Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto.

Legend:

"Naruto" - talking

'Parents' - thinking

Flashback – Flashbacks

"Kit" – Kyuubi talking

'Naruto' – Kyuubi thinking

Chapter 4: Revelation

"Ahh … here again" stated Kakashi as he instantly recognized his surroundings having just opened his left and single normal eye, waking up in a nice and soft hospital bed. They had made it back from Suna in good time, as he had been carried by Gai, which had been embarrassing enough for him and he had been admitted to the hospital right afterwards. He had already known that he would end up here, so it wasn't much of a surprise; he knew the consequences of chakra exhaustion after all.

"He's awake." Naruto said, alerting his female team mate, who had been entirely focused on him questioning him with so many questions that he had lost count of the amount after a short while, to the fact. Naruto had heard that his team had come back in the morning, having overheard two Chuunin talking about Kakashi being hospitalized and had decided to visit his bedridden sensei. While he had been there, Kakashi sleeping soundly in the hospital bed recovering for his exhaustion, Sakura had asked him so much questions in the short time he had actually been there, most of which he didn't answer or avoided, much to his team mate's annoyance and bewilderment. So he was glad that his sensei had finally woken up, preoccupying Sakura for, at least, a little while.

"Good work, Kakashi" Tsunade's voice came from the entrance of the standard white hospital room. Naruto flinched a bit, unnoticed by all the occupants of the room and for that Naruto was glad. He hadn't seen Tsunade since he ran out of her office the day before and he didn't know how she would act or even how he should act. His emotions had just overpowered him and he hadn't been able to explain it to her like he had actually wanted. He had thought he was far enough to explain it to her, but it seemed like he had been wrong. He hadn't slept much that night, even though with Yugao's help, he just had too much to think about to sleep peacefully.

Seeing the Hokage enter with her assistant, Kakashi tried to get up to properly and respectfully greet his superior, but failed to do so being to weak for his arms to support his weight. "Tsunade-sama" he said while trying to sit up again.

"Don't force yourself, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura declared, her medic-nin side showing for the first time Naruto had seen since he had went away with Jiraiya. Only after arriving at the hospital a while ago had he found out that Sakura had actually become a good medic-nin, even though he had seen her perform some medic-nin while rescuing Gaara he hadn't paid it much notice.

"I took a look at you earlier. You're going to have to stay in bed for a week. And after you're out, it will be another few days before I clear you to go on any mission." Tsunade stated. "Looks like it'll take some time for you to master that new Sharingan."

"You're right." Kakashi answered simply, thinking exactly the same.

"For the time being, don't overdo it and rest up." Tsunade ordered, trying to make it sound like she only advised it, but they all knew and understood that it was an order.

"Let's go, Shizune." Tsunade said and turned to leave the room after taking a quick and worried glance at Naruto, hoping that he was okay. Seeing the look Naruto understood. She knew everything. There was only one possible reason for that and that was that Fukasaku had come and explained everything to her like the old toad had had planned to do, but had his mind changed by Naruto. "Hai." Shizune replied and followed Tsunade out.

"Shisou!" Sakura said obviously something very important on her mind, or at least more important than continuing to interrogate Naruto about his time away, so she, too, followed Tsunade out of the room after a quick glance at Naruto that promised a continuation of the interrogation from earlier.

Naruto was left alone with the bedridden Kakashi, his mind in a conflict whether he should follow them and listen to what Sakura had to say or stay with Kakashi and pull the blanket down to reveal his sensei's true face. Ignoring his childish wish to see his sensei's face, Naruto reached into his item bag and pulled a green book out and laid it on Kakashi's night stand. "This is for you, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, smiling as he saw Kakashi's star struck face.

"H … H … How?" Kakashi asked confused. "This isn't supposed to come out for another few weeks."

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out." Naruto answered before he, too, went over to the door. "Well, I gotta go. Ja Ne." And with that said Naruto left the room, his senses spreading out searching for the three females that had left a few moments earlier through the nature, leaving his sensei confused at his students behavior and very annoyed that he couldn't get up to reach the book, due to his exhaustion. Cursing Naruto Kakashi gave in to his fate and laid down once again, sleep claiming him soon after.

After he found them, Naruto had followed them to the Hokage tower undetected. While the three females had entered the tower, Naruto had stayed outside guessing that they would go to Tsunade's office and so he could use his sensei tactic again, listening in through the window. He was however surprised that the three women stepped outside and on the balcony, but he quickly adapted to the situation and because of that he was currently on top of said tower, while Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura were on a balcony a level underneath him.

