Chapter 52

Naruto- age 16 1/2

Temari- age 18

**********

Kotohiwa was a small, but a popular town that was known for its rather delicious and large variety of tempura. Its population mainly consisted of low level merchants, and tourists were rare due to the town being dangerously close to the border of Iwa and Taki. Which was why the only people who visited the town belonged to those two countries. It was a place of good cuisine, if nothing else.

In one of the Tempura bars, one of the more popular ones called "Jinsei no michi", the "Road of life", on the bar stools, sat an ordinary looking young man, slowly eating his chicken tempura, eyes closed as if truly enjoying his food. The bar was almost empty, the people leaving for their homes at eight in the evening.

"Man, those people back there weren't kidding about the tempura in this town," he spoke softly to himself after swallowing his bite, smiling slightly at the plate. Looking up, he smiled at the bartender. "Do you guys have a secret recipe?"

The bartender huffed out a chuckle, writing something down on a notepad, probably the day's count of money. "Every restaurant has its secret sir. We wouldn't be so popular if we didn't."

The man nodded in agreement, putting another bite in his mouth. "If only I could purchase the chefs," he whispered, slightly sad that his plate was finally empty.

"He's coming."

The voice cackled in his ear, but the man's face gave nothing away of the fact that someone spoke to him in his ear. Twirling his chopsticks in his hand in a manner that indicated a high level of dexterity, he offhandedly spoke to himself, but loud enough to be heard by bartender.

"I wonder if the lights still burn after nine."

The comment was nothing special in itself, except for the slight emphasis on "burn". The bartender momentarily paused in his writing, but continued with a slight smile, hiding his confusion behind the voice he reserved for his customers.

"It depends…..on whether you would like to try our brand of tea."

"I would like that."

The man slid a single coin towards the bartender, who picked it up and pocketed it. He nodded with a pleasant smile and made towards the chef's window. The man spoke again, stopping him for a moment, "Please tell them to hurry up though. I have business to attend."

"Of course sir."

Instead of speaking to the chefs directly, the bartender entered the kitchen through the door, coming out five minutes later. "Your tea is ready, sir."

The man nodded his thanks and left some change on the bar, getting up. Straightening out his brown jacket, he cast an eye around under the pretense of loosening up his neck. Seeing no one paying attention to him, he walked towards his right and entered the door labeled "Staff only" without hesitation.

Walking through the corridor, the bartender joined him by his side. "I must admit that you rather surprised me sir. I was not expecting that comment."

The young man smiled, his brown eyes meeting the perplexed ones of his companion. "Well, consider me temporary. This is the only time you will meet me."

The bartender nodded in agreement, motioning towards a door on the left. "May I have your name, sir?"

A slight quirk on an eyebrow caused him to elaborate. "It's just that my employer never informed me of a replacement and I was under the impression that I was going to entertain him tonight."

A slight grimace crossed the man's face. "You employer's…busy. Got sidetracked by a brothel. I'm sure you understand."

A sigh of long suffering escaped the older man's mouth. "He hasn't changed at all."

The man put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it, clicking it open. Just before entering he paused, and leaned back to face the bartender. "The name's Haruki, by the way."

With that, he entered the room and locked the door behind him.

XXXXXXX

Haruki stared at the small man as if trying to figure out a mystery. Sato Daiki was a small man, very small compared to Haruki's five feet ten inches. And looking at him, Haruki could tell that there really was nothing impressive about the man, except for how unnoticeable he was.

Maybe that was why he was part of the ring.

"I'm not going to waste any time on pleasantries, so let's skip to business," Haruki began with a no-nonsense expression on his face. "First."

Daiki followed him immediately. "Leaf."

"Dry."

"Autumn."

"Red."

"Coat."

"Girls."

"Hot springs."

"Oil."

"Rare."

"Legendary."

"Perv."

Haruki stared at the man, judging with his eyes for any sign of deception. He kept staring until Daiki began to squirm in his seat. Finally, he dropped his stare and sighed. "Sorry, needed to confirm."

Daiki waved his hand with a nervous smile. "It's ok. I was informed that there was going to be a replacement tonight."

Haruki sat down in front of him. "Were you followed?"

"No."

