The Third Hokage anxiously chewed on the mouth piece of his pipe, he was not one who liked being in the dark. Over the years of him being Hokage, Sarutobi was very accustomed to knowing about everything that was happening around him. So, one can imagine his discomfort when one of his top jōnin reported that Orochimaru was sighted in the Forest of Death during the second stage of the Chunin Exam.

Sarutobi had planned to be there for the preliminary matches but the Orochimaru sighting made him question that action. There was a stinking feeling in his old bones that his former pupil had a sinister plan for Konoha. Why else would he show himself now, after all this time?

There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

The door opened and Kakashi entered his office.

"You wanted to see me, Lord Hokage?"

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes. I just wanted to congratulate you on getting all three of your students to the final stage of the Chunin Exams. That's something that hasn't been done in a long time."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I appreciate the praise, but they're the ones who actually did it. I just gave them the pieces to succeed."

"Regardless, it's still an amazing accomplishment, Kakashi. You should be proud."

"I am. Those three have incredible futures ahead of them."

Sarutobi nodded again. "That they do, especially Naruto."

The silver-haired jōnin should have expected that one. "…Yes, especially Naruto."

"How is he doing? Is his training going well?"

"Actually, I wouldn't know."

Sarutobi raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Aren't you training him for his match?"

"No, I'm not. Since all three of my students made it to the finals, I felt that I couldn't properly train all three of them for their respective matches. So, I enlisted for some help. Kurenai thought highly of Sakura's skills from watching her match against Ino and she accepted my request to train Sakura. And Sasuke will be training with me."

"And what of Naruto?" Sarutobi questioned worryingly.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders with his hands placed inside his pockets. "I'm not currently tracking where Naruto is or what he's doing."

"What do you mean? Why aren't you training him, Kakashi?! This wasn't what I wanted!"

"What do you want, Lord Hokage? I'd very much like to know what you have planned for my student."

"Kakashi…go get Naruto or I'll suspend you for neglecting your student."

Kakashi kept his calm demeanor. "You see, my lord, that's going to be a bit challenging. The last time I saw Naruto was a few days ago when he left the village with his godfather. I felt like those two needed some time alone, they have a lot to sort out."

The Third Hokage was at a loss for words. "J-Jiraiya was here? In the village?"

Kakashi nodded, the look of confusion plastered on his face in mockery. "You didn't know? I would've assumed Lord Jiraiya have come to you first to report on his mission. Hm. My mistake."

Sarutobi glared at his top jōnin. "Kakashi, if you know something- "

"The only thing I know, Lord Hokage, is that I'm late to train my student. If you'll excuse me now." Kakashi turned to leave the office.

"What did Jiraiya tell you, Kakashi? You've never acted like this before."

Kakashi stopped turning the door knob as he thought about to his conversation with the legendary toad Sannin.

-A few days ago-

Jiraiya led the very curious Kakashi to the top of the mountain that overlooked Konoha, the carved stone faces of the four Hokage were directly below them.

"Why did you bring me up here?"

"I needed to be sure no one was listening in on our conversation, I'm not very trusting of my former sensei these days."

"You said he lied. About what?"

"The mission the old man gave me was a red herring, a wild goose chase to get me out of the village. He wanted Naruto in the village permanently, and me nowhere near him."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. "Then why didn't you return sooner, why wait so long to return?"

Jiraiya reached into his red haori and pulled out an unmarked scroll. He handed it over to Kakashi. "Read it."

Kakashi looked at the scroll momentarily before unrolling it to read the contents. It took the jōnin a few minutes to read over the scroll. There was so much information on it that Kakashi needed to reread some of it twice just to remember it all.

"So…another war…"

Jiraiya nodded. "It's been inevitable since the end of the last one."

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around Kumo and Iwa having an alliance. Their hatred for each other runs deep."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Kakashi. They have a common enemy in Konoha, their hate for us runs deeper than each other apparently. Minato really put a dent in both their forces during the last war. I think it's safe to say they are doing this for revenge."

