Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto Dragon Champion ❯ Teachers and Revelations ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Naruto manages to get Kin admitted into Konoha as a citizen and trains with Ebisu, but then meets a certain perverted hermit of a ninja. Encounters the Kyuubi for the first time and meets Gamabunta as well. And as the Chuunin exams draw closer....gets a brand new set of protection and also makes quite the entrance.

Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.21.2008 | Pages: 36 | Words: 36.0K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Completed

Naruto - The Twin Swords

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of Naruto…if I did, then I would not be working on this one.

Chapter 12

Teachers and Revelations

( ): Thoughts

((“ ”)): Holy Talon's voice

((( ))): Kyuubi's voice

(( )): Inner Sakura's voice

/” ”\: Faldren's voce

\” ”/: Kael's voice

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`Deception in war is an art-form…performed well, it can bring down even the mightiest fortress and defeated the deadliest enemy…'

`Performed poorly however…then the situation becomes utterly dire and destructive, and an utter waste of lives, weapons, energy, resources, and more.'

`Never think that every encounter is an assured victory, always be on the lookout for deception…for there is only one word to describe those who underestimate their enemies.'

`Dead…'

`And one more thing…never judge any ally who seems weaker at first glance…for they may surprise you in ways you will not notice until it is too late…that too is deception. And that too is an art form.'

Quote from a military advisor in Dagern…

----------

The next day…

“So you met him again…how is that kid doing?”

Zabuza asked as he cleaned his head cleaving sword…which was fully refurbished and sharpened…it had cost him a bit more money than usual to have his sword fully repaired…but now with it reinforced and re-forged…he had a better chance than before. He wondered what was it that Haku had discovered while they were here.

“He seems to be in good health…though he has changed his choice of clothes since I last saw him.”

“I see… it seems that we will need to counteract our plans for today Haku.”

“Hmm?”

“I've been given a contract and as much as I would not want to leave my debts to both Kakashi and that blonde kid…this comes first…we're leaving today…so we should get going…did you have any other important matters to finish?”

Haku shook his head as helped Zabuza gather their supplies and get ready to move out, the young ninja hoped that he could settle things with Naruto…as much as he disliked lying to Naruto and he did find the blonde a good guy…he was still on the other side…maybe if they had not been enemies and on a different day, they would have been good friends.

The duo left the outer perimeter of Konoha…avoiding any patrols and were now on their way to accomplish their contract.

----------

In Naruto's apartment…

Naruto shook his head and yawned once more as he went to work with his usual break-fast, while dressed in a sleeveless shirt and a pair of pants he got on before going to the kitchen…this time it was ramen with toast on the side, plus some fruit and fresh milk as well. The blonde however was not cooking just for himself today as he worked on some other food items for his room-mate.

Kin was allowed to stay in another room and it was a good distance from Naruto's own quarters…though they shared the same living room and the same bath-room. After being told that she would be under Naruto's personal protection and staying with him until she was allowed to be a citizen of Konoha, the Sound Genin was worried about not having enough money to buy for her own gear. The blonde dealt with that and managed to get some spare clothes, and other needs, though he made sure to be VERY discrete when it came to getting Kin some spare undergarments when it came to shopping for them.

He had to resort to his Sexy No Jutsu and wore clothes as she went shopping…naturally this added problems for the blonde since his highly upgraded Sexy No Jutsu was attracting WAY too much male attention and he had to deal with more than ONE perverted guy chasing him…was it his fault his Sexy No Jutsu was THIS attractive? Not to mention he had to deal with the women he met giving him looks of absolute envy and disapproval. More than once he had to quickly dash and fend off more than one horny guy trying to cope a feel of him…the idea of that happening made him shudder a bit, but watching the men drop down like flies hit by super strength insecticide was worth a good laugh…thankfully his sensei Kakashi was not around to see this.

As soon as he was done, he turned to see Kin walk into the living room while yawning a bit as she was dressed in a loose buttoned shirt and shorts…the blonde quickly blushed as he saw her…and for good reason…despite her being young, Kin was certainly well formed and had a good body tone…

(Damn it!!!)

Naruto got to focus on his food as Kin looked at her room-mate and wondered why he was blushing…that us until she realized the state she was in and she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed as well, though she smiled a swell. Back in Sound, she had been treated with indifference for a long time, at first she was not happy with being treated like she was nothing but dirt…but she gradually got used to it. This was the first time she got a reaction for just being there in her state of dress. She realized that as well and buttoned herself up and sat down to Naruto….however that did not stop her from grinning from ear to ear.

“Good morning Kin…sleep well?”

Kin smiled a bit at that, she liked the fact that Naruto meant every word…why he never had a girl friend was beyond her. She then smiled as she looked him over…with the muscle shirt hugging his muscled frame well.

“It's okay…actually I'm lying…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It's just this is the first time I slept in a place where I don't have to worry about being treated like dirt and worse…I feel…great…thanks again Naruto-kun.”

Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish look.

“No problem Kin…”

The two began to have break-fast, with Kin enjoying her food, as Naruto began to eat his instant ramen and the rest of his food…however, he stopped when he heard knocking on the door of his home, he got off the chair…grabbed Holy Talon and then went to the door to see just who was visiting him at this time of the day.

He opened the door and to his surprise…he found himself looking at Sakura…who had a pack of groceries in her hands.

“Sakura-chan…what are you doing here?”

The pink haired girl smiled as she walked in…secretly admiring the look of Naruto only in his current garb while Holy Talon was next to him…she managed to contain herself as she saw the muscles that Naruto had on him and she couldn't help but feel heated as she began to imagine her feeling those muscles once he was bare of his clothes, with her hands and her…

(Augh!!! I've got to stop drooling over him!!! He's still Naruto…even if he is now hot.)

((Stop fooling yourself girl…he IS hot!!!! He makes Sasuke-kun look tame now…))

(Hush! No matter what, he is still Naruto-kun…the same loud, boisterous guy I know…but he's…)

((Kinder? More open? And most of all…he wants you to be happy? Face it girl…he's not only hot…but has a heart of gold…makes me wonder why we never noticed that before…))

(I guess you're right…still, I want to do this right…not jump the gun with him.)

((Fine! But make sure to get him alone when you do!))

(Hush!!!)

“I came here to see how you were holding up…not to mention…I brought you some more groceries for you and you're room-mate.”

Naruto smiled and graciously accepted Sakura's offer and took the groceries with his usual smile.

“Thanks a lot Sakura-chan!!! I really don't have that much money so I really am happy you're doing this for me and you helping out Kin is great!”

The blonde then took the groceries into the apartment and went to re-stock his fridge with the new food, this left Kin and Sakura to stare at him as he bent to his knees and began tos tock the fridge and both girls took the time to stare at him…even with the clothes he had on, the imaginations of both Kunoichi were enough as they looked him over.

Sakura noted the key amount of interest Kin was showing his team-mate and while she could understand the Sound Genin's…interest…in Naruto…she certainly was not liking it in any way at all. Kin noted the looks of warning Sakura was sending her way and she merely glared back…both speaking in silent conversation.

You are not going to get you're hands on Naruto-kun…you Sound Genin…

So you intend to stop me? I would like to see you try…

Naruto-kun is my team-mate and not yours…and I've known that he likes me a lot, so I won't give up if I have a chance with him…

He may like you…but I know quite a few tricks of my own make to get his attention well enough…

The two women were looking at each other more intently as sparks began to fly between the two of them, while the blonde was till busy filling up his fridge. As soon as he was done, he turned and two women got back to working with him, namely in a bit of the household chores.

As soon as that was over…Naruto chatted with Sakura about the soon to come matches and while he was sad that Sakura was not going to be with him and Sasuke…he still cheered her up and told her that she was going to get another shot in the next Chuunin Exams as well. The two team-mates, along with Kin decided to clean up the place a bit…both girls chiding Naruto for not cleaning up his apartment every now and then, Sakura and Naruto then bid each other farewell as Sakura had some chores left over to do.

Naruto thanked Sakura for the visit and bid farewell to Kin as he still had to meet up with Ebisu…as much as he still disliked working with him, the man seemed a bit more different than before and as Holy Talon had told him…he had to give others a chance to prove themselves, before making any form of judgment on them. He decided not to bring Holy Talon with him when he would go and meet Ebisu today, and there he could see just what sort of teacher was this guy.

Kin bid Naruto farewell and decided to take a break and get some time off, while learning as much as she could about her new protector…and fellow room-mate…not to mention resident piece of hot eye candy. Naturally she left Holy Talon alone…having witnessed the power of the sword more than once.

----------

Out in the streets of Konoha…

Naruto was moving about and seeing that things were back to normal…at least for now since the finals would be starting very soon. As he made his way towards the meeting place where Ebisu was waiting for him, he looked about and saw several female villagers looking at him, some were looking at him in a very heated way, though NOT in a bad way…some of them seemed to be staring at him in a very interesting way and he swore that some of them were following him. He put that aside as he made his way to where his…teacher…was waiting for him.

(Why does it have to be this guy…)

He put that out of his mind as Ebisu showed up and the Elite Jonin nodded with a bit of a grin as he pushed up his shades and spoke.

“Glad you made it Naruto…I have a proposition for you before we get down to the training.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to run away and escape me as I pursue you throughout Konoha, you have to show me how skillful you are as a ninja…if you manage to evade me…then I will withdraw my part in teaching you and personally ask Kakashi-sensei to train you personally….”

Naruto grinned at that….this was the break he needed…but then he recalled that there was something wrong with the whole thing…he looked at Ebisu with a wary look and the spoke.

“What's the catch?”

“My…you are not as dull as some say…all right, if I happen to catch you down…and you give up…then you will follow my training and methods in teaching…no matter what happens. And to prove my point…I will treat you out to your favorite food…even if you don't succeed in escaping me.”

The blonde ninja grinned wider and smiled.

“This is going to be easy!!! I'll show you just how good a ninja I really am!!!”

As soon as Naruto rushed out…Ebisu smiled and replied.

“Now the game begins….”

----------

Much later…

(I have to admit…even with the Kage Bushin I had…I was not lucky enough…he's not as weak as I thought he was, maybe Kakashi-sensei was right about him, I should have known he would know how to do it too….but at least he's treating me out for food.)

Naruto thought as he was sitting in the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and eating his favorite ramen and alongside him was Ebisu…The Elite Jonin proved to one tenacious guy as no matter where he went, and how many times he used his ninja training and skills, the guy still managed to find him in the area of Konoha…he had attempted to use his knowledge of Ebisu's hidden perverted nature when he found a bill-board with the Icha Icha logo…but that idea backfired as the Jonin saw through the ruse and while he complimented Naruto on the attempt…it was not enough.

He tried the Kage Bushin but even that was not enough and since he found out that Ebisu was also skilled in Kage Bushin Jutsu…he was not going to get away…he did lose, but Ebisu told him that either way…he was still going to treat him out for ramen.

It was then that Ebisu began to speak to Naruto while he was still eating.

“Now then Naruto…I have been analyzing you're style and what Kakashi sensei told me about you in the missions…including the one in Wave Country if I might add.”

Naruto stopped in mid-slurp and looked at Ebisu and carried on, as soon as he was done, he spoke to the Elite Jonin.

“You know about…the sword?”

“Yes…I must admit that information was interesting…however, we will not talk about the sword and the gifts it gives you, that I think ifs for you alone to find out…rather, it's your chakra abilities, which is one of the basic skills. You see…there is a reason you were not able to be a skilled ninja long before you had the sword….here's a good lesson.”

“Now then…as you know…in order for a ninja, either male or female to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu or other ninja skills and techniques, they must learn how to channel and control chakra through physical mental, and spiritual training to do both and mold the chakra to make the jutsu.”

“Why are you bringing that up? I learned that in the basics classes in the Academy when I graduated!”

