Chapter 8 : A Hero's Return!

It was a peaceful day in Konoha, as the mid-day sun shone over the village. There was a slight breeze rustling through the entire area, cooling the slightly warmer temperature and allowing the many trees that were located all around the village to gently sway. Many shops were open as merchants sold their wares, while civilians and ninjas alike bought them. Teenagers were lounging around the cafés and restaurants, discussing the latest gossip or news. Altogether it was a very peaceful and calm day.

Said peace was soon shattered as a black cat raced down the street, dodging civilians left and right as it weaved in between their legs; the cat was moving so fast one might think the hounds of hell were chasing it. Of course, this could be a fairly accurate analogy, except rather than hounds it was three genins who were chasing it. The one in front had spiky brown hair and was wearing a blue scarf, his name was Konohamaru Sarutobi. The other male in the squad who was slightly to the left of Konohamaru was wearing glasses and had a perpetually runny nose, this boy was called Udon. The last of the three was a female, she had orange hair done up in twin pigtails and a large blush that spread across her face, this girl's name was Moegi. Together these three formed what had become known as the Konohamaru corps, a name which they had gained in their younger days.

The three continued chasing the cat; eventually taking to the roofs until they managed to corner it in an alley. Said feline hissed and snarled, in an attempt to scare the three away. It was all in vain however as Konohamaru pounced on the creature, finally managing to pin its limbs to its body. Moegi pushed a button on her headset letting their sensei know that their mission was complete. However sometime during this discussion, the cat had gotten loose, and soon enough Konohamaru's screams were heard throughout the village.

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Konohamaru grinned like a madman, as he watched the cat they had just caught get squeezed to death by its owner, Madame Shinji who was the wife of the Fire Daimyo. This was the only consolation he ever got when taking this mission; he really couldn't even understand why they got this mission anyways, since it never let him show off his skills. Hopefully, their sensei would let them go on another C rank mission soon; otherwise, the spiky-haired genin was sure he would go crazy.

Once the Daimyo left with her nearly choked to death cat, Ebisu turned on his team with a scowl. It was not long until he began to berate them for the mission, listing off all of their faults in painful detail. He ended by telling them that the mission had taken way too long and that they would be doing it over again as soon as it came back up.

"But Sensei," Moegi said as she tried to defend her team, "you know how hard it is to catch that cat. With all the times we've done it, I'm pretty sure that cat is used to running away."

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses," Ebisu said with a scowl, as he pushed his sunglasses up his nose with two fingers. "This just proves to me that you need more training since you obviously lack the proper skills necessary to perform this mission."

This however was the wrong thing to say to Konohamaru, who soon became indignant. They had gotten this mission so many times it wasn't fair, in fact, he was sure that they had gotten this mission more times than any other team. Sitting on the floor the young Sarutobi began to complain, stating that these missions were too lame and he could not show off his awesome skills with such boring missions. Of course, this had the consequence of getting one Iruka Umino to yell at the genin, claiming that you could only take C rank missions after you had done a certain number of D ranks. Tsunade seconded this, telling them that they had to work harder if they wanted to get higher-ranking missions.

Of course, this still did not sit well with Konohamaru who turned around, showing his back to the Hokage as he crossed his arms. "I can't keep doing such boring missions, after all, I'm gonna be the Nanidaime (Seventh) Hokage!"

Tsunade gained an amused smirk as she looked at Konohamaru, who reminded her of another indignant brat she had known. "Oh, and who may I ask is gonna be the Rokudaime (sixth)?" Tsunade asked in a curious voice.

"Why Naruto-nii-san of course!"

Everyone was quiet when they heard that, it had been four years since Naruto had left on his training trip with Jiraiya. Tsunade and the others had to wonder what Naruto would be like when he got back; they knew that he would not be the same little boy they had known four years ago. The news of the blond shinobi's exploits had traveled throughout Konoha and the entire elemental nations by now. Based on that information alone, they knew he would not be the same Naruto they had known before he left.

"It's been four years since Naruto left to go training with Jiraiya-Sama, I wonder when he'll be back?" Iruka thought out loud as he scratched his cheek, thinking about the person he considered to be a younger brother. During Naruto's time in the academy, Iruka had been the one person to try and help the blond, and while it had taken a while Iruka had been the only person there to see Naruto for who he was, not what he held.

"According to Jiraiya's latest report their going to be a little late…" Tsunade frowned at that. She had gotten a report two days ago when the two were due to return, claiming Naruto had gone off to fight the Akatsuki. Though the message had made it clear that Naruto was fine and the two members he had fought were dead, however, it had not given her a reason why her grandson/son figure had gone off to battle them alone. She sighed knowing she would not likely get much information on that for the time being, "I hope he comes back soon. I really miss him," Tsunade admitted with Iruka and her assistant Shizune nodding in agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As the day wore on two figures emerged from the forests of Konoha, they entered the gate and stopped. Letting their eyes roam over the village they had not seen in four years.

The one on the left was fairly tall, standing at 6'5", and carried a large scroll on his back. He had shock white hair that spiked up and trailed down to about mid-back. It was held up by a Hitea-ate with the Kanji for oil, the symbol for Mount Myobokuzan where the toads lived. He was wearing a red vest over a green gi and mesh shirt, on his feet were a pair of wooden geta sandals. On his face was red kabuki paint, which trailed down his cheeks. This was Jiraiya, the legendary Toad Sennin and self-proclaimed super pervert.

On the man's right was another figure, this one standing at an even height of 6'. His hair was a golden blond, which was rare no matter which country you were in. The hair was spiky and went down to his shoulders; two large bangs framed his face, while several smaller bangs hovered just a little over his eyes. Holding up those bangs was a Hitea-ate with the Konoha leaf symbol on it, the tie itself was black and the ends fell down to his knees. His clothing consisted of a pair of black shinobi pants, which were wrapped from mid-calf in white bandages that went into a pair of black steel-toed combat boots. His shirt was black skin tight and sleeveless, over it was what looked like a Jonin flak jacket in the Kiri style. However unlike a flak jacket, this did not have pockets, instead right in the center of it was a round orb. Hanging around his neck and situated right above the orb was a crystal necklace, an artifact that had been passed down in the Senju family and originally belonged to the Shodaime. Around both his arms were white bandages; over the bandages were black Anbu style forearm protectors. His hands had a pair of dark orange fingerless gloves on, with steel plating on the back, one with the Uzumaki swirl and another with the Namikaze clan crest. Finishing off his look was a dark orange, sleeveless high collared Haori with black flames licking the bottom. This was Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.

"I can't believe it's been four years…"

Jiraiya turned to look at his student who was wearing a nostalgic expression and smiled, the boy had grown a lot in recent years. Gaining strength even faster than his father had when the Toad Sennin had taken Minato on a training trip. Yet even with all the sights, they had seen and places they had been, the young man had still missed his home. Jiraiya assumed that the blond got his love of Konoha from his parents, like his father and mother; Naruto had inherited the 'will of fire' that they had both been known for.

"Come on Gaki," Jiraiya said as he pulled his scroll up before walking into Konoha, "we need to see Tsu-hime before she beats me to death for being late."

Naruto grinned as he caught up to his sensei, "you know she's probably gonna beat the crap out of you anyways right. Knowing you Ero-sensei, you're bound to make some perverted comment about her before long."

One of Jiraiya's eyebrows twitched as a scowl worked its way on his face, "damn it gaki how many times do I have to tell you! Stop calling me that!"

Naruto's grin widened, "when you give up your perverted ways I'll be sure to stop calling you that."

The Toad Sennin snorted, "like that will ever happen."

Naruto shrugged as if to say 'then you shall forever remain Ero-sensei' before the two quieted down. Despite the many arguments they had, most of which revolved around Jiraiya's perverted nature. The man was still the closest thing Naruto had to a father, the blond held a great amount of respect for the man. Though there was the occasional time where Jiraiya had incurred the wrath of the Oodoma Rasengan enema, usually when he made a perverted comment about Naruto and or one of his girls.

Now that the two were silent, Naruto turned his attention to the village populace, who he noticed were all staring at him. The looks ranged from shock, awe, and disbelief, at least the men's looks did. The women were staring at him with unmasked lust, something that caused Naruto to shiver. He never understood how women could degrade themselves like this; offering their bodies to someone they didn't even take the time to get to know. It was almost enough to make Naruto feel some form of sympathy for Sasuke… almost. At least they're not fanboys… Naruto thought with a shudder. Shaking the disturbing thought off, Naruto channeled some chakra into his ears to listen to what the people around him thought about him.

"I can't believe it, it's Yondaime-Sama!"

"Yondaime-Sama, he's returned from the grave!"

"That's not Yondaime-Sama, that's Naruto Namikaze-Sama, he's Yondaime-Sama's son!"

"Naruto, you mean that loud brat who was always playing pranks! No way!"

"You obviously haven't heard about what he did in Kiri."

"Who cares what he did or whose son he is, he's hot!"

"I wonder if he'll let me have his children?"

