Sealed Legacy Chapter 43: The Chosen Paths, a naruto fanfic

Chapter Forty-Three: The Chosen Paths

A/N: I apologize for this long delay and hiatus. It was very difficult trying to come up with new ideas and routes to take with this story that isn't an exact copy-paste of the original manga and anime that could hold all of your attention and interest. I hope I don't disappoint any of you with this next installment, which is my largest to date.

I want to give give thanks and a shout out to Masamune X23 and Ryu Otsutsuki for their constructive feedback, suggestions and advice.

(Later That Night; At Tenmangu-Machi)

Jiraiya and Tsunade were sitting together in a private V.I.P. section in a tavern, both enjoying their shots of sake. While they were in their alcoholic merriment, Jiraiya took the time to explain everything in details, everything he learned about Naruto and everything that happened in Konoha since their long absence. There were a number of things about Naruto that Tsunade personally found hard to believe, like him using Edo Tensei to briefly resurrect his father to protect Konoha during the Suna-Oto invasion. But Jiraiya made it clear that he, Orochimaru, Hiruzen and practically the entire village of Konoha and the joint Suna-Oto forces eyewitnessed that feat themselves.

"I can see why you hold the boy in such very high regards," Tsunade commented, "Hell, I honestly think I'd have done the same myself if it were my student."

"Who knows?" Jiraiya suggested, "With Hinata and Karin as your apprentices, there's no telling how far they'll go."

"I'm taking them as my apprentices either way," Tsunade said, "I don't know why but I felt something unique about those two that captured and held my interest. I'm confident that under my wings, they'll accomplish and make great changes."

"Naruto and the Uzumaki clan are making huge changes to Konoha and in history," Jiraiya said, "It would be great if we share and participate in their historic change, together."

Tusnade looked up and saw the look on Jiraiya's face.

"This isn't a date Jiraiya," Tsunade retorted.

"Not yet it isn't," Jiraiya said undeterred, "But that doesn't mean I can't use this opportunity to pretend that it is. After all, I'm the one treating you out to drink with me after you willingly accepted."

"You never give up, do you?" Tsunade remarked.

"I know a good thing when I see it, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya said, "I always trusted my guts when it came to that and it never steered me wrong," Jiraiya jokingly added, "Even Naruto is cheering me on as my wingman."

"You sound confident that he'll win this bet," Tsunade said.

"Naruto pulled off deeds that would have killed a normal man long ago, Tsunade," Jiraiya stated, "And he accomplished feats that even I was unable to pull off."

"Are you serious?" Tsunade asked curiously with a look of disbelief.

"This is not something I would joke about," Jiraiya said seriously, "But there's more to Naruto than that. There's an organization I've been investigating and tracking for years after learning Orochimaru was once part of it."

"What organization would that be?" Tsunade asked.

"They're called "The Akatsuki"," Jiraiya informed, "It's a secret organization composed entirely of S-class missing nin."

"I can see why such an organization would put you on edge," Tsunade remarked as she listened carefully to everything she was told, "But what does this have to do with Naruto?"

"They're hunting down Jinchuuriki and Naruto is one of their targets," Jiraiya enlightened, "They're trying to gather all nine bijuu. Their reasons for doing so are unknown for now, but as we speak, it's still being looked into."

"I wouldn't be a heavy sleeper myself if I had a group of S-class ninja hunting me down," Tsunade commented as she poured another shot of sake for both herself and Jiraiya.

"Seijiro already proved that point after you learned he was tracking and hunting you," Jiraiya joked, only to receive a frown from the Slug Princess.

"It costed me everything I won these past couple of days just to get him off my back," Tsunade groaned.

"At the very least you merely had to pay the money you owe," Jiraiya replied, "For Naruto, no amount of money will get the Akatsuki to stop hunting and going after him. He and his clan along with Kakashi and a few others already had a run-in with them in Konoha almost two weeks ago, and it ended with Kakashi being put into a coma by Itachi who's now part of that organization."

"The missing-nin who genocide his own clan?" Tsunade said, "He was sent after Naruto?"

"Him and his partner who's a missing-nin and former member of Kirigakure's Seven Swordsmen, Hoshigaki Kisame," Jiraiya informed.

"And I thought I had problems with debt collectors tracking and hunting me at almost every corner I turn," Tsunade remarked.

"Right now, Seijiro and I are working on tracking and hunting them down," Jiraiya said, "I don't know how long it'll take but we're working on ways of handling and dealing with the Akatsuki when the time comes."

"That's quite an undertaking," Tsunade remarked, "Going to war against an organization comprised of S-class criminals."

"We faced worse, Tsunade," Jiraiya reminded, "And you had your share of close calls despite your monstrous strength and medical prowess. I'm sure you remember Hanzō the Salamander."

"How could I forget about him?" Tsunade commented, "You, Orochimaru and I barely made it out of that battle in one piece after our entire Konoha squadron were wiped out in that one battle against Hanzō. It's hard to believe that we got the title "Sannin" because of him…," Tsunade sighed as she took a sip of her sake.

"Hanzō and almost everyone connected to him were killed years ago," Jiraiya revealed, "By one of my pupils I personally trained."

Tsunade spat her sake out of her mouth on hearing that revelation. She looked back at Jiraiya with a disbelieving expression and exclaimed, "And you got be kidding!"

"It's no joke," Jiraiya said seriously, "I recently found this out by a most reliable source. But what grieves me is that my pupil, and his partner whom I also taught, are also part of the Akatsuki. And what adds to the irony is that they're hunting for my current pupil."

Tsunade paused for a moment to take in and process everything Jiraya just revealed to her. Soon she inquired, "Who are those pupils you're talk about."

"The orphans from Amegakure," Jiraiya revealed, "Nagato and Konan."

"The same kids Orochimaru suggested we kill when they were originally following us during our time battling in Amegakure?" Tsunade asked.

"That's right," Jiraiya confirmed, "Their other friend Yahiko died some time before Hanzō's death, but his body is being used like a puppet by Nagato while leading the Akatsuki under the name "Pain." It was Nagato, after taking on the name Pain, who battled and killed Hanzō and his forces before taking over Amegakure. Since then, it's been said that Pain never lost a fight. Interestingly enough, the Akatsuki wasn't always the criminal organization that it is now."

"I take it that you know some important history about that organization's origins," Tsunade deduced.

"It was originally founded by Yahiko during the Third Shinobi World War, alongside his childhood friends Nagato and Konan. The three of them created Akatsuki as a way to bring peace to their home country of Amegakure, which too often got caught in the crossfire of the Five Great Shinobi Countries' many conflicts. Their desire for an end to war attracted many fellow Ame ninja to their cause and, in time, word of their exploits began to travel beyond Amegakure's borders. Akatsuki's early fame was owed largely to Yahiko's leadership and his natural charisma, which kept the group united and motivated them to persevere despite the difficulties of their goal. Yahiko, however, viewed himself as merely a facilitator for Nagato, who would ultimately be considered the actual source of world peace because of his Rinnegan."

"The Rinnegan?" Tsunade asked, "I always thought that dōjutsu was a myth."

"It's no myth," Jiraiya confirmed, "I saw it with my own eyes during the years I was train Nagato and his two friends."

"I see," Tsunade remarked.

"In time," Jiraiya continued, "Akatsuki's fame began attracting unwanted attention. They were first approached by Tobi, who claimed to be Uchiha Madara."

"What!?" Tsunade replied skeptically, "Hashirama-jiisan killed Madara years ago in their famous battle in the Valley of the End."

"While that's true," Jiraiya said, "This unknown Uchiha approached and offered to lend his assistance to the Akatsuki, specifically Nagato. Yahiko however was wary of Tobi and refused his offer."

"How do you know that this Tobi is an Uchiha?" Tsunade asked.

"He has the Mangekyō Sharingan for starters," Jiraiya revealed, "And while Minato was summoned through Edo Tensei, he himself revealed and confirmed that it was Tobi who plotted and used Kyuubi to attack Konoha years ago. Tobi found out where Kushina was going to give birth to Naruto, and attacked Minato and everyone helping them during Naruto's birth. He tried to kill Naruto in order to get Minato away from Kushina so he could retrieve the Kyuubi from out of her seal. Sarutobi-sensei's wife and assistant, along with several ANBU, were also killed by that same man as they were also there helping with Naruto's birth. Minato eventually defeated Tobi and severed his control over Kyuubi, forcing Tobi to retreat and leave Kyuubi behind after it rampaged through Konoha. Minato and Kushina ultimately died while protecting Naruto and sealing Kyuubi into him."

Again, Tsunade was shocked by the revelations Jiraiya was sharing with her as it helped to clarify and make sense of everything that happened which led up to Kyuubi's sudden appearance and attack on Konoha.

"With regards to Ame's leader," Jiraiya continued, "Hanzō, also became aware of Akatsuki and perceived them as a threat to his rule, a belief encouraged by Shimura Danzō. Hanzō approached Akatsuki offering to help them negotiate peace between Konohagakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. When Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan arrived to meet with him, however, they were ambushed by Hanzō's men and Danzō's Root, who took Konan hostage and forced Yahiko to commit suicide in order to save her. Enraged by Yahiko's death, Nagato summoned the giant dark sealing statue and used it to slaughter their attackers, though Hanzō himself escaped.

"After Yahiko's death, Nagato began using the alias "Pain" while using Yahiko's corpse so that Yahiko could symbolically continue leading Akatsuki. Nagato sought out Tobi, under the guise of Uchiha Madara, and accepted his earlier offer of support, which he provided in secret. After the Third Shinobi World War, Akatsuki began recruiting S-class missing-nin, including Orochimaru and once Akatsuki recruited its target of ten members, they began following a three-step process to achieve this stated objective:

"Obtain enough money to support their organization.

"Provide mercenary services at well under the competitive rate, using the money gathered in the first step to offset costs. That would make countries increasingly dependent on Akatsuki's services and corner the entire market for shinobi missions. The early years of Nagato's Akatsuki were very successful, as the hidden villages increasingly hired Akatsuki to fight in wars and perform assassinations that the villages themselves were unwilling to get involved in during times of peace. Their other objective is to gather all of the nine bijuu for reason not yet disclosed to the other members of the organization. Orochimaru left that organization after a battle he had with Itachi that he lost to."

Jiraiya stopped briefly when he saw the contemplative look on Tsunade's face.

"How did you learn this much about that organization's history and objectives," Tsunade asked.

"Like I said before," Jiraiya reminded, "From a very reliable source. I am a spy master after all."

"Why did you choose to share all of this with me?" Tsunade inquired.

"To establish trust, confidence and reliability," Jiraiya answered candidly, "The time will come that I, Naruto, Seijiro and others will have to face off against the Akatsuki and I want to have faith that I can count on you backing us up. Ignorance isn't bliss especially when your loved ones or those closest to you are targeted by enemies."

"I already lost most of all those closest to me," Tsunade commented, "And Naruto declaring that becoming Hokage is his dream reminded me too much of my brother Nawaki. Shoot, the way Naruto smiles and talks when he's not serious and the very fact that Naruto is willing to take dangerous risk at personal cost reminds me of Nawaki."

"Speaking of Nawaki," Jiraiya confessed, "There's something very important and personal I never told you concerning him for these many years."

Like a fish with bait in its mouth, Jiraiya had Tsunade's full attention. Giving the Toad Sage a most curious look hungering answers, Tsunade implored, "And what would that be?"

"This was a few months before Minato became my student and apprentice," Jiraiya revealed, "I tried fervently to convince Sarutobi-sensei to allow me to have Nawaki become my new student and apprentice."

Tsunade's eyes widened on that that revelation that completely shocked her.

"You what?" Tsunade asked as though she couldn't believe her ears, "You wanted and tried to convince Sarutobi-sensei to let my little brother become your new student?"

"I saw potential in Nawaki," Jiraiya elaborated, "Him being the grandson of the Shodai and Uzumaki Mito, being related to the Nidaime, being your little brother and seeing part of myself in him as he carried such an optimistic carefree spirit; it was just practical. Plus…"

"Plus what?" Tsunade asked.

"I was hoping that if I was given the opportunity by Sarutobi-sensei to teach and train your brother to become a mighty and strong ninja like how Minato became then I would earn major points with you," Jiraiya confessed truthfully, "But Sarutobi-sensei denied me, believing that I only wanted to train Nawaki for selfish purposes considering that he was related to you. He accused me of wanting to use Nawaki to get closer to you since he knew how much I deeply liked you despite you beating me almost to death for peeping on you once.

"I argued and told him about the possibilities I could achieve through Nawaki, but Sarutobi-sensei didn't believe my words and stubbornly refused my request. Secretly, there was always a small part of me that resented Sarutobi-sensei for not granting my petition to let me train Nawaki, especially after the boy was killed not too long after becoming a Genin. I wanted to comfort you after Nawaki's death but you chose Dan over me.

"As a result, I quietly accepted defeat and left things the way they were. When we were in Amegakure after our fierce battle against Hanzō and during the time we ran into those three orphans, I saw potential in those three kids and thought that maybe one of them would become the Child of Prophecy I was looking for. That was why I chose to stay behind with them in Amegakure for three years to teach and train them."

