Naruto 1. Chapter 1 : Jigsaw

**Conundrum**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Summary:** Naruto is no longer a part of the Leaf. Where has he gone to all these years? No one heard of him for quite some time. What happens when he returns for a visit and bearing a few 'gifts'. Life is just a series of questions that need answering.

**Formats:**

"...Speech..."

'..._Thoughts..'_

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**Chapter 1: Jigsaw**

All is peaceful in the Village of the Hidden Leaf. The village has gotten back on its feet after the attempted Sound/Sand invasion two years ago. However the quiet and calm aura surrounding the Leaf is mostly superficial at best. It is true what they say: Maintaining peace is a lot harder than achieving it. With threat of the Sound and its allies still looming over them, even the academy students are becoming paranoid.

Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage of the Leaf muttered a curse under her breath. What was she thinking when she accepted this job. She had sacrificed so much for this village but gained very little. The person responsible for dragging her back here to take up the title of Hokage is not even a part of the Leaf anymore. Her only motivation to protect this village had reluctantly left to save the village from crumbling under its own weight of hate and prejudice. Once again this village had taken away her precious person. A person she held dear as a brother.

Since then, the day doesn't seem so bright anymore. Her sake only seems to leave a bitter aftertaste, not quite as enjoyable as she would have liked. In only two years after taking up the title, she has been the only Hokage in history to curse the village she's protecting. Why does she keep on protecting those who deny her of happiness? Oh, that's right, she made a promise. The village should count themselves lucky she had made such a promise.

"Hokage-sama!" a chuunin, whose name escapes her, came bursting through the door leading to her office. Tsunade looked up from her paperwork with an annoyed expression, motioning him to continue. "There are four strangers at the western gate asking an audience with you. I assume there are ninjas but I don't recognize the symbol on their hitai-ate."

"Why didn't you escort them here then? With enough escort, I'm sure they wouldn't have been of any threat." Asked a puzzled Hokage still annoyed her daily musing had been interrupted.

"They refused to enter the village. Their leader said that would not be wise and they will not be staying for very long. They only have something to pass to us." The chuunin is becoming more agitated by the second. The Hokage's volatile temper is as legendary as her formidable strength. He can only hope that he wouldn't end up as the new decoration hanging in the Hokage's office.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow a little. _'Would not be wise? Is he a wanted criminal or something? I should get Jiraiya to come along just in case.' _"Okay then, I need you to go and find Jiraiya for me. Explain the situation to him and ask him to meet me at the gate. After that alert an ANBU squad to be on standby in the vicinity of the gate"

Tsunade made her way to the western gate, ignoring the greetings extended by passerby, still peeved by her earlier musings. She was like a duck in a pond. On the outside she looked calm and collected, but her mind was churning like mad. In her head hundreds of scenarios of what this is all about played itself. She didn't even realize it when Jiraiya appeared beside her.

Jiraiya has not changed much over the years. Which means he is still a pervert with a penchant for punishment. No peeping raid is too dangerous, no bathhouse wall is too high and no peeping hole is too small. No matter how many times he was trampled by a mob of angry women, he just keeps on peeping for the ultimate inspiration for his book. The truth of it all, all the perverseness is merely a distraction for him, from contemplating his troubles. Like Tsunade, he lost another one of his precious person two years ago. Even worse, he was partly to blame for the lost, or more accurately, his perverseness led him to this situation. Nevertheless being a pervert is what he is; he can never deny that, no matter how much he protested out loud otherwise.

As they move closer to the gate, sounds of metal clashing can be heard. Both Tsunade and Jiraiya rushed forward to find one of the chuunin guards attacking one of the foreign ninjas. All of the unknown ninjas are wearing a cape with hoods hiding their faces. One of them, apparently the leader of the group, has a kunai lodge in his palm, coming out on the other side of his hand. He is blocking another kunai strike from the attacking guard by using the hole on hilt of the kunai that pierced his hand. His other hand is holding back another foreign ninja, preventing him from attacking the guard; all the while kept shouting to his subordinate to stand down. Tsunade knew that the leader of the unknown ninjas is trying to diffuse the situation. The scuffle would most likely been the attacking chuunin guard's fault.

"All right that's enough. What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tsunade grab the attacking chuunin by the collar of his vest and threw him aside. The unknown ninjas relaxed a bit at this. The leader quickly dislodged the offending kunai from his hand and reached to his pouch to take out a roll of bandages and then proceed to wrap his hand hurriedly. Tsunade turn to the leader of the group. "I'm sorry for the rash action of my ninja. I assure you he will be dealt with."

"That's okay, Hokage-sama, I'm just glad this incident doesn't escalate to epic proportion. Truth be told, my subordinates can be just as rash." The leader shot a mild glare at his companions. "Well, on to business then. The four of us are from the Village of the Hidden Flame. We bid you greetings from the Ruling Council of the Flame."

"Hidden Flame? We've haven't heard news from your village for a long time." Tsunade knew that the Hidden Flame always kept to themselves and often just ignore happenings outside their realm of influence. The other villages don't concern themselves in matters pertaining to the Hidden Flame because not only because of their non-interference policy but more importantly they don't even know exact location of the village. Hidden Flame mostly interacts with the outside world through various outposts in Star country. Even the lord of the country is none the wise on the location of the Hidden Flame village. Nonetheless, it is a known fact that their shinobis often roam the whole shinobi world doing missions but always in secrecy, always out of the prying eyes of others. It suddenly occurred to Tsunade how young looking these four ninjas are; most likely to be in their teens, even the leader. They must be good to be doing away missions so far from their home despite their age. In any case she can now understand why they refused to enter. Staying in the village would call unwanted attention to them and that would be an antithesis to their normal modus operandi. But still, it doesn't explain why the guard was attacking the group. From the looks of things she is positive that this was not a case of misunderstanding. The guard attacked with an intention to kill.

"Heh, I think that's normal for us. Let's just say that the Hidden Flame is starting a kind of an outreach program." The leader replied, chuckling a bit. Although his face is hidden by the hood of his cape, Tsunade can make out a toothy grin the leader of the group is sporting. She was struck by a sense of familiarity; she knows that grin from somewhere. Behind her, Jiraiya was having the same thought. He racked his brain where had he seen that grin before. For a foreign ninja the leader seemed to be at ease dealing with them. The way he carried his conversation it was like he was familiar with Tsunade.

"Wait, before we continue, can I ask you something? Do I know you from somewhere? You seem so familiar." Tsunade couldn't help herself. Her mind repeatedly attempted to interpolate that grin to anyone she knew in her memories but it continually escapes her. One person comes close, but she doesn't want to get her hopes up. It's like a complex piece of a puzzle where the dots either don't line up or she herself doesn't want to line them up in fear to breaking the entire puzzle back to its thousand pieces. "You've been here before haven't you?"

"Ahh, I knew I can't hide from you for long … Obaa-chan." At the mention of 'obaa-chan', Tsunade's mind comes to a crashing halt. The leader of the group pulled down his hood, revealing bright blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and the most distinctive whisker marks on his cheeks. "Long time no see, neh."

"Naruto, you idiot, where have you been?" Tsunade feels her chest tightens, holding back unbidden tears threatening to flow from her eyes. She was right, it is him. She understands now why the chuunin guard was attacking him. He must have recognized his face even with the hood. Not even his two year absence can wipe that grinning face from the memories of the people of the Leaf. What the hell could have possibly happened to him in these last two years? Why only now that he chose to reveal himself. And more importantly why the hell does he wear the Hidden Flame colors?

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**Author's Notes:**

A little short and vague, but considering it's only a prologue, don't criticize it too much okay. You can however criticize the stiff tone of the story. Hey, I'm originally a technical writer, I don't write stories that much. This is my first Naruto fic, heck it's my first fic ever, period. Flame me if you want but please leave me with some motivation left so that I can continue this fic for some who do like it. So please read and review.

Please forgive if anyone had used the Hidden Flame before and looked like I'm smooching your ideas. I haven't read any yet with this village so _yurushite kudasai_! Well is really vast and I don't have the time to read them all, even if it's just Naruto section.

Chapter 2 is already 3/4 finished but I can't make any promises as to when it will be ready. Anyone want to volunteer to be a beta reader for the fic? You get to nag at me when I'm late on datelines and do stupid mistakes with my grammar. Be warned though, people always called me thick headed and I think they're trying to be nice.


	2. Chapter 2 : Pons Asinorum

﻿ 

**Conundrum**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Summary:** Naruto is no longer a part of the Leaf. Where has he gone to all these years? No one heard of him for quite some time. What happens when he returns for a visit and bearing a few 'gifts'. Life is just a series of questions that need answering.

**Formats:**

"...Speech..."

'..._Thoughts..'_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Pons Asinorum**

** Two Years Ago **

Shikamaru sat hunched over on a bench in one of the corridors of the hospital. The mission to retrieve the defecting Uchiha Sasuke had gone terribly wrong. Thinking back, he should not have been the one to lead this particular mission. He is too inexperienced; his skill is limited to his capable mind and shadow manipulation techniques. Every time he goes into battle, it's like playing Go where one of his pieces is accountable to 5 of his opponent's. For every piece he laid down on the board, he tack a 5 points advantage in favor of his opponent; an inescapable disadvantage. Now, two members of his retrieval team are fighting for their lives in the hospital's surgery. His best friend, Chouji apparently used his family secret weapon and burned through his fat at an incredible rate in exchange for quick burst of strength and speed. Now it's threatening to burn away all of his muscle leaving only skin and bones if Tsunade couldn't stop the process. His other teammate, Neji, suffering from major blood loss and multiple puncture wounds serious enough that he could lose some of his limbs if not his life.