"This is information I received directly from Sasori, a member of Akatsuki. He said it was my reward for defeating him." He heard Sakura say, cursing that he had taken too long to find them and had therefore been too late to actually hear said information.

"The Heaven and Earth Bridge in ten days, huh?" he heard Tsunade ask for confirmation.

"That was four days ago, so it's in six days now." Sakura's answered reached his ear.

"Can we trust it?" he heard Tsunade ask his only female team mate. "What if it's a trap? With Orochimaru as bait, Akatsuki could be lying in wait for you at the bridge."

"If it's a trap, then we'll just have to fight." Sakura replied, her voice reaching Naruto's ear easily, sounding a very determined which almost caused him to snort, but he quickly remembered that he hadn't seen her fight yet, so she could have grown stronger in the time he had been away training.

"You say you'll fight …" Tsunade said before her voice vanished for a few moments. "But Kakashi will be in that state for at least a week. And there's only six days." Then he heard a sigh, obviously from Tsunade. "I guess I'll have to form a new team."

"Tsunade-sama" Naruto heard Shizune say, contributing to the conversation for the first time since he had been listening in. "In that case you should send a different team to investigate. Even if we send Sakura like you said, you must leave Naruto-kun out!"

At first Naruto thought he must have heard something wrong. 'Like hell, they won't leave me out!' he thought angrily determined to go on the mission. While Shizune's concern about him was touching, he wouldn't be left out of a mission involving Orochimaru and perhaps Sasuke.

"Shizune …" Tsunade began, as Naruto listened curiously to what she had to say about Shizune's opinion. "Sakura is, like you, one of the few shinobi I can trust in. I am definitely sending Sakura's team, Team Kakashi, on this mission." Naruto's somewhat angry mood quickly changed as he was happy to hear Tsunade's opinion.

"Then wouldn't it be the same if my team went?" Shizune asked, still trying to argue with Tsunade's idea of sending Team Kakashi on this mission.

"It's not the same." Tsunade quickly replied. "Both Sakura and Naruto are desperately chasing after their old team mate, Sasuke. They strongly believe more than anyone in rescuing Sasuke. Those strong feelings will bring the mission to succeed. You and Sakura are different."

"Understood. But for this mission, Naruto-kun …" he heard Shizune beginning to try and argue the issue once more, but she was cut off from Tsunade.

"Well, now that you've heard all of it, what do you say, Naruto?" Tsunade said directed at him.

"I would go searching for members right away, but knowing you, you already have someone in mind." Naruto said as he stepped forward and into their range of sight.

"So you did grow a brain during the time with the pervert." Tsunade said, her voice filled with a hint of sadness, which was so well hidden, that one couldn't detect it if he didn't know it had to be there. Naruto didn't reply, looking at her intently trying to think of something to say about the happenings on the day before. "Are you okay?" Tsunade asked him, much to the confusion of the other women present.

"Yes. I realize now that my godfather wouldn't want me to be sad all the time." He said knowing that she would know who he meant, while the other two were left in the dark about the true meaning of his words. "So Fukasaku told you, didn't he?" he asked her while he thought: 'I guess I should have left it to him in the first place.'

He saw Tsunade nod, as he felt two new presences enter Tsunade's office and quickly recognized them, or better said he guessed correctly seeing as there weren't that many option from the feeling he got from them. "You should probably go and get some sake now, before it's too late." He said before he vanished from the women's range of sight once again, leaving them to wonder what he had meant with that and wondering about his state of mind until they heard someone speak up from behind them.

"Tsunade, we would like to speak with you. Come."

As Tsunade recognized the voice she wished that she, too, had left when Naruto had left. 'Some sake would be really good, now' she thought remembering Naruto's last words before vanishing.

Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha, making his way to his destination, the hot springs. It had been a while since he really had the time and the mind to relax, so he thought to do it today, using the time spent relaxing in the hot water to clear his mind.

He was currently walking through a nearly people less street, when he heard a somewhat familiar voice calling him. "Hey! If it isn't Naruto!" He turned towards the source of the voice and found Shikamaru standing in before the door of a house with the sign 'Chuunin Exam Preparatory Committee'. Shikamaru hadn't changed much during the time, hair still in his ponytail and he was still wearing the standard Chuunin vest of Konoha.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted his friend rather loud, falling back in one of his old attitudes.

"Did you just come home then?" his old friend asked him.

"Naw. I came home yesterday afternoon, but I had a lot on my mind then." Naruto replied his thoughts shifting back towards the memories of the day before.

"So, I heard that you already did a mission without returning, huh?" Shikamaru asked and continued soon not believing that he would get an answer. "You haven't changed at all."