“That is true, nevertheless, the basic skills are the foundation of other techniques…even the Hokages of our village and the other Kages of the other Countries had to learn the basics in order to have a solid foundation for their signature jutsus that made them Kage, they certainly didn't come up with them overnight.”

“Now then…here's an example and the reason of why I brought it up….you're team-mate Sakura-kun comes first to mind, now as you know already, she is the smartest in your group and yet she does not have any blood line traits like Sasuke-kun, or have a trademark jutsu like you do…however, she has excellent chakra channeling and chakra control…which is why she does not use too much chakra…she can summon enough chakra to channel into a Bushin Jutsu and her control allows her to use the energy wisely…making five clones.”

“Now you're team-mate Sasuke-kun…he has some difficulty with chakra channeling, so he summons a little more chakra than Sakura-kun does to make the Bushin Jutsu…however, that flaw is offset by his excellent chakra control…allowing him to make the same number despite using more chakra…”

Naruto finished his bowl and smiled.

“Ahhh…that means Sasuke still has a few kinks to work out…I can't wait to tell him and rub it in…”

“Before you get ahead of yourself and start talking about other's weak points…you should hear your own first. In your case…you draw too much chakra and you have no control over how to channel it…therefore…you use far too much chakra…and you're control is spotty to say the least as you have not practiced how to properly control the chakra you summoned…that's why your Bushin back in the Academy…look so weak and you could only make one or two at best…and they are not stable to say the least. With the amount of power your team mates have…they can make twice the number as well.”

Ebisu finished his food just as Naruto did, and the blonde boy was silent…the Elite Jonin then continued.

“That was a bit of an exaggeration actually…however, you do have those weak points, so while you can do jutsus like the you're team mates…they are too wild and unstable to say the least. You need to learn control to better utilize both your chakra and jutsus.”

“But there were times that I was better than either Sasuke or Sakura! How can those times be different?”

“That's because you have a source of amazing stamina and chakra inside of you to begin with! And they are hardly human as well!”

Naruto's following retort fell silent and so was he…and Ebisu sighed…while he still had fear and dislike for the Kyuubi inside Naruto…he understood that Naruto was not the Kyuubi himself and he spoke.

Later, the two walked over to a nearby bridge and the Elite Jonin spoke to Naruto, facing him seriously, he made sure no one else was near them and they were out of earshot as well, there was still the law after all.

“You no doubt were told by that traitor Mizuki about…well, your status as the Kyuubi's container. By the way…I have to thank you for dealing with that rat. Who knows how much trouble he would have caused if he got away with the Book of Seals.”

“No problem…”

“Good enough then that we agree on something, now because of the fact that you have the Kyuubi, the chakra you have is too powerful to be contained in your body, so it would make sense why you have such stamina and you can recover easily and as such…when you get your chakra and channel it, it is very large amounts and is overflowing and since your chakra control is poor you have a hard time using it with certain jutsus…however, with my training in both chakra channeling and control…you can master it well enough. Once that happens through my training…you can be even stronger than you are now as a ninja.”

“Are you really serious?!”

Ebisu nodded.

“Of course I am serious…I wouldn't be an Elite Jonin Tutor if I wasn't serious you know…meet me tomorrow morning and we can get down to the training.”

----------

The next day…

Naruto and Ebisu were walking along towards the hot springs and Naruto wondered why were they here of all places and naturally Ebisu forbade him to go the other side since that section of the hot springs was for women. Naruto, dressed in his newly modified clothes…the ones he used to wear, but were now suited for his growth spurt, however had a feeling that things were not going to be easy and it was proof that despite what Ebisu said…he was still a closet pervert.

He once more left Holy Talon back at his apartment… Kin had decided to go out with Sakura who came by the house to buy some clothes and supplies…naturally she was in a disguise…with some easy to wash of hair dye….and a set of clothes that were that of a civilian…this helped her avoid being seen by any of her former team mates and villagers. While the two were not in good terms yet…they were at least not fighting each other yet.

Naruto put that aside as he spoke to his teacher Ebisu.

“So what are we going to do here in the hot springs anyway?”

“Simple…we're going to walk on the hot water today.”

Naruto looked at Ebisu in a very weird fashion, as if trying to dissect and find something. The Elite Jonin noted that look very quickly and spoke.

“Why are you giving me that look?”

“Can you really walk on water, or are you just pulling my leg?”

“Of course I can walk on water! It's a basic skill, but highly useful! Hmph…you should have paid more attention to Iruka-sensei instead of always pulling pranks, arriving late to the Academy, and running from classes or you would have learned this skill before you graduated. Never mind though, this will be a good test of the two things I mentioned.”

Ebisu then looked at the water and then back to Naruto.

“Kakashi-sensei told me you were able to use the tree walking technique without your hands in Wave Country after some serious training…well, the same principle works here too…though in a bit more unique mindset.”

“What are you talking about…how can tree walking work here?!”

“Simple, yet difficult actually, in tree walking, you have to channel a required amount of chakra and then concentrate it to the appropriate part of your body and that will allow you to place that said body part…namely your feet on the tree to walk and you must release the same amount of chakra constantly to walk on the tree. Now as a tree is a solid object and does not move about much, so in tree walking, you just have to absorb the chakra to hold you into place. This training we are about to do is about how to properly channel the fixed amount of chakra constantly, and while tree walking is easy to do once you've mastered it. Water walking on the other hand is a different matter.”

“Water is obviously not solid or stationary…and as such, you have to float on the surface to walk on it without falling into the water. You must continuously release the appropriate amounts of your chakra to your feet, as well as control the flow of your chakra to adapt any changes to keep balance. While it sounds simple…it is difficult since you must always use a changing amount of chakra instead of a fixed amount and you have to make sure that you must control the chakra properly as well and change it should you need to. That is the core lesson I will teach you today Naruto.”

“I still don't get all of that you know.”

“I know…so I will show you instead…better to see it with your own eyes anyway. Now then…the first step is to channel the chakra and focus it on my feet…”

Ebisu summoned his chakra and his feet were now glowing and he then faced the water of the steaming hot spring.

“And then I control the amount of chakra I have in my feet and how much I can allow to flow to my feet, and then walk on the water while keeping in mind how much chakra I need for any changes…”

The Elite Jonin then walked over the water…and he was not falling into the steaming water at all…much to Naruto's surprise and amazement.

(Wow! He wasn't kidding! You CAN walk on water!!!!)

Ebisu walked on and stopped a short distance from Naruto and turned to face his student.

“ …and here I am…walking on water… as you can see, water walking is the best lesson in both channeling and control of chakra. Master this and you can easily channel your chakra and control it so you can then use enough chakra without using unknown amounts, reserving your chakra for more powerful jutsus and make your currently used jutsus more effective…now you try Naruto.”

Naruto was ecstatic as he saw the whole thing.

“All right then!!! I'll take a stab at this too!!!”

(Okay…first I need to gather and focus my chakra to my feet…)

Naruto did so and then walked towards the water.

(Now I have to keep releasing the same amount constantly so I can….AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!)

Naruto found himself falling to the hot spring water very quickly and there was one thing he quickly realized…it was HOT.

“AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! HOT!!! HOT!!!”

“I forgot to tell you that the water here is 60 degrees hotter so you will be boiled like a lobster in a cooking pot if you fall too many times Naruto…you have to get the amount right and then keep it flowing…do it again.”

Naruto got up and tried it once more, but failed several times…as he was not used to doing water walking…having never mastered the trick as of yet since he had not been as attentive in ninja classes back in his Academy days. Ebisu watched on and noted Naruto's determination and guts as he did it again and again. And despite the failures…he WAS getting better…

(I see now…I guess Konohamaru-san was right about what he said to me before.)

----------

Flashback…

Ebisu was busy training Konohamaru in the forest and he was telling the young man doing pushups that there was a shortcut to being the Hokage…Konohamaru disagreed and he spoke.

“I learned something from my Boss Naruto and he was right Ebisu-sensei…”

“What was he right about?”

“If I want to be Hokage someday…I have to work hard…train hard…and sweat hard to be Hokage…I want be a Hokage who gets there through hard work and effort, and my own determination…not through shortcuts! That's the way I want to earn the right to be a Hokage! Just like Boss Naruto!!!”

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End of Flashback…

Ebisu recalled those words and he looked see Naruto smiling and moving about as he finally managed to do water walking and was happy and cheering away. He had seen that it took a number of painful and hard attempts until the blonde learned the right amount and how to control it well.

Naruto couldn't believe it…he kept on trying and learning…and now he was doing it…he was walking on water!!!!!

“I…I think I've got it…all right! I did it Ebisu-sensei! You were right after all!!! I can do it!!! ALL RIGHT!!!!”

Ebisu nodded and smiled.

“Nicely done Naruto-kun…keep the lessons here in mind always, for they will be truly important to you when the time comes.”

(I am impressed that he was able to master it quickly…I never knew you would grow up this much in a short time…and how you were able to teach Konohamaru-san the truth…I admit that there is no true short cut to anything…everything takes hard work, dedication, sweat, tears, and even blood, you taught Konohamaru-san that, and I sorely underestimated you…you are a far better teacher to Konohamaru-san than you realize Naruto-kun, better than me in a great respect. You are not a stupid container of the Kyuubi as others tend to believe…I have no doubts now in my mind that you will be a great ninja of Konoha someday for you already have the drive and heart of one…and with time and more effort, training, spirit, and hard work…you can even be a great Hokage someday.)

Naruto then turned and his eyes widened as he saw something…or rather someone and that broke his concentration and he fell into the hot springs with a cry of shock. Ebisu was surprised that despite his success, Naruto had suddenly lost his focus and fell back into the spring.

“What happened? You suddenly lost your control Naruto…”

Naruto popped back up and pointed in a direction to the bathing area.

“Look over there!!!”

Ebisu turned and his surprise…there was someone there near the women's bathing area. The man seemed to snickering and making lewd noises…telling the Jonin that the man was peeping on the women who were no doubt bathing there. The person also had deep while hair in a long ponytail and had a massive scroll on the back…plus he was dressed oddly. The Jonin however put that out of his mind and spoke.

“I don't know who you are or how you managed to evade my senses…but I will not allow you to continue with such shameless and impudent behavior!!!”

The Elite Jonin tutor charged at the man, intent on dealing with him quickly as Naruto got out of the hot-spring. But just then, the man suddenly did several hand seals and called forth a toad…and not just any toad…but a very large one at that.

“What…wait a moment!!!”

Ebisu had no time to complete his statement as the massive toad suddenly fired out it's tongue and grabbed him and tossed him to the ground with considerable force…not enough to kill him, but enough to knock him out like a mallet to the head.

Naruto was stunned at the sight of that.

----------

Back in Konoha…

Kin had to admit that compared to the dark and drab Sound Village, there was a life in the air around it here in Konoha…she could see why the citizens here would love the peace…and how they would fight for it. She knew that Orochimaru had a plan for Konoha…and while she was not aware of ALL the details, she knew that something big was about to happen soon.

As she went into a clothing store…she turned to see Sakura with her, along with Ino…the two made it their personal duty to keep an eye on her while Naruto was out…she had no idea why they would do that…but after seeing Naruto in less clothes…she had a fairly accurate idea on why…not that she could blame them…if they were body guards and he was the one they had to guard…then she'd rather be the one massaging him…

(Heh…that would be fun indeed…)

She put that out of her mind as she shopped for some more clothes for her own selection, she did wonder why the other Sound Genin were not making any new moves as of yet, but put that out of her mind for the time being.

Sakura and Ino were close by, and bought some spare clothes of their own…while keeping a very wary eye at the Sound Genin.

----------

Back in the hot springs…

“Hey Toad Man! What the heck is wrong with you?! This guy was supposed to be training me and you knocked him out cold!”