Two more of his teammates are unaccounted for, missing in the thick forest near the border of Fire Country. He fears the worst for Naruto and Kiba. His lapse in judgement and leadership is going to cost the lives two more of his friend and teammate. He looked over towards the others with him in the corridor; Gaara, Temari, Kankurou and Lee. If not for the four of them rushing in as backup, all of them would've have died there in the forest. For that he was grateful. Nonetheless, that still leaves them with his two missing friends. Two squads of ANBU and a handful of jounins have already been dispatched for the search. He hopes they would be found soon. No doubt both of them are badly injured. However, the downpour that ended merely few hours ago making the search and rescue difficult, almost impossible it seems.

The door that led to the surgery room swung open, revealing a tired Tsunade. She has a small smile upon her face but her eyes are still clouded with worry. She walked up to the group waiting in the corridor. "Chouji and Neji's conditions have both stabilized. All they need now is plenty of rest." Tsunade sat down on a bench opposite to Shikamaru. "Now, Shikamaru, tell me what happened out there."

Shikamaru sigh helplessly and begin to account the detail of the mission as verbose as he possibly can. He accounts the initial encounter with the Sound 4 which leads up to the first split in the group, leaving Chouji to do battle with the bulky Jiroubou so that they can pursue the rest of the Sound group and afterwards Neji was left to fight the multi-armed spider freak. As the next day comes each of them are facing their opponents on their own with Naruto ahead of the group in pursuit of the newly appeared reinforcement from the Sound that carries away the container they suspect holding Sasuke inside it. Kiba had already no where to be found after a big explosion occurred when they were confronting one of the two remaining Sound 4. Shikamaru was left by himself fending off the last of the Sound 4 which he probably had no hope of defeating.

As he was almost got finished off, Temari appeared and the fighting came to an abrupt end with the easy defeat of the Sound-nin. They then set out ahead towards the direction Naruto had taken. Kankurou joined them after awhile as he couldn't track the others. When they come to a clearing, they watched as the fight between Lee, Gaara and the weird bone-using Sound-nin came to an end. Shikamaru was a bit puzzled; where were Naruto … and Sasuke, and what was Lee doing here. When they left he was still recovering from his surgery. He was about to voice out his question to the boy when they all felt a powerful burst of chakra. Lee mentioned that was the direction where Naruto was off to in pursuit of Sasuke. Looking briefly at the others and assessing they were all more or less still in good conditions, he motioned them to follow him to the source of the chakra burst.

They came to a cascading waterfall pitted between two huge statues embedded into the valley's walls and watched in horror at the scene before them. The landscape was riddled with craters due to explosions and devastating impact. The water looks like it was boiling probably due to fire jutsus thrown at it. What horrified them more was seeing Sasuke standing on top of the water with one hand holding up Naruto by the neck and the other hand plunged through Naruto's right chest coming out of his back. So stunned at the sight, they could barely move. Sasuke now noticing the newcomers quickly dislodges his hand and threw Naruto aside falling over the next waterfall and into the raging river below. Gaara quickly tried to catch Naruto with his sand but it was too late. After Naruto crash into the water below, he was quickly swept away by the current. It didn't help that the water was really muddy; they lost sight of him only a few seconds after he fell.

Sasuke has already fled through the woods towards whatever his destination was. Shikamaru quickly asked Gaara, Lee and Kankurou to pursue Sasuke while Temari and he search for Naruto. After running along the bank of the river for awhile desperately scanning for signs of Naruto, the river split into 3 branches making the search even more futile. Both of them decide to turn back and hopefully get some reinforcement to conduct a full scale search. Shikamaru can only hope Naruto can hold out for a rescue team to find him. It's hard for him to do this but he had no choice, they lack man power and tracking abilities.

When they reached the valley where they split up, they saw Gaara, Lee and Kankurou coming out of the forest. No sign of Sasuke. Apparently there were some Sound-nins distracting them so that Sasuke could get away. By the time all of them were dispatched, Sasuke was long gone. They quickly made their way back to Konoha to get help. On their way back, Neji and Chouji was found in critical condition along with their Sound opponents dead. Gaara put them in to individual sand cocoon and continue on their way. Kiba was still no where to be found. Hopefully, he doesn't share the same fate as Naruto.

Tsunade's brows furrowed as Shikamaru ended his narration. She had already dispatched 2 ANBU squads, and even Kakashi, Gai and the Inuzukas (Kiba's mother and sister insisted on going) to search for the genins even before the group returns. 2 medic squads are hot on their tail to give necessary medical aid if needed. It is all that she can spare from their dwindled forces after Orochimaru's attack on the Leaf. If she had not been the Hokage, she herself would have gone on the search. She would never admit it out loud but she really fond of the blonde-haired boy who managed to convince her to take up the job. His determination and spirit easily weed through her stone cold exterior she put up as a result of losing someone close to her and resurfaced her own spirit to continue protecting this village. Now all that she can do is wait and hope for the best.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino had rushed to the hospital when they heard the Sasuke retrieval team had returned, only to find that two of them are missing, two more are critically injured and the team had ultimately failed to bring back Sasuke. Now both Ino and Sakura huddled together in the waiting area, plague with worry over their respective teammates. For Ino, she felt like her world was crumbling around her. She may not show it too often and bad-mouth them every chance she gets, but she cares deeply for both of her teammates. It was made much worst that they were hurt in retrieving Sasuke, the boy she was vying for attention for as long as she can remember. For the first time since she had known Sasuke, she cursed him with all her being. If he hadn't been obsessed with gaining more power, Chouji wouldn't land into this predicament.

'_Naruto … Kiba….'_ She didn't know both of them that well as she quickly considered them to be loud and annoying that she write them off as possible friend back at the academy. Even so, she knew that both of them don't deserve such fate no matter how much she wanted to wring their heads off when they annoyed her at times. She looked over at Sakura, knew that she is hurting with two of her teammates out there somewhere not knowing whether they're alive or not. She sighs, when is it that things got so complicated she wondered. _'Come back home you guys.'_

Sakura's mind had gone numb the moment she heard the news. Not only had she lost Sasuke but now she is losing her other teammate as well. She shouldn't have made Naruto promise to be Sasuke back. Knowing how Naruto was with his promises, he would be willing to give up his own life to fulfill it. But somehow she knew that if he hadn't made that promise, he would still go all out to get Sasuke back. That's just who he is, just as he never gives up in battle he would never give up on his friends. He would do anything just to keep them safe. But still she could not shake the feeling that it was ultimately her fault.

Her relationship with Naruto as a teammate is not something anyone would call healthy. When the team was first formed, she quickly judge that Naruto would only amount to being a mere obstacle to her from gaining Sasuke's affection. Ironically Sasuke was more appreciative of Naruto's involvement with the team. Even more ironic is her calling Naruto a worthless shinobi when it was her that had nothing to contribute to the team. The only time she had done something for the team was back in the second part of the Chuunin Exam when both of the boys were incapacitated, and even that only served to give her the worst beating of her life. If not for the interference of the other Leaf genin teams all three of them would have been dead at the hand of the Sound-nin.

For anyone else, Naruto's triumph against the genius Hyuuga Neji in the final part of the Chuunin exam would have been an eye opener. Not her, she was still in denial, not wanting to admit she had someone pegged so far from what he really is. Even when the Exam escalated into war, and learned later on that it was Naruto that saved her from the sand crazed Gaara, she hadn't truly admitted it. The least she could do was thank him for the selfless act. Now it would probably be too late. If Naruto is not found or didn't survive this mission how could she ever live with the regret of not appreciating someone who has done for her more than Sasuke ever did. She prayed that would not come to be.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Elsewhere, Naruto is having a bad day; in fact he was certain this is the worst day he ever experienced. The hole in his chest Sasuke made with the Chidori is hurting like hell. He can't move his right arm without adding to the pain he's already suffering. He couldn't understand why his normally fast healing didn't work this time. He figured that he was probably too exhausted that his chakra is too low to kick start the healing process. Trying to smooch some chakra from Kyuubi came out short. The blasted kitsune's probably ignoring his call just for the fun of it. He kept a mental note to annoy the ancient kitsune when he gets out of this hellhole.

Speaking of hellhole, he couldn't much closer to it than he already has now. Being swept away unconscious, nearly drowned, he was fished out by Kiba who was evading the Sound-nin he was fighting after both he and Akamaru was injured rather badly. After hiding among the trees for awhile to gather their breaths, they were jumped by the Sound-nin. Naruto were confused that there were two Sound-nins when he thought Kiba was facing only one of them. While blocking and dodging blows as best they could in their injured conditions, Kiba explained the situation. When presented with an opening in the Sound-nin's defenses, Naruto quickly plunge a Rasengan drilling a hole into one of the attacking Sound-nin's stomach, killing him instantly. Thank god Kiba still have some of his soldier pills no matter how much it tastes like dog poop. Kiba and Akamaru weren't so lucky. Kiba had gotten a deep cut across his back and a kick to the head throwing him to the ground. He was holding Akamaru at the time, so when he crashed to the ground Akamaru was crushed underneath him breaking few more bones. The sound-nin however didn't manage to follow through with his attack when Naruto hit him with another Rasengan to his back and he goes flying head first into a boulder.

Reaching Kiba's side Naruto pulled Akamaru from underneath Kiba, finding that the puppy is still alive but unconscious. Kiba while still conscious was delirious due to the pain from the wound on his chest and back. He knew that there was nothing much he could do to relieve his pain, this kind of wound calls for more than just first aid, and he was not trained in any medical techniques. His best chance was to bring them both back to Konoha. He just hoped to both of them can hold out for the trip. It was right about then he painfully realized that the mission was a failure, Sasuke must have been long gone, and he had broken his promise to Sakura. But he can't be worried about it now. Sakura can yell and beat him up later; right now his friend's life is in danger. Putting Akamaru inside his jacket and painfully holding Kiba by his side he slowly made his way back to Konoha. Though his legs were shaking violently due to Kiba's added weight and his right arm felt like it could drop to the ground at any moment, he strengthens his resolve and continued his trek through the woods. He will not lose another one of his friends not when he can help it, not when he still has the ground underneath his feet. Every step he takes means Kiba will have a bigger chance of surviving this.

