Naruto arrived at the Hokage Tower only slightly out of breath. He'd been at Ichiraku's grabbing a bite to eat before going to see Jiji-sama when an ANBU had come to tell him he was needed in the Hokage's tower as soon as possible. Deciding not to question the need of his presence, he had sprinted over. Now, he stood before the intimidating oaken door that led to his Jiji's office. He knocked lightly on the door and was told to enter. He slowly opened the door, giving a small nod to the two ANBU standing guard.

"So, what urgent business do you have for me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked, making sure to address the Hokage formally in the presence of others.

"It's good to see you, Naruto-kun. You have a visitor."

"A visitor? Um, who is it?"

"Jiraiya, you can come out now," Sarutobi called to a shadow behind him which Naruto had assumed was an ANBU.

"Jiraiya? As in the Toad Sage?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

"The one and only! I'm glad you've heard of me, Naruto!"

"Umm, it's hard not to, you're pretty famous…"

"Ah, right."

"So, why did you want to see me?"

"Oh, I happened across your kunai and bag in Training Ground 17 as I was passing through."

"Right! I completely forgot I left my stuff there! But how did you know it was mine?"

"Easy! This," Jiraiya said, holding out Naruto's library card.

"Damned forgetfulness! That was really stupid."

"Don't beat yourself up, Naruto-kun, everyone makes mistakes. Jiraiya used to be quite forgetful, too, actually," Sarutobi stated, smiling.

"He was?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth between Sarutobi and Jiraiya.

"Ack! Sensei!"

"You also need to get used to making mistakes," Sarutobi admonished. Jiraiya immediately deflated. Naruto stood there awkwardly before he remembered why Jiraiya was here.

"So, why did my kunai make you want to meet me?"

"Huh?"

"You said that you happened across my kunai and that's why you wanted to meet me. So, why did seeing my kunai make you want to meet me?"

"What do you mean why did seeing your kunai make me want to meet you? Do you have any idea how few ninja below the rank of Jonin can throw kunai through trees?"

"That's rare? All I did was add a bit of chakra into the throw."

"Geez kid, for a genius you're pretty oblivious. That takes a lot of chakra and fairly advanced control, too."

"Oh. I was just experimenting. I was spinning leaves and decided to try and blow them away, which I did, and then I tried it with a pebble, which took more chakra but embedded itself in a tree, and so I tried it with a kunai, and you saw what that did. It was actually pretty simple," Naruto stated, oblivious to the stares he was getting from not just Sarutobi and Jiraiya, but also the ANBU. Jiraiya stood in shocked silence for a couple minutes before speaking again.

"You mean you didn't learn that from a book on chakra manipulation or anything? You just…did it?"

"Yeah…is that a bad thing?"

"No! That's crazy impressive! So, Naruto, have you learned how to climb trees yet?"

"I've known how to climb trees since before I started training. Why?"

"No, no, no! I mean, with chakra."

"Using chakra? Oh, you mean what ninja use to run up walls?"

"Yeah, that."

"No, I don't know how to do that yet, well, not beyond theory, that is."

"Can you try?"

"In here? Are you sure Hokage-sama would appreciate that in his office?"

"It's alright, Naruto-kun. I don't mind," Sarutobi assured.

"Okay, I can try. One sec…" Naruto created ten Kage Bunshin and they all proceeded to try to climb up the walls. Some clones made it farther than others, and Naruto dispelled those and replaced them. After 15 minutes, Naruto dispelled all his clones and walked all the way up the wall and across the ceiling shakily.

"Whoa, this is gonna take same practice, but it's pretty fun. I think the best way to start is with a small amount of chakra, and to slowly increase it, that way you don't blast holes in what you're climbing. It's also helpful to keep a steady flow of chakra instead of re-molding it for every step. That way you can focus on other things too. Although, if you wanted to blast off something, putting too much chakra into your next step could work…That's kinda like blasting the leaves away…"

"Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"Yep, positive. But I did watch lots of other ninja do it, and read about it in quite a few books on chakra control exercises."

"And you just…"

"I had clones trying all sorts of different methods, and dispelled the ones that found the best methods, so the other clones and myself could try those, and then continued that process until one of the clones could do it right. Then I dispelled them all and did it myself. That way I don't get hurt if I mess up, and I learn faster," Naruto stated. The room was completely silent.

"That's pretty smart," Jiraiya said, more to himself than the room. Naruto smiled.

"It feels pretty good to have your skills praised by a legendary ninja, 'ttebayo," Naruto said happily. Jiraiya nodded absently as he continued to think himself. Naruto sighed exaggeratedly.

