"Are you kidding me, Jiraiya?" The toad sage expected Naruto to scream at him. Rather what he got was a steady, but icy tone he never heard his student use before. "I've had enough of your bullshit. We've already gone two months past when we were supposed to return, and you expect me to stay here for God knows how long? Forget it."

"Do you know how rare of an opportunity this is, Naruto? Do you know how many jinchuriki have not been captured? Including you its only five! Gaara arguably has worse control over his biju than you, one is from Iwa and would kill us before helping you, and of the last two, both of them are here in Kumo! And one of them will definitely help you learn to control the Kyuubi. This is a once in a lifetime chance. Even with all my training, you can barely control three-tails worth of chakra and it still damages you. But you saw that Nibi girl, right? All her damage came from the Akatsuki, nothing from her biju. Perfect, or near perfect control! Forget saving Sasuke, if you could learn to control the nine-tails, the Akatsuki would be worrying about you instead of the other way around." Jiraiya's student listened to him with uncharacteristic patience, but he still held the toad sage's gaze with a cold look.

"Why would Yugito want to help me? I'm sure she has better stuff to do."

"Are you kidding, kid? You just saved her life, I'm sure she would be glad to do something for you in return, and this is the perfect chance. And even if she didn't want to, the Raikage is going to make her." Jiraiya did his best to explain with his mounting frustration.

"You can't do that! You can't force her to do something she doesn't want to!" Naruto was nearly frothing. His chilly demeanor was slowly shedding to reveal the scorching anger behind it. Staying away from Konoha for so long, not being able to save Sasuke, and now Jiraiya saying he would force Yugito to do something against her wishes was starting to take a toll on his emotions. His eyes flickered between its normal azure blue and the vermillion red as a morsel of the Kyuubi's charka seeped into him.

"Calm down. It's normal for shinobi to take missions that don't want to, but that won't happen. I'm telling you she will be happy to do this. And look at you, a little agitation and you are already letting the nine-tail's charka leak. Can you honestly say you do not need more training to control it?" Jiraiya placed his hand on his student's shoulder to help calm him down.

Naruto let out a deep breath and shut his eyes. Slowly, he let the malevolent chakra dissipate. He knew the pervert was right to an extent. He and Jiraiya had gone as far as they could with controlling his biju's chakra. He was right about Yugito's control too. He never even considered that a jinchuriki would be able to reach the full state of their biju without opening their seal. Yugito also looked relatively healthy at the hospital too. The one-time Naruto went into four-tails and lost his mind, he laid, bed ridden, for almost four days straight.

"You promised me. Two and a half years, you said! It's going to be three years soon, and Sasuke is going to become Orochimaru's puppet. But you don't care, do you." Naruto hissed in disdain. Jiraiya sighed, pulling back his hand from Naruto's shoulder and then rubbing his face. Naruto's devotion to his traitorous teammate exhausted him. His bond to the Uchiha was many times stronger than the toad sage's ever was to his own friend turned enemy, but Jiraiya also thought it was that many times more foolish. Jiraiya knew when to cut his loses, Naruto absolutely refused to do so. It could be a strength at times, but in most cases, it came off as a weakness. The older man also knew he needed to tread this topic delicately, another annoyance for him.

"Naruto," Jiraiya started, taking a quick moment to place the right words, "shouldn't you have more faith in Sasuke?"

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, his face filled with perturbed shock.

"He wants to kill Itachi, enough that he left the village, where endless amount of people would throw themselves at his feet to train him, in his quest to get power. Do you think he would really just bend over and let Orochimaru take his body?"

"I know he won't just let him, but Orochimaru is strong. And that bastard Kabuto is there too." Naruto heatedly replied.

"You need to trust him." Jiraiya said firmly. "More than that, look at yourself. If you went to fight Orochimaru, could you win? No, Naruto, you can't."

"That's why we need to go back to the village! My friends will help us save Sasuke!" Naruto slapped his chest as a point of punctuation.

