The three weeks since end of the preliminaries for Naruto had been almost non-stop training for the chuunin exams. He'd spend two days a week working with Atsui and Shiho on his kyuubi chakra and then sparring with Hinata who he could honestly say was a real friend now. She was shy still but he had discovered she had a wicked sense of humor after she collaborated with him on pulling a prank on Jiraiya.
Speaking of Jiraiya. In the three days a week Naruto spent with the man he had developed a fond dislike of the man and his bad habits and the all too regularly embarrassing situations he brought down upon Naruto. Still, the man could train a shinobi like none other. In just the short time Naruto had worked with him he'd improved his sealing skills something crazy, even more so after Jiraiya passed him an Uzumaki sealing scroll. Jiraiya had taught him to summon toads and a handful of doton jutsu as well.
Other than the aforementioned training Naruto spent one day a week with Kakashi working on strategy and ways to use everything he'd learned. The last day he had was usually spent on his own personal projects like improving his use of the chakra chains. This day was also when he usually saw his friends amongst all the genin from the exam.
Sadly that didn't include spending much time with his new-found cousin Karin. She was transferred to the village smoothly enough. The Kusagakure taicho made a bit of stink when he was signing the actual documentation but signed it nonetheless. Two days after that Karin was inside SIPA starting her evaluation.
"Hey Atsui-jiji," said Naruto in greeting upon entering the man's office.
"Hello Uzumaki-san," said Atsui blandly. "Please address me appropriately."
Naruto just waved him off. "Today is Karin's chakra test right?"
Atsui looked up from his file momentarily and frowned. He then set aside the folder and searched through some of the documents on his desk before finding the page he was looking for. "Yes it is," said Atsui with a sigh. "I'm guessing you'd like to sit in on it?"
"Can I?"
"I suppose," said Atsui. "There were some things in this test I wanted to see also."
"Sweet," said Naruto exuberantly. "Let's go!"
Atsui sighed again but stood and lead the way through the maze of hallways.
"Naruto-kun!" shouted Karin with joy at seeing him enter the room. Naturally she had to give him a massive hug which he happily returned.
"We're just getting started Naruto-kun," said Shiho with a smile for her friend.
"Cool," said Naruto with a grin of his own.
"Now, just to make sure you understand. These papers are looking for specific affinitiesin your chakra. Now, just because we say your chakra is attuned to something does not guarantee you will excel in that discipline's use. It only means your chakra is more likely to respond to that particular use. For example, as an Uzumaki you are likely to have a strong affinity to fuuinjutsu. This only means that your chakra is more likely to respond favorably to using fuuinjutsu, not that you'll be an amazing master of fuuinjutsu instantly."
"I understand," said Karin. "I've used a lot of fuuinjutsu and it is more responsive to my chakra than most others I've seen. I also know that as an Uzumaki we find fuuinjutsu easier because of how our brains work where we can see all the moving parts at the same time where others have to work through all the various parts."
"Good," said Shiho. "You would not believe the complaints some of these genin have come back with since we started testing them for the various chakra affinities. Especially the people questioning shape manipulation. It is one of the most difficult branches of chakra for a reason, most people have to work very, very hard to be able to excel at it."
"You seem a little miffed today Shiho-chan," Naruto observed cautiously.
"Sorry," said Shiho with an exasperated sigh. "It's the parent complaints from some of the clans about these particular test results. 'My family has always excelled at genjutsu, how can you say my daughter has no talent for genjutsu?' As if I'm tampering with the test results."
"Fair enough," said Naruto trying to placate the young woman.
"Anyway, let's get started," said Shiho handing the first sheet to Karin which didn't react.
"No lightning affinity," said Shiho marking the results on her clipboard before handing another sheet. "No wind affinity."
"She doesn't have the same affinity as me?" asked Naruto.
"Elemental affinities are very twitchy," said Shiho. "There is so much debate on how people develop them. Some claim genetics. Others say it is psychological. Even Atsui-sama would agree that it seems impossible to guarantee which affinities someone will manifest."
"Very true," said Atsui. "However, with all of these recent tests and being able to check more in depth to family histories my most recent theory is that it is both genetic and psychological factors combined."
"Interesting," mumbled Naruto.
"Strong earth affinity," said Shiho taking note of the next result.
"Minor water affinity," said Shiho.
Atsui seemed to perk up at that. "Check them again, I want exact measurements."