"Even through all six of my students I've trained through my life all become S-class ninja, none of them proved to be the chosen Child of Prophecy. That's why I'm hoping that Naruto, my seventh student and godson will become the chosen child I've spent all these years searching for. Plus, what adds to my hope in this is because out of your own mouth Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya grinned widely and continued, "He reminds you so much of your late little brother Nawaki. So, in some ways, it'll be like me training Nawaki like how I originally wanted."

Tsunade didn't give Jiraiya a reply as she took and mediated on the bombshell revelation he just gave to her. The Toad Sage saw the look on her face as he was trying to read her emotions. He knew that it was a lot for her to take in in such a short time but everything he's been telling her were things he wanted to confide in her about. After what felt like an eternity of silence…

"I wonder how Nawaki would have turned out had you've been given a chance to train him, even if part of the reason was to get close to me," Tsunade admitted with a tone she expressed that she was both touched and saddened, "If things had happened differently, if I had known about your intentions and reasons ahead of time, I would have vouched for you and took your side in letting Nawaki become your new apprentice. I'm convinced that Nawaki under your training would have been alive today as a formidable and mighty ninja. He might have rivaled Naruto's father for the position of Yondaime.

"I wish you had told me that you wanted my little brother as your student."

"I wanted to," Jiraiya revealed.

"Then why didn't you?" Tsunade asked.

"Because back then I had no way to knowing if you would have believed me," Jiraiya explained, "Having the infamous reputation for peeping and nearly being killed by you because of that, I figured that you would believe that I would corrupt your brother while not believing my reasons for training him before punching me either into or off the Hokage Monument.

"After Orochimaru and I found Nawaki's body after he was killed by one of Kumo's hidden land mines, all I could think about was what if I had come sooner, what if Sarutobi-sensei wasn't so hardheaded and granted my request…so many thoughts came to mind. And after seeing the emotional state you were in after Nawaki died and how you took comfort from Dan without giving me so much as a look, I saw no point in telling you that I tried to get Nawaki to become my apprentice before his demise. At the time, I figured Sarutobi-sensei and I would take that secret with us to the grave."

Tsunade said nothing after listening to Jiraiya's explanation. She allowed everything the Toad Sage was saying soak in to her mind.

"I had no idea you carried this weight with you for all these years," Tsunade admitted, "While it's true that you have your share of vices however, I self-righteously acted like you were a bad influence for anybody while pretending my vices were of lesser consequences than yours."

"Regardless of how you would have reacted to hearing everything I said to you up till now, I felt it was time I got it off my chest," Jiraiya said, "It was a load I didn't want to carry with me anymore even if it makes you think less of me."

"Think less of you?" Tsunade repeated and then confessed, "Back then, I had always thought that Dan was someone you could never measure up to. I thought and looked at you as someone to never bat an eye at or even consider to be dating material like how Dan was."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you think that way of me even now," Jiraiya remarked, "Because if you do, then you truly don't know me as well as you think."

Tsunade didn't dignify that reply with a retort of any sort. She took a sip of her sake and added, "While Dan was alive, I had always thought we'd be married someday. But he died long before he could ever propose to me. Having a lover is one thing, but having a husband and being a wife is a whole different dimension. Dan's death costed me both."

"Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya said, "I know and understand that losing Dan was truly heartbreaking and unbearable for you but-"

"You understand?!" Tsunade retorted indignantly, "What could you possibly understand Jiraiya!? You never had or lost a lover who died in your arms like I did! You never once considered moving on with your life and going after another woman besides me for all these years despite all of the peeping you've done throughout your life!"

Jiraiya gave Tsunade calm but cold glare that showed that he didn't appreciate what she said of him.

"Don't presume to know me Tsunade!" Jiraiya sternly rebuked, "While it's it true that you were the first woman I truly loved despite the numerous times you've rejected me in spite of my best efforts, I moved on with my life!"

"Yeah, you moved on alright!" Tsunade replied skeptically, "To look for other women to peep at for your so-called research!"

"Just as I thought!" Jiraiya stated, "Presumptuously believing you know everything about me!"

Jiraiya reached into his pocket inside his red vest and pulled out an old picture. He presented it to Tsunade who took a good look at the picture to see a picture of a very beautiful woman. She had green eyes and brown, light brown chin-length hair that covered her ears and framed her face. She was a fairly tall woman of a curvaceous build. She wore a red pink form-fitting outfit with only a long-sleeve on her left side and an orange sash.

"And who's this woman?" Tsunade asked.

"The best thing that happened to me," Jiraiya said, "Someone who helped me to see pass you."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked, "What made her so special to you?"

"Her name was Uzume-hime. She was the leader of Nadeshiko no Sato (Nadeshiko Village), which is located near the Land of Water. The families of that village are organized through matrilineality. The village itself is positioned upon the lightly forested top of three massive and steep hills standing in a line, with two bridges spanning the gorges between them. The hills are situated within a lush forested valley in a mountainous region. In terms of construction the village seems to be similar to a stronghold or palace, with numerous walls, towers and brickwork being dominant features."

"How did you meet her?" Tsunade asked.

"One night, years ago, Uzume-hime encountered me after I had entered her village to do "research" for my next novel," Jiraiya started off.

"What a surprise," Tsunade remarked with a frown of annoyance.

"There's more to this story Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya replied and continued, "After I escaped the village when a band of kunoichi were hunting me down, Uzume-hime herself found me few miles from her village by a large stream that runs through her village. The stream itself was said to be blessed Uzume-hime and she found that very location fitting to challenge me to a duel for my hand in marriage."

"Was that a joke?" Tsunade replied in disbelief, "She challenged you for your hand in marriage?"

"I'm not making this up though what I'm saying is hard to believe!" Jiraiya said and explained, "By law and custom, women from Nadeshiko must venture outside to find men strong enough to defeat them, resulting in them being taken to the village to marry the kunoichi they defeated. Uzume-hime's choice of weapon was a sword and to my surprise she was truly skilled in the arts of kenjutsu. As the match dragged on well into the next day, I called for the match to be postponed, as neither of us were making headway against the other, to which Uzume-hime grudgingly agreed."

"She managed to fight you to a draw?" Tsunade asked with a surprised tone.

"She was that strong and powerful, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya said, "You yourself and Orochimaru for that matter, wouldn't have been able to beat her if I wasn't able to. She was equally on par with us."

"So what happened afterwards?" Tsunade asked.

"I explained to her that there was a woman that I was already in love with and who's heart I wanted to win," Jiraiya said, "But I promised that if I couldn't win your heart Tsunade, then I would return to Nadeshiko to resume our match until I emerged as the victor. Surprisingly Uzume-hime accepted, though she didn't like that I had another woman in mind whom I wanted to try to win over first. Nevertheless, she accepted that it couldn't be helped since I knew you first for a much longer time."

"I'm sure you used that excuse to never go back to Nadeshiko in order to avoid having to keep your promise," Tsunade assumed, believing she already knew what Jiraiya did with regards to that.

"Again," Jiraiya retorted indignantly, "Being presumptuous and thinking you know everything about me! You couldn't be more wrong and far from the truth Tsunade! I actually did return to Nadeshiko; twelve years ago in fact!"

That revelation surprised and caught Tsunade off guard as she wasn't truly expecting Jiraiya to come out and state what he just said.

"I kept my promise when I decided it was time for me to let go of all aspirations of pursuing you and move on with my life," Jiraiya revealed, "To my own surprise, Uzume-hime truly did wait patiently for my return. And the fact that I returned willingly to challenge and duel their leader wasn't looked at lightly by either her or her people."

"So, you made quite an impression on both her and the citizens of Nadeshiko," Tsunade stated.

"I was highly respected by everyone when I returned in fact," Jiraiya said, "In the beginning, many skeptically didn't believe that I would actually return after they learned about what I promised their leader. Some had even believed me to be a spineless coward who was using that promise I made to their leader as a ploy to keep myself from ever going back. But all of their misjudgments and incorrect speculations of me were proven wrong when I returned that day to challenge their leader to a duel. Though Uzume-hime didn't facially show it at that moment, but through her eyes I was able to see how happy she was that I returned to challenge and duel her as promised.

"Uzume-hime and I returned to the same spot in the forest by the stream where we first met and battled. There were many kunoichi who came to watch the duel as they heard from their leader how strong I was and they wanted to see it for themselves."

"With all of those kunoichi coming to watch the fight, I'm sure you couldn't leave them disappointed," Tsunade remarked as she took a sip of her sake.

"The Gallant Jiraiya had to deliver as promised," Jiraiya said in good humor, "That day I was able to see the fire and excitement in her eyes and face as we stood facing each other with so many onlookers waiting to see how our match would play out. When our duel finally began, amazingly, it was just as fierce as before as her speed, strength and skills in kenjutsu never weakened at all. And like before, the surrounding landscape was completely leveled and heavily battered as though an all-out war broke out. It felt like I was fighting you Tsunade-hime, as though I was fighting to prevent you from trying to beat me to within less than an inch of my life again."

"Now I'm wishing I was actually there to have watched that match," Tsunade commented.

"As fierce as that match was however," Jiraiya said, "There were a number of kunoichi watching the match with looks of jealousy, wishing they were the ones challenging me instead of their leader."

"Some were jealous that they weren't fighting you?" Tsunade asked, "Why was that the case?"

"Having a strong and powerful husband who can match and defeat you in combat is look at with honor and great respect in Nadeshiko," Jiraiya explained, "For the women in that village, it means having potentially strong offspring, preferably daughters, who can continue the family line. Now having a husband who could rival and outmatch their village leader in combat and skills would have been considered the highest honor with the hopes of having daughters, if not sons, just as powerful once they were born, educated and trained."

"In other words," Tsunade figured, "Dueling the men was their way of gauging the men's capacity of giving them strong children and being good husbands. Men who chose to run away from their challenge to a duel are considered cowardly weak and unfit to marry and have children with."

"Behind every strong woman is a stronger alpha male," Jiraiya remarked.

"Sounds like one of those amazon warrior stories I read about years ago," Tsunade commented, "I wonder if those stories were based on that village."

"Well," Jiraiya replied, "Whatever the case, everything I told you is the truth and you can travel to Nadeshiko to confirm the story yourself if you don't believe anything I'm saying."

"I believe everything you're saying," Tsunade answered honestly, "I know this isn't something you would lie about. So how did the match turn out? Did it end in another draw?"

"No, not this time," Jiraiya said, "Unlike the first time, I was determined to win and in the end, I came out as the winner though it was still a close match. Defeated, Uzume-hime took me back to Nadeshiko where we were wedded six months later."

"Six months later?" Tsunade asked, "It wasn't immediate?"

"We took the time to date and get to know each other first before we got married," Jiraiya explained, "We were given quite a major reception on the day of our wedding. The whole village was happy for both me and their leader. And despite my perverted nature, Uzume-hime was the first and only woman I was sexually intimate with, even now."

Tsunade couldn't believe her ears. For all these years, she always thought Jiraiya would always want and pursue her. She never thought Jiraiya would truly give up on her and find somebody else to love and marry. And to make the shock deeper was that it was a strong female leader of a ninja village that loved and married Jiraiya of all people. It was just hard to believe.

"So what happened during your time as a married man?" Tsunade asked, "Was it hard readjusting to a different life as a married shinobi in oppose to life as a single free-spirited man?"

"During those years," Jiraya explained, "I was still able to keep up with my spy network and keep tabs on Orochimaru's movements and activities. There were occasions when my wife and I ventured out of the village to track Orochimaru's movements or that of the Akatsuki. We even had run-ins with some of my old enemies and even those she had. It was really adventurous having her at my side as we had each other's backs during dangerous missions and encounters with our enemies."

"It sounds like you both were quite a team," Tsunade commented and then inquired, "So what happened between you both?"

"During the seventh year of our marriage, during one of our journeys to meet up with one of my contacts of my spy network, we ran into three members the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure, these being Kurosuki Raiga, Munashi Jinpachi and Hōzuki Mangetsu. Though Kirigakure were known for their swordsmen, that generation of swordsmen we encountered was the strongest in that village's history and Mangetsu was one of the most powerful shinobi produced within Kirigakure. As a member of the Hōzuki clan, Mangetsu was proficient in the use of water nature manipulation and was able to use his clan's main secret technique to liquify his body at will. Mangetsu was also called "Kijin no Sairai" ("Second Coming of the Demon") and his skills, power and chakra were such that he was able to wield all seven blades of the other swordsmen."

"He was that powerful of an enemy I see," Tsunade noted, "So how did you and your wife end up in a battle with them?"

"They intercepted and killed my spy contact after he retrieve some vital information about what was happening in Kirigakure with regards to the bloodline limit purge that their Yondaime Mizukage enacted," Jiraiya explained, "While I was caught up battling Raiga and Jinpachi, my wife Uzume-hime was locked in fierce combat with Mangetsu. In that conflict, Mangetsu fatally wounded Uzume-hime before I managed to trap him and kill him. Jinpachi took Mangetsu's sword and escape with Raiga.

