had a reason to push himself even further. So, he wanted to make sure that some 'work' could be done before the brat tried to get him caught, which seemed to always be his hobby whenever he catches him.

"Gaki I always felt like you were family to me but I still hate that you always tried to stop me from learning about the female body. And now it seems that your son has taken up that idea as well…I heard of family pranks but come on what does a guy have to do to finally get a student that is perverted enough to learn all of the wonderful skills I have!" Jiraiya complained already knowing that Naruto wouldn't ever be that much of a pervert…..but that wouldn't stop him from trying of course.

_Naruto_

After Naruto left the room he quickly went out of the town and found a shady area under a tree and began trying to form the rasengan in his palm. For he figured that if he could do it this way first then trying to do it while attacking someone would be easier to do. Course he failed many times but each time he did he simply began again determined to get it right in his time limit. Now of course he could always use the shadow clone jutsu to help himself out but he wanted to try and learn the jutsu without using his 'cheat' if possible. In fact, he would only use the jutsu to help if he was running out of time. After all, even if he wanted to learn it without his clone's help that didn't mean he wanted to lose that much money each and every year. Still thanks to the amount of chakra he had he ended up being able to practice all the way to lunch even though each time he failed the jutsu he lost a decent amount of chakra.

"I will get this jutsu right. Just you wait grandma. I will prove to you that I was serious!" Naruto thought determined as he went into town to buy a good lunch before going right back to work.

(He really should have realized and/or read that the shadow clone jutsu would work that way. I mean in the anime he spams them more than enough even to figure out this even if he was the dumbest person in the world)

_Tsunade_

Tsunade spent the day after the fight simply trying to figure out what she was going to do with the options that Orochimaru gave her. After all she truly did want her loved ones back but was it worth letting a monster destroy the village she once loved? Course thinking of both her loved ones and the village brought her thoughts back to the end of the fight she had earlier.

"There is no way that boy can learn the rest of that jutsu in a week. After all Kushi-chan tried to get me to learn it and for some reason even I couldn't get it to work. And that is with having nearly perfect chakra control due to being a medical ninja….But why does he have to remind me of them so much?" She thought then gave a sigh as she drank the rest of the bottle that she had and quickly ordered another.

~Konoha; _Hinata_~

Even though Hinata knew that Naruto was gone for the moment she still went towards his house to at least visit Haku. Which is how she ended up happily sitting on Naruto's couch as she tried to talk to Haku who seemed to make it a goal to get the entire apartment clean for her master.

"You know Haku he didn't ask for you to clean while he was away and even if he did; I doubt he meant to keep it this clean." Hinata told her friend who was now wiping down a table that Hinata could have sworn she saw get cleaned at least twice already.

"Maybe so but it is my duty as his servant to keep everything perfect for my master. Just because I am now in a romantic relationship with him changes nothing about my duties to master." Haku told her friend firm in her belief.

"Well no one can ever deny that she isn't dedicated…though I still have no idea why she still desires for Naruto to be her master. I mean I know for a fact already that he has tried to get her to stop several times with only limited results…..Maybe I should let nii-..no she doesn't get that back yet because of what she did.. Kurenai-sensei train Haku into what she thinks is more of a 'proper' woman." Hinata thought adding in the only semi-respectful term to Kurenai's name seeing as although she was forgiven already Hinata still held a slight grudge for breaking up a precious moment that she had with her dream guy. Course she was about to enact her plan until a small toad that jumped beside her broke her from her train of thought by surprising her by talking.

"Yo, do you happen to know where a girl named Haku is? She is support to live here…I think." The orange toad told her ignoring the fact that she was still in a state of shock from hearing an amphibian talk to her.

"Um…Haku-chan you have a….guest who wishes to speak to you here." Hinata ended up telling her friend who quickly looked at her friend and then at the toad.

"Yo." It greeted her happily.

"What do you need me for….toad-san?" Haku asked not knowing exactly what to think at the moment.

"Well first of my name is Gamakichi not toad. And second I have a message to give." He told her happily then handed her the scroll off his back and disappeared in a poof of smoke before either girl could ask any more questions. Course Haku eventually just shrugged off the strangeness and opened the scroll after examining it for possible traps.

Dear Haku-chan,

Sorry for sending this message through a summing toad (which I just signed the contract for) without you even knowing about them first but it is the only way that I could contact you. Anyways first of all I hope you and the rest of the girls are doing fine and I promise that I will be back as soon as I can. Though I just remembered a little while ago that I didn't even check on Konohamaru after….you know. This was of course due to my own sulking but still I feel bad that I wasn't there for my 'student' when he needed support. So, if you don't mind could you please bring the scroll I have sealed below to him when you get a chance. Hopefully it will help him a bit to read…still I am sorry for making you do this but I have just now thought about it seeing as my thoughts are clearer now. Thank you.

