Author's Notes: Thank you for all of those who have reviewed! Sorry it took so long. I kinda had a writer's block… Anyway, this chapter is time skipped 5 years after my last chapter (meaning that Naruto and the rest of the soon-to-be-genin are all 12). The flashback will explain why. And just to tell you guys, I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter. I had a hard time with this one.
Summary:She looks up to gaze at his coal obsidian eyes as he gazes downward at her enchanting sky blue eyes. They both thought, "Is this love?" Who says opposites can't attract? SasuFemNaru, ItaFemKyuu, LeeSaku, NejiTen, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ChouIno
Pairings:SasuFemNaru, ItaFemKyuu, LeeSaku, NejiTen, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ChouIno
Warnings: OOC-ness, language
Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto
Kesshite Wasuremasu
by Aesura
Returning to Konoha
The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. The forest was brimming with afternoon noise as two travelers tread through the dense canopy. One of the travelers, an old, white-haired man with red painted streaks going down each of his eyes looked at his young blonde traveling companion as she runs ahead of him excitedly.
"Oi! Naruto! Don't run that far off!"
Said Naruto paused to turned and give her sensei a look of irritation. "Then move your ass and maybe you won't be lagging behind, Ero-sennin! Besides, I haven't seen otou-san in five years and I'm not getting any younger here!"
The 12-year-old Naruto turned around again, but started to walk in a slower pace so her sensei could catch up.
Her soft blonde hair reached down to her neck, layered up a bit in some places with bangs that reached her cheek bones, framing her face. She had sky blue eyes that would always sparkle with radiance. The three whisker marks on either side of her cheeks gives her the impression of a cute kitsune.
She possesses a very feminine body, developed a bit at the chest. Her appearance made it seem as though she was weak, but many could attest that was false. Her body was lightly muscled but toned well with all her training but for some reason even though she would spend countless hours in the sun, she always had a light peach colored skin tone. Her lips were full, pink, and soft. Her hands were slender as well, made for the movement of a blade. All in all she looked beautiful in an elegant and graceful sort of way.
She adorned a simple black shirt underneath her orange and blue jacket. The jacket consist of a wide, horizontal blue band going from the near mid-section of the back to the white tuffs of fur on the collar. There was also a smaller strip of blue on the bottom hem of the jacket. The red spiral, the insignia of the Namikaze clan, is in the middle of the jacket, seeming to be the connection of the two opposite colors. Another spiral, this time a tan color, is attached to the upper part of the left sleeve. Two brown little poles corresponds each other on either side of the spiral. A string comes out at the bottom of the two, connecting together at the little white pole, slightly smaller than the other two, with a red tip at the end of it. The ends of the sleeves were rolled up a bit, since Naruto claimed that they were too long.
Orange capri pants hugged on to her lower body, the ends of the pants silted a bit so the bottom portion flares out. The standard weapon pouch hung on the back of her hip, while her kunai holster was fastened around her right thigh, white bandages wrapped behind the holster to provide comfort. She also wore the traditional ninja blue sandals on her small feet.
Jiraiya growled darkly at the use of that name. "I told you to stop calling me that!"
"Yeah, yeah. I heard you, Ero-sennin," Naruto said nonchalantly while waving her hand like trying to swat away a fly.
Jiraiya just grumbled from the lack of respect. He sighed and stared at the back of Naruto, who is now a few paces ahead of him. "I can't believe it pass five years since Minato asked me to do this favor for him…"
Minato was pacing around back and forth angrily and impatiently. 'Where the hell is he?' the active Hokage thought incredulously.
It has been an hour since he ordered a jounin to tell his sensei, Jiraiya, to come to the hospital immediately and he still isn't here yet.
The Yondaime sadly glanced over again at his seven-year-old daughter who is now recuperating in the hospital bed. Her breathing's stable as she sleeps contently. The major wounds are wrapped up in bandages, the minor cuts and bruises already healed thanks to the Kyuubi.
'This is the sixth assassination attempt on her yet. If Kakashi hadn't shown up like he did, then Naruto might have…'
His thoughts were cut off by the entrance of a familiar being.
