"What… I don't think quite got what you're saying…" Jiraiya's brows furrowed, eyes narrowing in shock.

"What I'm saying, Jiraiya, is that this five year old girl you see in front of you is actually—or would have been—a seventeen year old lady, born nine years into the future." The Sandaime's sober face was unrevealing as he continued. "She knows about your old students, Konan, Yahiko, and—"

"Nagato?" the white haired man ended through clenched teeth, before his wide eyes were on Naruto. "Why… No, how do you know them?"

"They weren't dead—two of them were not dead when I first met them." She replied, previous cheerfulness gone and replaced by regret. "Yahiko was there, but he wasn't alive."

"Yahiko?" Jiraiya took a deep breath. "Nagato used his eyes on him, didn't he?"

"Yeah, the 'Six Paths of Pain'." The girl's lips were set in a grim line, her eyes averted from his painful gaze for a moment. She gave a small smile. "But if we hurry, I think we can save him. We can save Yahiko."

"How?"

Hiruzen spoke this time, being more informed with the topic. "As you may have known, Rain has been taken over by Hanzō a while back. But his position is being intimidated by the group called 'Akatsuki'."
"Ah, I've heard of them. Don't tell me that those three—"

Naruto inclined her head once, "Exactly. Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko are in the organization, and Yahiko's the leader, though Nagato's the actual head of it in terms of power. Yahiko is what motivates the group, you could say." She looked down at the note in her hands which contained reminders of what she needed to explain. "Um…Hanzō, viewed the Akatsuki as a threat to his status as leader of Amegakure and schemed with Konoha's Root to eliminate them. Claiming to want to discuss peace, Hanzō lured Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan to an ambush.

"They did as he planned, although I'm sure they had suspicions. He forced Nagato to choose between killing Yahiko or Konan, and, not wanting to force Nagato to make the choice, Yahiko impaled himself with a kunai that Nagato was expected to use. Yahiko's lasts words were telling Nagato to survive, because he believed in what Jiraiya said; that Nagato would become the world's savior."

Naruto sighed, subconsciously rubbing her forehead―or rather, the seal on it. "This incident, I think, is what warped Nagato's judgment and view of peace."
She grimly took in her future mentor's grief-stricken expression, before attempting to fix the dark atmosphere. "Don't be like that, Ero-sennin!" She gave a small but meaningful smile. "This is why I'm here, aren't I? Think of me as… what do you call 'im again? The guy who comes in to suddenly fix and make what seemingly unsolvable situation fine and dandy in a story?"

The Hokage chuckled, "Deus ex Machina, Naruto." He watched his former student and smiled. "She's right, Jiraiya. Compared to entering a state of depression, finding a way to save those three would be a better action, would it not?"

"You're… right, Sensei, Naruto."

Relief had shown through her grin as the time traveler said cheekily, "I always am, Ero-sennin. How can I not be?" Her expression melted into a more mature smile, "Pull yourself together, alright?"

He gratefully ruffled her spiky bangs, "This brat…" he muttered fondly.

"The mission would have to be done immediately, but it would be suspicious if Naruto left the village with someone as internationally famous as Jiraiya without an explanation, so we'll wait a week. That way you can clear up people's confusion and guesses―I'm sure that the fact I assigned this mission to you would surely rouse shock. I know a story you could use if asked, and for it to work you would have to bring Uzumaki Kushina along."

"Huh?" Naruto frowned, "Why?"

"Just say to any inquirers that you both happened to have a skill that proves useful for the mission. They can't push any further into that; this is classified, and if they want to try squeezing out answers, they can come to me―of course, I won't reveal anything."
Naruto furrowed her brows worriedly. Would it work? An academy student, four year old, no less, is going out on a mission outside of Konoha with the legendary toad sage Jiraiya? That had probably never happened before.

Her thoughts distracted her focus on the chakra gluing her feet to the branch, and Naruto noticed a split second too late that she was about to fall. A curse escaped her lips as she tried to maneuver herself in the air to land to her feet.

Softening the impact of her landing with chakra, she noticed the Hatake duo's alerted faces, and apologized sheepishly. "Sorry, it won't happen again, I'll make sure of it."
"What's on your mind, Naruto? Usually you would have been able to catch yourself before reaching anywhere near the ground." Sakumo frowned slightly in concern.

