Training Grounds – Naruto and Sakura vs Kakashi

Kakashi runs through the woods as he spots both Naruto and Sakura hiding behind their trees. He believes it to be a rookie mistake, and reminisces back to their first bell test, when Sakura and Sasuke managed to hide properly but Naruto could not. He is awakened from memory lane by shuriken hurtling towards him, thrown by Naruto. As he evades the attack, Sakura comes from behind and uses her massive strength to break the ground beneath him. Kakashi heads for the tree branches, only for Naruto use his Shadow Clone technique and send multiple shadow clones against him. Kakashi decides to use taijutsu to deal with the clones; however, after there are only three clones remaining, Kakashi opens the First Gate and uses the Front Lotus on the three Naruto shadow clones, both Naruto and Sakura recognising the technique as one Rock Lee uses. After the three shadow clones are taken care of, Kakashi wonders where the real one is, only for the real Naruto to announce his presence and come barrelling at Kakashi with the intent of using One Thousand Years of Death. Kakashi, horrified at the mere thought of being struck by that technique, evades the attack and retreats.

As Naruto and Sakura continue to head through the woods to find Kakashi, they are stopped in their tracks by an injured Sasuke. Struck with kunai in his body, Sasuke tells Naruto and Sakura that he managed to escape from Orochimaru and asks the pair to help him. Sakura, however, instantly recognises the trick as a genjutsu and dispels it, while at the same time pinpointing Kakashi's true location. Naruto then creates a shadow clone to prepare his Rasengan, and uses Rasengan on the tree that Kakashi is hiding behind. Kakashi manages to dodge the Rasengan, and ponders on a time when it was easier to fool Sakura with a genjutsu. Naruto claims that he would never fall for any of Kakashi's old tricks, only to spot the bells on the floor. Exclaiming that Kakashi must have dropped them while dodging, Naruto rushes towards them before Sakura can stop him. Naruto is ensnared by a rope before he can get the bells, prompting Kakashi to state that Naruto still falls for the same old tricks. However, the Naruto trapped by the rope turns out to be a shadow clone while the real Naruto, claiming an old trick like that would not work on him, rushes from behind and punches Kakashi right in the face, only for the latter to use a Body Replacement Technique and retreat once more.

Naruto and Sakura are still attempting to take the bells from Kakashi. Kakashi manages to predict their moves using his Sharingan and performs hand signs at a speed no human eye can follow, using Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, followed with Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique and finishing with Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique. Unable to land a hit on Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura have no choice but to retreat and devise a new strategy. Kakashi also retreats, remarking how his Sharingan is exhausted by Naruto and Sakura's efforts. He contemplates taking the time to finish his Icha Icha book, but remembers that Naruto and Sakura are too tough for him to fight while simultaneously reading.

Naruto remarks how Kakashi's intelligence exceeds Shikamaru's, how his sense of smell is greater than Kiba's, how his taijutsu surpasses that of Rock Lee's and how his Sharingan is more powerful than Sasuke's. Nonetheless, Sakura states that a great ninja like him must have some sort of a weakness. After deliberating on the thought, Naruto discovers Kakashi's weakness and shares it with Sakura. The pair then track down Kakashi and launch a frontal attack. As they rush towards him, Naruto begins to spoil the ending of Jiraiya's book. Not wanting to hear spoilers, Kakashi covers his ears, but realises his Sharingan can still read Naruto's lips. Exclaiming at Naruto to stop, Kakashi closes his eyes as well, and Naruto and Sakura take the opportunity to take the bells from him, successfully passing the test. As all of this were going on, Goku, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, Inoichi, and Ibiki were watching the battle unfold from the distance.

Later

Tsunade was currently facing Goku with a distance of twelve feet in between them, as Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Shizune stood near the Hokage. Tsunade stared at Goku and said, "Goku..."

Goku gazed at Naruto and Sakura with a smile on his face. "I'm impressed with your skills! You're a lot stronger than I thought, Naruto, Sakura. With some extra training, you could possible learn the Kamehameha wave!"

"The kame what?" Naruto was baffled.

Tsunade interrupted, "Sorry for the interruption, but I do have a request, Goku."

Goku returned his attention back at Tsunade and asked, "What is it?"

Tsunade displayed a serious look on her face. "I believe your story regarding the battle with the alien known as Freeza. Inoichi has no doubt about it. However, I do have a request." she then folded her arms. "Are you able to turn into a Super Saiyan, like you did with Freeza?"