"After the battle was over, I did everything I could to keep Uzume-hime alive but she lost too much blood before her student, Shizuka, and her team could arrive with their medic ninja," Jiraiya paused for a moment as Tsunade took another a sip of her sake and then he continued, "Before her death, Uzume-hime thanked me for giving her the best and happiest seven years of her life but apologized knowing she wouldn't live long enough to take care and train our daughter to become her successor-"

Tsunade spewed her sake out again and turned back to Jiraiya and…

"DAUGHTER!?" Tsunade shouted with widened eyes in absolute disbelief, "YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER!?"

"That's why I told you not to presume to know me Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya remarked, "Yes, I had a daughter with Uzume-hime. Her name is Konohanasakuya-hime. But for short, she's also known as Sakuya-bime. Currently, she's eight years ago and lives in Nadeshiko."

"Why didn't you bring her with you and raise her as a parent should?" Tsunade asked with a tone of disappointment.

"You think I didn't want to or tried to?" Jiraiya replied while indignant at Tsunade for the implication of her question, "It wouldn't have been possible since she's Uzume-hime's legal heir and chosen future successor. She was already being taught and trained to take her mother's place as leader of Nadeshiko in the future. Plus, there were too many politics involved that made things difficult for me; not to mention what would have happened to Konohanasakuya-hime if it got out to all of my enemies that she's my daughter with Uzume-hime.

"In my wife's final moments, she asked me to keep our daughter safe and that she grows up into a strong kunoichi and woman and that she takes her rightful place as the future leader of Nadeshiko. Shizuka and the group with her eyewitnessed Uzume-hime's last words and the promise she had me make to her before she died in my arms soon after. My daughter was three years old when her mother died and she was deeply grieved by it since they were practically inseparable.

"After Uzume-hime's burial and giving myself and daughter some time to mourn, I asked Shizuka, who was eight at the time, to become Sakuya-bime's big sister and bodyguard while helping the other kunoichi in the governing court take care of her. I had to leave Nadeshiko and return to my duties as Konoha's field spy master after learning that Orochimaru and the Akatsuki were on the move in search of new recruits. But I always kept in contact with my daughter and made frequent visitations on her through the years. However I always had to do so secretly," Jiraiya looked directly at Tsunade and stated, "You're the first person I'm telling this to Tsunade. Not even Naruto or Sarutobi-sensei are aware of this, at least not yet."

Jiraiya placed the picture of his late wife back in his pocket inside his red vest and took out another picture and showed it to Tsunade. What Tsunade saw practically melted her heart. It was a picture of Jiraiya holding and carrying his smiling eight-year-old daughter dressed in princess training garbs and sandals. She was the spitting image of her late mother though she had very long white her like Jiraiya, except it was straight and reached the back of her kneecaps.

"You have a beautiful daughter," Tsunade complimented, "It's just so hard to believe that you of all people actually have a daughter, despite your infamous perverted, peeping nature."

"Life is just full of surprises Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya said as Tsunade handed him back the picture, which he took and put away, "I'll have to reveal her existence to Naruto and explain my story to him more appropriately, especially as to why I wasn't there during the first years of his life. Hopefully, the boy will come to forgive me after listening to my story."

"Honestly," Tsunade said, "I'm happy that you did find someone who loved and cherished you. You were privileged to experience life as a married ninja and parent unlike me. I'm sorry about what I said earlier about you not understanding the pain of losing a lover. I was completely out of line and overcome by emotions. I truly apologize. I can't say I'm not jealous of you because of that."

"I have a lot of fond memories of my late wife," Jiraiya said affectionately, "Much of which were in the bedroom and whenever I peeped on her in the bathhouse."

"You peeped on your own wife?" Tsunade asked with a raised eyebrow, "That doesn't even make any sense."

"And why not?" Jiraiya replied with a grin, "She was a real elegant beauty and though we were married, I enjoyed role playing as someone who was an unmarried dirty pervert peeping on girls. And while we did that and other kinds of role playing, that was just one of my favorites."

"Don't tell me you used her as research for your books," Tsunade commented.

"No I didn't," Jiraiya said with all truthfulness, "But peeping on her made things fun for us as I would try to do so without getting caught."

"Did she ever catch you?" Tsunade asked, finding it strange that she even asked.

"On a number of occasions," Jiraiya admitted, "Whenever she did, just for fun, she'd chase me out of the village and challenge me to a duel after she found me, just like how I got caught the first time I came to Nadeshiko. It helped keep the romance and fire in our marriage burning. I had some amazing times with her as she made me learn some things about myself that I never knew and thought were possible."

"Like what?" Tsunade inquired with a curious tone.

"What I'm capable of as a ninja, husband and father," Jiraiya replied, "While she was alive, she helped me appreciate true romance and what women look for in a man and what to look for in a woman. It would be an outright lie if I said I don't miss her. But I know deep down she wouldn't want her untimely death to be the reason for me to spend the rest of my life being unhappy. I know she would still want me to live a long and satisfying happy life, if I don't get killed first that is. And I'm sure that Dan would want you to be happy and find a new love Tsunade."

"Are you presuming that new love to be you Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.

"I presume nothing!" Jiraiya replied, "I'm just stating what I'm sure of since I can talk from personal experience as a man who was once married and know the joys are having a wife who loved me before she was killed. I know those future seven dates with you won't guarantee that I'll win your heart as you accepted the conditions of the bet with Naruto with great reluctance as you only sort to have your bet with Naruto satisfy your own interests. It's clear that you don't see yourself with me and were considering ways to make every date with me as financially difficult as possible since you accepted the condition not to act violently against me. Deep down, you wish it was Dan sitting here with you and not me."

Tsunade wanted to get mad and give Jiraiya a violent retort. But she refrained from doing that when she realized that doing so would only prove his point. She wanted to tell him off and say how wrong he was. But she had no ground on which to base her arguments on. There was a brief moment of silence that lasted for a couple of minutes as Tsunade meditated deeply on all the profound things Jiraiya told her about himself and his past. Soon though, the time came for the silence to be broken.

"I can't ever look at you the same way again Jiraiya," Tsunade remarked, "You're definitely not the same man I once knew."

"I don't think I've changed that much," Jiraiya replied.

"No Jiraiya," Tsunade said sincerely, "You have changed a lot. You've showed me a whole new side of you I never knew exist. For a long time now I never thought you'd ever make a good husband to any woman, let alone a father to a daughter. I thought you'd spent the rest of your life being rejected by every woman you come across. But you proved me wrong tremendously and married a strong woman who loved you for you and had a family with her.

"I never once gave you a chance to prove yourself; even now as I just presumed to know all there is about you. But from everything you told me concerning Nawaki and your wife, you proved that I don't know you as well as I think. I carried years' worth of misjudgments and wrong beliefs about you and for that Jiraiya, I'm truly sorry."

There was a short silence between the two Sannin before it was Jiraiya's turn to break the silence.

"It's water under the bridge or over a dam, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya assured after accepting her apology, "I'm not holding it against you in any way."

Jiraiya stood up and left the private V.I.P. booth to go pay for the sake. After he was done, he returned to Tsunade and said, "Well, we both learned a lot this evening Tsunade and I'm sure it's given you plenty to think about. But I'm going to head out and enjoy the rest of the night elsewhere."

"Where are you planning to go now?" Tsunade asked.

"Hn," Jiraiya grinned confidently, "If you really want to know Tsunade-hime, then you'll just have to follow me. If not, then you're free to enjoy the rest of the evening alone or at a casino."

Saying nothing further, Jiraiya turned and started on his way out from the private booth and out of the tavern leaving Tsunade with her thoughts as she sat there and watch him leave.

"I know those future seven dates with you won't guarantee that I'll win your heart…It's clear that you don't see yourself with me and…Deep down, you wish it was Dan sitting here with you and not me…you're free to enjoy the rest of the evening alone or at a casino."

Those words haunted and robbed Tsunade of peace as she felt a measure of guilt surface from deep within herself as she watched Jiraiya get further from her with every step he took. He truly moved on from her and wasn't desperately pining after her like he used to anymore. He was walking away from her with such confidence and dignity she never saw before and the only thing to keep her company was a half empty bottle of sake he bought for her.

Jiraiya was walking peacefully through the town streets when he felt someone take hold of his left shoulder. He turned to see Tsunade standing and looking back at him.

"You were seriously going to leave me back there," Tsunade remarked.

"I gave you the invitation to follow after me Tsunade," Jiraiya replied, "It was your choice to accept it or not. You don't have to date me out of obligations to a bet you made with my student. I'll talk to Naruto tomorrow and get him to nullify that part of the bet."

"Don't!" Tsunade replied, "I accepted the bet out of my own free will. No one forced me to accept the terms, so don't try talking to Naruto about anything concerning that."

"Very well," Jiraiya agreed, "So what do you want to do now?"

"We can walk and talk together about the old days, can't we?" Tsunade suggested, "You remember that time you talked Orochimaru into pretending to be a masked ninja coming to challenge me one evening so you could valiantly come to my rescue? I had just returned from a casino after losing all of my money in a poker game and was in a really bad mood. I can still remember Orochimaru slowly backing away from me as he clearly didn't want to feel my wrath unleashed against him."

"Unfortunate for him though," Jiraiya recalled, "You violently fissured the ground in front him with a shock wave of gravel and debris coming at him," Jiraiya laughed, "I can still remember his loud scream of panic and fear as my plan backfired! I wonder if he's still sore about that."

The two Sannin continued talking and walking together through the town streets as they reminisced about their younger days.

(Meanwhile)

Karin was with Shizune at a diner conversing with the older woman. Shizune decided to enlighten and entertain Karin about her time and travel experiences with Tsunade while having a small meal together. Seijiro was with Kansui and Arashi at a bathhouse after the twins convinced him to take a breather from his work and take the remainder of the night to rest and relax.

Naruto had summoned sixty clones and sent them to a secluded spot in the forest to study and practice his new S-class ninjutsu, Senko Tanken (Flashing Daggers) and the dormant ability his patriarch ancestor Uzumaki Susanoo infused into his being. They still had a long way to go before perfecting their new training but they were planning on losing to Tsunade at all. Even if it meant exhausting their chakra to the point of unforeseen self-dispelling.

(Elsewhere)

At a love motel in the red-light district of Tenmang-machi (Tenmangu Town), in one of the rented guestrooms on the third floor of the motel that had a "Do Not Disturb" sign posted on the locked door knob, Naruto was lying naked on the bed with Hinata who was also lying naked next to him with her head on his right shoulder. Both of them were sweating and catching their breaths after enjoying a good lovemaking that burn out what stress they had. While lying there quietly with Hinata in his arms, Naruto was enjoying his private alone time with Hinata.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, "Are you alright? You're clearly deep in thought about something."

"Just thinking about everything that's happened since we were given this mission to find Tsunade," Naruto revealed, "In such a short time I found more members of my clan, learned what really happened to my people's homeland from a surviving Uzumaki brother who was old enough to remember what happened from being there when it happened, and consummating my love for you."

"Those were all wonderful things Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "I'm just happy that I'm able to be part of all of this."

"I know you especially enjoyed the last part," Naruto teased. Hinata replied back, "You enjoyed it just as much if not more."

"We both took pleasure in exploring each other bodies and discovering what methods set our souls on fire," Naruto said with a pervy smile, "I want us to always be this happy with each other, come what may."

"I want that for us too," Hinata agreed happily while resting her right hand on his chest, "But we will face challenges and other difficulties along the way, but that just comes with life."

"Our lives have always been filled with difficulties and dangers," Naruto said, "I know that as ninja, there's always that possibility of something happening to one of us or both. While I try not to think about it often however, I know it's a cold hard truth we can't ignore and pretend doesn't exist."

"I know," Hinata agreed, "But I know I can always trust you to protect me. You've always done that since our younger days at the ninja academy. And you know you can always count on me to always stay at your side to help you through whatever comes our way. By the way, how's things progressing with that new jutsu of yours?"

"I'm still working onl it as we speak," Naruto said, "Sixty of my clones are in a secluded area working on that ninjutsu in an effort to make a breakthrough. Hopefully I'll have something before the week is out."

"You staked your dreams and wealth on the line in exchange for Karin and I having a chance in becoming Tsunade-sama's new students and Jiraiya-sama having a chance to date Tsunade-sama. I can't think of anyone who'd selflessly go this far for the benefit of others rather than themselves. Anyone would call you either insane or some other derogative term."

"People who think such things are narrow-minded," Naruto said, "I don't pay them any mind. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to come this far. I'm confident that I'll win this bet against Tsunade-obaachan and get ero-jisan to finally have his chance with that old lady he's been chasing after longer than either of us been alive on this planet."

"Jiraiya-sama has been interested in Tsunade-sama for that long?" Hinata inquired.

"Ero-jisan has been in love with Tsunade since they were Genin," Naruto said, "But she never gave him a chance and would always brush him off, many times very violently. And she brutally beat him nearly to death just because he peeped at her once."

"Forgive me if this offends you Naruto-kun," Hinata said meekly, "But that sounded similar to you and Sakura-san back then."

