Chapter 12: The Way We Came to be Part 3:

As the early morning sun rose high over the Myoboku mountains; Jiraiya, Hinata, Lady Shinma and Lord Fukasaku were searching every trail and field through the nearby forests.

"Oh I'm worried Jiraiya-boy." Lady Shinma said as she and her husband rode on Jiraiya shoulders. "Naruto-boy hasn't returned from training."

"I know and he wasn't at the lake from last night either." Jiraiya added.

"Everyone quit your worrying." Lord Fukasaku said. "Naruto-boy can handle himself and if there we any signs of trouble the barriers around the mountain would have picked up on it."

"Please be alright Naruto." Hinata said to herself.

"You know we haven't checked out the training field yet; odds are he could have returned there last night." Jiraiya said.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Lady Shinma shouted as she pointed in the direction of the training field. "Let's get going and fast!"

Suddenly all four shinobi ran off towards the training field with the massive waterfall made of special oil. True to Jiraiya's words as soon as the group arrived they saw an unconscious Naruto; laying next to a pile of ruble where the stone slab from the day before once stood.

"NARUTO!" Hinata shouted as she was the first to rush to Naruto's side while Jiraiya and the others quickly followed.

Lady Shinma gently laid her hand on top of Naruto's forehead while Hinata tightly held onto his hand.

"Ah...He's alright." Lady Shinma said with a look of joy. "He's just exhausted is all."

"Thank goodness." Hinata said to herself.

Jiraiya then looked towards the pile of rubble in shock.

"Did Naruto do this?" The old sage asked himself. "If so then Naruto was able to harness more of Senjutsu's power than Hinata; and in such a short amount of time as well."

Suddenly everyone turned their attention to Naruto as his eyes slowly began to open.

"Shhhh...Everyone he's waking up." Lady Shinma said.

Suddenly both of Naruto's eye were fully opened but his sight was still a bit hazy.

"Hey...Guys...Whatchya doin out this late?" Naruto said with a yawn while stretching his body.

"Late?" Lord Fukasaku asked. "Naruto boy, it's nearly mid morning."

"R-Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah you had us all worried when you didn't come back last night." Jiraiya said as he gave Naruto his canister of water.

Naruto first took in three huge gulps of water before he rose the canister over his head and poured the cool water down his hair.

"Are...Are you alright Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah but I didn't know I over did it in my training last night." Naruto replied as he twisted the cap on the canister of water. "But Pervy Sage you should have seen it I was actually able to absorb a huge amount of Nature Chakra." Naruto said as he gave the canister of water back to Jiraiya.

"Yeah I noticed that huge pile of rubble." Jiraiya replied.

"It was all thanks to something that Hinata said to me that I was able to finally crush the slab into a million pieces." Naruto said as he gave a wink and a thumbs up to Hinata while the young kunochi's face began to grow into a dark shade of red.

"I see." Jiraiya said with a smirk.

"Oh and that's not all I can do." Naruto said as he quickly lifted himself off the ground and ran over to the same massive toad statue that Jiraiya used the day before.

"Naruto...What are you?" Jiraiya asked.

Suddenly Naruto stood before the massive statue while tightly clasping his hands together.

"Alright just focus." Naruto said to himself as he began to gather a huge amount of Nature Chakra within himself.

Suddenly the air around Naruto began to shift into a violent gust of wind.

"OH MY!" Lady Shinma shouted as she and the others watched Naruto in awe.

Suddenly a massive blue flame like aura had engulfed Naruto's entire body. He then reached out his arms and tightly grasped his hands around the massive statue and slowly began to pull the statue off the ground.

"N...NARUTO WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Jiraiya shouted.

"NARUTO-BOY DON'T; YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF!" Lord Fukasaku pleaded.

But suddenly everyone became silent once they witness Naruto lifting the massive statue completely off the ground. Clumps of dirt and dust fell off the bottom of the statue while Naruto took in slow deeps breaths of air; as he rotated his body to the side. With one quick motion the young shinobi threw the colossal sized statue into the air and sent it crashing down into the pool of oil beneath the waterfall. Everyone was speechless, unable to form a proper sentence but not at Naruto's new found strength; but rather to something that the that the young shinobi had undergone through without noticing.