"Say we go back and Tsunade lets you chase after Sasuke, which we don't have many leads to where he could be, mind you. She lets you take, what, three or four members? Kakashi, Sakura, you, and maybe another one of your friends? Against Orochimaru, Kabuto, Sasuke and whatever other grunts Orochimaru has. As you are, right now, there's no chance, I'm sorry."

"So, you won't help me, sensei?" Naruto spat, venomously.

"Listen here, you brat." Jiraiya snapped, his protégé pushing the toad sage to his limits. "You've followed me like a puppy for almost three years so you of all people should know everything I do is for the village. Akatsuki is the biggest threat, not just to you, but quite possibly the world, and all you care about is your dumbass boyfriend. If you want to save him, go ahead, but I have better things to do, and more than that, no fucking way am I letting you run to him and get yourself killed because you were busy bitching about waiting an extra month or two for training! You will stay in Kumo, you will train under the Kumo jinchuriki, and you will master the Kyuubi's charka."

Naruto bared his teeth at his master. His eyes became misty with unshed tears in the pure rage he felt towards the man who he considered like a father. "Fuck you!" Naruto screamed before jumping out the open window, heading as far from the hotel as possible.

"Naruto! Wait!" Jiraiya called out at the boy, who the toad sage lost sight of as soon as Naruto bounded behind several of the hotels surrounding them. The toad sage muttered curses under his breath knowing he should have handled the matter with more care. But the kid often lost sight of the bigger picture, and Jiraiya always found it hard to make him see it. The Sannin went to the sink and washed his face, letting the cool water trickle down his warm face. He could try and chase his pupil, but he knew it would not help at the moment. The child just needed some time alone to breathe. Naruto might be angry now, however, he was not the type to let it stick with him. With hopes that his protégé would be more welcoming of the idea to train in Kumo in the morning, Jiraiya laid down in his bed and slowly drifted into sleep.

"Fuck." Naruto slammed his fist into the training post for the umpteenth time. It was pitch black in the training ground, only a large lamp post at the opening of the area shed enough light that a ninja could practice with ease during the night.

"Fuck that old pervert." Naruto punched the post again, the force causing splinters to blast out and some clipped his skin. Blood began to run down his knuckles, however, Naruto ignored it. "Fuck that bitch, Sasuke." His swung his fist again, his blood leaving stains on the post. "Fuck Orochimaru." Punch. "Fuck Itachi." Punch. "Fuck the Kyuubi!" Naruto snarled, delivering a series of blows to the helpless post. His blood splatter reached from the tip of the post all the way to the grass underneath. Both his hands were bubbling fresh blood from the numerous cuts that adorned them now. The cuts throbbed in pain, and the cool night air caused his knuckles to sting. It was not enough to sate Naruto's rage, however.

"Fuck me and how weak I am! I'm such a piece of shit!" Naruto roared as he attempted to smash straight through the training log with his fists. He was unsuccessful, though he did leave numerous dents in the log, each stained scarlet. Several areas of the post already became caked with his coagulating blood, showing off burgundy red splotches rather than others with fresher, scarlet red indentations. Naruto, panting heavily from his exertion, flopped to the ground. He wiped his steadily dripping hands on his orange pants, ruining them with random red streaks. He knew that despite the amount of blood spilling out, the cuts were nothing serious and they would heal by tomorrow morning. He did not carry bandages either way, so it was not like he could wrap them now. So, it was a moot point to worry about.

The young shinobi, satisfied with the slowed stream of blood, crossed his legs and rested his forearms on his thighs, his hands forming loose fists that barely touched each other. He picked up mediation during his travels with Jiraiya. Without it, he was sure he would have killed the old pervert by now. While he loved his sensei, the man was a walking irritation for Naruto. Stealing his money, spending days at the whore houses, ignoring his training in favour of writing smut, making Naruto edit the damn smut! No, mediation was necessary to handle Jiraiya, although Naruto never felt this level of rage toward the toad sage before.