Kakashi immediately looked concerned. "Naruto?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "They don't know about his heritage, he's safe. Well, relatively."

"Relatively?"

The Sannin sighed. "So long as Naruto's parenthood doesn't leak out to the world he will only have one organization after him."

"One organization?"

"A source of mine confirmed a group named 'The Akatsuki' are gathering information on the nine individuals that hold the strongest beings in them. The nine jinchuriki. Their plan is to somehow take the beasts for themselves. My guess for world dominance or something along those lines."

Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was a group of people hunting the beast inside of Naruto? They had to be some of the strongest ninjas in the entire world to even stand a chance against those beasts of unimaginable power. "That's insane…"

"That's not it. My source also confirmed the Akatsuki are starting their hunt with Naruto."

"How long until they come for him?"

"Two, maybe three, months."

Kakashi ran his hand through his spikey silver hair, his concern for his student skyrocketing to new heights. But if Kakashi was completely honest with himself, he wasn't totally shocked by this troubling news. The secret of Naruto having the Kyuubi sealed in him wouldn't be kept forever, still the news of having an organization of, quite possibly, the strongest ninja in the world gunning for the boy wasn't something Kakashi certainly expected or liked to hear.

"What can we do?"

"For now, we need to train him. Prepare him for much as we possibly can."

"Naruto's just a kid though, there is no way he's strong enough to handle people like this. Hell, I might not even be able to."

"It's all we can do. I'm not going to hide him away so that whatever their plan is can never be completed. That's not fair to Naruto, nor is it right. It's a threat that he'll have to face eventually."

Kakashi let more of his emotion show and he looked down in sorrow for his student. "There is already so much going on with him. He doesn't need something like this."

Jiraiya didn't respond for a few moments and Kakashi didn't need to think very hard on why. He was the reason why Naruto had this turmoil that plagued him. And now the jōnin figured it was safe to say the Third Hokage was at fault too.

"One last thing Kakashi, I want to train my godson for his match in the final stage."

Kakashi saw that one coming. "Before I agree to that, Lord Jiraiya, there is something you must know."

The Sannin remained silent, letting Kakashi know he would listen.

"Naruto has changed a lot since you've been gone. I'm not sure what you taught him while he was with you but it certainly has set him well above most of his peers. Naruto is disturbingly strong for his age, so much so that he stood toe-to-toe with Zabuza Momochi and gave a limited Orochimaru a run for his money. All the while getting cursed by him, Naruto made a Sannin turn and run. Despite all that power, he still wants nothing more than your acceptance. Your acknowledgement. That's his goal. To become the strongest so that he can prove to the village that they were wrong to treat him like they have and get the acknowledgement of the one person he holds above all else. I can only assume that person is you. You coming back into his life now may throw everything he's been working towards completely null and void, to him at least. He needs to know the truth."

Jiraiya nodded in utter agreement. "I completely agree-"

"The whole truth."

The toad Sannin put the words together in his head and the meaning behind them, Kakashi could see it on his face. It may not have been a part of his original plan but Jiraiya saw that Kakashi was right. "You are right. It is time. But, I'll only tell him everything if you agree to let me train him."

Kakashi nodded. "I see no problem with that. But it is his decision."

"…I think I know how to get him to agree."

-Present time-

Kakashi glanced back over his shoulder to look at his Hokage. "There's a storm coming, Lord Hokage. I suggest you batten down the hatches and prepare yourself. Though, I'm not even sure that'll be good enough."

Sarutobi grew even more confused, and slightly concerned, at his top jōnin's vague statement. He didn't even bother questioning him because the man was already out the door and down the wall. The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair to sort through his thoughts.

-With Jiraiya and Naruto, somewhere in the Land of Fire-

The duo of godfather and godson trekked through the deep, heavy forest that spread throughout most of the Land of Fire, almost aimlessly to anyone who wasn't aware of their intentions. Jiraiya was walking ahead of the blonde boy, guiding them through the dense forest. Naruto was trailing a good distance behind, he was far too distracted with the current object in his hand.

