Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto if I did naruto wouldn't be as dumb, there would be a lot more blood, and he and hinata would be together from day one. I also don't own any anime crossover elements I add in my story. I do however own any techniques and/or ideas I come up with in my story where noted.

Ok everyone here's the next chapter! Yeah I know, this took longer than usual but to be honest I was lazy and real life took over my mind, from school and my new girlfriend to my little brother going off to college and family issues, sigh I blame the economy. Well I hope you enjoy it for the time I missed.

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The great gates of Kanoha stood proudly in the morning light, great barriers to the home of leaf shinobi. High walls protected the vulnerable village within and guarded by Chunin who stood watch at all entrances it is nearly impossible to get in or out without being seen. At least most of the time.

The Chunin guard watched the road in boredom; no one in their right mind would be up this early so he didn't see why it was really necessary to have a watch as the sun rose into the sky and the morning mist filled the air.

Yawning, he thought of his recent reassignment from the Hokage, he had just recently got his job guarding the gate back after being nearly demoted to Gennin, and even though he hadn't he still had to do eight months of D rank missions before he could do even the most basic Chunin tasks. All this started because someone had gotten out of the village on his watch.

He involuntarily shuddered at the thought of the D rank missions he had done and was forbidden to use any Jutsu to help him in the tasks. After that he was still on probation till just a few days ago. He swore to himself he would do everything that it took to avoid another incident like that happening.

He heard someone approaching the gate and looked up, he saw what looked like a boy in a black cloak with two swords crossed behind his back and a straw cone hat walking towards him at an even pace, a strange bit of music coming from a whistle filling the air.

" Halt! State your name and purpose for coming here!" the Chunin said even as the boy kept walking towards him. But the boy seemed to fade as he walked closer not even acknowledging the guards demand, by the time he had reached the Chunin he had disappeared like a ghost right before the Chunins eyes. Blinking a couple of times in wonder the guard pinched himself on the face, and after making sure that he was still awake decided he was seeing things.

If the guard had turned around he would have seen the retreating figure of the boy that had just faded disappear into the streets of the hidden leaf village with a foxes grin on his face.

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Naruto smiled to himself as he walked the morning streets of Kanoha, watching as the various civilians and shinobi went about their morning business. He saw the shop keepers opening up their places of work and the vendors placing their wares out for display, he smelled fresh baked bread in the air as he walked past a bakery and listened to the gossip of the wives on street corners.

Naruto smiled under his mask ' looks a lot has stayed the same since I left' Naruto thought as he passed through a crowed of people and watched as some children ran past him on their way to school, no one taking notice of him as he made his way past them ' hmm guess they don't know its me, otherwise they would be acting a lot different' Naruto thought as he walked up one of the main roads leading to the center of the village

Naruto's train of thought stopped as he stood in front of a flower stand on the corner of the street, his eyes focusing on one single flower among them. Though his face was covered one could tell he was remembering something as his eyes held sadness and remorse in them as he unconsciously reached beneath his shirt and gripped a simple necklace ' I'll keep my word, I'll make you proud' Naruto thought before gently releasing the hidden necklace and walking away from the stand and continued into the markets of the village.

Once Naruto had composed himself enough his mind drifted to lighter thoughts he had a choice to make now that he was back. " I wonder what I should do first," Naruto thought out loud to himself as he stopped walking at a crossroad street. Looking around he thought of all the places he should visit and nodding to himself in a decision he started toward the tallest building in the whole village, the Hokage tower.

Naruto was deep in thought as he walked to the tower completely ignoring the people he passed, even as he lightly bumped into someone he just gave a muffled and almost unheard apology before continuing his way to his destination.

The person watched the retreating figure of the unrecognizable boy with a look of wonder as to who he was, she had never seen him before and since he was dressed like a ninja she would have known him from the academy if he attended it.

She saw as her friends walked towards her the way the boy was walking " hey Hinata what's with you?" Kiba asked as he walked up with Akumaru in his coat, with him were Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Sakura " see something interesting you like Hinata?" Ino teased with a smile as she looked back at the retreating boy " wow Hinata way to pick one, he looks almost as good as Sasuke-kun".

A deep blush over took Hinata's face at her friends joke as she stumbled over her words trying to get out an explanation " it… he, um I mean" Hinata said lowering her head a bit " it's just I've never seen him before, and he kind of looks like a ninja" Hinata somewhat whispered making the others look back as the boy mixed in with the crowed

" Your right" Kiba said as he stared intently at the spot the boy had disappeared into the crowed " I actually got a whiff of him as I passed him, Akamaru did too didn't you boy?" he asked getting a yip from the dog in response " he smelled kind of familiar but I cant place him". " You sure about that Kiba?" Sakura asked, " I mean you sure you know him from somewhere?"

Kiba growled slightly in annoyance as he lightly his the side of his head with his fist trying to remember where he had known that scent " believe me when I say I know him from somewhere, but I just can't remember where". Shino was deep in thought at the moment as well " my bugs say his chakra is familiar as well, they tasted what was coming off him as we passed" Ino and Sakura moved slightly farther apart from Shino after his comment making his visible face frown a bit.

" What does it matter?" Choji asked as he munched on a bag of chips " I mean so what if there's someone in the village we don't know? Who cares?" Ino looked torn between annoyed and surprised " Choji you just don't understand" Shikamaru sighed getting everyone's attention " this is too troublesome" he muttered making Ino fully annoyed

" Shikamaru you say everything is troublesome!" Ino practically shouted as they lazy boy just kept his bored expression " because it is, like Choji said it's not our concern, besides if we're late for class Iruka-sensei will be a drag later, so we better get going" Shikamaru said before walking ahead of the group with Choji close behind.

With the others agreeing to the lazy boys statement they continued their way to the school to become future shinobi of their village, even as the girls continued their discussion and teasing of Hinata.

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Naruto was standing in front of the Hokage tower looking up its walls with a slight smirk under his mask. He knew the old man was probably busy with his workload of papers and documents sent to him by his secretary so he needed his own way to get into the tower without being seen by anyone but his favorite Kage.

Making a single handed seal Naruto focused his chakra and then with a masked smirk walked into the wall of the tower seeming to be absorbed by the surface.

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Sarutobi sighed once again as he continued to work on the seemingly endless paperwork that came with the all-important job in the village. If it wasn't bad enough that the papers were already in three large stacks on his desk then the fact he was up so early in the morning was the icing on the cake.

' Makes me wonder why I wanted this job in the first place, I swear each hokage must have a sucker to pass it off to when they get too old, but no…mine had to be the one that died young and sacrifice himself for the village! Yeah he just wanted out of the paperwork!' Sarutobi looked up at a picture of his successor with a grin and a chuckle before he continued his labor.

Suddenly Sarutobi stopped writing on the paper before him a frown covering his face as he placed the pen on his desk and stared at the empty room in front of him " I commend you for making it to this office without anyone sensing you, but your far too inexperienced to try to attack me". A voice echoed in the empty room in reply " ah, that's not very nice to say old man" Sarutobi watched as a boy seemed to rise up from the wooden floor, his hat hiding his identity.

Then in a single swift motion they boy raised his hat with one hand and pulled his mask down with the other revealing a wide grin and familiar whisker marks" I come back after all this time and you think I would kill you?" Naruto asked as Sarutobi's face changed from a scowl to a surprised and happy expression " Naruto!!!" Sarutobi shouted as he ran over and enveloped the boy in a hug "look at you, you've grown so much" Naruto grinned at the old mans words, it was true he was just slightly taller than other kids his age, if only just barely.

" Jiraiya said he ran into you but that was a while ago, how have you been?" Naruto smirked and pulled from the aged hokages grasp and placed his mask back in its place " I haven't been too bad, just finished traveling a few places here and there, I'm loads stronger too" Naruto said grinning pumping his arm into the air to emphasize his point.

" That's good to hear" Sarutobi said with a smile before promptly hitting Naruto on the head like he had done so many time when he was younger " don't do it again!" Sarutobi shouted as Naruto held his head

" What the hell old man!" Naruto yelled as he held his head " you deserve that Naruto" Sarutobi said with a look of annoyance " you realize how much trouble you caused, I had to deal with the items you took from the village, punish several people for lack of focus in their duties in the village, and deal with the council later when I explained you had left" the hokage finished while grumbling something that sounded like " and all the extra paperwork"

Naruto grinned rubbing the back of his head " heh heh, sorry old man but you know how it is, needed stuff to get started" Sarutobi gave Naruto an annoyed look before returning back to his desk and giving a serious look to said blond.

" Now then I hope Jiraiya told you I would need you to tell me what you've done all these years when you got back, after all I need to put it into the school and the… council" Sarutobi said making Naruto nod " also I don't know when or where but the council may want to see you as well but for now tell me what's happened to you". Naruto nodded again " ok old man but it will be on my terms, if I feel like I don't want to tell you certain things then I wont".

Sarutobi frowned but with a sigh knowing Naruto wouldn't budge on this agreed, " Fine now lets start with what you know, how much Jutsu you know, your training…" Naruto smiled proudly " well lets see…" Naruto said as he counted on his fingers " I am proficient in a Kenjutsu style and I don't say I am a master of it because I don't have the years of experience to call it that, I also know another style but not as well as the first but I'm practicing those to work that one with the original".

Sarutobi nodded in though as Naruto raised a second finger " I took a look at the academy style Taijutsu while traveling but I found it wasn't the best thing to use in a real fight for me, so instead to learned a few different styles that suited me, right now I know four styles which let me adapt to any situation, and I've worked hard to able to switch to any of the four at a moments notice" Naruto as Sarutobi thought to himself ' hehe well now Gai will be happy when he finds out Lee has some competition now'

Naruto smirked as he raised another finger " Genjutsu was a pain in the ass but I figured it out a bit, my chakra tends to overfeed the illusion and I cant hold small amounts unless I have near perfect concentration so I had to figure a way around that" Naruto's grin almost split his face " I found a few Genjutsu in places that I visited that actually grow stronger the more you put in so I base mine around those, it doesn't matter how much I put in because it only helps me to push as much as I can into it"

Sarutobi grinned seeing Naruto's logic ' so despite the fact he cant do regular Genjutsu he can create unique ones and with his enormous chakra capacity he could create some very convincing illusions …interesting' Naruto smirked " I can also detect most genjutsu and dispel them " Sarutobi nodded silently telling Naruto to continue.

Naruto counted off another finger " ok for jutsu I know a ton of them, the academy ones will be no problem for me now and not including Jutsu for my bloodline, ones I came up with, and the ones from the forbidden scroll I know about thirty-five C ranked Jutsu, twenty-nine B ranked Jutsu, nineteen A rank Jutsu and five S ranked Jutsu's though I'm limited in any higher than some A rank jutsu because of how much I need to put into them. I also created a few… personal Jutsu while I was away"

Sarutobi frowned making Naruto sweat a bit " and the forbidden Jutsu?" Sarutobi asked sternly making Naruto flinch for a second before sighing " I learned the clone based Jutsu easy enough, a few of the offensive and defensive Jutsu gave me trouble in the beginning but I figured them out".

Naruto gave Sarutobi a serious look of his own " I finished learning them all by about three months ago but if you must know I haven't used any except the clone Jutsu's" Sarutobi thought to himself as he placed his pipe in his mouth " hmmm… well no use getting upset about it now, what's done is done, I suppose I can overlook it this once" Sarutobi said with a warning glance making Naruto grin sheepishly and rub the back of his head.

" I haven't told the council about that little tidbit of your leaving the village seeing as I would only cause you and me more problems than we need as well". Sarutobi said as suddenly he became much more serious " your punishment would be far worse if they knew that about the night you left" Sarutobi said getting a nod from Naruto who knew how much a favor this really was.

" Now Naruto I have something very important to talk to you about, you might want to take a seat as this might take some time" Sarutobi gestured to one of the seats in his office which Naruto sat in.

" Now before you left the village and just now even you said something about a bloodline?" Sarutobi asked making Naruto shrug " I think it's better to show you old man" Naruto said holding his hand to the hokage as if holding something before a small fireball sprung to life in his hand, slightly shocking the hokage who wasn't expecting such a display.

Naruto let the fireball die in his hands before continuing, " I can also control water, earth, lightning, plants, and air" Naruto said making the Sarutobi stare at him a good minute just to absorb what he had heard before sighing to himself " well now this is interesting, you have a name for this bloodline of yours?" Naruto smirked

" Butai Ketsueki" Sarutobi smirked " hmm interesting name Naruto, element blood, short but sweet and to the point" then Sarutobi gave an evasive question to Naruto hoping to get some information " Naruto how have those nightmares been since I last saw you?" Naruto smirked knowing full well what the old man was asking " the Kyuubi doesn't really bother me that much anymore" Naruto said nearly making the old man fall from his chair.

" H-how? When?" Sarutobi stuttered making Naruto chuckle " well I wont tell too much because then it will show who I trained with but I will tell you the bastard makes for some interesting company, always seems to have something to say about how a demon would do something or make a wise ass remark" Naruto told Sarutobi about his meditation and how the Kyuubi was the source of his bloodline, he told him of his first kill as a ninja in defending a young girls innocence from a bandit, and a few of the places he had been and the things he had seen. Sarutobi could only sit and listen as Naruto highlighted his travel but was growing prouder with each short tale he told.

" And then Jiraiya snuck off to peek on some girls in the hot spring, though I made him regret leaving me when he's supposed to be teaching," Naruto said snickering " I used one of my personal Jutsu and taught him not to slack off". Sarutobi was interested, what kind of a technique would make someone like Jiraiya pay attention to someone more than women? " Naruto can you demonstrate this technique of yours, if it wont destroy my office that is" Naruto nodded and walked to the center of the room " ok old man but I'm warning you right now, this is a killer" Naruto said with mirth in his voice. Sarutobi knew whatever Naruto was about to do was a down right trick from his voice, not forgetting how much a prankster he was before he left.

Naruto made a hand sign and announced the Jutsu " Oiroke no Jutsu!" a cloud of smoke filled the room and Sarutobi came face to face with his downfall. The smoke began clearing to reveal a very beautiful and nude teenage girl, with a perfect figure and a large chest that was barely covered by one of her arms. Drops on water sparkled in the light around her as well as ran over her revealed skin adding further luster to her appearance.

Long blond hair that was tied into two pigtails down her back reaching her backside, her smile on her adorable face was so alluring but her eyes held nothing but innocence in them.