"Sure you weren't," Haruki muttered and cleared his throat. "So, give me all you have."

For the next fifteen minutes, Haruki listened intently what Daiki had to say. Daiki seemed rather anxious at first, but he talked faster the more he talked. By the end of fifteen minutes, Haruki leaned back in his chair, looking up contemplatively. "Are you absolutely sure about all of this?"

Daiki bobbed his head. "90 percent."

"Four of them in town."

Haruki stood up abruptly. "That's good enough for me and him. Alright, you know what to do. Get out of here."

Daiki got up so fast that the chair almost toppled backwards. Nodding a hasty goodbye, he skid out of the office like a rat who saw a cat.

Haruki walked out of the office and straight towards the back exit, where the bar took out the trash from. Opening the door, he closed it and walked onto the main street. Looking left and right, one would think he was searching for someone at the first glance. His eyes narrowed as they passed a particular alley, but he let it go.

He walked towards the part of the town that led to the forests. He didn't know what to make of the information he had received. On one hand he felt impressed that the opposition had that much balls. On the other, it was a matter of a potential breach of security. If that breach ever happened…well, he didn't want to think about it.

To think that the network is being monitored. He's going to have a coronary when he hears about this.

Before he could enter the forest line, he stopped. His head drooped, a sigh of disappointment escaping his lips. "I don't have a chance, do I?"

He heard the tap of someone landing behind him. Four people, just as his scout had informed him. He turned around and came face to face with a group of four wearing traveling cloaks. He could see the weapons hidden on their person clearly, with one of them carrying his sword in his hand. A damn pitiful attempt of an intimidating glare worn by all of them, Haruki contemplated whether he should just ignore them and walk away.

They didn't look like the kind of people who could even give him a warm-up, let alone a fight.

"That's right punk," the one standing right in front of him spat in disgust. "You really think we would let you get away with what you did to us in Rice country?"

Haruki showed no signs of alarm on the outside, but was shaking his head inside. Gotta admire their persistence, if nothing else.

"So you found me?"

"Damn right we did, and once we're done with you, we'll-"

"How did you find me?"

The leader looked taken aback at the interruption, but then his scowl returned with a sneer. "Once we're done with you, you'll think twice before attacking a casino owner."

Haruki nodded to himself, his suspicions confirmed. "Kaito it is."

The leader snorted, and the next moment, he was surrounded on all four sides, facing the leader. The leader cracked his knuckles, "Kaito-sama doesn't like it when somebody threatens him. We're here for some payback for him….and ourselves."

Haruki snorted, completely amused. "If you think you really can."

Before the man could comprehend the statement, his jaw met with a fist. A fist that broke the jaw completely, knocking him out in one go.

The other three launched into action, the one behind Haruki grabbing a hold of his jacket in an attempt to restrain him. The asshole apparently forgot that the front chain was open. Which was why Haruki stepped forward easily, the sleeves turning inside out as he kicked the second straight in the chest. The force behind the kick sent the guy rocketing back, rolling until his head collided with a streetlight ten feet away, knocking him out as well.

Haruki spun on his right foot, pulling his arms out of the jacket's sleeves, but still maintaining a hold on the clothing. He cartwheeled to his left, and landed neatly on his feet. He lifted and spun the jacket over the guy who was still holding it, and gave a sharp tug.

The guy spun like a screwdriver in the air before slamming to the ground. Haruki knocked him out with a football kick to the head.

The last guy, the one who had his sword out, swung wildly at him, aiming to cut his head off. Haruki crouched and spun beneath the attack, letting his opponent get behind him. Completing his spin, he threw out the jacket in his right arm, a sleeve wrapping around the man's leg.

A harsh pull sent the guy in the air, spinning not unlike his partner, before he landed on his head. Haruki sighed, dusting his jacket off before draping it over his shoulder, continuing his walk into the woods.

He removed the radio in his right ear, brisk walking towards his destination. The small camp that was set up by him and his companions came in sight, and he spoke out to the red head that was sitting by the campfire, eating some roasted meat. "You know, I still don't get it why they came all the way here just so they could have a crack at me."

The red head looked up at him and grinned, "You did make an impression back in Rice. Honestly, just by the feel of his chakra I could tell that he would be getting even with you in some way."

