The author says: Hey guys, as you can see, I am finally back from my holidays! Yay for you, So here comes the next update!

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I don't own Naruto!

'He had no idea'

Chapter 4

Rain pours down over a city
Night has fallen like a stone
Are you gone or are you with me?
In my heart I'll never know
If I close my eyes I'll see you
Hear your footsteps in the rain
In my dream I'll never find you
but I'll hear you call my name

- 'Way back home' by The Bag Raiders

Four months after Naruto and Jiraiya left Konoha:

A figure was jumping through the trees. Panting, the occasional 'thud' when feet hit a branch, leaves rustling, a dark blur. Naruto knew she was being followed. She stopped in a small clearing. The kunai in her right hand glistened in the sunlight. She crouched low, feet in a wide stance, perfectly balanced, ready to react to whatever was coming at her. She carefully scanned the surrounding trees with her blue eyes. Where is he? Her lungs were burning from the chase and the fighting from before. She jumped at a noise coming from the brush from behind her; she whirled around, arms coming up defensively. But there was nothing.

Naruto inhaled deeply, partly to calm herself, but mainly to take in the scents around her. Her sense of smell had always been sensitive, but in the four months she had been training with Jiraiya, she had learned to use it to her advantage. She didn't smell anything out of place now, though, and kept scanning the tree lines.

She forced her racing heart to calm down. The adrenaline surged through her body, keeping her alerted. The shadows in the trees were too dark to make out anything. 'You can't always rely on your eyes, Naruto. Use what you have', she heard Jiraiya's voice inside her head, remembering one of his lessons.

She closed her eyes. She concentrated on her hearing. She pushed aside the sound of her own heartbeat and breathing. She heard how the wind moved the leaves to her right. There were birds in a tree to her left. How many? Three. She listened more carefully. There was a rushing sound a little farther away, coming from behind her. What is it? Water. A river? No, splashing. A waterfall? Yes. A creaking from in front of her. A twig snapping. What made the twig snap? An animal? No, too heavy. A large animal? Like a bear? But no, she would have smelled that. A loud rustling from the same direction. Wings flapping frantically. A bird. Disturbed by another's presence? Naruto hold her breath, trying to catch the faintest of sounds. A swish, the sound of cloth moving against cloth. Breathing. There.

Her eyes snapped open. With newly acquired speed, she flung a swarm of shuriken into the tree line on front of her. The following thuds indicated that they had hit only the trunk of a tree. She jumped backwards, readying another set of shuriken. Inhaling, she caught his scent now. He was close.

A single shuriken came flying at her with lightning speed. Before she could wonder why there was only one shuriken aimed at her, she heard a deep voice call out a jutsu. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." (1)

The single shuriken multiplied by several dozen. Naruto gulped and threw herself on her back, flattening herself to the ground. The shuriken whizzed past above her, hitting the grass behind her head. She quickly jumped back to her feet, scanning the clearing again.

The scent of her attacker warned her, as a fist came flying at her from behind, aiming for her head. She whirled around, ducking under a muscled arm. She was smaller than her attacker, making it easy for her to evade his swinging fists, but still she was at a disadvantage, because her arms were a lot shorter and she had to get in really close to be able to actually hit him. Apparently, she had gotten too close, as a large fist connected with her belly. She gasped as the power of the punch forced the air out of her lungs. She hit the ground hard, sliding over the grass and finally laying still several feet away.

She groaned from the pain, but resolutely tried to stand up again. Cramps were running through her lower abdomen and she would have fallen back to the ground if not for the strong hand that supported her. Her attacker.

The blonde glared up at the tall man, who was grabbing her arm and gently forced her to a sitting position on the grass. "Ne, Ero-sennin, you don't have to hit me so hard!", Naruto whined. The white-haired Sannin chuckled at his godchild and sat down beside her.