He focused on his breathing, on each breath going in and out. He lost focus of the chilly breeze, he lost focus on the stinging pain rhythmically pulsating from his knuckles, he lost focus on the metallic tang of his own blood coating the posts behind him and the earthy smell of the training field. Most importantly he lost focus on the anger he felt toward his teacher, and his rage toward his own weakness.

In. Out. In. Out.

Gradually, Naruto let his mind wander off the breathing as well. Letting his consciousness reach a free-floating area that was not weighted by his earthly desires or worries. Naruto was never sure exactly how to describe this state of being, the jinchuriki lacked the vocabulary to do it justice. It helped him reach peace and that thought more than satisfied him. As he reached his nirvana, he felt the nagging twitch of his anger coming back, penetrating his semi-conscious state. The heat of his anger flickered within him forming an ember that burned more and more, quickly becoming a flame. Naruto hissed in disappointment and opened his eyes.

Instead of the mildly illuminated training field, the intricate pillars of the Kyuubi's cage met his gaze. His ankles already drenched in the stagnant water. The beast moved in a bubbling form of charka that stuck together and separated at the monster's leisure. The sickening feeling of its corrupt chakra made Naruto's stomach churn violently.

"Rare for you to visit me, boy." The beast's booming voice reverberating in Naruto's ears.

"It's not liked I wanted to. I was meditating and it just happened." Naruto walked toward the gate, stopping mere inches from the massive pillars. As a young boy, the proximity to the beast cowed him, but now the hatred he feels toward the beast repels any lingering fear.

"Ha! Meditating? You and calm go together as well as you and that cursed Uchiha child." The beast snickered at its own joke, its jowls shifting showing off its impressive canines. "You should forget that and let your anger take over. Meditating, trying to control yourself, that's not who you are."

"No one asked you for your shit opinion, fox." Naruto seethed, eyes flashing angrily.

"Hate! Hate! Don't fight it, let your hate spill! We are not so different, monkey, let me hate with you, let me singe their corpses for you." The Kyuubi's tails beating at the thought of carnage.

"I'm not a blood-thirsty monster like you. I want to protect people, that's what it means to be Hokage. You're watching me, you should know that." Naruto snarled in response.

"Yes, I'm watching you Naruto, that's why I know what your heart truly desires. Find the Uchiha boy and kill him, so you can take that pink-haired wench for yourself, yes?" The beast smiled mockingly at his retainer.

"Fuck you, you don't understand a damn thing about me!" Naruto howled at his tenant, slamming his fists against the iron tight bars.

"And you don't understand me, weakling. You deny me now, but, like always, you will return to me with your tail between your legs, begging for my power. Now leave!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he found himself in the training grounds, once more. The pungent mixture of smells coming from his dried blood, his sweat, and the soil assaulted his nose, causing him to groan and flop to the ground. Exhaustion overwhelmed him. Emotionally, physically, and mentally fatigued, he wanted to go back to the hotel, take a hot shower, and sleep in a warm bed, but his desire to avoid Jiraiya was much stronger. He curled up into a ball, keeping his appendages as close as possible to his core body heat, and did his best to find slumber.

"Naruto, Naruto, wake up." Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. He groaned and opened his eyes, using his hands to shield them from the morning rays. She smelled nice, that was the first thing he noticed, before his eyes adjusted to the light properly. She obviously showered before she came to the training ground, and it juxtaposed sharply with his repugnant odor. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off his grogginess. "Naruto, what happened to you? There's blood all around you, and on your hands!" Yugito's coal dark eyes were filled with concern.

"Yugito…morning." Naruto yawned and stood up, brushing off his clothing. It did not help with the streaks of dried blood on his pants.

"Morning? It's almost twelve! Anyway, never mind that. What happened to you?" She placed her hands on her hips, her sharp eyebrows dipping into a stern frown.

"Nothing much, I was just letting out some steam." He glanced at the training post and Yugito followed his gaze. She observed the damage done to the post, as well as the dried blood stains. She could see he unloaded his aggression into the post without caring for his own wellbeing.

"What made you do this?"

Naruto scratched his head. "It's just…did you talk to the Raikage yet?" The whiskered youth asked suddenly.