Naruto tried to wake Ebisu up and used the same trick Kakashi did on him a while back…and that didn't work in the least at all, so now he directed his attention towards the man who had knocked Ebisu out like a light.

“Well…he disrupted my research after all.”

“Research?! Just who the hell are you?!”

“I'm glad you asked! I am the legendary Hermit of Mount Myouboku! The Wise and Immortal Spirit, I am the Toad Mountain Sage!”

The guy struck a pose that in Naruto's mind began to make the poses of both Lee and Gai look a bit weak in comparison and that made him wonder just who was this guy.

“What? Toad Sage?”

(Why does that name…you can't be serious!!! This guy's that Sannin Sakura-chan told me about?!)

“Exactly.”

The man then leaped off the Toad as the toad suddenly poofed away in a cloud of smoke…just like a clone made from either Bushin or Kage Bushin would. And the man smiled at Naruto and was seemingly relaxed despite laying Ebisu down like a pancake.

“I know you! Your one of the Sannin!! The one called Jiraiya!!! listen here you Pervy Sage! He was training me and now he's out of it…just what sort of research are you talking about anyway?”

The man smiled and reached into his clothes and replied.

“I am impressed you know my name and as to what I am doing here, I happen to be a novelist, and as a novelist I write great books and my most treasured work is this book.”

The very moment Naruto saw the book, he recognized it to be the very sane novel that his Jonin sensei Kakashi would always read. And the moment that came into mind how…how his sensei would look reading the book he quickly realized just who the man was.

“You wrote that?!”

“Yes….you recognized it so quickly!”

(Amazing…I am already famous and I haven't had it in paperback yet!)

The Toad Sage smiling…but Naruto was far from happy or amused.

“You call that perverted trash a novel?! I can't believe that one of the Sannin was such a dirty old man?! And research?! Yeah right…that has got to be the lamest excuse to peep at the women's bathhouse I've ever heard of!!!”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Apparently the women heard the whole thing and naturally reacted as they vacated the premises…much to the perverted Toad Sage's dismay.

“No! No! Now look what you've done! you've ruined all my hard earned peeking…my research!!!”

“Knock it off you dirty old man!”

“I am not a dirty old man squirt!!! And there's nothing dirty about it at all!! I happen to be a novelist who gains inspiration by doing my research! And I am inspired by youth and beauty, that is all!!!”

“Right…like anyone will actually believe that…but that's not why I am arguing with you!!! What are you going to do about the rest of my training…training YOU interrupted when you knocked my teacher out like a light?!”

----------

Much later…

Naruto and Jiraiya were currently eating some water melon that Naruto found, he had been chasing the Toad Sage for quite a while and while the old man gave him the slip more than once…he was not giving up any time soon and decided to bring Jiraiya the water-melon, as soon as that was done, the Toad Sage left…stating that Naruto didn't live up to the bargain and he will not train him even if he planned to surpass the Hokage and the other Kages of Konoha in the past…he planned to get back to his research and all he needed was a hot and sexy lady…unknown to the two…Ebisu had fully recovered and had been tailing them…having recognized the man Naruto was after.

“I don't want fruits! I don't want vegetables! I want a lady kid! A Hot and Sexy Lady!!!!”

Naruto sighed and realized it was now time to throw in his trump card. He had a feeling this would be more than enough to convince this Pervert of a Sage to train him.

“All right then…you want a hot and sexy lady? How about this then?”

Naruto made the hand seals and activated the jutsu…Jiraiya watches on and wondered just what Naruto was going to do…and he saw it soon enough as Naruto used his heavily improved Sexy Jutsu and revealed himself.

Jiraiya's eyes nearly pooped out of his head as the smoke began to clear and Naruto was in his Sexy Jutsu…he wasn't the only one affected by the highly upgraded jutsu as Ebisu unleashed a torrent of blood and fired off like a rocket in to the nearby well. Jiraiya was drooling like a fountain as he gazed at Naruto's Sexy No Jutsu form as the heavily improved jutsu was really something else as the smoke cleared.

Naruto then spoke in the female voice he had been practicing for quite a while.

“Please stop that…I'm going to blush if you keep that up.”

As soon as that happened, Jiraiya was ecstatic!!!!!

“WOW!!!! WE HAVE A WINNER!!!! YOU WON A TEN ON MY SCALE!!!!”

(Geez…this guy's pathetic I guess that means that this Sexy Jutsu works on just about every male adult I know…)

Naruto gave a look of utter disbelief and disgust at that but kept his disguise up…hoping to finally convince the Toad Sage complete his training. Of course, he didn't expect Jiraiya to agree…but only on the condition that he used the Sexy Jutsu when he was with him.

The blonde ninja was pissed and reverted back and pointed at the man and shouted.

“I KNEW IT! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LOUSY LITTLE PERVERT!!!”

“I AM NOT A LITTLE PERVERT!!!”

“OH YEAH?! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THEN?!”

“HEHEHEHEHE!!! I'M A BIG ONE!!!!”

“You…are….really…really perverted!!!”

The two later had some time to see each other's skills as the Toad Sage decided to test Naruto with his Taijutsu skills and his Ninjutsu abilities as well. Naruto managed to recall his lessons from Ebisu before he was knocked out and tried to limit and control his chakra as he got ready to fight with the Toad Sage in a sparing match…however, the Toad Sage decided to fight with a Kage Bushin.

“How's this…if you can beat one of my Kage Bushin…then I will teach you some new moves…if you don't beat it…then it is all right, I will teach you more tricks…plus I do have to ask you a few questions about your chakra…but before I do…I need you to take off the clothes you have for a moment.”

THAT got Naruto's attention….

“WHAT?! YOU SICK PERVERT!!!! THERE'S NO WAY I AM GOING TO…”

“Will you relax, I'm not going to do anything sickening to you…I need to check the Seal the Fourth made on you when he sealed the Kyuubi inside of you.”

That stopped Naruto as he looked at the Toad Sage…he thought that very few guys knew about the truth of the Kyuubi inside of him, but this perverted old man knew about it.

“How did you know about that?”

“I happen to know the Fourth very well… actually I happen to be the Fourth's sensei actually and I taught him quite a number of techniques when he was around your age.”

“YOU were the Fourth Hokage's sensei?!”

“That I am…I know you well enough because before I left Konoha I was there when the Kyuubi was sealed inside you. Don't worry though I am not the same as the other villagers…I happen to know more about what happened that night.”

“You do?”

“Yes…now try to summon you're chakra.”

As Naruto did so…the seal that contained the Kyuubi reappeared and that was when Jiraiya noted something different as he spotted the Dragon tattoo on the right arm of Naruto and then spotted another set of Dragon Tattoos near the Seal as well…the two Dragons appeared to be holding spheres and were near the seal on the sides with their wings outstretched. He looked and saw that the seal that allowed Naruto's chakra to be infused by the Kyuubi's own chakra itself seemed to be very much intact and unaltered.

(Hmm…these Dragon Tattoos have some sort of power in them…it seems there's something going on here that I have to know about…however the seal is intact. Now I need to find out more about how these tattoos came to be in his body…while they do not harm him in any way that I can see…it would be best to know more…well then…time to see just how talented this boy is.)

“Not bad…you're chakra seems to be good…”

“Hey Pervy Sage…what was the Fourth like?”

“Why do you want to know? You can read the history books about him.”

“Of course I can…but I have no time for that stuff…”

“You mean you're too lazy to read.”

“No I'm not lazy…but I want to know what he was like…you were his teacher after all…”

(I was more than that…and I know more about you than you can imagine Naruto…but that will be when you are ready…)

“He was a genius…a once in a generation prodigy who graduated from the Academy in Konoha at so young an age…he was also the kindest soul in the village…when he became Jonin…he was able to lead a good group of ninja, one of them happens to be your sensei.”

“Kakashi-sensei was a student of the Fourth?! He never told us that!”

Jiraiya nodded and then created his own Kage Bushin.

“For good reason…which is something you are better off not knowing for now…I can tell you honestly that the Fourth Hokage faced the greatest test of his life when the Kyuubi came here to Konoha…”

“Sealing it inside me…”

“His reasons were not what most would think…it was true he did it to save Konoha…but he wanted you to be a hero…the one who can contain the Kyuubi Naruto…for a reason…but the villagers didn't see it that way…”

“Now then…that task falls to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You will find out soon enough…suffice to say the Hokage gave that seal a very special function and it will be your aid…I know about the special lesson that you were supposed to learn…but for now…I have see how good you are, defeat the Kage Bushin I made and let's see if you have the talent to be eligible to be Hokage at all.”

“All right!!!!”

----------

Later…

Naruto fell to his back and was exhausted….he turned to look at the Toad Sage who was still looking at him with a slightly amused look and he turned to face the Kage Bushin of said perverted old man who was grinning like hell….He had no idea how tough the perverted man was…and now he had some idea.

The match had started out with Taijutsu and the blonde attempted to attack the Kage Bushin with an army of his own Kage Bushin….but the clone of the old man wiped the floor with them and when he used his weapons and more of his tricks the Kage Bushin was still kicking butt…the fighting had lasted for over several hours and as soon as the day came to a close…he was bushed.

(Man…if I can't even beat the Kage Bushin of this Pervy Sage…how the heck am I supposed to beat him in person? No way…this fight is FAR from over! I will not give up on being Hokage!!!!)

The Toad Sage looked on and thought about the blonde before him.

(I have to admit…he might not have THAT much talent at first glance but he certainly has some and he's got guts, determination, and perseverance in the bucket loads, not to mention the most obstinate attitude and thickest skull I know of. I guess the time is right to be showing him a few tricks in the ninja arts…now however, I think it's high time he gets to relax a bit and cool his heels, he won't be much of an attentive student if he faints.)

“All right, that's enough for today kid…you've got some talent so tomorrow I'm going to give you more training, you need to rest and get some sleep…meet me here again tomorrow and we can get down to the work in hand.”

With that, the Kage Bushin faded and the Toad Sage Helped Naruto to his feet, the two then grabbed some time off and relaxed…namely in a hot spring and then grabbed some food to eat.

Later that night…Naruto was currently sleeping in his apartment and the Toad Sage looked at him, and then turned as he heard foot steps and out came none other than Ebisu, the Jonin walked over and leaned on the rail that the Toad Sage was using.

“Sorry about that Ebisu…I had no intention of stealing one of your students.”

“That's all right. I came here to talk you actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yes…Hokage-sama sent out several elite Jonin to look for you…and imagine my surprise to find you here of all places. This can really be of help to all of us.”

“What's that supposed to mean Ebisu?”

“You're here because here because Orochimaru is here, is that correct?”

“Not exactly…I am not here because of that.”

“What?”

“I merely came back here to do some more research on my next novel, that's all…I have no plans on messing around with such disturbing details.”

“You can't be serious!!! Orochimaru is already plotting some horrible fate for the village…and he's a Sannin…and we all know that the best way to beat that is with the power of another Sannin…you Jiraiya-sama!”

Jiraiya turned to Ebisu and replied.

“Have you told the Hokage I was here?”

“No…but you will need to see him soon…things are in motion already and your aid is needed, regardless of things Jiraiya-sama, but there is more happening now…with Naruto.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Naruto-kun has…acquired a sword…a weapon of great power and it seems to be a part of him now…”

“A part of him?”

“I am not privy to all the details…but it is the truth…only the Hokage knows everything else…and for Naruto's training…I have nothing left to teach him…in truth I have no doubts he will be a splendid ninja someday…and as much as I would want to be a teacher of someone with that potential…I cannot…I leave that to you Jiraiya-sama.”

With that…Ebisu left, letting Jiraiya look once more at the blonde kid.

----------

In the Hokage Tower

“Well…I haven't seen you in such a long time Jiraiya.”

