Hey guys, this is chapter 17. flo463, I welcome critics. I see what you meant by pre-shippuden mentality. But see, what I did here, was just lengthened the time in the academy. Their strengths are mostly the same as Gennin, cuz compared to cannon, the training they did is much lesser.

Plus, they went through a lot of events before Shippuden... compared to the events here. In this story, they just studied in the academy with the usual banters, so nothing much happened to boost or help them grow.

As for Kabuto getting info on Kirito, that will come soon. Orochimaru and Danzo too. Thanks for pointing out my mistakes, I'll try to do better. And just to point out, in cannon, the first swordsman Naruto faced is Zabuza, but he is not the first swordsman. Btw, I'm sorry if it lacks character development, I'm still learning how to properly do it.

Warmaster Koss, thanks man. I see what you meant. Don't worry, I will fix that.

So yeah. Lets go.

XXX

After receiving their matches, everyone left the forest. Now, Hikari, Kirito, Asuna, Suguha and Sinon were walking around.

The blonde grumbled, "Bakakashi-sensei, he just said he'd send someone above him to train me... but he didn't say who and just left."

Asuna sighed, "What did you expect? Its Kakashi-sensei, he's a pervert and a lazy creepy old man."

Suguha giggled, "Well, if Kakashi-sensei says its someone above him, I think it's worth a try. Besides, I don't think Yugao-sensei can train all three of us for the whole month."

Kirito suggested, "Then, why don't you train with your summons?"

Sinon blinked, "That's... not a bad idea..."

Suguha nodded, "Yeah. If I remember correctly, each summon has a sage mode. I wonder if we can learn that."

Asuna nodded, "That's not a bad idea. I think I'll ask the whales."

Suguha and Sinon both nodded in agreement as Hikari sighed, "Then I'll go see who this mysterious trainer is..."

Kirito nodded before he sighed, "Then, you'll all be gone for a month..."

The girls giggled at his reaction. Suguha spoke, "Well, Hikari-chan is going to be in the village, right?"

Hikari shrugged, "I have no idea. Maybe. I'll have to see who this mystery guy is. So you three will be going to your summons' realms?"

Asuna nodded, "Probably. I mean Steiner-sama (Orca summon boss) did say I could train there."

Suguha and Sinon nodded as the archer said, "Me too, the cats did say they wanted to me to learn their arts."

Kirito nodded, "Fine."

Then, as they passed the hotsprings, they saw a white haired man sitting by the walls of the hotsprings, giggling in a disturbing way while jotting down notes.

Sinon said with a tick mark, "Hey, he's peeping... isn't he?"

Asuna nodded, smiling dangerously, "Indeed he is."

Suguha was also smiling dangerously, "Shall we educate him some manners?"

Hikari nodded, also smiling dangerously, "Indeed, we shall."

Hikari conjured up some chains in her left hand and made a Chidori in her right palm. Asuna drew her rapier as it glowed while Suguha drew her katana which glowed. Sinon also drew her bow and arrow as the arrow head glowed.

Then, the white haired man blinked as he felt something wrap around his waist. The man commented, "This feels... familiar."

He looked down and saw chains, more specifically, chakra chains, chains he would never forget. The man's eyes widened before he was suddenly pulled backwards as he slammed onto the ground.

The man groaned as he opened his eyes to see four girls glaring at him. The man asked, knowing full well what and why they did that, "Umm, ladies, is there something wrong?"

Asuna glared at him as she drew her rapier, Suguha drawing her katana, Sinon drawing her bow and arrow while Hikari raised her Chidori. The man's eyes widened, "Oh shit."

After a while, the man laid on the ground smoking as he groaned. Asuna, Hikari, Suguha and Sinon all brandished their weapons as they put them away.

The man groaned, "To think me, the great Jiraiya-sama, manhandled by four girls."

Kirito sighed, "No matter who you are, hell hath no fury over women scorn."

