AN: Well, in my last comment I said that I was terrible for not uploading and editing the chapter. You guys probably think I gotten lazy. Sadly, it's true. However, after two months of school and doing nothing on my first week of winter break, I finally edited the chapter and got to start the next one! The next chapter will be uploaded on Sunday (hopefully edited. cross your fingers) ENJOY! Happy Late Holidays and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto in any shape or form. If I did, Naruto would have responded to Hinata's affections!

Naruto glared at their sensei and began to mumble incoherently under his breath. "Lazy sensei, not wanting to teach us something besides chakra control. He was just too upset about his stupid book."

Sakura, who was beside Naruto, nodded her head in agreement. She really wanted to learn some of the jutsus she found in book but she knew more than the other two that it would be more beneficial to learn how to control your chakra. She was lucky enough to be able to walk up the tree the first time along with Naruto but the sad part was that she had to stay there and continue to climb up the tree to build up her reserve. Naruto was better than she thought as he began water walking and mastered it before heading home. He mastered the ability to walk on water for a solid five minutes before having to take a break.

Sasuke was beyond pissed that his teammates knew tree walking and mastered it before him. When he began to train with Sakura, she had it a bit easier because like Kakashi mentioned, it was more difficult for him and Naruto to master it because they had larger chakra reserves. Though he did not master it, he did not give up so easily. The Uchiha prodigy then went home after the afternoon of training and began to do practice at home. Lucky for him, Itachi came home from an early mission and was able to give him a few pointers that made him reach farther up the tree. Now, they played the waiting game.

Team Seven went to their meeting spot and waited for their always-late sensei. They were at small wooden bridge, glancing at the small creek running through. They knew how late he would be and it made them realize even more that they cannot be like their sensei when being on time is key to being a shinobi, according to Iruka who lectured them endlessly. It did not help that they were all anxious since they knew they were having a C ranked mission and they just wanted to start and maybe leave the village.

"Yo!" Kakashi said as he materialized in front of his students on the railing of the bridge.

"You are late sensei!" Sakura and Naruto complained as they gave him a dark glare. Sasuke looked up too and glared, the glare of the legendary Uchihas.

Maybe I shouldn't give them one of my lame excuses…Well…we'll see how it goes. "I was stuck on the road of life." He said calmly, waiting for a response.

His genin just stared at him with a blank face, waiting for him to add on to it but got nothing in return. Kakashi did not say anything else and they sighed in annoyance.

"Kakashi-sensei, let's go get our mission! Don't make our training be a waste!" Naruto perked up and began to pull on Kakashi's arm, leading him off. He did not want to stay moping when there is an opportunity to kick ninja butt. Especially now that he had a wind jutsu mastered and he couldn't wait to show it off to his team as Sasuke was not the only one that knew ninjutsu.

Sasuke and Sakura trailed off behind them with their own pleasant smile. Naruto was radiating eagerness and they felt that but what his teammate did not notice was nervousness. He would never say it aloud but Naruto was nervous about the success rate of this mission. He had heard countless stories of his parents and their missions as a kid and he felt the weight on his shoulder, especially with the village watching him closely. Sasuke had the same feeling but he didn't have the eyes of the village on him like Naruto. He had the eyes of the Uchihas watching his every move and wasn't sure if it was a good thing or bad.

As both prodigies were busy with their thoughts, Sakura was worried on whether or not if they would make it. She never doubted the strength of Naruto and Sasuke but she wasn't sure if it was going to be a valuable comrade. She only had learned one jutsu and yet still managed to feel like dead weight. She sighed in sadness and hurried along to catch up to Naruto and Kakashi.

At the great speed Naruto was dragging his sensei, they arrived in the academy in no time and a grin appeared as he let go of his arm and dashed right through to the room. "Tousan! We are here for our C ranked mission!"

Minato was talking to several chunins who sat alongside him and looked up to hear Naruto's loud proclamation. Kakashi came to his student's side and shook his head tiredly, muttering something about his loudness.