Haruki tossed his jacket to the ground and sat down on the log. "I'm honestly kind of insulted that he sent just four men. Didn't he learn anything from our last meeting? Honestly, I don't know why he's still in the network. He's more trouble than his worth."

"That's not exactly true and you know it," Haruto shot back.

Haruki sighed, "Whatever. Mission accomplished."

Haruki reached beneath his shirt to pull off a piece of paper sticking to his chest. As soon as he pulled it off, smoke enveloped his form. When it finally dispersed, Haruto grinned at him. "Feeling better?"

"Loads. That seal is good for holding my henge, but when I do it for long it feels like I'm walking around in a blanket."

Naruto shook his head as he burnt off the seal tag with a small fire. He looked towards the red head, who was smirking at him. "What?"

"How many ladies hit on you this time?"

Naruto sighed and leaned back on his hand. "Three."

Haruto chuckled and said in a false suffering tone. "I feel for you, cousin. Being as handsome as we both are can be a curse sometimes."

Then he broke into giggles. "Man, it's fun watching you get uncomfortable with ladies, but it's even more fun watching Jiraiya steam about it."

"I can't believe this is what the perv calls an A-rank mission. It's like a scene straight out of a cliché detective movie. Where's the pervert anyways?"

"In the brothel."

"Still? Hasn't he gotten the memo that he won't be getting laid anytime soon?"

"Knowing how he always thinks with his dick, probably not."

There was silence for a few moments, in which both of them stared at the dancing fire. Haruto spoke up once more. "You could always give him some of your water clones disguised as prostitutes. No need for lubri-"

Naruto jabbed a finger at his cousin, speaking in almost a growl. "You shut your goddamn trash mouth, Uzumaki."

"Right."

XXXXXXX

After talking for ten to fifteen more minutes, Naruto decided to inform Tsunade about the completion of his mission. Rolling open his large storage scroll, he pressed his palm on a particular seal and pushed his chakra into it.

In a small burst of smoke, came out one of his inventions that he simply called "The Pad." He found it rather perplexing that the ninja world had radio communications for missions, but they had invented nothing that could be just as convenient for long distance communication. They relied on eagles for that.

Yeah, he doesn't do that anymore. In fact, he hasn't been doing that for quite a while, if you count shadow clones and Hiraishin.

It was his second long term fuinjutsu project he had done, the first being the Hiraishin. It had taken him four months of research with his shadow clone to come up with the seal. Then again, he didn't have any reference material like he had with the Hiraishin. He had to create the seal from scratch.

He made full use of his shadow clones to get all the material he needed. If he ever needed something that he forgot to take from home, he would simply make a shadow clone, who would flash straight to his study back home and bring what he needed. Naruto had come up with an idea for a scroll that could be connected to another scroll on the other side of the nations. But Jiraiya pointed out the flaw in that idea, saying that connecting to only one scroll would be quite inefficient.

So Naruto set to work about creating a seal that would connect any scroll that had the communications seal he had created. The one thing that Jiraiya helped him with most was pointing out the flaws, like the blatant lack of security in the first draft.

Anyone could open a scroll and write into it, including an enemy. Which was why Naruto designed a basic, but clever (according to himself) security system. Integrating that system into his seal array without disturbing the space-time seals on the scrolls was a pain in the ass, but he managed it without Jiraiya's help. Not that the jerk was helping him in the first place.

The scroll would have a chakra lock. The scroll won't "open", as in the communication seals won't activate until the person the scroll belongs to puts in their chakra. If there is even the slightest irregularity in the chakra, the seals would deactivate completely and a security password would have to be written on the scroll to activate them again.

Another flaw that Jiraiya was happy to point out was that the recipient of the message wouldn't know who the message was coming from, and introducing yourself every time you write was annoying, something which they both agreed upon.

Looking back, creating the pad was most hair pulling project he had ever done. There were only so many things he could fit into the pad before the seal array crashed in on itself. The identity matrix was the last addition to the scroll that he made. It basically gave an identity to the scroll in the form of the user's name. So every time he sent a message to Tsunade, he wouldn't have to introduce himself because his name would automatically appear on her scroll.

