Still don't own Naruto
Chapter 22: The Return.
The group began the journey back to Konoha fortunately for the sensei of the old team 7 he had recovered quickly from his chakra exhaustion from using his Mangekyou Sharingan, it had turned out that a useful Sage art Technique had been a nature chakra infusion. Whilst unable to heal any wounds himself, Naruto could slowly balance small amounts of Senjutsu into an injured patient accelerating there own healing. It was not usable for large wounds but for chakra exhaustion it worked like nothing else.
This had saved the copy ninja from the near death experience of having to be carried home by Gai, a prospect that horrified Kakashi to no ends, especially when he saw Gai take off at full speed after challenging Kakashi to a race back to Konoha.
For the most part the group traveled at a reasonable pace, they would be back in there own village in three days.
During the first night Naruto excused himself from the group to go recharge his senjutsu seals.
"Boy, Naruto sure has changed... I mean he was bottom of the class, never answered a question right, and now look at him, he is just so strong now" Sakura said quietly, looking over to where the blond had left to sit in meditation.
"Yosh! Naruto-kun's flames of youth burn so brightly, he has proven you can become strong through hard work yet again" Lee said,
"That's right Lee and I am sure in time you will become just as strong if not stronger than our youthful blond rival" Gai said
'Rival? Does that mean he will leave me alone and start challenging Naruto' Kakashi thought, hopeful his torment would finally come to an end. Despite how much he respected and liked Gai as a friend and colleague his constant challenges became a bit much.
"Yosh! I will work even harder now Gai Sensei" Lee called out
"Way to go Lee"
"Gai Sensei"
"Lee"
"Gai Sensei"
"Lee"
"Oh man, here we go" mumbled Neji.
"Gai Sensei"
"Here it comes" Tenten moaned
"Lee" the pair came together and a beach appeared in the middle of the forest with a sunset despite the fact it was nighttime.
Naruto looked up confused at entering sage mode. Soon however his look of confusion turned into a look of horror. In front of the blond sat a genjutsu stronger than any he had ever faced, because this was standing up to the full might of his Sage mode and winning.
"How is this Genjutsu possible... Lee cant even use chakra" Naruto yelled at the pair, not wanting to believe his ultimate defense against that particular ninja art was defeated by to men who looked like there local barber used a bucket and garden sheers.
Once the genjutsu freak of nature had finally cleared, Naruto returned to focusing on his seals having to restore the energy used when Gai and Lee decided it would be appropriate to hug.
Neji was staring at Naruto intently his byakugan active.
"Neji what is it" Tenten asked.
"Its Naruto's chakra, its like nothing I have ever seen" the stoic Hyuuga said shock evident in his voice.
"Why whats different about it?" his less excitable teammate asked curiously.
"Well there are many things actually, Naruto's reserves are the largest I have ever seen they dwarf even the hokage's. Then there are the points of red chakra on his stomach where that seal is" Neji said getting a nod from Tenten remembering when they fought in the chunin exams naruto had revealed his seal
"Yes that is weird, but still that cant be what is so interesting is it. I mean he has had them there since before he left right" Tenten said
"yes your correct Tenten what I cant stop looking at is the way Naruto seems to be drawing in chakra from around him, and flowing out of him coating him like fire at the same time. I first noticed this when we were fighting Sasori. It must have something to do with the markings around his eyes and the change of his pupils, it is quite the sight to behold" Neji said
"That sounds amazing I wonder what it is" Tenten said
"oh I can answer that" came the voice of Kakashi who was sitting not to far away.
"really you can what is it some kind of chakra control exercise?" Neji asked
"In a way yes, you see Naruto draws chakra from Nature and balances it with his own physical and spiritual energies, this could be considered a chakra control exercise. However this is not a skill that just anyone can use" Kakashi said matter of factly
"Why not" this time it was Lee who decided to join the coversation
"well you see Senjutsu is a highly dangerous skill to learn, and even more difficult to master. The benefits, you have seen first hand, increased range of physical attacks, skin hardens like armor increased healing factor and sensory ability's, but there is a reason that there are only two sage's in Konoha's history.
