Chapter 22

Three days of festivities and a whole load of food later, Naruto felt like he was fit to burst. His small tummy was swelled all day long due to the food forced on him by his current hosts; Kaiza and his wife Tsunami. Having stayed in the family home in the time he had been in Wave, he found himself opening up more and more to the kind family who accepted him with open arms. He didn't know what caused this feeling of warmth to blossom in his soul, but he knew that he wouldn't have it any other way.

Somehow his mindset and personality had changed drastically from his experiences. His encounter with Orochimaru and his subsequent confusion had brought something to the forefront of his psyche that seemed to brighten up the world around him. Looking back on his past endeavours, he found that his experiences before his excursions in Oto were all dull and lifeless. When he laughed back then, it seemed so hollow.

'Does that mean that I should stop pulling pranks on people?' The 9 year old blond thought.

'NAH!' The Konoha Jinchuuriki broke out into a wide grin, so startlingly bright and mischievous that Kaiza and his son, Inari, boggled at him, their eyes wide in innocent curiosity.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, the blond waved a hand in front of his face.

"N-NOTHING! Ehehe..."

His laughter came out a tad bit more diabolical than he realised, as father and son turned to each other and shrugged. Obviously Naruto wasn't entirely sane, and at that thought the family of four burst out into laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! Brat I can't believe I actually thought you were sane! Anybody who would intentionally piss off one of the most powerful Nuke-nin in the world and then proceed to brain a megalomaniac with a flying sword...AND ALL THAT BY MISTAKE!..."

Tazuna fell off his chair, his beer belly rumbling with good-natured mirth as he struggled to retain some semblance of respect. Tsunami glanced at her father in mock disappointment and Naruto sighed in content.

Was this what a real family felt like? Would it always be this warm and comfortable if his parents were there and living with him? Naruto immediately squashed his thoughts; there was no way he would ruin the good mood by falling into depression, besides, he had all but banished his problems at the Valley of the End. Tilting his head he pondered on that stray thought.

'What a fitting name for the place.'

"So Naruto, what do you plan on doing once you leave Wave?"

Naruto looked startled for a moment as his mind caught up with the question Kaiza had asked. The Patriarch's voice was light and filled with a certain emotion that the 9 year old couldn't quite identify. He did know that it made him feel nice...loved even. Yet as he finally comprehended the man's question, he remembered that he had to leave.

He had to find out what had happened to Jiraiya and if his 'pseudo-Sensei' had been hurt by Orochimaru, he was going right back to Sound and wreaking the worst hell he could think up on the pale-faced, snake man and his cronies.

"Heh, well I gotta look for my...my friend, I guess."

If the family had any questions as to why he paused, they didn't ask them. Naruto loved this family; they truly respected and accommodated him, even when they had no obligation to do so.

"Naruto-niisan! Will you teach me that Trampoline thingy?"

The blond grinned at that.

"Of course Inari! But first you have to get your throwing skills up. To pull it off you have to be able to throw an object as fast as ya' can! Understood?"

The black-haired boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Good! I'll leave the instructions with your dad, so you can both try it out when you're ready, ok?"

Again, Inari nodded.

The Uzumaki heir pushed his seat back from the oak 6-seater table the family was currently situated around.

"Well, I gotta be off then! It was great sticking with you guys! I really liked it!"

The family immediately stiffened at the blonde's words. It seemed he was already taking his leave. The small 9 year old was suddenly enveloped in a warm hug and Naruto froze in surprise as the pink fabric of Tsunami's Kimono covered his face.

"It is we that should be thanking you, Naruto-chan! You will always be welcome here, make sure you remember that."

Naruto, thought he heard a small sniff from the young woman, and he felt tears stinging at the corner of his eyes at her words.

"I will Tsunami-san."

After a moment longer, Inari's mother released him, stepping back to peer through watery eyes at her guest. He was such a nice boy; intelligent, head-strong and most of all polite. She hoped that Inari would grow up just like him, for she knew without a doubt that the pre-teen in front of her would become someone very important in the future.

Naruto smiled softly at the woman who treated him like a son. He didn't know what it felt like; what was his response meant to be? Should he step forward and hug her? Should he just smile and wave? Or was there something else that he should do in this situation?

His smile faltered at his thoughts. What did it really feel like to have a family?

His reverie was broken as a brawny arm descended on his shoulders. He tilted his head to the side to find a positively beaming Kaiza staring him in the eye with a knowing gleam in his gaze.

