Five snakes shot out of the sleeve covering Naruto's out stretched arm towards a small log in midair, they wrapped around it before sinking their teeth in and finally crushing the log. Clapping came from behind him as Anko stepped towards him. "Not bad gaki, but you're still too slow. Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hand) is meant to be used quickly so you can bind your opponent while receiving minimal damage, though the more you work at it the easier it will get, but I will admit you're doing really well for only being at it a few hours. Maybe by the time we get done tonight you're speed will have increased."

"Actually Anko, I need to call it a day."

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about, we've only been at it for three hours, the past few days we've trained nearly from sun up to sun down. Kakashi's test didn't wear you out that much did it?"

"No, it's just I have to go see someone, I've been meaning to go see him for the past week, I didn't want to stop training with you though, but I don't think I can wait any more."

Anko smirked. "I would have given you the day off if you asked, but since you decided to wait till last minute, I'm going to make sure you work twice as hard tomorrow for slacking off today. Now get out of here before I decide to make you train anyway." Naruto smiled at her before saying thanks and taking off, not noticing the slight pink tinge of her cheeks as he did. 'What the hell is wrong with me, blushing because a twelve year old boy smiled at me, I'm almost twice his age for Kami's sake. Sure he's the only guy in the village other than the Sandaime to actually be kind to me, but there's no way I could feel like that towards him, right?' Looking confused, Anko left the area in a puff of smoke.

Meanwhile, Naruto landed outside of a small shop that's window space was taken up entirely by flowers. Walking into the shop, his nose was assaulted by the aromas of hundreds of kinds of flowers and quickly made his way to the counter where he found the long blonde haired girl from his class sitting looking bored. He walked up to her with a small smile on his face as he greeted her. "Hey Ino, your dad around?"

She smiled widely seeing her fellow blonde haired genin. "Hey Naruto, yeah he's at the house, why?" Naruto smile dimmed and she looked at him concerned. "I was just about to lock up for the day, so if you'll wait a few seconds I can take you to him."

"Thanks Ino, I appreciate it."

When she came back, she led him through the shop to the back door and towards a small house behind the shop. "Hey Naruto, I'm sorry about the academy, I should have tried to stop Sakura and everybody from picking on you, I wasn't being a very good friend to you."

Naruto smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We've known each other for years Ino, the only things you could possibly do to get me mad at you is to 1.) Take away my ramen, good luck with that though, 2.) Intentionally hurt one of my precious people or me, or 3.) Obsess over some guy so much you neglect your kunoichi training. Since you haven't done any of these things, there's no need to apologize, but if it makes you feel better, I'm kind of glad you agreed publicly with Sakura when it concerned Sasuke and me, people will think you're an obsessed fangirl and underestimate you, making it all the funnier when you kick their asses."

"Naruto, watch you language in front of my daughter, the last thing I need is for her mother to think she picked it up from me." Both blonde genin turned to find a man with blonde hair longer than Ino's tied into a ponytail leaning against the doorframe with a smile on his face. "So what is it I can do for you Naruto?"

"Inoichi, they've started coming back."

The man's face became serious. "When?"

"After the exam."

"And you're just now coming to me? Usually you're here within hours."

"I've been too busy to really think about them, but at night when I try to sleep I have nothing to distract me from them, I need you to block them again."

"This will be the fourth time, and the periods between them are becoming shorter, you know what this means don't you?"

"Yes, my mind is becoming resilient to your technique, that's why I'm only asking you to reseal threes and above, I can handle the twos and the one, and with any luck the next time it will be even fewer you have to do until I don't need you to seal them anymore."

Inoichi sighed, but nodded. "Alright, so long as you know I can't keep doing this forever, if the periods keep decreasing like they have, I'd say five maybe six more times at most, after that they will break free and you'll have to face them, whether you're ready or not." Inoichi looked at his daughter, who looked at the boy sadly, but a small smile formed on his face. "Naruto, I've been teaching Ino how to seal memories, but in times of peace like this, there are few people who need or are willing to allow such a thing. Would you be willing to allow her to assist me so she can gain the needed experience to perform it efficiently?"

Naruto was silent for a moment before he nodded. "As long as you keep her away from the higher level stuff, I don't want that on my conscience."

Inoichi nodded his face serious again. "Nothing above a four." The three of them made their way to a sitting room where after sitting the two Yamanaka started performing seals. "Shintenshin no Jutsu." (Mind Body Switch Technique) The last thing Naruto saw before darkness over took him was the two long haired blondes collapsing in their seats.

When Ino's vision came back to her, she couldn't help but gasp at the sight before her. "It's beautiful."

Beside her Inoichi nodded. "Indeed, quite an improvement from what it was the last time I was here, though that wouldn't have been hard."

She looked at him in confusion, but her look wasn't answered by him, but by a voice coming from further down the wooded tunnel. "What he means Ino is that it was at one point a literal sewer in here, but that was four years ago."

Ino turned to find Naruto walking towards them, a red light glowing brightly from the end of the tunnel behind him. "Naruto? How are you here, and what's with the light?"

