Morning came and Ino knocked outside of the house where her friends and Naruto lived, she was almost certain the blonde was still asleep and confirmed her suspicions when a yawning Chōji opened the door instead.

"Ino?" he said almost yawning.

"Hey Chōji, I'm here for Naruto, I'm guessing he's still sleeping?"

"Oh right, Naruto, yeah, he must be in bed still."

She sighed, one of the many things not just her but any girl disliked the most was being kept waiting, she went past her teammate without uttering a word clearly upset looking for his bedroom and started knocking on the door hard.

"Hey Naruto! Open up! It's Ino!"

She could hear a faint mumble from the other side of the door and then nothing, a small vein popped up on her forehead and she raised her voice, she took a deep breath this time also hitting the door louder.

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

She heard a loud thump followed by complaints of pain from the boy, before she had to kick the door open, and she was about to, Naruto emerged from the room wearing a t shirt and long boxers, he scratched his right eye and yawned, still unaware of the venomous glare the girl in front of him had. It took him a moment to realize who it was, then he gulped.

"Did you forget I was coming?!" Naruto was about to speak in defense but Ino raised one of her hands to hush him "I don't want to hear your excuses! Just put something on! NOW!"

She walked away from him huffing and almost stomping the floor until she was again out of the house. Both Chōji and Naruto remained silent for a moment still unsure of what had happened until the Akimichi boy broke the ice.

"Better not to keep her waiting any longer, get dressed."

"But I need to take a shower!"

"Forget the shower, you're gonna be sweating anyways, just put something on and go!"

Naruto decided it was best to take Chōji's advice and went back to his room to find something to wear, since his options were limited for the moment, he took some sweatpants and a white t shirt along with the sandals everyone else wore, once ready he bolted to the kitchen and looked for something to eat inside the fridge, a slice of ham and cheese made the deal right away, he put them both in his mouth and took off without saying goodbye to Chōji, he simply chuckled.

Of course Ino was upset waiting impatiently outside with her back turned and arms crossed, Naruto took the piece of ham and cheese from his mouth to speak.

"Ino I'm truly sorry! I-"

"I said I don't wanna hear it! Just come with me."

She leaped to a nearby rooftop and Naruto followed in silence, he knew he needed to find a way to make up for the mistake, the last thing he wanted was for the woman who was about to train him to have a bad mood for the rest of the day. He ate his 'breakfast' along the way and both teenagers eventually reached a location that looked a lot like a student academy, Ino stopped in front of one of the buildings.

"This is the Training Hall, the academy is closed for today so nobody should interrupt us, let's go…"

Ino pushed the doors and disappeared inside the structure, not wanting obviously to stay out there by himself Naruto followed, he was surprised when he found inside an enormous statue of two hands performing a seal inside the building, the floor was made of stone and had been restored recently by the looks of it since some of the tiles looked brand new.

"Hey Ino, look I'm sorry about earlier, I spent all night reading about chakra control and wanted to be ready for today, I just didn't want to look like a fool..."

"You already did by making me wait…" it was very clear her frustration would not go away anytime soon, she took off her coat and tossed it aside revealing a different outfit underneath, a small pair of grey leggings that enhanced the perfect shape of her legs and backside, to complete it her grey cropped tank top revealed a well toned abdomen and belly, she started stretching her limbs, Naruto gulped at the sight, his blush very evident, yet he could not help but notice the several scars all over her torso.

"Ino, you…"

"Are you gonna warm up or keep staring all day?"

Now his face went full red of embarrassment, he nervously started warming up with his back turned to the blonde girl, she found his antics amusing and for a moment let a smile escape her but tried to remind herself she was still mad with him, thankfully with his back turned he did not notice.

A few minutes passed and then Ino stopped.

"All right, show me what you learned." She took a strange fighting stance right away, Naruto, confused, stopped in the middle of his warm up but decided not to argue with her and also raised his arms in a fighting pose. "And don't you dare to hold back on me, I'm not as merciful as Hokage-sama."

"How did it go?"

