I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters from the Manga or Anime.
A Price for Peace
Chapter 49: Coming of Age
"Man what a total disappointment," Tenji sighed sadly. The freshly minted shinobi was sat in a bar with Rea and several of the other new members of the rebellion.
"I don't know what you were expecting Tenji? Did you think we would be charging head on into the empire or something?" Rea asked her expression as cold as ever.
"Well no, but didn't Naruto say something about bandits targeting the outlying villages, I thought we would be at least dealing with that, not settling stupid trade disputes in the city or carrying construction materials across town," Tenji retorted his head hung over a large stein filled with beer.
"I'm sure we will get those missions soon, it has only been a few weeks our teams are still learning to trust each other," the final new squad leader, Ryuske reasoned. Ryuske was a slightly shorter than average man in his mid twenties, he had short light brown hair that spiked backwards leaving his unmarked face clear, his eyes were a bright shade of emerald green and he wore baggy dark red robes with while collar and arms that allowed for a free range of movement.
"I for one am in no hurry to go out, we are far below the level of Naruto, even Karin or those deserters would be able to deal with all of us with little difficulty," Rea started. She firmly believed that they all needed more training before taking on any higher difficulty missions.
"Well Naruto-sama is on a different level to everyone, I believe we need experience to help us reach higher levels, each time we spar with Naruto-sama we learn new ways of fighting but he is only one man and so far out of our league we might never stand a chance. I fear we need a more realistic opponent," Ryuske reasoned taking a sip from a saucer of sake.
"So you think we should ask Karin-chan for training then?" Tenji queried. He didn't think it was a bad idea, but Karin really only taught the new recruits until they could access their chakra at will and could hit enough targets with Kunai and Shuriken, she never gave anyone first hand private lessons. "We could ask Tsunade-sama? Who knows if she misses a punch we might get to find out just how large her chest really is," he added with a perverted snigger.
"Pervert," Rea scoffed. She was interested in talking to the Sannin, however both Naruto and Karin had both mentioned that they believed that the older blond was one of the strongest women alive. "Still Tsunade is supposed to be scary powerful, she's also supposedly a great medic, I wouldn't mind learning how to heal."
"It would be a useful skill to have on the battlefield, ideally we should all learn," Ryuske added calmly.
"Not to burst your bubble or anything, but Naruto did say you needed almost flawless chakra control, Naruto cant do it, but Karin-chan can. No way everyone can learn, besides Tsunade is currently running the nation at the moment, even if it is little more than a handful of villages. She might have time for a spar, but I doubt that she will have enough time to teach us," Tenji reasoned. Personally he just didn't think he was cut out to be a medic, but he could see the sense in learning some basic first aid.
Rea sighed and folded her arms in light frustration. "Again, maybe Karin is a better choice, she was the one to look after Naruto whenever he came back from the forest looking like he'd lost a fight with a tree. I'm sure she knows more than basic chakra exercises."
"I guess it's a start, who knows if we impress her enough Tsunade might take interest." Ryuske agreed. "Question is where do we find her? I can't remember seeing her around the city unless accompanied by Naruto, and the only other time she's teaching the new recruits."
"Each day after our training Naruto and Karin both train in their compound. That would be a good place to check first. After that I'm not too sure, they each have important duties around the city, but to be honest I'm not sure what Karin does." Rea answered.
"Probably just follows Naruto around. They may as well be permanently glued at the hip," Tenji joked, taking a final swig from his mug before standing. When he noticed the others had yet to move he began to pull Ryuske to his feet. "Come on we don't have all day, if we're going to ask her for training we may as well do it now, no time like the present as they say."
"Ugh, why must you be so upbeat all the time?" the other male member of the three asked.
"Because if I wasn't we would have to put up with your gloomy attitude and that would scare everyone away. It's bad enough we have the ice queen over here threatening everyone that tries to talk to her," Tenji retorted quickly
"I do not!" Rea denied earning a deadpan look from both men. "Not all of them," again the look didn't change. "Whatever lets just go find Karin."
(Meanwhile)
Naruto stood with Fukusaku and Shima. He was in sage mode effortlessly running through a set of hand seals, "Toad Style: Fighting Tongue Slash!" An instant later a highly compressed torrent of water erupted from the blonds mouth that tore through the ground a split a fair distance through a large bolder that was in the large training ground.
"Much better Naruto-chan, a few more days and you will be able to slice through the stone with ease." Fukusaku praised.
"He could be faster with the hand seals though," Shima pointed out from her perch in a tree.
