24 The Toad Sage's Arrival"

The group was asked to pick pieces of paper from a box. These slips decided who would battle who in the upcoming contest.

The first fight would have Naruto going up against Neji.

The second would see Gaara face off against Sasuke.

In the third round, Kankuro would fight Shino.

For the fourth, it would be Temari against Sakura, and

The fifth round would have Dosu Kinuta and Shikamaru battling it out.

"Now, everyone, feel free to start planning or resting. I'll let you all go unless there are more questions?" Hiruzen, the man in charge, announced, ending the meeting about the contest.

Shikamaru raised his hand, asking, "Can I ask something?"

Hiruzen nodded, saying "Go ahead."

"In a contest, there's usually only one winner, right? So, does that mean only one of us can become a higher-ranked ninja?" Shikamaru asked, confused about the rules of the contest.

"No, that's not how it works," Hiruzen explained, sounding like he knew what he was talking about. "The final contest will be watched by judges, including me, the Kazekage, important people from various nations, and other ninja leaders. These judges will look at your skills throughout the contest. Even if you lose your first fight, you can still become a higher-ranked ninja if you show you have the right skills."

Temari, interested by Shikamaru's question, asked one of her own. "So, does that mean everyone here could become a higher-ranked ninja?"

Hiruzen smiled at Temari's question. "Yes, but it's also possible that no one will. Doing well in the contest will give you more chances to impress the judges. Do you get it, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru simply stared at Hiruzen, looking annoyed. "What a drag."

"Well then, thank you all for your hard work! You're all free until a month from now," Hiruzen announced, clapping his hands.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as the meeting ended. But before he could leave, Hiruzen asked him to stay. Naruto looked at Hiruzen.

Naruto turned to Hiruzen, looking calm, the earlier annoyance gone from his face. "What do you need, Jii-chan?"

Hiruzen sighed, sounding tired rather than annoyed. "Follow me. I need your sharp eyes for something."

Naruto agreed, a playful smirk on his face that hinted at a certain confidence. "Sure, Jii-chan. I'm here to help."

Hiruzen led Naruto into a room where Anko, the examiner, was waiting. Seeing her, Naruto was surprised. "Why is examiner-sensei here?"

Hiruzen explained, "I want you to look at the mark Orochimaru left on Anko's neck. You had said that 'Fuinjutsu' is like a puzzle with codes. I think you can solve it."

Naruto, not sure what mark Hiruzen was talking about, asked Anko, "Where's the mark, examiner-sensei?"

"Call me Anko-sensei," Anko responded, taking off her coat to show the cursed mark on her neck.

"Okay, Anko-sensei," Naruto replied with a smile, walking up to Anko to look at the mark.

As soon as Naruto lightly touched the mark, Anko let out a moan. "Hyah!"

This was going to be a lot harder than Naruto had first thought.

Naruto tried to gently put his energy into the mark, hoping to understand the pattern inside. But suddenly, Naruto pulled back in surprise and discomfort.

"Is something wrong?!" Hiruzen and Anko both asked, worried.

Naruto breathed out in relief and slowly walked up to them, explaining, "The mark works like a room."

Hiruzen looked confused, "Can you explain that?"

Naruto nodded, "Sure, it's like Orochimaru opens a mark, letting out a wild energy from this room. Our Anko-sensei here, tries to close it again, but it makes her tired. I can't tell what this energy is, but it's so wild it almost took my energy, that's why I pulled back," Naruto said, feeling a cold feeling inside him.

Hiruzen thought about this for a moment and then guessed, "It could be sage energy or what we call Natural Energy."

"Natural Energy?" Naruto asked, interested.

Hiruzen confirmed and explained, "Yes. It's the energy used to turn into a sage. Natural Energy is the energy that's in the world around us. To put it simply, your energy is yours, and Natural Energy is the world's energy."

Naruto's eyes lit up as he asked, "Can you turn into a sage, Hiruzen-sensei?"

Hiruzen shook his head, "Sadly, no. It's too wild, just like you said. I haven't been able to balance my energy with the Natural Energy."

Naruto thought about this and then nodded, showing he understood.

Hiruzen sighed, then suggested with a reassuring smile, "I don't think there's much we can do from here. You should ask the person who's coming soon to teach you sage techniques so you can fix Anko's mark. Given how quickly you learn new things, you'll probably master it in no time."

Naruto was curious, "Can you tell me who this person is, Hiruzen-sensei?"

Hiruzen laughed, "Alright, I guess I can tell you. It's one of the legendary sannins."

