I wrote this during finals week way back in early May. I wasn't quite happy with how it turned out then, and life got really busy in June and so far in July, so I haven't been able to update the story at all, so I apologize for that. Fortunately I like it well enough to post now, and the next chapter is also done, so it should be just a day or two until I post it.

A commenter mentioned that they couldn't picture Naruto with hair like Jiraiya. It's not exactly like Jiraiya's, it's more like Minato's with a pony tail coming down the back. I'll post a picture of it on the instagram account ( StolenHawk22), and I believe it's also my pfp on FFN but I'm relatively new here so idk how if that's going to show up properly.

-StolenHawk

Naruto landed from his leap, and rolled with his momentum, barely dodging the senbon that were chasing him at high speeds. He transferred the roll into a sprint, ducking behind a tree to use as a shield. His chest heaved as he tried to calm himself. He peeked out over his left shoulder, trying to get an eye on the enemy, but he didn't see the towering man anywhere.

"Still too slow, Gaki." Jiraiya said. Naruto whipped around in surprise, his body reacting on instinct, trying to form a shadow clone before his brain could even process what was going on. Before he could even begin to mold the chakra, the Sannin delivered a heavy handed blow to Naruto's chest, sending him flying back 10 feet, and skidding another 20.

The blond came to a halt near where his teammates were currently licking their own wounds.

"3-on-1" Sasuke grumbled. "3-on-1, and we're not even close to beating him." His displeasure was evident in his scowl.

"And you'll never be able to either! The Great Gallant Toad Sage is unbeatable!"

Jiraiya's posturing was interrupted by Kakashi. "Woah, you beat three genin? Congratulations Jiraiya-sama. You just keep getting more and more powerful." Kakashi's tone and face were completely serious, which Team 7 had come to figure was his way of being sarcastic.

Jiraiya's face deadpanned. "They're a bit stronger than most genin, don't you think?"

A simple wave of the hand was all he received. Kakashi wasn't one to go handing out needless compliments.

From his place in the dirt, Naruto weezed one final time as he caught his breath. "You broke my ribs you stupid pervert!"

"Good! Maybe next time you'll learn to get out of the way." Jiraiya said. The smug smirk on his face pushed Naruto over the edge.

"You sonuva—" He yelled, springing to his feet to begin his charge at Jiraiya anew. Sasuke tried to hook his arm through Naruto's to stop him, but it was Hinata's hand on his shoulder that ultimately stopped him.

She shook her head at him when he questioned her with a look. He turned to Sasuke who only offered a head tilt and pursed lips, as if to say 'there's nothing you can do alone, if we couldn't beat him together'. Naruto tilted his head to the two of them, indicating that he still had an ace up his sleeve that might even the odds a little bit. Both of his teammates shook their heads firmly. The destruction that would cause wasn't worth it for a spar or a verbal jab. He sighed, relenting that they were, at the very least, a little bit right.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. A true smile that had been showing itself more and more these days, not that anybody could tell. Jiraiya, on the other hand, snorted lightly at the three. They were showing better teamwork and communication at that age than he, Tsunade, and Orochimaru had even into their teens. They were impressive, and that was an understatement.

"Alright you three," Jiraiya said. "Get a mental room or something, I hate it when you guys leave me out of the conversation." It was a bit grumbly for a ninja of such legendary renown. He worked in spying and information though, and he didn't like being kept out of the loop. It gave him a bad feeling in his gut, whether it was deserved or not.

"Your teamwork is strong, but you two…" Jiraiya pointed to the boys, "need to work on including Hinata more. It's not three vs. two and a minor support." He turned to Hinata, pointing at her. She shied away ever so slightly. "And you, young lady, need to be more assertive. You don't have as much raw power as the knuckleheads, but that's not the end all be all. You're more precise than they are. They're gonna get most of the focus in a battle, so use that opportunity to land your own attacks, don't wait for them to call you in every time."