All he had to do to contact her was write her name on the scroll, and they would be connected.

It was an invention that he was proud of, and he was sure that his dad was too, as a fellow seal master. The "Com scroll" as it was initially called, was a field success. It was handy, easy to use, secure and nothing that one would be interested enough to steal, considering it was just an ordinary scroll.

As happy and proud as Tsunade was about his invention, she surprisingly came up with a very practical flaw in the Com scroll. It was a paper scroll and as such, needed a flat surface to write. While they could manage writing while keeping the scroll on hand, what mattered to Naruto was that there was room for improvement.

Over the course of three weeks, he worked to replace the scroll with something better. "The Pad" at first appearance was a cylindrical, metallic black stick about 3/4th the length of his forearm. There was another small, cylindrical stick slightly smaller that was parallelly attached to its side that when pulled, paper was stretched out like a napkin dispenser that hardened upon straightening.

He could easily write on it with anything and whatever was written, it was transmitted to the receiver in real time.

"You never did tell me how you came up with this. Not even the clan had ever came up with this from what my parents had told me," Haruto remarked as he watched the pad in Naruto's hands with open curiosity and amazement.

Naruto smirked as he finished writing a summary of his mission. "I'll let you look at my notes sometime."

He put the cap on his ink pen and pocketed it. As the ink disappeared on his scroll, he snapped and rolled the paper back inside and put the pad back in his scroll.

Naruto turned to his cousin and gave him a small smile. "So, when did Jiraiya say he was returning?"

Uzumaki Haruto was Naruto's distant cousin in the Uzumaki clan. When the second year of his training had started, Naruto had questioned Jiraiya on whether the Uzumaki clan was truly wiped out or were there any survivors.

"Well, there are remnants, of course. Some of the Uzumaki managed to escape before it was destroyed, and they might be spread across the nations," was what he was told.

Naruto had longed to meet someone from his mother's clan, one of the strongest standing with the Uchiha and the Senju. It was only at the end of his second year of his training trip that he and Jiraiya found one, by pure chance.

Haruto was Naruto's many times removed cousin whose mother escaped the destruction of Uzushiogakure no sato. Only she didn't come to Konoha like Naruto's mother did. She apparently travelled to hot water country where she kept a low profile to avoid catching the attention of hunter nin.

Jiraiya and Naruto found Haruto when they were in the Hot water country for an A-rank mission. A missing nin was unknowingly targeting Jiraiya's spies for money, and they were there to take care of that.

They walked right into an ambush.

Of course, against Naruto and Jiraiya, an ambush was next to useless. Just as they were about to turn the tables, all the ninjas in the clearing, even the hidden ones, were pierced in the chest by blood red chains that came out of nowhere. Naruto had read about the Uzumaki chakra chains from his mother's journals, and recognized them right away.

Flashback

Jiraiya and Naruto remained standing where they were, bodies tensed even though the shinobi that ambushed them dropped like flies. Naruto's eyes flickered towards his right, having sensed where their 'savior' was.

"To think we would run into one," Jiraiya chuckled as he relaxed.

Naruto returned with a smirk. "Guess I gotta count myself lucky, don't I?"

They were still surrounded by the chains, whose speared tips turned towards them as they hovered around, poised to attack any moment. Naruto guessed that they must be dealing with an adult Uzumaki with "special" chakra, because judging from the pointed tips, this was the mastered version of the Adamantine chains, the same one that his mother possessed.

"We won't attack you," Naruto spoke loud and clear, hoping to meet up with his fellow Uzumaki, "Can you reveal yourself? My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

The chains lingered in the air, but Naruto's and Jiraiya's eyes managed to spot momentary freeze in them, before they started moving again. Suddenly, they retracted sharply, as if being sucked away into a vacuum.

Naruto and Jiraiya turned towards their right when they heard hurried footsteps approaching. Naruto's heart started beating faster as a mop of spiky red hair came into sight, but he blinked dumbly when a teenager emerged from the forest, his face full of hope. He was of similar age to Naruto, and even though he wore civilian clothes, the muscle on his arms was a clear indicator that he was fit.

He was slightly shorter than Naruto, and had an angular face with purple eyes. His hair was long, reaching down to his upper back, but not tied. Two spiky tails hung on the front of his shoulders.