"I'm not offended," Naruto assured, "I'm sorry to say that was the same path I almost took with Sakura. I'd have wasted so much time and effort going after that pink haired harpy and lose out in all the time I could have invested in you and making us happen."

"So why are you going out of your way playing the wingman for Jiraiya-sama in helping him woo Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked, "Wouldn't it be practical if you encourage him to pursue happiness with another woman?"

"Ero-jisan's feelings for Tsunade-obaachan are genuine and sincere regardless of how much of a pervert he is," Naruto said "Truthfully, he did try moving on from Tsunade-obaachan and be with other women. The problem ero-jisan had with them was that they weren't Tsunade-obaachan. Despite ero-jisan's outer vices and past mistake, deep down he's really a great guy and powerful ninja. Tsunade-obaachan lost so many years of happiness she could have had with ero-jisan if she had just given him a chance. Instead, she wasted those years drowning herself in gambling, drinking, amassing huge debts and dwelling too much on the past. It's amazing she didn't self-destruct and resort to senpukku."

"That wouldn't have solved any of their problems," Hinata commented.

"No, it wouldn't have," Naruto agreed, "Tsunade-obaachan proclaims herself as a strong kunoichi and world-renowned medic. While that's true and all, what she needs yet won't admit to herself, is a good and strong man who understands her pain, loss, and sorrows, and actually wants to be there for her in everything. Believe me Hinata-chan, I do understand ero-jisan's feelings."

"I do believe you Naruto-kun," Hinata said honestly, "I have no reason to doubt that. I just wanted to understand your reasons for your actions."

'That's because Jiraiya's memories of Tsunade-obaachan are infused inside me,' Naruto thought, 'Thankfully his genuine feelings and affections for her weren't also infused into me, otherwise that would have given me massive problems on a grand scale. Clearly when my patriarch ancestor created and designed that seal, it wasn't designed with the capacity to copy and infused emotions and affections of one person to another. The problem I have is that I had the displeasure of seeing first hand through his eyes what being beaten to less than an inch of your life by obaachan's monstrous strength was like.'

Naruto physically shuddered when he recalled waking up in cold sweat from that nightmare memory he experienced when that memory from Jiraiya awakened in one of his past dreams. He remembered taking a couple of minutes to calm and get himself together and understanding what happened, which led to him developing methods of escape and self-defense in the event something like that were to happened. Being beaten to death wasn't one of his future life goals though he was careless that one time with Anko when one her of summoned diamondback rattle snakes managed to bite and inject venom into him.

"Are you OK, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked with concerned, "You trembled uncomfortably for a moment there. Is something the matter?"

"Just some very bad memories that briefly haunted me," Naruto honestly, "It almost killed the mood we're having here, but I managed to overcome them. However…"

"However what, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"There are still other important diplomatic clan affairs that I as the Uzumaki clan leader still have to give an answer to sooner or later," Naruto said.

"You mean the one regarding the priestess from Oni no Kuni," Hinata deduced.

"Yeah," Naruto answered calmly, "I've been trying to come up with a way to properly handle that that matter without causing too much problems for everyone. Before leaving for this mission, I asked jiisan how he would have handle matters if he were in my position but he refused to give me any feedback, stating that doing so would be overstepping his boundaries as the Hokage. He told me this was a decision I had to make. Then I considered the idea of having one of my brethren step in as my substitute."

"In other words," Hinata realized, "You're trying to find a way of accepting Shion's offer without having to personally conceive daughters with her. You're trying to have Shion conceive daughters with another male Uzumaki."

"That's the idea," Naruto said but then stated, "However, it's not exactly a perfect idea that would work though."

"And why is that?" Hinata asked.

"For starters," Naruto elaborated, "Arashi's has a bad habit of groping females in public. I doubt very much that the people of Oni no Kuni would take kindly to having their priestess betrothed to someone who openly behaves with such brazen indecency. I thought about hooking Kansui with Shion, but there's the matter of whether or not Shion would even accept such a compromise since she said she wanted the future priestesses to be direct descendants from my bloodline. Seijiro-jisan is obviously out of the question as he's way too old for the priestess anyway."

"I see that your options are very limited as you were giving the matter a lot of serious forethought," Hinata remarked.

"I didn't want to keep the fact that I was deeply contemplating how to handle Shion's offer a secret from you," Naruto said, "Whatever choices or actions I decide to take on with this matter will affect you as much as it'll affect me and the future of the Uzumaki clan and by extension Konoha. I didn't want to decide on anything without discussing it with you and coming to a decision afterwards. I do value your opinions and feelings and whatever feedback I can get from you."

"Well Naruto-kun," Hinata reminded, "Like you said, you're the Uzumaki clan leader whereas I'm the Hyuuga clan heiress. What do you strongly believe will be in the Uzumaki clan's best interest?"

"My thoughts were how I would feel if a foreign male dignitary or nobleman possessing a powerful bloodline limit wanted to ask if he could have a son or daughter with you because he believes that fusing his bloodline limit with yours would produce a more powerful hybrid Hyuuga or whatever it is that his bloodline would possess," Naruto reasoned.

"You do bring up an interesting point Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "But it's not as easy as you make it out to be. The rules and customs are different when it comes to noble males having an interest in a female of high status of another clan. Unlike the priestess, the nobleman, foreign or not, or male dignitary have to beseech the clan leader's permission for my hand in marriage before conceiving any child with me. It's not like he'd be allowed to have and impregnate me in hopes of producing a powerful offspring without marrying me first."

"Yet you allowed me to have you," Naruto teased playfully.

"Only because I know my sure future is with you as you'll go before my father to ask his permission and blessings to marry me," Hinata replied, "And after everything you've done and how you've helped me throughout the years, there's no possible way father will refuse."

"That goes without say," Naruto confirmed, "And knowing your clan, I'll possibly have to be formal about it too."

"Be that as it may," Hinata said "But the point is, if a female of high station like Shion were to entreat a clan leader, nobleman or dignitary to impregnate her for the sole purpose of preserving her line without the need to marry her, then it would be at his discretion especially if there no other ulterior motives behind her wanting to conceive a child with him."

"Other ulterior motives?" Naruto asked.

"Some would falsely try to accuse a foreign noblewoman or dignitary of trying to seduce the male of interest into having a child with her solely so she could try to use the child to stake her claim on what belonged to his or her father by birthright later on down the years should anything happen to the child's father," Hinata explained, "If the child were to return to claim an inheritance from his or her late father without any documented medical proof or a legal birth certificate bearing the names of his or her birthparents, that could lead to more legal complications, especially if the father didn't leave behind a written will with his stamped seal explaining everything in clear details about how he wants to apportion whatever inheritance he left behind for all of his children, including those he had with another woman, legitimate or not."

"Funny how Iruka-sensei never discussed these serious topics with us in class," Naruto remarked.

"Iruka-sensei isn't from any noble clan like us Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "These were lessons Hanabi and I were taught by our father."

"Well I surely learned a whole lot just from listening to you for these few minutes," Naruto remarked, "It certainly gave me a number of things to meditate on."

"I'm happy my limited input was able to give you some ideas on what future course of action you may decide to take for the benefit of the Uzumaki clan," Hinata said.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto said, "Whatever decision I make will affect you as well. You are the future matriarch of my clan after all."

"While I'm happy and honored to be regarded as your clan's future matriarch in both your eyes and in the eyes of your Uzumaki brethren however," Hinata said candidly, "The Hokage and the rest of the shinobi council won't acknowledge whatever feelings or opinions I have regarding whatever decision you make as Uzumaki clan leader with regards to Shion's proposal to your clan."

"Why would you say that?" Naruto asked.

"For starters," Hinata pointed out, "You and I aren't married, therefore I'm not an official member or matriarch of your clan. Secondly, like my father, you're an official member of Konoha's shinobi council, a governing political hierarchy of our village. Therefore, if I were to openly and vehemently object to whatever decisions you make for your clan when it poses no potential harm or threat to Konoha or to any of your clansmen, then the shinobi council would see me as an insolent Chuunin and Hyuuga clan heiress overstepping my boundaries and interfering with diplomatic businesses that was solely between the Uzumaki clan and Oni no Kuni.

"In an extreme worst case scenario, if I were to act recklessly or violently against the priestess out of jealous rage, it would cause an international incident between Konoha and Oni no Kuni. Everyone would blame me for it if war was Oni no Kuni's response to my actions and there would be dire consequences not only against me but possibly against my clan as well. You already know the story between my clan and Kumo."

"The Kumo Ambassador tried to kidnap you and bring you to Kumo because they were after the Byakugan," Naruto said, "Your father was within his rights to protect you and kill that bastard."

"Regardless," Hinata said, "It almost led to war between Kumo and Konoha. My uncle Hizashi died in my father's place to prevent that from happening."

"Well I don't want to do anything that would cause you to behave and do something reckless and irresponsible," Naruto said.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata replied, "I would take full responsibility if my actions, no matter my reasons, caused you and your clan tremendous problems of any sort. Even though I'm not an official member or matriarch of your clan, the very fact that you're discussing these important clan affairs with me reassures me that you truly do love me and consider my feelings and opinions as important to you. But no matter what decision and course of action you decide to take for your clan, I won't leave your side, not after everything you've selflessly done for me and with me. You'll have my full support. I'll stick with you through thick and thin, Naruto-kun," Hinata promised, "No matter what happens or whatever comes our way, I won't leave your side."

"And I won't ever leave yours, my Moon's Eye Spring Rabbit," Naruto promised before moving to kiss her. Hinata returned the kiss before they embraced and held each other. As the pair were making out, heat and arousal started developing in their beings again before they caved in and made love again with Hinata riding Naruto for all he was worth.

(Two Days Later; Somewhere in Hi No Kuni)

For the past two days, the three sibling kunoichi were traveling through Hi No Kuni in search of Naruto and the Uzumaki remnant with him. They went journeyed through three towns hoping to find a lead about their whereabouts. Soon they arrived in one of the towns they learned Naruto and his company traveled through. Finally having a solid lead as to where they have been previously, the three kunoichi made haste and hurried to the next town they learned Naruto and his company traveled to.

It was during the evening hour when they came to the third town that Naruto and his company traveled through. Deciding that they did enough traveling for the evening, they went to a motel to rest up and stay until the next morning.

(Back In Tenmangu-Machi; That Same Evening)

Naruto was alone with Jiraiya in a rocky clearing deep in the forest. He was catching his breath and the surrounding landscape had seen better days after the heavy damages Naruto's training and sparring match with Jiraiya did to the region.

"You've gotten better," Jiraiya complimented while in Sage Mode.

"Your Sage Mode lasted a little longer this time," Fukasaku commented from Jiraiya's right shoulder.

"It's still not in its perfect form ero-jisan," Naruto replied, "I've only managed to maintain it for up to four minutes and thirty seconds."

"That's still a really good start Naruto," Shima stated from Jiraiya's left shoulder, "Even your father wasn't able to maintain Sage Mode this long and he was a genius and prodigy like no other during his time."

"All the more reasons for me to surpass my father then," Naruto remarked.

"By the way," Jiraiya asked, "How are you making out with that jutsu of yours?"

"I managed to make some progress with it though it's like trying to reverse engineer Tobirama's original Hiraishin," Naruto said, "The seals on that jutsu are that complex. But I'm sure with the help and hard work of my clones I'll master and perfect that jutsu before the week is out at the rate my clones are studying and training with it as we speak."

"Confident, aren't we?" Jiraiya remarked.

"It's either succeed or fail," Naruto replied, "There's no other option."

"It's good to see your resolve on the matter as you only have five days to master and perfect that ninjutsu," Jiraiya reminded, "And while you're multitasking, let's continue on working on you mastering Sage Mode."

Naruto was about to say something when an idea came to mind, "Multitask."

Jiraiya, Fukasaku and Shima looked at Naruto oddly.

"Come again boy?" Fukasaku asked.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called out before four clone materialized in front of him.

"Alright guys," Naruto instructed, "I have a little experiment that just came to mind. Everybody huddle to me!"

The four clones gathered around Naruto in a circle as they moved away from the ears of Jiraiya, Fukasaku and Shima. Jiraiya and the toad Sages on his shoulders watched with curiosity as they wondered what Naruto was scheming with his clones. After a brief moment of deliberating with his clones, the four clones shunsin'd away to their destination of choice. A moment later, Naruto focused nature chakra into his body until he reached his level of Sage Mode he was currently able to reach.

"Let's try this again ero-jisan!" Naruto declared before charging at Jiraiya, who met him head on. The ninja battled each other again in fierce combat, but the significant difference was that Naruto's Sage Mode last for a much longer time than before, three times longer than before. Jiraiya was really pushed back by Naruto this time around as his second battle was nowhere like his first one.

'How was Naruto able to improve this drastically in such a very short time!?' Jiraiya wondered as he saw that Naruto's Sage Mode lasted for more than thirteen minutes straight without him needing to stop and regather nature chakra. Not only that but the appearance and stability of Naruto's Sage Mode looked a lot better than previously.

Jiraiya leaped away and made some distance between himself and Naruto. Both Jiraiya and Naruto took the moment to catch their breaths and gain their strengths and steadiness.