Naruto shivered at the last comment, it was things like that that gave women such a bad rep. he couldn't really see how these women could say something like that, they didn't even see him, just his name.

"Well seems like your quite popular with the ladies gaki," Jiraiya said with a lecherous grin. He too had noticed all of the looks his student had been getting; it was something that made him both proud and jealous. "You know Minato was also quite the lady killer back in his day."

"Yeah well you know as well as I do that a snowball has a better chance of surviving in hell than these women have of ever getting with me," Naruto said with conviction. "I won't date a fangirl, who only cares about my clan name, rather than me. I will only ever marry someone who loves me for me, and can see me for who I am."

Jiraiya just shrugged at that, he knew of his student's desires to be with women who loved him. The kid had always been something of a romantic that way; it was another thing Jiraiya was sure he had gotten from Minato. That man could have had so many women it wasn't even funny, yet even after he had been given clan status he refused to marry anyone other than Kushina since she was the only one who did not care about him being Hokage or a Clan Head. Thinking about love and women brought a perverse giggle to his lips, Naruto didn't need fan girls anyway since he already had three beautiful ladies who Jiraiya was sure would marry him eventually.

"I hope you're not thinking any perverted thoughts about me and the women in my life, Sensei," Naruto said in a threatening manner. The blond grinned when his sensei shut up, the last time Jiraiya had thought of the blond and his girls in said blondes presence… let's just say he had not been able to sit for a month.

That's something else he picked up from Minato, Jiraiya thought lamentingly as he remembered a time when he had been peeking in the hot springs and Minato and his wife had come in. He had not known they were there until he saw Kushina, and unfortunately for him had not realized that Minato had come with her. The beating those two had given him had been even worse than when he had peeked on Tsunade.

The rest of the trip to the Hokage tower was made in silence, as the two were left to their own thoughts.

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Tsunade sighed as she finally finished the paperwork, it had taken a long time and a lot of sake but it was finally done and she could now relax. She turned in her seat to look out over the village, her mind going to a certain blond. She seemed to be thinking about the gaki quite often these days, but given that she had not gone a week without hearing some kind of rumor about him that did not surprise her. The busty blond woman sighed as she wondered when he would come back; she was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed the knock at the door.

"Come in!" she called out as she turned around.

The door opened and the first thing Tsunade saw, was a familiar mop of golden blond hair. As soon as she spotted that she shot out of her seat, she was just about halfway there when she laid eyes on the rest of the person who was standing in the doorway. Her mind soon shut down and her mouth hung open, as she stared at what she could only assume the man was some kind of Kami. A blush began to spread across Tsunade's face, as she took notice of the man's handsome and roguish face as well as all the hard muscle that was on his compact body. The blond Hokage was staring for so long that she did not even notice the man move to stand in front of her.

"You know baa-chan it's kind of awkward having someone I think of as a grandmother drooling over me," Naruto teased with a foxy grin.

Tsunade blinked as she heard the familiar nickname before her mind rebooted. She blushed in embarrassment for a second as she wiped her mouth, and saw that much to her chagrin there was drool. She looked back at the blond, "Naruto?" she asked tentatively as she wondered if this was really the blond gaki who had left four years ago.

Naruto gave her a cheeky grin, "who else would call you baa-chan?" the blond shinobi asked only to stumble back as Tsunade latched onto him. The blond Hokage wrapped him up in a tight hug, which Tsunade was delighted to feel returned.

"I missed you Gaki," Tsunade said with her voice being muffled by his clothes.

"I missed you too Tsunade," Naruto replied as he for once used her name to show how much he truly missed the woman.

Tsunade released him from her death grip hug and looked him up and down, "Kami kid you look just like…"

"Looks just like his old man doesn't he?"

The two blonds turned to see Jiraiya grinning at the pair, it was one of the only times Tsunade ever saw the man grin with something other than perverseness.

"He does," Tsunade replied, "I almost didn't recognize him if it were not for the whiskers."

"I know what you mean," Jiraiya replied, "He's been mistaken for his old man several times. I remember this one time when we were on the border of Tsuchi No Kuni…"

"You do know I'm right here right?" Naruto interrupted in an annoyed tone, "don't speak of me like I'm not even here."

Jiraiya gave a hearty laugh at his apprentices whining, while Tsunade let out a small chuckle as she moved back behind her desk. Sitting down she leaned her head on her hands as she looked at Naruto, "I hear you had a run-in with Akatsuki?" she said, obviously fishing for more information.

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he gave a sheepish expression, "well yeah. You see when I was in Kumo I gave the two Jinchurikki there one of my Hiraishin Kunai, they promised me that if they ever ran into Akatsuki they would use it." Naruto shot a quick glance at Jiraiya, telling the man to keep his mouth shut about Yugito. Right now there were too many variables to let anyone know about his relationships, if people like Danzo found out Naruto knew he would have to deal with a whole new set of problems.

Tsunade sighed and closed her eyes; she probably should have known that would happen given Naruto's protective nature. And finding two more people like him, it would be obvious to anyone that he would want to keep them from harm. Thankfully she missed the look Naruto and Jiraiya shared, "I suppose I can understand that gaki. Still, you need to be careful, especially when dealing with Akatsuki."

"Don't you worry baa-chan, I know what I'm doing," Naruto said dismissively.

Tsunade's eyebrows twitched at her name but figured she could let it go just for today. "You know the news of your feats has reached all of the elemental countries," the blond Hokage said, "It's good to see you've actually improved."

"That's cruel Tsu-Hime, were you not expecting him to grow strong under my care?" Jiraiya asked as he wiped away some fake tears.

Tsunade was about to answer when Naruto beat her to it, "she probably thought you were going to be so busy peeping on women, that you would forget all about training me."

As Jiraiya began to skulk in the corner, Naruto and Tsunade laughed. Finally, Tsunade looked at Naruto with a semi-serious expression, "you should know that council also knows of your feats as well, particularly your stint in Kiri…"

Naruto frowned as he realized where she was going with this, "I already figured as much, Ero-sensei and I saw the results outside." As Jiraiya mumbled about disrespecting blonds, Tsunade laughed at the nickname Naruto had come up with for the Toad Sennin. "So you expect the council will try to find a way to claim my clan's power," Naruto said as he got back on topic. "Either through arranged marriages or through major ass-kissing."

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade cracked up at hearing the rather blunt, yet completely accurate way to describe the situation. The Konoha council was well known for their greed, most of the members were merchants who owned many different businesses both inside and outside of Konoha. Because of this, they had always believed that they deserved more power than they were supposed to have.

"You would be right brat," Tsunade said after she managed to regain her breath.

"So how did they take my heritage being revealed anyway?" asked Naruto.

Tsunade shivered, "at first… they threw a fit. Even when I showed them the Marriage contract between Minato and Kushina, your blood test, and your birth certificate they were fighting tooth and nail to not let you claim your inheritance. It wasn't until I told them of what you did in Kiri that they had a change of tune."

"I see…" Naruto sighed before looking over at Tsunade. "Speaking of blood tests, I was wondering if I could get the test to see if someone has a Kekkei Genkai done."

Tsunade blinked in surprise, "you think you have a bloodline?" she looked over at Jiraiya and glared, she had not heard of this in the reports she had been receiving. Jiraiya noticed this and paled, thankfully Naruto saved him.

"To be honest I am not sure if it is a bloodline or not," Naruto said with a shrug. "But by combining water and wind I can create Hyoton Jutsu," to emphasize his point Naruto held out his hand, and Tsunade gasped as she saw the water molecules in the air form a sphere of water in Naruto's palm. It was just like her grand uncle's ability, however, if she was shocked by that then what happened next nearly gave her a heart attack. The water began to freeze, turning into a crystalline sphere of ice. Naruto looked at the sphere before throwing it out the window, "I also have the ability to use Ranton (Storm Release) which is a combination of water and lightning. And the ability to do what I have taken to calling Araton (1)."

"Araton?" Tsunade asked as she managed to get her emotions under control.

"Yes I couldn't think of another name for it," Naruto said as he began to explain his ability. "Basically what it is, is the ability to control the weather." Tsunade gaped at him for a moment, unsure whether she had heard right or not. Naruto continued headless of her shock, "by infusing and saturating the air with my chakra and using my elements which I have unparalleled control over, I can create storms and make them do my bidding. Right now I only have very basic control over this ability, but I plan on working on it and improving my ability to do this. However, I am unsure if that's a bloodline or just that I have really high control of my affinities."

Tsunade closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, in an effort to not hyperventilate at hearing of the blond shinobi's abilities. "I… see, I suppose we can do a blood test later, now I…" Tsunade was interrupted from her speech by a knock at the door.

"Tsunade-Sama," Sakura said as she opened the door, without waiting for permission to enter. "I have those files… you… you…" she trailed off as her eyes landed on the blond Adonis who was talking with Tsunade. Like Tsunade before her, the pink-haired girl's mind shut down. Her mouth hung open with drool coming out of it, and a huge blush spreading across her face making it match her hair. Naruto could even see a trickle of blood running down her nose.