"what is it" Tenten asked not sure if she wanted to know
"if you fail the training, you die, and turn into a giant stone toad... I have seen them, thousands of them. Senjutsu is an art guarded by the Toad clan of Myobyokuzan, and only a select few have been allowed to train in it throughout history" Naruto called out from where he sat still in deep thought his chakra sensing everything around him.
"Is it really that dangerous" Neji asked.
"Yes it is, if it wasn't for Jiraiya and the elder toads I would be another garden ornament right now" Naruto said as he stood up and made his way to his tent to sleep, satisfied his seals were fully charged and would stay that way unless Gai and Lee decided it would be in there best interests to express there 'youth' again.
(Two Days Later Konoha)
The teams that left for suna arrived back at the gates of Konoha relieved to be home, while Gai and Kakashi went to sign there teams back in, Naruto just walked past them like he owned the place stretching his arms out. 'Boy it feels good to be back, I better go see Baa-chan she is probably mad at me for running off to Suna without orders' Naruto chuckled nervously in his head.
Making his way to the Hokage's office Naruto came to the realization that he was not receiving as many glares as he had in the past, some of the villages even stared open mouthed in wonder at him.
'wonder whats going on, not that I don't like it but the way they are staring its like I'm some sort of celebrity or something' Naruto thought not keying into the fact that with his hair cut the way it is he looks just like his father but with a lightly rounder face like his mother's.
Seeing the Hokage tower Naruto decided the door wasn't good enough for him and decided to use his sensei's favorite entrance, the window.
"Hi Baa-chan miss me?" Naruto said cheekily as he had to dodge a book thrown at him by an irate Tsunade.
"Disrespectful little gaki, your here for less than five minutes and you have already given me a headache, and stop calling me that" Tsunade ordered yelling at the blond sitting in the window.
"Sorry Baa-chan no can do" Naruto said a grin forming on this face
"Oh and why not you should learn some respect gaki" Tsunade said
"because your my Baa-chan in every way but blood" Naruto said jumping in to the window and hugging the Hokage
"It's good to have you back kid" she said as she returned the hug "now let me get a proper look at you... well judging by how much you have changed you will be beating the women off with a stick" Tsunade said
Naruto paled at this he was about to experience the bane of all famous ninja and brooding Uchiha... fan girls!.
"Oh man this isn't good I will just have to spend a lot of time in my apartment, I still have to work on the Hirashin. My father did leave it for me after all" the blond said trying to take his mind off of the crazy fan girls that would triple in amount, as soon as it became known that he was the son of the Yondaime.
"I see, any luck with it so far" Tsunade asked curious as to just how good her fellow blond was at sealing.
"Yes and No. I have the basic idea worked out, a seal set to your blood is a receiver and is placed on the body. Markers, otherwise known as the seals on my fathers kunai send signals to the receiver and when the seal activates the body will dematerialize and appear around the marker, the problem is I have to completely redesign the seals to work for my blood and I can only use his as a guideline. The next problem is if I get even one bit wrong I could end up in two separate pieces, and I don't really want to test out how good Kyuubi is at regrowing limbs" Naruto sighed
"Sounds difficult but I believe in you" Tsunade said with a smile
"Thanks Baa-chan I know I can do it I have one of my fathers other time space seals down its a briliant one for countering ninjutsu and redirecting it at the opponent" Naruto said wanting to brag about how well his training went.
"Yes the pervert told me you figured out the Time space absorption barrier" Tsunade said
"Aw whats the point of coming here to brag about how good I am if erosennin has already done it for me" Naruto whined.
"Shut up Gaki nobody likes a show off. Now when would you like me to make an announcement about who your parents are" Tsunade asked
"Whenever is fine with me. The counsel will give you hell for this, you know that right. After all they hate me, well most of them do that aren't on the Shinobi side" Naruto said
"There isn't a damn thing they can do about this we have your birth certificate, blood samples, your parents wedding certificate, and Jiraiya's testament as he and Sarutobi sensei were the only people at the wedding. And to top it all off a nice formal letter from the Sandaime hokage stating that your father named you as an Uzumaki until you were old enough or strong enough to take his name" Tsunade said a confident smirk on her face.
