One quick thing before we begin the story. A couple of people mentioned last chapter that they thought that I was saying Sasuke had it worse than Naruto or I was undermining Naruto's childhood. I just wanted to say: I totally get it! That is completely valid. Naruto absolutely did have a terrible childhood. What I was trying to do, though, was to show that Naruto's and Sasuke's pain are not the same. One is not worse than the other, just that they are different. Naruto was looking at Sasuke's pain through his own eyes, through his own experiences, and projecting what he wanted onto Sasuke, which is where a conflict was arising. Kakashi was trying to explain to him that his loneliness and Sasuke's loneliness are different. One is not worse than the other, though. To get a little personal, my father died suddenly and unexpectedly when I was younger. My friend, who lost his mother to cancer, said that he understood what I was going through. I felt that he didn't because our situations were very different. One of us did not have worse than the other. Both of us lost a parent, which is devastating and terrible, but we had different experiences with it. That is what I was trying to show last chapter.

Sorry about the lengthy note. Now, on to the story!

(6 months After Last Chapter)

In Konoha's Training Ground 4, two people were locked in an intense staredown. One was a short blonde-haired boy, dressed in a black shirt with a red spiral on the front and back, a pair of blue shorts, and a pair of blue shinobi sandals. Across from him was a tall, lanky man with spiky silver hair. He wore the traditional garb of a Konoha Jonin, with the notable exception of a mask covering the lower half of his face and his headband covering his left eye. The two stared at each other, wholly focused on the task at hand. Both were tense, waiting for the other to move. Suddenly a shrill sound rang out, causing both people to relax.

"Aaaaaannd time! Two minutes with a leaf stuck to your forehead, back of your hands, and the top of your feet. Good job, Naruto! I'd say you've got the leaf balancing exercise down. And, since you completed tree walking exercise, I think you've got a good enough grasp on chakra control for now." Naruto grinned, grateful for the praise. He flopped down on the ground underneath the shade of one of the trees surrounding the training ground. Kakashi strode over and sat down next Naruto, ruffling his hair in congratulations.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei. It feels good to finally be done with that. I can't believe it took me so long to complete it."

"Ma ma, don't worry about it, Naruto. Before this, you had never learned to control your chakra. Naturally, this would take a while." (1) 'Well, that and the fact that you have massive chakra reserves,' Kakashi internally amended. He was unable to gauge how much chakra Naruto had accurately, but he knew it was almost as much as his own. 'It's probably the only benefit of being a Jinchuriki,' Kakashi thought sadly. He wished he could talk to Naruto about his status as a Jinchuriki, but the Sandaime had been very clear that it was not his place. The Hokage had said he would personally tell Naruto about his burden when he became a genin. Frankly, Kakashi thought that was a bad idea. Naruto had plenty of time right now to train with the Kyuubi's chakra. Once he became a genin, he would be busy with missions and team training. He would not have much time for something as sensitive as Jinchuriki training. 'Well, no use dwelling on that now,' Kakashi thought. 'I can't change the Sandaime's mind or do anything about it right now, so I'll just focus on training Naruto the best I can.'

"Alright, Naruto, now we're going to move on to the next stage of chakra manipulation." Naruto groaned in response, not looking forward to more boring chakra work. Kakashi chuckled and patted him on the back, "Don't worry, Naruto. I am sure you are going to like this. We're beginning elemental chakra manipulation."

Naruto brightened up at this, excited to start learning some Jutsu. "Yatta! I'm going to learn how to shoot fireballs and make earth monsters," he yelled, fantasizing about all the cool things he was going to do. His eyes glazed over as he pictured himself, rescuing a kingdom while raining fireballs down on enemies.

Kakashi looked fondly at Naruto. His innocence and excitement were contagious, and it was nice to see him so happy after his tough childhood. "Well, not exactly. First, we need to find out what your affinity is," Kakashi stated, interrupting Naruto's daydreams.

Naruto blinked twice then looked at Kakashi questioningly. "How are we going to do that?" Kakashi pulled out a small, white piece of paper from his pouch and held it up. "You're going to channel chakra through this piece of paper, just like you would for one of your summoning seals. The paper will react to your chakra, and it will show us what your natural affinity is. If the paper catches fire, your affinity is fire. If it splits in half, it's wind. If it wrinkles, it's lightning. If it turns into dirt and crumbles to the ground, it's earth. Finally, if it becomes wet, it's water. Got it?"

Naruto nodded, figuring it was simple enough. He took the piece of paper from Kakashi, anxious to find out what his element was. He channeled chakra through the seal with bated breath. The paper immediately split in two, but then, after a second, both sides crumbled into dirt and fell to the ground. Naruto stared, wide-eyed at the ground, processing what he saw. Beside him, Kakashi gave a thoughtful "hmmm" and stroked his chin.

"Well, it seems like you have two affinities, Naruto. It is common for shinobi to develop a second affinity as they get older and use more Jutsu, but it is rare to have two elements at the beginning of your career. It looks like wind is your primary affinity, and earth is your secondary. And, I've got to say, those are two outstanding elements. You have the best offensive element, wind, and the best defensive element, earth." Naruto beamed, excited that he had two great affinities. 'I'm going to be amazing, dattebayo!' (2)

"Alright. On to the next step," Kakashi clapped his hands together and stood up. He reached up and plucked two leaves off the tree they were sitting under. He handed one to Naruto and kept the other one for himself. Kakashi held the leaf up in front of him so Naruto could see it and explained, "We're going to start with the first step of wind chakra manipulation because that is your primary affinity. The goal of this exercise is to split the leaf in half using only your chakra." Kakashi demonstrated by neatly splitting his leaf in half.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi quizzically. "Do you have a wind affinity, too, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Nope. My primary affinity is lightning, but I know how to channel wind chakra. Your elemental affinity does not mean you can only use that element. It just means that that element will be the easiest one for you to control and master, but it does not mean that it is the only element you can use. It will dictate which element is your specialty, but, with enough training, you can adequately use all elements. I know Jutsu from all five elements, but lightning is my strongest. That's not to say you cannot master Jutsu from other elements. For example, The Sandaime is known as The Professor because he mastered all documented Jutsu in Konoha. Does that make sense?"

Naruto nodded in understanding. "So, it will be easiest for me to learn wind and earth Jutsu, but I can still learn Jutsu from other elements?"

"Exactly. Now, let's see you try and split that leaf."

Naruto looked down at his leaf and gripped it with both hands. He stared intently at it and channeled his chakra through the leaf. He pictured his chakra slicing through the leaf like a knife. After a second, a tiny cut appeared at the top of the leaf. Naruto scrunched up his face in frustration and tried again, but this time nothing happened. "Darn it!" he grumbled.

"Don't get frustrated, Naruto. This will take some time. Mastering elemental chakra is more challenging than regular chakra. Try and make your chakra as a sharp and compact as possible to cut the leaf. However, don't forget about your other training. You've improved with the Whirlwind Style. You have gotten faster, your balance is improving, and you are slowly getting stronger. Learning Jutsu is exciting, but sometimes the most effective way to win a fight is to get in close and use taijutsu. Never forget that the simplest and quietest way to kill someone is a kunai to the head."