"Hey kid, have fun out there for us, 'kay? Me an' Inari'll hold the fort until whenever it is you can come visit again!"

Kaiza's grip tightened slightly before he slipped his arm from the blonde's shoulder. Naruto plodded uncertainly to the front door of the house. Pausing briefly, he turned and raised his hand in a solitary gesture of farewell.

"Thank you, everyone. Thank you so much."

He didn't look back.

XXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya of the Sannin made good time as he tracked Naruto to Nami no Kuni. The route the young Jinchuuriki had taken was a wild one; he had gone completely off track and the elite Shinobi was forced to use Kage Bunshin to scour around for the next clue due to the kid flying on his damned Airboard most of the day. Once he found a lead he would pick up the pace once again, yet he quickly discovered that his 9 year old 'protégé' was heading towards Wave Country so he could disregard the tracks unless he didn't run into any sign for a while.

What Naruto was doing in Wave though, was a question the Gama-Sennin could not fathom. Wave was an out-of-the-way, small and disconnected island that didn't hold any sort of shine for the Shinobi population. Sure they sometimes had to do missions there, but other than that you would be hard-pressed to find a Shinobi in Wave Country.

Was he just moving about on a whim? Was that how he ended up in Oto too?

If that was the case, it seemed the Uzumaki heir needed to be taught a tough lesson on carelessness. Roaming around without a care in the world was the fastest way to get yourself killed these days and it seemed that Naruto had no idea what kind of trouble he was stirring up with his lackadaisical actions.

As he dashed over the length of a wide river, the Konoha spymaster's eyes shifted to the right, searching for something that he could not see. Those two ninja had been following him for a while now, but they definitely weren't from Sound, that was for sure. They had come from the South, the direction in which Tea Country lay, and yet they had adjusted their direction a short while after Jiraiya had detected them. That had been about ten minutes ago, and it was only now that the toad-summoner realised why they had done what they did.

A brief Chakra flicker reached the Konoha ninja, and he would have missed it if he hadn't been concentrating. Jiraiya leapt from the river bank into the cover of the opposite foliage, sprinting flat-out towards Nami no Kuni. The main body of water separating the Shinobi continent with Wave was only a short distance ahead. He had to reach there before Naruto could get stuck in another mess even bigger than the one he created in Orochimaru's underground Village.

'Four...maybe five.'

They were ANBU and they were most definitely the best whichever country had sent them had to offer. With any luck, it would be a Konoha team on a mission but Jiraiya wasn't getting his hopes up.

Jumping from the limb of the last tree, the green and red-clad ninja spared a brief glance back to see if he could spot his two pursuers. He was so focused on the people behind him that he completely forgot about anything in front of him.

"CRACK!"

Jiraiya reeled in mid-air before he plummeted through the surface of the ocean. Sputtering in indignation and due to the large amount of sea water he had swallowed, the six-foot Shinobi glared at his impromptu obstacle.

"I-ta-ta-ta-ta-tai! What the –

WHAT THE HELL?! ERO-SENNIN?!"

Said ninja sighed heavily. Just typical.

Why was it, that he always encountered Naruto in the most...'collision-esque' sort of ways?

"Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Pulling himself to his feet, the blond raised a shaky finger whilst massaging his right temple with the other hand.

"HEY! I could ask you that too!"

Jiraiya shook his head at Minato's son's childishness. Honestly, he'd go through a life and death situation, his head screwed on backwards with his antics and laughter rocking his entire body and yet he'd still come out as if he was the only one in the world to do so.

Mind you, he probably was, but that wasn't the point.

"Umm...so you're alive huh..."

Jiraiya puffed out his chest proudly.

"OF course I am you brainless brat! How could the great Toad Sage, Jiraiya of the Sannin, fall to one as lowly as 'Rochi-chan?!"

Naruto grinned.

"Great!"

A feeling of intense dread flooded the elder Shinobi. Naruto had...chirped his answer like a Robin Red-Breast. The image was quite disturbing and the Konoha Spymaster didn't trust the overt enthusiasm his liege was exuding.

"Heh, Ero-Sennin, are you bein' chased or something? Can't you feel all those people coming towards us?"

Jiraiya stiffened as the first two signatures passed right under his feet. So they took to underwater did they? For what reason were they following him then?

Jiraiya flew through the seals for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu before placing his right hand flat on the surface of the water. Not waiting to see which toads turned up, he turned and ran as fast as he could in the direction he felt the two were moving.