Naruto ignored what his friend said; he would find it out soon enough that he had changed a lot. "So what are you doing here?" he asked gesturing to the sign on the building with his hand.

"There's a Chuunin exam soon. And it's troublesome but I've become an examiner." Shikamaru explained before he looked at him curiously. "What're you planning to do, Naruto?"

"Watcha mean?" questioned Naruto.

"You're the only one from our class who hasn't become a Chuunin." Shikamaru stated.

"I guess it was to be expected, wasn't it?" Naruto asked rhetorically before he went on. "Well, it doesn't matter if I'm a Genin or a Chuunin. I can always become a Chuunin later on."

Shikamaru looked at him shocked, or better with well hidden shock, deeply buried behind his lazy attitude. He had been wrong earlier, Shikamaru realized, Naruto had changed a lot. The Naruto he knew would have jumped at the chance to advance further on his road to Hokage.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Here's your lunch, your mother asked me to bring you." A new voice cut in. Naruto turned around and immediately recognized the speaker as Chouji. Chouji had changed quite a bit, he now had long brown hair and wore a type of samurai armour.

"Chouji!" Naruto yelled greeting his old friend.

"Chouji, don't you have a mission with Asuma-sensei and Ino?" Shikamaru asked just as his friends hand reached into a bag of chips he was carrying around.

"Hehe, still always eating" Naruto said with a smile as Chouji put some chips into his mouth. It was just as he remembered; Chouji had always been the only one who could eat as much ramen as he himself. It was like time he stood still here. If it only it could have stood still for him as well.

Suddenly Naruto sensed something strange from behind him. He had never felt anything like that, but he was one hundred percent sure that, whatever it was, was an attack directed at them. Seeing both of his friends tense in the corner of his eyes he knew that they would be fine. A split second later, Chouji had already thrown his bag of chips away obviously planning to stop whatever was coming at them.

Formulating a quick plan in his mind, Naruto jumped up, just as Shikamaru wanted to push him out of the way, failing to do so. As Naruto turned in the air he saw Chouji's fist, enlarged with his clan's special technique slam into what looked like a tiger-like animal, made out of ink. Seeing another one of these strange animals coming at them Naruto used Chouji's outstretched arm as a stepping stone and lunged at it hitting it with a punch, dispersing it into ink which tripped down his fist and landed on the street.

Landing a few meters before his two friends he heard Shikamaru say something. "Over there." Naruto knew without seeing where his friend was pointing or gesturing at that he meant the building down the street, as he had already sensed the person sitting on the roof there when he had reached out with his senses as he became aware of the attack.

The person was clearly a ninja of Konoha, as he wore the Konoha hita-ate and was clad in shinobi clothes, dark grey top and pants, but leaving his stomach exposed to the fresh air, showing his pale white skin. Naruto recognized a small scroll in the dark-haired shinobi's hands and guessed that it had something to do with that strange technique, with which he had attacked them seconds prior.

"I've never seen him before. He's wearing a Konoha headband." Naruto stated, even though his friends have probably already seen that, too.

"That came from nowhere" Shikamaru said thinking about possible reasons for the attack and possible counterattack plans involving their opponents technique, that he had already seen, and all he knew about the fighting styles of his two friends. "I've no idea, what he's doing, but that guy needs to be captured and handed over to the interrogation squad."

Naruto, too, was thinking about the attack, trying to figure out why the stranger had attacked them. 'Does he know? No, he is too young.' He though memories of his early life flashing to his mind.

"I'll cover you. Go, Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted and Naruto took off without a word rushing down the street seeing Shikamaru's shadow already expanding in the same direction, ready to cover him.

As he came nearer Naruto saw the unknown shinobi move his arm, drawing something really fast on the scroll. Jumping up on the roof Naruto was only a small distance away from the stranger when he heard him say "Ninpou Choujuu Giga" and instantly six of the tiger like animals emerged from the scroll and launched themselves at Naruto.

Seeing no other chance to dodge Naruto jumped back doing a back flip in the air when he heard Shikamaru yell that he should get out of the way. As he landed on the ground a few meters away from the building he had just been on, he saw several spikes made out of shadow impaling the animals, ink dripping down on the street from the destroyed monsters.

Having a clear way now, Naruto jumped on the roof again drawing a kunai and thrusting it forward trying to disable the stranger with a single strike, but said stranger drew his kodachi from his back and blocked the attack. "Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked irritated, knowing that they were in a stale mate for now.

"You're fairly weak." The stranger, who had black hair and eyes as Naruto could see it clearly now from such a small distance, mocked grinning like a madman. "So what do you have between your legs?"

