Right off, I hope all of you have had a good 2013 so far and continues. Decided with the new year I'll go ahead and post up my first chapter of this year. Disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 9
Prophecy

"This is nice." Under the shade of a tree Naruto enjoyed the scenery before him. "We needed this."

"Couldn't agree more." added Hinata. She was underneath the same tree but instead of leaning against the trunk, she was leaning against her boyfriend's body. "We've gone through so much lately that we needed to take time to unwind."

"And having a date with a beautiful girl is a good way to do so." Naruto's remark got the desired reaction as Hinata's face became red. "You truly are an extraordinary young woman. There aren't many who would stay beside me after what they learned and encountered. You help keep me from becoming the monster that people claim that I am. Couldn't imagine how I'd be without you in my life."

Hinata wasn't able to respond. The words that were spoken had touched her so much that she couldn't formulate the right words. Unable to come up with the words she instead showed her appreciation by leaning in and instigated a kiss that was quickly returned by Naruto.

Soon the couple was so focused on what they were doing that they failed to notice that they weren't in the same place as before. They were now in a lavish place where the plant life, mostly uncommon in most places, towered over them and a large waterfall that flowed freely nearby. One other thing that stood out was the giant statues that resembled some creature.

"I've never seen anything like this before." exclaimed Hinata. By her expression she was amazed by what she was seeing. "What is this place?"

"Myobokuzan." murmured Naruto. He didn't seem that unfamiliar by the surroundings. "I came here with Jiraiya a few times when I was gone from Konoha." he clarified. "Only a few can get us here like they did." Any further explanation was halted as a large orange and blue toad with a blue vest appeared before the couple. "Hello Gamakichi. I take it that you were the one that brought us here."

"You got it." confirmed the toad. "However, I was just summoning you. The two of you must've been really close for your girlfriend to be brought along." Gamakichi's underline meaning didn't go unnoticed as both Naruto and Hinata became flustered. "We should get going. The elders need to meet with you."

Following the toad they made their way to their destination. Along the way, Hinata continued to take in her surroundings. "This place is amazing. I didn't know such a place existed."

"Not many do." clarified Naruto. "It would take someone months to get here and only if they knew how to get here. If you signed the toad summoning contract you can arrive here almost instantly." Hinata's expression indicated that she wasn't completely clear on what was said. "Myobokuzan is the place where the summoning toads live." That answer wasn't one that she expected.

Was not long after they arrived at a large shrine that had an equally large entrance way. Also there were two smaller sized toads standing in front. One was purple and green while the other was entirely green with a tuff of gray hair and bushy eyebrows. Both of them were wearing faded black cloaks.

"Naruto, good to see you." greeted the male toad. "Glad to see that you were able to come here."

"Especially seeing as how I had no choice in the matter, Fukasaku." Naruto shot back offhandedly. He wasn't trying to be rude as he didn't see the point in beating around the bush. "Don't get me wrong. It's good to see you guys but you wouldn't have brought me here unless it was important."

"As you wish." gave in Fukasaku. "However, it'll take some time to discuss this. Shima, please entertain lady Hinata while we're busy." he instructed to his wife. "Show her around and maybe something to eat." The last suggestion made Naruto slightly ill as he had not so fawn memories of the aforementioned food.

"All right dear. Come along, young one." Shima started to leave with Gamakichi following. Hinata would join them shortly after saying goodbye to her boyfriend, who warned her in accepting any food that was offered.

"So, I was told that you needed to talk to me about something. Mind shedding some light on what that might be?" The mystery had peeked Naruto's interest.

"It wasn't I who requested your presence." enlightened Fukasaku. "The one who wished to see you was the Great Toad Sage." Interest only grew for the blond at that revelation. "We should get going. We've made him wait long enough."

Entering the shrine they walked into an even larger room where a toad that was slight smaller than Gamabunta was sitting on a throne. He seemed to be of old age as his face was wrinkled and their skin was a faded brown. There was a beaded necklace and the largest bead having an engraving of the word 'toad' in kanji.

