A/N: Look at this, only two weeks late instead of four! I'm moving up in the world again!

I'm not really happy with this chapter, cause after I finished it I sorta felt like I actually wanted to SHOW Natsu and Sakuni resolving their situation, as well as his conversation with Inoichi and such instead of just referencing them… But I'd also just really wanted to move my plot so I think that's how this happened. Maybe I'll make an interlude later, or just give more detail in-story about what happened.

For now, hopefully this chapter's not as bad to you guys as it was to me!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!

"Are you guys alright?!" Naruto shouts, trying to tackle them into a hug. Sasuke steps to the side, leaving Natsu to catch the blond's full weight.

"We're fine!" Natsu yelps, trying to get Naruto to put his feet back on the ground. He wraps his legs tighter, all but clinging even as he reaches out with one hand to try and snag Sasuke.

The Uchiha takes another step back, arms crossed.

"Dobe."

"You guys are really okay, right?" Naruto asks a bit more quietly, and Natsu smiles.

"We're fine, really! We weren't even gone for that long, right? Even if it was really boring…"

"Week and a half," Sasuke offers, eyes trained on Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei as they argue quietly between themselves.

If Natsu focuses, he could probably hear their conversation, but Inoichi already explained the argument he'd heard in the Hokage's office, so Natsu's got a good idea what it's about.

He didn't even get a chance to go by the house before being all but dragged to the city gates, cause they had Kakashi pick up a pack for him, and-

"Isn't Kakashi-sensei coming with us?" Naruto finally drops his legs to stand so he can watch as Jiraiya walks up. "I thought you were taking Team 7 out on a special mission, right?"

Jiraiya smiles, reaching out to ruffle Naruto's hair. "I meant you three, kiddo! Kakashi's got his own missions to run, but he'll check in from time to time if we end up in the same area. For now, it's just us! I hope you aren't too intimidated by my greatness!" He laughs loudly for a moment.

"Now, what say we get going, yeah? Places to be and all that! Feeling alright there, Pinky? Not gonna pass out on me are you?"

Natsu scowls. "Like hell! I'm fine! Sakuni'n'I are pretty sure we fixed that for now, anyway, and she's keepin' an eye on everything in there just in case. Let's just go, s'not like you're gonna let me stop by Sakura-chan's house anyway…"

Jiraiya sighs. "Sorry about that, kid. I tried, but sensei can be a stubborn old monkey when he sets his mind on something. But you're right! Let's get a move on! Chop chop!" He ushers them towards the gates, and Naruto only spares a moment to glance around for Kakashi-sensei before rushing after them.

The sun's warm and bright and the road is dusty, not a carriage in sight, and Natsu's pretty sure the day could only be more perfect if it was Magnolia's shadow he saw in the distance, instead of the large trees that border Konoha's main road, planted far enough back from the city wall to discourage enemies from using it as camouflage.

And maybe to prevent forest fires from spreading to the walls.

They are wood, after all.

It's still a nice day though, and he's been cooped up way too long, so he breaks into a sprint, clipping Sasuke as he passes and turning it into a race.

Naruto joins in with a laugh, and if it's a little odd not to see Kakashi easily keeping pace while reading a book and mocking their efforts, well…

At least Jiraiya's not all bad.

"So where're we going?" Natsu asks, fingers laced behind his head. Sasuke won their race (again), but it was closer this time and Natsu's not gonna let it happen again!

Jiraiya laughs from up ahead. "Oh, here and there! I've got work to do after all! Can't put my job on hold for a bunch of brats! But don't worry, as long as you don't interfere with my… ahem, research, I might teach you a thing or two while we're at it!"

"Ooh! You'll teach us awesome new jutsu?!" Naruto exclaims, all but bouncing his way forward to meet Jiraiya's eyes.

The man laughs. "We'll have to see! For now, let's pick up the pace, I'd like to hit the next town by sunset!"

"What're we gonna do there? Do you have a super secret mission? Are we gonna have to take a secret letter to the Daimyo?!" Naruto babbles eagerly, and Jiraiya reaches out to ruffle his hair mid-stride.

"Nothing like that, kiddo! Gotta meet with a couple'a friends, and maybe do some research on the side, ehehehe…"

"Wha- how is that even a job?" Naruto groans, glancing back toward Natsu, and the Dragon Slayer laughs.