"heh thanks Baa-chan, that almost sounds like it would be fun to sit in on" Naruto said trying to imagine the members of the civilian counsel trying to deny what was put in front of them
"your welcome to come and watch plus you being there and looking just like your father will be a massive, in your face to them" Tsunade said
"Hell no, I will have to go to enough of those damn meetings when I'm hokage, there's no way your dragging me to one now" Naruto said making a break for the window.
"Fine, I want you back here tomorrow I have a mission I think you will rather enjoy... you can have the day off but your back to work now so no slacking off now get out of here I need to get proper reports from Kakashi and Gai they will be at the tower by now surely" the hokage said leaving mother mode and back into Hokage, piss me off and die mode.
(Ichiraku Ramen 30 mins later)
"Hey old man set us up with the usual, actually make it double that, I haven't been here in years" Naruto said walking into the ramen stand.
"Who do you think your calling ol-... Naruto is that you" Teuchi said disbelief etched on his face.
"Sure is old man and I am starving" Naruto said smiling at seeing some of his favorite people again after so long "hey wheres Ayame-Neechan" the blond asked
"oh shes out the back... Hey Ayame-chan come see who's here" He called out. The famous ramen chef's daughter came out of the back and saw Naruto sitting there. Despite her best efforts a small blush crept onto her cheek.
"Oh kami Naruto your back where have you been, dad and I have missed you so much" she said giving the blond a quick hug
"Oh I have been good, erosennin and toads have been training me, it was intense" and Naruto got into the story of what he had been doing with the toads, and how much he had improved. They sat there talking late into the afternoon until Naruto had decided it was time to head home.
On his way home however he ran into someone else he was excited to see "Iruka sensei" the blond called out.
"Naruto? Is that you" the scarred chunin asked
"you bet Iruka sensei... oh wait I have a gift for you" Naruto said digging into his pocket and pulling out a large white knife with a blue hilt and handing it to Iruka.
"wow thank you Naruto, but you didn't have to get me this" Iruka said
"No but I wanted to Iruka Sensei, you were the first person to ever believe in me. That knife is not normal by the way, it is infused with my wind chakra, you just have to channel some of your normal chakra into the blade for less than a minute to activate it. It should be good to last about 2 hours of constant use, then you will need me or another wind user for a recharge, see its different from a normal chakra blade and its designed for people who are not wind user's to have the same advantage in close range combat. It doesn't channel the other elements, but if you are ever in a kenjutsu spar or hand to hand with kunai it's the next best thing to Asuma's trench knives" Naruto said
"Wow that's amazing Naruto thank you so much" Iruka said
"Don't mention it sensei just remember me if you ever need to use it" the blond chuckled.
Naruto began to walk off but was stopped one last time as Iruka called out "Its good to see you back Naruto, the village hasn't been the same without you." Giving a final wave in response Naruto walked home knowing tomorrow there would be a big topic spreading around the civilian and shinobi population after the counsel meeting that was currently taking place.
(Counsel Chambers)
The room that the counsel met in was an old circular room Shinobi on one side being clan heads and highly respected jonnin, with Kakashi given a seat when he actually showed up on time, and he had the unfortunate luck to have just delivered a report to the hokage before the meeting so he had to show up this time.
The Civilians were on the other side often bickered amongst themselves and left shinobi business well enough alone. The only topic they found they needed to voice there opinions on was the welfare of one Naruto Uzumaki.
The elders sat at the back of the room in silence, they were well aware of who Naruto's Parents were and had some degree of respect for the boy, they still thought of him more as a weapon than a person but that was just the old way of thinking.
Tsunade entered the hall and sat down at the front desk Jiraiya following closely behind but remained standing.
"Tsunade-sama, may I ask what this meeting is about" Koharu asked respectfully.
"Yes you may, I would like to inform the village as a whole that today, chunin Naruto Uzumaki returned to the village" the hokage said folding her arms in front of her face observing the reactions.
