Plot of Naruto

Background
Twelve years before the start of the story, The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the strongest of the Tailed beasts, attacked the village of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, leader of Konoha at the time, sacrificed his life to seal the demon inside his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki.

Though the Fourth Hokage wanted Naruto to be viewed as a hero, who saved the village, the villagers could not see him beyond the monster that destroyed their homes. The Third Hokage, who had taken over once more after the Fourth died, made a decree preventing anyone from telling Naruto about the demon within him. Though Naruto found some friendship in children his age, even they came to shun him, following their parents' example without even knowing anything about the demon fox themselves.

Once Naruto was admitted into the Ninja Academy, he was befriended by his Chunin instructor, Iruka Umino. Iruka was the first person to believe in Naruto, and became a father-figure for him to look up to.

Ninja Academy Training
At the ninja academy, Naruto's reputation as a troublemaker earned him infamy among the teachers and students. Iruka, and the Third Hokage, were the only two positive influences on him. Unbeknown to him at the time, Hinata Hyuga had a crush on him. Naruto failed the graduation exam twice, because he failed to properly perform the Clone Technique.

Mizuki, another Academy examiner tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, a collection of forbidden techniques, claiming that Naruto would be automatically passed by simply learning a jutsu from the scroll. The Third soon realized the scroll was missing and gathered many ninja. As search parties were sent to find Naruto, Iruka goes out on his own and gets to him first.

Naruto had been training in the forest the entire time, ignorant of what he had done, and simply repeated to Iruka what Mizuki had told him earlier. Iruka realized what Mizuki wanted just as Mizuki himself showed up to attack them both. Mizuki then tried to kill Naruto with an oversized shuriken, but Iruka pushed him out of the way, saving his life. Mizuki tried to get Naruto to give him the scroll while Iruka tried to convince Naruto to do otherwise. Their argument led Mizuki to tell Naruto that he was the container of the demon fox that killed Iruka's parents.

Startled, Naruto runs off, leaving Iruka and Mizuki to fight amongst themselves. Naruto watched from a distance, eventually learning what Mizuki was after, as well as the true level of Iruka's devotion to him. Just before Mizuki could kill Iruka, Naruto attacked and defeated him using his newly learned Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Impressed that Naruto could master such a difficult technique, Iruka lets Naruto graduate, ironically fulfilling Mizuki's original promise.

Team 7 Formation
In order to officially obtain the rank of Genin, Academy students must undergo a field evaluation administered by a Jonin (a high ranking ninja), who will be their squad leader should they pass. Students are organized into groups of three Genin, with a Jonin-sensei assigned to each team. Teams are chosen to balance skills and abilities. As such, Naruto, being the worst student, was paired with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha in Team 7, with Sasuke being the best student, and Sakura being the best at quizzes and tests. The other teams (that would pass) were Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka in Team 8 and Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka in Team 10.

Team 7's initial group chemistry was terrible: Naruto was infatuated with Sakura and detested Sasuke, Sakura was infatuated with Sasuke and detested Naruto, and Sasuke detested the both of them. Unfortunately for them, their Jonin instructor was Kakashi Hatake, emphasized teamwork above all else.

Kakashi's field evaluation, considered the strictest of its type, is simple, yet extremely difficult; in fact, he hadn't passed anyone during his time as a Jonin. All the Genin have to do to pass is take a bell from him using any means necessary before noon. Aside from the fact that three Genin are taking on a Jonin (the Jonin would easily defeat them in a battle), Kakashi only has two bells on his belt, ensuring that one of them will fail. On top of that, the students are tricked into skipping breakfast. Those who get the bells get to eat, while the one who doesn't is tied to a post. The main purpose is not to test the Genins’ skill, but rather their teamwork. In addition, they should know that "Shinobis read the hidden meaning, within the hidden meaning". Team 7's performance during the exam was terrible: Naruto fell into every trap Kakashi set, not bothering to be at all stealthy about his attacks, Sakura did nothing to help him as she was more interested in Sasuke's skill and safety, leading her to fall into Kakashi's Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique genjutsu, and Sasuke didn't bother to help either of them, instead attacking on his own because he believed they would slow him down. All three failed to get a bell.