"I've been able to come here for a while now, and as for the light… well that's for later." He led them down the tunnel and into the first turn off they came to, the sides of this tunnel were lined with doors, a large number of which had tags.

Naruto stopped at the start of the tunnel as the Yamanaka duo walked further in. "Ino." She looked at her father, who had a dead serious face. "I don't want you to attempt to do anything over four tags. The more tags there are, the harder it is to seal, and the worse the memory is. You're not ready to experience anything over that, nor does Naruto want you to."

The girl turned to look at Naruto, who was looking towards where she had seen the light. "Tou-san, why does Naruto have anything over a four, you said that I would probably only ever have to seal a five at most, and that would be during wartime. Why does he even need his memories sealed at all?"

Inoichi looked sadly at the blonde boy. "Naruto is a special case, he has the highest memory seal level that I've ever placed, or heard of for that matter, at thirteen. Even the memories Yondaime-sama needed suppressed from when he used Hiraishin to decimate Iwa's troops in the last Great War only require eight. Luckily, Naruto only has one thirteen, the rest are sevens or lower. I can only hope that he is ready to face it when it breaks free, or it will break his mind. As for why…"

"I'll show you after you both finish." He gave Inoichi a look that told him he was going to do it, and the man smiled slightly before going to work, with Ino following after him. After being retold the principals of the technique, she found herself in front of a door with four seals that were glowing dimly. After taking a deep breath to calm her nervousness, she started making a series of hand seals and slammed her hands against the door when she finished.

The area around her faded and was replaced by the streets of Konoha at night and she saw a younger Naruto no older than four running from three men. One of them threw a bottle at the boy that hit him in the back of the head and shattered. The boy fell to the ground while blood slowly colored his golden blonde locks red. The three men laughed as they surrounded him before kicking the downed boy. After several minutes, two of the men lifted the boy under the armpits as the third pulled a knife. One of the two men holding the boy looked around nervously. "Hurry and kill the demon, the Anbu won't leave it alone for very long."

The man with the knife approached them slowly. "This thing doesn't deserve a quick death, I'm going to make it suffer for killing all those people." He drove the knife into the right shoulder joint causing the boy to scream out in pain, which doubled when the man ripped the blade out and then did the same to the other shoulder. Tears where running down both blondes' faces, though the boy's eyes were becoming hazy. The man smiled evilly when he saw this and turned to the other two. "Let's dump this thing somewhere, by the time the Anbu find it, it'll have bled to death, and in case it does survive, I say we leave it something to remember us by." The two nodded and dragged the boy to a condemned apartment building by the arms and threw him against the inner wall. The man with the knife walked up to him and cut the boy's shirt down the front, pressing harder than necessary, leaving a cut down his chest. He then changed to a reverse grip with the blade and placed his other palm on the pommel and pushed the point into the boy's chest. He deliberately went slowly and looked to be enjoying the boy's screams as he craved the word demon into the blonde's chest in capital letters.

By the time he was finished, the boy was on the verge of passing out from pain and blood loss, and he sat there admiring his work until he heard two thumps behind him and turned to find his buddies unmoving on the ground, though they looked to be breathing, and a Saru masked Anbu with short black hair standing between them. He looked at the knife in the man's hand and then at the bleeding blonde. The man looked like he was fighting for air as the Anbu unsheathed his short sword on his back. Saru disappeared and was by Naruto's side before the man fell to the ground and his head rolled away from his body. "Hold on gaki."

Her vision faded again and she found herself back in the wooded tunnel, the seals on the door now shining brightly. Tears still falling down her cheeks, she turned to find Naruto, but he was nowhere to be seen. She fell onto her backside and pulled her knees to her chest, taking time to recover after what she had witnessed. For a brief time she consider just staying where she was, but that thought was quickly thrown aside. 'I told Tou-san that I was ready to for this, I can't quit now." She pushed herself to her feet and started looking for a three seal door. 'I don't think I can handle another four door just yet.'

Down the hallway, Inoichi smiled. 'I didn't expect her to get up, especially since he's one of her oldest friends, I know I wouldn't have at her age. I just hope he knows what he's doing telling her about Kyuubi.' He walked to a door near where she had been, behind him was a door with thirteen seals glowing almost blindingly bright. 'May she never have to see that.'

With Ino:

Ino walked out of a door with three seals looking ready to kill someone. In the memory she just witnessed, a drunken villager broke a bottle over Naruto's head and slashed him across the face, a longer shard got him from left cheek, across the bridge of the nose, and above the right eye, while a shorter one cut from the outside edge of the left eyebrow towards his hair till the glass shard broke off in his skin. He was able to get away before any more damage was done. It was the last door with three seals, it hadn't taken her long to finish them because, though large in number, they were relatively short memories, that didn't mean they weren't horrifying by any means though. She had seen things that would leave most scarred for life, and dreading what she would find in the next set. Stopping in front of a door with four seals, she took a deep breath and slammed her hands on to it.

