Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto; nothing to be done about it

Chapter 30: A perverted encounter

Anko sniggered slightly when she left Asuma Sarutobi's house. Seeing all the genin and even the two jonin nursing their hangovers gave her some malicious pleasure.

'Oh yes, the joys of drinking. It's better for the kids to learn restraint early.'

It had been one of her better decisions to give up excessive drinking once and for all after she had woken up in Mizuki's house after returning from their nearly disastrous encounter with the Jashinists. She had already moderated her drinking habits after Naruto dragged her out of the gutter years ago, but now she never consumed alcohol in excess. No more waking under unfamiliar ceilings for her.

After a short walk Anko sat down at one of the countless small restaurants and ordered something to eat. There was nothing she had to do urgently; the others would need at least the morning to recover from the party and her meeting with her mentor wasn't until noon. Tomorrow would see the beginning of training for the finals. To her surprise the genin had approached them with the idea of joint training. When she had thought about it for a moment she had come to the conclusion that it was a wise measure. The finals were not about winning; they were about giving a good show and displaying one's skills. None of the three teams' genin really wanted to hurt each other and they had reasoned that their chances for promotion were actually higher that way. After all, if they fought for real at least some of them would go for ending the fight too quickly. Additionally they could train skills that would help them during their entire career, not only a specific fight.

Of course, they wouldn't train as one large group. The teams would primarily stay with their sensei, but there would be some cross-training. Naruto would finally learn channeling elemental chakra properly through weapons and perhaps some wind techniques from Asuma while Anko would tutor some of his students in exchange.

Anko was already finishing her meal when someone slid into the seat behind her. The interesting thing was that she almost didn't notice his earlier approach, only when he sat down did she get a clear feeling that someone was there. She had noticed someone snooping around her team during the last day, but didn't manage to get a clear look at the person responsible. That alone told her much about the skill of that person. The few other hints she had been able to pick up allowed her to make a pretty accurate guess, though.

After swallowing the last dango ball (Yum Yum!) she turned towards the man she immediately recognized. She had met him occasionally during her apprenticeship and her erstwhile master had told her much about him. Well, and if you had seen him one time (or had an average description) you pretty much couldn't mistake him for anyone else.

"Good morning, Jiraiya-sama. To what do I owe the honor of your presence?"

If the man was surprised by this manner of address he didn't show it. "Good morning, Anko-san. Why do you think I want anything aside from a meal? Our meeting could be completely random."

"A likely story. I noticed you snooping around yesterday. So excuse me if I don't believe that this meeting is a coincidence."

Jiraiya laughed. "It seems I'm not that good at shadowing someone like I thought. Perhaps I only want to see how you're doing or do a bit of research for my next book." He leered at her, his eyes wandering to her breasts.

While that explanation wasn't completely unlikely considering her physical attributes she didn't believe him. Jiraiya preferred spying on bathing women (or others in a similar state of undress), not fully clothed ones. According to him he needed inspiration for his pornographic novels. Apparently they were selling quite successfully. Personally Anko didn't see the appeal, but Kurenai swore on them. Her old friend had a complete collection in her house, but in contrast to Kakashi she never read them in public.

She let out a short laugh. "Since you never sought me out in all those years after I returned to the village I find it hard to believe you're starting now. There are other places where you can pursue your hobby; places where you aren't likely to be picked up by ANBU. The Hokage has been looking for you for a long time, you know. Are you here because of Orochimaru?"

"No, sorry. That isn't why I came back. I'm just here to work on my novels."

Anko narrowed her eyes. If there was one thing she really disliked about Jiraiya it was his annoying habit of never saying outright what he wanted. He was always playing his games. It had annoyed her when Orochimaru left her in the man's care for a few days during her apprenticeship and it annoyed her now. He was perhaps the strongest Konoha shinobi alive (especially if you took the Hokage's age into account), but sometimes he played the fool far too well.

"Cut the crap, Jiraiya. I'm not in the mood for your games. Spit out what you want from me or get lost."

Jiraiya looked at her, obviously gauging her mood. "According to my information you have Naruto Uzumaki on your team. I would like to take over his training for the time until the finals."

The jonin considered her answer for a moment. "No."

That took the man by surprise. "What do you mean; no?"

"No means no. Naruto is my pupil. I see no reason to give his training into another's hands, especially because we've already made plans for training. Did you really think you could just walk up to me, ask nicely and I would agree?" Anko asked.

"Honestly? Yes. Most people would jump at the chance for one of their pupils being trained by one of the Sannin."

"I'm not most people." Anko looked directly into Jiraiya's eyes. "You forget that I was trained by a Sannin as well. At his current level there isn't much you can teach Naruto he can't learn from me."

Jiraiya leant back in his seat. "I could always order you to leave his training to me."

"No, you can't. Despite you being called a Sannin and a sage you don't have any actual authority over me or anyone else for that matter. You are just a jonin without formal area of responsibility, assigned subordinates or mission. We're equal in rank. Even the Hokage can't order me to simply loan out one of my genin, not during the chunin exams and without just cause. I need a better reason than a simple 'I want to train him' if you want me to even think about it."

For a moment Jiraiya seemed to ponder his answer. "It's time he learns to access the power sleeping inside of him. I want to teach him how to draw it out."

"He can already access the Kyuubi's power at will." Anko answered after checking for potential listeners.

"What?"

Anko sighed. "Really, Jiraiya? You come to me without knowing anything about Naruto, not even bothering to ask about his skills before you decide you want to train him?" She held up her hand. "No, don't answer that. I'm pretty sure you have reasons you aren't telling me."

"Why would you think that?" Jiraiya asked, his face giving nothing away.