After their failure, Kakashi criticizes all three for their lack of teamwork. He eventually explained to them the purpose of the exam, and allowed them to eat in preparation for a second try. Naruto, who had stumbled upon the lunches Kakashi prepared and attempted to eat them, is tied to the post. After he left, Sakura and Sasuke realized that they'll need Naruto in top-shape if they're to retrieve the bells, and decided to feed him against Kakashi's wishes. Kakashi, of course, was watching the whole time and appeared in a giant blast of smoke, appearing quite furious. The three Genin claim that they're a team, and as such one person. Quickly changing his attitude, Kakashi lets them pass for figuring out the purpose of the exam. He also recites the exact message he was trying to get across - "Shinobis read the hidden meaning, within the hidden meaning. In the ninja world, those who don't follow the rules are trash. That is true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash."

Land of Waves
While genin are normally assigned D-Rank missions, Naruto insists on doing something more exciting and the Third Hokage agrees to send them on a C-Rank mission to escort Tazuna, a master bridge builder. During their mission, the team is attacked by two enemy Chunin, something that is not supposed to happen on C-Rank missions, and Naruto panics and freezes. Sasuke, however, deals with the attackers quite efficiently and rubs it into Naruto by calling him a "scaredy-cat." This name-calling, which Naruto would imitate many times later in the series, is a defining moment in the Naruto-Sasuke rivalry. After the attack, Naruto bleeds out the poison he received by stabbing his wound with a kunai and swears upon his pain to never freeze up and leave his friends to fend for themselves again. Kakashi then tells Naruto that if he looses any more blood, he'll die. Naruto starts panicking, but Kakashi tells Naruto to let him take a look at it. Kakashi is about to treat the wound when he sees that it's already healing. Kakashi then theorizes that this could be a power given to Naruto because of the demon fox.

Tazuna then explains the real mission: the Land of Waves has been taken over by a shipping magnate called Gato, and the only way to revitalize the economy is by building a bridge to the mainland that can bypass Gato's shipping monopoly. However, Gato does not want that to happen, and uses shinobi (synonym for ninja) gangs to get what he wants. And Tazuna did not have enough money to pay Konoha for a mission that would usually be A, or S rank. Team 7 decides to support and protect the bridge-building efforts that have been thwarted thus far.

Next, the team is challenged by Zabuza Momochi, who is one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, from Kirigakure. Early in the battle, Kakashi is trapped in Zabuza's Water Prison Technique and unable to continue fighting. Left to fend for himself, Naruto attempts to run, but feels the pain in his left hand and remembers his earlier vow. In another defining point in Naruto and Team 7's development, Naruto conceives a plan to release Kakashi and Sasuke, with little apparent communication between the two, executes it perfectly. Kakashi, free again, demonstrates the abilities of the Sharingan, defeating Zabuza with both physical and psychological attacks. Though Zabuza should have been killed by Kakashi, he was saved by Haku, who was so skilled with needles that he made it seem as though Zabuza had died, and pretended to be an assassin trying to kill Zabuza.

Once they have reached their the Land of Waves, Team 7 undergoes chakra training, and this becomes another point of rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke, as they constantly challenge themselves to try to outdo each other, but instead end up helping and motivating each other to succeed.

Eventually, Zabuza and Haku return to make a do or die battle on the unfinished bridge, with some experience as to how they should handle the Konoha ninjas. Haku reveals his Demonic Ice Mirrors jutsu, and completely overpowers Sasuke. Naruto joins the fight and through his own ignorance and impulsiveness gets himself trapped in Haku's jutsu, and is immediately placed at Haku's mercy. During the course of the fight Sasuke awakens his Sharingan and saves Naruto by sacrificing himself. Naruto asks him why he did that and Sasuke just replied 'How should I know, my body just moved by itself' and then appears to die with 3 needles in his neck. Meanwhile, Zabuza is focused on finding a way to kill Kakashi, despite his Sharingan.