"Your enemies won't hold back, brat. It won't help you, if I go easy on you", he lectured. He got out a sealing scroll and summoned Naruto's bag, their bedrolls and their cooking utensils. Naruto curled up and quietly rubbed her belly. Apparently, Jiraiya had decided to stay in the small clearing for the night. This would be the sixth night in a row they spent in the forest. But Naruto didn't mind. She was still wary whenever they were in a new town. Although people treated her like any other person, not knowing about her status as Jinchuuriki, she had become cautious and suspicious around them.

As Jiraiya prepared a simple meal for them, he regarded his apprentice from the corner of his eyes. The blonde was still rubbing her hurting belly, her eyes were closed and he heard her mutter something about violent perverts. Maybe he did go a little hard on her? But no, he needed to train her for that she had a chance to stand her own against the members of Akatsuki. He sighed and heated the water in their kettle with a well-aimed fire jutsu.

They had been travelling for four months now. And already the changes in Naruto were visible. Some more, some less. While the girl had chattered almost non-stop during the month he had trained her for the chuunin exams, she was now quiet and often he caught her with a very uncharacteristic thoughtful look on her face. When she now spoke, her voice was no longer loud and annoying. She now seemed to actually think before she spoke and at some times, Jiraiya cringed when he heard the almost subdued tone in which she talked. But what shocked – and pained him – the most was that not once in the four months had he seen the trademark foxy grin on her lips. Sure, she smiled, but it seldom reached her eyes. The occasions on which Naruto had given him a genuine smile could be counted on three fingers.

The first time had been when Jiraiya had given Naruto her new outfit. One evening after training she had mouthed that she no longer felt comfortable in her bulky orange jumpsuit. When he had asked her why, she had explained to him that she used to wear the colourful clothes in order for other people to notice her. People either gave her hateful glares or they ignored her completely, overlooking her. But as no one else was wearing orange, they would know immediately that it was Naruto they saw and thus she kind of forced her presence on them. She now saw how stupid she had been; no wonder how everyone thought of her as an annoyance; but at least someone did think of her this way. But this was not longer the way she wanted to think about herself. Especially when they were travelling, she didn't want to draw attention to herself. Her blonde hair was already standing out enough, she had explained. From now on, she wanted people to want to notice her and not because her choice of clothing screamed for desperate need of attention. Jiraiya had been surprised at how grown-up and considerate her words had sounded. The next day he had presented a new set of clothing to her. It was nothing special; dark shinobi pants, a dark green longsleeve and new shinobi sandals. He had chosen the darker colours on purpose, as she had told him how she no longer wanted to stand out. He had given the clothes to her as a gift, telling the girl they were some kind of 'welcome gift to his new apprentice', as she only hesitantly accepted them. She was not used to people giving her presents. The small lie had been rewarded when Naruto had given him a small but genuine smile in return.

The Sannin sighed and looked back at the girl he had taken under his wing. She had sloppily unrolled her bedroll and was currently lying on her side, facing the small fire he had started. Her knees where pulled against her abdomen, her arms hugging her knees. Was she still in pain from his punch? Normally Naruto could take more than a simple punch. Maybe he was going too hard on her? He sighed once more, stirring the stew he had prepared. He was about to wake up his student, when her regular, even breathing made him realize that the girl had fallen asleep.

A piercing shriek, which would have made Sakura proud, woke Jiraiya with a start the next morning. Like the Sannin he was, he was up within a second, kunai in hand, ready to attack whatever was coming at him. Hastily he scanned his surroundings for the source of the scream. As Naruto had never been a girly kind of girl, he was slow to connect the shrill shriek to the blonde. But there she was, sitting on her bedroll, eyes wide with panic, staring at a dark red bloodstain on her white bedroll.

"Naruto!", Jiraiya quickly jumped over to her. "What happened?" He searched her for any obvious injuries, lifting her arms, placing a hand on her forehead, making her open her mouth. Finding no injury that would explain the bloodstain on the bedroll between her legs, he waited for an answer. Naruto flushed bright red under his questioning gaze and buried her face in her hands.

