Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or make any money off it. This story is just a figment of my imagination running wild!

Thanks to my beta Hahaheeha

Chapter Two:

The Journey Begins

The rising cheers will become your courage
So stand up now, no matter how much pain you feel

But in the end I'm sure you'll laugh
Everything will be swept away in victory and cheer

~~Nobodyknows+~~

Two years ago

"I'll make you proud dad."

Kakashi watched them depart with Jiraiya. "You always have son," he said to himself. For ten minutes, he stayed rooted to his spot; everyone else having left, staring at the last place he saw his son. A small flash of yellow appeared in the distance and Naruto was back in his arms, wrapping his whole body around him in a hug like the type he gave at four years old.

"I love you daddy," he said softly in his ear. "Goodbye."

"Love you more, son." He squeezed him tightly and with much regret, said, "Goodbye."

Naruto jumped out of Kakashi's arms and swiftly ran to join his friends and godfather once again. He didn't look back.

When Naruto caught up with everyone, there were tears in his eyes. Although he tried to hide his misery, the quiet sniffles gave him away. Sasuke was beginning to feel a little sad as well, but was able to squash the urge to join in his blonde-haired friend's depression. It's not that he wanted to cheer him up… he just didn't want to hear him blubber like a baby is all…

"Are we there yet, Jiraiya-Sensei?" he asked with a smirk.

"No Sasuke, we just left."

One hour later… "Are we there yet, Jiraiya-Sensei?" A small smile graced Naruto's lips while Sai just looked confused at the Uchiha's questioning.

"Why is he asking that, buttercup? Is he not aware that it will be many months before we reach our destination?" whispered Sai.

"He knows," Naruto responded quietly.

Jiraiya answered, "No, we will be traveling until dusk before we stop and make camp."

One hour later… "Are we there yet, Jiraiya-Sensei?" This time both Sai and Naruto snickered behind their hands as Jiraiya's face grew red.

"IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR ME TO TURN AROUND AND TAKE YOU HOME, GAKI!"

"Got it…shutting up!" He looked over at Naruto and watched as his face grew melancholy again. "I can't believe I'm going to do this," he thought to himself, "Naruto, you owe me so big!"

Sasuke began to sing under his breath, "Everybody stand up! Today's the best time to get up…"

Sai joined in. "Before my eyes you still don't stop, speed hunter. Everyone is a victim to that attraction, Yeah!"

"Come on!" Naruto loudly joined in the singing, "Everybody hands up! It's the highly anticipated Hero's Come Back! Hold up your fingers and count down. Let's go, 3-2-1 make some noise!"

Jiraiya covered his ears and walked faster, but the boys kept his pace and sang louder. He gritted his teeth. "Do you really have to sing?"

"What?" asked Naruto, "You don't like my singing, do you? I'll bet it's because you can't sing."

"Do you ever try to listen?" asked the sage.

"Listen to what?"

"The sound of the world."

Naruto cocked his head and listened. "I don't hear anything."

Jiraiya snorted. "That's because you're too loud and moving around all the time. Try sitting still," he said wisely.

Naruto tried to be quiet. He really did. That lasted for exactly one hour before he asked, "So what kind of awesome jutsu's are you going to teach us? When are we going to start?"

The Sannin took a deep frustrated breath. He counted to five, asked himself what the hell he was thinking when he decided to take the boys on this trip, and then said, "Not another peep out of you. All of you!"

Both Sai and Sasuke glanced at Naruto. They could see him practically shaking in effort to stay silent and contain his natural exuberance. Sasuke grinned to himself and winked at Sai.

"Peep."

Sai gave a brisk nod in understanding. "Peep," he parroted quietly.

Naruto slapped his hand over his mouth with a giggle and walked faster, but he couldn't escape the 'peeps'.

Sasuke softly clucked, "brawk-buck-buck-buck…"

Naruto giggled louder.

Jiraiya swiftly turned around to see three innocently smiling faces peering back at him. "You're all a bunch of animals," he muttered.

As soon as his back to them, Naruto shouted gleefully, "MOOOO!"

Sai did a very good imitation of a cat in heat while Sasuke just smiled; his job was complete.

~~O~~

For the next several hours, the Sannin tried the best he could not to strangle the excited little boys. He understood that they were just fired up from the novelty of the trip, but they were still driving him crazy. He finally found what he was looking for and stopped. He boomed out, "Here we are brats! This is a perfect spot to make camp!" He pointed at a little clearing and told them to set the tents up and collect firewood while he hunted them up something to eat.