The jonin snorted in amusement. "I have a brain. In the past years you visited Konoha perhaps two or three times per year, if even that. Naruto would have told me if you had ever approached him; we are on good terms and you are rather memorable. Then you suddenly turn up and offer to train him out of the blue. Mind you, what you propose training him in wouldn't really help him during the exams. I doubt the villagers would like it if he uses the Kyuubi's chakra; the feeling is quite… unique and would stir up bad memories. Consequently you have additional motives. Am I wrong?"

Jiraiya let out a short laugh. "You've always been bright, Anko. I guess I have no choice but telling you more. I've come across signs of an organization that will target Naruto sooner or later because of what he contains."

"I thought as much. There are always those that covet the power of the tailed beasts. That still doesn't explain why you want to teach him about drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra."

The white haired man didn't seem fazed by her question. "I have my reasons, but there are always other things I can teach him. Do I have your permission to take over his training?"

"My answer remains no. It's too early for him to leave my care; there are still more intermediary things he has to learn before he can really profit from your instruction." Anko replied.

"You know, you're quite obstinate. Practically everyone would have caved by now."

"That is true. Still, Naruto's education is my responsibility and I'm not convinced you teaching Naruto is advisable at the current time. " Anko shrugged. "I can't prevent you from approaching him; I can't keep a fulltime watch over him, after all. If you want to talk with him about an apprenticeship you're welcome to try, but I will allow no interference until after the chunin exams are over. We've quite a strict training regime planned. Depending on the outcome things may change. If Naruto makes chunin it will be his decision alone to enter such an agreement, otherwise you will still have to contend with me."

"Well, if that's your opinion…" Jiraiya stood up. "It was good to see you again, Anko. I'll be around."

A moment later Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

'That didn't go too well.'

Anko knew that she had been unnecessarily confrontational, but she just couldn't help it. She had waited a long time for a team to teach and no one would take one of her pupils away from her without a very good reason. Additionally, she didn't have an especially high opinion of Jiraiya. Oh, he was strong and loyal to Konoha; no doubt about that. That didn't necessarily make him a good teacher.

Say what you will about Orochimaru (and Anko had a lot of very negative things to say about the man), he was one of the best teachers alive when he actually took the time to train someone properly. He was methodical, patient and made sure his pupils understood what they were supposed to learn and achieve. In contrast, Jiraiya favored a rather haphazard sink-or-swim approach, often with minimal clues and little regard for the student's safety. It could work… or it could produce spectacular and career-ending training accidents. When Orochimaru retrieved her from Jiraiya he had not been amused about what they had done in the meantime. Anko had been proud that she had made much progress in her fire mastery, but that didn't last when her sensei told her exactly how risky the training had been. He had originally planned several preparatory steps that would have required more than triple the time, but with almost no risk of burning herself severely. She had been one mistake away from suffering severe and possibly permanent injuries. If you combined that approach with a jinchuuriki, even one as responsible as Naruto… Anko didn't even want to think about the possible consequences.

Then there was the matter of Naruto's parents. Jiraiya had always been close to the Yondaime. There was no way he didn't know. Neglecting the boy for thirteen years was inexcusable. Granted, Jiraiya might have duties outside the village, but visiting every few months for a few days was easily possible. Anko wasn't in a position to judge Jiraiya's professional performance, but Homura had remarked several times that Jiraiya would be far more useful if he stayed in the village.

'No, it's better to keep Jiraiya at arm's length for now. Naruto can always enter an apprenticeship with him later if he wants to.'

Tsume Inuzaka looked at her visitors from narrowed eyes. They had just told her an outrageous tale and she wasn't sure if this wasn't a prank or complicated scheme.

Her son Kiba did seem honest, but he had no actual way of verifying things. It was clearly visible that he was uncomfortable with the situation. The female redhead was very nervous, but again it didn't seem that she was lying. Inoichi's daughter appeared sincere as did the Yamanaka mind healer.

Tsume concluded that a prank was unlikely and the story was true, but she wanted to confer with her daughter before she announced her decision.

"Very well; I will think about it. Yamanaka-san, I thank you for your time. Kiba, why don't you show Karin around the compound while I talk with your sister?"

A minute later Tsume and Hana were left alone in the office Tsume used for all the things her position of clan head entailed. At times like this she wished her husband hadn't left. Kenta had been much better at dealing with all this crap. In contrast to what most people believed she hadn't actually scared off her husband. The truth was that Kenta possessed an almost unbelievable amount of wanderlust. He always wanted to see new lands, animals and people. Even Tsume and their children couldn't hold him in Konoha forever. Nearly six years ago he and his partner had left the continent with a ship to shores unknown. Formally it was an open-ended scouting mission. Tsume still believed he was alive, but it was hard rearing the children and leading the clan without his help.

"What do you think, daughter? Is this story true?"

Hana paced in the room, a thoughtful expression on her face. "It could be. I remember a reference to sensor imprinting from my medical studies and the girl does exhibit the symptoms. We have no way of verifying it ourselves. I think the main question is do we trust the Yamanaka to tell us the truth?"

Tsume nodded. "If that condition exists at all I believe they are telling the truth. I don't see anything they would gain from lying to us and the demonstration of Karin's sensor talent was very impressive. She had no other way of knowing the exact number of newborn pups."

"She is a very valuable kunoichi in that respect even if her other skills are rather lacking. That isn't anything remedial training can't fix, though. If we can treat her mental issues she will made a good addition to the clan, especially if her talent turns out to be inheritable. What worries me is that she and Kiba will have to sleep in the same room or rather the same bed. That seems like a recipe for problems."

The older Inuzaka shrugged. "Two teenagers of different gender forced to stay together for a long time? There are only two possible outcomes. In a few months they will either be at each other's throats or fucking each other at every opportunity they get. Personally I'm betting on the latter option."

Hana goggled at her. "And you are okay with that, mom?"

