Chapter 2

KAZEKAGE RESCUE ARC

After returning to Konoha Naruto got reacquainted with the remaining Konoha 11 , he was very overjoyed to see his friends a year and a half younger and seeing their happy faces contrary to the sad faces he last remembered from the battlefield , Neji was particularly surprised when Naruto cried and hugged while meeting him everyone let out a laugh as Neji struggled to get the blond off him , he also got officially named as a jounin but refused to put on the vest as his cool assassin cloak was growing more on him , Ino agreed with his decision .

"So tell me Naruto what all have you learned during your training trip and leave no details out." A silver haired jounin sat on a rock in team 7 training ground reading a book as he decided to get up to speed with his student's progress .

Naruto thought about it for a second "Umm okay so for the first 6 months I worked mostly to get my body in shape nothing much and yeah also practice to make rasengan without a kage bunshin as for the next 2 years we were in the capital so at first I mostly went through stealth training as they said I could never get into the assassination unit with my previous clothes and my loud tactics and that shit wasted a lot of my time ." Naruto said with a pout as Kakashi laughed behind his book , he knew those guardians were right .

"And then I started with the jutsus so my chakra nature is Kaze btw , erosennin taught me some B and a couple of A rank kaze jutsus , I also developed my own jutsu its super duper cool I named it Futon : Shinku Taifu (wind style : crimson typhoon) erosennin says its S rank so I shouldn't use it that much ." That made Kakashi put down his book and raised his eyebrows in disbelief . "S rank ? you developed an S rank ninjutsu really ?"

"Oh not just 1 I invented 2 of them Kakashi sensei and you'll love this one "

"Nani!"

"So once I knew I had kaze chakra I started to change Rasengan's chakra nature ."

"Naruto don't tell me you actually managed to do that you know even the yondaime failed to do that ."

"Well I did manage to do it but when I did that to its fullest extent it took a toll on my hand so I couldn't use it so then I decided to only apply change in chakra nature to the extent that my body can take it , anosa to specify I can throw my jutsu with 50% rasengan changed to kaze nature but I think I can push it to 70 , well even with 50 I can kill anyone except Kage or Sannin level fighters and level up to 4 or 5 houses , but a full blown one can level this field its named Futon : Rasenshuriken oh man I wish I could show you ." "Only if that pervert let me go to mount myoboku already , My mind knows how to mold nature energy but I'm not exactly sure what balance would be right for my body right now and I'm sure as hell not risking turning into a frog ."

"Oh yea as for my last year I spent mostly on assassination contracts or training with kageyami sensei , he is like one of the most legendary samurais ever , he retired from samurai duties some years ago and is a friend of the damiyo so he stays there . It took me a lot and by a lot I mean a loooot of convincing to get him to teach me Kenjutsu , I'm nowhere close to him but my Kenjutsu is better than most you'll see with my purple raiton which is my 2nd nature btw and a lot cooler looking than yours I can cut down most of them out there ." with that Naruto put his hands on his back and laid down on the grass ,Kakashi had forgot about his book and was processing the information thrown at him.

"So to summarize in just 2 and a half years you perfected the Rasengan , did change in chakra nature training , learned A and B rank kaze jutsus , developed a S rank kaze jutsu , added change in chakra nature to the rasengan created another S rank jutsu and turned into a Kenjutsu master ." Naruto nodded

"How in the name of kami did you manage all that in such short time ?"

"Kage bunshin , I used them to speed up my training ."

"Huh using Kage bunshin's experience to speed up training ... Oh that's a great idea Naruto why did I not think of this first ."

Naruto gave him an awkward smile "Actually you did ".

"Well Naruto to be honest I was kind of worried that maybe damiyo sama rushed into making you a jounin but by the look of things it seems I am wrong , you are as strong maybe even stronger than me right now , well should we put that to test now let's go come at me with everything you got don't hold back ."

Naruto spent the next week between getting set up in Konoha again and having regular spars with Kakashi which kept swinging in either's favour, he also spent some time in creating a timeline of events that will follow , he did not remember a lot of things specifically when and where they happen but whatever he remembered he had to write it down in a diary before he forgets more and decide a plan accordingly .

