Planning for the future part 1

Naruto's eyes filled with determination taking away all the sadness and apathy he was glowing with, it was as if his mind cleared. While he shouldn't be indifferent for killing someone, he shouldn't be depressed for doing it either. Everything he did was to protect his friend and take revenge on one of the culprits for his suffering. Kai had chosen this and he had paid for it, that's life, every action has a reaction.

Naruto looked towards Tayuya and smiled "Thank you for your words Tayuya" Naruto said with a smile, he then looked at the other girls and said "Thank you for your support girls, you have helped me a lot."

The girls were happy to see that Naruto was back to normal, Tayuya snorted and turned her head to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Hey Naruto, I heard that you've already started training with your dad and mom is it true?" Karin asked curious, her mom had told her that Naruto was quite the prodigy and had already started his training

"Yes, I have unlocked my chakra a week ago and my dad and mom are training me" Naruto said with a proud smile.

The girls looked at him curiously. Tayuya who was four years older had not started training yet, looked at him with curiosity and a bit of jealousy. Hinata looked at him with a strange look when she heard the word training, when the rumors that the heir of the Uzumaki clan and the second son of the Uchiha clan had already started their training the elders of the Hyuga clan pressured Hiashi and Hana to start Hinata's training, but Hana strongly refused, she wasn't going to let them mistreat her daughter at such a young age. This was a great source of arguments in Hinata's house.

"Oh, amazing Naruto-kun. Do you know how to do any jutsu like in the stories" Karin asked curiously.

Hearing Karin's question Naruto got a little discouraged "Well, I haven't learned any jutsu yet, my parents only teach me theory and train my body" Naruto replied, but seeing the girls disappointment he spoke up "Ok, there's something that even my dad doesn't know that I know. So you guys can't tell anyone ok?" Naruto said

The girls nodded curiously

"While my Dad was training his jutsus I've been secretly watching him and I've been practicing the same seals he does with his hands" Naruto said

Naruto went to the end of the dock followed by the girls

"Watch carefully" Naruto said as he began to make the seals he had seen his father perform, although Naruto's movements were clumsy and slow and the seals were poorly done.

After a few moments Naruto had finished making the hand seals and filled his lungs with air, just as he had seen Minato do. When he felt that his lungs were completely filled with air he blew with all his might.

Boooooooooomm 

The air that came out of Naruto's lungs accumulated near his body forming a sphere of air that was spinning unsteadily, when Naruto finished blowing the sphere exploded sending him flying and sending a lot of water from the lake into the air, creating a great boom that echoed throughout the complex.

Naruto was sent flying into the lake, while the girls covered their faces to protect themselves, the water that had been lifted up by the failed jutsu came down drenching the girls.

Naruto was stunned for a few seconds as the sphere exploded right next to him, his ears buzzing as he sank into the lake. Naruto recovered from the daze and swam to the surface. 'Luckily my father taught me how to swim' thought Naruto.

Naruto climbed out of the water and onto the dock, he looked at the girls and gave them an awkward smile. He thought they would be angry and scared by what had happened but their reaction surprised him.

"Amazing nii-chan" Honoka said with eyes full of admiration, to her Naruto hadn't made a mistake and had done an amazing jutsu.

"Amazing Naruto-kun, that's a fuuton right?" asked Karin curious about Naruto's jutsu.

"Well done Naruto-kun" Said Hinata who was looking at him in admiration.

Tayuya didn't say anything just snorted and turned her face away, she acted as if what Naruto did was normal for her

Naruto was embarrassed to hear the girls words 'The jutsu was supposed to be a mini hurricane, but it went wrong. That was dangerous' Naruto thought as he saw them praising him for a failed jutsu.

Suddenly a tall man with long white hair appeared next to Naruto.

"Are you okay Naruto?" asked Jiraiya worried about the boy. Jiraiya had long dark circles under his eyes denoting that he hadn't been able to sleep tonight

Naruto was surprised by the sudden arrival of his " grandpa", but quickly replied "Yeah Jii-chan I'm fine, I'm just a little wet" Naruto replied.