Goku was slightly surprised. The Hokage wanted him to see his transformation? The Saiyan remembered that the power-up awakened due to rage. Would he be able to awaken the same transformation once again? He did remember he transformed into a Super Saiyan twice against Freeza, so he should be able to do it a third time. Only one way to find out...

Goku nodded with a serious look on his face. "Alright... I'll show you the Super Saiyan transformation. I don't know if I can pull it off again, but I'll give it a shot."

"Super... Saiyan?" Naruto was perplexed. He then glanced at Tsunade and asked, "Oye, granny Tsunade, what is he talking about?"

Goku gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists by his sides. "Remember, you asked for it!"

Naruto and Sakura became alarmed, as they noticed something odd was happening. The ground below them began to shake slightly, and Goku was currently crouching slightly with his fists next to his sides and his elbows bent. With that, Goku began groaning, trying to summon the Ki of a Super Saiyan. Kakashi widened his eyes in shock as he quickly activated his Sharingan and said, "W-What is this? His chakra levels is rising even further than before! That chakra armor of his... it's strengthening further!"

"G-Goku?" Naruto was slightly frightened. "What are you doing?"

Goku continued to groan, as his hair began to get spiky and flashed golden colors. It was not long before a golden aura surrounded Goku, and the Saiyan's spiky hair turned golden. "HAAAAA!"

And with that, Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan, destroying the ground a bit below him and causing a mini crater in the process from where he was standing. His eyes were now green, and he was enveloped in the powerful aura of a Super Saiyan. Goku, in all his glory, was now in his Super Saiyan transformation. The Saiyan stood tall, before staring at Tsunade with a serious look on his face. "This is the transformation you requested for. What's next? Now do we go for round 2?"

Naruto and everyone else widened their eyes in shock, some of them even had their jaws fall down. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. But the person who was shocked the most was Tsunade.

Tsuande trembled at the sheer pressure from Goku's Ki. "S-Such incredible Chakra…!" she then remembered Inoichi had informed her earlier that Goku was using Ki, so it wouldn't make sense for her to call it Chakra. Nonetheless, the power emanating from Goku was nothing to sneeze at.

Naruto's jaw fell down as he had a shocked look on his face. "W-What is that?"

Goku smirked. "This… is a Super Saiyan. It multiplies my power by several folds."

"A-Awesome!" Naruto was in awe.

Sakura was shocked. "I-Incredible, I've never felt Chakra this powerful before!"

Ibiki gulped anxiously. "No doubt Goku is stronger than all the five Kages combined.

Goku slowly began to pant a bit before dropping out of his Super Saiyan form. He was now back in his base form with his hair back to its normal hairstyle. His hair color was now black, along with his eyes, and the golden aura faded away. The Saiyan exhaled slowly and then revealed, "I think I need to learn how to manage the Super Saiyan form without much stamina drain."

"Super Saiyan? Is that what you call it?" Naruto was in awe.

Goku smiled at Naruto. "Yep! Well, that was what Vegeta was calling it as, so I decided to stick with that name."

"Vegeta…" Tsunade mumbled as she remembered the name vividly. Inoichi had informed her about Vegeta, the prince of all Saiyans who had been killed by Freeza, but was later revived back thanks to the Dragon Balls. She then glanced at Goku and said, "Thank you, Goku, for showing me the Super Saiyan transformation."

Naruto ran up to Goku and pleaded, "Uncle Goku, can you please teach me how to transform into a Super Saiyan, too?"

Goku chuckled. "That's not something you can pull off. It's only something we Saiyans can do, as far as I know."

"Oh, really? Well, how about you train me instead? I need to get stronger."

"Sure! I'll train you!"

Naruto stood tall and looked slightly sad. "After all, I need to bring Sasuke back…"

Sakura was saddened a bit. "Naruto…"

Before Goku could respond, his stomach began rumbling. He then asked, "Can we get something to eat?"

Naruto's stomach rumbled as well. "Yeah! I want some ichiraku ramen!"

Tsunade smiled and walked past Goku and Naruto before stopping in her tracks and saying, "Let's go back to the village."

Goku grinned. "Alright! What are going to eat next?"

"Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto smiled.

"Again?" Goku was baffled. He then smiled. "Well, I don't really mind. The ramen from last time was great!"

The Next Day - Hokage Office - Morning Time

"Lady Tsunade, can Goku's spaceship be repaired?" Shizune asked while standing in front of the Hokage desk. Behind the desk, Tsunade was sitting on a chair in front of the desk with her elbows rested on the table, her fingers laced together.

