Disclaimer: I really don't see why I have to say it, but just in case anyone was wondering, I regret to inform you that I don't own Naruto. I would love it if I did, but no such luck.

Ever since the day she was freed from the curse mark, Anko was feeling like she'd been reborn. It had always held her back; each time she would train in the past she had always had to hold back because if she got too close to chakra exhaustion it would activate, causing her pain. The last few days though she had been pushing herself training against her friends Hayate Gekko and Yugao Uzuki and she was loving every second of it!

After one such training session Anko was bent over panting, but had a huge smile, as her two friends were both flat on their backs. Yugao was still conscious, but Hayate was out like a light. It took a few minutes from there, but eventually Anko caught her breathe, Yugao was up to a seated position breathing regularly, and Hayate was sleeping soundly. A little concerned Anko quickly checked Hayate over.

With a worried expression Anko turns to Yugao and says, "He's not breathing!"

Yugao shot up and rushed to her lover's side, knelt by his side and immediately began performing CPR only to have Hayate's hands reach around and grab her, pulling her into a deep kiss. At first she accepts the kiss, then she realizes the truth. They tricked me! Pulling back she slaps him hard enough to knock him out.

All the while Anko is laughing her ass off, but when she sees the look in Yugao's eyes she sobers up and starts running. Still, she can't erase the smile from her face, and it's all thanks to a young boy who wears far too much orange. I really need to find some way to thank him...I don't think I can ever repay him for what he's done, but I aim to try!

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Naruto is up to level 2 on the chakra weights and is about ready to start level three. He's down to his last day, but he isn't worried. Level 1 and 2 just took a little getting used to by leaving the weights on all the time. True some people looked at him funny as he staggered around town, but it was worth it…besides he was so used to the villagers dirty looks that he hardly ever noticed them anymore.

XXXXX

For Sarutobi the last few days had seen a rise to the bane of every Kage's life: paperwork!

It seemed that every other civilian in the village had filed claims that Naruto had been seen walking about the town drunk. Naturally, the first few had simply been ignored, but as he read her 20th report he was becoming concerned. "ANBU! Get Jiraiya here! NOW!"

Unseen three masked Anbu quickly left to search the most likely locations for the perverted Sannin: the hot springs, the waterfalls and pools commonly visited by scantily clad young women, and various training grounds. They didn't really expect to find him at a training ground.

A few minutes later Jiraiya was standing in front of Sarutobi with the Anbu known as Bear. Bear signaled with silent hand code that they'd found him at a waterfall peeping on women. Sarutobi just nodded to Bear and dismissed him before giving the papers to Jiraiya and saying, "Explain."

The word came out calmly, but Jiraiya knew better so he quickly read over the papers, but he was cracking up after 3. That is, he was cracking up until he looked at his old sensei, which stopped his laughter instantly. Clearing his throat he explained, "My guess is he decided he'd get used to the weights faster if he didn't take them off after he was done training." Sarutobi looked confused, so he explained what he had Naruto doing.

Once Sarutobi understood and accepted the papers back he stacked them with all the other such reports and pushed a button on his desk that summoned Iruka who was acting as his secretary today.

Sarutobi said, "Take note," making Iruka instantly whip out a notepad and pen, and Sarutobi continued when he saw Iruka was ready, "To each of those who receive this notice understand this, any future false reports on crimes committed by any shinobi will be met with the following possible penalties:

1) Financial penalties between 20 to 100 ryo

2) Community service of 20 to 100 hours

3) Imprisonment not to exceed 2 years

Any or all of these penalties will be applied based on number of previously given false reports. Also, these penalties were suggested due to your recent reports on one of Konoha's shinobi."

Nodding, Sarutobi handed all the reports that suggested Naruto had been seen drunk in public to Iruka, who in turn bowed. If you looked closely you would have seen a brief smile cross his face as he'd been presented with an opportunity for some measure of revenge for the Naruto's sake. If only we could punish them for suggesting such a thing in the first place, but in his heart of hearts he knew Naruto wouldn't want that, and he left the room to go about his happy task.

Alone again Jiraiya was about to go when Sarutobi sighed and said, "How many times have I told you that it's best not to get caught if you're going to peep. Not even by Anbu."

Jiraiya just smiled and said, "Not everyone has a crystal ball that actually works," and he left a blushing Hokage behind.