She nodded. In truth, Naruto and Sasuke almost always had a perfect opening for her when they signaled her, but she didn't do much besides what they said, and some minor weapons support. It was nitpicking a little bit, but they were already overly developed for Genin.

"I believe this concludes your week in the village?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya. He continued after receiving a nod. "Good timing then. I have your C-rank mission picked out, Team 7."

All three genin perked up. They had been training with Jiraiya until their bones creaked and their muscles groaned every day for the last week, and they were excited to finally see some action.

"Report to the Hokage's office tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. sharp. Yamato-sensei will meet you there." Kakashi said. They nodded. "Rest up, your first C-rank is a big deal. Dismissed."

They all slouched from the straightened position they had unknowingly snapped into. Naruto went to say goodbye to his surrogate father, but he was nowhere to be found. Naruto rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. He was familiar with the games of Hide-and-seek that Jiraiya liked to use as training, he just didn't think he'd be playing it right after getting his ass kicked.

"I'll meet up with you guys after I say bye to Pervy Sage." He said.

"Give him our thanks for the training." Hinata said politely.

"Hn."

"Will do, see you guys at the restaurant?" They nodded.

Naruto used a shunshin to leave the immediate area so that he could focus. Jiraiya would have his chakra suppressed and resonating with the surrounding environment, so sensing him would be difficult. Sending out clones to try and find him would be basically worthless, as his camouflage jutsu was above what Naruto could currently pick out.

He decided that just this one day, he would cheat at their little game. It was only fair payback after that last punch Jiraiya had dished out. He made his trademark hand seal, chakra molding so quickly and precisely that it was almost easier than walking at this point. Thirty clones appeared, spread out through the forest. Every single one of them sported an ear to ear grin on their face.

Thirty Naruto's at once called out "Sexy Jutsu, Transform!"

Standing in the forest were thirty blonde women, all looking to be about 20 years old. The only thing covering them was artificial smoke from the jutsu. They all began to walk in different directions, swinging their hips as they went, calling out 'Jiraiya-sama, where are you?'

After three minutes, Naruto received a memory from the clone who had drawn him out, and quickly body flickered there once he had his bearings.

Jiraiya was laying on the ground, blood gushing out of his nose, and eyes completely unfocused. Naruto grinned again. It was the perfect opportunity.

Three smooth hand signs later, he was molding his chakra into a large water bullet to fire at Jiraiya. Just as he let the jutsu go, Jiraiya suddenly flickered out of the way.

"Haha! Still too slow, Naruto!" Jiraiya said.

Jiraiya received a smack in the head a moment later, and the Naruto that had tried the water gunshot disappeared into a poof of smoke.

"Guess I'm getting faster." The blond teased.

Jiraiya grumbled, and rubbed the back of his head. "Tch, I knew you were there, Kid. I just wanted you to get a shot in after that ass-beating I gave you in front of your little girlfriend." He said, though he wasn't entirely telling the truth.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Naruto said, though his cheeks were tinged pink. "She's my teammate, and a kickass one at that!" He couldn't keep the pride out of his voice after all the ground she had made up on him and Sasuke.

"Okay, okay, relax." Jiraiya said, feeling Naruto's chakra stir. "You are getting better with the clone usage though. You had me fooled on which one was actually you, though I was a bit… distracted, and I still could've stopped your slap."

Naruto rolled his eyes again, very familiar with Jiraiya's reaction times. "So, what did you want to talk to me about anyway?"

"You're aware of the dangers of a C-rank, so I'll spare you the details on that. Are you mentally prepared to make your first kill if you must?"

Naruto inhaled deeply, taking his time to make sure he was certain. "Yes."

Jiraiya nodded. He already knew that Naruto wouldn't like it, and they'd had plenty of discussions on it before, so he didn't feel the need to reiterate how ending a life might save others.

"Good. Protect your team, and stay sharp at all times." It was Naruto's turn to nod, his ever lengthening hair bobbing on his horned forehead protector. "I'm going to be gone for a few months, but after your mission, I'm going to have Kakashi teach you a special jutsu. You shouldn't have any trouble learning it, so he's going to make it more challenging for you. I want it learned by the Chunin exams, okay?"