"It's accurate, combination element is unlikely," said Shiho checking them again as requested.
"Why is that important?" asked Karin.
"Mokuton uses very strong affinities to earth and water. While it may be unlikely it's still something highly valued here," explained Atsui.
"This is good news right?" asked Naruto.
"Neither good nor bad, just something worth double checking," said Atsui. "Please carry on with the tests Shiho-san."
"Very strong spiritual aspect and moderate physical aspect," said Shiho more to herself as she handed another card to Karin. "Very strong iryojutsu affinity and moderate genjutsu affinity."
"I use genjutsu mostly," said Karin agreeing.
"For this one please hold your hand open and I will set it on your palm," said Shiho before placing the shape manipulation card on her hand.
Karin did as instructed. Once the card was placed it rumbled for a moment before five chains made of chakra erupted and dove into the floor before weaving back out again forming a cage of sorts around her.
"I thought the chains were kyuubi's doing," said Shiho shaking slightly from having to dive out of the path of the chains.
Atsui cursed angrily. "Damn it. It must be Uzumaki. But I don't understand the chakra makeup. Her chains are glowing green, very similar to iryo chakra."
Naruto not being afraid at all walked up and touched the chains. "It's healing chakra. It's pure healing chakra. This is awesome."
Atsui paused at that information. He approached himself, limping as he went and placed a hand on the chains. "It is, I can feel my leg healing."
"Um, can I put this card down now?" asked Karin. "I'm starting to feel really drained."
"Of course," said Atsui. "Of course."
Karin put the card down breathing a sigh of relief.
"So why are her chains different?" asked Naruto.
"I was wrong," said Atsui almost sounding excited. "It's part of your kekkei genkai. I was wrong before. I thought because of the presence of the kyuubi's chakra in your chains that it must be because of him but now... Now I know better. These Uzumaki chains are amazing. They take on the properties of your chakra strength. The strongest source of chakra in you is the kyuubi which is why your chains take that into them and then mixes it with your normal unaligned chakra. It's also why you can use them as a weapon against the kyuubi. The only thing that can truly hurt him is himself. It's like a defensive mechanism of the Uzumaki chakra. Where your cousin Karin here is very strongly aligned with iryojutsu which is why her chains heal but also act as a barrier."
"That is so cool!" said Shiho almost drooling like a rabid fan girl.
"We're even more bad-ass than I thought!" shouted Naruto excitedly.
"Yeah we are!" joined Karin in celebration.
"I have to go see the hokage now," said Atsui hurriedly. "Shiho finish the chakra tests." With that the man was gone.
The rest of the chakra tests went as expected. She had a strong affinity for fuuinjutsu. Her bloodline affinity matched Naruto's results. She then spent the rest of the day working with Naruto on using her chakra chains.
BREAK
"Kid's a beast sensei," said Jiraiya sitting opposite his old sensei.
"His development has really been astonishing," said Sarutobi. "We wasted so much of his potential early on because we knew nothing of the Uzumaki's physiology or psychology."
"I knew Kushina pretty well back then and even I had no idea," said Jiraiya. "I can only imagine it was kept hidden intentionally. Something passed down within the family. From the little I've gleaned from Karin-chan, her father told her it was something all Uzumaki had to learn to control from a young age."
"We had no idea," said Sarutobi. "We honestly thought it was simply an attention deficit disorder all that time."
"But we know now and Naruto has made some amazing strides in his ability to focus in just six months," said Jiraiya. "I'm proud of the boy, I really am. Your reports to me worried me greatly for a long time there. I couldn't understand how the son of those two could possibly be that... That stupid."
"It was worse on my end," said Sarutobi. "I had to watch him grow. He'd have these amazing elaborate pranks that would come out of nowhere that quiet frankly left me dumbfounded and yet for anything else he seemed to be dumber than a box of rocks. I never understood it."
Their conversation was interrupted by an urgent knock at the door.
Sarutobi frowned. "Enter," he called out.
Atsui entered quickly and closed the door behind him.
"Atsui? Is Naruto okay?" asked Jiraiya.
"He's fine," said Atsui. "Hokage-sama, you may want to clear the room and classify what I'm about to tell you."
"Clear the room," said Sarutobi without hesitation. The hidden ANBU vanished and the windows and doors were instantly barricaded and sealed.
"Did Naruto do something big?" asked Jiraiya.
