The Rising Sun

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This time Neji's wish finally comes true. Enjoy!

[ ] signifies hand signs

Last time:

In the Study…

"They just shook hands." said Hinata with her byakugan active. "It looks like Temari-san and the Kazekage are leaving."

Maya nodded, "What about Hikari-chan?"

Hinata's shoulders sagged, "She's been in the fuinjutsu office with playing with Naruto-kun's clone the whole time."

"Lucky bitch." grumbled Maya.

"I quite agree." grouched Hinata.

Hanako's clone ordinarily would have scolded the girls for their lack of decorum but frankly she was trying hard not to laugh…

…

Chapter 38

Fire Country, Konoha, the path to the Natsume Residence

"Temari and I will head back alone Baki; you and the others are dismissed." said the Kazekage as Baki bowed and led Airi, Michiko and Haruna back to the hotel. Temari glanced at her Father but said nothing. Once they were alone Rasa said, "Walk with me daughter." Seeing the sandy blonde kunoichi nod in assent he asked, "What do you think of the situation Temari? Are you pleased? In spite of the fact I had my misgivings having met young Naruto I feel he would be good husband material. There are extenuating circumstances of course but getting to know him better first will make things smoother. Then again, you take after your Mother."

The sandy blonde kunoichi arched an eyebrow and asked. "What do you mean?"

Rasa chuckled. "What I mean is once you have your mind set you are just like Karura-chan was. Your Mother was a kind, gentle and caring woman but she could be demanding. Do you know that the first time we met she came up to me and told me, 'Rasa, you will be my husband.' "It was the first time I'd laid eyes on her and I'd just become a jonin! A month later we were married and a year after that we had you. Those were the best times of my life you know."

Temari felt honestly touched. Her Father never spoke of her Mother and Temari never knew how they first met. As Rasa fondly spoke about Karura the sandy blonde haired kunoichi felt closer to her Father than she had in over a decade. The Suna girl thought to herself, 'This is nice…'

Father and daughter had a pleasant walk around the Village of Konoha that afternoon taking in the sights. That evening when the Family had dinner together Temari felt like things were starting to finally fall into place. 'I never dreamed things would turn out this well.' she thought as she watched Gaara and Kakuro acting like real brothers…

…

Natsume Clan Home

The next morning; Naruto's eyes fluttered open in Hinata's room. He was lying on his back with his Byakugan Hime lying asleep against his right side. 'Hinata-chan is so awesome….' he thought with a goofy smile on his face. 'I can't believe how incredibly sexy and seductive she can be.' They'd made love for hours on end last night and Naruto had been shocked at how flexible Hinata was and the amazing positions they tried. She was so different from Maya's wildness and yet she was so incredibly sensual and intense as well…

"I can die happy now…" muttered the blonde to himself.

Hinata woke up a few minutes later feeling completely sated. She lethargically started kissing Naruto and he met her kisses with his own. They were deep and romantic kisses with just a hint of lust. Both young lovers were content to just hold each other under the warm bed sheets for now…

…

Later that morning Hyūga Natsu answered the door to an unexpected visitor. It was the Hyūga Clan's head lawyer Bengoshi, "Ah Natsu-san; it has been some time. I'd heard you were helping out here. It is good to see you in good health."

Natsu said, "It has been a while Bengoshi-san. What might bring you out this way?"

'She is direct as usual.' thought the lawyer. "I was hoping to see Hinata-sama would be in. There are legal matters to discuss."

"I'm sure I can help." said Hanako. "Hinata-chan is out but I am her guardian and legal counsel after all."

Bengoshi cringed. 'I had truly hoped to avoid Hanako-sama. She is a frightening woman.' "Ah, Hanako-sama. I would not wish to bother you with such trivialities."

"You are here about the Uchiha holdings and lands being transferred to Hinata-chan are you not?" asked the Hyūga matriarch. Seeing Bengoshi nod weakly Hanako said, "That's hardly trivial. Come in and we will review things."