Naruto sighed and nodded in both agreement and understanding, he had always been rather clumsy with hand seals, that was partly why the Rasengan and its variants suited him so well. "I know I have clones that practice nothing but hand seals almost every day but I don't seem to get that much faster," he admitted sadly.
Shima saw his slight distress and softened her expression. "It is not a major issue Naruto-chan. I simply pointed it out as your weakest area while performing that jutsu. You are currently working on so many things that to have such a small weakness as the main issue with a S-ranked jutsu is nothing short of a miracle.
Naruto smiled happily at the compliment "Thanks Shima-sama, but Suiton is the element that I am furthest along with by far. I think it's because it's so similar to Fuuton. I can barely do anything with Doton and I haven't even completed the first step of Raiton manipulation yet. Kakashi-sensei would know what I am doing wrong with it, he's the best Raiton user there is, except for maybe Raikage-ojisan."
"It is understandable that Raiton and Doton are more difficult for you to grasp, they act in different ways to Fuuton, Doton is rigid and tough the complete opposite to wind, while Raiton has a less stable structure that needs to be able to fluctuate and change while also remaining focused and contained." Fukusaku agreed in sympathetic understanding.
While earth and lightning manipulation were points of frustration for the blond, his progress with fire and water were considerably better, helped by the fact they were the elements of his two toad teachers. "That's enough with the Ninjutsu training, we should move on to Taijutsu," Shima declared hopping down from the tree to stand beside her husband.
Naruto let out a breath and slid into his toad style stance that was soon mirrored by the two toads. Then in the blink of an eye both toads disappeared in a blur appearing at opposite angles around the blond. Fukusaku rose high and aimed a wicked kick at their young summoners temple while Shima went to sweep the leg in a perfectly coordinated attack.
Naruto blocked Fukusaku's attack while hopping over Shima, diving forward on instinct to avoid their follow up unison drop kick. Rolling up Naruto spun quickly his sage enhanced senses allowed him to feel their movements and aim a kick for the falling Fukusaku, who effortlessly blocked the strike with his tongue, wrapping it around the blonds ankle and tossing him away.
Naruto was able to readjust in mid air and come to a safe landing skidding across the ground but otherwise unharmed. 'I swear they're both getting faster,' he thought before jumping high into the air as Shima long tongue whipped once more at his legs.
They continued in this vein for almost an hour, each strike was countered perfectly, each faint perfectly read by the other. It was as if both sides were able to read their opponents mind and as things continued the attacks became more and more destructive as if they were still getting a feel for each other, testing their limits.
Despite the apparent danger, Naruto had a large grin plastered across his face, each time he dodged a strike that would be fatal to many he laughed, each strike the small toads avoided he simply grin wider and up his tempo. To any outsider watching it would look as though the blond and his summons were in a vicious fight to the death that they were all enjoying, rather than a simple spar.
"Enough!" Shima called out suddenly after another large area of the training field had been destroyed by one of Naruto's senjutsu enhanced punches, that while not as destructive as Tsunade or Sakura could still leave a small crater in their wake.
"That time already?" Naruto asked looking a little disappointed.
"And then some, you have greatly improved Naruto-chan, to be able to fight both of us at the same time to a standstill, that is something Jiraiya-shan never managed to do," Fukusaku said sagely.
"I still need Sage Mode to stand a chance though" Naruto sighed as he allowed the foreign chakra to leave his system reverting to his natural state.
"You say that like it is a failure, we are many hundreds of years old Naruto, not as ancient as the old geezer, but our affinity for nature and the sage arts places us in the top tier of summons to be able to stand up to us at all requires a special talent." Shima replied with a hint of pride in the latest toad sage.
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Thank's Shima-Obasama."
"Well we can't have our Sage being weak, that just wont do," Fukusaku croaked approvingly.
"Yeah don't worry, Fukusaku-sensei. I'll become the strongest there is if that's what I need to do to keep everyone safe," the blond declared proudly.
Fukusaku was about to respond but was stopped as three people arrived in the clearing. "Yo Naruto!" Tenji called out with a wave.
Naruto waved back with a friendly smile and went to greet the trio. "Hey guys, why are you here?" he queried.
"Actually we were looking for Karin," Rea answered before the older man could.
"Karin huh. What; you guys looking for more remedial lessons on chakra control?" the blond teased.
"Not exactly," Rea replied not showing any signs of a reaction. "We were actually hoping she could spar with us, and maybe show us some medical Ninjutsu."
