Chapter 23
First Meeting

Land of Hot Water
Hideout

Naruto was guided by Jiraiya through the forest trails and untamed wildlands of the northern part of the Land of Hot Water but eventually, he was led to a small cabin which was in a well-concealed clearing surrounded by rocky hills on the north, east and west with the only clear entrance being the south and even then Naruto had to wait for Jiraiya to apply a seal to him which would denote him as an ally and not trigger all the barriers and traps that were set up.

"Woah." Naruto exclaimed as he felt the entire forest tingle in response to his seal.

"Just how many barriers and traps do you have set up here?" Naruto was shocked that this place was still hidden with all the Chakra humming.

"Not mine, Minato's a very cautious man and he has another huge barrier over the place which hides the Chakra signature's for the other barriers and traps." Jiraiya revealed as they trekked through the forest.

"Woah." Naruto had never come across such an advanced security system before.

"Here we are our hideout for the Land of Hot Water." Jiraiya announced as the trees cleared and revealed a lone stone cabin standing alone in a clearing which was surrounded on 3 sides by obstructive rocky hills, that looked very difficult to navigate. The stone cabin itself had a symbol carved on the front above the door, it was the same symbol that was on Jiraiya's headband the symbol read 'Oil'.

"Nice place." Naruto commented taking the sight in, the cabin was more like a full-sized house and far larger than the cabin he was staying at in the Land of Frost.

"I made this place myself with my Doton Ninjutsu." Jiraiya said proudly and he even thumped his chest.

'So it's no natural, they made this themselves and even defend it this heavily. Just what is my Dad into and how strong are his enemies?' Naruto asked himself as he took in the surroundings.

"Come on Naruto! It's a lot more comfortable on the inside." Jiraiya cajoled as he made a Hand Sign and the stone door opened up on its own.

Jiraiya gestured for Naruto to go in first and he did and almost gasped, he was expecting a cold stone home but instead it was actually decorated and it was warm, Naruto could see a fireplace burning but there was no chimney and no smoke either which he thought was impossible there was also furniture and even wood panels on the walls covering the grey stone it was made out of, and of course, there were oil lamps on the walls lighting the place up so it wasn't dark at all despite the lack of windows.

"Speechless are you?" Jiraiya asked rhetorically with a huge grin on his face.

"Just because we're Ninja doesn't mean we have to rough it out, all our hideouts are made to be comfortable and livable." He explained as the door shut behind them.

"I think this place is even better than any of the Inn's I've stayed at," Naruto said as he walked through the bottom floor of the building, he could see stairs leading up to what he assumed were bedrooms and there was even a kitchen at the back and what looked like a meeting room with a large circular table surrounded by chairs, it looked like it could sit at least 10 people.

"Come on sit down, you want some food or tea?" Jiraiya asked playing the host.

"You got ramen?" Naruto asked him and that made Jiraiya laugh.

"Just like your Mom, yeah we got ramen." Jiraiya said with a chuckle as he went to the kitchen leaving Naruto sitting alone in the meeting room.

"How do you keep the fire burning and with no smoke?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It's summoned from the Kaenzan, it's a naturally occurring eternal fire and it doesn't produce smoke because technically nothing is burning." Jiraiya explained as he reappeared with a bowl of ramen which smelt delicious and a bottle of sake with a single cup.

He placed the bowl with a spoon and fork in front of Naruto while he took a sat down 2 chairs away from Naruto so both of them had their own space.

Naruto dug in while Jiraiya casually poured himself a cup of sake and began to sip away at it.

"Minato is usually first anywhere we have to meet up so it's always a little game between us to beat him anywhere we need to meet up." Jiraiya said to

"Mmm." Naruto hummed as he ate his ramen like a beast.

"No point in talking to you when you're eating ramen huh." Jiraiya commented watching the boy devour the ramen.

It was not a long wait as Naruto finished his ramen in minutes and then looked at an amused Jiraiya.

"Sorry. I haven't had any ramen for weeks." Naruto apologised as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"It's fine, I can't go without sake and women. We all have our vices." Jiraiya said with a laugh as he took another sip.