A six-year-old Naruto was running from a mob of people in the middle of the day, all of them with sharp object, ranging from glass to swords. He turned into an alleyway, but as he turned he ran into someone, who slammed him against the wall and pinned his arms against the wall outstretched with two tantos stabbed through the palms of his hands. The mob caught up and started slashing his body, staying away from his stomach. One got him with a downward swing of a kitchen knife across the right eye and through two of the whisker marks on his cheek. His right eye stayed closed after that and his left seemed to be unfocused, showing he was on the verge of passing out. A woman pushed her way to the front of the crowd, she was wearing a chunin flak jacket, and an evil sneer on her face. She had a kunai in her hand and she grabbed Naruto's face. "Why so serious demon? Why aren't you smiling like you always do?" She received nothing as a reply, and the sneer turned into a full smile. "Don't worry, I'll help you put a smile on that face." She stuck the blade of the kunai between the blonde's lip at the right corner of his mouth and tilted it upwards before slowly pulling it towards the blonde's ear.

There was a spray of blood as the chunin's hand fell from her arm, the kunai still clutched in it, and before she could scream her head was removed from her shoulders. An Anbu appeared beside Naruto as the woman's body hit the ground, any defining features, including gender, were hid underneath their hooded white cloak, and Tori mask, but in their hand they held a bloody ninjato. There were Anbu surrounding the rest of the crowd, one of them started forming hand seals and mob all keeled over. The Anbu bound them all as the one to save Naruto removed the tantos and used Shunshin with him in their arms.

When she appeared back in the wooded tunnel, she was bent over and breathing heavily. She felt a hand placed on her shoulder, she turned to find Naruto standing next to her. "You should rest, even Inoichi has to once and a while." She nodded and sat down where she was.

Ino looked up at Naruto as he looked up and down the halls, counting the number of doors still unsealed. "What we saw at the academy that day was because of these wasn't it?" Naruto nodded. "Why did you hide it from Kaa-san and me? I thought we told each other everything."

Naruto looked down at her regretfully. "I'm sorry Ino, I didn't want you to know, and I'm afraid that your Kaa-san already knows, she's patched me up on more then one occasion."

"You said it yourself Naruto, we've been friends for years, I don't care what you look like, you could have horns growing from your head and I'd still be your friend because you're a kind, caring, loving person."

"I was trying to protect you Imouto." He saw her eyes widen. "You've always aspired to be a Kunoichi, even when we first met, but if you knew what was done to me by the villagers and even some ninja of the village, you might not have wanted to become one out of hatred for them."

"But you became a ninja. How can you protect them after everything they've done?"

"That's not why I became a ninja, but if I must to protect the ones I care about, I will."

She was quickly to her feet and had her arms wrapped around him. "How can you protect people who have caused you so much pain for a handful of people?"

He felt her tears land on his chest, getting his shirt wet, and wrapped his arms around her as well. "It's not the number of the people that matters, you are all a part of my family Imouto."

She looked up at him with a small smirk. "And why am I your Imouto when I'm older than you are?"

"Cause of moments like this, the older sibling is the one who should comfort the younger one. Remember how we met?" He waited a few moments for an answer, but she stayed silent, so he took it as a sign to continue. "You were sitting at the edge of a clearing near the training grounds crying cause some punk of a academy student used a Katon jutsu and destroyed the field of flowers that was there. Remember what happened to him a few days later?" He chuckled lightly when she nodded. "Found trying run towards the hospital with his pants around his ankle with one hand super glued to his… ahem… appendage and the other to a porn magazine." He heard Ino giggling in his arms. "That was the first prank I ever pulled."

"You really have always been there for me when I was down, like when you gave me that ribbon."

"The one you gave to Sakura if I'm not mistaken."

She looked at him with a smile. "You told me it was a magical ribbon that could get people to see the wearer for who they were, making it easier to make friends, and I bought every word of it."

Naruto smiled. "It worked didn't it, you became one of the most popular girls our age at the time, and still are, it even worked for Sakura. Was it magical, no, but it gave you the confidence you need to open yourself open to people other then Shikamaru, Choji, and me."

"Am I interrupting something, cause I'd like to know if I should be overjoyed because I am, or ecstatic that I'm not."

Ino saw an evil smirk appear on Naruto's face and suddenly felt sorry for her father. "Oh nothing much, I was just telling Ino of all the wonderful I could do to her if she wanted me to."

Ino's face was glowing red due to how deep she blushed and expect her dad to nearly kill the younger male blonde, but was surprised when all that happened was a scowl appearing on his face and him pinching the bridge of his nose. "I swear you're trying to make me fry your brain Naruto, every time you're over you flirt with my wife, and now you do something like this with Ino."

Naruto shrugged with a sigh as he stepped away from Ino. "What can I say, she gets her looks from her Kaa-san. Besides, you know it's all in good fun and that I'd never actual follow through with any of it… okay well maybe, I can't deny their both gorgeous, so maybe if they were single and felt the same way, but other than that you have nothing to worry about."

"Good, then you'll understand when I say this, she's my wife you, can't have her! And as for my Otome, I might consider letting you date her, but only if she decides she wants to."