The man nodded as he stood up as if nothing happened, to the surprise of the girls. The man bit his thumb and smear his palm with blood, flashed through handsigns and slammed his palm onto the ground.

The man announced as he stood on top of a huge toad, dancing as he made a pose, "Behold! The Sage of Mt Myoboku, the trainer of the Fourth Hokage, charmer of women, the Toad Sannin, Jiraiya-sama!"

Kirito just deadpanned at him, "So you're the one who writes that shit people call Icha-icha."

The girls just glared at Jiraiya at that. The Sannin stared at the teen, "Shit? Boy, you know nothing of literature, have you even read any of them? Have you savoured the text? Have you?"

Kirito just stared at him, "Why would I need porn? Ya know what? Let's just drop this. You said you trained the Yondaime Hokage, right?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Indeed I did."

Hikari glared at him, "Then, do you know who I am?"

Jiraiya looked at the girl as his eyes widened, "Blonde hair, whisker marks. That face... Hikari?"

The blonde nodded, "Yes, I'm curious though, did you know of me?"

Jiraiya nodded, "I heard bits from Sarutobi-sensei. Wait, Kakashi said something about training someone, that wouldn't be you, right?"

Hikari blinked, "What?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Earlier, Kakashi sent me a message about training his student for him, I was going to ignore him, but, come to think of it, you're one of them, right?"

Hikari nodded, "Yes, but how did you know?"

Jiraiya laughed, "I have the best spy network in the Elemental Nations, girl, I know a lot of things."

Kirito nodded, "Hikari-chan, I guess that settles it. You four have your plans."

Hikari looked at him, she knew of his feats and who Jiraiya was. Getting him to train her was really a rare chance, especially when he trained her father.

She looked at Asuna, Sinon and Suguha. Asuna spoke, "Its your choice, besides, having a Sannin train you is a really rare chance."

Suguha nodded, "Yeah, I mean he trained your father and all those things."

The Uzumaki nodded and turned to Jiraiya as she asked, "Then, you will train me?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Of course. I was busy with my spy network all these years, and I never really came back to the village long enough to check on you, just bits from Sarutobi-sensei, I intend to make up for it."

Hikari had gone through the emotional shit a while ago and frankly she didn't care now. The blonde sighed and nodded, "Fine. So, what will you teach me?"

Jiraiy hmm'd, "You learned the Rasengan and Chidori from Kakashi, right? How about summoning toads?"

Hikari shook her head, "I already have a contract with dragons."

Jiraiya nodded, "What about using your furry friends chakra?"

Hikari blinked, "Umm, not really..."

Jiraiy nodded, "Good, then I'll train you on using your extra chakra and polish up everything you have. We'll see where it takes us. We'll start tomorrow, is that fine?"

Hikari nodded, "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow then."

She turned to see her family looking at her, "What?"

Kirito sighed, "Just that you settled your training plans so fast."

Asuna nodded, "I guess we'll also need to ask our summons to let us train."

Sinon and Suguha nodded. Hikari sighed, "Come on, let's go home."

Later that day, Kirito, Asuna, Suguha, Sinon and Hikari were in the Hokage's office. Hikari asked, "So, Hokage-sama, since I know who my parents were, I should have some inheritance, right?"

Hiruzen nodded, "Indeed you do, I was wondering when you'd ask."

Asuna spoke, "Then, where is it?"

Hiruzen nodded, "Patience."

He took out a folder from his desk and placed it on the table, "This contains your parents' bank accounts and everything they own. Or at least, the ones they gave me. They probably have more in the compound. I gave the key in a file to Kirito in case I didn't make it."

Suguha blinked as she looked at Kirito, "Wait, you did?"

Kirito blinked several times before his eyes widened, "OH! I forgot!"

He quickly went through his coat and took out a similar file. Hikari sighed, "So, that contains the key to my parents' house?"

Hiruzen chuckled, "Oh its more than a house. But I think its better you see for yourself."