"I can spar with you guys if you're looking for a training partner," Naruto said happily, he never turned down a chance to spar.
"Uh no offence Naruto, but we were hoping to test ourselves against someone who we might actually stand a chance of at least getting a hit on," Tenji sighed, rubbing the back of his head in mild embarrassment. He didn't want to admit he was weak but in all their spars not once had they even forced Naruto to even use more than the most basic of jutsu, never once breaking his clone.
Naruto sighed knowing that feeling all too well from his initial training sessions with Kakashi, "Well I doubt you will win, Karin is tough. But she fights differently to me so it might be a good idea. She's been training with Baa-chan in the afternoons, so she might help you with some medical Ninjutsu, I'm useless in that area."
"We initially thought to ask Tsunade, we assumed she would be busy," Rea spoke in slight surprise.
"Well she is, but they train for a few hours a day, who knows you might be able to join them," Naruto answered calmly now relaxed he decided that he would end his own training their and help his students. "It can't hurt to ask, come on I'll take you to where they train."
The three nodded but didn't have time to respond any further as they had to take off in order to follow the blond who had already started moving out of the training field. Karin and Tsunade were on the other side of the large mansion compound. Karin was currently hunched over catching her breath before launching herself out of the way of a large ball that left a small dint in the ground.
"You can't be tired already! You need to be faster and more flexible, what the hell did you learn from Orochimaru?" Tsunade lectured before throwing another projectile at incredible pace at the tired red head.
Karin pirouetted out of the way and sighed in relief, "Mostly how to dissect his experiments and take records," she said in a dry almost emotionless tone hoping that the guilt trip would cause the next object to be slightly slower.
No such luck as it turned out. "Then we have to make up for lost time, if you want to be a medic for that idiot who just loves to throw himself into dangerous situations you need to make sure nothing can ever hit you!" the slug princess declared as the pace started to increase.
Training with the slug Sannin was brutal, being the worlds best medic allowed her to essentially take Karin to breaking point and then heal her back up just to break her again. She only pulled her punches enough to assure that no permanent damage would be done. Oh how Karin wished she had the blond Sanins super strength, so she could simply swat the harmful projectiles away with ease; or the speed of Naruto when he was using his Bijuu cloak. Not being blessed with these gifts meant it was only a matter of time before one of the balls hit home and when they did, they hurt.
Tsunade began picking up the pace, not letting Karin have a rest; faster and faster more projectiles were sent at the frantically contorting younger kunoichi, one wrong move would mean game over and she would lose. Tsunade was starting to get mildly impressed with her progress when something seemed to catch the red heads attention and she was struck right in the chest.
"Karin-chan!" Naruto yelled bursting into the clearing and straight over to the currently downed young woman.
"Well that explains the distraction," Tsunade sighed hands on her hips as she approached the pair with the blond frantically fretting over his lover. "Out of the way Naruto she's fine."
"She's unconscious how is that fine!?" Naruto yelled back.
"She's conscious, she just doesn't want you to know it," Tsunade replied with a scoff. In response Karin groaned. "See, she was just enjoying seeing you fret over her like some loyal dog."
"Hey!" Naruto whined, not liking the comparison.
"She should also be embarrassed for letting herself get so easily distracted, just because you and a few students showed up," Tsunade replied still disinterested in the situation but acknowledging the other new arrivals who hadn't made their appearance known yet. Her hands began to glow green as she ran them over the area that Karin had been hit.
"I wasn't expecting him to show up that's all," Karin replied wincing lightly as she started to sit up.
"That's no excuse, a field medic cannot afford to get hit, even if it's in training. Medic's are the first target of any competent military. They also have a reputation as being non combatant and weaker than those who fight on the front line so they will be targeted for that reason as well. But I will not have that from any of my students," The Godaime Hokage declared. "Besides, if I don't make you strong you wont be able to keep this idiot in line and he'll just run off again," she added motioning towards Naruto.
Naruto pouted indignantly at the light-hearted insult. "Hey I'm not gonna run off again, besides we don't need anymore people with your freakish gorilla strength, wasn't Sakura bad enough?"
"What was that Gaki?" Tsuande said threateningly
"You heard me you old bat," the younger blond spat back.
The two bickered back and forth as they so often did throwing insults at one another with no real venom till their foreheads touched and eventually broke out into a round of laughter.
"I don't get it are they friends? They act more like enemies," Ryuske asked in a hushed whisper to Tenji.