Naruto was a bit taken aback when the teenager lunged forward and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him a bit in hysteria. "Are you really an Uzumaki?!"

"Um, yeah, even though I don't have red hair," Naruto answered, gently prying the hands away.

He froze though, when the redhead buried his face in his chest and started sobbing. His arms clung around him in desperation, as if he had found something long lost.

"Oh thank god…thank god…."

Naruto slowly wrapped his own arms around the teenager, wearing a confused expression on his face. Jiraiya was understanding as he moved to give them some space.

"Oh thank god, I never thought I would ever find another Uzumaki!"

It tugged at Naruto's heart at just how broken his voice. Trying to distract the guy from what was disturbing him so much, he fished for a name. "So, what name do you go by?"

The teenager lifted his head and wiped his tears with his sleeve, but Naruto could tell the smile on his face was of genuine happiness. "My name is Uzumaki Haruto! And it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Flashback end

Suffice to say, their first meeting was interesting. Naruto had been thrilled to discover a part of his family, as distant as it was. He learned that Haruto was usually a calm person, but easily got excited about things that interested him.

He had been living alone in Hot water country ever since his parents were killed by hunters when he was . The only reason he got spared was because the nin weren't aware of his existence, and he was very good at hiding, despite his powerful chakra reserves.

That, and he killed the hunters in a fit of rage.

Ever since then, Haruto avoided attention if he could, working daily to earn his bread. Jiraiya was impressed that even though Haruto did not become a ninja, he had mastered the use of his chakra chains at such a young age, without anyone to guide him.

The kid had a lot of potential.

It didn't take much to convince him to go with them, since he was already considering it. Naruto had a feeling that Haruto would be glued to him for some time. He wouldn't want him to get out of his sight.

As the trip progressed, Jiraiya trained both of them. He was already unleashing hell upon Naruto, who couldn't help but feel pity for his cousin who hadn't worked this hard ever in his life.

But as the months passed, Haruto kept on improving. And as he improved, his self-esteem did as well. Naruto prevented Jiraiya from corrupting Haruto with his perverted ways, but the latter still developed a penchant for a making dirty jokes every now and then.

That, and he also became a bit of a smartass. Naruto had a feeling that Haruto was a natural at that.

Haruto shrugged, "Maybe when he's had his fill."

The wind blew a bit strongly, threatening to douse the fire but thankfully it sustained. Naruto's nose picked up a familiar smell heading towards their way.

"Guess he finally had his fill of the night," Naruto dryly commented.

He was right, when five minutes later, a large outline of a figure came into view, striding into their camp. "So how was the mission, brat?"

Naruto chucked a rock at his head, which Jiraiya easily caught in his hand. "You call that an A-rank?"

"What? Gathering information from my spies is at least mid A-rank kid. You should be thankful I let you go in my place," Jiraiya puffed up his chest, taking a seat before Naruto, Haruto making way for him to sit.

Naruto scoffed. "Operating so close to Iwa's borders…..I thought they would be a bit more vigilant about who is in town."

"So you managed to avoid the ninjas?"

Naruto frowned. "I thought we established before that my acting was acceptable," Naruto said with a sarcastic air, "enough for me to dodge my way out of those situations."

Jiraiya didn't even bat an eye at his answer. "Acceptable isn't good enough for me kid."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything further. Jiraiya always was like this; his standards were very high, and Naruto gave his best to meet them. Bu no matter how hard he tried, it was never enough for the Sannin.

He never got anything above "acceptable."

Just wait, you perverted ape. I will make you eat that word tomorrow.

Naruto got up from the log, stretching his arms up. "Alright, I'm going to sleep. Make sure you're in top form for tomorrow, ero-sennin. I wanna beat you at your best."

Jiraiya snorted, waving the comment away. "You're a hundred years too young for that."

Once he was sure Naruto had gone to sleep, Haruto leaned towards Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sama, must you be so harsh on him? He's performed the mission rather excellently."

Jiraiya was silent for a long moment before speaking. "It's not about the mission, Haruto. As his teacher, I have to make sure he's always motivated to get stronger and better. Even if that means I have to downgrade his performance."