Hikari nodded before she asked, "So, the key to my parents' house and their bank accounts. The rest are in the house?"

Hiruzen nodded, "Yeah, they also have letters for you in the files, something they gave me before they passed. Just to tell you though, the directions to the compound is in the file."

Hikari nodded and she turned, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. We'll go look at the compound."

The others bowed as they left. As the five of them left, Hiruzen spoke, "So, what do you think, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya revealed himself from the corner of the office, "What else? I've met them earlier today. I have to make up for the time I missed with my goddaughter after all. Plus, they beat me up quite badly."

Hiruzen chuckled, "Indeed."

Jiraiya then turned, "Well, I'm gonna go do some research. Expect the next book in a week."

Hiruzen chuckled as his student left. Then the Hokage thought, 'Orochimaru is definitely planning an invasion, but surprisingly, where's Danzo?'

The old warhawk, since the Chunnin Exams started, was nowhere to be seen. But then, Hiruzen didn't really care much now, Danzo could rot in hell for all he cared.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was walking in the village, 'Hmm, I asked Jiraiya-sama to help me teach Hikari, so I guess I could teach Sasuke. Should I teach him the Chidori?'

A while later, the group of five stood in front of a house. Kirito blinked, "When Hokage-sama said compound, I thought he'd mean a landed compound like the Hyuga compound or the Uchiha compound."

Hikari sighed, "Maybe there's something in there, I mean my mother was an expert with seals."

Asuna nodded, "Besides, this can fit around a dozen people."

Hikari spoke, "Well, if you guys want to, we can move in once we clean this place up. I don't mind our apartment, but it wouldn't be bad for a larger house."

The girls nodded as Sinon spoke, "Come on, let's go in then."

They entered the house and spent the afternoon exploring the house. Turns out Hiruzen called it a compound due to the complex seals that made the house more bigger than it seemed.

The house was standard, with the suitable amount of the rooms and space. But when they reached some of the rooms with seals of it, such as one with 'Training ground' on it, it lead to an open training ground that was not in the village, but somewhere outside the village.

The compound had a training ground that could let them train in almost anything, a library that put the Konoha library and the Forbidden scroll to shame, an onsen, a dozen rooms, a garden, a large kitchen, a fuinjutsu office and several other stuff. They even had a silencing seal for the whole house, several defense seals and a seal that could let the house withstand several S-rank jutsu.

It was decided, to the annoyance of the girls, that Kirito would move their stuff from the apartment to the compound after Hikari keyed in Kirito, Asuna, Suguha, Sinon and her chakra signature to the safety system to let them in and out easily.

Two days later, Asuna stood on an island, surrouded by orca swimming in the sea. The girl faced a huge orca, "Thank you, Steiner-sama."

The huge whale smiled, "Think nothing of it, if anything, its a huge step for you as our summoner and us as summons. Its been ages since someone learned our arts."

Asuna nodded as her training started.

With Sinon, she stood in a forest with many cats in front of her. A particularly huge black cat stared at her, "Sinon, we will now begin your training, I hope you can keep up."

The archer grinned, "Of course I will, I won't let you down, Kuroka-sama."

The cat stood up and approached her summoner, ready to begin their training. The cat boss spoke, "So, we'll start with..."

With Suguha, she was on top of a mountain. The girl looked at a massive eagle who spoke, "Suguha, I'm happy you accepted to learn our arts."

Suguha smiled, "No, thank you for allowing me to learn them, Raker-sama."

The boss summon of the eagles, Raker nodded, "It is a necessary step for you to advance as our summoner. The toads, snakes and slugs may not like to train others in the sage arts, but we of the Uzumaki clan summons are different."

Suguha nodded as the eagle stood up. The eagle spoke, "Come, let us begin. You have one month in the human world, I will make sure you master our arts by then."

Suguha nodded as she followed the hawk to train.

