"You're a total mess." Said Shikamaru at the sight of the just woken up Naruto.
Almost a month had passed since the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams, and now only three days were in between them and the finals. As for the blonde boy, he had been put into the same room as the only other teammate of his that survived the incident in the Forest of Death. However, the purple-haired girl was yet to wake up.
The boy was connected to several tubes, both infusing serum and helping the circulation of his chakra. And up until he woke up, he had been wearing an oxygen mask. He normally healed very quickly, but the fact that he was out for so long showed how much of a beating he had taken. The medics, however, believed there was an additional factor in the new seal that was placed over the Fourth Hokage's.
Nara had not been the only one to visit the blonde boy that day. Alongside him were Ino and Chouji, while further behind, lying on the wall, was Kakashi. The jounin, like usual, was reading his favorite book in the 'Icha Icha' series.
However, when the boy regained consciousness, only the silver-haired shinobi was there with him. He had been visiting every day throughout that month, making sure he progressed correctly. He was also aware that, once the boy was fully recovered, his godfather would be the one to take him for a long while.
Naruto was the last of his original students, and for such, alongside the personal ties to his father, the jounin had a deep care for him.
"I'm so sorry." Said Ino while approaching the boy to hug him.
When team 10 arrived, he had already been informed of the tragic fate of his teammate and rival. As expected, it had hit Naruto like a bullet straight to the heart, and the tears were yet to stop flowing.
"So, uh, I don't know if you still care but Kiba and I made it to the finals." Shikamaru tried to change the topic to lighten the mood. "You're invited to cheer me up if you want."
"Of course not!" Naruto snapped. His mood swing was so sudden that Ino flinched. "I'll be busy training to become strong enough so no one ever dies again!"
Chouji frowned at the mix of determination and sadness in the blonde's face. He had not seen such sorrow in him ever since the days of the academy.
Shikamaru sighed, but figured it was the expected reaction. "You might learn a thing or two if you watch the matches."
"He's right, Naruto." He put his book down for the first time in hours. "I can go with you, if you want."
"No, really…" His voice softened this time. "I'll be busy training…"
His single visible eye fell a little with disappointment. It was a good chance for him to forget about everything that was going on and also learn a thing or two about some strong shinobi.
Then, said eye snapped wide open. "Oh! I almost forgot."
The members of team 10 turned to look at the jounin, who in turn pointed at a cup filled with flowers of several different species that had been placed on his table. It had been noticed by them once they entered the room, but they figured it was standard decoration for the hospital.
"Hinata left those for you. She came while you were still asleep." Explained the jounin.
"But she was severely injured!" Said Ino, quite impressed by the claim that the feeble Hyuga could have visited Naruto. However, she was even more impressed by the complexity of the floral arrangement. Only a noble could possibly have access to it, mostly because of flowers like the jofuku, which were very rare.
Kakashi shrugged. "She came in with crutches and was helped by a maid or something."
Throughout the month, Gohan and Piccolo had been focused on helping the young Akira with basic training. Not only focused on Ki control, but also in the domination of magic. After all, the little Namekian was part of the Dragon clan, unlike his father.
Piccolo had explained Kami's plan to his student, which was the sole reason he even got through the problem of giving birth to a baby. Akira was to be trained to become the new Kami of that Earth, and with that he would create a new lookout and a new set of Dragon Balls.
Of course, all of this had been hidden from Sakura, who thought they were just training the boy to be a warrior like them. Gohan told her it was a tradition among them, using the argument of himself being trained as a little kid.
Piccolo figured it would be better to hide the Dragon Balls from mercenaries.
That day, the older Namekian would be the one to take care of Akira's training, as it was purely about Dragon Clan magic, and he was the one who had absorbed Kami. For such, Gohan was supposed to have a day off.
Sakura knew this, and for such she decided to finally approach him and ask him a favor.
The Saiyan was lying on the grass, sleeping while the warmth of the sun bathed his skin. Ever since they arrived, the climate had been mostly sunny, with few days of actual rain.
"Um, Gohan." She said while standing right next to him.
He sat up, mostly because the girl was blocking the sun for him. "Yeah?"
"I was thinking of going back to Konoha and I wondered if you wanted to go with me." She explained.
At that point, she could go back alone and whenever she wanted. However, her time with the boy and his master had been quite fun, and even more so with the newest addition to the group. That had been holding her back from returning home, but now she could not possibly delay it further. She needed to go back and see her parents.
"Why not?" Replied the boy cheerfully. He jumped and floated a little to make sure he landed properly.
His warm smile reminded her of why she wanted him to accompany her. After so long, many things could have changed. And she did not want to just face everything all alone.
"Should we get going?!"
"Yeah!" Replied Sakura, with a warm smile of her own.
It was time to meet her friends and family once again.
Later that same day, a certain tall man with very long and spiky white hair had arrived at Naruto's room. However, unlike any normal person, he entered by breaking the window and making ridiculous poses. This caught Naruto by surprise, but not so much Kakashi, who seemed unimpressed and continued reading his book.
