Chapter 24: House In The Mountains

7 am, Fire Country Mountains…

He didn't know how long he had been climbing, but it had been a number of hours. He placed his hand into the grove of the rock for a better grip. The next thing Naruto did was place his foot on a stone on the mountain for support. Naruto looked up to discover that his trek to the top wasn't much further, this was a relief. After trying to use his chakra to stick to the mountain and run up it, he found that was not an option. Regardless of how decent his chakra control was, he would lose control running up, because of the slipperiness of the mountain. Jumping from ledge to ledge proved difficult as well. The force in which he landed caused the supports to give, thus causing him to resort to the old-fashioned method of making it to the top. This was the best option. He continued his journey to the top despite of his hunger pains and overall fatigue. "I should have stayed in that nice lodging town for the night." He couldn't worry about that. When he got to the top he could eat and pass out, but right now he had to worry about not slipping off of the mountain.

After about ten minutes or so of climbing, Naruto slowly pulled himself up over the edge; well not entirely. His upper torso was over the edge of the top. To complete his trek, Naruto slowly pulled his lower half over the cliff. Once he was completely over the top he picked himself up. Turning around to look at the horizon, he could see the golden hue that radiated from the sun over the sky line. "This is beautiful." Taking his attention away from that to look below him, Naruto eyes expanded at the realization of how high he was. Backing away from the edge with an eerie look he couldn't help but think "I.I.I. can't see the land below..." An image of him slipping off of the ledge while jumping up the mountain came to mind "Had I fallen from that distance..." Shaking his head to snap himself from his line of thought, Naruto regain composure. He started to survey his surroundings. "A couple of trees and some patches of grass. The only thing I have to worry about is food. Good thing I have about two week's worth sealed in a scroll. Now time to look for that place. Hell if I can't find it, I can always camp out. Either way, I will be here for the next four months."

Placing his hands on the straps of his book bag, the young Shinobi proceeded to walk straight ahead. Naruto was looking from side to side as he move forward. This was done to survey his environment and to just take everything in. He was glad that he decided to wear his wind breaker jacket; the altitude that he was currently at was the cause for the slight chill in the air.

Twenty minutes of walking Naruto found himself falling asleep. Hunger pains and fatigue had definitely been the cause. Due to the hunger he had stopped with intentions on setting up camp where he was at, however, he saw a stone and wood cottage not too far from where he was at. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was seeing correctly "Is that the place? Wow, after years you wouldn't expect a place to look like this." Grabbing the back pack that he dropped to the ground and placing back on his back, Naruto sprinted to the house. When he got in front of the cottage he looked it over and wondered how a place could remain in such condition without proper up keeping. It was mind boggling unless "Someone lives here, but whom?"

Fatigue and hunger were replaced by attentiveness and instinct as Naruto quickly did several back flips to avoid being hit by the kunai that were now embedded into the stone on the outside of the house. Now in an attack stance, with both hands on a kunai, Naruto frantically looked around to see where his would be attacker(s) would strike from next. Jumping to the side to avoid a shrunken, he immediately landed; to be confronted by a masked person with kunai in hand as well. The mysterious person thrust the kunai forth, it was blocked by the kunai Naruto had in his grasp. During the power struggle, he looked into the deep brown eyes of his opponent, which had a look in them that illustrated their astonishment. Ready to capitalize on the person's hesitation, he hesitated slightly when the words that escaped the masked fighter's lips were "Yondaime Hokage-sama?"

Naruto instantly jumped back creating space between him and the person before him. The kunai in the person hand hit the ground, it was clear that this person wasn't going to attack anymore, but Naruto learned never to let down your guard, not even for a second. The one before him moved a hand to the mask and slowly peeled it off.

When the mask was off, a girl with long brownish-red hair and brown eyes stood in front of him looking like she was staring at a ghost. "Minato-sensei…is that you?"

Naruto now knew where he saw her. She was older, but that is to be expected. It was no mistaking it; she was the girl in on his father's team. Naruto still held on to the kunai, "I'm not Minato, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. You're name is?"

The lady before him body stiffened at hearing a name that she hadn't heard in a longtime. "Sensei's son?"

"Yes, I'm his son." Naruto put his kunai away. "Well, I wasn't expecting this place to be occupied; I assumed that no one knew about it except me and the Fourth. By the way, you never did give me a name."

The girl bent down to pick up her kunai, she then placed them in the holster. "I'm Rin. May I ask how did you find this place?"

"I should be asking you that!" Naruto was curious to how she knew about it.

"Sensei told me after I helped deliver you that if things got bad during the Nine-Tails attack that I should come here. After I attended his funeral service I sought refuge here. This place is the perfect place to clear my mind." Rin informed Naruto.

The revelation left Naruto shocked beyond belief, "You helped deliver me?"

Rin put her head down; the memories associated with that day were filled with sadness, "Yes. But enough about that, why is the hero of the Leaf here?"

"Hero..." Naruto said this mockingly, "That village has seen me as nothing more than a demon and has cast me aside. If it weren't for this war and my reputation, that village would have left me be or sent assassins after me. I'm not considered a 'Hero' in the Leaf as you say, but If you must know I came here to complete my training in seclusion to help aid them in an upcoming war."

Rin heard the word war and immediately grabbed Naruto's shoulders clearly worried about something, "War… what about Kakashi is he…"

"Kakashi is fine." Naruto looked into the woman's eyes as something had just dawned on him, "Wait a minute; you didn't know that I was banished from the village and that a war was going on? How secluded is this place?"

"It's pretty secluded. There is a town about three hour trip away. I usually just go into town and get the supplies I need and head back. I'm not really up on current events if you will."

Naruto figured that it was isolated here but not this isolated. This was perfect. However he was curious, "You said three hours, you mean after it takes you three to get down this mountain, totaling about a half days trip to and from this place right?"

Rin eye brown elevated, "Why would it take that long?" She pointed to her right, "That direction leads to the path up and down the mountain. It only takes about 10 minutes tops going down and 20 minutes tops coming back up. You did come that way did you not?"

Naruto felt like a weight land on his head "I climbed up the mountain. It took me a number of hours and I couldn't run or jump up the mountain, the stones were too wet to do so."

"You must have come from the west. That side of the mountain is the most treacherous because of the constant moister of the rocks that come from the river on that side." Naruto couldn't help but feel stupid. Maybe if he had looked around the mountain he would have found the mountain path, but once again he did things the hard way, "Why me?"