"GAMAKEN, GAMAHIRO, HELP NARUTO OUT!"

Naruto coughed as the smoke began to clear. Just what the hell was going on here? He'd only been out of Wave a few hours and already things were blowing up around him. And now Jiraiya had left too! Naruto was definitely getting him back for this one; that's twice he'd shunted him to the side without a care for his feelings.

"So you are Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto turned as a scratchy, deep baritone reached his ears. Sitting on their haunches beside each other, were two of the biggest toads Naruto had ever seen. The one on the right was maroon in colour, a large dark-grey, circular tattoo inked from just below his eyes to his chin. Bright yellow eyes shone from under curved, horn-like eyebrows, a large spiked fork held in one hand and a shield in the other. To his side stood another large toad, this one looking more regular than the one beside him. Two sword hilts could be seen poking over both of his shoulders as he regarded the 9 year old in front of him.

"It seems, young Naruto, that we have no time to talk. It will be a pleasure fighting alongside you."

Both toads sprang diagonally forwards, causing the three to surround the lone Shinobi who landed in their midst. The ninja was tall and striking, a mask of bandages wrapped around his mouth and neck. What stuck out to the two toads and boy surrounding him was the tilted Mist headband tied to his head and the giant Zanbatou resting on his back. The man didn't even look fazed at the two large toads flanking him; he simply turned around to stare at the trees from whence he had appeared.

"...HEY YOU! WHY YOU FOLLOWIN' ERO-SENNIN?!"

Naruto caught a glimpse of a flashing grey eye, before a dense cloud of Mist descended on all four of them.

"Momochi Zabuza. By order of the Mizukage, you are hereby sentenced to death along with your accomplices."

Naruto's mouth fell open in shock. Accomplices?! He didn't even know the guy, he'd just dropped out of nowhere and now they were going to try and kill him?!

"NARUTO! BEHIND YOU!"

The blond-haired Jinchuuriki didn't have time to work out which toad had warned him before he was forced to jump to the side, a Kunai whistling by his cheek. That was a narrow miss; it seemed like these guys weren't pulling any punches.

Growling, the blond felt his chest tighten with his resolve, his mind echoing with the sentiments raised from the ashes of his experiences. It was like the flip of a switch on a timeless nuclear bomb; one moment he was standing, wondering what the hell was going on, and the next the whole world was zipping by as he raced through the fog, a Rasengan spinning in his hand.

Skipping sideways, he avoided a thrown Shuriken that whizzed by his right leg, drilling into the water below. In a surprising show of ability, Naruto sprang backwards in a back-flip, his Rasengan creating a vortex of water under him as it met the surface of the ocean. The Kiri hunter-nin, and Naruto finally recognised his attackers for what they were by the four lines etched into the mask of his opponent, landed right on the vortex created by the blonde's technique and for just a moment, he faltered.

In that brief moment, a water dragon slammed into the Kiri-nin, blowing him clear of the water. That was one down.

Suddenly, the mist began to clear, and the Konoha civilian stared around in surprise. The missing-nin, denoted by his slashed Mist headband, stood at the edge of the bank, his eyes vacantly staring at the sky above. Naruto managed to pick out the glint of a lone Shuriken lodged into the base of his skull before he was surrounded by four hunter-nin.

"Keh, Mizu-Bunshin."

Naruto stared in shock as the words of what must be the leader of the small group as the missing-nin burst into a small torrent of water.

Damn! It was a clone, and now they thought he was some sort of ally to the guy?! These were ANBU, and there were four of them; Naruto wasn't stupid enough to believe that he could take even one of them on his own in a straight fight. These Shinobi could probably give Orochimaru or Jiraiya a hard fight.

"W-Wait! You have it all wrong! I'm not-"

The Shinobi who had spoken earlier raised a gloved hand signalling with two fingers before cocking them to the side. Immediately two of his underlings disappeared, and Naruto realised that they had been ordered after his two toad helpers.

With another signal, he and his comrade rushed forward, a swarm of Senbon already flying towards their blond-headed target.

Naruto flopped backwards quickly, only just avoiding the dangerous needles. They were extremely hard to spot as they flew over the water; the reflection of the ocean caused them to blend in with their surroundings so Naruto was forced to rely mainly on instinct.

Rolling onto his stomach, he dodged a Suiryudan as it plunged into the surface below his feet, the water frothing and tumbling at the force of the Jutsu. Naruto flew through the seals of the Goukakyu as he jumped back, crouching down he blew out the orange monstrosity as the heat reached its peak in his gut.