Sarutobi said as he looked at the same man that Naruto was with, it was already night time and the Hokage was busy working on their contingency plans for the soon to come battle with Orochimaru…plans that required a lot of work. The Hokage looked at Jiraiya as he looked back at his former teacher.

“I was trying to keep low on the radar…but it seems that things are not as easy as I thought they were…is Orochimaru really here?”

“I am afraid so…he's after Sasuke Uchiha and no doubt he plans to see to the destruction of Konoha as well.”

“So he's after the Uchiha prodigy I heard so much about, knowing the power that Dojutsu has and it's abilities, I'm not surprised he has great interest in it, along with the advantage he would have with it under his control. And what is this I heard about Naruto acquiring a sword?”

“So Ebisu no doubt told you about it….yes, it is true that Naruto acquired a sword and it's unlike any sword you and I know of…it was powerful enough to allow Naruto to face Orochimaru in kenjutsu in the Forest of Death, came close to killing him, and even shattered Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword in half.”

Jiraiya's eyes widened that bit of information and listened to what his former teacher had to say about what had happened to Naruto in Wave Country. When that was over, Jiraiya had to admit that the boy certainly had potential in him and with the presence of both the Kyuubi and the Holy Talon, both things would certainly be a great asset to the blonde ninja…however, it did raise questions on what had happened to the Kyuubi…from what he had been able to understand, the seal was not tampered with, but Naruto has never used the Kyuubi's chakra in his entire mission record…something was up.

“What happened to the Kyuubi? As far as I have seen, the seal the Fourth placed on him is still intact and safe, but to have two powerful sources of energy at once…it's amazing that Naruto isn't even dead yet from that much power.”

“I cannot be entirely sure of the details as well, though I believe that Lord Faldren….Holy Talon's creator can shed more light on this matter…from what I understand, Holy Talon CHOSE Naruto to be it's master…and for a living weapon, it is able to sense things that are far greater than any other sense most have. It might have somehow sealed the Kyuubi even further as well…however, it is better we gain answers from them all as well. Will you train him Jiraiya?”

“He won't leave me alone, he's already disrupted my research more than once…not to mention he's so stubborn and obstinate that he resembles a human mule…and he is a loud mouth to boot…but he DOES have talent o be a ninja…and regardless of his new status…he is a ninja as well. But still…”

Sarutobi smirked and replied.

“He does have a certain stubbornness in him…and it was no picnic for me trying to keep him from causing too much havoc either…but he is who he is.”

“Right…”

“And at least with him keeping you busy I won't have to deal with complaints about you're antics while you're here as well….namely with peeping at the ladies' bath rooms, at least to the certain level.”

“You're still the same old man I see…”

“And you are the same old perverted young man I knew…it's good to see you again Jiraiya.”

“Same to you sensei.”

----------

However, while all this happened…events were now being set into motion…the plans of Orochimaru were now revealed as Kabuto and Baki were meeting a good distance away…and it didn't take long for things to get out of hand…

----------

The next day…

Naruto decided to go to the Hospital to see how another one of the Leaf Genin were doing…he had no doubts in his mind that Lee's team mate Neji was training long and hard, he hoped that Lee would recover well and be on his feet somehow, not to mention he wanted to find out about the others as well. Kin was very much still in disguise and had gone to take a bath in a hot spring with Sakura and Ino as well, while they still were wary of the Sound Kunoichi…at least they were on more tolerant terms with one another.

This time he brought Holy Talon with him and hoped that he could finally get answers on what happened to the Kyuubi inside of him.

And it was when he moved through the floors that he then ran into Shikamaru.

“Hey Shikamaru!”

The lazy boy from Naruto's old class days in the Academy turned and greeted the blonde ninja with a slightly lazy look and carrying a basket full of food.

“Oh it's you Naruto…glad to see you've still got that energy of yours…I came here to give this food basket to Chouji…but the nurses said that it would be a bad idea.”

“Chouji is here? What happened? Is he all right?”

“He's fine…he's just suffering from a bad case of digestion…he ate one short rib too many if you catch my meaning.”

Naruto laughed at that.

“Yep that sounds like something Chouji would do.”

“So why are you here?”

Shikamaru handed Naruto an apple as the blonde teen happily munched on it and finished it record time as well. As soon as he ate the apple and was handed another by the ninja of the Nara clan, he explained.

“I just came here to say hi to Lee…and hope he's in the road to recovery.”

“Oh…well then…let's get move on…”

The two made their way towards the rooms Lee was supposed to be in…but suddenly they stopped as Shikamaru got a bad feeling.

“Something's not right…”

“You're right…I can feel something bad…”

Holy Talon then spoke to it's master as it sensed something nearby and recognized it immediately.

((“MASTER NARUTO!!! IT'S GAARA!!! HE'S IN LEE'S ROOM!!!!”))

And sure enough, the Sand Shinobi carrying the gourd was right next to Lee in his room…he had been able to sneak out of their apartment without his brother Kankurou and Temari noticing him in the least, though he had no doubts Baki would find out…not that it mattered to him. Ever since his battle with Lee…he couldn't feel that something was driving him even more insane as he recalled Gai's words to him about Lee being not just his student…but precious to him as well.

The memory of that brought back memories of his past and it made him even more angry as he allowed the cork of his gourd of sand to fall off and sand began to flow out and begin creep over Lee like snakes. He was ready to finish off Lee once and for all…but as he got ready to use his Desert Coffin move…he found out his hands couldn't move.

(What the?)

WHAP!!!!

Gaara reeled as he was punched by Naruto, and Shikamaru also reeled and the Nara Clan ninja gave a glare at his blonde compatriot. When they spotted Gaara near Lee and Lee's bed and the cork out of his gourd…they knew that Lee was in great danger and made their move…but Naruto was too aggressive as it was.

“Hey Naruto, quit it…every time you hit him when I have my Shadow Possession Jutsu on him, you hit me as well.”

“Sorry about that…”

Naruto then took out Holy Talon from his back and faced Gaara and kept the sword ready to attack Gaara and defend himself, that action, with the sound of the sword rubbing the sheath made Shikamaru nervous as hell as he had seen how lethal Naruto was with that sword of his…

(Geez I hope he doesn't use that sword of his on this guy…, a punch hurts like hell…but there's absolutely no way can I survive a strike from that…)

Gaara looked at the two of them without making another face…but they saw that he still had his Sand Armor on him as there were cracks on his face

“What the heck are you doing here in Lee's room Gaara?!”

“Well met again Naruto Uzumaki…I didn't expect you here…I am a bit disappointed I don't get to fight you in the Finals.”

“Now isn't the time for that and you know it…why are you here?”

----------

“Hi there Chouji…how are you doing?”

Ino asked as Chouji smiled and saw both her and the fruit basket she had for him in her hands.

(Wow…a pretty girl with food! What a lucky break!)

----------

Naruto tightened his grip on Holy Talon as he and Shikamaru looked at Gaara who still remained calm…focused…almost as if he was not intimidated even with the fact that he was being held in place or that fact that Holy Talon was unsheathed and before him.

“What are you doing here Gaara? I won't ask again…”

Naruto replied as he tightened his grip on Holy Talon, while he was not going to attack in fear of killing Shikamaru with a strike, he was not going to hesitate to fight if Gaara attacked them both, he only hoped Shikamaru would drop his jutsu so he won't be caught in his attack…but he knew that with Lee nearby, it would be a disaster of bloody proportions if things went bad.

“I was going to kill him.”

“What?”

Shikamaru couldn't help shake his head.

(This guy is one cold customer…he's not showing any reaction, even if I have him tied down by my shadow jutsu, I have no doubt if he tries to attack us…I can't stop him too well…the only chance to diffuse this is to bluff him…but why the hell would he want to kill Lee?)

“You already beat him once in the Preliminaries…heck you practically broke his leg and arm and he can't fight anymore, let alone defend himself…yet you want to kill him? Isn't what you did to him back there enough for you? Is this some personal grudge you have on Lee?”

“I have nothing personal against him…, there's no ulterior motive or complicated planning involved with me being here…I just want to kill him, nothing more.”

Naruto didn't like that in the least.

“You're insane Gaara…I don't know why the heck you're like this…but right now I don't care…you really lost it.”

“Yeah…Naruto's right…you honestly think we'll stand by and let you murder one of our fellow Genin in his sleep and unable to fight back? You're one sick, selfish and twisted psychotic Gaara of the Sand.”

“If you both don't stay out of my way…then I'll kill the both of you as well…”

Holy Talon didn't like the sound of this…something was very odd about the boy Gaara's mind…something broken and twisted…but not by evil…something else…something more painful…there was more to this story than Gaara was letting on.

Naruto on the other hand was not happy and was therefore unaware of what was going through his companion's mind.

“Oh really now?! I'd like to see you try fighting us Gaara!”

“Whoa Naruto! Keep that damn temper of yours in the freezer for a second here! We both know you're tough and deadly…we were there when you butchered Lee's arm and leg…remember? However we haven't revealed our abilities in full just yet.”

“Oh?”

“Naruto and I have not revealed our full abilities yet…and I know for a fact you've seen Naruto in action with that sword before in the Forest of Death and in the Exam Room…besides, there's two of us here, so take my advice and leave here peacefully.”

“I'll say it again loud and clear, if you two get in my way…I'll kill you both right here and now…I don't need to wait until the tournament to kill you both.”

(Damn…he's like ice…this is not going well.)

“I'd like to see you try Gaara.”

“Damn it Naruto! Keep that temper in ice for a single minute! This guy fights like a demon for Kami's sake!”

Naruto glared and replied.

“He can act and fight like a demon all he wants…but I happen to have the real deal right inside of me. I happen to have a demon in me as well, a real one…pure power as well, and you do NOT want to wake it up.”

“What the hell are you yapping about now?! Let me try to diffuse this mess…what the whole point of getting him mad on us anyway?!”

Gaara looked on as Naruto glared back…and he merely closed his eyes and spoke.

“A Demon inside you huh? Then my Demon is as real as your own is.”

“What the heck?”

“My birth and my upbringing back in my village of Sand was not something one would call either happy or normal. To make sure I would be born as the ultimate Sand Shinobi to ever be borne from the Land of Wind…my father, the Fourth Kazekage used his Ninjutsu on me, infusing my still unborn form with the power of a Sand Demon Spirit…in doing so a life was lost with my birth…my mother's life. I was literally born as a monster in human form”

Naruto looked on with shock at that as he realized that there was something in Gaara's tone that told him that this was the truth…and it resonated with him…because it was the same as his own life. Shikamaru was also shocked and Gaara carried on.

“The name of that Demon that melded with me was Shukaku, the living reincarnation of a former Sand Priest who died and became evil and was sealed in a old tea kettle.”

Shikamaru recovered and spoke.

“A demon based jutsu…but to use it on a baby…before it was ever born? That is one creepy thought.”

(Can it be true? Can he really have a Demon inside him…like I do?)

((“I can sense no lie or trick in his voice Master Naruto…he means every word of it.”))

“Hmm, you're father sounded like a real swell guy, he must have loved you a lot to let you have that kind of power.”

Gaara never showed emotion, but Naruto could tell that there was one emotion in Gaara…hatred.

“Love? You speak of love? Don't think I can be measured in your standards…it's not love I feel for my family…neither is it respect or any of those feelings you people have…the only emotional ties I have for them is hate…I hate my family, I hate them all to my very core…the only thing I ever wanted was to wrap either my hands or the sand in my gourd around their necks and kill them slowly.”

“Given life by the death of my mother I was nurtured to be the salvation of the Sand Village, my father taught me all the secrets of the Ninja at a young age and I was treated well enough…pampered and protected and left to my own devices, and for a time…I thought it was love…but that was only the beginning of everything.”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

“What kind of trick are trying to pull this time Gaara?”

