Chapter Twenty Three

Hey guys, back again. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter and continue to enjoy the story. I know updates haven't been super frequent, but I'm trying my best. Anyway I'll quit rambling, here we go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does. If I did, I'd be writing on a peaceful camping trip.

"Hey brat." The large white haired man said as he greeted his recently awakened student.

"Good morning Jiraiya-Sensei." The blond said groggily as he pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"Any progress with that jutsu?"

"No sir. Between the Itachi mission and the whole Danzo fiasco, I haven't had a day off in weeks."

"Ah, as is the life of skilled and important shinobi."

"Indeed." The blond replied, putting toast into the toaster before turning to face his sensei. "So what's up? What brought you here?"

"What, I can't just drop by and visit my favorite student?"

"If you were just coming by to see me you wouldn't have gotten here so early. So what's going on?"

"Well kid, in three weeks I'm leaving on a super secret and important stealth mission. I want to take you back to the training complex and train you more for these few weeks."

"Alright Sensei, I'm in."

"Good, meet me at the complex tomorrow, alright?"

"Understood."

Over the course of the next two weeks, the blond made excessive amounts of progress. He had completely deciphered the first three sealing formula, and now was stuck on the fourth. He was struggling to get past it.

"Kid, you're diving too deep into it. Take a break, and let your mind develop everything you've learned. Not everything you do needs to be finished right away, sometimes in life you have to sit on things for a while."

"Ah alright Sensei." Naruto said sliding his chair back from the desk. He turned to his teacher and smiled. "A spar then?"

"Sure."

At the end of Jiraiya's last week in Konoha before his mission, he found himself sitting with Naruto. The two sat back to back, sharing a popsicle, both of their large scrolls set to the side. They sat in a field atop the cliff side the complex was built into. They had just finished a spar, and had gone outside for fresh air. The Sannin found himself extremely proud of the guts his charge had.

Naruto had spent the last two days almost none stop in the "gauntlet". Which is what Naruto had taken to calling the massive complex maze of moving training posts. His reflexes seemed to be faster than ever, and Jiraiya had no doubt that when this young man finally cracked the Flying Raijin, he would have no trouble using it in combat.

The blond was battered and bruised, and his clothing slightly ripped up as well. A week's worth of taking on the dummies at faster and faster speeds, a long with multiple daily spars with a Sannin had taken its toll on his body and clothing. Jiraiya smiled fondly thinking about the student who currently leaned against his back. "I'll protect you no matter what Naruto." He thought to himself.

Finally the larger man spoke to his charge. "You've been working hard kid. Everyone has taken notice. The absolute will power you've shown is impressive. At this rate, that Hokage title might have your name on it. You're doing great, and you've stuck to your path."

"You mean people are finally acknowledging me?" Asked the younger man tiredly.

"Of course kiddo. Kakashi, Tsunade, Iruka, and even Sasuke, all acknowledge your power. But the power you possess that is more useful than any jutsu, is the will power you hold in your heart."

"You really think I've come that far Sensei? I'm still not at your level." The blond asked as his leaned further back against the massive Sannin.

"Naruto, you'll be at my level in no time, of that I have no doubt. Minato and Kushina would be beyond proud of you kiddo."

"Thank you Jiraiya-Sensei, it means a lot." He replied as his eyes dropped closed.

"I'm glad I made you my student."

"I'm...glad you're my...god..fath...er." The younger man said trailing off as he slowly fell asleep against the back of his mentor.

"I'm gonna come back to watch you grow kiddo. I promise." Jiraiya thought to himself, as he relaxed as well, but stayed sturdy enough to hold up his charge. The sun shone brightly down on the two, and they lay there for hours. Naruto slept soundly against the man who had been instrumental in making him who he was. As night finally over took the clearing, Jiraiya collected the blond, and brought him to his room in the complex. The sage wrote out a quick note, and made his way to see the Hokage before he took his leave. The note he left read, "see ya later, Kid."

"Minato was the closest thing I ever had to a son. When I look at Naruto it's like I'm looking at my very own grandchild, and I can't help but believe in the man he is. If there is anyone who can bring peace to the world of shinobi, it will be Naruto. And if it isn't peace then it will be the closest thing to it, and that's for sure." The large man said, turning away from the other Sannin. "Now, I ought to get going."

"Wait Jiraiya! Do you have to go?"

