Chapter 3: Lovers, Friends, and Rivals

Tsunade looked over the man that was once her teammate. To her, not much had changed about him. He still wore the exact same outfit that he wore before he left the village, vowing to not return again. She wondered if he still sees her as a friend or as traitor of some sorts. After all, wasn't this how Naruto saw her?

Jiraiya decided to break the silence. "It's been a while, Tsunade."

"Yes, it most certainly has. What brings you back?" she asked.

Jiraiya, who was leaning against a tree, broke eye contact with the woman before him to look off into space. "Well, I haven't seen my student in six months. I decided it would be nice to see him."

She had a sad look on her face, "Oh. Is that the only reason?"

" He decided to meet her eyes again "No."

The Slug princess was now curious, "Then...what is your other reason?"

"My other reason is to be able to tell you not to do it."

She had an idea of what he was getting at. Jiraiya, probably more so than anyone else, knew how she felt about Naruto. Tsunade knew, deep down, why Jiraiya told her not to do it, but she decided to question it anyway.

"Why shouldn't I do it, huh? Give me one good reason?"

His eyes visibly showed his anger. "Give you a reason? I can give you a whole list of reasons but I won't. But I will give you a reason that should be good enough. For the first time in his life, he is happy. Don't try to ruin his happiness, please."

Tsunade looked at her feet. "Jiraiya, he belongs home in this village. I have to try and make him see that. I just wish…."

The Toad-Hermit stopped her before she could finish. "You just wish that you can correct your mistake. Unlike Dan and Nawaki, where you didn't have control over the situations," Tsunade tensed up the mention of her lover and brother, "you had full control over the situation with Naruto."

Tsunade knew everything Jiraiya had said was right. She could have forced the council to give in but instead, she had agreed to banish Naruto. She never had any intention on making his banishment permanent, she was going to have him return in a couple of years and tell everyone of his heritage. She believed that this would make people accept him more.

A tear fell down her cheek. "I did what I felt was best for Naruto and the village at the time. Naruto needed to get away and I believe that in time the villagers would get over what they believed Naruto to be. I sent some of his friends to search for him after three years had passed. They never were able to find him because he covered up his tracks so well. I planned on telling the village of his heritage when he returned."

She turned to Jiraiya with tears falling down her face freely, "Jiraiya, please understand that I never wanted to hurt him. I love him as if he was my own son. He is the only reason why I have remained Hokage. My goal is to free this village of its hate. Jiraiya, I fear that I have lost the chance to make amends. It hurts because I'm the one who has caused him more pain. Jiraiya, I don't know what to do."

The blonde placed her hands in her face to grieve. Jiraiya decided to jump to the branch that she was on to console her. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry in his chest.

"I thought that you wanted him to serve the village because of his skills. I didn't know that you were doing this because you believed it would benefit him. Now I know what you're really after," Jiraiya stated.

Tsunade looked up into his eyes, "Jiraiya, how can I get him to stay? This village needs him more than ever. He carries the will of the fire in him."

"It's going to be hard to get him to return. You will have to sit down with him and talk to him and explain why you did what you did. I know you care about him but he feels that you had betrayed him. Honestly, I thought you did too. Now that I had heard your reasons for doing what you did, you did what you felt was best; even if it was a wrong decision."

"Did you ever tell him about his father?" she questioned while wiping away her tears.

Jiraiya broke the embrace between the two of them, "I was planning on telling him of his heritage this year. His father knew that his enemies would harm his son with him gone, so he wanted Naruto to be told when he was 18. He figured Naruto would be strong enough to handle his enemies by then. He willed me and Sarutobi-sensei to let Naruto know of his heritage when he became of age. I'm curious… How did you find out that Yondaime was Naruto's father?"

"I have access to the Hokage's personal files. It was only a matter of time before I found out who his parents were. But it was smart of Sarutobi-sensei to change his last name. Even though they look alike, people wouldn't question it because they simply had different last names." She replied.

"Yea, that was for Naruto's protection as well. He decided to give the boy his mother's maiden name. Only Sarutobi-sensei and I knew who Naruto's mother was. Minato kept that hidden from everyone else. There was no way anyone could have figured it out; it was setup perfectly."

Tsunade spoke once more, "Well it wasn't set up that perfect. One person did manage to figure it out."

Jiraiya was shocked to say the least. He wondered who was smart enough to figure it out. "Really! Who is this person?"

"He's Konoha's lead strategist." She replied.

"What's his name?" He asked.

"Nara Shikamaru."

Somewhere across town in a barbeque shack…..

"Ahaaachuua" A young man, with a lazy look thought, "My allergies must be acting up again. How troublesome."