" Please Sandaime-sama don't look at little Naruko so much, its embarrassing" the female said in the cutest possible voice as a blush rose on her cheeks and she put a finger to her mouth before saying in a almost erotic tone as she sucked the finger lightly" I might lose it if you keep looking".

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi, nick named the professor by some, the god of ninja by others, who had reighned over the village hidden in the leaves for a good portion of his life stared in shock before screaming as blood flew from his nose and he fell from his chair to the floor, his body twitching with the look of shock still on his face, unconscious.

A puff of smoke a second later and an untransformed Naruto stared at his handiwork before shaking his head " I'm really disappointed, Jiraiya I was expecting but you old man?" Naruto disappointedly sighed, putting a hand on his neck as he rubbed it and thought out loud to himself " Is it that my Jutsu is too effective or that everyone is really a pervert deep down?" Naruto asked no one in particular looking at the ceiling as the third hokage came around and regained consciousness

After recomposing himself and stemming the flow of blood from his nose with some tissues Sarutobi walked up to the young blond shinobi " ahem so Naruto" the third began as he placed his pipe back into his mouth, how exactly is THAT technique a punishment for Jiraiya, I would think he would enjoy something like…that" the aged hokage finished lamely a blush to his winkled face.

" True but I didn't use it on him like I did you" Naruto said grinning under his mask" I use it to appear with a towel on and scream pervert at the top of my lungs, then its up to the resident females to do the dirty work" Naruto said making Sautobi nod " hmm I see. I must say that new Jutsu of yours is most impressive, very effective and highly original" Sarutobi said before frowning and hitting him on the head for the second time "DON'T DO IT AGAIN!"

Naruto held his head and for the second time that morning he was cursing the old mans strength despite his age before looking up at the man he thought of as a grandfather " yeah ok old man, and before you say anything I wont tell anyone what a pervert you really are" Naruto said making Sarutobi cough and look away in a bit of embarrassment " so Naruto" the third said trying to change the subject a bit " any other stories you want to tell me while you're here, or maybe you have another Jutsu you want to tell me about".

Naruto looked at the clock on the wall and suddenly looked a bit worried " umm sorry old man but I'm going to have to cut this short, I need to get some ramen from an old favorite and to get the first day of my last year started"

Sarutobi smiled " well Naruto first you need to do a short test to prove your up to speed in the academy and fill out a bit of paperwork before I can send you there" Naruto gave a disbelieving look " your kidding right?" Sarutobi shook his head

" It's a short one Naruto and no getting out of it either, it's required for trying to do what you are right now" Sarutobi said returning to his seat before pulling a paper from his desk and giving Naruto it along with a pen " now then just answer the questions on that paper and fill out the information needed on the other and you can…" the paper was suddenly pushed back into his hands " done old man" Naruto said smirking.

Looking at the paper Sarutobi chuckled seeing all the answers were right and on the other paper was filled out properly "hmmm cant wait to get back to the academy can you Naruto?" Sarutobi smiled putting the papers on his desk before pulling out a scroll from under the desk.

"Ok Naruto here" Sarutobi said tossing the scroll to Naruto who caught it in mid air, looking at it with a questioning look Sarutobi explained " that note just says you passed the test and are allowed to attend this years graduating class" then the aged hokage got up and walked to the balcony. Naruto fallowed him and together they looked out over the village " by the way Naruto I want you bring Iruka here after class, say about eight at night, that way we can talk more about what we went over ok?"

Naruto nodded his head and as soon as he placed his hat on his head handed the hokage one of the two scrolls in his pocket " these are from me old man, one is the stuff I barrowed from the village minus the weapons and stuff I used, the other" Naruto said as he handed the other one in his hand to the hokage " is mission completion statements from while I was gone".

Sarutobi chuckled knowing Naruto was expecting full payment for whatever he did in his time away, it was one of the things he had told Naruto before he left about being a ninja. " By the way old man is there anyway to keep what we talked about a secret for now?" Naruto asked a bit seriously " do me a favor and just don't put the information through until we talk again later alright?" Sarutobi nodded slowly making Naruto smile.

Naruto jumped up on the railing of the balcony " Naruto" Sarutobi said getting Naruto's attention as he held out a few bills and coins in his free hand and a key in the other " the keuy is to your old apartment, Iruka and I made sure it was taken care of while you were gone, and here have a big Naruto special on me, I'm sure you've earned it. Class starts in a hour but you can be a bit late today" Sarutobi said with a grin as Naruto took the money and nodded with a masked smile before he jumped from the balcony and in a burst of speed disappeared in mid air. Sarutobi watched as Naruto began jumping from roof to roof as he ran from the tower and into the village.

Sarutobi chuckled as he returned to his desk and looked at the scroll that held Naruto's missions " well now…" Sarutobi said opening the scroll a bit surprised to find a seal set to go as soon as the scroll opened, it exploded in a puff of smoke the sound of summonings filled the room.

When the smoke cleared the hokage's desk was overflowing with new papers from the scroll. The old man could swear he could hear laughter from a certain blond in the distance as his eye twitched slightly as some of the papers fell to the floor " I believe he may be trying to get me to give him this job as fast as I can" Sarutobi muttered as he grudgingly began the work of trying to separate the papers into stacks to make it at least a bit easier.

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Naruto smiled as he jumped from roof to roof with his favorite ramen shop in sight, the Ichiraku seemed to be doing well despite his absence and he wondered idly for a moment if Teuchi and Ayame had added any new choices to the menu before jumping to the street below and landing in front of the open bar like restaurant. Naruto moved the cloth covering in this way with one hand and slipped to one of the open seats quietly almost unnoticed by Ayame as she cleaned the counter.

" Oh hello " Ayame said in her cheerful voice as she saw the first customer of the day walk in " welcome to Ichiraku ramen, what will you be having?" Naruto smiled under his mask and put a large amount of money on the counter, not all of it from the hokage. "Give me seven Naruto specials and a order of hot ginseng tea" Naruto said, revealing who he was by pulling his mask down to around his neck showing his smile " I've missed the taste of home".

" Naruto!!!" Ayame yelled in happy surprise as she reached over the counter and grabbed him in a hug before yelling into the kitchen " dad come quick! Naruto's come back!!!" Teuchi looked from out the doorway and smiled " Naruto! When did you get back?" Naruto smiled " just a couple hours ago, had to stop at the old mans and let him know I was back, now how bout that ramen?" Naruto said making Teuchi smirk

" Sure thing but first…" The chef said before whacking Naruto on the head with the wooden spoon he had picked up from the counter " Itai! What the hell!" Naruto shouted tearing the hat from his head and rubbing the spot that was struck " first the hokage now you too old man?" Naruto shouted as Teuchi left to make the ramen.

Ayame giggled a bit " that's what happens when you act like a baka Naruto" she teased waving a finger at him like a scolded puppy making Naruto grumble about how sore his head would be later if this kept happening. Soon Teuchi came out with a hot bowl of ramen specially made to satisfy an appetite like Naruto's.

Naruto wasted no time and almost attacked the ramen in hunger even as Teuchi put another one down in front of him "Naruto, did you like your time away?" Ayame asked making Naruto nod as he slurped up the last noodles in the bowl before grabbing the next one " yeah it was awesome, but I really missed the place, no one makes better ramen than you guys believe me it wasn't the same"

Teuchi smirked " that's good to know Naruto," the chef said before smirking deviously "so tell me did you find a girlfriend while you were away?" the old chef teased making Naruto choke on the broth he was swallowing before he replied red faced " what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Ayame giggled again " oh dear you're going to be such a heart breaker now that you're back Naruto" Ayame replied getting a sour look from the blond before her

" I just can't win" Naruto grumbled with a sigh before returning to his mea, however Ayame noted he act with a bit less enthusiasm since they had made the joke, before long all seven bowls were stacked and empty of their contents. Naruto sat there for a while just talking with two of his precious people about various things that had happen both to Naruto and them while he had been away. Naruto seemed to brighten again as he talked to them and told them a few short stories of his time in the other nations and the things he had seen.

Naruto eventually decided he had better be going or he would miss the entire first day of class, with a short goodbye and a promise to be back soon Naruto placed his hat back on his head and jumped onto the buildings, running towards his new target, the ninja academy. It took Naruto only about ten minutes to get there " hmm I guess I need to get some new weights these ones aren't enough anymore" Naruto said to himself as he walked into the doors of the academy.

Naruto found a class placement on the wall and after briefly scanning it he walked directly to the class he needed. Naruto had seen many familiar names on the list, he remembered most of them from before he had left the village, he remembered a few of the fun times he had with a handful of students and hoped that he could be their friend again after being gone for so long.

Naruto stood outside the door listening on the class for a moment, it seemed the teacher had just gotten there and had been late for some reason and was taking his sweet time with some speech. Naruto thought about how he wanted to show up in class, in the end he decided less was more in this and knocked on the door loud enough to be heard and soon the teacher called for him to come in.

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Iruka smiled as he stared at his charges, this would be the last year he had to teach them but watching them come this far brought a smile to his face nonetheless, he knew those before him would be people to be proud of in the future, whether they became shinobi or not. " Hello everyone I'm glade to see so many of you have returned to finish your training" Iruka began as he recited another speech about being a shinobi and the responsibility that comes with it. Most of the class was either paying half attention while talking amongst themselves; one of the topics floating in the class was about the strange boy who was in the village.

" So did you see his face?" one girl asked as Hinata shook her head " no… he wore a mask" she said quietly, a small part of her was a bit irked that Ino had told the entire female population of the class about their trip here and thus putting her in the spotlight. " Aw man, that's no fun" another girl huffed as Kiba snickered overhearing their conversation and whispered to Shino as he motioned to Sasuke who was sitting in the corner of the classroom with his thumb.

" Well at least now we know why Hinata doesn't go after Sasuke like every other girl, she likes them dark and mysterious not dark and broody" Akamaru barked in agreement while Shino nodded his head " it would seem that emo is the new helpless victim" Shino said making Kiba looked at him like he had grown a second head " was that a joke?" Kiba asked in disbelief.

Shino merely adjusted his glasses and replied, " I can be quite humorous when I want to be" with that said he turned back to Iruka as he kept going on with his speech with his dog loving friend giving him strange looks. Meanwhile Shikamaru and Choji just sat in the classroom quietly snoozing and eating a bag of chips respectively, Sasuke sat brooding about ways to get stronger and cast dark thoughts about his brother, unnerving the two other male students near him to no end.

Sakura and Ino had joined in the discussion about the new boy in the village as Iruka finally finished his speech " ok now class lets get right down to work now…" Iruka said as knocking on the door cut him off " come in" he yelled.

As the door opened a boy walked in and had many different reactions, many of the students stared as the boy made his way to the front, the more notable ones were the ones the boy had passed earlier as Sakura and Ino told the other girls that this was who they had been talking about, Shikamaru stared at the boy as if analyzing him before muttering "troublesome" and laying his head back down on the desk.

Choji kept eating his chips as he watched the new kid, Shino and Kiba along with Akamaru kept trying to find out who he was with their clan abilities, Sasuke watched with mild interest seeing as he looked at least a bit strong, Hinata kept looking down while the girls gossiped about him and giggles broke out over how she was reacting and who he might be.

Then again allot of girls in the class were giving this strange new boy certain looks that if a certain icy kunoichi saw would make her suddenly very upset and prone to using sharp pointy weapons. A few blushing faces and hearty eyes fallowed Naruto as walked down the steps.

Naruto didn't say a word as he walked right up to Iruka, not giving anyone the slightest clue to who he was. " Can I help you?" Iruka asked as Naruto handed him the scroll the hokage had given him. Iruka took it and after looking over the scroll he nodded to himself before looking over the class " everyone we have a new student who will be joining us for this year and the graduation".

This surprised everyone as one of the students voiced their opinion "Iruka-sensei why doesn't he have to work his way up like the rest of us?" Iruka knew this was coming " because he has passed the necessary test to see if he belongs here, believe me when I say it was not made easy to join this far into the school's curriculum" Iruka said before turning to the new student " I'm sorry but can you introduce yourself to the class? The hokage didn't write down who you were"

Naruto smirked a little under his mask, seemed the old man wanted this one to be a surprise for everyone and with a slight nod walked to the front of the class. Naruto stared at everyone in front of him " I must say I am happy to be here, I hope that I will learn much about you all and we can become friends, though I already know quite a bit about much of the class already" Naruto said making everyone look at him weird " after all I have been here before".

Iruka was surprised " wait, what you mean you've been here before?" Iruka asked making Naruto smile and with a shrug he continued " it is as I said, I was here but then I left, and now I am back" Naruto with one hand swiftly took his hat from his head revealing the blond hair hidden beneath " the one and only Uzumaki Naruto at your service! Miss me?" Naruto shouted making everyone stare at him wide eyed in shock.

" N-Naruto?!" Iruka said walking up to him " Naruto turned and smiled at his favorite teacher " how's it going Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked giving his brother figure a peace sign with his free hand and a Kakshi like smile making Iruka smile too before swiftly swinging his fist to hit Naruto, only to hit air.

Iruka and the class stared at where Naruto had been just standing " Sorry Iruka-sensei!!!" Naruto yelled getting everyone's attention " I got hit by the old man and Teuchi earlier and I don't think a third time will help". 'So fast!' Was the thought running through everyone's head. He had somehow moved from the front of the class to an open seat with the other students.

This seat, whether by chance or on purpose had placed him next to the group of girls that had just been talking about him a second ago. More importantly, he was sitting near Shino and Kiba, behind Shikamaru and Choji, and close to the heiress of the most powerful clan in the village and her two best friends.

Iruka smirked "well Naruto, if I can't hit you I can still test you" Iruka said making Naruto slightly nervous at the look in Iruka's eye" hmm well you could do that" Naruto said dismissingly as he shrugged " alright then Naruto your going to stay after class got it?" Iruka said and after Naruto nodded Iruka turned back to the board " ok now class, lets get right into our work with ninja tactics involving traps and obstacles…" Iruka began to say making Naruto sigh, knowing in advance this was going to be a long day.

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Naruto sighed again quietly for the tenth time that half-hour alone; everything Iruka had gone over he had learned from while away from the village or had no use on the battlefield, honestly although he respected the past hokage's and their achievements, he doubted knowing trivia about them would save him if a kunai was speeding towards his head.

Naruto listened halfheartedly as Iruka told students the different kinds of traps and their uses ' this is cruel and unusual punishment, I mean when Zabuza-sensei taught me about traps he had me run through a forest littered with them and I had to learn on my feet, and Ero-Sennin at least he kept it interesting and I got some experience from it' Naruto glanced about the room I hopes of reliving some of his boredom.