"Not Naruto, Karin," said Atsui barely able to contain himself as he walked to the desk and gulped down a glass of water.
"You seem to be walking better," said Sarutobi curiously.
"Karin healed it," said Atsui. "That's what I'm here about. She has chakra chains, just like Naruto and the previous jinchuuriki. You said they were both Uzumaki right?"
"That is correct," said Sarutobi slightly confused. "So the chains are part of their bloodline?"
"Yes," said Atsui. "But they are more important than that. They are a miracle of chakra."
"What do you mean?" asked Jiraiya curious.
"So the first time Naruto manifested the chains they were mixed with kyuubi's chakra which is what lead us to believe that they were the result of his blood gift. But Karin's chains were mixed with iryo chakra."
"Hmm," murmured Jiraiya. "I remember Kushina's chains, they didn't possess any of the kyuubi's chakra. However, they did seem to act as seals. She could use them to bind anything."
"The previous jinchuuriki?" asked Atsui getting a nod from Jiraiya. "Kyuubi was sealed in her when she was six years old yes?"
"Yeah," answered Jiraiya. "Does that matter?"
"I believe it does very much so. I am of the opinion now that these chains automatically adopt the strongest affinity of the user's chakra. So Kushina's chakra was most aligned with fuuinjutsu, probably a result of her early youth in Uzushiogakure. Therefore her chains became a sealing and binding element. Karin's chakra is most aligned with iryojutsu, therefore her chains act as a healing element and barrier." Atsui paused cautiously now. This next part was the most important and possibly the scariest of all. "Naruto's strongest chakra source is the kyuubi so his chains naturally took that in. It's why Naruto has such an easy time binding kyuubi with them when in his mindscape. More importantly I believe his chain may actually be able to hurt the kyuubi and if they can hurt the kyuubi then..."
"He can hurt the other bijuu," finished Jiraiya wide eyed.
"This cannot go beyond this room. If another country were to find this out..." Sarutobi left the statement hanging as all three of the men understood exactly what it meant. "I don't want any documentation to exist about their chains. If there are any out there now I want it destroyed and made to look as if it never existed in the first place."
"Shit," said Jiraiya. "The Uzumaki had to know this. They had to. And if they did... Shit!"
"After the exams I want you to take the two Uzumaki to the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Scour every last inch of that place for anything you can find. If you find anything I want it brought back and sealed away such that only an Uzumaki loyal to this village can find it," ordered Sarutobi. "After that... After that sink the island completely."
"I'll help Naruto create a vault seal in his office," said Jiraiya grimly at the prospect of things to come.
"Also clean out the Uzumaki shrine on the outskirts of the village. I want it emptied and then made to disappear as well."
"Atsui-san, make sure you take care of your staff. Seal their memories or seal their ability to speak of that particular information if you feel you need them knowledgeable but ensure secrecy at all costs," said Sarutobi just as grimly as Jiraiya.
"I'll see to it immediately."
BREAK
Hyuuga Hiashi was a proud man. And recently his pride had been repeatedly trampled. First was the horrible waste of time and money his clan spent to have his daughters tested in SIPA. Second was the summons from the daimyo to answer for horribly false and inflated charges of human enslavement. Third was the absolute destruction of his clan's traditions and placing an outright ban on the use of the Hyuuga soke no juinjutsu. The final straw though was the insult and desecration of the Hyuuga jyuuken.
How dare anyone impinge upon such a sacred art? How dare one of his blood actually pursue such a desecration of their sacred taijutsu?
He would have his answers today though. And yet he also knew there was a slight chance, however miniscule, that his eldest daughter had succeeded. So it was he came to the decision that this... test... would occur in private and away from prying eyes, even those of his own clan.
So it was Hiashi and his daughters found themselves walking the labyrinth that was SIPA escorted by the tester Fushi.
"Atsui-sama has agreed to allow you to use one of our rooms for your... evaluation. Please be aware that this room is completely sealed such that nothing can spy into or out of this area and no chakra usage can be detected outside of it. Also as agreed, I will be observing your test and measuring empirical data." Fushi stopped just as she passed a stairway leading to the basement and turned around motioning for them to go down the stairs. "Down here."
Hiashi neither responded nor acknowledged Fushi but proceeded down the stairs anyway followed closely by his daughters.