“When the six years passed when I was six years old…my father tried to have me destroyed far more than I care to remember.”

The way Gaara smiled and looked quite insane made Shikamaru and Naruto look in shock, both however were not backing away.

“You just said you're father pampered and protected you…was that some sort of lie?”

“It was no lie…those who get to be strong get to be feared and I was feared by everyone in the village. The same jutsu that was used to infuse Shukaku in me had imbalanced my mind in some way…even the most foolish of my village realized that I was…emotionally unstable. My father, the Kazekage created me as his ultimate weapon in battle…but even he saw that I was too dangerous and I became a threat to the very village I was meant to protect and save from disarray…When I was six I became a figure of terror to everyone and in their eyes…I was nothing more than a relic of the past they wanted gone…I was a living monument to their sins that they wanted destroyed. And that meant I had failed the purpose for which I was given life utterly. So I asked myself…what was left for me to exist in this wretched world? What was the point of living now? For living and having no goal is the same as being a dead corpse. But then I realized that everything has a purpose and a goal to stay alive in this world.”

“What is this lunatic freak talking about?”

Naruto remained silent and thought to himself.

(I know what he means, I know what he feels…because I was like him too, him and I are no different from one another…we are both demon containers.)

“Then I found the answer…my reason to stay alive was in the killing of all those who are my targets…since it was my mother's death that gave me life…then it is in the death of ours that gave me purpose. I lived in fear of those sent to kill me…but now I do not fear death and I have killed many would be assassins sent by my father in the years, I learned that I truly lived when I fought and lived only for myself and I loved myself…I have no need for others, and also long as there are those alive for me to kill, then I will find some peace and happiness in this overcrowded, wide and wretched world…I will live here for all eternity.”

(This guy has lost his mind…he's not human at all…but a freakish monster!!!!)

(I was alone like him…I had no idea why I was alive…until Iruka-sensei came, and then saw me for me, not for the Kyuubi, he gave me a reason for living, then I met the old man, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan…and even Sasuke…but Gaara…he had no one and those who could have helped him turned on him, he had to find his reason to stay living on his own…but he came up with this…to kill in order to live…could I have become like him if it hadn't been for Iruka-sensei being there…could I have been like Gaara too? We're so different…but we're close to being the same…we're literally brothers in a sense…)

“Naruto! Damn it all…not now! This is a drag!!”

The reason for that was the sand suddenly came to life and despite Gaara being pinned down by Shikamaru's jutsu, the sand came right at them as Naruto was frozen stiff by what he heard and how much the same he and Gaara were. However as the end seemed near…a voice spoke to Naruto…Holy Talon's voice.

((“Yes…you and him are so much alike Master Naruto…but you and him are different. Because unlike him you have never stopped caring for others and you were saved from the darkness and the loneliness by people like Iruka, he supported and loved you unconditionally…as a father figure…the Hokage treated you like a grand-son and your team-mates as well…they were with you and they acknowledged you for who you are Master Naruto.”))

Naruto realized the truth in Holy Talon's words as he recalled what Iruka said about him when he risked his life to save him from Mizuki…and what Iruka told him why he cared for Naruto…and he thought about his life with the others he grew close to…Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei…and even Sasuke.

((“You can relate to him as you have felt the same pain and loneliness as he did…you would have been like him as well Master Naruto…but you are not. Because there are those who care for you and saved you from your darkness and pain…and it is for them that you stand and fight…regardless of the outcome, they gave you a reason to live…not for yourself but for them…and if you give up now…then they will suffer…and worse…stand and fight Master Naruto, conquer your fear…for them!!!”))

(You're right…by Kami you're right!!!)

Naruto snapped out of it and quickly spoke in the same arcane tongue and unleashed a spell.

“FIRE SHIELD!!!”

A sphere of pure blue flame appeared and the sand that came too close was suddenly covered in it and reduced to glass in a heart beat…Gaara was surprised as was Shikamaru and the Sand sibling prepared to unleash another attack until Gai stepped in.

“That is enough…that is to be used in the finals…not here in the hospital…you want to waste it now?”

Gaara felt great pain as his memories came back as the sand retreated back into his gourd, and as he left he turned to face them all.

“All the same…I will kill you soon, all of you…I will kill you all…”

This time however Naruto was not shaking in fear…and pointed Holy Talon at Gaara and replied.

“You won't have that chance Gaara…I swear it.”

----------

In the apartment…

“Where have you been Gaara…we've been looking for you!”

Kankurou asked his youngest brother when he showed up, just as they were getting a very bad feeling about what was going to happen if he was out of sight…but he was back and seemed to be no worse for wear.

“None of your business.”

Kankurou sighed and kept his cool, knowing that no matter how angry he would get, he was no match for Gaara. Temari sighed as she looked at both her brothers and wondered how it had come to this…they were here not to truly win the Chuunin Exams, but to help the Sound defeat and crush Konoha…the village that they were allied with, and so many died for this peace…the situation was so wrong to her…but there was reasons as well. The feudal lord of Wind Country ordered military cutbacks…forcing her village to downsize their forces and lose a lot of missions that could truly help them in many ways and matters that should be in the hands of her village were handed to the people in Konoha, and that made them weaker in power and influence…that was the reason…why Gaara was born as well, they had to go for quality shinobi instead of quantity. But now they were going back into war…under the order of her father…and the outcome…

Temari sighed as she looked out the window…things were going to be very bad news now.

----------

Later…

Naruto arrived at the meeting place where Jiraiya was and sure enough, the perverted old man was currently looking to the river on the other side, and from what he can hear, several women from Konoha were once more taking a dip in the river. The blonde ninja sighed at that…the mess in the hospital was cleaned up and he was thankful that Lee was safe…all the same he knew that he would have to train a lot more now to match up with them. Shikamaru told him to use that before Gaara attacked, but it was too late anyway and at least they were both still breathing.

“Hey Pervy Sage!! I'm here!!!”

Jiraiya quickly rushed up to him and clamped his hand over Naruto's mouth and spoke.

“Listen squirt…I'd appreciate it if you keep that loud voice down already! I'm researching here for crying out loud.”

(More like peeking at women again…geeze…)

As soon as Naruto was released Jiraiya spotted Holy Talon…at first he wondered if this sword was really as powerful as the Third said it was…but after hearing how it had incinerated Orochimaru's arm from his former teacher, he decided not to chance it.

Holy Talon sensed Jiraiya's mind and aura…and while it admitted that Jiraiya had power…he was the most perverted man he had ever sensed.

((“Just who is this person Master Naruto?”))

(He calls himself the Toad sage or something like that…but he's a really dirty minded old man so I call him the Pervy Sage.)

((“Hmm…fits him pretty well, I've had my share of perverted beings…and even had a few masters who were of that same nature…but this one beats any I've seen...and I have seen plenty in my time.”))

(No kidding.)

However Jiraiya had other plans as despite his desire to stay he had to deal with some important matters first hand. With that in mind, he grabbed Naruto and hauled him a good distance away to make double sure no one else found out about t6heir location.

----------

Back in Konoha…

The ANBU found the body of the slain Chuunin Proctor Hayate, and he looked to have been slain by a blade of some sort. One of the ANBU, a woman picked up Hayate's sword and held it…

“Hayate…what happened to you?”

It didn't take long for the news to spread and the Hokage knew that it would mean that several allied nations might be in on the plan of Orochimaru to attack Leaf…the ninja gathered there...including all the Jonin knew that the time for their battle with Sound and whoever they were allied with was coming…everything was coming into play.

Elsewhere…Kakashi was busy training both himself and Sasuke…the young Genin was busy preparing for his time in the Chuunin exams…facing Gaara of the Sand…and soon…Naruto himself.

----------

In a large clearing, a good distance away from Konoha…

“All right then…before we get down to the lessons I have in mind for you, there are some things you need to know Naruto…”

“That being what Pervy Sage?”

“The first is that you have two chakra sources inside of you…one is the normal chakra…and of course…the Kyuubi's chakra as well. The technique I will show you requires you to use up all you're normal chakra and use the Kyuubi's chakra.”

Naruto panicked at that.

“You want ME to use the Kyuubi's chakra…but won't I become like it?!”

Images of him turning into a person like Gaara made Naruto very uneasy and Jiraiya noted that quickly enough and replied.

“You don't have to worry too much…do you recall what I said about that seal on you?”

“Now that you mention it…you said the Hokage made it special…so what is so special about it anyway?”

“There are two four season seals on it as well, the top and the bottom…theses seals form an even number and help regulate the amount of chakra that comes out from the main seal…to put it simply, those other seals will be able to help your normal chakra diffuse and control it…along with allowing it to mix comfortably into your own…as such, you can use your normal chakra as well.”

“So I can't be easily controlled by the Kyuubi?”

“True enough…however, the Kyuubi being what it is won't be idle…which brings me to why we're out here…with that kind of chakra you have, then the best way for you to truly use that chakra is not to learn control…but power.”

“Isn't control important?”

“Normally it is…however, control is important for ninja who have limited reserves of chakra….you on the other hand, being given the ability to have the Kyuubi's chakra to use have no need to control that chakra since doing so is near impossible in the first place. The chakra you have is too powerful for control to be a good factor…so you master power instead…this will then allow you to do jutsus that no normal ninja of your rank can pull…but before we get to the training part. I need to know about a few things…namely from that sword of yours…it was created by a Dragon Lord named Faldren, am I right?”

“The Hokage told you about that?”

“Yep….the Third was my teacher when I was Genin as well, so he would tell me you know…I would like to meet this Lord Faldren anyway.”

(Is that all right Holy Talon?)

((“I don't see anything wrong with him meeting Lord Faldren…you know the rituals and words as well so let's get to it.”))

Naruto followed the instructions and did the same rituals…much to Jiraiya's curiosity and when the summoning steps were done, Naruto summoned the energy and said the same phrase as he jammed Holy Talon into the ground.

“FARLDREN!!! COME FORTH AND SPEAK YOUR LORE!!!!”

The light nearly blinded the two and sure enough in a moment, Jiraiya felt the air come alive and bristle with energy and when the light cleared, his eyes widened as he found himself gazing at none other than the form of Lord Faldren, Dragon Lord and Ruler of the Holy Dragons…and creator of the Holy Talon.

The Dragon Lord turned and spoke to Naruto.

/”Greetings young wielder…what manner of questions do you wish answered…wait…it seems you are not alone.”\

The Dragon Lord turned and directed it's attention to Jiraiya and while the Dragon was not too big, and only a temporary manifestation at best, it certainly had power and Jiraiya admitted to that.

/”What is your name young one?”\

“Young? I'm not exactly young you know…”

/”If you have managed to live for nearly 25,000 years as I have, then anyone is younger than you or me for that matter… strange dressed one, now then…what is your name?”\

“I am the Hermit of Mount Myouboku, I am the Toad Mountain Sage.”

/“A sage? Hmmm…you don't exactly look like the scholarly type to me. More of the type with more interest in the opposite gender than books.”\

“That's right Lord Faldren, sir! He's a perverted old man who peeks at women in the bath-house and he calls it research, and he rights dirty novels too!!!”

“Knock it off squirt!”

The Dragon Lord looked at the two and chuckled a bit and spoke.

/“Peace you two, there is a reason you called for me and I rather doubt that it here to debate one's personal hobbies. What is it you want answered?”\

Jiraiya decided it was his turn and spoke.

“If you've known Naruto's past, then you know that he was the child chosen to contain a powerful demon in this realm twelve years ago…this demon was the Kyuubi or the Nine Tailed Fox…yet from what I have been told, those who hold that sword and have evil hearts and natures can be severely burned by Holy Talon…but why is it that Holy Talon chose Naruto anyway…surely it would have sensed that he had the Kyuubi inside of him.”