"Jiraiya-sensei! I told you to come here an hour ago! Where the hell were you?" Minato shouted, his voice bellowing around the room.
"Calm down gaki," he said while putting his hands up as if to defend himself from the fuming Hokage. "I just got caught up on my re-"
Jiraiya was cut off as he glanced over at the condition Naruto was in.
"Kami, Minato. What happen to Naruto?" Jiraiya asked while concern and shock appeared on his face.
"Another assassination attempt." Minato said bluntly.
"Kuso. Isn't that the six-"
"Yes, I know! The sixth one!" he snapped, a bit aggravated.
Only the beeping from the heart monitor is heard in the now silent-filled room.
"…Sorry sensei. I shouldn't have lost my temper on you like that.."
"Don't bother with the apologizes, Minato," Jiraiya said, knowing his student didn't initially mean it. He walked over to the sleeping blonde, an unreadable look upon his face.
"What are you going to do about this problem?"
"Anou…, that's why I called you here. I know that you're going to be leaving to go to another village tomorrow, so could you take Naruto along with you? She needs to get away from the pain inflicted on her, before she's permanently scarred for life."
Jiraiya was about to protest that the kid is just going to get in the way of his "research", until he saw the serious and pleading look in his eyes.
He sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine. We'll be back in a few years, just before the genin graduation exam."
Suddenly, a moan diverted both the shinobis' attention to the source of the noise. Naruto started to stir, slowly opening her crystal-blue eyes. Carefully pulling herself to a sitting position, she turned to face her father while rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Otou-san? …What happened?"
Relief washes over the Hokage's face as he rushes over to hug his only child in a tight embrace, but not too tight for her wounds to open up. "Naru-chan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you when you needed me. I'm sorry.."
Naruto, with a bewildered expression on her face, hesitantly hugged her otou-san back, her question remaining unanswered.
Jiraiya smiled faintly at the scene in front of him. 'Still kind hearted as always, eh Minato?'
He then snapped out of his thoughts by feeling someone's eyes gazing at him. He directed his awareness to a pair of innocent (and confused) looking eyes.
"Jiraiya-jiji? What are you doing here?"
"Anou, ..your father and I thought that it would be a good idea if you come and travel with me for a while.I'm leaving tomorrow to see all of the big countries in the east and…"
He stopped his rambling when he heard a sniffle sound emitted from the little blonde. Her eyes started to water up, which make them look like those of a lost puppy who's trying to say, 'take me home, feed me and cuddle me to death!' Very irresistible.
Naruto pulled away from her father's hug to look up at him with those impossibly wide blue eyes. "…Otou-san, are you really going to leave me?.."
Minato visibly flinched. The eyes gazing back at him are the same eyes he could never find it in himself to say the answer to that will hurt his dear Naru-chan.
"No, no! I'm not going to leave you. It's just that…"
Jiraiya could see that his student needed some help in the situation he's in. He mentally sighed.
Even though Minato, Konoha's current young Hokage, was renowned for his famous Hiraishin no Jutsu, created the Rasengan, and defeated the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he still can be reduced to pudding when it comes to dealing with his daughter!
"He wants you to be safe so that no one can hurt you, Naruto. Your otou-san is very busy with his Hokage duties so he can't be there for you the way he wants to be. So you see why he has to do this, right Naruto?"
Minato throws his sensei a thankful look for his help out of that predicament. Naruto just stares at the white sheets on the hospital bed, an expression of disdain written upon her frowning face. "..I guess…"
"Come on, gaki. It'll be fun! I'll teach you new things and even train you to be a great shinobi like me!" Jiraiya said, thinking that it might light up her mood.
The blue-eyed girl was quiet as she thought about it. She had never actually gone anywhere outside of the village before. Maybe it would be fun.
"You won't leave me right? And no one's going to be mean to me are they?"
The sannin chuckled. "Of course I won't leave you! And the people in the other places faaaar away won't know you, so they won't be mean."
After a moment's silence, Naruto looks up at the sannin, showing off her foxy grin.
