A week later, Naruto found himself in a mountainous region in the northern area of the Land of Fire with Jiraiya. "Why are we out here, Pervy-Sage? That's a long walk for some tricks, especially since I have to be back in a week to continue my training with Lord Hiashi."

"Why the title for him and not me?" Jiraiya asked.

"Because he's not perverted," Naruto mumbled.

"I am not a pervert..." Jiraiya retorted even as he posed. "I am a SUPER PERVERT!"

"... Great, I'm stuck with a perverted idiot... are all old men like this?" Naruto muttered.

Jiraiya sighed and stopped Naruto. "Look, whether I'm a pervert or not has nothing to do with my ninja skills. Among various supplementary skills I'll help you with, there's two jutsu I want to teach you, but there's only enough time to learn one. In order to use it effectively, though, you need to be able to consciously utilize your second source of chakra."

"Second source? But everyone has only one source!" Naruto retorted.

"Not everyone has even one source; that's why not everyone can be a ninja. You and precious few others have a second source of chakra, but normally you can't use it unless you're in a state of rage," Jiraiya said. "You showed this twice during the Wave mission, and you nearly burst during the preliminaries. You have it; you simply need to learn how to harness it."

"Say I believe you. How do I go about accessing it?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya shrugged as he pulled out a large scroll. "First I need you to sign something."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's the Toad Summoning scroll," Jiraiya responded. "This may give you an edge against Neji and Gaara in the finals. You'll need to sign it with your blood, though."

Naruto nodded and knelt down to sign it when he noticed a name. "Hey, the Fourth DID use toads as summons! Just like during the Academy Exam!" As Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, Naruto poked his index finger with a kunai and signed his name below the Fourth's. "Awesome! I can use a jutsu that the Fourth used now!"

"After I teach you the hand signs," Jiraiya said as he began showing Naruto the hand signs. "These three you use to summon, and this one you use to send your summon partner back. Let's get to work practicing." Naruto began, but soon ended up with a pile of tadpoles. "Alright, this isn't working." He then made Naruto send the tadpoles back. "Let's empty your normal reserves; we'll work on your chakra control tomorrow. Make as many Shadow Clones as you can, then keep using the Water Dragon jutsu until you can't do it anymore." Naruto nodded and several hundred Naruto clones appeared along the path around them. They all began to let loose Water Dragons left and right, until all the clones disappeared and he had dropped to his knees in exhaustion. "Okay, now try to focus on obtaining that chakra. Surely you remember how it feels... if not, then remember when Sasuke 'died', or when Hinata was nearly killed."

Naruto nodded and began to focus, but while the anger was there it didn't seem to well up. "It's not working..."

"Hm..." Jiraiya thought about it for a moment. 'Maybe it'll come out if the Fox thinks that Naruto is in mortal danger, since if he dies, the Fox dies as well.' "Naruto, how much do you trust me...?"

"Uh... is this a trick question?" Naruto replied sarcastically. "You may be one of the Sannin, but I've already had one after my head- well, more Sasuke's than mine- and until recently most of the villagers have been out to get me. How am I supposed to think any differently of you, since you could simply be waiting for the right moment?"

"..." With a pained expression, Jiraiya turned away and leaned against the side of the mountain. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry you had to experience all of that. I never imagined that you would end up going through so much. Minato must be rolling in his grave right now..." Quickly forming a blue orb in his hand, he shoved it into the mountain and it made a large hole in it.

"Why do you have to be sorry? You weren't there chasing me down the streets," Naruto responded.

"But I was there when you were born," Jiraiya responded. "Minato told me what he was planning on doing and knocked me out before I could stop him. When I came to, the Third had already told me what had happened. He..." He threw the orb, which flew a distance before crashing into a distant mountain and exploding with vicious force.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Master Jiraiya. I didn't mean to vent my frustration on you," Naruto said as he trotted up to Jiraiya and patted him on the back. "What's done is done. All that matters is what is next, right?"