"And it's also insulting to be ignored by someone, even if they are a legendary ninja," Naruto said, only half joking.

Jiraiya began apologizing, saying he was impressed, and somewhat speechless. "I was just wondering…how would you like to be my apprentice?" Jiraiya asked dramatically. Both Naruto and Sarutobi gaped.

"Uh, Hokage-sama, am I supposed to be on a Genin Team?" Naruto questioned, recovering.

"I don't think the civilian council wanted you on one, something about not being at the Academy and bonding with peers… or something."

"What? But it's their fault I wasn't at the Academy! That's ridiculous!"

"I know, Naruto-kun, I know. I'm sorry."

"Eh, no need to apologize! Now I'm free to be the apprentice of one of the legendary Sannin, so I suppose I should thank them."

"I take that as a yes to being my apprentice, then?" Jiraiya cut in.

"You bet, 'ttebayo!"

"I'm glad to hear it! Okay, tomorrow I'll assess your skills, and the next day we'll leave!"

"Leave?"

"Yep, we're going traveling!"

"Okay. So where are we going, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked happily. Jiraiya smiled fondly.

"All over, eventually, but this time we will be heading to the ruins of Uzushiogakure, your clan's village."

"My clan had their own village? I thought the Uzumakis were a small Konoha clan that had gone extinct a long time ago and they had just chosen the name for me."

"I suppose that's a valid assumption, but no, they had their own village. Unfortunately it was destroyed during the Second Great Ninja War. They were powerful Fuinjutsu users and were feared by many."

"So we're gonna visit the ruins? Why?"

"Well, you're an Uzumaki, so you should be able to learn a lot about Fuinjutsu from their scrolls. I saw you were learning the basics from the books in your bag."

"I forgot you had that. Yeah, I'm learning what I can, but our village isn't really well-versed in it. The only good books I could find on it were by you and Yondaime-sama, and even those were mainly about the basics. There was one by a lady called Uzumaki Kushina, but that was really advanced and went way over my head. I couldn't find any intermediate level guides or anything!"

"I see, well you should find what you need in Uzushiogakure. I expect you at Training Ground 17 at 7:00 tomorrow."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sensei. Thanks, by the way."

"Oh, no problem. I'll see you then, Gaki." With that, Jiraiya disappeared.

"See ya, Jiji-sama!"

"Good luck, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi replied.

Naruto was at Training Ground 17 at 6:43 the next day. He sat down in the shade of a tall tree at the edge of the training ground, legs crossed. He startled when Jiraiya dumped a bucket of freezing water on him.

"Now's not the time to be sleeping, Gaki."

"Not sleeping, meditating, Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto replied, annoyed.

"Ahh..hehehe, sorry Naruto."

"It's alright. So, what are we doing today?"

"We're going to spar. All you have to do to impress me is land one hit on me."

"That sounds too simple. Either you're going to go all out and make this really hard, or there's a catch. I'm guessing it's the second, cause there's no way I could land a hit on you if you went all out."

"Smart, Gaki. Yep, there's a catch. You can only use a total of 6 different jutsu and 10 different Taijutsu moves for the course of the spar. You may, of course, reuse them, but not different ones, so choose them carefully. I will, of course, have the same handicap."

"That sounds like more of a handicap for me, since you know more powerful techniques and have more experience. Oh well, I'll do it anyway, I've never been one to back away from a challenge. Tell me when to begin," Naruto responded evenly. Jiraiya smirked.

"Begin." As soon as Jiraiya said it, Naruto jumped forward. Jiraiya sent a powerful punch at Naruto's wide-open chest, but connected instead with a log. The log, which Jiraiya realized too late was covered in explosive tags, exploded in Jiraiya's face, forcing him to use a Kawarimi of his own. From a tree on the other side of the clearing, Naruto smirked. 'So he fell for it. I forced him to waste two moves on simple things, like a direct punch and a Kawarimi, while only using Kawarimi myself. Even better, since I have a smaller arsenal of jutsu, something like Kawarimi is more useful. I'll probably have to use Kage Bunshin at one point, and Henge. That's just the basics, though. I suppose I could use the Bunshin Daibakuha, that could work as firepower. Otherwise, kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, and explosive tags are best, since I can use as many as I want. So maybe Kunai Kage Bunshin, to preserve weapons. What about gravity seals? He didn't say anything about a limit on seals. I'll use the mud wall for defense, since I'm pretty sure Jiraiya-sensei's not a Lightning user. That's all six jutsu, then. I'll use Taijutsu as I need it, I can't exactly plan ahead with that, which leaves actually fighting. Okay Jiraiya-sensei, prepare yourself.' Naruto crept silently along the tree branches, keeping his senses extended in a 5 ft. radius to predict attacks. When he spotted Jiraiya sitting seemingly asleep under a tree, he was immediately alert. Creating a Kage Bunshin, he sent it to the opposite side of Jiraiya and both threw a single kunai at the dozing Sannin. Expectedly, he deflected both and stood up, looking between the two directions.