Beneath Naruto's clothes on his navel, the seal keeping Kyuubi, the greatest demon to ever walk the earth, imprisoned begin to change.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Dusk approaches and still no sign of the two genins can be found anywhere. The ANBU and medic squads turned up with nothing. Even Kakashi's and the Inuzuka's hunter dog could not sniff them out. The fact that it rained heavily before and that Naruto was swept away in a raging river made it worse. Kakashi and the Inuzuka were adamant on continuing the search even at night, and Tsunade was not going to argue with them. She did however urge them to take one medic team with them to assist. They would be heading out again after re-supplying and getting few minutes to catch their breaths.

Later that night, Tsunade sat in her office at the hospital waiting for any news from the search team. She knew the hope of finding them alive is slimming with every passing moment. Thankfully the moon still shine brightly tonight, it will help with the search. Suddenly she could hear a commotion from outside her room before her door was swung open by Shizune. "They're here, Tsunade-sama and they're badly injured."

Tsunade didn't wait for Shizune to finished the sentence, she was already out of the room rushing to the scene outside. Kakashi and the Inuzukas entered the hospital carrying both Naruto and Kiba who looks like someone dipped them in a pool of blood and rolled onto a dust and grime covered ground. She quickly motions them to follow her to the surgery. "Where did you find them?"

"Not far from the gate. As we were heading out, they had just come out of the forest onto the road leading towards the gate. Apparently Naruto carried Kiba and Akamaru all the way here. He was barely conscious and about ready to drop when we found them." Said Kakashi while carrying Naruto into the surgery and laid him onto a bed.

As both of the genins were laid onto their respective beds, Tsunade again as she did before with Neji and Chouji, couldn't help but felt disturbed by their conditions. Sure she had seen worse before, but these boys are just children, too young to suffer such injuries. "Shizune you take care of Kiba that cut across his back looked deep, dangerously close to his spine. I'll take care of Naruto."

The surgery was a whirlwind of nurses all carrying out their duties bringing tools and healing supplies to keep the two boys alive. Tsunade and Shizune worked feverishly, attending to wounds and broken bones with both seals and healing jutsus. Kiba's wounds doesn't seemed to be life threatening but he did lost a lot of blood and luckily enough the deep cut on his back doesn't seem to affect his spinal cord. The piercing wound in his gut however did penetrate some of his organs.

Naruto on the other hand, has a nasty hole in his chest that from what Shikamaru told her must the work of Uchiha Sasuke. Blood seemed to flow freely from the wound, it is a wonder he is still alive much less carry Kiba all the way back here. It's understandable though that Naruto have a much higher pain tolerance than Kiba. Looking at wound more closely, Tsunade was puzzled as to why the boy seemed to be healing rather slowly this time. It was like the time Kabuto cut his flow of chakra to prevent him from healing. But there is no sign if that is the case right now. With the Kyuubi he should be healing at a rapid pace. No time to be contemplating about that right now, she has to do what ever it takes to keep him alive.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Kakashi and Kiba's mother sat waiting outside the surgery not wanting to be in the way of the medics working on the two boys. Less than an hour later Kiba's sister joined them having completed treating Akamaru's various broken bones. They mostly sat in silence pondering on what had happened. Almost losing loved ones can do that to the best of them.

Jiraiya had joined them after a while, concerned over his student. He was not able to help in the search as he had just returned from a mission. When he heard about Sasuke's defection, he couldn't help notice the irony of it all. The one that was always revered by the villagers as the pride of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke, turns out to be a traitor. And the one who was scorned as the bane of Konoha, did everything he could to protect them even at the cost of his life. How reminiscent this is to what happened to his own team long ago when Orochimaru betrayed the village for something as petty as envy for not being named Hokage. Now history repeats itself, everything has come to a full circle; he just hoped that it all doesn't spin out of control. Dammit, he has 'research' to do for his loyal fans, how can he do that if some Uchiha brat thought it was a good idea to put his _kawaii deshi_ in hospital fighting for his life. Jiraiya sighs, thinking about all the missed peeping opportunity. Somebody is going to pay for this.

Suddenly the surgery room doors swung open by Tsunade for the second time that day. She turned to Kiba's mother and said "Kiba is fine, his wounds were serious but we were able to patch it up. Though he is still unconscious, he should wake up in a day or two. I'll have him transferred to the room where his friends are." The Inuzukas looked relieved at the news.

"What about Naruto?" Kakashi asked, though he dreaded the answer that would come. Seeing that look on Tsunade's face, it's almost like the one he always saw from the doctors bringing news of his lost comrades.

"Naruto had a few complications, he stopped breathing a couple of time but we were able to bring him back. The damage to his body is extensive and he lost a lot of blood. Though we repaired the worst of his injuries, his body just couldn't cope with the blood loss and severe exhaustion from having to carry Kiba all the way here in his injured state. I don't know when he will wake up." Tsunade still couldn't understand it. Naruto always heal at a rapid pace, she had surmised that his body adapted to Kyuubi's excess chakra by redirecting it to induce rapid cell and chakra regeneration. But when she used a scanning jutsu to diagnose him she could only see normal regeneration rate. It's like Kyuubi's chakra aren't present at all. But the seal was still intact, though she could see that something seems a bit off about it. "Jiraiya, I need you to take a look at something. The rest of you, go home for now, you can visit tomorrow."

The others left, though Kakashi seemed a little reluctant to leave his student. Some people might say that he blatantly favors Sasuke than Naruto, but the truth is he always tried to follow in the footsteps of his own sensei, Yondaime, not favoring one student for the other. It's true that he left Naruto on his own during the break before the final part of the chuunin exam, but Sasuke need to be protected from Orochimaru. He had planned to take over Naruto's training after a week or two but by then surprisingly Naruto had somehow convinced Jiraiya to train him. He was better off under Jiraiya tutelage seeing that Jiraiya himself was Yondaime's sensei. All of this wouldn't have happened if he taught Sasuke more on the importance of teamwork and comradery. He himself had learned it the hard way. He sighs and trod back to his home, praying that Naruto would make it through this.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

"So what did you want me to see" Jiraiya had followed Tsunade into the surgery room and approached Naruto's bed which is surrounded by various instruments recording vital signs and various IVs dripping nutrients and painkillers. Naruto himself is covered with bandages from chest up clad in lose hospital robe.

"Take a look at his seal. I'm not really familiar with the seal but I know it changed somehow, subtle but I can't make sure if it's in danger of breaking or not." Tsunade pulled aside Naruto's hospital robe a bit to uncover his abdomen and mold some chakra over it to force the seal to surface.

Jiraiya bent down to take a closer look at the seal. Yes, there are subtle changes to the seal; he tried to remember what Arashi had said about the seal before he used it. When Arashi had presented the seal to him for second opinion, he was surprised at its intricacy; truly his student is a genius of seals much like he's genius in every other field. He pried his brain, for details that could explain the seal's sudden transformation. Then it suddenly clicked in his head "Hah, the seal is going into stage two! It really happened, Arashi didn't know for sure if this would happen, he had hope that even if this stage didn't come to pass Naruto would simply take Kyuubi with him when he die. Now it changes everything!"

"Stage two? What the hell is stage two? And what the hell does it do?" Tsunade is getting irritated at Jiraiya and his cryptic words. Here she was worrying about her 'little brother' and he decided to play mind games with her. She refrained from knocking him through the wall, as she still needs an explanation. Once he's finished, she would let him have it.

"Hey calm down. It only means that Kyuubi is finally put to rest. And Naruto would finally have his life back!" Said Jiraiya with a smile.

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**Author's Notes:**

This chapter and a few after this will deal on how Naruto gets into his current predicament. Sorry for those who wanted to know what happen after the last chapter. Looks like you have to deal with the cliffhanger for awhile longer.

The title of this chapter, 'Pons Asinorum' means 'A problem that severely tests the ability of an inexperienced person'. Most of the chapters in this story will have titles that involve problems, puzzles and secrets. This chapter depicts the challenge genins are facing in their mission due to their inexperience.

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**Reader's Review:**

**_Ave-chan_** Congratulation on being the first to review, here's a non-existent prize for you. I'm glad you enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it as I update it further. Naruto and the gang are around fifteen in the first chapter and thirteen in this one. No plan for pairings yet. Thanks for all the compliments you gave me.

**_Jp _**If there are pairings in the future it will most definitely not be yaoi.

**_Madnarutofan_** Thank you, I will continue as long as someone wants to read it. But your jedi mind tricks don't work on me, I've already been seduced by the darkside. Muahahahha.

**_DSecret_** Aawww, was I too mean to you leaving you with cliffhanger. Gomen, I will keep the cliff hanger stuff to a minimum next time. Hope this chapter leaves you screaming waiting for what happen after the first chapter though. Muahahahha, I'm really evil; falling to darkside of the force really has its perks.

**_Nakora-chan_** More will be revealed as to why Jiraiya blame his perversion for the lost of Naruto. About the name of the Village, I want to name it so that it had some kind of relation to Konoha. Anyway the name is not that close. In Japanese, Fire country would be Hi no Kuni, while Hidden Flame is Honoogakure no Sato, quite different isn't it. But the relation is still there and will be revealed later on. But thanks for the critic. This is the kind of critic I would like to hear.

**_LbcLostKid_** I don't think this the pairing will go into NarutoxOC. One thing is that there will be a lot of OCs but they will not be characterized too deeply other than an important few. So I'd like to keep the OCs with character to a minimum.

**_shina-lim, Arnoldstrife, Stonebridge,_** **_kae, ninofchaos, ffgirl-07, JohnnyG_** Thanks for the review hope you'll keep reading.


	3. Chapter 3 : Excogitation

﻿ 

**Conundrum**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Summary:** Naruto is no longer a part of the Leaf. Where has he gone to all these years? No one heard of him for quite some time. What happens when he returns for a visit and bearing a few 'gifts'. Life is just a series of questions that need answering.

**Formats:**

"...Speech..."