"So what's taking so long? I imagine that he knows we're here because of the barriers." Naruto asked looking around.

"Yeah but he's on a mission right now and he's not that fast." Jiraiya explained.

"I get it. I didn't know that Clanless Ninja got missions like Clans do." Naruto nodded.

"We Clanless Ninja have it harder than those with Clans since they have an entire support network in place and are seen as reliable. Clanless Ninja is often seen as unreliable and weaker than Clan Ninja due to the fact that we're not trained from childhood." Jiraiya explained.

"Who taught you to be a Ninja?" Naruto asked curiously if Jiraiya had taught his Father then who taught Jiraiya? It was a big question on Naruto's mind especially since he seemed old enough to be Naruto's grandfather.

"A kind old man who decided to help out an orphan, he was a Ninja from a Clan but he never acted like it." Jiraiya answered with a melancholic smile.

"There was me and my friend, our village was destroyed in a battle and our Sensei found us in the aftermath and decided to take us both in and train us so we could survive in this harsh world." Jiraiya revealed as he poured himself another cup.

"We stayed together for a while after that but eventually I and my friend decided to go our separate ways since we had different goals that didn't align." He finished sadly.

"I see." Naruto said quietly as he digested the information that Jiraiya had revealed.

Later

Some time passed again with Naruto and Jiraiya talking with each other as he drank more and more but he seemed to remain completely sober which Naruto assumed to be some sort of Ninja technique or Jiraiya just had a really high tolerance.

Thump! Thump!

Two thump noises sounded from upstairs and Naruto shot up at hearing it.

"Don't worry that's probably Minato." Jiraiya waved the boy to sit back down.

"How?" Naruto said shocked as he didn't feel anything right up until the noise happened.

"You'll see." Jiraiya said mysteriously.

There was movement upstairs that Naruto could barely hear but then footsteps echoed down the stairs and Naruto held his breath as a tall man walked into the meeting room, he had the same blonde spiky hair as Naruto and eyes that were just a shade darker than Naruto's own bright blue eyes, he was wearing dark navy coloured clothes with pants and a long-sleeved shirt as well as some dark metal armour on his forearms and chest, and of course, he had the usual pouches that all Ninja had.

"Jiraiya." He greeted the white-haired man first who waved back and then his eyes fell onto Naruto who was standing up looking at him.

"Naruto." He whispered and he had a look that Naruto couldn't identify.

He walked over to Naruto and even raised his arms but seemed hesitant over what to do and then after a moment he hugged his son for the first time.

"I'm so glad to see you." He whispered as he held Naruto.

Naruto felt something welling up from deep within himself and then he felt tears in his eyes and he wrapped his own arms around his father for the first time ever, he hadn't truly been hugged ever since his Mom died.

Naruto didn't know how long they stood there hugging each other but someone else entered the room which broke the atmosphere.

"Sensei. Jiraiya-Sama." Someone greeted as they walked in the room and shocked both blondes out of their hug.

Minato took a step back while Naruto wiped his eyes.

"Kakashi, nice to see you." Jiraiya greeted him with a nod.

"Oh! So this is your son Sensei?" The man Kakashi said and Naruto got a good look at him once he wiped his eyes, he had dull silver hair and black eyes and was dressed really similar to his father though he lacked the armour on his arms and preferred fingerless gloves with a metal plate on the back.

"Kakashi. Yes, this is my son Naruto." Minato said as he gestured to Naruto who was standing just off to the side so Kakashi could see him.

"He really does look just like you, well except his cheeks those are Kushina-Sans." Kakashi commented giving Naruto a once over before walking into the kitchen.

"Don't mind Kakashi, he's not good with people." Minato said as he took a seat next to Naruto.

Naruto sat down next to his father as they stared at each other again in silence.

"OH! Come on! You're Father and Son there's no need for this awkward silence between you!" Jiraiya shouted suddenly making Naruto jump in his seat and making Minato glare at him.

"Sensei." Minato warned.