"I see you found me, Naruto. Did you really think that I would get hit with those kunai?"

"No," both Narutos spoke at once, "but it was a good way to get you to stop pretending to sleep."

"I see. So, which one is the real one?"

"A Kage Bunshin has the exact same chakra capacity as the original, so there's no way to find out but to attack," both Naruto's said, at the same time.

"Alright Naruto, I'll play your game." Jiraiya disappeared and reappeared next to the original Naruto. Naruto quickly used Kawarimi to escape, avoiding a Taijutsu match in which Jiraiya would have superior speed and strength. 'So he's using shun-shin. I'll have to be careful.' Simultaneously creating a smokeless Kage Bunshin and using Henge to transform himself into a kunai, Naruto began planning. 'I'll create ten clones already Henged as kunai, and have the clone he thinks is me throw them at him. Then, when they get close, five can explode and the other five can engage him in Taijutsu. Every time he hits them, they'll explode, all except one reinforced one, which he'll think is me. While he's occupied with the exploding clones, my eleventh clone, which he won't think is me anymore and will probably ignore, can sneak up and stick a gravity seal on him. That will leave me an opening to land a hit.'
Satisfied with his plan, Naruto created ten kunai clones, which his human-formed clone proceeded to throw at Jiraiya all at once. Jiraiya easily deflected them, but as soon as the first five were hit by his kunai, they exploded. He jumped upwards to avoid the explosion, but the other five clones transformed back into their human form and followed him up. He fought them all fairly easily, but had a hard time avoiding all the explosions from when he hit them. The four exploding clones were constantly replaced by the fifth, reinforced clone. With everything going according to plan, Naruto sent his eleventh clone to sneak up with the gravity seal. The reinforced clone created only three new clones the next time, and the gravity seal-wielding clone joined them. Naruto waited nervously for the signal from his clone, but was disappointed when Jiraiya used a shun-shin to move to the ground and speared the attacking clones with earth spears. The reinforced clone then jumped forward to engage Jiraiya, but was quickly disposed of. Naruto mentally cursed, but remained hidden. If he could keep Jiraiya guessing where he was, he could maintain the element of surprise.
Even this hope was dashed, however, when he saw Jiraiya walking purposefully towards him. He created a human clone above him, hoping it would at least distract Jiraiya for a little while he set up kunai traps and spread his ninja wire and explosive notes. Naruto's clone created yet more clones, allowing the real Naruto to come out of hiding and sneak away. The clone sent barrages of kunai and shuriken, duplicated through Kunai Kage Bunshin, and also multiple kunai bearing explosive notes mixed in with the rest. Multiple Kage Bunshin advanced on Jiraiya, once again engaging him in Taijutsu and exploding. Jiraiya dodged it all with practiced ease, throwing his own kunai in the openings. The Naruto clone was forced to reveal it's last jutsu, mud wall, to defend against a large barrage of kunai, and Naruto became frustrated. Jiraiya had used three jutsu while he had used six, and Jiraiya was still easily able to avoid everything he threw at him.
The clone had, however, allowed him enough time to place his traps. He had littered the clearing and forest with ninja wire, kunai and shuriken traps, explosive notes, and hidden gravity seals on the ground in the places Jiraiya would dodge to. Hopefully it would give him a chance. Taking the place of his clone behind the mud wall, Naruto began strategically leading Jiraiya towards his field of traps without being too obvious, or so he hoped. He and his clones pressed in on Jiraiya, exploding on three sides of him or throwing a couple hundred kunai at once, using Kawarimi to escape if they were caught in the cross-fire. They slowly but surely steered the battle towards the area filled with traps. Dispelling the majority of his clones to avoid setting off traps himself, Naruto and his four remaining clones continued to assault Jiraiya. Jiraiya wove in and out of the attacks, using Kawarimi and shun-shin to avoid attacks, and erecting mud walls when there was nowhere to dodge to. The thing that impressed Naruto, however, was the fact that he had avoided all the traps, even in the heat of battle.
Beginning to feel desperate, Naruto attached ninja wire to his kunai and threw them in a criss-cross pattern before duplicating them, creating a web of sorts. He was eventually able to create a thin corridor for him and Jiraiya to fight in, giving him the advantage of his small size. When Jiraiya was still able to avoid his attacks and traps, he began aiming kunai to trigger traps near Jiraiya while still attacking him directly. He could see Jiraiya slowly becoming more pressed as he continuously had to dodge blows and traps from all directions, while also becoming tired and low on chakra from fighting non-stop for so long. Naruto himself was beginning to feel slightly tired from creating so many exploding Kage Bunshin - which took more chakra than the regular kind - but he was nowhere near as tired as Jiraiya looked. As time passed and Naruto continued triggering traps and sending waves of kunai with and without explosive notes, Jiraiya's dodges grew steadily sloppier and he began to sustain more and more thin scratches. When he looked thoroughly worn out, Naruto risked going in for a bout of Taijutsu, slowly guiding Jiraiya towards where he knew a gravity seal was placed.
