Hokage Office

Tsunade smiled happily as Jiraiya announced his return to Konoha by bursting through the window of her office. She allowed the fact that she had been taking an unplanned nap to slip by as she was finally able to see her former teammate after three long years. Since disappearing with Naruto for the training trip, the man never sat foot in the village and his messages were a few. She only got a letter after six months and it really contained nothing but that they were still alive.

"It is okay to say you miss me, hime. I can see it in your face that you're all excited." Jiraiya said with a grin. "No one is watching and I will keep it just between us…"

Tsunade couldn't help but smile. Man, she had missed her former teammate. The Godaime Hokage shook her head before responding with a mask on her face. "As if I would miss a pervert like you."

"You're brutal, hime," Jiraiya said with a hurt look on his face. "And I thought of running back to you with sake from the land of toads just so we could talk about old days and of course how much you have missed me…"

"You brought sake from the land of toads?" Tsunade nearly jumped out of her chair at the thought. She had never tasted anything better than the sake from that land. There was nothing that rivalled it. Kumo had some great imports but they still could not just reach the taste of the sake from the land of the toads. It was something special.

"Yeah," Jiraiya said with a wide grin. "It was given to Naruto, but he didn't take much of it so I took it all for myself… we can drink it later…"

"Why later?" Tsunade asked. She was ready now. She only stopped of demanding that the sage lead her somewhere they could drink in peace when she thought of the that loudmouthed brat. "Where is he anyway? I thought he'd be with you?"

The mood changed slightly. "He said he would join me, but he is in the village. I guess he is at the ramen stand – said he had missed it dearly more than anything," the Toad sage said with a shake of his head. "Hime," the man said in a serious tone. "Naruto isn't the same anymore."

Judging by the tone, she could guess as much, but what? He hadn't looked like someone who was capable of making a change that would get Jiraiya all that serious. He still had to be the Naruto she knew and loved, right? Tsunade shook her head. It was just a feeling, but she was sure that there was nothing really that could make her worry.

"Don't scare me like that, Jiraiya…" Tsunade said even though the man had yet to say anything. it was just that the tone of his voice was something that made one fear for the worst, even if it was Uzumaki Naruto they were talking about.

"A year and half ago, I thought it was best to teach Naruto how to use the Kyubi's chakra with the Akatsuki in mind," Jiraiya started as he took off his upper clothes, revealing a nasty wound on his chest. "I assume that it took deep emotions for Naruto to tap into that power so I loosened the seal and got him mad. This is what happened. I nearly died, hime. It is some miracle that I survived, but it took me about five weeks to recover since we had no trusted medic to do the critical work.

"Naruto said he was conscious when it all happened. He saw himself pummelling me down to death. If it wasn't because I managed to surpress the chakra, he would have ripped me apart. He blamed himself for it. even though I tried to talk him out of it, he didn't listen. But it didn't bring him down, it seemed to make him a lot more determined to control the power and dedicated to becoming powerful or so I thought."

Tsunade frowned. "How bad could it be?"

"Naruto didn't have a lot of people around him when he grew up, hime. It might not be for a long time, but we have grown close and I know he sees me as family and he nearly killed that family he has. I guess I'm to blame because I'd taken on myself to teach him about life and everything else. Aside from that, these three years were not a waste."

"He can't have changed that much just because of that Jiraiya," Tsunade said in a firm tone. She didn't want to believe what her former teammate was telling her. This was Uzumaki Naruto they were talking about. His friend had stabbed him in the chest and yet he still didn't resent him. if that wasn't enough to change him, then, what could have?

"You must be thinking that this is Naruto, the naïve loud mouthed brat you once knew," the toad sage said, "But it is exactly that Naruto that you must be worried. Take the abuse he has suffered in the hands of the villagers, being lonely, being nearly killed by his best friend and someone he saw as a brother. And then he came close to killing me. We must be the ones naïve to think that even after all the experiences Naruto has had he could not change."

Tsunade retreated to her thoughts. Certainly, any normal person would not be the same after all the experiences. The core of their being might not change, but there would still be something different about them. it would be a lie to say that the amount of experiences either her or Jiraiya have accumulated have not influenced them.

Wasn't she the one who fled this village and went on a gambling spree because of her pain. Naruto had also suffered, but after everything, he was still there, smiling as always. She had returned to this village because of him, to think that person would be no more scared her.

Before the Godaime Hokage could offer a response to Jiraiya, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Tsunade said.

Naruto entered; even though Jiraiya said he changed, seeing the orange in him made Tsunade forget about everything, she was just happy that he was there, before her, still alive and well. That was all she could ask for at this moment.

"Since when did you learn to knock?"

Naruto smiled, "Well, I just thought I surprise you, baa-chan. You always complained about just bursting through the door and if Jiraiya-sensei wasn't here, you were likely going to be napping…" the blond said calmly.

Tsunade heard him call her 'baa-chan' but she didn't miss the fact that he called Jiraiya with respect. It wasn't anything the man deserved. The blonde Hokage studied the blond for a few moments; he was just standing in front of her desk, smiling, blue eyes staring back into hers, nothing hidden in them, but nothing visible.

The woman shook her head – she had actually been napping when Jiraiya got here. "It is good to see you again though," the Godaime said with a large smile. "You have certainly grown… well I guess you made up for the growth you missed in your younger days."

Naruto smiled. Yes, those bitter days ramen was the only affordable food, the only food he could eat. The col-hearted villagers could not allow him to eat anything else. It wasn't to say that ramen was food for pigs or demons as they despicably called him – ramen was good, deliciously good.

But he had come to understand that it wasn't healthy eating just ramen only. There needed to be a mixture of other foods that had other nutrients… back then, he had just been happy with getting his gut filled up. There were no complains, as long as he enjoyed his ramen and he slept with a full stomach, he could still smile and pretend as if everything was all right.