XXXXX

By the last day of the assigned week Naruto surprised Jiraiya by standing perfectly still with the chakra weights at level 5. Smiling broadly Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder, which caused Naruto's attention to waver a moment and as he tilted to the left he sunk into the freezing stream he was practicing on today. Shrieking Naruto was out of the water faster than a cat thrown in a bathtub, which caused gales of laughter from Jiraiya since Naruto had been fully dressed when he fell in.

Now Naruto looked something like a drowned rat. His clothes were soaked, he was missing one sandal, and his perpetually spiky hair was still quite spiky. When Jiraiya noticed this last he just laughed harder, but once he regained his composure he showed Naruto a simple Katon jutsu for drying off quickly, which Naruto got on his second try. The first try almost sent him up in flames and he had to jump back into the stream to avoid any damage to his clothes.

He could heal, but the clothes would be ruined and he only had two more of his favorite orange jumpsuits. He'd gotten them a couple years ago and they still had some room for him to grow, and the sales person said they'd never carry the jumpsuits again because no one else had wanted them. Actually, that was the only reason he had them to begin with, but he'd grown really comfortable in them and wasn't looking forward to the day they wouldn't fit anymore.

Wardrobe aside Naruto got over his indignation when Jiraiya said, "Well if you don't want to learn the new jutsu I was…"

But he never got the chance to finish as Naruto screamed, "NEW JUTSU! YOU MEAN YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO TEACH ME SOMETHING COOL!" Privately he thought water-walking was cool, but it was a little less than 3 weeks before his match with Neji and he was hoping for something he'd be able to use to keep his vow to avenge Hinata.

Smiling Jiraiya said, "If you really want to…" and Naruto was nodding his head so hard he had to laugh a little before turning serious again. "Okay, this is a move I came up with myself, it's called the Needle Jizō. It won't work great for you unless you start letting your hair grow out a bit, but it should still make for some interesting surprises all around. The seals are: Tiger → Horse → Boar → Sheep → Rat → Snake. Now this is a B-rank jutsu, so it might take a while for you to get."

Jiraiya smiled, sure Naruto would be thrilled at such a great new ability, but the boy just looked confused. That's when he realized his mistake and slapped himself in the face. Looking sheepish he said, "Almost forgot to tell you what it does. Well, basically it turns your hair into a steel hard shield with needle like points, making it a lot like a porcupines quill defense. It also temporarily lengthens your hair, for example," and he quickly performs the jutsu.

Naruto sees the hair grow and wrap around Jiraiya's whole body and he tests the points only to pull his hand away quickly as even that simple touch had drawn blood. When Jiraiya cancels the jutsu he sees that now Naruto's expression is what he'd been expecting previously and he has Naruto spend a few hours trying to get the jutsu down.

After lunch he decides to start Naruto on something else as well and says, "Now I'd like to start you on one more thing, and between these two jutsu you probably won't have time to learn anything else before the chunin exam continues."

He goes through a series of hand signs too quickly for Naruto to catch before he slams his hand down and says, "Kuchiyose!" and a Toad appears under him. Gaping a little, since Naruto had never seen a Toad the size of a pony before, Naruto is speechless and Jiraiya turns to the Toad before saying, "I need the contract," and from within it's mouth the Toad produces a large scroll.

Dismissing the Toad Jiraiya unrolls the scroll and says, "Cut your finger and sign your name here, then get blood on all of your fingers and press here. All with your writing hand that is."

Naruto does as he is told, but takes a moment to notice that the last person who had signed the contract was his father, and before that Jiraiya himself. Only 3 in the last 50 years or so, Naruto realized and understood that he was being entrusted with a legacy.

"Now these are the seals: Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram. As you've already seen what it does I'd like you to try to practice this from now until the end of the day, also, because it's the Toad contract, you can summon from water, but it'll be easier from solid ground."

And so, Naruto began trying to summon, but as Jiraiya had left out details of how much chakra to use he just used as much as he does when making a large number of Kage bunshin. Or rather, he used as much as he did before his chakra control had improved from the water walking. He hadn't used Kage bunshin since he'd begun training with Jiraiya so he didn't realize his control was any better, and even if he had he wouldn't understand the implications of that act.