Naruto saw how Kiba and, from what he could tell, Shino were looking at him from their places next to him, smirking under his mask and picked up his pencil, seeing them watch what he was doing he began to tap the table. After a second the bug and dog user realized what he was doing, he was talking in code ' see something you like dog breathe?'

Naruto typed snickering at his joke as Kiba tapped back 'heh you wish, you remember me?' Naruto smirked ' hard to forget someone who smells like you do Kiba' fighting the urge to tackle Naruto to the floor Kiba asked the question most prominent in his mind 'what happened to you while you were away? Your completely different' Naruto looked at him questioningly ' so I changed my clothes, not that big a deal'.

Before Kiba could react Shino tapped lightly ' I believe Kiba means as to your increased abilities, as well as your look Naruto, that was no small feat avoiding Iruka-sensei like that' Naruto thought a moment before tapping back ' hmm, I didn't even think about it, I guess a couple years of life and death missions just makes it instinct' Kiba and Shino glanced at each other wondering just what the hell Naruto had been doing ' but enough about me' Naruto tapped ' tell me what's happed while I was away'.

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For the next hour the three had been talking in code sharing a bit of history between each other and about the village. Naruto was surprised to find out about how not long after he left Sasuke's brother had massacred the entire clan leaving only Sasuke behind alive. Naruto had started to feel bad for the Uchiha until Kiba and Shino started to tell him about his new outlook on life. Needless to say Naruto found Sasuke's ' I'm a lone avenger and need no one but power' outlook on life to be nothing short of a pain in the ass.

'Great, now I'm going to be stuck with the pain in the ass Uchiha unless I really buckle down in my work' Naruto tapped making Kiba and Shino nod ' by the way' Kiba tapped out ' you might want to dress a bit differently, the girls here like the dark mysterious ones like Sasuke and you now that you look like that' Naruto almost fell over after being compared to the Uchiha but instead replied ' Kiba I dress like this because of my training and it looks cool on me, if I get set up as a dark mysterious ninja it will only help me, besides the difference between me and Sasuke is I don't have a ten foot pole up my ass' .

Shikamaru who had been listening in on the tapping behind him snorted quietly to Naruto's remark and seeing them look at him Shikamaru tapped ' agreed'. Naruto was enjoying his 'conversation' with his old school buddies… until he felt a familiar feeling coming to him making him frown a bit. " Kuso" Naruto said out loud getting the attention of everyone close to him until it happened.

A sudden explosion of smoke filled the room making a few students shout and scream out, Iruka although surprised was yelling for everyone to calm down as the smoke cleared revealing a slightly pissed looking Naruto as he was sporting two new additions to his head, one orange and one yellow toad. " Hey hey kid long time no see!" the orange toad said making Naruto grunt in annoyance as the other toad said, " brother Gamakichi we were here yesterday".

The students whispered about the talking frogs as they watched how the strange animals kept their conversation going " hey Naruto, you have any snacks?" the yellow toad asked making the orange toad groan " Gamatatsu, you always think with your stomach!" Kiba leaned over and whispered to Naruto " hey Naruto, these guys with you or something" making Naruto nod slightly " unfortunately they are" Naruto remarked as they leapt from his head to the desk.

" Hey kid where are we now? This is no where near as exciting as that gambling town we were in yesterday!" Gamakichi said before looking at the surrounding students " though I gotta say this is a new one, since when do you train with the small fry's? " Gamakichi continued making Naruto look at them in a way that said clearly now was not the time " I'm not here for you guy's amusement " Naruto dryly commented before knocking both toad's on the head " you guys are summons! So come WHEN your SUMMONED and not at any other time!" Naruto almost yelled.

The two toads rubbed their heads where small lumps were growing " fine kid, but just for that you've lost our great company for the rest of the day!" Gamakichi said in a toad equivalent of a bad mood before exploding in smoke again " be sure to have some tasty snacks next time Naruto!" Gamatatsu said before like his brother disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

" God damn toads" Naruto muttered quietly before looking at Iruka " sorry Iruka-sensei, those two have the habit of popping up when I need them the least" Naruto apologized as Iruka turned back to the lesson with a single thought in his head 'if he has the toad summons then he must have been with Jiraiya-sama'.

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Iruka had announced lunch and the future hopeful ninja were enjoying their break. Although many of the students were actively spending their break watching Naruto with interest as he spent his break up in the arm of a tree reading a book.

Naruto ignored them for the most part with the occasional glance at some of the students, but when he heard the sounds of giggling he looked up to see some of the girls from the class gathered together occasionally looking his way and giggling, he counted those he recognized and went over them in his head ' lets see…theres Haruno Sakura the one I had a crush on, I remember she was the smartest in class when I left, though she lacked dexterity in the physical aspect, Yamanaka Ino who specialized in her clans mind jutsu and possible slightly better physically than Sakura was, and then there was Hinata Hyuuga the quiet one, she would do well if she wasn't so withdrawn, though she seems to have gotten over that.'

Naruto ended his mental list as he heard the giggling again as he looked up and saw the group of girls, including the three he went over in his mind staring at him again, Naruto gave a very Kakashi like smile and waved at them getting giggles and a few blushes from the group, those of the Yamanaka and Hyuuga among them.

' Well now I think I'm going to like it here now' Naruto thought as he flipped the page, he was too much into his new book of advanced tracking that he didn't even notice as someone walked up to him until he shouted to him " hey dobe!" Naruto looked down to see Sasuke Uchiha looking up at him " get down here, I have something I need to ask you" Naruto looked at Sasuke a moment longer before turning back to his book " I'm in the middle of something, maybe later" Naruto said turning the page in his book. The ruckus being caused by the yelling was attracting the attention of everyone who was having their break.

Sasuke flinched in annoyance but quickly hid it " now Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. Naruto stayed there in the tree a moment longer before sighing, " I'm not going to get a moments peace am I?" Naruto said to himself before closing his book and standing up on the branch " fine but it better be damn important" Naruto said before walking down the tree.

The rest of the student s watched in surprise as Naruto walked down the tree vertically as if on a stroll before standing in front of Sasuke. " Well Uchiha? What is so damn important that you felt the need to interrupt my reading?" Naruto asked in a bored tone that had the undertone of annoyance. Whether Sasuke noticed it or not he didn't acknowledge it " fight me" Sasuke said getting into his clans style making Naruto raise an eyebrow " you have got to be kidding me" Naruto muttered before turning away from Sasuke and walking away towards the academy.

" Naruto!" Sasuke yelled " are you so cowardly that you wont fight me?" Sasuke taunted hoping to incite the blonde into fighting him like he used to before he left. Naruto however just stopped and turned to look at Sasuke uninterestedly" I have no desire to show off my skills, make you look like a fool, or feed fire to that already impressive ego you have made since I left Uchiha" Naruto said pulling his book out again and opening to the page he was on " we will have plenty of chances to fight during the academy year and right now making you eat dirt is not on my list of things to do". A few of the male students snickered as they watched Naruto put Sasuke in his place.

Sasuke was not happy about being talked to like a child; Naruto the dobe of the class who had disappeared years ago was suddenly talking to him like he was his better. Sasuke glared at the blond as he walked away into the academy, but Sasuke's temper simmered as he thought over Naruto's words.

There would be plenty of chances to fight him in the academy, many chances to see how strong he was and the blond had become, how close he was to his brother. So for now at least, he would let this pass.

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Naruto smiled under his mask, it was almost time for the day at school to end 'great, now I just got to last a year and I can really have some fun, until then I better keep my power on a tight leash, don't want to hurt the others too seriously, or show too much to peeping eyes'.

"Naruto" Iruka called making him look up at his teacher " before we leave I want you to answer this pop question" Iruka said making a few kids groan thinking Naruto wouldn't know thus making them have to stay longer. Iruka ignored the sounds and pointed to a typical map designed to test a young shiobi about strategy and planning.

This particular one had a large blue line representing a river cutting it vaguely in half before reaching a mountain formation on the right side, various brown lines meaning roads and went about the map between the river and two big squares meaning towns on each end of the map, all of the rest was green meaning forests, a feature that stood out was a red line across the river representing a bridge.

" Naruto your leading a group of shinobi to intercept a convoy of a enemy force, this force is traveling from the top town to the bottom, give me your best plan of action you can take to succeed" Iruka said giving a example mission."

Naruto stared at the map a moment analyzing it carefully before nodding to himself and turning to Iruka " the best course of action would be to lay a trap for the convoy in the mountains" Naruto said making one student laugh " why would they go through the mountains? The bridge is far easier"

Naruto smirked " first my team would head to the bridge, and destroy it, if it weak enough it would be best to use high level water or earth Jutsu's to destroy it and make it look like a freak accident of nature caused it, then the only other visible way to the village is through the mountains".

Naruto pointed to the map" once there it would be easy to ambush from up in the mountains, a few earth attacks and parts of it could come down on top of them perhaps giving us better chances of success, then all that would be necessary is cleaning up the battle scene" Naruto finished making everyone look at him in shock " Naruto you just gave me a chunin level answer to my question" Iruka said making Naruto smirk under his mask.

" Well if you gave me more information like my supposed team, the enemy strength and our supplies I would give you a better answer, but with what I had that was the best I could give" Naruto shrugged making Kiba snicker and a few girls in the class think to themselves 'he's so smart'.

Naruto heard as the bell rang signaling the end of the day after he and Iruka finished their little exchange, but unlike the rest of the students he stayed in his seat, even as the rest of them gathered their things and filed out of the classroom.

Soon it was empty except for Naruto and a smiling Iruka " so Naruto, no clever tricks to get away? No long chase through the village?" Iruka asked making Naruto laugh a bit "I figured I would give you a break since it's the first day I got back, besides you need to get used to running after me again".

Iruka laughed loudly " well I don't know about that but it's good to see your taking this seriously" Iruka said before standing in front of Naruto " well now that was quit the stunt you pulled Naruto, I think you might start having as many girls after you as Sasuke does if you keep up what you just did answering my question like that" Naruto smirked " what can I say? Girls like a mystery, and boy am I one huh?" Naruto joked making Iruka smirk " too true, now get out of here, I got papers to grade before you come back tomorrow"

"What about that test you were going to give me?" Naruto asked before a sharp look came to his eyes " or was that last question the test?" Iruka sighed realizing his little trick was up " you got me Naruto, so now that my little game is up how about you get out of here huh?" Iruka asked smirking as Naruto nodded.

Naruto was about to leave the room before he called back " Iruka-sensei, do you know anyone who knows about good weights for training? Mine are feeling a little light" Naruto asked getting Iruka to scratch his head in thought " hmm well there's a Jonin named Might Gai who trains with them and he would know where the best are sold, I would ask him, he's usually in one of the training fields so I would start there, just listen for loud shouting of youth or his name".

Naruto nodded hesitantly thinking to himself that this man sounded weird for someone at the position of Jonin, then again Jiraiya was a sennin and look how he acted." Thanks Iruka-sensei, also the old man said he wanted us to meet at the tower at eight, I'm going to go train a bit before that ok?" Naruto said making Iruka nod as his student left the room.

" Naruto" Iruka said smiling " I think things are going to be interesting with you back".

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As Naruto left the building he was unaware as one young kunoichi watched him from behind a tree as he walked from the school and into the town " Naruto-kun" Hinata said quietly as her old crush she had thought she would never see again after he left walked away. " Well are you just going to sit there all day Hinata?" a voice asked behind her making her jump before realizing it was Ino and Sakura.

" Ino…Sakura...um…what are you doing here?" Hinata asked quietly making them smile " oh just planning on fallowing Naruto like you are, I'm curious what happened to him, after all its not everyday some can answer a question Iruka gives like he did" Ino said as Sakura nodded.

"I want to know how he knew the answer to that question!" Sakura added making Hinata nervous as her little plan was exposed and how they had forced their way into her little trailing of her crush" oh…um...well ok" Hinata said knowing it would only be worse to try to stop Ino and Sakura knowing how determined and persistent they could be.

The three girls tracked Naruto as he walked through the village, Naruto himself was vaguely aware he was being tailed though he couldn't tell who it was. He decided since he didn't think whoever was trailing him was going to attack him he would just ignore them for now. He was too preoccupied with finding the training area he was looking for to care anyway.

Hinata, Sakura and Ino watched as Naruto walked into a training area known for it's waterfall fed river, it was a good place to train for medium level shinobi since the limited amount of ground forced fights to travel to the river.

The girls were quick to hide themselves in the bushes after Naruto looked in their direction, as he was about to enter the grounds. They watched as Naruto looked around some more behind him before he shrugged, and walked deeper into the training field after seeing no one behind him.

" That was a close one!" Ino said quietly making Hinata and Sakura nod in agreement " hurry up! We're going to lose him!" Sakura whispered as the three crawled though the bushes in search of their target. The sounds of fast moving water reached their ears as they reached the very center of the training field. There hey came to a sight they had not expected to see.

A blue haired Naruto stood atop the wide river barefooted seemingly floating on the surface, most of his clothing piled next to a tree so he only wore his mask and long black pants, and holding a large trident in his hands. Seemingly focused completely on the waterfall, the possessed Naruto didn't see he had an audience as he focused his power into the current of water before him.

A sudden explosion of water made the girls jump as heads of dragons created from the waterfall charged Mashimizu roaring as they sped at him. Mashimziu parried and dodged them as his own attacks kept coming at him with the possibility of injuring him, Hintata, Ino, and Sakura watch speechlessly as the Naruto they had fallowed seemed to dance atop the river in a dance with the water around him all the while doing things they didn't think someone their age could possibly do.

Mashimizu after a good fifteen minutes of this exercise thrusted his trident as the last water dragon charge him, spearing its head and causing it to explode as a wave of water flew up the waterfalls face, before washing into the air. As the water rained back down over the field Mashimizu stood still as the water from fell on him watching the sky a moment.

" I cant believe how strong Naruto is" Sakura whispered wide eyed as they watched the finale of his training " what happened to him while he was away?" " What I want to know is what did he go through to get to look like that!" Ino said grinning at what Naruto had become since he left. 'If he looked like this now' Ino thought before she giggled quietly as she tried to imagine what he would be like in a few years, " hey Hinata do you…Hinata?" Ino asked looking at where she was, apparently the sight of a half clothed Naruto wet with water was more than enough to overload her as she lay there bright red and glowing like a neon sign " Naruto-kun…" Hinata mumbled happily in her unconscious state.

