SevenKings here with an apology for taking so long. I did warned ya that there's was going to be a long waiting period. Not to mention that I suffered a computer virus which I'm still have to fix. I'm also sorry that we didn't get to the first book yet since this chapter was written in response to some of people's reviews.

Some of you readers did not like the way I represent some of the characters. I assume there's more of you but they are the only ones I talked too. One of you made a comment on how willfully ignorant I made Naruto.

I replied with the fact and I hope that you all can understand. Martial arts training is severe, Fight Quest proves that. For those of you who don't know, Fight Quest is an American show that stared two men named Jimmy Smith (A legit MMA fighter who apparently was also a teacher) and Doug Anderson (A United States Army veteran) who travelled around the world learning the basics of different martial arts styles in five days before being put to the test by facing against some of the top martial artists of that particular style, usually a student of the master they learned under.

This two men often become bruised and injured while learning. As always, I took everything with the impression that it's fake in some ways (after the Deadliest Warrior Incident which was a factor in shutting it down in my opinion). So, I went searching and this is what I find.

This is an analysis post of both Fight Quest and Human Weapon which I haven't seen yet for their episode of Krav Maga.

"It seems that these two TV shows, Human Weapon and Fight Quest, introduced a lot of people to Krav Maga, either for the first time, or, in a way they never saw it before; the raw Israeli way. What I am glad about is it gave many people a glimpse into our lives here in Israel, the harsh reality we are forced to live with. This is a point I try to bring out during my American seminars; Krav Maga is a reflection of Israeli society. If you don't understand our lives here – you can't understand Krav Maga.

Life here is unpredictable, and as such, Krav Maga must be trained in a way that deals with the unpredictability of a real fight. "

"Another aspect of Krav Maga that these shows highlighted was getting trained not only in techniques but in being prepared for real life attacks, by 'getting pounded without getting killed, so they'd freak out less when they really do get mauled and stabbed by a crowd of angry street people'."

– Israeli Krav International Blog.

There's more but I don't want to make this too long. The fact is, I'm trying to instill the fact that Naruto did not get the childhood many of us have. In addition to his social outcast status in Narutoverse, he trained in Anasatsuken everyday in his new life until it was nothing but perfecting (meaning tuning it to his body type since there's nothing perfect in nearly any world. "I'm looking at you, Cell from DBZ".) Anasatsuken. That's his whole life in a nutshell.

Another one said that the characters are written as OOC (Out of Character) and it's also written like a parody. First, I'm not JK Rowling nor am I a 'hard-core' fan. I take what I know and do my best to apply it to the real world. I want to install a sense of reality yet keep it in the realm of fiction so I have to toe a fine line.

As for the parody thing, you're slightly right. Paraodies are satire comedies that pokes fun at whatever is being written. Scary Movie is exactly that but the difference is that I'm not writing this to poke fun.

I have to add some comedy because there are comedy in some point of our lives in the world. However, I'm not trying to go overboard like Romance Harem comedy types where characters like Rito Yuuki from To-Love-Ru where he manages to land his face and hands on women every time he trips which happens to be a lot.

Another asked if I'm going to add other universes to this story. The answer for that is simple, I already have enough. If I add any more, it's most likely for comedic effect much like Kore wa desu Zombie reference in an earlier chapter.

Some of you asked for Eluciwood to show up. She may or may not depending on my mood. If she does show up, however unlikely that may be, it's mostly likely during Book 4 since I could see a lot of tension at that time. (Raging Hormones FTW!)

Finally, I have to say this, this fic was brought to you due to an idea that 'all about party and crazy' and me had. We had a falling-out on where the idea was supposed to go and decided to do our own versions while helping each other out.

The fic is called 'You're not Alone' and you should be able to find it on the same section as this fic. Please go read it before deciding your thoughts on it. Both of us are amateur writers at best so please don't get your hopes up too high.

Chapter Six: interlude: A Day at the Potter Household

"Sprongify!"

A boom occurred and a large pile of smoke occurred as Harry left the small room in their house along with Lily. Both of them had wizard robes on as Harry had to get used to them since the robes tend to get in his way and Lily wanted to show support. When the boy finally stopped coughing, he looked at the wand that he held in his hand.

Flashback

Sirius and Harry had walked into Ollivander's wand shop causing a bell to ring. An old man walked out the back room,"Yes Yes I'm... Harry Potter," the old man said as he finally looked at his guest,"I'm honored to meet one of the few who survived He-who-must-not-be-named when he's on a warpath for them."