"That was amazing jump in progress," Jiraiya remarked with an impressed expression on his face, "How were you able to pull it off?"

"Through multitasking," Naruto said, "I'm surprised that the idea didn't come to mind until now."

"Care to clarify?" Fukasaku implored.

"I sent my clones into hiding while keeping a close watch of my actions as one of them gathers nature chakra to convert into Sage chakra for me as a standby," Naruto explains, "As soon as they saw that my Sage Mode was about to run out, that clone possessing the Sage chakra dispelled itself and both the Sage chakra and experience of my clone were immediately infused into my mind and body. The next clone then began the process of gathering nature chakra to turn into Sage chakra and become the next clone to be my standby. This pattern continued until I exhausted all of my clones assigned for that purpose which helped strengthen my Sage Mode with the additional experience I gained. The issue I have with this for now is that I can only do this with two clones at a time."

"Clever," Fukasaku complimented, "Too bad Jiraiya-chan or Minato never thought of that."

"Even if we did we wouldn't have the massive chakra needed to use kage bunshin as effectively as any other Uzumaki," Jiraiya remarked.

"Regardless," Shima commented, "Naruto's strategy has proven to be very useful and practical. If he continues with that type of consistency, he'll succeed in truly having Sage Mode mastered and perfected by the end of the week."

"If not before then," Fukasaku said. As Fukasaku, Shima and Jiraiya continued conversing with each other, Naruto thought back to another jutsu he had been working on mastering and perfecting ever since his mission to Nami no Kuni and made a mental note to put it on his "to do" list before their return to Konoha. Moments later, Naruto started receiving incoming experiences and memories from his clones practicing his Tanken Senkō. But then the information stream started coming in larger waves faster than his mind could process.

"Those damn clones sent me everything too fast again!" Naruto growled before losing consciousness and falling to the ground. Jiraiya, Fukasaku and Shima turned in time to see Naruto hit the ground as he landed on his back with his Sage Mode deactivating.

+"What happened to Naruto?" Shima asked.

"Experience overload," Jiraiya deduced, "He's going to be unconscious for the rest of the night. Well, he could use the rest of the night to rest seeing how much he got done today."

"If there's nothing more for us to do here Jiraiya-chan, then Shima-chan and I will be on our way back home," Fukasaku said. Jiraiya nodded his head to them before they burst into a cloud of smoke and returned back to Mount Myōboku. Jiraiya stood over to Naruto's body and knelt down to carry him up over his right shoulder.

"You certainly put on some weight Naruto," Jiraiya remarked as he had the displeasure of carrying Naruto all the way back to town.

(The Follow Day; Back In Konoha)

Honoka was back in the Forest of Death with her Samahada being fastened and carried on her back. With her were a Naruto clone, Shino and Shibi. Honoka was training in both her pheromone controlling chakra and in overcoming her fear of cockroaches, better known as "water bugs."

"The Forest of Death is the most unlikely place I'd personally would chose to train in Naruto," Shino remarked.

"But it's the perfect place to discourage spies from lurking around to find out what we're up to," Naruto replied, "You both along with a few others from your clan are the only ones who are aware of Honoka-nee's phobia of roaches. Since your clan is renowned for their use and ingenuity in having insects as allies, I found that seeking and utilizing your aid in helping Honoka-nee overcome her fear was the most logical idea to go with."

"Agreed," Shibi said with a nod as Shino also agreed with Naruto's words. Naruto turned to Honoka and asked, "Would it be alright if they hear the story behind your fear of roaches?"

"Since they're offering their services in helping me break free of my fear," Honoka answered, "I suppose it would be best if they know how the problem started and see how they can help me through this."

Naruto nodded and turned back to Shibi and Shino, and explained, "Honoka-nee's phobia goes back to her childhood, when she was 7 years old. During her early life, her unique abilities in using her chakra to influence and control animals, insects and arachnids lied dormant. Her adoptive mother Chiaki was training her in medical herbs and healing, and would frequently take her to the woods to teach her which types of plants and minerals were good for medicine and medical balm for treatments. Being one who always loved nature, Honoka-nee would sometimes travel around the woods on her own and collect samples to practice making herbs and balm of her own.

"On one particular day, however, a pack of wolves stalked and followed her through the woods. When she realized that she was being followed by those animals, she ran as fast as she could before they chased after her in pursuit. Just as they were gaining on her, Honoka-nee fell into a pit in the forest. Unfortunate for her however was that she fell next to a carcass of a dead reindeer and if that wasn't bad enough for her, the floor of the pit was completely covered and infested with cockroaches feeding on the corpse.

"Her traumatic panic and screaming and believing that she was about to be eaten alive by those creatures triggered her pheromonal chakra to active in waves. But because she was new her own powers, the cockroaches went into a crazed state of confusion and started running all over her body and hair while not doing any actual harm to her.

"Chiaki soon found and rescued her and by that time the wolves were long gone. Since that time, Honoka-nee would have reoccurring nightmares about that incident."

"Considering what happened to her as a child," Shibi reasoned, "It's understandable why she would develop such a morbid fear of cockroaches. Though I'm a little surprised that Honoka-san didn't develop the same fear for wolves."

"I understood that by nature wolves are predators that hunt as a pack," Honoka said, "But cockroaches are a whole other story! I have the utmost hate for them!"

"With the exception of the girls and women in the Aburame clan who aren't afraid of researching and dissecting those bugs," Naruto remarked, "I can't name any female who have any fondness for cockroaches. Of all the insects, they're infamously the most hated, especially those big ones that fly."

"Naruto-kun!" Honoka retorted in annoyance, "Those are visuals I don't need to imagine!"

"That pit you fell into was no doubt a nest that you had the misfortune of falling into," Shibi said, "However, falling into that pit became your salvation in that your encounter with those insects awakened your dormant power which deterred the wolves from pursuing you further and allowing your late adoptive mother to find and rescue you."

"Though by nature," Shino spoke up, "Cockroaches are mostly found in places of filth like the sewer, in garbage and in warm wet dark areas where there's either considerable amount of biodegradable matter like rotten food or dead animals. I'm sure you're aware that even this forest is teaming with cockroaches in the very location I described."

"I made an effort to avoid those locations," Honoka replied, "I don't want a repeat of what happened in my childhood."

"And the best way to overcome that traumatic fear is to face them," Shibi replied, "I have reasons to believe that your fears are preventing you from reaching your full potential that your pheromonal chakra has to offer."

"My full potential with my chakra?" Honoka asked.

"My kikai bugs and Shino's kikai bugs detected this after you allowed some of them the privilege of sampling your chakra during your second visit to my clan's hive," Shibi enlightened, "They found thick richness in your chakra that can be strengthened incredibly if you managed to break free from your childhood fear of cockroaches."

"I thought my chakra was potent enough," Honoka admitted, "I never knew my mental handicap was serving a hindrance in my ability to upgrade my chakra's potency."

"Of course, not everyone overcomes and breaks free from their fears in the same way," Shibi said, "And because of the potency of your pheromonal chakra, we'll started small at the beginning stages."

Shibi turned to his son and gestured with his head to retrieve something they brought along with them and hid away. Shino acknowledged this and went to a nearby bush to bring back what was clearly a see-thru plastic box container housing several big cockroaches that the Naruto clone described earlier. Upon seeing them, Honoka already started turning pale as she started to visibly start trembling. The Naruto clone went and grabbed her by the hand and reassured her, "We're all here to help you through this Honoka-nee. We know you're scared and afraid, but we want to help you conquer this phobia you have."

As much as she wanted to listen to his words of encouragement, Honoka was having problems dealing with her childhood flashbacks of that traumatic incident as she started getting weak in the legs. Shibi and Shino noticed how the four cockroaches started running the container in a fearful frenzy as though they were desperately trying to escape danger from each other.

"Fascinating," Shino said as he and his father observed and studied the bugs' actions inside the container.

"It would seem that Honoka's chakra is inducing in them the same form of phobia she has of them," Shibi observed, "Clearly her emotions play a major part in the effect her chakra has on the creatures she influences with her pheromonal chakra."

"Her challenge though is helping her to conquer and control that fear she has of these creatures," Shino said.

"Given the length of years she's carried this fear with her," Shibi stated, "I can't say for sure when, if at all, she'll finally break free and defeat this fear she has of cockroaches."

"But despite her fear," Shino noted, "She was still willing to try to get our help to conquer this phobia she has. That in itself is an accommodatingly brave first step in her mental healing."

"Agreed," Shibi replied.

(At The Ninja Academy)

Hanabi, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon were all in class at their respective desks while Iruka was busy talking in front of the class. Konohamaru and Hanabi were both partly distracted but for their own reasons. For Konohamaru, he was thinking about how he was going to incorporate Naruto's elemental training into the iron monkey fist training his grandfather Hiruzen was giving him. He figured that it would be something he would have to ask Naruto about after his returned from his mission.

'Jiisan and Enma-sama are really pushing me hard in their introductory training,' Konohamaru contemplated, 'Not that Naruto-niichan was any easier to be trained by. I'm know Naruto-niichan can give me useful suggestions if I asked him about it. After see that match his girlfriend Hinata had with Gaara, there's no doubt in my mind that he trained her in elemental ninja jutsu and helped her implement them in her clan's Juuken style. I can just see the possibilities of fusing my elemental ninja training with my iron monkey fist training! I will become The Flaming Iron Monkey!'

"Konohamaru!" Iruka called out, "Please pay attention!"

Konohamaru snapped out of his mental deliberation and turned face Iruka and apologized, "Sorry about that Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka sighed but said nothing further to Konohamaru as he turned back to the board with his text book in his hand. As Iruka resumed his lesson, Hanabi was having her own contemplation and, like Konohamaru, they weren't based on Iruka's class lectures.

'I know I have to continue my advancement and training with Naruto-kun,' Hanabi thought, 'But he's dating onee-sama and being near him so often will make things awkward. But he's the only one who can teach and train me in elemental Drunken Jyuuken…Damn it! Why did I have to go and fall in love with Naruto-kun!? It's not like I can have an actual romantic relationship with him! Naruto-kun is onee-sama's boyfriend and she would flip out and do who knows what to me if I were to ever ask her if she'd share her boyfriend with me!' Hanabi sighed to herself, 'I think I've been reading too many of Naruto-kun's Ichaicha Paradise books. I have to find a way to get my feelings for Naruto-kun out of my system!'

"Alright now listen up!" Iruka called out, snapping the young Hyuuga out of her train of thoughts, "I'm sure you're all wondering what's the piece of paper in front of you are for."

"Is this for a surprise algebra quiz?" Udon asked before receiving dirty looks from Konohamaru, Moegi and just about everyone in the class.

"No actually," Iruka corrected, "What I want you all to do is write the name of the one person you would want to spend your last hours with if the world was about to be destroyed."

"What?!" Konohamaru objected, "That's a ridiculous scenario! There's no way the world would ever be destroyed!"

"I'm not saying that it actually would be Konohamaru!" Iruka retorted, "I'm just saying imagine that it was and that if there was one person you would truly want to be with during the world's last hours, who would it be. Your grandfather, your parents or siblings, your dearest and closest friend, whoever you can think of; just write the name of that one person you would sincerely and honestly want to be with the most more than anything, even if it's your dearest and closest friend."

"Damn it Iruka-sensei!" Hanabi angrily growled under her breath, "Of all the things to ask of us, this is by far the worst!"

"I would want to be with the daughter of that ramen stand guy!" one of the boys said enthusiastically with hearts in his eyes.

"You mean Ayame-neechan!?" another boy clarified.

"That woman?" another girl snorted, "Really? You know she's much older than you, right?"

"Who cares! She's cute!" the first boy stated, "Plus she can cook, so that means that I get to have my last meal with a cutie like her! It's a double win!"

"You're a chauvinist pig!" another girl objected in distaste.

"Oh shut up!" the boy retorted, "At least I'm honest with myself about my answer unlike you I'm sure. You'll probably lie and write some name of someone you knowingly can't stand!"

"That's not true!" the girl objected.

"Enough! Behave, both of you!" Iruka interjected, "Like I was saying, write the name of the one person you would want to be with the most if the world was coming to an end in a matter of hours. It can be anyone; your option isn't limited."

"Do we have to share our answer with the class?" Moegi asked.

"You can if you want to," Iruka offered, "It's up to your discretion if you feel comfortable doing so. Remember, we're not here to judge or ridicule anyone for their answer."

Hanabi felt a sense of relief wash over her after hearing that reply.

"But the fact is that as ninja," Iruka continued, "There's always a chance that we could be killed on the battlefield, on a mission, during an attack or an invasion like recently or by any other extreme circumstances. I'm just using a colossal world catastrophe as an extreme worst case scenario. This exercise is to gauge your level of honesty with yourself if you were in a critical situation and only had less than a few hours or even minutes to live. Would you die knowing you were truthful with yourself or would you live your last hours lying to yourself?"

"What if we don't know or can't think of anyone who we want to spend our last hours with?" another boy in the class asked, "Could we choose not to write anyone's name on the paper?"