"Eh, I don't really know! Mira liked to do jobs that were just talking to people when she had to go out, but I don't like 'em! They're pretty boring, so I avoided 'em, and I don't really know what you're supposed to do on 'em at all…" he scratches at his head, trying to remember the last job like that. He's pretty sure Mirajane just had to talk to some guys, something about a negotiation? It was a pretty high-paying job, Lucy would have loved it probably, but it was before she joined…

He shrugs. "Yeah, I really don't remember the specifics. But they do exist! And they're lots of money if you do 'em right! They're just so boring though…"

"Hmm…" Jiraiya glances at Natsu, a considering look in his eye, and Natsu crosses his arms to scowl back at him.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, nothing!" Jiraiya grins, waving him off.

"Uh-huh." Natsu sighs, tilting his head to look over at Sasuke. Their eyes meet for a moment, before the Uchiha jerks his gaze away to stare resolutely at the trees lining the road.

What's that about? Natsu wonders, but Sakuni's resting and Sakura-chan's s'posed to be keeping an eye on the door just in case, so no one answers.

The silence drags for a few minutes, with Naruto glancing between everyone else with an indecisive look on his face.

Natsu steps next to the blond and grins. "So, I don't think you said! What were you up to while we were stuck in that awful, stupid safe-house?"

Naruto winces, glancing at Sasuke, before he shrugs. "Nothing, really. I played a couple pranks! But I stayed away from the other teams in the exams, so it was only easy pranks against some shopkeepers really…"

"Are they still bein' rude to you?" Natsu asks with a glower, and Naruto shrugs.

"I didn't really have to talk to 'em at all, since Kakashi-sensei did all the shop- uh, I mean-"

"You trained with Kakashi-sensei? He teach you anything cool?" Natsu smiles encouragingly, and Naruto only waffles nervously for another moment before he takes a large breath and blurts out his answer.

"He didn't really teach me anything new… I mean he worked on my kata forms a bit more, a-and then he complained about my diet-! There's nothing wrong with ramen, I don't know why he doesn't get it. I tried to tell him, but then he took my wallet and said he'd just buy the groceries instead since I didn't know how to 'take care of myself', and then he'd show up at dawn and make me go out and run laps - it was like he was that green guy-! Argh!" Naruto scowls, twisting back to glare in the direction of Konoha like Kakashi might feel it.

"Wimp," Sasuke scoffs, glancing back with a smirk.

"Teme!" Naruto leaps forward to tackle the Uchiha, howling, and Natsu's all for throwing himself into the fight, but Jiraiya grabs his arm.

"You're a bit strange, you know." the old man starts conversationally, not even looking at him.

"You're one to talk!" Natsu retorts, pulling his arm away and looking up to glare at the man.

Jiraiya just laughs. "Maybe I'm not! But that doesn't make you any less odd, now does it?"

"What's so strange then?" Natsu laces his fingers behind his head again, eyes unwavering.

"That, for starters," Jiraiya replies, staring at Natsu's arms, before jerking his gaze back to his face. "You're not the least bit worried, are you?"

Natsu tilts his head quizzically. "Why would I be? We're in a forest. I'm a fire specialist. I can protect myself if I gotta, so I'm not gonna be worried about someone like you."

Jiraiya whistles low. "Y-you are seriously confident there, aren't you? Didn't hear you fare too well against my teammate, though."

Natsu scowls. "'M not an idiot. But with enough fire, you wouldn't be able to chase us if we had to run, and it'd destroy our trails too. And then I can come back and have a proper fight later, when Sakura-chan's strong enough to keep up with my style. Even if running is stupid."

Jiraiya's eyes narrow sharply. "You… wanted to get caught by the ANBU, didn't you?" he asks, and Natsu scowls.

"I was bored and I wanted someone to fight me! I used to take whatever jobs I wanted, fight whoever I wanted unless Erza was there, but then I could always goad her into a fight, y'know? I'll beat her one of these days! But now the only jobs Kakashi takes us on are D-ranks, and then we tried to have a little bit of fun with the foreign competitors and this happened-" he waves his hand sharply, "-and I just wanted to have some fun. Didn't 'xactly want to get caught, but s'not like I was planning to flee the village or anything. Sakura-chan's got a family here, I'm not about to take her from it! But then you guys took us anyway, and didn't even let us say goodbye-"

Natsu cuts off as Naruto and Sasuke glance back, arms tight around each others' throats.