Rin's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "Are you hungry, you look hungry. Why don't you join me for breakfast? If it's not too much could you inform me about you're life and what is going on in Konoha?"

"Sure, but I will tell you everything after I eat. I am starved." He gave her his silly fox grin. Rin motioned for him to follow her into the cottage. Naruto followed her lead. After all how could he turn down a meal from someone who was offering? He was hungry and it couldn't be helped. The two entered the house.

It took Rin 10 minutes to prepare pancakes, bacon, and eggs for her and Naruto. The two sat and ate there meal in silence, but not before saying Itadakimasu. Naruto scoffed down his food. As far Rin could tell the boy's table manners were horrible.

Naruto was now finishing with his meal, "Wow. That was great Rin-san."

"Thank you, I'm glad that you like it." Something was bothering Rin. She was curious "Naruto-kun, why aren't you a hero in Konoha?"

"Obviously you know what's inside of me, well the elder generation knows as well. Long story short, they see me as the fox, a mission went wrong and got banished from the village." Naruto said, but Rin still didn't quite understand.

"You got banished yet you fight for Konoha now, you did say something along those lines right? Secondly, why did Sandaime allow this?" Rin asked.

Naruto put his head down at the mentioning of that name. In his soft voice, he answered Rin's question, "Sandaime has been dead for the last six years. He was killed by Orochimaru. Tsunade oba-chan is the Hokage now. I'd rather not talk about the reason I got banished. You did ask me to inform you about what happened right."

Rin nodded. Naruto continued, "Okay, the Cloud village has declared war on the Leaf a year or so ago. Treaties were signed to end the war, but Tsunade oba-chan knows the Raikage will attack again in four months during the Chuunin exams."

Rin rest her hand on her chin, "Oh… seems like a power struggle. Well, I can only assume that the Leaf has employed you to fight along side or are you doing this to get back into the village?"

"I'm doing this because they are paying for my services and a nifty fee if I must say." Naruto said in a slight arrogant tone.

"Really, how much are they paying you? 3 million, 4 million?" Rin asked. She didn't know how good he was so she thought she would be generous by starting off that high.

Naruto just smirked, he knew the number he throughout would be a shock to her system, "90 million."

Rin, who had took a sip of her drink, had spit it all over Nartuo. She couldn't believe that he was getting paid that much, what the hell did he do for that fee? "That's crazy. Why are they paying you that much?"

"My guess is because of my reputation as the 'Golden Fox". I don't want to go into too many details but I will just say it involved me, two countries, a little girl, and heap of dead shinobi. You now know pretty much what's going on."

"So it seems. But I wish I would have known about your treatment." Rin's fist tightened "Fools! Sensei's only wish for giving his life to save them all was for you to be seen as a hero, yet they use you as an scapegoat. Do they not know you're his son? Do they not know he gave his only son to save them all?" Her fist clenched tighter as a memory of her, Kakashi, Sandaime, and Jiraiya stood over the dying body of Minato.

Flashback…

"Tell the people what happened here today… tell them that the real hero is Naruto. All I want… is for everyone to recognize him for the hero that he is and his sacrifice."

End of flashback…

Rin looked at Naruto with soft eyes, "You are here to help with the war, why? Konoha has turned their back on you and spat on sensei's sacrifice, so why fight for them?"

Images of the Minashu clan scattered bodies. It was replaced by a smiling Yumi and Hayami. "The reason I fight isn't only for the money. In the begin it was, but it's bigger than that now. Right now… my sole purpose for trying to master the techniques I came here to hone is to protect my sister and the love of my life. As it stands now, Konoha and I share common enemies."

Rin decided to rise from her seat to collect the dishes. When she reached down for Naruto's, she flashed him a smile, "Well, I would be heartless if I said you couldn't stay here after what you did to get here, so you can stay if you want. You look tired. There are two rooms here; you take the one on the right. It gets kind of lonely up her sometimes but it's cool. When you wake up Naruto-kun, I want you to tell me more."

Naruto grabbed his backpack that was at his foot and headed to the room.

Konoha, 7:30 pm…

Shinji found himself at the same location he was at yesterday. For the past month or so, he trained by the lake. Every day from 4 to 8 am he trained; just like he did back home. The steal blade in his hand, his cousin, and the chain around his neck were the only remnants of his clan's existences. He wasn't like Naruto, not at all. Naruto would need to cast aside vengeance in order to use 'Heaven's Blade' he on the other hand would not. His objective was the Raikage, but if he couldn't even defeat that Cloud nin, whom is almost certain is weaker than the Raikage, how can he take on that man? Not only that, he had approximately four months to be ready.

Shinji sheathed his sword, he decided to end his training a little early. Turning to look at the lake he saw Senzairu pounding his new apprentice. The man started to walk but stopped when he saw the Hyuuga girl he saw yesterday coming towards him.

Hinata approach Shinji and waved, "Good morning, Shinji-san."

Shinji returned the greeting, "Morning Hinata-san. I see your presence here means that you have beaten your sister. Congratulations on your victory."

"Thank you." Hinata noticed the slight sweat coming from the mans forehead, "Um, were you here training. If so I really didn't mean to disturb you. I will be going if you want continue."

Waving his hand, "It's okay, I'm done with my training for right now anyway. Right now I'd rather watch those two." Shinji pointed to Konohamaru and Senzairu.

"Oh, Konohamaru is training with Senzairu-san again I see." Hinata noticed.

"Yes, so it would seem. The kid has guts, he is sorely outclassed and he is still giving it everything he has." Shinji said while his gaze was fixed on the two Shinobi.

Hinata sat down on the grass and used her arms for support, "Konohamaru has always been like that. In many ways he's like Naruto-kun. In fact he has always looked up to Naruto-kun. Every warrior needs a rival. They need a person that they can measure their skills against and push to surpass. For Konohamaru-kun, it is Naruto-kun."

Hinata looked at Shinji, "Do you have someone that pushes you, Shinji-san?"

Shinji looked Hinata for a few seconds analyzing her question. Did he have a rival? Well it did piss him off when Naruto was able to stand with him three years prior, but does that make him a rival? Shinji shook his head, "No, I don't have a rival. It's not only rivals that push warriors to become stronger, Hinata-san, it is the warriors finding something worth fighting for that also gives them the strength they require."

Hinata was inclined to agree, "I guess you're right."

