Chapter 8: Letting Go

Naruto and Minato stare each other down before both move off in a blur. Kunai flashes against Katana, creating metal sparks seemingly out of thin air. Edo Tensei does lower the abilities of the shinobi summoned only by hampering their problem solving skills. The raw talent and abilities are still there, but not much more is required when facing a former Kage.

Naruto grunts as the impacts nearly rip his shoulder out if the socket again and again. He can see why his old man was a Kage. Naruto thinks fast as to how to get the advantage in his favor. The only thing…

Naruto's thoughts are cut off as his head is nearly severed from his neck.

"That's it!"

Naruto charges the katana with wind chakra and rushes at his top speed, around Jōnin level. Minato sidesteps quickly and tries to slash at him but Naruto was expecting that and brings Tenma up and slices through the kunai.

Minato wastes no time with the ruined kunai and tosses it aside and makes hand seals.

"Raiton no Yoroi!"

There are five ranges in fighting. Of course there is short range, mid range, and long range. But what most people don't count are the two other ranges. There is out of range where the target is too far to be hit. Then there is the last one: too close. This is the space where grapples happen because strikes are ineffective because there isn't enough room to get the proper force behind said strike.

If possible, his dad gets even faster than before and the katana is just too slow, even imbued with wind chakra. His father seems to know that the katanas extend the ranges of the five naturally. While it makes the 'long range' longer, it makes the 'too close' range larger as well. Minato, seeing and knowing this, quickly gets inside the 'too close' range for the sword user.

Naruto sees that Tenma is doing him no favors and has to do something before he is killed. So he creates some space between him and his dad by using raw wind manipulation and destroys a part of the roof, which throws up a small dust cloud. Naruto sheathes his katana for later use but that was all the time he has as Minato rockets out of the dust cloud right for him.

Every time he even gets touched, which is a lot, he gets electrocuted and it is starting to piss him off. He bears through the pain of electrocution and manages to get inside Minato's guard and gives him the hardest shot to his left knee that he could.

He hears a *crunch* followed by Minato falling to the ground, unable to support himself properly. He smiles as his son is doing well against him, but they haven't even gotten to the Ninjutsu yet. He spies Naruto going through hand seal quickly after fighting off the nerve firing electricity before he is forced to get up and fight him some more.

"Kaze no Yoroi!"

There is no visible change in Naruto's appearance, unlike his as electricity literally flows around him. The only indication that the jutsu worked is the very low shrill whistle of the wind and Naruto's slightly billowing clothing.

Naruto presses his advantage of Minato being down, which doesn't last long. Naruto gets two hits in, getting shocked in the process. But, his elemental advantage allows him to penetrate the lightning armor and get hits on the skin as well as the wind armor carving a few scratches into his father.

Minato's body quickly becomes covered in gashes as cuts but because Edo Tensei doesn't allow the summoned shinobi to feel physical pain, he just acts like they aren't there and keeps pounding on Naruto, who is clearly not as good in Taijutsu nor is he as fast.

They separate for what seems like the hundredth time and Naruto spares a glance at Sarutobi, who seems to be holding his own for now. Orochimaru is in his original place behind the coffins, conserving his chakra for the jutsu.

The only reason Naruto is still alive is because of his wind armor. It cuts back some of the shock as well as lessens the impact of the blows his dad is giving him.

'Time to move on.'

Naruto drops the armor and makes several hand seals. "Fūton: Renkūdan!" (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!)

Minato is forced to dodge the large shot of compressed air, which impacts the roof and destroys a good section of it.

'Good, he isn't taking me lightly. That would have taken me a while to recover from.'

While the Edo Tensei is forcing them to fight, Minato does wish to fight his son…just not to the death. He holds back and allows them to have some fun while 'sparring'.

"Raiton: Rairyū no Tatsumaki!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Tornado!)

"Shit!"

The lightning dragon bears down upon Naruto, the dragon hits and destroys a more of the roof.

"Come on out Naruto, I know that didn't get you but a clone."

Naruto bursts out of the roof, panting slightly. 'Damn that was close.'

Taking shurikan out of his pouch, he launches them at the older blond to distract and force him to dodge. He is very rudely surprised when Minato doesn't even try to move and gets five shurikan embedded in his chest. Naruto is transfixed as his father makes a show of plucking each one out and letting each hit the ground with a *clang*.

"You know Sochi; you're going to have to try harder than that."

Naruto grits his teeth and makes more hand seals.

"Fūton : Fūjin no Jutsu!" (Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique!)

Naruto grabs a handful of destroyed roofing from earlier destructive jutsu and exhales a powerful jet stream of air. The particles of tile shoot off in the wind, creating shrapnel that hurtles at hole-educing speeds.

Minato quickly jumps to the side and makes two hand seals.

"Raiton: Chokuretsu no Denko!" (Lightning Release: Lightning Chain!)

Faster than anything Naruto has seen, a single bolt of lightning erupts from Minato's hands and bounces back and forth between particles in the wind technique right at Naruto.

Naruto tries to put up a wind barrier of pure wind chakra but sadly doesn't make it. He is tossed back by the force but other than a few frizzled nerves, the attack didn't do much damage. It wasn't designed to damage so much as interfere with hand seals and blitz attacks.

However, Naruto isn't done and makes more hand seals, forcing Minato to counteract the wind with a very strong lighting jutsu to overcome the elemental disadvantage.

"Fūton: Shinkūha!" (Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!)

"Raiton: Jibashi!" (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!)

The two jutsu meet and the intense heat coming from the lighting emitting from Naruto's hands ignite the very air within the box. All three still living combatants cough with the harsh dust. However, the three Hokage don't move as Orochimaru can't see either.

Minato is staring into the dust when he feels a presence off to his left. He narrowly dodges a perfect Rasengan and jumps to avoid a second and third Rasengan from clones. He twists between the two clones and charges his hands with raw lightning and backhands both clones, dispelling them.

Or that's what would have happened if a massive drill made of air didn't impale Minato directly in the chest while he is unable to do anything. Minato falls to his knees awkwardly and looks to see a massive hole in his chest, right above where his heart is.

He hears someone approaching through the large dust cloud that is thinning and hears a high pitched whine. Suddenly a Rasengan combined with wind chakra bursts through the thinning smoke, aiming right for Minato's head.

The Hokage smiles. His son is indeed a formidable shinobi to have beaten him even if he didn't have the Hiraishin to use. He even completed the technique he made. Single tear slides down his face, truly happy that his boy has surpassed him in that department.

Unable to do anything as the hole in his chest renders him immobile just like a real wound would, Minato accepts his fate with one wish that he wants to spend more time with his son to get to know him more.

The blue and white Rasengan plunges right for Minato's head when a pale hand stops the destructive jutsu just centimeters from the blond's face.

"Kuku…you did better than I expected however, I can't have you killing him just yet."

Naruto grits his teeth, trying to overpower the snake but he might as well be trying to move a mountain. With a sickening crunch, the snake breaks Naruto's wrist. Naruto screams in pain and lets the Rasengan go and grasps his wrist with the other hand.

Minato's eyes go wide while Orochimaru smirks as he prepares to slay the interloping Genin. Naruto, still screaming in pain, looks to see Orochimaru's other hand drawn back. Suddenly Naruto stops screaming and has what can only be described as an evil smirk.

"Boom"

Orochimaru hisses and releases his grip and jumps back with Minato as the clone explodes in a Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion).

'When did he?' thinks Minato as he is dragged away from the explosion.

The dust cloud from before finally lifts as does the dust from the exploding clone. With that, two things occur.

One: Minato's wound fully regenerates, allowing him to move again.

Two: Before Minato can move, a kunai embeds itself at the base of his skull, cutting all nerves to his body.

Minato looks to Orochimaru for an explanation as to why he allowed the kunai to be lodged by one of the clones from before but sees Orochimaru's mouth wide open and candidly staring at the other end of the roof.

