A young teenage boy with blonde hair, whiskers, and blue eyes stopped and dropped his bag on the ground. He ran up a pole to get a better view of the village. A long white-haired male stood and watched him, amused by his excitement.

"He's having a ball...!" Chuckled the white-haired man.

The boy reached to the top and held out his arms.

"This takes me back! The village hasn't changed a bit! Everyone! Uzumaki Naruto is back!" He said with much enthusiasm and spirit.

It was the great return of Uzumaki Naruto and one of the legendary Sannin Jiraiya's from nearly three years of training.

But where is Uzumaki Tora (Name)?

After meeting with Tsunade and reuniting with Sakura, Naruto ran into Kakashi. His sensei and sister's current lover.

Throughout the time they spent speaking, (Name) wasn't mentioned once. Kakashi tried looking around the room for her as he spoke about testing Naruto and Sakura's skills. He even tried to sense if her chakra was nearby and that she might've been planning a surprise attack on Kakashi. But he felt nothing.

"You didn't come back..." Kakashi thought to himself. As he disappeared from Tsunade's office, everyone assumed he was in a hurry to read the new edition of "Icha Icha Paradise" Naruto had given him as a present, when in reality, Kakashi went to confirm his suspicions about you.

~ Time Skip ~

Jiraiya found Kakashi and talked about the Akatsuki's movements. They were sitting in a restaurant while having this conversation. As they finished their conversation on the topic, Jiraiya got up to leave and meet Tsunade to spectate their pupils results of their training. But before he left, Kakashi stopped Jiraiya.

"Um, Master Jiraiya, where's (Name)? Wasn't she supposed to return with you and Naruto?" Jiraiya sighed and sat back down. Kakashi stared at Jiraiya intently, waiting to hear something like "oh (Name)! She just stopped by your house on the way back!" Or "she's at Mount Myoboku! She'll be back soon, geez relax!" From Jiraiya but their air for the conversation hasn't lightened up.

"(Name)... well I was hoping to avoid this topic, but it can't be helped." Jiraiya said in a serious tone.

Kakashi was prepared for anything at this point. Throughout your relationship, there have always been battles and obstacles that have tried to separate you two. If you were in danger, Kakashi would head out to look for you. He just needed Jiraiya to confirm it.

"Tsunade has assigned her on another mission. Just as a test of her new strength, just like Naruto. But she assigned her on this mission a couple weeks ago, so I wouldn't expect her to return to the village for two or three days." Jiraiya said with his elbow on the table, waving his hand like your mission wasn't that grand.

"A mission... I see." Kakashi sighed. He was hoping to see you sooner than two or three days, but it can't be helped.

"Don't worry, it's just a regular mission. She's not in any danger, Kakashi. So lighten up a little and let's go meet up with Naruto and the others."

"Alright."

~ Somewhere in a dark cave ~

Two figures stood across from each other, both in black cloaks. The only difference, one of them had a cloak with red clouds on it.

"So it's begun.."

"Yes, we've already dispatched some teams to go after some Jinchuriki throughout the different lands. One team is near their target, the Jinchuriki named Gaara of the sand."

"Soon, me and Naruto will be targeted then. Jiraiya-sensei won't be around for that long in the village to protect us."

A light shines in the cave to reveal a female with (h/l) (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes. The other was a male with long raven-hair tied in a ponytail with the Sharingan.

"Yes, I hope your training has improved not only your strength but Naruto's as well. The other members of the Akatsuki are very skilled, (Name)-sama."

You sighed as you looked at Itachi's serious expression. You pushed your hair back and leaned against the wall of the cave. Itachi only watched you and stood in place.

"Yeah, but we still have some room to grow. We'll be fine for now, thank you."

"Then I will take my leave." Itachi turned to walk away.

"Hold it. Why is your Sharingan activated, Itachi?" You stopped him before he could disappear. You stood in front of Itachi staring deeply at his Sharingan. Itachi knew better than to cast you under a Genjutsu, but it was quite tempting at this moment.

"I don't mean to be rude, but it is none of your concern. I really must go, (Name)-sama." Itachi tried to walk past you, but you hugged him so he wouldn't get away. His eyes widened as he looked down to meet yours looking up to him.

"Your eyesight is getting worse, isn't it..." Itachi looked away from you.

"It's not important."

"You're not alone, Itachi! You can tell me things, I'm here for you. Is your health getting worse?" You pleaded to Itachi, hoping he'd tell you something.

"I will report back soon, (Name)-sama." With that, Itachi disappeared with his infamous crow jutsu. You had a vein pop out of your forehead.

"Damn, Itachi! Always pushing me away! All I wanted was for you to tell me if you were sick or not!" You thought to yourself as you reverse summoned yourself.

You appeared by some healthy green trees on top of a scroll. You sighed, took off the cloak, and made your way to the nearest dirt road. You were wearing a gray long-sleeved top that only revealed some of your stomach and black shorts with fishnet leggings.

The wind blew against your hair to reveal the Uzumaki symbol you and Naruto shared. (Not to mention every ninja has the symbol on their ninja vests, but it's a little fun fact that I learned from watching Naruto Shippuden.)

You found the dirt road and started walking down the path.

"I'll be home soon..."

~ Time Skip ~

It was already night, but you still kept on walking. After a few more minutes you found yourself in front of a village. But it wasn't just a random village, it was your home.

You smiled as you were about to step through the gates. Then you sensed a malicious aura behind you and roundhouse kicked whoever was behind you.

"Who the hell do yo- Oh crap, sensei!" You had accidentally kicked Jiraiya who was planning on scaring you anyway. He hit the ground and continued rolling down until he was stopped by a tree. As Jiraiya slowly got up from the ground, you ran to him to help him up.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you Pervy sensei!" You said as Jiraiya stood up holding his cheek.

"No no, I was only testing you! Ha ha.. Anyways, you're back sooner than I expected so I have a request to ask you that will benefit the both of us!" Jiraiya said with a sly smile. You raised your eyebrow as Jiraiya giggled and whispered in your ear his plan.

A/N: Welcome to Book 2 Ch. 1! I got too excited and found some free time to write so please enjoy and let me know how I did! Also, I did try to recreate the whole Naruto coming back home scene but not for that long, cause it's about reader-chan. Anyways, thank you again for reading!