Hello everyone. I am Predator216 and I know that many of you are not so happy with the lack of updates regarding this story. As I had stated earlier, I was going to rewrite the earlier chapters with the intent of removing as many discrepancies as I could. As I have stated earlier, I started this fic because I was never satisfied with the way the manga ended. The same is going with the anime and that includes the last movie. The manga, and the anime have now taken a path that was more suited for Dragonball series, and while I am a great fan of that particular series, it isn't Naruto. Naruto was a fic about a ninja and his never say die attitude.

But throughout the manga, I don't think there was an even ounce of something that could be called ninja-like. And that is why I decided to rewrite my fic. While it was showing a powerful Naruto, I did the same thing that many authors have already done and that is something that I didn't want to do.

So, this is the culmination of research, some heavy thinking with the way I wanted y fic to go and the introduction of a new character. I don't know how you all will respond to it but I hope that you all like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't have the drawing skills that Masashi Kishimoto owns and no matter how much I gripe, it doesn't change the fact that what a majority of writers in this site are doing is a result of the imagination that he owns.

CHAPTER-1

He Returns…and Brings along Guests

Konohagakure no Sato, early morning

The village was just beginning its day, shops opening their doors and bars closing their doors, a few of them throwing the more persistent customers on the street while banning them for the next few days. The ninja academy was empty and quiet, not for long though. The training grounds were in use, some of them noisy with thunks of weapons, ninjutsu practice or the periodic shout of YOUTH followed by several shouts of LEE and GAI SENSEI, something that almost everyone stayed away from, in order to hold onto their sanity.

Shinobi could occasionally be seen hopping over rooftops, on messenger duty if not returning or leaving for a mission. Those with more covert assignments weren't seen at all, of course, but they were also there. Konoha was always and ever bustling, over and under the surface, exuding an aura of peace and serenity.

Exactly three minutes before seven, the deceptive image of peace and quiet was shattered by a loud puff of smoke that covered the entire Hokage Monument, catching everyone's attention. The surprised expression on everyone's face soon turned into one of incredulity and horror as the smoke was eventually blown away by the winds. The reason for this horror and incredulity? The Hokage Monument, the feature symbolizing their standing as the strongest among the various Hidden Villages, had been defiled and defaced with paint.

The Shodaime Hokage's face had a perpetual running nose, while the Nidaime Hokage had an ever present sweat drop. The Sandaime Hokage had an expression as though he was high, while the Yondaime had a running nosebleed, as a book with a famous title among men and infamous one among women was drawn alongside his face. And finally the face of the Godaime Hokage had a drunk stupid look drawn on her face with bottles of sake drawn beside her face.

Curiously, this did not arouse alarm so much as groans and various complaints in the general line of "not again!", "fifth time this week!" and "whoever this bastard is, I'll-"

Several member of the ANBU Black Ops were running towards the source of commotion, their masks showing no emotions on their faces, with a determined gait. However, if one were to look beneath them, the resigned expressions and the black bags under their eyes told a different story whatsoever.

The door to the office of the Godaime Hokage was slammed open as a harried looking young woman rushed into it, only to sweat drop at the scene right before her eyes. There sleeping, with several sake bottles surrounding her while her paperwork lay scattered throughout the room was the Godaime Hokage. The person standing on the door slack jawed was a fair skinned woman of average height, standing at 5ft 4inches, and slender build with black eyes and hair. Her hair was straight and shoulder-length with bangs covering her ears and framing her face. She was garbed in a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open toed sandals with low heels. This person was Shizune Kato, the first apprentice of the Godaime Hokage and her assistant.

"TSUNADE-SAMA!" she shouted, waking the passed out Hokage in a panic.

"I'm Awake. I didn't drink anything. You have nothing against me." The Hokage shouted out, waking up in panic only to find her assistant glaring at her the same evil glare that she had whenever she caught her drinking on the job. She then noticed the scattered paperwork and sake bottles and grinned sheepishly at her apprentice.

She stood up and flexed her body, working out the kinks formed due to sleeping on her chair. As she stood up, she heard the commotion going around the village and could do nothing but groan.

"Another prank?" she sighed. She truly hated the blond bastard and his perverted teacher for bringing her back to the village and taking the job. This past week had caused her infamous temper to reach her limit, causing her to snap at almost everyone. If only they could find the culprit, she would personally wring his/her neck with her bare hands.

"Eh… Tsunade-sama, I think you should see for yourself." Shizune pointed towards the Hokage Monument behind the busty Hokage and went to stand by the side, knowing that her teacher was about to erupt.

Slowly, as if not wanting to know what new horror had been unleashed upon the village, the Hokage turned around and was struck speechless at the spectacle. The expression soon morphed into a smile. However, seeing this smile sent a shiver down Shizune's spine.

"Shizune..." she began in a calm, yet evil voice. "The moment we find the bastard, I want him/her in my office. I would like to personally oversee their…punishment."

Shizune was about to reply when a voice interrupted her, shocking her and the ANBU hidden in the room with its presence.

"Baa-chan", the voice began, cheekiness evident in his tone, causing everyone in the room to tense, having not felt the person a moment ago. "You truly need to tell the ANBU to up their training if they are unable to catch a simple prankster."

Tsunade and Shizune, slightly recognizing the voice, quickly turned around to confirm their suspicion, while the ANBU got ready to attack the intruder. All of them got the shock of their life when they saw the person who sat at the chair.

On the chair was the person who hadn't been in the village for the last near three years. If one were to see him for the first time, they would immediately come to the conclusion that the Yondaime Hokage had been brought back to life. He had the same sun-kissed, almost golden, blond spiky hair that seemed to be spiked in every direction with two bangs framing the side of his face. He had the same cerulean eyes that seemed to be filled with mirth that was somewhat unseen in the ninja world. However, this is where the similarities ended. He had a more angular jaw devoid of any kind of baby fat, with three whisker like marks adding a more feral look to his face that was further enhanced by the foxy smile on his face. The most shocking development was a vertical scar on his right eye, from his forehead to his down to his cheeks. When he stood up, one could see that he was easily 5ft 9 or 10 inches, a stature that was highly uncommon for his age.

The person who had been on a training trip with none other than Jiraiya, the infamous pervert and one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha, if not across the entire Elemental Nations. This person was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, apprentice of the said Sannin and jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune.

Another thing that shocked them was the clothes he was wearing. Having seen him wearing only his kill-me-orange jumpsuit, they were surprised to see him in a burnt orange, half-sleeved, muscle shirt that seemed to cling to his lithe and muscular frame, which was something very few ninjas were able to attain. A perfect balance between speed and power. On the biceps there were two hitae-ate sewn to them, one with the traditional Konoha symbol, while the other had a symbol of a circle with spirals in it. On his wrists he wore black fingerless gloves with several kanji etched into them. Beneath it he wore a dull white cargo pants, with a weapons pouch on both of his thighs, taped to its bottoms. And the ensemble was complete with black, open-toed shinobi sandals.

"Good to see that I can shock the current Hokage, isn't it Baa-chan?" he spoke, the smirk evident on his face.

