What if Series: What if I was in...Naruto/Naruto Shippuden??

We Will Be Strong! For the sake of the Hidden Leaf!

Guy decides to take Sasuke back to Konoha, and tells Jiraiya to hurry up and find Tsunade. Naruto adamantly states that we will. Naruto's determination impresses Guy, who bestows upon Naruto a green jumpsuit that Lee wears. On the way to search for Tsunade, Naruto asks about her. Jiraiya tells him that she is one of the Legendary Sannin alongside him and that she is also famous for being a poor gambler. At the same time, Tsunade decides to partake in gambling at Machijūtoba, a casino where the big bets are made. Tsunade uses all of her cash, exciting the head gambler as he is aware of her reputation.

Meanwhile, Naruto enjoys a day out on the town while Jiraiya does some investigating into Tsunade's whereabouts. Naruto reveals that he has saved up a lot of money and plans to use it during the festival; "Oh, cool! Wonder what we should bu-" I say, before then.. Jiraiya takes away his savings, advising Naruto that it is for his own benefit, to avoid overspending. Naruto uses his allotted money to enjoy the various food and games at the festival. Having depleted his allowance buying food for himself and Jiraiya, Naruto and I set off to find our sensei. Naruto finds Jiraiya in a room with two women drinking sake, infuriated that Jiraiya has spent all of his savings. As he lashes out at Jiraiya, two men enter the room, and Naruto accidentally throws the squid he was holding at the stranger's coat, creating a stain. As the two men begin to cause trouble, Jiraiya advises Naruto to pay attention. Forming a blue sphere of chakra in his hand, Jiraiya hits the man in the stomach and sends him flying away with incredible force. The man then recognises Jiraiya, and in fear, hands him his wallet. Jiraiya uses some of the money to pay for the stand he accidentally destroyed and uses the rest to buy balloons and water balloons.

Ready to begin our training, Jiraiya gives Me and Naruto a balloon. Jiraiya explains that we must combine his Tree Climbing Practice as well as his Water Surface Walking Practice in order to spin the water inside the balloon. Me and Naruto proudly states that he understands, and thus begins his training.

"We won't let you down, Jiraiya!"

Rasengan Training...

Soon after our training begins, Naruto finds himself unable to make any progress. I finished it on my first try. I try to help Naruto, but to no avail... After asking Jiraiya for tips, Naruto decides he'll master the jutsu in three days. Jiraiya doubts the likelihood that Naruto will live up to this promise, explaining that the technique's creator, the Fourth Hokage, took three years to develop the Rasengan in its current form. He then goes on to explain that popping the water balloon is only one of three steps to mastering the technique, and leaves Naruto to resume his training. Over the next three days, Naruto practices by himself in the woods as Jiraiya entertains himself with the women in town. He is unable to find success until he spots the hotel's cat spinning and bursting his water balloon. Seeing this, Naruto comes up with an idea to burst the water balloon – by keeping it steady in his left hand, he uses his right hand to create chakra and rotate the water inside the balloon in different directions until it pops. Although unorthodox, as it requires two hands instead of one, Jiraiya states that he has passed the first stage and that they are moving on to stage two.

The second stage involves bursting the balloon again; however, unlike the first, the second stage involves a rubber ball instead of a water balloon, making it harder to pop. Naruto demands help, but Jiraiya states that Naruto isn't a child anymore and that he must figure things out. "Jiraiya was right, this is harder to pop!" I say failing to pop this rubber balloon...

As we continue to train over the next several days, Jiraiya tells us to go to town and fetch food for the three of us. While in town, Naruto witnesses a father and a son sharing a popsicle. Naruto asks Jiraiya if he'd be willing to stay and spend the day and help him, but Jiraiya repeats his earlier words and tells Naruto to do things himself.

Over the next three weeks, Jiraiya leaves Naruto to his own devices and continues to mingle with the townswomen. Feeling immense pain in his arms and still unable to burst the balloon, Naruto decides to hold the balloon in both hands and force chakra into the balloon until it bursts, despite the pain he feels in both hands. Pushing himself to his limit, Naruto manages to cause a hole in the balloon. Although disappointed that he wasn't able to burst it, Naruto is congratulated by Jiraiya. Jiraiya offers a Popsicle to Naruto, who accepts it happily. Until then, I started to finally make a hole to the balloon as well, but my Popsicle melted...Eh, I didn't really need it...

After Naruto and I struggle with the second step of our training, Jiraiya helps us by drawing a spiral on our palms to give him a point to concentrate our efforts on. Naruto and I recall Iruka sensei's words of advice regarding concentration from his childhood, and he changes the spiral on his palm to that of a leaf. We then focuses a lot of chakra into that point of concentration; the process causes the balloon to burst, but also for Naruto to go flying backwards, paving the dirt. He is stopped by Jiraiya, who notices that the amount of chakra used managed to burn Naruto's hands. Impressed, he tells us that we passed the second stage. Naruto and I are eager to begin the third, but Jiraiya tells us that for now, they must continue on their journey, for he has managed to locate Tsunade. Elsewhere, Tsunade, an avid and extremely unlucky gambler, hits a winning streak, leading her to believe something bad is about to happen. As she tries to leave the city with Shizune and Tonton, she is met by Orochimaru and Kabuto, who greet her by summoning snakes and destroying the castle she was walking past.