"But what happened then is vital to everything that is happening now, and what will happen soon..." Jiraiya responded. "Also, several years back I had the chance to kill Orochimaru, but I knew that Sarutobi-sensei wanted me to rescue him, so I didn't kill him and he slipped through my fingers. I lost track of him after that."

"But he was your teammate," Naruto responded. "No one would blame you for not wanting to kill him. I couldn't do it, for sure."

Jiraiya shook his head. "I know, but this whole thing with Sound could have been avoided if I had killed him, and everything that happened to you wouldn't have happened if I had stayed around to raise you."

"Raise me? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I mean that I'm your godfather," Jiraiya responded. "I was supposed to raise you in the event that your parents were killed. They were both ninja, so it was a possibility."

"Wait, you know my parents!?" Naruto practically jumped on Jiraiya. "Please tell me about them!" he shouted, not quite out of anger but more from desperation.

"I can't... though I'm a Sage, I'm still technically a jonin of the Leaf and am bound by the Third's law to not tell anyone about your secrets," Jiraiya responded. "I will tell you this, though. Your father was one heck of a ninja, which is why I know you can handle anything."

Naruto sighed. "Thanks... I guess it was a long shot. Can you tell me anything at all, things that won't reveal who he was?"

"I guess so. He was a lot like you, actually," Jiraiya began. "Very hyper as a kid, with lots of potential. As I watched him grow, he matured very well and became a dependable leader. During the war with Rock, he led several excursions into their territory and won many victories for the Leaf. Unfortunately, he was among many of the casualties during the Nine-tailed Fox incident; his body was never recovered, but he definitely died in the line of duty. Your mother died giving birth to you; she wasn't really built physically for child-bearing... I'll explain what I mean by that later. She did get to hold you for a few moments, I'm told, before closing her eyes for the last time; she's the one who had named you." He held Naruto's shoulders as they looked out over the valley, the sun setting just above the Leaf Village directly in front of them. "You have a legacy of honor, commitment, and bravery to live up to."

"... Thanks, Jiraiya," Naruto said, sniffling as he tried to hold back his tears. "I wish I'd gotten to know them."

"They would've absolutely adored you," Jiraiya said. "They were looking forward to your birth so much... I remember your father asking me to help set up your nursery. That was fun; it took us hours just to set up your crib, and then we had to get the mobile right and set up the stuffed animals just like how your mother wanted them. It's ironic; the biggest one there was a fox, kind of like the one I heard that you got the Hyuuga princess."

"Yeah... and now the Fox is dead, my parents are dead, Hinata's in the hospital, and I've just gotten the price on my head off only because I'm a ninja now," Naruto muttered. "Life's looking up, that's for sure."

"Uh... look, there's one thing wrong with that sentence," Jiraiya interjected. "Before I tell you, though, will you promise not to be mad at me for what I'm about to do?"

Naruto looked at him weirdly. "Depends on what you're going to do."

"I'm giving you an edge. The Toad summon does take a lot of chakra, especially with the more powerful summons, but their chakra can't be sealed by a Hyuuga. This goes the same for any summon, by the way," Jiraiya said. "But in order to pull this off, I need to make sure that you can access the second source of chakra."

Naruto felt his headband and nodded, saying "Alright, I trust that your intentions are good, though I still don't know what you're getting at."

"You will in a minute," Jiraiya said as he picked Naruto up and threw him off the edge.

"WAAAAAAAH!" Naruto shouted as he fell. 'I don't even have enough chakra for a substitution!' He closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable.

…

"Whoa!" Naruto said as his feet landed on soft dirt, though there was no pain as he landed, as if he'd simply jumped up normally.

"Boy, we have no time for pleasantries today. You're falling to our death, and you need my chakra," a voice sounded. Naruto looked up and saw a giant gate, behind which red eyes glared down at him. "I shall not die because my landlord is a complete moron." With that, chakra began to pour through the bars and engulf Naruto, who shouted from surprise as he got swept away.