Back to across town, at the trees near training ground 7…..

"How did he figure it out?" Jiraiya asked.

" He said he put two and two together. He came to my office about two weeks after Naruto left."

Flashback

Tsunade was sitting at her desk in her office. She was going over the decision she made two weeks ago. Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, came in her office holding a cute little pig in her arms.

"Tsunade-sama, Nara Shikamaru is here to see you."

The Godaime motioned for her to send him in. Nara Shikamaru stood before her in his Chuunin vest. She motioned for him to take a seat.

"What brings you here, Shikamaru?"

"I wish to ask you a personal question."

She rested her elbows on the desk. She then placed her head on the back of her hands for support. "What is your question?"

"Why did you kick Naruto out this village knowing the sacrifice that his father made to protect it?"

She decided to make up a factious story about Naruto parents so the boy wouldn't press the matter further. "What are talking about? Naruto was an orphan, no one know who his parents are."

Shikamaru looked at her with a serious look "You can play dumb all you want, but I know the truth. You're right, Naruto was an orphan. But I started to think, why did the villagers hate Naruto so much? I mean, he was a prankster, but that's not a good enough reason to hate him as much as the villagers did. So I started putting things together."

Tsunade knew where he was going with this. She prayed that she was wrong. "So, tell me, what did you find out?"

"First I remembered our academy days. My parents and most of the parents, correction-all of the parents, told their kids to stay away from him because he was nothing but trouble. I also over heard some old man calling him a good-for-nothing monster. But why would they call him that?

"This is a theory you came up with so you tell me," the Hokage stated.

The lazy chuunin continued, "It wasn't until recently that I started to think things over, before it was just too troublesome. Then it all hit me like a ton of bricks. The one clue that put all of the pieces together was the fact about Naruto's birthday. It's not unusual for someone to be born Oct. 10, but he was born exactly when the Kyuubi attacked. I only knew his birthday because I overheard Hinata asking Iruka-sensei his birthday. She never specified her real reason but I figured out her reason when he came to class the next day sporting a pair of goggles on his head, telling Iruka that someone gave him a birthday gift."

"You're rambling, Nara." Godaime stated in a bored tone

"I suppose. But here is what I came up with. There was no way the Fourth could kill the Kyuubi."

"Do you doubt his skills?"

"No, just stating a fact. I did some research of my own. I asked Gaara's sister about the demon that was sealed inside of him. I asked her why didn't they kill it like the Yondaime had killed the Kyuubi. She laughed at me and told me that there was no way for a human to kill a demon. She believed that the Fourth had to seal it inside of something. I was informed the demon that was inside of Gaara was the one-tailed demon Shukaku. I thought it was too troublesome to argue about how the Fourth had killed the nine-tails. But she made me wonder, how do you kill a demon? So I started to research demons. She was right-there is no way you can kill a demon. Since Kyuubi is the strongest of the tailed-beasts, the only way he could be defeated was by being sealed inside something. You can't seal it in an adult because the adult would die. The only feasible option is a newborn so both the demon and the newborn's charka could fuse."

"What are you getting at, Nara?" She stated in a tone that was openly showed that her patience was wearing thin.

"Naruto is hated by the village. His birthday is the day the Kyuubi attack. The red charka he used to beat Neji in the Chuunin exams. What I'm getting at is that Naruto is the container for the Kyuubi and the son of Yondaime Hokage."

There was a minute of silence.

" How did you know?" she questioned

"Know that he was the son of the Fourth?"

"Yes, tell me how?" she asked

"After I figured out he was the container for the Kyuubi, the rest fell into place. Everyone said the Fourth was an honorable man, so there is no way he would ask a villager to sacrifice one of their babies. So I figured he would sacrifice his own son instead. Also the blonde hair and blue eyes are a dead giveaway."

The Godaime spoke, "You know all this, what else do you know?"

"Well that's where you come in to fill-in-the-blanks. You see, I know that Yondaime's name was Namikaze Minato. The history files never said anything about him having a kid or even a wife. So I looked up the name Uzumaki in the historical archives and found the name of a woman called Uzumaki Kushina. I figure that she is Naruto's mother and the Fourth's wife."

"You seem to know more then you should, what do you need me to fill-in?" She questioned.

"Why were his marriage and his son hidden from the village?

Tsunade got up to look out the window. She looked at the setting sun. With her hands behind her back she kept her gaze at the sky.

Tsunade spoke, "I don't know why his marriage was hidden, but if I had to guess, it was to protect his wife from his enemies. As for Naruto, I suspect Sandaime had a hand in covering up his heritage to the village. I believe he did this for the same reason that the Yondaime covered up his marriage."

