[Where we left off, front gates]

Naruto was saying his goodbye's to both Haku and Hinata who now had the same genjuutsu on her eyes as Sasuke did. He knew that they were worried, but he reassured them as he also had Emi and Yori with as well as Sasuke and Yuki.

The reason for Sasuke being there with his sensei was actually very simple. He was promoted to chuunin. Thanks to his contribution in the invasion, not to mention his fantastic battle with Gaara, Sasuke had proven himself worthy of being promoted alongside Shikamaru and Hinata. Hinata had to stay behind due to her team needing her for a mission later, and Shikamaru was well Shikamaru.

Naruto requested that Sasuke join him and Jiraiya to Hiruzen who agreed with no debate. Kakashi, ashamed of his failure to recognize his late sensei's son, didn't bother anymore and loathed himself for now. Sakura was being in general an annoyance towards the Uchiha and was the main reason Sasuke agreed to head out with his real sensei. Kiba was still just an ass, nothing changed there.

The group prepared themselves as Naruto was checking his gear along with Sasuke. Even Yuki, Yori and Emi had on some gear for themselves. Jiraiya had never seen anything like this before. The animal thing, not the checking your equipment thing. He watched as he already double checked his things and saw how efficient the group was. They packed everything up in seals along their clothes for easy access while the three canines had on harnesses with seals on various spots on it for easy access as well.

When they were finished, Jiraiya simply looked to them with chuckle and they headed out to find Tsunade.

[Akatsuki base]

Itachi and Kisame were standing side by side while the rest of the Akatsuki were being projected like usual. The leader of the group peered down at the two and began this particular meeting.

"It has come to our attention that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is much stronger than we initially suspected."
Pein started as some of the other members raised a brow.
"Zetsu has informed me that the child has managed to defeat and kill Orochimaru on his own."

That definitely caught everyone's attention as even they all had admitted that Orochimaru was a very powerful enemy. If the boy was able to defeat him, then that couldn't bode all too well when it was time to retrieve him. Pein continued.

"Be that as it may, Zetsu has informed me that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is leaving the village on a mission to retrieve Tsunade Senju. He is traveling with Jiraiya and another Uchiha."
At the mention of the other Uchiha, Itachi had to try very hard to hide his anxiety to potentially seeing his little brother again. The last time they saw each other wasn't pleasant to the older of the two.
"Itachi and Kisame, you two will intercept them and capture the Jinchuuriki at once. Understood?"

Both Itachi and Kisame nodded. The other members of the Akatsuki vanished and the two left to do the task given to them.

"So."
Kisame started with his usual grin.
"Seems the brat is stronger than we gave him credit for, eh, Itachi?"

Itachi ignored his comrades question as he thought about why Sasuke was tagging along. From what he had been hearing from Zetsu, his little brother had been practically worshiped by the people of Konoha. Something about that didn't sit well with Itachi as that had been a solid year ago when the plant man reported that. He sighed in content as he knew for a fact that his little brother's arrogance and hatred wouldn't be enough to defeat him. He would have to stoke that flame on until Sasuke was ready.

[A week later]

It had been a week since the three left the village to find Tsunade and bring her back and already they made it to one of the villages Jiraiya's contacts are in. The three decided that they would meet up with the informant first and decided to either move on to another village or stay here and search for more clues.

While they were on the hunt, Jiraiya had decided to teach Naruto his former students prized technique, the Rasengan. Naruto, already knowing of his father's created move, decided to learn it from his godfather while also continuing to train Sasuke. Despite his performance in both the preliminary round and the actual tournament, Sasuke still had a ways to go. He realized that when he saw his sensei fight seriously for the first time. The sight of Naruto taking down Orochimaru while Emi and Yori dealt with the first and second was a real eye opener for the young Uchiha.

Naruto kicked his training up a notch and decided to teach him various other techniques that dealt with his sword style and with Yuki. Sasuke soaked it all in like a sponge but still had a ways to go before he could even be anywhere close to Naruto's level.

While on the search for the Slug Sannin, the group had caught a break and found that Tsunade was here in this village not long ago. Her last location before she and her apprentice disappeared was a casino. This was where Jiraiya was headed to while the two teens opted to stay behind to train some more.

Right now, Sasuke and Yuki were practicing a new technique on a tree while Naruto, Emi and Yuki watched on. Sasuke nodded to Yuki who nodded back from his perched position on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha closed his eyes as he brought his sword to himself. He breathed slowly as the blade began to become coated in lighting with Yuki also slowly changing as well. His fur crackled with electricity and soon enough, he began to change into pure energy. Yuki disappeared and Sasuke's blade erupted with lighting, firing up for a second and causing a bolt of lighting to fire down towards the tree. The attack split the tree in half and Sasuke rushed forward at a incredibly fast speed to cut the rest of the tree down. He passed through and suddenly, multiple strikes rendered the tree nothing but splinters and leaves. The energy dissipated and Yuki appeared back on Sasuke's shoulder. Once his fur returned to normal, both of them collapsed in exhaustion on the ground.

"Very good Sasuke."
Naruto spoke in a proud tone as he approached Sasuke's prone form.
"You got a good grasp of the move, but your reserves take a really big hit when you do this. You'll have to focus on controlling the output of energy you expend so you're not using a one and done technique."
Naruto explained as he saw Sasuke nod his head while still on the ground.

"You two are making excellent progress despite that move taking time to start up."
Emi voiced her thoughts.
"You two will need to work on that as well."

Sasuke and Yuki were able to look up to see the trio standing before them and nod before passing out. Chakra exhaustion was a hell of a thing. Naruto smiled as he picked Sasuke up and placed him over his shoulder. Emi carried Yuki while Yori was left to carry Sasuke's blade. The three headed back to the hotel to rest up until Jiraiya gets back, unaware of the two sets of eyes that spotted the technique earlier watching them.

It's short. Oh well. Lol.

Next chapter will have a fight scene in it.

Till next time.

Bye-bye.