Naruto nodded in understanding and turned back to his leaf, determined to split it. Before Naruto turned his attention back to the leaf, Kakashi spoke again. "Alright. I'm going to another training ground to do some special, private, Kakashi-only training. I'll be back in a couple of hours to check in on you. I'll see you in a bit, Naruto!" Kakashi gave an eye-smile to Naruto, who returned it with a smile of his own.

Kakashi turned and walked out of the clearing. He needed to do some training of his own; the Sandaime had been very adamant about that. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but he knew things were with Iwa were tense. The Hokage was keeping it on a strictly need-to-know basis. However, Kakashi was privy to more information than most since he was the one who fought the potential Iwa kidnappers. He didn't know what would happen, but he knew he would be needed. Kakashi threw one last glance at Naruto over his shoulder before leaving. He was determined to be strong enough to protect Naruto.

(Line Break)

After several hours of training, Naruto decided to head home. As he walked away from the training ground, Naruto reflected on his relationship with Kakashi. They had been training together for about nine months and had grown closer during that time. In the beginning, Kakashi seemed somewhat distant from him, like there was some type of wall between them. Sometimes he would catch Kakashi giving him a strange look, but he would wave away his concerns whenever he asked him about it. It was different from the looks that Naruto was used to getting, though. Kakashi did not look at him with disdain or fear like most of the villagers did. On the other hand, he looked at him with a sad, almost wistful gaze. Naruto didn't really understand why his sensei looked at him this way sometimes, but it was a significant improvement from his other interactions with adults.

However, over time, that began to change, and the emotional barrier started to come down. Naruto did not know exactly when things changed, but it was gradual. Kakashi became more approachable and seemed to relax around Naruto. He started walking Naruto home after training. Then he started staying for dinner. Then he started spending time with Naruto outside of training. He even introduced Naruto to his pack of ninken (whom Naruto loved) and taught him how to shop appropriately and balance his budget.

Gradually, Kakashi transformed from just being Naruto's sensei to nearly an older brother figure. The only thing that stopped Naruto from seeing Kakashi as a father figure was that that role was firmly taken by the most important man in his life: His Jiji. Naruto idolized the Hokage and deeply treasured him. His Jiji was the first person to take Naruto out of the pit of loneliness that was his life and show him that people cared about him.

The rushing sound of water and the caw of a seagull abruptly interrupted Naruto's musings. Naruto looked around and recognized that he was almost halfway home. He had been so lost in thought that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. As Naruto took in where he was, he realized that he was next to the river where he had his disastrous introduction with Sasuke. Luckily, things had changed between the two. As Naruto resumed walking home, he thought about the first time he and Sasuke had spoken after that heated conversation.

(Flashback)

One week after Naruto snuck into the Uchiha compound and left Tabi's two kittens on Sasuke's doorstep, he and Sasuke finally talked. Naruto was standing outside of the Academy, chatting with his friends after school ended. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sasuke standing just outside his friend group. He tried to act like he wasn't paying attention to them, but he kept glancing uncertainly at Naruto. It had been like this all week. Sasuke hadn't come up to Naruto to thank him or berate him for his gift, but he seemed uncharacteristically nervous. Sometimes Naruto would see Sasuke walk towards him and turn around right before he got within speaking distance.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke bailed on talking to him every time he was with his friends. Naruto had tried to let Sasuke come about on his terms, but Naruto decided that Sasuke may need a little nudge to get started.

"Hey, guys. I'm gonna head back home. I'm pretty sure I forgot to leave some extra food out for Tabi this morning, and you guys know how temperamental she can be. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure!" Choji answered, smiling in between bites of chips.

"Y-yes, of-of course Naruto-kun. Tell Haruk and Tabi I say hello," Hinata said.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto with narrowed eyes. He knew that Naruto never forgot something when it involved his animal companions. He adored them too much for that. 'Whatever. It's too troublesome to figure out. If it were anything serious, I'm sure he'd tell us,' Shikamaru thought before lazily waving goodbye to Naruto.

Naruto gave one last smile and wave before turning around and walking towards the street. However, before he left, he made sure he made eye-contact with Sasuke. Once Naruto was sure he had Sasuke's attention, he gave a slight jerk of his head, signaling for Sasuke to follow him. After a minute of walking, Naruto stopped and waited. Just as he suspected, Sasuke was walking after him. He was looking everywhere but at Naruto, but, eventually, Sasuke stopped in front of him and looked up.

"Hi," Sasuke stated.

"Hey, Sasuke. How are you?" Naruto replied before immediately grimacing internally. 'Stupid! How do you think he is?' He prepared himself for a similar reaction to the last time they spoke, but, instead, he noticed Sasuke looked down.

Sasuke shuffled his feet for a second, then took a deep breath. "Thank you," he muttered, still looking at the ground.

"You're welcome," Naruto replied, not bothering to ask what he was talking about. It was obvious there was only one thing he would be thanking him for.

"And... I'm sorry I blew up at you last time. I know you were just trying to help, but... I don't know. You didn't deserve that."

"It's okay, and I'm sorry, too. I wasn't exactly the most patient person in the world last time, which definitely didn't help things," Naruto replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

An uncomfortable silence hung between the two, neither sure what to say next. After several seconds Naruto broke the silence. "So... What did you name the kittens?"

Sasuke looked up, grateful for the new topic. "Shiro and Kuro."

Naruto squinted his eyes in thought and then gave Sasuke a deadpan stare. "You named your cats white and black? That's... boring."

A slight blush colored Sasuke's face, and he grumbled, "I thought it sounded good."

Naruto laughed at Sasuke's lame answer, earning a scowl from Sasuke. After he reigned in his laughter, Naruto looked back at Sasuke. "Can I go see them? They lived with me for a while."

Sasuke paled in response, and a pained expression flashed across his face. "No," he quickly responded.

A week ago, Naruto would have gotten angry at Sasuke's response, thinking it was rude. However, now, Kakashi's words came to mind. Naruto remembered his horrifying description of the Uchiha compound after the massacre and that Sasuke's brother had caused it all. Now, Naruto understood that Sasuke was not ready to let someone into his home. He was not ready to act like everything was okay.

Naruto saw Sasuke start to turn away and stopped him. "Would you like to come to my apartment and meet Shiro and Kuro's mom? She's my cat."

Sasuke paused, uncertain of what to say. On the one hand, he was still hurting and was not fully ready to get close to someone. On the other hand, he did not want to go home. He refused to move away from his clan's compound, but the memories still caused him a lot of pain. The more time he spent away from that place, the better. After a minute of deliberation, Sasuke relaxed and nodded at Naruto. "Yeah. That'd be nice."

Naruto grinned and gestured for Sasuke to follow him. The two walked in silence, but it was different than before. There was no underlying tension or uncomfortableness. Instead, there was an amicable silence between them.

After several minutes of walking, the two climbed the stairs to Naruto's apartment. Naruto pulled the key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. Once the door was fully open, Sasuke gave a cursory look around Naruto's apartment. It was a relatively clean place. There was a small dining table with four chairs around it on the left side of the room. The dining area was directly in front of the modest kitchen, complete with a refrigerator, a sink, a gas stove, an oven, and several cabinets surrounding the room. There was a hallway that Sasuke assumed led to Naruto's room and a bathroom next to the kitchen. To the right of the hallway was Naruto's living room. It had a dark green couch, a comfy looking leather armchair, a bookshelf, and a cat tree. The apartment was well lit by numerous windows, allowing a lot of natural light to flood in.