Hiashi paused upon entering the room. He was stunned by all the various seals on the floors and walls. He was certain that a bijuu could be fully unleashed in this room and no one outside would ever know.
"I will allow you to explain to your daughters then you will join me in the observation booth," said Fushi motioning to the suspended booth and stairway leading up to it.
Hiashi turned to his daughters, his face set in stone. "You two will fight today in this room until one of you is unconscious."
Hinata fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Let me be clear. The results of this fight will never leave this room. The elders will not be informed and it will have no impact on your status within the clan. As such do not hold back, either of you."
Hinata seemed to perk up a bit at that news. It meant she didn't have to worry about defeating her sister as it could not possibly lead to her being branded and thrown into the branch house. Even if there was only a few weeks of separation left between branch and main a great deal of pain and suffering could be inflicted in that time.
"So, Hinata, you will show me this soft style you've been developing. And you Hanabi will crush it absolutely and without remorse," said Hiashi harshly.
Hinata flinched at the cruelty in the man's voice. Hanabi meanwhile just bowed respectfully.
Hiashi turned without a word and went up to join Fushi in the booth.
"Good luck Hanabi-chan," said Hinata bowing to her sister.
"It is not about luck but skill. You will lose as you always have," said Hanabi to her opponent. It didn't stop the little voice in the back of her head telling her something was off about this situation.
Hinata for once did not flinch at her sister's harsh words. She for once truly had nothing to fear from holding back this time. Her victory would not doom her sister.
"Begin," came Hiashi's voice over the intercom.
Hanabi charged straight forward as expected.
Hinata surprisingly stepped forward cutting the distance except that when Hanabi moved to strike Hinata was no longer there and was instead next to her facing the same direction. Hinata then took hold of Hanabi's arm and used the girls momentum against her and rolled the girl into a forward throw that ended with Hanabi on the ground looking up at the ceiling with her arm numb from the elbow down. The elbow where Hinata had taken hold of her. Hanabi knew then exactly what happened and was stunned by it. Hinata had closed the tenketsu in her elbow during the throw. More than that, Hinata was clearly faster and stronger than her. Something she never believed possible.
Hanabi finally got back to her feet to see Hinata standing a fair distance waiting on her to stand. Hanabi's arm hung mostly limp at her side but that didn't deter the young girl in the slightest.
Hinata then began to circle her sister quickly, it looked as though her feet barely touched the floor as she moved.
Hanabi once again charged forward to attack.
Hinata saw the attack coming and reverse spun around and behind the attack striking Hanabi's other arm but missing the tenketsu.
Hanabi's eyes widened in surprise and winced at the hit even though it missed. She tried to spin and face Hinata only to find her sister had spun back around the other direction striking a few tenketsu on her abdomen and chest then springing backwards to regain distance.
Hanabi winced as she found it harder to breath now and twisting was out of the question. She didn't know what had happened or how it happened but Hinata was totally dominating her. And yet she could clearly see Hinata was not enjoying her imminent victory. Why? Why did her sister not gloat over winning so convincingly? Did Hinata not think Hanabi was a worthy opponent? Did Hinata really believe Hanabi was below her?
"I'm sorry Hanabi-chan. I do not want to hurt you anymore. Please surrender," said Hinata.
"Don't look down on me," said Hanabi with a frown.
"I am not looking down on you Hanabi. I envy you. I truly do. You are far more talented than I am in our families traditional jyuuken. I wish I had your talent then maybe this fight would be unnecessary."
"So now you mock me? I never knew you to be so cruel," said Hanabi trying to understand her sister.
"I do not mock," said Hinata with a tear in her eye. "I do not mean to be cruel. For the first time we can fight and I do not have worry about cursing you to the branch family. I am sorry for holding back so much in the past. It was not meant to insult you or mock you but to protect you from the cruelty of the elders and father."
"Cruelty?" demanded Hanabi. "What cruelty? I am honored as a Hyuuga should be. I know my place and you should know yours. You who perverts the jyuuken. It is no wonder you are seen as such a failure."
Hinata frowned as she could hear the denial in her sister's voice. The hurt pride at being told you've been lied to and fooled for years. "I'm sorry Hanabi-chan. I guess it was cruel of me to hold back all those years. It must hurt so much. But I will not take back what I've done or said. I'm your big sister. It's my job to protect you just like kaa-san told me to."
