Naruto Hikikaeru

Naruto and the others had been on their way back to the village, they had decided to take it easy considering everything that happened in The Land of Waves. Along the way, they decided to stop by a small town within The Land of Hot Water. Sakura was extremely excited as she was looking forward to the hot springs in the town. Sasuke as usual wasn't showing any sign of excitement toward the idea. While Naruto was also looking forward to it, after everything he learned, he needed some time to sort things out. But when he thought of hot springs, he couldn't help but remember Jiraiya and all the antics he would get up to whenever they visited a hot springs town.

He was grinning to himself as they walked up to the inn.

"Welcome! How many for how many days?" The Hostess greeted.

"Four for two nights." Kakashi smiled.

"I think we all have earned a few nights of relaxing after everything we've been through."

The three of them nodded in agreement to Kakashi's words.

"One moment please!" The Hostess asked.

Team 7 gathered in the main hall of the inn as they waited for the hostess to return with their room keys. Once she returned, they payed for the rooms and checked them out. They had gotten two rooms, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto would be in one while Sakura had the other to herself.

Naruto went up to the window and looked out across the town as he admired the scenery.

"Alright everyone, we will be here for a couple of nights, so feel free to enjoy yourselves, but remember, to be on your guard at all times." Kakashi instructed.

But when he looked up at the trio, he saw that they were all looking at him with weird expressions.

"Eh? Is something wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"Jeez Kakashi-sensei, you're too uptight! You need to relax more!" Sakura said shaking her head.

"Eh?"

"Sakura's right Kakashi-sensei! You need to take it easy the most!" Naruto agreed.

Kakashi looked over at Sasuke. "Sasuke too?"

Sasuke didn't say a word but he still nodded as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Seriously?!" Kakashi said surprised.

The trio all nodded their heads together. As Kakashi had this feeling of being ganged up on as he hung his head down.

"Cheer up Kakashi-sensei! We're going to a hot springs!" Naruto laughed.

The trio grabbed Kakashi and dragged him to the hot springs in the town.

...

...

...

Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke were all relaxing in the men's hot spring while Sakura was all by herself on the woman's side.

"Whew, this is nice!" Naruto sighed in relief.

Kakashi and Sasuke silently agreed as they all enjoyed the hot springs bath together. Naruto closed his eyes and sunk lower into the water as he enjoyed himself. He always enjoyed taking a dip in a hot spring. He thought about his conversation with Hateshi and how every time he caused a major change, a Construct would appear to try and eliminate him. He then thought to how Hateshi fought against it, and the way he moved. The movements were instantaneous for him, he didn't even think about what he was going to do. Naruto thought about all of his fights, he always thought about what he was going to do before he did it. Maybe that was part of the difference, Hateshi and the Constructs moved on instinct rather than on thought. There was also the chakra difference, they didn't fight while releasing chakra, it was more like the chakra was condensed and converged on themselves.

Naruto stood up suddenly while his eyes were closed. He stretched out his senses and converged his chakra, condensing it within his own body. Kakashi and Sasuke stared at Naruto's actions with confusion in their eyes. But then Kakashi's widened as he began see a similarity between Naruto's actions now and before. During the fight, Kakashi had been analyzing how Naruto and the figure fought. Unlike most battles he had been in, the two didn't release their chakra often or at all and there never seemed to be any intent in their actions. They just moved, which caused him to suspect that the two never thought about their next step and just did it. But he couldn't quite figure out how it was done.

Naruto sensed his surroundings as he breathed in slowly and exhaled slowly. He suddenly sensed a negative intent and moved without thinking. Naruto's body moved in an instant, before Kakashi and Sasuke could follow, Naruto had arrived by another figure and attempted to restrain the man. The man caught off guard by Naruto's sudden attack freaked out as he grabbed Naruto's wrist and spun him away. Naruto landed on the ground and opened his eyes as he held his head.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelled.

"You took the words right out of my mouth kid! Who dares to disrupt the research of the great sage of Mount Myoboku!" The man declared as he struck a pose.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he recognized the figure in the bath that Naruto had suddenly attacked. It was none other than one of the three legendary sannin Jiraiya.

"Lord Jiraiya!" Kakashi exclaimed.

Sasuke seemed interested in the sudden change in Kakashi's demeanor and his attitude toward Jiraiya.

"Pervy-Sage!" Naruto yelled in shock.

"Eh?" Jiraiya and Kakashi exclaimed.

Naruto realized his mistake and covered his mouth, and coughed to clear his throat.

"Ahem, I mean, what sage?! You're just some pervert peaking on the women's bath!" Naruto declared as he pointed accusingly at Jiraiya.

"How dare you accuse me of simply peaking!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"This is nothing more than pure and incorruptible research for my next novel!"

Jiraiya then pulled out his books that he had published, and Kakashi's eyes widened in shock. No way, he thought, it's the makeout paradise books! He desperately wanted to go ask for the latest addition but held himself back as his students looked at him with suspicion.

Naruto looked back at Jiraiya and stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"Any hot girls over there?" Naruto asked.