The two were greeted by a dog's excited barking and pounding footsteps as Haruki rushed towards Naruto. Naruto laughed as Haruki lept on him and started licking his face. "Hey there, girl! How are ya? I missed you, too," Naruto beamed and rubbed his friend's head.

After she stopped licking Naruto, Haruki noticed the other person standing in the doorway. She padded towards Sasuke and sniffed him. He was unfamiliar to her, but it was clear that he was a friend of Naruto's. She decided that any friend of Naruto's was a friend of her's and barked a greeting to the new arrival. Sasuke gave her a small smile in response and tentatively rubbed her head, imitating Naruto's actions.

"This is Haruki. She was my first roommate," Naruto said fondly. Naruto then gestured to the window where Tabi lay, "This is Tabi. She's the mother of your two kittens." Sasuke saw the cat basking in the light and noticed that she looked very similar to his two pets.

Awakened by the introduction, Tabi arched her back and stretched. She then gracefully lept down from the ledge and walked over to the Naruto and Sasuke. She rubbed her head against Naruto's legs in greeting then turned her attention to Sasuke. She walked around him several times and took in his scent. After several moments, she seemed to recognize her two children's scent and walked closer to Sasuke. She rubbed her face against his leg and purred, knowing that this was the person taking care of her two kittens. Sasuke cautiously reached down and rubbed her head, eliciting an even louder purr. He decided to take a risk and gently reached down and picked Tabi up. She accepted his action and nestled herself into the crook of his neck.

"Wow. That's the best she's ever done with a new person. You should have seen what she did to Hinata the first time she came here. I don't know what set her off, but she refused to let Hinata within six feet of her. You should've seen Hinata's face. She looked like she was going to cry," Naruto joked.

Sasuke gave a small smile and grunted in response, acknowledging Naruto's statement but not wanting to disturb the now napping Tabi.

Naruto noticed that Tabi was asleep on Sasuke's shoulder. "Well, I guess you can't leave now. Want to stay for a bit? I can make us a snack?" Naruto offered.

Sasuke nodded and sat down at Naruto's small table. Naruto walked into the kitchen and went about preparing some food. After some time, he returned to the table with some freshly prepared onigiri. (3) Sasuke inclined his head in gratitude and took one of the offered snacks.

After about 30 minutes, Sasuke carefully removed Tabi from his shoulder and set her on the ground. "I have to get going. I need to get back to my home to take care of Shiro and Kuro."

Naruto smiled, "All good, Sasuke. Tell them I say hi."

Sasuke nodded and stood up. He walked to the door but stopped after several steps and turned around. "Thank you, Naruto," he said, this time making eye-contact with Naruto.

Naruto understood that those three words held a lot of meaning. This time he wasn't just thanking him for the kittens or the food or because he felt like he had to. This time, he really meant it.

Naruto kept eye-contact with Sasuke and smiled. "Any time," he said with conviction. Sasuke's eyes widened for a brief moment before giving a soft smile in response and nodding his head. He then turned around and left Naruto's apartment.

(End Flashback)

After that day, Naruto and Sasuke slowly began to develop a strong bond.

They frequently trained together, which allowed both of them to prosper. Naruto finally had someone his own age and skill level to spar against, and Sasuke had someone to test his skills against. Even though their relationship was very different from a typical 9-year-old friendship, it worked for them. When Naruto was with his other friends, he would play, laugh, and joke with them. Sasuke was not at that stage yet. He would rather sit in silence in Naruto's apartment and do his homework while Naruto played with Haruki.

Naruto knew that Sasuke was damaged from the night his family was murdered, and he learned to let him come along at his own pace. Naruto knew that Sasuke appreciated having a place other than his clan compound to go to, so Naruto gave Sasuke a place to escape when he needed it. Naruto had once tried to broach the topic of the massacre, but Sasuke had promptly shut him down. After that, Naruto never mentioned that night, but he knew Sasuke would bring it up when he was ready.

A couple weeks after Sasuke's first visit to Naruto's apartment, Naruto had introduced Sasuke to his toad summons. Sasuke was slightly surprised by the talking toads, but he quickly got over it. He knew that summons were a useful tool in the ninja world, so the shock of his friend having a summons soon wore off.

Sasuke got along well with Gamaken. He found the toad to be quiet, kind, and respectful, which fit Sasuke's personality well. Gamarisu, on the other hand, greatly annoyed Sasuke. The energetic toad thought Sasuke was too serious and boring, and she made it her mission to make him loosen up. She was intent on making him laugh or get a positive reaction out of Sasuke. The only response she got, however, was one of annoyance.

Even though Sasuke bonded with Naruto, he did not have the same progress with the rest of his classmates. Sasuke was still introverted and did not do well with large crowds. That was part of the reason he found his fangirls so frustrating. They crowded him and kept pandering for his attention. He found them very shallow and selfish. They only cared about their desires and only pursued him because they thought he was "cute" or "mysterious" or "dark and handsome." They smothered him, and Sasuke hated being smothered.

Sasuke was also very proud. He was incredibly driven and wanted to be the best. Naruto didn't know exactly why Sasuke was so determined to improve, but Naruto had a suspicion. Because of his drive, Sasuke had progressed much quicker than his classmates. He knew he was talented and more skilled than his classmates, and it had started to inflate his ego. However, his relationship with Naruto had nipped that potentially toxic flower in the bud. In Naruto, Sasuke found someone his age who was just as skilled as, or better than, him. He found someone who pushed him to become better, but not in the way his brother did. With Itachi, Sasuke was driven to improve out of hatred for his brother and an obsessive desire to destroy him. With Naruto, Sasuke found a friendly rival who congratulated him when he did well and supported him even when he failed. Even more, Sasuke's immense pride in his clan and belief that they were superior took a significant blow when he trained with Naruto. Sasuke saw that Naruto, a boy born from nothing with nothing and no one, was just as skilled as him. He saw how Naruto trained hard every day and, even with no innate gifts or bloodlines, improved by leaps and bounds.

Sasuke did warm up slightly to some people, however. Due to his incessant badgering that Sasuke meet his other friends, Naruto had finally introduced Sasuke to Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Sasuke got along best with Hinata because she was one of the few girls who was not in his "Fanclub," as Naruto called it. Sasuke had a suspicion of why but decided it wasn't his place to talk about it. He was confused by Ino because she seemed to have two different personalities. Around Sakura and the other girls in his class, she was just another vapid, shallow fangirl. However, around Naruto, she was friendly, cheery, and seemed much more interested in the blonde than him. He found Shikamaru and Choji pretty dull, to be honest. He thought Shikamaru wasn't driven enough, and Choji just did whatever Shikamaru wanted to do. But, he still acted friendly enough around them to appease Naruto.