Just then Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke causing the stranger, who had used his body weight to get more power behind his kodachi while they were in a stale mate, to stumble forward and into the way of Shikamaru's approaching shadow. Reacting quickly the stranger leapt backwards avoiding the shadow attack, but jumping straight in the way of Naruto's kick, which once again sent him forwards to the shadow.

Tapping on the roof merely centimetres away from the approaching shadow, the black-haired shinobi jumped up into the air. "We'll meet again, Naruto-kun" the stranger said to Naruto, as ink began to spin around him. 'Shunshin no jutsu' Naruto thought as he recognized the technique as a variant of the original jutsu.

Standing silently on the roof looking into the sky, where the stranger had disappeared only moments prior, Naruto heard Shikamaru's voice from down the street. "What was that?" Shikamaru asked, obviously revering to the whole incident.

"Chouji! I thought I'd find you here. For crying out loud, Asuma-sensei's angry that you still haven's shown up!" A new voice reached his ears from even further down the street, behind his two friends. Naruto recognized the voice instantly, without even having to turn around to face the newcomer.

"Sorry Ino. Some weird guy just started attacking us." Shouji tried to explain to her as Naruto turned around taking in her new outfit. She wore a purple top and skirt and once again wore her hair longer, like she used to do, a big streak falling down in front of her face.

"Weird guy?" Ino questioned as she looked down the street, seeing Naruto standing on the roof of a building. "Hey, is it Naruto?" she asked.

"No, the weird guy's not Naruto …" Chouji began but was interrupted by Ino's loud voice.

"Naruto! Been a while!" she yelled greeting him. Naruto jumped down the building he had been on and slowly walked towards his three friends, his hands in his pockets.

"Hi Ino" he greeted her, hearing Shikamaru mumble "Troublesome" under his breath.

"Don't you two have a mission?" Naruto asked Chouji and Ino who both nodded in return. "Well then, don't let me hold you up." He continued and began to walk away, needing time to relax and think, now more than ever, as his mind still rested on the strange unknown shinobi that had attacked them.

"Ja Ne." he yelled over his shoulder as he walked away, successfully evading all questions he knew they wanted to ask him, but which he didn't want to answer. Shikamaru stood there, stunned at the blonde's change in all the time, as his team mate's, too, said their good-bye's and left him standing there in the middle of a people less street in deep thought.

Naruto continued on his way, walking through the streets of Konoha, some filled with people while others were deserted, still knowing his way around slowly but surely reaching the hot springs at the side of the village.

Naruto felt his muscles relax as the hot water washed over his skin. He had arrived at the hot springs a few minutes ago and went in, now all alone in the entire men's section. The scene brought back memories, painful memories of his time with Jiraiya when they often had went to hot springs, not to relax, but for Jiraiya to do his research.

He silently sat in the hot water, only his head sticking out of the surface, as he relaxed as best as he could with his senses always on alert. He slowly closed his eyes enjoying the feeling. He hadn't felt as relaxed as he felt now for a long time, not even while meditating during his training in the sage arts. After he had lost control of the Kyuubi his body had felt like shit and so did his mind, because he knew that it was his fault. After that he had never wasted a second, always pushing against his limit while training to master the natural chakra training.

Now, finally had he found peace. He had finally realized that it would do him no good to punish himself over it and that Jiraiya would have wanted him to continue with his life, having fun and reaching his dreams. 'Probably peek on girls, too? Huh, Ero-Sennin?' he thought smiling. Yes, that's exactly what Jiraiya would have wanted.

Yes, he would make Jiraiya proud, not only by growing stronger and becoming Hokage, but also by living his own life, having fun, just like Jiraiya had lived most of his life.

His thoughts quickly began to wander as he wondered if he had already made Jiraiya proud of him, by mastering the sage mode as far as it had been possible for him. Fukasaku had told him that he had mastered it faster than Jiraiya had done and that Jiraiya had never gotten as far with controlling the natural chakra. But still Naruto couldn't really use it in battle, like the brief use in his fight against that Akatsuki member had shown, while Jiraiya had been able to do so.

His thoughts went back to his training, as he and Fukasaku returned to the mountain after having saved Gaara from the Akatsuki.

Flashback

It had been a few hours, now, since he and Fukasaku had returned. They had eaten a quick bite and rested until Fukasaku had told him to begin.

He had explained the technique to Naruto before Naruto had went to save the Kazekage, so they could skip all theoretical mumbo jumbo and went straight to the practical part of the technique. "Ready?" the toad elder asked and Naruto nodded in reply.