Jiraiya stared back and forth between her hidden red face and the bloodstain. Realization hit him. His face imitated Naruto's in seconds. What was he to do? Thinking about what was happening, he gulped and thought of something to say. What to do? What to do? What to do? He was panicking. This was probably the most awkward situation in his entire life. Where is Tsunade when I need her?! He was a man, he was not supposed to be dealing with womanly... problems! He called himself a 'super pervert' and he loved the other sex, but that didn't mean he had the slightest idea how to handle this situation. Frantically, he thought of anyone who could help him. He needed a woman! Now! And for once it was not for his own pleasure. But they were in a huge forest in the middle of nowhere, where would he get a woman unless he summoned one... Wait... summon! That's it!

Naruto was pretty sure she would die from embarrassment any second. Considering how hot her face felt, she had to look like a tomato.

The girl had fallen asleep with cramps in her lower abdomen, but had paid it no further thoughts, thinking the pain was caused by Jiraiya's punch earlier. When she had woken up and felt a strange wetness between her legs, she couldn't help but shriek at the sight of the dark blood there. Although she had never paid much attention in the academy, she vaguely remembered a female teacher telling the kunoichi of her class about the 'Female Body and its Development' or something like that. Still, she was able to understand what was happening. She was having her first period. The timing could've hardly been worse. She was stuck in a forest with a man, who was a self-proclaimed super pervert. Even mortified as she was, she felt the tiniest pang of pity for the man. This couldn't be any less awkward for the Sannin. They needed a woman!

Wishing fiercely she had listened to the teacher back then to know what to do now, the blonde carefully glanced at Jiraiya who had stopped staring at her. Her sensei was going through hand seals, which she easily recognized as the ones for the summoning technique. What was he planning?

It 'poofed' and after the white smoke had cleared, a toad with purple hair wearing a black cloak appeared. "Why, Jiraiya-chan", the toad greeted affectionately, "how nice to see you! How have you been? I haven't seen you for some time!"

Naruto gawked at the only female toad she had ever met. Shima, the wife of Fukasaku, one of the two Great Toad Elders. This is Jiraiya's plan? The only woman he can think of is a toad?

"Ne, Shima-sama," Jiraiya chuckled nervously, "you see, we have some kind of... situation... here." He discretely pointed his thumb in Naruto's direction, who was still gawking at them with an open mouth. Jiraiya quickly looked back at the toad and bent down to whisper something into her ear.

Naruto watched them. Whatever they were planning, this would better be good. As if the mortification was not enough, her lower abdomen was still hurting, she felt dirty and was in need of a bath.

Jiraiya came over to Naruto. He spoke, but decidedly looked everywhere but at her. "So, Naruto...", he started, "I'll leave you in Shima-sama's care. I'm sure she will explain everything to you." At Naruto's questioning glance, he added, "you know, about the birds and the bees... and what else you need to know." He awkwardly patted her head and really quickly left the clearing.

Before Naruto could mouth her objections, Shima was upon her. But Naruto was sure, she had misheard. A toad was going to give her the talk? She was pretty sure that amphibians had a completely different anatomy and physiology. This couldn't be correct... right?

"Ne, Naruto-chan", the female toad Elder began, "I see what we are facing here. It's the maturing of a young girl to a woman." She smiled at the blonde and seeing her red face, added, "No need to be ashamed, child. This is something we all go through."

Naruto's eye began twitching. 'Something we all go through'? As in all toads or all women, she wondered, irritated. This is so wrong!, she thought, before Shima started her lecture.

About two hours later, Naruto's eye was twitching quite violently. Although she hadn't paid attention in sex ed in the academy, she was sure that the whole concept about the 'birds and the bees' was not to include certain things she just learned. Where did spawning and tadpoles fit into that equation? This is so not right! Naruto was pretty sure she had just been scarred for life. Sex ed from a toad? What the hell was the pervert thinking?

She was still trying to make sense of what she had been told and trying to ban the more visual ideas of reproducing toads from her mind, when Jiraiya returned. The Sannin found a pale Naruto, who was unintelligently opening and closing her mouth. He swallowed when he caught something that sounded like 'babies, not tadpoles'. Maybe this had not been one of his best ideas... But at least Naruto's bedroll looked more or less clean now and the girl itself also looked like she had taken a bath in the nearby river.