Hinata and Shinji, on reflex, used their speed to avoid an flying object heading their way. Where they once sat was nothing more than a heap of rubble and a dust cloud.

Once it settled they saw Konohamaru conscious, but barely.

"Sorry about that, you guys," Hinata and Shinji looked behind them to see Senzairu heading towards them, "I didn't realize to the last moment that anyone was sitting here. Had I known I would have thrown him in the opposite direction."

Shinji turned from Senzairu to Konohamaru. Placing his gaze on the Hyuuga, "Hinata-san, I have a couple of things I need to do. It was a pleasure talking to you again."

Hinata watch the man walk off, leaving her and Senzairu with Konohamaru. She waved at the man's back, "Enjoy the rest of your day, Shinji-san."

After Shinji was gone, her attention was now focused on Konohamaru. Staring at Tsunade's son with concern in her eyes for the boy that laid before them, she asked "Will he be alright?"

Narrowing his eyes at Konohamaru, "Yes, but if he is this weak from that attack, then he doesn't deserve to be alright, Stand Konohamaru."

Konohamaru cursed this man. First he makes him tire out by running around the village for an hour, then he has him fight on the water, by which he has to maintain the right amount of Chakra to stay afloat and do jutsus to even keep up. This guy was a slave driver. Konohamaru slowly picked himself up. Standing, his head was facing the ground and his limp arms hung as if they were broke, but this was not the case. Fatigue has settled in and he was doing all he could to just stand.

Senzairu smiled when the boy, whose face was bloody looked up at him. "So he's pissed, good use that anger to train harder. The more you want to beat me the stronger you will become. However…" Senzairu walked off leaving behind a confused Konohamaru and Hinata.

"You did well today kid. Meet me at the training grounds in another half and hour. We will work on what we were working on yesterday." Senzairu said as he was walking off. In a flash, his body turned into a number of flaming birds, which headed of in opposite directions.

Konohamaru fell back to the ground aggravated, "Fucking show off."

Hinata couldn't help but think that was pretty cool, but she was worried about Konohamaru. "Konohamaru-kun, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Can you believe that guy? I only have 30 minutes and then he's going to have me hunt down and fight his Gaki squad with a blind fold." The boy complained.

Hinata just looked at Konohamaru, "Well, it serves its purpose, I'm sure you will see the results. Well Konohamaru-kun, do you need any help?"

"No, are you leaving?" The boy asked.

"Yes, I have a meeting with Tsunade-sama and my clan for the rest of the week. Documentation signing, inauguration ceremony, you know things of that nature." When the girl stood up she dusted the dirt off her pants. "Well I will see you Konohamaru-kun. Take care of yourself."

The boy nodded and watched the girl walk off. Deciding to take adavantage of his break, he fell back on the grass. 'Enjoy it while it lasts' was all he could say to himself, because soon he would be working twice as hard.

Northern Mountain Hills, 11 am…

Naruto was now up and refreshed. Rin was kind of surprised to see the boy up this early; she had expected him to be sleep to the late afternoon hours. Naruto walked into the living area and saw Rin sitting on the couch reading.

"Hey Rin-san." Naruto said as he walked past her heading towards the door.

Rin took her eyes off of the boy to see that he now had a sword strapped to his back, curious, "I don't remember seeing you with a sword when we fought."

Naruto glanced over his should to look at the sword, "You mean this. I had it sealed in a scroll. I didn't want it to drop when I climbed the mountain. Well..." Naruto went to his pouch and pulled out the Hiraishin Kunai "Time to resume training."

Rin recognized the kunai as the one her sensei had always used. "Does your training involve the mastering the Hiraishin, but how? I though t that technique died with sensei?"

"Well, it seems that it did. I however plan to revive It. I need to train in seclusion, but you're here so training in seclusion isn't going to be possible. Well, if you don't mind don't interfere with my training Rin-san." Naruto said to the lady before leaving her in the house by herself.

Rin looked out of the window to see that Naruto had walked a couple of yards away from the house. She walked up to the window to see what he was doing. When Naruto through the kunai and actually performed the Hiraishin, her eyes expanded. "So, he's learning the Hiraishin. But it seems that he can't go very far with it. I wonder why though? He looks exhausted already. Sensei never looked tired, is the technique really that draining?" Rin questioned as she observed Naruto. Rin continued to observe this for two hours.

Outside, Naruto was getting frustrated. "Damn it! No improvement at all. What the hell am I doing wrong? I read the scroll over and over again, so what am I doing wrong?"

It was as if a light bulb went of in Naruto's head. He remembered what Kakashi had said to him.

Flashback…

"A strong current can force one to do whatever it feels so going against it is not advised, Its best to go with the flow."

End of flashback…

Naruto couldn't believe it was right in front of him, "Could it be that simple. Could it really be that simple?"

Naruto raised the kunai up to examine it. After examining it for a few seconds, he looked straight ahead. Closing his eyes, he flicked his wrist releasing the kunai in the direction in front of him. "Feel it Naruto, don't fight the pull just enough…I can feel it." Naruto eyes shot open and he yelled in his head, "Now" in an instant he was gone from that spot.

Rin who was looking out of her window was surprise to see him pull it off. She looked to see that he was now at least 50 yards away from the house. What she saw next caused her to run out of the house and towards Naruto, he had fell forward on his face.

It didn't take Rin long to get to the unconscious Naruto. She bent down to observe what had happen to him, "He seems to be breathing, but his chakra seems very low. Chakra depletion must be the cause."

Rin place her hand over Naruto and proceed to heal him from his depletion. What she noticed was the seals over his stomach become visible, "Gravity seals? Oh I see, this must be the reason." Naruto was still unconscious. Rin picked up the young man and carried him back to the house. From what she could see, Naruto was done with the Hiraishin for today. He needed to rest and recover.

Hyuuga compound, 1pm…

Hinata was being bought before the Hyuuga council with her father, whom was on the opposite side of her. Wearing a traditional kimono for this particular ceremony was necessary. Every Hyuuga, with the exception of a few, were in the courtyard watching Hinata as she walked forward towards the elders of the clan. The elder in the middle, who looked to be in his seventies, spoke, "Hyuuga Hinata, you have succeeded your father as the heir of the Hyuuga. It is now your duty to lead this clan to further glory. We expect great things from you, don't disappoint us."