Tsume held up her hands in a helpless gesture. "There isn't much I can do about it. You heard the mind healer. Karin will seek Kiba's proximity anyway. If we keep her here we might as well go the entire way. I already had a look at the mind healers' report earlier. It's practically unavoidable that she will develop an attraction to Kiba. The only thing we'll have to watch out for is her mind deteriorating or Kiba behaving in an abusive manner. I don't believe he will, but it is something to keep in mind. For the next few years Karin will be very vulnerable. Over time she'll become more independent, but some dependency will be there permanently. Creating a normal relationship seems the best way. Besides, it will mesh well with the cover story."

"It takes Kiba's choice of a mate away. I grant you Karin seems nice enough, but it is very cold and calculating."

A sigh was Hana's answer. "This is the duty of a clan head, Hana. One day in the future you'll have to make such decisions in my place. The good of the clan comes before the good of the members, especially if there is no direct harm done. I think having Karin here will benefit the clan in the long term. To keep her sanity she needs to be so close to Kiba that it would be difficult for him to form a relationship with another girl. I don't even have to do anything other than perhaps occasionally nudge things along. Their hormones will do the rest." The older woman gave her daughter a grin. "At least that way I'll get some grandchildren."

Hana rolled her eyes. "Please stop bringing that up. I'm only eighteen."

"And? When I was your age I was already pregnant with you. It isn't like there is a lack of suitors."

The younger Inuzaka huffed. "None of them is the right one. I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, what about the transfer fee we have to pay Kusa? Will it burden the clan's finances?"

Tsume laughed. "Hardly. The idiots from Grass don't even know what a treasure they have with Karin. The jonin already left with the bodies of the deceased. Apparently she wasn't very interested in Karin's future. Later today I'll send a query to Grass via messenger bird. In a few days we'll know more. That is if you don't have any objections?"

Her daughter thought for a moment. "No, I agree. In the end this is the best option for everyone. I only hope Kiba and Karin will get along."

"That is something only the future will reveal." Tsume agreed. She didn't like what she had to do, but the good of the clan came first. Besides, if everything went well Kiba might even be happy with the arrangement. Not that anyone would tell him that his mother and sister expected him to become an item with Karin. That would only lead to him digging his heels in; people generally didn't like getting their choice taken away.

Special jonin Hayate Gekko was about to leave the roomy apartment he shared with his lover Yugoa when her voice reached his ears.

"Do you really have to go?"

He hesitated. Originally he had planned to make another patrol around the village tonight, like he had done in the past two days. He was one of the few jonin who knew of Orochimaru's presence; it had been deemed bad for public morale if the traitor's infiltration became public knowledge. That meant there was no general mobilization for a thorough search of the village possible. He and a few others in the know had taken to patrolling the streets in the hopes of spotting something or someone suspicious, but to no avail.

"Please, I don't want to be alone this night."

Yugao had only returned a few hours ago from an assignment outside the borders of Fire Country. It was then that she had learned about the ANBU killed by Orochimaru. One of the deceased had been a childhood friend of Yugao. They had been nearly inseparable and as close as sisters, doing almost everything together, even joining ANBU at the same time. Her loss had hit Yugao hard.

Hayate turned away from the door. "I guess I can stay home tonight."

He had found nothing during the last days; it was very improbable that he would simply stumble across the traitor this night. His lover was more important.

"What exactly will we be facing?"

"I don't know."

"How can we deal with the problems?"

"I don't know."

"That isn't very helpful."

"I know."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Hinata couldn't suppress a giggle. It was their second day in the world of Naruto's parents. The day before had mostly been spent relaxing, but today Youko and Daiki had shared their fears about the future with them. It had dampened their good mood considerably.

Naruto sighed. "Then let's recapitulate what we do know. From what you've seen it's pretty certain that Oto and Suna are allied and will attack at some point in the near future. That alone isn't out of the ordinary; it's a relatively common occurrence in the visions you showed me. What about those Sky guys? I remember they were a rival village that was destroyed in the second shinobi war, but nothing else. They were never in any visions."

Hinata tried to remember more details from what she had learnt about Konoha's history. "They specialized in aerial combat. I don't think Konoha does have any really useful air defenses other than the individual jutsu of the shinobi so they can do a lot of damage with dropped exploding tags or similar weapons. There were unsubstantiated rumors about an ultimate weapon of some sort they didn't get an opportunity to use before their forces were scattered, but such stories are pretty much standard for every defeated shinobi village."

"We have no hints what their forces or strategies will be. Perhaps your summons can do something about the aerial assault." Youko suggested.

The blond boy nodded thoughtfully. "I think so, but I don't know if they will be enough. Three villages can bring a lot of resources to bear. It isn't like I can just summon one boss swallow and everything will be fine; against a full-blown army that is used to fighting in the sky I will need to call almost the entire swallow tribe to have any hope of making a difference. That will drain even me of chakra and it takes time."

"It still counters one prong of the attack at least partially; that's something. That still leaves the forces from Sand and Sound." Hinata interjected.

Daiki shook his head. "You can't do much about them. We don't know when exactly the attack will come, but that matters greatly. Shinobi can cover a lot of ground in a short time. From what you said there is nothing in the way to stop them from moving rapidly on Konoha. They might attack during the finals, the celebration thereafter or the following day when most people will still be inebriated. There is no way you can give a timely warning, especially considering that you will be busy with the finals and need to conserve your chakra. A false alarm will do more harm than good."

Naruto sighed. "You're right. My swallows can scout around, but the area is too big, the trees offer too much cover and the swallows might not be able to mass in time to counter the Sky ninja if I disperse them for a search. I hope we can get some information from Kin, but the normal Konoha forces will have to handle Sand and Sound without our support. I see no way of stopping them cold."