Thus when green and brown Toad named Gamahiro showed up Jiraiya was shocked, he'd been sure that in order to do that the boy would need years more training or access to the Nine-Tails chakra. Gamahiro was second only to Gamabunta, the Toad boss, and he was second mostly in power. As for shear size, Gamahiro and Gamabunta were both bigger than the Hokage tower, and Gamahiro sported 2 swords strapped to his back to match his huge size.

The giant Toad looked around before spotting Jiraiya and saying calmly, "Jiraiya, why have you summoned me?"

Thinking the confusion was understandable Jiraiya shouted out, "It wasn't me," and he motioned to Naruto and said, "Please let me introduce you to the newest Toad summoner: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, though I'd appreciate you not using the name Namikaze. In fact, when you get back to your world I'd be best if you not share that name with any but Gamabunta himself." He bowed slightly, it was always best to show some deference when dealing with the truly HUGE Toads and Naruto followed his teacher's example, bowing at the waist, but not lowering his eyes.

This made Gamahiro smile and say; "I am pleased that there is finally a new summoner Jiraiya, and one that follows our own way." Even from his height Gamahiro could tell Naruto was confused and he let out a rumbling belly laugh and said, "It is always best to show respect boy, but to turn one's eyes from any who have not given you SIGNIFIGANT reason to trust them is foolish. 'Arrogance leads only to death, while caution leads to long life' as we Toads say."

With that the giant Toad disappeared and Jiraiya asked, "How much of your chakra would you say you just used up?"

Naruto tested his reserves slightly and said, "About a forth…why? Should I not use so much? Or is it that I should have used more?"

Jiraiya just stared. After a minute or two he regained his composure and summoned three times in a row. The first got his a tadpole, the second a small red and black Toad named Gamakichi, and a pony sized Toad and he had Naruto try to use little enough chakra to summon all 3.

Naruto easily summoned a battle Toad like the pony sized one and then summoned Gamakichi right back as he'd been returned the moment before to his own dimension. The tadpole was a little harder, but Jiraiya just said not to worry about it and explained what each of the different sizes could best be used for.

"The tadpole really doesn't have any use, I just wanted to see if you could release such a small amount. Gamakichi and his relatives at that age are good for delivering messages and hanging out with. The battle Toads are pretty obvious, they're the one big enough and strong enough to fight with you against lesser enemies. The Battle Toads are also good for a quick retreat if you need to avoid leaving a chakra signature. Finally, there are the Toads like Gamahiro who you summed just a moment ago. Mostly these are only needed for dealing with other summons or with large groups of enemies. Also, there is the Boss Toad Gamabunta who is almost 3 times stronger than Gamahiro and so take a correspondingly larger amount of chakra to summon him."

The rest of that day went by swiftly, with Naruto popping Gamakichi in and out a dozen times and practicing the Needle Jizō, which he more or less had down. Though he found that unlike Jiraiya's, no matter how much chakra he put in, his hair just wouldn't grow enough to make more than a half cloak leaving his lower body exposed while protecting the upper.

Jiraiya was surprised the boy was still standing when they finished for the day. So much for wearing him out so that he can meet with the Fox. I'll have to figure some other way since we don't want to leave the Fox alone much longer. We definitely don't need another incident like the Wave mission-report that Kakashi filed happening. He shuddered thinking what the Kyuubi might do if the boy got so angry again that it could influence it. At least if they meet Naruto will be prepared for the ways the Kyuubi might try to influence him.

He'd honestly just considered throwing the boy off a cliff to get him in contact with the Fox, but if tiring him out took all day he just didn't want to think about how such long term physical strain might impact their first meeting.

Having been silent a while Naruto was waving his hand in front of Jiraiya's face trying to see if anyone was in when Jiraiya started speaking again. "Okay! I've decided that for the rest of your training with me before the chunin finals you need to meet the Boss Toad, learn some more specialized jutsu just for you, and one or two other things."

Naruto was confused. "I can see meeting the Boss Toad and I'm always ready to learn new jutsu, but what's with the mystery?"

"You'll see," was all Jiraiya said before heading off.

A/N – This chapter might be a bit shorter, but I just felt that was an appropriate stopping place. Also, I'm trying to bring Anko in as a main character since my goal is a romance, but in my story she's a Special Jonin and 19, while Naruto is Canon (meaning Genin and 12-13 of course). The age gap makes putting them together awkward for now so it'll still be a while before anything can happen there; still, she needs a role to play now…. Well we'll have to see what comes as it comes, hope you'll be patient and enjoy the ride.