The object was a blue rubber ball that Naruto held with both hands. One on top and the other supporting the bottom. He continuously poured his chakra into the ball, trying to get it to burst. The rubber ball moved and contorted but it did not explode. Naruto ceased his chakra flow and breath out.

"Damn it!"

"You aren't doing it right. You're trying to simply overpower the ball and destroy it."

"But putting chakra into this will cause it to burst! The power!"

Jiraiya shook his head and looked over his shoulder at his blonde-haired godson. "You're missing the whole point. It's all about how you control the power. You can't just funnel the chakra into the ball and expect it to blow from the sheer amount, you need to still rotate the chakra that you are pouring into the ball. Remember the Rasengan has three steps: rotation, power, and containment."

Naruto grumbled to himself. "The rotation was easy though…I didn't expect the power step to be this hard."

"The first step was easy for you because of all those chakra control exercises you got from those scrolls you read. Despite the large amounts of chakra you have, your control of it is better than I thought. But this isn't like any other chakra control. It takes a certain finesse to rotate chakra and give it power."

Naruto let out a sigh and placed the rubber ball in his bag, deciding to take a break for awhile and come back to it later.

"Where are going, anyway? You never told me that."

"Would you believe me if I said we're just walking in circles to pass time?"

Naruto held a deadpanned expression. "Honestly, I can see you doing that."

Jiraiya chuckled. "If you really want to know, I'm looking for a certain marker."

Naruto raised his eyebrow in confusion. "A certain marker? What for?"

Jiraiya stopped suddenly and looked to his left, something of interest caught his eye. He moved quickly towards a certain tree and Naruto followed in confusion. He hated when Jiraiya would do this. The perverted Sannin stopped and ran his hand over a inscription in the bark of the tree. It was a kanji, meaning "sword".

"Well, we're on the right track."

"Right track of what?"

Jiraiya pulled out a small map of the area and marked the location with a pencil. He seemed to do some quick calculations before turning another direction and began walking again. Naruto followed suit, his confusion growing rapidly.

"There's a legend that gets passed around in the old parts of the world about a powerful sword, one said to be so powerful that the First Hokage sought out it's strength to help him with his fight against Madara Uchiha."

Naruto had his curiosity peaked. "Really? Did he find it?"

"No. His duties as Hokage came first. But some old records of Lord First's I found said he marked most of the path to the sword with trees he created with his Mokuton abilities and added the marking to it we just saw."

"Wait…so that tree back there was created by the Shodai? And it's still there?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Mokuton is one of the strongest abilities. Ever. It's so rare that it's classified as a bloodline trait, really it's just the combination of Doton and Suiton."

"Then why is the ability so rare if it's just a chakra nature combination?"

"You need his blood. That's why it's bloodline trait."

Naruto nodded in understanding, but he really didn't understand fully. But that didn't bother him, this sword sounded really awesome if the First Hokage wanted for his battle with the great Madara Uchiha.

"So, why are we looking for this sword? Are you going to use it to fight Orochimaru?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Then what's the reason?"

"It's for you."

"M-Me? Why me?"

Jiraiya stopped walking and turned around completely. He placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "The events of the next few years will change the world, Naruto. This upcoming war is unlike any other. People will die, a lot of people will die. I've lost a great deal of friends in war, more than I was ready to. I'm not ready to lose my godson."

Naruto was deeply moved by his godfather's words. Despite him leaving under a false pretense, Jiraiya still cared deeply about Naruto and the boy could see it well. He missed that care. It was a good feeling to have again. "I'm not going to die Pervy Sage, not for a very long time at least."

Jiraiya softly smiled. "I know kid, I know. I've always been worried about you, even when I don't need to be." The Sannin removed his hand from the boy's shoulder and began to walk again. "C'mon, let's get moving."

-Kakashi and Sasuke-

The silver-haired jōnin and his black-haired student were standing a top a large cliff that was located just outside of Konoha's walls. The two stood apart from one another, they had just finished up a warm-up spar.