"Okay! Let's go Ero-jiji!"
Naruto just kept smiling, unaware of the expressions etched on both of the men's faces.
"What?" Minato was the one who broke the silence. 'How does my Naru-chan know about Jiraiya and his pervertedness?'
"What what, otou-san?" Naruto asked, cocking her head a bit like a cute little puppy.
"W-why did y-you called Jiraiya-sensei a p-pervert?"The Yondaime stuttered out.
"Isn't that his nickname?"
More silence.
"…Who told you that?"
"I heard the pretty ladies saying it when he got caught looking at them at the bath house!"
The older blonde took a few deep breaths to settle his nerves, though it wasn't helping much.
"…Naru-chan." Minato's anger is about to reach its height now. "Why were you at the bath house?"
"Oh. That's easy! Ero-jiji brought me there! He said that he needed me to help him with his research and… otou-san?"
Minato had placed his hands over Naruto's ears, so she won't have to hear what he has to say to the so-called 'Ero-jiji'.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was backing away, slowly heading towards the door. He had never seen his student so angry before.
'Almost there,' Jiraiya thought, his hand only a few inches away towards his freedom.
Two inches.
One inch.
Five centimeters.
One centimeter.
"Jiraiya-sensei." Minato spoke calmly.
Jiraiya flinched. He was almost talking too calmly for his liking and just like his name implies, it's 'the calm before the storm.'
Slowly turning around (while shaking a bit), he instantly regretted it as he locked eye contact with a pair of sharp narrowed eyes. You can actually see a storm raging up inside those two murderous-looking eyes.
"Why the fucking hell did you use my daughter to help you with your so-called research?"
"Anou,… you see… it's like this… ehhh…" He could not think of any excuse that won't have him murdered or facing excusal pain, so instead he sped over quickly to Naruto (on the other side of her bed just in cast he needs to use her as a shield) to try and persuade her that he was not "using" her to conduct his "research."
"Now now, Naruto. My name's Jiraiya. I'm the legendary ninja known far and wide! The one and only, the great Sannin Jiraiya!"
Naruto just stared blankly at her supposed jiji. She did not hear anything (do to the hands still placed on her ears) except the mumbling of whatever he said.
"Ero-jiji!" Naruto answered cheerfully.
The man twitched. "Baka! I'm not a pervert; I'm a hermit!"
Naruto concentrated more at what "Ero-jiji" is saying. She only heard, "Uawa! E'um umn mn pervert; E'em aum hermit!"
Naruto's face became a cheeky grin. "Ero-sennin!"
The Toad Sannin twitched. "I'm not a perverted hermit! Oh wait, yes I am, but don't call me that!-"
Suddenly, he stopped his ranting, sensing a strong wave of killer intent directed towards him.
He advert his eyes to the source, only to come at the sight of a pissed off looking Yondaime (who already took his palms off of Naruto's ears) and a charged-up Rasengan.
Jiraiya started desperately looking for the quickest way out. 'The door? No. Minato's Shunshin no Jutsu would catch me before I even come to close range of the door. The only option is…' He took a slight glance behind him. A small smirk appeared on his face.
Jiraiya quickly turns around and crashed through the glass window, nearly avoiding an angry blonde's Rasengan to his sorry hide. Minato stood that the spot where his so-called sensei was just seconds ago.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY YOU ASSHOLE!"
He charged up another Rasengan again and sped off through the already broken window, a trail of yellow flash lingering behind him. The sudden gust of wind knocked over a vase of flowers, making a whole bunch of noise, crash and all.
Naruto just stared out the shattered window in bewilderment. Around her, there was a mess of water, flowers, and shards of what used to be a purple vase.
Immediately the door swung open and several ninjas came pouring in, like shadows poured from a cup. About five or six circled her, all hidden by white porcelain masks that were designed to look like animals.
These weren't just your ordinary shinobi... they were ANBU, the best of the best. When they did not sense any danger, two of them bent down and quickly cleared the mess without fuss.