The old man then waved down,"Bah, I'm sure you're not here to hear the rambles of an old man. Wands, I take it?" Ollivander then went over to his desk and opened a drawer as he said,"Sirius Black: thirteen inches hazel wood with unicorn hair as it's core. Best used for defensive magic and hex spells."

"Hehe, you still got it Ollivander." Sirius chuckled as he leaned over towards Harry, "Ollivander isn't all there in the head but he's the best at what he does and that's making wands for us wizards and witches to use."

"I shall ignore the part where you called me mental for the sake of young Potter." The wand-maker's voice stated causing Sirius to jump back slightly,"Now Mr. Potter, which is wand arm?"

"Excuse me?" Harry's face was full of confusion as he still didn't understand the lingo of these people. In fact, he still can't comprehend the fact that these people were long-range 'fighters' with absolutely no idea how to fight close quarters quarters.

Even he knew how to fight at any range before he hijacked this body and he was a short one-trick pony midget like the insufferable prick Gato who would use money to buy bandits to his side.

"Mr. Potter ..."

"Huh?" Harry was looking at Ollivander as the old man held up a tape, "Which arm will you be holding the wand?"

"Oh, I'm ambidextrous." The wand-maker rubbed his chin,"I see, then please raise both arms and stretch them forward please."

As Harry did so, Ollivander measured both arms and squeezed them,"Strong arms you have there, much more than an average adult wizard. Sirius, can you please leave the store for a few minutes."

Hearing the request, Sirius looked at Harry in concern but when he saw Harry nod, he agree with the request. Ollivander then looked towards Harry,"I never thought the day would come that I would personally see a KI-user."

Surprise at how the old man was able to figure it out,Harry was ready to initiate his only plan for situations like these, punch everything that moves while escaping,"My ancestor left a diary detailing his endeavors to create a wand for combat wizards as they were called. He often wrote about how it felt being in their presence."

Ollivander gave a small smile, "That is if you know where to look, of course."

Wary but willing to listen,Harry lowered his defenses while still keeping a tight tension as Ollivander kept rambling,"You'll barely find a wizard who knows about them since KI and magic aren't supposed to mix in humans. Even I can barely find anything on combat wizards but I'm sure you're more for wanting a wand first."

The wand-maker made a stay-there motion as he entered his back-room coming out minutes later. He presented to Harry a small thin case which was recieved as if there's was a bomb in it. Harry opened the case to reveal a wand,"Twelve inch ivy wood with dragon heartstrings as it's core."

Harry took it and gave a closer inspection,"Don't just look at it. Give it a swish..." The boy did so and the wand was swiped from his hand making Harry blinked. How in the Kami's name did the old man managed to take it from him? Considering the fact that he entered chopstick food fights with Kensei,Apachai and Sakaki and held his own spoke well of his arm strength and eye coordination.

"No no, that's not right..."Ollivander muttered as he grabbed another wand,"Fourteen inch Holly wood with unicorn hair as it's core. Give it a go..." Speechless at the events that happen, Harry did as he was asked to do with the same results. Needless to say, Ollivander took it back,"Tricky, just like his sister..."

Suddenly, there was a warm feeling in Harry's stomach as he felt himself being led. He walked into the back room was watching with interest. This wasn't the first time that a wand called out to it's partner like this and he hoped that it wouldn't be his last.

As Harry entered the room, he looked to see multiple shelves that contains drawers upon drawers in them. However, this gut feeling he had led him to a corner filled with dust. In that corner was a single drawer that he opened to reveal a wand.

"Mr. Potter, I would not believe if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes but that wand has called you to be it's partner. I would advise caution with it through, it's been known to kill many wizards and witches who hold it." Ollivander then scooted closer, "Now that we got you your wand, would you mind telling me how was it that you came across KI?"

"Why would I?" The boy officially creeped out the way Ollivander seemed to be moving into his personal space.

"I'm quite curious you know. It's been a very long time since I last heard of anything even remotely similar. Generally if that person lived in the West, Britain particular since many of us are inbred, a person must choose between one or the other since the two energies were never meant to mix. It causes an explosive reaction in magic and diluted effects in Ki or so I've read. This is the reason why I sent Sirius Black out of the store, I wasn't sure if he knew about this."