…

Naruto's eyes opened as he quickly did the hand signs. "Summoning jutsu!" The downward rush quickly became an upward rush as something appeared underneath him.

Jiraiya smiled as a huge toad appeared. "Hey, Bunta! Long time no see, huh?"

Gamabunta turned his head and looked at Jiraiya in exasperation. "Why did you summon me? I don't see any battles going on; this desolate place is no place to hold a battle anyway!"

"Actually, I didn't summon you," Jiraiya pointed out. "He did."

Gamabunta paused as he felt something crawling across his back. He lifted a webbed foot and picked up Naruto, who had been scrambling to stay on the huge slime-covered toad. "Huh, looks like the other one. Is this his brat?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Jiraiya affirmed.

"Ha! Should have known! Come on, boy, let's see if you can handle me!" Putting Naruto back on his back, Gamabunta started hopping around, covering great lengths of field with each hop.

"WHOAAAA!" Naruto shouted, just barely hanging on with his feet, which had a little bit of chakra to keep him planted on the toad's back.

Several minutes later Gamabunta came back to the mountain and put Naruto down next to Jiraiya. "Listen, boy, you may have been able to summon me, but you need to learn how to summon the lesser toads before I accept you as one of our summoners. And Jiraiya, I expect to see some sake the next time you decide to yank me from the dinner table!" The giant toad disappeared in a poof, leaving the two humans behind.

"Wow, that was awesome!" Naruto said, jumping once but finding himself still unsteady.

"Come on, Naruto, let's get back to the village," Jiraiya responded as he hefted Naruto onto his back. "I'll tell you about some of my battles on the way, and why you were suddenly able to summon the toad boss."

…

"And that's the situation," Shino said as he stood in front of the Hokage. "I apologize for having accepted that promise without consulting with you first."

"You did your best, Shino. She has provided us with valuable information in regards to the nature and layout of the Sound Village," the Hokage replied, "so it was worth rescuing her."

Jiraiya was deep in thought, but was able to keep up with the conversation anyway. "Anko's Curse Seal is incomplete, so I need to capture someone with a completed Curse Seal, but if what Kin said about it is true then I'm in a pickle. Lord Hokage, I can't protect you and also be on the lookout for this one person at the same time."

"ANBU is a powerful force, especially with ROOT taken care of, so you should focus on defensive measures. If I remember my student, I know he'll want to be as close to the action as he possibly can, and if he's as powerful as you're saying, then we'll have to be sure about even the Kages that come to watch. The Sand leader, in particular, will need to be monitored, in case Orochimaru uses him to infiltrate the final exam the same way he sneaked into the second portion," the Hokage responded.

"That would be extremely dangerous," Jiraiya agreed. "With two villages under his direct control, not to mention a Jinchuuriki, we'd have a lot of trouble simply surviving. Granted that Sound is made up of rogues, and Sand isn't as powerful as it used to be... but we're still in big trouble."

"'Jinchuuriki'?" Shino asked.

Jiraiya slapped his forehead with his palm, while Sarutobi sighed. "Sorry, Shino. We can't tell you," the Hokage replied. "That will be all. We'll deal with Tayuya when she shows herself."

"Thank you, sir. Again, my apologies for letting this happen," Shino said as he bowed and excused himself.

…

"It was awesome, Hinata!" Naruto quietly exclaimed as he sat next to Hinata's bed. "Boss can cover miles and miles of ground in a single jump, and he's taller than the Hokage Mountain, and he's got this huge sword- though for him I think it's more of a short sword- on his back, and I was able to summon him! Crazy, huh?"

Hinata chuckled as Naruto talked. "It is, especially since you said you didn't have any more chakra. How did you get so much in so little time?"

"I don't really remember... As I was falling, I closed my eyes, and then my eyes opened and I could feel my body coursing with chakra," Naruto responded. "Jiraiya-sensei is going to explain what happened when I meet with him later, but he said something about having a second source of chakra."

"But I've never heard of a ninja having a second source of chakra," Hinata said.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "He said that I'm one of a few people who do. Anyway, I don't mean to keep going on and on about me. How are you feeling today?"

