Sealing Salientia - Chapter 43: Growth - Author: PenSmoke

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.

Previously on Sealing Salientia:
Jiraiya let the smile on his face bloom. All things considered, he had it pretty good. He let his reservations go and just enjoyed the moment of closeness. In the ninja world, a moment like this was too good to pass up.

Konoha
Monday, June 12th, Year 73

The sounds of early morning in the Senju household woke Naruto up bright and early. The pre-dawn sky was just beginning to brighten to shades of husky purple and dull red. The chittering of the early birds going after their worms echoed through the windows. The creaking and groaning of the branches of the trees outside in the summer breeze accompanied the birdsong. As his eyes creaked open and adjusted to the dim light the cascading in through the glass pane, he registered the sound that woke him up. The screaming of a child.

Ah yes. Sakiko was awake.

The small blonde-haired baby had the habit of rousing all members of the household consistently every morning, her loud demands for food unstoppable until she was satiated. Tsunade had given birth to the child a year ago, and since then the household had transformed from a place of peaceful respite to a chaotic and crazy compound. The girl had become a fixture in Naruto's life in more ways than one.

After Jiraiya's old apartment had been destroyed and they moved in with Tsunade and Shizune, Naruto had initially felt that it was a temporary move, always waiting for Jiraiya to bring the two of them back on their own after a short while. That short while had turned to weeks, then months, and it was approaching two years now.

Part of him didn't mind it, Tsunade was the closest thing to a mother he had ever had, the buxom blonde lady doting after him constantly in the first few months of their life together. Shizune was a role model of a big sister, teaching him various tricks on ninja techniques and sneaking him late-night ramen. And Jiraiya was more relaxed than he had ever seen.

When they were out in the wilderness, Jiraiya had always seemed tense and jumpy, moving around often, never prone to staying in the same place for long. Since their arrival in Konoha, it felt to Naruto as if his Pops was home, and didn't want to leave once he got settled in.

But Naruto did miss the evening campfires in the forest, the scent of Mount Myoboku, and the general feeling of always being out on your own. Something was lacking with just staying in this house, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Flickering back to reality, he realized that Sakiko's screaming had muffled quite a bit, which meant that Tsunade was likely feeding her. He took that as a cue to stay in his room and do his morning warmups. He hopped out of his bed and dropped to the floor to start a round of 100 push-ups, while remembering the first time he had walked in on a morning feeding. He winced as a phantom pain of being hit in the head by the palm of an angry female Sannin coursed through his skull. As kind as the woman could be, she also turned the dial up to eleven when she felt it was necessary.

Five minutes later, he switched to sit-ups, though his mind was still firmly stuck in the past. Typically, he thought about his sealing practices and how to improve them during this part of his day, but he felt oddly melancholic about the past this morning. Various thoughts came flooding up through his subconsciousness.

His rivalry with Sasuke had continued, though the two typically worked together more than against each other. They were still #1 and #2 in their class in practical abilities, with Sasuke usually in the lead, switching places only occasionally. All his classmates had been growing with them, at least those who had kept up, as the original 30+ from his first year had now been whittled down to 18.

Ever since they had started their second year, Shikamaru's dad had been putting them through the paces of a ninja, ensuring that they were perfectly prepared for being out in the field, diving in deep to both theoretical ideas and practical abilities. This had caused Shikamaru to no longer be able to get away with sleeping through class, which had in turn made him #1 academically, though Naruto and Sasuke surpassed him physically.

He flipped over and grabbed the small railing that had been installed on his ceiling and began a set of pull-ups. The classes had been rearranged yet again last year, with 9 per class this time. His teacher this year was a retired shinobi, Chen. The man was a taijutsu specialist, advocating for all the pupils of every age to be physically fit as possible. It was why Naruto had started this morning workout routine, in accordance with his teacher's wishes.

He no longer had Sasuke in his direct class, Sasuke being under their other instructor for third years, Iwana. The white-haired boy still trained outside of school hours with the Uchiha scion, but it wasn't quite the same as being in the same class as him.