"One of the legendary sannins?"

"Right! And he also happens to be one of my old students," Hiruzen confirmed with a sense of pride.

Naruto scratched his head, "So Orochimaru was your student, and this mystery person too. Were they all your students at some point?"

Hiruzen smiled, "Yes. He also happened to be your father's teacher."

Naruto's interest was piqued, "My father's teacher?"

With a proud grin, Hiruzen revealed the name, "The Toad Sage, Jiraiya!"

Naruto blinked in surprise, "So, my father was also a student of this... unique person?"

Anko looked shocked, then turned to Hiruzen, "This young man is the 4th Hokage's son?"

Hiruzen nodded, ignoring Naruto's comment about Jiraiya's strange character, "Yes, that's right. Naruto is now strong enough to handle it, there's no need to hide his family anymore. I'll tell everyone during the Final Chuunin Exams."

Naruto laughed, "I can't wait to see the reactions when the people of Konoha find out they've been shunning the son of the 4th Hokage."

Hiruzen and Anko shared a look of understanding, acknowledging that Naruto's feelings were justified given his past.

Naruto then announced, "Well then, I'll be on my way. Let me know when this 'Toad Sage' arrives, I have some other things to do."

Naruto walked to the door and stopped looking back at Hiruzen "Well, Jii-chan.... Did Hinata's dad come to get her?" Naruto asked.

"Yes , She left with her father half an hour ago...." Hiruzen replied.

"Well.... That's good." Naruto replied.

Hiruzen gave his approval and Naruto left the room. Anko turned to Hiruzen, "Do you think he can really fix my Cursed mark?"

Hiruzen responded confidently, "I really believe he can. After all, he mastered Fuinjutsu in a week and learned the Flying Thunder God Jutsu in a single day."

Anko was shocked, "He mastered the 4th Hokage's special technique in a day? Are you sure we're not dealing with a 'God of Shinobi' in disguise?"

Hiruzen just smirked and lit his pipe, thinking, 'If he's not the God of Shinobi, he's definitely on his way to becoming one...'.

Naruto thought about going to Hinata's place but than remembered that he never actually went straight to her home or neither he needed to , at best he went outside Hinata's house or Hyuga compound should say.

So he decided to meet her the next day on the training ground and went to his apartment....

Where he met Karin , who was sleeping in the 2nd bedroom of Naruto's Apartment.

Naruto didn't wake her up and went to his bedroom directly, "She's Been through a lot..." Naruto thought as he walked to his room.

A Day passed...

In the morning as Naruto woke up early morning he saw Karin at the kitchen making breakfast.

Naruto walked to her, "What are you doing Karin ?" Naruto asked but Karin got a little startled by Naruto's sudden question.

"Oh , It's you Naruto , Good Morning." Karin commented as she finished her work and looked at Naruto "I was Just making the breakfast for both of us." Karin replied.

"But shouldn't you take rest until you're perfectly fit & healthy." Naruto commented.

"Well, I'm already perfectly fit & I'm doing good , don't worry." Karin said as she started serving breakfast at the dining table.

"Ok, If you say so....." Naruto said.

After that they both tóok breakfast together....

"Do you like the food ?" Karin asked which Naruto only nodded as he was busy eating and Karin couldn't only smile.

After taking breakfast Naruto got ready in his outfit ...

As He was called by Hiruzen at the Hokage office for something important...

"Well , I'll be going , You take rest and yeah at the afternoon I'll walk you the village as you are going to live here from now on so I think it's better to know your surroundings ." Naruto said as he walked to the doors to leave.

Karin only nodded and waved him bye and Naruto waved back.

At the Hokage office.....

"Jii-chan you called for me." Naruto said to Hiruzen who was sitting at his usual chair.

"You're here , Naruto." Hiruzen said.

Suddenly the door and a man with tall stature, spiky white hair, and distinctive facial markings entered the room.

The man entered the room and bowed to Hiruzen.

"Meet him Naruto , He's one of the Legendary Sanin, The toad Sage Jiraiya."

"The Legendary Sanin, Jiraiya ? He's the mentor of my father ?" Naruto said in surprise as he looked at Jiraiya who smiled at him.

[Ok , I feel like I'm walking backwards in terms of quality of writing I don't know why but anyway, let's keep trying...

Just a question came to my mind while writing about Karin , like what if I kill Hinata somehow and make Karin Naruto's Love Interest ? Well obviously You will hate me , won't you ? But I was just curious...

Anyways drop Power stone and votes as well as keep reading Tnx]