Appearing at Naruto's side, a tall ANBU ninja with a dog mask turned his head around so that he could size up the confused-looking blonde. Behind the slit-like eyeholes Naruto could see the dim outline of a dark opal, light catching off the surface like a cat's eye. She cocked her head to the side like what a bird would do, as he smoothed the sheets on Naruto's bed.
"... Well it seems that you're awake, that's good. Hokage-sama will be pleased."
The blonde swore that she saw one eye close into a happy crescent moon..
Naruto knew who this person is, the one who he considered an uncle…
"Kakashi-oji?..." She wanted to ask him why her otou-san jumped through the window to chase after Ero-senin with a glowing-looking ball in his hand, but couldn't find the words to say it in.
A gloved hand reached for the mask and pulled it off, revealing the copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi, same as ever, with his headband slanted and covering his right eye, and the black facemask hiding his identity.
He just patted the blonde's head affectionately, thinking that she's probably wondering why she's in the hospital. "It's all right Naruto, there's nothing to worry about…"
He stopped what he was saying to the young Namikaze heiress, his gaze falling on the shattered window that had a hole in it.
"… Naruto, how did that hole got into the window?"
"Oh, Ero-sennin jumped out through it, making a big crashing sound, and then otou-san chased after him with a pretty blue ball in his hand!" Naruto said in amazement as she spread her arms out into the air and back down to her sides as to pictured "the big crash".
'Ero-sennin?' Kakashi thought of in amusement the nickname a little 7-year-old gave to one of the legendary sannin.
"Hey, Kakashi-oji? Can I ask you a question?" Naruto asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Her voice dropped to a whisper, feeling like someone had pulled a plug out of her and drained her energy dry. She cupped her hands around her mouth so to make it that only Kakashi could hear her.
A deep chuckle escaped from the dog-ANBU at Naruto's attempt to restrict her said question only to him. Getting down to her level, he leaned his ear in as the blonde whispers her question quietly so only he could hear.
Feeling a sweatdrop drop down his head, the silver-haired Joann sheepishly rubbed the base of his neck after the question was said. "Err..."
The other shinobi sniggered quietly to themselves, the famous Sharingan Kakashi smiling pleadingly to the blonde while flapping his hand up and down to stop the Uzumaki from asking more future questions.
"Well Naruto, the reason your father called Jiraiya an asshole is…"
"Sigh. If Minato ever heard his daughter's language, then he'll probably have that damn Rasengan of his blast me into oblivion. I'd barely escaped his Rasengan last time…"
He shivered at the very thought. Trying to rid himself of that scenario, he looked up to divert his attention, only to see the tall, wooden Konoha gates.
"This is it! We've finally arrived!" he said, ebulliently. He then looked down at Naruto, only to find her already standing in front of the guards a few feet ahead of him, most likely stopped by the two shinobi.
"She's so impatient. That stubborn baka..."
He marched up to the gate and until the guards stopped him too.
"Names and purpose of visit, please."
There was a moment of silence.
"Names? You don't recognize my handsome face? I am the great Jiraiya! One of the great Legendary Sennin! And this gaki here is Namikaze Naruto, the daughter of the Yondaime! How can you not know who we are?" cried Jiraiya dramatically.
Naruto just looked at her sensei, her eye twitching a bit. "Ero-sennin can be so… weird sometimes…"
The guards' eyes widened. One spoke up, frantically.
"J-Jiraiya-sama, N-Naruto-sama! We apologize for this blunder. Please, forgive us! We haven't seen you two for four or five years around here."
Jiraiya scowled and replied, "Just let us pass you morons."
"Y-Yes, Jiraiya-sama!"
They unlatched the gates and stood aside, letting Jiraiya and Naruto proceeded onward into the village. The guards looked at Naruto's retreating form in awe.
"So, the Yondaime's daughter has finally returned…"
Namikaze Minato, Konoha's yellow flash, and Yondaime Hokage sat at his desk writing up some contracts. His eyes looked blearily from the hundreds of paperwork his eyes had endured.
The Fourth looked at the contract he held in his hand, checking over the terms and conditions. The contract was written in a neat hand, with the Fire Country's emblem on the top. He picked up a quill and dipped it in ink before he signed it on the bottom. Two hundred eighty-five down.
