A/N: I will see this story through, but don't expect frequent updates. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Naruto (c) Kishimoto, not me.

01: Recalled

Naruto had been dismayed when, three weeks into their training trip, Jiraiya had returned to their room carrying a sack full of rubber balloons. They had been staying in some town enjoying a festival, just like the first time the thirteen-year-old had been introduced to those frustrating training aides - but, unlike then, the blond had not taken in the sight quite as enthusiastically. The occupants of that small inn had gotten an earful of a very upset teenager shouting about some "lazy perverted hermit" that night.

As his mind wandered back to that occasion, Naruto had no trouble popping the rubber balloon in his hand. He barely noticed the burning pain of the condensed chakra in contact with his skin and he almost didn't have to worry about making the energy swirl. His thoughts were so convoluted that his yellow chakra naturally formed as a reflection of that state. The little purple-striped ball didn't stand a chance: it wobbled and shuddered and seized in eccentric spasms, before surrendering to the young ninja and ripping itself to shreds.

The burst of cool air pushed aside the sweaty hair from Naruto's face. It felt pleasant in the hot and moist forest weather and it did wonders to soothe his aggravation. Dispassionately, he cast aside the remnants of one more failed attempt at the exercise - the balloon was supposed to remain intact - and allowed himself a short break to recover.

As always, Jiraiya had taken a seat against a tree in the clearing where they had stopped for lunch and practice this time, scribbling away into one of his many notebooks while generally ignoring his student's (lack of) progress.

"Oi, you lazy pervert! When are you going to teach me something new? I already know how to make the Rasengan! You're wasting my time," the thirteen-year-old blond yelled.

The white-haired ninja took a while to reply, but when he did, it came in his usual gravelly tone: "I'll teach you something new when you learn to do it right, brat."

He never bothered to glance up at his overly enthusiastic charge, which made his answer all the worse.

On any other day, Naruto would have retorted angrily - "then drop your perverted book and get over here!" - but the blond was feeling too tired to do anything other than drop on his back and lie down to rest.

The sound of Jiraiya's pen scratching paper mixed with the background of forest life and rocked him to near sleep. Leaves rustled as a mild summer breeze swept by, bringing with it the chirps of some foreign birds Naruto had never heard and the pitter-patter of agile squirrel paws as they raced across the treetops. The genin let himself relax and would have stayed like that longer if his teacher hadn't snapped his little notebook shut.

Naruto sat up, wondering if the toad summoner was about to approach him in one of his rare teaching moods. When he looked over to the man, though, he could not say that he was surprised to see him walking in the other direction, towards the centre of the clearing. The white-haired man was lifting an arm to the sky.

Naruto watched as a greyish brown hawk swooped down to land gently on that arm.

"What is it?" he asked, forgetting all about rasengans and balloons in face of his curiosity.

Again, Jiraiya didn't answer right away. Instead, he unwrapped the little note that came attached to the bird's leg. His mouth had a natural tendency to frown when he was distracted like this, but Naruto got the feeling that the message was serious.

"Training time's over," he said. "We're going back to the village."

"Why? Did something happen?"

Jiraiya contemplated his student's open and eager expression. Despite all the years of training at the Ninja Academy to become an emotionless assassin and the numerous situations where he had been pitted against adversaries out for his blood, Naruto had managed to retain a very endearing innocence about him. Jiraiya would be sorry to see that quality leave him.

"Konoha is going to war."