Update!!!

Well, I hope you're all still dedicated to my story.

I guess All I can do now is leave it for you all to read. I hope you enjoy it.

"Come on!" Naruto threw one of his three-prong kunai forward towards the tree that was several feat ahead. Concentrating hard, Naruto suddenly found himself standing a few inches closer to the tree, but not close enough. "Dammit!"

"Naruto, you shouldn't push yourself." Kakashi said. "This is a dangerous technique."

"I can do this!" Naruto shouted. "Just let me do this!" He slammed his hands together into a seal. He closed his eyes, focusing his chakra into the teleportation. When he opened his eyes, he suddenly found himself standing some distance away from his goal. "NO!"

Kakashi approached Naruto, concerned for his condition. "Naruto, let's take a break, we can continue this when..."

"SHUT UP!!!" Naruto shouted in rage. "JUST SHUT UP!!!" His body slowly began to burn with chakra as he began to succumb to his beastly change. His skin began to grow into fur and nine tails slowly grew out. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING ME, BUT YOU'RE NOT DOING SHIT!!!" Naruto charged at Kakashi fueled with rage. Just as he was about to make contact with his teacher, a blur shot by and tackled Naruto to the ground.

"Geez, I leave you alone for twenty minutes and already you wanna kill something." Sasuke stood over Naruto, his skin was changed in his Cursed Seal with the large wings closed up behind him. Naruto slowly got to his feet, growling furiously at Sasuke. "Ok, that won't do." As soon as Naruto got to his feet, Sasuke dashed behind him and wrapped his arms under his arms, bringing his hands behind Naruto's head. With his wings, Sasuke got a strong hold on Naruto's legs. "Take it easy Naruto, breathe." Naruto continued to struggle his way free, but Sasuke proved to be stronger than he was at this. "Just breathe dammit." Naruto's struggling slowly faded, until Naruto was finally calm and his fox-hybrid appearance disappeared and reverted back to his human look. Sasuke released his grip and let Naruto drop on his knees. "You alright?" The change of the Cursed Seal slowly faded from his skin and the wings shrank into his back.

Naruto panted heavily. "Yeah...I'm fine..." Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Thanks, I needed that..."

"Holy shit Naruto." Sasuke crossed his arms. "Hinata tells me you haven't been home for the past few days." He reached down to pick up a bottle of water that was on the grass and tossed it to Naruto. "She's really worried, and so is Sakura. With her worried we never have the time to....." Sasuke paused briefly. "...connect, with each other."

Naruto chugged the water bottle, completely ignoring Sasuke's brief pause at mid sentence. "Just tell them I'm fine."

"Alright." Sasuke shrugged. "Suit yourself, I'll go tell them then." Sasuke turned and left the field.

Hinata poured a bowl of ramen into a strainer, letting the soup pour into the drain leaving the noodle and the vegetable chunks behind. She then dumped the remains of the strainer into the trash. Hinata walked over to the sofa and sat down, resting her arms on her knees and resting her chin on her hands.

While she sat on her sofa, visibly upset, a knock was heard on her door. Hinata slowly got up from the sofa and went to the door to open it. When she opened it, she was greeted by Sakura. "Oh, hi Sakura."

"Hi Hinata." Sakura said. Her smile faded when she saw that Hinata wasn't looking all that happy herself. "Are you alright?" She looked around the apartment, finding it empty. "Naruto's not home again?"

Hinata walked further into the living room, picking up a pillow that she had accidentally dropped when she got up from the sofa. "He's been out at the training field since we heard Jiraiya-sama..." Hinata paused briefly. "He just trains all day and then just sleeps out at the field. He hasn't come home since then."

"Naruto, are you alright?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll be fine." Naruto took a few gulps of water from the bottle. "Just need to get my mind off things."

"Naruto, don't push yourself." Kakashi said. "I know its tough to lose someone close to you. The feeling is painful, as if something ripped a hole in your heart that could never be healed."

Naruto was able to sense of tone of sadness in his voice. Naruto turned to face Kakashi. "Is that how you felt when my dad died?"

Kakashi nodded slightly. "He was a great teacher, he like family to me, like a father."

Naruto gave a small smile. "You must've loved him."

"Yes, I did." Kakashi smiled back. "And I can see that you loved Jiraiya." Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "But Jiraiya made his choice. Tsunade knew of the danger he would go through, but..."

"Wait." Something quickly clicked in Naruto's mind. "Baa-chan knew?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi was suddenly confused about Naruto's reaction. "Of course, she was the one who gave him authorization to go. I thought either she or Jiraiya told you."