"O-of course Hanako-sama." said the lawyer fearfully as he followed her inside.

…

Meanwhile at the movie theatre…

Hinata, Maya and Naruto had taken Hanabi and her best friend Senju Mito to see the latest Princess Gale Movie and were having a great time. Hanabi was sitting in between Hinata and Mito with Naruto and Maya sitting on the other side of Mito. Hanabi was gripped onto her big sister during the more frightening parts but generally thought the movie was great. Likewise Mito was clinging to Naruto.

After the movie was over the group went to Amaguriama Sweets Shop to have a snack and ran into Team 9 who were taking a break with their sensei, Maito Gai. Konoha's Green Beast greeted them boisterously. "Hello Team 11, I see you are spreading your Flames of Youth to the younger generation! Come join us."

"It's Gai-sensei!" giggled Hanabi.

"It's so…green!" gasped out Mito.

Soon everyone exchanged greetings and sat down to eat together. The ANBU Brats were talking in ANBU hand signs because of the civilians around (Not to mention Hanabi and Mito).

[We heard your mission was a rough one.] signed Neji. [Were any of you injured badly?]

[We were all roughed up but Maya-chan had it the worst.] signed Hinata. [Naruto-kun had to carry her part of the way.]

Tenten's eyes widened. [Are you okay Maya?]

Maya winked. [I'm right as rain now. Getting beat up was nothing compared to the mental stresses of that mission.]

Lee signed, [We heard you had to burn a village down.]

Naruto nodded grimly. [It was living hell Lee.]

[I heard from Yūgao.] signed Gai. [Others of lesser mettle would not have survived that. Your Flames of Youth burn brightly my young friends.]

Things soon turned to lighter such as the Princess Gale movie and Mito and Hanabi's aspirations to be great kunoichi. Before Team 11 and company parted ways Naruto signed to Neji [Come by the Natsume Clan home this evening. I've got a trick to show you.]

Neji looked surprised but nodded anyway. [I'll be by around six.]

Naruto gave a thumbs up and joined the others. "What's up Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata curiously.

"It's time we got rid of Neji's problem." Naruto said tapping his forehead where the caged bird seal was placed.

Hinata gave him a huge smile…

…

Natsume Clan Home

That evening Neji was welcomed to dinner at the Natsume home and was a bit puzzled as his cousins and even his Obaa-chan seemed very excited though Natsu seemed to be acting normal. After dinner Naruto patted Neji on the shoulder and said, "Let's go to my fuinjutsu office."

Seeing his family smiling and nodding, Neji followed the blonde ninja out. "So what is going on Naruto?" asked Neji curiously as they entered the office. 'I guess I've never been in here before. Look at all these books! I always figured Naruto would be a slob but this place is spotless.'

Naruto activated the silencing seals and said, "Hinata-chan asked me to create a way to get rid of the caged bird seal Neji." The Juken prodigy's eyes widened. "So Hanako Obaa-chan got a copy of the seal's application for me." said Naruto as he pointed to the ancient looking Caged Bird Seal Scroll on his desk. "It took a bit of time to reverse engineer it but I finished the counterseal just before we left on that mission from hell. I wanted to remove it sooner but we were all banged up and needed to heal so we waited until we ran into you in passing."

Neji looked shocked and sat down. "Will this counterseal really work Naruto? I know you are a genius at this stuff but…"

The blonde grinned and said, "You want proof? I don't blame you. Getting rid of that damned juinjutstu seal is supposed to be impossible right?"

"It's just hard to conceive..." admitted Neji.

"Not to worry." said the blonde. He got out a piece of parchment and said, "I'm going to apply the caged bird seal to this scroll and then I'll use the counterseal on it to demonstrate; okay?"

The long-haired young man nodded and aid, "Show me."

