A/N: Well, next chapter is up. Remember to review!

Chapter 22: New Teacher

Naruto was walking home, a water balloon in hand. It was the end of his second day of training and he actually made some progress now that he could properly mold his chakra. He wasn't ready to learn any elemental jutsu yet, but it was a start. As he walked, he saw Shikamaru and Choji with said looks on their face. "W-what's wrong?" Naruto asked as he approached them.

"Huh? Oh, Naruto, hey." Choji greeted half-heartedly. "It's Ino."

"W-what happened?" Naruto asked with concern.

"No clue," Shikamaru answered. "She locked herself in her room a few days ago and hasn't come out since. Her dad's really worried and so are ours, since our families are close. It's a drag, but Ino's our friend and teammate, so we're going to see if there's something we can do. Asuma-sensei is on his way too."

"C-can I help?" Naruto asked.

Choji and Shikamaru looked a bit surprised. "I… don't see why not," Shikamaru said allowing him to follow them.

"Have you forgotten the blond one almost made you lose your friends blabbing your secret?" the Nine-Tails asked.

'S-she was in s-shock. I d-don't really b-blame her. I m-mean, w-what you d-did that day s-scared a lot of p-people. Um, w-why did you d-do it anyway?' Naruto asked.

"None of your business!" the Nine-Tails roared. 'That accursed night! A taste of freedom only for it to be taken from me. And don't think you're all that good, Naruto. You may be able to fool everyone, even yourself, but I know the truth. It's like I told you. Your rage, your anger, your hate! Years worth of it. It is there, deep in your mind, suppressed. I can sense it. That is your true self.'
-

"Ino? Your team is here," Inoichi told her. Behind him was Asuma, Shikamaru, Choji, and Naruto.

"Tell them to go away," Ino said, refusing to open the door.

"Naruto is here too. He seems worried about you as well." Silence. Apparently Ino was not expecting that. "No he's not."

"Um, a-actually, I am," Naruto said, speaking up, though unsure if she heard him since he spoke softly.

They heard movement coming from her room. The door opened slightly, just enough them to see her eye, red and puffy from crying. She quickly shut it and asked, "Why are you here Naruto?"

"I h-heard you w-were sad, s-so I w-wanted to help."

Silence fell again. Finally, she opened the door a crack and said, "You can enter, but the rest of you stay out!"

Inoichi found it an odd request, but if it help his daughter, he would grant it. He nodded at Naruto to enter his daughter's room. 'I've willing allowed a boy to be alone with my daughter in her room. I must be desperate.'

Everyone else was confused too. 'I thought Ino was afraid of Naruto because of the fox?' Choji thought. 'Why does she want him alone in her room.'

Ino allowed Naruto to enter before quickly shutting the door before anyone else could enter. Naruto looked at her. Her hair was a mess, her eyes red and puffy. Before Naruto could say anything though, she grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug and started sobbing again. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

It took a bit for the shock to wear off, but once it did, Naruto asked, "What d-do you mean?"

"For everything. For telling your secret! For trying to convince everyone to be afraid of you! For treating you poorly! I'm sorry!"

Naruto hugged her back. "I forgive you."

Ino pulled back and Naruto let her go. "Do you mean it?" she asked.

Naruto nodded, then asked, "But what happened?"

"That bastard Sasuke!" she shouted. Naruto was shocked to hear her refer to Sasuke that way. "After the second round, I sought him out…"
-

Flashback to four days ago outside the Uchiha District:

"Sasuke!"

Said boy turned around and groan as Ino approached him. "What do you want?" he asked.

"To help you," Ino replied. Sasuke raised his eyebrow inquisitively. "Get out of your engagement to Hinata. I figured, since she doesn't want it and you don't want it, we could stop it."

"And what makes you think I don't want this?" Sasuke said back. "After all, this was my idea."

Ino looked wide eyed at him. "B-but Sasuke, what about…"

"What about what? That moment I pulled you aside and told you what you wanted to hear so you'd do as I asked?"

"You mean you lied to me? You used me?" Ino couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'This is a trick! A nightmare!'

"Deception and manipulation are a shinobi's best friends, as is the ability to see through deception," Sasuke responded. "All three of which you lack."

"But why?" Ino demanded, tears threatening to leave her eyes.

"When I revive my clan after avenging them, I intend to make it stronger than ever. And while the Hyūga's Byakugan is far inferior to the Sharingan, it has it's uses. If that power were to combined with ours, our power would be so great, that even if the Senju Clan was revived, they wouldn't stand a chance!"

"You… you… YOU JERK!" Ino shouted. "I defended you when all my friends said you were no good! I risked my friendships for you and lost both my best friends for you!"