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" Well now Naruto certainly has come a long way hasn't he?" Sarutobi asked as his crystal ball with the assembled shinobi council and high-level ninja, notable clans such as the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame and the famous Ino-Shika-Cho clan trio were present in the room, His old teammates and Danzo stood along with the most powerful ninja from Kakshi and Asuma to Anko and Ibiki stood watching as the images flashed across the crystal. Their purpose for being there was to determine the fate of the young Uzumaki since his return.

Asuma Sarutobi took a puff of his cigarette before saying " he reminds me of another mask wearing ninja we all know, don't you agree Kakashi?" Asuma asked getting a shrug from the silver haired ninja " are you trying to imply something Asuma?" Kakshi asked boredly as he took out his book. Kurenai sighed, " cant you do two do those disgusting habits somewhere else?" She said in an irritated tone making the other two Jonin shrug.

" Smoking isn't a habit it's a lifestyle, means you're a man" Asuma replied taking a puff of the lit stick in between his finger as Kakashi turned a page in his book " and all I'm doing is enjoying some fine literature" Kakashi stated watching as the boy finished his exercises.

Ignoring the conversation Sarutobi focused his crystal that showed as the possessed Naruto walked back onto land before manipulating the water off of him, making dry once again. Holding he large orb of water over the river Mashimizu let it fall back into the river before picking up his clothing and placing them on.

Once that was done Mashimizu held his trident out and as he changed back to Naruto. it glowed blue as it formed back into its original shape, Naruto's twin swords. After sheathing them Naruto began walking from the training field, and a minute after he was gone the three hidden girls walk from their hiding place with Hinata being dragged by Ino and Sakura who ran off getting some chuckles and a few shakes of the head from various shinobi.

" Yep just like old times, remember when Kakashi was in the academy?" Asuma asked getting a vigorous nod from Gai " His fires of youth drew many a lovely girl at that time!" Gai shouted before tears swelled in his eyes " but his fires of youth have been diminished by his most unyouthful habit!" Gai cried getting some sighs and odd looks from the surrounding group.

" Well now Gai at least Lee now has someone who might match his ' fires of youth' don't you think?" Inoichi asked causing Gai to laugh loudly " INDEED!!!! NOW MY LEE WILL TRUELY REACH THE PINNACLE OF HIS YOUTH! WITH A RIVAL LIKE NARUTO MY LEE'S FLAMES WILL BURN LIKE THE SUN!" he yelled in his excitement making everyone sweat drop at the strange actions of their fellow Jonin.

Saruobi cleared his throat getting the attention of the assembly" Well now it goes without saying that this new bloodline Naruto has is indeed powerful, it could well be the strongest bloodline we might have if he learns to control it fully" Sarutobi said looking over to the Shinobi council made up of the clan heads and important figure heads in the village. Pinnical

" Naruto's actions thus far have proven to be truthful, he has returned from his training on the time he said he would," Sarutobi said getting a few nods from the group as one of the council stood up " I believe it is still necessary for Uzumaki-san to receive a punishment, it is more of a matter that we make sure that he understands his actions concerning the secrets of the village could have endangered it" Shibi Aburame stated intelligently

" If he were to do such things as a shinobi I doubt there would be any discussion to the matter at all, but as hokage-sama and Uzumaki-san said himself since he was not technically a shinobi yet he cannot be held to the same standards as a certified ninja can" Hiashi Hyuuga said calmly receiving a few acknowledgements and a whispers from the assembled group.

It was rare for the seemingly cold man to add any input into a meeting unless it was absolutely necessary, the fact he had basically told everyone he supported the young ninja said allot to everyone else involved.

" Hyuuga-san raises a valid point to the matter, even though Uzumaki-san was entered in the academy and is such a important…asset to the village" Tsume Inuzuka carefully worded her words " I agree with the assessment, we should open his punishment to an appropriate level, the only thing I can see as far as criminal charges he could receive is that he left the village without proper channels"

Sarutobi nodded as he smoked his pipe " I have taken care of all punishments Naruto will receive personally, rest assured he will be treated as any other citizen in these matters, so for now we will postpone this meeting until after I have spoken to him tonight, he will give his own account at that time and his punishments will be handed out then all agreed?" Sarutobi asked getting nods from everyone in the room before they filled from the room and the shinobi disappeared in swirls of leafs.

" Sarutobi" a voice said getting the thirds attention; it was Danzo " may I have a moment of your time" he asked though Sarutobi new it was more of a demand " of course Danzo, the input of our most distinguished members of the village, what do you need?" Sarutobi asked making Danzo grunt,

" I would like to have the young Uzumaki placed in a advanced teaching regime, his abilities under the proper care would benefit the village immensely" Danzo said making Sarutobi smile knowing full well the kinds of teaching someone like him would enforce on the young ninja. The incident of Roots training was still fresh in Sarutobi's mind, and the old Hokage wasn't convinced that the old war bird had given up the training methods completely.

" I'm sorry Danzo, Naruto has decided to attend the academy and I believe this will be the best course of action, after all the choice would ultimately be his anyway and he can be stubborn when someone tries to make him change his mind" Sarutobi said smiling making Danzo stare at him a moment before nodding and leaving the room a scowl on his face. To Danzo this was far from over, Sarutobi was a thorn in his every plan and his plans for the container of the Kyuubi were something he would not change. 'This hindrance is only temporary, one way or another, My plans will come to fruition'.

Sarutobi slumped into his seat sighing, " I'm too old for these long meetings" Sarutobi muttered quietly looking into the shadows of the room " come out now, I want your report on Naruto". Out of the shadows stepped the familiar form of Jiraiya as he grinned wildly to his old teacher " hey now Sarutobi, don't tell me your finally feeling your age?" Jiraiya asked getting a dry laugh from the aged hokage before taking a seat before him.

" Maybe you're the one who is so old your losing your mind Jiraiya" Sarutobi said sighing, " why did you let Naruto sign the toad contract so early, you know that's going to attract allot of attention to him" Sarutobi sighed " honestly if people start asking about that what am I supposed to tell them"

Jiraiya shrugged " well it kind of happened when we were in a restaurant, we were at the bar and Naruto had asked me for about the hundredth time about my summons" Jiraiya sighed shaking his head in his hand " I might have been drinking a little much and maybe been a little drunk but I told him there was no way he would be able to summon any toads until he was better".

" Well he made a bet with me that he could summon any toad I chose for him and if he did then I would have to teach him one of my best Jutsu" Jiraiya grumbled making Sarutobi stare at him " Jiraiya, you do realize it was a win-win for Naruto, what could he have possibly betted you that you'd accept such a one-sided bet?" Sarutobi demanded as Jiraiya looked away sheepishly and covered a cough with his hand.

" Ahem, he would use his Oiroke no Jutsu to turn into Tsunade" Jiraiya replied almost in an embarrassed whisper to which Sarutobi covered his face in his hand in annoyance ' Naruto play him like a violin, he used his weakness for women and struck when he was most vulnerable, I don't know if I should applaud him, be pissed at Jiraiya, or both at this very moment' Sarutobi thought before taking a deep breath " so I take it he passed with flying colors am I right?" Sarutobi said getting Jiraiya to chuckle

" I told him to summon a large toad, I figured he might be able to summon a small one in the long shot guess, he ended up summoning Gamabunta on his first try, I guess he wanted to show me up" Jiraiya grinned " anyway I ended up teaching Naruto the Hari Jizo technique as his reward which he got down in a week and a half" Jiraiya smiled "although we're not here to talk about that are we you wanted to know more about the bloodline thing right?" he asked getting a nod from his old teacher.

" yes but first I want to know where Naruto was, you said he was going to come back early in the last letter you sent me but he ends up coming the very last day he can" Sarutobi said wondering what had changed his plans like that " hell if I know, last I saw he was in a port waiting for a boat to get there a few days later, whatever happened was without me" Jiraiya added furthering the mystery to the old man, but he would hhave to figure that out later, for now there was important business at hand.

" So what have you learned about Naruto's bloodline?" Sarutobi asked getting another grin from Jiraiya " well now that's an interesting place to start, I guess he showed you a bit of it before am I right?" getting a nod Jiraiya continued " well I doubt he introduced you to another aspect of it, his split personalities that control it" Sarutobi frowned at the wording of Jiraiya's information until he explained more. Sarutobi was relieved to learn about how Naruto's counter selves seemed to have his well being in mind and how they posed no threat to Naruto.

" So I take it Naruto is not under the foxs influence then, that's good " Sartobi muttered quietly " are there any negative effects of Naruto's bloodline your aware of Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked getting a nod from him.

" Naruto has huge Chakra reserves that never seemed to run out when we trained, the only time I saw it do that was when I pushed him all day with his clones and when his alter selves used some of his bloodline jutsu" Saurtobi nodded thinking to himself as he listened.

" Is that all?" he asked getting a grimace from Jiraiya " unfortunately no, when we were about halfway in our journey together there was an…Incident that you have to be aware of" for a moment Sarutobi became worried " was the fox able to affect Naruto?" Jiraiya shook his head.

" No I wasn't the fox that was the problem" just as Sarutobi sighed in relief Jiraiya finished his statement with a frown of his own "but when this happened… Naruto did things that were more frightening than any human could do".

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Flash back

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" Naruto you do realize that you have been training these past three days non stop right?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto fought against six clones in the open field " it's not my fault you're a lazy old man Ero-sennin" Naruto shot back as he blocked a fist aimed for his face before dodging another attack from behind him.

Jiraiya sighed in annoyance it was true for the lat week he hadn't been able to teach Naruto much, between his duties for the leaf village by collecting information and his duty to write his world famous books, he simply hadn't had any time to teach. Smirking Jiraiya got an idea "well then I believe that such dedication deserves a reward don't you?" Jiraiya asked gaining Naruto's attention.

" What did you have in mind?" Naruto asked suspiciously as Jiraiya grinned.

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" A festival?" Naruto asked raising an eye as they walked into the town where bright lights of booths gleamed and people were selling of all kinds of wares, games and food. Jiraiya smirked seeing Naruto's surprise " we can be serious all the time, a person must relax and enjoy life while they can, otherwise we miss out on the good things in life"

Jiraiya said lecherously watching as two very attractive and voluptuous women passed by them

" And this town has many, many good things…" Naruto sighed at the actions of his supposed teacher before grabbing him by the back of his hair and forcibly dragging him through the streets despite the protests from the old shinobi.

" There is a difference between enjoying life and being a lecher!!!" Naruto yelled in annoyance despite his struggling teachers attempts to get away and the many stares he was getting as he dragged the older ninja.

" Well now since this was your idea you can pick up the tab for our hotel" Naruto said shoving Jiraiya ahead of him after dragging him a fair distance into the town center, Jiraiya straightened himself and after regaining his composure smacked Naruto on the head " Gaki! Who said we were staying at a hotel?" Jiraiya yelled as Naruto rubbed his bruised head with a grimace " well what are we going to do? Sleep in an alley?!" Naruto shouted making Jiraiya grin

" Of course not, we will just stay with my contact I have in this town, she wont mind putting us up for as long as we stay in the village" Jiraiya beamed confidently as he walked ahead of Naruto, not seeing he disbelieving look in his eyes " so not only is he a lecher but a moocher too" Naruto said to himself as he patted his wallet in his pocket " no way in hell he's barrowing my money" Naruto muttered before running after his teacher.

" So how long will we be here Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya led him around the village " hmm well this festival starts at the beginning of the month and wrapps up around two weeks from now, so I'd say we will be here a month at the most, I have to do some things for Konoha while we're here and you can train outside the village" Jiraiya replied before silence broke between teacher and student.

Soon they were standing outside a modest looking store showing many kinds of sweets in the windows " your contact runs a sweet shop?" Naruto asked suspicious of his mentors true intentions " lots of people pass through this town, and you'd be surprised how much people talk when their eating something sweet" Jiraiya said happily as he walked into the store with a skeptical Naruto fallowing close behind.

" Aya! Hey Aya you here?" Jiraiya called out, as Naruto looked around the store his eyes taking in many interesting and good looking deserts and sweets that lined the walls of the store. " Jiraiya is that you?" a voice called out from the back as a woman walked out smiling a bit, she was a bit shorter than Jiraiya was, with long green hair tied at her neck and brown eyes.

Naruto could assume this was his contact in the village, and in is opinion she was pretty nice looking, though he wondered if there was more to her relationship with Jiraiya. Seeing the woman Jiraiya smiled happily " Aya look at you still the prettiest baker in the village" Jiraiya said as smooth as he could to which Naruto rolled his eyes and tried not to gag at the act.

Aya smiled happily as she put a finger to Jiraiya's shirt and traced his chest " Jiraiya, close your eyes and your going to get a sweet surprise" Aya said making Jiraiya grin lecherously before he shut his eyes and puckered his lips like a fish in anticipation. Naruto shook his head in annoyance ignoring the two adults antics before….

BAM!!!!!!!

" OW!!!!" Jiraiya cried holding his head squatting on the ground, as tears formed in his eyes "you didn't have to hit me so hard!" Jiraiya cried looking over his shoulder at Aya who was still smiling with the frying pan in her hand " that's what you get for not only leaving without paying me rent for your last visit but trying to peep on my baths as well" Aya beamed as Naruto laughed " I like this lady already" Naruto said to himself

" Your just lucky that Akane wasn't here this morning" Aya said looking at Naruto " and who might you be young man?" Aya asked happily as she put the pan back on the tabletop " I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm traveling with the old pervert there": Naruto gestured earning a glare from Jiraiya for taking her side " he said we would be staying here while we trained here near the village".

" Oh he did?" Aya asked smiling at Jiraiya before suddenly grabbing and pulling on his ear hard earning a cry of pain from him " and your planning on paying me this time right" she asked almost too sweetly as she tugged on his ear harder " Yes! Yes! I swear!" Jiraiya cried. Aya smiled before releasing Jiraiya's ear and looking at Naruto " well my my aren't you a handsome young man, I just know Akane is going to like you".

" Who?" Naruto asked just as he heard the door open and a girl Naruto's age walked into the building, she had bright red hair and brown eyes, she was wearing a festive looking kimono which Naruto deduced that she had been attending the activites of the village " oka-san, sorry I was late, I saw this books as a prize at the fair and I really had to…" the girl said before seeing Jiraiya.

" YOU!" the girl shouted in rage as she jumped towards the old ninja no doubt intending bodily harm. Naruto was just thinking he would need a new sensei when she was done before he suddenly found himself in the path of the flying girl. Their inevitable collision ended with Naruto looking up at the ceiling from his new position on the ground, the red haired girl sitting on his chest looking around confused as to what just happened.