He thanked Shima for helping him out and she returned to Mount Myouboku, leaving behind a very disturbed Naruto and a nervously chuckling Jiraiya. Hearing the words 'toad spawn' coming from the blonde, Jiraiya was certain that things had taken an entirely wrong direction. Maybe he should've given her the birds-and-bees-talk himself? This was definitely a topic he was very well schooled in. Sighing, he decided that he couldn't undo what Shima had caused and decided to do some damage control.

He unsealed a bottle of his finest sake and two glasses from a scroll he kept for emergencies quite like this; or well, maybe not particularly like this as he had never imagined to face this kind of situation, but still; this more than qualified as an emergency. He poured two glasses of sake and handed one to Naruto. He had to nudge her and call her name twice before the traumatized girl was able to react. She automatically took the glass and downed the sake in one go. Jiraiya stared and wondered, if she had had sake before, but the following coughing proved his assumption wrong. He moved to pat the girl on the back, when he received a fiery glare from her. He quickly pulled his arm away and instead refilled her glass. She downed it again; almost without coughing this time.

Whatever Shima told her, it must've been more disturbing than I thought, the Sannin mused. Doing further damage control, he tossed Naruto one of his Icha Icha Paradise books. The girl squeaked when she saw what she had caught from him. "Ero-sennin!", she yelled a him, making the nickname sound like the accusation it actually was.

"Hehe," he chuckled guiltily, rubbing his neck, "just read this, at least it will help you to get the images of tadpoles and active toads out of your head, brat!"

This was the day Jiraiya corrupted his student's innocent mind and introduced the girl to sake. They would never talk about it again, too embarrassed about the whole thing – and in Jiraiya's case also too afraid of what Tsunade might do to him, if she ever found out.

Two months later:

Jiraiya was overseeing a group of two hundred Narutos going through Kenjutsu katas. (2) She was getting better each day and he was proud of her steady improvement. With the help of Naruto's Kage bunshin technique, her Taijutsu was now flowing and there was a grace in her movements she had lacked before. A week ago he had started to train her in Kenjutsu. He was no master with the katana, but Naruto had expressed her wish to learn it and thus he did his best to teach to her at least what he knew until he found her a proper Kenjutsu-master.

The Sannin himself was incapacitated at the moment. A month after the incident in the clearing, as he had dubbed the situation both of them avoided to mention, Naruto had received a rather deep cut on her back during a spar. Kyuubi had healed it within half a day, but the cut had left a long scar on the blonde's back between her shoulder blades. Jiraiya had asked Naruto why the fox demon wasn't healing her properly and the girl had told him that Kyuubi had failed healing her scars since Sasuke had put the chidori through her chest. And indeed there was an ugly, kind of star-shaped scar over her heart and the counterpart on her back under her left scapula.

After contemplating Kyuubi's behaviour, Jiraiya had tried to loosen the Hakke no Fuin Shiki (3). Unfortunately his idea had backfired as Naruto had lost control of the demon's chakra during training, ending in her developping four tails of the demon's evil chakra. Jirayia had been severely wounded and had been closer to death than ever before. Naruto did not remember what exactly happened, but she knew that she had somehow caused the horrible injury on Jiraiya's chest.

The injury was now over four weeks old, but due to the Kyuubi's chakra, it wasn't healing as expected. The Sannin was out of danger, but light spars were all he could manage at this point. That was why he was only supervising Naruto's training right now, rather than participating.

He threw a kunai at one of the clones who had made a mistake in the kata. It dissolved and the original Naruto stopped for a second, absorbing the new information and quickly corrected her movements.

Three hours later, master and student were sitting around a fire, having grilled fish for lunch. The girl was sweaty and sore, still she was full of energy. Jiraiya was regarding her fondly as she was rapidly devouring her meal. She swallowed and addressed her sensei.

"Ne, Jiraiya", she started and the addressed man immediately knew something serious was up as she was using his name instead of her favourite nickname for him. "I thought about something."