"You can't put all the blame on me," Sasuke said. "After, I'm sure you were warned not to tell anyone about the fox in Naruto, yet you came to me and, without any coaxing, told me everything." Ino wanted to argue, but he was right. Her father had told her not to say anything and still she willingly chose to defy him. "And once you did tell me, did I tell you to be afraid? No, you came to that all on your own. Face it, I may have played a role in all that, but it was your choices that lost you those close to you." Sasuke turned away and walked into the district while Ino ran away, bawling her eyes out.
-

Present:

Ino finished her tale. "Since then, I did a lot of thinking and realized I wasn't just wrong about him, but…" She stopped and stared in shock at Naruto.

The boy looked down, shaking, his fists clenched so hard, they were drawing blood. But what really caught her attention was the faint red aura around him. "Sorry, Ino," he said in a strained voice, like he was fighting something or holding something in. "I… I'm just… I don't care about what he does to me, but when he hurts my friends…" He tighten up as the red aura became slightly more visible. "Forcing Hinata into something she doesn't want, and hurting you… I can't stand it!" He clenched his teeth and forced the chakra back into the seal and took a knee. "S-sorry," he said, now worried he had ruined any chance of her seeing him as more than the fox.

There was banging on the door. "What's going?" Inoichi asked. "What was that chakra spike?"

"Nothing dad," Ino shouted back, to Naruto's surprise. "Ok, that was kinda scary, I admit, but were you really mad because he did something to me despite how I've been acting for the past month?" Naruto nodded. Ino couldn't believe it, but was grateful. "Thank you," she said. "I'm fine now, but do me a favor?"

"S-sure."

"Kick his ass in the finals," Ino said. Naruto nodded and went to the door, unlocking it and exiting.
-

It was the end of Naruto's last day of training with Kakashi. The sun was low. The jonin was impressed with his progress. Naruto had managed to complete the exercises for water, wind, and earth and learn two new jutsu. He still had trouble with fire and lightning, but still. 'Is this the power of the Rinnegan? Or is it Naruto's? He does seem more determined to get stronger.' These were Kakashi's thoughts as Naruto left the training grounds, a rubber ball in hand.

As Naruto left, he wonder who he should approach tomorrow. Kakashi had given him some suggestions. He could go to Guy and work on his physical fitness and taijutsu, or ask Asuma for wind style and fire style ninjutsu training. As he walked, he heard someone call his name. "Hey Naruto!"

He turned around to see Hinata run up to him. Naruto smiled. He hadn't seen her since the end of the finals since she spent all her time training with Kurenai. "H-hey Hinata."

"Geez, been a while, huh?" she said. "Training hard, I hope." Naruto nodded. "Great, same here. But I'm not telling. You'll see when I kick Sandy's butt back to his village!"

Naruto's smile dropped and he grew worried. "G-Gaara's pretty s-strong though. A-and that s-sand defense of h-his w-won't be easy t-to avoid. Please be c-careful." He remember how Gaara crippled Lee. The poor boy's injuries were so bad, he would never be a ninja again. If that happened to Hinata, or worse…

"Don't worry," she assured. "I have a plan. Well, sensei does, but you know what I mean. I won't end up like Lee." Naruto decided to take her word for it, but it didn't stop him from worrying. "So what's with the rubber ball?"

"P-part of my training," he answered.

"Oh." Hinata didn't really get it and while she was curious, she figured she'd find out come the exams. "Speaking of which, I heard you were training with Kakashi-sensei." Naruto nodded. "I figured he would train Sasuke, not that I have a problem with it."

"W-well, this w-was my last d-day with him. T-tomorrow he's g-gonna start training Sasuke, so I need t-to find a new teacher."

"Wait, so he was planning on training you and Sasuke? When you two are fighting each other? How does that work?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, Kurenai-sensei is giving me tomorrow off, so before you go looking for a new sensei, why don't you meet me near the hot springs?"

"Ok."

"Great! See you then! And remember to bring your bathing suit. We're gonna soak in the mixed baths." She ran off.

(In my fic, the Hidden Leaf's Hot Springs offers mixed bathing, with a rule that the occupants must wear bathing suits, much to some guys', especially a white haired one's, disappointment. The single gender areas do not have that rule.)
-

Today was the day Kakashi would finally start training him. Sasuke waited on the cliffs, where he was suppose to meet him. Eventually, Kakashi arrived, late as usual. "Yo."

"What are you going to teach me?" Sasuke asked, wanting to get started already.

"Always straight to the point with you. Fine. There's a reason I had Guy train you. I need you to work on your speed, so you could perform a special jutsu. But before we get started, I need something from you."

"What's that?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your word that you will never use this jutsu on a comrade," Kakashi said seriously. "I'm putting a lot of trust in you, teaching you this."

"Fine, I swear not to use this jutsu on a comrade," Sasuke said. "Now what is it."