Feeling too tired to bother with the tents; they listlessly made their way through the trees to find firewood. Naruto's keen nose found it first. "Guys, come here!" he said leading them towards a green pond. He tugged off his shirt, pants, and sandals and then jumped in without any hesitation. "Man, this feels so good. Come on in; join me."

Sasuke quickly followed suit. In a flash, he was swimming lazily beside Naruto in the cold green water. "Get in Aho," he ordered the pale boy who stood hesitantly at the water's edge.

Sai studied the water before responding, "People should not be in contact with water that has a poor appearance. Blue-green algae can grow quickly and become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface water that receives a lot of sunlight."

Both boys gave him a blank look before Naruto said, "So what."

"The main risk to humans is microcystin. It causes skin irritations and rashes, but if the water is swallowed or airborne droplets are inhaled during swimming, bathing or showering, symptoms could be worse. Those would include headaches, nausea, abdominal pain, seizures, liver injury and respiratory problems."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You read too much, Aho."

"Yeah, come on, live a little," agreed Naruto.

Sai wouldn't come in. Naruto reached between his feet with both hands, hauled up two great handfuls of mud, and threw them at the artist, hitting him square in the chest and splattering his face. With a look of mild irritation, he wiped it away only to be hit on the side of the head by Sasuke.

He smirked at the dripping boy, "Get in Aho, you are filthy."

"Well I certainly am now." With a long suffering sigh, Sai took off his clothes, neatly folded them and laid them along the bank. He eyed the scummy water and commented, "Judging by the color, I would hazard a guess that this is a breeding ground for bacteria and slimy creatures."

Naruto deadpanned, "What, you want to live forever or something? It's cool, wet, and feels great. And remember; that which doesn't kill you...will most likely succeed the second time."

"I don't get it. Is that supposed to be funny?" asked Sai.

He gave one last look of longing at the shady tree where he would rather sit and draw before jumping into the pond. Naruto and Sasuke were right; the water felt great. Sai ducked under to rinse the mud out of his hair. He popped up with two handfuls of mud and threw them with uncanny accuracy at the other boys. Soon it was flying all over the place in an all out war.

Naruto looked at his friends, both painted as black as he was and laughed. "We should probably rinse off and gather some wood like the pervy sage asked us to do," he said before ducking down one last time into the cool depths. When he came up for air, he swam over to where the other boys were getting out.

"Hey, you guys still have gunk on your backs," said Naruto, noting the black spots that dotted their bodies.

Sasuke turned around and smirked at the blonde. "So do you, baka." As Naruto came closer, Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. He looked down at his own chest and lurched back in terror.

His voice hit a high squeaky note when he screamed, "LEECHES!"

Naruto and Sai looked down and calmly began to remove the leeches from their bodies and each other. Sasuke was tearing them off while whimpering. He suddenly became deathly still and his face turned pale white. He pulled the waistband of his boxers out and stuck his hand down into them. He pulled out the biggest, fattest mountain leech the boys had ever seen. His hand trembled.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah…" he moaned before letting out a shrill scream. He dropped the leech on the ground and blasted it with a fire jutsu. Once the creature was fried to a crisp, he looked at his bloodied hand and fainted dead away.

Naruto and Sai grinned at each other for an instant. They rolled Sasuke over and picked off the remaining worms. Naruto said firmly, "Sai, we are never to mention this, ever. Sasuke is our friend and he will never want to be reminded of this. No nicknames either."

"Yes, but what if he…"

"No."

Sai looked at Naruto questionably and asked, "If you say so. Is that one of those things friends do? I have never heard of that rule in my book."

"It's in there, believe me."

"So does that mean that I cannot tell him that the leech was bigger than his dick?"

Naruto hid a smirk then frowned at the other boy. "No, Sai…definitely not that, this is serious. He would kill you. Come on; let's try to wake him up."

Sai opened his canteen and dumped its contents on the prone boy's face. Sasuke, coughing and sputtering, opened his eyes and glared. "What the hell…" he began before remembering. He jerked upright and shakily ran his hands over his arms and legs.

"Don't worry, they're all gone. We got them all," said Naruto, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"You sure?" he asked softly.

"I promise."

"Thanks," he said, avoiding their eyes, "both of you."

"Apparently, it is what friends do. If you ever get another worm on you again, I will remove it so that you will not be scared."

Sasuke seethed, "I. Was. Not. Scared."

"…And that was no damn worm, Aho, it was a bloody leech!"

Sai was about to inform him that a leech was technically a worm when he caught Naruto's stern look. "Of course you weren't scared. You were just surprised is all. I would have screamed like a baby if I found something like that on my nuts." Naruto made a shuddering motion and pretended to gag.