The old toad jumped on Naruto's shoulder and put his hands together concentrating hard, as Naruto did the same. 'Amphibian sage technique' Fukasaku thought as they tried to merge together, becoming one in order to master the sage mode.

Fukasaku tensed just before he was forcefully launched from Naruto's shoulder, an image of the Kyuubi Kitsune flashing in front of the toads eyes. "Let's give it another try." Fukasaku said struggling to get up.

They did exactly the same procedure again with the same result, as Fukasaku slammed into the ground rather hard. "Looks like it's no use." Fukasaku said forcing himself to smile as he looked at the shocked Naruto.

"No use?" questioned the confused Naruto as he hadn't seen the Kyuubi flash in side his mind.

"I think it's the nine-tailed beast within you rejecting me." The tired toad elder said, coming to the only logical solution.

Naruto remained quite inwardly seething. 'No way. What's all this training been for, then?' he thought angrily trying to calm himself down. Just then, he made another promise to himself, to master the sage mode so that he could actually use the natural chakra in battle, no matter how long it would take him to do it, to make Jiraiya really proud of him.

End of Flashback

He had tried to master it gathering the nature's chakra while moving, but had failed every time he had tried; it dissipated just as he gathered it while moving. Fukasaku had said that he was wasting his time, as it was impossible to do, but Naruto had tried it anyway, never succeeding but he wouldn't give up yet.

Then it had been time for his return, while Naruto hadn't wanted to return at first, he knew that he had to do it. He still couldn't really use the sage mode for a fight, only if he stood still to gather the chakra and even if he had that time the sage mode only lasted a short time if he moved, which was a must in a fight.

Trying to get more information Naruto did the only thing that he thought could help him. "Kuchiyose no jutsu" he said as he slammed his hand on the ground besides him, after biting his thumb. The smoke cleared away revealing Fukasaku standing there.

"Naruto-chan" the toad elder said looking somewhat surprised that he had been summoned. "What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for explaining everything to Tsunade-baachan." Naruto said.

Fukasaku remained silent, not needing any thanks on that matter. "But surely that isn't all that's on your mind?" Fukasaku asked after a few moments of silence knowing full well that Naruto wouldn't summon him just for thanking him.

"Ahh, no" Naruto said lamely before he paused for a few seconds. "I've been thinking."

Fukasaku looked at him curiously. "About what?"

"The sage mode" Naruto simply said knowing that Fukasaku would understand what he meant and what he wanted to know.

"I see." Fukasaku sighed. "So you still want to try and gather the nature chakra while moving? You certainly are a stubborn one …" he said before he drifted off. 'These are the necessary qualities to become a Sennin. And on top of that, you have the sheer tenacity to never give up.' The toad elder thought fondly.

"I have a bad feeling about my next mission" Naruto admitted breaking Fukasaku out of his thoughts. "It's about Orochimaru and I have a feeling that something dangerous will happen."

"You think you will encounter Orochimaru." Fukasaku said interpreting Naruto's words.

"Yes. And I will need the sage mode if I even want to stand a chance against him" explained Naruto.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you" the toad elder said somewhat sadly. "It may be difficult to accept, but I'm afraid it is quite a physical impossibility. Running while trying to gather the natural energy, which requires stillness. This is like trying to look left and right at the same time."

"I see." Naruto said knowing that still he wouldn't give up not caring if it's said to be impossible or not, he would do it.

"Is there anything else you need?" questioned the old toad after a long pause.

Naruto shook his head, all he had wanted from the toad elder had been information about the sage mode and if the elder had had some kind of idea in the last day, that he hadn't thought of, but it didn't seem like it.

With a last look at Naruto the toad elder left in a cloud of smoke, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts, returning to the toad mountain. Naruto let all the words replay inside his mind, trying to find even the smallest clue but with no success. Coming to a conclusion Naruto decided to focus on his other training rather than trying god-knows how many times to master the sage mode, for now at last. Thinking about his own training, his thoughts went back to the evening of the day before.

Flashback

Naruto and Yugao sat in the shadow of one of the trees on the side of the training ground, resting from their little spar. They had settled there after they had agreed to first catch their breaths before talking about it and so they sat in silence, longer then they had actually wanted to.

It was already beginning to get darker, as dusk began to settle over Konoha when Yugao finally broke the silence, instantly catching Naruto's full attention. "I said I would help you, didn't I?" she began.

"You are already quite skilled,if I were to guess I would say you're easily on a standard Chuunin level. I know that was nowhere near going all out, so it's hard to say what you actually have to improve. So correct me if I'm wrong with my evaluation. First of all your usage of the Kage Bunshin is better than that of everyone I've ever seen."

