The Red Flames

I woke up and got ready so I could see how the others were doing.

Suigetsu is fine... crazy... but fine, Juugo is okay as well, now Karin still needs to rest.

I was now at Sasuke's room checking him.

-You're fine. Now regarding you wanting to move now, you can't.

- Hotaru, I won't go back with my word.

- I'm saying this because Karin needs to rest, you BAKA! If you go now you'll put the all team in danger.

- Fine, if you say so.

With that I turned around and was about to leave when he pinned me against the wall.

- What do you think you're doing? - I asked glaring.

- Where are you going?

- Sasuke... let. go. of. me... NOW! - I said mad and he did as I ordered.

- Stupid Uchiha. - I mumbled and he glared.

- DON'T GLARE AT ME DUCKBUTT! Regarding your question, I'm going to see how Naruto is doing... you weren't the only one who lost someone dear to you. - I said and he looked down. - Do you need anything before I leave? - I asked.

- Why? - he said.

- Huh? I said confused.

- Why are you still here? After all of this... and what I plan... why? - he said.

I sighed and went towards him, I did what always made me feel better... I poked his forehead. I smiled warmly at him and then said.

- You baka. I love you no matter what. Do you see this necklace? - I said grabbing the necklace he gave me and he looked at it.

- It means I'm yours and you're mine Sasuke. I'm not leaving you. - I said and he widened his eyes.

-Now I have to go and see my knucklehead brother. Bye love. - I said and kissed his cheek.

After that I teleported to where Naruto was, but I realized he was talking with Shikamaru so I decided to stay hidden and listen.

- Shikamaru... what did Asuma ask you to do? - Naruto asked.

- That child will be my student. - Shikamaru answered.

So they're talking about Asuma's and Kurenai's baby.

- Huh? - Naruto said confused.

- Asuma entrusted that child to me. I heard about Jiraiya-sama. - Shikamaru stated.

I widened my eyes when I saw Naruto's eyes become dark and without life and determination... he's in so much pain.

- I lost my teacher, so it's not like I don't understand what you're going through. But whining and sulking isn't going to make things better. - Shikamaru said. I smiled slightly.

- We're way past that point in our lives. - Shikamaru stated.

- What do you mean? - Naruto asked.

- My teacher entrusted me with many things. Some important, some petty. All sorts of things. You too, right? In fact, you must have a ton of stuff. - Shikamaru explained.

I putted my hand over Itachi's necklace that I have on but it's hidden so nobody can see it... not even Sasuke.

- So, don't you think it's about time for us to step up? - Shikamaru asked Naruto.

- Time for what? - Naruto asked confused.

- Time for us to become the ones who entrust. It's a pain, but we can't keep complaining. You will eventually be the one treating to ramen and you'll be called Naruto-sensei or something. - Shikamaru said. I smiled at that thought.

- We can't stay brats forever. If we wanna become super cool ninja like Asuma and Jiraiya-sama, that is. - Shikamaru stated.

-You're right. Thanks Shikamaru. - Naruto said with a grin.

- Pull yourself together. You got work to do. - Shikamaru said giving Naruto a photo and Naruto left with determination all over his eyes.

- You can come out now... Hotaru. - Shikamaru said.

I widened my eyes a bit in surprise, he's getting better.

I smiled and went to his side.

- That was for you as well Hotaru. - Shikamaru stated.

I hugged him and started crying.

-O-Oi... are you okay? - Shikamaru asked.

- T-Thank you... for being here for Naruto when I'm not... thank you for everything Shikamaru. - I managed to say.

-You're welcome. Now put yourself together as well, we need you to be strong. - Shikamaru said.

I stopped hugging him and nodded.

- I'm going to try decipher the secret code that Jiraiya-sama left, wanna come? - Shikamaru said.

- I'll be there soon... I just need... - I said.

- I get it. I'll see you soon. - Shikamaru said putting a hand on my shoulder.

- Thank you. - I said smiling and then after he left I teleported to where we had our survival test.

*Flashback*

I was training with Hidan and I was now panting hard. I was tired and I was all beaten up, but Hidan didn't care he was now about to attack me again but this time I couldn't dodge but the hit never came. I looked up and Itachi was in front of

me.

- WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! - Hidan screamed at Itachi.

-You're not supposed to kill her. Now go. - Itachi said to him.

- Tch. YOU GOT LUCKY BITCH! - Hidan said and then left.

- Stupid Hidan. I mumbled while I managed to get up.

Suddenly I was bonked in the head.

- WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?! - I asked at Itachi.

- Because I warned you to be careful when you train with him and you didn't listen, as always.

- Stupid Uchiha. - I mumbled and got bonked in the head again.