Ino rolled her eyes at that. "Not going to happen Tou-san, according to him I'm his Imouto."

"That's good to hear I guess. Anyways, I've finished up the higher level ones, how are things going on your end?"

"From what I saw before we started our conversation, she's mostly done, only a few are left."

"Alright, then we should finish them up quickly, I help you out with them Ino."

"Okay Tou-san." She turned to Naruto. "Remember, you promised to tell me what that light was and why the villagers did all of this when we get done."

"No worries Ino, I will."

It took less than eight minutes to seal the remaining doors and Naruto started leading them further down the main hallway till they reach the second turn off where Ino and Inoichi stopped to glance at the metal wall, before hurrying to catch Naruto who hadn't stopped. However when they came upon the third hallway, Ino grabbed hold of Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto, what are those?"

Naruto looked down the hall, while Inoichi stepped a bit closer to get a better look. "They look like memories, but the aura around these…" The eldest blonde shuddered. "I've never seen these, yet their sealed far better than I could hope to do." He turned to the boy. "Are these…"

Naruto nodded. "Well, they're obviously not mine."

Ino looked between the two. "So those are implanted memories?"

"Something like that, you'll understand it a little better after you see what's in the next room." Naruto led them through the light, which didn't dissipate as they got closer, and they both gasped at the sight. The walls, like everywhere else was composed of a line of large trees, but there were others behind them, giving it the appearance of a real forest. The floor was a large glistening pool of calm crystal clear water with a fairly large island in the center, big enough to fit at least three Narutos lying down long ways in any direction, that had a Maple tree growing from the center, taller than either Yamanaka could see, though they could see glimpses of sunlight through its leaves, the small peninsula of land they stood on, and a five foot walkway around the outside of the pool.

What really surprised them was that they could see and hear several types of animals, from squirrels running up trees and leaping through the branches, birds flying in the clearing and chirping from their perches, to a herd of deer walking just beyond the tree line, a twelve point buck drinking from the pond, and the sound of wolves howling in the distance. The Yamanaka duo stared in awe of the world around them, until a bird flew down and landed on Ino's shoulder, breaking her from her shock. "It's so real." She stroked the birds head a couple of times before it flew off into the surrounding trees. "What is this place?"

Naruto smiled and stepped out on to the water, not even making a ripple, and started towards the island. "This is where it everything changed for me. I call it the Spiritual Grove." When he got about half way he turned around. "You coming?"

Ino gave him an annoyed look. "Not all of us can walk on water Naruto."

Inoichi scooped her up into his arms, only getting little protest, and followed Naruto to the backside of the island, where a massive two-door gate could be seen across the water with a strip of land in front of the doors. "I see you brought the mind walkers." A feminine voice floated into the serene grove from beyond the gate. Kyuubi appeared at the gate and gave a sad sigh. "And here I was hoping to playing another game with you, the creatures here don't seem to like me."

Naruto smiled and shook his head. "That could be because you tried to eat a doe when I first created them." The two Yamanaka stood in shock of what was before them, Ino because the woman was even there, and Inoichi because he knew who she was and, of course, how she looked. "Ino, Inoichi, I'd like for you to meet Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Ino looked at him confused. "But Yondaime-sama killed Kyuubi, and even if he didn't how could she be here in your mind?"

Inoichi sighed. "Ino, what I'm about to tell you is a S-rank secret, meaning you can't repeat it to anyone unless given permission from Hokage-sama or Naruto, understand?" She nodded silently. "Yondaime-sama didn't kill Kyuubi like you were told, in fact no mortal can kill her, instead he gave his life to seal her within a baby who's chakra coils weren't fully developed, that baby was Naruto."

"But Iruka-sensei told us the chakra coils are fully developed an hour after birth, wouldn't the strain of the sealing have killed him?"

"You're right." The three turned to Kyuubi whose gaze was cast down. "The strain should have killed him, but as my yokai entered him, it strengthened his body, changing it to be able to handle the strain. The whisker marks are a byproduct of the changes made to him, along with his heighten senses, though they're not as heightened as those of the Inuzuka clan."

"Is being able to create all of this another byproduct of you being here?"

Kyuubi smiled brightly and shook her head. "This is all him, even I was surprised when he started creating animals. I suppose it probably has something to do with his extraordinary ability with Kage Bunshin."

Inoichi looked questionably at the demoness. "I don't understand, how could the two are connected?"

"You know of the Jutsu and it's abilities correct?" The man nodded. "Even the ability to transfer memories to the original?" Again he nodded. "After learning this from the Sandaime, I observed the kit creating some and learned why they are able to do so. You see the chakra that makes the clone, can only provide the body and more chakra for them to perform jutsu, but not the mind they seem to have. What really gives them that is the small piece of the user's soul that is transferred to them with the chakra, giving them the sense of individuality they possess, and the ability to act independently of the original. The kit is able to create several hundred of them at a time and not feel winded." Both sets of Yamanaka eyes went wide. "To be able to have your soul separated into so many pieces at once is more than most can bare, I believe that this is the true reason most people die from trying to use it in higher amounts, not chakra depletion."