This seemed to break the shock among the people present and the blond was immediately engulfed by the two visible people in the room.

"Not that I hate being hugged by two beautiful women, but don't you think we should discuss about my return first?" Naruto said cheekily. "Ero-sennin is on his way and informed me that he would reach in a few minutes. Moreover, don't you think I would like to brag about how I eluded the ANBU in this village for an entire week?" the last part spoken with pride evident in his voice.

Barely had he spoken the last part, when his instincts flared and moving his head slightly dodged an incoming fist by a hair's breath. Moving further back, he shifted slightly to dodge two more punches from the busty Hokage by deflecting them, knowing that blocking them would definitely lead to a few broken bones.

The Hokage snarled at the blond, who was surprisingly dodging her every punch. "Stay in one place and take your punishment like a man, you brat. Do you know how much paperwork you have caused with this stunt of yours? And how dare you hide for a week in the village and not inform anyone?"

The smile on Naruto's face widened, infuriating her even further. "Come on baa-chan… do you think I'll be like ero-sennin and take your punches head-on? He may be a masochist and a sucker for punishment, but I have no intentions to walk in his footsteps in that matter."

The rest of the room sweat dropped at the casual way of the boy's reply and the way he was still dodging the punches. The last remark seemed to have its effect as the Hokage stopped her onslaught and simply decided to bore a hole into the fellow blond with her glare.

"You better tell me everything you brat, or you will be a pulp on my wall in the next few minutes." Tsunade threatened succulently causing a small amount of sweat to trickle down Naruto's neck.

"First, Jiraiya and you simply vanish without any kind of report except the monthly ones. And they simply informed me that you were safe and the training was going well. And now, suddenly you come to Konoha and decide to wreak havoc, running the ANBU and chūnin ragged. Further, the fact that you were supposed to return two months ago and suddenly I get a message from Jiraiya that the trip is extended for two more months. So, what the hell has been going on?" By the end of the monologue, one could see the anger once on the Hokage's face.

"You know Hime…" another voice spoke before Naruto could reply making everyone direct their attention towards the window to see another figure sitting on the sill. "The way you are talking seemed as if you were worried about me and the gaki."

The person was a tall man, standing at a goof 6ft 3inches, with waist‒length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder‒length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil' (油, abura), denoting his affiliation with Mount Myōboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. He wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armor that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese geta (wooden sandals), a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back. This person was Jiraiya, one of the famous Densetsu no Sannin and the Gama Sennin.

He quickly hopped off the ledge and made his way towards his apprentice. "You really have worked the ninjas in the village, haven't you gaki?"

Naruto simply shrugged. "Meh, they are supposed to be the elite. If they can't catch a simple prankster in a week, it means they need to train even more. They are starting to get arrogant thinking that they are the elite. And anyways, my 'infiltration' if you could call it that has shown so many breaches in security that had I been an assassin, I could have harmed the village without anyone even finding out about it." He suddenly turned serious. "Whoever is taking care of the barrier seals is doing a shitty job. The seals overlapping those of Mito-baachan's seals are horrendous. Those need to be replaced as soon as possible."

Jiraiya simply sighed while shaking his head at the boy's remarks. "Kid just because you get seals easily doesn't mean everyone does as well. The sealing corps in Konoha are among the best across the Nations and that is because they had help from me and Minato. But if what you say is true, I will go and check them later on."

"Will you two stop talking as though you are the only people in the room and tell me what the hell is happening in here?" Tsunade nearly shouted breaking Shizune from the shock at seeing the hyperactive idiot in front of talk so seriously. Tsunade continued regardless, "what the hell happened in these years? First you two are completely off the grid, now the brat is talking about fūinjutsu as though he is a seal-master and how the hell does he even know about Mito-obaasan? And, how the hell did he infiltrate the village and hide in it for one week without even alerting someone?"

Whatever reply she was about to get was interrupted when someone knocked at the door. Tsunade was about to shout at the person to not disturb, but the option was taken from her hand when Naruto went forward and opened the door to allow another person to enter the room, causing the busty kage to gain a twitch in her eyebrows. Everyone's focus turned towards the new people who entered the room.

The first to enter was a girl of below average height, standing at 5ft 2inches, with an orange clip in her short, spiky mint green hair that matched her eye color which was also orange. Her outfit consisted of a short, sleeveless, white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets and fishnet shorts with a short white apron over it and finally she had a cylindrical container wrapped in a red cloth.

It was the second person who entered the room that had caught everyone's interest.

Beautiful.

If anyone had to describe the person, this would be the most apt word.

Midnight black hair that shimmered like silk in the sunlight was tied back loosely allowing her fringe to fall across her face like water cascading down a waterfall. She had light honey brown eyes which were sharp, a little cold, and glowing with intelligence. Her cherry red lips contrasted sharply with the woman's flawless porcelain white skin. The black hair and red lips coupled with the woman's pale complexion gave her the appearance of a cold feminine beauty.

She was dressed in a blood red kimono, which was tied together loosely by a yellow sash. Her kimono was quite fitting, accentuating her curved figure. To say she was voluptuous would be an understatement. She also had what looked like a kodachi strapped to her sash.

Shizune seeing that the volcano would soon erupt decided to intervene. She turned towards Naruto curious as to who the girl was and how he knew her. "Naruto-kun, who are they?"

Tsunade also looked at the duo wanting the answer to the same question. However, she was looking at the girl intently as though she had already seen her before and was trying to remember where. Naruto and Jiraiya saw this and decided to introduce them, one of them standing behind the duo, while the blade wielding woman stood beside him, her face exuding a calm confidence.

"She", he began while pushing the somewhat scared girl ahead, who was violently shaking her head, something which was easily overlooked by the blond. "Is Fū, former ninja of Takigakure, whereas she," he then glanced towards the woman standing beside him, "is Akeginu, of the former Iga no Tsubagakure. Fū-chan here wants to ask something from you."

The ex-Taki ninja was again trying to hide from the direct scrutiny that was enhanced by the fact she used to be the ninja of another village. The now known Akeginu, however looked calmly across the room, her scrutinizing gaze falling on each of the members of the ANBU, shocking said ANBU at being discovered. Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed down and bowing low, spoke, "Ohayo gozaimasu, Hokage-sama. I request you to allow both of us to join the Konoha Shinobi Corps."

The entire room, except for the two smirking male and the one female ninja, went pin drop silent at the declaration. The silence was broken when Tsunade snapped her fingers and pointed it towards Fū. "I remember you. You were in the last Chūnin Exams held in Konoha and Suna, weren't you? The one who saved Team Asuma?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Fū responded, a cheerful look on her face, having been remembered by perhaps the most powerful kunoichi across the Elemental Nations.

"The last time I saw you, you were happy being a Taki ninja. Why would you like to join Konoha?" the suspicion was entirely evident in the question, something which Naruto felt was necessary being the leader of the village. He looked towards Jiraiya, who nodded and took a step further, clearing his throat to get the attention.

"It would be best if the brat explained, Hime. There are a lot of things that you need to be informed." The serious tone caught Tsunade off-guard, having heard it only a few times. And she knew that whatever the discussion was about to be, was going to be something she needed to take seriously.