"Sir, yes Sir." Naruto said, mock saluting.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. The little brat could be quite the handful, but he would never regret the day he'd taken him on the road with him. It was one of the best days of his life.

Jiraiya put a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder, and looked him right in the eyes to show how serious he was. "Naruto… I'm so proud of the shinobi, and more importantly man, that you're becoming, and I know your parents would be too. I know I'm no replacement for them, but I just wanted you to know… I love you." Jiraiya's voice hitched ever so slightly, and his eyes had a shine to them.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with an open mouth. Jiraiya hadn't said those words to him before. Deep down he knew it of course, but the Sannin just wasn't the type to openly say it. He was more the type to show it. He was his surrogate father, his sensei, fellow toad summoner, man that beat the crap out of him, and open super pervert. He wasn't real family, they didn't have the same blood, but he was the only family Naruto had ever truly known. Tears began to flow out of the his blue eyes, streaming down his cheeks with increasing force.

Naruto sniffed, trying to keep the snot from running out of his nose. He wiped the tears off his face with the back of his forearm, smearing the red lines that he had taken to crossing through his first whisker mark, much like Jiraiya did, only shorter. "I love you too, you stupid old pervert." He nearly sobbed the words out.

Before Jiraiya could say anything else, he was wrapped into a hug, lightning fast.

It was his turn to be surprised, as Naruto had never hugged him, not like this at least. He just rested his hands on his back, content to just hold him while he cried.

It only lasted a second or two, but it packed all the punch in the world. Naruto pulled back, still trying to get a handle on his emotions. "Next time you're here, I'll have that jutsu mastered, and I'll use it to kick your ass!"

Jiraiya could only chuckle at him. Both ninja of the leaf village felt a strange warmth in them. One hadn't ever felt it, the other hadn't felt it in years. They locked eyes, and both used the shunshin to leave the area, not feeling the need to say anymore.

—

Five minutes before seven in the morning, Yamato met his three genin outside of the Hokage tower. The trio knew he'd been there for at least thirty minutes, observing the surroundings. It's just how their sensei operated. Must be the ANBU in him.

"Have a nice mission, Sensei?" Sasuke asked, sharingan spinning. He'd picked up on the minute limp that Yamato approached with.

"I wasn't on a mission, Sasuke." Yamato said. "You know I was on leave while you three trained with Jiraiya-sama."

"Yep, sure ya were Sensei, sure ya were." Naruto said. "Masked or unmasked?"

"You know I'm not allowed to speak of my missions, Naruto." Yamato said. He had long since resigned that they were smart enough to figure out when he was on one.

"I believe it was ANBU." Hinata said, using her Byakugan to read her sensei's body language.

"Course it was, otherwise he'd be able to tell us." Sasuke said.

"Not if it was S-rank!" Naruto said

"If it was S-rank he would've been gone longer than a week."

"Whatever." Naruto turned to Yamato, "how'd it go? Everybody make it home okay?"

"Naruto, you know I can neither confirm nor deny details of a mission."

"His body language and eyes indicate that the mission was a success, though his limp says there was trouble." Hinata said, before deactivating her Byakugan.

"Tch, A-rank then." Sasuke said.

"Easy peasy for a jonin like you, right Yamato-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Despite the tiny quirk of his lip, Yamato rolled his eyes. It wasn't a dramatic gesture like when Naruto did it, but it conveyed the message. No more questions, time for business.

"Let's report to Hokage-sama before we're late." There was a reason he always met them five minutes early. They were nosy and liked to ask questions they didn't need to know the answer to. He was starting to like that about them though.

Inside the tower, Naruto greeted everybody he could name, and some that he couldn't, with a huge smile and a wave. Some of the ninja returned the enthusiasm, others politely greeted him in return, and a few seemed to ignore them. He chalked it up to them being busy, though deep down he knew the truth.