"H...Honey..." Lady Shinma said with a shocked look on her face.

"I...I see my dear...But I'm still having a hard time believing it." Lord Fukasaku replied barely able to speak.

"Wha...What's everyone staring at?" Naruto asked with a confused look.

"His...Transformation...It...It surpasses...Even Jiraiya-boy's." Lord Fukasaku said.

"N...Naruto..." Hinata said in a low whisper.

Unaware of his situation Naruto had gone through a similar transformation into Sage Mode as Jiraiya. But unlike his master, Naruto's nose didn't not become grotesquely larger, nor was he covered in warts like Jiraiya. Naruto's eyelids became red and the color of his eyes became yellow instead of white, while his pupils transformed into sideways horizontal brick lines.

"N...Naruto haven't you realized what has happened to you?" Lady Shinma asked while her body trembled in shock.

"No...What do you mean Granny Shinma?" Naruto asked while rubbing the back of his head.

"You...You've...Became...A..." Lord Fukasaku began to say.

"A SAGE!" Jiraiya said with much glee. "My word...You must be the youngest ever to have achieved this status." The elder sage said as examined the markings on Naruto's face.

"Do...Do you...Feel...Any different...Naruto-kun?" Hinata said with a light blush.

"Actually...To be honest...I don't really feel any different than usual." Naruto said as he began to flex his muscles.

"C'mon Naruto let's say test your new abilities." Jiraiya said.

"Wait Jiraiya-boy..." Lord Fukasaku interrupted. "I don't think that it's a good idea to push the lad, I mean sure it's incredible that someone his age has the title and prowess that would take other ninja decades to achieve. But still that's no excuse to push Naruto until he kills over."

"I agree with Pa Jiraiya-boy; we should let him rest." Lady Shinma added.

"Oh what could happen; after all we all will be here keeping an eye on him." Jiraiya replied.

"Look it's just one small test to see if his endurance, speed, and agility have also increased as well as his strength."

"Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see if the lad is ready to begin his training in Frog Kata." Lord Fukasaku said while rubbing underneath his chin. "What say you Ma?"

Lady Shinma had a disapproving look on her face while she folded her arms on top of one another.

"I don't know about this...But." Lady Shinma said as her expression changed to a calm and collective one. "Alright; but nothing to extreme Jiraiya-boy. And once your little test is over I'm taking Naruto-boy back to the hut and treat his wounds understand?" Lady Shinma asked as she pointed her right index finger towards Jiraiya.

"Got it got it, nothing to extreme." Jiraiya said as he raised both his hands up and gently moved them back and forth.

"Umm...Excuse me but...Master Jiraiya...What will Naruto train with exactly?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah Pervy Sage; you don't expect me to train with just air do you?" Naruto asked.

"Of course not and that's why I have this little ditty ready." Jiraiya said with a grin as he quickly pulled out a scroll from behind him. He then quickly rolled out the scroll on the ground while and quickly performed a series of hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Ninja Tool Summoning!" Jiraiya said as he slammed the palm of his right hand onto the ground.

A massive cloud of smoked had erupted from the scroll and had enveloped the entire training field. As the cloud of dust began to deteriorate; everyone had noticed the multiple groups of shadows that were emerging from within the smoke.

"Jiraiya-boy don't tell me you're going to have Naruto train with those!" Lord Fukasaku said with a hint of worry in his throat.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD NOTHING TOO EXTREME JIRAIYA!" Lady Shinma shouted while she raised her fist into the air while violently shaking her arms.

From within the cloud of smoke came a small army of similar toad like statues like the one that Naruto had just thrown into the waterfall of oil. The biggest difference with these statues was that they were the size of a normal person, granted that they were only a couple of feet taller than Naruto; even with them not standing on each of their pedestals.

"Ninja Art: Stone Awakening Jutsu!" Jiraiya shouted as he once again slammed the palm of his hand onto the scroll that he used to summon the toad statues.

Only this time multiple blue colored streams of electricity was shot into the air and danced off of one toad statue to another. Suddenly each of the statues eyes began to glow a bright blue while every single statue suddenly came to life.