Something that had remained constant was being in class with Sakura. The pinkette had seemingly never left his side once they had met. She was helping him with the more studious aspects of class, where he would help her train in the more physical parts. They had developed a bond of friendship over the past couple years that had mostly just grown stronger. The only issue that they had was when another classmate of theirs had tried to drive a wedge in between them.

Ceasing the pull-ups, he started a plank to work his core. Ino Yamanaka, the platinum blonde-popular girl of their class, apparently despised him, though he never was really sure as to why. As far as he could remember, he hadn't done anything purposefully mean to her. Ino had approached Sakura one day last year and told her that they could no longer be friends, if Sakura remained friends with Naruto. Sakura had looked distraught, but in the end, had told the blonde that she would rather be friends with Naruto than her. The pink-haired girl had cried for the rest of the day, with Naruto doing his best to console her, but it had etched in his mind. He remembered that day vividly, as it was made clear to him that day that some people would like him and some would not, no matter what.

Naruto was grateful to have friends like that, yet the melancholy feeling refused to disperse, clinging on tightly to his mind. He began to reflect on it, thinking about all of the things that he loved about where he was and who he had become. After going through a mental list, he thought about why he might be unhappy. There was really only one thing that he could come up with. He came to the conclusion that he wanted to get out of Konoha and out into the outside world again, even if just for a short while.

With his early morning routine done and a decision made, he placed an ear on the sliding door to his room, listening for sounds of Sakiko. When none were forthcoming, he decided it was likely safe to exit. He quickly slid open the door and poked his head out, ready to dodge any incoming projectiles. Glancing around to find an empty room, he went to grab something to eat for himself.

He quickly whipped up a nutritious morning meal for himself, making sure to make a portion for the other members of the house as well. He only made a minor disaster of the kitchen, so he reckoned that not having to make breakfast would be a fair payment for cleaning up. As he sat down to eat, he watched as the door to Jiraiya's room opened as if by magic. He shook his head Pops practically sleepwalked over to the table, drawn by the smell of food first thing in the morning.

He could swear the man was actually asleep as he sat down and dug into the chow. Smiling mirthfully, he reminisced on how his Pops had changed too. The man who had roamed the countryside with him, the boastful braggadocious fellow who always seemed to have a smile for any lady, now had calmed down. He no longer went out and visited red-light districts, nor was ever caught peeping on women in any form. Part of it, he was sure, was due to Tsunade having threatened to beat him within an inch of his life if she caught him doing that. The other part, he guessed, was that Jiraiya was just happy living here. The man seemed younger now than he had while they were travelling, more joyful and caring.

He had watched as Jiraiya sat and played with Sakiko during hours when Tsunade was just too tired to continue on. He wondered if he felt a little jealous, as at times he watched his Pops play with the girl and it stung at his heart. He never remembered the man playing those games with him. Though, he didn't remember really anything from that early on anyway, so he wasn't sure. Pops was definitely happier here.

Finishing up his meal, he noted that the light levels outside were up to full daylight. He went towards the front door, gathering up his materials for school on the way. Waving goodbye to Pops, he headed out the door and through the garden maze.

Instead of heading directly to school, he took his normal route towards the Uchiha compound. He typically met up with Sasuke on the way to school. A few weeks after Naruto had arrived in town, he had spotted Sasuke slumping along the path towards the Academy early in the morning. The boy had looked sad, maybe even depressed. It turned out that Sasuke used to have his older brother walk him to the Academy each morning, but Itachi had left for the Fire Nation capital, Shihonhi, for an extended mission.

As Naruto had come to view the raven-haired boy as his own brother, he felt it was just the thing to do was to walk with Sasuke to the Academy each morning. And while Sasuke had been a bit hesitant at first, eventually he had warmed to the idea, and it became a routine between them. Sure enough, as he approached the exterior gate to the Uchiha compound, the doors opened up, revealing Sasuke and Mikoto, both heading to the Academy for the day. Sasuke gave his mother a quick hug and then jogged up to meet Naruto, greeting him in the process.

"Heya, dork." The Uchiha piped up, sarcasm dripping from his tone. Even when his mother called out his name in a disapproving tone, the saccharine smile didn't fade.