The seal master took a deep breath and pulled his fuinjustu brush out and dipped it in chakra ink before he deftly applied the caged bird to the parchment and said "Fuin." The symbol smoked slightly and Neji winced as he remembered the horrible pain he experienced as a mere child when the same monstrosity was applied to him. Naruto looked disgusted at the swastika shaped seal on the parchment and said, "This juinjutsu seal is an abomination I intend to wipe out. Watch the counterseal now Neji."

Neji nodded and watched carefully as Naruto quickly applied a seal that reminded the long-haired boy of the sun with and Uzumaki swirl in the center. Naruto said, "Hinata-chan calls this the Rising Sun Seal. Fuin." The Hyūga prodigy's eyes widened as the sun symbol enveloped the swastika and banished it away forever before fading away itself.

The young Hyūga gasped and said, "It works…It actually works! Naruto-san; I-"

"Take off your headband so I can remove that atrocity from your forehead Neji." ordered the blonde.

Neji removed his headband and found he was trembling though he wasn't sure if it was from fear or excitement. Naruto said; "Hold still." and gripped Neji's jaw firmly to hold him steady. Neji felt the cool brush strokes against his forehead as the counter seal was applied. Then Naruto said, "Rising Sun Seal; Fuin!"

The Hyūga felt a sensation of warmth on his forehead that he imagined as sunlight and the seal master said, "Fuinjutsu, success!"

"Is it gone?!" asked Neji in excitement.

Naruto handed him a mirror and said, "See the proof for yourself Neji."

Neji looked in the mirror and saw nothing but unblemished skin where the caged bird seal had once been. He traced his fingers over the spot in disbelief and expected it to be a dream he'd wake up from. The prodigy looked closely and saw the tan line where his headband covered the mark that had defined his life. Making his mind up Neji said, "There is one iron test I must perform Naruto."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "What test is that?"

"We need Hanako Obaa-sama for this." said Neji.

…

Soon Hanako, Hinata, Hanabi, Neji and Naruto were gathered in the main study behind silencing seals and Neji had an unusual request. "Hanako Obaa-sama, please use the hand signs to activate the caged bird seal. That will be the final test to show it is really gone."

Hinata looked concerned but Naruto smiled and put her at ease.

Hanako said, "Very well Neji-kun. I suppose this is necessary. Are you ready?" Neji closed his eyes and braced for the pain as Hanako went through the signs she hated so much.

"I am prepared." said Neji with closed eyes.

The Hyūga matriarch said, "Open your eyes Neji." When he did he saw Hanako's hands in the position that should have caused him great pain. "The Rising Sun has freed the Caged Bird." said Hanako as she stood up and lightly kissed Neji's unmarked forehead. "You are free grandson of mine." She had tears in her eyes. "You have no idea how happy I am at this moment."

Realization hit Neji like a freight train and he hugged Hanako tightly before he burst into joyous tears…

…

After everyone had calmed down Hinata said, "Neji nii-san; we need to discreetly remove the seal from all the branch house members before you walk around openly without your headband. I think Naruto-kun could easily remove the seal from a single family in an evening. What do you suggest?"

Neji rubbed his chin. "One family at a time eh? That's clever Hinata-sama. The main branch won't know until after the seal is already gone." The prodigy pondered for a moment and said, "We'll start with the head of the guards, Hoheto. If he is in on it will be easy to convince the others to let Naruto go about his business unscathed."

"Excellent Neji-kun!" said Hanako. "That is a well thought out plan."

"Can we trust Natsu?" asked Hanabi.

Hinata shook her head. "I'd like to but it's too risky given she is from the main branch. We have to be unobtrusive when we do this. Naruto-kun and Neji nii-san can go to the compound to retrieve some formal robes for Hanabi-chan and I and you can link up with Hoheto-san then."

Naruto thought to himself, 'OPERATION RISING SUN; BEGIN!'