"You were able to sense me, so your senses are good as well." She continued after a short pause to think over what to say. "Your stealth was good at the end when you hid yourself, but during the fight it needs to be improved. So you should probably get some darker clothes, which would make hiding a lot easier for you. Also you should improve your speed, while you are already quite fast for a Chuunin level shinobi; it's not fast enough for fighting a high Jounin level opponent, which I'm guessing you are planning to achieve as soon as possible, yet alone anyone at Hokage level.

She paused looking at him for a reaction, but he stayed still listening to every word she had to say. It was good to hear a new opinion about his current level. "You should also work on your tactics. While you are good at coming up with fast plans and improvising, it won't be enough against a high level enemy."

She made another short pause thinking back to the fight trying to get as much out of it as possible. "There is also your taijutsu to be considered. I easily overpowered you, not with strength but experience. But what you lack at experience you make up with your instincts. So you'll only continue to improve your close combat skills by fighting and gaining experience."

"Then there is control" she said moving on to the next point. "You obviously have a lot of chakra, but I could sense that you wasted a lot during that spar. So your chakra control needs work. While you may say it isn't necessary, control is quite important and can decide a fight. Also with better chakra control you can also learn genjutsu, not only the defence against it but also the art itself, which can be deadly."

"What you absolutely have to learn, if you want to advance on your way is how to use elemental chakra." She said looking at him and seeing his confused look she decided to explain. "There are five basic types of chakra, also called elements: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Water and Earth. Most shinobi has one of these as natural affinity. SO those who have a fire ability excel in fire jutsu."

She paused looking at him trying to figure out if he understood everything. "So what chakra type do I have?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I don't know. You'll have to test it some time. There are special cards that we use to figure it out. You just have to channel some chakra into them and they'll show you what type your chakra leans to the most" she explained. "But mastering nature manipulation usually takes a very long time, at least a few months if not more."

"But as I've said before, I won't have the time to train you so you should go and ask your sensei about it sometime" she told him and he nodded in reply understanding that her ANBU duty was a lot more important than training him, ANBU were part of the elite after all.

"So back to what we were doing" the purple haired beauty said. "There is one thing you should never forget while training. When you try to improve your weaknesses, never forget your strengths, because they will dull if you forget about them."

He nodded as he thought about her words. It made sense.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" she asked him after seeing him nod in understanding her words of advice.

Naruto thought about it for a few seconds before he spoke up. "You said I should improve my chakra control, but I don't know any methods to do it. So could you please show me some?" Naruto asked.

She thought about it for a second before she nodded. Seeing her nod Naruto decided to move on to the next question he had. "Could you possibly teach me some justu? Not some flashy ones, but rather something like you used on me earlier."

Seeing her hesitate as she thought over it Naruto decided to move it up a notch. "Pretty please" he said as he activated the 'puppy dog eyes no jutsu'. (A/N: That just he to be there, sorry folks)

Yugao couldn't help herself; he just looked so cute sitting besides her using these eyes trying to get her to agree. "Ok, Ok. I'll do it" she said which caused Naruto to jump from happiness, before he sat down next to her again. "I'll write something down on a scroll and give it to you as soon as possible, ok?"

"Hai" he said nodding enthusiastically falling back into his old self.

They sat there in silence after that, each thinking about different things. Yugao was already thinking on what to put on the scroll for him and Naruto thanked god for meeting her. They sat there, obvious to the steadily approaching darkness, as it was already late into the evening, when they were snapped out of the peaceful sitting in silence by a growl of Naruto's stomach.

Naruto instantly realized what had growled and blushed a bit out of embarrassment, thankful for the semi-darkness as he finally noticed it.

"Well, it looks like we're supposed to part here and now." Yugao said with a smile. "You should go and get something to eat and I should make my way home."

"Yeah." Naruto said simply, as he looked to the ground searching for his normally so strong confidence. Finally finding it he looked up again, their eyes meeting. "Why don't we go and get something to eat together, my treat?" he asked flashing her a smile.

Yugao looked at the blonde for a moment, her thoughts flashing back to Hayate shortly, as that scene somehow reminded her of him, before she realized that the two scenes were totally different. "Why not." she answered smiling at him, as her thoughts returned to the present.

End of Flashback

Naruto had a thoughtful expression on his face as his thoughts went back to their time later that evening, mostly their discussion at the end of that time, before he forced them to return to what he had been thinking about. 'Training' he thought. 'I wonder when she will get me that scroll?' he asked himself curiously wondering what she would write down in it for him.