Love,

Naruto Uzumaki

Course after reading this various emotions were running through Haku all at once as she just stared at the note. "Oh Naruto-sama even though you loved Hokage-sama just as much as Konohamaru-san you still get mad at yourself for not comforting him. You truly do act foolish at times, after all how could you help him when you yourself needed our help?...I wish that you would stop trying to keep all your emotions locked up in favor of trying to help and protect others. We want to be there for you as well." Haku thought with a sigh but then smiled a bit. "Well at least I now know he cares enough to make sure that we know that he loves us even while he is who knows how far away." She added feeling the desire to hug her boyfriend but couldn't for obvious reason. Course after she was done thinking she turned to Hinata who was just looking at her with curiosity clear on her face.

"It was a message for Naruto saying that he loves us all and asking for a favor. So you wouldn't happen to know where Konohamaru is right now would you?" Haku explains then asks after she unsealed the other note.

~Random training field~

Konohamaru was training as hard as he could under the watchful eyes of his sensei. Now normally he would be at school but they were given a few days off while the village recovered. Though that was the last thing that he wanted. So, instead of relaxing he threw himself into training as hard as he could to keep his thoughts on anything but his grandfather. For while he was feeling better thanks to Asuma he still was grieving just like the smoker was. Though he was forced to stop when all of a sudden two girls that he quickly recognized as friends/lovers of his 'boss.'

"Hello Haku-chan, Hinata-chan what are you two doing here?" He asked the girls who simply smiled warmly at the kid. After all they knew that he thought of them as almost his sisters seeing as he considered Naruto to basically be an older brother/mentor.

"Well Konohamaru-san Naruto asked me to give this to you." Haku told him simply handing over the note. "Now we won't get in the way of your training any more so see ya later." Haku told him warmly giving him a quick smile before leaving with Hinata following just as fast as they came. Though of course instead of going back to his training again. So, he simply told Ebisu asked if he could take a brief break which said man quickly agreed to seeing as he had been trying to get Konohamaru to take it easier seeing as he saw the boy getting fatigued already. Course said boy refused so much that he was forced to simply watch seeing as the boy wasn't doing anything that would harm him any more than a very intense workout. Ebisu only hopped his student didn't go into chakra exhaustions. So, soon enough the boy was sitting under a nearby tree and began reading.

Dear Konohamaru,

I am sorry for not being there for you in your time of need. Which is only made worse now that I am on a mission that is for the good of the village rather than talking to you in person like I should. Anyways I had Haku-chan give this to you just to let you know that your 'boss' as you so love to call me didn't totally forget about you. Also, although I am sure that you have heard this already and already know it to be true as well but I am going to say it anyways. Jiji doesn't want us to be grieving so much that we can't live our own lives. Instead he would want us to move on and live in the present rather than dwell on the past. So, please just make sure that you do just that. And by that, I mean living as you normally would. I mean you of course are going to be sad for a while just as I am but remember that Moegi and Udon plus all your other friends wouldn't want you to be depressed for ages. So, anyways I need to continue my mission soon so I will wrap up my message by just reminding you to keep pushing yourself to be as good as you can.

Sincerely,

Naruto Uzumaki/your 'boss'

P.S. I surprisingly found a scroll on using bo staffs in a weapon shop that actually seemed to be interesting. So, maybe you could find use for them and the practice bo I have put in a storage seal on under this message. Use them if you want but I bet they could help you achieve your goal of surpassing the hokage.

Course when Konohamaru read this he couldn't help but cry a bit as he was reminded of his grandfather but soon forced himself to stop and at the end of the note gained a determined look on his face and unsealed the gift that Naruto gave him.

"Boss thank you. Even if you don't think so I still see you as one of my greatest teachers. I promise you that I will not let my sadness hinder my life. For I am going to be a ninja of Konohagakure! Also thank you for the bo; while you might not have stated it, I know you already knew just what I needed to help myself keep from getting too upset. A way to remember my crazy grandpa." Konohamaru thought with his determination still clearly shown as he opened up one of the scrolls that he was given and began reading.

Course Ebisu who saw all of this couldn't help but smirk a bit. "I may have dislike you at first Naruto but you have just proven that I was foolish to do that. After all you were able to help someone while not even being here while both me and Asuma couldn't. As much as I hate to admit it there is a good reason why he respects you as his sensei just as much if not more than he does me." The man thinks as he simply watched Konohamaru focus completely on a scroll as he without realizing, it gave his body time to rest at least a bit before he went back to train some more.