"Not bad, Sasuke. Your speed and power have greatly increased. Not to mention your reaction time is probably on par with Naruto's, and that's without your Sharingan. I think you two are pretty much even right now."

Sasuke smirked triumphally, his long hours of training were finally paying off. "So, what can I do to get ahead of the dobe?"

"I have a few ideas for that but we'll worry those about that later. For now, we need to prepare you for your match against Gaara."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "While I watched his match, I noticed something in his defense. That sand is able to defend a complete 360 degrees, it doesn't have a blind spot."

Kakashi nodded. "I noticed that as well. And it has quite the range and speed."

"Maybe I could overpower it with a jutsu."

"Hm. Possibly, I do have a jutsu in mind for that but my hunch it'll only work if you weaken him somehow. Divert his attention."

"Shadow clone?"

The jōnin shook his head. "No. You don't the chakra to hold a shadow clone for that long, plus you wouldn't have enough chakra leftover the use the technique I'm going to teach you. I think your best bet is to simply be faster than the sand."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow in confusion. "And how do I do that? I'm nowhere near that speed."

Kakashi reached into his back pouch and pulled out a set of weights. He tossed them over to his student. "These should do the trick."

Sasuke looked at the weights in his hands. He was surprised by the fact they felt virtually weightless. Kakashi saw the lingering confusion on Sasuke's face and decided to elaborate.

"Those are chakra weights. The weight is based on how much chakra you put into them. Since we only have a month, we'll have to set the weight pretty high from the get go."

It clicked in Sasuke's head. "That's right, Naruto used something similar. I remember him taking off a pair of bracelets during his fight with Haku on the bridge in the Land of Waves."

Kakashi nodded. "And look how fast he is. Now, c'mon. Let's start by showing you the technique I want you to learn."

-With Sakura and Kurenai-

The lone female of Team Seven stood across from the lone female sensei of her peers. Kurenai had been training Sakura for the past few days and was impressed by the girl's knowledge of the shinobi world. Not to mention ability to learn at such a rapid pace and uncanny skill for genjutsu. The beautiful red eyed jōnin didn't want to brag but Sakura's genjutsu talent reminded her of own.

"Alright Sakura, I've been able to gauge your strength over these past couple of days. And I must say I am impressed by your potential."

Sakura bowed slightly to the praise. "Thank you, Kurenai sensei."

"But that doesn't mean you can't improve. You still have a long way to go if you want to stand up against Neji."

Sakura nodded in understanding, she was very aware of the power gap between her and her future opponent. "Kurenai sensei, since you have Hinata as a student, would happen to know a possible weakness in the Hyuuga's tactics and abilities?"

Kurenai adopted a thoughtful pose for a few moments. "Hm. Not that I'm aware of, no. The Hyuuga's Gentle Fist taijutsu style is virtually unbeatable in close combat. Hinata was by far the best in taijutsu on the team, and Neji is well beyond her. But maybe Hinata would know, we can ask her."

Sakura was confused. "I thought Hinata was still in the hospital from her match with Neji?"

"She is. But Hinata has been doing better as of late, her doctor said she should be getting released in the next few days if her recovery continues to go well."

"Will she recovered enough to possibly spar with me?"

Kurenai shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Hinata still has lingering pain from her match, I don't think she will be able to fight for quite some time."

Sakura nodded in understanding. It was a bit of stretch but Sakura wanted to cover all bases and try to uncover any advantage she could for her match against Neji.

"We'll worry about that when we can ask Hinata. For now, let's focus on your genjutsu."

-With Jiraiya and Naruto-

Jiraiya was truly impressed by what he was witnessing, he never would have expected this. Even for Naruto being Minato's son, the Sannin would have never thought Naruto would learn the Rasengan in just over a week. He gave Naruto the first step of rotation with the water balloon on the first day and he had it down by the end of the day. The second step of power took the boy a few days to get a grip on because his chakra control wasn't what he needed it to be to achieve this step. Jiraiya credited Naruto's fast learning to his shadow clone memory transfer, he would often leave his clones behind to train while they pushed forward in finding the certain markings that pointed them in the direction of this powerful weapon of legend.

