Naruto was carrying a medium-sized log across his shoulders as he was dragging two stones around his ankles. Sasuke was walking next to him as his mother was holding his hand, "Why are you carrying that log, Naruto?" Sasuke asked

"Because it's a part of my training," Naruto grunted, taking a large step, trying to keep his pace with the group

"How much does that thing weigh?"

"I dunno," Naruto took another couple of steps before finishing his sentence, "around 130 pounds and the rocks are about 30 each,"

"Wow! That's a lot!" Sasuke remarked, looking up at his mother, "When can I start training like Naruto, ma?"

Mikoto looked down at her son and then back at the blonde. She gave a small smile as she looked back at her son and said: "Well, it's not my place to say, sweetheart. I'm training you the way I want you to train. You're gonna have to talk with Mr. Garou if you want to train like him."

"Alright, I'll go ask him," Sasuke replied, letting go of his mother's hand and ran a couple of dozen feet to where Garou and Shizune were.

"So, you sure this place is alright? Just to stay for a day or two and then leave?" Shizune asked, Garou nodding in response

"I'm sure, been to the place before. Apparently, they used to be a ninja village before they found it more profitable to be a tourist attraction." Garou explained his hands behind his head. Before he was about to explain further, he saw Sasuke coming up on his left and turned his head to the child, "May I help you, kid?"

"Train me, please!" Sasuke asked, walking with a bow. Garou looked him up and down as Sasuke walked with them.

"Look me in the eye, kid," Garou ordered, Sasuke quickly following it. Garou stared him in the eye with Sasuke doing the same. Nearly a minute would go by before he said: "Nah."

"What?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"You just don't have it in ya,"

"Have what?"

"That 'spark' I can't explain, you don't have it," Garou stated, making Sasuke pout, "but that doesn't mean I won't train you in another way,"

"Huh?" Sasuke questioned, raising an eye-brow

"If you agree to the training, you'll be stronger. But no crying, whining, or wailing, got it?" Garou said, picking his ear and flicking out a small wad of wax

"Yes, sir!" Sasuke replied, excited to start training

"Good," Garou turned his head to look at Naruto, "Oi! Naruto! You've got a sparring dum- I mean, partner!"

Naruto stopped for a few seconds to look at Garou, who was pointing at a smiling Sasuke. But the smile on Sasuke's face slowly faded as Naruto grew a smirk, "Perfect! Now I won't get my ass whooped when I spar!" Naruto shouted, but was struck in the back of the head by Mikoto

"Language, young man," Mikoto said calmly, putting her hands back together in front of her

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, looking away to see a bunch of mist on the horizon, "hey, sensei?"

"Yeah?" Garou answered

"Where are we going? I can see some mist over the trees," Naruto stated, pointing at the rising clouds

"Hey, we're close." Garou ignored Naruto's question as he started to pick up the pace. Shizune was soon to start running as Mikoto picked up Sasuke and Naruto booking it, trying his best to keep up with everyone from behind. After nearly 20 minutes of non-stop running, the ground started to transition from dirt to concrete. It became a bit harder to breathe as the sun was setting and the air was steamy. Soon, there they stood in front of a giant, open gate to see large pools of steaming-hot water on top of small cliff-sides and a small gift shop next to it.

Garou took in a deep breath, loving the feeling of steam entering his lungs, all the while it was mixed with street food and candy. Everyone else started to have their stomachs growl as they saw people in kimonos running around with food, candy, and toys in their hands. But they were soon brought out of their stupor when a man came out of the gift shop with a smile on his face. He wore plain shorts with sandals and a cone hat. He also wore a vest with a white undershirt, along with nearly a dozen necklaces around his neck.

"Welcome folks, to Yugukure: The Village Hidden in Hot Water! My name's Hajin, is there anything I can help you with?" the man, Hajin, asked as the smile on his face got bigger. It was then, everyone's stomachs growled even more and looked away in embarrassment, aside from Garou and Naruto.

"Yeah, where's the cheapest hotel here?" Garou asked, Hajin bowing and answering his question.

"Lucky for you sir, it's War's End Month! The one month out of the year where we celebrate maintaining our peace and independence from War and converting our lands into one giant tourist attraction! All food is at a 30% discount and all hotel rooms are at an all-time high of 60% off!" Hajin explained, gleefully, "Not to mention, our star hot-spring resort is free for the entire month, even allowing alcohol and food!"

"That's nice, but where's the cheapest hotel here?" Garou sweatdropped, making the joyful man fall flat on his face

"T-The cheapest place here is The Sleepy Bear Hotel, being 2848 yen a night," Hajin said, taking out a map, drawing a circle on it, and giving it to Garou, "that's a map of the town and I circled the place for ya,"

"Thanks, let's get going!" Garou said the last half to the group and they began to walk into the village, Hajin waving at them

"Remember, if you have any questions, you can always come here!" Hajin shouted, Sasuke and Naruto waving back at him as they walked away.

