The Red Flash

Alone

Naruto woke up after sleeping for seven hours now. It had been three days since he sparred with toad-Jiji since he was able to use one tail worth of chakra. Kurama stated that now going to Two tails worth of chakra will be easier than going from zero to one. Of course, Kurama had warned him the real challenge would be when he would want to reach four tails worth of chakra. Kurama didn't elaborate why holding four tails was harder; Naruto decided to ignore it for now since it was irrelevant for now.

His sensei warned him that just because he could use Kurama's chakra, he should not be dependent on it; use it only as a last resort.

"Naruto, while I'm happy that you can use Kyuubi's chakra, you should use it only if you have no other choice", Jiraiya stated thoughtfully. Naruto was about to open his mouth when the old sannin raised his hand.

"I'm sure you know about the Sharingan Naruto, it is a handy tool, but The Uchiha clan highly depends on it; they would be far stronger if everything they do weren't connected to their Sharingan in one way or another. The same is for you; get stronger on your own; I know you are already doing that but don't change your mind," Jiraiya stated, and they returned to their walk towards Taki.

Naruto was already using Kurama's chakra only if needed. Right now, he was trying to complete the second exercise that toad-Jiji told him he should do. It was slowly driving him mad; the exercise was much more complicated than he had thought. But Naruto couldn't help but wonder what exactly was he doing. He knew this wasn't a chakra control exercise, so what jutsu was he trying to do.

"So, Naruto tell me, how do you feel that you will soon return to the village?" Jiraiya suddenly asked in front of him. He was walking one meter further from Naruto. He kept quiet, waiting for Naruto's response.

The red hair frowned and lowered his head slightly; if he was honest, the only thing he was looking forward to was to meet his old friends, and that's about it. Naruto was sure that the village had not forgotten, for all they cared; they probably thought he was dead somewhere. And the moment he returned, it wouldn't take long for word to spread that the 'Demon Fox' had returned ready to kill them all.

Naruto snorted at the question and looked up again at his sensei. "Not really looking forward to it. I don't think much has changed for three years," he replied honestly. Jiraiya didn't turn to him but just listened to his answer.

"Well, we still have nine months left in our belt and don't forget you will go to the academy", he reminded him. Naruto raised an eyebrow, and he was slightly looking forward to the academy, wondering what they taught them there and how strong the students were there.

"I hope the academy is something", Naruto replied, and they kept making their way towards Taki.

After 6 Days

They had been walking for how many days now . . .
Naruto didn't know, but Jiraiya-sensei told him they were getting closer. He had made improvements in his jutsu. His already good chakra control helped him to make improvements in the jutsu.

They soon stopped walking, and Jiraiya-sensei walked away in the nearby town for 'Research'? Naruto didn't know what that was but decided to ignore it since it was probably something important that didn't involve him.

Naruto stood in the middle of the grass, a tree close to him. Wind on his face, his red hair dancing with the wind. Naruto slowly raised his hand and fully opened it, and tried to concentrate. He didn't know what jutsu was but the chakra control needed to do it spoke a powerful one.