"More like family, apart from Karin-chan, she would be his most precious person." Tenji answered.
Meanwhile the two blonds had finished their bout of laughter. "Relax Gaki, Karin isn't suited to using my strength techniques, she would be better off suited to poisons and projectiles like Shizune. Plus despite having decent control she has more chakra than Sakura has, or even I had at her age. That will make it extremely hard for her to learn. She should learn some support long range Ninjutsu once we can test her affinity."
This did please Naruto, not because he didn't want her to learn to use Tsunade's strength, but because it meant that Karin would not be on the front lines as a Taijutsu type fighter. "We both could do with learning a few, most of my jutsu now other than the Shadow Clones and Rasengan were taught by Fukusaku and Shima and I can't pass those onto anyone who hasn't signed the toad contract."
"Not to mention most are instant kill techniques," Tsunade added with a deadpan.
"Not all, like seventy percent tops," Naruto replied seemingly without a care, he loved a powerful jutsu, the stronger the better.
"As long as you're not in sage mode or using your Bijuu cloak that is," Tsunade corrected. "Anyway I doubt that will be much of a problem for long. The real question is why are you and your students here?"
Naruto wanted to question why she didn't think finding them juts would be a problem, but decided that he could ask that later. "They want training in medical Ninjutsu, they also wanted to ask Karin-chan for a spar."
"We really just want to know the basics," Rea spoke up not wanting to sound like they were being demanding. "Just enough to get started so we can help our squads if they need it."
"Actually I think everyone should learn at least the basics, enough for first aid at least," Karin said agreeing with their reasoning.
"We don't want to impose Tsunade-sama, in fact we were going to ask Karin-sensei to teach us," Ryuske added with a respectful bow.
"Good idea, all the students should learn, and teaching others will also help you learn yourself if you teach them Karin," Tsunade agreed. She had always wanted to add proper first aid to the academy in Konoha after she had properly established the field medic program. She would have liked a medic in every squad and they were slowly making progress toward that goal before the war and hoped that Shizune and Sakura would continue that process.
"Alright, I accept, but I don't think I can accept your spar today, I'm too sore. We will have to do it tomorrow. Then we can talk about a time to start basic medic training." Karin agreed.
"Actually yo may want to give it two days," Tsunade said suddenly.
"Why's that, I don't feel any worse than I have at the end of any of our other training sessions," Karin asked.
"Because tomorrow is the Tenth of October," The elder kunoichi replied.
"What really!?" Naruto asked in complete shock. He had lost track of time months ago when he was crossing the mountain and never really cared to correct himself.
"What don't tell me that you didn't know that tomorrow was your birthday?" the slug sannin queried.
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "No, I totally forgot, so I guess that makes me eighteen then huh," he said in mild shock.
"That's right, if you were in Konoha you would be getting bombarded with marriage interview requests," Tsunade teased enjoying the fact that both Naruto and Karin were growing red in the face. Naruto in embarrassment, Karin in anger. "You would probably also be offered a place in the Shinobi council as representative for the Uzumaki clan."
"Kami, I had no idea that turning eighteen would be such a big deal," the younger blond said trying to get over Tsunade's teasing.
Tsunade smirked and shook her head. "As I have told you before, it's a coming of age even for shinobi, you're seen as a man and with that comes more responsibilities; for example in Konoha you need to be at least eighteen to take on a squad of Genin, and you need to have taken on a Genin squad to be considered for the position of Hokage."
"Sounds like yo still had a long way to go if you were going to become Hokage Naruto-kun, I mean you were only a Genin," Karin giggled.
Naruto hung his head, nodding sadly in embarrassment. "I never got to retake the Chunin exams, it's not my fault."
"Well you could have been given a private test of skill, for a higher rank, you didn't need to take the chunin exams," Tsunade said in a matter of fact tone.
"What!?" Naruto gasped. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked now slightly depressed.
"I would have, but it was bad enough dealing with the elders demands to keep you in the village. If I allowed you a chance for promotion to a rank that represented your skills you would be expected to lead missions outside of the village. They never wanted you to leave the village, so my compromise was leaving you as a Genin under the watch of Kakashi." The former Hokage explained.
"As fascinating as this is, I was hoping we could discuss a time where we could train," Rea said finally. She was a little irritated that the three more experienced shinobi were ignoring them.
"Oh right, well I guess if tomorrow is off the table, then we will meet at this time in two days. We can start with some basic first aid. Oh and bring your squads along," Karin answered quickly.