It was much better than the crappy food and sometimes cold water as supper in the torment hell known was the orphanage.

If he had been allowed to buy other food, how would he have managed it? The Sandaime didn't give him enough allowance to be carefree with what he bought. He could only afford so much. But considering what he held inside of him, the old man could have been a little 'generous' with what he gave him.

"The pervert by the window…"

"Hey," Jiraiya interrupted Naruto before he could finish speaking. "I was feeling happy when you actually called me Jiraiya-sensei…"

Naruto just continued as if he hadn't heard the man but had merely taken a pause to gather his breath. "…thought it would be better if we ate all types of food with the needed nutrients. I was busy training, so my body had to be healthy to be able to keep up with everything that I was learning. More strain to the body requires more energy to be burned. We consider chakra to be essential, but chakra doesn't keep the joints, muscles healthy."

Tsunade blinked and stared at Naruto as if he had grown a second head. She was dreaming right? Naruto couldn't speak like that. He was a carefree person who hated studying, a naïve idiot who was as stupid as one could be.

The Godaime looked at Jiraiya, "What did you do, pervert?"

"I just trained him," Jiraiya said. "Naruto ignored most of his studies when at the academy. There was a lot that he didn't know and with the use of clones, it would've been a waste and a deliberate attempt from my part to stop him from growing. I got all the materials that Naruto needed to learn, and told him the secret of shadow clones that he had been too stupid to figure out even though he used them every day…" the Sannin took a shot at Naruto.

"I take offense in that, sensei," Naruto said with a look on his face. "Well, I have to admit, it is remarkable that I was never able to notice that I received the memories of my clones each time I used them. then again, I still say that it was because I always summoned hundreds at a time that I was never able to notice."

"Lame excuse," Jiraiya snorted. "When practising your Rasengan, you were not using hundreds…"

"You mean the Rasengan I mastered far faster than you did?" Naruto asked with an all too nice smile. "Should I go on about senjutsu as well?"

"Hold on a moment," Tsunade stopped the couples quarrel. "What about senjutsu?"

"The Toads taught it to him," Jiraiya said, his lips frowning by the second. "And he managed to master it… unlike me…"

Tsunade looked at Naruto – who had a foxy smile on his face, eyes closed and then at Jiraiya – who was frowning. The two had certainly developed a good relationship. "What is it that you taught him that I should know?" She thought it was it was too soon for Naruto to be taught something like that though, but she wasn't going to raise that now with Naruto still in the room, she was going to wait until he leaves and then glare at Jiraiya.

"Nothing much," Jiraiya said with knowing grin and a careless shrug of his shoulders. "I took things seriously. We were not going out there to have fun… we did have lots of fun, though, didn't we?"

Naruto nodded, "yes we did… it wouldn't be so bad if we go out again, sensei. But this time, you will be paying for everything, as you will be paying my rent until I get to do missions…"

"Hey, why do I have to pay for your rent?"

"Because, erro-sennin," Naruto said in a deliberately slow tone. "You took all my life savings and spent it all on women and alcohol."

"Jiraiya!" Tsunade shouted.

The Sannin raised his hands defensively. "He had no use for it… at that time… I was paying for our meals and motels, his clothes and weaponry…"

Naruto scoffed, "Since when did we start calling a self-made tent under a tree a motel? I didn't even know we were paying for the food we hunted ourselves. As far as I remember, I bought my clothes and weapons I was using by doing some odd jobs in the villages we visited while you went drinking… and I had to play that fun game of trying to locate a perverted old geezer in a sea of perverted old geezers."

"Jiraiya," Tsunade said in a hardened tone. "You and I need to talk about your 'parenting' skills…"

There was a threat in those words, it was not spoken, but Jiraiya's sweating said it all.

Naruto laughed seeing how scared Jiraiya seemed. "Don't beat up the old man, baa-chan. You might end finishing him off… he received a lot of beatings from angry women during our time… sometimes I almost pitied him, but it was just fun watching him crawl and beg unforgiving women who feel wronged," Naruto said with a smile. "Besides that, I enjoyed myself and was happy. Camping out at night while we talked, creating traps for animals and sometimes getting caught in our own traps… it was fun, much fun than I had in my life. Those memories, I will forever cherish."

"I don't think hanging upside down a tree with a wooden spikes glaring at you is any fun…" it wasn't especially when you were the one hanging, instead of an animal. Worse, when your so-called hunting partner didn't come out to help you out when you called for help.

"Serves you right," Tsunade said to Jiraiya before turning to Naruto. "I'm glad that you managed to have fun though…" a warm smile graced her lips as she spoke.

"Everything seems to be in order," Naruto said. "If there is nothing more, I will take my leave… baa-chan…" he did a mocking bow and before disappearing in small gusts of winds.

"What is it that you did to him, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked once Naruto left – her tone was hardened. "He doesn't look as innocent as he had been before he left the village. Back then, he was someone who could still say he would bring back Sasuke to the village even though the Uchiha nearly killed him – would have, had it not been for the Kyubi."

Jiraiya was silent for a few moments. He would not have taken things far if the situation didn't require it, but because this was Naruto, he had to give it his all. He could not go any other way with Naruto's training and it worked because Naruto was willing to admit that he was weak, and needed to become stronger.

He wasn't always going to be there for him; it was a reality that they had to face and accept. He didn't want to give Naruto false hope; it would be a blatant lie to say he would 'always' be there for him for protection. He could not, he was a just a mere mortal with limits. The least he could do was to give Naruto the tools he needed to protect himself.