"Then let us proceed to the supernatural threats. Of the four threats I saw we have been able to identify three while we have no idea what the Pretending Worm is or if it is associated with one of the other factions. I can offer no information or advice about that one. The Wicked Heart refers to Jashin, but we have no idea who its agents will be nor what exactly they will do, meaning we can do nothing about them. Orochimaru is most likely the Slithering Blasphemer. Our best guess is that he will use the Edo Tensei technique we found in the forbidden scroll to resurrect some famous shinobi and will attack the Hokage. His title means Fire Shadow, after all."

"Great. I'm pretty sure even my two-tailed form isn't enough to beat Orochimaru."

"Most likely not." Youko agreed. "If the Hokage and enough other forces gang up on Orochimaru they have a good chance of winning, but with his immortal minions things get very dicey. I don't believe any of you will have the time to interfere in that battle. The other threats will keep you more than busy."

Hinata posed the most important question she saw. "Do we really want to save the Hokage in the first place?"

The blond boy was silent for a few seconds. "No. In all my life I have found no definite proof that the man wants to harm me or knows about Minato's plan, but many of his actions furthered it. Without mom's and dad's interference I would have led a crappy life. I don't trust him. He is one of the main factors the village is this vulnerable in the first place. In this situation it makes him an enemy."

Daiki nodded in acceptance. "The best possible outcome would be for the Hokage and Orochimaru to kill each other. I don't see any way for you to influence this; there is a far more dangerous problem for you to deal with anyway. We do know that the Ichibi is trying to free itself. I already verified just now that it is drawing magic from the surroundings. There are many uncertainties, but my best guess is that it will try to free itself at the time of the finals." Daiki explained. "The seal will not hold it and neither will anything else once it freed itself completely. The magic empowers it greatly."

"What would happen if we simply kill Gaara now?" Hinata asked.

"That will only free the Ichibi immediately. Applying additional seals will do nothing either. The only measure with any hope of success is calling directly on our power."

"Which will most likely bring Jashin down on our heads." Naruto remarked.

"Correct."

"Three enemy villages are invading, a group of Jashinists with a grudge is running around, Orochimaru brings back the dead to fight for him, an incredibly dangerous jinchuuriki is here whose demon will inevitably get loose and there is another threat we know nothing about." Naruto summarized. "I don't see how we will be able to survive this. How about we simply desert and flee? That seems the best chance at survival."

Hinata had to admit she harbored similar thoughts. The dangers were simply overwhelming. Getting away would not really be a problem thanks to Naruto's summons. On the other hand they couldn't just leave their friends behind.

"You don't really mean that, kit. There is no way you would leave your friends and you know it." Youko admonished as if reading Hinata's thoughts. "It's too late for that anyway."

"How so?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Because of the sanctuary." Youko answered with a sigh. "Once the Ichibi is free it will find it if it searches long and hard enough, and it will. The spring of magic is too valuable a resource to ignore. We could deal with its loss, but unfortunately we are metaphysically connected to that place. If my erstwhile sibling successfully takes it for its own it can attack us directly. In our imprisoned condition and without you present to act as conduit for our power it will win. I'm sorry to say that but if we perish you will join us in oblivion, my son. We are too tightly connected. Hinata, you have some slight chance to escape relatively unharmed if the connection in your soul to this place snaps, but your chances aren't good."

Hinata hugged Naruto closely. "I don't want to live without Naruto anyway. It just wouldn't be worth it."

She truly meant that. Even if she survived, without Naruto the world would be too empty for her to bear.

"So we can't run even if we wanted to." Naruto said after several minutes of silence. "That means we will have to put up a fight. I might be able to defeat Gaara using mom's chakra and all the tricks in my bag, but if the Ichibi escapes anyway that's futile and a waste of resources. I will need most of my chakra for the summons or other fights and can't afford to waste it against Gaara."

"We agree. One thing is certain: You will have to call upon our divine power at some point. You won't be able to defeat the Ichibi in any other way. I can't reiterate enough that it will be far more powerful than usual once it frees itself." Daiki said.

"But then Jashin will take notice." Hinata objected.

"It's a risk we'll have to take." Youko admitted. "Our hope is that once the Ichibi is free and the fighting rages for a while the view of outside parties like Jashin will be obscured by all the disturbed energies; a metaphysical fog of war if you will. That means you will have to wait until the Ichibi breaks its bonds until you call on our help. There is a very real and big chance none of us will survive this. We will do our utmost to win, but we might not succeed. Your father and I have already come up with several ideas that might help us win, though. We will refine them over the month that remains to us. Hopefully you will be able to gather more information in the outside world. Enjoy your life to the fullest you can without compromising the future in case all goes well; if it goes badly none of us will have one."

About two subjective days later Hinata wandered through the blooming fields not too far away from the cottage. Getting around in this world was still rather cumbersome in spite of their shinobi speed. Despite years (or even decades in Naruto's case) of trying neither she nor Naruto had been able to learn what Youko and Daike termed as the Direct Way. It was very frustrating to be unable to master that means of traveling great distances in hardly any time, even if it would only be useful in this world. Unfortunately there seemed to be some fundamental disconnect in how their minds and the minds of Naruto's parents worked.

"You wanted to speak with me, Naruto?" she asked when she reached him. Their current location was the top of a hill amidst the fields. An enormous oak provided shade and the view was simply beautiful. Hinata wasn't sure if this particular landscape had existed before; this world often changed at Naruto's parents' whim.

Naruto visibly steeled himself. "Yes. It's about our relationship and Yakumo."

Hinata felt a stab of guilt. Originally it had seemed such a good idea. She would have Naruto in this world when she couldn't be together with him in the real world. At the same time one of her two female friends would have a happy relationship (really, considering their personalities and Naruto nothing else was possible) and Naruto would be able to fulfill one of his dreams; founding a family. This way three people would gain at least some amount of happiness even if the situation wasn't ideal. Unfortunately it wasn't really working as planned.