"Oh, great material old man! Beautiful women I tell you!"

The Hokage was currently speaking with a very special man, Jiraiya the Frog Hermit, a tall and well-built man with fair skin, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face, red lines under his eyes which extended going all the way to the bottom of his face. Well respected, trustworthy and efficient, a man very well in his fifties but with the spirit of any teenager, as joyful and energetic as any of them. Also a huge pervert.

"I meant your mission Jiraiya…"

"Oh that… well, It's the real thing Sarutobi-sensei."

Hizuren's expression changed to one of worry.

"So the legends are true…"

"I'm afraid so, still, I placed a seal in the entire place so it remains undisturbed, and the location itself is not easy to find so I doubt anyone who isn't a Shinobi can get there."

"You understand what could happen if Fugaku Uchiha knew about this right?"

"Ah, Wicked Eye Fugaku Uchiha… I hate saying 'I told you so' but you should've dealt with him years ago."

"You know that's not my way of doing things…"

"And here we are…"

The room went quiet for a moment, then the door opened and three elderly persons came in, these were the Hokage's advisors who also formed a part of the council of Konoha, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, two grey haired and wrinkled Shinobi wearing kimonos and lastly came Danzo Himura, a frail old man who supported himself with a cane to walk, black, shaggy hair, his right eye bandaged and an x-shaped scar on his chin, he wore a dark grey robe over the top of a white shirt covering from his feet to just over his right shoulder.

"Ah, I was wondering when you old geezers would show up."

"Jiraiya!"

"It's fine Hiruzen." Spoke Homura raising his hand to signal the Hokage not to worry "Jiraiya, you know why we're here."

"I sure do grandpa." Homura's right eyebrow twitched "Mission report right? As I was telling Sarutobi-sensei, I was able to find what you guys were looking for, the rumors were true, it exists, I took preventive measures to make sure no one can reach it." he smirked.

"Did anyone follow you?" Koharu asked.

"No, the locals did mention however other men before me had come asking about a temple, I didn't see anyone there when I arrived."

"Where is it?"

"..." Jiraiya remained silent, he looked over to the Hokage to read his expression and make sure he could speak, the Hokage nodded "Aurangabad, India."

"Where exactly?" Asked now Danzo, his only visible eye narrowed.

"That, Danzo, Is information I'd rather only give the Hokage, while I'm well aware all of you have a position of authority here, I only report to him and him alone." he responded with a huge grin, Danzo was not amused by his answer.

"More important Jiraiya..." Hiruzen intervened before the topic continued "The son of Minato is here in Konoha, I'd like you to meet him."

"Oh? So you brought the brat here eh?"

"At Minato's request, he wanted us to protect him in case something happened to him or Kushina."

"Speaking of Minato... Any news from them?"

"That's precisely also why he's here, they sent a message only he can decode, it might give us a clue of where they're at now."

Surprisingly the elders were not aware of this last piece of information and were eager to start questioning the boy as soon as they could, typical way of thinking coming from them.

"Where is he now? We must question him." Koharu said.

"He's training with Ino Yamanaka right now and whatever questions you have for him, I'm sure he cannot answer them right now."

Koharu and Homura narrowed their eyes, the Hokage's answer was not precisely what they wanted to hear, Jiraiya took notice of their reaction and tried his best to hide his smile to no avail.

"Ino Yamanaka is a ruthless Shinobi, what can the boy learn from her?"

"They share a chakra affinity, are around the same age and Naruto trusts her more than anyone else here in the village, I see no reason why she isn't an adequate partner."

"She's a monster, you know that Hiruzen..."

"Her past should not be an issue Homura, besides..." he turned to Jiraiya "Jiraiya trained his father years ago, I'm sure he can lend a hand, don't you agree?"

Jiraiya had indeed trained Minato when he was a younger lad, technically with Naruto it would be almost the same pattern should he train him.

"That's up to the kid to decide, anyways, I'm off, I feel like I'm getting older already just by being here, later."