Jiraiya sighs. "I am sorry about that. Even getting sensei to let Inoichi have a word with you before we left was a trial, and I know when to pick my battles, eh? But I gotta say - I wouldn't expect someone as battle-hungry as you to even realize that non-combat missions exist. How's that work, pinky?"

Natsu stares bemusedly at Jiraiya. "Whaddya mean? There're loads of no-fighting jobs. Breakin' curses, workin' with the Explorer guilds, I don't like those sorts of jobs myself but you can't really miss 'em? They're all on the same board after all! That one S-rank job about the weird island-moon curse wasn't supposed to have fighting originally, I just took it cause it was an S-rank, but then there turned out to be people to fight anyway so it all worked out! Erza was so pissed though..." he shudders, remembering that aura of doom that consumed him. He swore he could feel it crawling down his spine with every step inland she took, even though he hadn't known she was there! And then she dragged him back onto that-that boat-

He clamps his hand over his mouth and swallows reflexively as his stomach churns in nausea. Choosing which is scarier between Erza and boats is hard enough, but he's pretty sure 'both' is just a living nightmare.

"Your people have public mission boards?" Jiraiya asks casually, curiosity in his voice.

"Urk." is Natsu's only response as he tries to stop thinking about the swishing motions of a boat.

"Natsu-! What did you do to him?!" Naruto yelps, and Jiraiya backs up hastily.

"Hey-! I didn't- calm down, kid!"

Sasuke sighs audibly, and Natsu can't help but grin a little.

My team, he thinks, possessive.

He's pretty sure he can get Erza to adopt them. All he's gotta do is hand her Naruto and talk about how mean everyone is to him…

Ehehehehehe…

"What's so funny, kid?" Jiraiya asks suspiciously, and Natsu grins sharply in return.

"Well I was just thinking, if you guys don't use a mission board, where do you keep your S-ranks? Maybe I could steal one from here too!"

Naruto squawks as Sasuke raises a curious eyebrow. Jiraiya squints, clearly trying to tell if Natsu's joking or not.

He grins wider.

There's no Erza here to stop him, after all.

Jiraiya watches Team 7 bicker over dinner, some rabbits Pinky caught between them. Jiraiya had thought it would be a great idea to have the kids cook dinner, free labor and all that, but it's beginning to look like he'll need to actually get up and do it himself if he wants to eat any time soon.

Natsu sticks a piece of meat into the campfire, holding it between his fingers, staring at his teammates like he's making a point.

Jiraiya almost doesn't want to know what they're talking about, but he shifts closer regardless.

"-s'not that bad, look, I'm not gonna burn an' unless I go wake up Sakura-chan this is really the best way I know t'cook it! Rabbit doesn't go on sticks too well, 'less you're pokin' the entire animal, and our fire's not big enough to spit-cook it… Or are you volunteering to cook?"

Natsu's hand is surprisingly steady, shifting grip and turning over the meat with a casual inattention born of long practice.

Sasuke's Sharingan activates between blinks, and the Uchiha stares at the fire and Natsu's hand.

Naruto leans over from behind, as attentive as Kushina ever was when food got involved, and Jiraiya's not sure if he did the right thing, taking this team, but at the very least he thinks it's better than doing nothing.

"How are you doing that?" Sasuke asks, and if he were anything other than an Uchiha Jiraiya thinks he'd be incredulous.

Natsu tilts his head, hair just brushing the tips of the open flame.

Nothing burns.

"That," Sasuke says with emphasis, gesturing. "The chakra's all- I mean, when it was fire you'd conjured, the odd behavior sort of made sense, but I made this fire, and I didn't do anything special to it, but it's still not burning-?"

Natsu shrugs idly, reaching his other hand into the flame to pull at the meat slightly, checking how well it's cooked, before he settles back. "It's a bit harder in Sakura-chan's body, I actually gotta think about what I'm doin. It's just natural in my own, right? After all the trainin', I don't even gotta think, even if I'm asleep I don't burn, which is good when I have those weird dreams and then accidentally light everything on fire… but now it's more like practice. Sakura-chan's probably too old to be able to fully adjust to my techniques, but this much should be safe enough. Now that I can use everything properly again, I'm gonna have to find out what her limits are, I don't wanna hurt her…"

"That's pretty cool! But how'd ya do it?" Naruto asks, nearly sticking his face in the fire - Natsu swaps the meat to his other hand and pulls the blond back by his shirt casually. "I was just tryin'a look!" Naruto protests, and Sasuke scoffs.