Naruto's "hidden power" is revealed after he believed Haku killed Sasuke. Naruto loses control and is consumed by the demon fox's chakra. Its power is so immense that the chakra is visible. All of Naruto's wounds heal near-instantaneously, and Naruto's appearance changes; his eyes become red and slitted like a fox, his "whiskers" deepen, his fingernails grow long like claws and his canine teeth become sharper. He completely overwhelms his enemy with this power and speed.

With the demon fox power that Naruto used, he proved to be too powerful for Haku. Seeing that he was unable to help Zabuza, Haku asked Naruto to kill him. Naruto protested and initially refused, but then decided to honor his request. However, Haku then noticed that Zabuza was in danger from Kakashi, so he stopped Naruto's attack and ran away to save Zabuza. Zabuza was being dominated by Kakashi, who used a Summoning Technique to immobilize him using his tracking dogs. As Kakashi was about to stab Zabuza with his Lightning Blade, Haku realized that Zabuza was in mortal danger and ran to save Zabuza by standing in front of him. Thus Kakashi stabbed Haku, Kakashi's hand going completely through Haku's heart. Everyone realizes now that Haku is dead. At first, Zabuza has no change in emotion and praises Haku as a good tool.

As the battle draws to an end, Gato arrives with his gang of hired thugs. He tells Zabuza that he never intended to pay him, even if Zabuza finished the mission. Gato then kicks Haku. This infuriates Naruto as he cries for Haku's death and says to Zabuza that Haku really cared about him and that he would die for him (which he did). Moved by Nauto’s words, Zabuza confesses that he cared deeply about Haku and he begins to cry. With this realization, Zabuza asks Naruto if he can borrow one of his kunai. Naruto tosses one to him, and with the memories of Haku fresh in his mind, Zabuza grabs the kunai in his mouth (his arms broken by Kakashi’s dogs) and rushes to kill Gato. Gato runs behind his miniature army, but Zabuza rushes past all of them, killing many on the way, and eventually reaches Gato. In the anime, Zabuza slashes Gato repeatedly and knocks him off the bridge and into the water below. In the manga, Zabuza decapitates him. Zabuza then stands still and gets stabbed in the back by the remaining henchmen. After a brief moment, Sasuke wakes up from the near death state Haku put him in. The shinobi gangs are then chased away, by Naruto & Kakashi producing many shadow clones and with the help of the villagers, who finally stand up for themselves. Zabuza's last request to Kakashi is to be buried next to Haku. After Naruto witnessed what happened to Haku and Zabuza, he decides to become a ninja in his own way, and defy the belief that ninja are merely tools of their villages.

After the team departs Tazuna decides to name the newly completed bridge the "Great Naruto Bridge".

Chunin exam
Team 7 returns to Konoha to continue with their lives as regular Genin. One day, whilst playing with Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi, Naruto meets two of the three Genin from Sunagakure, the Hidden Village in the Sand, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari and learns that they are in Konoha to participate in the Chunin Selection Exams. Meanwhile Kakashi, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi all volunteer their teams for the exam also. Naruto is thrilled about the possibility of becoming a Chunin.

The first part of the exam is written, but it was not a test of knowledge as much as a test of information gathering and willpower. The first 9 questions were supposed to be cheated, where the Genin must use any techniques to find out the correct answer without being caught. Naruto, who did not realize this, went into a traumatic state in which he felt that he would cause his entire team to be eliminated, as he did not know the answer to any of the questions. Sasuke realizes that he, too, did not know the answers but immediately activates his Sharingan to copy someone else's answers. Sakura as a testament to her incredible intellect answers all of the questions quickly (a feat which the Examiner later said could not be accomplished at Genin level). The last question was a do or die question: don't answer and your entire team fails the Chunin exams, answer and get it wrong and you stay a Genin forever. Naruto shows that he is not somebody who quits when he bursts out that he doesn't care if he stays a Genin forever, he will still become Hokage. The Genin who stayed behind all pass the first part of the Chunin exams (including Naruto, who didn't answer a single question on the exam)