His thoughts went back to Yugao. His thoughts had gone to her a few times that day he realized and he couldn't do anything against it. Just thinking about her caused him to smile. He didn't know what it meant, but he only remembered feeling like this once, thinking about Sakura when he was younger.

He sat there letting his muscles relax in the hot water, for a long time, finally able to relax for the first time in a while; time passing by. Some time later he stood up from his sitting spot and swam over and got out of the water, wrapping a towel around his waist as he made his way to the building. Inside he went over to his clothes and put them on.

Just as he was about to leave he felt a familiar presence enter the hot springs or to be specific the women's part of the hot springs. 'Yugao' he thought with a smile.

Turning around he walked back out of the building through the same door he had come in moments ago and walked towards the fence that separated the men's part from the women's part. 'Hehe, Ero-Sennin would probably smile in his grave' he thought as he remembered his godfather's perverted ways.

'She will probably kill you if she finds out' Naruto's good side said inside his mind causing Naruto to stop, rethinking the whole situation trying to figure out what he should do. Coming to a conclusion Naruto did his favourite hand seal and created a clone of himself. "Go stand guard" he ordered and the clone went over to the only entrance to the hot sprigs watching out for newcomers.

Naruto smiled as he suppressed his presences good as he could; hoping that it wouldn't be able to be sensed by anyone not used to the nature's chakra. While travelling with Jiraiya he had learned a lot about shinobi life and techniques, but he had also learned about the art of peeking from the master himself, even though he hadn't been interested in it at that time.

A/N: Next part is rated 16+, so anyone reading this under 16 even though it's originally rated M should skip this part.

A smile appeared on his face as he found a hole in the fence and he settled down on the ground, pressing his eye as near to it as possible, as he looked through it. On the other side of the hot springs several women were enjoying their time at the onsen, some with a towel around them, others completely naked. He looked at them, his smile growing even bigger as he finally understood what Jiraiya found so good at peeking, but soon he forced his eyes to move on, not paying that much attention to the single women.

His eye switched around searching for Yugao but she was nowhere to be found. 'I must have been wrong' he thought somewhat sadly as looked at the other women, slowly but surely losing his interest. Just as he was about to pull back he saw someone new step out of the building on the women's side of the onsen. Focusing on the newcomer Naruto recognised Yugao in a split second. She had a white towel wrapped around her covering every private part of her body.

She slowly walked over to the water, the towel falling to the ground just before she was about to enter. She stood there, her long hair falling down behind her, showing her well endowed breasts to the world, or better said, to the women and not knowingly to him, too. Her private area was neatly shaved, not a single hair standing on it.

As she put her foot in the hot water, testing the temperature, Naruto could see her pussy, the nice pink lips parting slightly, before she put her foot completely in the water and began to slowly disappear from his view as she submerged into the water, only her head and breasts sticking out of the water.

On the other side of the hot springs Naruto could feel his pants tighten, as his member got aroused from the sight. His eyes followed Yugao, only sometimes switching over to other girls admiring their bodies for a few moments, they too were quite well built and some of them could have easily made the lead character in one of Jiraiya's books. But to Naruto they didn't matter even though he enjoyed the sight, but his eyes switched back to the beautiful purple haired woman every few moments.

As Yugao finally settled down in the water, sitting in the hot water like Naruto had earlier, only her head was sticking out of the water as she relaxed. His eyes began to wander around more and more, only returning to the purple haired ANBU every so often, rather looking at the girls where he could actually see something he hadn't seen that much in his life.

After a while however Naruto got bored of looking at the different girls and his eyes rested on Yugao watching her sitting in the hot water for a while. After a while she began to swim over to her towel lay on the ground and began to exit the water. Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the sight, water tripping down her body. She bent down to pick her towel up giving him a perfect view of her nice ass. 'Got damn' Naruto silently said in his mind as he enjoyed the view she was giving him to the fullest.

But the view was short lived as she stood up again having picked the towel up, which she began to wrap around her body covering it up again much to Naruto's unhappiness. Naruto's eyes followed her as she made her way towards the building and continued to watch her until she vanished completely inside the building.

Seeing that Yugao had left Naruto's eyes began to switch around again, skipping through all the different women in the women's section until he pulled his head back a few minutes later, turning around so that he could lean his upper body against the wooden fence. His member finally calming down as it began to shrink to its normal size again. He sat there totally lost in thoughts, all of them on the women he had just watched, mostly the purple haired women had had met the other day and finally he understood what Jiraiya found so good at peeking completely. 'Hehe, good that Ero-Sennin gave me a copy of each of his books' he thought trying to figure out where he had stashed the scroll all those books were sealed in, never having bothered with it yet.