Naruto looked at the pink-haired girl in amusement as he walked over to her, "you know it's impolite to stare Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he closed her mouth with a click.

Sakura's face felt like it was on fire as the blond hunk called her such an affectionate suffix, then she blinked for a moment as she realized there was only one person who had ever called her that. "Naruto?" she asked in a mixture of shock, and…lust?

"The one and only," Naruto said with a grin, "so how have you been?"

Sakura blushed as she tried to regain her bearings, "I've been good…"

While the two former teammates were catching up, Jiraiya informed Tsunade of the things he had left out in the reports on the blond's training. Most of what he said was information she already knew, however some it was pretty surprising. Had she not already known of Naruto's exploits, she would have no doubt been shocked. As it was she merely nodded at the information before getting the Uzumaki Namikaze Heir's attention. "Naruto!" said blond turned to look at Tsunade, before walking over. "I had planned on having you tested today, however, given what I know and what I've just been told I think I'm going to have your test tomorrow."

Naruto nodded his head, "that's fine, I'm guessing since Kakashi is outside your window, that he is going to be the person who tests me?"

Sakura looked at Naruto in shock, how could he know if Kakashi was there? Sensing chakra was one of the hardest abilities if you were not a natural sensor type.

Kakashi having heard the blond's words stepped into the office and gave an eye smile, though a part of him wanted to have a heart attack when he saw Naruto. It was only his experience as a Jonin that kept him from being shocked by his student's looks, "it's quite impressive that you were able to sense me Naruto. You seem to have grown quite a bit, I look forward to seeing how strong you've become."

Naruto grinned, "So am I, though it looks like we'll have to wait…" Naruto stopped his speech for a moment as his eyes momentarily widened in remembrance, "I almost forgot I have a present for you sensei." Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out a little red book and tossed it over to Kakashi, said cyclopean ninja looked at it as if it was the holiest of grails.

"Thank Naruto!" Kakashi said as he cuddled the newest addition of the Icha Icha collection to his chest, making Naruto sweat drop, while the two females glared.

"No problem that one was actually mine, but I don't care for smut so I never got to reading it." Naruto's statement caused the two women in the room to look at him with almost newfound respect, however one person did not like their art being insulted.

"Hey watch what you're saying brat, that's my art you're talking about," Jiraiya said to his student with a light glare.

Naruto just grinned, "your art is crap, or have you forgotten that my book has sold four times more than all your books combined."

While Jiraiya grumbled about blond, disrespectful gaki's getting all the luck, the other three in the room looked curious.

"What book did you write Naruto?" asked Sakura, if it was porn or something similar he was going to get a pounding hunk or not.

CHA! SHOW THOSE PERVERTS WHO'S BOSS! Inner Sakura ranted as she made several punching motions.

"I'm glad you asked Sakura," Naruto said as he pulled out a blue book, with the picture of a woman wearing blue clothes on it.

The moment the two women saw what it was they appeared right in front of Naruto, with their own copies of said book magically appearing in their hands.

"You wrote this?" Sakura breathed as hearts appeared in her eyes.

"This is my absolute favorite book!" Tsunade squealed as she held it out for Naruto to sign, "Can you sign it for me?"

"Mine to?" asked Sakura as she held hers out as well.

"Sure," Naruto said with a grin as he looked over at his sensei, who was currently crying anime tears. "So tomorrow at training ground seven I assume?" Naruto asked after he handed both women their books.

"Yes," Tsunade answered as she cuddled her book to her chest, unknowingly imitating a certain Cyclops. "It will be at 9:00 am, don't be late." She glared at Kakashi to let him know who she was talking about, the cyclopean Jonin gulped and gave her a nod.

"Since everyone already knows about my heritage can I live in my parents' house?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya had told him that his parent's original house had been destroyed during the Kyuubi attack, but that the Sandaime had rebuilt it for when Naruto took up his clan name.

Tsunade nodded since there was no point in denying Naruto what was his, "of course I assume you know where the key is?"

In response to her question, Naruto walked over to the picture of his father. Taking the picture off Naruto set it aside as he bit his thumb, he swiped his blood over the blank area causing a seal to shimmer in existence. Soon both the seal and the wall faded out, revealing a small cupboard. Naruto reached his hand into it and pulled out a key.

"Thanks, baa-chan, I'll see you tomorrow," Naruto said before he disappeared in a burst of lightning, shocking everyone around him; no pun intended.

"I can't believe that was Naruto," Sakura said with a blush as she thought about how hot he had become. "And to think he's Yondaime-Sama's son…"

Jiraiya snorted, "I'm surprised you guys couldn't even figure it out until someone actually told you. Anyone with half a brain should have been able to see it, I mean how many ninjas do you know that have spiky golden blond hair, and blue eyes?"

Sakura looked down at the ground knowing that Jiraiya was right, she and all the other people of this village had been foolish for not being able to see the obvious.

"Now that that's over with," Tsunade said before turning on Jiraiya with a glare. Said man felt a shiver run down his spine, as the temperature began to drop nearly 60 degrees. "What's this I hear about you making my godson star in your porn movie?" she asked in a menacing voice as Jiraiya backed away.

Sakura looked at the man in disgust, though a part of her could not deny that she wondered what it would be like to sleep with Naruto. A part of her was even thinking about seeing the movie, now that she had heard Naruto was in it. An image sprang into her mind of a naked Naruto, causing her to sway on her feet as a trickle of blood ran down her nose and her eyes glazed over.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had to hold in a giggle, lest he also incurs the blond Hokage's wrath. He had of course seen the movie she was talking about; while one part was jealous of the blond, another part of him could not help but feel proud of Naruto.

"N-Now Tsu-Hime let's be rational here," Jiraiya held out his hands and waved them in front of his face. He soon found himself backed into a wall, with nowhere to go he did the only thing he could think of, "Mercy?" he squeaked.

"Sorry all out of mercy," Tsunade replied as she sent a chakra-enhanced fist to Jiraiya's gonads.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

BOOM!

Naruto stopped his walk for a moment to look at the Hokage tower, where a rather loud explosion had just sounded. He chuckled when he saw his sensei fly off into the distance, I swear that man will never learn.

He continued on his walk, which was farther away from Konoha's epicenter than any other place he had been to. Minato had built his family's house behind the Hokage Monument, wanting to keep the secrets to his and Kushina's jutsu away from prying eyes. Naruto had heard from Jiraiya that the house had been a wedding gift to his mother, which had been a little while after his father's name had been given clan status.

Naruto finally found the house, which was protected by a high wall and gate that he could not see over. Looking at the gate Naruto recognized several seals that were on them as security seals, however, he knew instinctively that this was not his father's work. Aside from the fact that they were not very advanced, they were also a little sloppier than what he would expect from a seal master. He shrugged this off, it would just mean he would have to create his own security network.

Walking up to the gate Naruto took out the key, biting his thumb he swiped his blood on the key. As his wound healed with a slight hiss, the blond put the key into the lock and turned it. There was a clicking noise as the key turned, Naruto pushed the gate open and could not hold in the whistle that escaped his lips. The house was as large as the Hyuuga estate by any means, but it was definitely one of the larger houses Naruto had seen. It looked to be about three stories and was made in a mixture of traditional Japanese and Western-style architecture. Naruto smiled as he made his way towards the house, using the same key that had opened the gate to open the front door.

Stepping inside Naruto looked around, he was currently in what seemed to be the living room. It was a fairly spacious room, with several comfortable-looking leather couches that were surrounding a coffee table. A little to the left and hanging on the wall was a very large flat-screen television. And situated around the room were several lamps, which were currently giving off dim lighting.

Naruto soon began to explore the rest of the house, with his first stop being the kitchen. The place was what Naruto would easily describe as a chef's wet dream, all the counters were made of stainless steel. The cabinets were made of Mahogany and while the kitchenware was not the most recent, it was still far superior to what most people had. The only problem Naruto could see was that he had no food in the cabinet or fridge, however, that was an easy problem to solve. Naruto created a Kage Bushin and ordered it to go buy food.

The next area to check was the second floor, this was where all of the smaller bedrooms were located. Though they were only small in comparison to the rest of the house, as each room was about three times the size of a standard apartment bedroom. Each one consisted of a queen-sized bed, two dressers, and a walk-in closet. They also each came with their own bathroom, which had a shower/bath combo that could even act as a personal Jacuzzi. There were ten of these rooms in all, enough to hold a decently sized family.

Walking up the stairs Naruto reached the master bedroom, this room was not just located on the top floor. But was in fact the entire third floor, and could in many ways be considered a house unto itself. In the left-hand corner near the entrance sat several leather chairs, which were arranged in front of another television. On the right-hand corner was a large king-sized bed, with red sheets and pillows and had a dresser on either side. Opposite the bed was a large walk-in closet, which was easily twice the size of the ones downstairs. To the left and a little farther from the chairs was a door, which led to a bathroom that had the same setup as the one downstairs; the only difference being that this one had a double shower head.