"Do you think they are ready?" He asked, viewing the team with a scrutinizing stare.

"Of course we are!" Naruto spoke before Kakashi. Kakashi looked at him and smacked on his head. "Ow!" Naruto complained as he rubbed his head before shoving his hands in his pocket, ignoring the amused smiled his dad wore.

"Yes, the team is now ready. They show great skills and cooperation. I am sure they can handle it." Kakashi said, regarding his student with a look.

Minato smiled kindly and began looking for a mission that was easy from the scroll. "Aa." He said, pleased with a mission he found. "Iruka, please tell Tazuna to come forth."

"Yes Hokage-sama." Iruka quickly left and brought back an angry man who was cursing loudly. Minato looked back at him with a steady stare and the man instantly closed his mouth.

"Your mission is to escort Tazuna back to his home, to the Land of Waves, and watch over him as he finishes his bridge to the main land." Minato explained as he return to look at the genin team.

"So I get a blonde midget, an emo boy and a girl as an escort." The man stated with a hint of annoyance as he stared at the pinkette, the raven-haired boy and the blonde. He took a swig of his sake and looked back at the Hokage. "They are nothing but children."

Naruto glared at him, ready to give a piece of his mind but caught the steady stare of his dad. Naruto, resigned, turned away mentally cursing him. Stupid old man! His teammates had the same thought in mind as the man they were supposed to protect insulted them.

"That is up to dispute Tazuna. They are a special team for the purpose for anterior assault and with the proper training, they will be the strongest shinobi in Konohagakure. I am a jonin and they are genin now, but rest assured that you will be safe despite that, 'they are children.'" Kakashi stated, receiving looks of disbelief from his pupils.

Did he really compliment us? They all thought before smiling proudly. Sasuke had a small smile but it was a smile either way, even if the end of his lips only twitched up.

"We'll see." Tazuna said taking another drink of his sake. He was grey-haired with a large beard and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, dark pants. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head that Naruto thought looked stupid but decided not comment about it, especially in front of his dad.

With Naruto's mood soured, he overlooked the compliment he received from his sensei and was planning on how to direct his anger to Tazuna. Sasuke wanted to do the same but he was more annoyed from the comment of being emo. Sasuke Uchiha did not consider himself emo. He just wanted to play the professional role when taking a mission, knowing that Naruto and Sakura would handle the rest of socializing with the client.

With negative thoughts in the mind of the genins, the temperature in the room fell and all eyes were casted on the boys who still upset with Tazuna. Sasuke and Naruto glared at the man with slight killer intent. Most of the adults in the room already knew that it was going to be a long trip for Kakashi but wondered if it was Kami's way of punishing him for being late for all meetings.

"You are dismissed." Minato said, breaking the silence with the voice of authority. He smiled at them and winked at Naruto before resuming to his paperwork.

They nodded their head and walked out, Naruto and Sasuke purposely avoiding the bridge builder. They were in complete silence as the headed the team's meeting place but stopped at the sound of Kakashi's voice. "Team, let's meet at the front gate in an hour. Make sure you should pack for two weeks."

"Hai!" They said before they all disappeared in their separate ways, leaving Tazuna deserted near the village street.

The man sighed and took another sip from his bottle.

Naruto instantly arrived to his house and began to wonder if his mom was out. He doubted that she would stay inside house because she always kept herself moving around or busy.

He walked past the gates and heard waves crashing. He smiled, knowing that she was probably training out back and ran to find her.

"Kaasan!" He called out to her and saw a huge dragon made out of water, remembering that he had seen his mom perform that jutsu against Mizuki.

He watched amazed as he saw the long dragon rise up in the air and dispel to have water droplets fall on the ground slowly. Kushina smiled and turned to her son.

"Hey Naruto. I thought you would be out doing a mission right now." Kushina said as she followed Naruto inside the house and up to his room, not needing to know that he wanted her to follow him.