- OW!!! HEY! - I screamed at him.

- Do you want to say that again? - he said giving me his scariest glare.

- N-No! I-I'm sorry! - I said which made him smirked and then he poked my forehead

*End of Flashback*

*Another Flashback*

I was at the Hokage's office about to leave and Jiraiya came towards me and patted my head.

- You really are Kushina's and Minato's daughter, a bit crazier though. - Jiraiya said.

I glared at him.

- Good luck kid, I'm sure you'll do great as always. - Jiraiya said.

I widened my eyes.

- T-Thank you. - I said.

*End of this Flashback*

*Next Flashback*

- Hotaru... please take care of Sasuke for me. I know you care deeply about him and I trust you. You were the best student I could ever ask Hotaru... I'm really proud of you. - Itachi said. - I will... thank you. - I said.

*End of Flashbacks*

I was now crying and looking at the K. I. A stone. Chichi... Haha... what would you do?

I'm so lost... I don't know if I can do this.

"You're strong Hotaru, I trust you." - I heard Itachi inside of my head.

"You really are strong kid, you're just like your parents. You'll be a great shinobi." - I heard Jiraiya say.

I... I... I have to get up... and make you guys even more proud... I WILL be the best shinobi, I WILL help Naruto become Hokage and... I WILL BRING SASUKE BACK!

- Kid... your eyes.

I was confused of what he said but then I went near the lake and saw my reflection. I widened my eyes after what I saw.

- Mangekyou... Sharingan.

- You have awaken it kid, well done.

I deactivated it and cleaned my tears.

- Let's go Kurama.

- Welcome back kid.

I smirked.

I teleported to where Naruto was. I was now standing behind him, but he didn't notice which made me smile evilly.

- NII-SAN!!! - I screamed.

- АHHHHHHHHHHHHH! - he screamed scared and even fell on the ground.

I burst out laughing while Shikamaru sweat dropped.

- N-Nee-chan? - Naruto said.

- Yo! How are y - I said but was interrupted.

- DON'T DO THAT!!! - Naruto screamed.

- Gomen, gomen! - I said laughing nervously.

I looked at a girl that was there and went towards her.

- Hi! I'm Namikaze Hotaru. Nice meeting you. I said smiling.

- It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Namikaze. - she said.

- Please call me Hotaru. So what do you need? - I said looking at Shikamaru.

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He handed me a photo with the code.

- Kurama any ideas?

- Not really kid.

- At first sight it says nothing to me. Have you talked to someone about it? - I said.

- I talked to Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei, but neither of them had any clue. And now neither do you. That means Jiraiya-sama probably left this message with you in mind, Naruto. No I'm positive he did. There's got to be something there. -Shikamaru said looking at Naruto.

- If anything pops up in your mind, tell us. We're not asking you to instantly decode the message. - the girl told Naruto.

- There is one thing that's been bothering me since I first saw this. - Naruto said.

- What is it Nii-san? - I asked looking at him.

- There's all these numbers. So what's with this one katakana letter? - Naruto said.

- Huh? - me and Shikamaru said.

- Katakana? the girl said confused.

- Where do you see that? - Shikamaru asked him.

- Right here. - Naruto said pointing.

- Nii-san isn't that the number "9"? - I asked him.

- That's what I thought at first... but this is not the number "9". It's the katakana letter "ta". - Naruto stated.

- What made you think that? - I asked curious.

- Well.. Ero-Sannin was writing books all the time... he was an author after all. And I travelled all over with him. He always made me read his handwritten drafts and asked what I thought about them. They were really boring though... and whenever there was the letter "ta", it was hard to read because it would look like the number "9". - Naruto explained.

- I see... a penmanship quirk! - the girl said.

- So that was his habit. - I stated.

- Jiraiya-sama knew that Naruto would remember his habit of writing the katakana "ta" like the number "9". Frankly this was the common link between Jiraiya-sama and Naruto. - the girl said.

- Why didn't you mention such an important thing sooner?! - Shikamaru said to Naruto.

- Well, what's the big deal about knowing that it's the letter "ta"? - Naruto said and we started thinking.

- Naruto it's when you were reading Ero-Sannin manuscript that you found out about his writing habit. That means... - I said.

- The code refers to that book you were reading. - me and Shikamaru said in unison.

- That's it Hotaru, Shikamaru! Jiraiya-sama's book must contain a hint. Those numbers must represent character numbers, line numbers or page numbers. I'm certain they hold the key to the code. - the girl said.

- Naruto, which book is it? - Shikamaru asked and we all looked at him.

- Hmmmm... hmmmmm... Make-Out... what was it? - Naruto said.

