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"Skull Joke!" thought/mind speak/books, journals, etc.

Chapter 19: Friends and the New World

Naruto slowly opened his eyes after falling asleep what felt like a couple of hours to find himself being carried by Kakashi, getting closer to the village gates. The chunin looked to find both Sasuke and Uzume still unconscious being carried by two other Kakashis. He had done it…he had defeated Sasuke and Uzume and prevented them from joining the likes of Orochimaru, even with a little help in the end.

"I see that you're awake, Naruto," said Kakashi as he adjusted his grip, "You feel like walking?" Naruto nodded before the jonin gently let him down on the ground. "How long was I out?" Naruto asked as he stretched before walking next to Kakashi, "It felt like two hours." Kakashi grabbed Sasuke from one of his clones and said, "You were actually asleep for an hour and a half; this whole mission took quite a toll on your team."

"How are they Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked with concern for his friends. "From what I had heard," said Kakashi as he and Naruto was getting closer to the gate, "Choji is in pretty bad shape after using his clan's last resort weapon, Neji lost a kidney, Kiba and Akamaru are in ICU, and Shikamaru and Lee have only a few scratches and bruises with the worst of that being Shikamaru's broken finger. But thankfully we have the best medic in the village working on them." Naruto smiled with victory; even with all the scuffs, bruises, and internal bleeding the mission was a success.

"Naruto!"

Naruto looked to see Sakura in a wheelchair rolling towards him. "Sakura-nee!" said Naruto as he rushed towards the rosette and embraced her in a hug, "I kept my promise; he may be a bit beat up, but I got Sasuke back for you." Sakura looked to see the unconscious Uchiha and gave Naruto a loving smile before placing Naruto's straw hat on the top on the blonde's head. "Thank you Naruto," said Sakura as she turned herself around before she found Naruto pushing her chair for her.

As Naruto ventured through the village, people had gathered to the sidelines and began chanting Naruto's infamous name for a job well done. It was a nice change after being so long in the shadows of a fallen hero as Naruto sheepishly waved to the crowd and it was welcoming to hear people cheer for him, but he had to steal a glance towards Uzume in order to remind himself that having the title of a hero can be a deadly poison. I may have become a hero to the village now, Naruto thought as he was getting closer to the hospital, but I can never allow myself to become a hero in order to avoid the corrupting poison behind such a title.

As he approached the hospital doors, Naruto and Sakura saw a muscular young teenage boy with light blue skin and black hair in dreadlocks wearing a white gi underneath a sea blue haori jacket. The young teen also had a large fang pointing out from his jaw and his hands were webbed while his feet rested in wooden geta that elevated his height just by five inches and had slits at the side of his neck that seemed to twitch every few seconds. "Excuse me," asked the blue skinned teen with a slight gruff voice that sounded a bit congested, "but you don't happen to be Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, a.k.a. Straw Hat, would ya?" Wary of the teen, Naruto said, "Depends on who's asking?" Sensing the blonde's caution, the boy bowed and said, "Forgive me, I once had gone by the name of Uzushu Hoshigaki…but I had long abandoned that name because of my older brother, so I have decided to take up my ancestor's name." Raising an eyebrow, Naruto asked, "And that would be…?" The teen before him gave a slight nodded and said, "Jinbe."

Jinbe then saw Uzume and his eyes widened when a small wisp of black flame rolled of her outstretched hand. Acting quickly, the teen sped by Naruto and slapped a small bracelet on her hand. "What the…" said Uzume as she suddenly felt completely drained before passing out. "It was a good thing I carried a couple of bracelets made of Seastone," said Jinbe as he got a look from Kakashi, "that girl could have hurt someone, especially since she possesses the Yami Yami no Mi." Two ANBU soon appeared and carried Uzume away while Naruto faced Jinbe and said, "Thank you, but I take it that stopping Uzume wasn't the real reason was it?"