Yakumo was her first true female friend. She had helped her enormously in the time her timid and shy personality was still shifting to her current one. Considering what had happened to her clan the girl had every right to find happiness. From what Hinata had observed the relationship with Naruto had made her very happy indeed, meaning at least that part of her plan had worked. Hinata felt incredible sadness that it couldn't be her every time she saw them together, but simultaneously she was glad for them. Unfortunately Yakumo was too perceptive for her own good. The last Kurama clearly noticed that there was something going on between Naruto and her.

Naruto clearly felt that he was somehow betraying Yakumo's trust. In contrast to him Hinata had no such qualms, especially because she wasn't taking anything from Yakumo. Hinata supposed that made her a lesser person in some way, but considering what she daily saw in the village with her byakugan about all forms of human relationships this was nothing out of the ordinary. The important thing was that when her friends were unhappy Hinata became unhappy, too. It was clearly an uncomfortable situation for Naruto.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Naruto explained his feelings.

"… I just can't continue this way, Hinata."

Hinata sighed deeply. "I understand. If you're that uncomfortable with this we will have to make changes. The only thing I ask is to wait until the exams and the immediate dangers are over. If we lose it won't matter either way. In case of our survival we will deal with this together."

Reluctantly, Naruto accepted. There was no need to cause one of them anguish when they might not survive past the next month.

'The moon looks strange tonight.' Gaara thought.

There seemed to be some dust in the sky, making the full moon looking blood red. Normally Mother was especially active during the full moon and her voice especially loud, urging him to shed ever more blood. Tonight there was only silence. Mother had not spoken a single word since she had stopped mumbling two nights ago after the end of the preliminaries. It was very disconcerting.

Suddenly a singing voice accompanied by barely audible music startled Gaara from his thoughts. Sand under Mother's control was dancing around him, forming strange symbols and figures in tune with the singing.

Red Moon, Red Moon,

Cleanses the sinful world and makes it anew,

Shining brightly in the night sky, waiting for the souls.

Who will be born again in the night?

Who will be born again in the night?

Then the sand returned to his gourd and there was once again only silence. Mother's voice had sounded different. It was full of dark longing for something Gaara couldn't fathom.

'Mother?'

No answer was forthcoming.

After a few minutes of silence Gaara continued to watch the night sky. He barely paid any attention to Baki and the spy some distance away. It seemed the ex-Leaf ninja gave the Suna jonin a scroll before taking his leave. Gaara didn't know what it was about and it didn't particularly interest him either. As long as his siblings were safe and he regularly had something to kill he couldn't care less. Well, he would like to slowly crush the Kazekage (he refused to think of the man as his father), but that was a long-term plan and still years in the future.

No, what really worried him was Mother. Her behavior was really beginning to scare Gaara.

Naruto let out a content sigh when he slid into the warm water of the hot spring a bit outside of the busy village. His muscles were aching from today's training. In contrast to the usual spars the three teams had performed a mock mass battle. Since the jonin participated the odds were eleven against one at first. Later on they had changed that to ten against two and nine against three. It was very different from the normal fights against a single opponent. There was simply no time for tactics; you had to be constantly on guard for additional threats and evade instead of counterattack. It was incredibly stressful; far more than even a normal life and death battle. Both Team 8 and Team 11 had been in mass battle situations during past missions, but in neither case had the enemies been shinobi.

'I wonder why Anko came up with this idea. It won't help us in the finals, but it was valuable training nonetheless. If the invasion happens as we fear it might make the difference between life and death. '

Ever since Naruto learned of Orochimaru's presence he had been expecting an attack on Konoha. It looked like it would happen later than he had feared but earlier than he had hoped. At least he and his friends were able to put up a fight. Two years earlier and they would have been well and truly fucked. Unfortunately the additional things his parents had revealed to him and Hinata on their visit last night meant that it might happen anyway. The hardest part was not being able to tell anyone about it. He had no proof and claiming that the forces of an enemy shinobi village destroyed decades ago had gathered again and would attack Konoha sounded completely ridiculous. Heck, until Kin began to spill what she knew there was no indication that Orochimaru would go for a large scale attack in the first place or that Suna would betray them.

His main occupation for the month that remained to them was training as hard as he could and simultaneously enjoying his life. However, the first priority was getting Jiraiya off his back. The man had been following him the last two days and it grated on his nerves. That wasn't even talking about the danger it posed. Naruto had to visit the sanctuary regularly to conduct some experiments but didn't dare to do it while Jiraiya was following him. He couldn't even detect him with any certainty; Jiraiya was that good at staying hidden when he wanted to. At least his swallows could keep tabs on the man; otherwise he wouldn't have gone to the sanctuary last night. No human paid animals much attention as long as they didn't behave irregularly.

Naruto had increased their numbers in Konoha, but he had to be careful not to make it too abrupt. Some shinobi would pick up on even the smallest hints and he didn't want them discovered at this point in time. If hardly anyone knew about them enemy spies wouldn't be able to report them. At least the swallows he had sent back after they became familiar with the village were able to give the larger, more noticeable ones a good overview of the terrain. They would need it.

'I wonder how long it will take Jiraiya to approach me.'

Anko had told him about their encounter. Naruto was very glad that his sensei wouldn't pawn him off to the man for several reasons. His suspicions about Jiraiya's involvement in the plan to turn him into some sort of savior weren't even chief among them. No, the main problem was the training he would miss if he left Anko's care. Judging from what he had seen Jiraiya wasn't that good a teacher. He tended to waste time or resort to rather unsafe methods and that was simply something Naruto couldn't afford. Any serious injury would hamper his ultimate survival. Wasting an entire month with trying to learn to control more of his mother's chakra would be very bad, not to mention aggravating. Naruto knew more about the tailed beasts and their power than Jiraiya would ever learn, but he couldn't exactly tell the man that he called the former Kyuubi mother. He already knew what he had to do to expand his ability to control more than two tails of power; it just wasn't a quick process. A year, perhaps two, would be needed before he could reliably control a four-tailed state for longer than a few seconds. Tails five to eight would present an entire new level of difficulty, though.