"WHAT THE HECK PERVY SAGE!" Naruto shouted in fear as he found himself surrounded by an army of living toad statues.

"Oh c'mon Naruto it's only a hundred statues." Jiraiya shouted. "If you can beat twenty five statues it's a D, if you can defeat fifty statues it's a C, and if you can beat seventy five statues it's a B, but if you can beat all one hundred statues you'll probably get the first A in your life."

"You suck Pervy Sage!" Naruto said to himself while he gritted his teeth.

Suddenly with no warning one of the statues came running towards Naruto from the side; the statue leapt high into the air while pulling back its right arm.

"NARUTO LOOK OUT!" Hinata shouted as she pointed towards the statue.

Naruto quickly turned his attention towards the oncoming toad statue; he quickly raised his right arm out and caught the statue's fist. He then drew in and threw out his left fist out and straight through the statue's abdomen. The statue slowly began to crack while it's glowing blue eyes slowly faded away.

"Incredible." Lady Shinma said.

"Very good Naruto." Jiraiya said with a grin while he gently rubbed his chin. "Especially considering that these statues are made with the same materials as those stone slabs.

Naruto didn't have to to enjoy his first victory as three more statues ran towards the young shinobi at full force. The young shinobi created a single hand sign with both his arms and began to focus his chakra.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted.

A small cloud of smoke erupted around the young shinobi, and from within the cloud of smoke emerged four of Naruto's fists as they collided against each of the charging statues faces. As each of the stone statues crumbled into rubble; four Narutos stood in the center of the massive toad statue army.

"Vary good; Naruto-boy is going to fight those statues with the help of his shadow clones!" Lady Shinma said with glee.

"But will it be enough to help the lad win this battle?" Lord Fukasaku asked himself.

Soon more of the toad statues began to surround Naruto and his clones as they all stood back to back; facing every direction.

"So you got a plan or was just the four of us clobbering those statues the best you could think of?" One of Naruto's shadow clones asked.

"Yeah for now I can't disburse so much of the Nature Chakra I have left along with my normal chakra as well." The real Naruto replied. "So it'll have to be divide and conquer until we bring these statues numbers down to a more manageable size."

Suddenly more toad statues had leapt into the air just above Naruto and his clones; the statues then curled themselves into a ball like form and began to spin themselves at rapid speeds.

"Incoming guys!" One of the clones shouted as he and the others turned their attention up towards the sky.

"Everyone haul your hides outta the way!" The real Naruto shouted as he and his clones evaded the spiraling statues as they hurled themselves into the earth below.

"Now for our counter!" Naruto shouted as he and his shadow clones reached for their kunai pouches and pulled out three kunai knives and threw them towards the statues.

"Naruto couldn't be so dunce that he would just throw regular kunai knives at those statues...Would he?" Jiraiya asked himself.

As each kunai stuck the stone statues; they were deflected off of the statues stone bodies.

"He is that dunce." Jiraiya said as he slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead.

As the knives spun in front of each statue; a paper bomb emerged from each of the handles and began to ignited themselves. A chain of multiple blinding lights and the roar of a massive explosion erupted; the force behind the explosion shook the entire training field.

"That was incredible!" Hinata said.

"Yes; thanks to the chain reaction from each of those paper bombs Naruto and his clones threw at the statues. He was able to reduce every statue within the blast range to dust!" Lady Shinma added.

"Way to go real Naruto!" One of Naruto's clones shouted.

"Now is this a manageable amount of statues?" Another clone asked.

"Yeah; now all we need to do is combine our strength to make our final move!" The real Naruto shouted.

Suddenly the real Naruto had targeted a single toad statue a few feet away from him.

"There; everyone charge straight into that statue and help me send it flying into the air I got an idea."

All of the clones spotted the statue that the real Naruto was talking about and ran straight towards it. The first clone slid right underneath the statue while bending his legs backwards and sprung them into the statue's abdomen. As the statue was sent flying into the air; the second clone ran and leapt over the first clone and performed a backwards flip while extending his right leg. The clone then struck the statue's jaw with a devastating kick to the face.

The third clone stayed on the ground; but grabbed onto the real Naruto's hands and spun him into the air. Everyone thought that Naruto was going to finish off the statue by swinging the heel of his foot against the statue's forehead; but instead Naruto stood on top of the statue and ricocheted off of it.