Time Relapse – Just after first Explosion

Naruto coughs into his hands as the dust cloud covers the entire roof. If there is a time to change the status quo, it is now.

From under the ground, three shadow clones come up. He made them after escaping the lightning dragon while still under the tiles. That is how Minato knew he wasn't hit. He felt Naruto make a clone afterwards. It also had the secondary effect of drawing Minato into a false sense of security and think a shadow clone is the real Naruto.

With a mental command, he sends the clones off to distract his father. Naruto then makes his way to the other side where Hiruzen is still fighting the Sho and Nidaime Hokage. As he runs, he feels Kyūbi return to the seal.

"What's going on? Why are there dead Hokage here and fighting?"Kiyomi asks.

"Because Orochimaru used a forbidden jutsu to raise the past Hokage to fight Sarutobi. I started fighting my father and am leaving clones right now to do so while I help out Sarutobi with the other two."

Kiyomi rages within the seal.

"Let me out! I'll tear that bastard limb from limb!"

Naruto sighs and continues his run towards the three battling Kage.

"I can't do that. Most of Konoha would be destroyed if I did so. And besides, I thought we are keeping you being able to get out of the seal a secret for now?"

"Don't patronize me! You know how much this means to me!" she roars from inside her cage.

Naruto resists a sigh.

"And you know how much trouble we will be in if you go into a rage and from the sounds of it you are close to it anyways! I can't risk you getting out and destroying everything in your path. We can go after him after this but for now you are staying within the seal."

Naruto blocks himself off from her, leaving Kiyomi's raging howls and snarls as she tries to break down the iron bars of her cage to herself. Naruto sees Hiruzen use a fire jutsu only for a wall of water to appear in front of the flames.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)

The wind hits the fire and Naruto uses the wind to halt the fire until it is a massive ball of white flames. He then reapplies the jutsu to shove the enormous flaming ball forward, straight through the wall of water. Even though the water makes the flames cooler and smaller, it still can pack a punch and scorch things its path.

The two dead Kage scatter as to not get burned, giving Naruto some time.

"I figured you could use some help," Naruto says to a panting Hiruzen.

"Naruto…does this mean Minato is gone?" the old man asks heavily.

"No. I can see why he is a Kage even if he doesn't have the Hiraishin. If it weren't for my NinTaijutsu, I wouldn't be here right now. Anyways, you look like you can use some help."

Hiruzen scoffs. "Please. While I am not as young as I used to me, there is still plenty left within this old sack of bones."

"Good because I think I have…"

"Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu!" (Wood Release: Smothering Binding Technique!)

Naruto and Hiruzen jump apart as several tendrils of wood shoot at them to capture them. Naruto uses raw wind manipulation and uses the wind to produce a drill to scatter the lazer-like blast of water from the Nidaime. Naruto sprints forward, activating his Kaze no Yoroi and engages the Nidaime in Taijutsu.

And just like Naruto's father, the Nidaime proves to be well versed in Taijutsu as much if not more than Ninjutsu. Once again, the Wind Armor saves Naruto's life as it blunts the impacts of the Nidaime, which are numerous. But even with the incredible skills in Taijutsu, the cuts and gashes are too much and one arm of the Nidaime gets detached. Naruto takes advantage of this and draws Tenma and slices horizontally and cleaves the head of the Nidaime from the body.

As the head flies up, Naruto slices it in half. As the head halves separate, Naruto sees that his aim is true and the seal tag on the end of the kunai.

The heads and body of the Nidaime slowly dissolve and evaporate in to the air. Naruto can swear he head a faint 'thank you'.

With the knowledge of how to destroy them in hand, Naruto hurries to help defeat the Shodaime. However, the Shodaime isn't about to just let himself be on the defensive. He smacks Hiruzen away with a blurring back fist and goes through two separate hand seals on both hands and says something that Naruto can't hear.

Suddenly water erupts out of Hashirama throwing Naruto back. Naruto somehow remains on his feet. When he recovers himself, he finds that he can't move his feet. He looks down and finds his feet are in ankle deep mud.

'That must have been his second jutsu.'

Naruto sees Hiruzen slowly getting up off the ground. "Hey old man! Can you hold him off until I can get out of here?"

Sarutobi shoots Naruto an annoyed look at being called an 'old man'. He makes hand seals, nicks his hand, and slams the bloodied hand on the ground with a mighty cry of "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a large puff of smoke, Enma the Monkey King appears. He takes one look at the situation and with a nod from Hiruzen transforms into his adamantine staff. Faster than one would think an old man can go, Hiruzen is on Hashirama.

It is a sight to behold. Two Kage level ninja going full out in Taijutsu in a battle that will decide the fate of the entire village. Neither holds anything back. One out of duty and sheer willpower, the other because he can't fight the controlling abilities of the jutsu. One would be awed just by the sheer intensity of the fight.

But Naruto isn't one of them…not right now. His entire concentration is on his hands and what he has to do.

He forms twin Rasengans and charges them with as much chakra as he can. They grow in size to be twice the size of a normal Rasengan and Naruto begins the hard part. He forces the two A-rank jutsu to merge. Sweat rolls off his brow as he tries to control the chakra and not have it explode in his hands. Not even Kyūbi can heal something that doesn't exist anymore.

Slowly, the two balls of chakra merge and the two transparent spheres becomes one super dense ball of pure white chakra.

With that done, Naruto begins the next phase: adding wind chakra.

The reason he didn't add the wind chakra to begin with is because while learning it in his mindscape with Kyūbi, it became too difficult to try to control two different types of chakra in two different hands and combine them. He had to re-grow his hands more than a dozen times and sometimes all the way up to his shoulders.

As Naruto adds wind chakra, the ball begins to spin. It spins faster and faster until it screeches. Naruto grunts in effort to contain the jutsu. There is only one thing left to do…

"Old man, now would be a good time to get out of the way!"

Hiruzen doesn't need to be told twice. He leaps away, heaving heavily from the prolonged exertion. Being so tired, he misjudges his landing and lands wrong, resulting in his ankle producing a sickening crunch and crack.

However, his attention at the spectacle before him.

Naruto carefully lets the side facing Hashirama slip in containment (which is harder than it sounds)…and the result is devastating.

"Rasen Oodzutsu!" (Spiraling Cannon!)

Out of the end facing the dead Kage erupts a beam of chakra moving and spinning at incomprehensible speeds. The white normal chakra and the slightly blue wind chakra spiral around each other, feeding and fueling each other to go faster.

The beam of dueling chakra types reaches the intended target and completely obliterates the dead Kage.

Naruto grits his teeth, trying desperately to hold the jutsu on target. The sheer force of the jutsu recoil nearly dislocates his arms but he holds strong. However, the force he is being pushed back with is even greater than the force of being stuck in the mud. Slowly, he is being pushed out of the mud and onto 'dry' roof.

All of this happens in less than a second after Naruto shouts to Hiruzen. Hashirama tried to move, but with his reflexes and independent thinking being reduced to almost nothing he takes the attack full force.

Just as Naruto's feet exit the mud, the technique runs dry and Naruto slumps to his knees, his hands smoking. His is utterly exhausted both physically and mentally. He has nothing left and hopes that his clones were successful in dealing with his father or this is going to be over really quick.

Speaking of his father and Orochimaru, they had started watching when Naruto merged the two Rasengan. Both were so enraptured by what he is doing that neither noticed nor cared that Minato has a kunai lodged in his neck and restriction seals being placed on the ex-Kage.

Minato felt his cheeks wet with tears of happiness as he watches his son so something with the Rasengan that he never thought possible or could even be attempted.

He is brought out of his thoughts by a dark chuckling beside him.

"Kukukukuku…very interesting Naruto. You have far more potential than Sasuke does but you don't have what I need. I must eliminate you know before you become more of a nuisance to my plans."