'I guess he could teach me more interesting things, but that would be isolated skills, not building me up generally.' Naruto thought while he watched the sky. He was currently in the curiously empty mixed section of the hot springs. Of course, his two small avian friends flying overhead of him meant that Jiraiya was here, too, but Naruto couldn't spot him. The old man was certainly adept at hiding, but Naruto hoped that he would soon show himself. It was better to get over that quickly and the situation had been deliberately engineered to make it more likely.

Choji and Shino were busy doing some clan training with their families, Asuka had dragged Shinji off for shopping 'to make up for his lewd behavior' and Kiba was doing some additional training with Asuma-sensei. That left Hinata, Ino and Yakumo as well as Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei. All of them were still in the changing rooms and would remain there for a few more minutes, giving Jiraiya an opening.

His friends and the two women had been surprisingly cooperative when he and Hinata explained their plan. Apparently none of them liked having Jiraiya skulking around the entire time. The gleam in Kurenai-sensei's eyes and especially the perverted giggle when she thought herself out of hearing range were worrying, though.

As if on cue another perverted giggle reached his ears, this one male. Looking around, Naruto spotted a white-haired man kneeling near the fence separating the mixed bathing area from the women-only area. Jiraiya had dropped his concealment technique. Apparently it was time for the show to begin.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto called out. When nothing happened he shouted again. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" Jiraiya asked before he turned around. "Man, keep it quiet. Do you want to get me caught?"

"Well, considering that my Hyuuga teammate and her friends will soon enter the baths and she always checks if someone's peeking I'm doing you a favor." Naruto said in an uncaring voice. "Of course, be my guest if you want to piss off a Hyuuga, a Yamanaka mind walker, Anko-sensei and two genjutsu specialists; one of whom happens to be my girlfriend."

Jiraiya actually winced and moved away from the fence before he got his expression under control again. "I'm not peeking; I'm gathering data for my next novel."

"Really? Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Alright, hold on!" Smoke exploded from under Jiraiya, revealing a large toad. "Thanks for asking! I'm Mount Myoboku' holy master sennin, also known as the Toad Sage Jiraiya! Remember it!"

"You're the writer of the Icha Icha series, aren't you?"

Jiraiya began to grin. "Oh, you know about my books? I'm getting pretty famous."

"I read most of them when the Old Man left me alone in his office. He doesn't keep them hidden as well as he thinks he does." Naruto answered with a shrug. "You must be pretty perverted to write something like this."

"I'm not an ordinary pervert; I'm a super-pervert." Jiraiya announced proudly.

Naruto adjusted his position in the pool slightly. "If you say so. Do you want anything from me, Ero-sennin? Anko-sensei told me you asked her about training me."

That threw Jiraiya for a loop. "You know about that? And don't call me that."

The blond boy sent the white-haired man a disbelieving look. "I occasionally talk with my sensei, you know. One of the Sannin asking to train a genin is something that doesn't happen every day. Is it because of a certain furball in my gut?"

"Among other things, yes." Jiraiya seemed to have regained his balance and seemed more serious. "I want to help you control the Kyuubi's chakra."

"I see. Do you know how a jinchuuriki usually controls his beast? Have you spoken with another one? Were you involved with the design process of my seal?" Naruto asked.

"Well, not exactly…"

"Then I don't see how you can help me. The red chakra is always there; I always feel it and can pull it out when I want. I'm already working on it and my control is slowly improving. Somehow I just know what to do. I don't think my body could handle the full power anyway."

Jiraiya seemed thoughtful upon hearing this. "Well, you would be the one to know. I'm still looking for an apprentice. How about it?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I don't know you and you don't know me. Why are you offering something like this to someone you only really met a few minutes ago?"

It was doubtful that Naruto would be able to get Jiraiya to admit the connection to his parents, but that wasn't a reason not to try. It certainly served to make Jiraiya uncomfortable. Even if Naruto had been inclined to learn from Jiraiya (the man was one of the strongest ninja alive and a seal master, after all) now wasn't a good time. Jiraiya literally didn't know what his skills were and what the best way to teach him was. Developing an efficient teacher-student relationship under these circumstances would take too much of the available time before everything hit the fan.

As expected the man tried to ignore the core of the question. "That sounds like you would spurn my offer. Don't you want to become the next toad summoner?"

That was a bait practically every shinobi would have gone for, but Naruto had expected that offer. "I don't need a summoning contract, I already have one."

"What! That's impossible." Jiraiya shouted, now seriously taken aback.

Naruto bit on his thumb had enough to draw blood and made the necessary hand seals. 'Summoning Technique'

Two puffs of smoke later two swallows were sitting on his shoulders. "Greetings, my lord." "Hey boss, how's it hanging?"

"Hello Natsu, Fuyu. I just wanted to prove that I'm a summoner. Ero-Sennin here wants me to sign the Toad contract."

The two swallows turned towards Jiraiya who had an expression of complete surprise on his face while the large toad he was sitting on sent Naruto (or the swallows; he couldn't tell because they sat on his shoulders) a death glare.

"Out of the question!" "Yeah, no summoner of ours will sign a contract with those smelly amphibians."

Naruto didn't believe his ears at first, but the toad actually growled and seemed ready to attack the swallows. From the corner of his eyes Naruto could see that the two swallows were readying themselves for a fight. When the toad began to move it startled Jiraiya out of his daze. "Hey, stop it!"

With another growl the toad backed off. It sent the swallows a last glare before it dispelled itself, depositing Jiraiya on the ground. After receiving a nod from Naruto Natsu and Fuyu disappeared, too.

"What the heck was that about?" Jiraiya asked, now thoroughly rattled.

Naruto shrugged. "Apparently the swallows and toads don't like each other. Sorry, it does appear I can't become a toad summoner. I'll never give up the swallows; they're my friends."