Goku, who was also present in the room, rubbed the back of his head and asked, "I don't mind staying here for a bit before actually leaving back to my Earth, but I do hope the spacepod can be fixed."

Tsuande smiled at Goku. "No worries. Although its alien technology, our scientist will get it repaired. Although, it may take a month's time or more…"

Goku looked excited. "Awesome! While I wait for the spacepod to be repaired, I should train for a bit."

"Goku, would you like to be part of Team Kakashi?"

"Team Kakashi? You mean teaming up with Naruto?"

"Yes, precisely. Think of it as your training to get even stronger. I believe the Super Saiyan transformation isn't the peak of your power. You can get even stronger."

"Wait, really? Are you saying there is a level beyond Super Saiyan?"

Tsunade blinked, slightly surprised. "Oh, I meant if you trained your normal state and increased your base form's power level, then your Super Saiyan power-up would be even stronger."

Goku was surprised by Tsunade's advice. It was not too long ago since he had achieved the form, and yet, the Hokage had already given him good advice regarding his transformation. "I never thought of it that way…" Goku mumbled. He realized Tsunade was right. If he increased his base form power level, he would be able to get much stronger and progress faster. On top of that, he began to now wonder what if he had trained his Super Saiyan state as well. By mastering both his base form and Super Saiyan state, he could even become stronger than before!

Tsunade smiled. "While we wait for your spacepod to be repaired, I'd like to assign you to Naruto's team as a form of training. Plus, Naruto could use someone like you as motivation. You, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi will be going on missions."

Goku smashed his fist onto his palm in front of his chest and smirked. "Alright! Who's our first opponent?"

Apparently Saiyan thought missions meant fighting strong opponents. While that was true for the most part, some missions also consisted of Babysitting, delivering scrolls, and the such. Of course, Tsunade, knowing how strong Goku is, decided to give him a proper mission.

Goku glanced behind his shoulder, sensing a few Ki signatures behind the Hokage's office's door. With a smile on his face, he said, "Oh! Naruto! Sakura! Is that you?"

The door opened, revealing Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. All three walked inside as Naruto greeted, "Yo, Uncle Goku!"

Goku turned around to face Naruto. "Yo! Tsuande said I'll be assigned to your team, and we will be fighting strong opponents together!"

"You mean missions?" Sakura asked, wanting to clarify her doubt.

"Yeah! Basically." Goku then turned around to face the Hokage. "So… who is my first opponent going to be?"

Naruto appeared close to Goku along with Sakura and Kakashi. However, before Tsunade could say anything, the doors of the office flung open, revealing a woman with long black hair. She ran inside and rushed towards the Hokage's desk. She said frantically, "There's trouble, fifth Hokage!"

"What's all the commotion?" Tsunade wondered.

"We just received an emergency message from the sand… "

"An emergency message, you say?"

"This is what we have deciphered…" The woman handed over an A4 size paper containing some contents. With that, Tsunade took it from her and began to read it. A moment passed by, and the Hokage said, "W-What…?"

"What's wrong?" Goku asked with a serious look on his face.

Naruto took a few steps forward before asking, "Hey… What happened?"

Tsunade placed the paper down on the paper, gazed at Naruto and Goku, and answered, "The Kazekage of the hidden sand has been taken by members of the organization called Akatsuki."

Naruto frowned. "Gaara…"

"The Kazekage?" Goku was confused.

"The Kazekage is the leader of the sand village. He has been abducted by a criminal organization known as the Akatsuki." Tsunade explained. "We have more information concerning the Akatsuki. And so, the hidden sand has officially requested our help."

Realized dawned on Shizune's face, as she looked at her boss, flabbergasted. "Lady Tsunade, you're not going to be sending Team Kakashi, are you?"

Tsunade closed her eyes. "This is a time of emergency. I can't be wasting on personnel selection." She then opened her eyes and gazed at Kakashi. "And besides, we've got someone here who has actually fought against the Akatsuki…" she then looked at Goku. "And… Goku, the strongest being in the universe. I will now issue Team Kakashi a new mission. Go to the village hidden in the sand. Find out what's going on, and report back to the Leaf. After that, you will follow the orders of the hidden sand. And provide them with back-up."

Shizune hesitated for a moment, but then remembered how easily Goku had defeated Tsuande. Ibiki stated Goku's power to be even stronger than all the five Kages combined. All those put into consideration, there should be nothing to worry about, right?

Goku nodded with a serious look on his face. "Alright, count me in. Where do we start?"

To be continued...