Orochimaru starts towards Naruto's slumped figure. The two remaining clones try to save Naruto, but they just get dispelled quickly, like a fly to a rhino. Hiruzen tries to get up but his ankle won't support any of his weight. He falls to the ground several times in a desperate attempt to get to his successor's heir.

Minato is having an equally difficult time. Orochimaru gave him a mental command to stay put and watch, so his body is but he is fighting as much as he can but to no avail. He has no choice but watch helplessly as his son, who has come so far in his young life only for it to be snuffed out.

Orochimaru closes on Naruto, a self satisfied smirk on his face. He is feet away and stretches out his sender arm. Naruto can't do anything as his body has completely shut down for the time being. He hangs his head I resignation of his death.

Orochimaru is inches away when a large wall of water crashes into him, sending him back. The instant he is away from Naruto, he lets out a blood curling cry of anguish. He looks to see his arm severed at the shoulder. His shinobi instincts go crazy and he jumps away trying to ignore the pain. Right where he was standing, the tile explodes. Orochimaru lands and instantly jumps again as the tile he lands on explodes again.

This continues for a while. Orochimaru would land and jump and narrowly miss being killed. After five whole minutes of constant cat and mouse, a red blur lands between him and Naruto. Kushina stands with her Akanakami out. She isn't even breathing at all from that supercharged and deadly game of 'tag'.

Orochimaru on the other hand isn't doing too well. His arm is missing, meaning that he is losing blood rapidly and now he can't perform many jutsu. On top of that, his chakra is almost gone. There is no way he can win now. So he goes for a stalling tactic.

"Kuku. It is good to see you again after all these years Kushina-chan. I see you have been keeping in shape after all these years."

Kushina's only response is to raise her katana.

"Oh so feisty. You really are the perfect specimen."

Kushina decides not to answer that. Instead a dozen Anbu land beside her, weapons drawn and at the ready. That's when he notices that the barrier is no longer present.

'How?'

"It is over. We already have your shinobi that made the barrier, the invasion is a failure, the Hokage lives. You have lost. Retreat before you lose even more."

And Orochimaru does just that. He scowls and glares fiercely at her son.

"We shall meet again Naruto. And when we do, you will die a very slow and painful death…after a bit of experimenting on first of course."

Kushina looks at the spot Orochimaru had occupied not a few seconds ago and turns to the Anbu.

"Secure the village and take the Hokage to the hospital for treatment. I will see to my son."

The Anbu just move off with the Hokage in tow, leaving the Uzumaki family alone. Kushina sighs and sheathes her blade before turning to Naruto. She kneels beside him.

"Naruto…why are you here? You could have easily been killed. You are a Genin, albeit a Jōnin level Genin but still the lowest ranked of the village. This was a battle for Kage and those equal in power and knowledge, not a greenhorn like you. Hiruzen could have easily been killed trying to defend you."

Her tone is light and low, laced with both disappointment and concern. She must have been worried sick when he went into the barrier.

"I…I just thought that he could use some help, him being old and all. And I was right. Orochimaru revived the Hokage of old and used them to fight us."

Kushina's eyes go wide.

"You mean…you saw your father?"

Naruto nods. "I did more than that. I fought him." His mother's eyes grow even more, if that is even possible.

"Kushina…"

Said woman goes stiff, recognizing the voice. Both Uzumaki turn their heads to a confined Fourth Hokage. His eyes are sparkling with tears again. Husband and wife's eyes meet again and the red head nearly tackles her dead husband right then and there. Her eyes tear up and she stands but she feels Naruto's hand on her wrist.

"Take me with you…please. I can't move," he asks in a small voice.

Kushina nods and gets her shoulder underneath his arm and lifts him. She drags him over to when Minato is bound and where the kunai is lodged into his neck. She places Naruto down right beside Minato then proceeds to hug her husband and love. Tears now stream down her face unabashed and uncaring if anyone saw.

"Minato…"

"I'm here Kushina…I'm here," he sooths his secret wife.

The red head's tears slowly get under control and she wonders why he won't put his arms around her and hold her back. She sees the offending kunai and reaches for it when she is stopped by Naruto.

"Don't Ka-chan. As much as I would like to, we have to remember that he is still under the control of Orochimaru and if we let him loose, he will just have to try to kill us both."

Kushina rubs her hands over Minato's sharp jaw line and feels his five-o-clock shadow starting to come in, just as it had been fifteen years ago. Her eyes water but she holds back her tears.

"Kushina…I'm so proud of our son and of you. You raised him to be a fine young man and an even better shinobi. He even defeated me and I couldn't be more pleased with how you have handled everything."

Her purple eyes shoot to Naruto in astonishment.

"Ka-chan, before you make assumptions, he couldn't use the Hiraishin nor could he really think through his actions to offence or defense. His reflexes were too slow to be at a Kage level. Had he been at full power, he would have wiped the floor with me."

Minato shakes his head. "That doesn't matter because in the shinobi world, you must take advantage of every weakness, every deficiency. You took advantage of mine and you did wonderfully. You didn't even use the Kyūbi."

Naruto's face glows red with the praise. He soon finds himself being crushed into a hug by his mother. He forces himself to move his tired arms and hug her back. She rocks him back and forth like she used to as a child and Naruto has to fight to stave off sleep. So he lets go and turns to his father.

"So how are you still here? I'm sure snake face would have canceled the jutsu by now."

Minato nods his head the best he can, which isn't very well.

"He did the moment Kushina interfered. I felt the constant flow of chakra into me stop and if I had been fighting, I would have run out and disappeared by now. Only the restraining cuffs and seals are keeping me here as they keep me from using chakra, even on the most basic levels. But even now, my supply of chakra is running out and I don't have much time left…"

Kushina's face nearly breaks his heart. Her utterly sad look, it makes him want to cry.

"Don't be sad. This is the way it was meant to be. We got lucky to even have this time together."

Kushina's eyes water again and she tries to channel her chakra through her hands into him.

"That won't work. Only the summoner can charge me with chakra. Kushina…Kushina!" The red head slightly recoils as his suddenly harsh tone but it gets her attention. "Listen to me, your husband and the love of my life. You have to let me go, if not for your own sake than Naruto's. He still needs his mother and his mother needs him. Don't throw your life away trying to find some way to bring me back or wish for death.

"That is not the Kushina I know. The Kushina I know is strong yet sympathetic. Brave and compassionate. Fierce but loving. Nowhere in that list does it state she is an emotionally fragile little girl. The Kushina I know moves on. The Kushina I know is strong enough to move on. You have doubts about yourself. The Kushina I know doesn't doubt anything about herself except if she is being too much of a guy. That is the Kushina I know and love."

Kushina looks down at the ground.

"The Kushina I know can let me go and move on with her life." It is but a mere whisper but the dam breaks. Kushina launches herself at Minato, crying hysterically. Minato can do nothing (literally) but let her use him.

(FYI, she is stuttering here but I won't write that in. Just use your imagination)

"I…I miss you so much. I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since that night. I hardly go out because the mere thought of dating someone else makes me feel unfaithful. I act like everything is fine, but even just seeing my son reminds me of you and the things we used to do together. I'm…I'm such a wreck and bad mother."

Naruto listens and realizes just how difficult it must have been for her. His appearance is so close to his father's that her heart must be torn to shreds every time she sees him. Add to that, she used to tell him that he is a genus like his father. And then… all the times he asked her to tell him a story about Minato. And not once did she ever cry in front of him, ever give any hint that she missed her husband so much that she doesn't even sleep well at night.

'She kept it together for me. I doubt that if I had died that night she would have gone so far into depression. I had no idea that she missed dad so much…'

Naruto uses the last of his energy to crawl over to his sobbing mother. Naruto sees Minato's skin start to flake off and peel. He doesn't have long left.

He gets close enough that he wraps his arms around his crying mother and his father. Kushina shifts slightly and moves an arm around her son and together, they grieve as a family.