"It makes sense. Yondaime did have many enemies because of the Iwa/Konoha war. What better way to get payback on a man then to go after his family. " The lazy Chuunin replied.

She turned to Shikmaru, "You seem to know everything I know. As for me banishing Naruto, it was for his own good as well as the village. This village hates him, so I sent him away in hopes he would get stronger. I know Jiraiya is keeping tabs on him so I don't have to worry about his safety. When the time is right I plan to send for him to tell him and the village everything. Well if that is all then you are dismissed"

Shikmaru got up out of the chair and left the office.

End of Flashback

"So you do know me as well as I thought." The perverted hermit responded.

"I knew you wouldn't leave him to die." Tsunade stated.

"Well I did keep tabs on him, but I wasn't with him. Let's just say that I influenced his training more than he knows."

"How so?" she questioned.

Jiraiya responded "Well, I followed him to Water Country. There I met up with an old friend by the name of Saichi Kaito"

Her eyes widened "One of the Seven swordsmen of The Mist. Last I heard, he was a ruthless missin-nin"

" No, he just left his country because he discovered the corruption of his village and the Mizukage. Since he owed me a favor, I asked him to train Naruto in the art of the sword. I also asked that he teach him some water justus and better charka control. He complied and kept me updated on Naruto's performance. He left Kaito after two years of training with him and doing missions."

" Wait a minute, he was only 14 then. What did he do during the next year?" she asked.

"Well he went to Sea Country. I got word that that was where he was heading so I asked a dear friend of mine by the name Ryuho to finish up his sword training." The perverted hermit replied.

" Impossible. There is no way that a Samurai, and the best one in the world at that, would train a ninja in his art." stated the Godaime bluntly.

"Well he was returning a favor, not to me anyways. You see Minato had introduced him to his wife so I suggested it was only right that he return the favor by training Minato's only son. I also informed him to keep Naruto's heritage a secret. We set it up so that he challenged Naruto to a sword fight. He won of course and offered to train Naruto. Because of his previous sword training under Kaito, it only took him a year to master the style".

"So he wasn't kidding when he said that his sword skills were only second to one" stated the slug princess.

"Nope, the kid really is a great swordsman. Anyway, the day he left the Minashu clan, I was waiting for him outside of the compound. I informed it was time to finish his training. For the next year I worked him into the ground. When he left me there was no doubt in my mind that he was one of the strongest fighters in the world," He said confidently.

"I knew you would protect him. I'm just glad it was long enough for us to defeat Akatsuki and the Sound. If they would have got him, I don't know what I would have done."

Jiraiya spoke once more, "Well, he was the reason you guys beat Akatsuki in the first place."

Her curiosity forced her to ask, " How do you figure so?"

"Well, he did take out three of four of their key members. He took out Kazuya Aang, Iwa's 'Gem Stone', Bai Hoshu of the Rain, and the leader Sucho Tosku, the Clouds 'Red Lighting'. " he stated.

"Jiraiya, out of the top-five S-Class criminals in the Bingo Book, you just named three. Those fighters would be hard for even us to beat." The Slug princess stated.

"The only ones who could give us a run for our money is 'Red Lighting', Orochimaru, and Itachi. He replied.

"Well since all of them are dead, the only ones who could give us a run for our money now are Sasuke and Naruto." She stated.

"So he did kill Itachi? You know Orochimaru only went after him because he couldn't defeat Itachi." Jiraiya replied.

"Yea, that's what I figured. Anyway, those two are probably stronger then us now." told the white-haired man.

Jiraiya wondered if Tsunade was going to retire soon. He knew that she always wanted to give her position Naruto, but since he was no longer a member of the village, she wondered who she would select to be the Rokudaime Hokage. "Tsunade, have chosen decided who will replace you as Hokage?"

She simply replied, "No."

There was an uncomfortable silence. The wind began to pick up; rustling her blond pig-tails and her green robe and his white hair as well his red robe.

"So are just going leave the position unfilled?"

She responded " I already told the council that I will not be selecting a successor. So they have decided to select Uchiha Sasuke as the Rokudaime. You already know who I wanted to replace me."

Giving her a light-hearted smile, he placed a hand on her shoulder "Yeah, I do. Anyway, let's get out of this tree and head to a local bar. I think we could both use some sake."

She smiled at the white haired man, " Sounds like a great plan."

Jiraiya and Tsunade jumped out of the trees and headed back to the town.

Naruto had just finished his fight with Kakashi and the other Jounins. He was now looking for Yumi, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He looked at his watch and knew that his ten minutes were almost up. "Think Naruto, where the hell could she be?" In that instant he got it. He ran to the nearest clothing shop in the area.