Meanwhile, Hikari stood in front of Jiraiya in one of the more secluded training grounds. Jiraiya spoke, "So, before we begin, I'd like you to sign the Toad summoning scroll."

Hikari replied, "No. I don't need it."

Jiraiya gaped, "Girl, many people would kill to sign the scroll. Besides, your father used it."

Hikari just stared at the pervert, "I'm not many people. And I'm not my father. Besides, I already have the Uzumaki clan dragon summons."

Jiraiya sighed, "Fine. So how's the Rasengan?"

Hikari raised her palm as chakra swirled in it, forming a rough sphere. Jiraiya nodded, "Not bad, you still need to work on the rotation and compression. Let's see your power."

Jiraiya made his own Rasengan and put some distance between them. Hikari nodded as they both charged and clashed the two spheres of destruction.

After that, Jiraiya nodded, "The power is alright. Just work on your compression and rotation, then your Rasengan will be good."

Hikari nodded, "Okay, so what's next?"

Jiraiya nodded, "We need to let you tap into the Kyuubi's seal. I think we should start with meditation."

Hikari nodded and sat down, Jiraiya doing the same. The Sannin started, "Close your eyes, cut everything out and focus, like how you unlocked your chakra."

Hikari did just that as Jiraiya continued, "Reach deeper down, further than your own chakra."

The blonde nodded as she reached down, then she felt the ground change. Instead of the grass she was sitting on, she was sitting on a concrete floor, more specifically with water on it.

Hikari blinked, "Where am I?"

She looked around before she felt it, the malicious chakra. Hikari followed it until she came to face a huge cage with the kanji for seal on it.

Then two eyes appeared in the cage. A deep voice spoke, "So, my host finally comes in."

Hikari was slightly nervous but didn't show, "Are you, the Kyuubi?"

The voice chuckled, "Indeed I am. Come closer..."

Hikari blinked and asked warily, "Why?"

She slowly walked forward before she jumped back as two huge claws slammed against the bars. The Kyuubi growled, "You have no idea how much I want to kill you, girl."

Hikari glared at the bijuu, "Why? I did nothing to you."

The Kyuubi chuckled darkly, "Nothing? You kept me locked for sixteen, almost seventeen years. I've been locked in Uzumaki women for more than a century. From that bitch Mito, to your mother and you."

Hikari glared at him, "It's not my fault you got sealed."

The Kyuubi stared at her, "No? You're a human, its because of humans I got sealed. I was always fine with humans, but then that bastard Madara came and used me as a weapon, and then shit started. I trusted you humans, but you used me as a weapon, do you know how that feels?"

Hikari looked down, "I do know, maybe not on your level, but I know how that feels."

The Kyuubi was taken aback by her response. He knew some parts of his host's life, though he never really cared enough to pay attention. The bijuu didn't sense any deception, only sadness and understanding.

He decided to use his limited access to his host's mind to look into her memories. The Kyuubi was slightly surprised by what transpired throughout her life and decided the girl was a bit different.

He sighed, "I guess you do. So, what do you want?"

Hikari blinked, the Kyuubi's tone lightened a bit, "Erm, what?"

The beast sighed, "You're here for some reason, what do you want?"

Hikari responded, "Erm, I was thinking of seeing if there was a way to use your chakra."

The Kyuubi hmph'd, "Shoulda known. But then again, you didn't know you could use my chakra, nor did you know we could communicate, it was only because of that frog and that kid from the Underworld, that you came here, so I won't blame you."

The Kyuubi stared at the girl straight in the eye, "Fine. I'll make a deal with you. I'll let you use up to three tails worth of chakra everytime you draw on my powers, no drawbacks, no insanity, no damage done to your body unlike the last time I lent you my chakra."

Hikari blinked, "Last time?"

The Kyuubi nodded, "Yes, remember the fight on the bridge? You have some imagination, thinking your mate would die in that manner."

The Uzumaki blinked as it clicked, "That voice was you?"