"I am, I mean I will kaasan but Kakashi-sensei says to pack for two weeks. We are protecting a bridge builder named Tazuna. He lives in the Land of Waves and we will watch over him until he finishes the bridge." Naruto explained as he grabbed one of his backpack and began grabbing his new clothes and shoving it into his bag.

"In that case, let me help you Naruto. You want to pack some fresh clothes more importantly, toiletry, soldier's pills, some medical supplies in case someone gets hurt, and food ration. Make sure you have all of your kunai and shurikens." Kushina listed as she sat on the foot of his bed.

"That all won't fit in my bag." He said, looking at his bag in disappointment. He placed in hands on his waist and stared at the bag in wonder.

"You can finally use the storage seals I gave you for your last birthday and place most of your heavy things there." Kushina said as Naruto nodded his head and went to his desk. He pulled out a scroll and began to put in the kanji letters with his paintbrush. He smiled and went to get the things that wouldn't fit in his back and placed on top of the opened scroll. It glowed light green and everything on top disappeared.

"You finish up here while I get something for you. Okay? Try folding your clothes too before you throw them in the bag!"

Kushina quickly went down the hall to one of the closets. She began to pack a few things the team would need. She did not want to her son to be cold or Sasuke now that she thought about it. She got out some blankets, an extra first aid kit, and few extra things such as snacks. She sealed everything up in two scrolls, one for Naruto and the other for godson and handed it to her son as she walked in the room. "One's for you and the other is for Sasuke."

Naruto shrugged and made sure that he had everything he needed. He checked his pouches and made sure he had his sharpened weapons ready. Content, he put his backpack on and went downstairs with his mom not a step behind. "Um…kaasan…. I was wondering if could eat some ramen before I leave. I will be gone for a while and I really want some ramen before I go." And it's not like I could sneak some instant ramen into the scroll with you in my room. He continued the rest in his head. He braced himself for a flat out no, followed by another lecture of how unhealthy it was to eat too much.

"Alright. Let's go."

Naruto stopped and stared at his mom in shock. He could not believe his luck! He was complimented by his sensei, which was very rare since he would only talk about the mission and occasionally make fun of him when he was younger and now he was allowed to eat ramen without the fear for being caught!

"Let's go!" He cheered as he pulled on her hand and hurriedly made his way to his favorite ramen shop.

They were warmly welcomed and were served their food quickly. It seemed as if they were expecting Naruto, already knowing what he would order, which made Kushina a little suspicious. She ignored it and began to eat her first bowl while Naruto manage to put away five bowls in their sitting.

"Naruto, at what time do you have to you have to meet your team?" She questioned as she glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to ten.

"At ten, but knowing Kakashi-sensei, he will get there at one." Naruto said, slurping the last bit of noodles.

"Just because he is late, it doesn't mean you have to be late as well. Go, shoo! I'll get him there." Kushina said mischievously, marching out of the ramen stand, cracking her knuckles with a sly smirk.

Naruto beamed and took out some of his allowance money and paid for both meals and headed out in a run. He saw the Konoha's entrance and his teammates talking pleasantly to each other with Tazuna off in the corner, mumbling something.

"Hey old man, Sakura-chan, teme." He greeted with her arms behind his head.

Sasuke nodded at him and Sakura stared at him. She looked at him head to toe and could not believe herself. She pinched herself and still saw it. Naruto was a carbon copy of the Yondaime!

She knew that they looked very similar but he usually wore orange, a color she swore the Hokage would never wear. Now, Naruto was wearing similar clothing like Minato, making him his double but only shorter version. She bet that he changed before coming out to meet the team.

He wore a short-sleeved black shirt with a mesh underneath and a white jacket over the shirt. It was zipped up half way and on the bottom of the white jacket, there were red flames. In the cuffs, there was Uzumaki symbols hidden within the ends and to top it all, Naruto wore necklace of the Namikaze Clan symbol, which he earned after the certification of being genin. He wore black standard pants with bandage on his right thigh with his regular shinobi sandals.