Jiraiya nibbled on his fish, looking at her expectantly.

"I want you to teach me Fuinjutsu."

"Ah, and why the sudden interest?", her sensei inquired.

"Actually it's not so sudden. I've been thinking about sealing for some time now", the blonde explained, swallowed and went on, "Since Orochimaru sealed the Nine-Tail's chakra in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin exams with the Five Element Seal. And you always use the Chakra-suppression Seal on me, when I lose control of Kyuubi's chakra. I think it should be useful to know how to do and undo these jutsus. And they might come in handy, if I ever need to seal the chakra of an opponent."

Jiraiya was a little surprised at the stream of words. Obviously his student had considered this for some time. The sincere tone in which she had explained her reasoning made him proud. Half a year ago, no one would have expected something like this coming from the hyperactive blonde.

"I see you really thought about it. Still, I have to warn you. Fuinjutsu is nothing like Taijutsu or Ninjutsu", the Sannin made clear. "It needs a lot of time studying and most shinobi consider it boring, that's probably the reason why it has become somehow rare. However, it has proven quite useful to me over the years", he smiled, thinking back. "If you are willing to dedicate your time to it, I'd very much like to instruct you in the arts of sealing. Considering that you are greatly affected by the results of a sealing technique, I think you should indeed learn it."

The girl had listened to his answer and was happy that her sensei had approved of her idea. It did sound like a lot of work, though. And considering how poor her handwriting and even her reading was, she was a little anxious whether she would be able to ever be able to correctly draw seals. However, she had decided on learning Fuinjutsu, and Kami knew Uzumaki Naruto never went back on her word.

In Otogakure, Sasuke was panting. He was sweating profusely, hurting pretty much everywhere and bleeding from several cuts. Orochimaru was a strict sensei. He dedicated five hours every day for training with the young Uchiha. After six months in Orochimaru's hideout, the boy's strength had doubled and his speed increased immensely. Sasuke felt himself getting stronger by the day. For him, this was proof that leaving Konoha was the right decision. He was certain, that none of his former teammates or the rest of the Rookie 9 was at his level by now. He had a sensei who paid him attention and taught him everything he knew. Because he wants your body, a treacherous voice spoke in the back of Sasuke's head. He only trains you to take over your body and you will die.

Sasuke shook his head, trying to get rid of the voice of doubt. The seconds of confusion almost cost him his right arm as Orochimaru's katana came flying at his right. He threw himself to the left and instead of getting his arm severed, he received a deep cut on his deltoid. He clasped his left hand over the wound. It was bleeding stronger than any of the other cuts.

The snake Sannin sheathed his katana. His slitted eyes regarded the Uchiha coldly. Sasuke stared back, not wanting to back down under the intense gaze. He would never admit it to himself, but in secret, Orochimaru's eyes unnerved him. They always held a look of insanity and – yes, desire, in them. Desire for your body, the unwanted voice spoke up again.

Sasuke averted his eyes. He always lost these staring contests. But he told himself that one day, when he was strong enough, he would no longer back down from the Sannin. However, he still needed the Sannin's training and thus had to swallow his famous Uchiha pride for the time being.

"Let Kabuto patch you up and then rest. You will spar with Kabuto in the afternoon." The Sannin left the training grounds and Sasuke did as he was told.

"Naruto-baka! Move, I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!", a pink-haired twelve-year old Sakura demanded with her hands on her hips. She brutally shoved the smaller blonde girl aside and sat down next to her beloved Uchiha.

Sasuke sighed heavily. This girl was seriously getting on his nerves. Naruto and him usually sat next to each other. Although that meant he had to endure her endless happy blabbering, he seldom complained about it, because Naruto also kept his fan girls at bay. They hated the blonde with a ferocity that sometimes scared even him. He could only wonder how Naruto put up with their angry glares.

Said blonde's chit-chat had abruptly stopped due to Sakura's shoving. She was rubbing her shoulder, frowning at the pinkette, who of course ignored her. Instead she was staring longingly at the raven, batting her eyelids furiously at him.