Ino looked between Naruto and the animals before turning to Kyuubi. "I sorry, but I still don't see how the two are related."

"These animals are in accentually Kage Bunshin Ino." It wasn't Kyuubi that answered her but Naruto. "I created the image of the animals, and placed a piece of my soul into them to give the appearance of life, and to keep them from disappearing when I'm not here. They act as they would in the real world, and are confined to this area, hence the name I've given it. Yet despite the fact that I've given them 'life', only one will come on to this island, the furthest any of the others will go is five feet off its shore."

"Perhaps they believe that it should be yours alone, even though in a sense they are all you. What of this one that comes here, what manner of creature is it?"

"It's not a fox if that's what you're asking, Kyuubi asked me not to make any. Personally I think she just likes being one of a kind." He said the last part in a whisper, but Kyuubi heard him if the smirk on her face was any indication. Naruto smiled warmly at the two. "Would you like to meet her?"

"Another female in you head Naruto, some people might question your mental health, possibly even your sexuality, if they knew of this place."

"Well if I want this place to be as real as possible, there have to be females, besides it was kind of an experiment." They both looked at him curiously and he started scratching the back of his head nervously. "I've seen that they're able to die, and even age, so I wondered if it were possible for them to reproduce as well. Turns out they can, the female alpha wolf is expecting a litter. The only problem is that I have to monitor the number of deaths and births and keep them close to even, because for each birth a new soul piece is given and we have no way of knowing the maximum amount of times my soul can be splintered. Luckily though, even though they don't have to eat, the wolves still do, about a deer a day, until the pups are old enough anyway, but by then a few of the older members of the pack will have died of age."

Inoichi gaped at him. "Naruto, this is both utterly amazing, and highly disturbing, but I must ask what happens to the soul fragments of the animals that die?"

"They return to me the same as the ones in Kage Bunshin do. So, would you like to meet her before we leave?" They nodded, and he raised his left hand to the tree as it extended by him adding more chakra to it. "Hakari, would you come down here a moment?" A violet snake's head appeared from the leaves near his hand and started down his arm, wrapping herself around his arm every now and then to keep her body from falling off. His arm shrunk down to normal size, slowly following behind the snake's massive body, until only her tail and part of her body remained wrapped loosely around his arm and the rest was crossed over his chest around the back, over the left shoulder, in front of the neck, and out on to the right arm, in all the snake looked to be around fifteen feet long, weighting upwards of a hundred and fifty pounds. Ino shuddered as she flicked her forked tongue out while looking at the two Yamanakas. "This is Hakari, she like Kyuubi is one of a kind. I wanted others, but the ones I tried to create reject the soul fragment, I still don't understand how or why it happened. She was the second type of predator I created, before her were the little creatures likes birds, squirrels, then the first predator was the wolves and then the deer."

"How many animals have you created Naruto?"

"You may have noticed all the fish, there are eighty seven at most. There's also a couple of bears, three males and three females, eighteen butterflies, fifty-four fireflies, a colony of forty bats, a pack of fifteen coyotes, twenty boars, and a family of twenty-two apes. The deer herd has seven bucks and twenty-one does, five of which are pregnant. The wolf pack has four males and five females, one expecting a litter of four pups give or take, twenty-four squirrels, and a hundred and sixty-seven birds, ranging from chickadees to hawks. And then there's Hakari here of course, so five hundred total at last count, which was this morning, so I may be over by a few."

Ino's mouth hung open at how casually he said this. "You split your soul five hundred ways just for these animals and you still used Kage Bunshin outside?"

"It's really not as bad as you think, the soul fragments for the majority of the animals is half of that for a Kage Bunshin, a fourth for the bugs, the coyotes and larger animals take the same as a single clone each, and Hakari took a shard big enough for three. So all in all it's like making two hundred and eighty-nine Kage Bunshin, and Kyuubi already told you I can make several hundred without even being winded."

"She does have a good reason to be concerned Naruto, even if it is true you can make that many, you yourself said there's no way of knowing just how many times you can spilt your soul, but as long as you continue to monitor the number of animals here and don't over use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, you should be fine. I will however, want to either check or at least get a report from you on this matter every few months to monitor the situation from a professional stand point."

Naruto unwrapped Hakari and set her on the ground, which she immediately slithered back towards the tree. "I can do that. Now I think it's time we get out of here. I'll see you later Kyuubi."

"Goodbye Kit. It was nice to finally meeting you both face-to-face Ino, Inoichi."

----------------------

When the three returned to the land of the conscious, they found Ino's mother, Yuri, hovering over them in worry, though her eyes were on Naruto more often than not. She had shoulder length light brown hair, emerald eyes, her skin was lightly tanned, and was wearing a loose fitting white T-shirt and form fitting pants that only reached to mid-shin. "They came back again didn't they?" Naruto nodded and she wrapped him in a hug before she turned to Inoichi. "You didn't let Ino do too much I hope."

"No, Naruto insisted, and I agreed she wasn't ready for most of them, and I'm happy and proud to say she did extremely well for her first time, better then I would have at her age."