"Oh, no, it's just…" Well, she had to tell him sooner than later, right? Biting her lip, her eyes flickered to Kakashi and kept herself from cursing when he noticed.

He scowled in obvious irritation. "Is it something you can't say in front of me?"

"No, it's not like that…" it's just that you would surely blow up with envy if I did that, she thought bitterly. Sighing, she shrugged; the boy was going to find out anyways. "Actually, I'll have to leave Konoha for a while―a classified mission, Sakumo-sensei."
Naruto could tell Kakashi was gob-smacked. Sakumo was just as astonished, before his face hardened, "Naruto, did Hokage-sama really hand that to you? Going out of Konoha to complete a mission is surely above C-rank, which are for genins and up only." His eyes narrowed, "It's dangerous."

Wait, so academy students do D-ranks? Well, that would make sense seeing as it was the time of war, the toughest one yet. "Yes, I'm assigned to that mission, Sensei."

"What about your parents? What did they have to say about it?"

"E―Jiraiya-sensei and my mother will be with me, so my father will be alright with it, I think. I haven't spoken to them yet."

"Jiraiya-sensei?" The man repeated in shock, "You mean… Do you mean Jiraiya-sama of the Legendary Sannin?"

"Yeah―"

"Why are you of all people going?" Kakashi snapped bitterly.

"I have… something importan that is needed for this mission. What it is or what it's going to be used for is classified."

Sakumo frowned at his son in disapproval to his tone, before sighing. "Really… When is the mission?"

"In six days."

He nodded with a smile on his face. "We have six days to train then. Alright, you two, run on the whole river!"

Kakashi scowled in clear displeasure, and shot Naruto a dirty look as if to say 'it's your fault.'

After the endless efforts of Kakashi trying to shove the blonde off their course, he and Naruto reached the end of their (incredibly long) warm-up. Their sensei was nowhere in sight, so they began sparring on the grass.

Trading numerous punches and kicks, the fight ended with Kakashi being the winner this time, and he got off her back triumphantly. Naruto scoffed, patting off the dirt on her white shirt and orange shorts. "You've gotten a lot better than last time," she said, going to the river to wash off the dirt and sweat on her face. Kakashi followed suit, and splashed some of the cold water again to his swollen cheek―Naruto had given him one heck of a punch.

"Are you sure you weren't just getting weaker?"

"Shuddap. I'm improving heaps and bounds ya know. You just happened to pick up on stuff a little better than I do."

He huffed, "Whatever you say, Kamaboko."

"Scarecrow," she retorted back. "Geez, you sure aren't cute."

"Don't say that as if you're older than me."

Naruto stuck her tongue out at him, skipping off. "Sensei's not here even though it's been quite a while, so I'm going to buy some ice-cream. What flavor, Scarecrow?"

"Wha―I'm going too." Kakashi glared at her, "You'd probably going to try skipping like you do at the academy anyways."

"Eh? You noticed?"

"Of course. You did it too many times that I find it hard to not." He sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his black shorts. "I'm surprised the teacher hasn't."

"He was probably paying attention to the other students who had problems." Naruto grinned, slipping into her habit of folding her arms behind her head. "Kippei especially."
The silver-haired boy scoffed. "He's an idiot, so of course he'd fall behind."

"Hey, he's stronger than you. If you got time to think about his weaknesses, why don't you think of ways to get some muscle, hm?"

Her comment earned her a bop in the head. "Ow! Don't go violent on me!"

Sakumo readjusted the plastic bags in his hands again before looking up from his grocery list. Brows furrowing in confusion, he looked from side to side.

"Where are those two?"

Naruto twitched on the sofa at the sound of the doorbell. Must be him! "I'll get it!" She said subconsciously, before remembering that no one was home at the moment. "Right, stupid me," she muttered, rolling her eyes as the door opened with a click.

"Yo, brat!" A bright smile reached her face as she stared up at her previous―or should I say future?―mentor (all the while enjoying the nostalgia coming from the way he addressed her).

"Hey, Ero-sennin!" Naruto grinned, raising a brow. "You're late. Let me guess, you ran into a lady in distress and decided to help her?"