Naruto looked around confused as to what happened as well until he saw Jiraiya standing where he had been " damn you old bastard!" Naruto shouted angrily as he lay there " you switched places with me using kawami no jutsu didn't you!!!!" Naruto seethed bitterly at being used like that.

" I have no idea what your talking about brat" Jiraiya said innocently as he dusted himself " besides you should be happy, not many your age can say they've had this experience" Jiraiya grinned making Naruto confused before he realized what his teacher meant…the girl still hadn't moved from their compromising position.

" Don't be so shy now you two " Jiraiya teased grinning like mad man before vanishing in a puff of smoke as Aya giggled, " don't do anything I wouldn't do dear" Aya said before retreating into the shop. Naruto sighed in annoyance muttering " damn perverts" before looking at the girl still on him " if you wouldn't mind, I would like to stand up now" Naruto muttered.

The girl looked at Naruto a moment before blushing brightly and jumping off him with a yelp to the wall " Y-You pervert! Don't get any idea's!" the girl stuttered out embarrassed " I just wanted to kill that other pervert for trying to peek at my mom in the bath last time he was here".

Naruto pulled himself from the ground and after dusting himself off looked at the girl right in the eyes " believe me I don't blame you, and as my teacher goes I'm a saint compared to him" Naruto commented making the girl look at him suspiciously " how do I know your not as bad as he is?"

Naruto grinned beneath his mask " well for one I can say I've never been chased by a horde of angry women for peeking in a bath house, I'm usually the one laughing as he gets beat into the ground…and then heal him after he gets his ass handed to him a dozen times over" Naruto replied actually getting the girl to giggle a little before she realized she had and tried to cover it up with a frown

" Well don't think I'll let you off easy just because you say so, but I'll give you a chance" she said grinning holding her hand out " I'm Akane Akemi" she smiled as Naruto took her hand in his " I'm Naruto Uzumaki and you should know there's another reason I'm not like my sensei".

" Oh really? What's that?" Akane asked before Naruto's natural charm came out as he bent and kissed her hand and with a smooth masked smile and wink replied, " I couldn't think of doing something like that to someone so pretty".

Naruto had learned allot about women from the old pervert, and besides his lessons in intelligence gathering and learning to tell if a kunoichi was trying to use their charms on him he figured doing the exact opposite of what Jiraiya did would be good for his health as well as his standing with the opposite sex in general.

Akane's face light up like a firework as she lost the ability to speak with the exception of strange squeaks coming from her throat before she suddenly reacted out of shock and embarrassment by a mean right hook right to Naruto's face, knocking him into the hardwood counter.

Naruto ended up back on the ground with a thud drawing Akane from her daze before realizing what she did " MOM! Come quick!" she yelled as she checked on the boy " Naruto! Are you ok?" Akane asked worriedly as Naruto looked at her dazed from the powerhouse hit " I'll give that hit a nine of ten" Naruto said before passing out causing the red head to panic even more.

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" That was the beginning of a long month" Jiraiya grinned to his old sensei " you would swear it was just like Minato and Kushina when they were that age, it was almost spooky seeing them act that way" Jiraiya commented getting a smile from Sarutobi "Yes Naruto seems to have the same flirtatious charisma as his father, and if I recall right Minato met Kushina in a similar way Naruto met this girl…" Sarutobi said casting a suspicious glance to his student who nervously rubbed his neck.

" Now now sensei you know I don't play match maker," Jiraiya said joking as he looked up at the picture of the fourth above Sarutobi " Naruto is more and more like his parents with each day, he's intelligent and strong as his father, as creative and driven as his mother…and hits as hard as they both did when I did my research around them" he mentioned more like and after thought as he rubbed his face " how does he expect me to finish the next volume he keeps asking for if I cant be inspired?"

" Jiraiya you showed Naruto your books?" Sarutobi asked with a frown " what are you crazy? Kushina would kill me when I join them in the after life if I did that," Jiraiya's tone was as if he couldn't believe his sensei asked such a question, it was downright suicide.

"He was already a fan of them when I found him" Jiraiya shrugged" don't ask me how he came across one of my books, he never told me, but he is certainly bright enough not to read them openly like Kakashi does, though I have to say, that Namikaze charm is strong in him." Jiraiya said before mumbling under his breath " how he charmed so many women without even trying is beyond me ".

Shaking his head in amusement Sarutobi thought to himself ' Naruto one of these days your going to end up like your father when he used to use his charms over the village…with a horde of fan girls on your heels' Sarutobi smiled to himself before nodding to Jiraiya, unsaid permission to continue recounting the events.

" Anyway after that little bump in the road, they were pretty much inseparable, hell she came to watch Naruto train when I took him from her" Jiraiya grinned remembering the number of times she trailed them and still found them after Jiraiya dragged Naruto off to train privately " then the it was the middle of the month something very interesting took place between those two".

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Flash back: Two weeks later after arrival

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Naruto and Jiraiya sat at the table along with Aya and Akane, after a long day of training Naruto couldn't had been more eager to see what Aya made for dinner, it seemed she was skilled in more than just sweets. Naruto grinned behind his mask happily " that food was delicious Aya-san, I haven't had curry that good before" Naruto said before looking across the table " Akane-chan you ok? You haven't touched you food" Naruto said looking at the girl who had an annoyed look on her face, a whole two weeks of dinner with the guy and she hasn't seen his face once!

" Yes I'm fine Naruto-kun" Akane said tensely as her chopsticks broke in her hand making Naruto sweatdrop ' yeah, as fine as someone tense as her can' Naruto thought to himself. Akane seemed to be deep in though a momentbefore her face brightened with a look of realization and a smile broke out on her face " I'll be right back" she said running into the kitchen making Naruto look at Jiraiya who shrugged in return of the unasked question.

Akane returned a short time later holding a tray with some small cakes on it " Naruto-kun would you like a dessert?" Akane asked grinning to which Naruto shook his head " no thank you Akane-chan I ate way too much already" Naruto said before seeing her giving him puppy dog eyes " please Naruto-kun? I spent all day making these and I really want you to try one" Akane said sadly making Naruto nervous, when a girl gives you the degree of puppy eyes she was giving Naruto it is impossible not to cave in " uhh you know what I'll have one" Naruto said quickly as he picked one up from the plate.

' Perfect! Now when Naruto-kun goes for a bite I'll finally see his face!' Akane grinned to herself as Naruto reached for his mask, making her more anxious with each second that passed. " mmm this does look good" Naruto said as his hand gripped the bridge of his mask making Akane's breath hold for a moment in suspense.

" What about me?" Jiraiya asked as he reached for one only for Akane to slap his hand away " none for you pervert!" Akane yelled glaring at him before realizing what she had done and turning around found Naruto's mask where it always was with motions of chewing beneath it.

" mmm that was delicious Akane-chan" Naruto said smiling to which Akane out of frustration smacked Jiraiya over the head with the tray over his head. A very comical sight seeing as she hadn't moved her eyes from Naruto and had used only one hand to do it, although Naruto was a little freaked out over it.

Quicker than Naruto could tell Akane was holding him by his shirt and looking at him right in the eyes " You. Me. The festival. NOW!" Akane yelled dragging him out the door as her mother watched her pull Naruto from his seat and out the house " my she certainly is spirited tonight" Aya beamed as Jiraiya pulled himself from the floor " well I wish she wasn't so spirited on my head" Jiraiya said rubbing it making Aya giggle.

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Naruto walked alongside Akane as she took him through the fair, every now and then she would stop and ask him to win her something from one of the game booths, which Naruto did though he wondered why she was taking him all over the place to begin with seeing as he would rather be getting some rest since he had been practicing all day, not that he complained to her about it.

" Akane-chan is something wrong? You haven't said much to me the whole time we've been here," Naruto asked as they walked through the fair grounds " it's nothing Naruto-kun I just want us to enjoy the festival after all this is the last night of the festival" Akane said getting Naruto to nod in thought " hmm well then since you showed me the festival, there's something I want to show you" Naruto said placing a hand on Akane's shoulder making her confused to what he meant before the two of them disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

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Akane felt dizzy as they appeared in a new place "careful there Akane-chan" Naruto said catching her as she fell backwards into him " I forgot the first few times using Shunshin no Jutsu can be a bit disorienting, though I think you'll find the trip was worth it" Naruto helped Akane to sit on fallen tree

" Umm Naruto not that I'm not happy you took me somewhere just the two of us are but why are we here?" Akane asked making Naruto smile as he pointed behind her " take a look for yourself Akane-chan"

Turning around Akane could see her whole village below the fairs lights illuminated the sky in a rainbow of bright colors while the stars shined down above it " it's beautiful Naruto-kun! When did you find this place?" Akane exclaimed as Naruto joined her on the tree " when I was training, I found this that night I was out later than usual" Naruto said smiling " but the best parts about to begin now" Naruto said with a hint of mirth to his voice.

Before she could ask what he meant a whistling sound filled the air over the village before an array of colorful fireworks filled the nights sky " so Akane-chan feeling better now?" Naruto asked as they watched the fireworks light up the sky overhead " a little Naruto-kun, though you didn't have to do this for me" she replied getting Naruto to shake his head " you shouldn't be so sad Akane-chan you look better when you smile" that little comment made said girl blush again.

" ummm Naruto-kun, you know your leaving soon right" Akane asked playing with her hands nervously " well you know two weeks isn't that long if you think about it" she finished weakly making Naruto nod in thought " time does seem to fly doesn't it?" Naruto thought out loud " before I know it I'm going to be heading back to my village, and then it's only a year till I get to be a ninja after that"

Akane looked down in her feet a moment before nodding to herself in a decision " Naruto-kun I have something for you" Akane said getting Naruto's attention as she reached behind her neck and started fiddling with something hidden by her long red hair.

Naruto watched as she took off a necklace she had hidden under her kimono " here I want you to have this Naruto-kun" Akane smiled handing him the trinket.

Naruto looked at it in his hand, it didn't look expensive, but was certainly beautiful nonetheless. It was shaped like a flower and Naruto's fingers traced the lines of the necklaces design " its something that's been in my family for a long time" Akane said bringing Naruto out of his thoughts

" My great grandfather gave it to my great grandmother who passed it to my grandfather when he married my grandmother, all the way down to when my mom gave it to me" Akane smiled.

" Akane-chan if it's that important then you should keep it, I don't deserve this" Naruto replied shocked Akane would give him something like this " Naruto I want you to have this, think of it as something to remember me by when you have to leave" Akane giggled " after all that is my favorite flower". Naruto held the flower shaped pendant up to the sky looking at it " what kind of flower is it?" Naruto asked getting Akane to giggle again.

" Its called honeysuckle Nauto-kun" Akane answered before getting up from the tree and turning to look at him " do you know what honeysuckles symbolize Naruto-kun?" Akane asked happily leaning to look at him with her hands behind her back " what honeysuckles…symbolize?" Naruto questioned hesitantly making Akane's smile grow " devoted affection" was her short reply before turning around and walking back down to the village.

Naruto sat in shock for a moment " d-devoted…affection?" Naruto asked himself stumbling the words as his mask darkened thanks to the blush underneath it before he jumping up from the tree and running after the girl " Akane-chan! Wait up! What do you mean?!" Naruto yelled only for Akane's laughter to fill the air.

If either of the had turned around they would have seen Jiraiya sitting in the tree line grinning as he watched his young student and friend running back into the village " hehe Aya is going to love this, I knew introducing those two would be a good idea to brighten Naruto up a bit…" Jiraiya said before pulling out his little notebook and he began writing.

" hehehe the little gaki is a great source of inspiration, he might kill me for this later, but its worth it" Jiraiya chuckled perversely as he scribbled down his latest plotline involving two lovers under a woods nights sky filled with fireworks overhead.

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" After that night everything seemed to flyby, Naruto finished learning the jutsu I had been teaching him, and I had finished gathering what the village needed to know, and then…the day we left it happened." Jiraiya said more to himself than his teacher.

Sarutobi knew whatever Jiraiya was about to tell him was going to be troubling…he just didn't know how bad was really going to be.

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Two weeks later: morning of the departure

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" So Jiraiya it was a pleasure having you over again Aya said happily as Akane and her saw their guests out on the steps of the building " thanks for putting us up while we were in town Aya, " Jiraiya said grinning " Naruto be a dear and make sure Jiraiya doesn't die because of his bad habits" Aya asked to which Naruo nodded " I'll do my best Aya-san, though if I did it every time he wouldn't learn his lesson now would he?" Naruto joked making everyone laugh except for the mentioned pervert " no respect, and just who is the teacher here?" Jiraiya grumbled.

"Well either way, take care of yourselves" Aya smiled looking down at her daughter "we're going to miss the company aren't we dear?" Akane nodded as she smiled at Naruto " remember Naruto-kun, you better be sure to write often or I'm going to travel all the way to the leaf village just to make you regret it" Akane warned to which Naruto nodded his head though he suspected she really would do that if it came to that.

" Come on gaki, we got allot of ground to cover before nightfall" Jiraiya said as he walked out towards the village gates, Naruto turned to join him until Akane called him " wait Naruto-kun! I want to give you something before you leave" Akane said happily but from what Naruto could tell a bit of nervousness making Naruto smile as he turned back to face her " what's that Akane-chan?" Naruto asked before she leaned over to him and kissed his masked cheek " hehe that what Naruto-kun" Akane said blushing a bit with a smile seeing the shock in his eyes before Jiraiya yelled " GAKI!!! GET A MOVE ON OR NO NEW JUTSU IN THE MORNING!!!!"

Naruto looked between Jiraiya and them before he gave another quick farewell with a blush when he looked at Akane this time before running after his teacher waving as he did to two more people he considered precious to him.

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Walking side-by-side Naruto and Jiraiya just cleared the light forest blocking the village from their view as their road led them to the wide open grasslands near the village " so did you enjoy our little side trip?" Jiraiya inquired making Naruto smile " for once you had a good idea Sensei" Naruto said making Jiraiya stop in place for a moment as Naruto kept walking ahead of him.

It was rare for Naruto to show him much respect, and he never called him Sensei before, Jiraiya could see Minato walking ahead of him a moment before turning around and Naruto was in his place standing much like his previous student did " you ok? You look like someone took your notebook" Naruto said bringing Jiraiya out of his thoughts.

" I was just wondering why you didn't realize sooner that all my idea's are good ones!" Jiraiya beamed making Naruto look at him funny " really? Because I thought peeking on that hot spring full of female civilians and ninja's was a bad idea" Naruto shot back before walking again as Jiraiya fell in line with him once more " hmph, no respect these days" Jiraiya joked getting Naruto to smile.