Harry's deadpan gaze made Ollivander wonder, "What? I'm quite curious as I personally have never seen your kind before. They tend to stick towards the Eastern Hemisphere and it's quite natural to be curious."

Flashback End

"Naruto..." Harry looked to see that Lily was looking at him with concern,"What are you thinking about?" Harry shook his head and was going to say it was nothing before he realized something,"You called me, Naruto."

"Yeah,"Lily nodded,"I realized that you're more comfortable with that name rather than the one I gave you when you were born. As a mother, it's my duty to give the best to my children even if it's a different name."

After this,Lily hugged him causing him to tense before relaxing. To feel a gentle touch like this was something that he had never felt before. In his past life, he was an orphan who had to fight constantly to survive the loneliness along with the subtle tactics that Konoha villagers used to keep Sarutobi ignorant of the situation. He also never told on them since he didn't want to cause trouble for the old man.

In this life, Gotetsu didn't coddle him. It was learn and survive or die then forgotten. As such, he put himself through training what should have been over a decade of training into three years before mastering it in another year by himself. This was the result of hard work as Bushy Brow would say.

But these past few days have brought something back in him, something that he had thrown away as he trained himself to become one of the best. Because of it,he smiled more, joked and pulled pranks on Sirius that made the man swear that the prankster was strong in him.

Lily then held him at arm's embrace,"Besides, I was looking at the meaning behind the name and I have to say that I like it. Not only does it mean Fishcake," much to the boy's rather embarrassed expression,"But it also means Maelstrom, a very powerful name."

A bell rung and two sets of laughter made the two realized how late in the day it was since Sirius had said he and Hailey were coming home late for a grocery shopping trip. Lily placed a hand over Naruto's shoulder as she led him down the stairs,"Come now Mr. Naruto and let us greet our family."

A serene smile appeared on Naruto's face as he walked down while still in the embrace of his mother. The two saw that Hailey and Sirius were had entered the living room with smiles on their faces. Both of them were wearing vests along with a helmet and in their hands were paintball guns,"We showed those jaberonis the reason why they shouldn't mess with us, didn't we? If I had known the Muggles had made such an awesome sport, I would have join them years ago."

"Now what's this I see?" The two turned around to see that Lily had a smile on her face while a feeling came over them, "You said you were going to go buy groceries and then came home dressed like you're going for war without getting the supplies." One thought entered the duo's minds, 'Oh, snap..'

Some Time Later

After two hours and a very satisfying punishment for Sirius which involved Naruto testing some new techniques and refining old ones including the ever-famous 'Naruto Burial Punch.' Which coincidently caused a teenage Japanese middle-schooler named Oga to sneeze as he walked away from the area of students lined in rows with their heads in the ceiling and ground.

To add to the man's misery, he was forced to watch as they eat while being silent due to the Silence Charm placed on him with a leash tied onto him and the wall as if he was a dog. As the Potter Family sat around the table for dinner, Hailey asked, "Bro, how do you do that ball thingy? I know that it's not magic."

"It's simple, my sister." It was strange how that word seemed to fly out of his mouth naturally, "The energy I'm more familiar with is call KI." Naruto lifted his hand and made a rasengan showing the pure energy through it was the half the size it used to be, "From my studies, if magic is the energy which allows a person to rewrite the laws of the world, KI is the energy which test the same laws to the very limit."

Hailey tilt her in confusion and Naruto sighed; he would have to say sorry to Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-nii, Ero-Sennin and Baa-chan if he ever met them again. Teaching isn't an easy job before he hit an lightbulb in his head, "Say somebody is throwing something at you, like a fork."

Naruto then threw the fork that was supposed to be used for his dinner at the wall. He then pointed, "Magic will allow you to stop that and throw it back at the person while KI allows you to see it and get out of the way before grabbing it yourself and throwing it back. Two different ways to get the same result."

Hailey's eyes widened as she got the example before she asked, "Who taught you KI then?"

"My sensei or Teacher in English. His name was Gotetsu and he was one of the coolest men I have ever had the privilege to meet." Naruto made a faint smile as he remembered back to those days, it was as difficult as it was rewarding.

Lily had a small frown that no one noticed as she asked her own question, "Can I meet him? He sounds like a good man and I would like to thank him."