Jinbe smiled and said, "True. I did not come here to prevent an incident, but instead I have just a simple request: I wish to challenge you to a fight, Straw Hat, but seeing how you just returned from a tiring mission I shall wait for three days for your response so that we may face each other at our fullest. I believe that you should go see the Hokage." Naruto nodded as Kakashi took Sasuke from his clone as Jinbe wheeled Sakura into the hospital while Naruto dashed towards the Hokage's office. "Why do you wish to fight Naruto, Jinbe?" asked Sakura as Jinbe smiled. "I wish to fight Straw Hat-san more for my own path," said Jinbe as he nodded towards the nurses, "Much like my ancestor, I too wish to fight for the people, for the new world ahead of us. My brother, Kisame, had taken a different path to instead cause destruction and abandon our heritage of being Merfolk, half-human half-fish people."

"My family left Kiri due to the Bloodline Purging and I had changed my name due to the shame my brother had brought to my family," continued Jinbe as he entered Sakura's room and helped the rosette onto her bed, "While he is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, I decided to bring back the art of Gyojin Karate as well as the honor of my family." After placing Sakura on her bed, Jinbe bowed and said, "Well, I best be heading back to the hotel to await Straw Hat's respond and prepare for whatever comes my way." Jinbe turned to leave when Sakura said, "Please, Jinbe, could you…stay and keep me company; I would like to hear more about you and your ancestor." Jinbe smiled as he took a seat next to the rosette and began to tell her about how his ancestor was a feared warrior on both land and sea during the Great Pirate Era.

In the Hokage's Office, Minato sat in front of Naruto while the two ANBU he had sent held Uzume by her arms. "Naruto," said Minato with a stern look on his face, "you and your team had successfully brought back both Sasuke Uchiha and Uzume Namikaze-Uzumaki and as both a Hokage and a father, I couldn't be any more proud." Naruto smiled a bit before getting a serious look and said, "It wasn't easy, but with a little help from our allies from Suna the mission was a success so the credit shouldn't all go to me." Minato nodded as his ANBU flashed away with Uzume in tow and said, "I take it that you had met Jinbe?" Naruto nodded and told the Hokage about the challenge issued to him. "He's giving me three days to respond, allowing me some rest after my mission," said Naruto as fire entered his eyes, "and I will accept his challenge."

"Very well," said Minato, "I will inform him of your decision as your fight will be held within three days from now. The council must decide on what to do with Sasuke and Uzume in the meantime-" The doors flew open to reveal a chunin in rough shape. "Lord Hokage!" said the chunin as he tried to catch his breath, "One of the council members attacked the ANBU you had keeping watch on Uzume and took her away! They're now heading towards the hospital!" Naruto and Minato both disappeared in an instant, not seeing the smirk on the chunin's face.

"Those fools had fallen for the bait," said the chunin as he released the henge to reveal a small boy while an elderly woman wearing a cloak walked in carrying two small infants wrapped up in adult ANBU garbs. "Come on you little bastard," said the elderly woman as she placed the sleeping infants on the desk, "it won't be too long till those two return and my hips are starting to hurt." Letting out a content sigh, the boy said, "Of course…Baa-chan."

Minato and Naruto arrived in Sasuke's hospital room to only see the Uchiha bound to the bed with Jiraiya clapping his hands. "Just in time, Minato," said the Toad Sage, "I just sealed Sasuke's chakra along with rending him temporarily unable to use his Sharingan as well as moving a single limb; he's going nowhere." The two blondes looked around the room to see that it was just the four of them as well as the trusted ANBU Minato got to watch Sasuke. "You didn't see anyone suspicious walk around here did you?" asked Minato, getting a confused look from Jiraiya. "No I haven't," said Jiraiya raising an eyebrow, "It's just been me, Sasuke, and the lovely lady nurses coming and going."