Ino blushed as Yuri let Naruto go. "That's wonderful honey, I'm so proud of you. Anyways, I came out to tell you that dinner's ready, would you care to join us Naruto?"

Naruto started to scratch his chin. "Hm, cup ramen or Yuri-chan's home cooking, well that's a no-brainer."

Ino stood up and patted him on the head. "Good, wouldn't want you to strain yourself."

She and her mother giggled when he pouted. "That's just mean Imouto."

Yuri shook her head with a smile. "Naruto, would you help me bring the food from the kitchen?"

"Lead the way Yuri-hime."

Inoichi narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "Naruto, what did I say about flirting with my wife?"

Naruto's eyes looked up while the rest of his head was stationary and he started tapping his chin with his index finger. "Um, not to unless I mean it?" Inoichi's eyes narrowed further while Yuri blushed. "Wait, Teuchi-ojii-san said that about Ayame." Naruto's eyes clenched shut and his finger stopped. "Was it, it makes it easier for you later?" Yuri's eyes that narrowed at her husband, who was shaking his head feverishly while stammering denials. "Oh, I remember! She's my wife, you can't have her."

Ino started to laugh at her father's expense while Yuri shook her head with a smile as she turned and led Naruto into the kitchen. Within minutes, they all sat at the dinner table, Ino next to Naruto, with Yuri and Inoichi across from them respectively. "So Naruto, Ino's already told us how her team's test went, how did yours go?"

"Not much to tell, our sensei's Kakashi Hatake, he passed us, but only barely."

Inoichi started choking on the food in his mouth, but Yuri started patting him on the back till he was fine. "I'm afraid you're going to have to explain it better than that, because Kakashi is well known for three things, reading Icha Icha in public, being at least two hours late for anything that's not life-or-death, and for having never passed a team. So please, continue."

"Okay, but it's not all that interesting. Sasuke and Sakura went to hide as soon as he said go, while I sent some Kage Bunshin at him while I made a retreat into the woods to see how he fought. After he finished the clones, he put Sakura into a genjutsu, which caused her to scream and faint even though she's supposed to have the best genjutsu disabling ability outside of Hinata, who uses her Byakugan. Then Sasuke tried to use his big fireball to fry sensei, who used Kawarimi and pulled Sasuke into the ground up to his neck. I grabbed Sakura and brought her to Sasuke, when she woke up I told them we had to work together in order to pass, but they didn't believe me so I went back to sensei, and sat down as the timer rang. When he was about to tie Sakura up, since she didn't even make an attempt at the bells, I pulled them out of my pocket and the two Kage Bunshin I had switched them with dispelled. I gave the bells to them and Kakashi decided to pass us since I showed teamwork. He'll probably have us doing D-rank mission for some time so we can build teamwork, before we get a C-rank though." The three Yamanakas look at him with blank expressions. "I told you it wasn't very interesting, warm ups with Anko are harder than that."

They continued to look at him blankly for a few seconds before a small smirk appeared on Inoichi's face. "You've been training with Anko huh, is it combat training, more something more interesting, cause I recall a memory I saw the last time I sealed the bad ones away when I was checking for others, in which she…"

Naruto glared at him. "Inoichi, I'm warning you finish that and you will regret it."

"It nothing to be ashamed of Naruto, it's not every day a hot woman offer herself to you, even if you were under a Henge." Yuri sent Inoichi a glare of her own and he quickly added. "Unless you're married to her, but sometimes even then." Her glare lessened, but still remained.

"I have nothing to be ashamed about because she didn't offered, she accused me of wanting to have dinner with her only so I could get in her pants, and even if she had, I would have declined."

"She may not have said it out loud, but by the end of dinner, she was rubbing up against you, leaving trail of kisses up and down your neck, and running her hand all over you chest. I was surprised you were even able to stay standing, it more than most men could handle."

"She was intoxicated, and I was barely ten at the time, I had no idea what she meant when she asked me why I wanted to eat with her. In fact I remember thinking, 'What does she mean by 'wanting to get into her pants'? She's not wearing pants, and why would I want to wear hers anyway, they'd be too big for me, or rather too small for this form.' And since you decided to ignore my warning Inoichi, you're going to have to pay the price." Inoichi paled slightly, sweat running down his face, worrying about what Naruto might do, even more so when the boy turned to his wife. "Yuri-chan, did you know that when Inoichi was younger he use to use his mind walking technique to implant suggestions to date him into the heads of girls he liked?"

All color drained from the eldest blonde's face as he felt a sudden chill run down his spine accompanied by the feeling of his chest being crushed. He turned to find his wife glaring at him, an inferno raging in her eyes. "Now honey, I was young and stupid. It didn't even work anyway." The pressure doubled making it hard for him to breath. "It as years before I met you, and I'm glad it didn't work, cause if it had, I may not have fallen madly in love with you and had our beautiful little girl, who even a blind man can see gets her beauty from you."