"He's dead..." That simple statement added some much tension that it could have been cut with a dull butter knife. Lily looked at her son as she was about sorry but Naruto beat her to it, "I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. As true fighters, we are expected to put our lives on the line when we fight not like those tournament fighters where their safety is often put first. The mere fact that he managed to live as long as he could to pass on his teachings to me speaks of his willpower."

Naruto picked up his plate and placed in the sink, "I want to be alone for awhile." As Naruto walked out the dinner room, Hailey stared before she did the same thing as her brother and followed.

Lily on the other hand, looked down in shame before following her children as well with Sirius looking like an abandoned puppy since he was still in a time-out. He honestly didn't know if he should feel his pride had taken a blow or if... Let's not go there and assumed his pride had taken a blow.

And so, Sirius subconsciously decided to repress the memories of his punishment and faint for an hour or so, since he was pretty sure that Lily would undo the chains then as she isn't an S-type woman... or at least, he didn't know if she was an S-type woman. Forgetting about that as well in three, two and one... memory repressed and knockout.

Naruto was going through the katas of the Ansatsuken in the training room. Sure, it was created for magic training but it serves as good training room due to how wide it was. As he was nearly finished going through the move sets, he redid them but in another order.

As he did so, Naruto could hear the door clicked open and closed. However, he said nothing and continued to work on it. He could feel the presence of Hailey as she sat down on the floor far away from him. As he continued, she said, "You look like a dancer."

Not stopping, Naruto responded with, "Do you know the actual meaning of Kung Fu?" He moved his head a little to see Hailey as she responded, "I know it's ha-chai whaaa!" She then proceeded to perform weird hand gestures that Naruto assumed was her rendition of martial arts.

He then chuckled, " The Original translation for Kung Fu is that it refers to skills that are earned through hard work and dedication. A dancer can have Kung Fu when they practiced dancing to the point where it's just reflex, a cook has Kung Fu when they have are cooking. A wizard can have Kung Fu when they cast magic and for someone like me, fighting is an art unto itself."

He then turned and became a blur in Hailey's eyes. She then felt multiple winds blowing in her face at all directions. Naruto then stopped in front of her causing her to fall on her back in shock, "In that brief moment, Hailey, you could've died a total of two hundred and seventy two times before you fell on your back. The reason why I looked like a dancer in your eyes is because I practiced everyday for the past four years until I thought of nothing but perfecting it and reaching the peak."

Hailey sat back up as she gazed at her twin brother, "That's so cool, can you teach me?"

That simple question brought back memories from life long gone, back to when he was just a simple idiot, "Sure but I won't be teaching you Ansatsuken. Instead, I will teach self-defense skills."

"What Why?" She wanted to be like her brother and he wasn't teach her those things he does everyday.

"One, I don't think you would dedicate your very soul to Ansatsuken. You must drop all unnecessary baggage to master it. They have been many who have cast aside their humanity and sever bonds to master this. I myself sacrifice my very childhood for it." Hearing that made Hailey laughed sheepishly as she noted the passion and pride that her brother had for this.

Naruto then continued, "Second, I don't think you can handle the training nor the time it would take to master Ansatsuken. The average time that a person can be called a master is fifteen years and that's if you trained until you can't anymore."

"How bad could it be?" Naruto and Hailey looked to see their mother as she walked through the door. Hailey nodded, "Right; how bad could it be?"

Naruto's wolfish grin set a spike of terror in their hearts, "One month into my training, the old man had me face against a pack of hungry cats trapped in a pit." Hearing that did not bring any confidence in them, "Don't worry through, I'll be gentle to you."

"I need an adult." Hailey whimpered.

"You have one right next to you." Naruto pointed out to Lily who stood determined to take the training. In her mind, it was the only way to start connecting with her son.

After training

Hailey was an eleven year old girl who once suffered from malnutrition. She thought she had increased her stamina by taking physical classes and a lot of sports during her time in elementary school.

Then her twin brother walks in and utterly shows her just how far she still had to go.

As she was laying on the floor, gasping for breath alongside her mother who is unconscious. Harry or Naruto or whatever her brother called himself stood and had that stupid smug grin on his face. He then grabbed a notebook and started writing before showing it to her, "What's wrong? Tired already but we've barely started. Gotetsu would have my hide if I couldn't do this within the first two days of my training."

"Gotetsu (huff) is (huff) evil. You (huff) are (huff) evil." Hailey huffed as she glared at Naruto.