Hanabi flinched at that. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
Hinata smiled sadly. "I remember before you were born I would spend hours with kaa-san in the gardens just talking to her about anything and everything. She was always so kind and patient. I remember how happy she was to be having you become part of the family. She made me promise to always protect you so that is what I've done."
"Liar!" Hanabi all but shouted her denial. "You're just weak. You've always been weak."
"Do you remember the first time we sparred Hanabi-chan? I remember it clear as day. How one sided the fight was? How I didn't even fight back?"
Hanabi shook her head furiously.
"Just before we fought. I heard the elder talking. They said that you'd be branded that night while you were beaten down by the main branch. They talked about how they wanted to ensure you understood how you were to be forever below the main family. I remember thinking to myself that mother would hate me for it if I let them hurt you like that. I had to protect you. So I lost. I thought they'd brand me right then but they didn't. They disparaged me, belittled me, and made me suffer but it kept you safe. I understood not long after that because I was still heir I was safe. It was a miracle they didn't take that away from me after all this time but so long as I lost you were safe so I just kept losing."
"Why?" demanded Hanabi again, this time she could not fight her tears. "Why would you ever want to protect me? I've always crushed you in our fights. I've always done what father and the elders demanded of me and made your life one of misery. Why?"
"Because I promised mother and because you're my sister and because despite all that other stuff I love you," explained Hinata fighting her own tears.
Hanabi sank to her knees and cried for the first time in a very long time.
Hinata naturally moved to her to wrap her in a hug that the young girl clearly needed so very badly.
Up in the booth Hiashi frowned deeply. This was not supposed to happen.
"My point is made thus," said Fushi before leaving the booth and room behind.
Hiashi slammed a closed fist on the console in front of him angrily. His pride was extinguished.
BREAK
"What's up Ero-sennin? Kakashi-sensei?" greeted Naruto as he entered the training field for the last time before the finals.
"Would you stop calling me that?"
"Yo."
"Will you stop being a pervert?"
"Meh, fair enough," said Jiraiya with a little hand wave dismissal.
"So why are you both here today?" asked Naruto.
"Well the finals are tomorrow right?" asked Kakashi. It was then Naruto noticed Kakashi was not reading his book.
"Oh shit, what happened?" asked Naruto nervously.
"I told you he was becoming more observant," said Kakashi looking at Jiraiya.
"He's still a brat," said Jiraiya handing Kakashi a fifty ryo note.
Kakashi shrugged looking back to Naruto. "Nothing has happened yet."
"So something is going to happen? I'm not going to like it am I?"
"Probably not kid," said Jiraiya with a heavy sigh as he sat on a log that surrounded the fire pit they were meeting at. "Sit down kid. We've got lots to talk about."
Naruto clicked his tongue irritably but sat down anyway. "So what is going on?"
"A couple of things," said Kakashi. "I know you and I haven't talked about this much but I understand you killed someone in the Shi no Mori during the exam rather brutally. How are you coping with that?"
Naruto frowned. "I had a few nightmares. It all happened so fast. I just reacted to the situation like you trained me to. I used Kurama's chakra to end it faster but I guess it swayed me to be a bit more brutal. I could have just knocked the guy out after I crushed his hand but... It's not an excuse but I was worried about Sasuke. That he might do like he did to Haku. He just killed the others so easily. He didn't even hesitate. Was I wrong? I didn't toy with him. I tried to make it quick. It wasn't like the fight with Kiba where I was showing off."
"You were fine Naruto," said Kakashi. "I understand better than you think. You were actually very, very efficient. The kill could have been cleaner but I don't fault you in the slightest. Do you remember the fifth lecture I ever gave your team?"
"Fifth?" asked Naruto trying to remember. "Was that the one about water proofing or the one about staying hidden?"
"Neither," answered Kakashi. "It was the one about not playing with your opponent. About not hesitating. I'll give you a quick refresher anyway. When I was younger I was in a fight with an Iwagakure shinobi. Now this was during the war so it wasn't uncommon. Anyway, I knew I outclassed him in every way. I knew he didn't have a prayer of beating me. I was a jounin and he was a chuunin. Really he shouldn't have even been chuunin but it doesn't change the facts of the fight. I should also mention this was not long after I had lost one of my teammates so I was still... Hmm, angry, upset, vengeful? Let's go with vengeful.