"What it's the truth, that kid isn't an enemy Ninja he's your son who left his home." Jiraiya said completely unrepentant.

"I know that." Minato sighed and looked down at his lap.

"Are you really as famous and strong as Mom said you were?" Naruto asked as a way to break the awkward silence between them.

"What!?" Minato was taken aback by the question.

"Mom always said that you were a super-badass Ninja who could fight anyone and win, even though you looked really flaky as a kid." Naruto blurted out, his mouth was obviously moving faster than his brain could think.

"Flaky! HAH!" Jiraiya let out a loud belly laugh while Minato looked somewhat offended.

"I was not flaky." Minato said as he crossed his arms looking put out.

'Ah there it is the old Minato, I haven't seen that since he got the news Kushina died.' Jiraiya thought watching as the Minato explained himself to his son.

"I am skilled, more than most Ninja but I'm nowhere near the strongest there are still many Ninja in the world who could fight me on equal ground." Minato explained patiently.

"Like who?" Naruto was very curious.

"Well the first that comes to mind is A leader of the Yotsuki, he is almost as fast as I am and he can hit harder than most Ninja. Then there's Ohnoki of the Tsuchi Clan in the Land of Earth he has the Jinton Kekkei Tota which is probably the most dangerous in the world and can reduce anything into dust. The next would be a man currently regarded as the strongest Ninja alive in fact some have even called him the Shinobi no Kami, Sarutobi Hiruzen who has defeated Ohnoki, he can use all 5 Nature Transformations and the legend goes that he knows every Ninjutsu in the Land of Fire." Minato explained having Naruto's complete attention.

"And then the final person I can think of is one from your Clan, Uzumaki Nagato who has the Rinnegan of the Rikudo Sennin which gives him the use of all Nature Transformations as well not to mention his other abilities." Minato finished somewhat solemnly.

"Wow." Naruto was taken aback that his Father was considered on the same level as all those people.

"Wait a minute you know Nagato has the Rinnegan! That's the biggest secret in the Clan!" Naruto was shocked.

"Well I was with you Mother, wasn't I? I learned about it when I came to the Uzumaki Village to marry Kushina and saw him there with Shingen." Minato explained.

"Oh! I get it." It was news to Naruto that Minato had actually been in the village before, the most he had gleaned was that Minato had never stepped foot inside the village and instead he had seduced his mother when she was out of missions.

"I think there's a lot for us to catch up on is there?" Minato said but it was not really a question.

"I think so too." Naruto smiled at him.

"Well, I suppose I can start with how I first became a Ninja." Minato said smiling in response.

It would be a long conversation but it was around 13 years overdue and of course, Jiraiya and Kakashi were there to chime in to correct the record (In Kakashi's case) or bring up embarrassing stories (For Jiraiya).

Even so, Naruto had never felt so happy since his Mother died, and he finally felt like he found people he could trust.

The conversation went on well into the night.

Land Of Water
Yuki Clan Compound

A lot had changed for the Yuki Clan after Naruto's appearance and subsequent meddling, after finding themselves in a position of weakness against the Kaguya Clan but now after Naruto stealing their treasury and the Kiba the Yuki Clan now had the upper hand and were regarded as strongest Clan in the southern Land of Water overshadowing the Kaguya and matching the Hozuki and Hoshigaki.

Right now Haku as the new Clan Head was dealing more with the politics of Ninja Clans rather than fighting on the frontlines, that was now Byakko's duty as he was appointed by his cousin as the current commander of the Yuki forces.

Haku would have preferred to do that rather than be sat in his Grandfather's office to meet and negotiate with various other Clans and Merchants like he was doing right now.

"I can assure you that the Karatachi Family will be under the full protection of the Yuki Clan during the duration of our alliance." Haku assured the man sitting opposite him.

Karatachi Yagura was a man with a young look but despite his teenage looks he was indeed a full-grown adult with a wife and child, he was the leader of the Karatachi family which was not a full Clan as they only owned a single small island and there were only two families which amounted to 8 people, Yagura and his family and his uncle who had a married son with 2 children, far too small to be considered a Ninja Clan.