"Of course, there were loads of-" Jiraiya suddenly realized the trap he had walked right into as he stared at Naruto in horror.

Naruto stared back with a smug grin on his face. Jiraiya wished he could find a hole to crawl into and hide himself in. The shame he felt at being tricked by some brat was killing him as he got onto all four of his limbs.

"Ahem, well, I think we should probably reintroduce ourselves." Kakashi suggested.

"That's right! Let's do just that!" Jiraiya said as he saw a ray of hope.

"Well, alright, I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said allowed.

Jiraiya slightly widened his eyes as he looked back at Naruto, so this is Minato's son? Jiraiya thought, he does look a lot like him though.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke introduced.

So this is the last of the Uchiha clan, he looks a lot like Itachi, Jiraiya thought to himself.

"We've already met Lord Jiraiya, but I'm Hatake Kakashi." Kakashi said.

"Indeed! Now it's my turn to reintroduce myself!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"No need, we already no you're a pervert so Pervy-Sage suits you just fine." Naruto interrupted.

Jiraiya got back onto all fours as he fell into depression at the remark.

"Now now, Naruto, you can't be like that with one of the three legendary sannin." Kakashi said.

Jiraiya looked up at Kakashi with tears streaming down his face.

"Well, she isn't here right now, but we have one more member named Haruno Sakura, she's on the other side." Kakashi continued on.

Jiraiya quickly recovered as he nodded his head, I have no idea who that is, Jiraiya thought.

"Anyways, Naruto, why did you suddenly attack Lord Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked.

"Hmm, I don't know, I was trying to copy what happened in the fight earlier, and when I suddenly felt negative intent, my body moved on it's own in response to it." Naruto tilted his head in thought as he tried to remember the feeling he had just now.

Kakashi stared at Naruto with wide eyes, because Naruto's words proved his theory that he had. So they really did move based only on instinct, but that still doesn't explain what happened to Naruto earlier. Kakashi thought about bringing it up, but decided to do so another time. Then he turned to look over at Jiraiya.

"Lord Jiraiya, what brings you here to this town?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya looked serious for a moment before smiling at Kakashi.

"Now, now, we can discuss work some other time, why don't we all just enjoy ourselves for now." Jiraiya laughed. Jiraiya then walked right next to Kakashi and whispered to him.

"I'm currently tracking intel on a certain snake's whereabouts."

Kakashi looked serious as he looked over at Jiraiya.

"You don't mean?" Kakashi began.

"It's exactly who you're thinking, but I can see that you have enough worries of your own, so leave this to me Kakashi." Jiraiya said as he patted Kakashi's shoulder.

Kakashi sat back down as he thought about the situation, Jiraiya was right, he had to ensure the safety of his team, and they had just finished a difficult mission not too long ago. Jiraiya sat beside Kakashi as Naruto and Sasuke left the hot spring.

"How is he?" Jiraiya asked.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya nodded his head as he looked up into the sky.

"Naruto's a wonderful student, he's constantly surprising me.... and he reminds me of Minato-sensei." Kakashi said smiling.

Jiraiya smiled as he thought of Minato. Just like Minato huh? He thought.

"We've lost too many good people over the years Kakashi." Jiraiya said.

Kakashi nodded his head in silent agreement.

"Let's do our best to guide the current generation down the right path, that way we can give them a brighter future than the one we were given." Jiraiya suggested.

Kakashi smiled back. "That's been my intention from the start Lord Jiraiya."

"Hahahahah." Jiraiya laughed.

...

...

...

Naruto and Sasuke were walking through the town as some kind of festival was taking place. They stopped by some stall and got some food.

Sasuke was in thought as he remembered how Naruto fought back then.

"Naruto." Sasuke called out.

"What's up?" Naruto looked over.

"What happened to you during that fight?" Sasuke asked.

"Hmmm, well, the best way I can describe it is that it wasn't me." Naruto said. He had thought it over and felt that it was the right time at least to tell people about his experience with Hateshi, since it would lead into revealing that he was from the future. He also had suspicion that revealing too much information would cause another Construct to appear, which was something he wanted to avoid until he was ready.

"What do you mean it wasn't you?" Sasuke asked feeling slightly irritated with Naruto's lackadaisical attitude.

"Well it wasn't me, it felt like I was watching someone else move my body, the fight itself is kind of fuzzy." Naruto said in his defense.

Sasuke thought for a moment to himself.

"But you're trying to learn how your body moved like that when it happened right?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yeah, I am, I remember that it felt like my senses had opened up and I could see everything around me." Naruto explained.

"Could you teach it to me?" Sasuke asked.

"Eh?" Naruto stared at Sasuke.

"Why?"

"Because I need to get stronger as quickly as possible, and you've started figuring out a way to do that!" Sasuke answered.

Naruto thought for a moment, the reason Sasuke left was to get power in order to kill Itachi. So Naruto felt that if Sasuke was able to obtain power without resorting to going to Orochimaru then it was a good thing. But he also wanted to make sure Sasuke didn't kill Itachi since in the end, Itachi wasn't really evil in the first place.