…

Suza's Tea House

The next day Hinata was meeting with her Father at Suza's Tea House. Originally, she was going to ask Hanako to come and 'chaperone' but ended up deciding to face this issue herself. Hinata looked at her watch and thought, 'I'm five minutes early. I guess I'll get a table for two.'

Hiashi arrived five minutes later and saw his eldest daughter already seated. He then noticed she was armed to the teeth and in her ANBU gear with her Hakutsume blades. He was in informal Hyūga robes. The Clan Head sighed. 'I see she is still on the defensive. I guess I shouldn't blame her.' In spite of himself Hiashi couldn't help but admire how beautiful his daughter looked even with her somewhat fearsome expression. He came over and said, "Good afternoon Hinata-chan."

"I bid you greetings Hiashi-sama." said Hinata formally. "Shall we order our tea before we discuss matters?"

…

Hiashi noted his daughter's still alert posture and sighed a bit. Their tea had arrived and they were drinking in silence. He said; "I received the mission report from your trip to Tea Country Hinata-chan. I am very proud of your bravery and your combat prowess. Your sensei spoke of all three of you in glowing terms. Are you…coping okay? I know that had to be a huge mental strain in that…infested village.

"It was hell on earth." said Hinata emotionlessly. "Naruto-kun's mastery with seals is the only reason we made it out of the village alive."

"I owe Naruto-san a great deal of gratitude then." said Hiashi. "I don't know what I'd have done if I lost you."

Hinata wanted to snort in dismissal but thought better of it. 'I wonder if I'll ever be able to truly forgive this man. Part of me wants to but it is so difficult.'

Hiashi asked, "So did you tour the former Uchiha estate yet Hinata-chan? *Cough*Bengoshi*Cough* said he dropped off the paperwork with Kaa-san as well as the new bank accounts the clan set up for you."

The Hyūga Heiress's eyes narrowed at the mention of her least favorite lawyer. "I signed the paperwork once I was sure it was in proper order. I will have Natsu deliver the clan's copy for filing purposes."

"Did you want to see your new property?" asked Hiashi. "I took the liberty of having it surveyed for you so you can look at it whenever you wish." said Hiashi as he handed her a scroll.

"I will look over it at a later time." said Hinata politely. 'I have no desire to see that dead place right now.'

The Clan Head asked, "So how is Hanabi-chan doing? I miss her as much as I do you, my daughter."

The pair talked for some time before bidding each other farewell. Hinata didn't know what to feel but the discussion had been civil and that alone was a step in the right direction…

…

Konoha Avairy

The Nadeshiko kunoichi Natsuko had a rather fruitless week on finding Naruto's place of residence. She was being shadowed by ANBU and wasn't too happy about it. That's when she finally got a return letter from Nadeshiko Village.

Natsuko-san,

I will have to travel to Konoha to get this mess taken care of in person. I have included diplomatic papers to clear you of charges by making you a (temporary) Ambassador to Konoha from the Nadeshiko Village. Until things are sorted, I would advise that you keep your head low and do not cause conflicts. I also have sent a separate letter to the Hokage in order to confirm all of this.

I congratulate you on finding a husband but do not press the issue for now. Until I am able to come there you will probably be under intense scrutiny even with some measure of diplomatic immunity so if your husband is confused then leave him be. If he is a good a seal master the Konoha may not be willing to let him go so easily. It is paramount that you stay out of trouble! I promise you I will negotiate the matter on your behalf.

Your cousin,

-Shizuka-sama

Natsuko looked over the letter carefully as well as the diplomatic papers. She decided the best option would be to see the Hokage's Advisor Sarutobi-sama about the matter and getting things cleared with him. The Nadeshiko kunoichi knew the Hokage was still busy with the Kazekage in diplomatic talks.