The Forest of Death

The second part of the exam is a survival exam in the 44th Battle Zone a.k.a The Forest of Death. During this part, Naruto finds himself in a desperate situation against Orochimaru, an S-class missing-nin from Konoha so powerful that the Third Hokage later mentions that there is nobody in Konoha that can fight him equally. It turns out that Orochimaru is actually a missing-ninja from Konoha, and used to be one of the Third Hokage's pupils, or the Sannin. Naruto and Sasuke's reactions to the situation are a complete reversal of what happened in the Wave Country mission - Sasuke is paralyzed with panic while Naruto fights on fearlessly, at one point stopping Orochimaru's huge summoned snake in its tracks on his own (with the help of some demon fox chakra), and muttering to Sasuke, in a moment of glorious retribution that marks another milestone in their rivalry, "You're not hurt are you... scaredy-cat?" Naruto eventually snaps Sasuke out of his panic. However, Orochimaru uses the Five Elements Seal on demon fox's seal, disrupting the flow of the demon fox's chakra as well as Naruto's own.

However Orochimaru is too much for Sasuke as well. In the end, Orochimaru puts a Cursed Seal of Heaven onto Sasuke's neck, saying that Sasuke will eventually come to him for the power he needs to kill his brother, Itachi Uchiha. Orochimaru then leaves, sending his three Genin, Team Dosu from Otogakure, the come after Sasuke. While both Naruto and Sasuke were unconscious from the fight against Orochimaru, Sakura had to take care of them. It is there that Sakura's personality reaches a turning point. As a Sound ninja trapped her by roughly holding her by her hair, Sakura realized how pathetic her behavior was, always criticizing others, when she was the one who hadn't improved at all. She reflects on herself, thinking how she was always telling Naruto that she was better than him, when he had been the one who was consistently improving, and telling Sasuke she loved him when she couldn't even muster up enough strength to protect him as a teammate, before she symbolically frees herself by cutting off her long hair with a kunai, which she had initially kept long because Sasuke supposedly liked girls with long hair. She also had to fight against the Sound Genin, and resolves not to be too dependent on her teammates. The three Sound genin were pushed back, with the aid of Team 10 and Rock Lee, whose efforts seemed to be worthless before Neji Hyuga and Tenten showed up. Dosu Kinuta, the leader of Team Dosu, mentions that Neji can "see through them," but before Neji can attack an awakened Sasuke intervenes. The cursed seal Sasuke now has starts to take affect, in a state of insanity and murderous intent, Sasuke defeats Zaku Abumi of Team Dosu, going as far as to dislocate his shoulders for no other reason than to cause him pain. Before he could do any more damage to anyone else, Sakura hugged Sasuke allowing Sasuke to regain control of the seal. Dosu left with his teammates wondering why Orochimaru sent him to kill Sasuke if he knew Sasuke had the cursed seall. Team 7 still manages to make it past the second stage, with a little help from Kabuto a fellow ninja from Konoha.

The Third Exam Preliminaries

Seven teams managed to pass, which is twice as much as expected. To cut down the prevailing genin from the 2nd exam, a preliminary round was staged before the third and final stage of the Chunin Exam. The 21 people (20 after Kabuto quits) are to be matched up with each other, in a fight that lasts until somebody gives in or dies. The proctor of the third exam, Hayate Gekko, does reserve the right to step in and stop the fight when he feels that there is a clear winner. Sakura at first attempted to tell the examiners that the Cursed Seal that Orochimaru placed on Sasuke was seriously debilitating him but Sasuke stopped her and told her to mind her own business. At that point Naruto steps in to stand up for Sakura but is swiftly silenced by Sasuke who acknowledges Naruto, by declaring that he was one of the one's he wanted to fight. Later on Naruto would return the sentiment.