Naruto appreciated this. Even though he wasn't the most emotionally intelligent person, he developed a strong ability to read Sasuke. He could tell what Sasuke was thinking most of the time, even if Sasuke didn't verbalize it. He knew how to read between the lines with his most complex friend.

Naruto passed by a small flower shop on his way home, and that, combined with his current train of thought, made Naruto think of another notable milestone in his and Sasuke's relationship: the first time he visited Sasuke's home.

(Flashback 3 months after Sasuke visited Naruto's apartment)

Training Ground 4 was serenely quiet on a warm, sunny day in Konoha. One could see rabbits relaxing around the clearing, squirrels nibbling on nuts, and birds perched atop the battered training posts. However, the calm did not last. A rustling of leaves and the snap of branches alerted the occupants of the training ground to evacuate. Seconds later, as the sounds grew louder, two blurs flew out of the forest and landed on the grass, one slightly before the other.

"Ha! *Pant pant* That one definitely goes to me *Pant pant*," Naruto gasped between deep breaths of air, his hands on his knees.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, trying and failing to hide that he was similarly exhausted.

Naruto walked over to the training posts and laid down on the ground, welcoming the cool grass on his sweaty neck. He and Sasuke had just finished a grueling obstacle course race in the forest. They had created the course a couple of weeks ago and did it fairly regularly. The course tested their speed, agility, and skill with shuriken and kunai. That part was Sasuke's idea. Halfway through the race, they had to hit six targets with shuriken before moving on. Every week they raced, the competition driving them to improve, and, this week, Naruto had won by a slim margin. Their races usually ended in very close finishes. The two pushed themselves to their limits, knowing that one misstep would lead to defeat.

Sasuke followed Naruto to the training posts and sat next to him, his back resting against the wood. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes as they caught their breaths. After they cooled down, Naruto stood up and offered his hand to Sasuke. "It's getting late. Want to head back?"

Sasuke nodded in response and gratefully took Naruto's hand. They collected their belongings from around the clearing and started walking towards their respective homes. As they walked, Naruto could tell something was on Sasuke's mind. Something was bothering Sasuke, but Naruto didn't ask him about it. Naruto knew better than to try and force Sasuke to talk about something he didn't want to. So, Naruto left Sasuke alone and put his hands behind his head as they walked in silence.

When they got to the spot where they would usually split up to go to their respective homes, Sasuke stopped. Naruto stopped as well and patiently waited for his friend.

Sasuke took a deep breath, steeled himself, and looked up at Naruto. "Would you like to see Shiro and Kuro? They've grown a lot over the past couple of months."

Naruto's eyes widened for a brief moment, but he quickly suppressed it. Naruto knew what Sasuke was asking. He was asking him if he would over to his home. To the Uchiha Compound. Naruto knew that no one had been there since that night, so this was a big step for Sasuke.

"Of course! Sounds great!" Naruto beamed in response.

Sasuke nodded in reply and gestured for Naruto to follow him. It only took them six minutes to reach the Uchiha compound. Naruto took in the massive gates emblazoned with the cool symbol that Sasuke always wore on the back of his shirt, which Naruto learned was the Uchiha clan symbol. Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, new-looking key. He walked up to the gate and inserted the key into the lock and turned it, causing the gate to make a loud sound as it unlocked.

"I had the Hokage put in this lock. Usually, we would have guards outside, but after that night..." Sasuke said, trailing off at the end. Naruto nodded in understanding, knowing what he was referring to. Sasuke pushed open the gate, and they entered the empty compound.

The first thing Naruto noticed was that it was very clean. There was no trash, the windows were spotless, the gardens were well kept, and there were no signs of any weeds. It was clear to Naruto that Sasuke was taking exceptional care of the Uchiha compound. The next thing that Naruto noticed was how eerily quiet it was. The only thing he could hear was the wind whistling between the buildings, the rattling of the shutters on the windows, and the clack of his and Sasuke's footsteps.

Naruto noticed Sasuke tense next to him, and he promptly started speed walking towards his house. Naruto quickened his pace to catch up to Sasuke. He didn't have much time to take in his surroundings, but Naruto did notice one thing that kept popping up. In front of most of the buildings and homes, there were little stone plaques on the ground surrounded by flowers. Naruto passed by most of them too quickly to read what they said, but, when they turned a corner, Naruto slowed down enough to read what one of them said: "Shisui Uchiha, Marui Uchiha, Kotetsu Uchiha." (4) Naruto saw that the flowers around this plaque all looked new and freshly bought. But before Naruto could ask Sasuke about it, they arrived at his home.

Sasuke opened the door to his house and flicked on the lights. 'Wow. Sasuke's place is a lot cleaner than my own,' Naruto thought before looking at the picture beside the door atop a small table. It was a picture of Sasuke's family when he was young. In the middle of the photo was a tall, dark-haired man with a solemn expression. To his left stood a kind-looking woman with a warm smile and long, dark hair. To her left was a young Sasuke, probably around six years old. He was smiling broadly at the camera and seemed so happy to be with his family. To his father's right, there was a tear in the picture. It looked like a quarter of the photo had been ripped out. Naruto had a guess as to who used to be there and why it was ripped out.

The scuttling of tiny feet alerted Naruto that they weren't alone in the house. A white cat with a black dot on her forehead gracefully lept down the stairs and padded up to Sasuke. A slightly larger black cat with a white dot on his forehead lazily walked around the kitchen corner. The black cat, Kuro, slowly walked over to Sasuke and plopped down in front of him. The white cat, Shiro, excitedly made her way over to Sasuke and rubbed her face against his leg, purring loudly. Sasuke knelt down and let Shiro rub against his leg while he reached out and scratched Kuro's belly. Naruto smiled fondly at the interaction and watched as the tension seemed to melt away from his friend's shoulders.

"Naruto, this is Shiro and Kuro," Sasuke said without turning his head. Naruto decided not to remind Sasuke that he was the one who raised the kittens and knelt down next to them. He reached over to Shiro and scratched her behind the ear, eliciting a purr.

"It's good to see these guys again. And thank you for inviting me in. You have a nice place," Naruto finished, somewhat lamely.

After several minutes, Naruto decided to ask Sasuke about the plaques he saw outside. "So, Sasuke, what were those stone things outside with the flowers around them? Did you make those?"

Sasuke tensed, and Naruto thought he wasn't going to answer him. However, after several moments, Sasuke said, "They're memorials, and, yes, I did make them. I put them in front of the houses where my clansmen lived. It's a way for me to remember who lived where and to keep their memories from fading. I get new flowers every other week from the forest behind my house."

"That's really nice, Sasuke."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, unsure of what to say.

After a couple more minutes of silence, Sasuke stood up and turned to Naruto. "I think I'm going to take a shower," he stated, slightly awkwardly. Naruto took the hint that Sasuke wanted him to leave and stood up. He had honestly expected Sasuke to have done this earlier, and he was pleasantly surprised he had stayed this long.

Deciding to brighten the mood before he left, Naruto grinned at Sasuke, "Good. You smell really bad," he joked.

Sasuke gave a small scowl in reply before turning it into a slight smirk. "Whatever. I can wash away the smell. You can't wash away being short." With that, he abruptly turned and walked up the stairs, the kittens following closely behind him.