This was the unpredictable world of Shinobi. There was hope, but he could not say he would be alive to be there tomorrow. Hope was fundamental to all humans, without it, they would live a lost life. but just because it was fundamental didn't mean that it was all right to give people false hope.

What would happen if he promised to be there always and could not make it?

"Naruto has been through a lot; I learned about his life in the orphanage, being forced to live on his own at a tender age. He had to worry about what he was going to eat every night while other children go home every day, knowing that their parents have prepared something. Naruto did not have that.

"As much as I tried to get him to experience everything about life, I didn't take away his independence. I wanted him to continue standing on his own, but with the knowledge that if he was falling, he had friends who could pick him up.

"My experiences, knowledge, I shared with him. Everything I know about this world, and my wishes, I shared with him because I wanted him to open his eyes and understand the world he was living in. Keeping him ignorant would not have done any good. I taught him what was necessary, not only for his own survival, but for his happiness as well."

"But teaching him senjutsu… isn't that taking it too far? Naruto is still just a brat, Jiraiya!"

"A brat who has been living on his own since he was six! Six years old, hime! You don't know what that feels like. He didn't have anyone, no one! Not a single friend, no parents, just alone in rundown apartment and surrounded by people who would celebrate his death!" Jiraiya shouted a bit angrily. "Naruto suffered, I don't want him to suffer anymore. Besides, since when do I teach senjutsu? You know that I can't do that, the toads make that decision. If they felt he was ready, then he was ready. I have no say in it, and truthfully, I wasn't complaining when they took him away.

"Senjutsu will protect Naruto against the Akatsuki. They are not going to wait until he grows up before trying to take him, they have already tried that and it was only because I was there to stop them that they failed. Will you, hime, be there the next time they appear?"

When was the last time Jiraiya shouted at her angrily? He almost never did. Never. But he was shouting, glaring at her, daring her to come up with a rational retort to his reasons. Tsunade could not find any. The only word that came to mind as a 'but' nothing less, nothing more.

The fact that she could not find a flaw in his reasons silenced her.

"Sorry I shouted," Jiraiya said with an awkward smile. "I may be a little mad at myself for allowing him to suffer alone. My 'parenting' skills are bad, but at least, he would not have suffered alone if I had taken him. I can't change what happened, but I can at least make sure that his future isn't one that is filled with regrets and pain."

"You should be," Tsunade said in a quiet tone. "But maybe I should be the one who is apologizing. I never realized that Naruto grew long ago… perhaps it was innocence and naivety that made me think that…" the blonde Hokage shook her head. "This talk has made me slightly sad just thinking about it. It makes what Sasuke did even unforgivable." Tsunade looked up at Jiraiya as she stood up. "What do you say for a drink?"

"In about an hour or so," Jiraiya said.

Tsunade blinked; that has never happened, never ever. When she said a drink, Jiraiya always jumped. The Godaime Hokage was so surprised that she sat down just to think it over.

Jiraiya grinned, "Just kidding," he said.

Tsunade glared, "You know, never mind. I have a lot of work to do, and with Naruto back, I'm sure my workload is just going to increase," the blonde said.

"Oh, come on, hime!" Jiraiya begged.

Tsunade smiled; yes, she preferred it this way. Not that she just enjoyed seeing Jiraiya begging. It was just something normal. She needed to see the normal so that she could reign down her fears that things were changing.

Later that Day

Naruto was sitting in the dark; inside his apartment, in the small kitchen. The only thing that was visible were his eyes. It has always been like this, he had friends during day, but at the end of the day, he would be back here and the cold walls would remind him of how lonely he was, how much he needed someone in his life to take that loneliness away.

The emptiness; he had forgotten that with Jiraiya by him. there was never moment that made him feel lonely when the Sannin was with him. Back then, he had always retreated back to this bitter cage of loneliness alone, and just imagine; how beautiful others were living with their parents.

The voices of parents calling their children to take a bath, brush their teeth before going to bed, they rung inside his head those days as he tried to imagine having his own parents. The imaginations hadn't comforted him; they had must compounded on the misery. The thoughts were beautiful yet bitter. It was nice, but he could not touch it, he could not experience it because he had no parents of his own.

Iruka had changed all that, perhaps because he could understand parts of him. The man had become really close to him.

Naruto had thought he had grown out of his loneliness, but here he was, alone, just the cold walls glaring at him. there was no one to talk to. He could summon a clone and have a conversation with it, but that would get some people to send him toward a psychological evaluation if it was discovered. There was nothing worse than being suspected of having lost one's mind.

The lights suddenly flicked on, but Naruto did not move an inch. Jiraiya walked towards the blond, he was still able to walk just fine, but he smelled of alcohol. "What are you doing in the dark like this?" The Sannin demanded.

It was the kind of thing that would make people worry. Jiraiya didn't want that, he wanted Naruto to enjoy his life. No one who switched off the lights and just sat down, unblinking was having good thoughts. It was in the dark, with no one, obviously, there was a war occurring in the head.

"I was thinking," Naruto responded calmly.

"About?" Jiraiya asked calmly. "You know, people have been looking for you ever since it was known that you returned, but no one saw you. It appeared as if you'd vanished into thin air; that kind of thing gets people concerned. I was concerned…"

Naruto shook his head. "I know people were looking for me," he said. "I was observing things around the village. I just realize that I had a fragile heart despite having taken in so much that made me appear to have a strong willed heart; I was afraid allowing my friends to know that I am a Jinchuriki because I thought if they knew, they would leave me alone."

Jiraiya didn't sit down, even though this was a serious matter. "I would say you were just afraid of losing friends…"

Naruto nodded, "Yes, I was, but as I was thinking today, I thought 'it doesn't matter anymore' I am the JInchiriki of the Kyubi and nothing is going to change it. if those I call friends cannot accept it, then so be it…" after saying that, there was silence.