The first matchup is Sasuke Uchiha against a member of Kabuto's team, Yoroi Akado. Before the fight starts, Kakashi warns Sasuke that if his curse mark gets out of control, he'll have to intervene and stop the match to control the mark, which bars Sasuke from using any jutsu at all just so he can fight. The match starts with Yoroi stealing Sasuke's chakra through his hands. The match seems hopeless for Sasuke, until he hears Naruto's nagging. Next to him is Rock Lee, which makes Sasuke get an idea. He uses Lion's Barrage, a copy of Rock Lee's Forward Lotus move, captured by Sasuke's Sharingan. Yoroi is knocked out, and Sasuke advances to the next round. After the fight, Kakashi takes him to seal the curse mark.

Up next are Zaku Abumi and Shino Aburame. Zaku only has one arm he can move, but he bets he can win. Down below, the curse mark is sealed by Kakashi, but then Orochimaru shows up for Sasuke. He says that all the Genin he currently has at his command are all disposable. As Kakashi readies his Lightning Blade, Shino commands a multitude of bugs leaving Zaku with a choice: to go for him or the bugs. Zaku can then use both arms, but it is too late. The bugs block Zaku's chakra and build it up in his arms, making them explode, ending the fight. Orochimaru leaves, saying that Sasuke will be his someday.

The match with Misumi Tsurugi against Kankuro starts. Misumi seems like he will win, until it is revealed that the Kankuro Misumi was fighting is just a puppet. The real Kankuro was disguised, controlling the puppet with his chakra. He uses the puppet to defeat Misumi.

The 4th match, Sakura versus Ino, is particularly meaningful because the two are rivals. The match drones on for almost an hour, before they hit each other at the exact same time, and knock each other out. Hayate declares that neither of them will move on.

The 5th match is Tenten against Temari. The match is over quickly, and Temari wins. Rock Lee jumps down to avenge Temari's treatment of Tenten, but Might Guy stops what would have turned into a fight.

Shikamaru Nara against Kin Tsuchi, the last member of Team Dosu is next. Kin starts by dodging the Shadow Possession Technique and firing needles with and without bells. She manages to divert his attention by ringing the bells with strings to mock him, then she gets him with silent needles. Shikamaru manages to get his shadow across to her using the strings to perform the jutsu. They both draw out shruiken and fling them at each other. When it comes time for them to duck, Shikamaru ducks successfully, but Kin knocks her head against the wall and knocks herself out. Shikamaru emerges as the winner.

Naruto is matched up with Kiba in the seventh match. The fight goes poorly for Naruto at first until he accidentally farts; stunning Kiba whose sense of smell was magnified a thousand times at the time. Naruto beats Kiba by using shadow clones to perform a new technique Uzumaki Naruto Combo.

The eighth match brings a family rivalry to the forefront, as Hinata and Neji battle. Kiba, being escorted away on a stretcher, urges Hinata to forfeit. Hinata, inspired by Naruto's courage, still wants to fight to prove that she can be brave. They both fight in the Hyuga Gentle Fist style, enabling them to cut off each other's chakra flow. They both also have the Byakugan eye; a trait which Kakashi says surpasses the Sharingan eye. With the Byakugan, Neji exploits Hinata's fears with the intention of killing her, and it was only by the exam proctor’s intervention that stopped him from doing that. Hinata's bravery still manages to inspire Naruto, as he vows to battle and win against Neji in the third exam.

The ninth match has Rock Lee against Gaara. Rock Lee uses his remarkable taijutsu abilities, but barely scratches Gaara. He then opens five of the inner chakra gates, the result being that Lee's strength is multiplied immensely for a short time, but also severely injures him. Gaara is beaten badly. Rock Lee uses his Reverse Lotus technique to attempt to break through Gaara's sand armor, at the expense of great pain and injury to himself. When Gaara is falling, he disperses his gourd into sand as a cushion to break his fall. Gaara uses Desert Coffin to crush Rock Lee's left arm and leg. Gai steps down to defend Lee, regretting having taught Lee how to open the inner gates. Gaara wins the match.

