Naruto slept deeply. When he woke, the sky was dark, and rain pattered against the awning outside the window.
The hospital room was unlit. He looked up and saw Kakashi and Sasuke lying in the beds on either side of his.
He clenched his fist, then clenched it again with all his strength. Much of his strength had returned, which put him at ease.
Weakness was the most terrifying thing in the world to him. It meant he could only passively accept everything happening around him.
As long as he could stand and move, where to go and what to choose were up to him. He would simply bear the consequences, good or bad.
Naruto sat cross-legged and focused inward. The injuries inside his body had recovered by about fifty or sixty percent.
Only his heart, which carried the most Chakra, and several major chakra points remained badly damaged.
He mobilized his Chakra, actively reorganizing his cells and speeding up his metabolism. His body temperature gradually rose.
Before he knew it, dawn had come.
"Naruto, you're awake." Haruno Sakura entered the room carrying three daffodils and placed them in a vase.
Yamanaka Ino followed her, setting a bouquet of cosmos flowers upright on the bedside table next to Sasuke.
Ino's mother owned a flower shop. When Haruno Sakura came to buy flowers, Ino happened to be sitting idly at the counter, so she came along. After all, she liked Sasuke too.
Seeing Naruto in the same hospital room made her feel a little awkward. She'd come to visit a classmate, but hadn't brought him anything.
Still, she smiled and waved generously. "Hey, Naruto! So you're in the hospital too. Little Sakura didn't tell me. I thought it was just Sasuke."
Naruto opened his eyes. Light shimmered in his clear, sky-blue gaze. Wearing a loose blue-striped patient gown, he looked composed and mysterious.
"Hey."
Ino couldn't help wondering if Naruto had always looked like that.
Her first impression of him had been that he was a mischievous dead-last. Her second had been that he was a domineering madman during the Chunin Ninja Exams. But now, something about him seemed different, like a mature older brother.
Maybe he was all of those things, yet none of them fully captured him. It made her curious.
Haruno Sakura had lost her usual liveliness. Everyone in their class except her was injured and lying in bed, and two of them were unconscious.
She said to Ino, "Let's go once we've dropped these off. Sasuke's still resting. I'll let you know when he wakes up."
Ino shook her head, her pale-golden ponytail and bangs swaying from side to side. Leaning close to Haruno Sakura's ear, she whispered, "I'm keeping an eye on you! So you don't do anything you shouldn't to Sasuke while he's asleep!"
Haruno Sakura shot her a glare and sat down in the chair beside Naruto's bed. Before she could say anything, Ino dragged over another chair too.
"Naruto, what kind of enemies could have hurt you all so badly? You, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei are all so strong."
Haruno Sakura glared at her. "Why are you asking so many questions?"
"Two rogue ninja." Naruto looked toward Sasuke and couldn't help thinking of Itachi Uchiha, the man who'd stood there without lifting a finger the entire time.
His strange Sharingan alone had instantly rendered Kakashi and Sasuke powerless.
Just then, the window suddenly slid open. Jiraiya crouched on the sill and waved with a grin. "Hello, girls."
Ino instinctively leaned back to avoid him. "Who's this uncle?"
Haruno Sakura waved. "Lord Jiraiya, Naruto's master."
Ino stared at him in shock. "Jiraiya, one of Konoha's legendary Sannin?"
"Heh." Jiraiya grinned widely. "That's right. It's none other than this sage!"
Ino couldn't help seeing Naruto in a new light again. He'd actually been taken on as a disciple by one of the legendary Sannin. In terms of status, that put him right among Konoha's highest ranks, on the same generation as the Fourth Hokage.
Jiraiya smiled. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to take Naruto somewhere to do something."
Haruno Sakura said, "But Naruto's injuries..."
"It's fine." Naruto swung his legs off the bed.
"Leave it to me. With Jiraiya here, Naruto will be as good as new before long."
After saying that, Jiraiya slapped the wall. A black Summoning Technique seal spread out, and the ground shook as an orange-yellow, mottled toad larger than a building landed in the backyard.
Jiraiya hopped backward onto the toad's head, and Naruto followed with a step off the windowsill.
Watching Naruto's retreating figure, Haruno Sakura couldn't hide her sadness.
Ino seemed to notice something and asked, "Being teammates with him and Sasuke must put a lot of pressure on you, huh?"
Haruno Sakura nodded, then shook her head.
The Great Toad leaped hundreds of meters at a time, landing in open areas around the city. Jiraiya and Naruto sat steadily atop its head.
"The organization trying to capture you is called Akatsuki. Their target is the Nine-Tails Demon Fox inside you."
"I figured. It's not like I have anything else valuable on me." Naruto asked, "How do we kill them?"
"Haha, once you're about as strong as I am, we can give it a try." Jiraiya's expression was unusually serious. "But for now, we need to use our brains."
Naruto nodded. "How much brainpower?"
Jiraiya replied solemnly, "Ninety percent."
Naruto's heart tightened. "That much?"
"Yeah." Jiraiya scratched his hair. "It's not just Akatsuki. There's Orochimaru too. I'm the only Kage Level fighter in Konoha who'll actually step in right now."
Naruto couldn't help thinking of that so-called Anbu leader and the two advisors. A surge of anger rose in him, but his mind, already working, forced him to calm down.
The toad stopped in the forest outside the village. Jiraiya continued, "The Third Hokage died, and the advisors recommended me for the position of Hokage."
"You definitely turned them down."
"Haha, you know me well, kid. I, Jiraiya, am free by nature. I still have to travel the world, meet pretty girls, and gather material for my novels. How could I have the drive to be Hokage?"
Jiraiya looked up at the sky, the corners of his mouth pointed toward the ground. "But someone has to be Hokage."
Naruto couldn't help saying, "Can't you just leave it alone? I'll travel with you. I don't believe Konoha would fall apart."
Jiraiya clapped a large hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "When Konoha is prosperous and stable, I can live freely and do as I please. But things are urgent now. I can't just stand by and do nothing."
Naruto fell silent. He understood that feeling, much like how he felt about heaven.
Maybe Konoha seemed corrupt and filthy to him, but to Jiraiya, it held so many memories.
He asked seriously, "What are you planning to do? What can I do?"
Jiraiya raised his arm and pointed toward the distant green mountains and rivers. "Besides Orochimaru and me, there's one other Sannin. She's gone into hiding. You'll come with me to bring her back. While we're looking for her, I'll teach you every ninja technique I know."
Naruto knew Jiraiya intended to protect him personally. "Is she strong?"
"Very strong. She's the granddaughter of the First Hokage." Jiraiya smiled at the thought.
Naruto's intelligence made it hard for him to pin his hopes on an old woman. "Then why did she leave Konoha?"
Jiraiya's expression grew complicated. "Her boyfriend died in battle, and she developed a severe fear of blood."
Naruto frowned. "Was there another reason?"
Jiraiya folded his arms and closed his eyes. "Her younger brother died too. Her grandfather and great-uncle both sacrificed themselves to protect Konoha. She's the last surviving descendant of the Senju Clan, and she's still unmarried."
The more Naruto heard, the more suspicious it sounded. "So you want to call her back to keep sacrificing herself for Konoha, until her family's wiped out?"
Jiraiya was taken aback and hurriedly waved his hands. "That's not what I mean."
Naruto had never seen Jiraiya talk about a woman so seriously. He suddenly leaned close to Jiraiya's eyes, raised both arms, and grabbed him by the collar.
"Are you hoping to see her? Looking for an excuse? Answer me!"
Before you continue