Jiraiya sat at a bar, drinking sake with a sorrowful look on his face. He huffed, taking out a picture of Minato holding the twins and Kushina holding Naruto just a week after they were born. Kushina looked like a wreck and Minato looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep. He smirked, putting the picture back in his pocket, pouring himself another shot of sake, and downing it in a single gulp. He did this for about a few more minutes before a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds sat down next to him.

The man had a hat on, covering his face as he asked the bartender for a glass of Umeshu with green tea. The bartender soon came back with what the man had ordered. Grabbing the glass, Jiraiya noticed the dark-purple nail polish on the man's fingers and giggled.

"They really made you paint your nails that? I thought they had more dignity," Jiraiya stated, taking a sip of his own drink.

"I do what I must to make sure my cover isn't blown. Even if it's a pedicure," he replied, taking his hat off to reveal himself to be Itachi, "besides, it was hard getting here in the first place without being noticed. My new partner is currently back at the camp sleeping,"

"New partner?" Jiraiya asked

"His name's Kisame Hoshigaki, former Seven Ninja Swordsman, my last partner died nearly a year ago," Itachi explained, sipping his Umeshu.

"Huh, nice to know, but I'm not here for information... well, not in the usual sense,"

"Really? Please do tell,"

"Itachi... Sasuke's been kidnapped," Jiraiya stated bluntly, Itachi freezing when he heard those words come out of the older man's mouth.

"Excuse you?" Itachi managed to say, gripping his glass

"It's not just Sasuke. Your mother along with Naruto was also taken," the old toad sage explained, pouring himself another shot of sake, only to realize that his bottle was empty, "damn-it, I'm out,"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he released his grip on the glass. He relaxed his face, trying to keep his composure, and looked up at the ceiling. "Did anyone see anything?"

"Not really. Signs of a small struggle through," Jiraiya looked around and waved down a bartender, asking for another bottle of sake.

"Anyone, you know could be involved?"

"Only one person fits the bill at this moment in time... and I think he had help on the inside," Jiraiya looked at Itachi, turning his entire body to face him.

Itachi lowered his head to meet his gaze, his Sharingan flaring as the old sage glared, "Who, Jiraiya?" Itachi demanded

"Danzo with some help from Shizune and one unknown," Jiraiya could sense the air between him and Itachi thicken with each passing second, as Itachi's Sharingan rotated in his eyes, transforming into the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Are you certain?" Itachi asked, a crack on his glass appearing

"Baku was there and the old war hawk is the only person with a contract with them. Can't be anyone else," Jiraiya answered, turning back to face a scared bartender with a bottle of sake in his hand, "what do you plan on doing, Itachi?"

"..." Itachi stayed silent, picking up his glass and downing the entire thing in a matter of seconds before putting his hat on and leaving.

Jiraiya shook his head, taking out a wallet and going through his money, "I'm sorry for my friend, how much for the drink, a new glass, and a tip?"

Garou stood with Naruto and Sasuke, each one only wearing a towel around their waist. Sasuke could only look at the scars on Naruto's body while Garou could only be staring at the couple of people sitting in the giant hot-spring.

"Man, for a place this popular, I'm surprised there aren't that many people," Garou said, looking down at the boys and snapping, grabbing their attention, "alright you two, what are the rules?"

"Don't run," Sasuke said

"No yelling," Naruto stated

"No horseplay,"

"Don't splash the water,"

"Don't bother anyone,"

"Mind your manners,"

"And always be within 6 feet of you," Sasuke finished, Garou nodding in response, just as they heard laughing and giggling from the other side of the bamboo wall. They all sweatdropped and rolled their eyes, hearing all the women laughing and giggling from the women's side of the hot springs.

The group of boys then began to slowly get into the spring, taking off their towels to reveal... swim-trunks. Garou wore plain black swim trunks, Naruto wore a pair of yellow-banana swim trunks, and Sasuke wore a pair of blue swim trunks with ducks on them. Once they passed their waistline, they all crouched down and sat on the seats that were placed in the springs.

Waiting for a few minutes, they heard a door open and looked over to see a couple of very beautiful women in bathrobes carrying trays of food and beer, "Hello everyone, we'll be your servers for this evening. We'll be providing you with food, drinks, and entertainme-" one of the ladies said before she looked at Naruto and stopped. Naruto noticed this and looked directly back at her, who was shaking in fear and awe. Naruto saw she was scared and looked away, slowly putting his head down into the water to hide.