"But Naruto has improved, hasn't he?" Haruto asked pointedly.

Jiraiya let out a soft chuckle. "By leaps and bounds. Every time I test him, he's better than before. Kid's got potential just like his old man, perhaps even more. I suspect he's been sneaking in extra training behind my back."

"How so?"

Jiraiya leaned back, staring at the stars and smiling nostalgically. "Naruto has built upon his father's legacy in a way I would never have even dreamed about. I never expected him to get this far in just three years. Did you know that he altered the Nidaime Hokage's shadow clone jutsu in a way that all the clones were linked together by mind?"

Haruto's eyebrows shot up at that fact. "You mean that jutsu wasn't like that when he taught it to me?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Nah, not at all. Naruto merely wanted to see whether it was possible or not. It wasn't even one of his main goals to achieve on this trip. There's so much that he's achieved during this trip that I'm nothing but proud of him. I've run out of words to describe how proud I am of him."

Haruto contemplated on what he had heard. "How good would you say he is right now?"

Jiraiya gave a tiny frown at the question and pursed his lips. After a moment, he smirked, and Haruto detected pride in his voice. "Good enough to have a bounty on his head."

"How much?"

Jiraiya chuckled and exclaimed in his boisterous voice. "Come on Haruto, don't ask everything today! Save some for later. I gotta sleep now, be ready for tomorrow."

Haruto bit his lip. There was so much he wanted to ask Jiraiya, but one more question wouldn't hurt, would it?

"What is tomorrow anyways?"

Jiraiya turned back to him, and the light from the fire cast a glow on his face. His eyes were shining with such intensity that Haruto had to suppress a shiver. "A fight. The final battle between him and me, one that will mark the end of his training."

Jiraiya then glanced at his fist, clenching it tightly. "To be honest, I'm not sure whether I can win tomorrow or not."

Haruto didn't know what to say to that.

XXXXXXX

The sun's rays hit Naruto's eyes at six thirty in the morning, causing them to flutter open. He didn't get up immediately, but rather thought about what was going to happen today.

Today was going to be the end of his training.

The fight he would fight today would undoubtedly be one of the toughest battles he would ever fight. He knew well what Jiraiya was capable of, since the man had been training himself as well, over the course of the trip. Jiraiya had proved himself as one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. He had pushed him hard, hard enough that sometimes he felt his will to get up crack. It was only due to Kurama shouting at him and Jiraiya taunting his strength that he had got back up.

Every time he got up, Jiraiya sent him back down harder than before. Every time Naruto felt he had improved, Jiraiya was quick to knock off that feeling. He had learnt much from his godfather, but never once received a genuine compliment.

The man was completely different from the goof that Naruto was used to talking to. Naruto was torn on what to feel.

On one hand, he felt frustrated that never once he received acknowledgement of his efforts. On the other, he was glad that Jiraiya had made true on his promise. His promise of making Naruto one of the most dangerous men on the planet.

Naruto had gave it his all in training, and then some. He had pushed himself to his absolute limits, even after Jiraiya had performed the body enhancement ritual on him a year ago, using his father's seals. He was able to see his improvement though, even if Jiraiya didn't say anything- every time he and Jiraiya sparred, it took the other man longer to put him down.

Every time Jiraiya gave him a new technique, Naruto mastered it to the point that he could do it with only one or two hand seals. His body had gotten stronger every time it healed from damage, thanks to Kurama and the seal enhancements. His muscles had hardened to the point that a civilian would break his hand if he punched him, and Naruto wouldn't even feel a thing.

Naruto was sure that he had lived in hell for three years. He wondered if his father had been trained this hard as well.

He sat up, taking a deep breath. The cold air brushed across his bare torso, but he payed it no mind. Getting up, he attended to his morning rituals.

Today was the last day of his training. He would make it count.

Tomorrow, he would be home.

He wanted to see his wife.

XXXXXXX

After an hour, the three of them had packed up their camping supplies and were munching on some breakfast. Naruto finished off eight boiled eggs, while Haruto munched on some fruit mix he had made for himself. Jiraiya, like him, ate six boiled eggs for breakfast.

Once they were finished, Jiraiya told him where they needed to go. "You remember the grounds that I asked you to mark four months ago?"