Yuri's eyes took on a loving look as she leaned up and kissed him hard on the lips. As they pulled apart Naruto snickered. "You'd think your lips would be sore from all that ass kissing Inoichi." He was hit over the head with a wooden spoon. "What I do?"

Yuri was frowning at him as he rubbed the spot he was hit. "You know better than to use that kind of language around me and my daughter."

"Sorry Yuri-chan, it won't…" Naruto's head turned in the direction of the door, as well as Inoichi's. "Do you want me to get it?"

Inoichi shook his head. "I'll get it, they were probably sent because they need me to help crack a tough nut." The two females looked at the two like they were crazy, but as Inoichi stood up, there was a knock on at the door. A few short minutes later, he came back with a not too pleased look on his face and the Neko Anbu from the scroll incident following behind him. "She's here to see you Naruto."

The boy stood from his seat and walked over to them. "It's nice seeing you again Neko, what can I do for you?"

"Hokage-sama has asked for your presence immediately Uzumaki-san. Given his company, I doubt he'll be as lenient as he was before."

Naruto nodded and turned to Yuri. "I'm sorry to eat and run Yuri-chan."

She smiled at him. "It's alright Naruto, take care of yourself, and don't be a stranger, you'll always welcome here." Neko placed her hand on his shoulder and in a puff of smoke they were gone.

When they appeared in the Hokage's office, the Sandaime waved Neko out, she bowed and quickly left. Sarutobi made hand signs and slammed his hand on to the desk, causing the whole room of glow blue for a moment. While all of this was happening, Naruto was studying the other occupant, who stood beside the desk with his arms crossed and his eyes locked on him. He had long spiky white hair tied into a ponytail, red lines going down to his jaw from the bottom of his eyes, a horned hitai-ate with the kanji from oil on it, and a scroll strapped horizontally at the small of his back. He had a wire mesh shirt under a gray kimono top, the end of the sleeves were wire mesh that had metal plates extend over the back of his hands held by leather straps, gray shinobi pants that, like the shirt, had wire mesh at the ends, a sleeveless red haori with a yellow circle on each breast, and a pair of red geta sandals. "What do you want Ojii-san, I was in the middle of dinner. And who the other old guy?"

"I'm not as old as this fossil Gaki." The man jabbed his thumb towards the Hokage

"Are you old enough to have met the Shodaime Hokage?" The man grumbled but nodded regardless. "Then you're old. So how about it Ojii-san, you going tell me why I'm here?"

Sarutobi sighed. "Naruto, this is my old student Jiraiya, he's the Gama Sannin, and the foremost expert on seals now that the Yondaime is no longer of the living. He came here to check on a seal placed on a kunoichi by another of my students, Orochimaru, but when she came here, she told us that you removed it, and while it's true she no longer bares it, I need to know if what she said is true."

"If the kunoichi in question is Anko, then yes."

"How did you do it gaki, I've spent years trying to come up with a way to remove the damn thing and I still haven't come up with anything."

"Seeing as how you are a seal expert, you would be looking for a seal that would remove it, or a way to break it as that's your specialty, but that's not what was needed." He looked at Jiraiya. "You are aware of Kyuubi, of that I'm sure, but has Ojii-san told you everything?"

"I got the short version. Kyuubi's female and has been helping you out for years, and her chakra destroys foreign substances that enter your body, which means you'll never know the true joys of drinking." He ended it with a smile, which Naruto returned slightly.

"Just means I can drink anyone under the table and not have to deal with the hangover, though it'd probably be better than dealing with a pissed off Kyuubi cause of the work she'll have to do. Anyways, when I saw the seal, I spoke with Kyuubi to see if she knew of any way to get rid of it, she didn't. However between the two of us, we thought of a way to destroy it, by transferring it to myself."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "You took the Juin Jutsu into yourself?"

"I did and her yokai destroyed it, though the process was painful for Anko and there is a condition for the transfer to work."

After a few minutes of silence, Jiraiya grew impatient. "Well, what is it?"

"The wearer has to willingly give up the power it gives them, or the seal will root itself deeper into the host, which will make it harder for them to resist the urge to use it's power."

"And you know all of this how Gaki?"

"According to Kyuubi, the Juin Jutsu is similar in principal to a demonic mating mark, in that it gives the wearer a boost in power that belongs to the one that marked them, and that when it's attempted to be forcibly removed it fights back, usually ending in the death of either the wearer or the one trying to remove it, but that's were the similarities end. A mating mark is designed to give power to protect the wearer if they're attacked, normally when a female is pregnant, as that's when their at they weakest." He heard a growl in the back of his mind. 'You said it yourself, so there's no use getting angry about it.' "As it's given to a life long spouse, it has a benevolent, or at the very least neutral, aura to it. When the mark is forced upon the wear, it has a malicious aura, like the Juin Jutsu does, it is pretty much rape to demons, though a being with a stronger aura would be able to remove such a mark. However that's not what the Juin Jutsu is, Anko told me that the power it gives is addictive, the more it's used the harder it is to resist, as such the more a person uses it the more they want, and they'll track down the person who gave it to them, in this case Orochimaru, to get more. If the wearer has the will power to resist it and give it up, I'm able to transfer it to myself, or maybe even another person, though it would probably kill them. Hell the only reason I'm okay is because of Kyuubi."

