Naruto and Jiraiya had been walking all day. Naruto was telling Jiraiya all he dared to about the future. It was only when the sun had set that they decided it was best to stop for the night.

"So wait? You're saying that you mastered sage mode?" Jiraiya was impressed.

"You know it! I was also able to create a change in chakra nature to the Rasengan. And then throw it."

"No way! Can't wait until I can see that in action!"

The conversation continued in a lighthearted manner as the two of them ate their dinner. Once they were finished Jiraiya decided to speak up before Naruto could. "I'll keep watch for the night, Naruto. I want you to get some sleep." He could see how tired Naruto was.

"That's okay. I can--" Naruto was cut off suddenly when Jiraiya sent a death glare to him.

"No, Naruto. You are going to go to sleep. If I have to knock you out I will."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya not knowing what to say. Now what do I do? I know he'll follow through on that threat.

"Naruto." Jiraiya's voice was soft as he spoke. "You may be some big shot where you're from, but you are still a child. You need to rest otherwise you will be of no help to anyone."

Naruto knew what he was saying was true, and in truth he wanted to sleep, but he didn't want to admit that he was scared.

"Why won't you sleep?" Jiraiya decided to find out why he wouldn't sleep instead of forcing him to.

"I..." Again, Naruto didn't know what to say.

"It's okay, Naruto." Jiraiya understood what Naruto's silence meant.

"What do you mean?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya in confusion. Not realizing what he meant.

"Going through what you have, anyone would be afraid to fall asleep. That's what happens with war."

Naruto let a couple of tears fall as he thought of what Pervy Sage said. Subtly wiping his eyes he spoke up, "I don't want to relive those memories anymore." This was the most vulnerable he had let himself be since he talked to his dad about Sakura, but he knew this time went deeper.

"No one would, not even me. But you need to sleep, Naruto." Jiraiya stood up to give Naruto some space to think about what he said.

Man I hate when Pervy Sage is right...

"You can sleep in the mindscape, Naruto." Kurama entered his thoughts at that moment.

"Yeah... yeah, I'll do that." With that said Naruto laid down in his makeshift bed and closed his eyes, and entered his mindscape.

"Long time no see, Kit." Kurama smiled as he looked at Naruto.

"Hey, Kura. It has been a while since I've been here." Naruto ignored the new nickname and walked over to Kurama and sat down next to him while Kurama wrapped his tails around him.

"Good night, Kit."

"Good night, Kura."

Jiraiya was happy to see that Naruto was asleep when he got back. I knew he was tired. He sat down next to the fire and pulled out a small scroll from his jacket. He decided he would write a letter to Minato and tell them that they would arrive tomorrow, he then summoned a small toad and sent him on his way.

Naruto woke up in his mindscape the next morning. "Man, did I sleep through the whole night?" He said this to himself as he stood up and stretched.

"You actually did, I'm glad." Kurama was glad that Naruto was able to get a full night's rest for once.

When Naruto left the mindscape and fully woke up, he was greeted with a blinding light.

"Good morning, Naruto! Or should I say afternoon? You slept so long I was about to check if you were dead or not!" Jiraiya laughed at his own joke. "Anyways, we had better get going if we want to be back to the village before it gets dark."

Naruto agreed and nodded his head to what Jiraiya was saying. "Yeah, let's get going, Pervy Sage." With that said he quickly gathered up what little he had with him and they set off back down the road.

It was late afternoon when they reached the village. "Aw man, I never realized how much I would miss home. I need some Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto had a huge smile on his face as he walked through the somewhat familiar streets.

Jiraiya was watching Naruto with amusement. "You have a lot of energy, kid." He just shook his head as he continued to follow Naruto down the streets of the Leaf Village.

Naruto was almost to Ichiracku's when a young boy ran into him.

"Oh I'm so sorry mister!"

Naruto looked down at the little boy. He had dark raven hair and onyx eyes. "It's okay!" Naruto had a huge smile on his face. "What's your name?" Naruto knelt down so he could be face to face with the boy.

"My name's Itachi!" The boy said this with a grin on his face.

Oh my gosh! It's baby Itachi! Naruto couldn't help but think to himself how cute Itachi was as a little kid. "Well hi Itachi, I'm Naruto!"

"Will you be my friend?" Itachi looked at Naruto with big pleading eyes.

He's too adorable! "Of course I will!" Once Naruto had said this, Itachi ran up and gave him a huge hug, thanking him over and over again.

"Itachi! Don't go running off like that. I am so sorry if he was bothering you sir." A young woman came up and picked up the young Itachi.

"It's no problem! He was just too cute to say no to." Naruto brushed off the woman's worries.

"I'm Mikoto, Itachi's mom. It's nice to meet you." Mikoto held out her hand to Naruto.

Naruto shook Mikoto's hand as he spoke. "It's nice to meet you Mikoto, I'm Naruto."

"Naruto! Will you play with me?!" Itachi spoke up from within his mom's arms.