Naruto nodded, having understood where to go. He touched his index finger to the ground, expanding his senses to feel for the kunai he left on the grounds. Withing seconds he had the location, and he motioned for them to hold on. Once they had, they were gone in a colorless flash.

Appearing instantly on the grounds, the others let go, shaking off the slight disorientation. Naruto looked around, seeing nothing had changed.

They were on a rocky hill, one of the highest among all the hills in the area. Jiraiya had brought them here four months ago, mainly because it was quite a secluded area and plenty of space to train. The view was great as well, as the hill overlooked a small village, the greenery around giving lots of fresh air to breath.

All in all, Naruto thought this was a great picnic spot. Training too.

Jiraiya took off his bags and put them down. He turned around and smirked at his blonde student. "All right, today is your final evaluation Naruto. I'm gonna be testing you to your limits, both physical and mental. Today, I won't be holding back on you."

Naruto's heart started beating faster at his teacher's words. The blood was rushing through his veins, excitement growing with each word. The prospect of a battle with a strong opponent…he could barely keep from grinning like a madman. "Do I get to drop my gravity seals for the test?"

"Yes. I don't want you weighed down by anything. You'll get crushed in no time."

The nonchalance and the confidence ticked Naruto off a bit, but he controlled himself. He had gained an ironclad control over his emotions over the course of three years. The training wasn't something he liked, but it was necessary. Kurama wouldn't accept anything less.

Naruto nodded. "Alright. How are we doing this?"

Jiraiya folded his arms. "I need two hours to prepare for the test. You use the time to do the same, but do it away from here."

Naruto tilted his head. "What am I going to wear for the test?"

Jiraiya rummaged in his pack and pulled out a scroll. Tossing it to Naruto, he informed him. "I had ordered a vest of your size from the village. Wear it over anything you want. And no peeking!"

With that, Jiraiya shooed him away. Naruto sighed but complied, walking down the hill with Haruto. Haruto was bouncing a rock in his hands, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I wonder what he will cook up."

"Yeah, me too."

"Do you think you can win?"

Naruto scoffed. "Against him? I don't think so."

Haruto frowned in concern, perceiving his statement as a lack of confidence. "You really should-"

"I know so."

Haruto stopped short at that, the rock falling from his grasp. The fire that burned in Naruto's eyes told him that Naruto had every intention crushing Jiraiya's test. Naruto continued, unaware of Haruto's thoughts. "He has a geographical advantage over me, that much is obvious. But he'll need a lot more than that to put me down. Plus, I'll make my own field advantage."

Haruto decided not to mention that Jiraiya already had doubts of winning against his pupil. Naruto was fully fired up for the test.

"OI! HARUTO!"

Both of them turned back towards the hilltop, where Jiraiya was waving at them, calling Haruto to him. Haruto started walking back to Jiraiya, waving a thumbs up at his cousin. "All the best, Naruto!"

Naruto nodded with a smile. "Thanks, cous."

Naruto watched the redhead hike back to Jiraiya, and turned away, walking down. He needed to make his own preparations.

For the next two hours, Jiraiya and Naruto busied themselves. Jiraiya prepared his field, while Naruto stocked up his hip pouches from his supplies. Both of them were dead serious while making their preparations, knowing that neither of them would hold back.

With five minutes to two hours, Naruto finished making his preparations. He glanced at the hilltop, which Jiraiya was no doubt prepping up with various traps. In fact, he was willing to bet that Jiraiya had booby trapped the whole hill, and removed his Hiraishin mark from any and everything that had it.

While no one except him could remove the mark, there were ways to disable any use of space-time jutsu. Jiraiya had been studying hard to overcome his weak spots in fuinjutsu.

"Dammit, I knew he was looking at my notes," he muttered, no longer sensing the mark that was on Jiraiya or Haruto. If he couldn't sense it on Haruto, that meant Haruto was a part of the test. But how?

He didn't ponder much long, changing into his jonin uniform for the first time in two and a half years. He wore a dark blue t-shirt with long sleeves, the neck going halfway up his throat. He wore ANBU pants of the same color than went down till it covered his calf muscles, leaving the rest of the leg bare. He stripped two orange bands on his forearm over the tee, one at the wrist and the other just beneath the elbow on both arms.