"Sakura?" Naruto waved his hand of Sakura, wondering why she was spacing out. It seemed like she was staring at him but he wasn't sure. "Whatcha staring at?" His face was inches from her as he stared at her in wonder.

She jumped at the sound of his voice and blushed, moving to stand next to Sasuke. "Nothing! I thought I saw something behind you!"

"Okay... Oi! Teme, before I forget, kaasan wants me to give you this." Naruto said pulling out a scroll his mom gave him earlier.

Sasuke nodded his head and pulled out a cup of instant ramen, handing it to Naruto's greedy hands. "Kaasan knew that Kushina-oba wouldn't let you pack ramen so she said you can have one." Sasuke got the scroll and placed it his pack, wondering if his godmother packed some of his favorite things.

"Oh yeah! Mikoto-oba is awesome!" Naruto cheered, quickly hiding it in his own bag.

"Don't be so loud brat! I have a hangover and I don't want to hear you shout!" Tazuna snapped.

"Hey, it's not my fault you decided to drink yesterday and today too!" Naruto talked back, glaring at him.

"Blondie, watch it!" He threatened.

Naruto did not respond and continued to glare at him.

"Naruto, don't threaten the client we were hired to take care of." A bored voice said.

They recognized the voice and whipped their heads to see their sensei. The mouths almost hit the ground along with the possible whiplash.

"WHAT!" They said in unison.

Kakashi sighed. Was he that bad? He pushed that out of his head and watched as Kushina brush passed him to say bye to Naruto and Sasuke, even Sakura, giving them all a hug.

"You guys all be careful okay? Don't be fooling around, Naruto. Sasuke, do not be too worrisome. Sakura, I want you to put these two in line." Kushina said, pinching Sasuke's cheek. Gosh, did she really like to embarrass the Uchiha boy. It was almost as fun as pestering Itachi, especially now that he was a feared powerful shinobi.

"Stop Kushina-oba." Sasuke complained childishly as he had a small blush. He averted his eyes from his godmother and stared the ground, hearing the giggles from Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi was probably just amused watching.

"Alright Sasuke. Good luck." Kushina said, giving them all another hug, even pinching Kakashi's cheek too. "Be careful. Watch over them all." She muttered into Kakashi's ear before disappearing with a trail of leaves.

Kakashi cleared his throat and looked at everyone. They were all ready to the walk ahead for the long journey. "Let's go team."

Naruto gave thumbs up to them and began to walk pass the gates, feeling the breeze ruffle his hair. He really did miss going out of the village for his family trip. Sadly, they did not go this summer to another country because his dad had a meeting with Daimyo and it was not like he could reschedule so they decided to camp outside within the village outskirt. It truly was exhilarating to be camping in the unknown forest.

"Hmp, he usually so loud, it's a miracle he can shut up." Tazuna whispered to himself, walking along with the rest of the team.

"Shut up old geezer!" He retorted. "You are lucky that I want to be Hokage and I have to work my way up there or I would have done something since you insulted my team!"

"Hokage is the strongest shinobi in the village right?' He turned for Kakashi for affirmation and looked back to the kid. "I doubt that will happen."

He glared at him and took a deep breath before speaking calmly. "I will become Hokage like my dad and protect everyone in my village. You are just going to have to believe it when it happens."

Tazuna smirked but continued to walk with tension in the air. Neither of them spoke as the got farther from the village, walking past creaks and many trees.

"Hey, Tazuna-san." Sakura began, wanting to lighten the tension between Naruto and Tazuna.

"Yes, what is?"

"You are from the Country of the Waves, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, are there ninja in that country?" She asked, wondering why he had to hire Leaf ninjas. It was not as if she did not mind that her team was hired but she was curious on why.