"Oh, how did you know?" He ruffled her spiky bangs, apparently not noticing her scowl. "Well, she was elated when I tried my best to please her."

Naruto inwardly sighed; trust this man to try and take advantage of a five year old's ignorance. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on! We're wasting time as we speak." She griped, pointing at her stomach.

"Sheesh, you remind me too much of Kushina-chan, ya know!" He whined, letting himself get pulled by the girl who was half his height. "So pushy and loud!"

With her right brow twitching irritably, she grumbled, "Like you're any different." Climbing up on a chair by the dining table, she molded chakra and pulled up her shirt enough to show the seal. Jiraiya's eyes widened before narrowing, and he looked up at the girl's face solemnly.

"You were a jinchuuriki?"

"Yeah," Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, "and you probably guessed it already, but I'm the host of the Nine Tailed Fox."

He sighed, and studied the seal on top of the Hakke Fuuin. "So you really are Kushina's daughter. I've already known Minato was your father, and believed that your mother was her, but... well, the seal just blew away any doubts I had."
"Yup. Hey, Ero-sennin?" He grunted. "Did Dad make a jutsu called the 'Rasengan' yet? It's a jutsu where lotsa chakra is charged and packed into a ball."

"No, I've never seen or heard that jutsu before." He smirked, getting out a paper and pencil to write some notes. "Why? You want to become the creator of that jutsu before him?"

"Not necessarily, but it would make things easier if I could use it at any time without getting questioned by him or anyone who knows it."

He hummed thoughtfully, before standing up from his kneeling position. "Anyways, I think it would be pretty easy to get rid of this parasite once we―"

"Really?" Naruto shot up, clutching onto his vest with glimmering hope in her eyes.

"Calm down. I wasn't finished," he sighed, a slight troubled expression on his face as he looked down on his paper. "It seems that though the jutsu is pretty basic, there are… locks, you could say, around it."
The girl flew to the sofa and thrashed her limbs in frustration."Gah! Why do locks always come my way?"

"But," One corner of Jiraiya's lips quirked into a smirk, "the problem will be fixed by a spark of an Uzumaki's chakra."

Naruto sat up in a jolt, her eyes sparkling again, "That means I can do it by myself―"
"No, that's impossible now since too much time has passed. The user's chakra must have mixed with yours, and even if it's very little, it makes your chakra useless to this seal's 'security.'" Naruto glared at him in accusation. "Hey, it's not my fault; something went wrong on a mission, and I can't just up and leave, can I?" He bopped her head. "Back on topic, we can't use your chakra anymore."

"Wait," Naruto blinked, brows furrowing, "So… In other words, I have to find another Uzumaki and use their chakra?"

"Yes, and the only person we can count on now is―"

"My mom." The girl clenched her jaw. "So I need to show this and the jinchuuriki seal to her?"

The two rushed to the Hokage, hoping to reach the office before Naruto's parents do. Luckily, they arrived roughly fifteen minutes earlier than their meeting with the village leader was. They knocked first before entering, and Hiruzen looked up in surprise.

Jiraiya promptly told him what he discovered, and the older man nodded. "I was planning on letting her find out about Naruto's status as a time traveler anyways," the Hokage said, sighing as he leaned back on his chair.

The girl blinked, "What?"

"You both need to learn how to control the Kyuubi, isn't that right?" Realization dawned to her, and Naruto nodded reluctantly. "Then you two should help each other."

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck, "That's true. But how can she help?" He stared down at the blonde, one eye twitching. "She's a little runt now. Can't hurt a fly, can she?"

"What the―getting you a gender change is the least I can do, you perverted―"

Hiruzen coughed into his hand. "Physically, yes, Naruto isn't capable of attacking a demon. However, her mental state is an entirely different matter."

"Yeah!" Naruto glared. "Though I look like this, I'm still my sixteen year old self in my head!"

"So she'll be able to get Kushina to remove the enemy's seal and gain full control of the Kyuubi."

Naruto nodded. A moment passed before a troubled expression crossed her face, and it didn't go unnoticed by the two other occupants of the room. "Naruto?" Jiraiya raised a brow, waiting for her to respond.