"You can choose that option if you want to," Iruka said, but then added, "But then that would reveal that you hold no one precious to you and that you'd prefer to live your last hours alone with nobody you consider precious and close to your heart. I can't imagine a lonelier death than that not being loved by anyone or not having anyone precious to you."

Hanabi groaned, knowing she was in a lose-lose situation.

'I don't want to reveal that the last person I would choose to spend my last hours with if it came down to it would be onee-sama's boyfriend who I find to be precious to me,' Hanabi mentally bewailed, 'Trying to think up of ways to get over Naruto-kun will be a lot harder than I thought,' Hanabi moaned lowly to herself, 'Why does a girl's heart have to be so complicated?'

(At The Uchiha District)

Sasuke was just returning home when Tayuya greeted him at the door.

"Finally your ass is back Numb Nuts," Tayuya greeted before she grabbed him by the collar and kissed him passionately, "I thought I'd have to wait another three days before I had to go search for your ass," Tayuya said after breaking her lips away from his.

"Well I'm back," Sasuke replied, already accustomed to Tayuya manner of greeting him, "It does feel good knowing that mission is over."

"How did it go?" Tayuya inquired as she allowed Sasuke to enter the house and close the door behind him.

"Just a boring protection mission for a few merchants," Sasuke said as he removed his sandals and walked further into the house with Tayuya, "Other than that, nothing happened."

"I'm happy you're alright and that you didn't run into any trouble," Tayuya said, with her voice betraying her as it leaked out some of her concern.

"Did something happen while I was away?" Sasuke asked after he detected the worried tone in Tayuya's voice.

"One of Orochimaru-sama's top kuniochi named Guren came by here unannounced just two hours before your arrival home," Tayuya answered.

"What did she come for?" Sasuke inquired.

"Guren came to inquire about…my progress in getting you to defect from Konoha and travel back with me to Otogakure," Tayuya revealed. Sasuke saw the seriousness behind Tayuya's explanation as he saw the look on her face.

"Who's Guren?" Sasuke implored.

"She's one of Orochimaru-sama's most powerful and loyal subordinates and that blood clot cunt possesses the unique Crystal Release bloodline limit," Tayuya elaborated, "She's someone I wouldn't advise you underestimating at any time."

"She's that strong, huh?" Sasuke remarked.

"Some time ago," Tayuya revealed, "Orochimaru-sama sent that bitch to destroy a whole town and kill everyone just so he could assess and test her potential. She did so singlehandedly despite passing out from overusing her powers. She's someone that even I'm wary of fighting if I had to take her on in a death match. Not that I wouldn't fight the bitch if I had to, but the likelihood of me winning and surviving against her are low, even with my damn Cursed Seal."

"I'll that under advisement," Sasuke said and then asked, "So what did you tell her?"

"I explained to that blood clot cunt that trying to convince you to defect from Konoha has gotten complicated now that you've been promoted to Chuunin," Tayuya elaborated, "I told her that your promotion and the new respect and acknowledgment you've been getting from the Hokage and others around Konoha within these past weeks have complicated my efforts to persuade you and that my mission will require more time."

"How did you explain that?" Sasuke asked.

"I told the bitch that you started reconsidering your options about not taking Orochimaru-sama up on his offer to defect to Otogakure and to remain in Konoha instead. I had to give a convincing act that I was really making an effort to complete my mission. Not only that, but I had to remind that rug licker that my mission didn't have a set deadline when she threatened to talk to Orochimaru-sama about me proving to be ineffective in getting you to defect from Konoha and to travel to Otogakure to advance your training with the Cursed Seal. She even threatened that she was going to suggest to Orochimaru-sama to give me a set deadline to complete my mission."

"And how were you able to dissuade her from suggesting that to Orochimaru?" Sasuke implored.

"I had to make it clear to that dick-less cunt that forcing you to leave would both breach and jeopardize the mission as that would not only alert Konoha to my presence here, but that both you and I would be tracked down and arrested by Konoha's elite ninja and questioned by Konoha's Interrogation Unit. I had to make her see that I would be heavily probed out of my ass for information regarding Orochimaru-sama, his whereabouts, his connections and who works for him before possibly being executed once they were done with me. I made her see that you would be interrogated and stripped of your status as both a ninja and Chuunin and put in prison under heavy guard.

"Then I told that bitch ass that she would be blamed for convincing Orochimaru-sama into using her idea for a time limit against me and that Orochimaru-sama himself would kill her dumbass as punishment for his mistake. Thankfully, that stupid bitch bought everything I said and in terms of loyalty, she's just as fanatical about it as Kimimaro was before Naruto had him and the rest of my former teammates killed by his resurrected father."

Tayuya looked away as her expression softened from her hardened ninja personality to a more feminine one.

"Personally," Tayuya confessed, "I really don't want to go back. I grew to love being and living here, with you," a few tears ran down Tayuya's face as she tried to hold her emotions together as hard as it was, "I don't won't to give this new life up…what I have with you Sasuke…," Tayuya's emotions started overwhelming her as she started sobbing, "…I don't want to throw it all away…just for a mission! I already lost my family once and I don't want to lose you too! And I know Orochimaru-sama has dark plans for you which means I'll lose everything all over again if I go through in completing my mission!"

Sasuke went over to Tayuya and embraced her as she embraced him and sobbed into his shoulders. A world of thoughts and concerns went through Sasuke's mind as Tayuya gave herself that moment to get everything she locked away within herself out of her system. Sasuke thought about what his life was like before he met Tayuya and how everything in his life changed for the better because of her. He knew he wouldn't be who he was now, let alone a Chuunin, had it not been for Tayuya's hard work in helping, training and supporting him. They became lovers after he took the initiative to have her that night before the Chuunin Finals.

She was the closest, most intimate friend he had who truly understood him and filled that void in his life after losing every member of his clan. And now that she was part of his life, Sasuke didn't want to lose her either and with that, Sasuke had to push himself to say those three little words he hadn't said in number of years to anyone…

"I love you, Tayuya," Sasuke whispered lowly into Tayuya's ears, surprising the red-haired female as she had never heard Sasuke say that to her before. The last people Tayuya heard those three yet powerful words from were from her late parents who were killed protecting her years ago. Hearing those three words said to her from Sasuke sincerely only served to make her more attached and loyal to him and she replied in a whisper, "I love you too, Sasuke. I wish I knew what to do from here on out."

"We'll think of something Tayuya," Sasuke assured as he continued embracing her, "Naruto promised that he'll think of something to help the both of us. For now, we just have to play along and continue doing things the way we do until the three of us can come up with something. We'll get through this."

Tayuya calmed herself down after listening to Sasuke's words. However, she knew that Guren appearing and making an unannounced inspection on her was not a good sign. Tayuya realized that for now on she would have to be on alert against Guren's next possible "visit."

(The Following Day; Back In Tenmangu-Machi)

Karin was alone and making her way through the hotel hallway and to the room she was sharing with Hinata. Upon her arrival, she groaned when she saw Arashi standing by the door clearly waiting for her.

"He saw me," Karin acknowledged, "So there's no point in pretending that I didn't see him at all."

Karin continued on her way to the door when Arashi pulled out and presented a couple of rose and a box of chocolates in his hands.

"Karin-hime," Arashi greeted, "Would you do me the honor of spending the afternoon with me? I offer you these treats groomed with the finest of roses in exchange for your undeserved company."

Karin found herself blushing and stuttering, being caught completely off guard by Arashi's gesture. Getting her speech strength back after a brief moment of stuttering, Karin asked with an annoyed tone, "What do you think you're doing!?"

"There's a town festival taking place today early this afternoon," Arashi said, "There'll be plenty of attractions, events and games to see."

"A festival?" Karin asked.

"That's right," Arashi said, "For the people here, the lively festivities manifest in a wonderful occasion to enjoy, filled with traditional costumes, spectacular processions and a celebratory atmosphere. The festival kicked off yesterday with a ritual at the Tenmangu Shrine, followed by prayers at the river for peace and the safety and prosperity for they town. Yesterday afternoon, drums were sounded by men in tall red hats to inform everyone that preparations for the festival were complete.

"Today is the second day of the festival and I humbly beseech you for your time and company to the town's festival," Arashi handed Karin the box of chocolates and roses to Karin, "It took me a while to find roses as red as your hair and eyes and I believe these are your favorite kind of chocolates."

Karin took a good look at the box and saw that they were her actually favorite brand of chocolates.

"How did you find this out?" Karin asked with a mix tone of surprise and suspicion.

"We're ninja Karin," Arashi replied charismatically, "I did my research and gathering information and secrets are one of our specialties. And my S-rank mission is to get to know and learn as much as I can about you with my payment being winning your affections. I know there'll be risks and dangers along the way and obstacles I'll have to face. But my quest for your feelings and heart while searching for the sensitive and deepest side of your character is of great importance to me."

'Somehow,' Karin thought, 'I want to believe that it's either Kansui or Naruto-kun in henge form pulling this stunt on me while playing the role of Arashi's wingman. But I don't sense Kansui's or Naruto-kun's chakra anywhere and it's really Arashi standing before and I can sense that his words are sincere and cheap,' Karin then said, "Alright Arashi. I'll give you a chance and spend the day with you. But if you try anything funny or try to reach out and grope me-"

"I assure you I won't try do anything foolish that would incur the violent wrath of my clanswoman," Arashi promised, "Trust me, I learned from that careless mistake and wouldn't want to ruin things while enjoying the festival together."

"I'm holding you to your word," Karin said, "Give me an hour to freshen up and meet up with me back here."

"Great!" Arashi said excitedly before he pulled out a scroll and handed it to Karin.

"What is this?" Karin asked quizzically.

"My third present for accepting to be my company for the festival," Arashi said charmingly, "I'll come back and meet up with you here as requested."

Arashi went and took off to his next destination, leaving Karin at the door she stood front of with the gifts in hand.

"How the hell did I just get smooth talked into accompanying Arashi to the town festival?" Karin asked herself before sighing and opening the door to go into the room. After entering, she closed the door behind her and placed the roses and box of chocolates down. Karin then untied and unraveled the scroll and found a bold kanji writing for "Beautiful" written inside the scroll.

"Something is sealed inside this scroll," Karin realized before releasing what was sealed with the scroll, "Kai!"

The scroll burst into a cloud of white smoke the momentarily filled the area Karin was standing in. when the smoke cleared, Karin was shocked to see what was in her hands.

"What the!?" Karin exclaimed in surprise and disbelief as it was indeed a beautifully made and designed neatly folded kimono with hair ornament placed on top of it, "How did he know I wanted to buy this specific type of kimono even though it was very expensive!? I mean…to think he'd go this far just to ask me to go to a festival with him."

Karin was excited that she was actually holding the kimono she wanted in hands and shocked that Arashi went and bought it for her secretly.

'Perhaps I've been hypocritically misjudging Arashi.' Karin thought, 'After all, I'm just as big of a pervert as him and Naruto-kun.'

Having already agreed to accompany Arashi, Karin decided to go and get herself ready.

(In Another Part of Hi No Kuni)

The three hooded kunoichi siblings were traveling through the trees at a fast pace, wasting no time as they traveled to Tenmangu-machi after finding out that was where Naruto and his company were reported to have been staying at for the past few days. They were hoping to reach Naruto and the others in time before he and his company moved on to another location.

"How much further do you think it is?" the youngest of the three asked.

"If we can continue traveling at the pace we're moving at," the oldest of the siblings explained, "Then we should get to Tenmangu-machi by the early evening hours and not during the late hours I hope."

"We need to do more than hope," the second sibling said, "We have to reach Naruto today! Period! Knowing now that Kusa is looking for Karin, it's more imperative that we find and track down Naruto and the others and-"

The oldest stopped and stood on top of one of the trees. Her two sisters followed in sync and stood on the same large branch with her.

"What's wrong?" the youngest asked.

"We're being followed!" the oldest said with an alert demeanor as she readied and unsheathed her katana which was hidden under her hooded traveling cloak. The second sister focused to sense what alarmed her sister. Moments later…

"IT'S HIM!" the second sister realized before a dark robed figure with samurai armor and gear appeared on another tree in front of them.

"Chitsurugi Kariya!" the oldest of the three sisters spat venomously.

"It took me a while to find you three," the figure said in a cold monotone tone, "Now you and your sisters will join the rest of your fallen brethren and parents."

"Bastard!" the youngest retorted as she and her sisters got their katana out and ready to battle. The lone rogue samurai then raced through the tree branches and into their direction with the aim to kill them.

(Back In Tenmangu-Machi; An Hour Later)

Arashi left the rented motel apartment he was sharing with his older identical twin to go to the festival. He was wearing a navy blue male kimono with the Uzumaki clan insignia specially stitched to the back and brown sandals. He was very happy about convincing Karin to give spending time with him a chance. And speaking of Karin, Arashi hurried to meet up with her. Heading to the room she was sharing with Hinata, Arashi knocked on the door and waited for Karin to answer, when she opened the door and revealed herself, he smiled brightly at the sight of her.