Naruto replied in kind, "Yo, loser." They rarely called each other by name, usually using insults to address the other. Generally, they weren't mean-spirited, though there were times it was hard to tell.

They walked off, outside of Mikoto's hearing quickly, her slight glare still burning into the back of her son. Naruto suspected that she still didn't quite understand that was just how the two spoke to each other. Regardless, for the thing he wanted to talk to Sasuke about this morning, he didn't want any other ears listening in. A couple minutes of light jogging for them, which was equivalent to a civilian's sprinting, and they were well out of earshot.

"Hey. Got a question for ya." Naruto broke the silence.

"Yeah? What do you have on your little mind?" Sasuke retorted, smile still firmly planted on his face.

"Knock it off, I'm being serious."

"Fine." With a huff, Sasuke dropped the antagonistic attitude. "What'cha thinking about?"

"I want to get a mission out of town. How would we go about getting one?"

"I thought you were being serious! You know that they only start giving D-ranks to fifth year students. And those stay in town. Out of town missions don't take place until after graduation, minimum. We're not even done third year yet. There's no chance."

This time it was Naruto huffing. He had hoped that Sasuke would have an idea on how to get something like that early. He didn't want to bring it up to the adults without a plan in place first, but it looked like he may have to resort to pleading.

They finished the journey to the Academy quickly, plenty of time left before actual school started. As third-year students, they now had free access to some of the training rooms underneath the building, which Naruto and Sasuke typically had a light spar after arrival. However, today, Naruto had other things on his mind and let Sasuke go on his own down to the training areas. He was sure that Kiba or Shino or Chouji would be down there, ready to spar anyway.

Instead, Naruto walked over to the headmaster's office. He waved politely at Sakura's mother, Mebuki, who was still the secretary for Hiruzen. After being granted entrance to the office, he walked in the visit with the person who was closest to a grandfather that he ever had. He knew the old man had a soft spot for him, and he was hoping to capitalize on that today.

"Hey Gramps!"

"Good morning, Naruto. To what do I owe the honor of a visit this early?"

"Well, I have a question for you." Naruto put on his best smile.

"I suspected as much. Do go on." Hiruzen looked slightly amused as he spoke, shuffling a couple of papers on his desk.

"What would it take to get a mission outside the village?"

Unlike Sasuke, who instantly dismissed the idea of it even being possible, Hiruzen answered his question with another question. "And why would you want that?"

Naruto wasn't expecting this, and his stumbling reply was evidence of that. "Uh… Well… I was thinking… You know… I kinda miss being out and about with Pops. And Mount Myoboku… I'd like to go back."

"Well. That does make sense. You have been here for almost 2 years now, right?" Naruto nodded at the older man's reply. "It would serve that you would want to go back and visit with those that you consider family."

Hiruzen reached into a desk drawer and grabbed out his pipe, as well as an aromatic small leather pouch. He continued talking while grabbing some of the leaves from the pouch and placing them in his pipe. "I'm not sure if you realize, but I don't have full control over missions. And even if I did, there's no missions that you would get assigned that would pair you with Jiraiya, the difference in power levels there is too great. There's no mission that is safe enough for an Academy student that would be worthy of sending a Sannin on. Additionally, nor would any mission bring you to Mount Myoboku. Lastly, a mission isn't the place for nostalgia or visiting with friends."

Naruto started to deflate, he hadn't really thought about that.

The elder Sarutobi pondered his reaction and stayed silent for a bit, seemingly to let Naruto respond. The boy collected his thoughts for a moment but did not speak further. After about a minute of silence, Hiruzen spoke up.

"You may just want to ask if you can take a vacation with Jiraiya, instead of trying to do a mission. Why don't you ask him about it tonight?"

Naruto mutely nodded. The conversation didn't really go the way he had wanted, but at least there was a decent alternative presented. He couldn't really argue with the old man's words, even if deep-down he still wanted a mission to go on.

He proceeded to complete his classes for that day, slightly sullen and disappointed.

AN: Moving forward. 5th year is where we pick up actual story progression. Just a small filler to show a few events in between then and future.