I sweat dropped, he doesn't remember.

- Well then, how many of Jiraiya-sama books have been published? - Shikamaru asked.

- I'm not sure... 4?... 5? Naruto said.

- Then let's just check all of them! - Shikamaru said.

- It's probably this one. - Otou-san said opening the window.

- Make Out Tactics... - Shikamaru said.

- "TA"! - we all said in unison.

After he came in I went to his side.

-Good to see you again sweetheart. How are you? - Otou-san said sweetly.

-F-Fine, don't worry. - I said and he nodded.

- This is the book you're looking for. - Otou-san said.

- That's the one Ero-Sannin was working on during our training. - Naruto said.

- I see... only Naruto would've known that. - Shikamaru stated.

- So Ero-Sannin did pass the key on to Naruto. - I said and Naruto nodded.

- When a character is used in a code, it could signify word placement or line number, but the established protocol is to check the page number first. So... the numbers separated by commas are 31, 8, 106, 7, 207 and 15. Six sets. Meaning there

are 6 pages worth of information. Let's start with page 31. Flip to that page, please. - the girl explained.

- Okay, there it is. Where do we look next? - Otou-san said.

- In situations like this, we look at the first character on the page. Please read the sentence out loud starting from the top. - she said.

- Wha... No... I mean... - Otou-san said.

Is he... BLUSHING?!

- What is it?! Hurry up and read! - Naruto said and Otou-san blushed even more.

- HURRY UP DATTEBAYO!!! - Naruto said irritated.

- "I... I... I... really... love you." - Otou-san read.

We started writing everything in a paper.

- Kid... Kakashi really is a pervert.

- Yeah... let's not talk about that... EVER AGAIN!

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Otou-san was now completely blushing, he looked like a tomato from all the reading.

- There! We now have all 6 pages. - I said.

- If we read the first characters of the code in order. "The-Real-One's-Not-Among-Them", that's what it says. - she said.

- What does that mean? - Naruto asked.

- K-Kurama... is Nagato... isn't it?

- Hai... he's the one controlling Pain.

- The problem is that we never actually saw him, we only know this thanks to Itachi.

- We have to go to the Hokage's office and talk with Tsunade-sama, now. - I said.

- Do you know what it means Nee-chan?

- I do... let's go.

They all nodded.

We were now at the Hokage's office.

- So what does that mean? - Tsunade asked.

After that question I explained them what Jiraiya meant.

Naruto was now leaving and said.

- I will avenge Ero-Sannin! I can't just sit around doing nothing!

I looked down.

- But Naruto-chan. Even if we decoded the message it has nothing to do with you. - the frog said.

- Just what do you mean by that?! - Naruto said mad.

- In any case, at this point, you couldn't defeat Pain. - the frog stated.

- What?! Naruto said.

- He's right... think about it Naruto. I was trained by him and I can't defeat him, even Jiraiya couldn't beat him. If you were to fight him now... you'd die. - I said.

- Are you telling me to forget about avenging Ero-Sannin? - Naruto asked.

- No such thing! - me and the frog said.

- Being asked to come was quite opportune. I was planning on coming to get you, Naruto-chan. How about it, Naruto-chan? Want to train in Sannin Jutsu under my guidance? - the frog said which made me smile.

- Sannin jutsu training? - Naruto said.

- That is a great plan! - Otou-san stated.

- Is that awesome? - Naruto asked confused.

- Yes, it is! - I said smiling and putting my hand on his shoulder.

Then the frog continued explaining and Naruto got even more determined.

- I'll do it. - Naruto said with determination.

I smirked... he's back.

We were now at the gates saying goodbye.

- Nii-san... go and come back to avenge Ero-Sannin and also... to see if you can win our bet. - I said the last part with a smirk.

-

I will do both. All right, let's go! - Naruto said.

- Please... take care of him. I said to the frog.

With that they poofed.

- What is it kid?

- I have a bad feeling about this... they still didn't capture Naruto and they want him not matter what.

- You think they'll attack soon.. don't you?

- I'm staying here for a while... it's better.

- I agree, but maybe you should warn the Uchiha brat. Just saying.

-You're right.

- I'll get going as well. - I said.

Tsunade nodded and I teleported where Sasuke was, they were talking until I saw Sasuke try to grab a cup of water but failed... so his vision is already becoming bad.

I went near him and putted my hand on his shoulder.

- Hotaru-chan! - Suigetsu said happily.

I smiled at him.

- Yo! I'm back. - I said.

Then Karin sensed something and Sasuke and Juugo went to see what it was.

After they took care of it we left the hideout.

- I can't leave him now... his sight...

- We'll wait kid, don't worry.