"I toyed with the boy for nearly an hour. Giving him small cuts and then disappearing again. Giving him an occasional electrocution just to make him hurt only to stop short of killing him. It was very wrong of me but at the time I didn't much care.
"Finally I was ready to kill him. To put him down and instead I almost ended up being the one put down. What I didn't know at the time was that he had a teammate that was very well-hidden. This teammate of his went for help and came back with two jounin. One of which was the tsuchikage's son. I went from having the upper hand to being royally fucked in a matter of an hour. I killed the boy quickly and then the teammate. I fought hard against the other two. I managed to kill one of the jounin but the tsuchikage's son ended up toying with me." Kakashi paused a minute to tear off one sleeve of his shirt where there was a lot of very ugly scarring that went in rings up his arm.
"This will serve as a reminder of that fight for the rest of my life. I nearly lost this arm as a result. The tsuchikage's son bound me to a tree and cut these rings into my arm with a dulled kunai so that the skin tore more than cut. I was lucky my sensei showed up at that point and killed the other jounin. He didn't toy with him at seeing what the man did to me. He didn't hesitate or make the man suffer. He just killed him plain as day in about five minutes time. I was hardly conscious at that point but I heard the details later.
"When I told my sensei what happened... I've never seen that man so angry with me before then. If I didn't know him any better I thought he would have killed me then. Needless to say things had been rather cool between us for a while after that.
"After a month or so of avoiding each other we finally sat down to talk. He told me how disappointed he was in me. How stupid it was of me to play with the other shinobi like that. And then he told me how he'd done something similar once himself after his girlfriend almost died years before.
"He taught me a lesson then that has stuck with me ever since and I don't expect will ever leave me. If you must kill then kill quickly and efficiently. There is no room for hesitation or regret in the act of killing. As soon as you forget this you're likely to end up dead yourself. Mourn the dead, protect the living, but always be sure in your actions."
The was a long silence after that.
"Minato was clever like that," said Jiraiya with a small smile. "I miss that boy."
"I miss him too," said Kakashi somberly.
"Your sensei was the yondaime right?" asked Naruto after a while.
Kakashi nodded.
"Was he as cool as everyone says?" asked Naruto.
"He was very cool," said Kakashi. "You would have liked him. I bet anything he would have liked you too."
"You think?" asked Naruto.
"He may think but I know he would have liked you gaki," said Jiraiya with a big grin for the boy.
"I'm trying to make him proud you know," said Naruto. "He tasked me to guard the village from Kurama so that's what I'm going to do. I can't do any less than that can I?"
"He'd be proud kid," said Jiraiya. "He'd be real proud. That said, there is something else we need to talk to you about. Something to do with the exam tomorrow."
"What's up? I think I'm ready for Neji and anything else you can throw at me," said Naruto with a fist pump.
"That's good kid but there is something else we need to discuss," said Jiraiya with a chuckle at the boy's antics.
"Naruto, we have reason to believe that Konohagakure will be invaded tomorrow during the exams," said Kakashi bluntly.
"What? What the hell? Why aren't we telling everyone?"
"Naruto, what's the first rule of an ambush?" asked Kakashi.
"Oh," said Naruto understanding. "But why tell me? Are you telling the other genin?"
"Some of them are being informed, others are not," said Kakashi. "As for why we're telling you..."
"Because you're a jinchuuriki and the invaders are likely going to use their jinchuuriki," said Jiraiya. His voice was slightly remorseful.
"Who is invading us anyway?"
"We believe it will be Otogakure and Sunagakure," answered Jiraiya.
"Aren't we supposed to be allied with Sunagakure... Oh," Naruto said again now understanding. "They think they are going to surprise us but we're going to surprise them."
"Exactly," said Kakashi. "Now comes the hard part. When the invasion actually begins you are tasked with dealing with their jinchuuriki, preferably outside city limits to prevent too much damage."
"What about the teme? Isn't he supposed to fight him in the finals?"
"Sasuke has been training very hard this month and he is going to try very hard to kill Gaara during their fight," said Kakashi. "That said, I don't believe any amount of training Sasuke may undergo will be enough for him to face off with a very unstable jinchuuriki. You however probably can. Just don't tell him I said that."
Naruto had to stop himself from chuckling due to the seriousness of the situation.
"Now that we've covered that we're going to spend today discussing strategy for dealing with him," said Jiraiya.
Naruto nodded once, set in his determination to keep his home safe no matter what.