"So impatient. That could one day be the death of you, you know. First, focus your chakra into this paper." He held up a small, square piece of white paper. He handed it to Sasuke, who did as he was told. The paper cringed. "Well, isn't that lucky for you. Now the jutsu." Kakashi performed a few handsigns and the chidori appeared in his right hand. "This jutsu is an assassination technique, A-Class. Perfect for penetrating defences, like Gaara's sand." Sasuke got the hint. He suspected there was more going on since Kakashi had told him the final would be more exciting than expect. Something big was going on, and the Sand were a big part of it. Kakashi ended the jutsu. "Anyway, the hand signs are Ox, Rabbit, Monkey." he showed him the hand signs and Sasuke mimic them.
-

Naruto arrived first at the hot springs, a small orange bag with him. Yuki was next to him, since he decided to bring his furry little friend along. Hinata arrived shortly after. "Alright, got my bathing suit her." She patted the bag swung over her shoulders. "Let's head in!" They made their way there, but before they entered the main building, Hinata heard giggling. She dragged the boy toward the sound and stopped. Outside the woman's area, a white-haired man was looking through a hole in the wall, writing in a notepad and giggling. "Oh great. A perv. Let's see, how should I deal with him?" Hinata asked herself, putting her hand on her chin.

"W-we could ask h-him to stop nicely," Naruto offered.

"Nah. Guys like him don't stop. No, we need to teach him a lesson."

"Perhaps I can help." The two turned to see Kurenai.

"S-sensei? Why a-are you here?" Naruto asked.

"I was gonna met Anko in there when I saw you two headed this way." She glanced over to the white-haired man and sighed. 'Not again.'

"Wait, you want to help me prank someone?" Hinata said in disbelief.

"Normally, I would never even consider doing something that childish, but for guys like him, I make an exception." She leaned close to them and whispered what she had in mind. Hinata's grin grew wide in anticipation.

They moved and hid in a nearby bush. Kurenai formed a few handsigns and pointed her pinky finger at the man. Soon after, he dropped his notepad and scrabbled away from the peephole, a terrified look on his face. "So… wrinkly."

Hinata fell over laughing and even Kurenai could not stop herself from snickering. "Sensei, you've gotta teach me that one day." Naruto merely looked at the man and shook his head. He had it coming.

After recovering from his shock, the man looked to the bushes, hearing the laughter coming from it. "Alright, come out Kurenai. I know you were behind that."

"Serves you right. How many times have you been told to stop peeking on girls?" she asked. The kids got a better look at the man. He a bit of red face paint under his eyes, a small wart on his nose, and a horned headband on his forehead with the kanji for oil.

"Less times than I've done it," he replied, earning a glare from the two females. "I hope you're happy. You're interrupting my research."

"Research? For what, you little perv?" Hinata said.

"For my books of course." He pulled out the book Kakashi was always reading. "And I am not a little perv," he said with indignation, before flashing them a lecherous smile. "I'm a big one."

The three of them sweatdropped. "Just who are you, old man?" Hinata demanded.

Kurenai tried to answer as quickly as she could but she was too late. The man smirked. "I'm glad you asked." He struck a pose. "I am the legendary toad sage of Mt. Myoboku! I am the handsomest of the Sannin! Everywhere I go, women swoon and men turn green with envy." Kurenai rolled her eyes. "I am the gutsiest shinobi of them all! I am…" He summons a large toad and jumps on it. "Jiraiya!"

Hinata turned to Kurenai. "Is this guy for real?" Jiraiya face faulted off the toad.

"Unfortunately, yes. This guy is one of the Legendary Sannin, a student of Lord Third. Despite his quirks, he is one of the strongest shinobi alive."

"This guy?" Hinata asked in disbelief as she pointed at Jiraiya.

"Geez, you're a jonin, Kurenai. You should be teaching your students to respect others." Jiraiya said.

"Others, yes. You, no," she replied. She had at one point admired him like she did the other sannin. However, that respect faded when she first met him and he made a rather improper comment about her breast. And it continued to fade the first time she caught him peeping on her in the hot springs. Needless to say, she came to only respect his skills as a shinobi, nothing more.

Jiraiya pouted until he got a better look at Naruto. He was surprised at his appearance. He looked at Kurenai with a questioning gaze as he pointed at the blond boy. She nodded, neither genin noticing. 'So, this is my godson. He's rather quiet for Kushina's kid. Maybe he inherited more from his father than his looks.' "So, what are you two doing here?" Jiraiya asked.

Hinata looked at him. "If you must know Pervy Sage," A tick mark formed on Jiraiya's forehead at her nickname for him. "we were gonna soak then look for a teacher for Naruto, since he's in the Chunin Exam Finals. The sensei he was with before is busy and Kurenai-sensei is training me for my match since I'm in the finals too."

"I see," he said.

