Author's Note: Hey guys I just want to say thanks for the reviews last chapter. I got some really constructive reviews and I really appreciate them. For the reviewers for chapter 8 I just wanted to say thank you as well as all my reviewers so far. Also wanted to address the chapter 8 reviews as well.

PinkiePieParty122894: I'm glad you like the pairing and are enjoying the story so far

Animaman: I really like the ideas you gave and I'm sure it will keep me from suffering from writer's block and update more quickly

UnsanMusho: I realize it seemed pretty quick especially since I haven't had a lot of character interaction with those in Konoha but forgiving his parents was really more about him being traumatized and needing someone at the time. There will be more character interaction coming up

Naruto was sitting at a table in Yakiniku Q, the restaurant that had quickly become a regular for Team 11, more specifically Naruto and Yakumo. Sitting in his chair, Naruto couldn't stop drumming his fingers on the table and was lightly sweating out of nervousness. Just a few days ago after being released from the hospital, he had asked Yakumo if she wanted to hang out at the usual spot to which she readily agreed. His intention was to reveal his feelings to Yakumo at some time during their meal. So here he was, trying to find anything to distract him from what was coming up in hopes of calming himself. He quickly thought back to his stay in the hospital after his and his father's reconciliation.

Flashback

(Naruto's Hospital Room)

Naruto was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. It had been a day since the emotional conversation with his dad and ever since then, he had felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. In all honesty, he was bored and hoping that something would happen to gain his interest. His wish was granted as a red headed missile practically slammed the hospital room door open and before Naruto could react, was crushing him in a hug. When Naruto was finally able to process the situation, he realized that his mother was the one holding him and sobbing while she was doing it. Looking at perhaps the most powerful woman in Konoha and seeing her break down like this, his heart tugged and he felt a need to comfort her.

As Kushina continued to cry unable to stop the tears from pouring after seeing her son in the hospital, she felt a pair of arms surround and hold her. Looking up, she was met with her eldest son looking at her with genuine care at her. Something that she really didn't deserve. Ever since Naruto had first left, her mistakes and misgivings as a mother became visible to her. She had neglected and ignored her first born son and focused on Menma and Narumi solely because of them having the Kyuubi's chakra. The results had been that she had pushed Naruto out of the family and created self entitled, pretentious, arrogant brats. She still loved Menma and Narumi, as their mother she would never stop, but she hated what they were becoming.

After a few more moments of sobbing, Kushina looked up at her son's face and smiled. "I heard that you were hurt on your mission so I headed right over. That idiot Minato, when I get a hold of him" she said getting red in the face until Naruto put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "It's okay Mom, we knew the risks when we took the mission" he said trying to appease his mother. "Yeah I know but " Kushina stopped mid sentence and her eyes widened. Had he really just called her "Mom" or was it her imagination? "Naruto, did you just call me Mom?" Kushina asked shakily. Naruto smiled and nodded which resulted in another crushing hug and a waterfall of tears from the red hot habanero. Naruto would never admit it, but there were a few tears that fell from his eyes as well.

Flashback End

After beginning the healing process with his mother, they had talked until she had to leave. A lot of barriers had been broken down and a lot of demons put to rest. It felt good to have his parents back in his life. Thinking about everything that happened since arriving back in Konoha, he realized that his parents had become two of his precious people. Precious people. That word brought a frown to his face. He had been surrounded by his parents and after being released from the hospital with Yakumo and Itachi, but he hadn't seen Sasuke since their return. When he had asked Itachi about him, the Uchiha just replied "He's dealing with some things" and left it at that. Before Naruto could think any further on the subject, he noticed his beautiful teammate enter the restaurant.