For a few seconds Jiraiya simply stared at him. Naruto could almost see the gears working behind the man's eyes. That meeting had definitely not gone like Jiraiya had planned. "Well kid, there are still many things I can teach…"

In that moment Yakumo, Ino, Hinata, Anko and Kurenai entered the area wearing only towels. Something about the three girls appeared a bit strange to Naruto, but he couldn't tell exactly what gave him this impression. All of them spared Jiraiya barely a glance. When they reached the pool both Anko and Kurenai dropped their towels before sliding into the water. Jiraiya's eyes became as wide as saucers and his mouth dropped open. Naruto had seen Anko naked before since private bathing on missions was something you usually couldn't afford. Additionally Anko tried to inure them against losing their concentration at the sight of some (or very much) flesh. It was the first time he saw Kurenai without clothing, though, and he had to suppress an appreciative whistle. He doubted Yakumo would like it if he ogled other women.

Then the three girls dropped their towels, too, causing Naruto's thoughts to come to a crashing halt. That had definitely not been in his plan.

Naruto felt Kurenai touching his leg under the water for a second and he felt a genjutsu envelop him. His mind became curiously calm and accepting, wrapped in a pleasant haze. He wasn't sure if he could break the jutsu, but his attention was thoroughly captured by other things. The three girls had entered the pool. Yakumo settled directly in his lap while Ino and Hinata latched onto his arms.

"Now remember, seduction is a very delicate subject. We will explore the proper strategies and counters in great depth. The most important thing is the proper mindset and the general willingness of the target." Kurenai lectured. "Kisses are always a good way to start."

Yakumo turned her head and gave him a deep kiss. He had hardly time to recover before Ino used her free hand to twist his head towards her. In the next moment her tongue entered his mouth. Naruto could feel his body reacting and a certain part of his anatomy began poking against Yakumo's body. Then it was again his girlfriend's turn to kiss him. On some level he recognized that this situation really shouldn't happen, but it was simply too pleasant to do anything about it. Between the kisses, Yakumo in his lap and two feminine bodies pressing into his sides everything was just perfect.

Anko's voice penetrated the pleasant haze that surrounded Naruto's mind. "You said you wanted to teach my pupil things, Jiraiya? Would it be as good as this? If not I fear he'll have to decline. Isn't that right, Naruto?"

"Hell yes, there's no way I skip this training. Sorry, Ero-Sennin." Naruto managed to get out between the kisses. Some part of his mind noted that Hinata wasn't doing anything besides holding his arm and maintaining contact, but most thoughts were driven from his mind when Yakumo began to wriggle in his lap.

Jiraiya had watched everything in silence, his mouth hanging open. Finally he seemed to regain his wits and gave Naruto a double thumbs-up. "Jiraiya approves! I like you, kid." A moment later he whipped out a notebook and began scribbling furiously, giggling occasionally.

"Now, this is a private lesson, Jiraiya-sama, I fear I can't allow observers. Please don't try to peek or Anko-chan and I will have to become nasty." Kurenai announced before she made a string of hand seals. Apart from feeling another genjutsu nothing changed for Naruto. Then she addressed the girls. "You may stop now."

"Hey, no fair!" came Jiraiya's cry.

Yakumo stopped wriggling and simply relaxed against him as did the other two girls. For several minutes Jiraiya tried to see something, but apparently the occupants of the pool had become invisible for him. Finally he left with slumped shoulders.

A small snake appeared at the edge of the pool a short time later. "The toad man has left the area." it hissed before it disappeared in a cloud of chakra smoke.

Kurenai watched Naruto and the girls with a calculating expression. Under normal circumstances it would have sent shivers down Naruto's spine, but everything was still a pleasant haze.

"That's enough, Kurenai. We don't want this to go any farther." Anko said with a furrowed brow. "I've played along until now but this is enough."

When Kurenai didn't react Anko made some hand seals. In the next moment the haze lifted from Naruto's mind and he truly realized what was happening. The three girls froze for a second. A splash of water later Hinata and Yakumo had removed themselves to the farthest edges of the pool, their faces becoming beet-red although he was pretty sure Hinata was faking it. Ino lingered for a moment longer. Naruto had to suppress a squawk when he felt a delicate hand touching his intimate parts. His head whipped around towards Ino.

Despite her red face she seemed relatively composed and gave him a playful wink. "Just checking the merchandise." she whispered. After an exploring stroke across his full length Ino withdrew her hand and left her position at his side.

"Sensei, what exactly did you do to us? This wasn't what we agreed to." a shocked Yakumo asked after almost a minute of silence. Her face was still red, but to Naruto it appeared as if the embarrassment was slowly replaced by anger.

Kurenai giggled. "Oh, I only used a technique that lowers your inhibitions and made you receptive to suggestions. I am one of the highest level genjutsu users in Konoha, after all. It made everything more believable and I was sure you could take it in stride. Much better than the original plan. Although it's a shame Anko dispelled the technique early. You see, I read that scene in a book and I always thought I could improve on it by…"

Anko bopped Kurenai over her head. "Bad Kurenai-chan. No using the genin to re-enact your fantasies."

"This isn't retaliation against the prank we played on you in last week before the exams, sensei?" Ino asked suspiciously.

Kurenai adopted an innocent expression. "Why in the world would you think that?"

"This isn't funny." Yakumo shouted in an angry voice.

"No, it isn't." Kurenai replied in a suddenly serious tone. "Neither was the prank you two played on me. I'd like to consider us friends aside from teacher and pupil, but you were far out of line with that one. Respect my limits and I will respect yours."

"You didn't have to involve Naruto."

Kurenai leant back and crossed her arms. "You're right, I didn't have to, although I'm sure he doesn't mind too much and the opportunity was too good. All things considered I was merciful. Nothing happened aside from a few kisses and some skin-to-skin contact. It hurts when personal things are involved, doesn't it?"