(while the jutsu uses the word staff and I understand why I will be calling the 'staffs' bos seeing as I looked up how to spell bo and it should be right. Also I am calling it a bo seeing as in my karate class when I use one we always say bo or bo staff so I just can't bring myself to call it a staff anymore)

_Hinata, Haku_

After giving Konohamru his message the two girls began walking back to Haku's shared apartment seeing as Haku claimed she still needed to clean for her master even though Hinata tried to talk her out of it in her own shy fashion. Thankfully that plan was stopped by randomly finding Ino who just happened to be walking to get something to eat on the same road. So, much to the displeasure of the 'busy' Haku they all ended up going with Ino to the Akimichi restaurant.

"So, what have you girls been up to?" Ino asked happily after they finished ordering.

"Well I was cleaning for Naruto-sama" Haku told the girl simply for while Naruto wanted her to not be basically his slave, she was too used to acting like it all her life for her to be able to stop any time soon.

"Geeze Haku you really need to lay off the master/slave relationship. I mean Naruto has even told you that he wanted you to be your own free person." Ino told her friend concerned for her.

"….I know that he wants me to do so but I have lived my entire life being taught that I am a tool. And while I loved Zabuza like a father and knew he cared for me even though he didn't like to show that 'weakness' much he still made sure I learned this way. So, while I try to change for him to what you all consider the better choice it is hard for me." Haku explained (I mean come on she has been taught to be submissive enough that she would DIE for her master. That is serious brain washing in the actual anime)

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Ino mumbled a bit ashamed. Course after that they all sat in relative silence for a few moments before there food and drinks showed up which thankfully didn't take that long.

"…..Anyways just try your best to retrain yourself to be what you want to be Haku and remember that we are there for you. Plus, I bet Naruto is rooting for you as well." Ino finally decided to tell the girl then changed the awkward subject which the other two happily allowed.

=very tiny warp forward=

"…yea I know it will help me in the long run but all of the mind training for my clan jutsus is so hard at times though I bet it is the same for you two learning about your bloodlines." Ino explained and got nods from the other two. Course by this time a good portion of the meet they got was already gone but the girls were still having a good time. For all throughout the meal after they moved from their awkward conversation their chat contained nothing but topics they enjoyed talking about. In fact, even shy Hinata managed to come out of her shell a bit and was explaining a story in a kind of quiet tone of voice when they were greeted by a few surprise guests.

"Hello Ino didn't expect to see you hear except for our team meetings." Asuma told the girl while he walked to the table just behind his other two students.

"Well yea I do prefer sweet foods from other places quite a bit but you bringing me here has made me grow to enjoy the taste of the food just as much if not more." Ino responded. For after Asuma got her off of the idea of dieting Ino often spent her meals eating foods that she 'sacrificed' which turned out to be mostly sweeter tasting foods. For it seemed that even with her desire for the 'perfect body' she still enjoyed foods like various candies and even proteins with sweetened sauce. (Basically foods that seem to have a more 'sugary taste then others and I am not going to bother to search for food names right now)

*chuckle* "Well I can't say that is a bad thing. I mean you can't go wrong with food that has the Akimichi clan seal of approval." Asuma told her with a smile then watched as Choji seemed to nod in approval of his comment. "Anyways do you girls mind if we join you….don't worry we will order the next round." Asuma told them when he noticed them glancing at Choji who was known to eat quite a bit to keep his size up for his family jutsus.

"Sure Asuma-san." Hinata murmured as she went back into her shell a bit now that there are new people around. For while Naruto and Kurenai have been helping her confidence she still had trouble seeing as they only started a little while ago. Course he still heard her and they all ended up sitting around the table that was thankfully large enough to fit them all thankfully.

"So, what were you girls up to before we showed up?"Asuma asks trying to start up a conversation within the group almost as soon as he put their order in.

"Nothing much just about things like training and what weapons a jutsu work better." Haku told him simply.

"What about you sensei? I mean I know that we get a meal every now and then after training but our morning training ended a while ago." Ino asked.

"Well to put it simply these two just got done with training…well Choji finished earlier but he decided to wait for Shikamaru who as you know takes a while just to become motivated enough." Asuma told her. "Though I did plan on making sure you got a treat of maybe some dango or something at our next session seeing as you were long gone when we were finally finished." He added. Course this made Ino giggle because just like always without her more brutal tactics to motivate her teammate it took much more effort to try and get the lazy genius to do something.

"Sorry sensei I just wanted to do something today. I promise that I won't do it too often so that I can help you rush our team genius into working." She told him then smiled. "Then you can go try and get your crush to warm up to you sooner." She added causing her sensei who began to cough on his recently acquired drink.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Asuma told her though he already knew that thanks to the one day that he wasn't careful from hiding it from his team would gave her all the material she needed to tease him. He was just thankful that she promised not to tell his crush about it though she gave him the reason of wanting to watch a real-life soap opera which made him sweat drop a bit.