(Sasuke's Room)

Sasuke sat on his bed thinking about the one person who had been on his mind since the 'Battle of the Bridge' as the villagers of Wave called it. Haku. He didn't know how to feel about her death. Sasuke was heartbroken that she had died, and because of him no less. It both infuriated him and made him want to stab himself in the heart with a kunai. Before the battle, Sasuke had been planning to let Haku stay with him and his family, but that had been taken away by pathetic mercenaries who were only able to get the better of him due to attacking in such a mass amount. It wasn't until after the battle that Sasuke realized how much he truly cared for Haku, the multitude of dead men that day was proof of that. As Sasuke continued to think back on the mission, his thoughts drifted to Naruto. There had been times when Sasuke wanted to beat Naruto within an inch of his life. He was their leader, their strongest member, and he abandoned them. He may have taken action in Wave if not for two reasons. One, Naruto would kick his ass even as injured as Naruto was. Two, he knew Naruto always did what was best for the team.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by the opening of his door. He was surprised to see that the visitor was not his mother for once, but his brother.

Itachi entered the room and sat next to his brother in silence for a few minutes. The Uchiha prodigy wasn't great at conversation, but he could see that his brother was in pain and needed someone to be there for him. "Sasuke, I know that you're in pain, but the only way that you will recover is if you open up. You have been in here since you got out of the hospital and it's starting to worry Mother. It's starting to worry me as well brother. So let me in and tell me what's wrong" Itachi pleaded.

Sasuke took a moment before answering. "During our mission, we picked up a girl named Haku. She was the girl that was lying by me on the bridge when you arrived" he said gaining a look of recognition from his brother. "During the bridge construction, me and her became close. I even offered to let her stay here since we were bringing her back and she wouldn't have anywhere to stay. She died because of me. She died protecting me. She died before I could even tell her how I felt about her. If I had been stronger or more alert, then she would still be alive. But I wasn't and now she's dead. I keep thinking of how I could have protected her and one consistent factor keeps coming up. If Naruto hadn't abandoned Yakumo and I, we would have slaughtered those insects and Haku would still be alive" the genin finished, clenching his fists so hard that blood began to run from his hands.

Looking at his little brother and seeing the look in his eyes of pure hatred, Itachi knew that he had to let Sasuke know why Naruto wasn't there. "Sasuke after Naruto woke up in the hospital, I spoke to him about the mission. The reason he left the bridge was because he knew that the swordsman that was part of Gato's army was powerful. He made the decision to get him away from the battle trying to keep you and Yakumo safe. When he fought the swordsman, he lost. Badly." This revelation made Sasuke's eyes go wide. "I have never seen a swordsman with as much skill or potential as Naruto and he has yet to reveal his full power. That being said, for someone to beat him in a duel much less do it without breaking a sweat worries even me. If not for him taking the swordsman away from the bridge and that very swordsman showing mercy, you would all be dead" Itachi finished.

Throughout the story, Sasuke's eyes had gotten wider and wider. Beating Naruto in a duel was unheard of. He saw how effortlessly Naruto had killed Zabuza, an A ranked missing ninja, firsthand. For someone to beat him in the way that Itachi was explaining seemed impossible. Learning this new information caused all of Sasuke's feelings of anger and desire for vengeance to turn into that of gratitude for saving his life and guilt for blaming his friend.

Upon seeing the look of anger on Sasuke's face disappear, Itachi smiled and stood up from the bed. As he started to leave, he stopped at the door. "I almost forgot to give you this" Itachi said walking over to Sasuke and handing him a paper. "Only sign up if you want to" he said before finally leaving.

After Itachi left, Sasuke looked down at the paper."Chunin exams huh?"

(Yakiniku Q)

Naruto and Yakumo were laughing at a story about Naruto's first time using a sword. As the laughter died down, Naruto gained a somewhat serious look on his face and looked into Yakumo's eyes. "Umm Yakumo, the reason I asked you to meet me here today was because I had something important to say." Naruto was nervous and began to muster all the courage he could in order to confess to the girl of his dreams. In a bold act, Naruto took Yakumo's hand into his causing Yakumo to develop a blush while Naruto's face was as red as a tomato. "Yakumo, you were the first friend I ever had in Konoha. When I was made a genin, I honestly didn't care about the village or anyone in it. I would not have gone out of my way to help anyone here because no one had bothered to help me. But you changed that. You showed me that there are good people in this village. People who deserve my protection. Over the time that we've known each other, I've noticed that you make me a better person. You make me into someone who actually feels compassion towards others, someone who is no longer indifferent to the world. You have changed me for the better and I want you to know how much you mean to me. I love you Yakumo" Naruto finished.