Sasuke gave a small look of thanks then joked, "Baka, it would have to find them first. Leeches don't like raisins."

"Ah, shut it teme. Come on, put your clothes on. I'm starving and I'm sure pervy sage is probably waiting on us by now.

~~O~~

Ayame was cleaning out the closet when she came across a box marked Naruto. She brought it over to Kakashi and handed it to him. With a smile, he opened it up and showed its contents to her. Inside were some of his favorite toys from when he was small, pictures, and some clothes. At the bottom was a letter. Kakashi laughed when he saw it and handed it to his wife.

"I made him write this when he and Kiba were fighting as a punishment when he was around six years old. This was his first try. As you can see, I made him rewrite it."

Dear Kiba,

My daddy said I was bad to kick you in the privits and that I have to write you this note to say I'm sorry. Well I'm sorry that you are a crybaby cuz you hit me first. I still want to be your friend tho. I no that this note won't make it up to you so here is ten whole ryo all for you cuz I can't put a band-aid on it and cuz then you can't pee! I hope you feel better in the morning buddy! I promise not to kick you in the privits ever again if you promise not to hit me.

You best friend,

Naruto

Ayame laughed until her sides ached then picked up the photos. One was of Naruto when he was three. A tear slipped from her eye and she gazed at the bruised and emancipated baby. "Why do you keep this? It's awful."

"I have kept it as a reminder. I was so young when I adopted him. I knew absolutely nothing about kids or how to raise one. I never wanted to forget what could have become of him if there wasn't someone around who cared for him. Whenever I would get angry or frustrated, I would pull it out and look at it. It helped me find my patience when dealing with him."

Ayame wisely said, "Neither one of you need this around anymore. You should get rid of it. He doesn't need that kind of reminder. Keep this one," she said, showing him a picture of Naruto sleeping in his bed with his teddy, Mr. Kuma-chan.

Kakashi laughed, "He took that thing everywhere with him. I remember the first time he ever used chakra to jump. He was playing by himself, must have thrown the bear up into the tree in our backyard, and went to go get it. He jumped up into the lower branches and then climbed up to the top. He got scared and couldn't climb down. I swear my hair turned white that day to see him clinging to that branch and screaming his guts out! He had nightmares every night for a week until he insisted that he climb the tree again and learn how to get down by himself."

"I don't think there is anything that can slow that kid down!"

~~O~~

A very irritated Jiraiya stood waiting when the boys returned with their arms filled with firewood. He took in their bedraggled appearances and laughed. "You boys didn't roll in the mud did you? I wouldn't suggest that around here. The swampy water around here contains nothing but snakes and leeches. You won't be able to bathe here."

"Now he tells us," muttered Naruto.

"Since you all are so slow, I'm going to show you how to improve your speed. Line up and sit down," he said as he gestured to a log. He opened his pack and began to rummage through it, pulling out an ink well and brush.

"Are you going to write us a letter?" joked Naruto.

"Nope, but thanks for volunteering to go first." The Sannin lifted Naruto's pant leg and drew several symbols on his skin with the chakra-infused ink. He repeated the glyphs on the boy's arms as well before stepping back and nodding to himself in satisfaction.

Naruto tried to stand up, but found he couldn't move. "What did you do to me, old man!" he yelled in frustration.

Jiraiya chuckled. "They are resistance seals. They slow your movements down so your body will learn to go faster. You are going to wear them for a week."

"Then you will take them off?" asked Sasuke.

"No," grinned the sage evilly, "Then I will make them stronger."

"But I can't even move," whined Naruto.

"Yes you can. Concentrate."

Sai studied the completed seals on his body and commented, "I am of the belief that this may be some form of child abuse Jiraiya Sensei."

Jiraiya just openly laughed while he drew on Sasuke. When he finished, he said, "You boys go set up the tents while I make some food."

"But I can't even move," whined Naruto again.

"Yes you can. Concentrate or you will be sleeping outside."

Two hours later, Jiraiya's tent was set up. They were about to begin the second tent when the Sannin stopped them so that they could eat. The exhausted boys slumped to the ground and slowly crawled over to their bowls which sat steaming on top of a flat rock next to the fire.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Sai, nodding at the chopsticks.

All three sat in quiet contemplation. Naruto's head jerked up, his eyes alive with mirth. "Guys," he said gleefully, "We need to ask ourselves; what would Kiba do?"

"Why? Who cares?" murmured Sasuke sarcastically.

"What would he do?" asked Sai.