"No. There are no ninja in the Country of the Waves. They did before but it was called another name. Before it was Uzu no Kuni with the ninja village Uzushiogakure no Sato but with the destruction of Uzushiogakure, they had to renamed its country Nami no Kuni and remained to have no ninja village as they do not need to. They are in a position where it is difficult to be influenced." Naruto answered with a yawn.

"Wow, how did you know that?" Sakura asked impressed. Sasuke raised an eyebrow but kept quiet with Kakashi.

"Well I've gone to visit where my mom's clan was, Uzushiogakure, without knowing. I never knew what it was called until she told me about her clan and the war. The rest is based on the things we learned in class. I just pieced them together." He replied.

"So there's no worries for foreign ninjas to attack us if there's no ninja where Tazuna-san is." She concluded happily. She wasn't sure if they, well more like if she was ready for battle. She learned one jutsu but was not sure when she would be able to use it.

"Of course. It's only a C rank mission too." Kakashi smiled, ruffling Sakura's hair. She smiled and they continued on their way, not noticing guilt washing over Tazuna. "Let's keep on walking. We have a long way to go still." He reminded as he walked behind them, hearing the chirping sound of birds.

They were walking in silence and Naruto and Sasuke tensed up, squared their shoulders and continuing to walk. Kakashi noticed their slight stiff movements and looked to the side of the trail to see a puddle of water. Good, they noticed. He thought as both boys casually put their hands in their pocket, near their weapons holster.

From the puddle of water on the ground, two men appeared and charged at Kakashi, one jumping over the other with metal gauntlet and chain out. Both of them threw their shuriken chain, wrapped it around Kakashi, and pulled on it, cutting him to pieces.

"First one, gone," Said one of the attackers in a breathy voice. He had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a rebreather that covers the lower half of his face and a large poisonous gauntlet on his right arm.

"Now it's your turn," Said the other ninja that looked similar to his brother except that he had his gauntlet on his left arm. He went to attack Naruto who already quickly went to protect Tazuna along with Sakura.

Sakura gasped and watched as the boys threw their chains to wrap around Naruto. Sasuke responded faster as Naruto had his back to the enemy and was assuring the old man that he was going to be safe, quickly got his shuriken and kunai and precisely made the tip of the kunai go to the center of the shuriken that lodged the chain to the tree.

Naruto cursed at his unpreparedness and looked as the ninja's pull it out of the tree, breaking the chain. "Ranboukazenenten!" He finished his hand sign and spun three times, sending a huge burst of wind at the enemy who tried to avoid it but failed.

He sent both of the attackers to the trees unconscious and with no ability to move. Sasuke looked back to see them lying on the ground and smirked. One of them turned into a log and reappeared, charging at Tazuna with his metal claws with poison.

Sakura positioned herself to protect Tazuna with a kunai placed in front of her and felt her arms begin to tremble slightly.

Substitutions! Sasuke thought as he jumped in front of Sakura with kunais each on each finger, ready to be thrown. He waited for him hurl his chain around him but saw Kakashi standing behind the attacker as he placed a finger on neck, making the attacker's head drop.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed happily, seeing that her sensei was okay.

Naruto finished tying one of the attackers to a tree and noticed Kakashi hold on the other. He glanced at Sakura and saw appreciation in her green eyes.

He did nothing and she staring at him as if he saved her life! The teme and I protected her! He thought as she gushed about how cool their sensei was. Sasuke and Naruto sweat dropped and sighed deeply.

"Good job team. You responded well." He praised and threw the kid next to the other. Naruto went over and tied him up next to his partner. He stood up as stared at the guys that attacked them. He looked over at Sakura and caught Sasuke giving him a nod. Naruto smirked at the work of his jutsu and pondered if he could learn any more of them.

I'm saved… Tazuna realized as he saw the assailants get tied up by the boy.

"By the way Tazuna-san," Kakashi said.

"W-what is it?"

"I need to talk to you later." He spoke seriously before turning to look at the unconscious ninja tied to the tree. "These guys are chunin ninja from the Hidden Village of the Mist. They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter the cost." Kakashi addressed his team.