As the royal ball of fire roared towards his opponents, the young Jichuuriki quickly reached back and grasping the hilt of one of his Ryu-Zashi, whipping it out in front of him before rearing back and hurling it through the centre of the Goukakyu. As the blade sliced cleanly through the technique, the Wind Chakra pushing the Wakizashi mixed with the flames, stoking them to higher and more dangerous temperatures. It was a deadly attack; if the two Kiri-nin managed to dodge his blade, they would find themselves in the midst of a molten inferno.

A large explosion erupted as the ball of fire struck its target, hot air whipping around his form as he stood solidly among the furious waters. Scattered waves battered his body as he stared resolutely at the area engulfed in steam and smoke, the two gases curling around each other like a pair of black and grey snakes. Naruto shivered as the picture of Orochimaru sprang into his mind; THAT was definitely not a good memory!

His eyes widened as he was forced to draw his second blade, first to block three Senbon, before spinning on his heel and clashing it with the Kunai being driven for his heart. The leader of the hunter-nin stood right in front of him, his leering mask mocking the 9 year old as he struggled against the superior strength of the man in front of him.

A deft clash of metal was heard before two forms were thrown high into the air. Gamaken and Gamahiro landed on either side of Naruto, staring up at their defeated opponents, Chakra brimming over their weapons.

"Tch, weaklings. Nighty, night, Momochi's brat!"

In a flurry of movement, things occurred too fast for Naruto to comprehend as his hold on his Ryu-Zashi was totally overpowered by the Shinobi in front of him. Without any apparent explanation, the man slumped over sideways, his body slipping beneath the surface of the water with blood trailing from the nape of his neck. Naruto stared down at the sinking body with wide eyes; the hunter-nin's mask had detached in the water and floated face up to the surface beside Naruto's foot, a single Senbon buried deep into the ceramic coloured black in the shape of an eye.

Raising his head slowly, his arm trembling from the force it had so suddenly been released from, the Konoha Jinchuuriki took in the crouched form of the last hunter-nin; his hair held in a bun at the back of his head by two long, green hairpins. His olive skirt swished slightly as the water moved, a small portion held beneath the surface of the ocean. Slowly, the hunter-nin stood, turning to the side as he reigned in his Chakra.

"I deeply apologise for involving you in our problems. If it was my decision, I never would have allowed this to happen, yet unfortunately it was not."

The voice was smooth and high, and Naruto thought it could only belong to a woman. The blond simply stood, his mind unable to construct the events as they should have been. He still had no idea what was going on.

"As you probably know, I am not one of the Oi-nin. I infiltrated their ranks in order to subdue them at the first opportunity. The clone you saw earlier was of my master; he went on ahead with a clone of me. We followed a large Chakra signature in order to stall the ninja chasing us. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded dumbly. So the two Shinobi who Jiraiya had gone after; one was a Bunshin of some sort, and the other was the real Momochi Zabuza. That meant that this guy had been hiding in the Kiri Shinobi's ranks for quite a while, long enough for them to consider him an ally.

"I had no intention of allowing them to hurt you, as I said; I only wanted to delay them from catching up to Zabuza-Sama. I deeply apologise for any sort of pain this has caused you."

Naruto finally found himself able to speak, and so he asked the first thing that came to mind.

"W-What's your name?"

The Shinobi in front of him reached up and slipped his mask from his face. With grace and gentleness, belying his true nature, the boy...no, girl, pulled the ceramic object away from her cheeks.

Naruto was confronted with smooth, pale skin, chocolate brown eyes and a smile that made his worries melt. How could such a ruthless killer look like that?!

"My name is Haku –"

With a large splash, Jiraiya landed next to Gamaken, another toad throwing a large wave of water of them. The toad burped loudly before stretching its maw wide and depositing a dripping Momochi Zabuza, sword and all, onto the bank of the body of water.

"Z-Zabuza-Sama! What did you do to him?!"

The girl rounded on Jiraiya, the question uttered in a low hiss, deadly and dangerous like the polished edge of a sword. Naruto felt a shiver go up his spine at the venom oozing from the girl's question. She must really love the man if she would go to such lengths to protect him.

Jiraiya gazed at the cream-skinned girl for a moment before turning to the drenched form of his 'student'.

"You handled yourself well there, Naruto. How many did you take out?"