The third and final step came almost naturally to Naruto, combining the rotation and power then containing both into the blue spiraling sphere that is the Rasengan. Which the blonde boy was currently practicing.

"You're a natural, my boy!"

Naruto released the sphere and breathed in and out, he had been trying to create the jutsu all day and was finally able to the combination of the three steps down.

"Nothing to it, Ero-Sennin. As difficult as the second step was for me, using the Rasengan almost feels second nature to me. It's weird, I guess, but I feel like this jutsu is a part of me, y'know?"

Jiraiya smirked. "It's not weird at all, I understand it completely."

Naruto nodded in understanding and continued to follow his godfather through the forest. The blonde had been trying to figure out where they were in the Land of Fire but it had been nothing but straight woods and trees since they left Konoha.

"Do you have any idea where we are, Pervy Sage?"

"Not a clue."

Naruto deadpanned. "Why am I not surprised?"

"My gut is telling me we're getting close though, shouldn't much longer now."

Naruto rolled his eyes, he knew well enough that Jiraiya's gut feelings were hit or miss. Most of the time those feelings weren't usually very spot on, but the man did have his moments like everyone else. Speaking of having a moment…

"Hey pervy sage…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ever going to tell me about my parents like you said you would?"

Jiraiya suddenly stopped walking and Naruto caught up to the man and moved to his front. There was a particular look in Jiraiya's eyes that Naruto only describe as…uncertain.

"…I guess it is time for you to learn." Jiraiya saw a fallen tree and moved towards it. He sat down in the broken log and motioned Naruto to come sit next to him. Naruto did so and looked at his godfather in confusion.

Jiraiya breathed in a heavy sigh, steeling himself for what he was about to say. "Your father…was the Fourth Hokage."

Naruto remained silent, letting this revelation stink into his brain.

"I know what you must be thinking, and it's not what you think. Minato sealed the Kyuubi in you because he believed in you that one day you could use that power. Do you know why he chose you?"

"…What's that?"

The elder man placed a comforting hand on his godson's shoulder, knowing this was a lot to take in.

"Because he loved you. And wanted to protect you."

Naruto's blank stare turned into a glare as he turned his head to his godfather. "He sealed the most hated being in all of Konoha to protect me? Cause that makes fucking sense."

"Neither Minato, Sarutobi sensei, or even myself could have predicted the villagers reaction to you. We all wanted you to be seen as a hero, but the families who lost people just couldn't see it. Rumors spread like wildfire through the village, we weren't sure what would happen. We had to get you out of there. That's why I watched over you through the first part of your life."

"I studied your seal when you were younger and figured out that the fox's chakra gradually leaks out into your system and become yours. That's where your massive chakra reserves come from. That's how Minato is protecting you, he created your seal in such a way to make the beast's power yours."

Naruto subconsciously moved his hand on his stomach over his clothes, right where the seal would appear. Was that why he was vastly more powerful than his peers? But what about that pull from before? The day on the bridge in the Land of Waves, why did he lose control over himself? Something never added up about that day. He needed to find out what.

"So…my father gave me a demon. What about my mother?"

Jiraiya smiled softly. "Ah, Kushina. That woman…there will never be another one like her."

"You better not be thinking anything perverted."

Jiraiya laughed full heartedly. "Not in a million years with your mother. She was just as bad as Tsunade when it came to putting me in my place. Your mother was amazing, Naruto. I've never seen a woman so excited about childbirth, just the mere thought of having you gave Kushina an amazing sense of happiness. She loved you so much, I don't think anyone could ever love a child like your mother loved you."

A lone tear streaked down Naruto's whiskered cheek, a sense of unimaginable happiness spread throughout him. He couldn't hold back his grin as Jiraiya continued to rave about his parent's love for him. He couldn't hold back the tears any longer, the flood gates were opened.

"Man, I remember the day your parents told about you. Minato tried to hide the surprise but Kushina couldn't help herself and she blurted it out the second I walked through the door. The more they talked about you, the more I saw how good you were going to grow up…" He chuckled softly to himself. "I wish they could see you now, they would be so proud."