"Of course, someone has to get intel on the Akatsuki leader. I'm the only one who can. Wish me luck princess." He replied, as he held his fist into the air, before turning it into a reassuring thumbs up. "See ya." As the Toad Sage left his village, the princess he had always chased after let her tears fall.

Naruto awoke groggily from his sleep, and quickly climbed from his bed. He walked to the Sannin's room, and the kitchen, trying to find his teacher, before remembering he was due to leave today. He then noticed the Sannin's note and frowned slightly. He made his way out onto the only part of the complex that stuck out of the cliff and stared into the sky. He then thought to himself, "You left before I could say goodbye. Stupid Pervert, be safe Sensei."

Naruto decided to head home and take a long shower, as well as tend to his house plants. He couldn't ask Rikka to look after them forever. Whistling, he made his way through the streets of Konohagakure toward his home.

"Naruto!" A voice rang out, a familiar figure running over to talk with him.

"Oh, hey Kiba. What's up."

"Nothing much, how have you been? I heard you made jounin."

"Yeah, that was a while ago though. How about you? Any progress?"

"No not really, my mission count is still too low and I don't have enough team lead experience. But you're not the only one getting stronger! You and Sasuke aren't out of my league yet!"

"Ah I see." He replied laughing.

"Yeah."

"How's your team?"

"Shino and Hinata? They're good, me and Hinata are actually together now, I don't think her dad likes me." The Inuzuka said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Hey good for you guys! As shinobi, you never know what might come next, so it's good to find love sooner rather than later." The blond replied with a bright smile.

"Thanks buddy. Well I better get going, I've got a B-rank to go on, see ya around Naruto!"

"Later."

With that, the blond continued his way through the village. He made a quick stop at a produce stand, and bought an apple to eat along the way.

"Naruto?" Asked a familiar voice as the blond passed by the barbecue joint.

"Hey there Shikamaru, Ino and Choji too. How have you guys been?"

"Pretty great actually!" The larger man said happily.

"I wish I didn't have to do so many missions, but not bad." The Nara said.

"Other than having to deal with these two, I've been good. So is it true you made jounin?" The Yamanaka questioned.

"Yeah, Sasuke as well."

"Oh wow, so Sakura is the only chunin from team seven then."

"Yeah, that would be true."

"Man what a drag, there's a lot that comes with being a jounin."

"That's true, but we handle it. So um, how are you guys holding up after...well you know?"

"Not having Asuma around is kinda rough, but we've all mostly come to terms with it. Thanks for taking care of that bastard Hidan."

"Of course, I wanted to thank you as well Shika. If not for your information, I wouldn't have been able to take him down."

"Meh, no problem."

"Alright, well we better get going. See you around, Naruto." Ino said, and the group took off.

Five minutes of walking later, and Naruto found himself at his front door. Grabbing the handle, he found it unlocked and made his way inside. He was greeted with the brilliant view of Rikka's well toned posterior as she bent over watering his plants. "Yo." He said lazily.

Slightly startled, she jumped up and turned to face her company. "Hey Naruto."

"How are they?" He asked.

"Good! I watered them just like you asked. Are you back for good?" She questioned.

"Nah, I'm just here for a warm shower. The water at the training compound is only cold for some reason." He replied and laughed lightly at the unusualness of the water always being cold there.

"Oh! Well I'll let you take your shower then."

"Thanks Rikka, maybe drop by later?"

"Sure thing!" She said rocking on her feet before making her way out the door.

"ANBU! Fetch me Team Seven immediately!"

"Yes Ma'am."

The Hokage was only forced to wait a few moments for the arrival of the team. "Team Seven. You've got an S-rank mission. You leave in an hour. The Kazekage has been captured by the Akatsuki."

"Gaara! What do you mean he was captured!?"

"I mean what I said Uzumaki. It's your job to bring him back." She said with a very serious tone.

The blond man went rigid, before his resolve steeled in his eyes. "Yes Ma'am."

"Good. Now gather your gear and head out!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Came the chorus of the four shinobi before her.

Rikka was frightened by the frantic running around the apartment Naruto was doing. She had dropped by as he had asked, only to find him in a hurried panic.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

"I don't have time Rikka, super important mission."

"Naruto what's wrong."