Determined to finish the conversation with Sasuke, Naruto jumped onto the desk and sat down in front of Sasuke. Silently amused by Naruto's antics, the raven looked up at his rival and tried to look annoyed. Never would he admit to anyone that he actually enjoyed the girl's stories about how she had found a small bird the other day or how she had had ramen for breakfast today, because her milk had gone bad.

He smirked at her and being Naruto, the blonde took it as encouragement to go on. By now she was using her hands to show him how large exactly the bowl of ramen had been this morning. His smirk widened as he thought about how enthusiastic she could be about something as simple as a bowl of ramen. She always tried to persuade him to try her favourite food, but until now he had never agreed.

Naruto was just about to tell him in detail about the number of noodles in her ramen, when it happened – someone pushed the crouching girl, and she fell forward –

– their lips met. Shocked about the sudden contact, both stared into the other's eyes, not daring to blink. Somewhere Sasuke heard a very shrill shriek, probably Sakura, but all he really took in was the sensation of soft lips on his own. They were so warm and seemed to fit onto his own lips perfectly.

Naruto's blue eyes finally blinked, seemingly having gotten over the initial shock. She quickly pulled away, but kept staring at him.

Unconsciously, the girl licked her lips and Sasuke followed the movement of her tongue with his eyes.

"Eeew, Sasuke, you taste like tomatoes!", the blonde complained loudly, but Sasuke was probably the only one in the classroom, who heard the laughter in her words. She flashed him her typical foxy grin and licked her lips again, not trying to get rid of the taste at all.

Sasuke's tongue imitated Naruto's, licking over his lips, before he was able to stop himself. He made a face. Ramen. He savoured the salty taste and smirked up at his rival. Maybe he should try this ramen some day. Coming from her lips, he definitely liked the taste.

Sasuke woke up from his rest to his growling stomach. He was hungry. Judging from the time on his alarm clock, it was time for lunch anyway. He made his way to the kitchen, where one of Orochimaru's servants would prepare a meal for him. Arriving in the kitchen, he was alone, though. Don't wanting to cook, he opened one of the cupboards, in search of a quick snack. To his displeasure he didn't find any tomatoes.

Instead he stumbled upon a pack of instant ramen cups. He looked at them quizzically, while his stomach gave a loud growl. He shrugged and took one of the cups; he heated the water and poured it over the instant noodles. He made a face, as he caught the scent of the unhealthy food. His stomach growled again. Wondering where his sudden desire for ramen came from, he hesitantly gave it a try. The salty taste filled his mouth. To his surprise, he realized he liked it very much and enthusiastically dug in.

Sasuke had no idea that the salty taste reminded him of the girl, who had unwillingly stolen his first kiss over two years ago. However, Orochimaru's servants found themselves ordering large quantities of instant ramen cups from this day on.

Six months earlier: One week after Jiraiya and Naruto left Konoha

Shikamaru was very suspicious. He hadn't seen Naruto since the incident in the alley, where he had found her getting beaten up. He had been looking for her everywhere for a week now, but there was absolutely no sign of the hyperactive blonde. This alone struck him as unusual, but he had also noticed how some of the shopowners talked about it being so nicely quiet for once.

By now the genius was certain that Naruto had either left Konoha or that she was dead. He hoped for the latter to be wrong, but still he needed some conformation and that was exactly what he was about to get. He was on his way to the Hokage tower, when an ANBU appeared in front of him, telling him that the Hokage wanted to see him.

Arriving in Tsunade's office, he saw that he was not the only one ,who had been summoned. In fact, he counted all of the Rookie 9 plus Team Gai... minus of course Sasuke and also Naruto and to his surprise, Sakura was also missing. He concluded that the girl must be running late, but was proven wrong when Tsunade ordered the door to be closed and settled behind her large desk, regarding the young shinobi.

"You're all probably wondering why you are here-", she began, when she was interrupted by Shikamaru.

"It's about Naruto, isn't it?", he said in his lazy drawl. Tsunade's eye twitched. That Nara brat again. "About why no one has seen her for over a week."