Naruto entered the shop and found Yumi looking at some shirts. He let out a sigh of relief. He decided to slide behind put his hands over her eyes "Guess who?"

Yumi smile already knowing it was her loving Naruto " I suspect it's my Naruto-kun, but he said that he would be here in five minutes. Oh that's right, you said ten minutes max. I guess they must have been good if they kept you for more than five minutes. Either that or your not a very good ninja."

Naruto took his hand away from her eyes. She turned to face him so she could look him in the eyes when spoke. "That was cold, Yumi. But I'll show you how great of a ninja I am."

She quirked her eye-brow, " How do you intend to do that, Uzumaki-sama?"

He gave her an evil smile, "Like this." He started tickling her all over. She was helpless to do anything but giggle. He finally stopped with a satisfied smirk. "The great Uzumaki is always triumphant in the end."

She walked up to him and tipped toed to his ear to speak so no one could but him, " You may have won the battle, but my lingerie will win the war."

" I see. It seems that I will never win a war against you." he said in a defeated tone

"She walked back to look at the clothes. She then turned her head slightly to reveal a smile that spread across her face, "Nope, not ever."

He scratched the back of his head, a habit which had survived with him from his genin days. "Well I guess I can live with that. Are you almost done? I want to go see Iruka-sensei."

"Actually I've been done for awhile, I was just waiting for you." Yumi replied.

"Really, where are the shopping bags?" Naruto questioned.

"I had them delivered to the hotel. There was a little boy in here looking for some clothes so I asked him if he would take my clothes back the hotel for me. I paid him for his service of course. When we return, I'll just pick them up at the front desk."

" Ok, let's go." Naruto extended his hand for Yumi to grab. They exited the shop and headed to the academy. It was late in the afternoon and class was already out. Naruto knew that Iruka would be grading papers in his class. Naruto and Yumi arrived at the Academy.

Naruto was taking in his surroundings and reminiscing his childhood. Although he did have a bad childhood, there were some good times. He remember a time when Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and himself had ditched Iruka and ran out of the classroom after he had given them an important lecture. He entered the class but he didn't see Iruka. He saw bowl of ramen on the side of a desk filled with paper. He guessed Iruka had stepped out for a second so he decided to look around.

He looked at the seats which were the same. He looked at the seat that him and Chouji used to sit in and exchange snacks. He looked up to the seat at the back of the class where him and Shikamaru uses to sleep. He smiled to himself, "Those were the good times"

Unknowingly to Naruto and Yumi, a man with a hairstyle that resembled a pineapple and a scar lying across his nose entered the room.

"Excuse me; may I help the two of you?" Iruka asked

Yumi turned her gaze from the window to the man who had entered the room. Naruto however, decided not to turn around. He just closed his eyes and smiled "It's been a while, eh, Iruka-sensei?"

Naruto turned around to face the man he saw as a father figure. Iruka gasped in shock. He couldn't believe the person before his eyes. After looking Naruto up and down to make sure it was him he revealed a smile, "Naruto is it really you?"

"The one and only," he replied proudly.

Iruka and Naruto seem to move simultaneously.. They embraced each other in a hug, which was to be expected since they hadn't seen each other in years. They broke their embrace. Iruka was the first to speak, " Naruto how you been? I was worried sick, where did you go, are you ok?"

A drop of sweat appeared on the back of Naruto's head. "Slow down." He gathered himself. "I've been good. Did you get the letters that I sent you?"

"Each one that you sent me. I just wish you left an address so I could write back." The Academy teacher replied.

Iruka looked at Naruto. He realized that there was a lady standing next to him. "Naruto, who is your friend?"

"Oh, where are my manners. Iruka-sensei, this isYumi. Yumi, meet Iruka-sensei." Naruto introduced the two. They both shook hands.

"So this is the Yumi that I've been hearing so much about in your letters. Naruto, you have a beautiful girlfriend," Iruka complimented.

Yumi blushed " Why thank you, sir."

"And soon-to-be wife." Naruto muttered softly so no one could hear.

"Please, just call me Iruka"

Naruto spoke before silence could take over, "Iruka-sensei, I assume you gave me up to Obaa-chan"

Iruka looked like he was about to apologize but Naruto cut him off before he could say anything, "Don't worry about it. I know you wouldn't have done it if you thought that they were going to hurt me."

Iruka spoke "I only did it because they said that they was going to re-instate you as ninja again. I know it's selfish but I just wanted you back home so I could see you."

"Don't worry; I'm here for the time being. I've got a feeling I'm going to be here for a while so we will definitely have time to catch up." The ninja known as the Golden Fox replied.