"It hasn't crossed my mind with all that happened recently, but…" She sighed, combing a hand through her bangs. "Ever since Kyuubi first said what he thought was going on with the seal the Uzushio kunoichi hit me with, he hasn't said a word to me."

Naruto frowned, and looked up when she noticed Jiraiya had walked to the desk and leant against it. "I'm guessing the reason why is that the seal keeping him in got stronger since I'm back to being five again, so I I'll have some problems trying to talk to him." She paused for a moment. "And… how are my mother and I going to enter each other's mindscapes?"

"Fuuinjutsu, remember?" Jiraiya chuckled, "I thought you were proficient in seals?"
"I'm getting rusty. Besides," Naruto scowled in annoyance, "you didn't teach me all that much about it."
"I was your teacher?"

"You were my mentor, I was your apprentice." She rolled her eyes, "But to be honest, it was more like the other way round."

"What are you talking about?" The two had clearly forgotten the Hokage; Jiraiya being outraged and Naruto being too amused.

"You made my little Gama-chan wallet flat! Any little coin I feed it goes straight in your hands!"

"You're exaggerating―"

"Enough!" The Hokage exasperatedly put a stop to their short-lived argument. "Naruto, you'll have more than enough time to tell Jiraiya all about your life in the mission; it will last a couple of months, after all."

"Right…"

"And Jiraiya, I expect you to brush her up on fuuinjutsu. Understand?"

The man shrugged. "Yes, Sensei."

"I thought she told you two before." Hiruzen said as he sighed, sipping some of his cold tea. Minato's eyes flicked over to Kushina's, before he gazed down to the sitting Hokage. "I should have known she'd lie and leave the most troublesome things to me," the aging man grumbled. His eyes sharpened then, the atmosphere growing even more sober and tense as the couple waited for him to speak.

The Sarutobi weaved his hands together to his mouth, eyes watching their faces. "Kushina will be accompanying Naruto and Jiraiya on a mission in Rain."

Minato tensed visibly, eyes narrowing. "Naruto? She's still―"

"Yes, I do realize that she's still a student of the academy," the Hokage turned over to the shocked woman, "but she's much needed. And about that girl's safety, Kushina and Jiraiya will be more than enough."

The blond balled his hands to fists. "I know they're strong, however―" He bit back from continuing, remembering that this was their village leader. His brows knit closer together anxiously as he delved deeper into his worries and thoughts, forcing Kushina to try to calm his nerves.

She only brought her hand to his arm soothingly, and though that action was small, it was meaningful. Eyes of deep blue shone in determination as they looked up at him, strengthening her words.

"Minato, I wouldn't let anything happen to our daughter, you hear me?" He nodded, and regret reflected in his eyes for inadvertently doubting his girlfriend's abilities. Kushina smiled forgivingly, bringing her hand down to squeeze his larger one. "Don't worry, Jiraiya will also be with us, remember? He would see to it that a maiden's wellbeing is at its finest."

The meeting carried on for a while longer, until they were dismissed at sunset. The couple walked hand in hand down the streets, Minato watched Kushina with a fond smile even as she talked about the most insignificant of things. He watched the way her fiery red hair sway gently in the breeze, the way her eyes reflect the warm colors of the slowly setting sun and the now lit lanterns around them.

"Hey, Minato?"

"Hm?" He noticed her gaze was elsewhere and followed it. His eyes found an accessory shop.

"Mind if we go take a look…?"
He chuckled, giving her hand a light squeeze. "You know I won't. Let's see what they have."
The hair ornaments were stunning, and the man could see sparkles in her eyes as Kushina marveled at them. With a smile, he picked up the one she had been watching so keenly. "Do you like this?"

The piece was small, simple yet beautiful hairclip. The ornament was a sapphire gem embedded in the front of the silver pin, and upon closer inspection a word had been engraved on the metal piece. She tipped her head down in answer to his question.

Happiness.

She smiled up at him, "At first, it reminded me of your eyes, but after a while I thought Naruto's blue, doe-like eyes suit it better!"

"I guess you're right. It'll be nice to buy it for her," he leaned slightly towards the display table and shifted his head to see his girlfriend, "what about you?"

"Hmm?" She grinned, "Well, why don't you pick for me?"

