Chapter 110: Preparing for the trip

'Hmm, it seems that Fugaku didn't disappoint me and it all turned out all right in the end' I thought as I received the memories from the shadow clone I sent to the meeting.

'Konoha's going to be occupied for a while with the matter of the spies, so it's time to solve a few problems of my own once and for all, and the key to many of them lies in the hands of one person...'

"Tsunade huh…" I muttered while watching the two kids training in front of me throwing kunais and shurikens on different targets on the trees…

"Aghhh, why can't I get it right?" groaned Naruto annoyed that whatever he throws doesn't even connect with the tree... and to add salt to the injury, right after Sasuke made a move

*tob* tob* *tob*

All his throws almost hit a bullseye which in turn made him look smugly at Naruto in a challenging manner as he said

"heh, I will be the first to surpass Bakorio"

"Oh really? we will see about that" replied Naruto accepting the challenge not backing down at all before he started training harder.

I couldn't help but smile at these kids putting me as their goal 'Dreams are nice to have… even unachievable ones'

I then started thinking seriously about my next course of action 'I need to find Tsunade and test out a certain theory to revive Minato and Kushina, there's also the matter with Mukai's kid, I need to help treat his illness to gain Mukai's true loyalty, I don't want to lose such a precious talent or forcefully control him again, and then there's Jiraiya…

Jiraiya was the best person I can find and learn how to control natural energy from, or at least gain some experience in this regard so meeting him was necessary for recharging the system…

'Well, first let's see what that bastard is doing' I thought before I retrieved the communication device Minato and Kushina created and I immediately sent my chakra into it…

-------

Somewhere in the land of fire, a man was walking out of a village in disappointment while smoking casually...

"Just where am I supposed to find that woman tch, she's clearly making sure to erase her trail wherever she goes..." said Mukai with a face full of irritation at the thought of the time he's going to waste to find Tsunade, but he kept consoling himself with the thought that she might be capable of healing his son so it was worth it in the end...

He then was about to take out a map from his pouch to check for the location of the next village or city nearby with a famous gambling establishment but his action was interrupted when he sensed something vibrating...

"what's this?" Mukai's irritated expression immediately disappeared and what replaced it was an eerie calmness as he entered his fighting mode, but then when he retrieved the item that was vibrating he finally remembered what it was

"Oh, so it's that item the kid gave me to communicate with him from a distance huh… he said I need to put my chakra into it to use it" without wasting much time, Mukai started injecting some chakra into the device…

"Hello there Mukai, do you miss my voice?" a slightly distorted voice traveled to Mukai's ears and he wasn't sure what irritated him the most, the voice or its owner...

"This device will stop working if I cease injecting chakra into it right?" said Mukai apathetically threatening to stop the conversation so I quickly replied

"Tch you are no fun at all as always, anyways I found Tsunade, so you can stop looking for her, thanks for nothing" I said to the shock of Mukai

'What! How did he find her this fast, not even the elders of Konoha know her location, it seems I underestimated this kid'

"Where?" replied Mukai with some interest in his voice and I simply said

"Meet me at the southern lake in 6 hours" I said as I stopped transmitting my chakra without waiting for this idiot's response.

"Sigh, kids these days" muttered Mukai before he suddenly vanished like a phantom and started going south where the southern lake was located, it was a very popular location close to the border of the land of fire and the land of tea so he knew about it...

-Back at Konoha-

After I stopped injecting my chakra into the device, I turned my attention to Naruto and Sasuke and said with a smile "Hey guys, want to go on a trip with me outside of Konoha?"

The moment Naruto heard me, he immediately threw away the shurikens and kunais he had in his hands and arrived in front of me in a yellow flash

'Wtf, are you Minato or something' I thought before I heard Naruto excitedly talk with a wide grin on his cute face "I'm going I'm going, let's go right now, this is going to be fun!"

Sasuke also arrived soon after with an excited face but he hesitated a little bit as he said "I will need to ask mother first"

"Go ahead then, ask her, and don't take too long because I'm setting off in 15 minutes" I said with a smile and Sasuke quickly turned around and started running to his house…

I then turned my attention on the mess these kids left behind bringing a frown to my face before I released a sigh and started extending chakra strings from my fingertips and collecting all the kunai's and shurikens on the floor and imbedded on the trees…

"Woo this is so cool, what's this" asked Naruto with his big blue eyes widening in wonder.

"I'm manipulating and concentrating chakra into strings so that they don't break easily and could hold a certain weight, this's something used by people who manipulate puppets as their way of fighting" I replied to him as I easily collected everything into a bag.

"Waa, use puppets? they must be weak" said Naruto while his imagination ran wild thinking of someone using a teddy bear to fight...

"let's go home and prepare for the trip, this kind of chakra manipulation is still way out of your league for now" I said as I turned around and started walking back home.

"Ohh, I can easily do it, look" said Naruto before he started focusing on his hand to the best of his ability while yelling "Aaaaaaaa"

'Now you are turning into Goku…' I let out a sigh and ignored this idiot as I kept walking and before long, a disappointed Naruto started running after me with a pout on his face…

My heart softened a little so I said "I will teach you how to do it in the future, by you need to promise me to be a good kid during this trip"

Naruto's face was filled with a huge grin as he said "Alright it's a promise"….

Back home, I picked some money as well as food and water for the trip because it might last longer with Naruto and Sasuke who can't run as fast as ninja…

Almost 15 minutes later, Sasuke came knocking at my house, and to no surprise whatsoever, he was accompanied by his brother Itachi and his friend Shisui…

Sasuke uncomfortably said "Bakorio, I can go but my mother insisted on big brother Itachi accompanying us…"

I smiled at him and said "it's fine, the more company the better…" before I shot a look secretly at the two brats behind him…

Shisui smiled and said "where are we going?"

Naruto finally realized that he was so excited at the thought of leaving the village for the first time that he didn't ask where they were going, so he looked at me curiously…

"We are going to meet a friend, and then go meet someone else, anyways if you are ready let's head off" I said as I started walking in the direction of Konoha's gate pretending I haven't noticed a certain Kakashi tailing after us…

'Is he moving on his own, or did someone order him? Either way, it doesn't seem like Itachi and Shisui are aware of his presence…

Well Fugaku, it seems you passed this test too huh, this is really surprising…' I started feeling a little confused. After all, I decided to invite Naruto and Sasuke to test Fugaku and the village one last time, and he actually passed it even though there seems to be a lot of opposition to this decision. Hence, Kakashi's presence here.

As for Itachi and Shisui's presence, I didn't have any doubt that it was Mikoto trying to ensure our safety that's all….

'Maybe I can have another true friend in this village…' I thought as we finally reached Konoha's gates