Jiraiya walked out the Hokage's office through the window instead as the other elders were still close to the main door and he felt the need to avoid them no matter how, Hiruzen found this amusing despite trying to keep face with the council elders, they were his friends in youth after all.

"Is this Naruto kid reliable?" asked Danzo.

"We'll find out eventually, for now he's still very young but if Minato asked us to look out for him, there must be a reason, he would not abandon the boy like that."

"It looks like he did anyway..."

Hiruzen remained silent.

"Gah!"

Naruto landed on his back yet again, exhausted from all his failed attempts to land a single hit, he knew Ino was stronger than he was from the start but she really meant her words, she was not merciful at all. Ino herself was somehow disappointed with the spar, while she had to admit Naruto's chakra control had improved vastly in just one night, she could not help but feel he failed to deliver, deep down she wanted to face the same Naruto who cornered the Hokage a day earlier, not this Naruto who did not show any signs of that power, maybe it was because of her, maybe Naruto could not force himself to bring out such force against her, who knew.

"Why did I beat you?"

"You're-" he struggled to sit up, breathing heavily "You're too fast..."

"My speed has nothing to do with it, you saw all my movements but hesitated to block my attacks, why?" she started to undo her bandaged hands.

Naruto kept a moment of silence, he tried to figure out an answer, she was right, despite her tremendous speed his eyes managed to keep up with her at all times but his body did not react to even try blocking even once, he did counter her punches or kicks but never landed a single hit as Ino yet again came back with a counter of her own, she was just that good, still he knew that was not the real reason he lost.

"I..."

"You hesitated in every opportunity you had, you didn't do that with Hokage-sama..."

"I know you told me to take it seriously, and believe me I did... I just couldn't get myself to hit you..."

Ino sighed "If this is because I'm a girl-"

"It's not that... I know you're fierce and strong, It's just... I can't do it, I just can't." he looked down in shame, Ino on the other hand was out of things to say, she did not expect Naruto's behavior, for a moment she actually felt concerned it could be something deeper, maybe feelings had gotten the best of him.

"Is he...?"

"I don't know if this training will work Ino." he stoop up and dusted himself "Asuma-sensei is also a wind type right? think I can talk to him?"

"So it has to do with me... you don't want me to train you..." she frowned and Naruto immediately regretted his words, he frantically waved his arms in panic.

"N-No! It's not like that! You're great and all!" she was not buying it and turned her back to leave the area.

"I'm going to take a shower, we can go talk with Asuma-sensei afterwards, just wait here..."

Naruto was no expert but he could almost swear her voice sounded sad. He wanted to say something back, make sure his words were appropriate but at this point he knew Ino would not care, women were that stubborn. He watched as she disappeared behind a door probably leading to the changing and shower area, as soon as she was out of sight Naruto went back to rest against the cold floor, still trying to keep his breathing in check, he stared at the ceiling in silence when a voice interrupted him.

"You don't know much about talking to women do you brat?"

Naruto was still on his back and tilted his head upward from his position, he saw the reverse figure of a tall man with white long hair and a strange outfit leaning on the door's side with arms crossed, he could tell he was smirking as he looked back at him, the blond boy quickly rose up from the ground and dusted himself as if trying to appear casual.

"Can I help you with something old man?"

"Well, Sarutobi-sensei suggested I should come take a look at you and see if perhaps I could train you." He said as he walked over to Naruto

"And who are you supposed to be?" Naruto raised an eyebrow unimpressed, Jiraiya only smiled.

Shikamaru's morning was no different today than the others, he woke up, took a shower, got dressed and, unless called by his sensei, went to a park nearby to lay back on the grass and stare at the sky as long as he could, training was not something consistent for him, what was the point if they all died anyway? Ino had always criticized him for his lack of commitment as a Shinobi of Konoha, he rarely trained choosing to spend his time slacking off rather, even in missions his job was minimal as the sniper of the team, he rarely engaged in direct combat and when he did, he always had backup. His life was not complicated and he never looked to make it that way, in his own words, it was 'troublesome'.

