Skip Ahead To Konohamaru's Return

When Konohamaru returned from Mount Myōboku it was quickly visible to everybody that encountered him that whatever training Jiraya had put him through, he had mastered it successfully. Where before the boy walked proudly, his head was no held higher than ever before. He was not only confident in his abilities and strength anymore, he knew without the shadow of a doubt that he was amongst the strongest Ninja to ever exist.

The meditation and Sage arts of the Frogs had enabled him to fully master the monstrous chakra he had absorbed from both Naruto and the Nine Tailed Fox. Every breath he made felt differnt, every step he took easier and simple than the last. He had the sort of energy within him that was unheard of for humans no named Madara and Hashirama.

The ease by which he learned to master his new found powers only cementing the fact of what he already knew. He had been right in his choice to transfer Naruto and the Nine Tailed Foxes powers into himself. Even after three years of training and having his entire life to fully get used to it, Naruto had not been able to master his chakra to anywhere near the degree that Konhamaru did in a mere month.

Then there was the newfound respect in the village he was met with by most Ninja experienced enough to notice the changes within the young Sarutobi. Although the true extent of his powers would only be revealed in the Chunin exams, he no longer was just the Grandson of the third Hokage anymore.

The respect of him was because of himself and not his family.

Another reinforcement that his course of action was correct was seeing how well his plan with Naruto being left with Udon and Moegi had turned out.

Konohamaru had over the course of his training become quite masterful at sensing other peoples emotions and Chakra, and upon arriving at the Academy to greet his underling, he noticed the massive changes Naruto had undergone in his absence.

The pitiful trickle of Chakra that had been drained from Naruto near the end after the Kyuubi had already been extracted was far to little for Konohamaru to notice during his training, but standing before the Naruto he now saw and the one left the difference was like night and day.

He had initially thought that Naruto while weakened would be in danger of growing too cocky via still being stronger than most if not all Academy students. But the transference seal prior to fully fading had assured this fear was completely misplaced. Naruto stood side by side with a young black haired boy that only reached up to his knees, but just looking at the pair it was immediately clear Naruto had sought to smaller kid out as a sort of protection / bodyguard figure in the academy.

This might have amused most people and confused others, but to Konohamaru it quickly became clear why on account of his sensor abilities. Naruto had lost all but a tiny sliver of his chakra now as well as most of his muscles and more importantly courage. It seemed that after the seal was done extracting most of the blonde's chakra, before fading it also transferred other good qualities over to him.

He noticed immediately Naruto was much meeker and scarred upon laying eyes on him, though becoming hopeful once he saw his face. Desperately looking at his bodyguard, the smaller kid nodded before waving him goodbye as Naruto quickly dashed towards him.

"H-hello B-boss! I am v-v-very glad you are b-ack" the older teen stuttered as he bowed before Konohamaru low enough to allow the brunette kid to ruffle his hair. Naruto was not broken yet. He still disliked his fall and had not fully accepted his position. But over the course of four week of being forced to rely on the protection of Moroni he had been worn down to such a degree that the approving look of his Boss caused pride and happiness within him.

"I can see that! Since my training with Jiraya went very well I can sense other peoples emotions now! So you better be careful to not slip Naru-chan and feel stuff unbefitting of an underling you got that?" once he nodded Konhamaru clapped him on the back before leading him in the direction of his teammates to train with them for the upcoming exams. He was good to go, but what sort of teammate would he be if he didnt make sure they would pass alongside him?

"I will train with Moegi and Udon for now Naru-chan, so make sure you cheer us on so you are ready to when we reach the final stage in two weeks got that?" the tone of his voice made it clear to Naruto that hed better cheer his little fanboy heart out making him both scared as well as eager to show Konohamaru he would not dispoint him forcing him to nod his head so quickly he almost got a confusion. This seemed to look quite adorable thankfully causing Konohamaru to laugh a bit. Yup, he was definitely beginning to like their new relationship.

Naruto had not been surpised when he saw Konohamaru stand in the same arena he stood in three years ago, what actually shocked him was how much stronger his boss had become during his training month. Him as well as a large crowd, were left amazed as the young Sarutobi proved to everybody in attendance that his abilities were not only comparable to that of the fourth Hokage. But greater in almost every respect.

It caused Naruto no small amount of jealousy and shame to know that his boss went on a training trip with Jiraya for a month and returned stronger than any Ninja that Naruto had ever seen, while he went on a trip with the pervy sag for three years and became a total loser. He really had to try his hardest to keep his happy mask from slipping as he stewed in his misery.

He had not only perfected his teleportation jutsu, but also had mastered the Rasengan and Sage arts. The power he was radiating as he was dominating each opponent mad everybody who watched him certain Konoahamaru would become the next Hokage after Tsunade retired.

There was no Ninja in Konoha stronger than him, faster than him, or possessing Jutsu and Chakra even vaguely in the same range of power. The cheer he heard for his boss spurned on Naruto even more to make sure that Konohaamru saw he tried his best to support him.

He had a front row seat, right next to the Hyuuga sisters who just like him had been cheering their heart out for Konohamaru. While Hinata seemingly only had eyes for his boss and also cheered him on as best as the quite and shy girl could, her younger sister occasionally would stare at him and throw him weird looks before laughing. Nothing out of the ordinary for him by now, his look made people stare and laugh, but as much as he tried to let it drift past him and make a good job at cheering for his boss, the occasional snicker from the young Hyuuga tripped him up at times.

Thankfully by the time Konohamaru had decimated the competition and had been declared Chunin alongside the rest of his Teammates who while forfeiting against him in their rounds still displayed good enough skills to pass in their own ways in prior fights. Naruto let out a sigh of relief when he heard that all three had been promoted.

Now, there was nothing standing in the way of the internship promise. Naruto had been fairly sure Konohamaru would pass, after all he had beaten him, but Moegi and Udon had caused him a bit of worry.

He thankfully had no reason to worry as his boss beamed in his direction when the crowd in the stadium thinned out. This caused him to start running towards Konohamaru to quickly meet up with him. Naruto screamed in happiness for his boss having taken a huge step forward in his career while hugging the knees of the younger boy in front of him the second he came into ear shot.

Konohaamru knew a lot of the happiness was not because of his success but because it likely meant he would get his little fanboy out of the academy for some time, but still he was the moment too glad over his own success to care too much.

"Ah, thanks Naru-chan, glad to see you are proud of your boss! And I am glad to say I am proud of you as well. I had a shadow clone in the stands behind you watch your cheering. And while we need to work on your focus getting better and not being distracted when people laugh at you like Hanabi did, you are good enough to get some field experience with me! He then ruffled Narutos hair which caused an immense feeling of relief to flood the blonde teen then and there.

While being forced to travel the countryside with Konohamaru and being displayed as his little tag along fanboy was not exactly his dream scenario of waking up and getting his chakra back before proving to Granny Tsunade he was ready to be a Ninja again, at least he would be getting away from Moroni-sama for some time.

If he was lucky, perhaps Konohamaru would turn out to be right and they would stumble on Sasuke along their travel. His boss had become so strong over his training that Naruto felt fairly sure if it came down to it, he could at least fulfill his promise to Sakura via proxy that way if Konohamaru beat Sasuke up like he did with him.