Yugito shook her head. "No, I have a meeting with him tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Naruto said before he pulled the front of his jacket up to his nose and took a sniff. "Man, I smell, and I feel so dirty! Do you mind if I go home and take a shower? Then we can get lunch, if you're still up for that."

"Naruto…I'm up for it, but what about all this? Do you want to talk about it?" Yugito asked, gesturing to the broken post, caked with blood.

Naruto scratched his cheek, humming in mock consideration. "No, I'm good, it wasn't much. Don't worry about it."

Yugito hesitated, any shinobi worth their salt could tell something was wrong with the whiskered youth, yet she also felt it was not her place to pry if had no plans to share. "Alright then, shall we go to your hotel?"

"Un!" Naruto sounded in agreement, walking toward his hotel with Yugito following beside him. "So, what did you do so far today?"

"Nothing in particular. I was discharged, I went home and took a shower. I wrote out my mission report, delivered it, killed some time talking to my friends you met yesterday, and now, here I am, ready for our lunch."

"Ready for our lunch huh? You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Naruto smiled at his fellow blonde.

Yugito missed his line of reasoning. "How do you mean?" She asked with a frown.

"Cuz you showed you smelling nice and looking pretty…and I'm like the opposite." Naruto joked, scratching the back of his head.

"I…did not mean it like that. I'm sure you have your reasons for being as you are." The older blonde responded patting him on the back reassuringly.

"It's cuz I'm a fucking brat." Naruto mumbled under his breath, however Yugito's keen ears heard it clearly. She decided not to comment on the remark.

When they arrive at the hotel room, Naruto knocked on the door. "Jiraiya? Pervy sage?" Hearing no response, Naruto took his key from his pocket and opened the door. "I'll just be a minute, have a seat." Naruto told his guest before rummaging in his backpack for some clothing to wear out. Choosing some satisfactory clothes, he walked to the bathroom, leaving Yugito alone in the room.

Yugito moved toward the bed the bag Naruto took his clothes from was closest to. There were several scrolls strewn on top of it and also some unused instant ramen cups. She gently pushed them aside to make room to sit down. She looked at the other bed, which must have been Jiraiya-sama's. It was in a neater condition than Naruto's. Nothing on it and the sheets made.

The younger blonde showered extremely quickly and came out, dressed, after only a few minutes.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked his older friend, who nodded in response.

"Is there anything in particular you want to eat?" Yugito barely finished her sentence when Naruto spoke.

"Ramen."

"Ramen? Alright, I know a place." Yugito smiled at her fellow Jinchuriki and she led them to the dining establishment. Compared to Ichiraku Ramen, which is a modest eight-person open stall, the restaurant Yugito took Naruto required the customers to dine inside.

Sitting down, Naruto looked at the price tag and gulped. The price here nearly doubled Ichiraku's!

"Ah, do you find it expensive?" Yugito asked. "Actually, ramen is not a very common cuisine here. Since it's a specialty, the prices are a bit more premium."

"Oh, man." Naruto groaned. Who knew how long he would have to pay double the price for ramen? He needed to tell the Kyuubi to shut up and listen to him as soon as possible.

"I'll pay for you, Naruto, don't worry." Yugito mistook Naruto's groan as an inability to pay for the food.

"What? No way, I've got it. Thanks though."

Yugito frowned, "I insist. You saved my life, this is the least I can do."

Naruto hesitated, "C'mon I didn't really do anything special. Besides, what kind of man would I be if I let my date pay for me?"

Yugito placed her elbow on the table and propped her face on it. She smiled at the younger shinobi. Such outdated rhetoric, she found it cute coming from him though.

"How about, I pay today, and sometime, before you leave, we get lunch again and you pay for us then?"

"Well, that sounds alright." Naruto agreed to her compromise.

The two ordered ramen, spicy pork for Naruto and shoyu ramen for Yugito.

"It's pretty good, but I've had better." Naruto said once their meal finished.