"Wanna go to the hot springs and share a drink?" Jiraiya suggested.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding. "That sounds like a good idea. My body is a little tense with all the thinking; I could use something to refresh my mind."

Jiraiya smiled, "I have the sake, we need saucers," he said. Naruto pointed at a cupboard and Jiraiya walked up to fetch two saucers – it was just the two of them, and one two more glasses. It made the Sannin frown, but when he turned to face Naruto, he was smiling.

Nothing further was said as the two disappeared and went out to look for a hotspring that didn't have anyone in it. once they found it, they got in. "Ah, when was the last time we did this?" Jiraiya asked holding his saucer with Naruto just away on his right side, naked inside the water as he was.

"I don't remember," Naruto's response was quick to come.

"Let me gauge your memory a bit," Jiraiya said with a grin. "You were crying after losing your virginity. You were crying as if you'd been raped and saying something like you wanted to do it first with your beloved, Sakura-chan…" the Toad Sage laughed at the memory.

"I thought we discussed that we were not going to talk about it again," Naruto said, not the least amused.

Jiraiya shrugged. "I don't remember that agreement," he said.

"That woman did rape me though. I was tied on a bed, with chakra seals, how is that not rape?" Naruto asked.

"Some women just like it that way… sometimes I do too," the Sannin admitted without any shame. "You didn't have to cry about it though…"

"Those tears were for your amusement, erro-sennin," Naruto said firmly. "I does make me feel almost touched that you would leave your beloved Tsunade and come to me…"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, and took a sip of his sake. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto smiled. "You think I don't know that you're in love with the old hag? Give me some credit sensei. I should know, I have also been a victim of unrequited love."

Jiraiya sighed, "I forgot about her," he said of Sakura. "What are you going to do about her?"

"No offense, but I don't want to end up like you, sensei. You have always been a pervert, but the thing with her makes it worse. You know she will never love you, yet you still hopelessly love her. I have gone through enough pain to cling onto something like that. My own happiness should matter as well… even though I used to say seeing her smile makes it all right, but my happiness should matter as well…"

Jiraiya smiled. "You're speaking like a grown up now," the man said. "I wish for you to be happy as well. Then who are you going to go after? Or are you just going to 'experiment' until you find the right one?"

Naruto snorted, "I'm not a pervert like you, sensei…"

"Says the brat who uses a perverted jutsu and actually wrote the last issue of Icha Icha paradise…" the Sannin said. He was still a little bitter about that. how could Naruto who has never written anything, write his book under his name and send it to his publisher, worse, the publisher liked it and published it.

"That was because we needed money and you could not find any inspiration to write anything… Besides, I created that jutsu to beat up perverted people like you…"

"It works," Jiraiya said. "Speaking of which, can you create one for me… harem style. Ever since you saw a naked women, it has really been appealing and provocative… just sitting here without women is making the water cold…"

"You do know that inside it is a man…"

"It doesn't look a man to me…" Jiraiya said firmly. "Now, are you going to do it?" the man was already grinning madly.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not going to stay behind and watch it… it will be just too disgusting…"

"You're still going to get the memories…"

Naruto shook his head. "I will create a clone that won't give me memories… and you know what, if you touch them… they might go boom in lightning. With all the water here and an intoxicated body, I'm sure it will be quite a shock…"

Jiraiya didn't think about that pain; Naruto had done it before. If he touched the clones, they would shock him, it wasn't fun as it left him paralyzed, but he was not going to stop because of that.

The following Day

Tsunade sighed loudly when Danzo entered her office with one of his lackeys in the name of Koharu. It was still early in the morning and she was still nursing a headache, she really didn't need anything or anyone compounding to her pain… she didn't enjoy it that much.

"What do you want?" The Godaime Hokage asked impatiently.

She was sure it had something to do with Naruto, but she wasn't going to entertain anything that she did not agree with. Just as the Sandaime had refused to allow Danzo to touch Naruto, she would not allow it and she would not do it in a nice way as her sensei did. She would be willing to even pummel the old man to the ground if he tried something behind her back.

She wasn't forgiving as her sensei had been.

"It is about the Kyubi's Jinchuriki. We know that he has returned to the village, but we do not know if he has received enough training… but that isn't why we are here anyway," Danzo said. "Team seven is missing a member since you allowed Sasuke to leave the village…"

"Allowed?" Tsunade asked, not the least amused by the accusation. "I remember sending a team to go after him. it did end up in failure but it wasn't because for the lack of trying…"

"A couple of Genin and a newly promoted Chunin… is that what you call a team?" Danzo asked. "For a mission of that scale, you should have sent at least Anbu to go after him but you chose to send children. I wasn't surprised when they failed… and our Jinchuriki was almost killed in the process."

Tsunade glared. "If it had been up to you, things would have gone better, right?" the Godaime asked sarcastically.

"Without question," Danzo said even though he knew the woman was being sarcastic in her question. "I have not come here to fight. I want to make a proposal."

"What?"

"Team 7 currently lacks a fourth member; I am willing to give you one of my own. He is around the age and will fit in well. Sasuke is no longer here and as we increase our efforts to track him down, team seven will need a new member."

"You just want to spy on Naruto closely," Tsunade said in a flat tone. "But I will not deny that there isn't anyone who can fit into that team now. Fine, you request has been granted. If there is nothing else, get out of my office, I'd like to rest a little more before doing some work."

Both Koharu and Danzo left without another word. Once they were gone, Jiraiya made his appearance, spotting some bandages. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Long story…" Jiraiya said with a smile. "We didn't talk about Sasuke yesterday."

Tsunade nodded. "Where does Naruto stand about it?"