The bijuu huffed, "Who else? The tooth fairy? Of course it was me. Anyways, as I said, no drawbacks, in exchange, you loosen my seal."

Hikari blinked, "Loosen the seal?"

The Kyuubi nodded, "Yes. Because of your early experiences before you met the four of those kids, your mindscape was shaped in a bad way, a sewer more specifically. It was dark in the beginning, but now it's bright a bit. If you loosen the seal, I can change the scenery a bit and feel stuff from the outside."

Hikari nodded, those weren't bad terms, "Feel stuff from outside?"

The bijuu nodded, "Yes. By loosening the seal, I can increase the chakra I can lend you, and by extension, heal you faster. Also, it will increase my control over the mindscape so I can change the scenery. Plus, it allows me to sync with your nerves to let me see, hear, taste and feel whatever you feel."

Hikari looked at the bijuu, "You're... a male, right?"

The Kyuubi nodded, "I have no gender, but my mentality is that of a male, yes. Why?"

The Uzumaki blushed slightly before she glared at the bijuu. The Kyuubi suddenly felt fear creep into his mind as the girl's hair started to rise. Hikari growled, "You're asking me, to share my sense of sight and touch to you. YOU FUCKING PERVERT!"

Suddenly, the Kyuubi felt the cage shrink as it pushed against him. The bijuu quickly apologised, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

Hikari huffed as she released her hold on the cage, "You better think before you say anything. I belong to Kirito-kun, no one else."

The Kyuubi sighed, "Fine. You can cut off our link whenever you want. I have no interest in your body or your activities with your mate."

Hikari nodded, "Anything else?"

The Kyuubi shrugged, "Besides everything I told you, I believe loosening the seal can also let me talk to you without you entering the seal."

Hikari nodded, "By the way, can you alter my hair?"

The Kyuubi raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Hikari looked her hair, "I mean, since I'm giving you some power over my mindscape, can you activate my recessive Uzumaki genes so that the ends of my hair is red?"

The Kyuubi pondered a while, "If you allow me to, yes, theoretically I can."

Hikari nodded before she asked, "By the way, why are you so willing?"

The Kyuubi froze. He thought about it, 'Why am I helping her?'

Then he realized it, 'I see. Her memories, even if it was for a bit, it reminded me of how the humans treated me. She is a human, but she was treated in a similar manner before those kids met her.'

The Kyuubi had long broken out of the genjutsu Madara placed upon him. While he harbored hatred for the humans, he wasn't blind. The bijuu replied, "I just felt like it. I'm not getting nothing out of this, you know?"

Hikari then asked, "So, how do we loosen the seal?"

The Kyuubi pondered a bit, "Hmm, by theory, it should respond to you here. The seal on the cage is a representation of the real seal. If you fold the corners of the papers, I think it should work."

The girl nodded and walked to the cage, reaching up as the seal came down to her level. Hikari pulled on the paper lightly on all four sides as they loosened a bit, but held firm from tearing off.

The girl commented, "This should do?"

The Kyuubi nodded as he focused, the sewer changing into a lush green plain. Though he was still bounded by large metal pillars around him.

Hikari marvelled at the sight, "Wow, how did you do this?"

The Kyuubi huffed, "I'm the Kyuubi. I have lived far longer than you have. This is one of the few places I liked. Besides, can you change the representation of the seal?"

Hikari blinked before she focused. The pillars shrunk before they flew towards the Kyuubi's neck, forming a loose but strong collar.

The bijuu growled, "A collar, seriously,"

Hikari giggled, "It was the first thing that came to mind. I mean, do you have any suggestions?"

The Kyuubi sighed. The seal prevented him from actively manipulating Hikari's mind and chakra. Previously the bars held him away, but now the collar should do the same, but he would have free reign over his actions in the plains. That was acceptable.

The bijuu spoke, "Fine. As per our agreement, I will allow you to use three tails of my chakra everytime you choose to use it. In exchange, I am linked to your senses to let me feel the outside world, though you can cut me off for privacy."