The shinobi seemed pleased that the boy many of them had come to respect after saving the village, and bringing the current hokage back to Konoha had returned. The civilians were having mixed reactions some seemed furious that the Hokage would let him just walk back in, while others who had began to change there views on the boy seemed indifferent. The elders however had calculating looks on there faces especially that of Danzou.
"This is good news Hokage-sama, with the Akatsuki currently hunting the jinchuuriki I would suggest that we have him followed and kept in the village" Homura said getting a small laugh from Jiraiya
"You would have more luck keeping me away from my research" Jiraiya laughed, a small irritated smirk came on Tsunade's face knowing how difficult that task really is.
"What do you mean he is a shinobi of this village and can not leave without the Hokage's permission, and I suggest we keep him in the village, with strict security" Koharu said angry at the gama sannin's outburst
"I'm afraid it is not that simple, as Jiraiya's apprentice Naruto falls under the laws regarding the apprentice's of the sannin. Meaning he has an open passport to come and go from Konoha as he pleases, as long as he isn't needed." Tsunade said shocking the elders.
"Then we demand that he is followed at all times I can have my best men watch over the boy" Danzou said
"No I will not have him become a prisoner in his own village, besides do you think he cant take care of himself. I have the report here from the rescue mission of the Kazekage... Naruto successfully defeated both Itachi Uchiha and Sasori of the Red sands easily, with Sasori dieing in there battle." Tsunade said shocking both the entire room apart from Jiraiya and Kakashi. The defeat of two S ranked missing ninja one as infamous in Konoha as Itachi was a big deal. Tsunade did not feel the need to mention it was only a clone at less than half strength of Itatchi, and Kakashi was not going to correct her.
"Also there is the fact that should Naruto want to leave he can organize a reverse summons to Myobyokuzan at any time he pleases" Jiraiya added to effectively put out the elders babying of the younger sage.
"Very well then, is that all you wish to discuss Tsunade-hime" Danzou said, racking his brain as to how he could get more information on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.
"No there is one more topic that need's to be addressed and it involves Naruto's Parentage" Tsunade said, this got Kakashi's interest and even raised the head of Shikaku Nara who was not the smartest man in the village for nothing and had figured out who the boy really was.
"Tsunade you must reconsider, the boy could be unstable and we cant have that information get out" Koharu and Homura said. Danzou wanted to see how this played out as he knew the return of the Namikaze clan would bring more business to Konoha and strengthening the village as a whole.
"He already knows I told him almost a year ago now" Jiraiya said stopping the elders in there tracks.
Danzou may have been a power hungry man, but it was without question that he loved Konoha, the problem was he didn't mind if it burned as long as it rose stronger and he had more power. Danzou had played the card before when Orochimaru had attacked but the shinobi counsel and civilians both wanted one of the sannin as there Hokage, and he had once again been denied what he believed was rightfully his.
"What do you mean that... Boy was an orphan he has no family" A civilian counsel member said indignant that they were still here for something so trivial.
"Yes you are right Hogashi-san Naruto is an orphan but he did have parents, parents that were married in secret a year before the Kyuubi attack on the village" Tsunade said
"So what that thing is a menace to this village and should have been killed as a child" a woman with long pink hair screeched but soon was cowering from the killing intent directed at her from the opposite side of the room, as well as Jiraiya and Tsunade.
"It matters Haruno-san because while you disrespect the boy you praise his father almost every day" Shikaku said venomously still glaring at the the pink haired banshee.
Several members of the room turned to the Nara who usually just slept through these meeting's, but was now at full attention.
"Huh come one people it wasn't hard to figure out" Shikaku said returning to his lazy demeanor "Blonde spiky hair and blue eyes just like his father, round face and always smiling as well as a massive troublemaker... last name Uzumaki, if he isn't the son of Kushina and Minato I will retire and my son will take my job" the scarred older version of Shikamaru said. Causing audible gasps at the name of there most respected and loved Hokage.
"Dont worry Shikaku your job is safe" Tsunade assured her tactical adviser "Yes Naruto Uzumaki's full name is in fact Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze" This earned outraged shouts from the civilian side and contemplative looks from the shinobi.