"Truthfully," Jiraiya started. "I do not know anymore. We have never talked about it with him. we last spoke about it while he was still in the hospital, after we left, we never spoke about it and he never once asked about the Uchiha's whereabouts, not even once."

Tsunade frowned. "I don't think that is bad, but it still feels somehow considering how he was when he left the village," the woman said.

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "Don't think too much over it. It won't make any difference. If Sakura or Kakashi asks, Sasuke is still with Orochimaru. He has been moving around with Orochimaru in different places. But I don't know where they are. Whenever news reaches me, they are already at a different place. Keeping track of our former teammate is still hard as it was…"

"Well, he was always slippery…" Tsunade said. "Are you leaving?"

Jiraiya nodded. "I need to find some information about the Akatsuki. There is a lead I got; I want to check it out but I won't be gone for too long…"

"Just be careful out there…" Tsunade said.

Jiraiya grinned. "Worried about poor old me, hime?" he said. "You don't have to… I am Jiraiya the Legendary Toad sage; I can take care of myself…"

Training Ground 7

Naruto looked around the familiar training ground. An air of nostalgia washed over him as he looked up into the sky. There were many memories that were made here, a lot of good times and the bad… friendship he thought he had created. At this moment, Naruto didn't know if it had amounted to something. He had been nearly killed, but that was a thing of yesterday.

He was over it, but he was not going to allow it to happen again.

Sasuke was okay with him being weak and he being stronger. When he got stronger, the Uchiha became jealous of him. A petty emotion that kills weak-minded people who just cannot accept that someone is better than them at something. A superiority complex? But what was it? Just an empty pride.

Naruto did not have the time to obsess over someone because they have gotten better at something; If they had worked hard for it, then it was something that they that needed to be praised. Hard work did pay, it wasn't something that needed to be resented. Petty people went that far because of their own weakness.

"Naruto…" Sakura called, smiling, a beautiful smile.

Naruto turned to face the pinkette. He had seen her yesterday, but he had not said any word to her, or to anyone he saw. Looking at her so up close, he could see that she had grown… he amused himself at the thought that Ino would now have more reasons to make fun of her front view.

Still, she was still the Sakura he had been madly in love with. She had rejected him so many times, in so many painful ways. He had been annoying, and someone or something a person wouldn't want to go out with. Yes, she had said it all, and yet, he never resented one bits, he continued to love.

Ah, how naïve young love was.

"Sakura," Naruto responded with a smile of his own. "It has been long, hasn't it?"

Sakura blinked; there was no 'Sakura-chan' in a loud tone – it was a calm tone and a charming smile that greeted her. Yes, she had said it; Naruto's smile was charming. She would not say it aloud to him, but that was she thought.

"It has," she said. "You never wrote…"

Naruto smiled, "I didn't have your address…" he said jokingly. "You have grown beautifully well, though. The past years have sure been treating you well…"

Sakura seemed to beam at that. "Well, I have been taking care of myself and I was training harder than before. If we are going to bring Sasuke-kun back, I also need to do my fair share. As a member of team seven I must also do my part."

Training harder than before? That statement made Naruto raise an eyebrow. It was just ridiculous. The girl had not been training, what she did was put up make up in order to look good for Sasuke. Even when they were going out on missions, she was most concerned about how she looked. Ah, he missed those bitter days.

Since Naruto was a nice person, he didn't say any of his thoughts aloud, he just smiled, "That's is good to hear, Sakura…" he said happily.

"I…" Sakura trailed off as she twisted around, sensing something. There was a black and white lion jumping down on them. she didn't waste them before slamming it into drops of black ink with just one punch.

Naruto narrowed his eyes behind him for a second as a pale skinned male flashed behind, a kodachi at him, poised to stab on the back. It wasn't that he couldn't have dodged it. Doing so was just pointless since he had already discovered the teenager had been here before he came.

The blond turned his attention back to Sakura. "That is just scary," he said. "It reminds me of that woman sitting in the Hokage's office…"

Sakura smiled, her right fist held up firmly. "Well, that woman is my master. She was the one who was teaching me while you were away…"

Naruto smiled. Well, she just got scary. The pinkette used to get angry back then, but now naruto would not want to get her mad. He didn't want to have a repeat of Jiraiya and Tsunade's relationship. It was fine with just those two, the sickness did not have to pass on them as if it was genetic.

"Well, you were right to say you have been training hard…" Naruto said continuing with his efforts to igore Sai. "I'm guessing you didn't just learn her monstrous punches. You were always smart, excellent chakra control, medical Ninjutsu?"

Sakura nodded. "You're looking at the third best medic nin in Konoha, and soon I was surpass Shizune…" the pinkette said a bit proudly.

It was something to praise, considering that a few years ago, she was nothing more than a fan girl who couldn't do a good fight. The thought just reminded him of her pathetic attempt of a fight with another fan girl in the name of Ino Yamanaka.

"Are you really ignoring me, dickhead?" Sai asked with a creepy smile on his face.

Sakura hadn't really given the pale teen a look because she had been busy with Naruto. He was different, spoke in a quiet and smooth tone that made you just want to listen to it. If he had grown like this, then her beloved Sasuke must have grown splendidly well as well.

"Who is he, Naruto?" Sakura asked, becoming defensive. "Is he the one who attacked us earlier?" She asked.

Naruto nodded, "Yes, he is, but he doesn't appear to be looking for much trouble that warrants action."

Sai didn't show it, but he was slightly surprised. This Naruto was actually different from the one he had in mind, this wasn't what his Intel suggested. He thought that picking up a fight him would be easy, but even when he made a move, the blond didn't react to it, just because he could sense that he wasn't here for his life.

The Root spy had no delusions; he knew that Naruto had sensed him when he appeared, he just didn't do anything, not because he could not, but because he felt there was no action that needed to be taken. How could he tell though? The Naruto he was supposed to meet was supposed to be a naïve and stupid brat, not this calm person.

Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke, the iconic eye smile in place, a laid-back body language, his beloved book on his left hand, his right inside his pocket. The moment the eye smile went away, it was replaced by a slight look of boredom.

"That is Sai, he will be your new teammate," Kakashi said a bit lazily.

"What?" Sakura seemed incensed by the thought.

Kakashi was a lot more interested in Naruto's reaction, lack of rather. The blond didn't say a word, he didn't blink. Sighing, the Jonin looked at the irate teenage girl and responded. "Team seven is one member short, and for it to be active you need to have another team member, otherwise, there is no team… if you don't want it, you can talk to the Hokage and the team can be dissolved…"

"I don't want the team to be dissolved," Sakura said in a barely audible tone. This was like her second family, she was only missing Sasuke. Even though she liked the Uchiha more, Naruto and Kakashi were still important to her. "At the same time, I don't want anyone taking Sasuke's place."

"Sasuke ran from this village… if he left, it is only logical that he be replaced," Sai said in an emotionless tone.

Sakura glared; any more word from the pale black haired teen and she was going to snap. There was no one who could replace Sasuke, no one. He would always have a place in their team, in her heart, in Konoha. They would bring him back to Konoha and things would go back to normal once again.

"What do you think, Naruto?"

"I have no problem," Naruto said. "Besides, if the Hokage approved it, there is nothing that can be done, unless you want to go make a fuss in the office. But, if there is hope of Sasuke returning, then a space for him must be left open…" the words were worded carefully.

Sakura nodded firmly. "Get that?" She said with a look to Sai. "You're only warming up Sasuke's seat…"

Kakashi sighed, "Well, I only called you to show you your new teammate. We will start training tomorrow at…" the man appeared to think for a few moments… "Let us say around 8:30… for now, you can just get to know each other or not…"

The Jonin didn't look really interested in anything. He appeared to be saying it just for the sake of it. Naruto shook his head. Well, this was Hatake Kakashi, what else should he expect?

"Oh, one more thing," Kakashi said after something apparently hit him. "Yamato; you can come out now…" the Jonin called. A man appeared in a flash beside Kakashi. "This is captain Yamato, he will also assist and at times may act as team leader when I am not available… I guess that is enough with introductions, we talk tomorrow during training… oh, Naruto, can I talk to you…"

"I wanted to talk to him, sensei," Sakura said before sighing. "We were actually planning a reunion yesterday but you kind of went off the grid… we will do it again, tonight, 8pm, don't be late and don't think of not coming; I will come and drag you myself…" the pinkette warned. "You can join us if you like," she said to Sai.

She sounded as if she was just being polite.

Naruto merely shook his head. Before turning to Kakashi; Yamato was once again gone. Anbu; they were masters of this kind of a game. Sometimes he wished he could be just as cool, but he wasn't that silent. The wind didn't move in silence, unless it was gentle breeze, unfortunately, he was anything but that.

"You haven't changed a bit," Naruto said to Kakashi as the two slowly walked back towards the village.

"You have changed in many more ways than one," the Jonin said. "Your clothes have not though… well, expecting that part of you to change would be expecting miracles and such things do not really happen in the shinobi world."

Naruto laughed, "Don't be like that, Kakashi-sensei," the blond said. "Miracles do happen… but this thing kind of holds some sentimental value for me. Something big will have to happen for me to drop it. It is just like my apartment, I don't plan on changing it because of the sentimental value it holds… well, now I can't do anything because I'm actually broke…"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start holding things like that?"

"Since I heard Jiraiya-sensei use the word," Naruto said with a smile. "When you spend your time listening to a man, you slowly start to pick up some things about him because the reality is that what he says influences you in many ways."

Kakashi looked thoughtful as he tried to imagine Jiraiya speaking wisdom to Naruto – it was even difficult to comprehend that Naruto was the kind of person who would listen to someone talk. Well, things do change and there was enough that has happened in Naruto's life that shouldn't surprise people if he changed.

It was like if he snapped; most people would not be shocked, but would actually ask, 'he finally snapped?'

"Yamato," Naruto started. "From the information Jiraiya gave me, he is a former Root operative and a Mokuton user," the blond said.

It was interesting that Jiraiya would tell something like that. it wasn't really a secret but he just didn't think that he Sannin would tell it to Naruto. But this just meant that the level of trust between the two had grown and that Jiraiya trusted Naruto to know things that were not known to the public. If that was the case, what more information did Naruto know?

The Sannin was a spymaster, so he had all kinds of information. "Why would Jiraiya tell you something like that?"

"Mokuton was the reason he informed me. He assumed that when I returned to the village, there might be someone put closer to me because I am a Jinchuriki…"

Well, not because he was a Jinchuriki but because they wanted to keep the Bijuu in check as if he had already gone out crazy or was manipulating him. Naruto felt insulted by the thought. it was Tsunade who could make the decision and honestly, he was disappointed.

It just meant that the woman didn't trust him with the power. Was he some child that needed to be supervised? This really made him feel as if he was a ticking time bomb that had to be shackled in case it decided to set off.

"I guess there is no reason in denying anything," Kakashi said calmly. "Hokage-sama suggested that he be brought just in case something happens. I guess this is because Jiraiya-sama told her that you have learned to use the Kyubi's power. Previously, you were only able to use it after experiencing intense emotions…" the Jonin took a thoughtful look as a memory flashed. "Well, you did use it on your own during the Chunin exams…"

"Well, I had to win that battle," Naruto said.

Kakashi didn't waste time before changing the subject. "I actually wanted to know how you've been doing? We didn't get to talk much after everything… and I have kind of missed you after this past years."