He was walking on the road lost in some thoughts in his usual cloak , he loved taking random walks from time to time since he came back to Konoha , he loved seeing all the things he remembered about the old village before renovation after it got levelled by Pain's Shinra Tensei , although he loved taking these walks there was one thing he absolutely hated which was the looks of hatred that he was on the receiving end of again , he had really gotten used the heroic love but here he was again back to square one . Well maybe not square one, he was getting some hungry looks from the females that he remembered from after the Pain attack but did not understand the reason, he came to a conclusion that he was significantly better build than the first time he went with Jiraiya, he was much more lean, muscular and taller than his first trip since he had worked on his body many times harder also helping the cause was the cool outfit he got from the damiyo which made him look like a badass . He reached home and lay down on his couch thinking still lost in thoughts , his trail of thought then came to the more pressing issue at hand .

"Gaara will be attacked some time in this week , I need to leave for Suna as fast as possible ."

"Not so fast gaki you need to think this through we can't afford to act irrationally ."

"So tell me then Kurama what do you expect me to do sit and wait while Gaara or Chiyo baachan dies ? "

"You don't understand do you baka , so tell me your master plan what reason will you give your Hokage for going to Suna 1 week after returning to Konoha , try telling her that you somehow have a feeling that Suna might be attacked and see what happens. That hag may love you but say that and you will tied to a chair with a Yamanaka inside your head in no time."

"I don't understand this Kurama why do you and Jiji don't want me to tell them what's the worst that can happen I think it will give us the advantage we will see every move coming and respond ."

Kurama sighed seeing his Jinchuriki's naivety "All right I cannot go through this over and over again so listen to me very carefully here . So I assume your plan involves ambushing the members of Akatsuki before they can make their move and defeating them right ." Naruto nods swiftly . "Let's say you do that and defeat them and that's a big if how do you think Pain and Obito would react do you think they will keep doing the same thing even after their members kept getting assaulted out of nowhere , what if those two decide to catch the bijuus themselves , you know how strong they are and you couldn't dream to stop them the way you are right now . What if Obito panics and resurrect Madara early after all he still has Nagato under his control , you cannot defeat Madara with control over my full power , that Uchiha brats power , all the kages and all the hokages just imagine what would he do now ."

Naruto gulped thinking about that scenario he realised that Kurama had a point, his face fell in despair "So what is the point of all of this if I can change nothing what good will it do, why did jiji send me back to make me watch my whole world get taken from me again ?

"He did that because he trusted you baka! It's not about saving everyone it never was nobody can save everyone no matter how strong they may be, you have a responsibility to be here and make the right change at the right time so you can stop the apocalypse and honour all who lost their lives to prevent that and who will keep losing ."

Naruto looked up to his friend and saw the determination in his eyes, he realised that Kurama was right he cannot give up, not now not ever he needs to set things right and he needed to do that in the right way . "Arigato Kurama you are correct I'm not giving up we will save the world dattebayo ! I will be near Baachan's office every morning and make sure that the mission is assigned to me and I will rush to save Gaara in time this time around ."

He was brought out of his mindscape with the sound of the doorbell . He went to the door and opened it only to find Ino on the other side .

"Sheesh finally I thought you weren't home , what took you so long to open the door ? Actually don't tell me you were probably lost in some perverted thoughts ."

Naruto jumped and started waving his hands " Eeeeh no no Ino I was just taking a nap I swear nothing like that ."

"hahahaha relax Naruto I'm just messing with you now come on ."

"Come where ?"

"Well since we all are a team now so I guess we should hang out bond and stuff you know like get to know one another better now come on ." Ino grabbed his hands pulling him out of the house .

"Hey hey wait let me lock up at least ."

10 minutes later both blonds were walking through the busting evening streets of the village both being uncharacteristically silent by their standards , Naruto finally broke the silence . "Say Ino so where are we meeting Sakura chan and Sai ."

"Oh I didn't invite them , you see we both know Sakura well already I mean we are like her two best friends and Sai doesn't look like social types anyways ."

"So basically its just us ?"

"You could say that so what do you wanna do ?"

Naruto was a little confused now "Why does she want to hangout with me of all people , doesn't she has some flowers to sell or I don't know make some ' I 3 Sasuke ' t-shirts or something ?"

*Kurama sighs*

"Um I was thinking of going to Ichiraku for dinner ."

"Oh Kami still ramen ? alright but its your treat ."

"Hey you picked me up from my house to hangout why should I pay ?"

"Because Im a girl and you are a gentleman aren't you foxy ."