'..._Thoughts..'_

"…**Disembodied Voices…"**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Excogitation**

** Still Two Years Ago **

Urrgh, his aching head. Jiraiya is accustomed to being clobbered; being a ninja of his caliber he was always given difficult and dangerous missions and got beat up real bad. But they were always for a good reason. All those time when he was trampled by angry women at the bath, the reason was also there, even if it wasn't a good one. When dealing with Tsunade however, he never knew the reason, he got his butt handed to him anyhow. Now of all times, he can't vent on his student as he lay unconscious on the bed before him.

Tsunade took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Trust the old pervert to be cryptic at a time like this. How can he be so cavalier about this when the seal might be the reason Naruto is in this induced coma and Kyuubi's chakra not regenerating him as it did before. "Now will you tell me what this stage two is all about? Give me a cryptic answer again and I'll make sure your readers will receive bits and pieces of you included in the next volume of your book."

"Okay, Okay, calm down will you? Sheesh, you and your monstrous strength is going to be the death of me." Jiraiya promptly picked himself up from the floor dusting his clothes all the way up. Seeing Tsunade's eyebrow twitch dangerously, he quickly settled into his 'serious' explanation mode. "Well, contrary to popular belief, the seal that Yondaime used was more than just one level. It's entirely different from what Sarutobi-sensei used against Orochimaru. The seal that holds Kyuubi have three levels that 'upgrades', so to speak, when certain conditions are met. Even if the seal does not go into later stages, Naruto will still take Kyuubi to the other side when he dies."

"So you're saying that this is all planned even this induced coma of his and the absence of Kyuubi's excess chakra. That can't be right, Yondaime would never do something to endanger Naruto. And what did you mean when you said Kyuubi was put to rest."

"No, no I don't think the seal is the cause of the coma, at least I hope not. You see, when the conditions are met, and the seal goes into transition from stage one to stage two, it cut off the connection between the sealed and its host. Then the seal attempts to eject the Kyuubi's soul and consciousness, leaving its essence and powers behind in the seal. This ultimately kills Kyuubi but leave its chakra behind. In theory, even if Kyuubi died with Naruto, he would still be able to resurface in this world in a few centuries because its powers still bound to it and goes with it when it dies. Stage two attempts to separate them, which again in theory would render Kyuubi powerless when it pass on and would take many millennia before it can return to this world, if it ever does again that is."

"So this means that Kyuubi is really gone for good or at least for long time anyway. But why does it cut off the chakra from Naruto. The chakra could have healed Naruto and if the condition for the stage two to activate is to have Naruto go through a life threatening ordeal then it would have been a more logical to give Naruto access to Kyuubi's chakra so that he can heal faster." Tsunade was relieved to hear the Kyuubi's demise but at the cost of having Naruto so close to death is not a pleasant thought.

"No, I don't think that his injuries are what activated the transition. Honestly, I don't really know what the condition is. The restriction to Kyuubi's chakra was there as to not only make the separation easier, but also to ensure it does not flare out of control and burn Naruto to a crisp. Once the third stage is achieved he will once again able to access the chakra. I don't really understand the mechanics of the third stage but Naruto would be able to use the chakra as his own. But when will that be I don't know for sure. My best guess is when he comes out of this coma, whenever that is." Jiraiya bend over to take a look at the seal again. "By the looks of it, the seal is in the final form of the second stage, which means Kyuubi is already gone. His coma is possibly caused solely by his injuries and exhaustion or there might be some other functions of this stage that Arashi had failed to mention to me."

"Hmmm, I don't think there's much we can do but wait for him to wake up on his own then. I'm going to place him in a private room in the new ICU wing so that I can keep him closely monitored. And the new ICU have chakra buffer that prevents chakra detection from the outside. If he flares up with Kyuubi's chakra, it wouldn't cause too much of a panic."

"So what are you going to tell the village now that Kyuubi is most likely gone? If nothing else it will give Naruto an easier time."

"We tell them nothing." When Jiraiya looked enraged, she quickly tries to clarify. "You know that most of the villagers, even most of the clan council, believed that Naruto is the Kyuubi. They didn't believe that the seal could contain such demon and must have surely taken over Naruto the moment it was sealed. Some of them had gone as far as saying that Naruto is the human form of Kyuubi. I've read Sarutobi-sensei's journal, if it wasn't for the Hyuuga, the Uchiha and the Aburame's support, the third would never have been able to keep Naruto alive when he was a baby. Even then the villagers have tried on many occasions to have Naruto executed. Now if we said that Kyuubi is gone, they would simply rationalize what they said in the beginning were true. Even your word won't be able to stay their hands this time. We must tread lightly over this matter; it could turn into a disaster."

Jiraiya sighs dejectedly knowing what she said was true. It's sad to realize that even the village he always hailed as one of the greatest ninja villages ever existed have such fault. "You're right. I just wished that Naruto could have a better life than he has now."

"I know, I wished for the very same thing. He saved me, more than just my life; he saved my heart. He brought me back from my self-imposed hell and willingly placed me in the circle of those he calls his precious person and let me do the same for him." She looks at Naruto fondly, watching her little brother sleep a sleep he couldn't wake from for quite awhile. _'Hope your life will be easier from now on little brother, without the weight of the world holding you down.'_

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Naruto blinked. It was bright, but not too bright as to hurt his eyes. He wondered where he was, the last thing he remembered was grumbling saying Kiba should go on a diet and take a long shower. Now he's nowhere around him. He finds himself on a grassy slope overlooking a lake. He didn't recognize the place and was sure that Konoha don't have plains like this. Could he be dreaming or worst yet, did he die and went to heaven. He couldn't imagine heaven being so empty. And a dream wouldn't be this vivid; it's like the time when he appeared at Kyuubi's cage but with a more beautiful view.

"**Naruto…."**

What the. Whose voice was that? Certainly not the Kyuubi's, at least it's not what he remembered Kyuubi's was like. It always growled and snarled more and it never calls him by his name. He looked around and saw no one. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"**You have done well…"**

"All right, enough with the hiding. Show yourself." He jumped to his feet still looking around him for the source of the voice. Suddenly the air in front of shimmered and glistened, taking form slowly like the air itself molding, condensing into a shape of a man walking towards him. The man walked until he was a few feet in front of him, now fully formed, Naruto recognize him immediately. "What the hell are you doing here!"

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Morning had come at last. Shikamaru is really not a morning person, especially not when sleeping in an uncomfortable couch with the incessant beeping noises keeping him awake for the better part of the night. After the troublesome mission yesterday and waiting for news on Naruto and Kiba all day afterwards, Shikamaru had felt like retiring from active shinobi duty early. He settled for retiring to bed early, so he slept in Chouji and Neji's room at the hospital only to be awaken a few hours later when they moved Kiba into the room. Hearing the news that both Naruto and Kiba were fine had brought him great relief, so he snuggled back onto the couch and slept cursing the additional beeping noise added to the already annoying orchestra.

The only reason he's awake now is because of the commotion in the room from families coming in to fuss over their children. He quickly slips out of the room to get some fresh air. As he went out the front door of the hospital, he stumbled upon Ino and Sakura. He sighs, another round of twenty questions, how troublesome.

"Hey Shikamaru, we heard that they found Kiba and Naruto. Are they both okay?" Ino looked cheerful but her voiced were laced with worry. Sakura on the other hand looked depressed, probably because of the failed mission.

"Yeah they're fine, though Naruto is in a coma, Tsunade-sama don't really know when he'll wake up. I'm not surprised though, with the hole through his chest he was barely alive when they brought him in, I've heard." Shikamaru immediately regretted blurting out that way, seeing Sakura becoming more distressed at her teammate's condition. Without a word she quickly rushed into the hospital. Shikamaru threw an apologetic glance towards Ino but she just looked at the direction Sakura had gone looking a bit sad.

"So how are the others?" Ino finally asked.

"When I left, Chouji was playing tug-of-war with the nurse using a bag of chips in place of a rope. Neji's awake but still delirious probably because of the painkillers. Kiba was still sleeping and I don't know where Akamaru is probably with Kiba's family. Haven't seen Naruto yet." Shikamaru answered simply. Ino smirked slightly thinking about Chouji's fixation on potato chips. While she was glad that the others were on their way towards recovery, she was also saddened for Sakura with one teammate gone and another laid out in a coma.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

"What the hell are you doing here!" Right in front of Naruto stood the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, Kazama Arashi looking exactly as he did in the picture on the Hokage's office wall. Here stood the man who sacrificed himself to protect the whole village from the demon Kyuubi. The very same man who had sealed the said demon in his belly. The man he both admired and despised for he had done to him. "Isn't it enough screwing my life once already, you're coming back for a sequel or something?"

"**Nothing of the sort, Naruto. I'm truly sorry it turned out like this, but it was not my intention to ruin your life. What kind of man would I be if I truly intend that upon anyone, even more so upon you … my own son." **

Naruto's brain stopped working at that moment. All those time he wished he had a family, wondered why no one was willing to adopt him and his constant attempt to pester the information about his parents from old man Sarutobi, never in a million years would he even consider the scenario that he is the fourth Hokage's son. He tried to get a word out but couldn't decide what to say; what can he say to the man that cursed him with the life of misery and loneliness. Even less when the man had claimed to be his father. No matter how much he wants to deny it all, he can see it in his eyes. The brutal truth is laid out to him. "Y-you're my father? That can't be right, Sarutobi-jiisan or Ero-sennin would've told me, wouldn't they?"

"**No, I made them promise not to tell you. I wasn't sure if I could manage it but telling you all of this is my responsibility; as your father _and_ as the one who sealed Kyuubi in you."**

"B-b-but why did you chose me? No father would do something like this to his own son."