Yakumo had tears in her eyes. Never had she heard such a heartfelt speech aimed at her and she could have never guessed that she meant that much to him. Naruto had been bold in taking her hand in his, so she decided to one up him. Leaning forward before he could say anything else, she connected her lips to his. She didn't care that there were other people in the restaurant. As far as she was concerned, the only people on the entire planet were Naruto and her. After a fair amount of time lip locked with her blonde teammate, she pulled back. "Wow" she said gaining a rapid nod in response from the red faced boy.

"So I take it this means you feel the same way?" Naruto asked already knowing the answer. Before Yakumo could answer, Itachi shunshined in front of the two. Truthfully, Itachi had waited until the two were done with their "intimacy" to interrupt the new couple's date. "Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting anything" Itachi said with an amused grin. Yakumo turned beet red and shook her head no while Naruto simply muttered something about being a mood killer. "I just came by to give you both these forms to compete in the upcoming chunin exams. You don't have to compete, only if you feel comfortable." Itachi wasn't surprised when the two looked at him with determination and nodded.

With his job complete, Itachi left the two to continue their date in peace.

(Hokage's Office)

Minato sat in his chair turned and facing the village. Jiraiya had come by and was trying to get him to up Menma and Narumi's training and the Hokage was trying to ignore him.

"Minato listen to me!" Jiraiya said loud enough to get him to turn around and gain his attention. "The Great Toad Sage has spoken. He foretold of two that have received legendary power who will either save the ninja world or be the catalyst for its destruction" he said with a serious look on his face. "When I went back to see the Great Toad Sage, he told me that the day of the prophecy being fulfilled was nearing. We need to make sure that the twins are prepared for their destiny."

"Triplets." Jiraiya gained a confused look before it turned to slight shock at how Minato was looking at him. "I have three children Jiraiya, not two" Minato said standing up. "As for the prophecy, I nearly lost my family because of it. Nothing good has come from you revealing what the Great Toad Sage declared. Menma and Narumi have become arrogant and constantly underestimate their opponents believing that as long as they have the Kyuubi, they can defeat a kage level fighter. Because of that damn prophecy, Kushina and I neglected our first born which is a sin that both you and Tsunade have committed as well. I thank Kami that Naruto is at least somewhat normal, but I can tell that there is something dark behind the mask he wears. Something that he won't trust his own father with. No Jiraiya, you may train Menma and Narumi as you please but I am not going to focus solely on those two. I will bring Naruto back even if it means damning the entire elemental nations" he said with a look that Jiraiya had not seen since the day he earned the title "Yellow Flash of Konoha".

Jiraiya sighed. His star pupil always was an idealistic one. "Minato this is the fate of the world that we are talking about. Are you willing to let it die? Are you willing to have that much blood on your hands because I'm not and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that Menma and Narumi fulfill their destinies" he said with conviction.

Minato just stared at his sensei for a moment before responding. "Jiraiya, it took my family breaking for me to come to the most important decision in my life. If I got my family back, never again would I let go. I would watch the world burn as long as my family was safe. I will train each of my children, not solely Menma and Narumi. And if Naruto comes to any harm and I find out that it was because of your "For the good of mankind" mentality, I will make you suffer until you beg for death" Minato said leaving Jiraiya with a jaw dropped and completely shocked expression.

After getting himself together and seeing that there was nothing left to say, Jiraiya left without a word.

(Namikaze Estate)

Kushina sat in the living room watching Tsunade teach Narumi more medical jutsu while thinking about Naruto. She was hurt that Naruto didn't want to move back in with his family, but was overjoyed that she was on good enough terms for him to call her "Mom".