"No, none of them did." Naruto was slowly starting to realize that the one responsible for all this was now Tsunade. "She tried to hide it from me." In a flash Naruto ran through the trees, heading back to the village and to Tsunade.

"NARUTO!! WAIT!!!"

"Shizune, do you mind organizing these files for me?" Tsunade asked. While looking through some unchecked document, she began to the hear someone shouting.

"Baa-chan!"

"Naruto?" Only Naruto would call her that, and by the tone of voice, he wasn't happy.

Naruto threw the door open and stormed in, looking angry. "IT WAS YOU! YOU DID THIS!!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Tsunade said. "What's this about?"

"I have no intention of calming down!" Naruto said. "I know you sent Jiraiya out to fight Pain!" Oh no. Naruto found out. Tsunade bit her lower lip, she knew Naruto would be like this if he knew, but she wasn't prepared for it. "Why did you let him go? WHY DID YOU SEND HIM TO DIE?! WHY DID YOU GET RID OF THE ONE THING I HAD LEFT OF FAMILY?!"

"Jiraiya made his choice." Tsunade answered, keeping her composure strong. "I acknowledged it. He did it to protect you, Naruto. He went to fight Pain so you wouldn't have to."

"But you knew he would get killed." Naruto said. He fell to his knees and slammed a fist into the ground. "Why...why did you have to let this happen?"

Sakura then entered the office. Her focus immediately fell on Naruto, recognizing the shouting from earlier to be from him. "What's going on here?"

"Sakura, can you please take Naruto?" Tsunade asked. "I think he needs time to himself."

Sakura nodded, she walked over to Naruto and held him up by his arm, but Naruto refused to move. He threw his arm away, releasing Sakura's grip on him. He then got up on his own and slowly walked towards the door. As Naruto left, Sakura quickly walked after him, getting out of the office before the door closed. "Naruto." Sakura reached Naruto and reached out for his arm, but he threw his arm away again. "Naruto, what's wrong with you?" Naruto stopped walking, he didn't turn to face her instead looking down to the floor. "What were you doing? Why were you shouting at her?" When Naruto didn't answer her after several seconds, she decided to walk around him to look him in the face. "Naruto, talk to me. Why were you here?"

Naruto slowly lifted his head, glaring at Sakura with raging eyes. "Ask Baa-chan." Naruto then pushed Sakura aside and continued to walk away.

Three days had gone by since Naruto had learned the truth about Jiraiya and Tsunade's involvement in his death. After hearing about all this, Naruto lost the will to continue with his training. He had spent the rest of his time at home, never leaving. This concerned Hinata to no end, but she trusted Naruto to tell her whatever is bothering him when he felt like it. But until then, she decided to give him his space. While Naruto was alone at home again, Kakashi arrived at the door.

"Naruto, we're needed at Tsunade's office." Kakashi said.

Hearing her name made Naruto cringe. "Give me a minute." He closed the door right away, not giving Kakashi a chance to say anything. True to his word, Naruto was ready in a minute. He left with Kakashi and arrived at the Hokage office several minutes later.

"What's this about?" Naruto asked. He noticed that Guy, Ino, Sai, Lee, and Hinata were in the office with his team.

"I've got a mission." Tsunade said. "I need you all to go to the Hot Springs Village."

"Why there?" Sakura asked. "Isn't it just a tourist attraction now, what do they need ninjas for?"

"There have been reports of pirate attacks." Tsunade answered. She opened up a folder to read out the report. "The village has been getting frequent visits from pirates, who show up in the village, stealing goods, attacking innocents, and kidnapping the women for only god knows what."

"So, the village hired us to deal with the pirates? Sasuke asked. "What ranking is this?"

"As of now, it's a B-rank mission." Tsunade answered, "But if situations get worse, it may end up being A-rank." She handed the folders to the team leaders. "You all have an hour to prepare."

"Alright, then let's get going." Lee said.

"Team Kakashi, could you stay for a minute?" Tsunade requested. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai stopped in their tracks and turned to face the Hokage. "Sai, you may go with the others."

"What is it this time?" Naruto asked, still ill-mannered.

"Before your team goes to the village, there is one location I'd like you to go to first." Tsunade said, "We have information on an Akatsuki hideout that is located on the way to the village." She handed Kakashi a rolled up parchment. When he unrolled it, he found that it was a map with the location of the hideout marked in a black 'X'.

"What are we supposed to find there?" Sasuke asked.