"**What choice do I have, Naruto. I was in a lose-lose situation. If I didn't seal the demon everyone including you would die and if I seal the demon within you, you will be put in a precarious position. At least with the lesser of two evils, your chances of survival would be higher." **Arashi took a deep breath (not that he needed any). He could see that Naruto is still not convinced, still saddened by the fact that he had to carry the burden all his life and that only now he had some sort of an explanation.** "You don't know how much I wanted to avoid all this, but I can't seal it in an adult, they would be killed immediately and Kyuubi would be loose once again. I can't ask anyone else to sacrifice their own children. I'm the Hokage of Konoha, and even if I'm not as a human being how can I ask someone to sacrifice what I myself was unwilling to sacrifice. And I….I believed that you can do it, you can endure and become a better man because of it." **

Naruto slumped to the ground. He didn't think he can stand properly with all the information being unraveled to him for the first time in his life. He's hopelessly confused torn between being happy he finally found out about his family and being mad that his own father put him in the twelve years of hell everybody but him called life. Arashi took pity on him by not saying any more and just sat down beside him and wait for him to calm down. They both sat in silence for what seemed like hours, quietly digesting the information.

"So…what are you doing here anyway? Don't tell me I'm dead."

"**No, you're not dead. I'm not really here exactly. You see when I sealed the Kyuubi, I also sealed a copy of my memories and personality matrix into you set to be activated once the seal reached stage two. I am a facsimile of my real self intended to guide you while undergoing this transition."**

"What transition? Am I going to be sprouting tails now or grow fur all over my body?"

Arashi chuckled a bit at his son's overactive imagination. **"You do realize do that Kyuubi is gone now. All those changes to your body whenever you used its chakra won't appear anymore. After twelve years you're finally free of the burden of being a demon vessel."**

"What! How did that happened. I mean how could a powerful demon suddenly up and disappear and why couldn't have done this the moment you sealed him away? Could've at least saved me the trouble." Naruto's face goes through every facial expression known to man during his outburst. Somehow, while he always cursed the ancient fox for tormenting his life, he has gotten used to its presence and a little sad that now he is truly alone.

"**That's the main purpose of the seal. To get rid of Kyuubi for good or at least a very long while before it can re-manifest into this world, I have to render it powerless before killing it. Thus the seal that I used on you, a complex three stage multiple layered seal which I must say my greatest accomplishment to date."** Arashi had a proud look on his face at which Naruto rolled his eyes with a snort. Arashi just ignored it and went on. **"To which still overshadowed by my involvement in bringing you into this world. My seal may have imprisoned the Kyuubi but it was you that made it possible for the seal to destroy the Kyuubi. I'm proud of you son."**

Naruto turned to face Arashi, his face slowly break out into a goofy grin. A few drops of tears can be seen trickling from the corner of his eyes. "You don't know how long I've wanted to hear that, and coming from my father made it even more special, even if you're just a copy."

Arashi returned the grin. **"So we're cool now?"**

"No we're not…" Arashi grin faltered at Naruto's words. Was what he did so terribly cruel and unforgivable? He let his head droop towards the ground. "Not until you teach me some of your jutsus."

Arashi's head shot up at the statement. **"That's blackmail!"**

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Sakura had been sitting beside Naruto's bed for hours. When she first got into the hospital asking for Naruto's room, the staff had declined and said the Hokage disallow any visitation for the boy who is still in serious condition. Sakura did not take that very well and went as far as demanded with the Hokage to allow her to visit her teammate. After fifteen minutes of full-blown argument between the two (which she couldn't believe she did that, god what was she thinking yelling at her superior), Tsunade relented only to have Sakura nearly fainted at the sight of her badly injured teammate. After Tsunade assured her that he will be fine with time and rest, she calmed down a little and sat near the bed.

Sakura almost yelped in surprised when a hand landed on her shoulder, so lost in her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder to see Kakashi standing behind her with a sad smile hidden by his mask but she could tell anyway. Sakura turned back to face her teammate, resigning to the fact there is nothing they can do but wait. She sighs sadly. Why does it have to be her team that was so messed up? They were great when they first started. She could easily say that their team is the strongest among the rookies even though she individually was among the weakest. Now Sasuke is gone in search for more power abandoning his friends, not without first rendering her other teammate bedridden. She was confused, as much as she liked to believe that she loved Sasuke wholeheartedly but can she truly love someone who would kill her in an instant when tempted with power.

Her parents didn't make it any easier for her. When they heard of the incident, they quickly cast the blame on Naruto just like everybody else in the village. So quick to judge even when they don't even know the real story. That had confused her, why did everyone that don't really know Naruto personally, so quick to blame him for whatever bad happened to the village.

She was like that once too, but mostly because he acted the fool during the times at the academy. After being with him and Sasuke doing missions as a team, her outlook on him began to change, though somewhat slowly. Now her thoughts on him had completely changed, he is the most dependable person anyone could hope for in a teammate, it didn't matter if he failed to bring back Sasuke for she knew he did no less than his best. He now had only needs to do his best to recover, so she can finally say thank you.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

"So, what's the deal with this place?" said Naruto as he motioned at the plains they were at. It's still confusing to Naruto as the last thing he remembered was dragging Kiba towards the general direction of Konoha.

"**Ahh, this is your dreamscape induced by a space/time jutsu ingrained into the seal. Actually this was your mother's jutsu that she taught me, I just modified it a bit for the use with the seal."**

"My mother…can you tell me about her? Was she a ninja?"

"**She was not originally from Konoha. Came here with two of her friends a few years before you were born. She's a retired ninja because of some complications with her chakra system.** **I'll tell you more about her after we've done some significant progress with your 'training'. We have a lot of time to for reminiscing later."**

"My training? If this is a dream world how can training does any good here, it's not like it affects my real body."

"**Didn't I say that this dreamscape is a result of a jutsu? This jutsu is known as Yume Ryouiki no Jutsu, a space/time jutsu that create and place you in a virtual world while your real self is put into a temporary coma. This world reacts to the same physical laws as the real world but lies on a different timescale. You can spend years here but only a few weeks will pass by in the real world. Also whatever you do here, you real body will take into account and adapt accordingly, some fully and some to a certain degree. The only thing the jutsu does not affect is your age as it still follows the normal timescale."**

"Okay…but why do I need this training other than for you to teach me some cool jutsus?"

"**To explain that I need to tell you about the seal. Okay as I said before the seal is a complex three stage multiple layered seal that upgrades between stages when certain conditions are met."**

"So I'm in this stage two thingy? What was the condition, I don't remember doing anything to the seal."

"**Your resolve. While your chakra maintains the seal, your will empowers it. From your dream to become Hokage, to your willingness to fight for the village that shuns you and to the determination to save your friends even in the face of insurmountable adversity. That is the key; that is the trigger that sparked the moment you walked on the path to be a ninja and comes to full power just a few days ago. Quite an amazing feat considering your mother and I weren't there to guide you through life."**

"I did that?" For the first time in his life he felt true pride. So this is how it felt to be praised by parents. He had never known such feeling.

"**Yes you did. Now, as the seal goes into transition into the second stage, it cut you off from Kyuubi and its chakra, and then went ahead to separate Kyuubi's soul and consciousness from its essence and chakra. As you know no living being can survive without chakra, not even a powerful demon like Kyuubi. This 'kills' Kyuubi, if that is the right term and send it back to wherever it came from. Without access to its powers, it will not be able to rejuvenate fast enough to resurface upon the land until the next several millennia."**

"And why is that? If the Kyuubi is so powerful, what's to stop him to regenerate and come back in the next couple of days? I always needed only a night's sleep just to recover from exhaustion."

"**They really don't teach you much about chakra regeneration process in the academy, do they? Quite understandable as it is more of a Medic-nin level knowledge. Chakra regeneration process is kind of feedback system. Imagine your chakra reservoir as a water tank. The water tank uses a pressure pump, where you need to flow water through it to force more water from outside sources into the tank. To fill the tank with water you need the water already inside the tank to pump more water into it. Thus the more water the tank already has the faster it will be filled up. Do you get the picture so far?"**

"Uhuh…" muttered Naruto while scratching his head.

"**In simpler terms, you need chakra to produce more chakra. That is why people who suffers from chakra depletion takes quite a long time to recover fully as compared to people who lost only half of their chakra. Chakra regeneration is always exponential, the more you have the faster you regenerate."** There is an exception to that statement as everyone has a limit as to how much chakra they can reproduce at any given feedback cycle. Although chakra regeneration rate usually goes up exponentially there is a point where it reaches constant regeneration rate.

"And people who have no chakra at all will never regain their chakra because there is nothing to feed upon itself."

"**Exactly! You're really not as dumb as you pretend to be. In the case of Kyuubi, it may seem like it has almost limitless chakra, in reality its chakra reservoir is so large that the regeneration process is almost instantaneous, even when you use its chakra to do kage level jutsus the whole day. With the seal separating its chakra as it goes on to the afterlife, it will have no access to its chakra to regenerate. Kyuubi will still regenerate by some other means but it will take a very long time to replenish its chakra reservoir enough to breach the barrier between realities to get back to our world."**

"That still doesn't explain why I need training."

"**I'm getting to that. If the seal did not cut you off from Kyuubi in the process of killing it, you would've experienced chakra overload. The Kyuubi may be gone but its chakra is still kept within the seal, and without the consciousness of Kyuubi to keep it in check, you could burn to a crisp when the chakra flare out of control. Once the third stage is achieved you would regain access to its chakra, so to avoid from killing yourself I will train you to hone your chakra control. But remember, chakra control is also susceptible to emotional outburst, so you need to be taught how to keep calm and in control at all times. From what I can gather you're not a very patient young man, we will change that in your training."**

"Hey, I resent that. I'm so very patient."

"**Really, this is coming from a guy who yelled at a cup ramen for taking so long to cook."**

"That's my stomach that's impatient not me!"

"**I'm sure. Well you need to be more patient than that to control the chakra. A lot more. There is a difference between controlling yourself when standing still and when in full-blown fight. You could end up doing more damage to yourself rather than your opponent."**

"So how long is this going to take? I mean, I can't stay in a coma forever, I still have to find a way to get Sasuke back from Orochimaru."