(Meanwhile)
"Man Nii-san has been working us to the bone, this is so much worse than when we were new graduates," Koha whined collapsing against a tree alongside his squad. The young rust haired teen looked disheveled, his robes were torn with dirt and grass stains scattered everywhere.
"Yeah the last few weeks have been bad. Your brother is some sort of monster," a slightly older teen with similar coloured hair agreed.
"You're all just weak that's all." Came a derisive snort from one of the Uchiha recruits. Despite his claims to the opposite, the young boy was just as worn out as Koha, but his pride as a member of the royal family wouldn't allow him to admit it.
Koha looked ready to retort, his face growing a scowl at being called weak, even beginning to get to his feet before a new voice cut him off. "Then I suppose you could keep going then?" Tetsu said appearing in a calm manner.
The young Uchiha scoffed and turned away. "Of course, these training sessions are just a waste of time for someone like me," he declared not daring to make eye contact incase his bluff was called.
"Oh well then I better up my game in the future then," Tetsu replied casually, allowing a small smirk when he saw the boy wince slightly. "But don't worry I'll let everyone know that you decided my training wasn't adequate, and that from tomorrow our training will be doubled."
"What! Nii-san you can't, we can barely walk as it is," Koha whined but soon hadf to recoil from the angry glare that Tetsu gave him.
"I am not your brother while I'm on duty. I am your commanding officer and I have been told to train our division to the best of my ability, and that is what I will do. If one person feels they are not getting the most out of my training then I need to do more." Tetsu declared.
"What's the point? We're just going to be used as glorified sacrifices anyway," an older man with silver hair declared, he had clearly been around the military for a long time but never progressed past the level of a mid ranked officer.
Tetsu knew what the man was hinting at but didn't want him to lower the moral, even if he was just about spot on with his assessment, for this reason he chose to ignore the statement. His brother was another case however. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.
"What they haven't told you?" the elder man asked with a laugh. "Kid, we are going to be responsible for taking down that monster that tore the placement trials apart. It happened on Gohara-hime's watch, so that means he's her responsibility."
Koha for once was stunned into silence. He had followed is brothers instructions during the trials and stayed well away from the blond, but he had also seen on the screens that hung over the arena what he had done to elite soldiers that were sent to deal with him. "Y-you don't know that."
Even the cocky young Uchiha seemed a little worried at this revelation, but upon reflection it made perfect sense it was exactly how his family operated. "They're set up in our land as well… so it all points to being Gohara's responsibility. So how long do we have sensei?"
Tetsu sighed knowing that there was no point in hiding it now. "We have until the end of the year to deal with the rebellion," he answered honestly.
"So less than three months… great, but I bet whoever lands the killing blow will get quite the reward," the young Uchiha said with a slight smirk that appeared as little more than a grimace.
"That's why we need to train even harder. We still do not know all that he is capable off and now he has allies in a handful of deserters including a member of your own family Shougo," Tetsu declared, before turning around hoping that the revelation would at the very least light a fire under the squad making them train harder.
(The Next Morning)
Naruto sleepily rolled over to give Karin a quick kiss before getting up only to find the bed empty. 'Strange she usually sleeps in longer than I do,' he thought while stretching out with a yawn.
'She left almost an hour ago,' Kurama said calmly.
'Huh really, that's not like her. I usually have to force her to get up,' the blond thought in reply.
'My guess is she wanted to prepare something for your birthday,' the fox reasoned in a lazy drawl.
Naruto smiled remembering that it was indeed his birthday and quickly moved to have a shower and get changed for the day. Surprisingly Karin was not waiting for him downstairs either nor was she in the kitchen preparing breakfast. 'She's not here either, actually now that I think about it I haven't seen Tsuande-Baachan this morning either.'
'I would guess they are waiting for you somewhere, the only thing currently in the compound that I can sense is Shukaku,' Kurama mused with mild interest.
Naruto nodded and sat down to collect some natural chakra to enter sage mode. 'They're in my training ground, but that's not all a bunch of the toads are there as well," he concluded with mild surprise. 'They must have summoned themselves to me at some point while I was asleep.'
Wasting no more time Naruto hopped out of a nearby window and sped across the compound and hopping over the wall jumping over rooftops and running along the sides of larger towers heading towards the large walls of the city, leaping over the towering walls and landing in the open fields as if they were no higher than getting out of bed. Finally coming to his little private training area he came to a stop. Tsunade, Karin along with all his students and Shougo were waiting at the far end of the field behind a large banner that read 'Happy Birthday Naruto' all around them the toads were gathered and upon his arrival the giant battle toads joined them including Gamabunta.