Naruto grabbed Yumi's hand and they both headed towards the exit. Iruka spoke before they left "Naruto, it is really good to see you again."

Naruto stopped at the door way. "It's good to see you too Iruka-sensei….it's good to see you too."

Naruto and Yumi exited the classroom. Iruka went back to his desk and returned to grading papers. He open his desk drawer to reveal a blue Hitaiate with the Leaf symbol engraved on the metal plate. He smiled at the sight of the blue headband. After closing the drawer he returned back to grading papers.

At a local barbeque shack

Sitting at a table, with a grill in the middle, that seated at least twelve, were twelve Jounins. The Jounins that were sitting at the restaurants were: MitMinato Anko, Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, Genma, Hyuuga Neji, Ebisu, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Tenten, and Rock Lee.

Gai was telling all of those who had not participated in the skirmish with Naruto about how easily they were defeated. Everyone, with the exception of Kurenai, Asuma, and Kakashi, was shocked.

"Impossible! There is no way he could beat all four of you." Anko stated.

"I wish that was true, Anko, but he made us look like rookies who didn't know their place." Asuma said while preparing to smoke a cigarette.

"He's that good Anko. He even broke my powerful genjutsu." Kurenai replied.

Everyone was shocked. The senbon fell out of Genma's mouth. Kurenai was the village's genjutsu specialist. To hear that Naruto broke her most powerful genjustu was surprising.

Shikamaru decided to speak, "I bet the Hokage put you up to the troublesome task of testing Naruto's abilities."

" Yes, she did. Truth be told, I didn't expect him to improve that much. If I had to guess…..I would say he's on par with Sasuke." Kakashi replied.

Ebisu spoke, "You may be right."

Neji, who was sipping his tea, put it down to speak, "I don't know what his skill level is now but he most certainly improved." He looked at Tenten and Shikamaru, "You two had to notice it when we were sent to retrieve him."

Tenten wondered what Neji was getting at, " What do you mean Neji?"

Shikamaru answered, "He means how Naruto was able to get behind Ino without her even noticing until the kunai was at her neck. To tell you the truth, I don't think my shadow bind would have held him if he was serious. He even knew who we were. He called all of us out, remember?"

Asuma, remembering what Naruto had said before he knocked Kurenai out, " Well he did say something about seeing without your eyes before he knocked Kurenai out."

"What do you think he meant by that?" Lee questioned.

Kakashi decided to answer "He told us that he was able to sense our chakra signatures. I'm guessing that's how he was able to defeat Kurenai's genjutsu."

"Well I wonder who is stronger….Naruto or Sasuke?" Anko questioned.

Tenten responded "Probably Sasuke, he did defeat Itachi who was said to be even stronger then Orochimaru."

Anko looked at Tenten "You're probably right. Sasuke-kun is in line to be the next Hokage. He also knows tons of jutsus."

Neji wasn't so sure that Sasuke was stronger. He knew that Naruto was playing with him and the others back in Sun Country. He knew there was a lot more to Naruto then met the eye.

"Well that might be a fight we' ll see in the near future. They are going on a mission together tomorrow." Shikamaru said.

Tenten spoke, "They were teammates, I'm sure that they won't fight."

"You're wrong" Kakashi interrupted. "Sasuke and Naruto are rivals. Although they worked well together when the situation called for it, they always were trying to outdo the other. They always fought each other. I think Naruto was the reason Sasuke defected in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Kurenai wondered.

"Sasuke was always number one in his class. Naruto was the dead-last. Sasuke saw that Naruto was improving greatly and thought that he wasn't progressing fast enough. The day after Tsunade had returned I found them on the roof fighting. I had to interject before they killed each other. Sasuke with a Chidori in his left-hand was about to collide with a Rasengan in Naruto's right-hand."

"He knows the Rasengan!" Anko yelled out. Almost everyone at the table were shocked while some were confused.

"What is the Rasengan?" Chouji asked with food in his mouth.

"I think its a swirling ball of chakra gathered in the hand. Am I correct, Kakashi?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Yes, but how do you know he knew that technique?"

"He used it on one of the sound nins on our mission to retrieve Sasuke." Shikamaru explained.

"It's also an A-rank jutsu only known to Jiraiya-sama and the Yondaime." Kurenai replied.

"A fight between the two is almost inevitable." Kakashi stated.

"Well, Sasuke did defeat Gaara who has Shukaku sealed inside of him, so I'm sure he can best even Naruto." Tenten stated.

"You're wrong," Shikmaru stated.

"Wrong about Sasuke being able to beat Naruto?" Tenten replied.