"Great. The doctor said that I'll be able to go home today, though tomorrow Saito-sensei wants to start training immediately. The doctor gave the okay, so I guess it'll be back to business as usual," Hinata replied. "The best part is that Father wasn't upset or disappointed. He said that he was proud of me for standing up to Neji and for making it so far in the Exam, even though I've been a ninja for only a few months."

"That's awesome, Hinata!" Naruto said as he hugged her.

"Yeah; they're planning a big welcome-home party for me tonight, too. Hanabi told me, though she said it was supposed to be a surprise," Hinata said.

Naruto chuckled. "I guess we'll have to call up Ino to erase that memory, huh?"

Hinata shook her head, smiling lightly as she thought about her friend. "Oh, I'm not going to bother her about it, especially since she's been busy with that Cloud genin she fought. He left today and she's been pouting ever since; nearly caused an international incident when Kosuke refused to depart with his team, but from what Sakura said the Hokage is hopeful that it'll foster better relationships between us and Cloud."

"Aw, man, Ino's chasing guys again? I'm surprised she has any time, what with Anko-sensei doubling the training they're doing," Naruto replied. "The only one not really doing anything is Shino. Is he feeling any better?"

"Yeah, there wasn't any damage," Hinata replied.

"I hope not. That had to hurt," Naruto said, wincing as he imagined it. "I'll bet he's not going to be hanging around her much."

"Actually, they already made up. Tenten is training him to use his sword better," Hinata noted.

"That huge thing? I swear, he's going to knock some heads off just from hitting them with the broad side," Naruto joked. "But if anyone can teach him, aside from Zabuza, it's probably Tenten."

"She said it's helpful for her training, too, especially since Neji is training on his own," Hinata said, sadness creeping into her voice at the end. "Father says that he's even more obsessive about it than usual. It's like he's possessed by a demon."

The room was filled with an oppressive silence for several moments as they looked at each other, seeming to know the other person's thoughts. "Don't worry, Hinata. I'll get him for you," Naruto replied.

Suddenly the nurse came in and said, "Lord Jiraiya is waiting for you, Naruto."

"Guess I gotta go," Naruto said as he stood up and hugged Hinata again. "I'll see you later; maybe I'll be around when you get home."

"Maybe. I'll look forward to it," Hinata replied, smiling as she hugged him back.

…

"I can't do it, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said, panting deeply. "I'm a fire user; this lightning chakra is so different."

"You have a dual-type, Sasuke. Just let it flow, and you'll get it," Kakashi replied.

"Why am I learning this jutsu, anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"It's my only original jutsu," Kakashi replied. "I'd rather leave it with you than anyone else. Normally it's used for assassination missions, but you'll need it against Gaara. I watched a video captured in the Forest of Death, and no attack was able to penetrate his sand. I noticed that there is a time-delay, though, hence the heavy training weights. Your family's fighting style is fast anyway, so maybe you'll be able to get through his sand defense without needing to use the Chidori; if you fight Neji, you may need that speed to avoid his strikes."

Sasuke nodded. "What's the difference between the Chidori and your Lightning Blade?"

"The Lightning Blade is nearly silent, but the Chidori has a psychological effect that is difficult to compensate for," Kakashi said. "Now stop talking and focus; we've got three weeks left, and you NEED to perfect this attack as best you can in that time."

…

"Hah, I knew that guy from Sand was a wimp," Zaku said as he bolted through a forest, making his way from the deserts of Wind Country to the Sound Village. "Muttering to himself about some chick half the time, and his mother the other half... the Otokage is going to flip, but he's always got a plan-"

Gaara had, at that point, stepped out from behind a tree and caught Zaku's leg with a tendril of sand. "You're a fool... and your village is one of fools. Mother will feast on that day, and your leader will have what he wants, but tonight Mother desires your blood. She detests traitors, as you have proven yourself to be tonight."