"I thought we were supposed to train with Asuma-sensei later."

The voice from Chōji woke him back to reality, he tilted his head and saw his friend standing next to him with his usual smile, he took a seat next to Shikamaru.

"He said he'd be looking into Naruto's training method so perhaps we won't see him again today."

"Seems everyone is concerned with Naruto's progress."

"They have a reason for that Chōji, he's the son of the Yellow Flash, a lot is expected from him."

"I almost feel sorry for Naruto, to have that weight over your shoulders just because of your father's reputation..."

"Indeed, still, Hokage-sama is only protecting him, once he's ready he can decide for himself if he wants to stay here or not."

"Well, as far as I understand he's here because someone is after him right? Hokage-sama mentioned something about Uchiha Corporation."

"Likely but not yet proven, and if he had stayed in Tokyo he'd probably be human bait or worse, doesn't mean he can't leave when he's ready for it, not everyone is suited for this place after living for so long somewhere else."

Chōji took out from one of his pockets a bag of potato chips, he opened them and offered some to Shikamaru who silently declined, he then proceeded to eat by himself.

"Who is his father? The Yellow Flash?"

Shikamaru went deep in thought before replying.

"He's an elite Shinobi of the village, never had a chance to meet him but my dad worked with him in the past, he told me he is the kind and caring type of person who loves his family more than anything, yet he's also a fierce and relentless with his enemies, a feared assassin because of that jutsu, the Hiraishin."

"If he loves his family so much, why did he abandon his son? Doesn't make sense..."

"At this point Chōji, we'd only be making assumptions, maybe it was an emergency or maybe he's just on a really long mission right now, if Hokage-sama thinks that information should not be shared with us then we have to accept it."

"Well... I doubt he'll leave anyway."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked curiously looking at his friend's expression.

"Ino."

Shikamaru kept quiet for a moment the laughed politely as to not get the attention of people passing by.

"What's so funny?"

"You honestly think there's something going on there?"

"For a smart guy Shikamaru, you seem to know very little about girls."

"Well, I don't know about them because understanding them is troublesome, especially someone like Ino."

"I'm just saying, she doesn't look at him like any other guy, the night we brought him here, when he went into the hospital..."

Shikamaru recalled those events, in reality he was also concerned about Naruto's health that night which is why he did not pay attention to Ino, aside from her bloody hands.

"I remember she was worried about him that night, didn't seem unusual to me."

"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just imagining things..."

"Hey, just because only you noticed, doesn't mean you're wrong."

Their conversation was interrupted by a pink haired girl who had just arrived to the park, Shikamaru gave his friend a look to let him know the topic would be best kept quiet for now, they were not about to turn it into senseless gossip.

"Did you guys hear? Jiraiya-sama is back in the village!" Sakura said excitedly.

"What? Jiraiya the Toad Sage?!" Chōji asked genuinely surprised., Shikamaru rose from his spot in curiosity.

"Why would this kid be involved with the Uchiha?"

Anko held a frame with the most recent picture of Naruto and his parents happily posing, her team had arrived that morning to his apartment looking for any indication of his whereabouts, several police officers walked past her while talking to other people over their phones, pictures were being taken of the entire place, boxes with several documents were confiscated, all of this while she silently examined the picture.

"Anko-senpai! Take a look at this..."

Iruka caught her attention when he came running into the living room of the complex. He handed her a couple of photographs, she set the portrait aside.

"These were taken one hour before the highway accidents, look..."

"That girl again... she was waiting for him..."

"Now look at these..." Again Iruka handed her another set of photos showing the pair eating at Yakiniku Q "They dined together around 25 minutes later here, then they left in a hurry..." The next set of photos show an empty table as well as armed men entering the restaurant.

"The dead bodies on the rooftop..."

"Yes but that's not all, the first pictures were taken at Kabukicho, he was just leaving a complex before they met, an underground fight club known as the Ryūjin, owner of the place is a guy called only Chen."