The two girls and their sensei stared at each other silently. Naruto's gaze wandered to Anko who mouthed a 'Sorry about this.' towards him before she approached Hinata and began whispering with her.

"We're sorry, sensei." Yakumo and Ino finally said almost in unison.

"Good, then I will consider the matter closed and we will never speak about it again."

Naruto had stayed silent throughout the exchange. Only three thoughts were going through his head. 'I wonder what the two did to Kurenai to justify this.' 'This was very nice.' 'I need a cold shower.'

Jiraiya knew he was beaten. There was no way anything he could offer would match training with five beautiful women, all of whom seemed to be very friendly towards Naruto. If he had been in the same position as his godson he would have done exactly the same. Well, if most girls had let him do that. Tsunade would have smashed him into the nearest wall if he had even suggested something like this. The Hyuuga girl on Naruto's team was apparently far more accommodating. Not to mention the brat's girlfriend and the blond girl.

'My, my; a girlfriend willing to do foursomes at that age. The brat certainly has his priorities straight.'

He simply had to get his hands on the kid, now more than ever. If that was the brat's usual effect on women he would never want for research opportunities. Oh, he had realized that he was being played, but the willingness of the girls to go along with such a scheme said enough. For coming up with such a plan or perhaps simply playing along the kid had to be pretty perverted. Spending time with him would be a joy. Anko was really going to great lengths to keep her pupil. Naruto was different from what the Hokage had told him or what he had seen himself on his rare visits, but almost half a year with Anko could easily do that. He was glad to see that the girl was doing well, but her stubbornness about her responsibilities as a teacher was very detrimental in this situation. The last detailed report about Naruto he had read was from several months before his graduation. It spoke of an eager but slightly stupid kid, but Jiraiya knew that the minds of children were rather flexible. A person as young as Naruto could change much in that time.

If Kakashi had taught the kid like he had expected there would be no problems. His pupil's pupil would never deny him training Naruto. Jiraiya wondered what had caused Naruto to be assigned to Anko of all people, but he wasn't involved enough in the internal developments of the village to find out without a lot of digging. His spy work in search of Akatsuki and especially his research caused him to be absent almost constantly. The last time he had spent more than a week in Konoha was before Orochimaru defected.

The one thing that truly shocked him was the swallow summon contract though. Considering how rare summon contracts were it was virtually impossible to acquire a new contract. Naruto apparently had a demon's luck. He had read about the swallows in some historical texts. The mutual dislike between them and the toads was very unfortunate. He really didn't enjoy the prospect of talking with Shima and Fukasaku about it; the two elder toads had looked forward to welcoming Minato's kid into the ranks of the toad summoners. That ship had sailed, though.

'Maybe I should have introduced myself to Naruto a few years earlier. I can't do anything during the exams. My best chance is talking with Hiruzen-sensei when the finals are over. It shouldn't be too difficult to assign Naruto to me when the Hokage wants it.'

Jiraiya nodded to himself. He would leave the village for now, try to get some more information about Akatsuki, do a bit of research and return in time for the finals of the chunin exams.

'I'm sure Hiruzen-sensei and the village can deal with Orochimaru without my help.'

"Why?" the Yondaime Kazekage managed to gasp out before the light vanished from his eyes and his impaled body slumped to the ground.

"KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" one of the guards cried out. A blow from one of his subordinates silenced the man.

'That was pathetically easy.' Orochimaru thought as he wiped the Kusanagi clean. Granted, it had been a surprise attack, but he had thought that the Kazekage would at least put up a fight. Really, the man was supposed to be the leader of his village and should have been at least suspicious when he requested the meeting in the desert. On the other hand this wasn't the first poorly thought out decision the Kazekage had made. Agreeing to attack Konoha while they still had an alliance was the height of stupidity and would ruin Suna's reputation for years. Sure, it coincided nicely with Orochimaru's interests. That didn't change the fact that it was completely stupid in light of Suna's long-term interests and would cost the village valuable manpower. Heck, considering that this idiotic behavior was par for the course for what the man had been up to during his tenure he had done Suna a favor by killing him; not that the Village hidden in the Sand would learn that fact anytime soon.

Orochimaru was about to give the order to kill the guards when he hesitated as another idea entered his mind. Originally he had only planned to kill and impersonate the Kazekage to remove one (at least nominally) Kage-level shinobi that he couldn't control, make sure he didn't stab him in the back and ensure that there would be no fuck-ups on Suna's part. Now though he saw an additional way in that the dead man could be useful to him; one more thing to tip the balance in his favor. It would delay him a bit in assuming the man's identity, but he had enough wriggle room in his timetable and it would be well worth it in the end. In fact, he wondered why he didn't think of it in the first place.

"Restrain one of the guards, but keep him alive for now. Kill the spares." Orochimaru commanded before he severed the Kazekage's right arm and picked it up. "As soon as we return to our nearest hideout prepare everything for the Edo Tensei ritual."

Author's notes: Thank you for all the reviews.

There will be another chapter before the finals start, but I probably won't go too much into the details of training.

The Ichibi's song is 'Red Moon' from Disgaea with some changes to the wording.

One thing I noticed when I reread the relevant manga chapters was that Jiraiya never really explained anything to Naruto or that the training he did would really help him in the finals. Almost the entire month was wasted by Naruto expending all his normal chakra and then trying to summon something in the hopes of drawing out the Kyuubi's chakra (not that Naruto knew that this was what was supposed to happen). Jiraiya had apparently not a clue how he was supposed to go about things. Heck, the last-ditch attempt with the chasm could have easily gone wrong with deadly results.

By the way, good going, Kakashi (or really anyone). The team has been attacked by a notorious traitor who has at least some knowledge of seals and no one checks if he did something to the village's jinchuuriki.

So long.