"Why did you let the kids fight them when you knew that?" Tazuna asked neutrality, already questioning if the jonin ninja knew what was happening.

"They weren't that smart to begin with. It hasn't rained for the past few days and it is sunny today, so a water puddle shouldn't exist. Naruto and Sasuke caught it. Besides, I needed to know who the target for these two was."

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked.

"I wanted to know who they wanted to attack. It was clear that they were not bandits and I might have thought they were ninjas trying to attack another village's ninja. Funny how they only wanted to separate my students from you." Kakashi said with no hint of humor in his voice.

"Logically, they were after you. We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninjas. Your request was to protect you from armed groups of bandits and gangs. This mission is above a B rank. Our job was to support and guard you until you complete the bridge. With this mission being higher than C, that puts the team in danger with enemy ninjas. You may have your reasons, but it only will give us more trouble if you lie in your request details."

Sakura felt uncomfortable under the new circumstances of the mission. Naruto and Sasuke seemed that they might like how the mission is going but she still felt that maybe it would be too dangerous for them. "This mission seems a little out of our league." She spoke hesitantly.

"No, it's not." Naruto spoke aloud, offering a small smile to Tazuna who was sweating bullets. "We were given a mission to help the old man. Sure, he lied to us but in the end, he probably has a good reason to. If he is in trouble, with more reasons we should help him. Besides, it might provide a good opportunity to see who is better, me or the teme."

Sasuke smirked and looked at Sakura and then to his sensei. "The mission is still on."

Kakashi smiled and gave a reassuring look to Sakura with a defeated look. "The team spoke so I guess we have no choice but to help you Tazuna-san."

"I guess Kakashi-sensei" Sakura said, plastering a smile on her face.

Tazuna gasped and looked at the ninja group. Each of them had a look of determination and could not help to feel a little guilty for lying. He hoped that one day he would be able to repay them for keeping him safe.

OMAKE

Hide-and-Seek

"AH!" a little blonde boy cried bloody murder as he ran away from the back yard. His green hoody bounced at his movements as he dashed to the living room. He went to the corner of the room and swiftly jumped over the couch. He sat on floor with his legs pulled up.

He wore a long sleeved green hoodie with a red swirl in the front along with khaki pants and white sneakers. He looked down and noticed his shoe untie. His eye widened and he began to tie his shoe in fear.

"Naruto!" called a deep voice with humor in his voice. He walked in after the little boy into the large house. "I thought we were having fun!"

Naruto jumped at the sound of the voice and looked at the door he ran past through. He's there! Naruto thought frantically.

The man he ran from had waist-length spiky white hair tied back into a ponytail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji symbol for oil. He also wore a green kimono pants with a geta and was looking for his beloved godson.

Naruto looked back and closed his eyes for a minute to think. The three year old was scared to be caught by his godfather. He just wished that they could play something normal. They were having fun playing hide-and-seek but Jiraiya decided to tease the boy with something he had hated since the beginning it was placed in front of him.

"Gaki, come out now!" The man ordered, laughing when he heard silence. "Do you want to play hide-and-seek again? We can play right now."

"Really oji-chan?" He called out, jumping over the couch that was angled in front of the corner. His blue eyes looked up in excitement, waiting for an answer. He began to jump from excitement, tugging on his haori.

He chuckled and picked him up in his arms. "We'll play but outside. Kushina might get mad if we break something."

Naruto nodded his head and wrapped his small arms around his uncle neck. "You will be it!" He said in a warm voice and hugged his uncle.

"You really want me to find you don't you?" He teased with carefree laugh. He placed Naruto on the ground of his large backyard.

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "You cheat! I will beat you!"

"Beat me?"

"Yeah! Close your eyes!" Naruto commanded with a smile.

"Okay. I'll start counting. 1…..2…." Jiraiya began. Naruto giggled and ran to the trees nearby. He stopped and bended over to grab a rock. He looked back at Jiraiya and saw he had his hand covering his eyes. He grinned and threw the rock at the tree, making the leaves rustle.