"They got Gaara okay? They got him, and I wasn't there. I'm wasting time packing extra gear. I need to go now!" Normally blond shinobi has all his gear ready to go at a moment's notice. However; all of his pre packed gear was stored away at the training complex, where he had been spending much of his time. In his normal composure, he would have gone straight there to get it. But his worry and panic over Gaara's situation had thrown him off quite a lot. It was uncharacteristic of him to get this flustered by any situation. Konohagakure's campaign against the Akatsuki had been going so dramatically well, he hadn't even considered the thought of losing someone to them. There hadn't been a single casualty from the actions of the Akatsuki since Asuma.

"Naruto, if you go like this you'll get yourself killed."

"I'll be fine, I need to-.."

He was cut off when she slapped him across the face. A mixture of anger and worry grew on her face as she held his head. She forced him to look straight at her. "You need to calm down, think, and be careful. These guys managed to take on the Kazekage. You have to use that awesome brain of yours. I know for a fact that if this wasn't Gaara, you'd be much more yourself in this situation. You're being uncharacteristically panicked, and you need to calm down and think like you normally would. I'm terrified, you are facing people that took on a Kage. But I know you have to go. Because not only is he an ally, but he is your friend. I know you won't let harm come to him."

Naruto stopped his panic. His brain and body calmed themselves at her words. "Thank you...Rikka."

"Naruto...you could die on this mission. I don't want to regret this." As she finished she quickly leaned up and kissed him. "Be safe, and come back to me. I'll tell you about this scarf when you do." She said holding the burnt orange scarf in front of his face. "Now go." She said as she disappeared in a body flicker.

He stared at the spot she had stood, a slight smile creeping onto his face. "I'll be back...I promise." He said quietly to the empty apartment before flickering away to find his team.

Sasuke leapt away as the flames of a massive explosion licked at his back. He turned, and saw the onslaught of clay flying beetles coming at him. His eye bleed lightly as the ribcage of the Susanoo surrounded his body and stop the explosives from causing any damage. He sighed in relief, and his Susanoo deactivated, only for his eyes to widen as a massive bird made of clay screamed toward him from the sky.

"Kamui!" Came the voice of his sensei as he sucked away the bird to a separate dimension. "Are you okay Sasuke?"

"I'm fine, thanks Kakashi."

"Good let's get this guy."

Meanwhile, Naruto found himself extremely happy Lady Chiyo had come along. With her help he was able to focus on Sasori. There was nothing against Sakura's skills, but she was still only about chunin level in speed. This meant she had no capability of dodging the puppet users attacks. He also knew he could count on Sasuke and Kakashi to retrieve the Kazekage. His tailed beast may have been ripped from him, but Naruto held out hope.

At this moment, the puppet user chose to use his army of one hundred puppets. Sasori was skilled, and Naruto's clones couldn't get close. He knew it would take one quick catastrophic blow to take this guy out. He might be able to do it with his Rasengan, but he knew someone who could crush the man's entire body with a single punch. "Sakura! Chiyo! I'll make an opening be ready!"

"Right!" They replied in unison.

He peppered the whole army with his kunai, and decided it was now or never to use his substitution to the max. Replacing with kunai after kunai, he used the Rasengan to make his way down the middle of the army. Sakura followed closely behind his trail, with the old puppet user guiding her moves. He burst through the opposite side of the puppet wall, having used the last of his substitution. He landed on his feet, and Sakura launched over his head, and came down with a massive heel drop to Sasori's torso. The man's puppet body shattered, and he was no more.

"Alright good work. Let's go support the team." He commanded.

Having dealt with Deidara, the combined might of Team Seven easily being enough to handle the former Iwa nin, Chiyo now sat before Gaara's lifeless body.

"I was inspired by how you treat this boy, our Kazekage, as one of your closest friends. You, Uzumaki and this boy Gaara. You will be the future. Lend me your chakra, so that I may give my life for his."

"Chiyo...I can't ask you to-."

She cut him off quickly and spoke. "You don't need to ask. This is my choice, and my way of entrusting the future to you and Gaara. I could never give a damn about the village. But being around you, listening to how you feel about jinchuriki ...I've learned a lot. To think an old lady could be taught so much by a youngster… now come, let me borrow your chakra."

"Yes ma'am…" he replied solemnly trailing off. They sat in silence as Chiyo did her work. Naruto watched as the life slowly drained from the woman. As she fell back, Sakura caught her, but she was dead the moment she landed in the girl's arms.