"No. You're wrong about Sasuke defeating Gaara. Naruto was the one who defeated Gaara."

Everyone at the table was in shock. Kakashi was curious because he had always thought that Sasuke defeated Gaara. All of the villagers had thought that it was their precious Uchiha.

Shikamaru was one of the few that knew the truth. "Temari saw the whole battle. She told me that Naruto saved Sasuke from being killed by Gaara. Well, here's how she described it. Gaara had jumped at Sasuke again but Sakura jumped in front of him, he slammed her in to a tree. He used a giant hand made out of sand to press her against the tree and render her unconscious. I was also told that Naruto created at least 50 kage bunshin. He then proceeded to beat Gaara. When Gaara transformed in o his Shukaku state, Naruto summoned a giant toad."

" Naruto can summon Gambunta as well?" Kurenai asked with wide eyes.

"Not surprising, seeing as Jiraiya-sama trained him for the third round of the Chuunin exams" Ebisu stated.

"I thought that you trained him Ebisu?" Kakashi asked.

"Well I was going to. I decided to work on his charka control, so I took him to the hot springs. I figure that it would give him more incentive to stay above water since the water there was hot."

"Sure. That's the reason. Pervert" Genma said, nudging him in the waist, grinning.

"I'm not a pervert. I did it for his benefit, really. Anyway, we met Jiraiya-sama there and he took over Naruto's training."

"Well like I was saying, Temari said Naruto summoned a huge frog to fight Gaara. Long story short, Naruto defeated Gaara, not everyone's precious Uchiha." Shikamaru finished

"What's that suppose to mean?" Anko asked with a little anger in her voice.

"Shikamaru stood up "It's too troublesome to explain. Besides, I have to hand in my mission report so I will see you guys." Shikamaru headed to the exit.

Naruto and Yumi were walking down the street. Since the sun was setting, they decided to head back to the hotel. Naruto heard a women's voice call his name him and Yumi turned around to see a brunette with clouds cover her private areas. Naruto just smiled. Yumi was furious at the woman. Until she transformed into a teenage boy with the standard uniform of a Leaf Chuunin.

"Naruto-nii-san, that was a smoker of a jutsu, eh?" the teen stated.

Naruto just smiled, "Konohamaru, I'm not a kid anymore so I forbid you to use that ridiculous jutsu."

Yumi was thinking to herself "That is a pathetic ninja technique if I ever see one. It's appalling to all women. That's something a pervert would use and enjoy. Good thing my Naruto isn't the category of the former or the latter." She was pleased with her husband-to-be.

Naruto pumped his fist and screamed, "NOW LET ME SHOW YOU THE ULTIMATE ORIOKE(SEXY) NO JUTSU EVER CREATED TO MAN!"

Realizing what Naruto had said, Yumi responded with a slap to the back of his head. "BAKA! IF I EVER CATCH YOU DOING SOMEHTING AS RIDICULOUS AS THAT, YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT EVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN!"

Naruto recovered from the smack. He then greeted Konohamaru "Hey Konohamru, how's it hanging?"

"Pretty good bro, I heard we're doing a mission together tomorrow. It's going to be wicked awesome to work with you bro. I know you have tones of kick-ass jutsus." Konohamaru said with excitement.

"Yeah, I know a lot of jutsus. Maybe I can show you one" Naruto said.

Yumi glared at him " It better not be the one that you were talking about earlier..or else."

Naruto put his hand up in defense "No,no,no… it's something different completely."

Konohamaru spoke "Hey bro, who's the hot chick? Is she your …." Konohamaru showed Naruto his pinky.

Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto replied "Yep. I did pretty well for myself don't you think? What about you Konohamaru, do you have a special girl?"

"Well, I like Hyuuga Hanabi, but I don't think she likes anyone. She acts as if she's too good tosocialize with me. But for some reason I still like her." Konohamaru confessed his feeling toward the Hyuuga heir to Naruto.

" Don't worry Konohamaru, most Hyuugas are snobs. If you can't convince her to see how great you are then it's her loss." Naruto gave his opinion. Naruto and Konohamaru were smiling. Both of their ninja senses kicked in, they quickly turned to the right to see five kunai's coming in their direction. Naruto grabbed Yumi before she knew what was going on and flipped out of the way. Konohamaru sensed the kunai's and flipped out of the way.

Naruto landed a foot away from where the kunai was embedded into the floor. He looked to the direction where Kunai came from. On the roof stood a man with a Jounin vest, black sweats with the shins bandaged and a black long sleeved shirt. On the arm of his shirt was the symbol of the Uchiha clan.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at recognizing at who it was. In angry tone, he decided to speak, "Uchiha…Sasuke."