Naruto almost couldn't say no while looking into the cute eyes of Itachi. Dang, why is he so darn cute! He went up and tapped him on the forehead like he had done to Sasuke so many times. "Sorry Itachi, I've got somewhere to be right now. Next time, okay. I promise." Naruto smiled at Itachi as he and his mom walked away.

Naruto was following Jiraiya through the village until he came to a stop in front of a bar. "Uh Pervy Sage... I'm only seventeen. I'm too young to be drinking." Naruto rolled his eyes at the familiar one-track mindedness of his Master.

"Now now, Naruto. We are meeting someone here. And you can just get water if you want." Jiraiya continued on into the bar, sitting at the far table to wait for the one they were meeting.

"So who are we meeting, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked from across the booth they were in.

"You'll see when he gets here Naruto, so just wait." Jiraiya just shrugged as he continued to pour his sake. Now all Naruto could do was wait.

Minato was walking through the streets towards the bar they had chosen. I can't believe he already found Naruto. That was even faster than I thought it would be. Minato was almost at the bar when an ANBU Black Ops member appeared behind him. "What can I do for you?"

"You have been summoned by Lord Hokage." This was all the ANBU said before he disappeared again.

Minato sighed before he transported himself to the door of the Hokage's office. When he heard the "come in" from inside he opened the door.

"Ah, Minato. You came faster than I expected." The Hokage spoke up from behind his desk.

"Lord Third. You wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, I heard that Naruto was back in the village."

"Yes sir. I was actually on my way to speak with him and Master Jiraiya." Minato nodded to what the Hokage was saying.

"Well, when you do manage to speak with him. I would like you to gather your team and meet back here for a debriefing." The Hokage knew that Minato wanted to talk with Naruto as soon as possible, so he figured he wouldn't keep him any longer.

"Yes Lord Third, I will." Minato bowed before walking out of the office, and once he was out the door, he transported himself once again back to where he had been just a little ways away from the bar.

When Minato finally reached the bar and walked inside, he felt himself release a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. He's okay... That's all he could think of as he walked up to the table with Jiraiya and Naruto.

"Minato! Long time no see!" Jiraiya directed Minato to sit down next to Naruto as they spoke.

Minato wasn't listening to Jiraiya, he was more concerned about Naruto. "Naruto, I'm glad to see that you are okay. We were all worried when you suddenly disappeared."

Naruto felt guilty that he caused his dad to worry anyways. "Sorry about that. I had some stuff I needed to take care of." He couldn't quite make eye contact as he spoke.

"That's alright, I understand. That's your prerogative." Minato knew that Naruto was strong. If he had things to do, that was his right. "It's a good thing you're here though. Our team just got assigned a new mission."

"Wow, that was fast. I haven't even been back a full day yet." Naruto was surprised at the new information. "Do you know what it is yet?"

"I don't, unfortunately. Lord Third would like to debrief the whole team together."

"Alright. We can go in the morning. I would like to take the night to relax." Naruto did in fact want to go home and sleep. After the previous night's sleep, he wanted to sleep even more.

"That sounds good to me. We can gather everyone in the morning." Minato agreed to Naruto's idea.

Minato watched as Naruto left the bar and started off towards his home before turning towards Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sensei, what happened when you found him?" His voice was etched with worry.

"Well, it was like you said, when I found him he looked ready to pass out at any moment. From what I can guess, he hadn't had a proper night's rest for at least a couple weeks." Jiraiya sighed as he continued talking. "Last night I was able to talk some sense into him and get him to rest, and he seemed to sleep for the whole night and into the afternoon." He decided to leave out the conversation they had had. He knew it wasn't his place to tell Minato anything.

"Well I'm glad you found him when you did. Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato bowed his head at Jiraiya as he said his thanks.

The next morning Minato met up with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin. They were all walking towards the Hokage's office and were surprised to find Naruto already there and waiting for them. After they had all greeted each other they walked up to the office, ready to get their new mission.

"Good morning everyone." The Hokage's voice was serious as he spoke. "I assume Minato has told you that you have a new mission."

"Yes Lord Third, he has." Kakashi couldn't wait to get a new mission. He was starting to get bored just waiting around. "So what is it?"

The Hokage took a breath before continuing. "You five will make your way to the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. You will destroy the Kannabi Bridge so no more enemy reinforcements can enter our land."

Minato was nodding along to the information he was being given. That is when he noticed that Naruto had gone completely still and he looked pale. Is he okay?

Naruto was having a panic attack in his mind. Kannabi Bridge?! No no no no no. I am so not ready for this! I knew this would be coming, but I thought I still had more time! I don't know what I'm going to do yet! Naruto was pulled from his thoughts by someone tapping his shoulder.

"Did you hear what Lord Hokage said Naruto?" Minato was asking Naruto, confusion clear on his face.

Naruto scratched his head. "Sorry Gramps, I was sort of lost in thought."

The Hokage just shook his head. "I said, you leave in one week, so prepare yourselves now."

With all the information they needed they all left the Hokage's office, four of them with the determination to train as hard as possible for their new mission, and one in particular trying to find out ways to save a child and stop a war.