"We know that Akastuki is still after Naruto, but we still don't know the reason why." Tsunade explained. The team already knew what she meant; with Kyuubi dead, Naruto should no longer be in trouble with Akastuki, but apparently, they are still trying to hunt him. "Perhaps it may lead us to getting some more answers."

"How did you find this hideout?" Naruto asked, glaring at Tsunade.

Tsunade paused for a brief second. "Jiraiya sent me some information shortly before he faced Pein."

Naruto sighed with a hint of anger. "Should've known."

"Naruto, what happened happened. You need to try and move on." Tsunade said, trying to sound as stern as she could.

"What if I don't want to?" Naruto asked, now showing more of his inner temper. "What are you gonna do? Send me after Pein to get killed too?!"

"Naruto, just stop." Sakura tried to calm him down by placing a hand on his shoulder, but Naruto quickly grabbed the hand threw it aside.

"You stay out of this!" Naruto said, pointing a finger at her. "You have no part in this." He turned his glare back to Tsunade, his anger was visible enough to show that his pupils were beginning to slit.

"Naruto, don't make me suspend you from this mission." Tsunade said, slightly wary of Naruto's anger.

"Don't bother, I'm not going." He turned and made his way out the door. "I'm staying home, enjoy your fucking mission."

"Naruto!" Tsunade shouted, hoping that he would stop. But he didn't, he kept walking and slammed the door behind him. Tsunade leaned back on her chair, rubbing her temples. "That's all I have left for you, carry out your mission."

"I'll be sure to send carrier pigeons occasionally with updates." Kakashi said. He looked to the remaining members of his team. "Let's go."

Naruto stood outside his balcony, looking out to the village. True to his word, Naruto chose to stay home and not partake in the mission. He locked the door of his apartment, making sure no one would walk in. He needed to be alone. Naruto held the gold leaf in his hand, pressed against his index and middle finger. The balcony railing just underneath his head was wet from multiple teardrops that fell onto the bar. He looked down to the leaf, bringing up to his face, now this was all that can connect him to both his father and Jiraiya. He pressed the leaf to his lips and played his lullaby once again. He closed his eyes and he enveloped himself in the soft music, taking himself away in a peaceful place, away from pain, away from sadness. While he drifted of, he suddenly heard the sound of someone screaming, a woman. Suddenly, a image flashed into his mind. A largely masked being roared at him as he lunged himself at Naruto.

"Ah!" Naruto tripped and fell backwards, landing on his behind. He looked puzzled, what was with that image? Who was that he saw in the armor? He looked down to the leaf, curious as to why he had that image. Getting up, he went inside his apartment. He put the leaf back into the box that contained everything else of his father's, making sure it stayed safe.

The door then unlocked and opened. Knowing that only Hinata was the other person with a key to the place, he knew it had to be her, most likely knowing about what happened. "Naruto-kun, are you alright? Sakura told me what happened."

"I'm fine." Clearly a lie, but what right did he have to bother Hinata with this?

"Naruto-kun, I know you're not alright. You lost someone close to you." Hinata walked up to Naruto, feeling compelled to comfort him. She then wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. "I know it must hurt you, but..."

"No, you don't know." Naruto reached back, grabbing Hinata's wrists and pulled them apart. "You don't know what it's like."

Hinata was taken back by this. "Naruto-kun, what's wrong with you?"

"You don't know what it's like to lose someone close." Naruto said with an upsetting tone. "You still have family, I have nothing." That was when Naruto realized he may have gone too far. He saw that Hinata was beginning to tear. By now, Hinata has learned to control her emotions to the point where something as hurtful as Naruto's words would be what triggers her tears. Hinata then turned to leave the apartment, not wishing to stay a minute longer and listen to Naruto's hurtful words. "Wait. Hinata, I'm sorry." Naruto sighed, hurting Hinata was something he never wanted to do, but sadly, he did. "I didn't meant to take it out on you. I'm just....I...I miss him, that's all."

"Naruto-kun, let's sit down." Hinata reached out and held Naruto's hand. "I know you want to talk about all this, and I'm here to listen."

Tsunade sat behind her desk, burying her face in her hands. "Why, why, why, why, why?"

"What's wrong?" Shizune asked.

Tsunade lifted her head to look at Shizune. "I should've known Naruto would find out about this. I should have done something different; maybe not let Jiraiya go. He'll never forgive me for this."

"You know that isn't true." Shizune said. "Naruto's never been one to hate someone for long, I'm sure in time he'll forgive you."

Naruto and Hinata had been sitting on the sofa in their apartment, talking about things, connecting more with each other.