Naruto stood in the doorway, dumbfounded with his mouth slightly open. 'I think that was the first joke I've ever heard Sasuke say,' he thought before grinning. He turned to the door and left, happy that his strangest friend was improving.

(End Flashback)

After that day, Naruto thought Sasuke seemed more relaxed around him. It appeared that by welcoming Naruto into his home, Sasuke had reached a significant emotional milestone. Sasuke was more relaxed, but this wasn't to say Sasuke was cracking jokes all the time or turned into a bright and cheery boy. He was still reserved and generally quiet, but he did have a dry sense of humor. Naruto was glad that Sasuke was coming out of his shell but slightly annoyed that he seemed to be the butt of most of Sasuke's jokes. 'If he mentions my height one more time, I'm going to punch him in the face,' he internally grumbled.

As far as Naruto knew, he was the only one who saw this side of Sasuke. He was the only one who had been to Sasuke's home, and he was the person Sauke seemed most comfortable around. Naruto didn't exactly know why, but Sasuke was extremely reluctant to get close to people. He struggled with letting people in, and it took a long time for him to consider someone a friend. The only reason Naruto was his friend was that Naruto was too stubborn to give up. He was determined to be Sasuke's friend and to make sure he didn't drown in the pit of loneliness that Naruto knew all too well.

After his leisurely stroll, Naruto finally arrived at his apartment. He opened the door and was greeted by the excited bark of Haruki, causing Naruto to smile. He closed the door behind and went inside to relax. He was going to go to bed early tonight so he could get an early start tomorrow. "I'm going to split that leaf, dattebayo! Nothing's going to stop me!" he said determinedly.

(Meanwhile)

Across the Village, an intense conversation was happening behind closed doors. In his office sat the Hiruzen Sarutobi, surrounded by his advisors Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura. Joining them were the Anbu Commander, clad in his porcelain mask and form concealing black robe, the scarred Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara, and the head of Torture and Interrogation Ibiki Morino. A tense silence permeated the room as everyone waited for the Hokage to speak.

After several moments, the Hokage looked at Ibiki. "So," the Hokage began, "it's just as we feared. Iwa is amassing power."

Ibiki nodded in agreement. "Correct, Hokage-sama. That is the conclusion we came to based on the information that we were able to extract from the Iwa shinobi Kakashi captured after the failed abduction of Naruto-san. We were fortunate that Kakashi left one of them alive. Otherwise, we would have been left with little information. The Iwa-nin did not know many specifics, but it is clear that they are preparing for something big. Iwa is increasing the rate at which students graduate from their Ninja Academy, greatly increasing their forces. They are also stockpiling weapons and ninja tools, and they have increased border patrol missions."

"Hmmm," Hiruzen hummed in acknowledgment, leaned forward, and placed his elbows on the desk, steepling his fingers in front of his face. As he thought about what to do, his most challenging advisor decided to speak.

"We need to act now. We cannot let Iwagakure get away with this. If we sit back now, they will view us as cowards and assume they can do whatever they want within our borders. We must strike first. We must act before they expect it and deal a debilitating blow," Danzo finished. \

Another silence filled the room as Hiruzen took his time to analyze the reactions of all those present. It seemed that Koharu was in agreement with Danzo on this, Ibiki and Homura seemed hesitant, Shikaku clearly did not think this was a good idea, and the Anbu Commander was impossible to read. 'Stupid masks,' Hiruzen grumbled internally before straightening up. He had anticipated Danzo would suggest something like this, but he had already made up his mind before the meeting was called.

"No. We will do no such thing." Hiruzen held up his hand to cut off Danzo's retort and continued speaking. "Right now, Konoha is in a precarious state. Just over six months ago, one of our strongest and largest clans was wiped out. This significantly impacted shinobi morale. We are also just now getting back to the quantity of shinobi we had before the Kyuubi attack. That night alone cost us losses similar to the casualties from the Third Shinobi World War. No, now is not the time to incite a war.

"Furthermore, Iwa currently has the advantage. They have been preparing for months, if not years. They have a greater number of shinobi than us, they already have the supplies for war, and their border is secure. The gambit to capture Naruto-kun was meant to cause one of two outcomes. They either would have another Jinchuuriki, thus increasing their strength, or they would have pushed us into war. They hoped that by doing something as brazen as sneaking into our Village, we would react emotionally and charge into their waiting arms. We will not do that.

"However, this does not mean we will sit idly and let them act with impunity," Hiruzen assured. "We will act indirectly. As we all know, Iwa is not the most fertile country, so much of their food is imported from the surrounding nations: Takigakure (Waterfall), Kusagakure (Grass), Amegakure (Rain), and Sunagakure (Sand). We already have a trade agreement with Taki, but I am confident that Iwa will try and lure them away from us. We will have to strengthen our deal with them to ensure their loyalty. Any suggestions, Shikaku?"

Shikaku nodded in acknowledgment, "Takigakure has always been considered a minor village, and, due to their proximity to Iwa and us, does not receive many missions. If we state that we will redirect some of our mission requests to them, that will appeal to them. It will increase their revenue and status amongst the rest of the smaller villages. Hopefully, this will be enough to garner goodwill.

"What about Kusagakure?" Ibiki questioned.

Shikaku sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing his face. "That will be harder. The best we can do is to negotiate a favorable trade agreement with them. However, it will cost us some money in the short term. We will have to decrease the prices of our exports and pay slightly more for theirs. It's very troublesome," he finished, frowning at the end.

"It will be worth it," Hiruzen said. "This will not stop Iwa from obtaining resources, but it will cost them more. If they have to spend more money and time gathering resources, it will slow their war machine down."

Ibiki stepped forward, drawing the attention of the room. "If I may, Hokage-sama, I have another idea for how we can damage Iwa from the shadows: a smear campaign," he said with a wicked smile across his face.

Seeing that no one was interrupting him, he continued. "We all remember how Kumo suffered after their failed abduction of Hinata Hyuuga. They faced national and international retribution, and morale in Kumo was damaged. I propose that we do something similar, by leaking what happened here. However, we would have to alter some details.

"Instead of saying that they attempted to kidnap our Jinchuuriki, we say they tried to take a blonde child they mistook for a Yamanaka. We state that they sent a squad of shinobi to abduct the child, and they were soundly defeated by one of our shinobi. This makes Iwa look foolish and emphasizes our strength. It will appear as if Iwa risked war with Konoha over a mistake. It will make us appear powerful by showing that one of our shinobi is strong enough to defeat several of theirs," Ibiki finished.

Hiruzen nodded, "Very well. I see no harm in this plan. I give you full jurisdiction over this, Ibiki-san."

"Those are all fine plans, Hokage-sama, but what about their increased production of shinobi?" Koharu asked. "They have always had an army larger than our own, even before the Kyuubi attack. If they have, in fact, increased the rate at which shinobi graduate from their Ninja Academy, their army will dwarf our own,"

"Quality over Quantity," declared the distorted voice of the Anbu Commander.

"What?" Koharu jerked back, startled by the eery reply from the usually silent commander.

"Konoha has always thrived on the quality of its shinobi, not how many there are."