When they got to the mission assignment room, Naruto was brutally and savagely attacked by a young boy wearing a long blue scarf. Or he would've been if the boy, missing one of his front teeth, hadn't tripped over the scarf.

"Konohamaru," Naruto said, "What did I tell you about trying to attack me in the Hokage tower?"

"That you might accidentally set me on fire?" The Hokage's grandson asked.

"Exactly, or if you're really unlucky, I might have Hinata shut down your organs." His point was emphasized by Hinata using her single hand seal to activate her Byakugan.

"Noooo!" The young Sarutobi yelled, rushing out of the room on his tiny legs. The three genin all laughed, and Yamato even cracked a smile.

"I fear you've motivated him far better than I ever could have, Naruto-kun" The Hokage said. "It seems your run-in a few weeks ago has sparked his Will of Fire… I can't thank you enough. The 'assassination' attempts were getting old." The Sandaime chuckled.

"Ah it's nothing. He just reminds me of myself when I was younger, yelling about how he's going to become Hokage." Naruto couldn't help but chuckle himself. "I'm not sure he'll be much of a rival though, he's only 7."

"Speaking of being reminded of our younger selves, I see that you've made a uniform change." Sarutobi said.

Naruto blushed slightly. His new mission outfit was now ready to go after being tested extensively. It was designed after the Third's old war getup. He wore standard shinobi pants, and a tight long sleeve shirt, both of which were an ashy grey so dark that they were essentially black. His usual mesh body armor with green hand guards resided underneath, though it was only visible at his wrists and collar line due to the bandages on his limbs.

His kunai holster was still taped to his right thigh, more for show than anything, since he had seals lining his clothes that contained various weapons and items that would be needed for a mission or combat. Standard black shinobi sandals encased his feet, much more comfortable for long missions than his wooden geta.

Light gleamed off of his freshly polished 'Oil' headband that his summons had given him, the black straps used to tie it on hanging down past his hair, to his mid back. His black Konoha forehead protector wound around his waist in place of a belt. His blond hair flopped over the headband and down the side of his head, framing his face in bangs reminiscent of his fathers. Unlike the Fourth Hokage though, Naruto wore his in a short ponytail down to his upper back, ready to be used in any of the techniques his Godfather had taught him. He continued to support the red paint leaking from his eye, though it was much shorter than before, continuing his ode to the Sandaime.

Jiraiya had called the outfit 'boring and unbefitting of a student of the great toad sage' when he'd shown him. He was sure he looked badass. Cooler than Sasuke's new digs at least. (A/N: Sasuke is wearing his outfit from the filler of episode 442, where he joins the police force. Grayish undershirt and pants, black vest, bandaged legs with armor over them. No police force logo though, just the Uchiha crest, the vest won't be the same as the chunin vests, as there won't be the Uzumaki crest on the back, but it's a similar style, and no skirt thing. Search Sasuke police force in Google images to see it.)

"I like it a lot. It reminds me of the good ole days when my joints didn't hurt so much." The Sandaime said, giving him a grandfatherly smile. "Anyway, I presume you're here for your mission?"

Team 7 straightened and nodded, though the smiles couldn't be kept off their face.

"Very well, here is the mission Kakashi picked for you. A simple patrol to the border of the Land of Hot Springs and back. Standard stuff, though with the potential to run into bandits or missing nin." He handed the scroll with the details to Yamato, who took it silently. "I'm expecting a successful mission from you three, since you're the ones who requested it." He said, face stern, a small amount of his tremendous chakra leaking.

"Don't worry ya old Geezer, we won't let you down!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, have some respect for the Hokage." Yamato said. It was his duty to teach him after all.

"Yeah yeah, I know. He already gave us the mission though, so it's fine. And look at him, he is old. You can't argue that!" Yamato put a hand over his face, mumbling to himself about discipline.

"Konoha is counting on you Team 7, I wish you luck, though I don't expect you'll need it."

With that, the squad of four marched out of the Hokage tower.