Sand shinobi began to arrive as the Kazekage slowly came back to consciousness in the land of the living. As he sat up, he was greeted with a mop of blond hair. He immediately recognized the long blond bangs that framed his friends face. "Naruto…?" He said lightly.

"It's me Gaara. We came to rescue you, your friends and shinobi have arrived to help as well. Although they are a little late to the party." The blond said with a sad chuckle.

"I...thought I died…"

"You did….that lady gave her life to save you. She put her trust in the peace between our villages in you and I."

"Lady..Chiyo...gave her life for me?"

"Yes she did…."

"Naruto...help me stand."

"Yes sir." The blond replied lifting the redhead to his feet. The Kazekage stood shakily, and began to address those around him.

"Everyone ...pray for Lady Chiyo. May she be forever remembered, and rest in eternal peace." With that the entire force of shinobi bowed their heads, closed their eyes, and prayed.

"Naruto...thank you for coming to help me."

"Obviously I'd come help. You and Sasuke are my best friends. I'd do anything for you guys."

"Originally, you wanted to kill me, but you've grown on me, you ought to come visit the idiot more so he doesn't pester me so much." Commented the Uchiha who stood beside the blond.

"Thank you both. I wish the best for both of you, and I look forward to our villages working closely together." The Kazekage said, shaking the hands of both shinobi. "Thank you both for being my friends. I've become a very different person due to the lessons you both taught to me."

"Anytime Gaara." Naruto said with a smirk. "I'll always help out my friends Y'know!"

"Team Seven. It seems congratulations are in order for your mission to rescue the Kazekage. Well done Sakura, you managed to save the life of the Kazekage's brother as well. I'm proud of all of you. Good work. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke...you've all been hitting high ranked missions back to back. Take a month off." The Hokage said addressing the freshly returned team.

"Thank you Ma'am." The three males said, as they made their way out of the office. Sakura stayed behind to assist her mentor with her duties. As Naruto left, something clicked in his head pertaining to the Flying Raijin, and he knew he had to get back to it right away. He sprinted down the hallway to leave, and almost ran headlong into Rikka.

"Hey Rikka, I know we need to have a super important talk and all, but I have to do something now and it's imperative I do it right now." He whipped out a piece of paper, and scribbled directions to the complex on it. "Come by in the morning!" He yelled, as he handed her the paper and ran off.

The girl smiled lightly, before speaking under her breath. "Weirdo."

Naruto sat at his desk in the complex once again, mind reeling as he tried to wrap his brain around the complex theory of the last seal formula. He had completely reconstructed the third formula, which had pertained entirely to the time side of space time theory. With the other three out of the way, he could completely focus on the fourth kanji. This one represented tear. It was what made the movement through space time possible at all.

With this, he was able to figure out exactly how the four formula worked in tangent. It essentially boiled down to speed through a space time tear. Speed being the first formula, space being the second, time being the third, and tear being the four. The user would use chakra to shape and form the tear in space time, and use it to move through. It was much like if you folded a piece of paper in half and cut a hole through it. When it is unfolded, the distance between the holes is massive, but if you fold it, it's like stepping through a door.

He spent the next seven hours laboring away at his desk. Slowly through the day papers and drawings accumulated on, and around his desk. Quickly the room became a mess of fuinjutsu scribblings and math equations. Having told Rikka of the location of his secret complex, this was the sight she was greeted with when she entered his study.

"Naruto?" She asked, slight worry showing in her blank voice.

His hand shot up, and was held in a motion for her to wait. "Hang on." He spoke seriously. She heard him mumble and curse under his breath, when suddenly he shot out of his chair. The man stood rigid, hands planted on the table. "No way…." He said in disbelief. Suddenly he jumped up, fist in the air. "I fucking did it! I got it!" He sprinted to Rikka, and picked her up spinning her around in his excitement.

"Naru…! Wha-..what! What did you do?" She said, having trouble getting the words out as he spun her around wildly.

"I figured it out! I cracked the code!"

"What code?!"

He stared at her a moment in confusion. Suddenly it clicked and he realized she had no knowledge of his work on the Flying Raijin. "Look Rikka, you gotta keep this a secret, but I've been attempting to learn the Flying Raijin. It's a technique developed by Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage. It was further improved by Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, and it is what got him the title of the Yellow Flash of Konohagakure."

"Naruto, that's incredible! Can you perform it?"