The girl snarled in anger as her face twisted at the blatant spurning of her question.

"I only got one. The two toads got those two," he said pointing to the two unconscious forms floating on either side of them. "That girl took out the leader, seems like she was hiding amongst them."

Jiraiya turned back to face Haku, his right eyebrow raised in innocent curiousity.

"Oh? She must be quite the Kunoichi then, if she was able to do that for so long!"

Said girl schooled her features quickly, her face becoming stony and closed at the attention of the master Shinobi. Jiraiya chuckled lightly at the antics of the girl.

"Don't worry missy, I didn't hurt him, he's just unconscious."

The girl visibly relaxed as she blew out a breath she probably didn't know she had been holding. Naruto caught a faint "thank goodness" as the girl placed her mask in a utility pouch strapped to her right hip.

"Errr...Haku-san, what are you doing here?"

The bun-haired ninja strode forward lightly, only to be blocked by Jiraiya's arm.

"As I said, we were escaping from the Kiri Oi-nin and I do believe this is your sword?"

Jiraiya and Naruto exchanged a perplexed glance as Naruto grasped the proffered blade, shaking a slight layer of ice from the handle. Had the water been that cold? Surely the ice would have melted after going through his Goukakyu? Amazing still was the fact that the girl had apparently caught his blade at the speed and temperature it had been travelling at.

"I think what Naruto meant was why."

Haku smiled softly at learning the boy's name. He was an interesting one, his skills were quite a show and he was more than capable of protecting himself. If he was honest with himself, he didn't know who was stronger out of him and this Naruto.

"Our reasons are our own. Please do not pry into our business. As I said, we apologise deeply for dragging you into this situation."

Jiraiya quirked another eyebrow before shrugging. Stepping back, he lowered his arm and nodded to the girl. Haku hurried to her master's side, she checked his pulse to confirm that he was alive before lifting one of his arms behind her neck.

"And by the way, I'm a boy."

Both Naruto and Jiraiya's jaws dropped open as Haku disappeared with Zabuza draped over his shoulder.

"H-h-h-h-...s-she was...I mean h-he –"

"Forget it brat! You don't want to fry your brain do ya'?!"

Naruto clammed up immediately, his mind still stuck on the fact the girl wasn't actually a girl, but was really a boy.

"Gamaken, Gamahiro, Gamabougu, thank you for your help. You're free to go when you want."

Two of the toads saluted and disappeared twin clouds of smoke, yet Gamaken remained, his eyes scrutinising the young blond who was yet to recover from his shock.

"He is Namikaze, is he not Jiraiya-kun?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened. He spun, glaring at the toad with a frigid gaze.

"Shut-up! Don't say anything in front of him!"

The maroon toad stared hard at his summoner for a short moment before nodding slowly.

"As you wish."

The huge battle toad disappeared back to his family as he cancelled his link with the living world. Jiraiya huffed in annoyance; that had been close. If Naruto had been listening everything would have come crashing down once again, and it seemed as if the young Uzumaki was finally out of his funk. He didn't want the boy to disintegrate back to his moody, depressed emotions that looked to have disappeared for good.

Sighing disparagingly, the Gama-Sennin placed his hand on the 9 year old's shoulder.

"Come on brat, let's head back to Konoha."

Naruto raised his head slowly and Jiraiya was taken aback by the glow of enthusiasm shining in the blonde's eyes.

"Yeah...hehehehe...let's go back..."

Shrugging again, Jiraiya turned and leapt into the trees, Naruto following quickly behind. They set a fast pace, uncaring whether anyone would spot, or recognise them. Jiraiya knew that three of the Kiri-nin were still alive, yet at this point not one of them knew that Naruto was from Konoha, and he hadn't stayed around long enough for them to see him. They were safe from Kiri, at least politically, although he couldn't say the same thing about three maybe four other countries. Jiraiya turned to stare at the brat as he suddenly cried out in surprise.

"HEY! WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY 'FRY MY BRAIN'?!"

Jiraiya blanched. Aw, dammit! The brat caught on!

With a screech of terror Jiraiya bolted off at full speed, Naruto following as fast as he could, throwing every Jutsu he knew at the object of his ire. If anyone beheld the sight, they would forever wonder how the two were able to keep up the speed without knowing it. The sight of a grinning blond with lightning sparking around his raised index finger, illuminating his eyes in a spark of electric blue and a fireball flying in front of him, would be forever etched in their minds.

Uzumaki Naruto was returning to Konoha.

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