Nobody notices a lone Anbu with purple hair take out a camera and snap a single photo. Under her mask, she smiles at the small family. A small tear falls from her eye at the touching moment and continues to watch their back in case someone should try to take advantage of their family time.

All too soon in both mother and son's opinion, Minato's body is at its end. Kushina watches with red, puffy eyes as the love of her life leaves for the second time. She latches onto the only source of support she has now, which is Naruto. They watch with great sadness as a great man passes on for the second time into the afterlife.

Minato's body flakes and starts to blow away. He smiles happily at his son and wife.

"I'm very happy that I got to see you all grown up Naruto. Continue on this path and make a name for yourself. And take care of your mother."

Naruto nods his head. "I will."

Minato turns to Kushina. "Don't forget what I said. I love you. I'll see you again one day."

Kushina would cry but her tear ducts are completely dry. She just hangs her head and nods once.

Minato seems satisfied with that. "Now I can go in peace." The wind picks up, taking his body with it. But both hear a voice in the wind, fully of mirth and amusement.

"…and give her a lot of grandchildren to play with."

Naruto would have gone red if he weren't so tired. Both he and Kushina just sit there, too tired to move much. Both look up when a gentle hand is placed on both their shoulders. They see the familiar Anbu and relax.

"Allow me to take you back to your house. I'm sure you both are exhausted."

Yugao takes off without waiting for permission. A swirl of leafs later and both Uzumaki are deposited within Kushina's home. Kushina looks around and sees and hears that Haku is not back yet. She stands on shaky legs and helps Naruto to his feet.

"I guess I'll take the couch…" he says, barely conscious.

Kushina bites her lip before asking something.

"Naruto…would you…would you sleep in my room? I just need someone there and I don't trust anyone else as much as you."

Naruto is too tired to argue or reject her, so he agrees. Kushina gives him a faint smile before moving them both up the stairs. Once there, Kushina disarms both of them and takes off their shoes and slides Naruto under the covers and she does the same on the other side. Both are fully clothed and Kushina pulls Naruto close to her. The last thing Naruto does before losing consciousness is to put his arms around Kushina and pulls her more into him.

Time Skip – 2 Days

Naruto awakens from his slumber in an unfamiliar bed. He sits up and looks around enough to recognize his mother's room after a few moments. He briefly wonders how he got here when he feels a bit of a draft.

He looks down to find himself without a shirt and he can't feel any pants on either. He hurriedly pulls up the covers to check his 'modesty level'. He breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees his boxers still firmly intact and on his person.

Then he remembers why he is in his mother's bed. Damn faulty memory.

"I guess I need to get up."

Naruto rises from the bed and eyes a set of clean clothes and a large towel, a clear sign to get a shower. But first things first. He makes a trip to the toilet and releases an entire day's worth of fluids and other waste.

A half hour later, Naruto stiffly walks down the stairs to see his mother and Haku talking quietly.

"Morning," he says as the two.

Both are up in an instant, checking to see if he is ok or if he needs anything.

"Well, I could use some water…a lot of water and food. My throat feels like a desert and my stomach is hurting from not having any food in a while."

Kushina makes a clone to make him something to eat while she guides Naruto down to the sofa with Haku and Kushina sitting on a couple of recliners.

"So how long was I out?" he asks as he accepts a glass of water and a pitcher from his mother's clone.

"Well, that is a loaded question. You see, you and I slept almost a full day. I got up when Haku came home from the hospital. Apparently some Oto nin wanted to turn her into a shish kabob with a couple of kunai."

Naruto looks worriedly at Haku who blushes under his gaze.

"It…it wasn't that bad, just a few deep cuts. I waited until most of the more injured, which was a while. In the meantime, I took a few herbs to keep my wounds from getting infected. After waiting a while, a medi-nin came and stitched up my wounds with a few healing jutsu. See….just fine," she finishes with showing him her arms.

Naruto nods and looks to his mother to continue the story.

"After I woke up, showered, changed, and ate, I woke you up but you were so out of it because of chakra exhaustion, I had to help you do normal things. Like eating and…going to the bathroom and changing."

Naruto's face heats up. While there isn't anything he has that she hasn't seen…well besides his tails, it is still embarrassing to have to be helped to do something as basic as that. Not to mention that she hasn't seen that since he was what…six?

Kushina reads his mortified expression and decides to relieve his discomfort.

"Don't worry. I didn't see anything. I more of helped you to the toilet and let you do your business while I went to get some clothes from your apartment. After that, I helped you eat and then took off your shirt, pants, and socks and tucked you back into bed and you've been asleep ever since. That was yesterday."

Naruto's face still is a bit red but he gets control of himself. The conversation is interrupted when Kushina-clone comes out and hands Naruto a plate of food.

"That was fast…"

The clone gives Naruto a slight smack on the back of the head. "Don't be cheeky and just eat," she intones and dispels.

Naruto doesn't waste a second and digs in with vigor. Even if is reheated food, it is still very good.

With Naruto's hunger temporarily abated, Naruto decides to head home…his apartment. He is dreading what is going to transpire once he gets there. It only took a little convincing to let him go as Kushina wanted him to stay at her place as he continues to recover.

As soon as he closes the door, he releases his tails with a grunt. They are stiff and creaky from not being released for days on end. He waits an hour, doing laundry and whatnot then eating again and going to the bathroom. He then climbs into bed despite it only being two in the afternoon and delves into his mindscape.

Scene Shift: Mindscape

Naruto dreads his meeting Kiyomi for the first time in days. He wasn't very nice and while she wasn't exactly Mother Teresa at the time, she has every right to be angry at him. He robbed her of her first real chance at revenge and that is something that she may never forgive him for.

He approaches the enormous bars hesitantly and steps through them, having no fear of Kiyomi attacking to kill. Even if she were to attack him, he wouldn't resist. When he sees not a hide or hair of Kiyomi, his heart falls. Though expected that she wouldn't want to talk to him, it was still disheartening to find her hiding from him.*

Naruto changes the mindscape into the 'normal' fields and sits down underneath a tree. He sits there and waits for her to show herself. He knows that she knows he is here. And she knows that he knows that she knows he is here.

Before Naruto gets a headache from thinking like that, he puts a stop to it and starts focusing on just what he will say to her.

He waits patiently for her, prepared to wait for days if necessary. Luckily though, Kiyomi has other ideas.

Five hours after entering the mindscape, Kiyomi shimmers into existence not twenty feet in front of him in human form dressed in that leaves much to the imagination. She silently walks over to him and sits with her back against the same tree with a little bit of distance between her and Naruto.

Neither speak because one they do, nothing will stop the incoming conversation. But Naruto can't wait forever.

"Kiyomi-chan…I'm sorry." Kiyomi doesn't answer so Naruto continues.

"I know I did you wrong and I…I don't want you to hate me but I understand if you do."

Kiyomi is still silent, contemplative, listening to Naruto's words.

"What I did hurt you and it was rude and inconsiderate. And I'm sorr…"

"Did you mean it?"

Her voice is soft like a breeze, making Naruto not sure if he really heard it or not.

"Mean what?"

Kiyomi looks at him with her burning red eyes swimming in unreadable emotions.

"Did you mean it that we could go after him?"

Naruto can see clear as day that this means more to her than anything else in the world.

"Of course I did. But I will need some training since I'm not strong enough to fight a Sannin or many others near his strength for an extended period of time. I did well against the Hokage but they couldn't problem solve and I don't think they wanted to even if they could. I would just be a hindrance to you as I am now."

Now Kiyomi knows Naruto is a humble person and by the looks of it is even more of one now having seen what real Kage level shinobi are capable of. That and he nearly died several times if it weren't for his reflexes and quick thinking.

"I'm sorry too."

If Naruto's head hadn't already been facing her, he might have broken his neck with how fast his head would have moved.

"Come again?"

