Disclaimer: Hmm… in imaginary world, Naruto might be mine but no… (sigh) tis not.

A/N: I'm truly, truly, very sorry! As fellow readers have realized, I am a major procrastinator I'm a terrible, terrible writer to have let so many readers down =( and I am not proud of it at all… It's been a long time! This is not good, nope, no, not good at all O.o You could say, like Kakashi, "I got lost on the road of life." Thank you so very much to those who still want to see more of the story as I am very grateful to everyone who has even tried to read this in the first place. Hopefully, I can build up my writing skills and create better chapters in the future (Your reviews and flames greatly help ^^). And I must type again, doomo arigatou gozaimashita! (Thank you very much!) Please enjoy!

P.S. I'm actually taking Japanese classes now so I'll be more careful in how I use Japanese words and such. I'll also do my best in providing the best translations for whenever I do use them (Please don't be too offended if I've used it incorrectly, please tell me where I can change/correct and I'll improve from that. Thank you!)

Previous terms: omoshiroi- interesting; shimatta- "oh no!" or "damn"; chikushou- "damn" or "shit" (pardon my language haha); matte- wait; touzen desu- (typed tousen incorrectly) of course; tanoshii- fun; ikimashoo- "let's go"; mataku- "geez" or "you're killing me" (kind of like you're giving me a headache)

"43!" A figure flew up in the air and fell, "44! 45!" Two other figures could be seen being tossed up into the night sky and landing at a specific location.

On the other side of the lake, a similar scene was mimicked while shouts of "43! 44!" rang out across the lake.

Damn! He's catching up! Naruto sped through the trees with his unsheathed sword in hand. There! Springing towards a branch, he rammed the hilt into a man's stomach while he swept down another man's legs causing him to topple over. Unsure of what was going on, the men yelled for mercy as they were grabbed by their collars and tossed into the air. "UWAHHH!" Naruto continued, shouting, "46! 47!"

Kakashi had just thrown two men into his pile when he heard two more numbers being called. "Che—" Bringing his hands together, he conjured a couple of Kage Bunshins. Now capable of sweeping in all directions, he managed to bring his total up by ten in mere seconds.

Naruto, seeing the rain of men across the lake, he couldn't help but angrily cry out, "Oi! That's cheating!" He directed an accusing finger at the multiple one-eyed Sharingan user.

"Baka! It's called being smart!" Kakashi could only respond with a sly grin.

There was a quick moment of silence.

"Oh… so it does exist in your brain."

"URUSE!"

Eyes narrowed at his competition, "Yosh! Two can play at that game."

After Kakashi had triumphantly called out "54!" a higher number of "70!" topped his. The man turned in time to witness at least 20 Kage Bunshins giving him an arrogant gesture as his pile of victims grew. "Kono yarou…" He growled as he conjured a set of seals once again.

The forest began to overflow with masked ANBUs and silver-haired ninjas as more bodies flew to the clear, starry night sky. The collection of people could only lie still on top of each other for fear of what would become of them if they moved even an inch. How did it come down to this? They cried simultaneously as dramatic tears ran down their faces. All eyes shifted towards a man whose face and lips had lost their colour. Taichou—

A while ago…

"Kitsune?" A wild-haired man turned to his informer with a lit cigar crushed between his teeth.

"Hai!" The subordinate gave his captain a firm nod. "He was spotted by the market."

The Captain slid a drawer open and retrieved a small handbook, a Bingo Book, that was taken, personally, from a pretty well-known ninja from Iwagakure no Sato. In order to become a shinobi country once again, we'll prove our strength by capturing all these ninjas who they labelled as S-class, the man thought, too confidently and ignorantly.

Before he could send out orders, another informant burst into the room with an excited look. "The Copy-nin ninja is in the country! We've just confirmed that he won a prize at one of the public performances!"

Puffing out a heavy cloud of smoke, the Captain had the look of triumph plastered on his face. "Kami-sama has given us this wonderful opportunity to bring this country out of the shadows." The men in the room could only glow in pride. "These two won't be something I can't handle." He extinguished the cigar with his fingers and blew out one last smoke. "Gather all the men…" His subordinates fidgeted eagerly, "… we're going hunting."

And so, the hopefuls scouted out the two names that were listed in the stolen Bingo Book.

"Taichou! They're heading for the lake!" One reported back.