"This!" answered Naruto, shoving his face in the bowl and eating out of it like a dog. He lifted his head, gave a cheesy smile, and encouraged them, "Try it!"

Sai shrugged his shoulders and copied the blonde boy while Sasuke muttered, "Uncouth heathens…as if an Uchiha would do such a thing." His stomach gave a loud grumble of protest. He slowly reached out for the chopsticks and picked them up with one hand and the bowl with the other. His arms moved with an unbearable sluggishness. His stomach rumbled again and his mouth watered at the tantalizing smell that was so close and yet so far away. He inched the chopsticks closer.

…almost to the bowl…

"Can I have some more Jiraiya Sama?" chirped Naruto.

"Suck up!" thought Sasuke.

"Sure thing."

He got food on the chopsticks.

"Me too, Jiraiya Sama."

"Aho!"

…almost to his mouth…

"Here you go boys!" boomed out the Sannin.

It fell off.

"Dammit!" he screamed in his mind. His stomach gave an even louder rumble.

Sasuke looked carefully around and wondered if his pride was worth it. His stomach answered for him when it twisted uncomfortably. His face turned bright red as he caught Naruto grinning at him. "If you tell anyone I did this I will have to hurt you!" he said before he lowered his head and ate straight out of the bowl.

"Welcome to the dark side, Sasuke," laughed Naruto, "At least we have food!"

~~O~~

One week later, Naruto sat around the fire contemplating the letter he had been writing all week. It had been one exhausting one and he couldn't stay awake long enough to write a lot. He told his father of the leeches and the seals on his body.

…you would sure be surprised if you could see me now dad. Raya keeps telling us that we look like we swimming in deep water because we move so slow. It takes forever just to move ten feet. This trip will take us years if we can't figure out how to move faster.

…dad, you won't believe what Raya did! He just now told us that we should use chakra in our arms and legs to move faster! I am spitting mad! He should have told us on the first day. It's been three days! THREE STINKING DAYS! Anyways, we are getting our revenge. We stopped at a little village the other day and Sasuke found some passion flower and valerian tea. You remember when you showed me that, right?

Anyways, I had Sai gather some dandelion greens and get a watermelon. We're going to make the Pervy Sage a nice little smoothie in thanks for all that he has done to us! He will never know what hit him!

Here's a joke for you mom and dad. They say the dog is man's best friend. I don't believe that. How many of your friends have you neutered?

Love

Naruto

~~O~~

After receiving his new mission, Kakashi glanced in the direction of Ichiraku. There was no flag dancing playfully in the breeze. With a slight pang of disappointment, he went home to pack.

Ayame was preparing for the lunch time rush when she heard the wet sound of a bubble pop and a croak. Curious, she went to the front to investigate. There was a large, red toad sitting placidly next to the stand. Hiding her trepidation at the slimy creature, she asked, "Are you from Jiraiya Sama?"

The toad gave another loud croak, opened its mouth, and spat out a large package adorned with childish scrawl. She picked it up and ran inside to give it one in return. Throwing it into its mouth she yelled to her father, "Change the flag; it's from them!"

Ayame tore open the package and found the letter that was addressed to her and Kakashi. She stowed it in her apron pocket and put the rest behind the counter for their parents to come get. "I'll be back in a little while dad," she said excitedly and ran home.

Kakashi was just leaving the house when Ayame ran out, out of breath and red-faced from her exertions. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No…pocket…letter…Naruto…" she huffed while pulling it out and handing it to him.

Kakashi put his bag down, sat on the edge of the porch, and opened the letter. After a few minutes, he laughed and handed the letter to her. "That's my boy," he said proudly. "I had planned on doing the resistance seals soon too."

She read the letter then looked up at him with a question on her face. "I don't get it," she said, "What will that smoothie do?"

"Well," he laughed, "Passion flower and valerian tea make for a nice strong sleep aid and dandelion greens and watermelon individually, will work as a mild laxative but together will give you a pretty explosive case of diarrhea."

"So when he wakes up…?" she said with dawning comprehension.

"Yup…he went there!" he said with a smirk.

"Oh my, remind me to never eat or drink anything that boy makes," said Ayame dryly.

"He is truly gifted."

AN

Well, as you can see, we are in the past. There will be about six or seven chapters covering the training trip, then Waterfall. As a warning, most of these chapters will be short.

I wanted to thank everyone who commented on Broken. I finally hit 1,000 reviews. It's so amazing. I'm stunned... thrilled...ecstatic...! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S.

Passion flower and valerian tea really will make you sleepy and if you eat enough of dandelion greens or watermelon, you'll get the runs! So don't try that at home!

AZFAERYDUST