Second Chance

Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Training and a Return to Uzu
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"Hokage-sama, I would like to request permission to leave the Hidden Leaf and return to Uzu to do my training for the next phase of the exam." Hiruzen took his eyes off of the paper he had been reading and looked at the blonde genin before him.

"Why can you not do your training in Konoha?"

"I was hoping to work with some experimental jutsu that I have been thinking about and to try and gain some control over the nine-tails' chakra. Neither of which, I believe, would be a very safe thing to do in the Hidden Leaf. It may actually cause alarm among the visiting shinobi if they sense bijuu chakra so close to the village." Naruto explained as if he was giving a mission report.

Hiruzen leaned back and looked at the boy before him. He still wasn't certain about his changes and he had been taking a lot of risks in letting him out of his sight as much as he already had. At the same time he had a very good point about the techniques he wanted to work on. However, was it safe to let him go outside of the village once more when his loyalties were still being questioned. Sighing he felt his eyes widen as he thought about a solution.

"There is a former student of mine in Konoha. If you can convince him to escort you then I will allow the trip. If you can't then I will deny it. You will have until this time tomorrow. He will be able to defuse the situation if you lose control of the nine-tails."

'I wonder if that would go as well as last time.' Naruto thought to himself knowing precisely what the Sandaime had in mind. At the same time he wasn't sure if he was ready to face the toad sannin yet. Jiraiya's death had been hard on him and yet it was quite apparent even before his death that Naruto realized just how little the sannin had trained him. When he started training with Bee that he realized just how far behind he was compared to the other jinchuriki, let alone his peers. After all, in a two and a half year span he had only polished his taijutsu, learned how to dispel genjutsu (even though he was still bad at it), gained some control over Kurama's chakra, and learned more about the sannin's writing style than he had hoped. In that same time, Sasuke and Sakura had learned how to hold their own against and even surpass their teachers.

While he loved the sannin like a grandfather, he had been given no choice but to accept that Jiraiya had placed him at a great disadvantage when he struggled to reach the level that he had needed during the fifth war. Especially when he tried to fight without the use of Senjutsu and Kurama's chakra. He was nothing more than a sitting duck at the time. They were the only things outside of the Rasengan and it's variations that made him even remotely dangerous at the time. In all honesty, in the small amount of time that he had spent with Bee on that turtle he had learned more than he had in almost all of his time as a ninja of Konoha. Sad really.

Naruto had been so lost in thought over the subject he had missed when he agreed to the proposal and left the Sandaime's office heading straight for the hot springs. After all, the best place to find Jiraiya would be where he could do his 'research'. That was another thing that pissed Naruto off about Jiraiya. Most of the time that they were "training", if they were anywhere near civilization, Jiraiya would be spying on women and not paying attention. It was almost as if his hormones were far more important than his godson. Before his thoughts could go any farther, Naruto was snapped back into reality to hear perverted giggling.

"Hey old man! You know that the kunoichi in there are going to kill you when they find out that you are spying on them and corrupting the youth of the village right?" Naruto called out loud enough for the hot springs to hear. Jiraiya paled and before he could escape he found himself being pelted by kunai of all thing! Just where did they hide those in their towels anyway?! Fleeing from the scene, desperately running for his life as the kunoichi followed, he looked back and Naruto could be seen laughing on the ground.