Jiraiya looked at him and looked at the girls and said "What happened here? Don't lie to me!"

Naruto didn't want to tell him the truth, but seeing Jiraiya's mood he replied "I just did a jutsu that I saw my father do the other day" Naruto replied quietly

"That was reckless Naruto. you haven't even learned hand seals properly yet and you already want to do jutsu? To do jutsu properly you have to get the hand seals right, you have to know the right amount of chakra for the technique and you have to know how to circulate the chakra through your chakra system. Doing that requires a great deal of practice and training. You could have seriously hurt yourself or worse, hurt one of your loved ones by a stupid recklessness" Jiraiya admonished.

Naruto became crestfallen upon hearing Jiraiya's words, in his head he just wanted to show off a little by showing off a jutsu to his friends, but in doing so he put his life and the lives of the girls at risk.

Jiraiya seeing the boy's mood felt bad. 'I shouldn't discount my frustrations on him' Jiraiya thought.

"That was wrong Naruto, but if you want to know one thing, it's amazing that you could mimic one of your father's jutsu at the age of three without even practicing hand seals. Even the best geniuses couldn't do it, but you can't throw jutsu you haven't mastered in the presence of other people, you might hurt them" Jiraiya said.

Naruto perked up when he heard that almost no one could do what he had done.

Jiraiya walked over to the boy's side bent down and spoke into his ear softly "If you want to practice jutsus you can always call me, I will help you with your training. You have to keep it a secret though, I don't want to upset your mother" Jiraiya said.

Naruto perked up when he heard that Jiraiya would help him learn jutsus, something that even his parents hadn't begun to teach him.

After a few moments the girls dragged Naruto into the park to play with them, leaving behind Jiraiya who watched them leave with a happy smile that then turned into a sad smile as he remembered what had happened the night before.

Jiraiya walked to the end of the pier and sat down on the shore. He pulled out a sealing scroll and when he released it a bottle of sake appeared, which he opened and began to drink.

Jiraiya was sad as he thought about his life, he didn't know who his parents were, he never had a family until he was placed in team 7 where Hiruzen treated him like a son and where he saw his platonic love for the first time. Tsunade the princess of the Senju clan, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. It was love at first sight for him, her status and beauty were fatal and since he met her he became hopelessly in love with her, since that day he did his best to get her attention, but he wasn't attractive nor was he the most talented in the village, so he decided to focus on being funny and amusing to make her laugh. But all he got was her scorn and painful punches, but he didn't give up, if being funny wasn't enough he would train to be very strong so that she would finally notice him. Years went by and Jiraiya couldn't get Tsunade to look twice at him, until the day came when his heart broke for the first time. Tsunade had started dating a boy named Dan, that was a big heartbreak for him. But that wasn't why Jiraiya was saddened, while Dan was much better looking than him physically, what hurt Jiraiya the most was that Dan wasn't even talented or powerful, Dan was just a normal ninja with a little bit of talent and didn't excel at anything. That's what Jiraiya thought about the boy and it was a big hit to his self esteem.

To try to forget Tsunade Jiraiya went many times to the brothels, but that didn't go beyond momentary pleasure, no matter how many whores he slept with he could never forget his teammate, she was just the perfect woman in his mind, beautiful, strong and talented.

The years passed and the war began where they earned the nickname of the legendary sannin, when they returned they heard the news of Dan's death. That was a big blow for Tsunade who became depressed. Jiraiya felt guilty for being a bit happy about Dan's death, in his mind without the man's presence Tsunade would be free and he could have a chance with her, but he decided to give her some time before trying to be with her again.

Time passed and the news of Nawaki's death came, Tsunade who was already depressed by the death of her boyfriend now became even more depressed by the death of her beloved brother. The news hit her so hard that she decided to leave the village and leave the village.

Jiraiya was worried about his friend so he decided to use his spy network to keep an eye on her and protect her. For years he used his spies to protect her from rapists and scammers and also used his own money to pay her debts.