It did not take very long for the strange man to realize he had landed facing the wall. After cringing, he turned around to face the blonde kid, and once again struck the same pose. He smirked confidently, while awaiting for what he thought would be an inevitable question from the boy.
However, Naruto remained silent, unsure of how to react. Jiraiya was forced to take the reins of the situation, so as to save his act.
"Ha! I know you must be wondering 'who's that cool young guy that just entered through the window'? And I just happen to have the answer!" As he laughed quite loudly, the silver-haired man sitting in the corner of the room wanted to just disappear. "I am the most holy hermit sage of the toads of Mount Myoboku, also known as the Toad Sage! Pleased to meet ya!"
A cold drop of sweat went down Naruto's forehead while he did the exact same face as his jounin master.
The man with the white hair then stood firmly to scratch his chin. "I guess they also know me as Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin but I'm not sure how popular that name is these days."
Then, Naruto's jaw dropped. That name he did recognize, but he was a little disappointed that such a legendary shinobi turned out to be a ridiculous old sage. As for Kakashi, he facepalmed and shook his head.
Still sweating from the embarrassment, Naruto pointed at the strange man. "And what the hell are you doing here, weirdo?!"
The confident smirk returned to the sage's face. He struck the exact same pose as before and enjoyed it for around five seconds, thinking he looked all cool and imposing.
"Well, kiddo, Lord Third Hokage himself has asked me to become your teacher!"
"No, thanks."
The boy's response caused the sage to immediately fall on his back. Kakashi hid his giggles behind his book, which he was already struggling to contain.
"Ungrateful little brat!" Yelled a now furious Jiraiya as he stood back up. "Not like it's your choice anyways, it's direct orders from the boss himself!"
Naruto shrugged. "That old geezer can't tell me what to do! Plus, I'll be training with Kakashi, a real shinobi!"
The silver-haired jounin then cleared his throat to announce his entrance into the conversation. That was the first time Jiraiya realized the man had been in the room the whole time, and he felt a little embarrassed.
"Um, about that, Naruto." He scratched his face through his cloth face mask. "I'll be busy and I haven't fully recovered yet, so I think it's better if you take his offer."
The blonde boy was a little disappointed. After all they had gone through, not even then did his master want to train him. He lowered his head a little, figuring he had run out of options.
Jiraiya turned to the silver-haired jounin, who shrugged at him. Then, he approached the boy and gave him a few pats on the head.
"Hey, don't be sad. I'll make you into someone as cool as me!"
"I don't wanna be a weird clown."
The sage's right eyebrow began to tick. "I meant a legendary shinobi, you stupid brat!"
The boy sighed, assuming his fate. "When are we starting?"
Jiraiya's face softened as the boy finally accepted training with him, even if reluctantly. His previously furious facial expression was replaced by a warm smile, followed by a confident smirk.
"Right now!"
Naruto was surprised, but he would not step away from a challenge. If anything, it helped him get a little excited, though it was hard after all the information he had to process that day.
"I gotta get my clothes, be right back." Was all he said before jumping out of his bed and leaving the room.
The silence in the room did not last long, as the sage and the jounin needed to have a certain conversation.
"Kakashi, tell me something." The Sannin did not turn around to face the man.
The jounin raised his head from the book he was reading, having a series of assumptions about what the man could ask him.
"What was it exactly that you encountered in your mission to the North?"
"Oh, so you know about it." Replied the silver-haired man with forced cheerfulness. "Well, I'm still not sold on the idea, but they might as well have been real demons."
"How so?"
He finally put his book down. "Well, one had green skin and both of them were strong enough to take me and the fox out with relative ease. Not even a drop of sweat."
Jiraiya turned around, revealing that his eyes had opened wide. "So that's why the seal was weakened, the Nine-Tails was put in danger."
"I don't think the fox unleashed much of its power but… I'd say it was in danger, yes." Explained Kakashi, with still some of his forced cheerfulness remaining.
"I have to ask," began the Sannin, announcing further advances in his questioning, "did they wear black cloaks, with red clouds on them?"
Kakashi thought about it for a couple of seconds, before finally shaking his head. "I don't think so. They wore more like… basic purple clothes."
The tall man could not tell whether those were good or bad news. It could perfectly mean that, on top of the organization he had been chasing and investigating for years now, there was another, with members just as or more powerful.
"We'll have to worry about that later, though." Continued the jounin. "I heard that there are plans to destroy Konoha."
Jiraiya sighed. "Indeed. They will attack on the day of the finals, according to our estimations."
"Orochimaru stole Sasuke's eyes after killing him."
"That bastard is really causing a lot of trouble, huh?" For a few seconds, he remembered the final moments of their fight, all those years ago. When he could have prevented so much. "Well, I hope either the old geezer or me will be able to stop him, but to be honest, I don't know for sure."