"Lord Sage, I present to you Naruto."

The giant toad just sat there for a while and it was thought that he might've not heard them. He would finally show a reaction as he glanced down at the two. "Who?"

Stopping himself from stumbling over from the question, Naruto stared back up at the amphibian. "This is the Great Toad Sage?"

Wanting to recover from the blunder, Fukasaku tried to move things along. "Naruto Uzumaki, the apprentice of Jiraiya. He's here because you had something important to tell him."

Again there was a delayed reaction from the sage but luckily the wait wasn't long. "Ah, I remember. You have my condolences about Jiraiya's death." His sincerity was appreciated. "You were asked here because a prophecy concerning you was foretold."

"A prophecy?" Naruto repeated with uncertainty. "Are you sure that it was just an early sign of Altimers?"

"Show some respect." reprimanded Fuksaku. "The Great Toad Sage's prophecies are widely revered. It was he who foretold the one that Jiraiya followed through during his fight with Pain. The same one that he deduced tat centered on you."

That halted any remark that Naruto might've came up with. "What's this prophecy?"

"The child, who balances between human and demon, will encounter the one with red eyes. They will battle and he will fall. Destruction and carnage will ensue and amongst it, a protector will rise and being hope to those in despair."

Silence developed over the room as they digeste3d what was said. "The prophecies shouldn't be taken completely at face value." Fukasaku quickly spoke up. "They could be interpreted in a variety of ways."

"Or they could turn out exactly as they're stated." proclaimed Naruto solemnly. "I'm no expert when it comes to prophecies but by the sounds of it I'm likely to die. Apparently it'll be sooner rather than later." Letting out a hollowed breath he shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, at least I'll go out in an awesome way." The reaction wasn't one that was expected. "So, if there's nothing else I'm going to find my girlfriend and go home."

Leaving the shrine he soon found who he was looking for and had to chuckle as Hinata was politely turning down Shima's offer of having something to eat. The two of them stayed around in Myobokuzan for a while and talked about a variety of things. Naruto was even offered the opportunity to learn sage jutsu but declined as he couldn't risk what could happen in Konoha if he was gone for a significant amount of time.

By the time the two of them return to Konoha it was late and the couple had returned to their home. "Today turned out to be quite interesting." confessed Hinata. "Things were enjoyable even if some of it wasn't originally planned."

"Yeah, sorry about that." apologized Naruto. "I know that it was supposed to be a simple date and it ended up being more."

"That's all right." Hinata waved off. "I've come to understand that when you're involved 'simple' doesn't usually happen. Besides, it helps to keep our relationship from becoming stale." A kiss was shared by the couple as they agreed on the previous statement. "By the way, what was the meeting about? Must've been important if they summoned you in the way they did."

"They just offered to teach me some techniques that they taught to Jiraiya. I appreciated the offer but I had to decline." informed Naruto. "Everything's okay Hinata. No need to worry." The excuse did the trick as she let the subject drop and went to her room to change.

"Shouldn't you tell her the truth?" Kyuubi inquired. The demon fox had been strangely quiet lately and asking that question all of a sudden was a shock. "She deserves to know."

Now alone, Naruto dropped the act and became serious. "Yes she does. But I can't bring myself to tell her. She'll worry herself about something that could likely not happen."

"Do as you wish." gave in Kyuubi. "For your sake you better hope that this won't be something that you'll regret." Naruto didn't respond and hope that he wouldn't have regrets.

As you can can tell this chapter was mostly to lead things that I have planned down later on. Whether I'm going to go through with the whole prophecy will have to be a wait and see. Already got a way to use it but that's not happening for the next couple of chapters.

Will try to update again early next month. More than half of this story is done with it and the series is coming to an end as well. Hope to keep the quality going until the end. See ya later.