Kiyomi flushes then pushes it down. "I said I'm sorry. I wasn't exactly level headed back then and I didn't exactly help you out. You could have died because you cut me off because I was so angry. I had no clue what was going on and the thought that my death could be any second didn't help matters.

"It wasn't until you woke up the first time where you mother had to spoon feed you did the connection open again and I saw the results of the battle and I felt terrible. I couldn't help out nor could you use my yoki since the connection was broken."

She lets herself trail off leaving Naruto to imagine what was left unspoken.

"And you're not weak. If you were weak, you wouldn't have survived the fight. You don't give yourself enough credit."

Kiyomi, in a rare show of affection without innuendo, moves closer and sits so that her hips and leg touches his. Her head falls to his shoulder with her eyes closed.

"With you being unconscious for a few days, it gave me time to think and realize that you are the most important person to me. Nobody understands me like you do, nobody has ever been this patient with me, and nobody has even stuck with me and befriended me like you. As you slept I realized that if you were to die, that I would be alone again. And that is something that I don't think I can stand."

"Alright"

Kiyomi looks up at him. "Alright what?"

Naruto gives her a smile that makes her heart beat faster. "We will leave the village and I train for a while. Then we go and find your kits and then find Orochimaru and kill him. After that we can return to the village and then take it from there."

"But how? I doubt that old man is just going to let you just waltz out of here without any assurances you will return."

Naruto gives her a 'foxy' grin that makes her heart quicken. "Here is what we do…"

Time Skip – Next day

Naruto, along with his mother, his god father, and his 'in everything but blood' brother Kakashi are squashed inside the Hokage's office. Sarutobi has a boot of a cast on his foot along with a lot of bandages from cuts and gashes. Right now everyone is looking at Naruto like he has grown another head.

"Say what?"

Naruto looks at everyone.

"I said that I wish to train privately outside the village for a few years."

Hiruzen sets his face. "And why should I permit such a thing?"

Naruto looks down as. "Because I realized just how much further I have to go to be at your levels. I can't even go up against Kakahi-nii and win. I need to get out and train in things that would cause problems in the village."

Jiraiya speaks up for the first time. "And what would that be?"

"Well, first off would be new jutsu but most importantly would be Kyūbi's yoki."

Nobody can argue that fact. There would be hell to pay if people sensed Kyūbi's yoki even if it was for training purposes.

Hiruzen sighs and shakes his head. "Alright, I concede on that point. But you still need someone to look after you. I'm not letting a Genin go out on his own even if he wasn't Jōnin caliber. Jiraiya here wanted to take you on as his apprentice anyways."

Naruto shakes his head. "Nothing against you Jiraiya but I already have a teacher who is more powerful and less of a pervert than you are."

Everyone's eyebrows rise while Kushina gets flustered slightly thinking he is talking about her.

"Naru-chan, I'm flattered you think so much of me but Jiraiya can teach you things that I never could. And it would be beneficial to you if you were around a male more, even if he has perverted tendencies. With just me I'm afraid that you haven't learned about…guy things as much as you should."

Naruto turns to his mother. He walks over to her and takes her hands and looks her in the eyes.

"Ka-chan, as brilliant and smart and powerful as you are, I wasn't referring to you."

Kushina's eyes go wide when she finally realizes just who he is talking about. Before Kushina can begin to protest or even argue, Naruto makes hand seals that everyone in the room is familiar with.

A large puff of smoke and everyone minus Kushina and Naruto prepare for a fight. For standing, or in this case laying, is the mighty Kyūbi no Yoko. Everyone, even Naruto, sweatdrops as they see Kyūbi is snoring lightly with a bubble of...something on the end of the red snout.

Naruto suddenly finds himself being lifted off the ground with an angry looking Jiraiya hoisting him up.

"What the fuck? I want answers NOW!"

"Jiraiya, release my son now!" Kushina roars, coming to the defense of her son.

However, everyone stops when a deep yawn is heard and looks to see Kyūbi walking up. Jiraiya drops Naruto and grabs a few yoki suppressant seals from his pocket and prepares to slap them on Kyūbi when Naruto stops him.

"Just wait and listen."

"What the hell? What have I told you about summoning me randomly?" Kyūbi asks sleepily.

Jiraiya turns his head to Naruto and is about to slap him upside the head and move him out of the way when a tail grabs his hand. He is surprised to feel actual fur and not chak…yoki.

"I don't know who you are and I don't care. The only one going to do violence while I'm here is me."

"Kyūbi…stop threatening my family and friends."

Kyūbi looks to Naruto and then back to Jiraiya.

"Fine. What did you summon me for anyways?"

Those who have not meet Kyūbi before are very surprised to see Naruto 'control' Kyūbi like he did.

"I changed the seal, no Kyūbi cannot get away as he is still bound to me. No it isn't a trick to get me to release him. Yes there were some side effects to changing the seal and yes I will show you them. And yes you can examine the seal afterwards," Naruto quickly cuts off the obvious questions.

Naruto releases his tails, drawing wide eyes and a gasp from his mother. Naruto can just feel the negative thoughts running through his mother. Something about trust and stupid blonds.

"Ka-chan, I didn't tell you because I thought it would be too much of a shock in one day to discover that I could not only summon Kyūbi and have tails because of it. I didn't want you to freak out and go to Sarutobi who would probably freak out too. And who knows what would have happened then. It wasn't a matter of trust. I trust you with my life and there aren't too many I can say that. But one of them is Kyūbi too."

Naruto turns to the rest of the group, ignoring the scathing glares his mother is receiving. Those eyes tell her that they are going to have a long conversation after this as to why she didn't inform them of this.

"It may surprise you to know that Kyūbi and I have been communicating since I was six. I fell into my mindscape after training and we met. At first Kyūbi was all 'Death to mortals' and 'insulting to be sealed in a puny human' as well as 'anger, anger, me angry' but after a while Kyūbi and I struck a deal. He would help train me at night in the mindscape and in exchange, I can't lose to anyone lest people think that the host of the great Kyūbi no Yoko is a 'pussy' I believe is the term he used.

"Ever since I have been training as a shinobi, Kyūbi has also been teaching me. That technique you saw me use is something Kyūbi taught me and I would put it at S-rank level. I count him as my closest and best friend. I am the same to Kyūbi, even if he is too prideful to admit it. He really is a cuddly little stuffed toy at hear…"

Naruto suddenly finds a tail very close to his crushing his manhood.

"Finish that word and 'Naruto Jr.' becomes 'Naruto No longer'."

They continue to banter back and forth, both completely forgetting that there are people watching them. That is until Hiruzen has enough and slams his hands down on his desk to get their attention.

"ENOUGH! Naruto you will show your seal to Jiraiya to make sure that it is stable. After that you will explain why you did such a foolish thing of altering the seal without authorization or supervision."

Naruto narrows his eyes. "First of all, the seal belongs to no one but me. I need no authorization to change anything that is on my body or about my body. I certainly don't need people who will say whatever they want to keep either myself as weak as possible or won't agree just because it involves changing the seal."

Jiraiya decides to jump in and prevent a falling out of the two. "Now Naruto, you should have been much more careful. Kyūbi is…"

"My friend…my best friend. I tell him everything even if he sees what I see, hears what I hear. He has helped me mature and become as strong as I am now. I already told my mother that I trust Kyūbi with my life and not once has he given me any reason to even pause."

It is a good thing that Kiyomi's fur is naturally red or they would see the massive blush on her muzzle from him defending her so vehemently.

Naruto sighs and calms down.

"I said I trust Kyūbi but that doesn't mean that I trust blindly. After he proposed the changes, I checked for a week on the principles on what it would do to the seal and what other affects it would have on me. You can ask my mother on my Fūinjutsu skills, I'm no novice. I double checked, triple checked, quadruple checked all my findings and only after I was satisfied did I do the changes. The seal is still intact but allows me to 'pull' Kyūbi out temporarily.

