Naruto kicked his way to the surface and then attempted to swim for the dry part of the room. His swimming ended up looking more like floundering as his water logged dress had become rather heavy and difficult to move in. Naruto paused for a moment to consider what to do next when he felt his hand run along a smooth object. He looked over to find an animal he had never seen before staring back at him. The animal swam gracefully around him and stopped again.

'I guess it wants to help me,' Naruto thought and grabbed onto the animal's back fin. The creature moved with surprising speed and they quickly reached the shallow water of the shore line.

Naruto jumped off and as he trudged up to the dry land he called out "Thank you. You were a lifesaver."

He was startled by a voice right next to him replying "Well, I didn't think it was right to leave you there, especially when I was going the same way."

Wait, that voice is familiar! Naruto turned around and pointed at the man. He choked out "Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looked at him curiously before replying. "Well, I guess it's easy to guess my name after you saw me as a dolphin. May I have your name miss?"

"What? It's me, Naruto."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Naruto-chan."

"Wait, no, I'm not a -"

Naruto was cut off by another familiar voice yelling "The last one to the beach will tread water for ten minutes!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei. I will tread water for twenty minutes even if I'm the first one there," came Lee's response.

Naruto and Iruka watched the team clamor up onto the beach. Gai looked around, spotted the pair and headed to where they stood. His students followed after him. "Iruka, lovely day for a swim isn't it?" Gai asked.

"Yes, it was pleasant."

"Who is this lovely young lady? A new student or perhaps a girlfriend?" Gai inquired.

"No, no. I simply helped her out of the water. Everyone, this is Naruto-chan. Naruto-chan this is Gai, Lee, Neji, and Tenten."

Gai and Lee were radiating energy as usual, though Neji and Tenten seemed a bit miserable in their wetness. They all said hello, and a confused Naruto greeted them back. Didn't anyone recognize him?

"Oh right, who was the last one here?" Gai asked turning to his team.

Neji responded quickly with "No one, we all made it to the beach at exactly the same time."

That seemed to satisfy Gai as he nodded his head vigorously. "Ah, the power of youth. I guess we should see about getting dry then. Iruka, what do you know that's dry?"

"Well, the lecture on Konoha's history is extremely dry," Iruka said.

"Great, tell it to us," Gai requested. Everyone moved further inland and sat in a semicircle around Iruka.

"Konoha was created many years ago in the Land of Fire. We have gained much power and are considered one of the top five ninja countries. This power is owed to the great clans that settled in Konoha when it was created. The Hyuga clan is one of the oldest and has two family branches. Their excellent chakra control and unique fighting style allows them to easily dispatch opponents. The clan is still one of the most powerful in Konoha. The Uchiha clan was once extremely powerful and influential but has been almost completely wiped out. Their bloodline trait is thought to have evolved from the Hyuga clan. The Uchiha's had created a police force along with their ninja duties to protect the citizens. The Nara clan is skilled in the creation of medicines using the antlers of the deer they keep. They have strong ties to the Akimichi because of this for the Akimichi have a tendency to do everything from eating to fighting with extreme measures . . ."

Naruto was nodding off and he could hear someone snoring. Everyone was brought back when Naruto sneezed.

"Oh miss, how are you doing now?" asked Iruka.

"Still quite wet and cold, actually," Naruto replied.

"Dear me, what should we do to get dry?" Iruka asked no one in particular.

Gai jumped up. "Since learning won't work exercise will. I gave you a shot Iruka, but you showed learning is not the answer. Exercise is all you need in life. We should have a race!" A groan came from the direction of Neji and Tenten.

"Yes Gai-sensei, that's a wonderful idea. If I don't win the race I'll do one thousand leg squats," said Lee.

"Alright, start running until we're dry," Gai said and took off running. Lee ran off in the opposite direction and Iruka began to jog along the shore.

Neji and Tenten looked at each other. "What kind of race is this?" Tenten asked.

"Doing this will just make us sweaty which will keep our clothes wet. Exercise without thinking is just as bad as listening without purpose. Neither listening to a lecture nor running around in circles will dry us any faster than just standing here," Neji stated.

Gai came running back by them. "Come on you three, don't be shy miss, let's race to get dry."

Neji and Tenten got up and started to run. Naruto stood up to follow suit and realized that his wet dress had become even heavier from sand sticking to it. This caused Naruto to really look at his surroundings for the first time. He had expected to be standing on the floor of the door room, with a gigantic door looming overhead, but that was not the case. The sandy beach connected to a grass field surrounded by trees. Roughly one hundred feet ahead was a path that separated the line of trees.

Naruto decided he might as well run around too as he tried to think about what was going on. 'Where am I now? I would have sworn I was still in the room with all those doors. Is it possible that everything changed when I fell into the water? But that doesn't make sense. Then again, not much else is right now either. How do I get back to that door that leads to Konoha? More importantly, why doesn't anyone recognize me? I can understand at first since I look like a girl, but they act like they've never known anyone named Naruto. Other than Iruka transforming into a dolphin himself, Gai, Neji, Tenten, and Lee all look and act the same. Why am I the only different one? What if, when I reach Tsunade she doesn't recognize me either? How will she be able to help me if she doesn't understand what's wrong? Ah, this is so confusing; my head is starting to hurt.'

Iruka jogged up to Naruto's side and asked, "How are you doing now miss?"

"I'm still wet, but at least the exercise has warmed me up."

"Well keep running. We're bound to be dry soon."

"How do I get to Tsunade from here?"

Iruka looked at him with wide eyes. "Why would a nice, sweet young lady like yourself want to go see that hot tempered, sake drinking, gambling, ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL LEADER," he finished off looking around quickly. No one else should have been close enough to hear his transgression. "Besides, no one sees the Hokage without being summoned, and believe me, you don't want to be summoned." Iruka ran off before he could say anything else incriminating.

Naruto stopped running, disappointed by this turn of events. "This is getting me nowhere. Maybe I should see where the path goes." Naruto turned towards the path and froze. Someone was already on it.

Jiraiya was down on hands and knees looking through bushes and around trees. The way his long white hair was covering his body made him look like an animal in that position instead of an elite ninja. Plus, he was practically hopping from area to area as he searched for something.

"Jiraiya said earlier he was going to see Tsunade. I'll make him take me along," Naruto thought before rushing over to the path.