Natsu pokes at the meat again and tosses it onto a plate, before grabbing another strip. "Do I need t'carve that other rabbit up?" He asks, and the Uchiha all but rolls his eyes while grabbing it and pulling out a carving knife.

"I don't really know how to explain it," Natsu continues after a moment, glancing over at Naruto, "Happy's the smart one, really. But I mean, there's chakra everywhere right? In the air, and plants, and stuff. Fire's got its own chakra too, even if it's not created by a jutsu or anything. So I just gotta make my chakra… shift? Or something? Til it's more like the fire's chakra, and then the fire doesn't burn me? It's like, baby-level t'do it with natural fires like this, doin' it with fires caused by jutsu and stuff is way harder, but I was really little when Igneel taught me so I don't remember too much what it was like… an' really since I started so young, I just sorta got immune to fire in general. Only that one guy, a godslayer or something? Even had fire hot enough for me to feel it. I think that's it?"

Naruto's shoulders droop, as Jiraiya narrows his eyes in contemplation.

"I don't know any fire jutsu," the blond complains, reaching over to snag the rabbit strip out of Natsu's hands as he goes to lay it on the plate.

"Oi, dobe, wait til it's all done!" Sasuke snaps, brandishing the knife, and Natsu laughs as he starts cooking more.

"Nah, if he finishes eating first that just means he gets to clean everything up! Gotta bury the bones, n'all. But, I mean, even if you can't copy my fire, you've got that demon right? It gave some sort of chakra cloak, so if you really wanted you could probably learn to control that t'protect yourself from stuff like this." Natsu flicks at the coals in the fire for emphasis, and sparks pop in the air.

Naruto winces.

"I don't want to hurt anyone…" he murmurs, staring at the fire, blatantly averting his eyes from everyone.

Natsu sighs. "I don't… think it's right that they stuck a demon in you just so you could use its power for them. But if it's so dangerous to take it out, then at least you could learn how to protect yourself with it, right? Maybe you can talk to it, I dunno, I mean there was no reasoning with Lullaby but I didn't exactly try either…"

"Never heard of a demon with a name like that," Jiraiya puts in casually, watching Natsu's expression.

He's almost disappointed, really. There's nothing suspicious or shifty, just a moment of confusion, like Natsu expects the answer to be obvious, and then a dawning realization.

Jiraiya's not sure how he feels about the knowledge that somewhere in the outer continents, there are demons just as 'common knowledge' as the nine beasts who plague their nations.

"How many of those demons are there?" Jiraiya asks, and Natsu just shrugs.

"I dunno, some guy named… Zera… Zeref? That sounds right, made 'em. I don't think anyone ever really counted how many though… sometimes they just show up outta nowhere. I only ever ran into two, but he's apparently some big famous guy and everyone talks about him a lot so there's probably loads more. I'm sure the Master could tell you how many there are…"

Jiraiya tries not to be too horrified at the idea that there are apparently demons that just run around and no one's ever bothered to count them, but from the weird look Pinky's giving him, he's not too sure he succeeds.

He forces out a chuckle, reaching over to snag one of the strips of meat for himself. "Well, I gotta say you guys don't seem to be too organized, huh? But I'm not sure if Naruto-kun's ready to be talking to the Kyuubi quite yet, he's a fox after all, and they're known tricksters. Now, important question time!" Jiraiya pauses for a moment, making sure all the kids look up at him. "Why aren't you using your spice kit on this meat?"

He waves the half-eaten strip for emphasis. "I know you have one! I saw it in your pack, Natsu, why are we just eating it plain?"

"Huh? Where?" Natsu twists around, glancing at his pack, and Jiraiya groans.

"The box, with the sakura petals carved on it. It literally says spices, please tell me you know how to read-?" Jiraiya exaggerates, staring in mock-horror at Natsu, and the pinky bristles.

"Of course I do! I just never looked at it is all! It's rude to poke around Sakura-chan's stuff without her permission!"

Jiraiya sighs.

Kids are so not his thing.