She thought to herself, 'Ugh. I wish I could just lure Naruto-kun away and elope with him. It would be so much easier…'

…

Hyūga Compound

Neji and Naruto went over to the Hyūga Compound to retrieve some formal robes for Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama by having some of the maids pick out appropriate clothing. In the meantime the two young men went to see the off duty Head Guard Hyūga Hoheto (He worked overnight shifts). Neji knocked on the door of the topknot wearing Hoheto and the two younger ninjas waited until the Head Guard blearily opened his door. Hoheto said tiredly, "Neji-san, Uzumaki-san; is there and emergency?"

Neji simply said, "We need to talk in private Hoheto. May we come in?"

…

To say Hoheto was shocked seeing Neji's cursed seal was gone was a huge understatement. Having his own as well as his wife's removed shocked the Head Guard even more. It didn't take long to make arrangements for the guard shifts at night to let Naruto and Neji move freely about the compound after midnight when everyone but the guards were asleep for the night…

…

Over the next several days Naruto removed the caged bird seal as quickly as he could. On a couple of occasions, he used one or two shadow clones to speed up the process but the blonde was trying to keep a low profile. The Branch House was in high spirits as was expected but managed to keep the secret to themselves. Several Main House members had an inkling that something was amiss but had no idea what it was and the concept that the Caged Bird Seal was being removed right under their noses was too ridiculous even to contemplate. Naruto got rid of the last seal ten days later.

"OPERATION RISING SUN; SUCCESS!" said Naruto when the last one was done. "Being an outlaw is a blast!"

…

Konoha Main Gates

The next morning the Kazekage's party was being bid farewell by the Hokage and Naruto was off to one side saying his goodbyes to Temari. They had been on three informal 'dates' during the last week to get to know each other better. They agreed to stay in touch via letter for now. "Have a safe trip home Temari-san." said Naruto. "I look forward to getting a letter from you saying you made it back safe and sound."

Temari smiled. "I'll do that Naruto-san. When the Chunin Exams roll around my brothers and I will be back to participate so be prepared for some tough competition."

Naruto chuckled and said, "I'll look forward to that. Farewell Temari-san."

"Farewell Naruto-san." said the sandy blonde kunoichi. "Stay safe for me."

The Kazekage's party was on their way ten minutes later and Temari had a smile on her face…

…

Natsume Clan Home

While Naruto was busy with the Kazekage's farewell; Maya was reading through the family scrolls concerning the Mokuton which her Great-Great Grandmother Mēpuru had. 'According to this I need to learn nature manipulation with both water and earth chakra along with yang release before I attempt to combine them. I'm already working on earth, so I guess that's a step in the right direction. I mentioned it to sensei and she wants to talk to the Hokage about it. She also said she knows someone that might be able to help. Of course, the First Hokage was the Fifth's Grandfather so maybe the Senju's have scrolls as well. Mokuton is more of a footnote in the Natsume Clan scrolls because everyone had the Ryugan.'

"A ryo for your thoughts Maya nee-chan?" asked Aya as she came in from the Ninja Academy for lunch.

Maya looked up and smiled at her sister. "Just reading up on the Mokuton Aya-chan. It's a bit of a mystery you know."

Aya said, "Well, you already used it instinctively, so you know it's there. What do the scrolls say?"

"According to this, mastering both my earth and water natures is a must so I'm working towards that." said the silver haired beauty. "I guess I'm just being impatient."

The younger sister giggled. "I'll bet Hanako Obaa-chan will know something. She always does."

Maya brightened and said, I'll bet you are right."

…

Training Ground 11

After two weeks of (very busy) down time; Team 11 was assembled on their regular training ground. Naruto, Maya and Hinata were standing at the ready with their sensei Yūgao. She saw the fire in their eyes and smiled. "This week we are going to focus on ninjutsu and chakra manipulation. All of you passed your psyche evaluations and I know you are eager to get back into action. Let's warm up with bare handed sparring, no weapons. After that I have several D and C ranked jutsus in scrolls for you to learn and practice."

Naruto grinned. "I'm going to be using the Whirlpool Style sensei. I hope you are ready."