Wait a minute, Naruto thought as he closed his eyes to focus on his Blossom Style to get a visual of the Hokage's Office to see the chunin that told them about the hospital holding two infants in his arms. "We've been had!" said Naruto as Minato quickly grabbed Naruto's wrist and the two disappeared in a yellow flash. This can't be good, Jiraiya thought as he got Shizune to keep an eye on the Uchiha before dashing away.

Minato and Naruto arrived in the Hokage's Office and were about to confront the chunin before the man stopped them. "Shhh," whispered the man as he cradled the two infants, "You don't want to wake the babies…it's not very nice." Naruto drew Arashinome and pointed the tip of the blade towards the man's face before he said, "Who are you and why did you lie to the Hokage?" The man chuckled devilishly and said, "I only lied to the Hokage so that our important guest could be safely taken to my leader, Ten'no, so that she can achieve her goals. As to who I am, just call me Kanrinin. Here, upsy daisy." Kanrinin lightly tossed the two infants towards the blondes and before Minato and Naruto caught them, Kanrinin snapped his fingers as the two infants became a grown man and woman. The two blondes weren't expecting the sudden change in weight and fell after catching the unconscious adults.

"You like the power of my Toshi Toshi no Mi, or Age Age Fruit" said Kanrinin as he walked towards the fallen blondes, "I can manipulate the age of those around me, including myself, to any age I choose." Kanrinin then stood above Naruto and held a hand close to Naruto's face and said, "I could save Ten'no some trouble and age you into either a bag of bones or a day old infant, Straw Hat. Consider yourself lucky that my orders were to escort our guest post haste would prevent me from doing so, but considering your chakra is barely there, I as well as our guest can leave in piece." Kanrinin then disappeared in a plume of smoke before Naruto and Minato could get the unconscious adults off of them. "That man must have turned those two into infants," said Minato as he covered both adults with the clothing left behind, "they were the ones I had watching Uzume." Naruto blinked in shocked realization: if those two were incapacitated while watching Uzume, then Uzume had yet again left the village.

"I'm going after them," said Naruto as he sheathed Arashinome and was about to head out the window until Minato stopped him. "I'm afraid it's not going to be easy," said Minato as he examined the two ANBU members that were slowly waking up, "if he can control people's age, then he can easily fool people by changing his and Uzume's age to where it would look like any shinobi we would send to attack civilians. They had also had time because of that wild goose chase that Kanrinin sent us on. I also can't send you since you have just returned and your chakra is pretty spent…I'm sorry, but it seems like Uzume was indeed successful in leaving the village." To hear that brought the pang of failure to both father and son that Uzume had left and gone rogue. "We are going to have a field day with this, aren't we?" said Naruto as both he and Minato let out a regretful sigh.

A few days had passed since Uzume had escaped as Naruto and the other members of the Konoha 11, save for Sasuke and the escaped Uzume, arrived at the training field where Jinbe was meditating. "I am glad you have accepted my challenge, Straw Hat," said Jinbe as he stood on his feet, "Are you ready?" Naruto adjusted the straw hat on his head with a devilish smirk, signaling his eagerness. Minato got in the middle of the two combatants with a hand raised and saw both his son and the challenger ready for a fight. "Hajime!" said Minato as he dashed to a safe distance while the two got into their stances.

The two combatants stared each other as they waited for either one to make a move until Naruto dashed towards his opponent with a kick ready. "Shoulder Shot!" said Naruto as his kick swung towards Jinbe's shoulder, only for the teen to block the attack curling up his arm to absorb the blow. "Wanto…" said Jinbe as he pulled back his free arm before swinging it towards Naruto, "Giri (Arm Blade Slash)!" Naruto quickly kicked Jinbe in the gut to avoid getting hit by the attack, only for the blue skinned teen to grab Naruto's ankle and threw him to the side. The blonde twisted his body in order to land on his feet before dashing towards Jinbe. "Rib Shot!" said Naruto as he extended a foot aimed towards the man's chest, but Jinbe caught the attack and tossed Naruto high into the sky. Jinbe jumped and was about to slam his forearm into the blonde's stomach, but Naruto quickly used Sky walk to avoid the attack and get above his opponent, foot raised. "Scrambled…" said Naruto as he slammed his foot into Jinbe's forehead, "Egg Shot!" Jinbe didn't see the attack in time as the attack connected and threw him towards the ground, creating a small crater from the impact. Jinbe slowly got to his feet, world spinning around him, and said, "That was some kick, Straw Hat; I think I'm actually seeing stars for once." Naruto landed on the ground with a smirk and said, "This fight's just getting started." The teen nodded as his vision corrected itself before he and Naruto rushed into a clash of kicks and punches.

