Naruto Hikikaeru

Just as Naruto was inwardly screaming about the whereabouts of Jiraiya, Hateshi suddenly interrupted him.

"Naruto, if you really think it's time, then it doesn't matter whether or not you have Jiraiya with you. You can just leave him a note." Hateshi explained.

Naruto calmed down after hearing Hateshi's words and thought for a moment. What he said did make sense, afterall, in the end, Naruto had to do everything by himself in order to gain control over Kurama's power. Jiraiya wouldn't be able to offer any assistance in that matter.

"Besides, there's no telling if Jiraiya will simply go along with you, after all, you appear as a twelve year old kid to him." Hateshi reminded.

That's true, Naruto thought as he silently agreed with Hateshi. In that case, we'll set off after leaving a note with Kakashi-sensei and the others, Naruto decided.

He then brought his hands together and created a shadow clone. After creating the clone, the two Naruto's nodded to one another while one took off and the other stayed behind and walked toward Kakashi and the other's.

Seeing all of the actions Naruto took, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. So as soon as the Naruto that stayed behind got close enough Kakashi decided to ask.

"Naruto, is something happening?" Kakashi asked as he silently raised his guard up.

Naruto shook his head as he replied. "No, there's something that I needed to take care of and I couldn't keep putting it off, so I decided to leave a message behind whenever Pervy-Sage decided to show up again."

Kakashi couldn't help but to furrow his brows and frown slightly toward Naruto's response.

"Naruto, what's this matter that you needed to take care of?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto thought for a moment as he wondered how he should respond to this question. "It's an important matter related to me, and if everything goes well, I'll be a lot stronger too!" Naruto replied.

He had decided to answer in a roundabout way as to avoid scaring Sakura or the others. They had already seen him when Kurama had taken control and gone on a rampage. He wanted to avoid them thinking about it if he could. But, he also felt there was no reason to keep Kakashi away from the truth, and knowing him, Naruto had complete confidence in Kakashi putting the clues together and figuring out what he meant.

Hearing Naruto's words caused Kakashi to frown a bit as he thought about them. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he realized exactly what Naruto meant by his words.

Kakashi stared at Naruto before opening his mouth. "Naruto, are you sure about this? Isn't it too dangerous?"

Naruto nodded his head as he responded. "It certainly is dangerous, but there's no choice in the matter, If I can control it properly, then it's a good thing. But I can't keep pushing it off and letting it remain as a risk. Besides! I've already learned and mastered sage jutsu!"

After replying, Naruto grinned at Kakashi and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. Kakashi could only sigh as he felt Naruto was a little too relaxed about what he was about to do. Then he slightly shook his head.

"Alright then, but be careful Naruto!" Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto.

"I will, take care of the others while I'm gone, and let Pervy-Sage know if you see him!" Naruto grinned as he waved his hand and turned into smoke.

Kakashi sighed before returning to focus on getting Lee patched up. Sasuke was for the most part unharmed, just bruised, so he didn't need much medical attention.

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Naruto was in the middle of rushing through the forest when his clone's experience finally returned to him. He silently smiled to himself before rushing with renewed vigor. He wanted to reach his destination as soon as possible.

Just wait, once I've finished training, I'll put a stop to Madara's plans! Naruto thought to himself.

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Hateshi was sitting cross legged, silently while in an empty space. It was the mindscape that was created when he established the seal with Naruto.

His eyes were gently closed, however, a black substance was slowly seeping out from under his eye lids and dripping down onto the ground.

Hmmm, it seems I don't have much time left, Orochimaru must hurry, otherwise, I'll have to fall back to plan B. Hateshi thought to himself.

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Time continued to pass by and Kakashi along with the rest of team seven had returned to the village. Kakashi had taken to personally overseeing Sasuke's training, continually pushing him pass his limits. It also served as a way for him to improve his skills as well.

Jiraiya, after discovering that Naruto had left on his own was given the task of finding Tsunade, and after a few weeks, was able to track her down. No one knew what method he used, but he had somehow managed to convince Tsunade in returning to the village to assist in training new medical ninja. Shortly after beginning, she had taken notice of Sakura and had soon began training her as a medical nin.

At this time Naruto had finally arrived at his destination, he jumped off of the small boat he had gotten his hands on and landed on the island. I'm finally here, Naruto thought to himself.

Just then, from behind him, a giant squid rose out of the surface of the ocean. Glancing back, Naruto was somewhat shocked by the sudden appearance, but still remained his calm.

Looks likd I'll have some warm up practice before the real training begins! Naruto thought. Then, just as he prepared a Rasengan in hand, something he didn't expect happened.

A giant octopus had rushed out of the mist and punched the squid, sending it flying. Eh? Why do I have this feeling of dejavu? Naruto wondered. He also wondered why he suddenly felt less motivated, was it because his moment to shine was cruely taken away from him? That was the reason right?

Naruto quietly sulked as he turned away from the ocean. He should probably just focus on training, he didn't want to come in contact with anyone for the time being.

-End of Chapter 48-

Author's Notes: My shortest chapter, but I figured it was good enough to ease myself back into the writing process. I did some jumping around if you noticed, I'm trying to move the plot forward at a faster pace to be honest. But hopefully it's not too bad, I also feel like my writing changed a bit too.... Is it just me? Also, I'm leaving the title for the chapter blank, since I can't really think of a good chapter title, oh well. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the chapter, also let me know what you think. That's all for now. Peace!