The last match is Choji Akimichi and Dosu Kinuta. Dosu wins.

The Main Matches

After the preliminary match-ups, there is a one-month time in which the remaining genin can prepare themselves. Various dignitaries are also invited to watch the main matches. During this month, Naruto meets Jiraiya, another Sannin, for the first time. Jiraiya agrees to be his sensei and is the one who teaches him most of the advanced techniques he learns during that time. Under Jiraiya, Naruto improves his chakra control by practicing walking on water, learns how to call upon demon fox's energy at will after Jiraiya uses a counter seal to cancel Orochimaru's sealing technique, and how to use a summoning technique to call the giant toad, Gamabunta to his aid.

Also, during the month of training, Dosu (who was trying to sneak up on, and kill, Gaara) is ripped to shreds by Gaara and Hayate Gekko (the third exam proctor) is murdered by Baki, the Jonin of Gaara's squad, Team Baki.

Naruto's fight with Neji a month later in Match 1 of the finals is a very dramatic one. During the fight, Neji lectures Naruto much like he did with Hinata during the preliminaries, telling Naruto that dropouts remain dropouts and this cannot change. Naruto eventually wins the battle through a combination of the demon fox's power sealed within him and sheer belief in victory. In the process, he changes Neji's outlook on life and inspires him to create his own fate, thus forming another important bond. Naruto is able to make Neji understand that destiny can be changed, and they become good friends from that point on.

Match 2, Sasuke vs. Gaara, is moved to last since Sasuke hasn't shown up. Normally he would have been disqualified on the spot, but his match has been highly anticipated- in fact, some of the crowd comment they mostly came just to see him fight.

Match 3, Shino vs. Kankuro, is given to Shino on default, since Kankuro forfeits to "keep his techniques a secret" before the plan is launched.

Match 4 is Temari vs. Shikamaru. Both Temari and Shikamaru are excellent strategists, but Shikamaru was better. Though it appeared throughout the match Shikamaru was using pointless attacks, he was actually five steps ahead and skillfully manipulated Temari into a position where he could attack from behind, using Naruto's tunnel (which Naruto had dug during his match with Neji) to stealthily extend his Shadow Imitation Technique. This took control over Temari's body to imitate every one of Shikamaru's movements. Though Shikamaru could have won, he quits instead, saying that he is too low on chakra. His real reasons for quitting, however, seem to be because he is incredibly lazy and sees no point in winning, which would only lead to having to fight in further matches. He also doesn't want to hurt women.

Gaara vs. Sasuke comes around again. This is the battle that the crowd has been looking forward to. Sasuke arrives late, but time was extended because of the importance of the match. Sasuke demonstrates that his speed has vastly increased, to the point where the sand guarding Gaara could not keep up. Sasuke also demonstrates the Chidori, a technique he learned from Kakashi, which also happens to be Kakashi's only original jutsu, to injure Gaara. Before the match could finish, a smoke bomb is set off at the Hokage's box. Kabuto, who was actually working for Orochimaru, uses a genjutsu to put almost everybody in the crowd to sleep, and the Invasion of Konoha commences.

Invasion of Konoha
This arc shows Orochimaru's plot to destroy Konohagakure, and is frequently grouped into the Chunin Exam arc. This arc shows two simultaneous battles: Orochimaru vs. the Third Hokage and Naruto against Gaara.

Orochimaru vs. The Third Hokage

Three giant snakes are summoned and break down the walls guarding Konoha, then proceed to wreak havoc on the village. Meanwhile, approximately 120 Sand and Sound ninjas invade the village. The Sand joins the attack because their Feudal Lord had mistreated their village and showed favors toward Konoha; this attack is to show that Sunagakure treated as second rate in their own country.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru fights the Third Hokage. Orochimaru shows his secret: he had created a ninjutsu to grant him immortality. Orochimaru's spirit is able to live forever, but he must change bodies frequently. Orochimaru also mastered Summoning: Impure World Resurrection, which allowed him to summon the souls of the previous Hokages at the cost of sacrificing his Sound Genin. Attempting to stop this technique, the Third performs Technique Neutralize, managing to his great luck to seal the Fourth's (the strongest of the Hokages) coffin. Sarutobi then uses Summoning Technique to summon Monkey King Enma.