Naruto walked over to the bed and looked at the pictures which were arrayed on the dresser, there were pictures of his parents. Some of which were actually rather funny, like a picture which was obviously taken by his mom of his dad who had been eating ramen; only it looked like he had sneezed and had ramen coming out of his nose. However some were much more heartfelt, Naruto picked up one such picture as he gently pressed his fingers against the glass. It was one of both his parents, Kushina had both her hands on her belly, which was bulging and clearly showing when she was pregnant with him. Minato had one arm around her shoulder, while his right hand was on both of her hands. Both of them were smiling, looking for all the world like a young couple who was not about to suffer untold tragedy.

Naruto wiped away the tear that threatened to fall from his eyes, the thought of having a family was nearly overwhelming to the blond. However he knew better than anyone, that dwelling on the past got you nowhere. Better to look towards the future, than to ask yourself what-ifs, and what could have been. Besides… Naruto thought with a small smile, he already had four amazing women who he planned on marrying. They had become his family now, and with luck, he would eventually have children with them and finally have the large family he had always dreamed of. Sighing Naruto put the picture down and left the room, there was only one more room to check out.

The basement.

Thanks to the seals his father had put up on the basement, it had been able to survive the Kyuubi attack intact. Or at least that was what Jiraiya told him, according to him his father had taken extra precaution when designing the seals for the basement. Since the place was going to be where his father and mother studied seals, or sparred and practiced jutsu. However, Jiraiya was not sure of the state, since he was not able to actually enter the basement due to the seals keeping him and everyone else out.

Naruto walked down the stairs and opened the door, before a large grin formed on his face. The basement was split into four different sectors, the first being the library. Which was filled with what looked like thousands of scrolls, with all kinds of knowledge from jutsu to weapons forging and even some on civilian faculties like gardening. There was a large dojo, that had an array of different weapons mounted on the wall and Naruto noticed self-repairing seals on the floor, ceiling, and wall. On the left was what looked like an office, Naruto could see that it was where his father had studied and come up with new seals and jutsu. The last area looked like it was where said jutsu was practiced, it was a gravelly area and had several training dummies to launch jutsu at. Naruto also noticed this area had self-repairing seals as well.

He would so not be getting any sleep tonight, without using hand signs Naruto created around five hundred Kage Bushin's and had them head into the library to read.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Naruto awoke as the sunlight streamed in through his room. Sitting up in bed he stretched himself out, listening in satisfaction as his bones and joints popped. He looked over at the clock on the dresser, it currently reads 6:00 am. Despite only getting around four hours of sleep, Naruto felt completely refreshed, the benefits of being a Jinchurikki. Getting out of bed Naruto walked into the closet and got dressed in his standard shinobi attire, before walking down the stairs and into the basement. He still had a few hours to go until the test, so he should be able to get in a good workout until then.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

At training ground seven several people were waiting to see one Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze after Tsunade had let slip to them that said blond had returned.

"YOSH!" Lee shouted as he looked at his teammates and sensei, "I wonder how Naruto-kun has been doing, it will be most youthful to see him again!" Rock Lee was one of Konoha's foremost taijutsu experts, with the only people being able to keep up with him being his sensei Maito Gai and teammate Neji Hyuuga. Lee had been one of the few people who had truly respected Naruto, having understood what it was like to be made fun of for being the dead last. Because he did not have the ability to use chakra for anything other than tree climbing and water walking, Lee had been picked on during his time at the academy; much like Naruto had for not being able to make a Bushin.

"No doubt Naruto-san's flames of youth are burning even brighter than ever Lee!" Gai said as he went into his nice guy pose, complete with sparkling teeth.

"As much as I dislike your analogy," Neji Hyuuga but in, "I have to agree that he will definitely be much stronger than when we last saw him." Neji Hyuuga was considered the prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan, due to his expert use of the Jukken taijutsu and the sight of his Byakugan, which was said to be as powerful as the clan head Hiashi Hyuuga. Ever since his father had sacrificed his life to save his brother's, Neji had been embittered. Coming onto the belief that Fate ruled everything, and that no one could escape it. That had changed after Neji had fought Naruto when the blond had beaten him during the final stage of the Chunin Exams. While he was still a little stiff, Neji had grown into a powerful ninja and was much closer to his… eccentric team.

"He'll definitely be much stronger than last time," Tenten agreed, "I picked up a recent bingo book and Naruto has his own page in there. He's being called the Nidaime Kiroii Senkou, I hear Iwa is even thinking of giving him a SS class ranking and several countries have a 'surrender on sight' order if he catches them." Tenten Higurashi had never had as much interaction with Naruto that her other two teammates had, however, the blond had earned her respect and gratitude after he had beaten Neji. That respect had only climbed when she had heard that Naruto was not only the son of the Yondaime but also Kushina Uzumaki who had been well known for her ninjutsu and kenjutsu.

"OoooH! To have such a youthful nickname!" Lee shouted as he put a fist near his face, and his eyes seemed to light on fire. "I must work hard so that I may get my own youthful nickname! And if I cannot do that I will run around Konoha for two days on my thumbs! And if I cannot do that I will…"

As Lee and Gai began to go off on one of the 'youthful' rants, Tenten and Neji ignored them and made their own conversation.

"I wonder what Naruto's gonna be like now?" Ino wondered as she looked at her two companions, "with all the rumors going around, I'm sure that he's going to be much different from what we remember." Ino Yamanaka was the heir to the Yamanaka Clan, a clan well known for their mind Jutsu. During the academy days, she had been one of Naruto's many detractors, oftentimes making fun of him when he was unable to do something right. After Naruto's heritage had been announced, Ino had felt terrible for the things she had done and said to her fellow blond. She had told herself that from now on she would not judge people, without getting to know them first. "What do you think forehead?" Ino asked as she turned to Sakura.

Sakura did not say anything, however, at the mention of Naruto, her face turned a bright red.

"I think he's going to be even more troublesome now than he ever was, even more than when we were at the academy," Shikamaru said from where he lay on the grass. Shikamaru Nara was the heir to the Nara clan, like other people from said clan Shikamaru was the definition of lazy genius. It was nearly impossible to get him to do anything, the only people who could make him stop his cloud watching were his mother, Ino and Tsunade. Despite his lazy demeanor Shikamaru was considered to be one of the most intelligent members to ever come out of the Nara clan, it had been that intellect that had allowed him to see that there was more to Naruto than met the eye. Unlike most people in the academy, Shikamaru had never really made fun of the blond, whether because it was too troublesome or some other reason was hard to tell. However unlike most the Nara heir had seen the way people looked at Naruto like he was the worst kind of scum alive and had heard the whispers of monster and demon that accompanied him. However, it had not been until the Chunin Exams when Naruto used that red chakra, that Shikamaru had been able to place it all together. He was the only person within the Konoha eleven who knew that Naruto was the Jinchurikki for the Kyuubi, having studied up on it after Naruto had used the red chakra during the Final Exams. It had been that knowledge more than anything, which had earned Shikimaru's respect.

"He may… be stronger… but he's… still Naruto," Chouji said as he munched on his bag of premium potato chips. Chouji could be considered one of the few friends Naruto had really had at the academy or at least one of the few people who never made fun of him. Due to members of the Akamichi clan all having larger than average bodies for their jutsu, Chouji had been teased for it. During one of those times Naruto had happened to spot this, and despite not knowing Chouji stood up for him. While they had not done much after school, Naruto had occasionally joined him and Shikamaru a few times to do cloud watching.

"I bet you anything he'll be like his old man," Asuma said as he took a drag of his cigarette. Asuma Sarutobi was the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage and Professor. The cigarette smoking Jonin had at one time been a member of the twelve ninja guardians, a group whose job was to protect the Daimyo of Ki No Kuni. He had never really known much about Naruto, other than the pranks that the blond used to pull and drive his old man insane with. However, he had been a Chunin under Minato's command, "Back when I was a Chunin…"

"Man I can't stand all this waiting, it's killing me!" Kiba complained rather loudly as he stood with his team. Kiba Inuzuka was the clan heir of the Inuzuka clan, which was known for using combination attacks with their ninja dogs and enhanced senses. Members of this clan were often joined by members of the Hyuuga and Aburame Clans, in order to form powerful tracking teams. Kiba had been one of those people who stood on both sides of the fence when it came to Naruto, on one hand, he had often made fun of the blond for his inadequacies, yet on the other, he respected Naruto for the pranks he had been able to pull off. Like most members of his clan, Kiba was very brash and often got himself into trouble for jumping into things headfirst. However, he was also very loyal and had the same pack mentality that all members of his clan had.

"What do you think Hinata-san?" asked Shino in his monotone voice. Shino Aburame was the heir to the Aburame Clan, a clan that was known for the Kikochu bugs that they carried inside of them and used in battle. Shino had been one of the few people who not only never made fun of Naruto during the academy but also held some respect for the blond shinobi. Unlike many of his peers, Shino had been observant enough to see how many people made fun of Naruto for some unknown reason that seemed illogical to him. Because of their bugs, the Aburame clan was often ostracized, much like Naruto himself was. And even if he did not know why Naruto was made fun of, he still respected the blond for his perseverance and ability to never give up.