"Kyūbi is still bound to me nor can he get all that far from me, I think the farthest we have gone is across the village from each other. In exchange to gaining the strongest summons in history, Kyūbi gets to stretch his legs every once and a while and gets to…vent…his anger and frustration on bandits and the like."

Meanwhile, Kushina is eying his tails with fascination.

"Um…could I?" she asks quietly.

Naruto starts. It is so rare for his mother to be meek about anything it is a sight to behold with her being so subdued. He sees her staring at his blond tails and gives her a knowing smirk. It seems that most females have an instinctual need to pet furry things.

"Sure."

Kushina slowly approaches the tail with caution. She reaches out and touches the tail hesitantly. Instantly she draws her hand back as if it is going to hurt her but nothing happens. Before long she is petting the tail eagerly.

"Alright let's get this over with."

Naruto chucks his shirt and Jiraiya goes over to examine the seal. Kushina however is too enraptured by his tails to focus on anything else. Meanwhile Naruto feels Jiraiya running his fingers over the contours of the seal as he mumbles to himself.

After a while Jiraiya stands and sighs. "The seal is fine. The majority of the modifications seems to allow more yoki to pass through the seal, thus enabling Naruto to 'summon' Kyūbi from the seal. The funny thing is that Naruto is still able to use yoki from Kyūbi even while Kyūbi is not within the seal. Also, Naruto uses far less chakra than it normally takes to summon a boss since Kyūbi is already on this plane of existence from what I can tell.

"But there is no weakness in the seal other than natural degradation and even that is minimal since he hasn't had to use Kyūbi's yoki hardly at all."

Fortunately Sarutobi is satisfied with that.

"Very well. Now I will approve your extended training mission only because you need to get out of the village to learn how to harness Kyūbi's yoki. But you will take Jiraiya with you…"

"I don't think so."

Everyone, except Kushina, turns to Kyūbi.

"I will only accept teaching and showing Naruto what I have learned. I haven't lived for millennia just to give out my knowledge free of charge. And the only reason I'm giving knowledge to Naruto is if he dies, I die. Also I will NOT have a weak container. If word got out that other vessels are stronger than mine, it would be an insult far greater than anything I could imagine."

"Look, I understand where you are coming from but there is a group after you and Naruto. The Akatsuki are collecting the Bijū for an unknown reason and I can't have him wandering around without protection!"

Kyūbi's red eyes bore into Sarutobi's. The air becomes thick with KI as Kyūbi grows angry. All are effected but Naruto and Kushina.

"You dare doubt my abilities? My power? If it hadn't been for that blond Hokage, this village would be nothing more than a smear on the map. Nothing is stronger than I and I will fight all who challenge that claim."

"Kyūbi enough! He is only looking after us."

Kyūbi looks to Naruto. "No more like protecting his 'weapon'. I know how Jinchūriki are treated. I was the last Bijū to be sealed and I refuse to allow myself or my container to be the puppet of anyone."

Kyūbi's KI finally drops, allowing Jiraiya and Hiruzen to breathe again.

"Look Old Man, Kyūbi isn't going to budge. He can be the most stubborn being on the planet when he wants to be. It would save us all a headache if you just say yes. And also, there are things that Jiraiya can't teach me nor can he hope to control me once I start learning to control yoki. Kyūbi can if he is on the outside of the seal."

Sarutobi sighs in defeat. "Fine but you will sign the Toad contract and keep in touch every month. I am granting you two years to train and then return."

Naruto turns to Kyūbi. "Is that fine with you?"

Kyūbi scowls as much as a fox can. "So be it. If I must share summons at least the Toads are best in combat outside of the Salamanders. But no others!"

Naruto waves his hands at Kyūbi. "Fine fine." He turns to his mother who is still petting his tails. "Ka-chan…Ka-chan!"

Still nothing. Naruto then takes one of his tails and smacks her on the forehead (lightly of course).

"Ow! What was that for?" she asks indignantly.

"Because you were so engrossed with my tails that you missed the last half of the meeting!"

Kushina blushes in embarrassment.

"Sorry."

Naruto grins at her. "I didn't mind...Just so you know; Sarutobi is letting me go on a two year training trip with Kyūbi and just Kyūbi."

Kushina's visage drops at hearing that.

"But I don't want you do go," she nearly whispers.

Naruto wraps her in a hug.

"I know you don't. After talking with dad you have been a little clingy and that isn't surprising. But you need to let me go and live my life. I can't stay here with you as much as I would like to live in a place that always has love and comfort. But you and I both know that I wouldn't grow in that situation, always being sheltered and protected.

"I love you and I always will. But I need to live my own life and go and see people and places and get experience, find love and have a family. I want to make you and dad proud enough to stand on the Hokage Monument and scream that 'Naruto Uzumaki is my son!'."

Naruto pauses for a moment.

"And besides, dad told me to make a lot of grandchildren for you and nothing against Haku-chan but I don't see her in that way."

Kushina can't help but laugh. She slows her laugh to a chuckle and hugs him tightly.

"Thank you for being so understanding. If it weren't for you, I would have fallen apart years ago." Kushina pulls away from Naruto. "And you had better write."

Naruto gives her the 'Nice Guy Pose'. "Of course. I'll write every month. I'm going to sign the Toad contract just to be able to communicate with you and the Old Man."

Naruto looks to Kyūbi, who is looking away into the distance deep in thought, then back Kushina.

"I have to go pack now. I'll be leaving tomorrow so don't forget to come and say goodbye."

Kushina scowls at him. "Like I would forget something this important. Why don't you come over and have dinner tonight?"

Naruto nods his head. "I'd like that. Come on Kyūbi. Back into the seal. We can't walk down the street and cause heart attacks to all the ignorant villagers now can we?"

Kyūbi huffs and goes back into the seal, causing Naruto to Shunshin away.

He lands in his apartment and summons Kiyomi again, this time in her human form.

"Nice acting by the way."

Kiyomi huffs just like before and turns away. "Who said anything about acting? I meant what I said about weak containers. However, they didn't ask for any other reasons."

Naruto grins. "I like you to Kiyomi."

Naruto doges a tail aimed at his head.

"So where are we going to first once we leave?"

Kiyomi strikes a thinking pose. "Nowhere too far. I was thinking somewhere to the north."

Naruto gives her a questioning look.

"Why north?"

"Why not north is the question. It is as good a direction as any."

Time Skip – Next Morning

Naruto hugs a tearful Kushina. While she accepts that he has to go and wants to, it is still hard for her to let the closest person to her go. Her baby boy is growing up so fast it is almost too much for her.

"You be safe you hear? And you write every month."

Naruto nods even as he continues to hug her.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you to Ka-chan."

Naruto lets her go and moves down the line. Naruto stops at Haku, who he gives a warm hug.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I think of you as the sister I never had. Grow strong while I'm gone and take care of my mother for me please? With me gone, she is going to be lonely and will need someone to keep her company."

Haku smiles at him and returns the hug.

"I will and truth be told, I got to some thinking and realized that I see you as a little brother. I always wanted to have siblings and now I do. And don't worry about your mother. I'll take care of her."

Naruto gives her shoulders a grateful squeeze before slowly walking past the gates. Sure others showed up like Guy, Lee, and Tenten, Jiraiya, and Hiruzen (on crutches). But he never got to know any of them for more than a quick 'by' and 'get stronger'.

He had been surprised when Ino showed up, but definitely a welcome development. She is breaking out of her fangirl and starting to get serious. Imagine his surprise when Ino openly declared that he is her rival and she will work extremely hard to one day surpass him. He had a good-natured laugh and told her to bring it on.

He grins as he takes off into the trees, leaving the sight of everyone who came to see him off.

"Hey, let's all go get something to eat. I'm starved," Kushina suggests. Several agree and head to a place that serves lunch at eight in the morning.