"If I was a little cynical I would have found that to be amusing," Naruto started calmly. "You're the guy who hardly taught me anything and worse, got Ebisu to teach me in preparation for the Chunin exams. Ebisu of all people… My Taijutsu was lacking, there were a lot of flaws in my fighting style, and yet you gave me a babysitter to train me."

Kakashi winced at that; maybe he should have done better knowing that Naruto was going to face someone in all aspects of skills bettered Naruto. It had not been skill that won Naruto the fight with Neji, but will and determination. He could not take credit for any of that, he was merely a sensei to Naruto by name.

"If…" Kakashi said. He smiled, "I guess you don't resent me for it then," he said a in a mildly bitter tone.

"I'm not into hating people," Naruto responded calmly.

"That has always been a quality that makes you stand out," Kakashi said. "But truly, I did fail you as your sensei. I should have done better… considering…" the Jonin trailed off, biting his lip. He nearly said something about Naruto's father having taken his time to teach him. "Well, everything…" he eyed Naruto to see if the blond had noticed it, but there was nothing in Naruto's expression to suggest he did.

"Maybe, but while you may not have done much, personally, I learned valuable lessons about life from you… there are things that I cannot forget; the memories with Team 7… everything was okay because you were our sensei…" Naruto said in a calm tone.

"You have certainly grown," Kakashi said a bit proudly. "So, how was your trip with Jiraiya-sama? I'm sure he took you through a lot of things…" the man added with a slight perverted smile. Kakashi was certain of it, the Sannin wasn't the greatest model, and if he was willing to get off with Naruto's 'Sexy Jutsu' then he could certainly get far.

"It was what you call a roller coaster… had its highs and lows but through everything, I learned a lot of things about life, this world, shinobi, jutsu… so many things… it was fun," Naruto said without going into detail.

Kakashi fell short of saying that he was expecting something a little naughty, but it was fine. Naruto did seem to have gone through a good growth period that should serve him well in the future. "You're gonna have to get along with Sai, though…. why did you ignore him anyway?"

"Jiraiya has taught me that you should be able to read the atmosphere, and at times, I try to take it literally. He obviously had his reasons for trying to pick up a fight, but since he had no negative feelings that would make me nervous, I decided it would be pointless to go about it like that," Naruto responded calmly. "Even Gai doesn't just attack you; he first requests a challenge…"

Kakashi just shook his head; there was nothing wrong with what the blond Uzumaki had said, he just didn't have a comment on it. "I look forward to seeing how far you have gone with your training… tomorrow…" the Jonin waved his free hand before taking another direction.

Once Kakashi had disappeared, Naruto looked up into the sky, just wondering what he could do… he had a lot of time before he was able to see the others… it would be later on – he had the whole day to himself. He didn't feel like training, he had done plenty of it during his time with Jiraiya, now was a time to see the results of his training before looking into what he could improve on.

Naruto placed his hands inside his pockets before walking deep into the village streets. He would have to navigate his way towards Icharaku once more again, after that, he would need food, but the funds department were not looking too bright.

Perhaps it was best to go to Tsunade and get a mission to do to earn something. He could do as many D-ranked missions as he liked before rewarding himself with a steaming miso ramen. Naruto nodded at that thought; he would go and do that.

Hokage Office

"Back here so soon?" Tsunade asked as Naruto walked into her office.

"I came here yesterday and that was to report on my return to the village," Naruto said. "Is Jiraiya still around, or did he leave?" the blond asked. He wasn't able to find the man earlier, so he assumed he had disappeared from the village not that he would find it surprising.

"He left," Tsunade said. "He said he was going to follow a lead, didn't say where to," the Fifth paused to study Naruto's expression. "You don't seem surprised by that…"

"The pervert doesn't like standing at one place, he likes moving around to exercise his freedom to go to any land he pleases to visit," Naruto said with an air of indifference. "I'm here for a mission. what you can find for me… after completing it, I will come back for more."

Tsunade stared; Naruto stared back causing her to sigh, "The only difference with a couple of years ago is that you were loud about it," the blonde Kage said. "Why do you want a mission? Others are still meeting with their teams, but you could join in if you like…"

"My team meeting was short," Naruto said. "Maybe Kakashi didn't feel like it today," the blond said. "In any case, I really need a mission. Any rank, even D-rank, as long as it is within the walls of the village, I will do it…"

"Since when do you willingly request for D-rank missions?"

The questioned seemed to amuse Naruto. In reality, it wasn't the question, he was amused by his past behavior. It hadn't mattered who had been in the chair, even with the Sandaime, he had demanded hard missions to be challenged. D-rank missions were just chores after all, and in his competition with Sasuke, he couldn't get on top while weeding grass and chasing rebellious cats.

"Since now," Naruto said. "Now you are you going to give me the mission, baa-chan?"

Later Day

Kiba glared heatedly at the bottle of juice that was sitting in front of him. He wasn't alone; members of Team Asuma and his teammates were also present along with Sakura. Team Gai would have been invited, but they were currently out on a mission. It wasn't the reason the Inuzuka was staring at the glass though – he was staring specifically because it was juice.

He wanted to drink some alcohol. They were out with no one to tell them what to do and what not to do. His mother wouldn't even complain much if she knew he was drinking. Besides, he was a shinobi. There was that saying: old enough to kill, old enough to drink. Between killing and drinking what was worse?

"Do we really have to drink this thing?" Kiba asked, looking at Ino – who had organised everything. "We don't have these kinds of nights often… some sake would make it a special occasion…"

Sakura was quick to respond before Ino could, "Not everyone drinks alcohol, Kiba. Some of us still see ourselves as teenagers and we want to live out our years doing the normal things that Teenagers do…"

True, there was a lot fot hings in the Shinobi world that went wrong and a very low moral standing ground, even so, Sakura liked to believe that one could still decide how they lived their live regardless of the enivromrnt that surrounds them. Just because the world was surrounded by corrupt people didn't mean that they also had to be corrupt.