Sasuke flipped of the roof and landed in front Naruto. He sported his infamous smirk. "You're as slow as ever dobe."

Naruto basically growled his next comment, "What do you want Sasuke?"

Yumi was looking at Sasuke. Naruto had told her about Sasuke and how they fought at this place called the "Valley of the End" but he never told her details of the battle. All he said was that he lost.

"Just came to check out if the rumors were true." Sasuke answered.

"Those rumors would be…."

"That you were back in town. I also heard that you beat Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma. Not bad dobe." the Uchiha replied

Naruto was wearing a smirk "A lot has changed. No offense, but you're not even a match for me, Sasuke-chan."

Sasuke eyes narrowed; He was pissed. Naruto knew that barb would anger Sasuke, that's exactly what he wanted. Sasuke calmed down. "You're girlfriend is very attractive. Getting her is probably the only thing you did right dobe."

Naruto was getting pissed. He knew what Sasuke was doing because he was doing the same thing. "I never knew you liked girls, Sasuke-chan. I mean you always rejected your fan girls, I always thought you played for the other team."

Konohamaru and Yumi could feel the tension between the two. They knew that the two were about to explode. Yumi decided to grab Naruto's arm and drag him to the hotel "Naruto-kun, let's go." Naruto nodded and decided to walk off.

Sasuke spoke "Getting saved by his girl, that's what I expected of you dobe." Naruto stopped immediately. He was now officially pissed. He was not going to let this slide. He turned to face Sasuke against Yumi's protest. "You know Sasuke, I don't like fighting with words. I'd rather use my fist."

Sasuke smirked; he had gotten what he wanted, "There is a training area about a mile from here. We could do a lot of talking there if you'd like." Sasuke pointed to Yumi, "bring her too. I want her to see you get your ass kicked." He then poofed away to the training ground.

Naruto looked Konohamaru who was next to him, "Protect her when we get to the training ground."

Konohamaru was worried for Naruto. He knew that Sasuke was probably the strongest in the village " Naruto-niisan, I don't think you should fight Sasuke."

"And why shouldn't I?" Naruto asked.

"Because he's going to be the Rokudaime." the teen stated.

Naruto become even angrier after that revelation. He just kept thinking about how it was unfair that Sasuke got everything. He had to work hard to get anything and everything seems to just fall in Sasuke's lap. Sasuke was number one in school. Sasuke had the affection of the girl he once cared deeply for. Sasuke was personally trained by their Jounin instructor while he was left to rot. Now it seems that Sasuke was going to live the dream, which he wished, deep down, he could live. It was just so unfair.

He looked at Konohamaru "Well I guess you will get to see that my power is on the level of a Kage. Meet me there."

Naruto poofed to training ground seven. Sasuke was standing in the middle of the clearing. Naruto and Sasuke were staring at each other intently. The power that was radiating off of them was similar to when Orochimaru and Sandaime were fighting. They just stood there looking at each other for two minutes.

Konohamaru had arrived with Yumi. They were a distance away. Kakashi and those who were at the Barbeque shack had felt the immense power and came to check it out. They all landed next to Konohamaru. The Anbu squad came when they felt Sasuke and an unfamiliar power; they surround Naruto.

Sasuke spoke to the Anbu squad "Stand down."

A man with a bear mask spoke "Sasuke-sama, we have a duty to take in anyone who acts against a shinobi of the Leaf."

"I said to stand down. Don't get involved no matter what happens." He said this while looking at Naruto the whole time. The Anbu squad decided to watch the fight. Tsunade and Jiraiya walked up next to the small group that consisted of Ninja's "What is going on here?" Tsunade asked.

"Naruto-niisan is about to kick Sasukes ass." Konohamaru replied.

Hanabi, who was training with Hinata, had felt the power that came from them earlier. Her and Hinata had arrived in time to hear Konohamaru's proclamation. She decided to comment on what she thought to be a ridicules comment. "You really are a fool, monkey boy. Naruto can't beat Sasuke-sama. He's going to be the Rokudaime, no way he loses to him."

Naruto looked to his left to see a lot ninja's looking at him and Sasuke. He saw Konohamaru with Yumi. She was the only person he was looking for, however he saw the one person that had broke his heart six years ago. His eyes narrowed when she came next to Tsunade. The pink-haired Kunochi, known as Sakura has not changed a bit. Granted she got taller and her wardrobe now consisted of a red top, a beige skirt with black shorts under, and black knee high sandals.

Naruto just smiled. This was the perfect opportunity to beat Sasuke in front Kakashi, Sakura and everyone else.

He turned back to Sasuke and was smiling. Sasuke was curious.