"Really? This is the only ramen place I've been to, so I can't really compare it to others." Yugito pulled out the amount of money on the receipt and paid it. The two of them standing, ready to leave. They bid the waitress a farewell as they left.

"You should come to Konoha sometime, I'll show you the best ramen place in the world, y'know?" Naruto grinned at the kunoichi, wrapping his arms behind his head.

"Well, if I ever make the trip there, I'll be sure to find you." Yugito promised with a smile.

"So, sight seeing," Naruto started, his eyes gleaming in excitement. "What have you got to show me?"

Yugito smirked, mischievousness entering her tone, "Tell me, Naruto, have you ever heard of the term 'amusement park'?"

Naruto exited the ride, his mouth stretched so wide from smiling, it began to hurt. His clothes ruffled from the speed of the ride, and it messed up his hair as well. But, he could not care less, the experience blowing his mind.

"Holy Kami, Yugito! We have to go again!" Naruto jumped and down, amped up from the thrill of riding this so called 'roller coaster.' Yugito preened herself, fixing her hair and clothes, but smiled at the whiskered shinobi. It seemed whatever issues that were on his mind before were long forgotten.

"Are you sure, Naruto, there are other rides as well."

"Damnit, you're right. Uh…" Naruto looked around, overwhelmed. Large masses of people meandered around, some lining up for rides, others purchasing the various food and treats from the stalls strewn around, and some others relaxing on the numerous benches throughout the park. A massive wheel in the middle of the park that he could see even from their location caught his eyes. "What's that?"

"Ah, they call it a Kuroko Wheel, after its creator. He is actually the father of the park owner. It's a slow ride, but you get an amazing view of Kumogakure." Yugito described to him. The boy shuffled around excitedly hearing her explanation.

"Let's go!" He grabbed her hand then ran toward the line, the older kunoichi laughing at his exuberance.

The line moved slowly, especially with the laborious movement of the wheel, however Naruto did not mind since he enjoyed talking with Yugito.

"These machines are incredible! We have nothing like these in Konoha. I mean we've got some cool stuff like festivals and Kabuki plays, things like that, but they are kind of, I don't know, lame compared to this?"

The Kumo kunoichi giggled. "Most of the machines are pretty new actually. When I was a child only the Merry-Go-Round, Spinning Cups, and this Kuroko Wheel existed."

"So how do they work? I can't believe these things actually move on their own." Naruto stared at the giant wheel in awe.

"Well, I'm no expert, but I believe every morning they store electricity in those boxes, you see there? And what that does is it powers the ride through the special conductive metal they use as the tracks. For the Kuroko Wheel, the huge cylinder in the middle of the wheel is made of that metal. All the containers people ride in here are created with a material that insulate them from getting shocked. It's really powerful stuff actually, the company that owns the park owns the patent on it." The older blonde told the Konoha-nin.

Naruto screwed his eyes shut and nodded his head in agreement.

Yugito sighed, "You didn't understand, did you?"

Caught in the act, Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry, this kind of stuff confuses me. All I got is that it's powered by electricity, hehe."

"Well, as long as you are having fun." Yugito smiled at her fellow blonde, who beamed back.

"I'm having a blast! How about you?"

"I'm enjoying myself too. Doing things like this is more fun when you are with a friend, isn't it?"

"Yeah! One hundred percent." Naruto pumped his fist in excitement, earning himself another giggle from the pretty blonde.

The two continued trying out the different rides, eating some snacks along the way, both shinobi having a fantastic time.

"Oh, man." Naruto sighed, their day done, they were walking back to his hotel.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Didn't you have a good time?" Yugito was certain she impressed her new friend with the amusement park.

"An unbelievable time! But, what am I supposed to show you in Konoha now?" Naruto scowled, knowing nothing he thought about could compete with such a fun place.

"I'm sure you will think of something." Yugito smiled, even though she would like to see Konohagakure, she did not plan on going there anytime soon.

As Naruto mused about his dilemma, the two shinobi reached their destination.

"Yugito!" Naruto turned toward his Kumo friend, grinning widely at her. "Thank you for showing me such a great time. I'll make it up to you one day, for sure!"