She didn't have time to contemplate as Naruto came forward, and in a tone she never expected to hear from the blond, spoke, "Hokage-sama, chūnin Naruto Uzumaki, ninja registration number 012607, reporting after two years nine months' training trip."

Switching to her Hokage mode, Tsunade replied. "At ease chūnin. And report."

Naruto nodded. "Hokage-sama, requesting room to be blacked out."

Giving a questioning look to the blond, Tsunade nevertheless made a few hand gestures, the ANBU leaving the room with nigh a sound, leaving only the original occupants in the room. Naruto turned towards the window, shaking his head with a soft smile on his face.

"Why don't you join us as well Kakashi-sensei?" he said, resulting in a pair of raised eyebrows in the case of Tsunade and Shizune and a chuckle in the case of Jiraiya, seeing his apprentice surprise people with his skills. He couldn't wait till he showed them his true growth. After all, he had trained the kid. Of course he would flourish. His inner monologue regarding his greatness as a teacher was broken when a swirl of leaves marked the arrival of another person.

The person was a fit and relatively tall shinobi, standing at a good 5ft 9inches, with gravity defying silver hair, with a single black eye while the other was covered by his tilted Konoha hitae-ate. The rest of his face was covered by a mask over the lower half of his face, which hid his narrow jawline. He had a general lazy expression and a somewhat minimalist attitude, hiding his true genius. This person was none other than Hatake Kakashi, famous throughout the Elemental Nations as Sharingan no Kakashi.

He was garbed in the standard attire of the forces, consisting of an elite Konoha‒nin flak jacket, dark blue pants and a long‒sleeve shirt with the addition of wearing shorter fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backhand. In his hands was a familiar orange covered book, something that he was seen with almost every time. In an aloof manner, something that he was known for, he tilted his head and with his face crinkling into an eye smile, he waved at everyone.

"Yo Naruto, Jiraiya-sama. Good to see that you both are back." Here his smile turned somewhat mischievous. "And that too with two beautiful women. You can't believe how proud I am of you Naruto. You truly make your sensei proud." The last part was said with while wiping fake tears from his eyes.

"You are misinterpreting, bakayarou. We helped Fū-chan because she needed our help. The same with Akeginu-chan. And of course they will be beautiful, it is almost a prerequisite that a kunoichi will be beautiful." Naruto added nonchalantly, all the while ignoring the growing blush on the Fū's face and the soft smile that formed on Akeginu's face.

"The best thing you have ever said my young apprentice." The boisterous voice of Jiraiya sounded. "Truly, the only thing constant throughout the Shinobi world. No matter where you go, you will find beautiful kunoichi and for someone like me who appreciates their form-"

He was interrupted midsentence courtesy of a swift punch depositing him on the floor, however nobody even batted an eyelid, as for most of them it was a regular action. She then turned towards Naruto, a dangerous glint on her face.

"Brat, if you tell me you have become a pervert like him, I'm going to give you a beating worse than anything you have ever received."

To everyone's surprise, Naruto simply waved his hand nonchalantly, "Come on baa-chan, don't you have faith in me? Of course I'd never become something like him. But just the fact that I am a teenager means that I'll be attracted towards girls. It's up to me how I handle it."

"I'll see and wait for it brat. I hope that you don't become like him. Now I've waited long enough. I want answers and I want them now."

"All right, baa-chan. Shoot and I'll answer."

"Where have you and the pervert been all this time?"

"The first few months we were just travelled from place to place, most of the time within Hi no Kuni and spent time training as much as possible. After that we went to Uzushiogakure, or what remains of it, and spent a year there. Well I spent most of the time there, Ero-kyofu would return every other day for his 'research'. The man truly is a masochist." He sighed and focused only to find Jiraiya standing by the side, while most of the people in the room had faces so pale that even Orochimaru would feel jealous. "What? What happened to you guys?"

Tsunade croaked, "Y-you went to Uzushio?"

"Yeah, it belonged to my clan, so why wouldn't I go?" Naruto asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Tsunade turned towards Jiraiya, "You told him? I had sensei letter telling me that he was supposed to be informed only on becoming chūnin?" There was a hint of anger in her voice that wasn't lost on anyone.

Jiraiya replied, once more in a serious voice "Hime, a few years ago before sensei died, he altered a law. According to the law, the Sannin among having free travel rights, had another right. Allowing them to promote an on field genin up to the rank of chūnin. After six months of training, I thought Naruto was capable of the rank and field promoted him. And that allowed me to tell him about his parents. Both of them, along with giving him those part of their legacies that they had entrusted on me. And before you start about you being the person to disclose them, I am his godfather and that gives me precedence over you."

The entire room, except for Naruto and Fū, was shell shocked at this revelation. Tsunade immediately countered, "That's not the point, you pervert. I know the damned law. What I do care is the fact that you failed to inform me. Do you know how much paperwork I will need to do just to get over this mess?"

Naruto, with a twitching eyebrow, turned towards Jiraiya, "Please, tell me she's joking, ero-kyofu. Please tell me you did not forget to send my promotion forms just because you were peeping on a few girls?" There was some desperation evident in his voice.

Everyone turned towards the perverted Sennin, only to see him fumbling through his pockets looking for something. A couple of seconds later, he took out a somewhat dusty scroll and nervously placed it on the desk, while retreating as back into the room as possible. He rubbed his neck nervously. "I might have forgotten to do so in order to celebrate for the brat's promotion. He he he."

"Damn it ero-sennin." He shouted, jumping at his mentor trying to pummel him to death. As the commotion was going on, Tsunade took the scroll and went through it, not paying attention to it lest she lose her remaining sanity. She was simply happy she didn't have to do any paperwork regarding the brat's promotion. She cleared her throat to get back on track. The day had just started and she could feel the headache she was to receive.

"Pummel your teacher after the explanation brat. Now, tell me why you went to Uzushio? The last I remembered it was completely ruined."

The blond stopped and grinned, mischief evident in his smile. "You know baa-chan, our clan truly was awesome. Did you know, there were catacombs below the whirlpools? And within the catacombs there was an entire compound like area? And only the blood of a descendent to the official clan head could gain access to it?"

The surprises seemed to be coming in waves for everyone else as the room was shocked still at the revelation that the Uzumaki clan went to this extent to protect themselves. They soon realized that even their village had such places hidden in the Hokage Monument, so it wasn't inconceivable for Uzushio to do the same.

"If the catacombs were below the whirlpools, then how did you find them?" Tsunade asked, dreading the answer.

Here, Jiraiya shuffled nervously. "I might have thrown the brat, after becoming somewhat overzealous in our training into the water."

Silence permeated throughout the room hearing this. It was eventually broken by Tsunade's voice. "You asshole, what the hell were you thinking? Were you out of your bloody mind doing something like that?"

Jiraiya whimpered at that tone. It was the tone that meant that he was going to get a serious beat down. And he knew that he deserved that one…sort of. Fortunately, his apprentice came to his rescue.