"Yosh! Ikimashoo!" The rest followed the captain, unknowingly, into the midst of two men's fight.

And so…

There's almost no one left! Crap… Kakashi thought worriedly as he looked for the last few people left in the forest surrounding the lake. Ever since the Kage Bunshin craze started, the numbers quickly added up for the ANBU, allowing him to catch up.

Naruto jumped up to the top of the tree and listened silently for the remaining "ambushers". About to take off, he turned automatically to deflect a flaming kunai, "Eh?" They had already agreed to determine each other's skills after they had taken care of the others. He knew Kakashi wouldn't go back on his word, no matter how much he disliked him.

"Itai!" Naruto gazed down on his sleeve and saw that a speck of fire had caught onto him, licking up his arm and disintegrating the material along with it. Discovering that it was more than a simple flame, he immediately ripped off the rest of his arm sleeve and threw it into the lake. What he didn't expect was once it had touched the surface the lake erupted into a sea of fire.

"AHHH!" "UWAHH!"

The echoes of the beaten men were heard at a distance; Kakashi shifted his attention to the lake and saw an orange glow resonating in the sky. "What the...?" Running towards the glowing light at top speed, air hitched in his throat when he saw that the lake was… on fire? "What is this…?" He muttered, stunned.

"Taichou!" "Help!" "Okaa-san!" "Kami-sama!"

The injured men by the lake tried desperately to escape but found themselves surrounded by the consuming fire. Still in a daze, the Copy-nin almost failed to dodge the oncoming weapons. "What the…?" Kakashi scanned the area, Where are they coming from? He felt a sudden rush of heat and before he could blink, he was grabbed by the forearm and lifted up to higher ground. Prior to yelling curses at the person that had grabbed him unwillingly- who he then discovered was the ANBU- a ball of flame erupted from the ground as they perched on the tree.

The man heard a sigh from next to him. "I'm going soft," the ANBU, without the expressions showing, must have been pouting with the added tone of voice. The Kitsune faced him, "I could've let it burn his hair—"

"—You know I'm right here!" Kakashi exclaimed to the ignorant ANBU. "And why do you keep bringing my hair into this?!"

"Ah right…"

"Baka yarou." He inspected the jutsu that had nearly engulfed him and calmly spoke, "What is this?"

Naruto scratched an itch as he answered, "Not entirely too sure. But it should be a Forbidden jutsu…" Though the crackling of the flames filled the air, there were still some signs of creatures that could almost, inaudibly, be heard. "… and I might as well hazard a guess as to who's behind it." Without the man noticing, he quickly tested out his sword with the man's newly grown hair. Don't think I would've let that last remark go… "baka yarou" my ass… He grinned gleefully, sheathing his sword quietly.

"Who do you think?" Kakashi continued, also having someone in mind. How can he be so calm?

"Hmhm." Naruto chuckled a bit before clearing his throat, standing up in the process. "Let's bring 'em out shall we?"

Wide-eyed, the silver-haired man watched the ANBU suddenly disappear without leaving a mark that he had been standing there. He still didn't answer me...

Two figures observed among the thicket several feet away, watching the smoke rise into the night sky. Their dark cloaks paced with the breeze, as they remained vigilant to the scenario ahead of them.

"Heh, the Copy-nin ninja… what a coincidence." The blue, shark-shaped face man surveyed with a smirk.

His partner tilted the rim of his straw hat to watch the ANBU who had just leaped into the fire. He felt a sense of vague familiarity when he saw him.

"Let's go." Taken aback by the sudden leave, the shark-man could do nothing else but comply.

"And here I thought you'd want to play with them." He said with a slightly challenging tone.

The partner was silent for a while as they stepped off a boulder and ran up a cliff. "Soon."

"Wh- where did he go?" Kakashi examined the fire for any sign of the ANBU. He's got guts though. Naruto's face flashed in his mind. Nani…? Why did I just think of him…? They seem so similar at times. He thought of the time when Team 7 encountered Zabuza and Haku. Unbelievable… he had planned everything out in such a short time. He remembered when Naruto had managed to save him from the water prison and had Zabuza's life, momentarily, in his hands. Could it be —

"What the hell are you doing?!" The fire hiccupped and began to retreat.

"Heh, so it really was you who's behind all this, baka ero-sennin!"

Kakashi slipped down to level ground to join the, now, bickering ninjas. "Jiraiya?" He was behind all this?! How did he know?