If anything, Kiba found Sakura's anaswer to be dull; he didn't even have a response for it.

"If you want to drink something, you can and will at the afterparty," Ino responded calmly. "We can all go if you don't mind. You need to loosen up every now and then…" The Yamanaka paused and looked around. "Where is Naruto anyway?"

"I warned him about being late," Sakura said in a firm tone. If he runs late, there would be pain. She didn't want her teammate picking up their sensei's tardiness – it would just be bad.

"We're bit early," Shikamaru said in a barely audible tone. "He might still be busy or just finishing some things. I heard he was busy around the village all day doing missions… D-ranked missions," the Nara finished calmly.

Sakura showed surprise in that, "Naruto doing D-rank missions?" She asked. "He used to hate them. Even when we first went to our first mission outside the village, he had demanded a challenging mission from the Sandaime, it was the same thing with Tsunade-sama…"

She had found that behavior to be unbecoming, espcieally since he hadn't been showing any respect to their leaders. But Sakura had just come to realize that he was like that because he had held a special bond with them. Even though Tsunade was her master, she knew, she couldn't take Naruto's place, and most likely didn't hold as much value to the blonde Hokage as he did.

But it was alright.

"That sounds just like him," Ino said with a smile. "Even though he would still end up being a dead-weight during missions and leave all the job to Sasuke-kun…"

Just hearing, Shikamaru looked at Chouji with a sigh. He could not get used to this kind of attitude from Ino and she could flip it effortlessly. The big teen was already at work – eating. The Nara just shook his head, it appeared that everything else could wait, but not food.

Shikamaru turned his attention to Sakura when the pinkette responded to Ino. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Ino…" she said in a firm tone.

"Everything?" Ino asked with a raised brow. "Aren't you the one who told me that, Sakura?" She was suddenly curious and surprised at what the friend of hers was talking about. There were things that the villagers spoke about what happened in team 7 but she had not been saying anything because of those rumors but because Sakura had said so.

"I may have omitted the truth every now and then…" Sakura said a bit uneasily when Hinata's eyes fell on her. "Something wrong, Hinata?"

The Hyuga shook her head.

Before Sakura could be asked questions on what she omitted, Naruto made his appearance known. "Hey guys…" he greeted with a huge smile and wave of his hand before sitting down beside Kiba, just across the girls. "Sorry, I'm late… I forgot to check the time while I was doing some chores…"

"Why were you even doing them anyway? Without your teammates?" Sakura asked.

"Well," Naruto started, a bit sheepishly, "I needed the money. You know, I don't have anyone to buy me things and to eat, I must work…"

"It sucks being poor," Ino said without any thought.

"It does at times," Naruto agreed – this surprised some of his friends. "Well, it is good to see you guys…." He said looking around the table. The last person he looked at was Hinata and the girl quickly looked down. His smile just turned small, a bit charming with a hint of amusement in his eyes, but there was no word that left his mouth.

Ino stared, "Wow," she said with a smile. "That was rather charming… you have grown quite well… and you voice seem a little down… not bad at all…" she said.

Naruto smiled, "If that is coming from you, Ino, I will take it with full compliments," the blond said calmly before adding. "You have grown rather beautifully yourself… admittedly, you stand out amongst your age group…"

Once again, Ino stared, did Naruto just compliment her and did she actually feel good about it? She shook her head. What was happening here? Maybe Kiba was right, they do need something to drink. The fact that Naruto appeared to be different from the loud boy she used to know was already a shock, but this was something else.

"Speaking of growing," Kiba started with a grin on his face. "All of us here have graduated from being genins to become Chunin… you're the only one ranked lower than all of us… meaning, you're our Junior…"

"The hell?" Naruto exclaimed. This was certainly a surprise. He didn't think everyone would have moved on so quickly. Even Ino and Sakura had managed to get one before he could… considering how they performed at the Chunin exams back then, it was something to smile about. "Well, rankings don't really determine how strong you are…"

That wasn't completely true. The only reason he was still a Chunin was because he never got the chance to enter the Chunin exams in his time away from Konoha while his friends had the time. The fact they they have become Chunin now means that they have become strong, and have graduated from being mere genins… didn't that say their rank determined their strength?

Personally, for him, his rank didn't determine his rank, but that was only because he hasn't taken the time to be judged.

"Well, it can't be helped, when the others went to the Chunin exams, you were still away," Shikamaru said.

"I was kind of hoping that you'd show up," Chouji added. "I think most of us we hoping for that as well."

"I didn't know there were exams occurring," Naruto said. "If I had known, I wouldn't have missed them. My last participation was ruined by the invasion after I had progressed to the next round of the finals…" and that was after winning against all odds.

He was just that awesome, wasn't he?

"I still say rank matters," Kiba butted in once again. "We can prove it any time…"

Naruto grinned. "I am up for that… how about arm wrestling? If I win, I am right and you're wrong…"

"That would be too easy," Kiba said with a feral grin. "I want to take you on in a battle… a real battle. I have not forgotten that you defeated me at the preliminary exams…"

"Settled," Naruto said. "I will take on tomorrow, but for now, how about we enjoy the night? I have missed you guys…"

That concludes the first chapter

As I have said on my profile, this story will be a prequel to God Amongst Men. As I was working on it, I came to realize that some things might not play out exactly as said in GAM.

It will take some time for Naruto to move into the infamous list... despite that, the story might not be long.

Don't expect a second chapter soon. I will give this my all once I complete either MK or Legend.

The Omnipresent Sage