"Eh… How many more papers are left?…"
He glanced over at the two-foot pile of papers lying on his desk still. No wonder Sarutobi had been so eager to slap that damn Kage hat on his head.
"I don't want to be Hokage anymore." Minato mumbled as he slammed his head on his desk. It was at that moment a secretary laid a two inch thick folder on his desk.
"Hokage-sama, you have two visitors waiting for you." The secretary informed before exiting the office.
The Yondaime groggily lifted his head from his desk. "Hm, wonder who they could-"
"OTOU-SAN!"
The blonde was tackled by an orange blur, his paperwork scattering out on to the floor by the impact of the wind.
"Oof! What the—Naru-chan?" He was surprised by the sudden appearance of his daughter, who was now hugging him in a tight embrace.
Naruto twitched at the use of that name her father used when she was a little kid. She let go of her father and stood up straight and crossed her arms on her chest, directing a full-on pout at him.
"Otou-saaannn! Stop using that name! I'm not a little kid anymore." Naruto whines.
The Yondaime sighed, a loving smile graced his lips, as he takes in how much Naruto has grown.
"No matter how much you grown up, you'll always be my little girl." He lifted up his hand and ruffled up Naruto's hair. If it was even possible, Naruto pouted even more.
"Well, well. Isn't this a happy reunion?"
Both blondes turned towards the direction of the voice. Jiraiya stood at the center of the office, a couple of feet from the Hokage's desk. Both of his arms were crossed as he wore an amusing grin at the scene in front of him.
"Jiraiya-sensei! When did you and Naru-chan get back?"
"Just a few minutes ago," Jiraiya answered. He glanced around the room.
"This place hasn't changed much," he noted.
Everything was still in place as he last remembered it. There was his old student's desk, the bookshelves, and all the old scrolls lying around. He noticed a few new pictures on the wall, maybe one or two new pieces of furniture, but otherwise everything was there.
"Anyways, I just thought it was around time I brought her back here so she could take the Genin exam."
"I see. Well glad you remember still."
"Oh come on, Minato! You actually think that I'll forget?"
He only got a stern stare from his prized student.
"Ahhhh… well, I've got some research to do if I want to finish the rest of my new book," said Jiraiya enthusiastically, averting his eyes from the stare.
"I wonder if any new bathhouses were built," he mumbled to himself, as he jumped off the balcony and in a puff of smoke, he vanquished.
Minato sighed disapprovingly. His old sensei hadn't changed at all. He is still the perverted, arrogant baka today as he was 12 years ago.
"Has Ero-sennin always been like that?"
His daughter's question broke his line of thought. He turned towards her direction again, seeing an angry vein on his daughter's head from Jiraiya's antics.
"I'm afraid so. He's been like that since I first met him."
"Ne, ne, otou-san! You won't believe all the cool jutsus Ero-sennin taught me!" Naruto began, sounding thoroughly excited about telling her father how strong she got and completely forgetting about Ero-sennin and his perverted-ness.
As she spoke, the girl recalled several events from her travels with Ero-sennin. "There was that awesome tornado jutsu!"
"FUUTON: SENTEN GUFUU NO JUTSU"
Naruto remembered a powerful burst of wind forming into a tornado after her sensei finished the required hand seals. The jutsu rushed towards a defenseless tree and ripped it into pieces.
"And also that weird water shield jutsu?"
"NINPOU SUITON: SUIJINHEKI"
Two pillars of water rose from a nearby lake and quickly snaked its way towards Jiraiya, destroying any threat that got in its way. The water gathered around Jiraiya forming a protective dome that prevented any projectile from hurting him.
"Oh! Oh! And that big wave jutsu!"
"SUITON: SUISHOUHA"
Jiraiya announced from inside the water formation. The column then broke down sending massive amounts of water to flood the entire field, taking out all one thousand trees in its path.