Time Skip – Several Hours

"You wanted to see me?"

Sarutobi motions for Kushina to sit across from him. When he summoned her he was surprised when she didn't use her normal antics of messing with him. When she knocked and calmly walked in, Sarutobi saw the downtrodden expression on her face.

'It took her son leaving the village on his own for her to grow up. Though I do feel sad for her. It seems Naruto's absence subdues her greatly. Understandable as he is virtually the only human contact she has had for the last fifteen years. He was her world and now that he is gone, she doesn't know what to do.'

"How are you fairing?"

Kushina reluctantly finds a seat.

"Not good. It's only been a few hours and I already miss him so much."

Sarutobi gives her a grandfatherly smile. "He does have a way of brightening the place when he is here. Things are not the same without him even though it has only been a year since your return."

Kushina nods in agreement.

"Thanks for asking but I don't think you called me for a social call as appreciated as it is."

"Yes, let's get to it. Recent events have forced me to re-evaluate my position. Let's face facts here. I'm too old to be Hokage anymore. Orochimaru would have been killed or at least defeated much faster if a younger Kage had been facing him.

"It stings my pride to know that a fifteen year old saved me, no matter who it was. But I can no longer afford to ignore my age. I am stepping down as Hokage and I would like for you to take up the reign."

Kushina has mixed feelings about his offer. She is happy that he has such faith in her but at the same time, she feels that she is robbing her son and cheating her husband.

"I'm sorry but I don't think I'm the right person for the job. It was supposed to be Minato's. And it was for the short time before Kyūbi attacked. But then Naruto came along and I could easily see him taking up the title. It feels wrong for me to take that away from him.

"Plus I don't really do paperwork, I get agitated easily, I can't sit still for long periods of time. I'm not Kage material. Minato and Naruto are but not me."

Sarutobi grimaces.

"Please reconsider. You are my first choice seeing how you are well respected, you are the strongest kunoichi of your generation, you don't back down, you are loyal. Those are very good qualifications for being a Kage."

A tear slides down her face.

"I…I can't. I'm sorry."

The old man sighs. "Very well. My only other choice is Jiraiya but he is a last resort. I can't imagine what he would have the kunoichi do to satisfy his…perverse taste." Kushina and Sarutobi share a shiver that creeps down their respective spines. "That and I do not think that he will accept the job himself."

"My answer is still the same. As much as I loathe Jiraiya's personal tastes it isn't enough for me to take the mantle just to keep him from it."

"Then I am out of options. I fear that Danzo will make a push for the position sighting that my 'weakness' has brought Konoha great hardships. Things will not go well for Konoha if he is elected Hokage."

Kushina frowns at that. The ninja world would take a turn for the worst if Danzo became Kage. Suddenly an idea springs to mind.

"Hiruzen…what about your other student?"

Sarutobi gives her a confused look. "You mean Tsunade? Why on earth would I choose her to be my successor? She hasn't so much as stepped foot inside Konoha for what…nearly twenty years? On top of that, she has no love for this village. I doubt Jiraiya could convince her to return."

Kushina smirks. "Then send me. I…I need to get away from Konoha for a while anyways."

'Maybe I can run into Naruto and help him train for a day or so and he can meet Tsunade. It would help for the next Hokage to meet him. And to top it off, Sarutobi can't say no to me leaving lest Danzo get the upper hand on the situation.'

"Very well Kushina. You may go and find her. I expect you back within a month. If it takes longer than a month, report back here for debriefing. Then you will go out again but this time with Jiraiya to assist you in your search."

Scene Change – With Naruto

"Stop here."

Naruto stops as Kiyomi's 'suggestion'. He has come to know that her suggestions aren't just suggestions but orders wrapped in a nice and shinny bow.

Naruto doesn't recognize where they are.

"We are at the Valley of the End. This is where Madara and Hashirama fought it out. The two statues are of the two of them, symbolizing their eternal struggle. It is time to summon me."

And Naruto does just that. Before long, Kiyomi stands in front of him.

"Alright. Grab some lunch and then class is in session."

Naruto's foreboding sensor is going haywire, indicating that what lies ahead is not going to be pleasant.

Six hours later, Naruto is lying in a pile of his own sweat. Kiyomi is a slave driver and exhausts even him!

First she had him work on chakra control and muscle density. She started him working on his deltoids and pectorals. How she did this is she had him plant his hands on a tree, using chakra to stick to the tree and climb up and down the trunk. That wasn't the hard part. The hard part came when she had him keep his arms straight out and use his deltoids and pecs to move him.

He did this for six hours straight until he collapsed, unable to move his arms.

"Mind telling me what use this exorcise is?" he grunts out as Kiyomi hauls him to the campsite by the neck of his shirt.

"It strengthens your overall musculature, helps stabilize your shoulders which reduces the risk of dislocation, it allows you more power while using your Tenma, and increases the strength of your Taijutsu strikes, strengthens your lower back, and makes it harder to throw your back out while doing something strenuous."

Naruto starts, not expecting that many benefits to a single exercise.

"Uh…thanks?"

Kiyomi just gives him a smile that screams 'you won't be thanking me tomorrow.' While he has Kiyomi's yoki to heal him, it is still going to hurt like a bitch with all the lactic acid building up in his arms.

Almost as if she can hear his thoughts (which she can), Kiyomi starts to massage his upper arms and torso. Naruto leans into her touch and looses himself to the wondrous feelings her hands are giving him. Her nimble and deceptively strong fingers work his muscles and reduces the amount of lactic acid his muscles are producing.

Not five minutes into her massage, Naruto is firmly asleep. She has to drag him and massage him for the first few days before Naruto's muscles gotten used to the intense workout.

The next exercise she had him do was like the first one, a hybrid of chakra control, conditioning, and strength building. This time Naruto had to climb the tree with his hands like last time. The only difference is that his body was completely perpendicular to the tree.

Again Kiyomi had to drag him to the camp the first couple days of this exercise too.

"This one strengthens your core muscles: abs, obliques, butt, quads, deltoids again, most arm muscles. It also helps you retain balance, coordination, and endurance against multiple injuries."

"But if all I'm doing is to increase muscle mass, won't I get slower?"

"Yes but to combat this we, and by we I mean you, are going to be doing extensive exorcises designed to make your muscles longer rather than bulkier. This training will start once you have too much muscle mass like running and swimming. The result will be muscles that will be very dense but compact, something that is a must for shinobi. Also, it will be a plus since you will have a crazy amount of stamina and a very high pain threshold," she explains before Naruto passes out again from exhaustion.

So the pattern of getting up, eating breakfast, working on strength, eating lunch, sparing with Kiyomi, work on strength some more, get dragged back to camp, eat dinner, and rest followed for a good two months. More than once has Kiyomi had to spoon feed him food just so he can eat and recover his strength properly.

Kiyomi had just started him on running around the Valley a good twenty times and making him swim against the current right near the waterfall, making the current very strong for hours on end. Suddenly a toad appears while Naruto is on his last lap and about to have lunch. The purple toad gives Naruto a scroll and then leaves without saying a word.

For some reason, the Toads do not like Naruto as a summoner. Perhaps it has to do with him having Kyūbi within him or maybe because of what happened with Gamabunta…

Flashback – Second day after leaving Konoha

"Alright Naruto. I want you to summon the boss Toad so you can retain the rights to summon Toads. Just to give you a heads up, from what I know of him, Gamabunta is a crotchety old toad who likes his sake a little too much. Be polite but don't be his bitch. He doesn't like ass kissing."

Naruto nods as Kiyomi returns to her fox form. He flashes through hand seals and bites his thumb, then slams it down on the ground.

A very large puff of smoke ensues and Naruto finds himself a hundred feet off the ground. Not liking being up this high with an unfamiliar life form, he slides down the side of the massive toad. He lands next to Kiyomi just as the smoke clears.

"Uh…where am I? Where is Jiraiya? I will kick his ass for summoning me again."