"Why were we not informed of this" one civilian demanded.
"It's quite simple really, if word got out that Minato had a son after he had died we would be back at war within a week because of assassination attempts on the boy from Iwa. If you want proof, any of you, we have his birth certificate, as well as blood samples and the Wedding license of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, if you don't believe me. Now I think I need a drink after that lets go Jiraiya... meeting dismissed." Tsunade left the meeting hall when she finished, Jiraiya followed soon after. The rest of the counsel looking over the copy's of the evidence they left behind.
(The Next Day)
Naruto woke early, not used to sleeping in his bed again going to his bedside table he picked up a photo and looked at it.
In the photo was possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of his life at the time. It was him with his arm around Yugito who was curled into his side and cuddled into his chest, both were looking right at the camera, a blush just starting to form on there face's.
The photo next to it was of him and Jiraiya sharing a splittable ice block sitting under a tree together after a training exercise. Naruto remembered the Sandaime took the photo just a few days before he died in the chunin exams.
A small tear falling from his cheek at the memory of his Grandfather figure Naruto decided he needed a walk to clear his head.
The streets were oddly quiet despite the fact that even though it was early they were still very busy, it was like where ever Naruto walked the people grew quiet and looked on in awe. Naruto was beginning to get worried until a woman in her early 40's came forward and bowed at his feet making him stop in both embarrassment and confusion.
"Please forgive me Namikaze-sama for the way I treated you in the past we were blinded by our irrational fear" the lady said suddenly Naruto was swamped by people all begging for forgiveness from the blonde
"Woah ok stop... there is nothing to forgive anymore I understand why you mistrusted and disliked me and I got over it a long time ago but, I will not stand for being called Namikaze-sama until I have earned such a title... I want you all to call me Naruto and nothing else" he yelled so the whole street could here him before he knelt down and helped the woman up... "Thank you" she said
"Don't mention it just don't treat me like I am royalty I'm the same person as I was yesterday I just have my rightful name at last" the blond said with a smile.
The same process happened several times on his way to the Hokage's office, and he also had his first run in with what would soon become the fan girls from hell, with several of them asking if he would marry them before chasing the blond down an ally way, and he used a shunshin to escape.
"Dear Kami that was exhausting" Naruto said as he casually walked into the office and slumped into a couch.
"Ah Naruto you seem to be enjoying your new found fame" Tsunade said with a smirk
"I had to stop around six times to tell crowds of civilians I had forgiven them long ago, Baa-chan, and I also had to tell them to not call me Namikaze-sama... I really hate formality's" the blond said
"I had noticed that particular personality trait already" Tsunade said with a tic mark on her forehead at being called old again. "Anyway Naruto I have a mission for you, I want you to deliver this to Kumo, its a full report on the rescue of the Kazekage." Tsunade said getting a huge smile from the blonde
"Great so when do I leave, and who's in my team" Naruto questioned.
"Ah yes they should be arriving shortly" Tsunade had just finished and a man with an Anbu face armor walked in. He had brown semi unruly hair, and a face that seemed cold as ice.
Behind him was a man Naruto was looking forward to seeing again Asuma Sarutobi. Naruto's interest in Asuma stemmed from the fact he was the best Fuuton user he knew, with Temari and Baki not coming close to his level of expertise. The blond wanted to question Asuma and find out if there was anything he was missing in his style.
"Naruto, Yamato and Asuma here will form your team for this mission. Danzou and the elders wanted a root member to join you but I was able to relocate him to team 7 for some reason Danzou did not object to this. Anyway you are to head for Kumo immediately. On a side mission on your return trip if time permits I want you to head for Tenshi bridge to back up team 7 in the extraction of the Akatsuki spy in Orochimaru's organization... Dismissed, oh and Naruto... Good luck" Tsunade said receiving a thumbs up from the blond as the group left the office.
End Chapter!
Up Next Asuma and Naruto, The Fuuton Tag team... Always thought they would cut sick together, so had to work it in somehow hope your not pissed I took him from team 10 for this.