"Maa maa, baa-chan…" he waved nonchalantly. "There's no need to be angry, ya know. We got overexcited with training and it just happened. Moreover, it led to us finding my true legacy from kaa-chan's side. So, all in all it was a gain in my side."

Tsunade took a few deep breaths, calming herself down while Kakashi raised his hand.

"What did you find there, Naruto?"

"Mostly scrolls related to fūinjutsu, a few more odds and ends. The true ingenuity was in the fact that should any person other than the true clan heir tried to read the scrolls, they would only be able to read scribbles. Ero-kyofu tried many things, but was unable to decipher the seals. By their standards, he would be just a level six or seven seal master. They truly were a fearful bunch. I still don't get how they could have been defeated."

"Sheer number of shinobis brat." Jiraiya responded. "It took the combined might of three Great Villages and a couple of the smaller ones to defeat them. Remember that." He then turned towards the rest, "What the brat says is true. The things they did with just their blood seals was beyond my comprehension."

"Anyways, the next half year was spent in training and I'd like to apologize in advance but I can't disclose the identity of my teachers. It was their condition for letting them train me."

Tsunade was about to demand the answer, but Jiraiya beat her to it. "Don't try, Hime. I've tried multiple times. He won't tell, even if you are his Hokage. The trust of his teachers means that much to him."

Tsunade bristled at that, which Naruto tried to mellow down a bit. "Don't worry baa-chan. My duty lies towards Konoha and nobody else. It's just that they trusted me and I don't want to break it. I can promise you that they are not enemies of Konoha and won't try to bring harm to her."

"And should they try to harm the village?" Tsunade asked in her no-bullshit voice.

"If it ever happens, I will protect the village no matter what the cost." He replied seriously, getting a proud look from everyone in the room.

"Now…" Tsunade began, "can you tell me the reason for so much secrecy?"

Jiraiya sighed, not liking what he was going to say next. "You know I had to take care of my spy network as well, Hime. I couldn't send you monthly reports where I was or where I would be. Moreover, I had to hide Naruto from Akatsuki as well. I couldn't let them know that he was outside of the village protection."

Tsunade nodded, understanding the importance of such secrecy. This didn't mean she had to like it. She decided to move onto the next matter. "Now, I know Fū here belonged to Taki and I'm intensely grateful of her for helping Team Asuma in the previous chūnin exams. But Akeginu-san here, I know nothing about her or this Iga no Tsubagakure, marking her a risk to the security for the village. What I want to know is why they would like to join the village and why should I let them, if I let them in the first place that is?"

Naruto took a deep breath, knowing that with his next words, shit would hit the bricks. "Fū-chan here was not liked at all by her village, treated as though she was a monster in human's skin, her village leader, Shibiku, being the only person to treat her kindly and not as a monster. She even had to live in a tree in a remote part of her village. She tried making friends among the villagers but they would usher their kids away thinking that she would taint them. And all for a reason that she wasn't even in control of. In fact, the reason for her misery was none other than your grandfather, the Shodaime Hokage."

With each line Tsunade's face paled further, suspicion creeping on her. It was only the last line the blond spoke that confirmed what she was dreading. She took notice of the somewhat angry tone in his voice and decided to deal with that after everything had settled. Taking a few deep breaths, she sighed. "Is she the jinchūriki of the Nanabi?"

"Yes." Naruto replied, his voice sharp.

"Fuck." Tsunade cursed lowly, gaining a shout of "Tsunade-sama" from Shizune, before turning once again to Naruto, "You do know you have created a political nightmare for me haven't you? Taki might protest asking her back. It is only a matter of time before the secret of your being a jinchūriki is known to other Villages and once it is known we have two of the strongest Bijū, they might think of it as an act of war."

"That is why her status as one is only going to be known among us and nobody else. And Taki isn't going to ask for her."

"And why won't they Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked.

"Because according to their records, she is dead." He replied nonchalantly. Seeing their confusion he elaborated, "About four months ago, just after the Konoha-Suna joint chūnin exams, ero-kyofu and me came across a confrontation. Three ninjas of Taki were in combat with two ninjas, who wearing black cloaks with red clouds."

Ignoring the shouts of "WHAT" from the remaining people, he continued, "Both of them were people we hadn't seen before. However, we could see that they had killed Fū-chan's teammates while she herself was held unconscious by one of them, making it easy to deduce that she was a jinchūriki. It was a rather moot point due to the concentration of Nanabi's chakra in the area. Ero-kyofu and I, with help from Akeginu-chan decided that we couldn't let them take her. So we confronted them."

Tsunade's, Shizune's and Kakashi's eyes nearly popped out of their eyes hearing this. Not much was known about Akatsuki except for the fact that all of them were S-Rank ninjas, ninjas capable of fighting Kage-level ninjas. Ninjas like Jiraiya were capable of fighting them, however they knew nothing of his skills he'd gained. And seeing that they were standing here unscathed, it could only mean they'd somehow defeated or made them retreat.

Naruto seeing their skepticism shook his head, "No, we did not defeat them, not permanently. They were two of the most bizarre people I have ever encountered. One of them kept talking about taking ero-kyofu's bounty. His name was Kakuzu, I think. The other was worse. Trash talking as though his life depended on it while constantly proclaiming about some Jashin. His name was Hidan. Ero-kyofu fought Kakuzu while I faced Hidan."

"The thing is when we fought, he fought with a reckless abandon, not seeming to care even a little bit about himself. The reason I found out after about ten minutes. I cut his arm apart, but instead of stopping the fight, he grew more reckless and kept attacking. Seeing as he did not stop, Akeginu-chan cut his head off. We turned back to go join ero-kyofu in his fight, only for that bastard Hidan to start cursing like a sailor. We were so out of shock, that we didn't see Kakuzu come and take Hidan's body, along with his head and hand and take off into the forest."

"These people really were monsters, Hime." Jiraiya retorted. "Fighting Kakuzu, I had to almost go all the way. Even after I drilled him with Rasengan once, he wouldn't die. I don't know how but he was able to use all the Elements and he had these weird threadlike things that could detach from his body. Even weirder was that they formed some humanoid creatures and were able to use one element each. I ended up destroying two of them before he retreated."

"We came to the one conclusion." Naruto spoke. "Somehow, this Hidan was immortal something he proclaimed throughout the battle, although we had chosen to not pay attention to the drivel he was speaking when we were fighting. Kakuzu…we cannot be sure, but Akeginu-chan here thinks that his life is somehow connected to those black, threadlike things."

Tsunade slumped back into her chair, wiping her forehead of the thin amount of sweat. "What are these people? Immortality? How does one justify it? And there are total of nine such people in the group and we know nothing about them?"

"I'm afraid so, Hime." Jiraiya spoke lugubriously. "I scoured for anything I could on this group and we only have a limited amount of data on them, whereas they seem to have everything about the jinchūrikis and seem to be prepared to fight them."

"They might even have the support of a few villages." Kakashi interjected. "No one is speaking about them, as though they simply don't exist. So there have to be a few villages, maybe even a major one, who are hiding their existence. And whatever reason they have to collect Bijūs cannot be a peaceful ones."

"That's true, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto responded. "Kyūbi says that it has a few theories as to what they want, but it isn't sure." Seeing most of them with panicked looks, he tilted his head, "What? What did I say?"