"Yes, this is indeed about Naruto. But before I explain this to you, I need you to know that due to certain circumstances, she couldn't tell you herself." She paused and sternly looked at the gathered genin. "However, she asked me to tell you in her stead, for she wanted you all to know that she left Konoha."

Kiba was the first to react. "She what – ?", he exclaimed.

"Naruto left with Jiraiya on a training trip. He took her on as a student and Naruto gladly accepted", Tsunade clarified.

The genin gaped at her. Jiraiya – one of the Three legendary Sannin – had chosen Naruto as his apprentice?

What does he see in the idiot?, Ino wondered, without meaning to be mean. Kiba pouted, obviously a little jealous of Naruto for this opportunity. Lee was yelling something about how Naruto's youthfulness had always shone brightly. Neji's face didn't betray any emotion, but inwardly he was happy for the girl. He knew that Naruto was not to be underestimated. She had beaten him fairly in the finals of the chunin exams and talked some sense into him. He held the girl in high regards and hoped that she would be fine.

Shikamaru found his suspicions confirmed. He wanted to ask Tsunade whether Naruto's sudden leaving had anything to do with what had happened, but the Hokage shot him a look, ordering him to remain silent about the incident.

The genin left the Hokage's office and Tsunade was glad to be alone. However, as she was about to take out her beloved bottle of sake, the clearing of a throat made her look up again. It seemed that not all of the genin had left yet. Still standing in front of her desk were Nara Shikamaru – persistent brat – Hyuuga Neji and Inuzuka Kiba. Huh? What do they want?

"I don't seem to get rid of you, Nara", Tsunade barked and impatiently gestured at him. "Why are you three still here?"

She had expected Shikamaru to speak, instead she heard the Inuzuka kid answer. "Why did she leave without saying good-bye?"

Tsunade inwardly smiled at his accusing tone. Who would have thought that he cared about her blonde gaki. "Jiraiya needed to leave quickly. There was no time to say good-bye."

Shikamaru squinted his eyes at her suspiciously. He had not bought her lie. The brat is too bright for his own good. She couldn't tell if Neji believed her, but Kiba was seemingly satisfied with her answer.

"When will Naruto be back?", the Hyuuga heir asked in his calm, deep voice.

Tsunade sighed. "In about three years." This was too long even for her liking. She already missed the loud blonde girl, but she knew that Naruto needed time to mend.

Kiba gaped at her. "Three years? Damn, she will be super strong when she returns!" Tsunade laughed at his wide eyes. "Akamaru!", Kiba yelled at his dog, "we go training! Now! The idiot won't beat us again!" Determined, he left the office with a yelping Akamaru on his heels.

Neji smiled silently and bowed to the Hokage, excusing himself. Although Shikamaru knew he was still missing something here, he left as well.

Tsunade shook her head, unbelieving. Did Naruto know how much her former class mates cared about her? Especially those three. They had stayed behind to ask about her. The others hadn't even thought about asking when Naruto would return. She smiled and made sure to remember the three boys.

(1) Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. The user multiplies a single shuriken; the created shuriken are solid, no illusions

(2) I've always thought it strange that Jiraiya didn't use Naruto's Shadow Clones to help him with the training. I think it's quite convenient

(3) Eight Trigrams Sealing Technique: The seal that the Fourth Hokage used to seal the Kyuubi inside of Naruto.

The author says:

Sex ed from a toad, poor Naruto ^^ Some attempt at humour in the first part of the chapter :D Was it any good? This idea somehow came up and I just needed to write it. Please tell me, if you liked it! In case you didn't, I promise I won't try to write anything funny again ^^

And something else concerning Naruto's development. I'm certainly going to make her learn more ninjutsu. Did you watch the newest filler episodes of the Anime? They almost make me cry! I can't believe it! All Naruto ever uses is his Shadow Clone Technique and the Rasengan. Honestly? After this incredible fight against Pain, Naruto is back to two jutsus? I know those are only filler episodes, but still... it kinda pains me to see him this weak...

Enough rambling! Over and out,

xXHaneliXx