"Teme~! You owe me money!" Jiraiya came into Kakashi's view, who was standing beside an orange man-sized toad wearing a necklace bearing the kanji, "chuu"(friendship/loyalty). Ah, so that's it. He must've heard that toad. Che... By the time he arrived closer to the two, the toad was inhaling the last of the fire. "And not only that! My beautiful night with the hot chicks was ruined by you two idiots!" He scolded Naruto, red in the face with tears glazing over his eyes. "My money, my babies…" Something seemed to hit him suddenly, "… my sake!" He was about to put the ANBU on fire when he felt an ominous atmosphere looming over him. The toad, feeling a sense of danger coming, immediately transported itself back to its own world, leaving Jiraiya on his own defence.

"You're one to say," Kakashi joined the two with an intense gaze, "we were in the middle of something very important and look at what you've done now!" He pointed to their, what was once a pile, now scattered, unconscious men, making it difficult to decipher who belongs to which side.

"Mah, serves you right for ruining my —"

A hand clasped the older man's shoulder with a firm hold. "Ho~… Is that so? You don't say." The sennin's skin rippled in reaction to the ANBU's too-nice-to-be-true voice. "Now, what should we do about this dilemma, Hatake-san?" Naruto continued, glancing over to Kakashi who seemed a bit taken aback being called so formally by him.

"Sou…" He made his way next to the ANBU and stared over the toad man.

These two… He prepared to string a number of seals to escape— what the… my body won't move! He couldn't bring his hands up as if something was holding him down. He began to hear whisperings by his ear. "Hehehe… you can't escape." "You shouldn't have interfered." "Who knows what will happen to you." Believing it was only an illusion, Jiraiya swore he saw something dark (Naruto's little devil minions) floating around him as the ANBU looked on. (Note: The situation is similar to what happened to the Hokage when Naruto wanted to beat him up.)

"Don't worry Jiraiya-sama, we'll treat you very nicely." Kakashi gave him a happy-go-lucky smile while cracking his knuckles.

"WH-UWAHHH!" A white soul, shaped like the sennin, slowly hovered into the sky. "…"

Nature, thus, returned back to its normal activities.

Back to Naruto Clones:

"What should we do now?" Sakura raised the question, after getting acquainted with the newcomer and acknowledging that he, too, had obtained both scrolls.

"Isn't it obvious? Head for the tower." Sasuke promptly answered, leaving Sakura a bit embarrassed.

Kabuto cleaned his glasses as he spoke, "I know a path that we can take, but I'll have to tell you as we move," He nodded at the fire pit that they had just put out, "no doubt the smoke and the smell of the fish has attracted some wild beasts and enemies."

They remained close together as they followed Kabuto's lead. Naruto quietly observed him, careful not to let the man notice him. If I remember correctly, he's entered this exam 7 times prior to this. From what I've heard, he should know some advanced medical jutsus. But that smell…

"We should be careful, there are definitely going to be enemies waiting by the tower to ambush any teams who are heading that direction." Kabuto warned.

"Heh, as expected from someone who's been in this exam 7 times, right?" Naruto replied with a gleeful smile.

The older boy forced a laugh, "I guess you can say that."

"Naruto!" Sakura could only say angrily.

"Mah, mah, it's alright. It goes to show I haven't acquired the skills to pass this exam yet." Kabuto assured her that no offence was taken.

The pink-haired girl still continued to give the blonde a stern look before focusing back on their path.

I have to find out… the Naruto-ANBU who had gone back to overlooking the team, prepared to set up a jutsu before he saw Rain ninjas setting up a genjutsu trap. Hm, doesn't seem like I need to get my hands dirty for now. He watched closely; the ambushing team unaware of his presence.

He let out a sigh. Naruto realized it would take longer than expected to get to the tower.

Naruto and Kakashi:

A fire crackled bravely in the night, inviting any enemies that wanted to invade the three men camped nearby the lake. Seated on the top branches of a tree were the ex-team-mates.

"I have never seen you enjoy yourself this much before." Jiraiya mumbled through his growing bruises received from Kakashi and Naruto. My face… I'll get them back for this…

"Huh?"

"Perhaps… sometimes when we went out on missions with Nozue," The man looked out to the lake and stared at the men who were now tied up in groups, "but not as much as tonight."

"…" Kakashi thought for a moment, "I'll pretend that I understand what you're talking about."