Hiashi was mumbling something Hinata couldn't quite make out. She was certain it something negative about her. She could also see the hate in the eyes of the main family who didn't support her, which was most. Even though her courage was increasing, she was still a shy person, so what she did next was out of the norm for her. Hinata stepped forward and turned toward all of the Hyuugas' present.

"I Hyuuga Hinata, as the head of the clan will do my best to make sure that the clan is as strong as it was before. However, I believe to do this the clan must be one united front. There is a division among us; on one side we have the main house who rules over the branch, and on the other side we have the branch house who is the protectors of the main house. Our internal conflict and hate for one another keeps us divided and I intend to correct this." Hinata could see that people were looking to the person next to them with confusion in their eyes about what she meant by her comments.

She decided to elaborate, "The reason there has been a division among us is due to the curse seal place on the branch family. Well after today, I Hyuuga Hinata, the leader of the Hyuuga house, hereby abolish the branch house. There will be no branch, no main, from now on there will just be the Hyuuga, one unit, one family, and one clan."

The branch members were obviously happy, but the council and many members of the main house were not. They were livid about it, there was and uproar. Hinata turned her attention to her father when he spoke, "Are you crazy? The Hyuuga bloodline is important and highly sought after. There is a reason we have the division Hinata, you know this. I know you know this because I have told you this."

Hinata raised her hand causing everyone to simmer down, she then addressed her father and everyone else, "I know many of you are opposed of this for the fear of our bloodline falling into the wrong hands, but fear not I have a solution."

Everyone started whispering, wondering what she meant. One of the elder Hyuuga's standing behind spoke, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that a seal will be placed on every Hyuuga to seal our bloodline off." Hinata informed the elder.

He laughed at Hinata, "You don't think it has been tried before? You are not the first to try and you…"

Hinata cut him off when she showed him the "Triquetra" seal on her upper right arm, in between the two lines that could be found on "Caged Bird" seal. Turning back the masses with the seal exposed, Hinata spoke, "This here is a Triquetra Seal. Like the Caged Bird seal it will seal of the bloodline after one dies, however, it differs since it is not a servant mark. Placing this seal on all Hyuuga's will give us the opportunity to choose our own destiny." She looked over at Neji who was on the side watching. Her cousin was smirking and she could see that Neji was truly happy by this, He more than any Hyuuga wanted to be able to choose his destiny. Even though she was happy that she was able to do this for the branch family, and the Hyuuga in whole, she knew that years of contempt for one another would not fade over night. The seals were just a cure that would one day cause the division to slowly fusion into one.

Hinata continued, "I think in time our wounds will heal. I'm not expecting changes overnight, but I think we will become better as a result of this. Now that, that is done, I officially resign as the head of the clan."

Hiashi looked at Hinata confused, all of the Hyuuga did so speechless. Hinata took a step closer to her father then looked at the crowd, "My father is more fitted to run the clan than I am. I just wanted to help the clan change a little. I have united the clan, and as "Head Hyuuga" I was able to do so. My decrees cannot be changed since I was clan head so you need not worry about that."

Hiashi was shocked that Hinata had turned the clan back over to him; he didn't know what to make of it. He knew of her purpose, she had stated that much, but she earned this, why not take it? He didn't understand her.

Hinata smiled at her father then looked at the Hyuugas' that were gathered, "Starting tomorrow, I will be available to remove the "Caged Bird" seal. I will be doing three Hyuuga's a day. Well, I guess Father will take it from here."

Hiashi stepped forward, clearing his throat he spoke, "Yes, since Hinata has turned over leadership back over to me I guess it falls back on me to lead the Hyuuga forward. To help speed the process faster, Hinata will be teaching the "Triquerta" to a few Hyuuga. This seal will now replace our previous method. Since Hinata has clearly abolished the curse seal, it is my duty as the clan head to aid in the process of the seal removal, along with the few Hyuuga that know the process."

Hiashi looked at the crowd, he could see the vary of expressions. Some were happy, others were confused, and some were angry at it all. It was obvious that the Main house members were angry. He hated to admit it, but Hinata's plan was flawless. She made and impact and without anyone knowing her true motives, just like a true Shinobi. He knew that he should be proud of her, and he wanted to but he just couldn't get over what happened. Not letting his thought wander, he turned the crowd, "This is a historical day within our clan. You all are dismissed, except you Hinata."

The crowd had turned and walked off, except for Hinata, who wondered what her father wanted. Hiashi stepped forward and looked dead to her eyes. He noticed that for the first time in a long time, Hinata returned the look. She would usually avoid eye contact with him. He was about to say something, then he stopped to re-think what he was going to say. Finally he gathered himself and said, "Why give up you position, what was the reason?"

Hinata answered, "Father, you have more experience than I and well… to tell you the truth I wouldn't make a good leader, at least not now anyways. I'm still trying to find myself, who I am and a leader cannot be unsure of him/herself, you know this father. Besides, I just want our family united."

Hiashi stood quietly for few minutes thinking over what she said. He gave her one last look than walked off. Hinata didn't know what to make out of that encounter. She could see as a good thing simply because he chose to avoid negativity when dealing with her, or she could see it as a bad thing, simply because he just walked off rudely and still looked down upon her. Hinata decided not to dwell on it. In the Hyuuga history, she would be the one responsible for the crack that would break down the walls that divide the two main and the branch houses and allow them to become one entity. The one responsible for the change to come walked out of the courtyard toward the village, there were a couple of things that she needed to take care off.

Konoha, 4 pm…

Yumi was walking along the streets by herself. Hayami and Temari were off together doing … well she didn't know what they were doing. She on the other hand was collecting a few items for dinner, she volunteered to cook. Walking with the bags of groceries in her hands, Yumi glanced out of the corners of her eyes at the people on the sidewalks. Most where looking at her with disgust, she could even hear snide remarks about her. "Is this how Naruto felt during his time here? Did he feel this uncomfortable?" She couldn't help but wonder. Continuing her trek, a ball rolled near her feet. Yumi looked at the ball then at the little boy who had kicked her way. She placed the groceries on the ground when she bent down to pick up the ball.

The boy approached her with a big smile on his face, "Thank you nee-chan."

Yumi was about to say that he was welcome when the boy's mother grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her. The boy mother looked at her son, "Didn't I tell you never to talk to strangers, especially those that are associated with monsters."

Yumi spoke in her own defense, "I don't associate with monsters or demons of any kind miss, you must be mistaken."