"I heard from Tawara." said Yūgao with a grin. Let's spar on the water so you don't demolish the landscape."

Both Hinata and Maya raised their eyebrows. "Got some new moves Naruto-kun?" asked Maya. Seeing Naruto nod and grin she said, "Sounds like fun."

"LET'S GET WILD!" cheered Team 11 much to their sensei's amusement.

…

The kids were soon learning to reinforce their bodies with chakra so they would be more resistant to damage and were going all out sparring. Yūgao was particularly pleased with Naruto's Whirlpool style. He was finally keeping up with Maya's Natsume Goushin-Ryu and Hinata's modified Juken Style. Yūgao was also sparring with her team and found that they were improving by leaps and bounds.

After about two hours of hard physical exercise and sparring the group took a break to eat and recharge themselves. "Man, what a rush!" said Naruto. "I can't believe how much it helps reinforcing your body with chakra sensei."

Maya nodded. "No kidding; we normally would have been really battered by now."

"Now onto some offensive and defensive jutsus." said the purple haired sword mistress. Yūgao worked her team hard all afternoon but she was proud of them the way they threw themselves back into training. They exceeded her expectations and Naruto was getting the getting the hang of his wind jutsus such as Great Breakthrough. Hinata mastered Water Encampment Wall and Maya was learning Earth Spikes. They were also all learning the shadow shuriken and shadow kunai jutsus to increase their firepower with weapons aside of their swords.

Soon, the team was all sitting in a circle watching as Yūgao demonstrated streaming chakra through a kunai to reinforce it. "All three of you already do this instinctively with your family swords but I want to teach you each to do this with kunai to give you an advantage in a non-sword fight."

The group practiced chakra streaming until late when they called it quits for the evening…

…

A week later Team 11 was more than mission ready and prepared for action. They'd already received A+ mission pay for their little trip into Tea Country plus the bounty money for the missing nins they'd slain in combat. It was Friday and Yūgao said, "We're going to take the weekend off and get a fresh mission from Hokage-sama Monday morning. Rest up team; you've worked hard this week." She then disappeared in a body flicker.

"…And we still need to learn the body flicker." moped Naruto.

…

Senju Compound

On Saturday Naruto went over to the Senju Compound to meet up with Jiraiya. The Toad Sanin greeted him with a weak smile and said, "It's time we had that talk." Naruto had a sense of foreboding the way Jiraiya said those words and followed the white-haired man back into the compound where Naruto served up some sake as they sat down.

The Toad sannin sighed and said, "Naruto; I don't know how to sugarcoat this but I'm your deadbeat Godfather."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya dumbfounded and said, "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya said, "Your parents designated me to take care of you should something happen to them." Naruto nodded slowly. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness since I really don't deserve it but you ought to have an explanation Naruto. Let me tell you the story surrounding your birth."

Seeing Naruto nod; Jiraiya took a deep breath and said, "When you were born you had the Kyubi sealed into you and someone leaked the secret. You know all about that and Sarutobi-sensei's law that kept everyone from talking about it. But there was an even bigger secret that painted a huge target on your back…You are the Prince of the Land of Whirlpools. A lot of rich nobles wanted to plunder your homeland but as long as a single heir lived, they couldn't touch it by orders of the Fire Daimyo. Someone spilled the beans, I'm pretty sure it was Shimura Danzo because he wanted to take you 'under his wing' for 'protection.' Are you with me so far?"

Naruto nodded and said, "Go on."

The Toad Sanin said, "You know I'm a spymaster. For the next several years I spread disinformation that the heir to Whirlpool wasn't in Konoha to keep you safe. I was always on the road and always fighting. A lot of people wanted you dead and I was determined to stomp every last one of them out. Those I couldn't throw off the trail or fool completely I exterminated to keep you safe. I felt like my job was almost done when a large group ambushed me after a night on the town. I'll be the first to admit it; I got sloppy. They declared they wanted you and I got pissed."