The sennin sweat-dropped, "Oi, oi, don't tell me that you haven't noticed?"

"Notice what?"

Silence.

"Never mind."

Jiraiya leaned back against the tree trunk and smiled at Kakashi's back, who sat in front. Indeed he hasn't seen the Sharingan user take pleasure in the little things from all the time that he has known him. He glanced down to the ground and noticed the ANBU gathering firewood, going deeper into the forest and out of sight.

"How did the old man force you to come fetch me?" Jiraiya asked lightly, "He must've told you I had the latest Icha Icha Paradise published. HAHAHA!"

Hearing this, the younger man gave him the utmost attention. "Do you?!"

"…" Kakashi realized it was all just a joke, turned away slightly embarrassed. "Hoho… and to think that you used to be disgusted with what I wrote."

The eye blinked once, "I still am." Jiraiya could feel his own face droop with a questioning yet disappointed expression. "But… it's because of these books… that guy…"

He understood. Jiraiya knew exactly who he was talking about. Back then, after they had finished their last mission together, Nozue had given Kakashi his copy of Icha Icha Paradise with a word of advice, "Enjoy."

The sober man hid a small grin and patted the Jounin's back. "You still have lots to learn."

Kakashi forced a laugh shortly before saying calmly, "I guess, but for now, I need your help."

Jiraiya propped up and became mildly interested, "Heh, so you did come on your own accord. Mezurasahii ne?"

"Stop getting off topic!" Kakashi began to get irritated by the man's teasing.

"Fine~ what is it?"

"Did they used to know each other?" Naruto pondered as he peacefully gathered food for the fire. "Mah~ Doesn't concern me."

"— I think you can really help him…" Ears perked up. Spiky hair? "… You can say… he's talented." Huh, talking about Sasuke again. Naruto felt his feelings droop a bit, but he'd already guess that his "sensei" will only think of him as the loud-mouthed brat that he had created. Even though he's just arrogant, egoistical, and a wannabe loner… I guess the Uchiha kid is pretty good for his age. Don't think much of it Naruto, it's only a mission, nothing else. He walked off to the lake to fill his water bottle.

"Hah? The Kyuubi kid… talented?" Jiraiya turned away into his own thoughts, What is this? I've always heard the Uchiha kid was the prodigy and the Uzumaki kid was always playing pranks, and was kind of, or is… an idiot. He quickly analyzed using what he's heard from the townspeople from the last few visits at the village while trying to avoid the Sandaime in order to prevent getting his freedom jailed. "And to think he'd be more interested in the Uchiha kid—?"

"Oi, oi, I'm still here." Kakashi had to interrupt, Why do people keep talking as though I'm not there?! "Stop making me sound like a pedophile!" He scolded the man while irritated marks surrounded his head.

"Hidoi~ Kakashi-kun yelled at me."
"Stop whining like a kid."

"Hai~ 'okaa-san'."

"I'm guessing you don't want kids right?" Kakashi politely asked.
"…"

From the beginning of their bickering, Naruto managed to hear them from the lake. "Ahh~ they sound like a married couple." Naruto muttered with a plan to not think any further beyond that.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" The two demanded from the youngest member of the group, having heard the remark even though they were at a distance.

"Betsuni." No doubt about it… just like a couple. "HAVE YOU NO RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS—!" They're just admitting to how old they are— "OI CHIBI! ARE YOU LISTENING!?"

The ANBU rose suddenly, dropping the water container at the same time, "Who did you call 'chibi'?"

Jiraiya pointed to Kakashi, "Him."

"Oiiii!"

An accusing finger pointed in their direction, "DON'T CALL ME SMALL, OR I'LL BREAK DOWN YOUR FEET AND STICK THEM TO YOUR HEADS!" (FMA quote).

"COME ON THEN, LET'S SEE YOU TRY!"

Their feud continued through the night. The tied up ambushers all managed to gather around their captain without their targets noticing. "Taichou~" "They're scary~"

The captain gave them a sharp look, "OK. Here's the plan." They all huddled even closer together, "Let's pretend to be unconscious till they leave."

They let out a deep sigh. That's a good plan.

Back to Naruto Clones:

"Are you okay, Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked meekly as the said person nodded in response. They had finally taken care of the Rain ninjas that lured them into their trap. "Mou… that wasted our time." She said towards the pile of bodies.