"Agreed," Hiruzen added, knowing that his subordinate was not going to elaborate any further. "We will not increase the rate at which students graduate from the Academy. Instead, we will make sure that one of our shinobi is just as good, if not better, than two of theirs. Our elites will have to be even more skilled than before."

"Speaking of skilled shinobi," Danzo cut in, "I believe we should discuss our plans for the Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha."

Hiruzen scowled in response, knowing exactly where this was going. \

"It is clear that those two have the makings of exceptional shinobi. The Uchiha is reported to be a prodigy. He is not on the levels of his brother, but he is talented none the less. The Jinchuuriki is growing at an impressive rate under Hatake's tutelage. I propose that we have them graduate early and be put on a team together. That way, they can gain valuable experience and further hone their skills."

"I'm assuming you have someone in mind for their third teammate, then?" Shikaku asked with a suspicious look.

"I do," Danzo replied matter of factly. "He is an exceptional boy under my care. He would be an excellent addition to the Uchiha and Jinhcuuriki's squad."

"His name is Naruto," Hiruzen ground out through clenched teeth. He placed both hands on the table and rose from his chair. "No. We will not have them graduate early."

"Why not? You cannot let sentimentality cloud your judgment Hiruzen," Danzo questioned, pressing the Hokage.

Hiruzen internally grimaced before steeling himself, "It is callous to say, but those boys are two of our greatest assets. We must make sure they are as prepared as they can be for the danger they will encounter. We already saw that Iwa was willing to attempt to abduct Naruto from right outside the Village. If we put two important shinobi on the same team and send them out into the world, they will be targeted by powerful forces."

Hiruzen detested objectifying Naruto like this, but he knew that he would have to speak Danzo's language to win over the others in the room. The truth is, he did want his grandson to be as trained as possible before he became a ninja, but he also wanted him to enjoy his time as a child. He knew that Naruto had a terrible childhood, rife with loneliness, betrayal, and sadness. Now, he saw that Naruto had several friends and seemed to thoroughly enjoy his time at the Academy. He did not want to take that away from him just to thrust him into a world of bloodshed and death.

Hiruzen took a deep breath to calm himself and continued. "As you mentioned, Danzo, Naruto is learning from Kakashi. I will tell Kakashi to increase their training, and I will encourage Naruto to bring Sasuke along occasionally so he can learn as well. Is that agreeable?"

Everyone in the room except Danzo nodded, who narrowed his eye at Hiruzen in frustration. The Hokage met his gaze unflinchingly, not backing down. After noticing that everyone else in the room agreed with the Hokage's plan, he relented. Danzo gave a curt nodded, earning a triumphant look from Hiruzen.

"Very well, then. I think that is enough for now. We have much to do. Dismissed," Hiruzen stated before sitting down.

As everyone turned to leave, Hiruzen spoke up one last time. "Oh, Danzo. I almost forgot," he began. Danzo paused on his way to the door and looked over his shoulder. "It is Hokage-sama to you. Don't make me remind you again," he chided with a sly smirk.

Danzo's lone eye narrowed in anger and stormed out of the room, leaving a quietly chuckling Hiruzen behind.

(Six Months Later)

It was an overcast day in Konoha, and Naruto sat in Training Ground 4, waiting for Jiraiya to arrive. He was getting rather impatient the longer he waited. Naruto was used to Kakashi arriving an hour late and giving some lame excuse, but this was different than waiting for Kakashi. He knew Jiraiya was taking a long time because he was preparing some elaborate, over the top entrance. That was why he had a special present prepared for when Jiraiya finally showed up.

Fifteen minutes later, a large puff of smoke signaled Jiraiya's arrival. "Behold! It is I, the magnificent, handsome, gallant, and ACK!" Jiraiya was abruptly cut off when a balloon filled with bright orange paint struck him in the face.

"HAHAHA," Naruto gleefully laughed. His Jiji had told him Jiraiya would be back in the Village today and meet him at Training Ground 4, so Naruto had prepared this little surprise the night before. He knew the throw had to be fast and accurate, which is why he had boosted the throw with a bit of wind manipulation. His aim had been spot on and had hit Jiraiya square in the face.

Jiraiya slowly wiped the paint off his face and glared at his cackling godson. He signaled to the toad he was standing on to hit Naruto. The toad obediently whipped out its tongue, grabbed Naruto, and flung him across the clearing ground, earning a shriek from the blonde.

"I was going to teach you something, kid, but, just for that, let's see how your taijutsu is first," Jiraiya said with a devilish smile on his face. Naruto paled in response, knowing this was not going to be fun for him.

Naruto and Jiraiya walked to the middle of the training ground. Jiraiya stood tall with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a cocky smirk on his face, while Naruto settled into the Whirlwind Style stance. The stance was fairly loose, allowing for Naruto to move suddenly and quickly. His feet were a little wider than shoulder-width apart, his right foot slightly behind his left, and his weight was shifted to the balls of feet. His left arm was raised defensively in front of his chest, with a relaxed, open hand ready to deflect any blow that came his way. Finally, his right arm was cocked back with a close fist, prepared to lash out with a quick strike. Naruto took a deep breath, knowing that he was would have to make the first move. After several seconds, Naruto launched himself at Jiraiya.

Naruto flew through the air and fired a leaping right kick at Jiraiya's side. Jiraiya easily blocked the blow, but Naruto had expected that. Using his flexibility, he twisted his leg so that the sole of his foot was pressed against Jiraiya's arm and used this as a springboard to push himself backward. Once he touched the ground, Naruto was off again. He quickly closed in on Jiraiya and threw a left straight at Jiraiya's midsection. As Jiraiya went to block the strike, Naruto pulled back the strike at the last second and transitioned into a spinning right elbow. He spun around Jiraiya's side and connected with a solid blow to the ribs, causing Jiraiya to grunt in pain. Naruto followed up his elbow with a leg sweep but did not have the same success. When Naruto's smaller leg struck Jiraiya's bigger one, the older man hardly budged. Jiraiya smirked down at Naruto and lashed out with a hard kick to the ribs, sending him flying across the clearing.

Naruto rolled across the clearing, finally coming to a stop when his back collided with a tree. "Stupid big, ugly old men," he grumbled as he stood up. He took another deep breath and readied himself for another attack. He pushed off the ground, producing a small cloud of dirt from his sudden acceleration. He ran in a serpentine pattern towards Jiraiya, trying to keep him off balance. When he got close enough to Jiraiya, Naruto threw several quick jabs at Jiraiya. Jiraiya blocked each of them, but he had to put in more effort than before. The blows weren't especially powerful, but they were very fast. As Jiraiya was distracted by blocking his punches, Naruto lashed out with a swift kick to the back of Jiraiya's knee. The kick connected, causing Jiraiya's knee to buckle. Naruto saw he had an opportunity and decided to go for a risky but powerful move. Naruto leaped upwards and flipped in the air, pointing his head towards the ground and his feet towards the sky. His right heel rushed down towards the back of Jiraiya's head, completing the 360-degree rotation. However, just as it was about to connect, Jiraiay's hand shot behind his head and caught the foot. Jiraiya quickly slammed Naruto on the ground in front of him, causing small cracks to appear. Naruto groaned but quickly rolled away. He unsteadily got to his feet, ready to go again, but Jiraiya held up his hand.