Naruto sniffed and wiped away his tears on his sleeve. "Y-You think?"

Jiraiya wrapped a single arm around his godson and pulled into his large frame. He looked down at Naruto with a heartfelt smile and ruffled his spikey blonde hair with his hand. "I know they would."

Several minutes of undisturbed silence fell between the two, Naruto was still trying to comprehend the fact that his father sealed a demon in him. Never would he have thought that his father was the legendary Fourth Hokage. The man who was feared by nations. The man who could had power beyond his young years. The man who selflessly gave his life to save Konoha from certain destruction…and gave his life to seal that very destruction in his newborn son. Naruto wasn't sure how he would come to terms with this.

"Life isn't fair, Kit. Sometimes shit happens that is out of your control and you just must roll with the punches. But you must understand that the Fourth Hokage was trying to make you a hero. The village, however, didn't see you the way he, or the Third, wanted. Don't be angry with him, he was doing what he thought was best for the village. If it wasn't for you then the village would have been destroyed and you wouldn't even exist right now."

Naruto suddenly recalled the Kyuubi's words the day he learned about the demon's existence in him. The Fourth wanted him to be thought of as a hero, not a sacrifice. But that hardly helped mend this fresh wound. Naruto was going to need time. A lot of time.

The blonde boy hopped off the log him and Jiraiya were sitting on and began walking in a random direction. Jiraiya wasn't surprised by this, he merely sighed and followed his godson.

-With Rock Lee and Maito Gai, days later-

"Four hundred and ninety-nine laps down! One more to go Lee!"

"Yes, Gai sensei!"

The two-green clad master-student duo were having racing around the outer wall of Konoha…on their hands. Currently, Gai was just ahead of his youthful student as they passed the starting point. Gai could tell Lee was starting to reach his limit, not that Gai was fairing much better, but the jōnin was greatly impressed, he didn't think Lee would make it past lap three hundred. He certainly didn't think Lee would be hot on his heels on the final lap.

Lee had absolutely no feeling left in his arms, all the blood had rushed to his head. The boy was certain he was starting to see the village wall in a different color. But he wasn't about to give up, not when he was this close to the end! Lee continued to push his body to its limit and beyond.

Lee stayed with his master through the entirety of the final lap, he was just behind Gai as they came on the final stretch.

"Almost there, Lee! Don't stop now!"

Lee could see the finish, he was a mere five feet to the line before his arms caved out from beneath him and the boy collapsed to the ground. Lee could only watch as his beloved master cross the finish line. Gai was more graceful as he, too, went to the ground.

"Do not beat yourself up, Lee." Gai said between his labored breathing. "You did very well and there is no need to feel shame in your loss. You exceeded my-" Gai glanced up and couldn't believe his eyes.

Lee was struggling to his hands and knees, then continuously tried to push himself back into a handstand position but could not get off the ground. His arms shook violently from the simplest pressure. Trying with everything he had, Lee still could not get off the ground.

"Lee…"

"I must…finish. I can't…stop now!" Lee began to crawl. "I will…not lose again!"

Using the last bit of his strength, Lee dragged himself across the finish. He stopped when he reached his sensei, who was sitting upright. Gai helped Lee sit up against the village main wall.

"The power of youth burns deep in you, my student. You remind me so much of myself."

Lee felt a large sense of pride course through him, but he could barely begin to tell his master. His physical exhaustion was too much to handle for him to truly express his gratitude

"You've done very well this past month in your training for the final stage. Naruto will be no match for your strength!" Gai gave his youthful student a thumbs up and his trademark smile that caused his teeth to glisten in the sunlight.

Lee hadn't forgotten about his opponent for his match in the third stage of the Chunin Exams, in fact that's the only thing Lee's thought about for the past month. The mere thought of his match with Naruto really drove him, it was an unlimited source of fuel to feed the fire that was his drive to finally prove that one did not need a birth given talent, a clan's secret bloodline technique, or being a labeled a genius. Lee wanted to prove that the only thing a person needed to be strong was the will and determination to work hard.