"What are you smiling at dobe?"

"Just smiling at how I'm going to show everyone how weak you really are, Sasugay."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that statement. Naruto calling Sasuke-chan was one thing, but saying that he was a fag boy was over the line. He shifted in to a fighting stance, "Then show me"

"With pleasure."

Naruto and Sasuke formed hand seals faster then anyone could follow, and they both yelled "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu" A big dragon flew from both their mouth. Both dragons collided and canceled each other out. No one could see would happen after that due to the dirt blocking their vision

Tsunade was about to stop their battle when Jiraiya grabbed her. "Don't get involved. They have some unresolved issues that they need to settle. Just sit back and watch the show, I guarantee that we won't see a fight like this again."

Sakura was looking, trying to see what was happening. Neji saw her worry, so he decided to tell her what was happening "They are engaging in a tajutsu match, neither one is getting the upper hand. When the dust cleared everyone saw both fighters blocking the others punches and kicks. Sasuke did a round house kick that sent Naruto into a nearby tree. Everyone was looking on in amazement.

Naruto rubbed his jaw "Dam he's good. I didn't want to do this but I guess I have no choice." Naruto walked back the clearing where Sasuke stood in his fighting stance.

"That was a nice kick. But let's stop playing with each other. How about you take off your weights and I take off mine so we can pick up where we left off six years ago." Naruto complemented.

Sasuke spoke in a mocking tone, "You sure that's what you want?. When I take of my weights, this fight is going to be more or less over."

"Just take them off already," Naruto said in bored tone.

Both warriors took of their weights. Sasuke took of his wrist, ankle, and vest which were all weighted. Naruto took off the weight tag that was in his shoes. He also took off the ones that were under his wrist bands as well as the one that was under his shirt and his pants.

Naruto was ready. Both warriors blurred out of everyone's site. Kakashi was stunned.

Anko spoke "What the hell….where did they go?"

"They're moving at a high speed. I can follow them but barely. They are exchanging blows." Lee committed.

Out of everyone that was there only Jiraiya and Tsunade saw what exactly was happening. Kakashi, Lee, and Gai were barely keeping up with the speed. Jiraiya who was looking at the fight intently smiled. He knew what had just happened. Sasuke had just got kicked in his face.

Everyone, except those who could follow the fight, had saw Sasuke fly into a tree. Neji smirked " Looks like the Uchiha is eating dirt." Most of the ninjas that were there couldn't believe what they had just heard. Sasuke was on par with the Godaime. When the lot of ninjas and Sasuke-fans saw that he was pulling himself out of the little ditch, they were surprised to say the least.

"Impossible. I never seen anyone who was able to lay a hit on Sasuke-sama" an Anbu guard said.

" Who does that guy think he is, hurting Sasuke-kun?" Said a Chuunin fan girl.

Yumi looked at the girl, " That's my Naruto-kun. This Sasuke of yours can't ever beat my Naruto."

Hinata tensed up at what the girl had said. The happiness that she held regarding his return had died there and then. "I should have told how him I felt when we were younger. I should have followed my heart and left with him when I saw him leave that day...I just wish that…."

Her thoughts were cut off by the Anbu man with the frog mask, who looked at Yumi "You mean, Naruto as in the "Golden Fox" ?"

She looked back at Naruto who was waiting for Sasuke to pull himself together, "The very same."

Sasuke finally got up. His lip was bleeding. He wiped the blood away with the back of his hand; he smiled, "The dobe got better. No matter, I'm still going to kick his ass"

Sasuke did some hand seals. When he was finished, his right-hand was holding his left wrist; the Chidori was forming in his left-hand.

Naruto held out his right-hand to form the Rasengan. "I held back last time, Sasuke. This time I won't. The promise that I made with Haruno no longer applies. You better come at me with everything you got."

Sakura heard Naruto had called her by her clan name instead of her given name. She was hurt, but after what she did to him she couldn't blame him. She just hoped that he and Sasuke didn't get hurt. She looked at Yumi who had earlier told a Chuunin that her Naruto-kun wouldn't lose to Sasuke. She wondered if this girl was Naruto's girlfriend.

Sasuke knew that Naruto was serious. He always wondered why Naruto held back and now he had his answer. It was because of Sakura. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a steely gaze, "I plan to do just that."

They continued to look each other for a second. When the second that seemed like an eternity ended, they both took off at each other, armed with two of the most fearsome jutsus ever created. Everyone looked on in awe waiting to see what happened next.

Next Chapter, more on the Naruto and Sasuke battle. This is going to be a battle for the ages. It's rival against rival. Rasengan against Chidori. Tune in to find out how the battle concludes.