"I warned ya that the training is tough and this isn't Ansatsuken training. This is only the beginning of your physical enhancement program; now where can I find a two hundred fifty pound female brown bear to serve as your sparing partner?" Naruto had a contemplating look as he started to thump the pen against his jaw as he assumed a thinking pose.

Hailey had an alarmed look on her face, "You wouldn't do that right? Right?" As Naruto walked away, she yelled, "Bro? Bro? BRO!"

Outside the room, Naruto chuckled at the reaction of his sister. Truly, his pranking skills haven't rusted at all. In fact, he would think the mere fact that he was able to psychologically throw off his targets a boon.

Now, he couldn't wait to head to Hogwarts, if they were stuck-up 'nobles' like the teme that Lily had told him about, the reactions he would receive would be priceless.

At the time Naruto thought this, two boys from another place in England looked at each other as they planned for pranks for the Hogwarts school year. One of the boys said to the other, "Forge, did you get that feeling?"

Forge nodded, "Indeed I did, Gred, you know what it means?"

Both of them said together, "We have someone who enjoys the art of pranking coming this year." The two of them high-fived one another before a female voice yelled, "Get to bed, you two."

The two would pretend to go to sleep but they would whispered to one another on who could it be?

Timeskip:Nighttime

The two adults were in the study room along with an old friend. Lily had put Hailey and Naruto to sleep and made sure to cast a detection charm in case something had happened inside the rooms.

"You were right, Lily, something's going on with Dumbleldore." A man with a pale complexion with light brown hair along with scars on his face said as he shook his head,"I just wished I could have seen it sooner instead of you having to shove it into my face."

Lily patted the man's back,"It's alright Lupin. You didn't know any better."

"No it's not, I knew something was off when he suggested that we should separated the twins. I should have seen it especially when Hailey was supposed to go to your magic-hating sister and brother-in-law. I didn't want to believe it but I can't turn away now that my eyes have been fully opened."

Remus Lupin was beating himself for the fact that he didn't catch any of that. He was so into the propaganda about how Albus was the only one to lead 'the forces of light against the army of darkness'. So when the old man had ordered him to visit the underground werewolves so they could know for sure that the wolves weren't going to be on Voldermort's side, he did so and went a little feral as a result.

By a little feral, Lupin meant his animal instincts was surfacing before his human rationale. This causes the poor man to have different responses to situations he's in; take the night when he was with Professor Dumbledore for example;normally he doesn't swear and wouldn't be so calm in front of a friend's corpse but since he was 'a little feral', he rationalized it as war casualties and can save his tears for later when he was by himself so that it wouldn't affect his performance in case he was needed. To also hear that Sirius was also responsible for the murder of their friend, Peter Pettigrew along with fourteen Muggles had him almost raging in shock and disbelief.

That was until years had passed with him in civilization again when the war ended and Lily, after she woke up, knocked into his thick head that it was Pettigrew who was the True Secret Keeper. That was when he finally started to connect the dots of the events piece-by-piece.

When he had the full picture, he denied it for as long as he could until he couldn't anymore. When that happen, he sought out the answers himself and came to the same conclusion as Lily.

"Forget about it,Moony. You and I are Friends 4 Life until the end." Sirius placed an arm on Remus's shoulder as he leaned into. The man forgave his werewolf buddy for thinking he was the one who sold them out because of one simple fact, the only people who knew that Pettigrew was the True Secret Keeper could be counted on one hand and Moony wasn't one.

The plan was to have Sirius act as a decoy while Pettigrew hide himself. It would have worked too but they hadn't counted on one thing. Peter Pettigrew was a double agent and the whole mess happened because of it.

"That's enough about me, I heard through the grapevine that you guys found Harry. So what he's like?" Remus's question had Lily frowned while Sirius shook his head, "Hey, if you don't want..."

"No, it's fine Remus," Lily stated as she looked at him, "It's just... I want to know more about what kind of man this Gotetsu was that Harry keeps talking about. I can see just how much of an influence he is on my son since he seemed to be the only person he actually respects."

He would rather call himself Naruto and I'm sure that he still doesn't believe me when I say I'm his mother and he's just waiting for me to mess up. He also tenses up when I give him hugs or compliment him." Lily looked as if she wanted to cry.

Why did it have to be this way? All she wanted was a nice house, a couple of kids, a pet or two, a nine-to-five job before coming home for a ordinary dinner with her husband and kids. If she was really lucky then she might lived long enough to see her great-grandchildren.