“That's right Lord Faldren…I want to know that too.”

/”Yes, it is true that under normal circumstances…Naruto would have not been chosen to carry Holy Talon, but Holy Talon sensed no evil in Naruto's own heart and mind, along with his spirit. When Holy Talon chose you and reconditioned you both spiritually and physically, it then discovered the presence of the Kyuubi, it had intended to force the Kyuubi out of you…however, it realized that the Kyuubi was already part of you and doing so would kill you…plus it noted the seal and sensed the purpose of the Seal as well…instead, Holy Talon placed the two Dragon Tattoos to act as special restrains that still allowed Chakra from the Kyuubi to flow, but never allowed it to flow too freely in you're body and also they serve as wardens to the Kyuubi…however, they can be told to allow the Kyuubi's chakra t be unleashed under command…give them the order and they will relent and allow you to speak to the Kyuubi as well.”\

“You mean I can actually talk to the Kyuubi?”

/”Yes…though I recommend you only do it if you truly need it's help.”\

“But what about Holy Talon? Won't it reject me if I start using the chakra of the Kyuubi?”

/”Not entirely…Holy Talon is able to withstand that much power and the tattoo on your arm creates a shield that allows your soul to be protected from the power of the Kyuubi…in truth, the shield is not perfect, Holy Talon will need to experience the power of the Kyuubi first hand in order to understand it's power…but it will shield your mind and allow you to remain as yourself. The only power that can harm Holy Talon is Death Fang's powers and edge, along with the combined might of either us Holy Dragons or that of our Chaos brethren so you have little to fear from the Kyuubi attempting to destroy the sword…it will act therefore as your anchor in the storm of the Kyuubi's powers. It has already told you that it will aid you no matter what happens…and it didn't lie to you.”\

“All right then…how do I do that trick to talk to the Kyuubi?”

/”Merely focus on your mind and then the rest will be shown to you. If you are in need of help…I will be here…and you can call me in my combat form if you need my power in a fight.”\

“Combat Form?”

/”Yes…this form I am in right now is only my Lore form, that means that I have two forms, one is my Lore form, which is less powerful and less intimidating as my combat form…which is in truth my real form…however, call upon me only if needed.”\

Jiraiya then spoke at length to Faldren and when it was over, the Toad Sage decided that now was a good a time as any to teach Naruto the technique that would take advantage of the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto then told the Dragon Lord about the coming tournament…and the hidden threat to his village…the Dragon Lord looked concerned and spoke to the young Dragon Champion.

“You will need to train well more of the arts of the Dragon Champions if you truly plan to fight in such a tournament. And for that battle ahead…you will need protection…I need you to summon some allies to help you in this task however, they will help you in getting the gar you will need to win this fight.

Faldren then bade the two farewell as Naruto placed as side Holy Talon and faced Jiraiya.

“So what are you going to teach me now Pervy Sage?”

“Simple…how to summon animals and not in the way with Holy Talon, but in the way of jutsus. It's the same as the time I used that toad to knock Ebisu out, that is an animal summon.”

After being told the advantages of using summons and how it was done with a contract…Naruto got ready to go at it as he finished making his contract…until Jiraiya decided that it was time for Naruto to learn how to summon the Kyuubi's chakra as well.

“Naruto…I believe that the time has come for you to learn how to control the chakra of the Kyuubi, as well as learn how to do animal summons. Once you are done with making your contract…then we get down to the training for you to use the Kyuubi's chakra…you will have to learn how to use it eventually as well to aid you should you need it's powers…and there is only one way for you to learn it.”

“How's that?”

“Do as Holy Talon and Lord Faldren said and we shall see if you can call on the Fox to give you it's chakra.”

Naruto gulped and knew that this was going to be one hell of a test…but seeing that he would be protected by Holy Talon and there were guardians he had in him as well and he did so and began to focus himself and enter his mind…Holy Talon whispered to him and guided him into his own mind.

----------

In Naruto's mind…

“This is what my mind looks like?”

Naruto looked and saw it to be a sewer of some sort with pipes and paths all over the place…he then wondered where he should go until he spotted some sort of light and he then felt something in the air, he began to wander in the place until he sensed the energy even thicker and he swore he could hear a growling sound.

He rushed to it and then found himself facing a massive prison gate…with a seal near it on the doors and two Dragon statues on the sides of the door…just as Naruto wondered what was going on…a pair of massive eyes suddenly appeared before him and then a massive mouth filled with VERY sharp teeth and the face…if it was a face seemed to be grinning at him.

“What heck are you?!”

(((If you want to know little kid…come closer…)))

Naruto did so and then was forced back as a set of massive claws slammed into the gate…nearly knocking Naruto back, and as soon as he got to his feet the Dragon statues suddenly came to life and glowed deep gold and released a grid of pure energy that melded with the cage…the creature glared at Naruto and it didn't take long for Naruto to make the connection.

“You're the Kyuubi aren't you?”

(((Good guess brat, normally I would have just torn you to shreds and ate you…but this blasted seal keeps me from doing just that and those…dragon wardens of yours are very annoying…every time I try to force my chakra out, they only allow pitiful amounts out…I am getting very annoyed in this blasted cage that Fourth Hokage had placed me in…so what are you doing here brat? Come to talk or gloat?)))

“I came here to demand a portion of your power!”

The Kyuubi continued to grin and replied.

(((You want MY power? Hah…why should I help a brat like you?)))

“For one thing…you're in MY body, and therefore you are a guest, prisoner, an tenant…pick whatever you like…but while you're in here, you have to be able to put your part of effort in this…you owe me a contribution for being in here…besides…I have a feeling you don't want to die”

(((Really? What makes you think I don't want to kill you?)))

(Because you are in MY body and since you don't have your own, that means you need a body until then…besides if I die…then you die as well, and I have no doubt that you don't plan on dying like this. So quit wasting time and give me your power!!!)

The Kyuubi looked at Naruto and then began to laugh…the room was filled with bestial laughter and the sounds were scary beyond belief, after a few minutes, the Kyuubi stopped laughing and replied.

(((You certainly have guts to be demanding that of me brat…but you are correct…I have no intention of dying today or any other day for that matter, that power you have from that sword is good…more powerful than anything I have seen so far, but I am not going to be staying here bored out of my mind and if you die I will NOT be happy. But you might want to tell your wardens here that you've given permission, otherwise you won't get that power no matter what you say.)))

Naruto looked at the two Dragon Statues and he nodded and the Dragons stopped glowing and the energy vanished from the cage and out came the red chakra of the Kyuubi and it surrounded him, instead of panicking the blonde ninja kept calm as the Kyuubi spoke.

(((Here…this is my part of effort in keeping you alive…so you had better show me that you're worthy of having my power brat!!!)))

----------

In the valley…

Naruto opened his eyes and suddenly felt the massive increase in his chakra and then spoke to Jiraiya who was nearby and watching the whole thing.

“So what happened Naruto?”

“I had a chat with the Kyuubi…and I can feel his chakra Pervy Sage…it's amazing…unlike anything I have ever felt before.”

“Good…now it's time to see if you can use the chakra to summon your first animal summon…remember, focus on power this time, not control…remember, because of the Kyuubi…you have unlimited chakra so you don't need to limit the amount of chakra you have.”

Naruto nodded and then did the same hand seals and then called forth his summon…and boy did he get a summon!!!

Naruto looked at the massive creature before him…the Toad he summoned was huge, far larger than the one he had seen Jiraiya ride on, this one had a pipe and had some sort of jacket on and a scar over one eye and what appeared to be a dagger of some sort…a HUGE dagger at that.

“Whoa!”

((“Well now…this is interesting.”))

“Whoa is right….of all the toad summons I thought you could call up Naruto with the aid of the Kyuubi's chakra…I didn't think you would be able to summon him. You really need to work on how you summon the chakra more.”

“Who is he?”

The toad suddenly appeared and spoke in a loud and strong voice.

“I am the wise and powerful Gamabunta…chief of all toads to you little snot.”

That did not sit well with Naruto but for the time being he kept quiet as the massive toad then faced Jiraiya.

“Now then Jiraiya…as much as I happen to appreciate being allowed some fresh air…and you haven't summoned me into some weird place, I don't see anything here worth of interest…no battles or anything…so what sort of trickery have you summoned me for this time?”

“Actually Gamabunta…I didn't summon you this time.”

“What? If you didn't summon me then who did?”

“I did Chief Toad!”

Gamabunta looked at Naruto and sized him up…he could sense some power in the boy and noted that for some reason he could feel not just chakra coming from the boy…however he was still thinking that Jiraiya was pulling a prank on him and this kid was helping along for the moment. And naturally he laughed and the sound was enough to knock Naruto off his feet and then the chief toad looked at him.

“YOU summoned me?! How can a little kid like you have the power to summon a high ranking summon like me…on the first try? Are you playing a trick on me with the help of that pervert?”

“No…I really summoned you myself…and the contract he has proves it!”

“Really? Then let me see it.”

Jiraiya took out the contract scroll and unrolled it in front of Gamabunta and the chief toad read the scroll and found Naruto's name as the new addition and he could see that he did summon him…however, Gamabunta decided to see just how strong this Naruto kid was.

“Listen then Naruto Uzumaki…I still don't know how you summoned me when a kid like you shouldn't have the chakra to summon me in the first place…but I'll give you a test…if, and that's a very big if mind you, you manage to pass it I might consider you worthy of being my master.”

“I'll do whatever that test is…if it's the best way to show you that I did summon you with my chakra then so be it. What is the test?”

“There are very FEW people who can ride my back…one of them being Jiraiya…and the Fourth Hokage…if you can stand being on my back until the end of a day…then I will consider it…if you fall off, then I won't accept you even if you did summon me…is that a deal?”

“Done!!!!”

“Good…now get on!”

Naruto did so and climbed Gamabunta's back and got ready as the chief toad coiled his body and got ready to give the boy the ride of a life-time…and sure enough…he did. Gamabunta wasted no time and began to leap and hop all over the place…ripping apart trees and unleashing dust clouds all over the place and Naruto was screaming his head off but focused on trying to hold on using his chakra to tighten his grip and keep him from being flung about like a toy in the massive power the chief toad was unleashing.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“Want to give up?”

“NEVER!!!”

“Good!!!”

Gamabunta leaped high into the air and dropped back to the ground and when he did so…he kept on moving here and there….leaping all over the place and also into a large lake and he swam back and forth and even dove deep…forcing Naruto to really push the limits of his endurance….Holy Talon was with him the whole time and it was worried for it's master, but sensing that this is Naruto's own battle and interfering is not a good move, the living sword did nothing for now. Besides…despite the fact that he was a pervert…Jiraiya was around as well.

The day wore on and Gamabunta was really pouring it on Naruto as he leaped at the highest altitude and smashed hard into the nearby river and sure enough…Naruto's grip was loosened and he was tired out of his body but didn't give up and much to the surprise of both Jiraiya and Gamabunta, he was able to pull the Kage Bushin and keep himself on Gamabunta's back and when he did…he was ecstatic and cheered.

“I did it! I'm still on your back Chief Toad!!! You am you're master now!!! I did it!!!”

(Incredible…he still had it in him to hold on and use the chakra…just when he had nearly used it all up in both summoning Gamabunta and holding on.)

However…Naruto's exhaustion came into play and he fell off Gamabunta's back…scaring Jiraiya and he was about to rush in and save the boy…but Gamabunta saved Naruto by using his tongue and placed him gently on the ground…Jiraiya sighed as he looked at Naruto and then to Gamabunta.

“You didn't have to go that far Gamabunta, it's a matter of pride for him as well.”

“I am aware of that…but I wanted to see just how far he can go…it's been nearly an age when anyone dared to ride my back and stand up to me…with the exception of the Fourth…I miss that young scoundrel.”