"You mean that when the transfer is finished the one it's moved to has the same nine in ten chance of dying from it?"

"Yes, but luckily for me Kyuubi's yokai worked faster than it could."

A plume of smoke came from Sarutobi's mouth. "Naruto, I'm going to have to forbid the use of this method of removal due to the risk involved."

Naruto shrugged. "Ojii-san what are the chances of meeting another person who's able to resist the Juin Jutsu, let alone someone who has it?"

"I see your point, but even still I must insist."

"Do what you want. Now is there anything else you need Ojii-san, or can I get out of here?"

"There's just one more thing Naruto, you wanted to know your sister's name, it's…"

Naruto cut him off. "It's Tayuya, I know. He put a genjutsu fuinjutsu hybrid on me to explain things to me, but it wasn't suppose to activate till I was sixteen, too bad for him I'm overly curious." Ignoring their shocked faces, he looked at the Sandaime. "So can I go now?" The old man nodded and Naruto started towards the door waving. "See you later Ojii-san, nice meeting you Jiraiya." After leaving the office, Naruto made his way to his apartment, where he found Jiraiya inside, on his couch and a slight smile on his face. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you got in here without setting off the traps, you are a Sannin after all. You're obviously not here for tea, so what do you want?"

"Some sake would be nice if you have it."

Naruto frowned. "I meant why are you in my apartment old man?"

A chuckle escaped the man's lips. "You have Minato's looks, but you've obviously gotten Kushina's personality type, especially if what sensei said about your pranks and ramen addiction is true."

"Hard to get something from someone who was never here."

Jiraiya's mirth disappeared instantly and was replaced by a serious expression. "Naruto, I know how it looks, but I also know Kushina, she would never abandon you. The few times I was in the village while she was pregnant…" A smile stretched across his face. "She had this glow of happiness about her. She had your nursery set up within two weeks of having found out she was pregnant, except for the color of the room of course since she didn't know you'd be a boy at the time. From what I understand, she actually shouted it from the top of the Hokage Monument when found out. I do not know how or why she and Tayuya weren't in her room after the sealing was done, but I've been trying to find out and find them. However my spy network has yet to find a trace of them anywhere, which should be impossible, no one can just disappear, not from my network."

"The only two reason I can see are either she left because of Kyuubi being sealed in me, or being kidnapped and their abductor not knowing about me, in which case they're probably dead."

Jiraiya frowned. "A bit negative don't you think?"

"I'm being realistic, it's been over twelve years."

"If they were abducted, then it was because of Minato, and if his enemies had killed them, they would have announced it to the world, even if it did cause another war. Besides, there's one option you over looked, someone may have threatened to hurt or kill you, Tayuya, or both of you if she didn't leave the village without you. Given what sensei's told me about your life, it's not hard to imagine some ignorant ninja doing that, especially with Kushina still so weak from childbirth she wouldn't have been able to stop them. So please, at least until you know for sure, don't hate her for not being here for you."

"I never said I hated her, but even if she was forced to leave, if she came back I doubt I could see her the way I should, I've live on my own for too long to be able to see either of them as parents."

"That's understandable, but as your Godfather, I ask that you try."

You're my Godfather? What's your excuse for not being here?"

Jiraiya looked down sadly. "I don't really have one. I'm not really fit to raise a child, at least not by myself, perhaps if your godmother was on speaking terms with me it may have been possible, but with my spy network I'm constantly out of the village, my writing takes up most of my free time, and Kushina and Tsunade would kill me if I took you researching with me."

"At least you're honest about it, but you still haven't told me why you're here."

A smile tugged at Jiraiya's lips. "Right you are gaki, I'm here because in six months the Chunin Exam will be held here in Konoha, and I plan to be here, and since I failed so spectacularly at being a Godfather, I was hoping you'd allow me to make it up to you by teaching you a few things when I'm here."

Naruto looked genuinely curious at the proposal. "That would depend on what you wanted to teach me."

The smile reappeared on his face. "Well, I am a seal master after all, so I can instruct you on them, I can teach you the Rasengan, one of Minato's jutsu, a few jutsu of my own creation, though you may not be suitable for some, elemental chakra training depending on the one you have, if you have one that is, and I was hoping to get you to sign the Gama Summoning Scroll."

"I'm sorry, but I can't sign the scroll without canceling the one I already have, and I won't do that. As for everything else, I would be honored to learn for a Sannin, however I don't wish to learn the Rasengan." Jiraiya looked at him strangely. "I don't want to be the Second Kiroi Senko, but someone entirely my own and I'll have enough trouble doing that just looking the way I do without his jutsu adding to it. And to answer you somewhat of a question, I have a wind affinity, though it may not be the only one."

Jiraiya looked at the boy with a sad, but proud smile. "I understand why you don't want to sign the contract, as I wouldn't trade mine if the world was offered on a silver platter, but I would like to know what yours is."