"You talk to the Kyūbi?" Tsunade shouted, her brain ready to burst from migraine. She'd surely need medication after this meeting.

"Yeah? I shouldn't?" he mused.

"Of course not, Naruto-kun." Shizune spoke. "What if it tries to take over your body?"

"Psh." He scoffed in reply, surprising the others. "Kyūbi and me are in a sort of, partnership, you could say. I provide it with a few things and it helps me by giving me its chakra voluntarily. I just need to be able to handle the bloodlust. Besides, it doesn't need to try to take over my body. When the moment comes for me to fully control its chakra, it will be all or nothing. I will either defeat him in combat in my mindscape or it will destroy my body and escape the seal."

"What the hell are you talking about, you brat? What do you mean fight the Kyūbi? Where do you come up with such things?"

"You mean you don't know?" Naruto asked, baffled. "Kyūbi told me that in order to gain access to all of its chakra I need to open the seal and defeat it in battle. Only then will I gain its respect and be able to use the chakra without any adverse effect to my body."

The entire room was stunned silent at the proclamation. "Naruto…" Tsunade began, surprising the blond by using his name. "Are you sure about this? Is there no other way?"

"Hai, baa-chan." Naruto replied with conviction. "Ero-kyofu confirmed it himself from the toads in Mount Myōboku." Seeing the vexed look on her face, he gave a soft smile. "Don't worry, baa-chan, until there is an extremely good reason, I won't fight it until I think I am strong enough. And Kyūbi is going nowhere and is ready to wait. It told me even with my life's longevity, a hundred or so years is nothing for it."

"All right brat." Tsunade gave a sigh of relief. "I am trusting you on that matter."

"Don't worry, Hime." Jiraiya spoke, "The key to his seal is stored in one of the best toads in Mount Myōboku. And I won't give it to him unless he is ready. Besides there are a few more things that I need to teach him. And unless he does that, he won't be able to take the Kyūbi head on."

"You do/YOU DO?" Tsunade spoke with her eyebrows raised, while Naruto shouted, aggravated that his teacher hid things from him.

"Of course I do." Jiraiya scoffed. "Did you really think that I, the Gallant Jiraiya, only had that many things to teach you? I thought you had faith in me. Oh woe me, my apprentice thinks such lowly of me." He wiped a few fake tears for added effect.

"Cut the crap, ero-kyofu." Naruto accused. "What more do you have to teach me?"

"Patience, you brat." Jiraiya spoke, unaffected by the death glare sent to him by the blond. "When the elder toads grant permission, I'll let you know. But for now focus on enhancing the things that I've taught you and leave the rest to me."

"All right, all right. Geez. I'll do that. There are a few projects that I need to take care of and a few things I need to perfect. I'll do that."

"Good." Jiraiya nodded, satisfied at the response before turning towards Tsunade. "Now, anything else you need Hime?"

"Yes." Tsunade replied, now somewhat happy that the gloomy thoughts were out of the way. "You guys did not tell me how you came across Akeginu-san here. I also want you to tell me what the brat's rank should be. Should I let him continue as a chūnin or does he deserve promotion?"

Chuckling sheepishly, Naruto began. "Yeah, sorry about that. Got sidetracked. Anyways, we came across her when we were in Yu no Kuni. After finishing our stint in Uzushio, we were going to Yu to see if I could get some missions to gain experience. We had set up camp for the night, and I had gone to search for some food and water, when I came across her bloodied body floating face down in the river."

Jiraiya looked like he was going to interject, but one scathing look from Akeginu made him balk and stop himself. The rest of the people in the room sans Naruto and Fū seemed astonished that the self-proclaimed super pervert was stopped by a mere glare. Tsunade swore that she would learn how the woman had done that.

Naruto continued, "I immediately brought her to camp and started treating her. She had lost a lot of blood and it took the help of a medic toad and almost all of our supply of blood pills but we were able to stabilize her condition enough to take her to the nearest doctor. We were lucky that any of her major organ hadn't been damaged or else we wouldn't have saved her."

He did not think it necessary to inform that she had been half naked, nor the actual process they had used, something that he had already discussed with Jiraiya and Akeginu herself. There was one major piece of information, which he had skipped, one that he hoped to rectify soon enough.

"And…" Tsunade added, genuinely curious about this new person, who was still now standing silently beside the blond shinobi. "What about this Tsubagakure? I don't think I have ever heard about this village before."

"And you wouldn't have, Hokage-sama," Akeginu interjected the conversation for the first time in the conversation, her voice befitting her stature. "We ninjas of Tsubagakure were proficient enough that we were able to keep the existence of our village a secret, with no one from the outside knowing about its existence."

Naruto could feel the ANBU tense at this news, knowing that the information about her belonging to another village would make them wary of the person. And while he couldn't see it, he could feel that even Tsunade was surprised at the news.

"And your reason for joining Konoha?" Tsunade asked. "Ninjas don't change their affiliation so easily, so you doing such can be seen as a way to infiltrate Konoha."

Tsunade purposefully ignored the snort from Naruto, knowing that she would take care of the brat later, as Akeginu continued, "You can let me join Konoha because Tsubagakure is longer standing." Seeing the surprised expression on Tsunade's face, she elaborated, "I belonged to the Iga clan who were one of the two prominent clans residing in the area, the other being our rivals, the Kouga clan. Our rivalry goes back to centuries, even before the advent of the hidden villages, although most of the history is lost due to the rivalry."

Tsunade gave a slow nod, knowing how the ninjas themselves had almost no records before the Warring Clans Era, and even that period lacked proper records.

"The most recent generation was the most bloodthirsty, with the limited number of ninjas fighting each other on many occasions. One such occasion led to my near death. It was a near miracle that I survived and I am grateful for Naruto-kun for helping me survive."

The attention turned back towards the blond, who was now scratching the back of his neck.

"You don't need to do that Akeginu-chan," he said rather timorously, something that surprised the rest of those present.

"And no matter what you say, I shall forever be in your debt Naruto-kun." Unheeding of the sigh from Naruto, she turned back towards Tsunade. "When I had regained enough of my health for travel, the first thing I did was travel to Tsubagakure to check upon my fellow clansmen. What I found was not something that I wish to go through again." She sighed, as memories of her clansmen and women, most prominent of them being a certain benign yet inept ninja, one she could help but feel that she had failed. "All of them were dead. Be they Iga ninja or Kouga ninja. The final battle fought among them costing the life of everyone I knew."

Although her face didn't show it, everyone could feel the melancholy in her voice. Naruto brought her in a sideways hug, knowing how much the death of her clan had affected her. He had seen how despondent she had become when she had seen the dead bodies of her clansmen and women, especially the young girls' who looked like she did not belong to the place.

"Seeing as there was no more of my clan left, I decided to travel alongside Naruto-kun and Jiraiya," she continued, her voice breaking the gloomy milieu. Everyone noticed the lack of any kind of honorific with Jiraiya's name, something that was rather surprising. "I helped Naruto-kun in training whenever the pervert was not around."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow at that, intrigued by this knowledge. "And what did you teach the brat, I can hardly feel any chakra from you, barely more than that of a civilian." This was one thing that had been itching her. She could barely get a feel of her chakra, which should have been impossible unless the person was a civilian. But the way she held herself, the grace and the confidence indicated training.