"Kushina…" He whined, "You know very well how bad my sense of style is."
"Hey, I want you to choose, so that's fine, isn't it?"

"Alright, alright…" His blue eyes nervously looked around for something that would suit her tastes and match her red hair.

"Hey there, dear customers!" A cheerful teen girl, most likely sixteen, smiled at them. "We not only have hair accessories, but necklaces, bracelets, and anklets!"

Kushina hummed, her index finger tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I've always been wanting for a new bracelet."
The teen grinned as she pushed out a smaller display table, and on top of it was crowded with beautiful bracelets. Some were colorful beads or shells, simple bangles most likely coated with gold and silver, and the one that caught Minato's eye the most was a charm bracelet.

The charm bracelet had both a sapphire and scarlet gem linked on the chains. In between those two was a silver heart, like the shape of the link attaching it to the bracelet. Minato shifted slightly to see if Kushina had her eyes on it as well, and sure enough, she was mesmerized by it.

The girl giggled, "That suits you two perfectly, I think!"

"Then it's settled," Minato said, a soft grin on his face. He dug out some ryo for the bracelet, "I'm choosing this one for you, Kushina!"

The red-haired woman beamed up at her boyfriend.

"Welcome home," Naruto smiled warily at her parents, before cocking her head to the side at her mother. "You seem really happy; did something good happen?" She thought she was going to get questioned and scolded for accepting the "mission."

Kushina merely grinned goofily, and Naruto took notice of the charm bracelet on her left wrist. "Woah, that's pretty!"

"Right?" The lady draped an arm around Minato's shoulders, "We also bought a little something for you, too, Naruto!" When Kushina whipped out a small pink packet, Naruto instinctively caught it.

Minato smiled, "It's a hairclip, so it won't get in the way or damaged during training and missions." His face grew a little sober then. "Speaking of missions―"

"We'll talk it over dinner, alright?" Kushina quickly cut him off as she watched Naruto open the small gift and stared at the pin in awe.

"Right…"

"Hey, Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, may I put this on now?"

"Of course! Why do you have to ask?" The mother grinned, pushing the girl to the bathroom where the mirrors were. "Come on, I'll put it on for you!"

Sighing, Minato went to the kitchen and prepared to cook their meal.

Sat on Minato's lap, Naruto fingered her bandage wrap on her forehead, brows furrowed in thought. Both parents noticing her agitation, they frowned. "What's the matter, Naruto?" Kushina asked, scooting down from the sofa and crouched in front of them.

Jijii told me that they wouldn't know it… but what if they did? Shaking her head, she smiled, "I'm just a little upset that I have to keep this thing on longer since the scratch got an infection before or something." She curled her lips down in disgust, "the scar looks bad."

"I see." Kushina cradled the girl's face with her hands, smiling in pity. "Make sure to wash that wound properly, alright?"

"Mhm!"

Minato had a bemused frown. "But that is odd. It's been… how many months was it? Five or six months?"

"That's about it…" Naruto grinned, though inwardly she was weeping. Time sure flies by quickly… She loved every second she had with her mother and father; can't time go by slower?

Naruto smiled a small smile as her mother tucked her in bed. "Tou-chan… was angry before, wasn't he?"

"No," Kushina smiled back at her as she got down from the chair and knelt on the floor. She rested her chin on her palm, leaning onto the bed. "He's just a little upset that he wasn't allowed to know more about the mission since it's, well, classified."

"Okay," The girl yawned, turning over on her stomach folding her arms under her head and on the pillow. "Kaa-chan?"

"Yes?"

Naruto pursed her lips for a moment, hesitating, until she shook her head. "It's nothing."
Her brow rose, but Kushina didn't press on. "Alright then." She sighed with a smile. "But remember that you can always talk to me about anything, alright?"

"Yeah… thank you, Mama."

Kushina could tell that Naruto was slipping away into dreamland, and so she soundlessly waited for her to sleep. Once the girl's breathing became heavier, the mother gently pulled the blanket up and combed her fingers gently through the girl's bangs.

A frown settled on Kushina's face at the sight of the dark crimson mark on her forehead. Sighing, the woman got up, stretching her legs lightly. She stared at the girl's sleeping face, and a sad smile reached the Uzumaki's lips.