The summoned Hokages, though perfect in form to the original and retaining all their abilities, have lost their personalities, and are merely Orochimaru's slaves. They cannot be killed, since their bodies simply regenerate. the Third realizes that he must do something about their souls, and uses Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the same technique the Fourth Hokage used to seal the demon fox. Sarutobi is able to sacrifice two Shadow Clones to seal away the souls of the previous two Hokages, and then attempts to kill Orochimaru by destroying Orochimaru's soul. However, Sarutobi was low on chakra and stamina, and thus opts to do the next best thing: seal away Orochimaru's arms, so Orochimaru is unable to perform any more jutsu. The Third dies, still with a smile on his face.

Naruto vs. Gaara

The climax of the arc is the battle with Gaara. Gaara represents the opposite reaction to Naruto's own predicament. Like Naruto, Gaara also a jinchuriki for the One-Tailed Shukaku. However, where Naruto looked for acknowledgment and attention to form his identity, Gaara built more and more walls around himself, eventually concluding that his purpose in life was to kill everybody that was not him. Sasuke, Shino, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Naruto chase after Temari and Kankuro, who were charged with protecting Gaara until Gaara recovered from his fight with Sasuke. Shikamaru drops off to stop 9 Sound Chunin from following them, though Shikamaru was low on chakra. Asuma comes to bail him out. Kankuro stops to fight Sasuke, giving enough time for Gaara to recover. However, Shino declares that they are opponents, since they were supposed to fight during the Chunin Exam. Shino was able to defeat Kankuro by placing a female bug on him. The scent of this bug attracted all of Shino's other bugs, and these overpowered Kankuro. Finally, Sasuke fights Gaara. Gaara begins to transform into his Shukaku state, overpowering and defeating Sasuke. When Sasuke was about to be killed, Naruto and Sakura arrive. Gaara still attempts to kill Sasuke when Sakura places herself between them. Gaara traps Sakura in one of his Shukaku Sand claws and pins her to a tree. Then he taunts Naruto, stating that unless he defeats Gaara, Sakura will eventually be crushed by the sand claw trapping her to the tree.

At first Naruto is clearly overpowered, but later in the fight he gains more ground by using clever tactics and employing the techniques Jiraiya taught him. Naruto uses A Thousand Years of Death to injure the partial Shukaku form to prevent any movement, then uses the Uzumaki Naruto 2k Combo to pound Gaara, surprising everyone watching their battle. However, Gaara then transforms into the full Shukaku form and attempts to finish Naruto off with his Desert Coffin and Desert Funeral techniques. However, Naruto is able to break out of Gaara's Desert Coffin by summoning Gamabunta, and after a little convincing from Gamakichi, Gamabunta decides to fight Shukaku.

However, Gaara then uses his Feigning Sleep Technique to call out Shukaku's real powers. As Gamabunta was no match, Naruto would have to force Gaara awake. Using a combo transformation, Naruto transforms Gamabunta into the form of the demon fox, which is able to grab Shukaku long enough for Naruto to punch Gaara awake. Angered, Gaara attempts to trap Naruto in his Desert Coffin technique again. Though Gamabunta fails in an attempt to stop Gaara's attack, Naruto escapes with demon fox's chakra. He launches himself at Gaara but is unable to reach him with his fist, so Naruto head butts him. As blood trickles down both their foreheads, Gaara's Shukaku form crumbles around them. The two each only have enough chakra for one more attack. Gaara and Naruto launch themselves at each other and Naruto knocks Gaara down with one final punch.