The lady narrowed her eyes at Yumi, she then covered her son's ears "You're Uzumaki's whore right? Then you're nothing more than whore of a demon."

The lady yanked her son in the direction she was heading. Yumi could hear fussing at the boy to never associate with her again. She couldn't help but shake her head at people's ignorance. Picking up the groceries, Yumi continued to Tsunade's place. She noticed this was happening a lot lately. She was glad that Hayami wasn't there to see it. The girl was pretty bright, Yumi was sure she would put two and two together and uncover that Naruto was foxie nii-chan, as she called him. The stares were really getting to her. She tried to ignore them but she couldn't. The looks, the comments, all of them were hurtful.

This was a glimpse of Naruto's everyday pain when he was younger. It made her understand him just a little more. Her life wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination either, but if this is what he had to deal with growing up then it was no comparison to whom had it worse. Naruto clearly had it worse. After talking to Shikamaru, who seemed to always be with Temari, but claimed her to be troublesome told her of the villager's treatment to Naruto from his view. She had heard it from Naruto time and time again, but Shikamaru gave a view from an outsider's perspective. She doesn't know how she would have dealt with it.

Yumi was starting to miss her home in Sun Country. There, everyone was friendly in the little village that they were in. Completely different from Tea Country, the place she lived for the first nine years of her life with both of her parents. That was until her father was killed by ruthless warriors, who worked for a man who wanted her family's fertile lands for his own business expansion.

Thinking too hard on it caused her to flashback to an unwelcome memory.

Flashback…

Yumi and her mother were coming from the store in the next town. They needed to order fertilizer for their land. Her father was a farmer and well she and her mother were pulled into the business as well. Yumi couldn't have been happier; her father had sent her and her mother in town to shop for supplies for the farm, as well as school supplies for Yumi this upcoming fall. She was glad because she would get the opportunity to meet knew friends and write, something she loved to do. Holding her supplies while her mother was holding a few cleaning utensils.

"Kaa-san, I can't wait, only two weeks and I will be going to school. I wonder if everyone is friendly?" Yumi questioned.

"I'm sure that they are sweetie, but don't worry you're going to do just fine." Mai said to Yumi before walking into their cozy house. Yumi and Mai moved to the side to avoid being knocked over by a fellow farmer named Suzu, who happen to live at the farm next to theirs. Yumi turned around to see her father coming to the door with an angry expression.

He yelled out to the man, "Don't come back you coward!" Mai touched her husband shoulders; she could see the worried look in her eyes. When he looked down to see a little Yumi, he could see a scared and confused look on the girls face. His eyes softened then he smiled at the girl before walking off. Mai looked at Yumi, "I think you should go upstairs Yumi, mommy needs to talk to daddy."

Yumi didn't quite understand what was going on, but she shook her head and did as her mother said, or at least Mai thought she did. Yumi did go upstairs to put her things away, but she came back down instantly. Hiding near the entrance to the kitchen, she could hear her parents talking.

"Ganjou, what's the matter? I never saw you this angry before?" Mai asked her husband who was pacing back and forth.

He stopped to speak, "Some hot shot is forcing us farmers out of our land. The guy forced Suzu and his family off of the land without evening paying for it. Doesn't matter though, I wouldn't sell it even if he offered to buy it. He also did this to a few other farmers, it's only a matter of time before he shows up at our door."

"So, what did Suzu tell you?" Mai asked

"He told me that the guy threatened to kill his family if he didn't sign over the deed. I asked him, why he didn't fight, but he said 'what's the point', can you believe that Mai? This is wrong; the whole village should unite to stop this. The Gato Corporation already owns most of the imports in this town, what is he doing, trying to rule the world? That bastard."

Mai instantly grabbed her husband and started to plead, "For my sake and Yumi's sake, just give it to him and let's go. You know how ruthless he can be Ganjou. We can always start over, we can…"

He pushed her to the away then turned his back on her, "I can't believe what I'm hearing Mai. This is our home, we built this. We have just as much right as he does in this land. I will not kneel to that man. If I knelt to him what example would I be setting for Yumi. I would be showing her it's okay to run. Sometimes you need to take a stand."

Mai just looked away, "I understand, but I don't want to lose you Ganjou."

"You won't. But someone has to stand up to him. You know what; I'm going to gather the town's people tonight. All it takes is one person." Ganjou grabbed Mai and kissed her before running towards the door, however he stopped when he spotted Yumi sitting next to the door.

He walked up to the little girl and bent down, "I assume you heard. I guess it's no sense of hiding it from you. Don't worry yourself about it okay. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

End of flashback…

Yumi looked up to see the bird soaring high in this sky. "You promised that it would be okay, but it wasn't… not for a longtime."

Flashback…

Yumi and her mother were among the villagers who watched Ganjou stand on a crate while speaking to the gathered masses. Yumi was proud of her father, his words seemed to put hope into people, that's until Gatou showed up with his two henchmen.

The crowd got quiet and parted as he walked forward.

"What's this, a town meeting without me?" Gatou said sarcastically.

"What do you want Gatou?" Ganjou said through clenched teeth.

"I want all of the farmland in this town. I have few more to collect and yours seem to be one on my list. Make it easy on yourself and just sign over your deed tonight." Gatou said.

"Or what, Gantou?" asked.

Gatou motioned for his henchmen to take out what was in the bag he was holding. When the content of the bag was exposed people were horrified. Ganjou couldn't believe it himself. It was the head of Suzu.

"I had an appointment for this guy to sign over his land, but then he turned me down at the last minute. To bad, he had a pretty wife and an annoying brat for a son who kept crying out "Daddy, daddy" until…" Gatou pointed with his thumb at a guy with a bare chest and numerous tattoo's on his body, "he silenced the kid. I don't know if you have a family or not, but if I don't get that deed they will suffer the same sticky fate."

Ganjou glanced at Mai, then at a terrified Yumi before smiling at the two. He then turned to Gatou and glared at the man, "You are a cowardly man. You hide behind your hired thugs and you kill honest hardworking people. I will never give anything to scum like you." Ganjou looked at the people, "This is our chance. We can take him down now. All of us together, we can…"

He never got out another word, a sword pierced his flesh and it was now protruding out of his stomach, the one responsible was white haired man with a skull cap on. When he pulled the sword out Ganjou dropped to the ground. Mai and Yumi acting on instant ran forward. Mai turned him over and was holding his head while Yumi was looking into his watery eyes. He gave her one last smile.