Karin was wearing a light red and white kimono with flower designs on the sides. On the back of the kimono was the Uzumaki clan insignia that Arashi requested the tailor to make and carefully attach to the back as a permanent part of the kimono. She was wearing the hair ornament that came with the kimono, which was a crown of flowers. Karin also had some pink lipstick making her look more attractive, and she was wearing a pair of white socks and sandals. Rather than having her glasses on, she settled for wearing contact lens instead for the evening. It was very rare for her to do this, but she decided to go against her routine habits for the day.

Arashi looked at her from top to bottom and blushed like the color of his red hair.

'She's drop dead gorgeous!' Arashi thought excitedly, 'Imagine the Uzumaki children I'll have with her!'

Karin tried to fight back the blush that appeared on her face as she tried to look annoyed at Arashi gawking at her. Deep down, she really loved the kimono and ornament he bought for her.

"Like what you see?" Karin asked.

"With my undeserving eyes," Arashi replied, "I'm truly honored that you chose to accept and wear the gifts I bought for you. It really means a lot to me."

"Well, thanks for the gifts," Karin replied appreciatively, "But how did you know I wanted this kimono? You really didn't have to go this far and I know they were very expensive."

"We're Uzumaki," Arashi said, "You're my kin. I'm willing to do what I must to make you happy my scarlet-eyed minx."

"A minx?" Karin retorted, "Really?"

"And why not?" Arashi replied undeterred with a charming tone, "You're an alluring, cunning and boldly flirtatious young woman who has unusual seductive powers such that you could commit acts that would otherwise be considered inappropriate, while still maintaining an air of class or poise."

For the first time, Karin found herself laughing at Arashi's choice of words to describe her character and she knew she was in no position to refute his correct assessment of her.

'I don't know what happened to him,' Karin thought, 'But he got me hooked. I suppose giving him a chance wouldn't hurt.' Karin then said, "Thanks for compliment. It truly does describe me."

"Shall we be on our way?" Arashi suggested as she gestured to Karin to follow his lead. Karin stepped out of the apartment and closed the door before following Arashi out of the motel. They headed to the center of the town where the festival was taking place. Once they arrived they were in awe at the sight before them: the whole part of the town was filled with different lights and small cabins which included games to food shops.

"Let's go to one of the food stands," Arashi suggested, "I'd like to try out some of their foods and drinks."

"Yeah! I'm in," Karin agreed before making their way to the one of the food stands. The pair soon arrived at one of the suggested food stand at the festival. Arashi ordered katsudon with apple juice while Karin ordered udon noodles with orange juice. When the food arrived, both Arashi and Karin took their chopsticks and started eating. After eating and conversing with each other, Arashi paid the bill and they left the food stand. They went around checking out game booths, mini stores for merchandises and souvenirs and other attractions. The highlights of the festival soon started when the red-hatted drummers led the land procession from Tenmangu Shrine through the town streets. The long procession features costumed characters, including Sarutahiko, a long-nosed goblin riding a horse, a ceremonial float accompanied by festival music, lion dancers, umbrella dancers and other attractions.

(Elsewhere In Hi No Kuni)

A battalion Kusa ninja were on the move through the forest in the growing shadows of the darkening evening skies. They received word as to Karin's whereabouts for the past couple days and made haste through Hi no Kuni. After a good amount of traveling, they found that they were about three miles from the town Karin and the rest of her group were currently residing in for reasons unclear.

After setting up their campsite, the commanding leader then dispatched three Jounin to head to Tenmangu-machi and make a thorough search for Karin but not to make contact with her or allow themselves to be seen by her. Understanding their mission, the three Jounin left the camp and headed off to Tenmangu-machi.

(Back In Tenmangu-Machi)

The river procession continued as celebrations went on into the night and culminated into the darkening evening when fireworks started to go off. The fireworks combined with the illuminated boats and their reflections off the river, make for a truly unique spectacle.

Throngs of people attended the Tenjin festival, especially in the evenings when the river procession and fireworks were held. The competition for good viewing spots along the river was fierce as the demand for picnic space greatly outweighed supply. Thankfully for Arashi, he purchased a paid seat in advance which offered good views of the procession, but only moderately good views of the river fireworks.

Arashi and Karin looked and admired the night skies which was filled with fireworks. Both teens look at the beautiful sky as the fireworks from different colors lighted the night sky. Karin looked from the fireworks to Arashi and blushed seeing that the place was very romantic. Karin then leaned her head towards his shoulder, but soon caught herself when she realized what she almost did. Arashi looked back at her seeing her and asked, "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," Karin assured, "No need to worry about me."

Arashi shrugged as they continued to watch the fireworks together.

"I'm surprised we didn't see or run into Naruto-kun and the others throughout the festival," Karin said, "I couldn't even sense them anywhere."

"I'm sure they're fine," Arashi said, "Naruto is busy working on perfecting his new jutsu; Hinata went to spend the day with Shizune; my brother chose to hang around with Seijiro-jisan. I think he sees Seijiro-jisan as a role model of sorts; and from what I gathered, Tsunade was last seen spending the day drinking and talking with Jiraiya about the old days. They all knew about the festival but had plans of their own, giving me the chance to get to know you without distractions."

"Sounds like convenient coincidences to me," Karin remarked.

"And if that's the case," Arashi replied, "Then a higher power must be cheering me on!"

"Ever the optimistic," Karin commented, "I'm happy you didn't try reverting back to your old groping habits."

"Whoever said I wasn't tempted to do so with you during the whole festival? Even now I still want to. I mean," Arashi answered candidly as he teasingly stared at her rear, "I can't help but admire that ass!"

"You're such a pervert," Karin replied despite the obvious bot blush on her face.

"Like you aren't?" Arashi replied grinned, "You're just as bad if not worse than me."

"What!?" Karin retorted.

"Like I said earlier today," Arashi continued undeterred, "I did my research, so don't try to fool me. And don't think I didn't see when you suggested to Naruto to spank you after you threw me into that food stand several days ago. And I saw when you were lipreading what Naruto was telling Hinata and from the lecherous look that was on your face, I knew what you were listening in on was very perverted."

'He called my bluff!' Karin realized as she sighed and confessed, "Alright, I admit it, I wasn't being honest with you about myself. When we met, you came on to me so strongly that it caught me completely off guard and I didn't know how to properly reply to your direct and forthright advances at me, especially after you groped me. I was being a total hypocrite with you before and after Naruto-kun scolded me for the trouble I caused when I reacted violently at you. It was the first time that Naruto-kun was ever angry at me to point that scolded me in front of everyone. I appreciate that you came to my defense and calmed Naruto-kun down."

"Does this mean you're willing to have my children?" Arashi asked.

"Don't push it!" Karin snorted, "I'm not trying to get pregnant anytime soon!"

"I never said it had to be immediately," Arashi clarified, "But something I wanted to ascertain for a future time."

"And you're trying to ascertain that with me?" Karin asked with a frown.

"I know a good thing when I see it," Arashi added, "And compared to all the girls whose butts I've groped in the past, yours is without fail prime material!"

"As perverted as that sound," Karin admitted, "I'm actually flattered by it. But what's to say that you won't go and try and feel up on other girls and women who come your way?"

"I haven't done so since I first saw and met you Karin," Arashi revealed, "I was completely drawn to you the moment you hooked and chained me with your chakra links my Scarlet Minx. I could have defended myself and fought back when I first saw your chains. But I wanted to see what you were capable of as an Uzumaki. And from what I saw from you since then, you're truly prime material."

"You have a way with your choice of words," Karin remarked with a grin, "But I can see that you're honest about everything you're saying. Thanks for treating me out," Karin said appreciatively.

Arashi smiled and replied, "You're welcome, my Scarlet Minx."

They went back to watch the fireworks while Karin was deep in thought.

(Meanwhile)

Naruto was returning after a long but very successful training session. He finally made breakthroughs in seeing the long-awaited results he had been working hard to attain. Right now, he was completely drained and in much need of rest and recuperation. He stopped when he suddenly detected something coming his way and fast. It was the same feeling he felt when Seijiro found him and the others.

"Are you Uzumaki Naruto?" a female voice asked from the shadows of the trees surrounding the region.

"I am!" Naruto answered, "And whom might you three be?"

Naruto didn't get an immediate verbal reply, but the fact that he easily locked on to the fact that there was three of them startled the newcomers. Acknowledging that their presence was known, the three hooded kunoichi appeared in front of him. The feeling Naruto picked from them was very strong to say the least, but his excitement was just like all the other occasions whenever it happened.

"You three are Uzumaki!" Naruto identified, "Survivors of our scattered clan!"

"In deed we are," the oldest of the three sisters said before she and her two other sisters pulled down their hoods to reveal their faces, clearly showing that they were in their mid-20s, "Allow us to properly introduce ourselves, I'm Uzumaki Akio, the oldest of my triplet sisters."

Akio was a curvaceous and very well-endowed woman with light green eyes with black pupils and long waist length crimson hair. She wore an open dark blue kimono to show off her D-cup bosom hidden under her grey mesh shirt and she wore a ruby magatama necklace around her neck. On the back of her open kimono was the symbol of Uzushiogakure. She also wore an open hooded light gray travel cloak, dark blue pants that showed off her curvy legs and hips, ankle bandages and black sandals.

"Triplets?" Naruto repeated, "Wow! And just the other week I found twin Uzumaki males."

"Kansui and Arashi," Akio identified with a small smile on her face, "Yes, we know about them, along with Seijiro, Karin and Honoka whose still in Konoha."

"You know about them already?" Naruto asked with a surprised expression.

"We've been looking for you and our lost brethren for a long time during our travels around the shinobi villages," the second sibling answered, "I'm Uzumaki Akemi by the way."

Akemi, like her older triplet sister, had long waist length crimson hair, but hers was tied in two pigtails. She was dressed in modest and noble looking clothes. She had light green eyes with black pupils. Akemi wore a light purple elaborate, high-collared kimono jacket with the Uzushiogakure symbol on the back with a brown orange sash around her waist and lavender pants. Her white headband was covered by her bangs and she wore sandals similar to Tsunade's. She was also wearing an open hooded light gray travel cloak.

Naruto turned to the last of the three sisters.

"I'm Uzumaki Akira, the youngest of my triplet sisters," Akira revealed, "But we're all 26 years old."

Naruto took a good look at Akira, who had long red hair that reached down to her waist but she kept her hair in a braided ponytail with some bangs draped over her forehead. Like her older sisters, she also had light green eyes with black pupils. She wore dark clothes consisting of black ninja pants and sandals with bandages about her ankles. She wore a gray net t-shirt with an open dark gray kimono and like her sisters, the back of her kimono had the Uzumaki clan's official insignia. And like her older triplet sisters, she also wore an open hooded light gray travel cloak.

"Together," Akio declared, and then she, Akemi and Akira chorused together, "We're known as "Triple A"!"

"That's very catchy!" Naruto complimented.

"We're very happy we found you on time," Akio said, "We barely made here alive before finding you."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with deep concern.

"Someone is hunting us," Akio explained, "He's a dangerous enemy who made it his life mission to kill every surviving Uzumaki around the world. He already had our parents killed and other Uzumaki he came across before we found and warned them. We managed to fight him off but once he finds you, Arashi and the others here he'll kill and them and he'll kill Honoka as well!"

Naruto thought for a moment about his next move. After careful self-deliberation, he took out a scroll from his pouch and open it. On the scroll was the kanji for "assemble" with seal writing written circularly around it. He placed it on the dirt floor and moved away from it. He then formed and hand sign before the scroll burst into a large cloud of white smoke. After it cleared, Akio, Akemi and Akira had widened eyes upon seeing who were in front of them.

"What the!?" Honoka said when she realized that she was summoned from Konoha and right where Naruto and the rest of her brethren were. And speaking of her brethren, Seijiro, Kansui, Arashi, Karin and Tsunade found themselves standing in the spot the scroll was previously at.

"Hey!" Arashi said, "What are we doing here! My Scarlet Minx and I were enjoying our time at the festival!"

Honoka looked around to see a sight that left her in absolute shock before tears started forming in her eyes.

"Oh my God! You're Uzumaki!" Honoka shouted happily with excitement, "Naruto-kun found more of our people!"

"Who are you?" Kansui implored.

"I'm Uzumaki Honoka!" Honoka replied with the same amount of happiness.

"So you're the one Naruto talked about," Kansui realized.

"Naruto!" Tsunade questioned, "How did you summon and transport me out here!? And how did you summon all of us out here for that matter!?"

"I secretly placed a summoning marker on all of you," Naruto revealed.

"You what!?" Tsunade retorted indignantly.

"I'll explain myself later," Naruto called out as he hurried over them, "But right now," Naruto rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to expose most of his arms and said, "I need everyone to take hold of my arms! This will make everything much easier!"

"Take hold of you?" Akemi asked quizzically as she and her sisters didn't understand why Naruto was asking this of them and everyone else.

"Trust me, please," Naruto beseeched as he held out his arms. The Triple A sisters found his request rather odd but they complied nonetheless as they saw everyone else gather around Naruto and took hold of one of his arms with one hand. When they all did, everyone was locked into complete Soul Union with each other with Naruto as the central channel of communication. Various emotions and experiences were being mutually shared and exchanged between them during their connections. The link that was shared between the group lasted for a couple of minutes before everyone release their hold on Naruto's arms.