—

The Hokage was right, they didn't need luck, the mission was easy. And boring. Naruto knew that it wouldn't be all action and fighting missing-nin or other villages. Still, he thought they would at least see someone else along the way.

Seven full days spent traveling their sector of Fire Country, and they didn't see a single soul. No missing nin, no bandits, not even a civilian. He was pretty sure that Kakashi had picked this mission specifically because it would be boring, and he was fully plotting his revenge as they made their final approach to the village gates.

The report to the Hokage was just as boring as the mission had been, though the old man was smirking the whole time. Stupid older ninja and their experience.

The trio and their sensei made their way out of the Hokage tower. Two of them were sporting grumpy looks on their faces, while the other two seemed pleased. It was only noon, and Yamato gave them the rest of the day off, as was required after anything higher than a D-rank. Hinata was happy with how the mission went, and was content to report its success to her father. Naruto and Sasuke did not feel the same way.

"Which training ground?" Sasuke said.

"45, I wanna blow off some steam."

Sasuke nodded, and departed for his apartment, and Naruto did the same. When their mission gear was swapped out for training gear, they both moved to meet at the training ground, and of course, arrived at the exact same time.

"Dammit!" Naruto yelled. "I thought I would beat you this time!"

He immediately made ten shadow clones. Just because he would be sparring with Sasuke didn't mean that he couldn't also get some regular training in.

The two boys vented their frustration by destroying the training ground to the best of their ability. Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning techniques laid waste to the grounds, shattering trees, and tearing up dirt. Most of it was more venting frustrations than sparring, as they didn't want to risk injuring each other too badly. They both took their fair share of blows though, and Naruto sported a swollen eye, while Sasuke had a black one with a cut on his cheek. The session was more stress relief than truly trying improve, so neither was focused on winning, they just wailed on each other.

It was only an hour before they were laying on their backs, huffing and puffing trying to catch their breath. There was blood spilled just about everywhere, most of it being Naruto's. At some point he insisted on putting away his own swords, and going against Sasuke's sword without a weapon. He was trying to create a wind shield, and it actually worked extremely well, the only problem was he kept coming away with cuts anyway. He couldn't direct the wind chakra strictly away from himself, and his own technique was the main cause of all his wounds.

"Why… are you… so stubborn?" Sasuke asked in between breaths.

"What… do you mean." Naruto said.

"You… could use your clones… to outpace me easily… Why do you focus on things… that you can't do?" They'd had this conversation before, but Sasuke still didn't understand. If Naruto concentrated all his training clones on one or two skills, he would quickly become too strong in that aspect for Sasuke to be able to keep up with him. Sasuke was a little bitter knowing that Naruto could surpass him if he wanted too.

"I need to… be good at everything… How can I protect… My family otherwise?" Naruto sat up, and took a few deep breaths to finally get his lungs under control. "I have to be good at everything. What good are wind jutsu if Hinata is hurt? What good is kenjutsu if I'm stuck in a genjutsu? I have the chance to try and become good at everything, and be useful in every situation. I couldn't take it if I didn't learn something just because it was hard, and a shinobi of the Leaf got hurt because of it."

Sasuke looked at him, his Sharingan having lit up at some point while Naruto was talking. He eyed his best friend carefully. "Is it not better to be the best at one thing, than to be mediocre at everything?" He had long since given up on trying to perfect everything, choosing to focus on the things he was good at. It was the only way he could keep up or pass Naruto. He would never be as good at Fuinjutsu or wind techniques, at least not better than Naruto. If he focused on fire and lightning, and maybe kenjutsu and genjutsu, he could go head to head with him.

A small grin found its way into the corner of Naruto's lips. "I don't know, that cut on your cheek says I'm just a little more than mediocre with the sword. Maybe I'll just have to be the best at everything?" The grin was splitting his face by the end of the sentence.

"In your dreams, Loser. There's some things you'll just never be better at than me." Sasuke said. There was a light arrogance to his words.