"I wonder when the day will come when you tell us what's clouding your mind, Naruto."

"Naruto won't be here for the next couple of weeks, so when she comes back make sure to help her with what you've learnt while she was gone." The teacher said with a forced smile, stacking up his papers.

"Hai, Sensei," the students chorused. Kakashi glared down at his notes. Today, Naruto was only preparing for her mission. He was glad that she wasn't boasting about it and a little unnerved since that was unlike her.

Huffing, he scratched more writing into his book angrily, a heavy scowl set on his face.

What was so different about a stupid girl like her (and he refused to acknowledge that she was pretty skilled in the ninja arts)? He was just as, if not more, talented, so why was Naruto getting all the special treatment?

Kakashi let out a harsh sigh that was muffled by his mask and set his pencil down. He glared at the window, resting his cheek on his palm.

In his head, he listed off the bad points of the girl (with the teacher's boring words completely hovering over his head, of course); the idiot was too loud, that was one, very annoying aspect of her. Two, she ate ramen too much. Three, she kept praising ramen too much. Three, she constantly boasted about her cup ramen stack―

He realized that the more he thought about her, the more agitated and annoyed he got.

So Kakashi settled on pondering what he lacked.

One thing the boy learnt full well, Naruto was a chakra and stamina powerhouse. Her punches and hits after a few training sessions (she most likely worked on it) got much stronger as well.

As much as he hated to admit it, she had the perfect qualities as a shinobi. And, like a kid being envious of the toy another kid got, Kakashi wanted those qualities.

It wasn't like he was incompetent for his age. No, it was the complete opposite, and he was proud of that until she came along. His chakra was enough for maybe an average twelve year old, but Naruto, Naruto now had probably as much as an average chuunin's chakra. What made Kakashi feel worse about it was that she had originally as much chakra as he did now; she had worked harder than him for it, even going as far as to sneak out at night to train.

Unexplainable emotions that irritatingly clouded up in his chest were new to him. It grew stronger at the memory of his father ruffling Naruto's hair proudly after she managed to complete an exceptionally hard training method. Kakashi had to fight back the urge to march over and pull Naruto away from him, and when he and Sakumo got home, the boy would always go to the shower, not speaking a word.

And, all because of Naruto, he and his father's relationship wasn't going too well. Sakumo had tried, talking to him over dinner about how his day was, but Kakashi was too irritated from their training sessions too say anything other than 'it's going fine, Father.' The man never stopped asking, but it was obvious he knew the answer every time.

Eventually through his thinking, Kakashi wondered on a question.

He tried squashing and stuffing it away in the farthest back of his mind, but the thought kept drifting its way back up.

What if he told Naruto what was happening?

How it was all her fault for being…well, just there. That if she hadn't come to Konohagakure, everything would have gone all smoothly.

That she shouldn't be here.

She didn't belong here. Everything wasn't making sense with her being here.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the last class of the day. He got up from his chair, shoved his books in his bag, and left the room.

What if he told her, Namikaze Naruto, that she was an outsider?

Naruto packed the last of her kunai in her bag and zipped it up before throwing it on her shoulders. She walked away from her bed to her shelf. On it, other than the books and scrolls lays the clip she had gotten from her parents and a hitai-ate—her forehead protector. She smiled at the black straps tucked underneath the scratched and chipped metal. Picking it up, she tied it around her forehead, nostalgia wafting over her at the feel of the cloth behind the cold plate. Sighing, she took the pin and went to the mirror hung on her wall.

Clipping it on to hold her bangs to the right side, much like her mother, Naruto grinned
at its reflection. The sapphire was absolutely beautiful, and she loved the little word engraved on it.

Her old (or future in this case) clothes had been tucked in a drawer for when she's old enough to fit in them. As much as she missed the orange and black outfit, it wasn't the time to wear them yet. But that didn't mean wearing something similar, did it?

She and her mother had gone shopping for appropriate clothing; their destination was Rain, after all. She had gotten a black, waterproof jacket with a hood suited for shinobi, which had hidden pockets inside that was for packing kunai and shuriken—so the weapons wouldn't be able to tear its way out of the cloth—so it would be a good idea to keep it unzipped during fights in case.