"Sorry I couldn't keep my promise princess." He looked at Mai. His had slowly risen up to caress her cheek. Wiping away tear his hand went limp. The villagers looked at the events unfold but didn't do anything except put their heads down. Gatou motioned for his men to grab the girl and the lady. The last thing Yumi remembered was that she was feeling a pain her neck before passing out.

End of flashback…

Yumi couldn't believe she was still alive today. Her mother and she should have died that day, but it was because of one boy they lived. She wish she could find that boy and thank him.

Flashback…

Back at Gatou's warehouse, his men threw the two ladies to the floor with force. Yumi woke up due to the force. It took her a minute to remember what had happened. When she did she started crying.

Gatou smiled with satisfaction, "Daddy, isn't coming little girl. I would kill you but in a few years you would be a good addition to my brothel ventures. Your mother will start work as soon as she's all cleaned up and I had my way with her. You want to watch little girl?"

Mai went run to protect Yumi but was kneed in the stomach by one of his thugs. She looked at Yumi, but before she could tell the girl to run, her foot was slammed into the back of her head causing her to pass out once again due to the force from the blow.

Gatou started laughing, "Silly bitch, just like her husband."

Yumi kicked the man in the shins, and ran for her mother, but was tripped by a henchman. Gatou, after recovering from the pain, picked her up by her hair, "I was going to leave you alive, but now I'm going to kill you. Zouri," He looked at his employee, "give me your sword." The man handed Gatou his sword.

"I suppose its poetic justice that you will die from the sword that killed your father. Die!" Before he could thrust the sword forward, he felt a hand holding his wrist. He looked down to see a little kid looking up at him with a smile, "Gatou-san, we have more important business to take care of then killing a girl. We have matter of money that you owe Zabuza-san."

Yumi looked up to see a boy to be only a couple of years older than her holding the man's hand. Gatou looked at the kid, clearly with anger, "Why are you interrupting me. I will pay you guys now get the hell out here. Can't you see I'm trying to kill this little girl."

"You're not going to kill her." The boy said in a soft but commanding voice.

Gatou dropped her then turned to the boy, "Oh I'm not? And who is going to stop me?"

"Prehaps Haku wasn't clear on what he said. Allow me to repeat what he said. You will not be killing that girl and that lady over there. We have other matters more important to take care of. I want my money now. You got what you wanted in this town, now let's go Gatou." Gatou mumbled under his breathe. From what Yumi could see was that the man with the bandages around his face put fear in Gatou.

Gatou gave her one last look. "Fine, she's not worth it but someone grab her mother."

Haku appeared next to Mai, "Certainly you have a heart, Gatou-san."

Gatou gave and evil grin, "No, now move boy."

Zabuza now appeared in front of Haku, "When I said I want my money now, I meant now. You're not going to have time for what you plan and it's too much to carry her around. Besides, I'm a missing-nin or have you forgotten. We leave now Gatou."

Gatou mumbled something then walked past Zabuza. Zabuza started to follow Gatou along with the rest of his men. Haku on the other hand walked up to the girl, "Are you okay?"

"The girl started crying, "My daddy, he… he… he killed my daddy." Yumi covered her hands and started to cry.

Haku removed her hands and gave her the warmest smile, "Don't worry, your safe now. I hate that guy too. You should check on you're mother. I have to go. When she wakes up, please flee this country. I saved you from him now, but if he finds you two again there will be nothing I can do. I'm sorry about what happened to your father." Haku ran off to catch up with the group that left. Yumi was left alone with her unconscious mother in a warehouse. She curled up and laid next to her mother.

End of flashback…

She would later learn that the same man was responsible for the depression in the Wave Country. She also learned that the boy who saved her was now dead, along with the guy he had mentioned. She remembered their names and faces that day. It was forever etched in her brain. Life from that point on was a struggle for Yumi and Mai.

Going from town to town trying to make a living, but they just couldn't. After working at a little bar in River Country, it wasn't until Yumi was fifteen they took their savings and moved to Sun Country. Yumi dreams as a young girl of going to school was now replaced with the yearning to take up her father's trade to honor his memory. Mai didn't have problem with Yumi's suggestion when they got to Sun Country. For the last three years they have been moderately successful in Sun Country. Life was getting better, and Naruto falling into their life made it more so. She still continued her writing, mostly poems and short stories. Yumi was loving life again, she tried to always remain positive but there was a small part of her that was fearful. She lost one person she cared about and she didn't want to lose another. Naruto was strong, and despite what people thought about him, he was human.

She shook herself from her negative thoughts. She was happy and that's all that mattered. She and Naruto were both happy. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered. Did Naruto think about this as well? "Maybe that's why he left. He lost people that were like family, I guess I can understand why he's doing what he's doing." Yumi finally reached Tsunade's door only to have it opened by Hayami walking out with a clearly annoyed Sasuke.

Hayami saw Yumi with the bags, "Yumi-nee-chan, you're back?"

Yumi nodded at the little girl who held the door open for her. Yumi looked at Hayami, "So, where are you going?"

"Sasuke-san got hungry and he offered to treat me to a meal." Hayami said with excitement.

Sasuke looked at Yumi, "I didn't offer she forced herself on me. Doesn't matter, Temari said if I did this she would watch her the whole day tomorrow."

Hayami waved then grabbed Sasuke's hand, "Come Sasuke-san lets go get some ramen."

"I'm not eating ramen." Sasuke said to the little girl.

"Why not, it's great. Please Sasuke-san?" Hayami begged.

"No."

"Please."

This continued all the way down the street. Yumi snickered at the antics of those two. She then entered the house with her bags. Thinking about her father and Naruto she smiled. Both men willing to go to the end to protect there loved ones, she could relate. She would die for her family too. She didn't need to be a warrior to do that, her father taught her that lesson long ago. She was grateful for her father showing what courage was. Without him and her mother showing her, she don't know how she would have turned out. Yumi continue to watch Hayami. The girl would have her and Naruto. No matter what she believed that everything would be okay.

Tsuande's office, 5 pm…

Tsunade was sitting in her office. Today was relatively slow. She only had one appointment before she went home. She couldn't wait to eat; she knew Yumi would be cooking. During her two month's there, the girl took over almost all house duties, which involved cooking, cleaning, and maintaining her house. Not only that, the girl was just a positive person. Tsunade was no fool, she could see the glares the girl received whenever they were out chatting but she brushed them off. Tsunade mind drifted back to food, she was hungry and Hinata was taking too long. She heard a knock at the door, "Come in."