When he heard the news that Tsunade was finally going to return to the village thanks to Kushina he was glad. He was surprised to hear that she would abandon the senju name and adopt his grandmother's family name. He finally thought it would be his chance to be with her since he seemed to have overcome his past traumas, but how wrong he was. Tsunade and he would never be together, those were the words of the woman for whom he had dedicated his whole life, he had cared for her for all these years only to hear those words. That was a great blow to him, a blow that he believes he will never again be able to

Jiraiya was lost in thought when suddenly he hears someone calling out to him. Jiraiya raises his head and looks to his side and saw a beautiful lady with shoulder length red hair. Seeing her against the sunlight further enhanced her beauty leaving Jiraiya momentarily speechless.

"Jiraiya-san. Hey Jiraiya-san" Kaori said seeing that Jiraiya didn't respond.

Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and replied "Oh, hi Kaori-san."

"Jiraiya-san, I heard a loud bang coming from the lake. do you know what happened?" asked Kaori worriedly

"Don't worry Kaori-san, the noise was caused by Naruto who has failed to do a jutsu" Jiraiya replied.

Kaori was surprised to discover that Naruto had already started practicing jutsu "That kid is a real prodigy isn't he? He's already learning jutsu at the age of three" Kaori said.

"Yes, but the best thing about this kid is his happiness and energy" Said Jiraiya who turned his eyes back to the horizon

Kaori seeing that Jiraiya was looking at the horizon did the same. The day was beautiful and the weather was nice.

After a few moments of quiet Kaori looked at Jiraiya and noticed his droopy expression and the melancholy in his gaze, something that reminded her of herself a few years ago

"Are you alright Jiraiya-san? If you need someone to talk to, you can count on me" Kaori said, she knew the importance of having someone to talk to in difficult times

Jiraiya was going to decline the offer, but Kaori's comforting and calm voice made him change his mind, he started to tell her his story without saying names and details, though Kaori knew immediately who he was talking about.

"What's so bad about me that she doesn't notice me even once?" Jiraiya asked

Kaori looked at him and gave him a pitying look "I don't know, sometimes she just sees you as a friend or doesn't feel any attraction for you. Things of the heart can't be forced, if she were to enter into a relationship with you because you helped her, that relationship wouldn't last long or you both would be very unhappy. Sometimes loving is also letting go.

Besides, what do you really like in her, other than appearance or status" Kaori said. She didn't know what to say to him

Jiraiya was silent as he thought about Kaori's words. 'What do I really like about Tsunade? I don't know. was I really just obsessed with her or is there something else?' thought Jiraiya who was lost in his thoughts for a few minutes.

Jiraiya looked at Kaori and said "Thank you Kaori-san, your words have helped me a lot" Jiraiya said.

Kaori smiled and said "You're welcome Jiraiya-san."

After that an awkward silence reigned over the atmosphere until Jiraiya spoke up.

"I'm going to go have some drinks at a bar would you like to join me? Your presence is nice and the conversation was very good, besides it's fair that I also listen to your story since you listened to mine" said Jiraiya

Kaori thought about Jiraiya's invitation, she was going to deny it because she had things to do at home, but decided against it, she could use a change of scenery since she hardly ever left the compound.

"Sure why not" Kaori accepted the invitation.

The two then headed towards one of the many bars that were in Konoha.

In a secret room

Minato had just arrived after a day of coordinating the rebuilding of the areas affected by Orochimaru's attack and compensating the families of the deceased.

Minato entered the room where his wife and the other leaders of the royal clans Fugaku and Hiashi were standing with their wives Mikoto and Hana

"Forgive me for being late today there were more papers than usual to sign and there were things that required my presence" Minato apologized

"No problem Minato-san we know how busy you are because of what happened yesterday" Said Hana

Minato nodded at the Hyuga's words, he looked at everyone present and said "We should discuss what we will do about the Daimyo's threat"

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