44 Chapter 44

Naruto knocked on the door then entered.

Tsunade heard the door open as she sat in the chair with a bored expression. She saw Naruto entering.

"So you're finally back." Tsunade said with a smile.

But then her smile slowly started to change.

"And can you explain why you ran away from Jiraiya?" Tsunade said while looking seriously.

At that moment, Jiraiya walked through the window and said, "I'm curious about the answer to this question too."

Naruto started scratching the back of his head as he grinned. "Thing... How can I say this? I decided to travel separately since he had nothing left to teach me."

"Oh? So you thought there was nothing left to learn from a Sannin? Well, I hope you remember that the main reason we traveled together was to protect you from Akatsuki." Jiraiya said. He was upset that he couldn't teach Naruto everything. He wanted to be his sensei, just like in the prophecy.

"I had already made the necessary plans to be protected from them. I stayed in Uzushiogakure for a long time because I would be safe there." Naruto said.

"What!? Did you go there! Did you find a secret place? What did you find there? Did you find any fuinjutsu books there? Come on, show me too!" Jiraiya said enthusiastically. Another thing apart from women he was interested in was fuinjutsu. But he could not improve himself because there was not much information.

"I would like to state that what I have found is the property of the Uzumaki Clan. But for your help, I'll give you a few more books." said Naruto.

"Wait a minute. Why is your hair red?" Tsunade said. She was able to realize it late because of the laws of anime...

"I changed the color because I thought it would suit me better. Does my hair look good?" Naruto said with a smile.

"Yes, it suits you. Anyway, I want you to fight someone to see how strong you are." Tsunade said.

"Who is?" Naruto said curiously.

Just then, the door opened and several people entered. Entering were Sakura, Shikamaru and Temari.

Sakura asked while looking at Naruto after she entered, "Naruto? Are you? Wow, you've changed a lot. But wasn't your hair blonde?"

"Yes, it's me. It has been a long time since we met." Naruto said with a smile.

Shikamaru's face fell as he looked at Naruto for some reason.

Noticing this too, Naruto asked, "Shikamaru? Did something happen?"

Shikamaru looked at the Hokage before speaking. Seeing the Hokage shake her head in the negative, he smiled and said, "Nothing. I thought red didn't suit you."

"Enough talking, Kakashi came here." Tsunade interrupted, saying.

At that moment, Kakashi entered through the window.

"I wonder if I'll go in through the window next time, too? Could it be cool? Maybe…" Naruto thought.

"Sakura and Naruto, you two will fight Kakashi. That way I can understand your grade." Tsunade said.

"Well, I don't want to brag, but right now I want to say that I can alone beat Kakashi." Naruto said with a grin.

"Oh? You will beat me. Don't you think you see me too low? It seems your body isn't the only thing growing, your ego has grown quite a bit too." Kakashi said as he put his book back in his pocket.

"I hope you can say those words while you fight." Naruto said while grinning.

He then turned to Temari and asked her, "Temari, what are you doing here?"

"I came to schedule the Chunin exams. I'll be back tomorrow." Temari said. She was looking at Naruto with interest because Naruto had gotten more handsome over time.

"Then shall we have a meal together before you go?" Naruto asked while grinning.

Temari nodded her head in agreement.

"Ahem Ahem* You know this is the Hokage's office. Please flirt elsewhere." Tsunade said while emitting a gloomy aura. He was obviously upset to see them like this.

***

In a secret place, many holograms appeared one after another. A short time later, a total of 7 holograms appeared.

"Why did we suddenly gather? Also, where are the other two people?" One of the holograms said.

"Be quiet. I called you all because I have to give you important news." One of the holograms said.

Then continued, "As you can see, there are 7 people here right now. We haven't heard from the other two for a while."

"What happened? They had last gone to catch the seven-tailed beast. Did something happen to them?" Another hologram said.

"At the moment, we have no information on what happened to them. We learned that the jinchuriki of the 7-tails are still alive. So there is a possibility that something happened to them, if it did, the opponent must be quite strong. After all, there is no trace of either of them anywhere." He said.

"So what are we going to do next?" Hologram said, pretending to be a leader.

"It is not yet clear whether the attacker is Akatsuki's enemy. It's not even clear whether he was an assailant. But it still pays to be careful." Leader said.

"But what if they were caught? Is there anyone else to replace them?" Someone said.

"If we don't hear from them for a while, there is a possibility that I could replace them. I will take care of that matter, I made this meeting just to inform you. See you at the next meeting." Leader disappeared in an instant after said. Soon after, other people's holograms began to go away.