"**Naruto, you have to realize that right now there is nothing you can do for Sasuke. You're not strong enough to take on Orochimaru. Even if you can, if Sasuke himself refused to return to Konoha, what will you do, force him to come back? You'll be the same as Orochimaru."**

"He's being influenced because of the cursed seal! I know him, the real Sasuke would never abandon his friends, and he showed that already when we faced Gaara."

"**Then train with me. Train to master your new chakra. You must realize your priorities; you cannot save everyone, or at least in Sasuke's case not immediately. You must know what is important and what is urgent. You showed that once already when you decide to save Kiba rather than charge head first to get Sasuke back."**

"Okay, but you're still going to teach me some cool jutsus." Arashi fell flat on his face at that. He still didn't forget about those, did he?

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Elsewhere, a gathering was taking place discussing on none other than the vessel of the demon Kyuubi. A gathering kept from the prying eyes of others.

"He's in a coma. According to reports it will be weeks before he'll wake up."

"Do we grab him now or wait until he's up and around?"

"Trying to capture him now will only cause too much unwanted attention. We will wait until he comes to and preferably alone."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This came out a little late than I had hoped. It's been a busy week. Although late I do feel it was kind of rushed. There are some parts that I wish could have been better, maybe I'll update it when I got some time to re-edit it.

As always, the title is a bit obscure to some people I bet. 'Excogitation' means 'thinking something out with care in order to achieve complete understanding of it'.

Naruto will go through training with yondaime in between chapters, I won't go much into it as it will be revealed in later chapters what cool new jutsus he had learned. He won't come of the coma to become all powerful and as much as the Kyuubi chakra remaining inside of him becomes a trump card for him, it is also his biggest handicap.

I'm keeping a datasheet on the jutsus and stuff, some what is already common with my own interpretations to it but mostly are original. Do you think I should put it somewhere when the time comes as there is no combat scene as of yet?

* * *

**Reader's Review:**

**_One Azn Dragon_** Thanks for both the approval and the criticism. There won't be pairings that you hate so much (i.e. NaruHina or Yaoi) but there may be a twist to NaruHina but they won't go into any relationship. Sorry for the boring back story, just hold on for one more next chapter and then we will go ahead with the correct timeframe.

**_darkdragon24_** Thanks for the offer to be a beta reader but I now have one. Who happens to be living in my neighborhood. Boy was I surprised someone that close read up my fic.

**_Madnarutofan_** Let me guess, you really hate history don't you. Bear with me, just another one next chapter and then we can Jedi duel to the death. Hope you don't hand-to-head combat, somebody threw his lighsaber at me and now it's stuck to my head.

**_Nakora-chan_** Kankurou didn't find Kiba because the time frame is a bit different from the anime or manga. In the anime by the time reinforcement came Kiba is already in the second leg of his fight with Sakon and Ukon, here he was still hiding until he came across Naruto floating in the river. I don't think Kankurou is that good of a tracker. About Naruto getting Kiba to Konoha, I want Naruto to learn to discern priorities. He must begin to learn what is more important, he can't afford to charge on to save Sasuke at the cost of someone else's life. I know the paragraph seems a bit long, I just often ramble on without knowing when to stop. Anyway thanks for the review.

**_Ninofchaos_** I was thinking of more towards NaruTem or NaruTen or some other obscure pairings, but not really sure which yet. I really don't like easy relationship, boy meets girl, girl likes boy, boy gets girl and live happily ever after. No, it will be a rough sailing.

**_DSecret_** eheh…that I am, evil that is. The clashing of Id, Ego, and Superego always has Id coming out on top.

**_Citan_** The chakra is still there, but right now, it'll most likely to kill Naruto if he doesn't learn to control it. He will become powerful but not immediately, there's a lot more to learn, but from what we see in the manga and anime if he keeps up the rate in which he is growing he will become quite powerful so why not in this story.

**_LbcLostKid, JohnnyG, ffgirl-07, Hunter Hatake, jpthug12, shina-lim, Hiei Girl 003_** Thanks for the encouragement, hope you like this one and continue reading in the future.


	4. Chapter 4 : Clandestine

**Conundrum**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Formats:**

"...Speech..."

'..._Thoughts..'_

"…**Disembodied Voices…"**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Clandestine**

** Still Two Years Ago **

"ITAI! You're really enjoying this a little too much, aren't you?" For the millionth time Naruto was hit by a lightning jutsu in the rear for losing his temper. It's been months since he started training to control his excess chakra, at least it seems like months. He wasn't really sure how long has it been since he agreed to take on this training with his father. While they are doing the training he was supposed to keep his emotion in check and every time he blew the lid off he would receive a painful reminder of the spanking he was missing all his life. But he's getting better, at first it was almost every hour now he only got hit once every few weeks. '_Pfft, conditioning he said, what am I, a dog?'_

"**If you learn to stop blowing a fuse for such a trivial thing then I won't have to blast you in the rear. Remember what I said, while emotions can empower your actions, don't let them filter your judgement. Now continue with your training."**

The training? It was chakra control exercise at its worst. Climbing forest trees was one thing, trying to climb a bamboo plant was a different matter altogether. Not only was it slippery as hell, he had to both try to stick on it and at the same time use his chakra to reinforce it so that it wouldn't get bent due to his weight. He almost destroyed the entire bamboo forest trying to get the hang of it if not for his father having complete control over the dreamscape and re-grow anything whenever he want to. When he had mastered that they started having spars on top of bamboo plants like some old kung-fu movies. It's a good thing that he seemed to never run out of chakra.

Water walking was fun though or he should have called it water surfing. He was taught how to skim on water by directing chakra not just downwards but also in any direction opposite to his intended destination. It was like being a water strider. Within a few weeks of practice they could spar on water while darting around on the surface of the water doing all sorts of moves that were impossible on land.

Next was walking on grass trying not to sink into it. It was like trying to walk on top of a bamboo plant, reinforcing it to hold his weight, but much harder because at any one time he is standing on several blades of grass at once. He had to accurately reinforce each one of them and careful not to destroy them as the grass are much more volatile than bamboo. This is probably one of the most difficult chakra control exercise. The fact that the grass always sway around dancing to the rhythm of the wind did not help much either. But he wouldn't just give up because it was tough. Maybe he would throw a few curses towards the unknown, but then he got up and does it again. He kept on until he found out not only he could stand on top of the grass but he can also sleep on it without trouble.

That was not all that he does. Arashi seems to have a knack at inventing new exercise techniques. He had Naruto doing all sorts of things to get his control over his chakra to an extreme level. Naruto was beginning to think that his father was trying to get back at him for defacing his face at the Hokage Monument.

All the while doing all of this, his father not only increased his weight by increasing his local gravity but also minutely fluctuate it almost constantly thus making chakra control even more difficult. It was this that frustrates Naruto the most as it made it harder to master the exercises he was supposed to do. More often than not he would quickly lose his temper only to receive a quick but painful jolt to the rear.

Nights were spent with the study of the mind, which Naruto vehemently protested at first saying that he would be better off learning more ass-kicking techniques. Arashi stressed that mind techniques _are_ of the ass-kicking type, Naruto just never used it before, it's about time he start using his brains for once. They began with simulations of real-life situations, problem-solving games that force you to think strategically rather than charge into it blindly. As much as a game of Go or Shougi would do the same trick, they were limited by the rules that the games follows, and usually limited to just two party involvement. As time went on they started to use Kage Bunshin to role-play their simulation games, from all out war, to assassination mission and even some predator versus prey and rescue missions.

He quickly realizes that all these exercises truly done wonders for his jutsus, both in invocation and execution. He no longer needs a Kage Bunshin to use Rasengan as he can conjure it almost perfectly with one hand and uses it in many ways imaginable. Seeing Naruto's improvement with the Rasengan, Arashi then taught him the next three stages that he did not manage to teach Jiraiya. While the first three stages were the '**_foundation_**' phase, the latter three are the '**_enhancement_**' phase. This time however Naruto took more than one month to master each of the stage. Even then they were only preliminary mastery which means each stage can reach an extreme level of proficiency. In truth the '**_enhancement_**' phase has no true limit to how far you can reach provided one has enough determination and patience. To further Naruto's proficiency with the Rasengan, Arashi had him making stone carvings using it. Unlike Kakashi's Chidori, the Rasengan can do more than just kill people. Making stone carvings will attempt to get Naruto to better control the Rasengan to meet his intentions. At first his attempts were met with total failure as the stones almost immediately exploded when came into contact with the Rasengan. After a while, Naruto were able to control it enough to make disfigured sculptures. It will take more practice for him to be able to produce a piece that doesn't look like someone was sculpting it using a jackhammer. Seeing as Naruto has not a single artistic bone in him, it would take a long time indeed.

At one time Naruto were fortunate enough to witness the jutsu that gave birth to the nickname 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' and begged Arashi to teach him that jutsu. Arashi were a little reluctant to teach that particular jutsu as he did not want Naruto to be just another copy of him. After much begging, pleading and offers to teach Arashi Sexy no Jutsu plus the ultimate Harem no Jutsu, Arashi relented and agreed to teach Naruto his speed jutsus. Not without first letting lose a barrage of ass-kicking on Naruto for insinuating that he would ever want to learn any of his perverted jutsus.

All in all they did not spend too much time on jutsus other than the Rasengan. Mostly they concentrated on Naruto's chakra and emotional control, and some studies into the mechanics of his seal in the third stage to help him further control the excess chakra he would eventually have to deal with. Then again Rasengan itself is an application of chakra control; the more he perfected it the more control he has over his chakra. Without noticing it they had spent more than a year and a half within the dreamscape which translated to not more than a week in the real world.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

"You said you were going to tell me more about mom." Asked Naruto while they were taking a break from all the training to clear the mind a bit. Not that this was the first time he asked and not the first time Arashi had told him about her. He had come to know Arashi very well while they were training and often wondered what it would be like if Arashi was alive all those years he had to endure alone. The one thing he just couldn't get enough was hearing about his mother. No matter how much he tried to imagine how she looked like, it just flows away like trying to grasp water with your bare hands.