As Gaara's sand lifted Zaku up by his leg and began to slowly encase him, Zaku shouted "Sound will avenge me! Once the Leaf burns to ashes, Sand will turn to broken crystal! Do you hear me?"

"Sound is dangerous, but even so it can do nothing on its own, as it is merely the vibration of the bones in the ear that produces sound. And like all bone..." The sand had, at the point, smothered the Sound ninja. Gaara closed his hand and watched with his psychotic smile as blood dripped down from the floating orb of sand and said, "it is easily crushed."

…

"So, what you're saying is that I no longer have ANY genin to participate in the final match!? First I'm down to two, and now I don't even have the body of one?!" the Otokage asked, his fury veiled only by a thin layer of authority.

"Yes, my lord, that appears to be the case. Of course, Dosu could be replaced in his match by any of us since he wore so many clothes that one could never see who was, in fact, underneath," a red-haired teenager replied.

"The match itself is not my concern; they were to be useful in the final part of my plan," the Otokage replied. "I must have the corpses of three strong yet young ninja, so their moving on to the final match was never intended, but I have no one of that age group except the four of you." Sighing, he said, "You will take Dosu's place in the exam, just so that no one will think us as weak during the tournament; do make sure to bind yourself well so that people will think you're a boy. You will also do well to remember that he did not have a Curse Seal. That will be all." He waved away the girl and was alone in his chambers as he reflected on his current predicament. "I have no choice... the jutsu can be done with only three if they're in their level two state, but who will take the place of the genin? I guess I'll grab some civilians, and I'll deal with any possible consequences when the time comes."

…

Meanwhile, the girl had stepped into her cell to change, thankful for the four walls that protected her from the other members of the Sound Four. Though they were all orphans, she knew that she was different from the other three in that her loyalty to the Otokage wasn't because he'd 'rescued' them from the life they would've endured otherwise, but because she had no alternative. Kin had shown this easily from her own experiences, to the point where she would defend the girl and threaten to kill them if they in any way tried to exploit Kin. "Damn it, Kin, what happened? Why couldn't you simply survive the exam? I can't even bury you, for crying out loud..." Wiping away her emerging tears, Tayuya began to put together an outfit similar to Dosu's. "Geeze, why do these things simply insist on getting bigger?" she muttered to herself as she began binding her ribcage with chakra tape. "Least I'm good at genjutsu... doubt I'd have kept those dogs off of me until now without it." The chakra tape began to constrict and she now appeared in the mirror to have a flat chest. "This is about the only decent invention they have nowadays... now, to the costume itself." After spending some time mixing and matching, she managed to cobble together an outfit that resembled Dosu's, which looked surprisingly accurate when she put it on. "I can always say that I felt like wearing something different."

"Hey, Tayuya! Ready to go!?" a voice came out from the other side of her door.

Lacing her response with coarse language and insulting names, as she typically did in public, Tayuya said "Shut up! I'm coming!"

"Tayuya, you know how Jirobo feels about your language," another voice rang out.

"He can take it up with the Otokage if he's so concerned!" Tayuya responded as she finished putting her shoes on. Stepping out, she quickly went to her duties as she began preparing for the final part of the Chunin Exam.

…

Hiashi watched silently as Naruto approached him. 'Lord Jiraiya seems to have high hopes for the boy, and if his father is who I think he is, then those hopes won't be disappointed. Perhaps it's a good thing for Hinata to be attracted to him, but I need to really start doing my duty as a father if I'm going to be able to teach her what she needs to know as an adult, not just as a ninja.' His face continued to keep its neutral expression as he moved to the dueling circle. "Naruto, I am glad you could make it. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes, sir," Naruto responded as he shed his cloak, gave it to Jiraiya, then walked into the circle.