"Yeah yeah, red eyes make Sasuke go brrr. I get it. If my newest genjutsu theory pans out though, your eyes might not be able to help you."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at that. Naruto knew the sharingan better than most in the village, due to his close proximity to Sasuke and Kakashi. The sharingan had been around for hundreds if not thousands of years though, and there was no known genjutsu technique that could defeat a fully matured one. Not for a skilled user of the eye at least.

"It's still a long way away right now. I have a bunch of clones working on that and medical ninjutsu though. I only have a couple training in my more traditional shinobi arts, unless something grabs my attention."

"I know. Just imagine how strong you could be in a month, if you focused all your clones on training a few skills that you're already good at. You could be a stronger wind or water user than any shinobi in Konoha! Or you could be the best seal master in the village, maybe even the world! Why do you waste your time on things you have no affinity for!?" Sasuke flung a rock that he picked up off the ground. It struck a tree and buried itself through the bark. He was frustrated by Naruto's unwillingness to tap into his power. If he had that much chakra to use shadow clones, he would already be strong enough to take on Kakashi if he specialized.

"I told you. I don't care about becoming a jonin at 13 or anything like that. I train to get strong enough to protect the ones I love, and the village I love. That includes you, you Bastard. What if you take a blade to the gut, who's gonna save you?"

"Tch. Like I'd ever let somebody stab me."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew that Sasuke's pride wasn't true hubris, but for some reason the Uchiha thought that the posturing made the Uchiha look stronger or something.

"What are you two air heads arguing about now?" A light voice said, gaining their attention. "A couple of cuties like you shouldn't be fighting all the time."

"We fight because that's what Brothers do, Ino." Naruto said. Sasuke crossed his arms and turned his head at 'Brothers' unwilling to let the rest of the village see what he himself believed. "What are you two doing here?"

"Sakura and I wanted to get some extra training in, and we thought this area would be more private since it's so close to the forest. When we saw you though, we thought we'd come see if you wanted to join."

"We just got done training, actually…" Naruto turned to Sasuke, and their eyes locked. "I think we still got enough left in the tank to kick your sorry asses though." He teased.

"Oh yeah, Blondie?"

"Yeah, Piggy."

"Oh? Can't come up with anything good so you have to steal from Sakura?"

"If it ain't broke don't fix it."

"Well then your face really needs fixing." Ino teased.

"Oh that's cold, Ino-chan."

"Is it Naruto-kun?"

"Alright, alright you two," Sakura said. "Get a room if you wanna continue."

"Hn. If we're gonna train, we should train. You can flirt on your own time."

Both Naruto and Ino's faces tinged pink, and they suddenly found the dirt very interesting. Before things had a chance to become more uncomfortable, Sakura saved them.

"Well we were going to do some sparring, but it looks like you guys already did that. Any other training you might wanna do?"

Sakura paled when she saw the grin on Naruto's face.

—

I wanted to get this chapter out since it'd been a while and I was kind of stuck. I also didn't want to include too many scenes in this chapter, or too many little time skips as it was going to make it feel much more rushed, so I split it into two chapters.

The debut of Naruto's newest outfit. He'll still wear the "Jiraiya" outfit around the village from time to time, especially on D-ranks, but now he has something more mission ready, that won't hold him back at all on serious missions. Hinata already got her update, which I felt went with her character development better, and Sasuke got an update too, since the shorts and shirt he wore felt real strange for a mission out of the village, and I really liked what he wore in the filler episode where he joins the Uchiha Police Force.

Naruto doesn't really have a fighting style at this point in time, he kinda just randomly uses his skills to accomplish his goals, sometimes on a whim. All I'll say is that this is intentional at this point in time.

Finally, if you've made it this far, you might enjoy my writing. Well I've got news for you: I started a new story! It's centered around Rogue Ninja Itachi taking Naruto and Sasuke from the village when they're young and training them to survive, as the Leaf is out to get them. It's a fair bit darker than this story, especially the first chapter, but there will still be some humor. The first chapter is posted, and most of the second one is already written, so go give it a read!