"This sucks. Mom, can you get us a mission? I'm so bored. Get us at least a C ranked mission" Menma said from a chair across from her causing her, Tsunade, and Narumi to look at him. "I heard that the failure got an A rank" Narumi said immediately getting an angry response from Menma. "What?! Why should that worthless loser get anything. Why would Dad give him an A rank and not us!?" he practically screamed. Kushina looked at her son with a confused and furious glare. She knew that Menma and Naruto were not on good terms, but this was unbelievable.

"Menma how dare you talk about your brother like that? He is not worthless, he is not a loser, he is your brother. Why can't you understand that? You are supposed to love him and vice versa but it's like you don't want to" she said. Menma shook his head. "I don't love him. I won't treat him as a brother. He is nothing but a weak blight on our family's name. He is just a disgrace and the fact that we share the same blood is insulting enough as it is" he said before storming off to his room upstairs and leaving Kushina and Tsunade open mouthed. Narumi hated when Menma was upset and secretly, she felt the same way as he did.

(Team 11 Training Ground)

Naruto sat on the ground letting the light of the moon shine over him. It had been a good day. After his and Yakumo's date, the two had found Sasuke and tracked down Itachi to tell him that they were entering the chunin exams. Itachi's response was simply a smirk and a nod. After, the three hung out and trained at the training ground. Yakumo worked on new genjutsu ideas while Naruto and Sasuke trained by sparring each other in taijutsu. Sasuke didn't use ninjutsu in the spars for two reasons. The first was that he wanted a fair fight and Naruto didn't have a very big arsenal of ninjutsu. Second was that if he used ninjutsu, Naruto would use his sword which was not something he wanted to face.

He and Yakumo were happy that they were able to hang out with him. They had been worried about his mental state from the Wave mission but after today, he seemed fine. Before Naruto could go any deeper into thought, he felt a warm sensation on his bicep coming from his hidden summoning tattoo. His curiosity of the feeling of the tattoo was interrupted by the forming of mist and a large creature rising from the mist.

When the mist cleared, Naruto squinted his eyes to get a better look at the creature before his face lit up in recognition. "Levios?" Naruto asked and received a nod from the serpent that now was coiled around itself in the field. "What are you doing here?" Naruto asked curiously. Levios lowered his head as much as he could to try and speak to Naruto on eye level. It didn't work. "Naruto, my father and I believe that something powerful is coming and coming soon. That being said, my father wants to teach you how to summon him" Levios said. Naruto gained a confused look on his face. "But I already know how to summon" he said gaining a shake of the head from Levios. "No. You have never summoned my father before. To summon him in water is no small feat. It takes an enormous amount of power and if not done correctly, can have horrible effects on the body. Summoning any of the serpents on land takes significantly more chakra and puts a great strain on the body. We feel that you need to be able to summon us both easily on the water and be able to summon us on land so that means that you will have to undergo a brief training period with us to prepare yourself" Levios finished.

Naruto thought deeply on the subject before agreeing. As the summoner of the Water Serpents, he was all in on this. He needed the training if it led to him being able to summon the serpents at will. "Will I be leaving Konoha?" he asked. Levios nodded. "Yes, you will come with me to my homeland and when you have completed your training, you will return to Konoha" Levios explained. Naruto nodded before a question popped into his head. "What about my team and my parents? I'm pretty sure that leaving without a word will have some serious consequences" he said causing Levios to simply nod. "I shall have a few of our messengers give information on your absence to your team leader and your Hokage" the serpent said before wrapping his tail around Naruto and vanishing.

Another Author's Note

Next chapter will be the beginning of the chunin exams. I know that the section on the twins was short and uneventful, but those two will have a major part in the story later on I promise. I think that I'm going to put the exams into two chapters but anyway hope you guys liked this chapter and sorry it took so long. Also please review. I enjoy hearing what all of you think of the story and it helps me in writing as well.