"**Hhmm, what haven't I told you yet. Oh, did I tell you that you mother had a bloodline limit?"** Said Arashi offhandedly.

Naruto jumped at the prospect of having a cool abilities inherited from his mother. "What? You could have told me that earlier. What kind of limit is it?"

"**Keep your shirt on. Unfortunately, for few generations now your mother's family bloodline has been dormant. I don't really know much about it. Your mother was a bit touchy about it, so I didn't ask too much. From what I know the manifestation of the limit became rarer with every passing generation and comes to a point where it stops altogether. It was much like the Uchiha clan except that with the Uchihas the selective potential was there from the beginning. They don't know if it was because of contamination in the gene pool due to marriage outside the family or some other obscure reasons, but from research it showed that the potential is there but it lays dormant somehow."**

"So that means mine is dormant too? That sucks! What does it do anyway?"

"**Heh, I told you that you mother were a bit touchy about the subject, I didn't get to pry that much without earning myself a glare or two. Basically it has something to do with your mind and how it interprets your senses. It's like this, there is nothing different between your nose and the Inuzukas', but Inuzukas have a way to interpret even the weakest scent; it is not their nose that is sensitive but actually their minds' ability to pick up and differentiate any specific scent from all others. You could say that their mind have extra sensitivity towards their sense of smell. Your dormant limit however can deeply interpret all five of your senses. Your mother also hinted there was more to it than that but I have no clue what it was. If left to my own imagination trying to analyze it, I'd say it was a very powerful bloodline if trained properly."**

"There's not much hope for it to surface, is it? Great, I finally could have a bloodline to call my own, it decided to go on a vacation for a few generations. How convenient is that?"

"**Maybe if you have the time you could go and find your mother's family, who knows they might already figure out a way to activate it. Sorry to get your hopes up, but even though dormant, it is one of the things you inherited from your mother."**

"Yeah. Truth is I would gladly trade all of it for you two to be there with me as I grow up."

"**I know, I wish we were there too. But you must realize, fate is a fickle thing, as much as we want to believe that we control our own destiny, sometimes it pulls the rug from under us. Who could tell what would happen if both your mother and I survived the Kyuubi incident; it could be good or it could get even worst than they are now. All I can say is, be thankful for everything you're gifted with, do your utmost in everything and all will be fine in the end."**

"I know, I know, it's no use dwelling on the 'what ifs'. You can't really blame me wanting for more, heck everyone does. I wish fate would just quit kicking me in the gut every time I found something good in life. I guess that's why I keep fighting it so much."

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

It's been a week since the incident that landed most of the impromptu team to retrieve Sasuke in hospital. As much as they understand the need for recuperation they were getting a bit restless with the inactivity. The genin teams are all grounded as all of them have one or more members taken out of active duty, so in most days they all convened at the hospital to keep the injured company.

"Kiba-kun, you shouldn't move around too much. You're not healed properly yet." Said Hinata timidly while trying to gently push Kiba back into his bed.

"I'm fine, Hinata. Geez, I just need something to do, all this lying around is driving me insane." Kiba protested. For the whole morning nurses had to keep sending him back to his bed whenever he tried to creep out of his room to get some fresh air.

"I know how you feel Kiba-san. I too have suffered the same treatment from the nurses when I was in here." Said Lee.

"Anyone saw Naruto yet?" asked Neji. Among the injured only Kiba has healed enough to be able to move and sneak around. Chouji although have no serious injuries, were too weak to move other than to stuff himself with food. Neji's injuries were severe and although it was mostly healed by the medic-nins he was advised not to move around too much as it would only agitate his wounds.

"No. The Hokage didn't allow any visitation except for Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka-sensei and Jiraiya-sama." Answered Ino while trying to get Chouji share some of his chips.

"How come they were allowed? And for that matter why didn't they put him here with the rest?" asked Tenten who sits beside Neji's bed holding a plate of apples for him. She knew though that the nurse had told her not to give any solid food to Neji but it was more for her than it was for Neji as she absentmindedly took every single piece that Neji picked up and plopped it into her own mouth.

"Cause the Hokage knows that Lee and Kiba would make enough noise that Naruto would keel over and die." Said Ino which quickly (and loudly) followed by protests from the two aforementioned nins.

"Obviously his injuries were more serious than ours. I'm still amazed that he managed to drag himself all the way here, not to mention carrying Kiba with him." Said Neji.

"Yeah, the guy had a hole in his chest the size of my fist, I can literally see behind him through the hole. Well … not really, but I swear I could see the insides of his lung" Kiba loudly hollered. Everyone already knew that bit of information, and that Sasuke was the one that gave Naruto the near fatal injury. They know it was a sore subject with some people but Kiba just doesn't seem to get it.

Shikamaru cringed at Kiba's words. "Kiba, we really don't need to imagine that. Some of us are eating. Anyway even if we did get to visit him, there's not much we can do. He's in a coma. And from what Sakura heard from Hokage-sama, he won't wake up any time soon"

"Speaking of Sakura-san, where is she? I haven't seen her in a while." Asked Lee.

"She's been spending most of the day either with Naruto or training with Hokage-sama. Actually she came in here almost every morning when you guys are still sleeping to change the flowers and then went straight to Naruto's room. Who do you think they're from anyway." Said Ino. The only reason she knew was because Sakura would come to her family's shop early in the morning when she was opening it for business. She was a bit peeved that Sakura somehow managed to convince the Hokage to train her but another part of her was also happy for the girl.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

"**This is the last leg of your training, son. It was time well-spent; you have gained much control over both your emotions and your chakra."**

"But I still haven't completely mastered your speed jutsus. You said it yourself."

"**True, but those jutsus need more than just knowing how to invoke them, you need experience on how to use it effectively in battle. In any case, I've told you before, our priority is with your chakra control not jutsus."**

"But we could spend some more time here, it's likely been only a week and a half in the real world."

"**A week in the real world should have been your limit. This jutsu redirect large percentage of your chakra to power it, leaving only bare minimum to help you heal your injuries. You already know the principles behind the jutsus so you can develop them at your own pace."**

"Yeah, yeah, I think I'm just trying to delay the inevitable. I dread going back to those glares again. Now that the mission failed it will be much worse, I'm sure I'll get blamed for what happened like I always did."

"**Don't let that get you down. I really don't have any right to tell you what to do with your life. I may be your father but my absence from your life nullifies that right. Even then I can't say I'm not proud of how you've turned out. I'm sure your mother would have said the same. But I can give you one piece of advice: no matter what people say or do to you, no matter how much they think they know and accuse you of, in the end the one who knows you best is you. No matter what you do from this point on, as long as you do it for what you believe in, I will always be proud of you."**

"Thanks Otousan. Did you know, even when I didn't know of our relation, you have always been my idol, of what I strive to become and hope that somehow someday I will make you proud." Both father and son stood there grinning like idiots beaming at each other.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

He slowly woke up to the beeping noises resounding in his hospital room. Though his ears worked perfectly, his eyes are doing its best to make him fall asleep again. Blinking away his grogginess, he shifted his eyes around him and notices that he's in a hospital room. At a closer inspection he could see a dash of pink on his left, he immediately know who it is. He let out a hoarse whisper. "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura was spending her time reading one of the scrolls Tsunade had assign for her to study while taking watch over Naruto. She was scheduled to have a session with Tsunade this evening so she might as well be ready if suddenly the Hokage came up with the urge to do a pop quiz. When she heard someone call her name, she turns to the door expecting to see someone. Seeing that no one was there, she quickly turns towards the bed to see Naruto looking at her with his eyes barely open. "Naruto … you're awake. Don't try to get up, you're still not completely healed. I'll call Tsunade-sama."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, I couldn't get Sasuke back. I couldn't convince him to come home." He whispered a little louder this time.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you did your best. I may be a bit sad but I will be sadder still if both of you were gone. Now relax, I'm going to get Tsunade-sama so she can check you up."

Naruto relax a bit as Sakura hurried out of the room. He was awake now so that mean his seal has gone into third stage. As it was he could feel Kyuubi's chakra attempting to leak into his chakra stream but he found that he has no trouble holding it back and suppressing it. However it still left him feeling weird as this is not something he can pass as second nature, he's holding the chakra deliberately and it will be awhile before he can get his mind off it but still remain in control of the chakra. He was tempted to use the emergency sealing technique that his father taught him but he knew the more he try to control it the better his control over it becomes. It was like his father told him, the feeling of malice and malevolence the chakra used to have is gone, now it feels neutral as there is no intent behind it other than his own. He could feel the immenseness of the chakra pool within him, he could do jutsus all day and he'll barely put a dent in the reserve. The self-regeneration nature of the chakra will mean that he'll never run out of it and if he ever loses control over it, it will likely kill him before it will ever run out.

Moving his body a bit, he noticed that the hole in his shoulder has not healed properly yet, so he divert a minuscule amount of Kyuubi's chakra to slowly heal it. While he knows that his chakra control have been a lot better than it used to be, he doesn't think that his body can take the strain of rapid healing in his weakened state. When he first able to extract Kyuubi's chakra by demanding it from Kyuubi, he noticed that there's a distinct difference between his and its chakra. Kyuubi's seemed more concentrated, more potent would be the right word, maybe that's why the chakra can heal him very rapidly. A normal person's chakra would have to be employed by using medical jutsus to produce similar effect.

He sighs, how is he going to explain this to Tsunade? No doubt she would be happy to know that Kyuubi is gone, but she will be worried as to what he would do with the new found power at his disposal. And will it be alright to tell her that he met his father and that he has been training with him in his dream world. As much as he trusts Tsunade, that experience was kind of personal to him. But she is the Hokage and one of the people that he knows truly cared for him.

After a while, Tsunade entered the room with Jiraiya and Kakashi trailing behind her. She has a bright smile on her face, clearly happy to him awake at last. As they approach the bed Naruto tried to smile and uttered few words that if not for his current injuries it would have meant his ultimate doom. "Hey Tsunade-baba, I'm really messed up, aren't I?"