'One day…I will beat you Neji!'

-With Naruto and Jiraiya-

The atmosphere between the godfather and godson had changed drastically since the beginning of their journey a month ago. It was the night before the third stage of the Chunin Exams and the two were sitting in front of a small camp fire. Jiraiya was sitting on a fallen tree while Naruto was leaning against it as he sat on the ground. There hadn't been much said between them throughout the day, they had been, practically, sprinting back to the village because their journey took them farther than Jiraiya had originally thought. In fact, silence was all that was between Jiraiya and his godson in the past few days. Naruto hadn't much of anything since he came out of that chamber.

He could still hear it, that harmonic tone rang through Naruto's ears and echoed deep in his mind. It was a beautiful tone that he could barely try to duplicate and yet all he wanted to do was whistle for the wind to come. Being inside that chamber was an experience unlike anything else, it was an odd sense of familiarity due to the beast that resided in him.

"I still haven't forgiven you, y'know."

The first thing Naruto had said in days. "Yeah…I've been catching onto that."

"A few fancy jutsus and a month together doesn't mean shit compared to the six years of torment and being alone."

"..."

"And all this time, you knew the truth about my parents. And never thought to tell me. I spent my entire life wondering who I was or where I came from. Only to find out that my own father is the reason the village hates me so much."

"..."

Jiraiya's lack of argument just made Naruto even more angry with him. The fact he wasn't trying to defend himself or, even, give some type of counter point just frustrated the blonde boy more. The Kyuubi host hastily stood up and glared at his godfather.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?!"

Jiraiya did not say anything for several moments, Naruto thought he was finally going to say something. But the man did not respond with words. Jiraiya reached into his red haori and pulled out a blue porcelain bottle with a cork stuffed into the opening. He pulled out the cork with an audible pop, allowing the alcohol trapped inside to breath into the night air.

Jiraiya held the bottle out. "Here."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "You want me to drink that? I'm freaking twelve years old!"

"It's a common tradition for a boy to have his first drink of sake when he begins his journey to become a man. If I'm honest though, you became a man a long time ago. I guess this is a celebration for completing that journey. And besides, there's an unsaid rule to this kind of thing."

Naruto arched his eyebrow in confusion. "What's that?"

"In our world, kids are practically trained from birth to kill. So, there for; if you are old enough to kill, you are old enough have sex and drink."

Naruto opened his mouth to refute Jiraiya's logic and reasoning, but he couldn't. It made sense to him, despite the premise being horribly correct. The man did have a point. Naruto took ahold of the bottle, looked at it for a moment before taking a large gulp of the contents. Despite the horribly bitter taste, Naruto was not turned off to the idea of having another drink. Oddly though, he didn't feel any sudden effects that normally follow the amount of sake he just drank.

Jiraiya chuckled. "I think some of Tsunade's drinking resistance rubbed off on you. That was a pretty big drink."

Naruto wiped the small excess of liquid off the corner of his mouth with his hand. He handed the bottle back and Jiraiya took his own swig of the sake. "This doesn't change anything, sharing a drink doesn't make everything suddenly disappear."

Jiraiya shoved the cork back in the opening of the bottle and placed it back in it's original place on his person. "I didn't expect it to. All I wanted was a chance Naruto. I know it's going to take long time for you to let me back in, I don't blame you for that."

Naruto didn't respond to his godfather's words, he wasn't sure what to say so he left it be.

"By the way, you aren't twelve. Your thirteen."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya confused. "What?"

"You're thirteen. You turned thirteen today."

Naruto looked at his godfather like he was the stupid, then the date clicked in Naruto's head. It was October 10th. He hadn't celebrated his birthday in so long that the day just felt like any other one. But he was kidding himself about celebrating his birthday, even when he stayed with the toads on the mountain. He normally just hid away from the world.

"Get some rest, Naruto. We have a long run ahead of us if we want to get you back in time for your match."