Shizune entered, "Tsunade-sama, Hyuuga Hinata is here to see you."

"Send her in." Tsunade said to her assistant.

Hinata walked into the room; Shizune closed the door as she exited the room. Tsunade motioned for the girl to sit. Hinata took the seat in front of the desk.

"So, what is this meeting about, Hinata?" The Hokage questioned.

"Tsunade-sama, there is no easy way to say this." Hinata grabbed the forehead protector around her neck and placed it on Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade looked at the headband then back at Hinata understanding what the girl was saying clearly. She was quitting as a Shinobi. "Are you serious? You have many years ahead of you Hinata, why now when your village needs you?"

"Don't worry Tsunade-sama, I will aid Konoha in the war, but after that I am officially done as a nin for Konoha. I know you don't understand, but all my life I was taught that the village was a family and that we should take care of another."

Tsunade knowing what was coming, she cursed Naruto, "God damn it Naruto, first I can't get the Fuuma clan to join, now I'm losing a shinobi of Hinata's caliber."

Tsunade spoke calmly, "This wouldn't happen to involve Naruto would it?"

"Hokage-sama, our village has turned its back on its hero. Besides, that's only part of it. The other part is about me. I need to find myself and I can't do that with a responsibility. Tsunade-sama, I have to do this you understand?" Hinata asked hoping the lady would understand but she couldn't read Tsunade's expression.

The smile that formed told it all, "I understand. I hate to lose you Hinata. For the record, your performance yesterday showed me that you are on a Jounin level."

Tsunade opened the draw on her right, she then handed Hinata a form to fill out. Hinata signed the document for the official records then handed it back to Tsunade, "Well I guess, this is it. Hyuuga Hinata, you are officially retired from shinobi duty. I wish you all the best, and know that the door is always open."

Hinata stood up and bowed, "Thank you Tsunade-sama for being so understanding."

Hinata exited the room, leaving Tsuande behind. Tsunade leaned back and placed her foot on the desk. "Jiraiya, what the hell are you doing here?"

The sannin was sitting on the couch in her office, "Well I just came to inform you that Naruto is nowhere to be found. Naiya has no idea where he's at, hell I don't even have a clue."

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya for a minute to see if he was telling the truth. She couldn't believe it, Jiraiya was telling the truth. She knew he was lying and well unless he got good at it over the last fifty years than he was telling her the truth. "Damn just what I need. At least I knew he was with Naiya, even if I didn't know where that was at. Now you say she doesn't even know where he is. She even got out of the village before I could put a squad on her. Not that it mattered, I'm sure she would have vanished without a trace again."

Jiraiya smiled, "Looks like I taught her well."

Tsunade just looked at her teammate, "So it would seem. It's that ANBU training, and now Naruto knows it. You taught them too well. Don't you know you don't teach your students everything you know?"

"I don't, they're just an improvising bunch. I wouldn't worry about Naruto though. I'm sure he's going to master Hiraishin." Jiraiya said to Tsunade.

Tsunade on the other hand was having her doubts, she looked at her desk and spoke in a low tone, "What if he can't do it Jiraiya? He is instrumental in this war Jiraiya, you and I both know this. We only have four months left until this battle. I don't know if he can master the sword and the Hiraishin in a matter of months."

Jiraiya's laughter caused Tsunade to look at the man. He could see the confusion of his laughter, he decide to tell her his reason for doing so, "You really have no clue what that boy is capable of do you? What if I told you he has a method that allows him to gain experience in a short time?"

"I would say, how's that possible?" Tsunade said.

Jiraiya continued, "Well Tsunade-hime, Naruto trains using his clones. When he disperses the clones, he gains the knowledge from that clones experience and so on and so forth you get the picture."

Tsunade now understood what Jiraiya meant. But if that was possible, Naruto could, "With a method of that nature he could cover years of training in these coming month's. I never realized that you could do this type of training with the Kage Bunshin."

"Yes, and it is very effective. He discovered it by accident while training with me, but it was good thing though; it helped him finish the technique that Yondaime himself could not complete." Jiraiya said in a proud tone.

"What technique are you talking about Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya waited for a minute before saying anything. Then when the silence was enough to kill he said one word, "Rasengan."

"Rasengan? He completed it?" Tsunade said, surprised that it wasn't a complete jutsu.

"Yes, if you didn't know the Rasengan isn't a complete jutsu. The Yondaime created it with the intention of adding nature manipulation to it." Jiraiya informed Tsunade.

"Nature manipulation to a form manipulation jutsu…" Tsunade couldn't believe it. If what Jiraiya was saying was true then, "Does that mean he can combine nature manipulation with form manipulation?"

Jiraiya just grinned, "That's exactly what I'm saying. By being able to do this, he was able to beat the Cloud's "Red Lightning". So you see, don't worry about Naruto. If he could do something like adding nature manipulation to Rasengan, something that not even the Sannin or the legendary Fourth has done, the kid should be more than okay."

Tsunade still couldn't believe it. "In order to do something like that you would have to have perfect chakra control, Jiraiya. Not even I can do that."

Jiraiya shook his head, "Tsunade, you know as well as I do that it doesn't always take perfection to get something done. To tell you the truth, Naruto's chakra control is pretty good, but it's no better than your average Jounin. You wouldn't know this because the boy is a stamina powerhouse. I don't know how he figured it out, but he did. I always said perfection was overrated."

"I'm starting to believe you. Well Yumi is cooking today, want to join?"

"Asking me on a date?" Jiraiya said in a seductive voice.

She just rolled her eyes, "You never change do you?"

Jiraiya laughed, "I suppose not."

The Hokage just shook her head. Jiraiya, love him or hate him. She was in between but one thing was certain, he was always someone she could count on. That much was certain.

Mountains, 7:30pm…

Naruto sat up from his bed. He looked to his side to see Rin sitting over him. Rubbing his head, "What the hell happened?"

"You passed out performing the Hiraishin. It takes to much chakra for you; however I discovered the reason for that."

"What's the reason?" Naruto asked.

Rin only gave a smirk, then she said, "Well, I recall someone saying don't interfere with their training. I mean I'm sure you can figure it out by yourself."

Naruto didn't want to beg, but if she knew something that would help him improve, he needed to her advice. "Fine, what is going to take for me to get what you know?"