"And you wouldn't be able to," Akeginu replied with a smirk, not bothering to extricate herself from Naruto. "We Iga and Kouga ninja have just enough chakra for our survival, and we have never deemed it necessary to let it be a cripple. Additionally, my meager chakra levels have helped me many a times, be it infiltration missions or seduction missions as it helps me in blending among the civilians."

"As for what I trained Naruto-kun in," she gave a mysterious smile to the people in the room, most of them stunned by the ramifications of the things that she could do. "I think I would like to keep that a secret. After all, shinobi never reveal their secrets, do they?"

"Of course they don't," Tsunade replied in a mirthful tone, although the effect was somewhat lessened if her twitching eyebrow was any indication. She sighed before rummaging through her desk drawers "The elders are gonna chew my head over this, but what the hell," she grumbled before tossing two hitae-ates at the now gaping ninjas. She registered the surprised look on Fū's face while Akeginu simply quirked her immaculate brow at her action and smirked.

"What did you both think? That I was going to procrastinate about how it was impossible for others to join the village?"

Both of them gave a slow nod in reply, making the busty Hokage snort. "You both have been with these two idiots for a while," ignoring the loud shouts of protest from said idiots, she continued, "and while I can't speak for the brat, I am relatively sure about the skills of the pervert. And if he thinks it is okay for you to join the village, I will allow it. Besides, it's not like I am going to give you both free reign to do whatever you want. For the next six months, you will be under probation, the leader of your team reporting to me."

"It's all right Hokage-sama," Fū chirped happily as she replaced the previous hitae-ate on her right arm with the one given to her by the Hokage. "Naruto-kun and Ero-jiji trust me and I will do my utmost to prove that I am worthy of their trust."

Tsunade smirked at the nickname her teammate had gotten while said teammate grumbled in the background about insufferable brats not respecting their seniors.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Akeginu gave the Hokage a formal bow, before she stood back up. "But what rank are we supposed to be?"

"As you both are from another village, the most I can do for the both of you before your probation ends is chūnin," Tsunade replied with a shrug. "After the probation, if your team leader recommends, you can apply for the Jōnin rank. I saw Fū so I know that she is easily chūnin level. As for you Akeginu-san, I can hypothesize that you are at least chūnin level, given the fact that you are training the brat."

"Chūnin, yeah right," Jiraiya scoffed, getting the attention of everyone in the room. He decided to elaborate, "I can easily say that just based on kenjutsu, she can defeat a majority of the Jōnin in the village, and that is without taking into account her other skills."

The stunned silence that stretched across the room was eventually broken by Tsunade, who had a shit-eating grin on her face. "I look forward to your time as a shinobi of Konoha, Akeginu-san. I just hope that my faith in you does not go misplaced."

"It won't, Hokage-sama," Akeginu responded with a placid smile as she too tied the hitae-ate on the right arm of her kimono.

"Alright," Naruto clapped his hands seizing everyone's attention once again. "Now what about my promotion?"

Tsunade gazed at the blond for several tense moments, before eventually turning towards Jiraiya. "What do you think? Does he deserve it?"

Ignoring the shout of 'Of course I deserve it' from the person discussed, Jiraiya placed his hand under his chin, in a pensive look. "I think you should be the one to decide that, Hime." He raised his hand to stop her from interrupting. "I know that I know more about his skills as compared to others, but I shouldn't be the only one to assess him. So how about this…let Kakashi battle him and if both of you find him satisfactory, you could promote him as you see fit. This will not only let him re-integrate into the village, but also let Kakashi know first-hand about his skill level should you make him the team leader"

Naruto gave Kakashi a challenging smile. "You sure you want to go through this Kakashi-sensei? I am not the same brat you humiliated those years ago. By the way, I need to get back at you for that. You know that don't you?"

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile, before turning back to his precious Icha Icha. "Of course, Naruto. I am excited to see how much my little genin has grown up."

"I am a chūnin, -ttebayo." Naruto shouted before clamping his hands over his mouth. "Damn it. I thought I overcame it."

Shizune moved towards Naruto and patted his head. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. It is a part of you. It wouldn't do for you to change too much."

"Yeah, I know nee-chan. But still, this tic is something I can do without." Naruto sighed, before grinning. "So, now that I have a few hours before my assessment, I think I'd like to get myself reacquainted with the food of the gods. Can't wait to meet Teuchi-ojisan and Ayame-neechan as well. Have to introduce them to Akeginu-chan and Fū-chan as well." He then turned towards Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, if you come on time, I will give you something Ero-kyofu gave me a couple months ago."

Seeing that he had the man's attention, he rummaged his clothes looking for something before a poof of smoke announced the unsealing of a sealing scroll. As the smoke vanished, Kakashi's visible eye widened to an extreme, his eyebrow vanishing into his hair as he looked at what was in Naruto's hand with utter veneration.

For in his hands was something Kakashi knew wasn't going to be available for the next several months. It was a book, one that was nothing short of the Gospel for the one-eyed shinobi. It had a green cover, with a faceless man crouched in a thinking position, with several shapes drawn alongside it haphazardly.

Kakashi moved towards the Icha Icha Tactics, but just before he could reach the prized book it vanished in a poof of smoke eliciting a loud 'HEY' from the Cyclopic Jōnin. Naruto shook his head, "Remember what I said Kakashi-sensei, be on time and you will be getting this." He could feel the desperation seeping from his sensei and decided to egg him further. He turned towards the window with a mischievous smirk directed towards Tsunade, an action that gained a tic on her face as she knew what he was about to do. Slightly tilting his head towards Kakashi, he spoke, "And just so you know sensei, this book is the first edition with all the chapters, many of which won't be in the subsequent books."

Kakashi lunged, all thoughts about affability lost as he heard the last tidbit, wanting to get hold of the precious book. Just before he reached the blond, he got an eye smile from his student before he jumped from the window and vanished into the streets below, leaving behind a sniveling Kakashi.

Jiraiya, not giving attention to the fact that one of the most powerful Jōnin in the village was currently skulking in the corner with a rain-shadow over his head, turned towards Tsunade with a lecherous grin on his face.

"So…Hime," he began "I really missed you these years. Would you be a sport and give your teammate a hug for old times' sake? Though I would love if we both were wearing nothing for that duration, wouldn't-?"

He hadn't even finished speaking before a kick to the jaws sent him through the office walls spiraling through the sky, most likely to land somewhere in a twitching heap and then miraculously heal within a few minutes. Shizune simply shook her head, knowing that the lecherous Gama-Sennin wouldn't let something like this stop him. She turned around, only to find Tsunade in the room, going through a bottle of sake and heard her master mumbling, "Damn lecher, teaching the brat his ways. Now I'll have two idiots using the window as a damn door."

"Tsunade-sama, where did Fū-san and Akeginu-san go? Weren't they in the room a few moments ago?"