"Wow, I never knew you had it like that." Naruto said. "I'm so sorry to hear about it."

"I've learned to live past that." Hinata said.

"Hinata, I still can't believe I've been lucky enough to have you in my life." Naruto said, smiling at her. "Right now, I don't what I'd be doing if you weren't here to be with me." He held onto Hinata's hands, rubbing then with his thumbs. "I could tell you that I love you everyday, but feel that it's never enough."

Hinata blushed brightly from hearing Naruto say such a thing. "Naruto-kun, just being with you is more than enough for me." She leaned over and kissed him. "So, you still going to stay home?"

Naruto smiled. "I think I have a change of heart." He looked over to the clock on the wall. "We still have some time. Feel like spending it together?"

Hinata smiled brightly at the thought. She got up from the sofa, standing over Naruto. She then brought a leg over Naruto and then rested her self on Naruto's lap, facing him as she had her arms over his shoulder.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi stood outside the gates. Kakashi leaned against the large doors reading his book, Sasuke sat on the ground next to him with his eyes closed, and Sakura was pacing across the gateway.

"Sakura, you're gonna dig a trench if you keep walking like that." Kakashi said, not taking his focus off the book. "Hinata said he'll be here."

"Well, he's already late." Sakura growled. "It's been ten minutes since Hinata left with her team. I swear, if he's not here in the next five, we better leave."

On cue, Naruto appeared, walking towards the team. "Hey guys."

"Naruto, you're late." Sakura growled. "We were supposed to ten minutes ago."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, smiling. "Yeah, I know. But at least I'm here. Let's get going."

Roughly five hours into their journey, the team decided to take a break. While Kakashi had prepared the tents, Naruto prepared a fire, while Sakura and Sasuke were out to gather wood for the fire. In time, the campsite was all set up as the sun was just touching the horizon. Naruto poked at the fire with a stick, having his mind wandering elsewhere.

"Naruto?" Naruto looked up and saw Kakashi standing over him. "Something on your mind?"

"Not really." Naruto answered, looking back at the flames. "I guess I still trying to cope with things."

Kakashi then sat down by the fire, next to Naruto. "Hinata said that you two talked through everything. You mind telling me what she said?"

Naruto tossed the stick he was holding into the fire and watched as it burned. "She told me about her mom, about how she felt with having no mother around. But she also told me that she didn't spend her life crying for her, she said that when it wasn't me to give her motivation, it was her mom. As long as there was someone who you wanted to make proud, death shouldn't stop you. So that's what I plan to do; Ero-Sennin might not be able to see be become Hokage like I wanted, but at least he can still see me from up there." Naruto then looked up to the sky. "And I promise to make him proud."

"GUYS!" Sakura's voice was heard through trees.

Naruto and Kakashi looked in the direction. From the scream, something was definitely wrong. The two left the campsite and ran through the forest to where they later found Sakura and Sasuke watching as an unknown man was seizing and foaming from the mouth. "Who the hell is he?" The man was dressed in shinobi gear and from the forehead protector he was wearing, he was a shinobi from Iwagakure.

The man then hunched over and grabbed his chest and screamed in pain. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" The man then threw his head up as his chest began to expand, as if something was pushing from inside. He then ripped his shirt open, revealing the abnormal lump on his chest. Suddenly, the growth expanded to the point it ripped the flesh open. The small tear in his skin then grew into a large rip and blood began to run out of the wound. The wound then opened up as a large billow of smoke shot out of the body and flew up into the sky and disappeared.

"What the fuck was that?!" Naruto asked, watching the smoke slowly disappeared as it flew further away.

Sakura kneeled by the body, looking at the mutilated corpse of the Iwa shinobi. "Oh god, not another one."

Sasuke looked over at the face of this corpse. "Did you see that? It was like something just ripped through his chest."

"I don't sense any chakra in this guy." Naruto said. "Even for a recently dead body, its strange to find absolutely no chakra remaining in a shinobi." He looked around, hoping to catch of glimpse of whatever that thing was that came out of the corpse again. "Wait. Sakura, you said this was another one? There's more?"

"Yeah, there were five others before him." Sakura said. "Same condition every time; chests ripped open, organs mutilated, bloody mess."

"I think we may have found the cause of it." Naruto said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a demon."

Uh oh, what's gonna happen now?

Well, I'm glad you loyal readers are still dedicated to my stories. With summer now coming close, I may have more time with my fanfictions. So I think I might be able to update stories more frequently.

Like always, please give me some reviews.