A/N: All the little kids can read again. And sorry to all that already got their hopes up reading the first A/N saying it's only for those over 16, expecting it to be a lemon.

After a while he finally stood up and straightened his clothes before he walked over to his clone, which has been guarding the entrance to the men's section the entire time. Just as he was about to dispel the clone he stopped, freezing in mid-action.

'"This is like trying to look left and right at the same time" Fukasaku had said' he thought with a smile as he dispelled the bunshin, for the first time since he had learned the jutsu noticing the foreign memories entering his mind. Memories of him standing guard at the men's section entrance, bored because nothing happened.

"I figured it out" Naruto said with a smile as he exited the hot springs, his mind already trying to come up with good ways to use what he just found out.


Author's Note (A/N):

Well there you have it. As I said on my profile, I'm not really happy with how some of the scenes in this chapter turned out and I will be editing them eventually, but first let me hear your opinion on the chapter. If you think it could be better, just tell me what you think and I might even use your ideas when editing it.

Now let me say some things to a review of naruto/harem123:

I'm glad you took the time to leave a review after reading my story, I appreciate it and I don't really care if you didn't like my story, it was to be expected that some people won't like it, but I just have to say some things to you.

First the pairing won't actually happen for a few chapters yet to come, even if there are some scenes that indicate it (like in this chapter). I promise you it won't be for a while, because I want to make it as realistic as possible. Also she won't be really teaching Naruto, as I guess you know now, she will most likely help him out some later, but it won't really be a student-teacher relationship that they will have. Next is that I want Yugao as a real human and not some ninja without any emotions, so I think it's normal to sometime remember your lost lover, if you really loved him. It's human in my opinion. Next I promise you she won't be in a relationship with Naruto because he reminds her that will never ever happen with me writing the story.

Your next point is on the strength of the ANBU: In my opinion the ANBU are portrayed as weak in the canon (especially in the anime filler episodes), which I don't want to in my story. In my story they will be the elite in the village together with the jounin (so they are on the same level as jounin, Kakashi did afterall join ANBU after being promoted to jounin). Their main reason is to protect the Hokage and to do the secret missions, so they have to be good at infiltration, etc. but also at combat.

As I said it will take a long time until Yugao and Naruto get together and she doesn't see him as potential boyfriend at the moment, while I try to make Naruto act at least sometimes as a normal teenager, eyes and mind quickly switching among different girls, developing crushes, etc. etc.. There will be other girls, or maybe just on other (I'm not really sure yet) which will be some type of rival for Yugao, but as I said I don't like Sakura and I can promise you it won't be another of the main girls.

Well I guess that was enough about that, and while I respect your opinion I just had to get some facts across as I see them. I do know after all what I have planned to write later on, so I just had to make that clear.

Well now let me return to the chapter. As you can see I let the scene with Naruto meeting Team 8 out. Why? Because I have something planned with them later on (and I'm sorry to say but it will take at least 5 chapters until they will appear. So sorry to all the team 8 fans out there.) As you can see I introduced Sai in this chapter, so I guess you all know what will soon happen, but I can promise you some changed from the canon.

So now on to the things I'm not happy about in this chapter. First is the interacting between Naruto and Tsunade. Why you might ask. It's just that after the last chapter there was a whole lot more potential for their interaction in this chapter, but I just couldn't really get it across like I wanted so I tuned it down a bit. Next scene I'm not happy about is the flashback to the conversation between Naruto and Yugao, mostly the end of it. But I just didn't have the mind to write it better this week and I just wanted to get this chapter finished, so it's not really good.

Next thing before someone asks, Naruto and Yugao aren't going on a date. Naruto's nervousness is easily explained, because he never asked a girl to go eat something with him and him being a teenager and Yugao doesn't see it as a date. For me it's normal to go eat something together after sparring like they did. As you can see the situation reminded her of a situation she and Hayate had been in, but she realises that the situations were completely different. I thought about it for a while if I wanted the sentence in the story or not and came to the conclusion to add it, trying to make Yugao more human and to create a round character of her person in the long run.

The scene continuing from there will be in the next chapter, so I guess you just have to wait to read that.

Now on to the last scene, I wanted Naruto to figure the Kage Bunshin out by himself, so I thought about how he should do it and I'm trying to make him a real teenager and finally I got the idea that I finally used. I hope that you like it, as it will be the only such scene (him peeking). Why? Because he will continue to grow up and with that such teenager like actions will lessen.

Last but not least I wanted to say that I'm always open for you to ask questions or state your opinions. Only so will the story get better. After all: several minds are better than one. So feel free to leave a review or send me a message.