"Well?" Sasuke said interrupting Naruto's thoughts.

"Well, I'm not against it, but I don't even understand it completely myself as I'm still trying to figure it out." Naruto answered.

Sasuke thought for a moment as he contemplated Naruto's words.

"Then how about you just explain what you can, and I'll figure it out myself." Sasuke said.

Naruto grinned as he looked straight ahead. "Alright."

The two went back to the inn where they met up with Sakura and Kakashi as well as Jiraiya.

"What's Pervy-Sage doing here?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya coughed as he heard Naruto's words.

"Well, he's also staying at this inn, so there's nothing we can do about that." Kakashi explained.

Naruto looked over at Kakashi and Jiraiya suspiciously but decided to drop the issue, he then walked up to their room and sat by the window. Sasuke had decided to go to sleep and was in his bed while Kakashi was in his own bed as well. Sakura was in her room, and Jiraiya had gone to wherever his own room was. Naruto looked up at the full moon in the sky as he thought about everything that had happened to him. All the training he had ever done as well as all the battles he had been in. He needed to stop Pain before he killed Jiraiya and attacked the hidden leaf, he needed to stop Orochimaru from killing the third and taking Sasuke away. He also needed to stop the Fourth Ninja World War from happening.

He sighed as all these thoughts filled his head. He then glanced down and saw Jiraiya sneaking around outside. What's he up to? Naruto thought, then he got dressed and opened his window as he silently crept out. He followed behind Jiraiya as he silently observed him. Naruto witnessed Jiraiya go up to a man and give him something, then the man gave something to Jiraiya and the two separated. Naruto appeared behind the man that Jiraiya met and knocked him out, then he examined his things and found what Jiraiya had given him, which was a note that read: Turn around.

Naruto felt a chill down his spine as he looked behind him to see Jiraiya standing there.

"Well, what do we have here?" Jiraiya grinned.

"Eh?"

"Now why are you following me Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well, I saw you sneaking around so I got curious." Naruto said in defense.

Jiraiya sighed out as he placed his hand on Naruto's head.

"Look, I'm on a very important mission right now, and you can't be bothering me-" Jiraiya stopped speaking when he saw stars in Naruto's eyes as he looked at him.

Jiraiya sighed. "Looks like you're not going to leave this matter alone.... well, I suppose it shouldn't be too much of an issue."

"Alright, Naruto, how about you help me out on my mission." Jiraiya asked.

"Alright!" Naruto said nodding his head.

Jiraiya chuckled as he ruffled Naruto's hair, then he pulled out a picture of a man with a hidden sound forehead protector. Naruto stared at the image and began to understand what kind of mission Jiraiya was on.

"I'm currently looking for this individual, he has vital intel for the mission I'm on, so it is extremely important that I find him. Luckily, my sources say that he's in this town somewhere, so I want you to help me find this individual Naruto." Jiraiya explained.

Naruto nodded as he committed the image in memory.

"Right, where should I start looking?" Naruto asked.

"You start where the festival is, if you find him, inform me immediately." Jiraiya instructed.

"Roger!" Naruto exclaimed.

The two separated and Naruto headed towards the festival where he began to look through the different stalls while inquiring about the man in the photo. Time continued to pass and Naruto had no luck in finding the person so he sat down on some steps leading up to an old shrine.

"Man, no one has seen the guy at all!" Naruto sighed dejectedly as he looked at the ground.

Suddenly Naruto saw feet that walked up to him.

"Umm, excuse me?" A voice asked.

Naruto looked up to see a girl about his age, she was his height and had black hair the went to her shoulders, she had green eyes and was wearing a kimono just like everyone else participating in the festival.

"Do you need something?" Naruto asked.

"Are you here to pay your respects to the shrine?" The girl asked.

Naruto looked up at the old shrine.

"Oh, sorry, I was just taking a break, but I can pay my respects." Naruto smiled.

He then walked up to the shrine and placed his hands together in respect. After that, he walked back down the steps where the girl was waiting.

"Umm, do you need something else?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, It's just, no one has been paying their respects to the shrine anymore, so I was surprise when you did." The girl replied.

"Oh, is that all?" Naruto laughed.

"Umm, what's your name?" The girl asked.

"It's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto!" He answered.

"My name is Ai, Fuyuko Ai." The girl said.

"Hehe, nice to meet you Ai." Naruto grinned.

Ai smiled back at Naruto.

"Well, I need to get back to it, see ya later Ai!" Naruto yelled as he took off.

Ai waved back as she watched Naruto leave, then she turned back to look at the old shrine.

-End of Chapter 19-

Author's Notes: Hey guys, this is a completely original story, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Anyways, I have a lot of plans for the coming future, and I hope it all works out. Also, let me know what you think of the new character? Should I have her come back later in the story or no? Or do you guys need more details on her character before you decide? Anyways, the chuunin exams are coming up after this, I hope you're as excited as I am, also, let me know if you find any spelling errors or other grammatical mistakes. Peace.