"Wow!" Akio expressed with feelings of awe and joy, "I never experienced anything that amazing in my entire life!"

"It was like having a lifetime worth of clansmen bonding and strong mutual trust experienced all at once!" Akemi remarked, "It was such a beautiful feeling!"

"It felt as though we came to a full understanding of each other's feelings in an instant!" Akira commented, "We truly are Uzumaki clansmen belonging to each other!"

Tsunade was feeling the exact same way as she started embracing and accepting her Uzumaki heritage. She started seeing herself more as part of her grandmother's clan as the Soul Union she experienced just now which was stronger than before. It gave her a complete sense of belonging to a people that were looking for her and each other before they finally succeeded. For Tsunade, who felt she lost almost everyone she loved and cared for, these new sensations and experiences gave her new clansmen to regard and love as precious people, people worth protecting and fighting for. Tsunade now found a new purpose with the desire to rebuild her life.

"Akio," Naruto said, "You mentioned earlier that there's someone hunting you and your sisters and that he's out to wipe out every surviving Uzumaki scattered around the world. Would you three happen to know his name?"

"Yes," Akio answered, "He was once known as "Kami no Sutorooku" (Divine Stroke) among his team. But his actual name is name is Chitsurugi Kariya."

"Chitsurugi Kariya!" Seijiro said in disbelief, "He's still alive!? I thought I killed him years ago!"

"You know and fought Chitsurugi Kariya?" Akio asked in surprise as her other sisters looked just as surprised.

"He's from the Chitsurugi clan," Seijiro expounded, "That clan was very bad news."

"Care to enlighten us about that clan?" Naruto asked.

"My story dates back to the chaotic periods of the First and Second Shinobi World War," Seijiro confirmed, "During those wars, our clan had accomplished many victories and one of them was the extermination of the Chitsurugi clan, which was led by Uzumaki Ashina."

"Why did our people destroy them?" Akio asked.

"The Chitsurugi clan was despised by every Uzumaki in our clan," Seijiro explained, "They were a ninja clan of bloodthirsty barbarians that specialized in cruelty, brutality, pillaging and killing the future generations of other clans and stealing their wealth and jutsu. Among their many casualties were smaller clans that were once our allies and some of our own brethren.

"Uzumaki Ashina along with the entire Uzumaki clan and Uzumaki Mito, declared war on them and launched a full-scale attack on them with our strongest seal masters and ninja. I was a recently promoted to Chuunin at the time when my parents and I joined the ranks that was being led by Ashina to destroy the Chitsurugi clan. We killed them all, down to the last man. I crossed paths with Kariya, but he wasn't much of a challenge as he was a mere young Genin. I easily thrashed him and fatally wounded him. I didn't expect that he survived our encounter," Seijiro growled lowly and remarked hatefully, "Had I known he survived our fight and was going around killing our scattered brethren, I'd have hunted him down and finish the job, which would completely end Chitsurugi bloodline."

"You mentioned that Mito-obaa-sama was among our brethren during their siege against the Chitsurugi clan," Tsunade recalled verbally.

"She was," Seijiro said, "It was one of the rarest times Mito left Konoha and briefly returned to Uzushiogakure to join our ranks to aid in wiping them out. That's how much that clan was despised for their crimes."

"When we crossed paths with Kariya," Akio explained, "He told us how as a young teen he joined Kumo's hunting group which was specially created to track down and kill every Uzumaki and those related to them by bloodline. He said he spent his life training, killing and hunting down all Uzumaki members which started not long after the Second Shinobi World War.

"Among those that died crossing paths with Kariya's team were our parents and uncle after they found us years ago. Our parents and uncle battled everyone in his team while telling us to escape for our lives. We reluctantly complied but it was either we obeyed or killed by our enemies. They bought us some time to escape while they fought off and killed off every member of Kariya's team. Kariya himself left his team behind to try to find us, but because his best trackers were killed by our parents before they died, it made finding us and the rest of our brethren difficult for him. Kariya has been tracking and hunting us on his own since."

"Well this will be his last and fatal hunt!" Seijiro stated, "I'll see to his demise personally and make sure to finish the job this time."

"This is whole lot to take in in just one night," Honoka commented.

"Naruto," Akira said, "While on our way here, my sisters and I also discovered that Kusa dispatched a large and armed emissary to find both you and Karin."

"What for?" Naruto asked while Karin had a look of deep worry and concern, which didn't go unnoticed by Arashi.

"Sadly we weren't able to find out why since we only learned about this from one of the towns we traveled through during our journey to find you and Karin first," Akio explained.

Naruto was about to say something when…

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out from the woods as she, Jiraiya and Shizune carrying Tonton were hurrying over to them. Upon their arrival, they found Honoka and three female Uzumaki they never met before. For Shizune, she never met Honoka till now.

"Honoka-san," Hinata greeted, "Why are you here?"

"It's a long story," Honoka answered.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya called out, "What's going on here? One minute you were drinking and conversing with me and the next minute you took off to be all the way out here?"

"Naruto summoned me and all of my Uzumaki kin out here," Tsunade clarified, "A lot has happened before your arrival here."

Jiraiya was about to say something when he took notice of the three new beautiful Uzumaki females among them. When the three sisters took a good look and saw Jiraiya…

"Jiraiya-sama!" Akio, Akemi and Akira greeted happily and with excitement.

"It's really you!" Akira greeted.

"It's been a long while!" Akemi stated.

"Yes it has been!" Jiraiya greeted, "But I never knew you three are Uzumaki! You've kept that a secret from me for all this time!?"

"We're sorry Jiraiya-sama," Akio meekly apologized as she and her sisters bowed to Jiraiya, "We had dangerous enemies after us at the time and we had to stay hidden until we were strong enough to defend ourselves."

"Hold up!" Naruto interjected, "You three know ero-jisan!?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun!" Akio confirmed, "We were fourteen at the time when we took refuge in Nadeshiko no Sato. It was during that time when we first saw him; it was during his second battle with Uzume-hime in a region a few miles from Nadeshiko."

"We were among the many kunoichi who came to see the match between the late village leader and Jiraiya-sama," Akira added, "His battle against Uzume-hime was as legendary as it was epic!"

"We never saw anything like it!" Akemi said with admiration, "It moved my sisters and I to train and work hard in order to become just as strong as Uzume-hime."

"Ero-jisan?" Naruto asked, getting Jiraiya's attention.

"Yes Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"You clearly have a history you haven't shared with me yet," Naruto stated.

"It's a very long story and I'll explain everything to you in crystal clear details," Jiraiya said, "You're going to find some of what I have to say hard to believe."

Naruto said nothing to that effect but simply nodded his head.

"Clearly we have some very important matters to deal with," Seijiro spoke up, "But before anything can be discussed, let's find a safer and closed off location to talk. I'm sure that the Tenmangu festival is still in progress."

Everyone agreed and started on their way back to town. While on their way…

Akemi and Akira interacted with Naruto, Hinata, Karin, Arashi, Kansui and Seijiro while Akio walked alongside Jiraiya and started asking him a series of questions about his experiences that earned him his reputation. Tsunade watched the scene from the side and saw how involved Akio was in her conversation with Jiraiya. It felt odd for Tsunade to see such a young female express that much interest in Jiraiya in a non-fangirl way. But what Tsunade eyewitnessed between the Triple-A sisters and Jiraiya only confirmed Jiraiya's history in Nadeshiko to be completely true. Tsunade watched how Akio interacted with Jiraiya and the amount of respect and admiration she had for the man. It only stressed the point to Tsunade that she didn't know Jiraiya as well as she thought.

(Elsewhere In The Meanwhile)

The three Kusa ninja returned to the campsite where the rest of their fellow ninja were. They went and reported directly to their commanding leader.

"Did you find her?" the leader asked.

"We did," the first Jounin confirmed, "But she was in the company of a young male during a festival the town was hosting."

"Was the male Uzumaki Naruto?" the leader inquired.

"No," the first ninja confirmed, "Karin was with another male who looks to be a few years older than her and like her, he has scarlet red hair."

"Both Karin and her male company wore the symbol of the Uzumaki clan on their kimono," the second Jounin added, "So it can be safely said that her male companion is also an Uzumaki."

"So it wasn't Uzumaki Naruto who was in her company but another Uzumaki male," the lead ninja realized as he contemplated on the situation, "This is clearly unexpected. Were you able to find out exactly where she was staying?"

"No," the third ninja answered, "She and her male companion disappeared via teleportation. But from what it looked like, someone or something summoned them from where they were going. We lost track of them since and reported back here."

"I see," the leader said, "Knowing now that there was another male Uzumaki with her other than Naruto complicate matters."

"What should we do now?" the first ninja asked.

"We'll observe Karin's movements and see who else is in her company," the leader instructed, "From there, we'll see what can be done to get Karin to be returned to us and back in Kusa's service. But we can't alert them to the presence of the rest of our forces with us otherwise our mission is blown."

"Go rest up," the leader instructed, "Tomorrow, you three will return to spy out the town and find out if there's anyone else in Karin's company. There's also the possibility that her male Uzumaki companion has the same healing abilities like her. So we might have to look into him also."

The three of them nodded their heads and left from their leader's presence to their respective tents.

"Your village wishes to enslave this Uzumaki Karin," a voice said from behind the lead commanding Jounin. The commanding Kusa Jounin turned to the newcomer and pulled out his kunai and readied himself to do battle.

"Relax lad," the newcomer said as he walked from out of the shadows and into the opening to be seen by the Kusa Jounin, "I didn't come here to fight. I was passing by when I heard you talking about acquiring Uzumaki for your village."

"What business does that has to do with you?" the Kusa Jounin asked while keeping his guard up.

"A whole lot young man," the newcomer replied, "By the way, call me Chitsurugi Kariya."

"I heard of you," the Kusa Jounin replied, "You're known as Kami no Sutorooku. Do you have any connections with the Uzumaki?"

"I wish to see every last one of those surviving Uzumaki trash dead at my feet," Kariya said venomously, "They wiped out my clan and I wish to return the favor by making them go extinct. I spent years hunting them down and I'm sure there are other Uzumaki kin with her besides this Uzumaki Naruto and the other boy mentioned earlier by your men."

"We can't allow you to kill the Uzumaki!" the Kusa Jounin said, "Karin is of great worth to our village."

"You wish to utilize her chakra for your village's medical benefits," the Kariya stated, shocking the Jounin that their reasons for wanting Karin returned to them was known by the stranger, "Next to killing them, I suppose seeing her and the three other Uzumaki females I encountered earlier today being captured and used as medical cattle until their deaths from severe chakra exhaustion would be an acceptable compromise, so long all the males are killed."

"What do you propose then?" The Jounin asked.

"A partnership," Kariya said, "I'll help you and your ninja acquire Karin and the three female Uzumaki that I've been after in exchange for your help killing all of the male Uzumaki with them."

The Kusa Jounin thought about it briefly and replied, "We were instructed by our leader to try to negotiate with Naruto first to have Karin returned to us. We're willing to offer him a huge sum of money as a suitable compensation for Karin's return to us."

"Trust me when I say that the Uzumaki will not sell their own for any amount of money or gold," Kariya stated, "You're wasting your time with such a foolish notion. I know how that clan think and operate. Your best bet for success is to do this by force and I'm sure that deep that, you know that's the truth. And like I said before, I'm willing to offer my services in exchange for your cooperation to help me eliminate all of the Uzumaki males. You can have the females as captured plunder for your village."

The Kusa Jounin thought for a moment and after giving it some thought…

"It's a deal," the Jounin agreed as he shook hands with Kariya. To satisfy their desire and greed to have the unrivaled healing powers of the Uzumaki back at their disposal, despite Zabuza's warning to their village leader not to make an enemy out of Naruto, Kusagkure was willing to declare war, not with Konoha, but with the Uzumaki Clan…

The army of Kusa ninja have joined forces with Chitsurugi Kariya, a most hated enemy of the Uzumaki clan who seeks their complete genocide. How will Naruto and his clan deal with this threat of genocide and slavery aimed against them? How will Naruto react to learning the truth about Jiraiya's secret past? What will Tayuya do now that Guren is on her case about getting Sasuke to defect from Konoha to Otogakure? And will Hanabi find a way to control and move on from the growing love she has for Naruto? Find out next time.

A/N: Originally, the leader of Nadeshiko in the anime wasn't given a name, so I gave her one myself for my fanfic.

Uzume is the Japanese Shinto goddess of joy and happiness, called the Daughter of Heaven and Heaven's Forthright Female. Her name means "whirling." She is also the goddess of good health, which people obtain from drinking the blessed water of her stream.

Konohanasakuya-hime ([cherry] tree blossom blooming princess): her name also appears in a shorter form as "Sakuya-bime." In Japanese mythology, she's the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life. She is the daughter of the mountain god Ohoyamatsumi. She is often considered an avatar of Japanese life, especially since her symbol is the sakura (cherry blossom). Konohanasakuya-hime is also the goddess of Mount Fuji and all volcanoes.