Sakura watched the two clash as the memory of losing the Sasuke she once had loved was gone forever as even without the influence of the Curse Mark, the Uchiha never loved her like how she loved him. She remembered the whole painful event yesterday…

Flashback

"What do you mean Sasuke?" Sakura asked as Sasuke glared at her while he was bound to the bed. "I never liked you Haruno," said the Uchiha with venom in his voice, "you are weak and pathetic as you decided to live a civilian life. I would never been seen with the likes of you and even if you were a ninja and I'd rather be dating Uzume-chan as you are nothing but an ugly nobody not worth anyone's time! Now get out of my sight you piece of garbage!"

A nurse was walking by and heard the conversation and quickly wheeled a crying Sakura back to her room where Jinbe had just replaced the flowers in the vase. "Did something happen?" asked the teen with concern on his face before the look was replaced by anger by what the nurse had told him. The Fishman teen pulled a chair next to Sakura and gently rubbed her back to comfort the crying rosette. "Sasuke's right," Sakura said as she wept into her hands, "What kind of person would be in love with an ugly nobody like me?"

"That is not true, Sakura!" roared Jinbe, catching the girl's attention, "You are not ugly and you are somebody of great importance! That bastard is too damn prideful and blind to not see the treasure of true beauty before him!" Fishman teen clamed himself down before he said, "Believe it or not, Straw Hat-san had told me so much about you; how you gave him sisterly love when his own was nothing but a bully to him, how the both of you were each other crushes at one point, and he wouldn't stop talking about how you were not only his closest friend, but his first REAL friend he ever had. In his own words, Straw Hat-san told me that were it not for you that he would have ran away from the village or have taken his own life!"

Sakura blushed a little as not only was this boy preaching about how great of a person she was, but was drawn by his charms. "Another thing you should know is…" said Jinbe as he swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, "you are beautiful and your name proves it; you are as beautiful as the Cherry Blossom Trees during a bright summer's day." Sakura giggled at what the teen had said as the stinging pain of heartbreak was slowly leaving her. Sakura happily wrapped her arms around Jinbe's shoulders in a hug and said, "Thank you, Jinbe-kun…thank you."

Flashback End

The sounds of fighting awoken Sakura from her trip down memory lane as she then saw Naruto with Arashinome and his two other swords drawn while Jinbe stood his ground with his jacket ripped. He's so calm, the rosette thought as she saw Jinbe's well-built form, and charming as well. Sakura's parents couldn't help but see their daughter beginning to swoon over Naruto's opponent, glad to see Sakura getting over Sasuke.

"I must say, Straw Hat-san," said Jinbe as he ripped what was left of his jacket off, "even though I have faced ninja before, I have only used my Gyojin Karate to defeat them and I have never saw the use of jutsus. I have awakened my chakra, but I never learned any jutsus as my people can fight on both land and in the sea. You, however, are quite the opponent as I have heard." Naruto chuckled and said, "I'm flattered to hear that you never needed to bother yourself with learning jutsus; I'm pretty sure Lee would love to meet you and challenge you to a taijutsu match. Unfortunately, flattery will get you nothing but trouble in the ninja world." Naruto charged towards Jinbe with all three blades crossed while the Fishman teen crossed his arms. "Gyojin Art…" said Jinbe as he quickly turned his back toward Naruto, "Turtle Shell Defense!" Naruto slashed Jinbe's back with the three blades, only to see that not a scratch was on his opponent's now obsidian black back.