"Of course, you don't." Ino responded rolling her eyes. Course her other teammates just looked at their sensei with a bit of pity at being the target of female teasing.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru then murmured under his breath as he put his head on his arms to try and get some sleep.

"What was that?" Ino asked the boy with a dark aura around her body that the boy seemed to completely ignore. Though in the end Shikamaru ended up getting lucky and was able to avoid whatever she planned to do seeing as the waiter bringing the order up caught everyone's attention as they began to cook their meal.

"So, Haku I heard that your ice bloodline gives you water and wind as your two elements correct? Asuma asked after beginning to eat some of his portion.

"Yes Asuma-san those are the two types of elements mixed to create ice jutsu." Haku told him simply.

"Well you do realize that here in Konoha wind users are very few in number. So, I figured that as one of those few and a pretty good one at that I would offer to help train you in it." He offered only to get a cautious look in return.

"Why would you be so generous?"

"Ha I see your time as a wandering ninja has taught you to be less trusting. A pretty good life lesson if you ask me. Anyways while I would like to say it is purely due to me wanting to be generous, I would be lying if I didn't say that it is partially paying back the blond gaki for helping out Konohamaru even more than I could." Asuma told her seriously.

"Ano what do you mean Asumu-sensei? All we did was hand him a simple letter that probably wasn't even that long." Hinata asked even though all the other girls were curious as well seeing as they knew their boyfriend was out of the village.

"Well in that small letter from what I saw when I got to sneak a look at it was stuff that pretty much was like what a few others and me told him but the important part was the fact that all of us besides him missed that seems so obvious now."

"What is that?" Choji asked now just as curious seeing as he knew how the younger kid acted for a while from being around his sensei.

"Well Konohamaru has always been a doer. When he sees something, his determination makes him work on it till it ends up going his way. So, an obvious way of letting him relieve his pent-up emotions was to use that to an advantage. Which Naruto did seemingly unknowingly when he gave Konohamaru the chance to learn the bo staff."

"Bo staff? Wasn't that Hokage-sama's favorite weapon?" Shikamaru asks now curious as well but only got a quick nod as a response. "Then how would bringing the boy back memories help?"

"That is just it. While it brings up memories, they are ones of when Konohamaru say the bo the most. Meaning when the old man was the strongest showing off his quite amazing skills. So now that Konohamaru has one of his own I am sure he plans on honoring his grandpa by learning it himself and becoming as good as he possibly can. Hell, I am sure that pretty soon he will be asking for the old man's notes on the subject." Asuma told them with a chuckle.

"I see….damn blondy might be more troublesome then I thought." Shikamaru mumbles actually surprised that Naruto did such a thing and began to try and figure out ways to tell if Naruto meant the reaction to be this or not.

"Oh, that is good then. I am happy that he cares enough of his *giggle* student to do such a thing." Ino says happily. "He is so sweet." She then added giggling again.

"…Anyways so now that you know the hidden reason that helped me want to help you will you accept it. I mean you never know it might help more than you think." Asuma asks ignoring Ino.

"Yes, I suppose becoming stronger would have its advantages. We will have to meat up latter to decide upon times and dates." Haku told him simply though clearly was still being a bit cautious.

"Very well." Asuma tells the girl deciding her partial trust was more than enough for him at the moment.

Course soon enough the meal was over and the two groups separated and soon enough the girls split up again this time going to do their own thing though all of them wondered what their boyfriend was doing at the moment.

+6 days later; Naruto+

It was finally Naruto's last day to practice his jutsu that he now had a pretty good hold of. He was now refining it to make sure it was as perfect as possible. Which if the trees that he was working on were any proof was giving him some good results. Though what he did not expect was for Shizune to come to see him.

"Hello Shizune-san how are you doing today?" Naruto asked politely as he drank some water he brought.

"Pretty good I just figured that I would come see how you are doing." She told him honestly.

(same chat as in anime basically. So I am not going to bother looking it up)

"Well I will just have to prove her wrong about Konoha and the title of hokage." Naruto exclaimed confidently and got back to work now with his determination renewed. Course this just made Shizune smile a bit as she left him to his training. For after all tomorrow was his big day.

And I think I am going to end here. Now I am going to cut this a bit short but I don't really think that I can get a much better stopping point than this. Also seeing as I am posting so much I really don't want to try and force out much more. Still I am happy that I think I manage to get to my goal of having enough chapters of everything to post for all of you readers. Anyways good bye for now. Aka Ja Ne