Before their conversation could go any further Jiraiya stopped suddenly rigged and Naruto's visible eyes narrowed " Naruto you feel that?" Jiraiya asked quietly getting a nod from his student " so how many you want, I'm up for a little exercise" Naruto said stretching his neck a bit getting Jiraiya to grin " well lets see what we're up against" Jiraiya commented making Naruto grin " OK!!" Naruto shouted before bringing his hand up in a fist and hitting the ground.

Suddenly several hidden ninja jumped from their hiding places to avoid the rocks that jutted towards them from the ground, one that wasn't quick enough was knocked right into the road after the earth collided with his body, knocking him out cold.

" Hmm I haven't seen these guys before" Naruto mused looking at their opponents, they were definitely ninja by the way they moved and outfitted themselves, and judging from their posture they were trained well enough to be considered high Chunin, toobad Naruto had fought against stronger enemies and won. Just as Naruto was getting ready to attack Jiraiya spoke " Naruto I want you to be careful" Jiraiya said sternly, Naruto stared at his teacher a moment and nodded realizing the seriousness of the time due to his sensei's actions.

" Jiraiya of the Sannin, it is unfortunate for you and the little brat we're here to kill you" one of the strange ninja said as they pulled out kunai and other weapons" better shinobi than you have tried pal" Naruto said getting a glare from the apparent leader of the unit of assassins " you don't stand a chance against us, we were hand picked for this mission, and when we kill the legendary toad sage our master will reward us greatly".

Jiraiya smirked a little suddenly becoming a bit looser " your leader must be a fool then, if he thinks you can beat me and my student" Jiraiya replied returning to his usual offbeat self making the ninja growl " we're going to make you regret those words" the leader of the group said "but when we're done here nobody will miss you, after all, we're very thorough" Naruto wondered what their opponents meant before it happened.

Hearing an explosion Naruto and Jiraiya turned to glance behind them to see smoke coming from behind the tree line, the village was under attack " The village! Aya-san! Akane-chan!" Naruto shouted in realization as he turned on his heels completely ignoring the ninja's behind him as he started sprinting to the village.

" Not so fast brat!" an enemy said as two blocked his way " your not going any…" his words cut off as his head was severed from his body from a now red haired Naruto " out of the fucking way!" Kaji yelled midair as he landed a heavy kick to the face of the other opponent blocking his path.

The possessed Naruto ran as fast as his legs would carry him back to the village " don't just stand there get him" the leader said to the other ninja but before any of them could move one was taken down by a strong punch to the gut throwing him into another who fell over at the unexpected weight " I'm your opponent" Jiraiya said sliding into his Taijutsu style with a grin although inside he was far from happy ' Naruto, you've never changed into one of them without the Jutsu before, I hope this wont get worse than it already is'

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The possessed Naruto ran through the village as he ran to the only place on his mind right now, the flames in his path parted as he ran a straight path to his destination, his bloodline clearing the way for him and any enemies unfortunate enough to find their way into his path were quickly dealt with. 'Almost there, please be alright' Naruto's half of his mind prayed as he slide around the corner of the street where the sweet shop had been.

The entire street was covered in debris from the surrounding buildings, but he froze when his eyes fell on a particular building on the street.

The possessed Naruto stared in shock a moment at what had been the sweets store, the front of it was completely gone, and the inside had been gutted, everything was outside in the street and the roof of the building was still on fire " No…" Kaji whispered looking around frantically in the smoldering debris " Aya-san! Akane-chan! " The red headed Naruto yelled as he searched the destroyed house before seeing one of the people he was searching for " Akane-chan!!!" Naruto yelled.

Akane was buried under some of the remains of the house and fire had begun to spread close to her, acting quickly Kaji gathered the fire around him like a magnet to metal, the flames literally leaping onto him as he surrounded himself in a cocoon made of the flames before raising his hands to the sky and shot the extra fire into the sky.

Naruto didn't even stop for a breath as Kaji's influence receded back into him, returning him back to his natural blond hair and blue eye color. He climbed over the smoking ruins to where his friend laid " Akane-chan! I'm here it's me Naruto!" he yelled checking his friend over and growing more worried by the second, he didn't need to be a medical nin to know she was hurt.

From what he could see at the moment she not only have broken bones when the house fell, but she had cuts on her that were deep enough that she was bleeding openly, he needed her help to heal her if he was going to and to do that she needed to be awake to tell him what was wrong and what she felt.

Naruto began to panic when he saw she wasn't responding to him and was barely breathing Naruto pulled his mask off and without hesitation began trying CPR to revive her. After a minute of this he was rewarded with the girl underneath him coughing quietly before opening her eyes weakly and staring at him " Akane-chan! Don't worry I'm here now" Naruto said looking right at her worriedly.

" Naruto…kun you…came back" Akane said weakly grinning at him " I knew…you were cute…under that mask" she said in almost a whisper as he looked her over " Akane-chan don't speak so much, you need as much strength as you have," Naruto said making a hand seal before his hands glowed a light green, it was one of the only healing Jutsu he knew and it wouldn't heal her worst wounds, but he had to do something or else…

" Don't worry Akane-chan I'll make you better and then I'll find your mom and…and…" Naruto said quickly as he was about to put his hands over the wounds but Akane halted his movement with a ragged breath " Naruto-kun…stop" Akane whispered looking at him " but…but Akane-chan if I don't do this then you'll…" Naruto said making her shake her head and slowly reach up and grab his hand in hers weakly.

" Naruto-kun…you know you…cant help me now…so…please promise…me something" she asked making Naruto nod sadly hanging onto her every word" promise…you'll make me…proud…make your…dream real" she said as her eyes started fluttering slowly " Akane-chan! Please you cant close your eyes!" Naruto shouted as tears started running down his face " stay awake Akane-chan! Please!" Naruto cried his voice wavering as Akane only smiled weakly at him " Naruto-kun don't cry, don't you know...boys aren't …supposed… to…cry" Akane said in a near whisper as her eyes shut and Naruto felt her hand go limp in his.

" Akane-chan" Naruto whispered as tears rolled down his eyes as he stared at her a moment before suddenly it hit him, she had died. " AKANE-CHAN"!!!" Naruto yelled, yet getting no response from her, Shocked, angry, sad, Naruto was feeling all of these as he held her close as he yelled out his frustration, his sadness, and his pain of losing someone he held close to his heart the yell of pure loss echoing the street as his mind raced. ' NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!' Naruto thought as he clenched his eyes tight as his tears spilled from them, all the past months events with her rushing to the forefront of his mnd, her shinign eyes, her joyful laugh, even her happy smile as smple as it was meant so much for him at this moment as he yelled to Kami in his mind. 'This wasn't supposed to happen to her! She wasn't a fighter! There was no reason for her to die!' Naruto thought as his thoughts turned from sadness to regret ' If I had been faster, if I had been stronger, if I knew more medical Jutsu…" Naruto's thoughts jumped from one to the next without any thought to what he was thinking. So absorbed in his thoughts Naruto didn't hear as the street was no longer empty.

" Well look what we have here," a voice said from behind Naruto " so you're the one who gave us that little light show huh?" Naruto barely glanced behind him to see another squad of the enemy ninja surrounding him behind his back before returning his look to Akane's peaceful face " what you have there you little boy?" he sneered, " someone playing ninja shouldn't be allowed to live if you cant take the pain" as the others laughed and joined in one add " hey I know why he's crying all over the place like this, he knew that little bitch"

" Shut up" Naruto whispered not even looking at them, his hair covering his face in a shadow. All he wanted right no was to be left alone with his friend, to be able to mourn for her and show he cared even if it was only holding her a moment longer as he remembered their time together.

" hehe is that what it is?" the leader asked grinning " you knew her huh, must have been special if you're crying like a fucking child," he said " what wrong you little bastard, put the fucking bitch down and look when your betters talking to you" he egged Naruto on not seeing Naruto tensing up with each word.

" Shut up" Naruto said a little louder as he felt something awakening deep in him, something he hadn't felt in his life before, it was such a overcoming feeling that he was feeling himself give into it willingly more and more each second. But it seemed the enemies around him did not sense the danger as he pushed Naruto once too far. Naruto thoughts turned dark as a realization came to his mind ' they attacked the village…their the reason Akane-chan died…IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT!!!!!!!'

" Oh what's wrong? Was she your girlfriend or something? Too bad she died, if she gave you any time she must have been a real slu…" the leader started to say before his neck was pierced clean through suddenly. The rest of the squad stared in shock as a black scythe with a long black chain with a weight at the end pierced their leaders neck vertically with the head of the blade coming out of his open mouth.

Then they felt it, the killing intent the boy was making was so strong it forced many of the remaining men to the ground, all of them were having trouble breathing, and a few had the unshakable urge to flee, somewhere, anywhere as long as it wasn't here. Naruto's breath came out like as if it were colder than it was as fog floated with his every breath. The whole area seemed to quiet as a grave, and after placing Akane's seemingly fragile body onto the ground gently Naruto stood up and faced his opponents. He gave a dark chuckle as they watched their comrade was lifted from the ground.

The worst part is it seemed their leader was still alive as he slightly struggled and gurgled as blood filled what remained of his neck. He was pulled towards what had been a blond haired boy now covered in hair as black as ink " Little vermin like you need to learn their place" the man heard as he was hefted to a terrifying sight of the boy looking right at him with blood red silted eyes and a sinister looking grin that reveled at the look of fear in his eyes.

As Naruto lost himself in the sensations of the overwhelming emotion he was feeling, the sounds of screams and pain that erupted around him seemed so far away…and as his mind was going black he found the word to name that emotion that had taken him over so completely…Hate.

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Jiraiya grinned as he stared down the last three enemies in front of him, all the rest were laid out on the ground around him " so is this the best you have got? I'm not impressed" Jiraiya said making them growl in frustration " damn it I thought we could handle this" one said making another nod " we just got to rush him, even if we die its better than going back and saying we failed" the other said getting the other two to agree. Their master would do far worse things to them if they returned unsuccessful.

" Right lets get this bastard" he shouted as they ran at Jiraiya who stood ready to defend himself yet again only to stop as a cloud of killing intent washed over the area freezing the four in place for different reasons. The three remaining fighters had never felt such pure killing intent, even what they had experienced from their master paled in comparison to what they were feeling now.

Jiraiya's eyes widened as he felt the pure malice coming from the village he knew the source instantly ' Naruto, I have to get to him, if the seals breaking or worse…I have to wrap this up now!' Jiraiya thought as he turned to face his enemies to see them cowering under the effects of induced fear ' I doubt these three will put up a fight, one of them looks about ready to slit his throat to end it right now, I better get going' Jiraiya disappeared in a burst of speed as he headed into the village after the source of the killing intent, and ultimately his student.

" W-w-what do we do now? There's no fucking way I'm going back into the village after …that! One of the ninja exclaimed as the other two agreed, "I can take what the master will give us because compared to that…the pain we will feel is nothing the bastards in there are going through" one said grimly as the others swallowed hard.

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Jiraiya jumped from roof to roof as he headed in the direction the killing intent was coming from, he knew his student was the cause of it, and that whatever awaited him as he neared the epicenter of the paralyzing force. Even Jiraiya was starting to feel the power forcing itself on him, but he shrugged it off as best as he could, nothing was going to stop him from seeing what had become of his student…his godson.

Jiraiya landed onto the street where Naruto had been heading only to freeze at what he saw before him, it was a massacre. Bodies of ninja's like the ones he had been fighting lay all over the street covering it with blood, some were decapitated while other bodies were cut open letting everything inside out onto the street.

These shinobi hadn't been fighting something; they had been slaughtered like sheep in a wolf's den, Jiraiya hadn't seen something like this in his life, even many of the acts he had seen in the wars didn't come close to this, these warriors had be butchered like animals. As Jiraiya walked up the street the closer to where his contacts house had been the worse the bodies he found were mutilated, but on every face of the fallen fighters he saw only on thing, pure fear.

Then the deathly silence of the street ended as he heard someone running to him from the street ahead " No! I don't want to die!" Jiraiya heard as shinobi bleeding from several cuts over his body ran around the corner towards him, then a weighted chain seemingly alive flew after him and wrapped around his legs, making him fall face first to the road " No!" the man yelled as he tired frantically to crawl away even as he was pulled backwards.

" You should know better than to mess with death little vermin" a demonic sounding voice said making Jiraiya look for the source. When he found it he was over come in shock seeing that what he feared was true, the cause of the killing intent, the ruthless butchering of the shinobi laid out in the street, Naruto had been the cause of it.

Naruto was covered in the blood of the fallen ninja, in one hand several heads of the shinobi ha had killed held by their hair or clothing over their heads, in the other he carried his scythe that was dipping the blood of those he had already slain onto the road as he approached the helpless man a wicked grin on his face, it was unlike any look Jiraiya had seen Naruto have before. " NARUTO!" Jiraiya shouted getting the black haired boy to stop and look up, the grin on his face widening even more to a sinister smile " ooh Jiraiya…I was wondering when you were going to show up, hang on and I'll kill you as soon as I finish this weakling" the red eyed Naruto said looking down at the trapped man like a hungry predator.

" NO! Please! Have mercy!" the man yelled fearfully looking up as the boy raised his scythe, holding it in the air only a moment the overcome Naruto smirked " Mercy? What is that?" he asked before bringing his hand down." NARUTO!" Jiraiya yelled as he tried to stop him, but it was already too late as he sliced the man perfectly in half with the blade, Jiraiya watched in shock as the two half's fell before his twistedly changed student. " heh, that was a waste, he could have screamed some more before the end" the possessed Naruto spat kicking the fallen remains before looking at Jiraiya with a sickening grin.

Jiraiya gave a hard stare at the boy in front of him " your not Naruto and your not any of his personalities I know of, your something new" Jiraiya said getting a dark chuckle as his response " my my, your on the ball today," the faux Naruto said in tone holding nothing but disrespect "I'm everything that weakling has kept locked deep in him since he left that pathetic little village, my name…you may call me Daikirai not that you will be around long enough to use it much" the newly named power said " I haven't been out in the open for a long time, but since weakling loss that female weakling and let me loose now I feel like having some fun , I think I'll start by slaughtering my way to the weaklings home village and finish the fun I was having when I was there last" Daikirai laughed excitedly.