"Good." she handed the pictures back to Iruka and started leaving as he followed "I want a team on the opposite building to watch over this place in case someone comes back." She secretly placed a paper seal on the right wall of the hall that immediately camouflaged itself without anyone noticing "Call me immediately if somebody comes sniffing around, understand?"

"Where are you going senpai?"

"I need to take a call."

Anko went past the policemen and exited the apartment until she was no longer on ear's reach, down one of the hallways she took out her vibrating phone and answered it.

"Please tell me it's good news..."

"The fuel was purchased by Uchiha corp over a month ago at Narita International, whoever did it forgot to ask the staff to erase the records because they were still in paper."

Anko could barely hold her excitement at Ebisu's words, this was a great development that could put in jeopardy Fugaku Uchiha's empire, she grinned like a little girl.

"You're the best Ebisu! Now I just need to find out where that helicopter is right now."

"If a jutsu was used probably it's gone by now, why do you need to find it?"

"Because aside from the fuel, that thing is the only proof we have to link Uchiha Corp with the accidents on the highway, I'd like it very much to see those smug bastards pay for what they did."

From the corner of her eye she noticed a grey haired ponytail mixed among the officers in the distance and her mood immediately went sour.

"I'll call you back."

She put her phone away without losing sight of the person who she thought was Kabuto, the man was yet again sneaking into one of her cases without her knowledge and it was starting to get on her nerves, she started walking back to the apartment looking for him, once inside she saw again the grey haired ponytail and immediately went to grab him by the shoulder, she was ready to berate him right there and then but it turned out he was actually a she, the policewoman was startled by Anko's sudden shoulder grab.

"...Sorry, my mistake." she let go of the woman to let her continue doing her job.

"Something wrong senpai?" Iruka asked.

"Just thought I saw someone who should not be here."

"Ah, that Kabuto fellow you mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah... keep a sharp eye if you see him, here, at the station, everywhere, let's move."

"Where to?"

"We're gonna pay this Chen guy a visit."

Anko trusted few people inside the police and with the corrupt forces that moved it even fewer, Iruka had managed to gain her trust due to his reliability and incorruptible nature in the past, Ebisu was another rare case, he did not care for money or status, he only wanted to solve cases that were too difficult for the others. This was precisely the reason Kabuto made her feel uneasy, from day one he had shown openly an interest to ascend in his position by any means, making him a dangerous individual. Anko was almost certain he was there, spying without their knowledge.

She was right.

For the second time of the day Naruto found himself lying on the ground face up recovering his breath while Jiraiya casually smiled with confidence, he could not deny the boy's guts to fight, both had moved from the academy grounds to a more open area with far more space. The Toad Sage had decided to test him just like Ino had done earlier, only this time he noticed the flaw everyone else missed, his chakra was being suppressed for a reason only he was able to notice due to his experience.

"So I'll ask you, why did you lose?"

Was this some sort of joke? Ino had asked him the same question and he had been unable to give her an appropriate answer, why was this guy asking the same question if he had witnessed the previous spar? Naruto struggled to sit upwards and looked at Jiraiya incredulously.

"Look, it's the second time someone asks me that today, how about we cut the crap and you tell me?"

"You won't be able to progress if everything is spooned."

"I'm not a Shinobi like you okay? I'm just a guy trying to learn!" he was starting to get angry with all these trick questions, Jiraiya only sighed in defeat but tried a different approach.

"What do you usually feel when you gather chakra inside you?"

"Feel?" Naruto pondered for a second "Somehow like I can't amass the same amounts I read about in a book last night, I mean, I can't even do something like walk on walls! That's supposed to be easy right?" Jiraiya smiled again.

"Good., and why do you think that is?"

"I... don't know, it's like my chakra is..."

"Bound?"

Naruto looked up to Jiraiya surprised when he completed the sentence, excitedly he replied.

"Yes! Exactly!"

"Stand up kid." Naruto obliged

"Please tell me, how can I use my chakra correctly?"

"To be honest brat, you're already doing so, only you're being restrained by that seal."

"Seal?" he raised his eyebrow "What se- Guh!"