"Mah, at least that's one less team for the next round." Kabuto smiled as he fixed his spectacles, wincing when he brushed over the new cut across his cheek.

Naruto monitored him from the side. That time… He had managed to force Kabuto to get on the offensive when he allowed himself to be exposed for an attack. It was more interesting than he expected. The moment the kunai knocked off the man's glasses, Naruto felt a slight shiver run through him. The deep, bloodshot eyes he just witnessed made him question the newcomer's past even more. Putting that aside, there's no doubt that he's working with that "thing".

"We should get going." Sasuke firmly said and began to lead the way to the tower.

A pair of hands clasped his shoulders. "Sasuke-teme~ Stop making that kind of face! I bet all the living things that were in your line of view have all just died from it." Naruto said teasingly; though in reality he wanted to prevent Sasuke from getting lost from the group, despite the fact there was an ANBU overlooking. However, the clones knew that they're energy is slowly draining with the extended time.

They set off.
Naruto thought back to when he first learned the technique…

"Joutou… Bunshin?" 8 year-old Naruto repeated slowly. "Couldn't you have thought up of a better name? It's so… plain— ITAI!"

He nursed the growing lump on his head as Nozue sighed, "Such an ungrateful kid."

Naruto watched the spy perform the seals and conjuring a clone. "Listen closely. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Because you forget easily, I understand."The boy couldn't escape a stretching pinch to his face. "I-tuuuhhh~"

"Fine. It's not my problem if you manage to get yourself into a coma."

"EHH!?"

"Ah~ I'm not in the mood to teach now." He began to walk away… like he usually does half the time after he has shown Naruto the techniques and forms. "I'll test you in two days. Good luck!"

"Yatta!" The girl's voice pierced his memories. "We're finally here! And a day earlier at that too!"

They had just entered the tower after Kabuto had reunited with his team-mates. As they entered another door, Sasuke gave them a deep stare before he joined the other two. The ANBU stealthily made his way to where Kabuto and his team had gone into after both doors had been closed. He managed to conceal his chakra presence, making it difficult to detect him.

"How was the harvest?" The familiar, sly voice reached his ears.

There were some feet shuffling in the room as Naruto remained calm and steady. "It was above my expectations, I'll admit." Kabuto replied. "I've got it all written down." There was a break of silence. "You're really interested in this aren't you, Orochimaru-sama?"

Yosh! That's one point for my nose! Naruto, finally able to officially confirm that Kabuto is affiliated with the snake sennin, prepared to take off after they had concluded their meeting inside. But… this is rather unsettling. He thought with a small smile. I guess that's what makes this so interesting. Making sure the coast was clear he set off to pay the Hokage a little visit.

THANK YOU! Thank you as always for your patience and for reading this story :) You guys are awesome!

Notes:

-Some countries have bingo books to make aware of the potentially dangerous and dangerous ninjas from other countries.

-It does seem like Jiraiya was being bullied by both Naruto and Kakashi and couldn't defend himself; this is a result of a tag-team effort between the two… hahaha

-I'm trying to refrain myself from reading the manga, since it will affect my original idea of the storyline… though I may change accordingly. The story won't follow the manga eventually, so there may be some characters that may not make an appearance.

-I had to include some cheesy lines in here… it's fun to type out… haha

-I'm trying to make it so that Naruto is awkward or densely innocent when it comes to romance of any sort.

-Many are wondering, why go through the trouble of using Japanese words to only give a translation in the end? Well… as cheesy as the story already is, there are some words that 'sound' better than using English words itself. I find it adds to the characters' personalities and prevents the story from getting even cheesier. ^^ But, I have to apologize for making it so difficult to get the translation. With some feedback, I'll adjust according to how you guys want to get the translations. Thank you!

I know this chapter is not up to the standard expectation of such a long absence. But I will try to do my very best to finish this story… I'm so glad to have readers like you!

Cheers for good health to all!

Terms:

Baka= Idiot; Uruse= Shut up; Kono Yarou= This Bastard (sort of thing); Iwagakure no Sato= Hidden Stone Village; Ikimashoo= "Let's go"; Teme= Informal and rude way of saying "you" (usually means you're looking for trouble); Baka yarou= something like "a-hole"; sake= Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice; Mezurashii ne= "That's rare, isn't it?"/ "That's strange, isn't it?"; Hidoi= Terrible; Betsuni= Nothing.