Underneath she wore a normal dark red shirt. There were no patterns on it, except for the black lined spiral on the back. Naruto wore shorts that were black like her jacket, but she folded the ends; the reverse side of the clothing was orange, something Naruto had loved. For her feet she wore the standard blue ninja sandals.

Kushina's voice came from her open door, and she guessed that her mother was in the entrance hall. "Naruto, are you ready? Jiraiya-sama's here!"

"Hai!" She jumped slightly to adjust the bag's straps on her shoulders, before running out.

Kushina stared at her daughter in concern as they prepared their beds on the grass. Usually a little girl her age would be scared during the first night of their first mission. It was then she remembered that Naruto might have camped around before with her old sensei.

She sighed, shaking her head. She needed to hurry—night would be coming soon, and they still had to prepare their dinners while there was still some of the sun's light. I hope it won't suddenly rain… getting tents out is such a pain. Kushina grinned at her thought, I rhymed!

Jiraiya nodded at their camp site; the sleeping bags were done, food out, traps set. "Alright, I guess we should start planning on guarding shifts."

"Actually," Naruto said, a proud grin on her face, "I have been practicing a way to make that easier!"

"Oh?"
"Yup! I've been making a clone and made it sat still while I slept at night for a week. The longest it can last now is about—" then, her grin turned smug, "—five hours!"

Kushina's brows were raised, "Amazing," she praised before glaring, "but you're not supposed to train when it's time for you to sleep!"

"But…"
Jiraiya sighed, waving a hand dismissively, "She'll live even without a few hours of sleep." He then turned to the little girl. "How long did it last on
the first night?"

"Roughly thirty minutes." Naruto smirked, "How's that?"

"Great improvement. That method would be highly useful for this mission."

"Right? Right? I'm amazing!" The blonde had a goofy grin on her face, "You gotta teach me some awesome seals, Ero-sennin!"
"What—you brat! Call me Jiraiya-sama!" Nostalgia wept over her, making Naruto's grin widen even further.

"Ero-sennin, Ero-sennin!" She stuck her tongue out, "Pervy Sage!"

Kushina scoffed. "Now you act your age?" she muttered with an amused smile on her face. She shook her head and stretched. "Well, I'm going to check around, so you two plan the mission out."

Jiraiya and Naruto nodded, watching as the woman walked off. "When should we show her that seal?" Jiraiya said, pretending not to notice the quick change on the blonde's expression. Her grin swept off, replaced by a blank look.

"Of course as soon as possible," she replied, placing a kunai under her pillow. "Then I can finally take this mark off my forehead."

"Does it bother you?"

"Hm? Oh, no, not really." She sighed, lying down on her sleeping bag. "It just makes my mind fuzzy when I try to remember my important memories."

Jiraiya raised a brow, "Have you consulted the Hokage about that?"

"Yep, he says it's because the seal takes extra care to the ones I remember the most vividly, as if I was there."

"Is that so? I never heard of a seal like that before."

"It seems like it's an ancient one."

"Ah, no wonder," Jiraiya rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm not very knowledgeable in ancient fuuinjutsu."

"Say, when can I get a toad contract?"

"When are you going to tell me about your life?"

"When I get a toad contract."

Jiraiya huffed, before he started going off to his own sleeping bag.

"I mastered the Sage mode when I was sixteen, so shouldn't it be natural to want to try mastering it at an earlier age?"

Her words made him stop in his tracks. Mastered? The Sage mode? When she was sixteen? His mind was in jumbles. "What?"

"You heard me," she smirked, "I mastered Sage mode when I was sixteen."

He massaged the bridge of his nose, "Even so, it's much too early for you at your current age. Your mental state may be seventeen or something, but right now you're a five year old child."

"What! But—"

He drew his index finger to his mouth, silencing her. "Your mother's coming."
"We never did plan the mission yet."

Kushina heard her, and set her hands on her hips, "You haven't?" She huffed, "Honestly… did you two bicker again?"