He was interrupted by Jiraiya's sudden hand thrust, with blue chakra emanating from all five of his fingertips and connecting them against where said seal apparently was, Naruto's belly.

"Gogyō Kaiin! (Five Elements Unseal)"

Naruto stumbled a few steps back and fell on his backside, a trail of smoke coming from the area where he had just been hit, the pain was unbearable, both his hands covered the affected area as he tried to regain air but even breathing became painful, after a few seconds the sensation started to disappear, he gave Jiraiya an angry look.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"NARUTOOOOOO!"

The unmistakable voice of Ino reached both their ears, she arrived stomping and fuming while Jiraiya only looked curiously, Naruto on the other hand, gulped when she appeared.

"What the HELL is wrong with YOU?! Do you have issues with instructions or som... Jiraiya-sama?" she stopped mid sentence when she noticed the Toad Sage was with Naruto.

"Oh you must be Ino, sorry I took your boyfriend like that, I noticed he's having troubles with his training so the Hokage asked me to check up on him." He grinned exactly knowing what would come next as both teenagers went crimson red. both their voices joined together.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"I'M NOT HER BOYFRIEND!"

"Oh? My bad then." He waived his had in a gesture of forgiveness as he innocently smiled "Anyway, Naruto, try to gather chakra now."

Naruto took a minute to let go of his embarrassment and anger before acknowledging the Sage's request. He formed a hand seal and immediately felt a different and powerful surge of chakra flowing freely through his body, so much that small portions of rock were flown away from his position. His amazement was written all over his face as well as Ino's.

"He didn't do that when we sparred... did he do something?" she thought.

"Good, now see how you feel, if you know any jutsu, use it and notice the difference." Jiraiya said proudly.

Naruto obliged. He recalled one of the few jutsus he was able to read about the previous night and proceeded to clasp his hands together as he felt how the chakra compressed between them, before releasing it he made sure to aim to a clear area of the sky and avoid harming any birds in his paths.

"Futon: Reppūshō! (Wind Release: Gale Palm)"

The chakra in between his hands was released into a powerful gale that traveled at an alarming speed, Jiraiya for once was awed at this display of power Naruto presented, he did expect for his chakra to flow more freely, just not this... freely. The jutsu itself did not require much chakra to perform and it was usually used in combination with weapons to increase the deadliness rate, sometimes even directly against other opponents to sent them flying back a few meters, yet this boy was able to push his jutsu much further than any regular ninja he had ever seen, leaving a hole in the clouds in the process.

"What the hell...?" Ino whispered to herself in disbelief.

"Woah! Nice going kid!" Jiraiya said excitedly.

"Did I... really do that?" Naruto said in a low tone of voice as he maintained his right arm extended facing the open sky, he slowly lowered it and relaxed his position while he looked at both his hands impressed by his own display of power, he looked over to Jiraiya who was walking now to his location "What did you do?"

"I released the seal that was suppressing your chakra, I am impressed however, never seen such a strong Reppūshō before, still..." he looked over to the area where the clouds had been opened by Naruto just a minute ago "You need to polish your control a bit, with that much power you could seriously injure someone or worse."

Naruto figured at that moment that was probably the reason he had a seal in the first place, if his chakra was this strong, who could tell the damage he would cause if he ever lost control. He lowered his arms sadly wondering if this was the reason his parents disappeared instead of what he knew at that point.

"How did you notice I had a seal?"

"When we sparred kid, the moment we bumped chakras I noticed yours felt different, like it was being held back not by you but by something else... hey, what's wrong?" He noticed Naruto's mood change.

"Am I... Is something wrong with me?"

"Huh?"

"Why would I have a seal placed in me if not to avoid I hurt people? Did I do something wrong to have it?... Am I a monster or something...?" this last part he said with sadness in his voice as he lowered his eyes to the ground. Jiraiya placed both his hands on the boy's shoulders making him have eye contact with him again.

"Are you? Do you like hurting others?"

"What?"

"Is that your nature? Do you like hurting people?" He asked sternly.