Broken from her cursing, Tsunade straightened, "They went just as the brat escaped. I swear to Kami, him and his lecherous teacher are one day going to be the death of me. I just can't wait till I have to hang up this hat and go back to my binge drinking. Kami do I regret taking this job."

Shizune, having heard this declaration countless times, simply rolled her eyes. "You know Tsunade-sama, now that Naruto-kun is back in the village, you only have to wait a few more years and then pass the hat onto him. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to replace you, don't you think so?"

Tsunade stopped her cursing, the words of Shizune going through her mind. 'He's back.' She thought. 'Only a few more years and then the brat will be ready to take the place most probably. I will be free from the wretched paperwork. FREE. FREE.'

The last part was spoken with a maniacal smile on her face, one that caused Shizune to leave the room, wishing for her mentor's sanity.

XXXXXXXXXX

A few blocks away from the Tower, Naruto shivered with some trepidation. Although there was some excitement in it as well, something that confused him greatly. Having decided to walk to Ichiraku's, he smiled when he sensed two people join his side. He smiled further when he saw that most of the ninjas were treating him nicely with most of them giving him waves as he passed by them.

Most of the civilians, on the other hand, glared at him. Well, most of the female population were doing that. The males, on the other hand, were not too subtly ogling Akeginu and he could literally feel the curses they were spewing at him for traveling beside her. He could see that they wanted to come talk to her, but the kodachi and her posture making them think twice. Although, this didn't bother him anymore, knowing that he had his precious people. Besides, the ninjas acknowledged him and treated him with respect, something which had begun ever since he had defeated not only Neji during the Chūnin exams three years ago, but also protected the village from Gaara during the Oto-Suna Invasion.

He finally reached the one place he had missed the most during his training trip. It was a small shop with flaps on which Ichiraku Ramen was written in bold, red colors. A huge smile came on his face, as he removed the flaps and entered the institution, the pleasant aroma wafting his nose.

"Hello. Welcome to Ichi-" a pleasant female voice began, only to become shock still as she turned to face the newest customer. "N-Naruto?" she asked, her eyes wide open with shock.

"Good to see you didn't forget me Ayame-chan." Naruto spoke well naturedly, only to give a small 'OOFF' as said person barreled into him, hugging him for all his worth.

"You baka…" she nearly shouted, once she had detached herself from the blond and stood straight, arms on her hips and a stern look on her face. "How dare you not inform us where you were all this time? Tou-san and I were worried sick about you. Hokage-sama wouldn't even tell us where you were all this time. Just that your training trip was confidential."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously at the small yet imposing figure. He took that as an opportunity to look over the young woman. She was average heighted, standing at 5ft 2inches, with a gracefully slim body. She had dark brown hair that framed her heart shaped face, with large black eyes plus fair skin. She wore a white chef robes with folded sleeves, a dark blue apron with ribbons tied at the top and a bright white bandanna.

"Um…" he began, seeing he wasn't getting any ramen without an explanation. "Ayame-chan, the thing is, Ero-sennin wanted to keep the entire trip as secretive as possible. So we decided not to tell anyone about our whereabouts. Not even baa-chan knows where we were all this time."

"Was all this caution necessary?"

"Yes. Yes it was, Ayame-chan." Naruto replied in a serious expression, one that caught Ayame offhanded, having never seen the hyperactive blond this serious before.

"All right." She sighed before a smile made way onto her face. "Now how have you been? How did you like travelling? By the way, it seems travelling has suited you. You look quite nice, handsome I must say." It was then that her attention shifted to the two females standing behind him, the black-haired giving smile that exuded grace, while the mint-haired girl gave a jovial smile. "And who are these two?" She covered her mouth with her hands, faux surprise marring her face. "Don't tell me you went and got yourself a harem Naruto-kun!"

"I come with two girls by my side," Naruto began with a twitching eyebrow, "and the first thing you think is that I got myself a harem? What do you think me to be? And a harem? Really?"

"What can you say? I like romantic stories like that." she shrugged before moving towards the duo, leaving a gaping blond behind. "Ohayo, welcome to Ichiraku's. I am Ichiraku Ayame."

"Nice to meet you, I am Akeginu." The black-haired kunoichi replied regally.

"And I am Fū." The former Taki kunoichi chirped. "We both joined Naruto-kun in his travels and have been with him and Jiraiya-sama for a while."

"For a while?" Ayame smiled, before that smile turned mischievous. "What did a handsome young man like you did with these young women Naruto-kun?"

"Don't make me blush, neechan." Naruto commented offhandedly. "I am the same. Just had my growth spurt, got to love teenage hormones for that, and trained like hell the entire time. Besides, if I even tried anything with Akeginu-chan or Fū-chan here, both of them would have my balls. And you should know that any time that I have been with someone, it was only with their consent. Anyways, I loved travelling and now I know why ero-sennin travels so much. Just could have done without all the peeping that he did. He seriously needs to find another source for his 'inspiration'. By the way, whenever he is in town, could not go to the hot springs. Don't want to kill the man for accidentally peeping on you."

Ayame was caught flat footed at the casual way Naruto spoke about everything. She knew, had she said the same a couple years ago, the young boy would blush and stammer like no tomorrow, or shout on top of his lungs about how he would only be with 'his Sakura-chan'. She also noticed how he talked about being with someone, as though he had already partaken in the act.

Naruto seeing the gob smacked look on Ayame's face smirked. He really was enjoying screwing up with people. Perhaps even little too much.

"What happened, Ayame-chan? You seem surprised." He spoke mirthfully as his companions and he took a seat in the ramen stand, but not before he created a sealless Kage Bunshin, who went away from the stand, nitpicking all the way. It had elicited a couple of raised eyebrows from the women, in reply to which he simply gave a mischievous smile.

Understanding that she had been pranked by her surrogate brother, Ayame huffed and with hands placed on her hips made an irate face. "Naruto, you do remember the cost of pranking me or Otou-san, don't you?" Seeing the suddenly paling face, she smirked viciously like a predator seeing its prey. "Maybe I should tell him that your ramen privileges have been suspended for the next two months. That should be an appropriate I guess."

She didn't have time to think anything further as the blond shinobi was almost groveling at her feet, crying out repeatedly about not separating him from his ramen and how he would never even think about teasing his Ayame-chan, much to the amusement of the three women present in the stand.

He finally retreated to his seat after being repeatedly reassured that 'no, his ramen privileges weren't being suspended' and that 'he could come there whenever he wanted'. Ayame soon stepped back into the kitchen and prepared the order for Naruto and his guests. For the thirty or so minutes were a frantic hustle for Ayame as she prepared bowl after bowl for the never ending stomachs that were Naruto and Fū. Akeginu had ordered a single bowl of miso ramen, which she was eating almost imperially, while her companions seemed to be competing over who could eat the most bowls in one sitting, although they did so with etiquettes that she had never seen in the blond before. Naruto soon finished his requisite quota of ramen, a total of 35 bowls, with Fū trailing behind at a still hefty 25 bowls. Ayame smiled at the familiar scene as the blond patted his still flat stomach, something she wished she could do after eating as much food as he had done.