"So," said Naruto as he sealed away the swords before he cracked his knuckles, "you know about Haki. Nice use of the Armament Haki." Jinbe smirked as the light blue color of his skin returned on his back and said, "I know how to use all three as I adapted such abilities with my fighting style and even you will be surprised how well I've taken down many a fighter." Naruto pulled back his right leg as it stretched while he went for a sweep and said, "Gum Style: Halberd!" Jinbe jumped high enough to avoid the attack, but he didn't see the punch as the attack connected in the middle of his face. "Clever," said Jinbe as he held his aching face, "use one attack to catch your opponent off guard."

The blue teen then got into a side stance and lifted his left foot just a few inches off the ground. "Although I do not know of any jutsus," said Jinbe, "I have also studied Gyojin Jujutsu, an art where I can manipulate the water around me." Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the dew glistening on the ground and quickly went into Second Gear and stretched his right arm back while twisting it. "I say we determine who the victor is with this last move," said Jinbe with a smirk, "Gyojin Jujutsu: Water Dagger!" Naruto let loose his attack and said, "Second Gear: Hornet Stinger!"

A loud smack was heard as Naruto's attack pushed Jinbe a few feet with a red burn mark in the form of a spiral on his stomach while a small shock wave of water was launched from Naruto's back, putting both combatants down to one knee. "That was a great fight, Straw Hat-san," said Jinbe with a small smile on his face, "You true are just as strong as I have heard." Naruto returned the gesture with a smile of his own and said, "Thanks, you did pretty well yourself. I am more prepared for my trip than I ever was before."

"Trip?" asked Sakura as she and some of the others were confused as well, "You're leaving?" Naruto blushed as he had forgotten to mention his planned trip and said, "Whoops. I forgot to tell them."

"Allow me gaki," said Jiraiya as he and Minato helped Naruto and Jinbe to their feet, "My spy network had revealed a cult that is dedicated to bringing back the Namaki, The Living Tree, or as they call it Yggdrasil. Not a lot is known about it aside from that this Namaki is far more older than the legend of the Rikudo Sennin and is have said to even created the dreaded Juubi." Everyone shivered at the possibility of something being even more dangerous than the Juubi. "We have a lucky break as they are clashing with the Akatsuki," said Jiraiya with a stern face, "but it seems like that this cult is somehow gaining the upper hand with this gang war as I have only estimated about three years for it to last, give or take. Our only bet to stop this cult is to either see if the Akatsuki will defeat them, or fight them ourselves and stop them from bringing the Namaki back."

"And that is why Ero-senin is taking me on a three year trip," said Naruto as he felt Chopper healing him, "so that I can become stronger to stop them and also…" Naruto let out a lamenting sigh and said, "So I can become stronger myself; I'm only as strong in our village and I have no doubt that there are people that could be just as strong as or ever stronger than I am. I've also…discovered the limit of how far one can train by themselves. That is why I'll be gone for a few years to travel the world getting stronger and possibly more allies and friends along the way." Naruto then looked at his friends and family and said, "But that doesn't mean that you can slack off! When I get back, I'm challenging all of you to a big reunion battle to see how much stronger we have all gotten. I better go get ready for tomorrow then, see ya!" Everyone watched as Naruto, Hinata, and Haku left to not only pack for the trip, but to spend time together. "Well," said Jinbe as he dusted himself, "we better get started with our own training. But first I need to take care of a few things in order to officially become a citizen of Konoha." After the Fishman teen left, everyone had gone their different paths to become stronger than before.

The next day had found Naruto and Jiraiya standing before Minato in the Hokage's Office as the Hokage stamped their passports. "There you two go," said Minato, "you both can travel the world without much trouble…Do you really have to do this son?" Naruto nodded and said, "I have to do this as I am unsure of how well I'll do if I stayed here training in the village." Minato nodded as he knew that such a day would arrive as he and Kushina spent some much needed quality family time with their only son. "Please stay safe," said Minato with a gentle smile on his face, "Straw Hat-san."