Yugito pulled some hair behind her ear and returned a smile back to him, though not as large as his. Most people couldn't replicate the orange-clad shinobi in that regard. "You are very welcome, Naruto. Anytime you come to Kumogakure I'll do my best to match today's experience."

Naruto let his eyes drop to the floor, his smile gone. This confused Yugito, not sure what she said that upset him.

Looking back at her, his cerulean eyes meet her dark orbs, he looked guilty.

"Actually, Yugito, I need to tell you something." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"What is it, Naruto?" She asked gently. Whatever it was, he seemed stricken trying to put it into words.

"I…I'm probably not leaving Kumo anytime soon."

Yugito blinked a few times processing the information.

"See, the thing is, they're going to make you train me. The Raikage I mean." His eyes dropped back down to the floor. "On how to control my biju."

"Is that what Raikage-sama is going to talk to me about tomorrow?" Yugito asked the doleful blonde. She saw him nod his head. She reached out her hand and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "So, what are sad about then?"

Naruto eyes were clouded with confusion when he looked her in the eye. No annoyance or anger were in Yugito's eyes, only concern existed in them.

"Well, I mean, why would you want to train me? I'm sure you have better things to do."

Yugito shook her head. "Listen, Naruto, I would love to train you. There's no need to be sad. Did you think I would tell you no? You saved my life, this is a paltry exchange."

Naruto, his stomach flipping from both anger and happiness, gently removed Yugito's hand from his shoulder.

"Yugito, please stop throwing that I saved you in my face like that. I don't deserve that kind of respect." Naruto did not mean to sound that aggressive, but he didn't try and apologize for it either.

The Kumo-nin gazed at the frowning boy in shock once more. She noticed it yesterday too, but he spoke more frankly today about balking at the idea of being called a saviour. Even though he clearly was.

"If you…if you really don't mind training me, I'd be super happy. But, if you're just doing it because you think I saved you, you're better of complaining to the Raikage until he lets you do something else." He lifted his head, but his eyes wandered everywhere except her face.

Yugito stood frozen, stunned by his declaration. Finally, collecting herself, she gripped him fiercely by the head, forcing him to look into her eyes once more.

"Naruto, I'm going to train you, and we are going to make it so you can use the Kyuubi to its full capabilities okay? And I'm doing this because I like you and I want you to become stronger, not just because you saved me. Alright?" Firmly, but gently, she told him.

The blonde boy barely moved his head up and down in a nod, his face flushed red. His big blue orbs filled with appreciation.

Yugito let go of the nine-tailed Jinchuriki's head, smirking at him. "Though, I must tell you, I'm not an easy teacher. You'd better prepare yourself."

Naruto tried to keep down the smile breaking on his face, but it was hopeless. "Yes, sensei!" He saluted his new teacher, his sloppy grin plastered proudly on his face.

"Have you gotten everything off your chest now, Naruto?" Yugito asked her new pupil.

"Hehe, yeah, sorry I was such a downer this morning." Naruto scratched the back of his head bashfully.

"This afternoon." Yugito corrected with a smirk, "Remember you woke up just in time for lunch?"

"Oh right."

"Well, if that's all," Yugito leaned over and, to Naruto's surprise, she pinched his cheek moving the baby fat back and forth, "Have a good night, my cute student." She teased, before pulling away. She laughed at Naruto's foolish expression before she leapt onto the rooftops to head home.

Naruto rubbed his sore cheek. "Damn, she's got a tight grip." He muttered to himself.

He let out a sigh, enjoying the cool night breeze, stretching quickly, before slapping himself on both cheeks.

"Better go apologize to the pervert then." Naruto nodded to himself, before heading to their shared room. The fun day with Yugito clearing him of all his regret from the morning.

A/N: From the beginning of the chapter until when Yugito show's up to wake up Naruto, I think that is the best I've ever written.

I put a small poll on my profile, please check it out and vote if you can. Also please, review, it makes me happy :)

Last thing, hope every does their best to stay safe from COVID!