The entire time the eating fest was going on, Ayame used it to get the information from the blond about his travels and how the two ladies had met the ninja and his teacher. She was shocked when she heard how Naruto had saved Akeginu and later on how they had saved Fū, although she did refrain from going into depth regarding Fū's or her original villages, and while Ayame knew that she was not saying everything she knew that the kunoichi had their secrets and it wasn't her business to pry into them.

The trio eventually finished their meal and left the stand leaving behind a gaping Ayame who was holding a huge bundle of cash in her hands, the amount being close to a hundred times the highest tip she had ever gotten. Outside, Naruto smiled before quickly applying a Henge. When asked by his companions, he replied that he wanted to keep the news of his arrival a secret not wanting the news of his evaluation with Kakashi to become a spectacle.

Seeing that he had a while before his evaluation, he decided to act as a tour guide to the two kunoichi by his side and gave them a tour of the village; he showed them various places like the chūnin exam stadium that had been repaired after the failed Oto-Sand Invasion, the parameter of the Forest of Death. He did not like the smile that had formed on Akeginu's face when he had told her about the environment.

He soon arrived at Training Ground Three, fifteen minutes before the required time, the three training posts and the Konoha Memorial Stone bringing back the memories of the first test given to Team 7 by Kakashi and how he was the one to be tied up to that ruddy pole. As he looked at the poles, the very first lesson taught to him by Kakashi came unbidden into his minds.

'In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.'

Any further introspection was prevented as he sensed people entering the clearing. Immediately, he and his companions hid themselves in the trees nearby and suppressed their chakra waiting to see who had arrived. He did not have to wait for long as four people entered the clearing. The first to enter was Tsunade herself, followed by Jiraiya who was nursing a swollen head, most likely having received it from the aforementioned Hokage herself. Behind them was an exasperated Shizune, holding her pet pig Tonton. The last person to enter the clearing was another person who Naruto easily recognized.

It was a girl garbed in a sleeveless, half-qipao top with black gloves, black, low‒heel, calf‒high boots, black shorts underneath a short pink apron skirt, and pink elbow protectors. To finish off the ensemble, she had her hitae-ate tied on her head, as a hairband, on a red cloth. Naruto smiled as he recognized the remaining member of his team, Sakura Haruno.

Meanwhile, said girl had a confused look on her face. "Shishou, what are we doing in the training ground? And seeing that Jiraiya-sama is here, shouldn't it mean that Naruto must be here as well?"

Tsunade turned to reply, only to stop and turn back around. Sakura frowned and was about to ask once again, when another voice this time from behind her spoke, "Wow Sakura, look at you. You look extremely good."

Sakura jumped, startled at the sound, and turned around only to be surprised at recognizing the person. Her mouth opened, but no words came out of it. 'Is that Naruto? How did he come behind me without even me noticing?'

"You know Sakura… if you had been an enemy, you would be dead by now. You really need to take better care of your surroundings." He spoke cheekily.

Sakura, seeing red at the comment, was about to clock back her arm before she was interrupted by the Hokage.

"Sakura, enough." Tsunade spoke firmly. "We are not here for wasting time." She turned towards Naruto, "Brat, you ready for the test?"

"I was ready the moment I entered the Tower baachan." He smirked, before dodging another punch. "Don't hit me before an evaluation baachan. I need to be in top form."

"Cheeky brat." Tsunade muttered. "Sakura, Naruto here is going to be evaluated to become a Tokubetsu Jōnin. I'm sorry brat, but that is the most a Hokage can do without the recommendation of a higher ranked shinobi. And no, Jiraiya doesn't count." She said, knowing that the brat would most certainly whine about it.

The further discussion was interrupted as the Konoha Shunshin declared the arrival of Kakashi, the determined eyes betraying the bored expression he tried to display, with the orange Icha-Icha in his hands. Sighing, he gave everyone his trademark eyesmile and a wave.

"Yo." He spoke in a bored manner. "It seems everyone was on time at least."

'That's the pot calling the kettle black.' Everyone snorted mentally. Naruto decided to speak. "Now, good to see you were on time Kakashi sensei. I wouldn't want to burn a book you know. Anyways, since you are on time you can have it." He took out a familiar green covered book and extended it towards Kakashi who seemed almost ready to pounce at it. However, Naruto retracted it and threw it towards Jiraiya.

Seeing the dismayed look on his sensei's face, he explained, "You can have the book after the evaluation sensei. Don't want your attention diverted to the book during it. Anyhow, I don't think you'd have been able to read a page of it. You wouldn't want it to be damaged during the spar do you?"

Kakashi almost seemed to have lost his composure and ready to attack the blond for keeping him away from his precious book. However the last line caught his attention and he smiled at the boy's confidence.

"Maa maa, Naruto." He began, "Are you sure you want to say that? Isn't that what you said the first time we had a spar?"

The blond's smirk suddenly seemed too vindictive to the Jōnin. "I still have to pay you back for that technique, don't I Kaka-sensei? I just need to warn you that you should take the spar seriously. Wouldn't want the Jōnin Lounge filled with the gossip that you lost to your student because you were not serious, would you?"

Kakashi sighed and shut his book before placing the book in his side pocket. The bored look on his face was still there, however one could see the curiosity in his eye. He turned towards the rest of the group and gave a small nod. Receiving the message that he was ready, everyone jumped and disappeared into the trees, waiting for the spar to begin.

Naruto watched them go. 'Ero-sennin should really take them somewhat further away.' Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned towards Kakashi with a determined and confident gaze and spoke in a serious tone, "You will have to use your Sharingan sensei if you wish to win this spar."

The look on his face and the serious tone caused Kakashi to go wide-eyed, as a silhouette of a similar looking shinobi, in a white haori with red flames at its bottom, formed behind Naruto. Kakashi took a deep breath, before his face hardened into a determined look, one that surprised everyone hidden in the trees having not seen that look for a while. He remembered the look on Minato sensei's face. The usually jovial and happy face would turn hard as stone, and it meant nothing but absolute misery whenever he did so.

In the clearing, Kakashi lifted his headband, the three tomoe'd Sharingan visible for everyone to see. Naruto smiled, the anticipation of a good battle waking a certain figure within his mind. Taking a well-practiced stance, he took another deep breath and smiled at Kakashi. "You ready to dance, sensei?"

The ending of the first chapter, and I know that many of you might not recognize the character of Akeginu and how she is a part of the Naruto fic. She is in fact a character belonging to the manga/anime Basilisk, and while I know many of you might think that it will make the fic qualify as a crossover. But it should be seen that I am simply using the character of Akeginu and I don't intend to use any more characters from the manga. All the abilities that I intend to use from the fic will mostly be used by Akeginu with the few odd ones being used by Naruto and that too will be in moderation. The sudden addition of Akeginu happened after I read the fic Iga Naruto which I highly recommend. Although it has been nearly three years since the author has updated, so the chance that he will update are extremely slim.

Anyhow, now that the first chapter is over, enjoy the next two as well without any big-ass author notes.

And I will happily state that the fourth and fifth chapter shall be posted within this week.

Ja Ne!