" You're the one Kyuubi used to attack the village?!" Jiraiya shouted sliding into a fighting stance only to get a amused look in response " oh no, that was all me, when an emotion gets out of control we get to take over the body completely, and I hate every living thing I see, I'm going to take great pleasure in turning the hidden leaf into a graveyard where not even grass will grow and then the rest of this pitiful world will fallow, where I walk everything shall wither and die for I am Daikirai of the darkness and I am the death of the world" Daikirai saidas a grin tugged at his lips " now that introductions are out of the way…" Daikirai said spinning the scythe in his hand before pointing it right at the toad Sennin.

" I think a legendary ninja's head would go well in my collection" Daikirai said making Jiraiya grimace " so your everything Naruto is huh? I don't buy that for a second" Jiraiya grinned making Daikirai's face change into a scowl " Naruto…the REAL Naruto is nothing like you, he is someone the world needs more of, he would never kill someone needlessly and when he has to he does not enjoy it like a monster like you!" Jiraiya said growing louder with each word "he is one of the most talented students I have ever had, he is no weakling" Jiraiya growled out, as Daikirai seemed to grow more infuriated with each word.

"And more importantly he knows how important his friends are" Jiraiya said before yelling at the top of his lungs" Naruto! Is this what Akane would want to see of you?! What do you think she would say if she saw you now!" Jiraiya shouted making Daikirai look at him like he had lost his mind before laugh loudly.

" You are even worse than the weakling if you think he'd respond to that, he is too occupied being torn over that weakling he saw die to stop anything I want to AGHHHH!!!" Daikirai screamed suddenly dropping the heads and his weapon to the ground as his hands moved to his head suddenly in pain causing Jiraiya to stare in bewilderment and concern all at the same time " NO! You can't come out yet! I'm not done! I WANT TO KILL SOME MORE!" Daikirai yelled, as his hair slowly returned back to the yellow color Jiraiya was so familiar with and as the screaming turn from the demonic sound of Daikirai to Naruto's.

Jiraiya watched as a seemingly exhausted Naruto hunched over breathing heavily for a minute before looking up at his teacher and Jiraiya frowned knowing the look in Naruto's eyes, he had seen it many times in his life as a ninja, and no matter how much he saw it he could never get used to it. He and Naruto had many talk of what being a ninja was about, especially since Naruto had told him of his dream of being the hokage, but nothing could prepare him for actually experiencing such a loss for the first time.

Jiraiya sighed before walking to Naruto; standing in front of him a moment of silence went between them as Jiraiya looked at his student who only stared at the ground. Jiraiya shook his head, Naruto was stubborn and wouldn't want to make him disappointed even if it meant acting human and showing emotions, something shinobi were trained and told not to do.

Jiraiya placed a hand on Naruto's head " its ok Naruto, let it out" Jiraiya said quietly causing the boy to nod his head slightly before leaning his head against his teacher and once again vented out his frustrations, this time with someone he respected to help him through it.

Jiraiya just stood there letting Naruto work it out in him; he knew Naruto would face more of this in the future. As he would grow older he might loose more people close to him, as the hokage he might be the cause of some of those indirectly; but for now he was still a student, a child despite the way he acted much of the time and he had to get through this before he could go any further.

' Minato,Kushina, could either of you forgive me for making your son have to grow up so fast?' Jiraiya asked sadly looking to the sky a forlorn expression on his face, the cloudy sky seeming to sense the atmosphere around them as rain began to fall and started washing the bloodstained street clean of the massacre that marked it. Jiraiya sighed once again before staring at one of the headbands the slain shinobi had been wearing and the strange music note seemingly face him back.

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Jiraiya stood behind Naruto watching as his student knelt infront of Akane's grave, Naruto had told Jiraiya he wasn't going to leave till he had helped rebuild the village she loved so much and given her a proper funeral, he hadn't mad any argument against it.

With their help the most of the village had been spared, Naruto's newest power had killed off or scared off the enemy ninja's so the civilian causality rate had been sparse, most had did so in the surprise attack's first wave when the bombs had gone off. Within the week the village had been cleared of the rubble from the battle and it seemed everyone had returned to some semblance of normalcy, this was the only thing they had needed to do before they could leave.

Naruto had chosen the spot he had taken her to the last night of the festival, over looking the village he knew she would have it no other way. " I will keep my promise Akane-chan I'll make you proud," Naruto whispered, before pulling a seed from his pocket, Naruto made the seed bloom before placing the newly made honeysuckle flower on the simple grave and stood up.

" Jiraiya I want you to do something for me" Nruto said as his eyes roamed over the marble stone with Akane's name written into its surface. " What's that Naruto?" Jiraiya said before Naruto turned to face him " teach me everything, leave nothing out, and don't hold back, because if I find out you did not even the Shinigami would be able to keep you safe" Naruto stated making his teacher look at him, Naruto had eyes that reminded him strikingly of his fathers when Jiraiya had first met him and Jiraiya knew then Naruto was meaning every word he said, Jiraiya sighed before turning away from him and walking down the road

" We have a long way to go then," Jiraiya said with an unseen proud smile on his face as he walked away from his student. Naruto looked at the grave one last time, place a hand on her tombstone Naruto whispered a goodbye before he started walking after his teacher whilst the stone bore new writing on the surface Naruto had just made with his bloodline it simply read:

Akane Akemi

A soul so pure she shined like the sun

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Sarutobi and Jiraiya stood silently each in their own thoughts but each of them visibly moved to the story " since that day Naruto has never let anyone close to his heart more than a friend, " Jiraiya said finally breaking the silence " whenever he met someone who seemed to take an interest in him like that he would make an excuse and go off on his own, I don't think he's forgiven himself for losing himself like that or being unable to save her, and I think he still has some sorting out to do before he will ever let that sort of relationship form" Jiraiya said getting a nod from his sensei having known about such times in many a ninja's life before Naruto was even born in his reign as hokage.

"And the mother of this girl?" Sarutobi asked getting a shake of the head from Jiraiya " she was no where to be found, It is unlikely she lived however seeing how destroyed their house was…she probably was one of the first" Jiraiya said getting a grim look from his teacher before the old Hokage returned to the role of the leader of the village.

" Jiraiya…what happened in this office never leave's this room understand" Sarutobi finally said getting a nod from his old student. Jiraiya got up and walked to the window before turning to face his old teacher.

" Sensei Naruto used to tell me how he wasn't exactly treated as Minato asked him to be, do you plan to let it happen again" Jiraiya asked making the old man frown " I realize now that there is much more I could have done to help him, I did as much as I could at the time though that is no excuse for what some in the village put him through" Sarutobi said placing his pipe in his mouth.

" Much of the village have a neutral opinion of him, a few even took a liking to the boy" Sarutobi commented with a smile taking a calming puff from his pipe " those in the minority of the village who openly dislike the boy unfortunately are smart enough not to do it around those who may help him, and those neutral to him don't help for fear of retaliation from those who are against him".

Sarutobi sighed taking another breath of smoke from his pipe " I know there has been at least three times those that dislike him enough have risked attacking the boy, but Naruto was and is cleaver enough to outsmart them whenever they tried, though I wonder how many times they have really tried seeing as we never caught them in the act and only know because Naruto came and told me" Sarutobi shook his head watching his crystal ball again seeing as Naruto walked to another part of the village and a few bystanders were giving him a few dirty looks, which he seemed to shrug off as easily as they sent them.

Jiraiya smirked before looking towards the window again " well don't worry about that anymore, Naruto wont let anyone walk over him anymore, especially after the training I put him through" Sarutobi watched his student step onto the window preparing to leave " I doubt it will be long before they try something and don't you worry he knows to use restraint on those fools so just sit back and enjoy the show, meanwhile I'll be getting a front row seat" Jiraiya finished preparing to leave the office.

" Oh wanting to see how far he's come since you left him?" Sarutobi asked with a smile getting a look of confusion from Jiraiya in return " huh? I want talking about the hot springs," Jiraiya said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world before leaping from the office out the window. Sighing at the actions of his student once again Sarutobi turned his attention to Naruto once again as he seemed to have picked up three men fallowing him in a poor attempt of stealth " Jiraiya was right about it I guess, well now lets see how you handle this Naruto" Sarutobi said to himself.

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Naruto took a slight detour into one of the small-forested areas close to him upon sensing his unwelcome guests ' knew word would spread fast when I got back, lets hope these three imbeciles spread what I have to say when I'm through with them' Naruto thought to himself before turning on his heels looking in the direction he had come from.

" Alright will the three people with the death wishes please step forward?" Naruto taunted drawing the three large men out " so you knew we were here then? You really are a demon if you could do that" a man holding a club said getting Naruto to grin under his mask, the other two also had weapons on them a chain and large hammer to be precise, all in all very poor choices as weapons for those with no skill.

"Actually you three suck at stealth, a deaf man could hear the racket you three were making trying to fallow me" Naruto replied with mirth in his voice as the three men couldn't see they had already walked into his trap. " Then again I have to give you credit, the three imbeciles with heavy weapons gag never gets old" Naruto said grinning treat this like a joke. The men growled their displeasure as one boldly said, " demons like you don't deserve to live, go back to hell or we'll make it happen ourselves". Naruto sighed " I'm only going to say this once, and I say it slow and in small words so you get it the first time" Naruto said making the three bristle.

"Idle threats" Naruto said slowly looking right at them " are worthless if you can't back them up and I seriously doubt three losers with brains the size of a pin's head are any problem for me" Naruto finished " now run along and go fuck yourselves, I have better things to do than waste my time humoring you right now".

Naruto's goading got the desired effect " Your going to regret that demon! When we're done the village will make us hero's!" the apparent leader said as they advanced toward their target only for Naruto to spring his surprise.

One man suddenly sank into the earth up to his head making the other two jump back in shock, then another fell into his own hole with a yelp making the last one really nervous, as he turned around to try and get away thinking the demon was on him the tree he was under came alive as its vines shot at him like ropes and tied him up hanging above the ground. " Well now as much fun as this was I have place's to be, things to do," Naruto said walking past the helpless men.

" Hey! You can't just leave us here!" one of them shout making Naruto smirk under his mask as he looked over his shoulder at them " you two can stay there till you decide to bury this little idea you have of me, and you up in the tree…hang out for a bit, I'll send someone your way to get you three out…well if I remember" Naruto said casually making the three men sweat it out as he left them to the woods alone.

At that moment in the Hokage tower Sarutobi smiled seeing how Naruto handeled it, yes he would definitely change the village now that he was back.

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A brisk walk later and Naruto found himself at another training ground " GAI-SENSEI! YOU ARE TRULY AN INSPIRATION!" Naruto heard an insanely loud yell from the field caching Naruto's attention as he entered it. Naruto walked to fined the strangest sight he had ever seen before a man wearing green spandex with a bowl shape haircut and a virtual clone of the man were hugging with a sunset in the background as waves crashed onto the shore of the beach. Naruto stared for a moment longer before rubbing his eyes and again looking at them…nope still there.

After a moment more of watching this strange sight Naruto decided if he was going to make it to his destinations on time he would need to break up the little love fest apparently going on " uh excuse me" Naruto said getting the two strange people before him attention " ah another youth of the leaf village has graced us with his presence!" the man said with a gleaming smile " And it is the most youthful Naruto!"

Naruto looked at the man an odd way, clearly the man knew who he was but the same couldn't be said the other way around. " Have we met?" Naruto asked getting a laugh from the man " of course forgive me! The hokage informed those he felt necessary to your return I am Might Guy!" the man shouted getting a understanding nod from Naruto in understanding " YOSH! And I am his youthful student Rock Lee, with Gai-sensei's help I will become the greatest TaiJutsu specialist ever!" the mini clone shouted making Naruto sweat drop at the act.

"ummm ok" Naruto said hesitantly " and I cannot forget my two other youthful students TenTen and Neji" Gai shouted as the two mentioned students jumped behind the pair from the tree's " Gai-sensei we found that scroll you hid in the forest and …who is this Gai-sensei?" TenTen asked noticing Naruto for the first time.

" Haha! TenTen! Neji! You're in time to meet our youthful friend Naruto Uzumaki who has just returned to the village after his youthful journey to get stronger!" Gai shouted making Naruto wonder what I took to get someone as loud as the man in front of him to calm down before turning his attention to the others " hey nice to meet you" Naruto waved. Looking them over Naruto thought to himself his impressions of the newest members in the clearing ' well she seems normal enough, but that Hyuuga looks about as stuck up as the Uchiha'.

Seeing the look Naruto was giving him the Hyuuga prodigy gave a cold star back " something interests you Uzumaki?" Neji asked getting a Kakshi like smile in return " oh no you just remind me of someone is all" Naruto responded, after all he knew some clans were stuck up thinking they were better than most, and he really didn't want to get into a fight with a pissed off Hyuuga for no reason. Bu despite this passive move Naruto added to his thoughts of the Hyuuga in front of him ' yep just like the Uchiha'.

Naruto looked back over at Gai and his identical student " anyway I came here to ask if you knew a good place to get weights for training, mine are feeling light right now and Iruka-sensei told me you were the one to ask" that statement made the excitable man reach a new decibel in his volume " HAHA! So the youthful Iruka told you about me huh? Well good news my young friend! I have some extra weights you can use!" Gai shouted as he produced said weights from seemingly out of thin air.

Handing them to Naruto Gai continued his 'youthful' yelling " it is sad but Neji and TenTen were less enthusiastic than my Lee about using them for training" Gai said before seeing the look Naruto was giving the weights he had just been given " is something wrong?" Gai asked getting Naruto to shrug before looking up at him" you don't have anything heavier? I mean these are lighter than what I have on right now"

A fire seemed to ignite in Gai and Lee's eyes as they shouted out loudly upon hearing Naruto's words" GAI-SENSEI! NARUTO'S FIRES OF YOUTH ARE AS GREAT AS OUR OWN!" Lee shouted as his eyes blazed " YES LEE NARUTO SHARES OUR LOVE OF HARD WORK!" Gai shouted back before another tearful hug ensued getting sweatdrops from the rest of he group " do they do this often?" Naruto asked the girl next to him resulting in her sighing and covering her face with a hand and muttering a single word" everyday".

Lee suddenly jumped infront of Naruto and excitedly exclaimed " Naruto I have decided to make you my eternal rival just like Gai-sensei has with his eternal rival Kakashi-sensei!" Lee shouted making Naruto look at him and silently wonder to himself what kind of up bringing makes one act this way…then again he was a gennin and a Taijutsu specialist at that meaning he must be skilled…and if anything a challenge is something Naruto cant say no to.