"Alright, Naruto. I think that's enough for now."

Naruto gave a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground to catch his breath. He had great stamina and could train for hours, but he had pushed his speed to its absolute limit just now. Naruto knew he had to go as fast as possible if he wanted to land a hit on Jiraiya, who was not shy about bragging about how strong he is.

"That was pretty good, Naruto, but you did make a couple mistakes that, in a real fight, would've led to your defeat. First, that leg sweep. Usually, it's a solid attack that can knock your opponent off balance and leave them open for a debilitating strike. But you have to know your opponent. I am significantly bigger and stronger than you. There was absolutely no way you were going to knock me over with that. Right now, your body is not developed enough to have brute force to be your primary weapon in a fight.

"Now, for that heel kick. The initial kick to the back of my knee was excellent. It knocked me off balance and left me open. I know you went for a knock-out blow, but that was too risky. The wind-up for that kick was too long, and you left yourself exposed in the air with no leverage or way to defend yourself. You did have the right idea to attack from behind, but a better option would have been to rush behind me and hit my kidneys. A solid punch or two to the kidneys can severely damage your opponent."

Naruto nodded, accepting the critiques Jiraiya was giving him. Jiraiya smiled at him, happy that Naruto wasn't getting defensive. "That's not to say you didn't do well. That spinning elbow was great. The way you led with the punch and transitioned into the elbow was unpredictable. I went to block the punch and left my ribs open for you. That was also an exceptional job of using your momentum to generate force behind that elbow. That's exactly what the Whirlwind Style is supposed to do," Jiraiya finished, suppressing a wince. That elbow had been really strong, and he was sure he would have a bruise there tomorrow.

"Okay!" Jiraiya said, clapping his hands together. "On to the next part of today's training: Summoning Jutsu."

Naruto gave Jiraiya a puzzled look. "But I already know how to summon. I've signed the contract and all that."

Jiraiya wagged his finger in response. "That's true, but you still use those tags I gave you to summon Gamaken and Gamarisu." Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "That's fine, Naruto. Those tags are useful, easy to carry, and don't use up much of your chakra. Now, though, we are going to practice the actual Summoning Jutsu. This will help you get familiar with the toads and have some more training partners. I know you don't have any other sparring partners besides Kakashi and me, and we can't be here all the time. So, you can summon various toads to help you train."

"Actually," Naruto interrupted, "I do have another training partner. His name is Sasuke."

"The Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked, receiving a nod from Naruto. 'Oh yeah. Sensei did mention something about Naruto getting close to the last Uchiha. I should've remembered that.' Jiraiya thought before moving on. "Well, that's good, but these toads will be helpful in that they can help you practice against opponents of different sizes, speeds, and techniques." Naruto nodded, excited about the possibility.

"Okay, here is a refresher on the hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu," Jiraiya said before slowly demonstrating the hand seals. Once he was sure Naruto had memorized the hand seals, he explained that Naruto would have to bite his thumb and draw blood to complete the Summoning.

"Alright. Now, to practice, I want you to summon Gamaken."

"How do I do that?" Naruto asked

"You pump chakra into the Jutsu, think of Gamaken, and then place your hand on the ground. It's a little tricky to get the amount chakra right on the first try, so be patient with yourself.

"Gotcha, dattebayo!" Naruto said excitedly, giving a thumbs up to Jiraiya. He weaved through the hand seals, bit his thumb, and pressed it on the ground, causing a small puff of smoke to appear. However, instead of his purple friend, Naruto only saw a tiny, green tadpole. Naruto stared down at the tadpole, unsure of what to do. "Ummm... How do I get rid of it?" He asked.

"Just make a half ram seal and think about dispelling it," Jiraiya answered.

Naruto followed Jiraiya's instructions and got rid of the tadpole. He tried several more times to summon Gamaken, but he kept getting tadpoles instead. Finally, Jiraiya chimed in and suggested that Naruto use more chakra. Doubling the amount of chakra he was using, Naruto pressed his hand against the ground and created a slightly larger puff of smoke. Unfortunately, it was still not Gamaken. Naruto had made progress, though, because Naruto had summoned a small orange instead of a tadpole. The toad was slightly smaller than Gamaken was the first time that Naruto met him, but this toad did not seem to speak.

Encouraged that he was improving, Naruto decided that he would double the amount of chakra he had just used. Channeling the most chakra he had ever used, he slammed his hand on the ground and thought about his purple friend. A cloud of smoke easily three times bigger than the previous one appeared. Naruto waited with bated breath, waiting to see who would appear. Naruto let out a shout of excitement when he saw the distinctive purple horns of his best friend.

"Yatta!" Naruto exclaimed. Gamaken looked around to get his bearings and saw Naruto summoned him. He gave Naruto a polite smile and a friendly wave. "Hello, Naruto-san. How are you?"

"Great, Gamaken! I summoned you on my own for the first time! No seal tags!"

"That's great, Naruto-san," Gamaken congratulated.

While the two friends were greeting each other, Jiraiya was taken aback by the size of Gamaken. "Damn. Gamaken got big," Jiraiya eloquently stated.

Naruto looked over at Jiraiya with a confused look on his face. "He has?"

Jiraiya gave Naruto a deadpan look. "Yes, you brat. He used to barely reach above your ankle and be able to sit on your head. Now he's up to above your knee."

Naruto looked at Gamaken and shrugged, "Huh. Guess he has. I see him almost every day, so I guess I hadn't noticed."

Jiraiya shook his head at Naruto's obliviousness but quickly moved on. "Well, I'm glad you got that down pretty quickly. Now we can move on to one of the most valuable Jutsu I will ever teach you. It is a life-saving Jutsu."

Naruto's eyes got wide with excitement, and he started bouncing on his toes. He imagined the awesome Jutsu Jiraiya would teach, probably something like becoming invulnerable and letting attacks phase pass through him. 'Nah, that would be way too overpowered. That's ridiculous,' he thought, causing a scarred man hundreds of miles away to sneeze.

"This Jutsu is called the Reverse Summoning Jutsu. It's the opposite of the Summoning Jutsu. Instead of summoning a toad to this realm, this Jutsu will summon you back to the toad realm, away from danger."

Naruto scowled. He hated the idea of that Jutsu. A year ago, after he had fled from those shinobi trying to kidnap him, he had decided he would never run away again. He had promised himself he would never feel as helpless as he did that day. Just thinking about that day made him angry at himself, and he clenched his fists in response.

Jiraiya noticed the angry expression on Naruto's face. Frowning, he decided he would have to nip this potentially fatal attitude in the bud. Jiraiya reached over and harshly smacked Naruto on the back of the head. "Stop that, you idiot. It is better to live stubbornly than to die foolishly. Remember that.

"Do you know the story about how my team and I got the title of Sannin?" Naruto shook his head in response, and Jiraiya began his story. "Years ago, during the Second Shinobi World War, my team and a squadron of Leaf Shinobi ran into Hanzo the Salamander in Rain Country. We decided to fight him, which was a massive mistake. Hanzo quickly slaughtered everyone who was with us. It took every bit of teamwork and skill my teammates and I had to hold our own against Hanzo. After a while, Hanzo stopped fighting. He was impressed by our skill and dubbed us the Legendary Sannin. He allowed us to live that day, and we wisely decided to leave. If we had let pride get in the way that day and foolishly kept trying to defeat him, we definitely would have died. There is no doubt in my mind."