The force behind Naruto's jump sent the statue crashing into the ground; while Naruto spun himself around until he was over the remaining statues.

"Now it's time to finish off the rest of these stone freaks!" Naruto said to himself as he created the same hand sign as before and began to summon what chakra he had left.

"MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto shouted.

Another cloud of smoke had emerged around the young shinobi; but unlike before the cloud of smoke was massive and nearly engulfed the entire training field. From the massive cloud of smoke emerged Naruto and dozens of his shadow clones. The toad statues quickly prepared themselves for Naruto's next attack by stacking on top of one another; the statues each took a defensive stance and crossed their arms in front of themselves. Then the remaining statues stood behind their stone brethren and used their arms and legs to reinforce the wall of toad statues.

"The statues created a wall by using themselves!" Hinata said.

"Pretty good..." Naruto said. "BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

Suddenly Naruto grabbed onto one of his clones and spun him around until he threw him straight towards the wall of statues. The clone pulled his fist backwards and threw it towards the statues with all of his might. The force behind the clone's attack caused the arms of one the statues to crack until they slowly crumbled into dozens of pieces.

Soon all of Naruto's clones each grabbed onto their fellow doppelgangers and did exactly what the original Naruto did and threw the other clones straight into the statues. The clones fell from the sky like a massive and violent hail storm; little by little the clones tore the statues a part; chunks of rubble and debris flew everywhere around the field.

"And finally the finisher!" Naruto shouted.

Naruto's last remaining shadow clone tightly held onto him and spun him faster than the other clones did and threw him straight towards the collapsing wall of toad statues. The young shinobi gathered what strength he had left and threw it behind his fist. With that one last mighty blow; the young shinobi flew straight through the wall of statues and sent them all crumbling down to the ground.

"He did it." Jiraiya said to himself with a big grin.

"Incredible." Lord Fukasaku said.

"I know Pa; that Naruto-boy is always full of surprises." Lady Shinma added.

Everyone quickly ran to Naruto who was lying in front of the the pile of toad statue debris; unconscious on the ground with a big smile on his face.

"Master...Is...Naruto...Going to be alright?" Hinata asked.

"Ah...Nothing but a little rest won't fix him." Jiraiya replied.

"Oh yes speaking of which..." Lady Shinma said.

The elderly sage quickly pulled out a massive fan from behind her and quickly used it to stuck a ferocious blow towards Jiraiya's head.

"YEOW!" Jiraiya shouted in pain while he tightly held onto the crown of his head.

"JUST WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING; PUTTING POOR NARUTO THROUGH THAT KIND OF HEELISH TRAINING. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT HE HAD JUST AWAKENED HIS SAGE POWERS ONLY THE NIGHT BEFORE!" Lady Shinma shouted while angrily shaking the fan above her head.

"I'm sorry master; I just wanted to see how far Naruto was in his Senjutsu training." Jiraiya said while he rubbed his head while awkwardly giggling.

"Well in any case we should bring the lad back to the dorms; he is in need of some rest." Lord Fukasaku said.

Jiraiya slowly knelt before his young disciple and lifted him into his arms and pulled themselves off the ground.

"Right I'll bring him there; it's the least I can do for the kid especially considering the great job he did today." Jiraiya said.

"Master...Is there...Anything I can do to help?" Hinata asked.

Jiraiya turned to his other apprentice and gave her a smile.

"Nah...If this blockhead is gonna need anything Lord Fukasaku, Lady Shinma, and I can take care of him." The old sage said as he masters quickly leapt back onto his shoulders.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off Hinata." Lady Shinma said. "From the looks of it; Naruto-boy is gonna be out like a light for awhile."

"Umm...O...Okay..."

"Don't worry Hinata; Naruto is going to be alright." Lord Fukasaku said. "Come now Jiraiya-boy let's get this lad back to the dorms."

"Right." Jiraiya said as he performed a series of hand signs and vanished from the training field.

"Naruto..." Hinata said in a low whisper.

Hours had passed since Naruto had defeated Jiraiya's army of toad statues; as we see Hinata walking through the twilit forests picking the prettiest flowers that she could find.