"Took ya long enough Naruto-chan," Fukusaku spoke with a smile.
Naruto was still stunned. He had never really celebrated his birthday with more than one person. First was the Sandaime who would take him out for Ramen, the rest had been spent with Jiraiya. "Wow," was all he could really get out, he would have been happy spending the day with Karin on a date but seeing everyone come together for him made him feel indescribable happiness.
"Well this is a first, never seen him speechless before," Tsunade laughed before pulling the younger blond into a hug.
"Thanks Baa-chan, you're the best," Naruto whispered with a beaming smile and readily returned the hug as he scanned all his new friends that had come out to celebrate. He then noticed a large pile of scrolls. "What's all this?"
"Ah That would be your inheritance Naruto-chan," Shima said hopping over and handing him a large scroll with the name Kushina Uzumaki on it.
"Huh? I had inheritance?" Naruto queried seemingly stunned by the revelation that his parents actually left him something.
"Of course, everything your parents owned was left to you, to be given to you when you came of age. You also inherited everything of Jiraiya-chan's" Shima answered quickly.
Naruto still seemed a little lost so Fukusaku decided to clear a few things up. "Jiraiya-chan never had any children."
"That we knew of anyway," Tsunade added with a small bark of laughter just thinking about a mini Jiraiya running around.
"Knowing Jiraiya-chan you might be right Tsunade-chan," Fukusaku laughed. "With tha said he was also ya legal guardian, so when they died their belongings passed on to him to hold until you were of age. He had no property of his own being a hermit so he left them with us. They were far safer in Myobokuzn than in Konoha. That is why we were holding onto ya parents belongings Naruto-chan."
"But what about Ero-sennins stuff, shouldn't that go to Konoha if he had no children?" Naruto asked half torn between continuing the conversation and exploring everything that his parents left him.
"That would normally be the case, however shortly after you came back from your training trip he came and asked to change his will to leave everything he owned to you," Tsunade said with a smile knowing how much Jiraiya cared for the young Uzumaki. In actual fact this happened just before he left to investigate Pein, it was like somehow he knew he wouldn't be coming back, but she didn't think he needed to know that much.
Naruto couldn't help but smile at the thought that Jiraiya had cared so much. Jiraiya had left a large number of scrolls that had stored all of the Toad Sage's belongings and strangely a large chest that was covered in a sealing matrix that Naruto couldn't even begin to understand. "Why isn't this sealed with everything else?" he asked upon closer inspection.
"We can't seal it, probably something ta do with the seals that Jiraiya-chan placed on it." Fukusaku reasoned.
"We can't even open the damn thing," Shima added.
This made even Tsunade interested, she had never heard of anything like this. "Do you know what it is?" she asked her interest showing.
The two elder toads sighed and shook their heads in disappointment. "I'm afraid your guess is as good as mine Tsunade-chan. All he ever told us was that it had something to do with that other teammate of yours. Every year he would come and add more seals."
"If it has something to do with the snake freak we probably shouldn't go messing around with it," Karin said with a little worry. Nothing that involved Orochimaru had ever worked out great for the red head.
"That goes without saying. Ero-sennin didn't teach me all that much about seals, but I know not to go messing with them, anything that can be used to seal away something as strong as Kurama isn't something we should take for granted." Naruto replied with some maturity that the others hadn't expected from him. Tsunade had half expected him to have already attempted to open the chest.
"You can go through that stuff later Naruto-chan. We all have presents for ya," Shima said and she pulled out a new sage cloak this one shined a silvery white almost as if it was illuminated. On the back there were nine magnatama that were coloured to resemble the Bijuu. At the centre between the two shoulder blades a Uzumaki swirl sat proudly and under that was the Kanji for Sage.
One by one his friends came and gave him their gifts. Tsunade was particularly jealous of the large bottle of Myobokuzan sake that Gamabunta gave him going even so far as to threaten to return him to Konoha in a body bag if he didn't share that particular gift. Once the gift giving was out of the way everyone sat down to a large picnic that Tsunade and Shougo had prepared. Through it all Naruto couldn't stop smiling, and for the first time truly overjoyed that it was his birthday.
END CHAPTER!
Took a little longer to write this than I expected. Been a little sidetracked last few weeks. regardless I'm going to start progressing the story a little faster now this mini nation construction arc is basically done. Anyway even if not all that much happened I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next time will likely be a new chapter of Nightfall.