"Oi! Down here!"

The massive toad looks to see a fifteen year old blond and a red fox.

"And who are you? You look and smell like Minato but he is dead. Speak before I kill you."

Naruto shrugs. If the toad wants to play hard ball, then he is game. "And here I thought that the Toads were one of the best summons. But of the boss, who was once able to hold off a Bijū, can't even answer why I look like someone then I guess I don't want them."

Gamabunta unsheathes 'Bunta sized' tanto and points the end right at Naruto's head.

"Give me one reason that I shouldn't kill you here and now."

Naruto waves his hands dismissively. "You and I both know you won't kill me. My mother wouldn't think twice of kicking your ass if that happened."

Bunta raises an amused eyebrow. B

"And who is your mother? It would take a lot and then some for me to fear a human woman."

Naruto smirks. "But you know this woman…she was the wife of your previous summoner."

Naruto sees Gamabunta think on it for a second before realization dawns on him. His skin pales and becomes drier than Suna's desert. Bunta quickly takes the enormous tanto away from Naruto, lest something happen.

"You're her and his child? You don't look like much."

Naruto chuckles. "This coming from a toad who fear my mother. I just wanted to meet you as I am a new summoner. The main reason for me singing your contract is because of my father, though what forced the issue is I'm on a training trip and one of the conditions was for me to sign your contract to keep in touch with them and help keep me safe."

Bunta sighs and sheathes his tanto.

"By all rights, I should deny you. We summons are not pets, heirlooms, or trinkets. We chose our own summoners not those rulers of yours. But out of respect for your lineage, I will allow it."

Naruto gives Bunta a thumbs up. "Great. Hopefully I won't have to summon you any time soon so don't worry about me randomly pulling you here just idle chat."

"Good. I hate having to drop whatever I'm doing anyways. Even more so if isn't of importance…"

Bunta trails off, his beady eyes gazing intently at something.

Quicker than Naruto would think possible for a toad his size, Bunta has his tanto out again and swinging down. A giant cloud of smoke erupts when the tanto strikes the ground. Naruto jumps out of the cloud coughing.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

But there is no time to talk as Naruto sees the enormous toad hacking and slicing at something. Naruto thinks and the only other person he know is here is…

"Kiyomi!"

Naruto rushes over but in the smoke, he can't see a damn thing. After a minute of looking, he spots a red blur dashing between strikes of the sword.

"Stay still you miscreant!"

Naruto doesn't even hesitate. He jumps in front of Kiyomi, using his body as a shield. Whether he realizes it or not, his body would give the blade about as much resistance as a wind enhanced kunai through a tree, i.e. not at all.

Fortunate for him, Bunta wasn't out of control and stops the blade just before carving Naruto into halves.

"What the hell are you doing? Do you have any idea who you are protecting?" Bunta roars at him.

However, Naruto doesn't budge an inch.

"Of course I do. Standing behind me is my best friend, teacher, and family. Though others my know him as Kyūbi."

Bunta tries to smack Naruto away with the flat side of the blade but Naruto sidesteps it, not giving Bunta an opening.

"Do realize that monstrosity is responsible for your father's death? That beast deserves nothing but the most painful and excruciating death imaginable."

Naruto's eyes burn with fury. He glows red from unconsciously accessing Kyūbi's yoki that still resides within him.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" he bellows. "Have you heard the story behind why Kyūbi attacked? Did you try to understand her? Did you even stop to think that she wasn't to blame for this? That she is also a victim of circumstance and plotters who wish to harness her powers?

"I'll tell you this. There is only one responsible for that night and that person is Orochimaru."

Naruto is breathing heavily as he attempts to calm down.

Bunta is silent for a moment. He had been completely taken aback by Naruto's outburst.

"Whether or not she was the mastermind behind it or if she just wanted to sate her thirst for blood, she still holds responsibility for being a part of it."

"Bull shit! That means that the victims Orochimaru kidnapped and experimented on are just as responsible as him! Responsible for what? Being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Getting caught in the first place? That logic is utter bullshit.

"Unlike you, I have heard her side and understand why she did it. You would have done the same had it happened to you."

Bunta glares at Naruto. "I will not ally myself with the murder of a summoner. I tire of this pointless debate as it is impossible for you to see any other point of view but your own. I revoke the summoning contract on basis of being allies with a being who killed a summoner and potential sage."

Naruto's eyes turn icy. He needs the contract one or another or his training will have to be supervised.

"You know what my mother would do to you should harm come to me if I get hurt when I could have summoned you or your kin."

Bunta's glare intensifies. "Fine, keep the contract. However, should you call on me to save your sorry ass, I will and then beat you within an inch of your life and then, cancel the contract."

Bunta dispels himself and goes back to Mount Myōboku, leaving a huffing Naruto behind. A hand on his shoulder makes him turn.

"You shouldn't have done that. I would have gladly taken…"

"No. You don't deserve that. You were justified in every way to come after Konoha. Sure you could have done things differently but that is in the past now and no point dwelling in it."

He looks into Kiyomi's eyes and she back.

"But you put your summoning contract on the line. For what? A reputation that I have? That was stupid and irrational."

Naruto shakes his head. "No, I was protecting a friend and protecting a friend is never stupid. That reputation wasn't earned and I don't blame you and I'm sure that ka-chan doesn't either. I stick up for my friends, no matter what."

He gives her a cheeky smile. "And besides, why would I want some hypocritical summon when I have the most powerful on right here who is most importantly my best friend? On the plus side, you are far easier on the eyes and he was."

Kiyomi laughs as she playfully swats his arm.

"You're a shameless flirt."

"No, I just appreciate."

Kiyomi looks down at the ground. "You know, despite what you think, that toad was right. I do have some responsibility for what happened. I could have chosen to sneak in using a human form or to even stop and think about thinks before taking off in a blind rage."

She feels Naruto wrap his arms around her in a comforting hug that she returns.

"All is forgiven. So don't be so down about it. I think that you have atoned for the small responsibility you held. I think five and a half years of solitary confinement and another ten of being stuck inside a hormonal teenager more than makes up for it."

Kiyomi chuckles slightly as she holds Naruto close. They begin to sway to some unheard music and for a while, they just hold onto each other. It isn't until Kiyomi starts to fall asleep some half hour later that they break up and Kiyomi cracks the whip and gets Naruto back to training.

End Flashback

Naruto shakes the cobwebs out of his head and stops so he can read the message.

Chūnin Uzumaki Naruto,

You are hereby ordered to stop one Sasuke Uchiha from defecting to Oto by any means necessary but he must be brought back alive. A squad of Oto shinobi assisted in his escape as of an hour ago and is reported to be heading right for you. Their abilities and numbers are unknown.

A pursuit squad is tracking but is only just now leaving. You may be the last hope for keeping the Sharingan in Konoha. Bring the Uchiha and whatever captives you capture to Konoha when the pursuit squad reaches your position.

Godaime Hokage,
Tsunade Senju

End Chapter 8

* Inside the bars, it is her domain. If she can make herself an enormous fox or a five foot four human female, then why can't she make herself so small that he can't see her or make herself invisible?

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Sorry it took so long to get another chapter out. I would write a little at a time over a few months but the fight took the longest. I had a hard time making something that was both satisfying and realistic. And Naruto's fight with the Nidaime is short but very intense. It is only through his Wind Armor that he not only survives but winds since the Nidaime doesn't have NinTaijutsu to use.

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No, Kushina will NOT be with Naruto. They are close but their relationship will stay just that. A mother and son and not more than that.

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Be sure to check out my other stories that I posted along side this one: Throne of Power and Return of the Sage. I couldn't get Turbulent Tides in, even though I wanted to. I'm having so many problems writing that one right now.

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Review, comment, ask questions, burn me to ashes, I don't care. Any and all feedback is welcome and encouraged.

Until next time,

tomhunt98