The Karatachi was nonetheless respected purely because of Yagura's sheer skill and ability in fact some regarded him as the only man in the Land of Water who could stand up to the strongest Ninja in the country Hoshigaki Kisame the O Motanai Biju and wielder of the Samehada one of the Great Seven Swords that were in the Land of Water, just like the Kiba who was currently wielded by his cousin.

"I thank you for your benevolence Yuki-Sama." Yagura replied very respectfully.

This was something Haku would never get used to, Ninja who were older and more skilled than him treating him with such respect due to his status.

"The Yuki Clan does not renege on their alliances or dealings, as long as the Hozuki encroach on your territory you will have our protection." Haku channelled his grandfather.

"So I see, your cousin Byakko-San was very much eager to try out his Kiba on the Hozuki." Yagura said with a smile.

"Yes, he enjoys fighting and his training with the Kiba has been very fruitful for him." Haku replied with a more restrained elegant smile, it would later be called the 'Diplomats smile' In the future.

"Have you heard the news from the Land of Lightning?" Yagura asked conversationally now that the terms of the alliance had been decided and concluded by the two of them.

"Yes, the Bofu and Yostuki allying is big news, it would be like if we allied with the Hoshigaki or Kaguya, or perhaps the Uchiha and Senju would be more accurate." Haku said the smile dipping slightly.

Haku had only received a single message from Naruto since the boy left and it was just a scrawl saying that he made land and that he was planning to head out into the wilderness near the Bofu Clan compound.

Of course, then the worst happened and the Bofu were attacked by the Ginkaku and Kinkaku Clans and Haku knew in his heart that Naruto the boy who vacillated between genius and idiot was right in the middle of the biggest conflict in the Land of Lightning since The Great War.

'I do hope he survived and got his Kekkei Genkai out of the mess.' Haku thought as he leaned back slightly in his grandfather's, not his chair.

"Is there much on your mind Yuki-Sama?" Yagura asked curiously noting the distant look in the younger man's eyes.

"Unfortunately yes, there is much to worry about in this world of ours." Haku answered with a nod.

"Indeed." Yagura agreed with a nod of his own.

"Tell me Yagura-San have you heard about the situation in the Land of Fire?" Haku asked him as he went about his secondary objective for this meeting apart from cementing an alliance with one of the strongest Ninja in the Land of Water.

"I have heard it appears the Uchiha and Senju will go to war once again and no doubt the rest of the world will follow as it happened last time." Yagura actually sighed after saying that which was the most emotion Haku saw from the man since the meeting began.

"If the worst would occur, I have to ask you a question. Do you still have contact with Terumi Mei?" Haku asked as he leant forward placing his elbows on the desk.

"Hm." Yagura's eyes sharpened as he too leaned forward.

"Well, I have met her on the battlefield a few times sometimes as an enemy and others as an ally but she rules the north so I have not had much contact with her." Yagura said carefully.

"Could you pass a message along for me? It's a simple one, I simply wish to have a meeting just like this one." Haku read between the lines and made his request.

"I don't know if it can be done but I shall see what I can do." Yagura said with a nod.

"Thank you, Yagura-San let us hope this alliance is long and fruitful for both sides." Haku said with his smile again.

Much of the world was watching the Land of Fire which was the tripwire for a second war starting and everyone was preparing, Ninja Clans, Samurai and most of all the Daimyo Whose memories ran long and they remembered the bloodbath that started it.

AN:

Here you are chapter 23, I got this one done in record time as I felt a little guilty for not finishing Chapter 22 on Monday so here you get a double chapter, the first I've ever done.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and as always look forward to more, I have had to rewrite the next arc to compensate for the fact that I brought Minato and his faction in early but I've got it 90% sorted now.

Translations:

Kaenzan=Fire Mountains

Jinton=Dust Release

Kekkei Tota=Bloodline Selection

Shinobi no Kami=God of Ninja

Rinnegan=Samsara Eye

O Motanai Biju=Tailess Tailed Beast

Samehada=Shark Skin