Remus looked at Lily with pity,"Lily, I'm sorry..." "Just stop saying that,Remus. It's getting a little annoying."

Sirius talked about something else in order to ease the tension, "Have you heard about KI, Moony?"

"Once or twice from a few werewolves and magical creatures from the Far East that I would meet from time to time; why?"

"It's just that Harry seems to knows how to use it." Remus was definitely intrigued by this KI, he had thought nothing about it earlier when he first heard it but if Harry did know how to use it. Perhaps, he should at least be knowledgeable about the kid's abilities, "I still know a few friends who could possibly help us. We should at least be knowledgeable about it a little bit."

Lily grabbed Remus's shoulder by the shoulder him closer allowing him to see Lily's watered eyes, "Please, he keeps talking or writing a note about it but never really explains about KI in detail. He keeps saying it's a secret and it's driving me nuts."

Remus removed Lily's hands as he gave a nod, "In the meantime, I'll also see if I can find out about someone named Gotetsu, is that right?" Seeing Lily nodding affirmative, he continued as he closed his eyes, "And Naruto is a Japanese sounding name so I'll guess I'll start there."

As he opened his eyes, he didn't see Lily and turned his head to find her in a corner, "Is that normal cause I don't remember Lily ever doing that whenever she's depressed." Remus was talking about how a dark cloud was hanging over Lily as she mumbled, "A dead old stranger man knows my son better than I do..." over and over.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? Perhaps the author is just plain stupid." As he tried to lower his shoulders, he couldn't. It was as if he was frozen in time, Sirius tried to yell, "Moony, Lily, What going on? I can't move!"

Suddenly, the words, "Fourth Wall Breaking Detected! Activating Protocol Rewind and Reconstruct! Password ******* inputted. Beginning Protocol!" appeared in mid-air and what was once a room now became a dark void.

"Sprongify!"

Done, yeah this chapter is a little more light-hearted and filled with comedy. I really don't have any witty to say so I'll leave an Omake.

Omake

Sirius was watching as Lily and Hailey in some of the skills that Naruto/Harry was teaching. He called out, "Hey, Harry!"

Naruto, having gotten used to that name that it didn't feel foreign to him turned to look at Sirius as he had Hailey in an arm-bar, "What?"

"What was Gotetsu like?" Sirius could feel Lily smacking herself as she couldn't believe that she didn't try to ask this question when Naruto was training. She knew that when he was training, he wouldn't be so defensive mentally.

Hailey slapped the floor signaling her defeat as Naruto let go. As she rubbed her shoulder, she said, "I want to know as well."

Naruto rubbed his head as he tried to describe his sensei, "Well, when it came to training, he was dedicated to it..."

Gotetsu looked at an eight year old Naruto who was determined to please his teacher, "Naruto, I've found this week's perfect sparring partner or in this case, partners for you."

Naruto gave a confused look, "Really, who?"

He would regret asking that question when he found himself thrown into a pit of hungry stray cats with fish sasuages on him.

"... He wasn't a person to do things in half-measures..."

Naruto looked at Gotetsu with a deadpan gaze, "Did you really have to do that?" He was referring to the complete annihilation of a mafia gang headquarters with Gotetsu standing over the corpse of the leader.

Gotetsu looked at Naruto with his hands in the air, "Now, I know what you're thinking but if you just let me explain."

"And just how do you intend to explain this?"

"I was going for a midnight stroll through the woods that we were going to camped tonight, minding my own business."

"Bullshit!"

"I was!"

"And just what were you doing while you were 'minding your own business'."

"So, I was going for a walk when I stumbled on these guys burying a dead body. I was going to walk away when one of them grabbed me from behind. Next thing I know, everyone from that group is fighting against me and since I don't do things in half-measures; I went and find their headquarters and smashed it to bits."

"But he was a good guy once you get to know him."

Naruto woke up to find himself being piggy-backed on Gotetsu's back as he walked on the side of the road. Gotetsu, who felt Naruto moving, looked back and said, "Go back to sleep, Naruto. Once the sun rises, we're heading back to training."

Naruto obeyed since he was still tired from the swimming in ice-cold water to build up his cold resistance.

Not one of the three could express their reaction to Naruto's vagueness nor did Naruto want to as he said, "Well, that's enough reminiscing; back to training." He had a gentle smile on his face which didn't lower Hailey or Lily's fears.