Garou saw one of his students hiding in the water and looked back at the woman, leaning backward to block her vision, "You were saying, lady?" Garou asked with some irritation in his voice

"Uhh, y-yes, we'll be proving you folks with food, drinks, and e-entertainment," the woman finished, bowing, but still scared nonetheless. They started taking people's orders, giving beer and snacks they had on hand to those who wanted them.

The women then got to a strange pair the Garou had kept his eyes on since they got here. One was a tall man with light grayish skin, his face covered with a wet towel. The other was a child, that looked like a girl. He just assumed that she could've been the man's daughter and she didn't feel comfortable being alone. But he still kept his eyes on them.

"Excuse me, sir, what would you like?" a robed girl asked the man, who Garou could've sworn was snoring, "sir? Sir?"

"Excuse my master, he would like an 8 oz steak with a beer," the girl stated, the woman nodding

"Alright, and for you, my dear?"

"I'll just have sparkling water with some salmon sushi," she replied, getting a nod from the woman as she wrote it down

"Alright, enjoy your stay,"

"You too,"

The woman walked as they got to ordering Naruto, Sasuke, and Garou's food. Once they were done, they left the springs to get their food and drinks.

Some time would pass as Garou would notice Sasuke looking at the only girl in the spring on their side. He smirked, looking away as Sasuke would look back at him. Shrugging, he went back to looking at the girl, only to see he was just a few feet in front of him.

"May I help you?" she asked, Sasuke stuttering as he blushed

"I-I-I-I-" he stammered before being lightly struck on the back of the head. He turned around to see Garou whistling as he looked away and Naruto hiding under a towel in the water. Sasuke turned back around to face the girl, who extended her hand, "My name's Haku, what's your name?"

"I-I'm Sasuke. N-Nice to meet you," Sasuke replied, shaking her hand.

"So... who are you with?" Haku asked, looking back at Garou and Naruto.

"Oh! The man with the white hair is my new sensei, and the kid with the towel is my best friend, Naruto," Sasuke said, pointing at each person respectively, "my mom is on the other side along with Shizune, Garou's girlfriend,"

"Wow, you came with quite a lot of people. I only came here with my master, that man over there," Haku pointed back at the sleeping man.

"Master?"

"Well, sensei, master, does it matter?" Haku said, smiling as she did. But before they could talk any longer, the women came back with plates of food and drinks. It was Haku's cue to swim back to the man and woke him up, shaking him causing him to throw off his towel to reveal an assortment of sharp teeth.

"God damn-it, kid," the man said, looking down at Haku

"Zabuza-sama, the food is here," Haku said with a slight bow as one of the women came walking towards them

"This place sure knows how to treat a man," Zabuza said, watching his food inch ever closer into his reach.

Haku bowed, taking leave to go back to Sasuke and talk. Once Haku had reached Sasuke, he was eating a tomato risotto with an off-brand soda, "So, what are you guys doing here?" Haku asked

"We're just here to get some things and leave," Sasuke replied

"Really? Just that?" Haku raised an eye-brow

"Yeah, sensei said we're... uh, what are you again?" Sasuke turned to see Garou stuffing his face full of sushi, orange chicken, and onigiri. Garou stopped midway through another bite and said: "Refugee's,"

"Yeah, that," Sasuke commented, getting a sigh from Haku

"You too, huh? Where from?"

"Konoha,"

"Wait, Konoha? Why?" Haku questioned, trying to get an answer

"I dunno, just that Garou-sensei said we needed to leave and that was it. I don't know why though, mom never explained it to me either. Just said they were gonna do something bad," the young Uchiha explained.

"Well, I'm from Kiri. I've got a bloodline and my master saved me. Now I serve him and he teaches me," Haku smiled, looking back at Zabuza, who had a woman's arm wrapped around him as he ate.

"You've got a bloodline?" Haku placed a finger over her own lips as she opened her palm and a large snowflake appeared in her hand

"Don't tell anyone," she said with a smirk as Sasuke looked in amazement, even Naruto, who was just as busy as Garou eating, managed to snag a look. He actually stopped eating and swam over.

"Cool," Naruto and Sasuke said. They stared in awe until Haku closed her palm and the snowflake melted. Sasuke was saddened by this, while Naruto looked at Haku and tilted his head.

"What's a girl doing here on the boy's side?" Naruto asked, making Haku laugh

"That's nice of you to call me a girl, but I'm actually a boy," Haku smiled

"Eh?" Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time. Sasuke felt something in his heartbreak as Naruto could only look in amazement.

"Prettiest boy I've ever seen," Naruto said, breaking Sasuke's heart even more at the word 'boy'.