"I-I think Th-that N-Naruto-kun w-will be much str-stronger," Hinata stuttered as she poked her fingers together. Hinata Hyuuga was the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, she was a very shy and soft-spoken girl. Most considered her to be the anti-Hyuuga, as she was everything they were not, or as Kiba put it 'she did not have a large stick up her ass'. It had been well known that she had a Konoha-sized crush on Naruto, during their time at the academy Hinata had memorized where the blond would be and what times he would be there. She would often follow Naruto where ever he went and was always watching him from the shadows. The past four years since Naruto had been gone, Hinata had made strides to change herself and grow stronger. Though she remained extremely soft-spoken.

Kurenai Yuuhi looked over her students with a smile, the beautiful red-eyed woman was known throughout Konoha as the Genjutsu mistress for her powerful and inventive genjutsu. Though she was even more renowned for her aversion to perverts and the powerful and potentially deadly pervert-killing genjutsu she had created. Unlike many of the other Jonin, she did not know all that much about Naruto, having never really interacted with him. Though she did remember the many pranks the blond had pulled, and while she would not admit it she had found a lot of them to be quite funny.

A little ways away from the Konoha eleven stood five other figures, Iruka, Shizune, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. Shizune was standing by Tsunade's side as always, she had been disappointed when she heard that Naruto had come back and she was not there to see him, hopefully, she would get to see her brother figure today and see how strong he had become. Iruka was standing near a tree, as he anxiously waited for Naruto to show up. Tsunade and Jiraiya were both standing next to each other, wearing surprisingly similar smirks, though they were for slightly varied reasons. Kakashi was as always reading his new book with a giggle, causing many of the women near him to cast glares his way.

At 9:00 am exactly all those present spotted the figure emerging from the tree line on the opposite side, Shizune, Sakura, Ino, and Tenten all found a rather large blush spreading across their faces as they stared at the blond Adonis. Hinata who had had her Byakugan on spotted more of the blond than the others and let out an 'eep!' before passing out from blood loss. Even Kurenai who was currently dating Asuma found it hard to keep the heat from rising to her cheeks.

The blond walked up to the group with a large foxy grin present on his face, causing the women in the group to feel even more heat rise to their faces and a few felt heat going to… other areas. "Yo! I hope you guys have been doing good while I've been gone," Naruto said while the others stared at him.

For a moment no one said anything, most wondering who this person was. It was not until they saw the tell-tale whisker marks that they realized who they were staring at, most could not believe that Naruto who had been nothing more than a shrimp was now what many women would consider a Kami on earth. Even knowing what he had done and his now-famous reputation did not change their shock at seeing such a dramatic physical change.

The silence was broken when Lee appeared in front of Naruto, in his nice guy pose. "Yosh! Naruto-kun your youthful flames have truly grown stronger, I look forward to sparring with you! And if I cannot beat I will…"

Naruto stopped Lee's speech with a raised hand as he chuckled, it seemed that some people would never really change. "I look forward to sparring you as well, it will be interesting to see how our taijutsu styles compare."

As if a dam had opened the rest of the Konoha eleven rushed over to Naruto and began to bombard him with questions, barely even letting the blond get a word in. off to the side Tsunade and Jiraiya smiled at seeing how all of Naruto's friends reacted, and how happy they were to see him. As well as how happy Naruto seemed to be, now that he was back in Konoha and with the friends he had made throughout the years. Tsunade gave them a little bit of time to talk, before deciding to get the test started.

"As much as I would love to let you all talk Naruto's ear off, we do have a test that needs to get started," Tsunade said as she made the Konoha eleven back off of Naruto, who gave her a grateful smile as he adjusted his haori. "This test will be Kakashi Hatake vs. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, in a one-on-one battle!"

Naruto and Kakashi made their way out to the center of the training field, standing on opposite sides of each other next to the training posts. "Brings back memories, eh sensei?" Naruto asked with a smile as he looked at the middle training post, remembering when he had been tied to it when he and the other members of team seven had failed their genin test.

"It does, doesn't it?' Kakashi said with an eye smile as he to remembered his times on team seven. Both those when he was a child under Minato, and again when he was the sensei of team seven. "Now then remember to-"

"Come at you with the intention to kill," Naruto finished with a smirk. "If you want me to fight without restraint, then your gonna want to reveal that eye of yours. Otherwise, you might not actually live…"

"You know," Kakashi said as he lifted up his Hitea-ate, allowing his red Sharingan eye to show. "Somehow I think you may be right…"

"Are both fighters ready?" asked Tsunade who received a nod from both of them. "Then Hajime!"

Naruto and Kakashi kicked off the ground and launched themselves at each other, as they began a taijutsu battle. The two soon began trading blows as they attempted to land a hit on the other, Naruto using his father's style and Kakashi using a mixture of the Uchiha style and the Hatake style. For a while this went on with neither being able to really land a hit on the other, Naruto was faster than Kakashi and had far better reflexes. However, Kakashi had the Sharingan, which allowed him to keep track of Naruto's movements and predict where he would be next.

On the sidelines the Konoha eleven was watching the battle with shock, they knew Naruto had gotten strong. Given the rumors and news that had spread throughout the elemental nations, it was impossible not to. However hearing of that strength, is far different than actually seeing it.

"He's fast," Neji commented as he turned on his Byakugan, "my eyes can't keep up with Naruto and he's not even going all out."

Tenten turned to Neji in surprise, "he's really that strong?"

Neji nodded, "I also noticed several weights and seals on his persons, and I get the feeling this is not as fast as he can move with those weights on."

While Tenten gaped at Neji, Lee was covering his eyes with an arm as he cried. "To think Naruto-kun has gotten this strong, it is most youthful!" He brought his hands up in the air, before bringing a fist in front of his face. "I WILL INCREASE MY TRAINING AND TRY TO STRIVE TO FAN MY FLAMES OF YOUTH JUST LIKE NATUO-KUN! IF I CAN NOT DO THAT THEN I WILL DO FOUR THOUSAND LAPS TO SUNA AND BACK ON MY HANDS!"

"THAT A BOY LEE!" Gai said as he got into his nice guy pose, "IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU TRYING TO STOKE YOUR YOUTHFUL FLAMES! I WILL HELP YOU AND IF YOU CANNOT DO FOUR THOUSAND LAPS TO SUNA, I WILL DO SEVEN MILLION PUSHUPS ON MY THUMBS!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"OH LEE!

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

The two were soon hugging, which caused a genjutsu complete with crashing waves and sunset backdrop to appear behind them. Everyone who was within range of this nightmarish sight was soon on the ground, screaming as they tried to claw their eyes out in an effort to rid themselves of the sight. Several ninjas including one Kurenai Yuuhi was trying and failing to dispel said illusion, much to her horror and confusion.

Neji and Tenten who were used to it just sighed, as they looked back at the battle.

Naruto frowned as Kakashi blocked his kicked, before moving to counterattack him with a thrust to the solar plexus. Naruto twisted his body to the side as he dodged the attack, before spinning on his feet and launching another kick at Kakashi. The two had been fighting for around fifteen minutes now, which in the shinobi world a long time. Neither had gotten a good hit on each other, however, Naruto had not just been fighting with no plan. The entire time he had been analyzing his opponent's moves and reaction time given to Kakashi by the Sharingan and decided it was time to take it up a notch.

The battle began to play a different tune as Naruto switched styles, where before his moves were fast but predictable. Now his moves had turned into his namesake, coming at speeds that very few would ever be able to match and at angles that were impossible to predict; in other words, Naruto's attacks became a literal maelstrom.

After Naruto had reviewed his battle with Sasuke and studied what he could find on the Sharingan, Naruto had realized that the Doujutsu had one major flaw. They were susceptible to attacks that had no style to them. Every fighting style always had a set of stances that one would attack from, the most obvious being the ready position for the Gokken that Gai and Lee used. This is what allowed the Sharingan to predict an opponent's attacks, and make effective counterattacks by showing them where the chakra was going to be next. But if there was no style of fighting used, then the attacks would be impossible to accurately predict, since not even the one they were fighting knew what they were going to do next.

The 'style' Naruto was now using, could be considered more of a lack thereof. It was a style that he had created, with the help of Jiraiya. It was Naruto's counter to the Sharingan, though he had never used it on a Sharingan user before. Still, he figured now would be the best time to unveil this style, rather than wait until he ran into Sasuke or Madara and used it them, only to find out it didn't work.

Naruto threw the cyclopean Jonin a punch to the solar plexus when Kakashi went to swat the hand away however Naruto changed tactics. Moving his hand under the Kakashi's he grabbed it and pulled the jonin into a knee, Kakashi was able to counter it however he was not able to do anything when Naruto switched tactics again. Moving his leg up, then down and smashing a foot into Kakashi's stomach, bending the cycloptic jonin over as he attempted to regain his breath. He got back up and was just in time to dodge another attack, only to get hit by a punch that suddenly came at him from under the other attack.

"Holy Shit!" Kiba shouted as he watched Naruto kick Kakashi's ass, "when the hell did Naruto get so powerful!"