"Or that-"
"Naru-chan. I'm sure there's time to tell me that later when we get home. But if you don't hurry, you're going to miss your Genin exam." Minato said, a sweatdrop and weak smile appearing on his face from his daughter's talkative personality, which is now making her late for her first day at the academy.
"WHAT? I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" Naruto shouted, running towards the quickest exit: the window.
"I'll send you an escort-"
"No, it's okay otou-san. I'm sure I can find my way. Besides, there'll only slow me down."
With that said, Naruto leaped out of the window and sped off towards the academy.
Minato chuckled lightly to himself. "I see you haven't changed at all too, Naru-chan."
He was about to get started with the dreaded paperwork, when he noticed that none of them were on his desk anymore. He stood up at leaned over his desk, wondering if all of them had vanished into thin air. (He wishes).
Minato's jaw hit the floor.
All of his papers were scattered on the ground!
"WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVED THIS?"
The laughter of children her age could be heard all around her. Naruto walked into the school campus, watching the younger kids run around, playing tag or whatever children of ninja did. It was a little before 3 p.m. in the afternoon and the sun was out in the sky, shining warmly upon the village of Konoha.
"Whew. Made it on time," she exhaled.
She looked around at the unfamiliar scenery. The blonde was now somewhat lost. Naruto had never gone to the academy before, so she did not know which way lead to where. Not that she would ever need to go to the academy. She probably learned more about being a shinobi from traveling on the road with Ero-sennin than what she would have learned from the academy.
"Ehh, maybe I should have had gotten an escort…" Naruto mumbled to herself, regretting that she did not take her otou-san's offer.
The bell sounded as the students stopped what they were doing and headed toward the main building.
"Guess I should just follow the older looking kids," she thought.
Naruto was just about to follow the other students until she spotted a man around his mid-20s a few yards from her.
He was wearing the standard chuunin attire, green vest and all. His neck-length silver hair is covered with his hitai-ate, tied around his head like a bandana.
"Or maybe I can ask that guy. He looks like a teacher."
"Hey mister! Uhmmm, do you know where they're having the genin exam is?" Naruto asked the man.
The man, to his comrades, was known as Mizuki. He looked at the girl with surprise, before recovering and answering.
"Go to the main building and go straight down the hall. When you get to the end, turn to your left."
"Thanks, mister." Naruto said, running towards the building at a fast pace, ready to pass the genin exam with flying colors.
"So, the Kyuubi brat has returned," thought Mizuki. A wicked smirk tugged at his face as he formulated a plan to finally get rid of the Kyuubi nuisance and to get the scroll he sought.
Students who were late could see Mizuki standing in the middle of the playground, smirking to himself before a puff of smoke appeared around him, showing that the chuunin teacher had disappeared once the smoke had cleared.
Iruka looked at the scene before him. The twelve-year-olds were in the classroom, gossiping and talking loudly.
"I feel a migraine coming on," he thought, sighing to himself.
"QUIET!" he shouted, rubbing his temples.
The class immediately stopped talking as the students fumbled to their seats to wait for the test to commence. The rows of students watched Iruka intently. He let out a sigh of relief and gazed at his students.
POOF! A puff of smoke appeared beside Iruka.
"What took you?" Iruka asked the figure, which was apparently, Mizuki. His comrade just smiled at him and replied, "Just making sure the students got to class."
His comment was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. A blonde-haired girl slid the door open and walked into the class.
The resemblance was striking to the Yondaime's. Soft blond hair curved around her angelic face in delicate strands, bordering her beautiful cerulean blue eyes that gazes intently ahead. He felt his eyes widen by the distinctness of her appearance.
She is truely the daughter of the Yondaime.
Smiling slightly at the girl, he bowed at the show of respect.
"So the rumors are true. Namikaze Naruto has returned to Konoha." Iruka thought.
"Welcome Naruto-san. I'm Iruka-sensei. This," Iruka acknowledge, pointing to Mizuki, "is Mizuki-sensei. He will be your other proctor for today's exam. Would you please introduce youself to your fellow classmates."
The girl turned to the class and proclaimed in a confident voice that was loud enough for everybody to hear in the class, "My name is Namikaze Naruto."