"I hope Naruto will like these." Hinata said to herself. "I remember Ino telling me once that it's nice to give a boy flowers. It lets them know that someone is thinking of them." Suddenly Hinata's face grew into a light shade of pink.

"Oh my...I'm blushing..."

As Hinata continued pick more flowers; the sounds from a Shamisen echoed from deep within the forest.

"What's that?" Hinata said to herself as she turned her attention towards the sounds of the Shamisen.

"Is that Master Jiraiya, Lord Fukasaku, Lady Shinma?" Hinata asked herself. "Maybe I should investigate." The young kunochi said as she lifted herself off the ground while still holding the flowers she picked in her arms.

The strange and alluring sound drove Hinata deeper and deeper into the forests, and had the young kunochi slowly walking up the hillsides of Mount Myoboku. After she had cut her way through bushes and branches; Hinata had found herself staring at a breath taking view of the entire mountain. The young kunochi could see everything from the neighboring mountains, the deep thick forests, a massive stream falling off of the nearby cliff from where she was standing, and all the way to where the setting sun was slowly falling behind the western mountains outside Mount Myoboku.

"Beautiful isn't it?" A female voice said.

Hinata in shock quickly turned her attention to where she heard the woman's voice; and was shocked to see a beautiful woman sitting underneath the shade of a bonsai tree. The woman wore a dark golden straw hat that had a light lilac colored vial surrounding her face. She also wore a similar colored strapless gown and dark purple high heel sandals. Hinata also noticed that the mysterious woman was also playing a red colored Shamisen; the same one that Hinata had heard earlier while she was picking flowers moments ago.

"Who is this beautiful woman?" Hinata asked herself. "I thought Naruto, Master Jiraiya, and I were the only people living on the mountain."

"Do not fear child; I mean no harm." The woman said as though she could sense Hinata's discomfort.

"My name is Nimue." The woman said. "And who might you be?"

"I...I'm Hinata Ma'am...Hinata Hy..." Hinata suddenly stopped herself.

"That's right; I can't cally myself a Hyuga anymore." The young kunochi said with a hurtful look on her face.

"Hinata...My what a beautiful name." Nimue said asthough Hinata's sudden interruption did not bother her at all.

"Th...Thank you...You have a beautiful name too." Hinata said with a light blush.

"Thank you...Hinata won't you join me and enjoy this gorgeous scenery with me?" Nimue said as she gently patted on the empty space next to her.

Hinata hesitated for a moment; but could not sense any deception from Nimue and slowly sat next her.

"So...Tell me Hinata; why is a young beautiful woman like yourself doing out here on Mount Myoboku all by yourself?" Nimue asked.

"Oh...Well...You see...I'm here...for training." Hinata replied as she shyly looked down to the ground.

"Training huh..." Nimue replied.

"Ye...Yes...You see...Me and my friend...Naruto are here to receive training from Master Jiraiya."

"Master Jiraiya eh...That old codger." Nimue said with a light giggle.

Suddenly Nimue began to play slow and calming song on her Shamisen; while Hinata could feel her body loosen as her nerves became more calm.

"Hinata...I hope you don't mind me asking; but why do you and your friend, Naruto need training from Master Jiraiya."

"I...I shouldn't say..." Hinata said.

Nimue song slowly made the young kunochi drowsy; as she found that her sight was becoming blurry while the young kunochi struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Do you like this song I'm playing Hinata?" Nimue asked. "It's a special song that my mother use to play for me when I was young."

"Oh...Ye...Yes...That's a...Very...Very...Beautiful...Song..."

Suddenly Hinata's body began to sway from side to side; the young kunochi could no longer keep her balance as she fell down to the ground and onto Nimue's lap.

"Ninja Art: Lullaby of Dreams." Nimue said to herself as she finished playing her song.

She then gently stroke the hair from Hinata's face to the side as she watched Hinata sleeping blissfully in her lap.

"Now my child; let us see the symphony of your life...Unfold."

Hey guys sorry about last week. When I originally posted this chapter I wasn't to sure of it so I took it down and re-worked on it and I hope that you guys will enjoy this new installment of Redemption.