"Not yet, I haven't tried. I had to bust my way through tons of fuinjutsu formula and space time theory, but I've finally figured it out! I can try it out tomorrow, but for now, it's time for a long overdue talk between us."

"Alright. And Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"You can put me down now."

"Oh. Oh right!" He said laughing as he set the girl back on her feet. Slowly they chatted and made their way to the kitchen.

"You know it's six in the morning right?"

"Is it? Oh wow, I should probably sleep. But I'm still wide awake right now. There's plenty of time to talk."

"Okay, perfect."

"Let's go sit on the couch." He said as he guided the woman to the sofa, and both took a seat. "So before we talk about anything else, you owe me a story."

"Oh, that's right. Well my father used to...uh… beat me on a daily basis…. He'd leave me in the cold outside our house, in an attempt to hide my bruises. I was so cold one night. I was so sure I was going to die. But I met you, Naruto. I met you, and you changed everything for me. I saw a blond boy, with a smile that split the world. I remember seeing you, in your black sweater, brown pants, and your stupidly bright orange scarf. You were like a symbol of hope to me. Everything about you in that moment shined bright. You walked up and asked if I was cold, and I remember stuttering out a yes. You wrapped me up in that coat of yours and wrapped your scarf around me. You gave me the gloves on your hands as well. You took me around the village. When it began to rain you opened your backpack and held an umbrella up for me as we walked. Just trying to cheer me up. You were so kind. I was so happy. And then the next day all I ever heard about you was bad things from the villagers, our classmates, and their parents. I was so worried that if my father heard I was around you he'd beat me worse, or maybe even go after you. I didn't want that... so I ocastrised you. I avoided you and tried to forget you. But you were still the kind boy who changed my life. Someone who I could never forget. I had a crush on you for a while as well, and eventually Ryuko befriended me. She got me to go out and do stuff. Eventually an ANBU witnessed my father's actions, and the Hokage stepped in. My dad was a chunin, and he ended up getting thrown into a prison. My distant uncle was notified and he came back to the village and looked after me a while, but eventually he left again and was killed on a mission. When I saw you and Ryuko got together, I was just so happy that the both of you were happy."

"Rikka...you're pretty." Eyes wide Naruto thought to himself, "I just said that aloud!"

"Are you stupid?" She giggled. "At a moment like this that's all you have to say? Thank you Naruto."

"Uh sorry, I was listening though, it just popped into my head, and Rikka I care for you as well. I think Ryuko would be happy with us being together. So I guess what I'm saying is, if you want maybe we could be y'know ...together?"

"I'd love that." She smiled. "This scarf you gave me sparked so many things in my life. It's like my very own orange thread of fate. But here we are, and not only do I have your scarf, I have you now too."

"I don't know why I can't remember that day, but it was so long ago, and now that I know of it, I know you're the one I want in my life Rikka." He spoke, before extending his hand and lightly taking hold of her scarf. "Our stories seem to have been intertwined since the beginning, so might as well let them merge now." He said, and pulled her close to him via her scarf. Carefully and lovingly, he planted his lips on hers, sending sparks through both of them.

The Toad Sage sat inside the mouth of one of his toads as it made its way into Amegakure. "Huh, why do I have the sudden feeling that I need to be proud of a certain blond. Hmmm, oh well. Back to writing it is then" He thought to himself. The Sage was making the finishing touches to the new book he had begun writing after Naruto had finally beat him in that spar. It seemed like so long ago to the old Sage now, he remembered watching over the boy after he first met him, and he had no doubt now. That child, no that man would be just as, if not more legendary than Minato ever was. And if someone could bring about peace, or anything close to it, it would be Naruto. "Be safe brat."

He continued his writing, and after a while the Toad notified him that they would soon be inside Ame. "What will I name this book then…..hmmm."

"We're here Lord Jiraiya."

"Alright, thanks for the ride. See ya later."

The toad simply saluted before disappearing. The Sage began walking into the village before stopping in his tracks. He quickly whipped out his book, and began scribbling. "Ah I know. The Tale of The Prodigal Son. Fitting for a book loosely based on the life of Naruto." The Sannin smiled widely as he put his notebook away, and made his way further into the village.

Alright that's it for this one. I know I kind of screwed the pooch on the whole Kazekage rescue, but honestly I really just needed Sasori and Deidara out of the way. Anyway will be working on the new chapter over my Fourth of July camping trip, so I might be up soon after the 8th. Alrighty that's all, Darling in the Fox out!