"You do realize that Naruto is an S rank ninja right?"

Everyone turned their attention to Jiraiya, "as good as Kakashi is he is still only A-ranked. And while Kakashi has more experience, Naruto is quite simply better and sometimes that's all one needs to win. Hell even with all my experience I still only win half the time whenever we spar all out, even then that number is going down."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the white-haired Sennin, going back to the battle they all had to wonder just how powerful was Naruto?

The taijutsu battle continued as Kakashi found himself completely on the defensive, he had not been able to even get in one counterattack ever since Naruto had changed tactics. Even his Sharingan was working against him, showing him where Naruto was going to be only to be proven false as Naruto switched attacks at the last second. The said blond came at Kakashi with a knife's edge to the throat, the cyclopean jonin tilted his head to dodge. Only for Naruto to make a fist as he passed by Kakashi's head, said jonin was sent flying as a great amount of force smashed into his cheek.

Kakashi managed to flip himself in the air before he landed on the ground, and skidded back about twenty feet. He winced as he felt the stinging on his cheek, wiping his hand along with his mouth he looked at it and saw that he was bleeding. "How did you hit me?" Kakashi asked with a mixture of pride and curiosity in his voice.

"I didn't," Naruto said with a smirk, seeing his sensei's confusion he decided to elaborate. "When you dodged my attack I merely added my wind element and released it as my fist passed by your head, it made it seem as if I hit when you when in truth you dodged."

"Th-that's ingenious!" Asuma spoke as his cigarette dropped from his mouth in shock, everyone turned to Asuma. "To use wind chakra in such a way… it's like the perfect counter to the Sharingan."

"What do you mean?" asked Ino who had seen what Naruto did, but was not exactly sure what it was she was supposed to be seeing.

"He calls it wind-fighting," Jiraiya answered for Asuma, making the Konoha eleven look at him. "Naruto took the basics that he had heard about of Tsu-Hime's super strength technique, however rather than put all his chakra into a single tenketsu point and releasing it at the point of impact. Naruto uses his wind chakra and continuously pumps it through his tenketsu to make a more wide-scale attack, without losing any of its power."

Many people could not help but feel shocked as they looked at Naruto, who was currently smirking.

"So that's lesson number one, taijutsu," Naruto said with a smirk.

Kakashi gave him an eye smile, "then we'll be going on to lesson number two, genjutsu." Kakashi went through a few hand seals before he and everyone else disappeared.

Naruto looked around curiously as he wondered what was going to happen.

"N-Naruto…"

Naruto turned his head and despite knowing this was a genjutsu felt his heart lurch, standing in front of him was Yugito. However she was missing her left arm, one of her eyes was hanging out of her socket and she was pierced with a sword through the stomach.

"N-Naruto why couldn't you save me?" she asked with a set of accusing eyes. Before he could respond another voice spoke up.

"You betrayed me."

Turning around Naruto saw that it was Mei this time, she was lying on the ground with several scimitar style swords pinning her to the ground. "You left me to die," she stared at him with a set of accusing eyes that bored into his soul.

For a moment Naruto could not even think as he felt his heart stop, it was only years of training that allowed him to remember he was in a genjutsu. Acting quickly before he could see his other two loved ones, Naruto stopped the chakra to his coils before flooding it with an intense burst of power. The genjutsu shattered as Naruto came back to the real world, he looked over at his sensei and glared. "That was a cheap trick sensei," Naruto stated in a dead tone.

Despite feeling an intense shiver run down his spine Kakashi spoke up, "well we are ninja, and we use whatever we can to win."

Naruto grit his teeth for a moment before sighing, Kakashi was right after all. "I suppose, then allow me to introduce you to my favorite genjutsu." Naruto held out his hand and a set of seals began to glow along his arm and ring finger.

"Kongangyou No Jutsu! (Bringer of Darkness)"

"Th-that's Nidaime-Sama's most powerful genjutsu!" Kurenai said in shock, "Naruto is supposed to be terrible at genjutsu, so how can he do this?"

"Fuiinjutsu," Jiraiya answered her question, "because Naruto is unable to do genjutsu he tried to find a way around it. He did this by creating several seals, one that creates a specific set of hand seals for certain genjutsu he thought would be useful, and another that simulated perfect chakra control so that he could use the genjutsu."

Everyone was shocked when they heard what Naruto had managed to do with seals, no one had known what they could do. Except for the typical sealing scroll and exploding tags, that Naruto could get rid of one of his weaknesses by using seals was incredible.

Kakashi looked around with something akin to fear as he tried to see out of the genjutsu, however, even his Sharingan could not penetrate the inky blackness that surrounded him. He quickly brought his hands up in the release seal and flooded his chakra coils.

"KAI!"

….

"KAI!"

As he continued to do this with nothing happening he became increasingly desperate and flooded as much chakra as he could into releasing the genjutsu.

"KAI!"

Finally, the genjutsu shattered, except that what he saw made him wish he hadn't. standing before him was none other than what could only be something out of his worst nightmare, he was in Konoha except it was not the Konoha he knew. The entire place was burning, corpses laid strewn about the entire area, worst off was he knew all the dead bodies before him.

Minato was pinned to a wall by several of his own Kunai, his sightless eyes staring at Kakashi with what looked almost like shame.

Half of Obito's body was gone, having looked like he had been ripped in half with the muscles and other innards falling from his body.

Rin was missing both arms and legs, her eyes had been pulled out and were in her open mouth giving her an utterly ghastly look.

But the worst was his father, a man who had been admired as one of the strongest ninja in the village next to the Sandaime and Sennin in his time. Before he had sacrificed his mission in order to save his team, bringing shame on him and making him commit seppuku. He was just as Kakashi had found him, impaled on his own sword, with his sightless eyes staring at nothing. Though they held a look of sadness and shame, and the cyclopean jonin could not help but feel that they were that way because of him.

"Obito! Rin! Minato-Sensei! Father!" Kakashi stared at the corpses wide-eyed, were it not for years of experience he would have broken down right there. As it was his Sharingan was able to see through this illusion, despite its realism.

"kai!"

The illusion shattered and Kakashi was back in the clearing with Naruto glaring at him, "not very nice when someone does that to you is it sensei!"

Kakashi winced knowing he deserved that, "I'm sorry," he said, "I guess I didn't think about what it might make you feel."

"It's fine," Naruto sighed as he took a deep breath, "as long as you learn your lesson and don't do something like that in a spar again we'll be cool. Anyway, I think we have one final lesson, don't we?"

Kakashi's eye smiled glad to see that while he could be vicious, Naruto had still kept his forgiving nature. "Your right lesson two genjutsu complete, next up lesson three, ninjutsu." Kakashi began speeding through several hand seals faster than any of the Konoha eleven save Naruto could follow, before putting his hand to his mouth and calling out his jutsu.

"Katon: Gokyakou No Jutsu! (Fire Release: Grand Fire Ball Jutsu)"

A large ball of fire shot out of Kakashi's mouth and barreled down towards Naruto, who had begun his own hand sealing.

"Suiton: Suejinheki!"

Moisture began to gather around Naruto as he used his chakra to pull it out of the air, less than a second later a giant wall of water had formed and blocked the fireball from going any further. The fireball crashed against the water wall with a hiss of steam, before it dissipated. When it did Naruto went through even more hand seals.

"Suiton: Saryuudan No Jutsu!"

The water wall soon began to swirl and form the shape of a dragon with yellow eyes, the dragon gave a roar as it launched itself at Kakashi. Said shinobi jumped out of the way, letting the dragon crash against the ground, drilling its way through the rock and creating a decent crater which was now filled with water.

"Unbelievable…" Shizune said in awe, "I thought only Nidaime-Sama was able to draw water molecules out of the air."

"No, anyone can do it if they have a high enough affinity," Jiraiya said, "water is one of Naruto's most powerful elements."

Shizune looked at Jiraiya in surprise, "you mean he has more than one?"

Jiraiya grinned, "Naruto has three, water, wind, and lightning."

Shizune along with the people who had heard what the Sennin had said felt their mouths hang open, even most jonin never reached getting the third element. Yet Naruto had gotten three within just four years, it would have shocked them even more if they had learned he mastered most of those elements within the first year.

In retaliation for Naruto's jutsu, Kakashi went through several more hand seals before calling out his jutsu.

Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix flower Jutsu)"

Several basketball-sized fireballs shot from Kakashi's mouth, forcing Naruto to go through several more hand signs.

"Suiton: Tepodamma! (Water Release: Water Bullets)"

Naruto launched several water balls which crashed against the fireballs and negated them, as did Naruto went through more hand seals.

"Hyoton: Kitsune Hisu No Jutsu! (Ice Release: Ice Fox Jutsu)"

The water began to coalesce in the air and take shape again, this time into four small foxes with red eyes. However, rather than just launched themselves at Kakashi they froze over, before attacking. Kakashi's eyes widened as he dodged the foxes, however, the ice creatures merely turned around and attacked again. Forcing him to continue dodging.

"Hyoton!," Shizune said in shock, "how can he possibly do Hyoton jutsu, I thought only those from Yuki or those with bloodlines could use those!"