"Tsunade's necklace would have been great, but lets see…"

Naruto gave off a slight laugh, "The funny thing is, I actually had the necklace. Too bad I gave it back though."

Rin eyes blinked, "You had the necklace? Why would you give it back?"

Naruto cast his gaze downward, "I have my reasons, but enough about that, are you going to help me?"

Rin stroked her chin before grinning from ear to ear, "Sure, now listen carefully."

When the medic nin saw that Naruto had her full and undivided attention, she began, "The thing I notice is your gravity seals. You do know how they operate right?"

"Yes of course I know. The gravity seals act as weight and when multiplied it's harder for the person to perform regular movements. Why are you asking me this?" Naruto questioned Rin.

Rin raised her index finger while explaining her point, "Well, for the most part you understand partially. What you fail to realize is that not only does it affect your movements; it also affects your chakra. With added weight it is hard to move this is true, but it is also difficult to perform jutsus that require chakra, simply because you have to put more focus and more chakra into your jutsus when the seals are activated."

"So, you're saying that I can't perform this technique because of my seals?" Naruto asked.

Rin answered, "Simply put, yes. It might have to do with the level you're on. Think about it, when you performed a technique with the seals on and then with the seals removed, was it easier or harder?"

Naruto thought it over for a second. He remembered his fight with Sasuke. He did have to focus and put more chakra then necessary into his first Rasengan. However, he didn't have to do so with the second one. He decided to test Rin's theory and confirm it.

Rin looked at Naruto stand and wondered what he was doing. Naruto brought his forearms together to form an 'X' with his index fingers extended. The seals became visible all over his body then they slowly faded. He looked at Rin, "Well, let's put that theory to work."

"Are you sure? You did pass out from Chakra depletion Naruto. I think you should wait till tomorrow." Rin stated, clearly it was the medic side of her talking.

Naruto choose to ignore her and head back outside. Rin followed him still worried about the boy. When Naruto was outside he looked at the sky to see that the sun was fading to the west. The boy decided to see it I she was right. Pulling out two kunai, Naruto threw one too his far left, closing his eyes "just do what I did before and… now" just like that he was gone.

Rin saw him on her right, this time he was clearly three hundred yards away, he threw the kunai in his left hand towards Rin. When it landed at her feet, he appeared in front of her with a happy expression. He had got it, finally he had got it, but he still knew that he couldn't teleport extended distances. He would have to practice that but it didn't matter, he now knew what was holding him back and he could correct it. Out of excitement he grabbed the slightly shorter lady before him, before throwing a kunai.

Rin spoke in a frantic tone, "Wait a minute Naruto I don't think …." She was now about 500 hundred yards away from the house. Naruto looked at her triumphant, "I did it! Thanks for the help Rin. "What's this feeling. I could always sense the kunai's in my pocket and the ones that I have scattered around me but now it's a much stronger feel. Also, I can feel one southwest of here. That direction is where Konoha is at but it's faint and I can't reach it from here. So now I can go this far when the seals are removed. I guess I will train with the seals off, but increment them once I can teleport to any location."

Naruto turned to the sky, "I can feel it."

Rin wondered what he was talking about, "Feel what?"

"The kunai's, I can even feel it in Konoha. It's faint there but I can feel it. I guess it's time to get us back, hang on." Naruto teleported back to the kunai that he threw at Rin's feet before teleporting to his current location.

Rin looked around realizing that they were back in front of the house. Naruto let her go then fell to his knees. Knelt down beside him, "I told you, you weren't fully recovered. But it does seem like I was right."

"Yea, I'm surprise that Naiya didn't realize this when she placed the seals on me." Naruto said.

"I see, that's who gave you the seals. Well, I'm sure Naiya-san knows, she has to know the effect of every seal that she designs. She might have thought you known this." Rin pointed out.

"Let's get you back in the house." Rin helped Naruto up and help him into the house. She couldn't help but wonder how the hell did he recover that fast. Sure, he didn't even have quarter of his chakra, he didn't even have fifteen percent of it, but he shouldn't have been up let alone awake. Most people take a day or two to recover from chakra depletion. She wondered if the Fox had anything to do with the boy's recovery. This was a confusing a perplexing matter. As a medic-nin she had an idea, but didn't quite understand. One thing for sure, he would definitely get the Hiraishin down to where it was a cake walk that much Rin was sure of.

Cloud village…

The four captains of BOLT stood before Aisu. One captain spoke, "Sir, Uzumaki is off of the grid. We don't even know where to start."

Aisu stood up and looked out of his window. With his back turned they couldn't see his expression to see what mode he was in but if the could see, they would see that it wasn't a bad one. Aisu spoke, "Your mission is over for now. You guys aren't going to find him, Jiraiya has trained him and that guy is known for disappearing without a trace. What I want you guys to do is infiltrate Konoha during the exams. You will do so as civilians. When and if you spot Uzumaki, destroy him. You are all free to go."

Aisu could hear the door close behind them as they exited his office. He heard the door open and immediately knew that it was Kouen. "I assume they didn't find him sir."

"Yes, I guess you're happy about that Kouen." Aisu said in more of a sarcastic tone.

Kouen nodded, even though Aisu couldn't see, "Very. Well Sir, I just came to hand in my mission report, good day sir."

Kouen turned to walk but stopped when he heard Aisu speak, "I can't help but to think that Naruto was tipped off in someway. You tend to know a lot Kouen, you wouldn't happen to have an answer to this?"

Kouen turned around to see the Raikage staring at him. He responded, "Maybe he wasn't tipped off sir, maybe we underestimated him."

"Maybe, but it all seems too convenient. I'm just thinking on this too hard. Enjoy the rest of your day, Kouen." The raikage said.

Kouen bowed then walked out of the office. Walking down the look corridor he couldn't help but smile. Maybe Tsunade got his message to Naruto or maybe she didn't, who knows. It didn't matter either way; Naruto would be alive when he confronted him, that he would make sure of. Kouen continued to walk until he faded into the distance.

A\N

Hello everyone, the votes are in. You guys got to see a little of Yumi's life pre-Naruto. Naruto finally can do the Hiraishin over a distance, but he still needs to improve his range to an infinite distance without using a large amount of Chakra to do it. He has four months to get his act together, let's hope he can get it done. Prepare for another time jump people, the chuunin exams will start in chapter 26.