Naruto and Jiraiya had just gotten out of the office when Jinbe approached them. "Now that I'm planning on becoming a citizen of Konoha, Straw Hat-san," said Jinbe as he held out a hand, "I wish you the best in your journey as I await the moment when we have our rematch as our last match had ended in a draw." Naruto shook the teen's hand firmly and said, "I can't wait for that rematch either. Do me a favor and make sure that Sakura and my wives stay safe." Jinbe bowed towards his new ally before entering the office.

Naruto unsealed a large guitar as tweaked the strings on it a bit. "What's up gaki?" Jiraiya asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Thought I might give all my friends and family a nice song before we part ways for a while," said Naruto as he and Jiraiya had walked out of the building and began playing the guitar in an upbeat rhythm as he and the Sannin were know walking through the village with the blonde singing through the bottom of his heart.

Oh Yeah! Kodomo!

Aru eiyuu no hanashi,

Ou ni naru otoko no hanashi,

Itsumo senkyou wa mattanashi,

Funbatte biisan ni hadashi!

Neji was training with Hinata and Haku as the three of them were working on their forms. Hiashi watched with great pride as his daughter, Haku, and Neji were becoming stronger and it was all thanks to that straw hat wearing boy. The man even had a picture out of his twin brother who was sporting a smile as he rested in his coffin and smiled at the memory of his beloved brother, Hizashi "Daemon" Hyuga.

Oh Yeah! Come on baby!

Yume oibito wa nayami,

Tokidoki wa tarinai riichi,

Jibun to mukiau tsukini sono saki ni

Susumu tame ni!

Sono te ni amarisou na,

Ookisugiru yume,

Aitsu ga ireba,

Kanau ku ga shita!

Shizune angrily walked toward a table at a well-known drinking bar as her teacher had ditched her responsibilities again. She had saw Tsunade at the table with two sake bottles near her and was about to scold her until she saw something that she hadn't seen in quite a long time. The Sannin was reading a medical book as well as other books on healing and human anatomy with notes written down on a piece of paper. Shizune decided for once to let her master get away with drinking just this once as she decided to join her in hopes of not only furthering her own studies, but aiding future generations to come.

Today is the DAY! Machikutabirta ze,

Kimijika na oretachi ni,

Mou yoru wa iranai!

Today is the DAY! Saikou no ji da ze,

Tomatteta tokei ni,

Keri irete yare!

At the Haruno Residence, Kizashi had received a package from his grandmother that he hasn't heard from in a while. Mebuki arrived as she and her husband had learned from the letter that the man's grandmother had passed away recently and named their daughter her successor. The blonde woman was confused as she saw the conflicted look on her beloved's face. Kizashi himself wasn't sure as to be horrified or embarrassed about this kind of news…he knew it was going to be a very long three years should she arrive and the oddly colored fruit and mask were proof enough that it may happen in the future. He was even praying that his wife wouldn't decide to take that mantle herself or even a chance to hide the accursed fruit forever. Kizashi was going to have to explain A LOT to both his wife AND his daughter of who his grandmother once was in her youth.

For the New World!

For the New World!

For the New World!

Sekai wa kawaru!

Naruto continued singing as he and Jiraiya had crossed through the gates of Konohagakure to face whatever the world should throw at them. As he sang, Naruto knew of all the possible dangers that he and Jiraiya would face, but knew that he needed to become stronger to become one the greatest legends that all the Elemental Countries will speak about for many generations to come…

And that is Straw Hat Ninja everyone! I know that I had it end as a cliffhanger, but I am going to work on its sequel with new enemies, new attacks and powers, and a few surprises along the way. Thank you so much for reading Straw Hat Ninja and providing the reviews.

Ja Ne