"I think you'll find that Naruto is a man of many surprises," Jiraiya said with a grin.

Sakura listened to the discussion going on around her and could not help but feel somewhat distressed, it was obvious Naruto had surpassed her. Hell, she was pretty sure that Naruto had surpassed everyone here, it made her wonder what she had been doing all these years. It felt as if her teammate had left her behind again, and she was still running to catch up.

Getting tired of constantly dodging the foxes, which seemed to have almost limitless energy, and knew where he was even after using a kariwimi. Kakashi went through several hand seals, calling upon his only original jutsu.

"Raikiri! (Lightning Blade)"

Lightning formed on Kakashi's hand and as the next fox came up to him, he sliced at it, breaking the fox into pieces. Kakashi continued this until he had destroyed the last one. He was just about to look for Naruto when he felt cold steel on his neck and froze, looking down he saw a tri-pronged kunai right next to his jugular.

"Looks like I win sensei," Naruto said with a smirk.

The cycloptic jonin looked at his sensei's famous kunai in shock, before he started chuckling. "When did you mark me?" Kakashi asked curiously, knowing that Naruto had not thrown the kunai since he had not seen it.

"During our taijutsu battle," Naruto answered, "I marked you when I grabbed your arm."

Kakashi looked at his sleeve and found that he did indeed have the Hiraishin seal, on the sleeve of his shirt. Kakashi chuckled, "looks like you really have grown, and you've already surpassed me."

Naruto grinned as he pulled his kunai away and put it in his pouch, "thanks sensei." The two walked back over to the stunned crowd, who was staring at Naruto like he had grown a second head. "What?" Naruto asked with a confused expression as he tilted his head to the side, all the girls there bit their lips in an attempt not to glomp the poor boy and shout 'kawaii!'.

Kiba snorted, "what? He just kicks Kakashi's ass into next week and all he says what!"

Several others nod at this, however, Naruto just rolls his eyes, "Hello S class ninja here!"

Tsunade looks at Naruto as she starts speaking, "you really have gotten better, I think it's safe to say genin does not suit your skills anymore." Tsunade pauses for a moment, "however due to the fact that we have yet to test you in the field with our jonin, I can only grant you the rank of Tokabetsu (special) jonin. Though that should work until some of the other jonin rate your skills."

"You're just giving me this rank so that I can suffer through council meetings, didn't you?" Naruto deadpanned. Part of the prerequisite for being allowed a seat on the council if you were the last of your clan was to be at least of Tokabetsu jonin rank.

Tsunade smirked, "now why would you think that? You don't think I would do something so cruel to someone I consider a son would you?"

"Yes, yes I think you would baa-chan," Naruto answers, "Great this is just what I need. Having to sit through a bunch of meetings with greedy old bastards, who can't even shit without help."

Everyone laughed at Naruto's description of the council, many feeling that it was slightly true of the civilian side.

"Think of it this way," Tsunade said, "at least your getting experience for when you become Hokage."

"Ugh… that's right," Naruto groaned, "when I'm Hokage I'm gonna have to deal with this shit even more. Hmm… maybe I should just not be Hokage, I'll let Konohamaru take the title when he is ready instead."

"Oh no you don't," Tsunade said, "I have waited too long to retire, when you're ready your gonna take that damn title off my hands so I can relax."

Naruto pouted a bit before he gave her a mischievous grin, "well I suppose I can do that. After all your getting too old for this job baa-chan," everyone stepped away from Tsunade who had gotten a tick mark on her head. Naruto however continued on as if oblivious to the woman's growing anger, "I mean who knows, you might even bite the dust before Konohamaru's ready. In fact, I think we should put you in a retirement home right now."

BOOM!

Naruto jumped out of the way just in time to dodge one of Tsunade's punches, "careful baa-chan, wouldn't want you getting cramps at your age," Naruto said with a laugh.

"God damn brat! Stand still and take your punishment like a man!" Tsunade yelled as she tried to smash Naruto's face.

Naruto merely laughed at her as he continued to make fun of the enraged woman.

Everyone else sweatdropped at seeing Tsunade trying to kill Naruto.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade chugged down her saucer of sake before slamming it down onto the table.

"You're still an extremely heavy drinker eh, Tsu-hime?" Jiraiya said with an amused smirk as he poured her another saucer. However, he was forced to hold up his hands when Tsunade glared at him.

"Can it pervert!" the busty blond said as she took another drink of the sake, this time sipping it and allowing the liquid to burn its way down her throat. "Now why don't you tell me what this is about? And if you say it's a date, you can be sure I'm going to pound your ass into the dirt!"

"My I didn't know you liked it rough Tsunade-chan!" Jiraiya said with a lecherous grin, which soon turned into a look of fear when Tsunade's face turned red with anger. "Alright alright," the Toad Sennin said defensively, "I wanted to talk to you about Naruto." Jiraiya reached into his pouch and pulled out one of his apprentices silencing seals, placing it under the table before speaking.

"What about Naruto?" Tsunade asked, "Is something wrong?"

Jiraiya looked slightly uncomfortable, "he's having a bit of trouble with his seal." He quickly held up his hands in a placating gesture when he saw Tsunade look like she was about to freak. "Don't worry the seal isn't breaking or anything, it's just loosened," he finished lamely.

"Loosened? What happened?" Tsunade asked when she saw the slightly guilty expression.

"I… it's actually my fault it happened, I had used the key to loosen the seal. I had hoped it would allow Naruto to access more of Kyuubi's chakra…"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Flashback…

Jiraiya groaned as he pushed himself on the ground, looking up he found himself petrified as he gazed at what had almost killed him. Or rather who had almost killed him.

Naruto was currently in a vicious battle against Yugito and Bee who had pushed him out of the way, and the battle was not going in the favor of the other two Jinchurikki. The Kyuubi's chakra had completely covered Naruto's body, mixing itself in with his blood, and had burnt off all of the boy's skin. Not that you could even see the skin, since the chakra was so thick it actually looked similar to the full transformation that Yugito and Bee could do. Outlining Naruto's form was what looked like fox bones, giving Naruto an even more menacing appearance. His eyes were a glowing white, and his teeth looked like large black fangs. Behind him were seven foxtails which were currently swishing back and forth in an agitated manner.

Jiraiya was not quite sure what had happened, one moment he was loosening the seal to allow Naruto better access to Kyuubi's chakra. The next moment all hell had broken loose, with the vile power exploding out of Naruto in an uncontrolled manner.

Bee and Yugito were using a combination of teamwork and power to try and subdue the blond, without hurting him too badly. However it was hard since Naruto was not going easy on them, and the Kyuubi was the strongest of the nine. Naruto sent out his tails, forcing the two other Jinchurikki who were in full cloak mode to dodge and weave in between them. Yugito jumped back as Bee came at Naruto, using his eight tails to hold down Naruto's seven. His last tail wrapped itself around Naruto himself, allowing Bee to lift the blond into the air and toss him.

Naruto was sent sailing before he smacked onto a rock wall sending dust and debris everywhere. A red light began to gather in the dust cloud, and the two were soon forced to dodge a giant cylinder of destruction. The beam tore a path through the landscape before exploding in the distance, at the same time Naruto shot off the wall and engaged Bee in a battle. The Hachibi Jinchurikki was forced to dodge the vicious attacks of the blond, however, Naruto managed to catch him off guard and smacked him with his tail. Bee was soon sent flying to the same place he had sent Naruto to earlier.

Yugito tried to use Bee's battle as a distraction to get up close, however, Naruto seemed to have heard her as he looked over at her and roared. Launching himself at the woman, Naruto used his claws to try and swipe at her. Yugito did her best to dodge while trying to get Naruto to come back to his senses.

"Naruto-kun you have to control yourself!" Yugito yelled in her semi demonic-sounding voice, "Don't let all that power consume you!"

Naruto did not act as if he even heard Yugito, and just continued to attack. After a while he managed to catch the Nibi Jinchurikki off guard by sending a blast of compressed chakra at her. It smacked her dead on and sent the young woman into a rock face, Yugito coughed as the force of the impact created a large crater. She was just about to get back up when she let out a cry of pain and felt a stinging sensation in her left shoulder. Looking up she saw Naruto who had just impaled her through the shoulder with one of his tails.

"Please," Yugito said to Naruto in a soft voice, trying once more to get the blond back to his senses. "This isn't you…" she trailed off as Naruto tilted his head and looked at her as if trying to solve a piece to a puzzle. Yugito tried again to bring back the person she had found herself falling for, "please, come back to me."

Naruto looked away as he grabbed his head, shaking it like he was trying to clear it or in pain. Bee and Jiraiya who had been rushing towards them stopped, not sure what was going on, and knew better than to try something with Yugito currently at the blond's mercy. Naruto continued shaking his head as he grit his fangs, he turned his head to look at Yugito. "Y-Y-Yugito… chan…" the voice was distorted and sounded completely demonic, but the fact that Naruto could speak at all meant that he was still there. Before anything else could be said, Naruto pulled his tail out of Yugito. Throwing his head up Naruto roared, sending out a stream of continuous red energy.