“You and me both…”

“Well…taking to a place of healing would be best…normally I would give him a portion of my power…but after that battle…he needs to rest, or will you take care of that matter Jiraiya?”

“I will.”

“Good…well now…I had some decent exercise so far…but next time it had better be for a fight that I get summoned for soon.”

With that…the chief of the Toad Summons disappeared in a puff of smoke while Jiraiya took Naruto for treatment. It was then that he decided to take Naruto deeper into the mountains for him to have some privacy…it was high time he saw Naruto train with Holy Talon. The living sword on the other hand decided that as soon as it was able it would heal Naruto.

They arrived at the spot and Jiraiya sat down and that was when Holy Talon went to work and released the silver-green flame and Jiraiya noted that, he had been told that it was a technique similar to the medical jutsu and as such…he knew Naruto was in good hands.

----------

After three days…

Naruto woke up and found himself in a bed roll and as soon as his eyes opened…he picked up the smell of cooking fish and his stomach growled as he got up and saw Holy Talon next to him. He found himself in a massive valley and still in his clothes. The living sword then spoke to him.

((“It's good to see you up and about Master Naruto”))

(What happened? Where are we?)

((“You passed out when you were riding that giant toad Gamabunta…he saved you and allowed Jiraiya to take you here…and I healed you…and as to where we are…we're in the mountains, or at least near them.”))

(Why are we here?)

((You need some privacy to train and prepare for the tournament Master Naruto…not to mention the fact that summoning those allies to help you require some extra privacy for the moment, I doubt summoning a Dragon in the middle of the village is the healthiest idea in the world…and the allies who will aid you are certainly not natives of your world.”))

(Good point. So when do we start?)

((“As soon as that man Jiraiya returns.”))

And sure enough Jiraiya showed up and had with him a massive number of items on the toad's back…the very same toad he had with him when he clobbered Ebisu. The silver haired pervert smiled as he leaped off and presented the bags.

“Hey there Naruto…glad to see you woke up…you've been out for three days.”

“THREE DAYS?!?!? WHAT ABOUT THE CHUUNIN EXAMS?!”

“Relax will you? You have at least two weeks and five days before that, take the time to relax and train…here…I went through the trouble of getting you enough food and supplies to stay here until the time comes…plus don't forget to be ready…you still haven't beaten a single Kage Bushin of mine.”

Naruto sighed as he recalled how badly he was beaten by ONE Kage Bushin of the Pervy Sage and got up as he stretched and got the kinks out of his system and rummaged through the supplies and found lots of fruit, meat, vegetables, grains, bread, juice, water, and of course…instant ramen…his eyes widened at that and he smiled at Jiraiya.

“You're not so bad after all Pervy Sage.”

“Quit it…I'll be hoping that when I come back to check on you now and then you have improved enough…now then, I go and do my research!!!”

With that, Jiraiya left and got ready to do the usual run of the town and this time Naruto was not going to stop him…he had to train with Holy Talon and sure enough the living sword had quite the training regime in mind.

----------

Two weeks and five days later…

Naruto couldn't help but look at the gear that was before him, he had been in the mountains and was taken there by Kael when he was told by Lord Faldren to go to have some gear made for him to participate in the Chuunin Exam finals, and he had time to prepare.

And Naruto did prepare…he had undergone a strict training regime under Holy Talon and the essences of several Dragon Champions, including Shana…apart from combat training, he received some extra training with his mystical talents…Jiraiya would also stop by and train him as well, helping him with perfecting some of his still shaky skills and jutsus….And also he summoned up a small band of other allies…the first pair were a duo of brothers, who were very short…almost half his height…but they were built like boulders and were strong for their size too…they had beards as well…one who had his dark brown beard in a series of braids with gold clasps on them, while the other had his deep blonde beard with a long tail like braid at the bottom. The two men were smiling as the blonde ninja looked at their work…while the other pair were looking at Naruto as well.

Unlike the two shorter beings who were both male, the next duo were a brother and sister pair…both of them tall and slender…they each had pointed ears, deep silver hair and had a strange quality about them. The male half of the duo had his hair in a normal pattern and had it flowing on his back…so much so, he would have passed for a woman. His sister however had her own deep silver hair in a very elegant style…like a priestess of some sort. They wore simple but well kept clothes, while the first two were dressed in leather and aprons. Along with them was his Sky Dragon Mount, Kael…

Kael had introduced them to him, the short brothers were the dwarf smiths, Rumkil, and Thorell Steelhand, who were close friends of the previous Dragon Champion before Naruto…the mage Falken, while the other two were the elf siblings, Leena and Halfir Silver-sheen, who were famous elf spell masters, with Leena being a healer, while her brother Halfir was an enchanter, someone with magical skill to power and imbue weapons and armor.

Rumkil and Thorell grinned at their work and had to admit that while they were here they were able to put their smith-craft talents to good use…and meeting this young lad who was the new Dragon Champion was a plus in itself. Leena and Halfir were also smiling though not too broadly as the dwarf brothers were doing, they hoped that their contributions were of approval to the young Dragon Champion.

Naruto looked at all the gear and he couldn't help but speak.

“Do I have to wear these?”

Rumkil replied at the question.

“Listen laddie…”

Naruto frowned and replied.

“My name's Naruto Uzumaki, not laddie!”

The dwarf smith shrugged his shoulders at that and continued at his words.

“Look…them clothes you've got on you are good an all for normal occasions…but yer a Dragon Champion ye know. And you need to look the part of one…not like a normal young lad. Besides…that gear is worth quite a bit of gold, sweat and effort if they were made back home. Plus that kind of tournament yer goin to be in sounds dangerous…and some protection is going to go a LONG way in a fight.”

Thorell nodded with his brother and also replied.

“Besides lad, them ladies are going to be swooning once they see you in them clothes…nothing gets them ladies hot an bothered than to see a good looking man in good, high quality protection like that.”

Naruto looked at all the components and couldn't believe at the sheer design of the items…and how they looked…he had to admit that while he was no expert on armor…these certainly look well crafted and were actually beautiful…but to actually have to wear these in a fight…

“These look so heavy!!! How can I possibly fight with all this much on me?!”

Leena smiled and replied.

“Need not fear young one…the armor you have will not weigh you down…if you wish proof…place a piece in your hands and carry it.”

Naruto looked at the female elf healer and blushed a bit…the elf woman was quite a beauty, and it she sounded very sincere…and it would be a quite an insult for him to deny her request and after all…she had a part in the crafting as well of the set.

Naruto took one of the parts in his hands…and took a deep breath and carried it…and to his utter surprise…the metal was nearly weightless…it did have some weight unlike Holy Talon…but he felt like he was carrying a sheet of paper than metal…he then tried to lift the other pieces and found them to be the same as the first piece…though they did have some weight…they were not as heavy as he first thought them to be.

“How….how is this possible?!”

Halfir smiled and replied…

“The metal is ancient…and is known as `Orchaelium' it's a rare and very precious metal that is found only in our world…many names it can go by…but the most common is `Light Iron'. It is light as cloth…but is three times harder than steel and as tough as the Dragon scales…you might say it resembles the material that Holy Talon is made from…though not of the same caliber.”

“It is a good container of Mystic Fire and can amplify certain spells as well as protect you. Both my sister and I have enchanted the pieces so they can aid you if you need it…mind you, it is not perfect…only very powerful weapons, spells, and attacks can pierce or rend it in a fight…it will however aid you when the time is right and trust us…from the way this tournament sounds…you will need the protection.”

Naruto looked at the armor and sighed…after all he had seen…some decent protection would certainly come in handy…and if the armor was nearly weightless as Holy Talon…why not?

He then began to put them on so he can see just what he looked like…as the dwarves and elves instructed him on how to wear the armor as Kael looked on…the Sky Dragon Mount impressed with the work made by the others and looked on as the young Dragon Champion placed on his armor.

----------

Later…

Naruto checked himself over and over again…looking at his now metal armor covered body, he then turned to see the looks of utter respect being given to him by the two elves…while the dwarves were a bit more critical. Leena turned and spoke to the two Steelhand siblings.

“Rumkil…Thorell, you two have outdone yourselves.”

Rumkil replied.

“Not really lass….a bit more work would have helped in makin the suit better…but what can you do with such short time on yer hands?”

“I agree…a bit more work could help…but at least the armor's in good hands and it works…that's all one can ask.”

Halfir noted the looks as Naruto reached for the last piece…and put it on…Naruto was a bit uncomfortable at first as this was the first time he had ever worn armor, but he began to become more comfortable in the armor. The elf enchanter smiled and Kael spoke to Naruto.

\”You look impressive young Dragon Champion.”/

“How can you tell?”

Kael turned and nodded to Halfir and the elf summoned a large mirror and Naruto was able to see himself. The blonde ninja's eyes widened as he got a good look at himself in armor.

His lower body was encased in what resembled metal rings, that were like chain metal, with two large pieces of armor that covered his thighs…while his lower shins were protected by shin guards made of the metal with the parts covering the knees were in the shape of dragon heads and flame like patterns in gold leaf on them, and his new sandals were like boots as well and were also protected…his crotch region was also protected by the chain ring like armor with two flaps of moving metal plates with a sash in the front and back and for that he was thankful for that too.

His upper body was covered in chain armor but there were also several plates of armor that covered his upper body…namely his chest and several moving plates on his abdomen that seemed to move seamlessly as he looked himself over…his back was also protected by both the chain metal and the metal armor plating…on the front of his chest armor that followed the body design flawlessly to show his muscular build. He then noted that the symbol of Konoha was placed into the chest armor and there was a Dragon in flight behind the symbol and below the combined symbol

There were also armored plates that covered his shoulders but were not restricting his movements as he thought they would when he first saw them and tested them by moving his arms and they were already very flexible. There were also a set of metal armor pieces that covered his forearms and they were made to be smooth and have a gemstone of deep blue in them in the middle. His body was also clad in chain armor…which he now knew to be coined as chainmail and his hands were incased as well…and his lower arms were protected by metal bracers which had several gemstones of green, blue, red, and white in them in a diamond like pattern and hand guards on the top…the bracers were held in place by magical leather straps and they also had finger armor that gave his hands a slightly claw like appearance and the claw like finger guards moved seamlessly and naturally in his hands when he clenched and unclenched them. The armor was in quite a design as the chainmail was deep silver white…while the armor plates that covered his thighs, shins, forearms, upper arms, chest, abdomen and back were in gold… and with royal blue lining to place further emphasis to his form.

Naruto was stunned…he certainly was looking like a warrior from another realm…befitting his status as Dragon Champion. If he had a chance to send himself back in time and space and appear before Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Sasuke…and himself, while Holy Talon was on his back…he had no doubt in his mind they would have mistaken him for someone else…and they would have had a heart attack if he told them who he was. He then took out his forehead protector…which had been slightly modified by the dwarf smiths. It was now in deep blue and was longer…almost like a bandana and as he looked at it…it was now surrounded by gold leaf lining in a flame pattern and the metal plate was a bit wider as well…as he put it on and a wind blew in the area…

He looked like a fantasy warrior with Holy Talon on his back and his bandana flying in the wind along with his hair. He was quite the sight to behold…he was still admiring the looks, just as Jiraiya arrived on the scene.

The pervert Sannin gave his student the once over and whistled at the look Naruto had in his armor…he made the ANBU in their full gear look like kids playing in a costume party.

“Wow…you've certainly changed you're looks big time Naruto…”

“Pervy Sage! What are you doing here?!”