Kurenai cleared her throat. "Perhaps Master Jiraiya can teach him."

The two genin looked at her in disbelief. Hinata spoke up. "What? But sensei, he's…"

"I know. I know. But he is a legend in the shinobi world. In fact, he was the Fourth Hokage's sensei."

Naruto's eyes widened. This man was his idol's sensei? "R-really?"

"Yep. He could help you realise your dream of being Hokage one day, right?"

Jiraiya thought about it. He was interested in teaching his student's son. 'But first, let's see if I can get something out of this.' "Well, yes. With me as your master, you'll definitely become a legend." He leaned over to the boy. "But first, there is something you must do."

"W-what?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya grinned as she pulled him away from the girls and whispered in his ear. "Since my research was so rudely interrupted, I need you to bring me a lady. One with a killer body!"

Naruto went wide eyed. "W-what! B-b-but I c-can't… I mean i-it would be…" He stuttered his words.

"That's my condition. Take it or leave it." Jiraiya said, pulling away. Hinata looked curious at what Jiraiya asked for, while Kurenai looked like she had an idea and was already starting to regret her decision.

Naruto looked down, contemplating his options. There was a way to fulfill Jiraiya's condition, but it was embarrassing. Not to mention it made Hinata mad. But if Jiraiya really was as strong as he had heard, something Kurenai admitted was true, could he afford to pass up an opportunity under a legend like him? "F-fine," he finally answered softly.

"Good, then go get one," Jiraiya said.

"W-well, I have a-an alternative," he said. Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. "A-a jutsu I know."

"What does the Pervy Sage want?" Hinata finally asked, walking over to him.

"W-well, um, h-he, uh…" Naruto turned bright red.

"Come on, what's this jutsu that you think can substitute for my request?" Jiraiya asked.

"Jutsu substitute?" The gears in Hinata's head turned as she thought about all she knew about Jiraiya from the short amount of time she spent with him and all the jutsu she knew of that Naruto possessed. "Oh, that jutsu. Wait, what?" she exclaimed. "You really are dirty little pervert!" she shouted, pointing at Jiraiya.

"Super pervert," he corrected.

"Oh yes, because that's much better," she remarked sarcastically.

"Besides, I'm a dedicated writer who only wants to please his readers. And to do that, I need my inspiration! So come on kid, show me what you got!"

"S-sorry, Hinata," Naruto said. "B-but if he c-can help m-me beat Sasuke…"

The young heiress sighed. "Fine," she conceded, backing away.

Naruto formed a hand sign and was enveloped in smoke. In his place was Naruko, who covered her chest and lower parts, a blush adorning her face. "Please don't stare," she said.

Jiraiya did more than stare. His eyes practically bulged from their sockets and blood streamed from his nose. A large grin plastered on his face. "Oh yeah baby! A perfect 10!" Everyone sweatdropped at his antics. Naruto turned back, his face so red it looked like a tomato. "Congratulations! You are now my student!" Jiraiya said, recomposing himself. "Just do me one little favor." Jiraiya's grin returned. "Could you stay in that other form for me the whole time?" Naruto blushed even harder while Hinata glared at the toad sage.

"Oh no!" Kurenai grabbed him by the ear. "I've tolerated this long enough! You said you'd train him, so don't you dare go back on it now!"

"Ow ow ow! Alright already! Geez, can't a guy have a little fun?" Kurenai released him and Jiraiya nursed his ear. 'At least Tsunade isn't here. I love her, but that woman is merciless.' "Ok, kid, you're first lesson will be…"

"There he is!" Jiraiya turned to see a group of women led by Anko. He recognised them as the girls he was peeping on. Apparently they heard all the commotion. "Let's get him!" Anko shouted as she summoned some snakes.

"Gah! Don't tell the old man I'm here!" he told Kurenai. "Naruto, you first lesson is running away from angry women!" Without warning he scooped up the boy, flung him over his shoulder, and ran off, chased by the small army of angry women and snakes.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Kurenai stared in their direction, Yuki hopping over to them. "Sensei, I'm worried about Naruto."

"So am I, Hinata. So am I."
-

Alpha: Well, what do ya think?

Tsunade: I think I should have stayed in the village just to guard the hot springs.

Alpha: Probably.

Tsunade: Where is that pervert anyway?

Alpha: No idea. He came here with a new laptop and locked himself in that room.

Tsunade: Did he ask for the wi-fi password?

Alpha: Yeah, he di… Oh.

Tsunade: I'll get him.

(Tsunade walks off. The sound of a door breaking and Tsunade shouting is heard. She returns, laptop in hand with Jiraiya close behind)

Jiraiya: Tsunade please! I need that! I have access to a treasure trove of inspiration!

Tsunade: You want it back? (Jiraiya nods and Tsunade snaps the laptop in two) Here.

Jiraiya: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!