Taking the roll of black bandages, he wrapped them up over the exposed part of his legs, along with some clothing and put on his black shinobi sandals, just like the ANBU. He took the green jonin vest and put it over, strapping it in place. He took his hip pouches, stocked to the full, and tied them around his hips.

Last but not the least, Naruto tied his headband, automatically smiling when he did it. It felt good to put on his hitai-ate again. Not having worn in it months, he forgot the feeling that he still belonged to a place. He ran a hand over his newly cut hair, sighing as he did.

He liked the hairstyle he had back when he was in the village. Back then he felt that he was closer to his father with that hairstyle, but had to cut it because Jiraiya ordered him to. He said it brought too much attention to them.

Not only that, but he said that if he wanted to make a name for himself, then he had to step out of the shadow of his father. By retaining that sort of hair, Naruto was unknowingly pushing himself further into it. Grudgingly, Naruto had conceded the point, because he knew it would get annoying if he was only known because of his father.

Now, he sported a very normal haircut. He had gotten rid of the bangs, and kept his hair at a length that came to his eyebrows. It was as spiky and untamable as ever, but he kept most of it out of his eyesight. Some of it dropped down to the right of his forehead, but didn't obstruct his eyesight.

He clenched his fists and rolled them, cracking his wrists. He rolled his head to crack his neck, rolled his shoulders, jumped a bit, did a few stretches to warm himself up. He knew Jiraiya would be coming any second now, so he released the gravity seal that kept him at 10 times the Earth's gravity. He grinned joyfully as he did a few jumps- he felt as light as a feather!

Just as he finished warming up, Jiraiya appeared before him in a burst of smoke. There was nothing different about him, but Naruto knew better. This was merely a shadow clone sent to inform him of the test. Jiraiya had probably prepared to level down the entire hill. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it was better to prepare for the worst.

Naruto was prepared.

Jiraiya's expression was stony, not revealing anything. Naruto knew better than to search for any sign of a tell. Jiraiya's decades of experience as a spy had trained him to control himself in the worst of the situations. The waterfall training was brutal, even for him, but it had payed off.

"You ready?"

Naruto took a deep breath and calmed his excited heart down. Staring back at him, he returned. "Lay it on me."

"You have three objectives that you need to achieve in order to pass this test. I'll only tell you the secondary and tertiary objectives, the primary is yours to discover. Don't worry, you'll know it when you see it."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

Jiraiya continued, barely a hint of a smirk on his face. "I've hidden a scroll of information. You have to find it in order to complete the second objective."

Naruto nodded again. He already knew this was going to be tough, since Jiraiya would undoubtedly have used fuinjutsu to enhance his traps. Breaking fuinjutsu arrays was something that Naruto always looked forward to. Considering that Jiraiya's specialization was in sealing various types of objects and security, he had a challenge on his hands.

"The third objective to defeat me. By defeat, it doesn't mean that you have to land a critical strike on me. It's more than that."

Naruto frowned. What could be more than landing a finishing blow to your opponent?

Jiraiya held up five fingers. "You'll have to land not one, but five critical strikes on me."

Naruto gave the man a flat look, causing Jiraiya to nervously chuckle. "Ah hahaha….I meant, not actually land those strikes. That would kill me."

"You mean just give an impression that I could have killed you with that particular strike?" Naruto clarified, seeing Jiraiya having some trouble framing his sentence.

Jiraiya snapped his fingers. "Yes! Just like that!"

Naruto folded his arms across his chest. "I'm sorry, but why five strikes? I could simply imitate a strike that cuts off your head."

"Don't get too cocky, kid. It's to test your improvisation against an enemy who is as persistent as a cockroach and as genius as you are. Once you land a strike, you must release me from whatever trap I'm in. The fight will then continue after a ten second rest. You won't use the rasengan, or any of the variations as well," Jiraiya revealed.

An unusual test, but one that Naruto would relish. He was dying to test out some of his new moves that he had been developing in secret.

"I have told you everything you need to know. Any questions from your side?"

He received a fist to the stomach for an answer, that instantly popped him. "No, we can begin."