Hikari nodded, "Thank you. By the way, what's your name?"

The Kyuubi, for a second time, was taken aback by the girl, "What do you mean?"

Hikari smiled, "I mean, the Kyuubi is just a title, right?"

The bijuu growled, "I have no name. Even if I did, a fleshbag like you are not worthy of it."

Hikari frowned, "And here I thought we were getting along nicely."

The Kyuubi spoke, "You have bothered me long enough, its time you leave."

Hikari sighed, "Fine. I'll go, but I'll be back. You don't seem evil or anything like what the books say, your chakra is dark, but that's it. See you next time, Kyuubi."

The girl then vanished from her mindscape. The bijuu laid down on the grass and growled softly, 'Stupid girl.'

As he slept, for the first time in centuries, he dreamt of his father and his family, everything that happened before Indra and Asura went their seperate ways.

Back in the real world, Hikari opened her eyes to see Jiraiya jotting down notes and giggling. The girl grew a tick mark and slammed her fist into the unsuspecting man's face, sending him across the field into a tree.

Hikari glared at him, "You don't learn, do you?"

Jiraiya laughed as he stood up, "Sorry kid, but I couldn't help it. You are exactly like your mother. Besides, think of the men who read my work, it is an honor."

Hikari huffed, "Honor my ass."

Jiraiya grinned, "Your fine ass indeed."

The girl facepalmed, "You know what? Let's just drop it. So what are we doing next? I got permission to use up to three tails worth of chakra without any side effects."

Jiraiya pondered a while, "I heard from Sarutobi-sensei you are learning the Uzumaki clan sealing techniques, how far are you?"

Hikari nodded and replied, "I'm almost done with the fifth volume."

Jiraiya nodded, "Good, then we'll continue from there. By the end of this month, I'll have you be as strong as a high Jounin."

Meanwhile, Kirito was in Kayaba's private space. The master had given him permission to train there since Kayaba didn't really use the place much.

Kirito had an idea for a new spell, after seeing everyone getting stronger constantly. The swordsman say in front of the list of words and chants as he thought of his ideas.

The teen nodded and he stood up and started to focus, 'Release my chakra, enchant my body...'

Two spheres started to form below his stretched palms. Then, right before he could finish them, they exploded. The smoke cleared to reveal a burnt Kirito who coughed out smoke.

The young man sighed, "I really need to work on focusing my chakra and not make it blow up."

He sat down and went back to planning the spell, deciding to move their stuff to the compound later on.

With Kakashi, he looked at Sasuke as his student focused on completing the steps for elemental jutsu. The cyclops was a bit reluctant, but decided to teach Sasuke the Chidori to beat Gaara.

Speaking of Gaara, the Sabaku siblings just worked on refining their techniques, believing that they were enough.

As for Shikamaru, under the insistence of his parents, was learning new jutsu and expanding his chakra reserves.

Shino, meanwhile, was training with his father to expand his arsenal with his kikaichu.

Meanwhile, Kabuto was going through the library. The spy decided that before seeking info actively outside, maybe he could find something about Kirito. The fact that he defeated Zabuza was no small feat, and if not careful, the teen could prove to be a threat.

The spy sighed as he closed the books and headed out for the next best thing, the cafés where most women gossip.

XXX

Done. Review please. So we have some idea how the training is going. Yes, Asuna, Sinon and Suguha will get sage modes. They will look like the ALO avatars. As for Hikari, since no toads, any suggestions for her sage mode appearance? Either have the Kyuubi influence it and give her fox ears and tails or have her get the dragon appearances? Or do both?

Speaking of the Kyuubi, I wanted to change his attitude a bit. In cannon, it took Naruto years to convince him. Here, since Kurama has access to Hikari's memories, to some extent, he can see how she lived before she met Kirito and co. Regardless being a bijuu, Kurama still has humanity in him. So I wanted to show that part.

So yeah, till the next chapter.