"Well now Lee" Naruto said grinning under his mask as he pulled his sheathed swords off his back " lets see just how skilled the greatest TaiJutsu specialist really is" Naruto said tossing his swords over to TenTen who barely caught them reactively as Naruto winked at her " hey hold onto those for me will you, I think a pretty girl like you I can trust with my swords" Naruto said facing Lee once again and missing the blush and sputter for words TenTen was experiencing " Now Lee lets see if we're a good match" .

Lee happily nodded his excitement as he leapt away from Naruto and assumed his fighting stance. Looking over at the older man Naruto asked, " I'm sorry to ask this, but can you referee this short match?" Naruto asked getting a vigorous nod Gai " of course it is my pleasure to help ignite your youthful flames anyway I can!" Gai said getting between the two " this match is pure hand to hand, no weapons or jutsu allowed!" Gai said making the rules on the spot " first one to fall to the round loses, ready?"

Seeing the nod from both boys Gai signaled the fights start " HAIJIME!" at that word the two charged at each other. Nearing each other Lee raised his hand intending to go all out as he could with his weights on " I hope you are ready Naruto!" Lee yelled throwing the first punch, only for Naruto to turn on his heel as the punch neared and rounding the hit in one fluid movement. Effectively put behind his opponent Naruto attempted to land two hits with one of his other styles only for lee to dodge by leaping forward on his hands.

" Naruto you managed to dodge my first attack" Lee said grinning as he turned and faced Naruto again " you are not the average genin prospect" Naruto slide into the stance more firmly " you'll find you need to expect the unexpected from me Lee" Naruto replied, his eyes showing his mirth before the two disappeared into the tree's above.

The three other ninja in the field could only wait and listen to the sounds of fighting going on around them. They would occasionally get a glance of them through the tree's as Lee would do a spin kick only for Naruto to duck under it and throw an attack of his own. Then the two would disappear again behind the cover of the tree and the fight would once again be a mystery in its progress.

At one point in the fight Naruto landed and stood on the side of one of the tree's trunks close to the ground but the second he jumped away from it Lee had been on a collision course with him and the kick aimed for Naruto missed and instead severed the tree from where Lee's kick hit down causing the tree to fall to the ground in a loud crash.

" Gai-sensei we have to do something!" TenTen yelled seeing the damage they were causing to the forest around them " if we don't they could destroy the whole training field!" TenTen exclaimed making Gai cry " Yes! This is it! My Lee with an eternal rival like my own! I can se their youthful flames growing with each second that passes!" Gai yelled with fire in his eyes making TenTen sigh know it was a lost cause " we've lost him " she muttered before looking over, as Neji was walking away "Neji aren't you going to stop them?"

Looking back at him Neji coldly replied " if these two wish to waste their time then so be it, but I will not do so" before he turned and began to walk away from the fight and TenTen shook her head as she instead turned her attention back to the fight ' he's as fast as Lee is, or at least close to it' TenTen though as the two kept the spare going till she realized something important…Naruto had given her his swords…that she was holding…and had yet to see what they looked like.

After nearly ten minutes of nothing but the sounds of breaking branch's hits and kicks in the air the two combatants landed on the ground not far from where hey had began " Lee… your good" Naruto breathed out heavy from the exercise " you are too…Naruto" Lee heaved. Both were tired out from the constant fight they had been through giving no false fight between them, each kick and hit were put to end the match though they found it fun non the less.

" Lee I think we can agree to a draw for now right?" Naruto asked getting a nod from the strange boy in return " yes Naruto, though I must say you were an excellent opponent, you dodged many of my attacks with that style" Naruto nodded " actually Lee its four styles but I only used two of them, a style based off the air around us to dodge you and the fire style to attack, though you definitely have more speed than me, I was lucky on a few of those punches you sent me " Naruto said getting a laugh from the boy

" VERY WELL!" Gai shouted interrupting the two boys conversation " this youthful match is a draw you both did very well!" Gai exclaimed as both boys fell to the ground sitting " man I shouldn't have gone practicing those evasion movements before I came here" Naruto mutter laughing to himself before realizing he needed to retrieve his weapons.

Looking over Naruto saw something that made him stare for a good minute, the girl he had given his weapons to had seemingly pulled them out at some point and was now looking at them stary eyed with a slight blush to her cheeks and a bit of drool coming from the side of her mouth.

" Wow look at these swords, they're so perfect! The symmetry of the blades! The sharpness of the points! Even the handle is beautifully crafted in the smallest detail!" TenTen exclaimed as she ran her finger over the side of one of them " these are obviously a pair made by a master sword smith and their lightning country design, these kinds of swords are so beautiful but hard to use only those who take the time to perfect it can use them to their fullest! And even then it's rare to see them outside a Kumo ninja's arsenal!" TenTen exclaimed rubbing the flat end of the blades against her face " oooh I want it! I want it! I want it!" she said in only a way a girl gushing over something desired can before realizing she was being stared at and blushed in embarrassment.

" So your really into weapons huh?" Naruto asked as Lee jumped up and answered " yes TenTen is our weapon specialist, she can use any weapon she has to their fullest!" Naruto chuckled to himself looking back over at TenTen with a raised eye ' a weapon mistress huh? Well now that is interesting' Naruto thought to himself seeing as TenTen had returned to admiring his swords

" Ah yes TenTen's youth about weapons makes me so proud!" Gai yelled making Naruto shake his head in amusement. " Well I can't let you have them" Naruto said jokingly " but if you want I wouldn't mind training against someone so interested in weaponry" he finished making her grin and smile, not allot of people would risk training with her since so many ended up almost becoming pin cushions, Gai laughed excited at the turn of events " My most youthful Lee has found a worthy rival and TenTen has found a training partner!" Gai shouted as Lee joined him in another shout of youthfulness.

Ignoring the two behind him Naruto walked to TenTen took his weapons back " well now its been fun but I have to go" Naruto said looking at the strange Jonin " I'll see you soon Gai-sensei about my weights" Naruto said getting a thumbs up from the man " of course my young friend, I will help anyway I can to further your flames of youth as my youthful students will no doubt do!" Gai shouted making Lee respond with a very loud " Yosh!" of his own.

Naruto shook his head in amusement before his attention was drawn to the sky " hmmm just about time for the meeting" he muttered to himself as he turned around and jumped off into the trees towards where he disappeared into the forest " HAHA NARUTO"S YOUTH I MOST REFESHING!!! LEE! TO MATCH NARUTO"S FLAMES YOU MUT TRAIN EVEN HARDER NOW!!!!"

" HAI GAI-SENSEI!!!!"

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As Naruto distanced himself from the two loud individuals and their weapon happy friend he thought to himself of everything he had seen, so much was the same, all the people he knew were still around, the village had been mostly the same, and despite all its faults and those who disliked him Naruto found that he had actually…missed this place.

Naruto stopped and stood on the roof of one of the buildings smiling as he looked over the village and up to the hokage monument, his eyes stayed there looking at the four heads that made up the landmark, his eyes on the fourth head for a good few minutes longer than the others before he leapt off the buildings roof onto another as he headed to the hokage tower once again.

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" Yo old man!" Naaruto said sticking his head through the window of the tower getting strange looks from Iruka and Sarutobi " Naruto show some respect to Hokage-sama!" Iruka said resulting in Naruto sheepishly rubbing his neck " Iruka-sensei do you have to yell at me in front of him like this?" Naruto cheekily

Sarutobi chuckled and interrupted the two before him " Now Iruka Naruto used to call me that and I doubt he will be changing it anytime soon so lets get this out of the way" the third Hokage said as he looked at Naruto " so how was your first day back in the village?" Sarutobi asked getting Naruto to smile as the thoughts of the day passed through his head "it was a good day" Naruto said meaning every word " I missed it more than I thought I did, and its good to be back " Naruto said making the two smile in return seeing as Naruto told them.

" Naruto the reason I asked you to come here is very special" Sarutobi said making Naruto look at him curiously " I wanted to ask a favor of you Naruto, you see I need you to do a mission for the village" Naruto was instantly done joking around at the word mission, something the old man needed from him was to be taken seriously especially if he came to him after only coming back. " What are the mission details? " Naruto asked as Sarutobi pulled a paper from his desk and began to read.

" I have been getting reports that someone has been seen around the hokage tower late at night and at least one break in was attempted during the ANBU shift change, who ever it was has escaped by blending in with the local night district whenever discovered, I believe it to be someone we trust" Sarutobi said getting Naruto to look at him with serious eye's " you think it's a traitor?"

Sarutobi sighed and nodded " it is unfortunate but we have to consider the possibility one of our own has turned against us " Sarutobi said " we do have some information on it, the unknown figure has some form of ninja training to avoid the best of ours like that so the civilian population can be ruled out, and genin wouldn't be able to do something like this, that doesn't count you Naruto" Sarutobi said interrupting as Naruto was about to point out he had done exactly that and he wasn't a ninja officially at the time.

" Well then that leaves Chunin and Jonin, still allot of people" Naruto muttered thinking to himself " we can narrow it down by those on missions and in the hospital" Sarutobi said " and the general area of where they have been seen leads me to believe they work at the school" Naruto closed his eyes in thought for a minute thinking the information over in his head " I accept the mission" Naruto said making the hokage nod " Iruka will be your contact in the school, since he's your teacher it wont be unusual for you to be around him so much, report anything you find to him".

Naruto nodded in understanding as Sarutobi continued " if you discover who it is don't engage them unless you have Iruka with, you may be strong Naruto but in the village of the leaf we as connected as a leaf is to the others on the tree, we work together to protect and serve the village" Sarutobi said getting Naruto to nod " you have until you graduate the academy as your time limit on the mission, this is an A ranked mission" Sarutobi said getting a salute from Naruto.

" Is that all old man?" Naruto asked returning to his cheerful self making the old Hokage shake his head in amusement " no Naruto I also wanted to talk to you about paying you for the missions you did while you were gone " Sarutobi said hesitantly making Naruto shrug as he walked to the window " just pay me as you can old man, I don't think I would know what to do with one lump sum" Naruto smiled waving goodbye to two of his most precious people before jumping from the office making Sarutobi smirk "doesn't anyone use the door anymore?" he asked himself as he sighed " well paying Naruto that way certainly clears up much of my time".

Hearing the hokage's words Iruka gave a curious glance as he asked " why hokage-sama?is it allot of work?". Glancing up at Iruka Sarutobi picked a paper up from the table and handed it to the teacher " this is a rough estimate of what Naruto would get if paid all today and right now" he muttered as Iruka looked over the sheet a moment before his mouth dropped and eyes went wide a moment before whistling and saying just loud enough for the hokage to hear "that's allot of zero's"

Sarutobi could only silently nod in agreement

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Naruto walked the forest of the village, he could stand living in the village but the wilds of the forest, the shifting sands, even the barren earth had been his home for his time away, though he had stayed in many village's and hotels on his journey there was always something about the wild he enjoyed, and it would be a while before he could really live in the village for a long time.

He had in fact visited his old apartment building, and like Iruka and the Hokage had said they had taken care of it while he was gone, Naruto had tried to rest in his old bed for an hour but he couldn't sit still in such a confined room. This was one of the things he had noticed, his old apartment just didn't suite him anymore. So once Naruto reached his limit he did the only thing he could think of, he made a dozen Kage Bunshin's and after having them help him collect anything and everything in the apartment and sealing them into many scrolls he put into his backpack he left to find someplace new to take up residence in the village, fallowing where the wind and his instincts took him.

As Naruto walked around the village late in the moon lit night he soon happened to find himself across a large gated section of the forest, but Naruto could feel the life in the dense dark forest, his connection to the earth and plants told him it was a rich untamed, wild area filled with deadly and dangerous things, and he smiled to himself as he thought this would be an excellent place to stay for now. This was exactly the kinds of places he loved most, a place you have to fight to survive in, Naruto guessed Zabuza's taste in homes rubbed off on him in his training with him and Haku.

Naruto using his earth portion of his bloodline sunk into the ground and reappeared on the other side of the fence, completely ignoring the signs that told him to stay out and death awaited those who went into the area designated training field 44, also known as the forest of death.

Naruto walked through the thick brush of the forested area, finding it oddly relaxing for such a supposedly dangerous place " this place is awesome!" Naruto said looking at the great forest around him even as he could tell he was no longer alone. Naruto walked deeper and deeper into the forest before coming into a clearing.

Naruto stopped and smiled as some of the wild life seemed to have come out to greet him, a centipede the size of a anaconda, a tiger that could swallow a bull whole, and a snake that Naruto thought had probably been in this forest since it started growing to be that big naturally. Naruto knew that they were looking for a quick meal and if they were to kill him they would fight each other to get him, if being the key word.

Naruto smirked as he pulled his swords from his back and looking at them said, " Who's first?"

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Half an hour later

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Naruto whistled happily as he sat in front of the fire as a pot bubbled before him, cooking what was inside, finding this tree with what was probably once a predators lair long abandoned was a sheer stroke of luck, but Naruto never let a opportunity go to waste. Especially when it was so close to his three fresh kills and wouldn't have to have his clones carry the catch all the way across the forest.

" This is much better Naruto said smiling as he draped his new tiger fur blanket over his body. Indeed he wasn't wasting a bit of his catch as Naruto had made a cozy house for himself within the large protective hole in the tree, high above the forest floor and away from much of the dangerous wildlife, even so often his clones would walk in carrying more of the kills, the tiger's fur was an excellent blanket for himself as well as one covering a bed he had made from what he had made the tree grow with his bloodline, the centipedes rock hard armor was being used as simple bowls, and the snake gave him quiet a bit of weather resistant skin to use in a number of ways.

Besides that Naruto was enjoying a good amount of fresh meat from both the snake and tiger which he was cooking a bit of tiger in a stew with some edible plants he had found thrown in while having snake kabobs on the side. Naruto took do not waste to the extreme as he was having the meat he wasn't eating smoked by a few more clones.

" Well now " Naruto said to himself smiling as he picked up one of his kabobs and smiled as raised it and said " Itadakimasu" as he looked at his two necklaces he took off whenever he had a meal, the one Akane had given him and another of a white spiral. Naruto took a bite of the meat and smiled.

It was good to be home.

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Well everyone there you go! I hope you enjoyed it as I did writing it. I ca honestly say I was a bit put off killing Akane like that, but plans are being made and I am writing, I think everyone will be surprised with this story soon.

Daikirai- Hate

Akane- brilliant red

Akemi- bright beauty

Aya- colorful

Remember! Write a review so I can write a better story!