Bee and Jiraiya who saw this realized what was happening, "he's letting' out all the energy into the sky, trying to drain Kyuubi's chakra dry."

Jiraiya looked over at Bee, "tell me do you ever stop rapping?"

Killer Bee just looked at him like he was stupid, "why would I quit, when my raps a hit."

Jiraiya just shook his head before looking back at his apprentice, he was just in time to see Naruto turning back. The red chakra began to recede, first from his face and then continuing downwards. As it did the Toad Sennin could not hold in a grimace, his apprentice looked like he had his skin peeled. The young teen's entire body was an angry red color, blood was leaking out of many spots where the skin had been completely burned away. Some areas were so bad that Jiraiya could see Naruto's muscles and organs, it definitely looked painful, and judging by Naruto's hoarse screams it was more than just that.

Finally, Naruto was back to normal, or at least as normal could be when in such bad condition. The blond dropped to the ground as exhaustion and pain took him, thankfully Yugito was right there and managed to catch him before he could hit the dirt. She sat down and gently placed Naruto's head in her lap, tears of worry running down her face as she stroked the blonde hair, which had started to grow back. Soon the rest of the boy's body began to heal, normal and healthy-looking skin began forming on him. Crawling up his body making it almost seem alive, as steam began to sprout from the other wounds that were healing.

Naruto opened his eyes and saw Yugito's tear-streaked face over him, despite his hand feeling like a two hundred-ton weight the blond managed to lift it up. He placed it on Yugito's face and began to stroke her cheek with his thumb, making the blond woman purr and lean into it. "A-are you… ok, Yugi-chan?" asked Naruto in a voice that sounded as if it had not been used in years.

"B-Baka," Yugito said as she grabbed Naruto's hand with her own, "I'm t-the one who should be asking that."

Naruto smiled as his eyes began to close, "Sorry to worry you, I'll be fine… after some… some rest." The blond Shinobi's eyes closed as his hand became limp, making Yugito hold his hand a little tighter to her face as he fell asleep.

Jiraiya breathed out the sigh of relief he had been holding in, he knew that they had been lucky. Had it not been for Naruto's incredible willpower and his feelings for Yugito, the Toad Sennin was sure that things would have ended much worse. He would have to make sure Naruto knew to be more careful when using Kyuubi's chakra from now on.

Flashback end…

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"That was extremely reckless of you Jiraiya!" Tsunade said as a scowl marred her features.

"I know! I know ok!" Jiraiya said, "I should have been more careful and checked the seal before messing with it. But I didn't think the repercussions would be that bad, I thought it would just allow Naruto to access more of Kyuubi's power."

Tsunade sighed, "is there any danger of something like that happening again?" she had to be sure that Naruto would be alright, both for his sakes and whatever team he was on a mission with.

"It hasn't happened since that first time," Jiraiya said, "even when he does use Kyuubi's power he does a pretty good job controlling it. Right now he can go up to six tails and still retain control, however, each tail is twice as difficult to gain control over than the last one. Still, I wouldn't worry, he has to lose all forms of emotional control in order for him to go berserk and that's a lot harder to do now that he has matured."

Tsunade sighed, "very well, but next time be more careful ok?"

"Don't worry I won't be doing that again," Jiraiya said.

The rest of the time the two teammates sipped their drinks in peace.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Man I love boos!"

Naruto rolled his eyes as Kiba walked around the Akamichi owned restaurant with two bottles of sake in hand, the dog ninja was already drunk. Who would have thought that Kiba was a lightweight, Naruto snickered to himself as he looked around at the people there. The Konoha eleven had decided to come here and celebrate Naruto's return and recent promotion, allowing Naruto to talk with some of his friends. Over in the corner of the room, Naruto spotted Shikamaru, Shino, and Neji all of whom seemed to actually be sober. He made his way over to them, "yo! Shino, Shika, Neji how are you guys doing?"

"We are doing pretty well Naruto-san?" Shino said as he looked at the blond through his goggles, at least that was what it looked like, it was hard to tell with Shino.

"I take it these last four years have been good then?" Naruto asked as he took a small sip of his sake.

"Nothing too troublesome has happened if that's what you mean," Shikamaru said in his lazy drone.

"It has been pretty quiet without you in Konoha," Neji put in as he picked at his food.

"Yeah well not many people can liven a place up as I can," Naruto said with a small smirk.

"That's true, you seem to make trouble everywhere you go," Shikamaru said with a mumble of troublesome blond.

As the conversation continued Naruto looked out over the small group of people. Lee was talking with Tenten as he made enthusiastic gestures, Naruto could not make out the entire conversation but he had heard something about 'youthful parties' in the discussion. Ino was currently talking with Sakura, who had managed to thankfully drag the platinum blond away from Naruto a few minutes ago. Kiba was still running, well stumbling around with alcohol in his hands. Chouji was not surprisingly over by the food table, eating to his heart's content. In fact, the only person who seemed to be missing was…

"N… *hic*… Naruto-kun…"

Naruto paled as he turned around, to find a drunk Hinata trying to make her way towards him. Truth be told Naruto was not quite sure what to make of the lavender-eyed girl, he had not really had much interaction with her other than her blushing and fainting whenever she was near him. It had taken spending time talking to various women and learning what he could about interacting with them, that he had realized the girl had a crush on him. However there was a problem with this, the simple fact was Naruto did not have any romantic feelings for the girl. She was his friend and he would not deny she was physically attractive, however, she was just not the kind of woman he looked for when looking for a relationship.

The girl soon stumbled into him, forcing Naruto to wrap his arms around her so she would not fall. this however proved to be a mistake, as she pulled his head down so it was next to hers. "Have I… *hic*… have I ever told you… how much I… how much…" just as the girl looked like she was about to kiss him when thankfully her head dropped and she fell unconscious.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he lifted the girl up, he looked over at Neji and gesture to Hinata. "hey Neji do you think you could…"

"Yes I will take her back home," Neji replied as he took Hinata from the blond. Neji shook his head, "I wonder what Hiashi-Sama will think when his daughter comes home passed out from drinking?"

"Probably something along the lines of picking up Tsunade's bad habits," Naruto said with a small chortle.

"She is learning from Hokage-Sama," Shino said.

Naruto perked up at this, "really I thought Sakura was the only person she was teaching."

"No Ino is learning from her too…" Shikamaru said with a groan, "she's picked up that troublesome woman's bad habits."

"Oh, she's started to drink and gamble as well?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"Worse," Shikamaru falter shudder run down his spine, "she seems to have picked up the habit of beating us men every chance she gets."

Naruto laughed and was just about to say something when…

"NO LEE DON'T DRINK THAT!"

Naruto turned around just in time to see Lee drink some sake Kiba had offered him. There was one moment where it seemed like time stood still, right before Lee became a whirlwind of action and mass destruction.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sighed as he threw off his clothes, before laying down in bed. It had taken nearly an hour to subdue Lee and had required a combination of Shikamaru's Kage Mane No Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu), Chouji's Baika No Jutsu (partial Expansion Jutsu), and Naruto hitting several pressure points to knock the boy out. After that, they had been forced to clean up the mess, while Tenten dragged Lee out as she apologized.

Laying his head on the pillow Naruto closed his eyes, tomorrow was gonna be another big day. He was going to go to his first council meeting, so it would be best if he got some sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Omake: Jiraiya's punishment pt. 3

Jiraiya awoke with a groan, his head was currently ringing and it felt like he had gone several rounds as Tsunade's punching bag; which was an accurate description of what happened. As he opened his eyes he realized that he was lying on a table, which he was currently bound to. His arms were tied under the table in a way that he could not even move them, while his legs were spread eagle and tied to the end. Not only that but his chakra was completely sealed, so he could not use any of his sealless jutsu to escape.

A little ways away was a television, which suddenly turned on. A woman with large breasts and an odd mask with red swirls on the cheek appeared, "hello Jiraiya," came distorted and demonic voice. "You must be wondering why you are here, your perverted ways have caused many problems recently. Therefore we are going to play a little game," Jiraiya's eyes widened as he tried to break out of his bonds, as he did that a small slot opened up at the ends of the table near his feet. And ran up to his male goods A small round chainsaw appeared at the end of it, which began to spin... "For the next twenty-four hours, you will be forced to watch Yaoi anime, every time you close your eyes or turned your head the chainsaw will move two inches. Good luck…"

The screen went blank, before being replaced by something Jiraiya would never in a million years want to see. Out of reflex he both closed his eyes and turned his head, the chainsaw moved four inches. Jiraiya looked down and noticed this, "Hey! I thought you said it was only two inches!" he began to struggle and break the bonds holding him, only for the blade to move two inches. "oh boy, oh boy," Jiraiya said, "come on you can do this, just twenty-four hours, come on Jiraiya. He turned his head as he tried to the television, only to force it away again.

The blade moved another two inches.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

For the next twenty-four hours, Konoha was host to ghastly screams; making many people quickly assume that Konoha was becoming haunted.