Tsunade's eyebrows twitch at his words, but her smile never left her face. "Even with your injuries, you're still treading so close to dangerous territory. So how are you feeling?"

"Sore. I'm still healing my shoulder, should be fine by tonight. Still, controlling Kyuubi's chakra makes me a bit uneasy." Tsunade arched an eyebrow at his words. She knew Naruto would have control over Kyuubi's chakra once he woke up but the level of control for him to heal himself must be tremendous. She didn't even sense any chakra emanating from him. How can he just wake up and suddenly have that kind of control that he never had before.

"So you know about the seal and that the Kyuubi is gone?" Jiraiya piped up curious as to how Naruto knew about it.

"Yeah, I'm awake so that means the seal is in its third stage and gave me full access to Kyuubi's chakra." Answered Naruto relieved to see that Jiraiya at least have an inkling to what had happened.

"Do you need me to put a seal on you to dampen it until you can control it better?" Jiraiya was thinking along the lines of putting the same seal Orochimaru put on him during the Chuunin Exam.

"No, any seal you put on me now won't affect it anymore. The third stage is different than the other two, its main purpose is to serve as a container for the chakra and rejects other seals placed on it by anyone else but me. It's not even visible anymore. Besides I'll get used to it faster if I try to endure it."

"How do you know about all this anyway? Even I don't know that much. And how come you not screaming like you used to, you're so out of character." Jiraiya is beginning to get worried. He knew there's no way that the Kyuubi could take over Naruto but the seal may have done something to Naruto's personality. He hoped not though, the thought of his pupil turning into a cold bastard like the Uchiha send shivers through his spine.

"Heh, I had an interesting meeting with your former student. And wait till I can move so I can beat you up for not telling me who he really is." Naruto raised his left fist threateningly toward Jiraiya and Kakashi. Both of them knew at that instant that the boy now knows of his heritage.

"Jiraiya's former student was the Fourth. I thought you already knew that." Said Tsunade clearly confused.

"He's also my father. Sarutobi-Ojiisan, Ero-sennin and I guess Kakashi-sensei must have known but didn't tell me. I know that he told you to keep it a secret but it could have at least saved me a lot of grief not knowing who my parents were."

"You're his son? I didn't even know that he's married. Although, now that I think about it, you do look a lot like him. Who was your mother then?" Tsunade sigh mentally, how come she is always the one out of the loop. She is supposed to be the Hokage, and as Hokage she needs to know information like this.

"Naruto's mother was Uzumaki Azusa, I don't think you knew her. She came to Konoha after you left. They didn't get the chance to get married. Everything was all messed up due to the Kyuubi's attack."

"That explains that, but it still doesn't explain how you met Arashi. What happened while you were asleep?"

Naruto, despite feeling a little weak having just woke up from his coma, went into a full-blown explanation of his time within his dream world. While he withheld some of the stuff like learning jutsus and stuff, he decided to trust them with the chakra control training he had done. They were skeptical at first but Jiraiya confirmed that it could be done and the dream world jutsu really was from Azusa's jutsu library (he should know, seeing as how he tried to bribe his way into learning it so he can have many naughty dreams).

After being satisfied with the explanation Tsunade proceeded to give Naruto a full check-up to make sure he is healing well. As he said, his wounds are healing steadily and would be healed by the end of the day.

"You'll be fine in two or three days. I'll check up on you then to see if you're ready to leave the hospital. But strictly no training for few weeks." Tsunade ruffled his hair affectionately and turn to leave with Jiraiya. As they leave Sakura was allowed back inside and came to sit beside his bed.

What was left of Team 7 stayed in the room trying to find solace in each others company. After a while, Naruto complained that it was too quiet and it's getting quite boring. Kakashi quickly offers to read Icha Icha Paradise out loud but quickly backed down under the glare he received from both his students. Sakura couldn't stay for very long, so after a while she had to leave for her lesson with Tsunade. With Sakura gone Naruto was left alone with the giggling Kakashi immersed in his perverted book. Frustrated, Naruto flung his pillow at the offending jounin, while promising Jiraiya will receive extreme pain and humiliation for writing that accursed book.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

The next morning Naruto pestered the nurse to let him visit his friends even if he was confined to a wheelchair. The nurse not only concerned about Naruto's health but also her own if Tsunade ever found out about this but in the end relented and gave Naruto permission. Sakura came by just as he about to go outside of his room and quickly offered to wheel him over.

By the time both of them entered the room where the others were, Naruto had his head slumped down drooling with a couple of bumps on his head. The others were about to greet him when they saw his condition, which they all came to the same conclusion, Naruto have much poorer control over his mouth than his chakra.

They all spent almost the whole day exchanging stories of their exploits on their mission. Naruto and Kiba though were being more than a bit boastful recounting their fight against the weird sound twin. Naturally they were reined in by their respective teammates. At the end of the day, Naruto cringed at the sight of an angry Iruka barging into the room demanding to know what he was doing out of bed. A bonk on the head later he was wheeled back to his room to retire for the night. Naruto cringed for the second time that day when he arrived at his room to find an annoyed looking Shizune tapping her foot impatiently. He knew he is going to get a round of lecture on how important it is to stay in bed when you're recovering from a near fatal injury.

A few days later, Naruto was allowed to go home with a promise not to start training anytime soon. Jiraiya had told him, in light of his new found 'abilities' he would be given rigorous training to make full use of it, so he might want to take it easy while he still can. Without having anything to do at the moment, he quickly decides to get something to eat since he haven't eat anything other than hospital food which he barely touched, mostly because of too many green things he can't identify.

His arrival at Ichiraku Ramen was met with much enthusiasm from the owner and his daughter. Without delay he inhaled five bowls of ramen before stopping to catch his breath and noticed that he was joined by Ino and Shikamaru who was having their lunch there for a change. In truth they were hired by Iruka and Sakura to keep Naruto from going off to train as they're both busy with their work and training respectively. They were both reluctant at first but they can't ignore the fact that the blond intrigue them a little from how they see him act few days before. Even when he was boasting with Kiba of his exploits they noticed that he seems calmer, more composed and somewhat mature for the lack of better words. What has brought this change in him so quickly after waking up from his coma? If Shikamaru had to guess it may be because of the life threatening experience but Naruto and his teammates had faced a lot of those before, what makes this one so special? Is it because of Sasuke or something else?

When it was time to leave, they both offered to walk him home, but Naruto refused saying that he can manage, he may be a little tired but he can still find his way home fine. After giving reassurance that he definitely going straight to his apartment, Shikamaru and Ino went off on their way. They didn't manage to get to the road leading to Ino's shop when the girl from Ichiraku Ramen, Ayame came running calling for them.

"You two…(pant)…you two were with Naruto-kun just now…(pant)." That came more as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes we were. Wait, don't tell me Naruto forgot to pay up." Said Ino getting annoyed if this was the reason the girl was chasing them. She should be chasing after Naruto not her.

"No. Something happened to Naruto-kun. After you two left, a couple of ANBUs came out of nowhere and knocked him out. They took him away towards the western gate. I don't know what's going on." The frantic girl explained.

To say that bit of information shocked them was an understatement. What business does ANBU have with Naruto? If this was official it's doubtful that they would have to knock him out and then take him out of the village. Being so soon after their mission it could be retaliation from the Sound. Shikamaru quickly asked Ino to find the Hokage and inform her of the situation if she didn't know already while he would go find one of their jounin sensei. Ino agreeing with Shikamaru, dashed towards the hospital where she knew Sakura was having a training session with the Hokage.

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Tsunade was supervising Sakura's training in one of the hospital's archive rooms when a knock came from the door. After giving permission to enter, she turned to see Hyuuga Hiashi walking in with his usual dignified manner.

"Ahh, Hiashi-sama what can I do for you today."

"May I speak with you in private please?"

"Of course. Sakura will you please excuse us for a moment." Sakura left. "Now what troubles you, Hiashi-sama."

"I thought you should know that there was a Council meeting yesterday."

"What? I wasn't informed of any meeting at least not until next week."

"I know that, in fact I was surprised yesterday when I attended only to be informed that the meeting would be kept secret from you. You are not going to like this but the topic of discussion was about Naruto."

"I should have known this would happen. Can you tell me the details?"

"In light of the recent mission the genins were involved and ended up in failure, they wanted to shift the blame entirely onto Naruto. They plan to strip him of his shinobi status and citizenship, exiling him from Konoha. They were hoping to gain unanimous support from the Council as they cannot force you to accept their judgement without it. Fortunately I'm not the only one who has high hopes for the young boy as many other clan leaders voiced their disapproval of the ruling."

"I'm not sure they would give up so easily. The only reason they didn't push for execution was because in any situation involving shinobis, the Hokage is the only one who can approve such punishment." Tsunade shudder at the thought of her surrogate brother being executed.

"That may be but I suspect that they hoped that while in exile one of their agents could find him and carry out the execution. With their initial plot failed they may try to force Naruto to flee the village marking him a missing nin thus would allow them to execute him anyway."

"I hope you're wrong about th-"

Before Tsunade could finish the door swung open and Sakura along with a panting Ino burst into the room. "Hokage-sama!"

xxxxxXXXXxxxxx

Kakashi sped through the forest following Pakkun, his dog summon on the trail of Naruto's scent. He along with Asuma and Genma were returning from a short reconnaissance mission when they were intercepted by Shikamaru. They quickly began a search in the surrounding area. A while later Jiraiya joined them just before a huge chakra surge hit them. They quickly rushed in the direction of the surge, dreading what they would find will not be pleasant.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I know that I promised to end the back story in this chapter, but the conclusion of it is too long for me to put it in here. While I like the epic chapter length some authors did with their fic, I like mine to be moderate in length.

As always criticism are welcome. Encouragements are even more so. More than that I would love to have some idea on how you would like me to proceed.

Sorry for the late update as there are some unavoidable circumstances. I'm still not satisfied with this chapter. I may update it again soon with some changes. Probably when the next chapter is finished (which is almost done by the way).


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