"Of course not! I don't enjoy it!"

"Then why do you fight?"

"I... Just don't like stronger people taking advantage of weaker people, it makes me mad, that's all."

"That doesn't explain why you were fighting in an illegal club brat, that's what the last mission report says..." Jiraiya crossed his arms waiting for an explanation. Naruto turned his back and took a few steps away from the sage as he recalled the events.

"I saved an old man from being robbed one night, two guys with blades, they tried to stab me when I called them out but I defended myself and ended up beating them... The old man turned out to be the owner of one of those clubs, he said I had talent for fighting and that he could help me win money that way so I joined..." he turned to face Jiraiya who was listening attentively to his story "I was only trying to make a living since I was on my own you know, it was enjoyable and amusing to the people who went there to watch, it wasn't to me..." he resumed.

"Then no, you're no monster." Jiraiya said matter of factly to which Naruto only changed his serious expression to one of surprise "You're one heck of a strong brat, honestly I don't know why you had that seal in you or who put it there, maybe you're right, maybe someone was afraid of what you could do to others, but the way I see it kid, people are afraid of what they don't understand..." He grinned and used his thumb to point to himself "Me you see, I'm a curious individual, if anything I'd like to help you reach your potential!"

"You'd... really help me?"

"Of course kid, I am many things, but a liar is not one of them." He nodded.

Naruto smiled but then remembered Ino was still there, she was the one meant to train him, meant to help him. He looked over to where she was and noticed her expression was of worry at the time.

"I'd... like to talk with Ino first, she's helping me right now you know..." he said looking away from Ino, Jiraiya nodded again in approval as a signal he was free to go talk to her to which he did, as he approached her he also could tell she was internally in conflict, he was no mind walker like she was but he definitely read her expression as an open book. Ino however, was not worried at all about the change of teacher.

She was remembering certain events concerning Naruto and what she had just witnessed.

"Hey, I guess you heard that right?"

"Huh?" Ino stopped her thoughts and formed a pretended smile "Yeah, what of it?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it, I feel kinda bad if I just leave like that without your approval..."

"Approval? Naruto, Hokage-sama just sent one of the strongest Shinobi here to help you with your training, why would you need my approval for that? It's fine..."

"It's not about what the Hokage wants... it's a about what I want."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Now Ino was confused.

"I know this Jiraiya guy just did something to help me and I appreciate it, but you are the one who's training me now and I'd like to keep it that way, I feel like I can learn so much from you as well..."

"Naruto I..."

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds but I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying and I think I have a solution..." both Naruto and Ino were startled by his voice, Jiraiya was casually walking over to them "How about Ino here helps you with your chakra control for a few hours per day and then I help you learn some new tricks afterwards? I'll speak with the Hokage about it, I'm sure he'll agree to it."

"Really Jiraiya-sama? Wouldn't we be taking too much time from you?"

"Not at all young lady! I just came back from a long mission and I'd like to stay in the village for a while so I see this as a win-win, what do you guys say?"

Naruto and Ino looked at each other wondering if the other person would agree, by their look and understanding they did and nodded in approval. Jiraiya was right, this was a win-win situation for all parties involved, Naruto would be getting the best method of training with an experienced ninja like Ino and a full fledged master as Jiraiya while at the same time both of them could fulfill the role the Hokage gave them and keep an eye on the spiked haired boy while he improved.

"Alright Jiraiya, We're up for it!" Naruto replied.

-0-

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Hello there again, long time since my last update, sorry bout that, busy busy busy, anyways, working on the next couple of chapters right not, I am a a mess since I tend to write half of one and before I finish I start the next one and so on, this one took a while because I didn't like how I was writing it and had to change a couple of things, as I had mentioned in the last chapter, the plot of this story has already been finished but I will need to rely heavily on it to make sure I don't start making or leaving plot holes as we move on, only plot twits ;)

Thanks for following the story and taking an interest, I'm writing this more for myself than anything but the messages and the fact that others like it is really appreciated, until next time!