When they got close, however, Jiraiya regained a small bit of energy and landed a hard punch on his chest, using the opportunity to jump away. Naruto wheezed, the wind knocked out of him. He had known Taijutsu was a risk, but that punch was even harder than he expected. After 20 seconds of ragged breathing, Naruto straightened up and surveyed the area for his sensei. Not finding him anywhere, he walked the rest of the way to the gravity seal, being careful not to trigger it. He waited, panic creeping in when his sensei didn't appear. Then, with no warning whatsoever, his sensei was in front of him throwing another powerful punch. He dodged to the side and down, letting his sensei's arm pass him by, and used his tenth and final Taijutsu move. He slipped inside his sensei's guard, feinting a punch to the chin and slamming his other hand into his sensei's gut. He should've known it was too easy, because the next thing he knew, there was a massive explosion in his face. He managed to roll out of the way at the last minute, but he felt the heat and saw the edge of his clothes singed. Cursing his overconfidence, Naruto assessed his situation. Most of his traps had already been triggered and he was outclassed in Taijutsu. His sensei was able to avoid most of his exploding Kage Bunshin and kunai, and block almost all the rest. He didn't know how much longer he could spam clones either, and he didn't like the chances of them actually hitting his sensei. He couldn't use more advanced Ninjutsu or Taijutsu techniques because he didn't know that many and he had used his choices up anyway. He checked his weapons pouch. He was also getting low on tools because he had been throwing them all over. He sighed, he was pretty sure he had no chance to land a hit on his sensei, let alone win the spar, and his sensei hadn't even really done anything, just avoided everything. If his sensei had been going all out offensive, he would have been flattened in under a minute. It really had been a mistake to get impatient and go in for Taijutsu. If he had waited, he might have been able to…no. He'd done what he'd done and, mistake or not, he had to work with it. He wasn't going to give up, not now. What if he tried to overwhelm him with speed? No, Jiraiya was probably faster. Unless…what about the chakra thrusting that he had learned yesterday? That wasn't ninjutsu, just chakra control. If he used it the right way…yeah, he could do this.
Finding a new burst of energy from his determination, Naruto extended his senses as far as he could, sensing Jiraiya at the edge of the clearing they had started in. Naruto suppressed his chakra as much as he could and hurried in his sensei's direction. When he was within 10 feet, he readied a kunai and sent it flying at Jiraiya, enhancing it's speed with chakra and duplicating it ten times. He then boosted his own speed by sending bursts of chakra out of his feet and arrived with the kunai, landing a solid punch on his sensei's side. Or he thought he did, until he was face-to-face with a log. He hastily flipped backwards to avoid any traps on the log and reassessed the terrain. He didn't see his sensei anywhere. He once again extended his senses as far as they would go, once again sensing his sensei, a bit farther away than last time.
He scowled darkly. 'So that's how he wants to play, leading me around? Okay, sensei, ready or not, here I come.' And with that, Naruto was shooting off through the training ground, faster than he was before. He arrived in front of Jiraiya, kunai ready. The kunai flew, hitting it's target on the arm, followed up by a punch from Naruto. Naruto was once again face-to-face with a log. Scowling more, Naruto extended his senses again, sensing Jiraiya just a little bit further than before. It was then that he noticed it. Jiraiya wasn't toying with him, he was training him. Each time he was pushing Naruto to move just a little faster, sense just a little further. Naruto smirked lightly and ran off again pushing himself to increase his speed with each step. He honed in on Jiraiya, his vision tunneling slightly as he ran faster and faster, constantly channeling chakra into his legs. Before he knew it, he was there in front of his sensei, throwing a vicious punch. He hit Jiraiya squarely in the face.

A/N: Aaaand... Cut! Hope the cliffhanger ending doesn't bother you too much because, unfortunately, this is the last of my pre-written chapters and it'll probably be a while until the next one. This one was kinda quick to make up for it... maybe... I hope... Anyway, enjoy!