Naruto: The New Beginning

78. Training with perverted sage.

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The result of the lottery has been announced. Naruto only remembered that he was going to fight Gaara, the rest no longer seemed important.

Eighty per cent of the time, he would face Shukaku, and then, he thought, he might have to interrupt the exam.

By the time Naruto got home, it was already night. As usual, he had first sent Hinata at home.

Of course, the sofa and the small round table had already been returned to their places.

Regarding the sofa being soiled, Kushina didn't blame Naruto at all. She even praised him, which was quite inexplicable.

Jiraiya, Minato, Kushina, Kakashi, Kimimaro, Karin, Naruto, a family of nine had gathered happily.

Minato raised his cup, saying, "It's been five days since Karin came to our home, but today our family is officially gathered.
So to celebrate Karin becoming my daughter, cheers!"

"Cheers!" echoed six voices.

The seven cups clinked together, the sound as crisp as the laughter around the table.

The adults drank sake, while Naruto and the others had juice—Kushina insisted that minors weren't allowed to drink alcohol.

Naruto ate and drank happily. During the five days of the second exam, though there was plenty of food and fun, nothing compared to relaxing at home, especially with his family so joyful and the atmosphere so harmonious.

Karin is probably the happiest of them all. She remembered how, when she first met Naruto, she thought he was handsome.

Later, when she met Minato, who is now her father, she thought he was even more handsome.

Then she saw Kimimaro, her older brother, who was also very handsome and even though her father's student, Kakashi, usually had his face covered like a lazy bum, her woman's intuition told Karin that he must be a good-looking guy too!

Oh my gosh, what kind of family of beauties is this? It almost seemed like Naruto, her little brother, was the one holding them back.

Ah, no, how could I think that way about my brother? Karin shook her head—appearance was no longer important.

Looking at Naruto, who kept teasing Kakashi along with Kushina, at Minato, who always had a warm smile on his face, at Jiraiya, and at Kimimaro, who didn't talk much but kept serving her food, Karin felt like she was probably the happiest person in the world.

As dinner came to an end, the last bit of anxiety in Karin's heart disappeared. I, Karin, a genin of Konoha, daughter of the Fourth Hokage, from now on—I will help my mother with the housework every day!

After dinner, as Karin busied herself with Kushina, the mother and daughter seemed to enjoy chatting together.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, Minato, and Kakashi sat in the living room, sipping tea and discussing the plans ahead, while Naruto eagerly listened in, wanting to know more about his dad's ideas.

As for Kimimaro, he had been dragged off by three younger boys for late-night training. To be honest, Naruto was looking forward to his brother being defeated by his teammates and getting his head shaved like them as agreed.

He even thought about secretly giving his brother some laxatives before their match...

"Are you leaving tomorrow pervy sage?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, there was some news about Tsunade last time, but it was too late, so I came back before the exam just in case," Jiraiya replied.

Naruto thought to himself: I bet you were more eager to see Orochimaru than Tsunade.

You probably rushed back because you heard Orochimaru was planning something for the Chunin Exams and didn't want to miss out.

Minato said, "In that case, can Sensei take Naruto with him?"

"Huh?" Naruto put down his cup. What about me?

"But Naruto need to prepare for the next exam right?" Jiraiya asked.

Minato replied proudly, "Actually, Naruto's ninjutsu is already very advanced. To be honest, he's far surpassed me at his age. I think he needs to go out and learn more ninjutsu."

"And in terms of training, anything I can teach him, you can teach him too."

"That's fine," Jiraiya agreed, putting down his cup. "So, Naruto, will you come with me?"

Naruto thought it might be good to go out for a while, but he also wanted to give some benefits to his friends: "Can I bring a few more people?"

Jiraiya refused: "You want to bring your little girlfriend? No, this is training, not a vacation."

Naruto said, "I was thinking of bringing Sasuke and Sakura."

"Huh? What for?" Kakashi asked, still considering whether to teach Sasuke something during the upcoming month.

"It wouldn't hurt to bring two more. It's not like the Pervy Sage hasn't taken a genin squad before. Besides, I can give Sasuke some pointers, and Sakura's studying medicine, so I could recommend her to Lady Tsunade as an apprentice."

"The most important thing is, if we all leave, you, Mr. Lazy, can help my dad with more work."

"..." Kakashi was speechless. Last month, he'd gone on missions with you every day and trained under Kushina's watchful eye. It was exhausting!

I barely had a few days of reprieve during your exams, and now you're going to cause more trouble for me? Damn it, I haven't even finished reading Lord Jiraiya's new book!

Jiraiya appreciated Naruto's consideration for his teammates: "Well, it's not impossible, but it's not mandatory. You'll have to convince them yourself."

"No problem." Naruto thought Sakura would be easy to persuade if Sasuke was involved. As for Sasuke… well, he had a plan.

…

Early the next morning, Naruto first went to the Hyuga estate to say goodbye to Hinata. Fresh from her morning training, Hinata is wearing a black training uniform, slightly panting, with a little blush on her face.

Hinata felt a little disappointed when she learned that Naruto was leaving, but it was normal for ninjas to go on temporary missions. She said obediently, "Naruto-Kun, have a safe journey."

Naruto gently hugged Hinata and whispered in her ear, "I'll miss you every day."

"M-Me too," Hinata stammered, blushing. It was too close—this was at the entrance to her house, and she was still sweaty... so embarrassing.

Inside the estate, Hanabi, who is training, accidentally pierces through a training dummy.

"Hanabi, your control is off!" Hiashi reprimanded sternly.

"Yes!" Hanabi bit her lip, eyes wide with determination.

…

After saying goodbye to Hinata, Naruto slipped into Sasuke's training ground. Sure enough, Sasuke was practising his Uchiha-style shuriken techniques.

"Sasuke, I want you…"

"To help you train?" Sasuke quickly guessed. He didn't know why, but he always seemed to shout whenever Naruto asked him to train.

"…No, I want you to come with me to train."

"Leave? Where to?"

Naruto explained the situation to Sasuke: "So, what do you think? Training with the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya."

"No, I want to train with my brother," Sasuke replied, unmoved. Training with his brother was more important than with a mere Sannin.

"Are you sure Big Brother Itachi will have time to teach you?" Naruto challenged, striking at Sasuke's core.

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