A vein popped on the side of Jiraiya's head when he heard that ands the Sannin made it clear that he was not happy with the term…while he was not ashamed of being a massive pervert…he WAS a bit touchy about being called a pervert sage when he was supposed to be called the Toad Sage.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me by my right title Naruto? It's not Pervy Sage or Pervert Sage! It's either Jiraiya or the Toad Sage… Anyway…I didn't come here to trade word barbs with you at the moment… I came here to tell you that the Chuunin exams start in the next few hours so I suggest you hurry up and move it or you're be disqualified for sure.”

Naruto gasped and he realized that after so many days in the mountain valley that he was in for training under Jiraiya and Holy Talon, along with Lord Faldren advising him…he had forgotten all sense of time. The blonde was about to panic until he recalled Kael. He turned to the Sky Dragon and spoke to him.

“Can you get me to Konoha in time Kael?”

The Dragon nodded.

\”Of course Dragon Champion…you will be there on time.”/

“All right…now then…”

Naruto turned and smiled at both the Steelhand siblings and the two elf siblings and they each bowed and in a flash of light, they were turned back into their light forms and vanished into Holy Talon. Jiraiya was not happy as he had tried to make Leena his latest subject for his book series of Icha Icha Paradise…after all, the elf woman was quite the female specimen…however, he was held back by both Naruto and naturally Halfir…however they didn't stop Leena from talking to him in person…however, they drew the line if Jiraiya tried to peep at the elf female.

“Aw…and I was so hoping she would stay around more.”

Naruto only shook his head at that and was thankful that he was able to send Leena and the others back to their place in the spirit realm…Faldren had told him about Holy Talon's powers when it came to the spirits of the deceased…and since the spirits were willing to aid him, he was not violating any laws or whatnot when it concerned the spirit realm. Both the Steelhand siblings had died years before…and both elf siblings had willingly passed on to place their spirits into Holy Talon to aid their friend Falken before the fateful duel that sent both Holy Talon and Death Fang into this world. The Dragon Lord was not present as he was not able to remain in the world for long and as such, only imparted the advice to Naruto to always look for the deeper reasons for people who are not truly evil to do what they do.

He kept that to heart as he got on Kael and held the saddle…just as Jiraiya got ready to move out. The Toad Sage and legendary ninja got ready to leave he turned and spoke to Naruto.

“Just so you know…I need to see that Sexy Jutsu again…I can certainly use that for the next book I plan to write!”

Naruto groaned at that and wondered what possessed him to reveal that heavily modified jutsu to the perverted ninja who made even Ebisu look like a simple innocent kid.

“I haven't forgotten you know…see you at the tournament!”

“Same here…and while I am not going to participate…I want you to kick it into high gear Naruto…put all those moves you learned to good use!”

“I will!”

The young Dragon Champion quickly got on his friend Kael and the two of them quickly took to the air and flew towards Konoha while Jiraiya quickly made his way back to the village and to inform his sensei about the soon to arrive attraction in the tournament…he was eager to see the looks on the villagers' faces once Naruto made his GRAND entrance.

(I am so looking forward to that!!!)

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In the main tournament building…

The large numbers of Konoha residents, both civilian and ninja were eager to see just how the finals were going to turn out…there were quite a number of Genin this year who would be taking part in the Chuunin Exams. There were quite a ton of names to look at after all…the dignitaries and leaders from various villages, cities, and towns, along with officials from the five Great Countries were there to witness it.

Many in Konoha were eager to see their own Genin in action, Neji from Hyuuga was among them…while the most anticipated was naturally Sasuke Uchiha of the Uchiha clan. They were all looking forward to seeing the Uchiha prodigy in combat and to see the skills and jutsus of the Uchiha in action for themselves.

Sakura was next to Ino and the still disguised Kin…all of them were wondering just where Naruto had disappeared to, he had been gone for nearly several weeks ever since the day he had left the apartment to train. They hoped that nothing had happened and thankfully nothing bad was happening yet.

“Where are they? They both should know that the Chuunin Exam Finals start in a few minutes.”

Sakura said as she scanned the crowd hoping to catch sight of Naruto and she wondered where Sasuke was as well. She was worried that something had happened to them and she hoped that they would make it back soon…if they didn't make it at all, then they would be disqualified.

Ino knew that as well and so did Kin, they were not the only ones as Hinata, Kiba, and several others, including the rest of the Chuunin candidates waited for them to arrive. The other people were also curious on when Sasuke would arrive so they could see how good he was. Temari looked at the sight and wondered just when the two others would arrive…she wanted to see Naruto and see just what else he was good at doing…though she still kept her focus on fighting in the Tournament until the time came.

The leaders and feudal lords were already there and were also eager to see the matches. The Hokage was also there, along with the Kazekage and they were also ready to see how things would turn out. Sarutobi however was curious about one thing.

“I wonder where Naruto and Sasuke are? They should be here already?”

“What was that Hokage?”

“Nothing Kazekage…just wondering out loud.”

“Well…I haven't been able to see a decent Chuunin exam for a while.”

Both Kages and their guards turned to see none other than Jiraiya looking at them, The Hokage's guards relaxed a bit as they knew who Jiraiya was, though the Kazekage kept a wary eye on Jiraiya for some reason.

“What are you doing here Jiraiya…I was under the impression you've left on another trip.”

“Not really…I am here to tell you that Naruto is well on his way…in fact…he should be here right about now.”

Unknown to everyone…

\”Are you sure you want to do this young wielder? This plan of yours for your entrance could be a bit dangerous. Not to mention the ramifications if you do this.”/

“I know what I'm doing Kael…let's do it!!!”

The Dragon saw that it's master couldn't be told otherwise and then made the dive…and Naruto waited for the last moment and then pulled it off…and shouted

“HERE I COME!!!!!!! GET READY EVERYONE DOWN THERE….”

The people below only had time to look up and gasp as a massive shadow form of an unknown creature suddenly appeared in the grounds, along with a loud voice and they heard a massive thump on the ground and the whole building shook a little and the place was covered in dust and as the dust cleared…they saw a massive Dragon rear up and unfurl it's wings like a bird and before it was none other than Naruto Uzumaki in a cloak…The blonde then tossed off his cloak and took out Holy Talon as the Dragon roared and then fired out a burst of flame into the sky as Naruto raised the sword in salute...dressed in his armor.

“….BECAUSE NARUTO UZUMAKI IS HERE!!!!”

Every jaw in the audience dropped at the sight and the other Genin who were in the tournament took several steps back as they heard Kael roar. Naruto then placed Holy Talon on his right shoulder and raised his left hand to pat Kael's head as the Dragon moved down to show it's obedience and loyalty to the Dragon Champion…making the other people in the area look on in shock…

Jiraiya was laughing his head off, while Sarutobi sighed and replied.

“Well…the cat's out of the proverbial bag now.”

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To Be Continued…

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Author's notes:

Sorry for the long delay…I had a TON of work to do…plus a real killer of a headache…

Things are going to be a bit more explosive on the next chapter as the finals now get underway…I know that the description of Naruto in his armor is somewhat off…but it has been a while since I described someone in full armor…however, I hope that the image is enough for all the readers to picture in your mind.

I brought the hot spring scene to add some more content and to make Naruto learn more about himself…after all, while it is true that Naruto in this story wasn't hit by the seal of Orochimaru like in the series, he still relies on unknown amounts of chakra to do jutsus, but here is where he learns how to use the right amount and how to control it, allowing him to ration and utilize his chakra and the Kyuubi chakra well, and he will use the chakra of the Kyuubi soon enough…the lessons will play a good role in the coming chapters of Dragon Champion and well into the future…besides. Despite being a closet pervert, Ebisu is a good teacher in this episode since he does tell the truth and I wanted Naruto to learn from him…after all…he does see Naruto in a positive light, though the Sexy Jutsu is still a subject of issue between them.

As soon as we get down to the rest of the fights after the one between Neji and Naruto…we get to the invasion…and Naruto is about to shove a serious kick in the ass of the invasion force of both Sound and Sand ninja…

Preview:

Konohamaru and his friends looked on in awe at the sight…and the young grandson of the Third Hokage was ecstatic…as he was right in taking on Naruto as his idol…who else had THAT level of power at his command?!

“BOSS!!!!!! YOU ARE SO COOOOL!!!!”

The other villagers and those of the Council saw the sight and were in awe…they thought they had seen every trick in the book that the blonde container of the Kyuubi had with him when he fought Neji in one heck of a fight, plus having that creature at his command…but this was certainly taking it up a notch and then some!!!!

Kakashi looked on at Naruto and smiled…with absolute pride…he focused on Sasuke because he wanted Sasuke to give up his anger and rage and hunt his brother down for justice…not for revenge…while making sure that Orochimaru never got his hands on him…the Uchiha was his student…and so was Naruto…

And he knew in his heart that someday…with his natural gift with others, and his new powers…he would be a Hokage of legend someday. And this further validated his beliefs.

The other Jonin looked on in surprise…along with the ANBU…and Gai was the only one to comment as the others lost their ability to speak.

“You're student is truly a bonfire of youth Kakashi….you must be really proud of him.”

“That I am…”

The other Genin…including Sakura were in awe as the pink haired Kunoichi looked on at her team-mate who still held Holy Talon.

“What?!”

For the first time in his life…Orochimaru…S-ranked ninja traitor of Konoha…former Sannin, former student and protégé of the Third Hokage, and head of the Village of the Hidden Sound was at a loss on what was going on before him. He and his group, the Sound Five were also stunned as they saw the battle before them...and the forces that were now ready to fight alongside the ninja of Konoha.

Sarutobi grinned as he was not dressed in his old battle uniform and wielding his animal summon, the Monkey King Enma in his staff form and then spoke to his former student.

“It seems Naruto has thrown a proverbial monkey wrench in the works in your plans eh Orochimaru?”

Jiraiya looked on and smiled.

“This just got really interesting!!!”

The rest of the Sand and Sound ninja held their various weapons and were ready to fight…however, their faces were filled with shocked expressions as they found themselves facing a vast army…and NONE of them were Konoha ninja…but of a force they had never seen before.

Naruto turned to face the multitude of armed and armored men and women before him…and every last one of them were armed and armored in armor similar to his own and were carrying a vast array of weapons…swords of both single hand grip and double hand grip and of various designs, shields, axes of the same grip types, spears, halberds, bows and crossbows…the beings were all looking at the assembled ninja invasion force with stoic and calm looks.

The Konoha ninja and Dragon Champion walked forward and pointed Holy Talon at the Sound and Sand ninja and spoke in a calm and powerful voice full of authority.

“You've got a lot of guts to invade my home village…if you think you'll have you're way here in Konoha…you are sorely mistaken….WARRIORS OF THE HOLY LIGHT! WILL YOU FIGHT FOR ME?”

Every last one of the armored beings summoned by the Holy Dragon Sword raised their weapons into the air and roared out a response.

“WE FIGHT FOR YOU!!!!”

“ATTACK AND SHATTER THE DARKNESS!!!!!”

The wave of armored warriors moved out…heading right for the army of Sand and Sound ninja who were frozen stiff as the army bellowed out war-cries at them…

----

With Naruto charging in front of the whole mass army with Holy Talon in a two handed grip…and it didn't take long for the summoned army to smash right into the invasion force of ninja…and things were now going to get VERY nasty.

I'll name the other Dragon Champions in the next chapter soon enough, and we know now that Faldren has two forms, the Lore form which he uses when fighting is not involved…and his true form…his combat form…just what does the Dragon Lord and leader of the Holy Dragons look like in it's true form? Ah…that's a secret.

Orchaelium is a rare and powerful combination of fictional metals Mithral and Adamantine, this makes it both very light and very powerful as well…making highly ideal for forging…however it is both rare and very expensive to make…and befitting it's nature…it is only found in Dagern…and it can never be found in Naruto's world.

Oh yeah…I know this is a rhetorical question…but if I were to make a lemon for this story…would you readers like in the traditional way or more than one woman goes after Naruto in the sack? And who would they be?