"Something like that," Jiraiya sighed. "Well, I believe we should start heading to Rain immediately. Now that I think about it, you haven't really been told the details of the mission, have you?"
"Yes!" She hissed, crossing her arms over her chest, "All I've been told is that we're heading to Ame to stop an ambush!"
"We're stopping Hanzo from abushing Akatsuki, an organization that has been gaining power in Rain. Hanzo fears that the people will choose Akatsuki over himself as the ruler," Naruto said smoothly. Kushina blinked, surprised that she can understand all that before remembering the girl's abnormally high IQ.

She nodded, taking in the information, "So we're going to stop that from happening? Did the group Akatsuki request our help?"

Jiraiya answered this time. "No, we're going there on our own accord." He sighed, rolling his shoulders. "We're not sure how much money we'll get from this mission, but it would definitely give Konoha and Ame a better relationship. Hanzo's recently getting a bad reputation, after all."
"I see… So what's so important that an academy student has to come? And me? Surely there are stronger ninjas in the village."

"The reason, Kushina, is a seal. Naruto, show her now."
When naruto rolled up her jacket and shirt, the glowing seal made the mother's eyes widen in shock. They widened even further when she realized that there were not one, but two seals. Not only that, but underneath the second seal, was one she would have least expected.

With horror, Kushina realized that the first seal was the Hakke Fuuin.

The ultimate seal used for the Nine Tailed Fox.

Well, I believe the Hakke Fuuin is the ultimate seal... I think they mentioned that somewhere in cannon.

AND I'M SORRY FOR UPDATING SO LATE AGAIN. I had a small case of writer's block (not because I've lost interest in this story, but because I couldn't type without wondering, 'would this sentence be too boring?'

GAH!

And... well, I heard that there was a rule where we can't reply to the reviewers individually... was I wrong? I don't know T-T Anyways, thanks for the reviews! There was a lot for the last chapter O.O Maybe it's because I hadn't updated for so long... Sorry again.

Well, I'm thinking of updating every Saturday, but I'm still not sure (I don't get along very well with this guy called 'Schedule'), but I'll at least try to post up a new chaper within a week. I'LL TRY!

Response to my dear reviewers TvT I'm gonna reply individually this time! Screw the rules (that might not even exist)!

Guest: Yes, I believe I made Minato and Kushina accept Naruto too fast, and I'm sorry for that. I can't change it, but I'll keep that in mind for future story ideas. By the way, I made Naruto their child like in cannon becaues I think it would be much sweeter to write :3 And I think they need more family scenes. If Naruto and Minato had a sister-brother relationship, Kushina would be left out of the loop... or something.

SleepyPuppy: Well, I'm not going to spoil the rest of this fanfic, but I'll at least say this: I'm going to keep as much of the cannon's setting as I can (of course, I'll have big changes to it though). Thanks!

qxonewip: yes, Naruto and Kakashi will be 'together', but that would be quite a long way off... sorry. I'll have some fluffy moments though (my friend's also gotten into fanfiction, and has tons of well done fluff. I'm getting jealous) xD

sora tsuiki: Reading through my story again, I realized that I didn't mention the seal on Naruto's forehead as much as I should have. Sorry about that ^^" I planned on keeping Naruto's feelings about Jiraiya's return covered slightly. I have a reason for that. Jiraiya doesn't know how close they were, and to make the situation less uncomfortable for him Naruto's acting all cheerful and happy. I was gonna explain that later on when she reveals everything to him, but I guess it was a little too much ^^" I love reviews, and the fact that you wrote so much makes me happy! Thanks for writing reviews for all the chapters!

A Happy Reviewer: I'm glad you're happy! Thanks for the compliments TvT Yeah, I found keeping the characters non-OOC a little hard (the reactions and stuff). Sorry this chapter wasn't as long as the last one, but I'll try making the next one much longer (no promises though)! Thank you again!

wolf girl811: Naruto's jinchuuriki seal is still strong, though slightly weaker than the cannon Naruto's seal when he was five, so there'll be little interaction between Naruto and Kyuubi. You'll see him a little in the next chapter, I think :) Thank you!

Prescripto13: Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you liked that scene :)

Ell Roche: Yay! I was hoping for someone to understand her feelings (though I think I should have explained them more clearly)! Thanks!

XxBishxX: Thank you! xD

From now on, I'll try to respond to all the reviews! Thank you! m(_ _)m