Naruto's eyes widened in response. He knew Jiraiya was a powerful Shinobi, and he thought his sensei never lost a fight. To hear that he and his legendary teammates had been so thoroughly defeated by one man was eye-opening for Naruto. After several seconds of hesitation, Naruto eventually nodded.

Jiraiya smiled in response to Naruto's acceptance of his lesson. "Good. The hand seals for this Jutsu are easy to remember. They are the same seals as the Summoning Jutsu but in reverse. However, you should only use this as a last resort. You won't be able to summon yourself back to where you were. Only toad summoners, me, or people you allow can summon you. For me, I let the Hokage summon me and can send toads to him if I need to. I'll show you how to do that later," Jiraiya finished.

Naruto nodded in understanding and decided he would let his Jiji summon him. Naruto practiced the hand seals to get the flow down but did not complete the Jutsu. Jiraiya told him not to go to the toad's realm right now because they had more to do. "Now, kid, we are going to move on to sparring against different types of toads. Today, I'll summon them so I can introduce you to them, and you can get a feel for how much chakra to use," Jiraiya explained before biting his thumb and placing it on the ground. There was a large explosion of smoke, and a toad slightly smaller than Jiraiya appeared. The toad was bright red with light green circles around its eyes and light green lines down its arms. It was clad in dark brown leather armor, complete with a chest piece, shoulder guards, and a classic Kabuto-styled helmet. To complete the intimidating ensemble, the toad had a large wooden staff on its back.

"Naruto, this is Gamakara. He's an expert at close combat and very handy with his staff," Jiraiya introduced. Naruto gave a friendly wave to Gamakara, who returned it with a slight nod.

"Before we start the spar," Jiraiya began, "I think it would be a good idea if you practiced fighting with the toads as well, Naruto. So, why don't you and Gamaken practice working together in a fight? Sound good?"

"Yeah! Sounds great! Is that okay, Gamaken?" Naruto asked.

"Hai, Naruto-san. That sounds good to me," Gamaken plainly replied. To most, it would seem that Gamaken was not excited for the spar, but Naruto knew better. He knew his friend was pretty reserved, so he knew how to read him. Like now, Naruto could tell by the way Gamaken was subtly fidgeting that he was barely containing his excitement for the spar.

Naruto and Gamaken moved to the middle of the training ground and waited for Jiraiya and Gamakara. "I'll officiate this spar and make sure nobody gets hurt. Ready?" Jiraiya asked, receiving a nod from all three. "Alright, then... 3, 2, 1, GO!" He yelled, chopping his hand down.

(Line Break)

Three hours later, a bruised and exhausted Naruto and Gamaken sat under the shade of a tree on the side of Training Ground 4. They had sparred against four different toads that afternoon, all varying in speeds, strength, and fighting style. In Naruto's opinion, the most annoying one was the small, quick toad that kept firing off water Jutsu from a distance. He couldn't get close enough to hit her, and he was soaked as a result. Gamaken and Naruto had pulled off some pretty impressive moves, though, during the spars. Naruto's favorite came during their first fight against Gamakara. Naruto had used Gamaken's Sasumata as a springboard to jump over Gamakara and kick him hard in the back. Gamaken was deceptively strong for his size and was easily able to support Naruto's weight. Jiraiya had left the pair several minutes ago, saying he had to go do something he called "Research." Naruto didn't know what he was researching, but, judging by the weird smile on Jiraiya's face, he didn't want to find out.

After a couple more minutes of relaxing, Naruto turned to Gamaken. "You've improved a lot better with your Sasumata, Gamaken. You seemed a lot more comfortable using it today."

"Thank you, Naruto-san," Gamaken replied.

"The only thing is that I think it would help if you got a bigger Sasumata," Naruto added. "That one seems to be getting a little small for you. I'm pretty sure that's the one I gave you the first time we celebrated our birthdays together."

Gamaken thanked his naturally purple hue because he was blushing up a storm. What Naruto didn't know was that Gamaken had purposefully turned down a bigger Sasumata from his family. He knew he was getting too big for this weapon, but he didn't want to get rid of it. In his eyes, it was his most valued possession. Naruto had handcrafted it for him, so he saw it as a priceless gift from his best friend. However, he did agree with Naruto that he needed a new one. He noticed that he would have been more effective in the spars if his weapon was longer and heavier. If it meant being more helpful to Naruto in the future, then he would do it.

"Hai, Naruto-san. I agree with you. I will ask my father for a new, larger one when I return home," Gamaken politely replied.

"Great!"

"Do you think you will get a weapon, Naruto-san?" Gamaken inquired.

Naruto responded excitedly, "Yup! Jiji said that he would buy me a weapon after graduating from the Academy as a graduation present. He said he wanted me to focus on my taijutsu and ninjutsu right now, though, so that's why he hasn't bought me one yet."

"Do you know what you'll get?"

Naruto shrugged, "Nope. Not yet. I have some ideas, but I'll deal with that when it comes. I've still got a couple of years before I have to choose." Gamaken nodded in response, seeing the logic in Naruto's reply.

The two then settled into a comfortable silence for several more minutes before Naruto stood up. Naruto leaned back and stretched, loudly cracking his back. "Ahhh! That felt good. Well, I think I'm going to head Gamaken. Want to come?"

Gamaken shook his head in reply. "No, Naruto-san, I am sorry I cannot. I should get home for dinner. When I'm there, I will ask for a bigger Sasumata."

"Great! Would you like to train together more often, Gamaken? I had a lot of fun today."

"Yes, Naruto-san. I would like that very much," Gamaken replied with a soft smile on his face. Naruto beamed in response and raised his hand for a high five. Gamaken looked at the hand, leaped up, gave a solid high five to Naruto, and disappeared in a puff of smoke before he touched the ground. Naruto gave one last smile before turning around and jogging out of the clearing, excited for the future.

AN: I know I said that this would be the last chapter before Naruto graduated from the Academy, but there will be one more. Next chapter, I will expand on Naruto's relationship with Hinata, Ino, and Hiruzen. Also, an important discovery will be made! Thanks again for reading, and the next chapter will be out much sooner—probably two-ish weeks.

I'll give whoever guesses Naruto's weapon a shoutout in the next chapter! Hint: It won't be a sword.

(1) It took Naruto longer than canon to master chakra manipulation for two reasons. First, before this, Naruto had never had to control his chakra. When he was using his summoning seals, he was just channeling chakra through the seal to activate the already manipulated chakra in the seal. Pumping/expelling chakra is different than controlling it. Second, Naruto was splitting his time between chakra training with taijutsu and physical exercise.

(2) I hope nobody is turned off by the earth affinity. I see a lot of fanfics with Naruto also having lightning or water affinity. I don't see too many with an earth affinity, and I have some really cool Jutsu in mind! I think it will be a great balance between offensive and defensive.

(3) Japanese rice balls

(4) I made up his parents' names. I couldn't find them online.