He held a laugh and dashed to the side of the house, looking for a bush to hide in. Content, he carefully hid inside and tried to contain his laughter. I got you oji-chan! You won't find me so easily like last time!" He covered his hair with his hoodie and the waiting game began.

Jiraiya stifled a yawn and smelled the air. "Alright gaki, I will find you!" Jiraiya yelled out enthusiastically. He uncovered his eyes and grinned evilly. He walked to the tree he thought Naruto hid in and began to search for him.

Jiraiya loved to play with his student's son. It reminded him how his students were, though they never did play when they had training to do. The little ball of energy was something Jiraiya loved, especially when he got to spend quality time with him and some puppets that the kid hated. He couldn't help but to laugh as he walked up the tree and moved the leaves. "Found y-" Jiraiya began but stopped when he opened his eyes.

Where did he go? He mused with a small smile forming. It seemed like Naruto wanted to give him a challenge. Jiraiya smirked and began to walk around the back yard, pondering whether or not he should just go to him, he did sense his chakra after all. Maybe I should let him think he got me stump. Kids like that.

Jiraiya smiled and walked to pond with koi fish and saw his reflection. Who's that good looking man in there? It's the one and only Konoha's Legendary Pervert!

He laughed loudly at his own remark that caused Naruto, who was hiding, to tense up. Naruto grumbled under his breath and felt his foot going numb. He wanted to straighten his foot but knew if he were too, he would get caught. Awe man! I was going to win but my foot!

Naruto rubbed his leg, wanting to have blood flow through his leg and win the game. His leg began to tremble for sitting on his leg too long and felt it go limp with the lack of blood.

I wonder if Naruto is going to give up now. He really is impatient, just like his mother. Jiraiya walked slowly across the training field and turned the corner where he sense Naruto was. He leaned against the wall and began to stare at the tree house Naruto got for his birthday this year and smirked. We sure do spoil the gaki.

Naruto stole a glance at his godfather and found him engrossed at staring at what he thought was nothing. He smiled and began to stretch his leg, hoping that blood would continue to pass through. As he leg was stretched in front of him, his foot brushed against the leaves and alarming an unexpected player of the game.

"Found you Naruto." Jiraiya said with a smirk as he manifested in front of him. Naruto pouted and Jiraiya burst into laughter. "I won gaki."

Naruto frowned and got up, attempted to walk away from him. With his limp leg, he ran for a minute before he fell down, falling on his face. "Ump!"

Jiraiya booming laugh echoed through the backyard which made chibi Naruto to lift his head up to reveal his blue orbs full of tears. His bottom lip quivered as he looked away, placing one small hand to his cheek. The fall hurt his face and he could feel a layer of grime on his cheek.

He gently got up and patted his pants, not noticing the end of Jiraiya's laugh. He wiped the tears away and began walking to the house, the tears in the brink of turning into a downpour

"Gaki" called out Jiraiya as he walked to Naruto. "Let me see if you got any cuts on your face." Jiraiya got to Naruto, picked him up in his arms with a slight protest, and gave him a small smile. "It's okay Naruto."

Naruto frowned a little, wiped his face with his hand, and stared at him in silence. Jiraiya just stared at him and contained his laughter.

Children were something new to him, especially now that Naruto knew what was happening since he was a smart kid. He could talk more than most toddlers and was very energetic. He wasn't surprised that Naruto was already showing traits from his parents. Considering who they are, Naruto is a blessed boy who will have incredible skills in the future. He just will need guidance.

"Let's go get some ice cream gaki." Jiraiya welcomed as he walked with Naruto to the village.

"Kaasan said I can't have too much candy before dinner." Naruto pouted a little with the thought.

"She doesn't have to know." Jiraiya brushed it off. Naruto placed his hand on Jiraiya's cheek and give him a toothy grin.