Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Naruto; that honour is Masashi Kishimoto's.
Naruto had returned from the mission he promised he would accomplish, but he failed; Naruto had never had the taste of failure aside from paper tests from the Academy.
Before going off, he promised Sakura he would bring back Sasuke but failed; not only did he fail, but his friend Someone almost lost their life from Sasuke.
At the moment his thoughts were running around the freshly rouge Uchiha, both Choji and Neji were on the verge of their death and Kiba and his nin-dog were no different, as of the circumstances he was the same he had a whole implanted on his shoulder leaving him handicapped with his right arm torn off, because of the Uchiha and had various broken libs, the only one who had the most minor injury was Shikamaru with a broken finger.
As soon as he was treated, the first person to come visit him was Shikamaru; they barely exchanged words. They both knew what was going on in each other's brains.
"How are you feeling?" Shikamaru asked Naruto as he sat on the side of the hospital bed Naruto was being treated on
"I...I don't know," the blond said as he kept looking through the window, after not every day someone you considered family would attack you
Before their conversation could develop any further giant thud was heard outside
Shikamaru ran and opened the curtains to see what the hell was going on
There stood the legendary Toad Sage Jiraya of the Sannin, teammate of the current Hokage, sensei of the previous Hokage and student of the Hokage before him
"Hello, Brat," exclaimed Jiraya, Shikamaru didn't know that Naruto personally knew the Sannin but didn't question it
"Per... Pervy-sage,"
"What are you doing here," he asked
"heard you went on a mission and returned half dead," Jiraya said as he sat on the very same toad he with
"Let's not beat around the bush Naruto, I've come here to make a formal announcement, you are now officially my apprentice, we are leaving the village for training within three years I'll make you a full-fledged ninja," he said Naruto just stared him, Shikamaru just kept watching the two interact
"When I was researching Orochimaru's art of immortality, my sources brought to my attention some reliable information regarding the Akatsuki,"
"Information, but my arm," he said as he touched the space his arm was once there
"The Akatsuki," Naruto said in a soft tone to himself
'The Akatsuki?"Who the hell are they,' Shikamaru thought
"They won't be back for you... for the next three-four more ye..., "Jiraya was interrupted midsentence as Naruto spoke
"Who cares about them,?" Naruto said nat matching his eye to either of them
"As soon as I am healed I gotta go after Sasuke! Orochimaru could kill him," Naruto exclaimed
Jiraiya fired his chakra as the density caused both the teens to sweat
"FORGET ABOUT THE UCHIHA," exclaimed Jiraya. He didn't want Naruto to end up like him, chasing after someone who can't be changed no matter what.
"Sasuke Uchiha went to Orochimaru willingly, it doesn't matter what you do for him, he will not change, I've seen shinobi come and go and Sasuke is cut from the same cloth as Orochimaru, forget bringing him back it is the tragic path of self-righteous fo...," for the second time in a row he was cut midsentence
"HE MAYBE NOTHING TO YOU, PERVY-SAGE BUT SASUKE IS MY FRIEND," Naruto shouted as tears formed in his eyes
"YOU CALL HIM A FRIEND, LOOK WHAT HE'S DONE TO YOU," Shikamaru who was silent all the time exclaimed as both toad summoners looked at him one with hope and the other with sadness
"I don't know what kind of bond you had with Sasuke, but someone who put a hole in your chest isn't certainly a friend, I may not know what kind of people this Akatsuki are but from your conversation, it's clear that they are after you and you need to get stronger," Shikamaru said as he started crying
"just for one person don't throw away your life Naruto," Shikamaru said as both of them sobbed in silence as Jiraya watched them
'Maybe if someone like the Nara kid was my friend I too would probably have given up on Orochimaru long ago,' thought Jiraya
"If you're intent on chasing Sasuke, then forget the training trip, with the council and Hokage I'll stick the ANBU black ops on you and you will be stripped down from the ranks of shinobi and you'll be forbidden to set foot outside Konoha if you intend to come to meet me in five days at dawn at the east gate," Jiraya said with giving a second glance as the frog jumped away
Shikamaru walked up to Naruto and placed his working hand on his only shoulder
"Naruto please think about yourself it's too troublesome for me," he said as he walked away and paused at the doorframe
"You and I have been friends far longer than you and Sasuke, if such things happen to you as lord Jiraya said I would be sad after all you have more friends than Sasuke alone," he said and left
Too many questions and far less time to answer