"This might be rather unorthodox, but you only have a few weeks left, and you need to know how to fight Neji. Once you can beat him, you should be able to beat most any other opponent," Hiashi said as he slipped into the Gentle Fist stance. When his eyes activated, he had to blink and adjust his focus to compensate for the seal and the extra chakra that flowed from it. 'I wonder if he knows about the Fox...' "Naruto, our style is very proactive against non-Hyuuga opponents, so expect Neji to rush you." With that, he was on top of Naruto and a hand posed right in front of his chest, surprising Naruto as he hadn't seen the older man move. "You'll need to be fast to avoid his strikes; one well-placed attack will cause your heart to explode, and I can guarantee you that being Hinata's knight-in-shining-armor makes you Neji's number-one target."

"Knight... in shining armor?" Naruto asked, a blank expression crossing his face. "Wait, you mean that my being friends with Hinata means that Neji will be out to kill me? But won't he be arrested for killing a fellow Leaf ninja?"

Hiashi shook his head sadly. "He doesn't care. All he wants is revenge, and I'm afraid that even I cannot reach him at this point, not without using the Caged Bird seal, and that would cause Hinata more pain and Neji to hate her even more."

"But she's never done anything to him!" Naruto objected.

Hiashi stepped back and the two of them began light-sparring as he said, "I know, but he's trying to take revenge on me through Hinata. If Neji wants to tell you, then you should probably hear what happened from him. The only time emotions are pure is during combat, so if there's any part of him that still yearns to be saved from what he's become, he'll reach out to you then. Now, listen, Neji might not know this next skill, but I suspect that he's smart enough to figure out how it works. Eight Trigrams: Rotation!" Chakra erupted from Hiashi's body as he began spinning. A large dome of blue chakra slammed into Naruto and sent him flying, though he recovered quick enough to land on his feet as Hiashi stopped spinning. "That's 'Rotation'. The Hyuuga are blessed with excellent chakra control, though I spent many years training to hold as much chakra as Kakashi does while maintaining my control. A perfectly-formed Rotation will use the least amount of chakra while also having the force of a stronger-leveled elemental jutsu; if I had Neji's reserves and my current control, I could use it twenty times and still have enough to close every chakra point on ten people, but I know that Neji's control is nowhere near mine, so he'll waste energy during a Rotation. Your best strategy is to try to take him out from far away and force him to use the Rotation repeatedly, but if he doesn't know it you might actually be in a worse position, since the Rotation wasn't meant for a genin to learn or use on the battlefield."

"I have Shadow Clones, so I could send an army at him, but even with my weights off I'm only as fast as Lee is with his weights on," Naruto noted. "What if he's able to close the chakra to my arms before I can start making Shadow Clones?"

"Then forfeit, unless you know how to use your chakra to force your chakra points to open up again quickly," Hiashi replied gravely. "But given who you are, and what's at stake here, I don't expect you to simply quit unless you're dead. Let's continue; we'll try and make sure you know how to see the Rotation coming, and how to avoid strikes to the arm, since that's where a jutsu begins."

…

The Hokage looked sternly at Jiraiya. "We have a week left, and you're telling me that you have nothing that you could use against Orochimaru!?"

"I'm not saying that, sensei," Jiraiya replied nervously; in truth, he'd spent so much time training Naruto, which he was now really enjoying, that he'd forgotten that he was in charge of security. "I'm saying that I need to know how Orochimaru will appear if I'm going to have any chance of stopping what he's got planned AND keep you safe in the process. Jutsu aren't all that selective, you know..."

The Hokage sighed and said, "... Fine. My guess is that he'll probably be either the Otokage himself, since two of his genin moved on in the rounds, or one of his guards. Maybe he'll show up masquerading as the Sand's leader, or even one of his guards."

"Don't forget that he was a Grass ninja during the second part, so he could technically be anyone," Jiraiya pointed out.

"I guess the only thing to do is to set up a trap around the Kage Box," the Hokage replied.

"If that's the case, then I've got a good idea, long as you can have a Shadow Clone ready," Jiraiya said.

"Boy, I've been able to use it long before you," the Hokage answered, "so don't think you can underestimate me just because I'm a bit older than you."

"Yes, sensei!" Grinning, Jiraiya disappeared from the room so he could work on the trap.