"HEY! Don't call me that "

"Okay okay I wont ... foxy-kun "

"CUT IT OUT !" Naruto made a pout "You're mean "

"hahaha and you are cute " The two blonds kept towards Ichiraku teasing and joking with each other , they had dinner and constantly talked with Naruto sharing his stories from the capital and Ino telling him about the things he missed , Naruto reluctantly paid for the food and was now walking Ino home , Naruto had forgot about his problems he was actually having fun after a very long time, when he thought about it this was the most fun he had and felt relaxed ever since he heard the news that Jiraiya had died , so much had happened after that day that he never had time to relax , the pain attack , sasuke's attack on the summit , the war . Including the 2 years he spent in this timeline this was the most decent evening he had in almost 3 years . He looked at Ino who also had a smile on her face and spoke up .

"Hey Ino"

"Yeah"

"Arigato "

"For what"

"For tonight , you know hanging out with me checking in on me I really had fun I .. I guess I needed that ."

"I had fun too Naruto , I know we haven't been the closest but you saved my life so I wanted to do this and also as I said we are teammates now so promise me if you ever feel down again just come to me Im the best at picking people up as you can see ."

"hahaha Thats true I guess , okay I promise so I guess this is it good old Yamanaka flower shop ."

Both stared at each other for a minute looking for the last words Ino was fidgeting with her fingers seeing that Naruto was doing nothing but standing there scratching his head she decided to end the night here . "Okay then good night Naruto see you soon I guess ."

"Uh Oh yeah Good night ." With that Ino went into the store and Naruto started towards his apartment with a smile "Huh that was ... interesting I guess ."

3 days later , Hokage office 6 A.M

"Okay what the hell do you want I'm sick and tired of watching your grin as the first thing of the day for the third straight day ."

"I want nothing Baachan cant I drop to visit my Baachan first thing in the morning it really lights up my day dattebayo ."

"I am a sannin and the hokage gaki not a fool now spill up whatever prank you have in your mind within the next 5 minutes or I will send you through the window straight into Sarutobi sensei's face ."

Naruto gulped but he avoided his nightmare when a shinobi came rushing through the door .

"Hokage sama we have an emergency this came from Suna ."

Naruto knew what had happened he was waiting for this as Tsunade's eyed widened in horror , "Naruto go collect your team right now I have a mission for you ."

"Hai " Naruto immediately created 3 kage bunshins to get his squad while tsunade briefed him about the mission although he already knew what he had to do .

Meanwhile at her home Ino was in a deep sleep with a big smile on her face as she enjoyed her dream .

"Mmmm Naruto no not there .. ya there thats the spot ooh ooh Naruto yes " suddenly she woke up in a hurry short of breath with sweats rolling down her forehead .

"Wait what was that did I just have a wet dream about Naruto ? Oh My God ." While she was hardly collecting her thought when she heard a knock on her bedroom window . "Ino .. Ino hey get ready we have a mis-"

"Aaaaaah " Ino screamed as Naruto jumped straight into his taijutsu stance " what where what ?"

"NARUTO BAKA ! What the hell are you doing on my bedroom window can't you see I am in my nightwear ."

"It was then he noticed that Ino was in her night clothes that exposed much of her cleavage, his face turned red and he faced away in panic " Gomen Ino gomen actually boss says that we have an emergency mission so meet up at the gate as soon as possible ."

"Boss?" before Ino could complete her question Naruto disappeared into a puff of smoke and she got her answer . "Baka I cant believe I had a wet dream about him ."

A few minutes later three chunins assembled at the gate with Naruto already waiting there restlessly .

"About time so as you know we have a mission , early morning we got the news that Akatsuki have attacked Sunagakure and have kidnapped the Kazekage we will assist Suna to rescue Gaara , this is a time sensitive mission so we will have to hurry so please try to keep pace. Any questions? "

"But Akatsuki ? Naruto are you sure that you should go , shouldn't we send someone else If they managed to abduct gaara from his village Kami knows what the-"

"Sakura chan I cannot run away my whole life I appreciate your concern but we don't have time to do this lets go. " From his tone and knowing how much he loved his friends Sakura knew that she couldn't convince Naruto to stay , she now had to make sure to keep him safe as much as she can , protecting Naruto and Sasuke was the reason why she drowned herself in training for 3 years .

With that the 4 Konoha shinobi left for Suna , Naruto knew what could happen but he was determined to make things better this time so he was going as fast as he can while not leaving his team behind with only one thought in his mind . "Just hang in there Gaara I'm coming ."