"I fought them tooth and nail to the last man but I was injured almost unto death. I passed out thinking it was all over…but the Toad Sages took me to Tsunade even though she had hemophobia they figured she was the only person that could save my life. When I woke up, I was a mess of bandages and it took me months to recover. I thought about you, I thought about Sarutobi-sensei…but I mainly thought about Tsunade. She was a roaring alcoholic that was hiding out from debt collectors because of her gambling habits. By some miracle she'd overcome her fear of blood and saved me. I'd never seen her so low in my life…"

"…And I still loved her." said Jiraiya. "My job was done and I figured I'd head back to Konoha to see you but Tsunade was there in misery and I got selfish. I decided to take care of her and put you on hold. Eventually I was able to heal Tsunade like she healed me. I paid off her debts and got her to stop drinking. Then we fell in love, got married and had Mito. I could have come to get you at any time but I was so caught up in being a husband and a Father that I left you by the wayside. I kept paying your stipend but I all but lost touch with Konoha except for my duties as a spymaster. I could have come and picked you up. I should have come and picked you up. Tsunade and I could have raised you with Mito…but I didn't."

Both of them sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. "For what it's worth; I am so sorry Uzumaki Naruto…" said Jiraiya with tears in his eyes. "I abandoned you when your Father Minato was like a son to me…"

Naruto was in tears. He slowly nursed his sake and drank two more before he said, "I don't know what to say Jiraiya. This is a lot to take in…"

The white-haired man nodded and said, "If you want nothing to do with me I won't hold it against you…But if you'll let me I can teach you some of your Father's jutsus at least. They are your birthright after all."

…

Natsume Clan Home

Naruto came home mentally exhausted. He was pale. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and he didn't know what to do. Part of him was angry but most of him didn't hold a grudge. 'I never had a Godfather growing up. You can't miss what you never had. He could teach me a lot…I'll talk to the girls.' As it turned out Hikari was off duty and was visiting so Naruto decided to ask her opinion as well.

The blonde ninja sat down in his room with Maya, Hinata and Hikari. He explained the situation in detail. "I just don't know what to do girls; I'm completely at a loss."

Maya gently kissed him and said, "Give it some time. You need to put this all in perspective."

Hinata hugged Naruto from his other side and said, "I think you should give Jiraiya a chance though I'm being a hypocrite talking about forgiveness."

Squeezing Naruto's hand gently, Hikari said, "Naruto-kun, take a week to think about matters. You could learn a lot from Jiraiya-sama. At least learn your Father's jutsus."

Naruto nodded. "Thank you, girls." he said tiredly. "It's been a long day."

…

Hokage Tower, Monday morning…

Yūgao led her Team in for a new mission. Naruto figured a good mission would clear his head about Jiraiya and put things into a proper point of view. The purple haired swordswoman led them up to the Hokage's desk and said to Tsunade, "Team 11 reporting for duty Hokage-sama. We'd like to request a C-ranked mission."

Tsunade nodded and looked over the available missions before she found an odd one. 'Let's have Team 11 use their brains instead of overdoing it with their brawn like last mission.' "There has been a strange series of murders in Otafuku Gai and the local Police Forces have requested ninja assistance. Could be bandits but it might be a minor missing nin or even a civilian killer. How does that sound?"

Yūgao turned to her Team and said, "This could be a good exercise in deductive reasoning team. Let's take it. Otafuku Gai is only a few kilometers away anyway. What do you say?"

The three ANBU Brats turned to each other and made eye contact before nodded to one another. Maya said, "We'll take it sensei. This sounds better than taking on S-Class missing nins anyway."

"Team 11 will take the Otafuku Gai mission Hokage-sama." said Yūgao.

…

POSTSCRIPT:

Looks like Team 11 is going to hit the road again; this time they are staying in Fire Country though. See you next time. Blue out. 7/17/23