Despite being unable to walk, Naruto crawls to Gaara to make sure he is defeated. While Gaara wonders why Naruto is so strong, Naruto explains to Gaara that although he knows exactly what Gaara went through growing up being hated by everyone, he would not let him take away those that saved him from the hell of being alone and unloved, even if it meant killing Gaara. As Naruto continues to crawl towards Gaara, a recovered Sasuke drops next to him and informs him that Sakura is now free of Gaara's sand claw and is safe. Temari and Kankuro drop by Gaara and face off with Sasuke when Gaara tells them that he gives up and asks them not to fight anymore. The two agree and take Gaara away from the scene. After seeing the job was done, Naruto fell asleep due to exhaustion.

In the end, what enables Naruto to triumph is his devotion to those important to him, which turns out to be a source of much greater strength than Gaara's hatred. After the battle ends, Gaara wonders whether he would be able to love again and apologizes to Temari and Kankuro.

Also, as Gaara was an opponent that Sasuke could not face equally, this reverses Naruto and Sasuke's roles in their rivalry and induces deep feelings of inferiority in Sasuke despite the facade of superiority that he continues to maintain. Later on, a funeral is held for the Third Hokage.

Epilogue

The invasion is called off, since Orochimaru cannot use any more techniques, and the Sand and Sound shinobi retreat. The surviving Sand ninja also find the body of the Kazekage, and they realized that Orochimaru murdered their leader and disguised himself as the Kazekage, thereby playing both sides of the alliance he created.

Return of Itachi
After Naruto defeats Gaara, helping save the village from destruction, Jiraiya chooses Naruto to accompany him on his search for Tsunade, one of his former comrades and a genius medical ninja, who would later become the Fifth Hokage. The only way he was able to convince Naruto to go with is by telling Naruto that he could teach him a move stronger than Sasuke's One Thousand Birds. Naruto quickly agrees and sets out on the journey with him. The reason Jiraiya wanted to take him on his journey was so he could protect Naruto from Akatsuki, an organization that is after the demon fox and the rest of the tailed beasts. Jiraiya wanted to make Naruto strong enough, so he could fight on his own against Akatsuki eventually.

However, not everything goes according to plan. Itachi and Kisame arrive, looking for Naruto. After Itachi easily defeats Kakashi, the pair locates their target. Seeking to avoid extra conflict, Itachi hypnotizes a girl into seducing Jiraiya so he would leave Naruto's side, and then the pair confronts the lone Naruto in a hotel hallway. Arriving on the scene in a rage, Sasuke immediately tries to kill Itachi using Chidori, only to have Itachi casually deflect his most powerful jutsu. Naruto quickly realizes that Itachi is indeed Sasuke's older brother, and finally learns why Sasuke wants to kill Itachi (Itachi killed their entire clan). As Kisame holds off the recently returned Jiraiya (who was only briefly fooled), Sasuke is nearly beaten to death, and Itachi uses his Mangekyo Sharingan to injure Sasuke mentally using Tsukuyomi. Finally intervening, Jiraiya uses his techniques to force Itachi and Kisame to flee via Amaterasu.

Later, Jiraiya tells Naruto that Akatsuki are after the demon inside Naruto. Naruto understands that he must become stronger, so he could protect himself and the people he cares about.

Search For Tsunade
The search for Tsunade leads Naruto and Jiraiya to Tanzaku City. At the same time, Orochimaru and Kabuto also look for Tsunade so she can heal Orochimaru's arms. While Jiraiya prowls the town "looking for information" (or hitting on young ladies), Naruto practices the three steps required for learning the move that is stronger than Chidori, the Rasengan. The first step emphasizes rotation, practiced by trying to pop a water balloon. The second step is power, practiced by exploding a rubber ball. The third step emphasizes control, and the power and rotation in the first two steps must be used at 100%, while maintaining the ball of chakra inside a regular balloon without popping the balloon. When Naruto finishes the first two steps, Jiraiya finally finds out that Tsunade is at Tanzaku City, and they head out, with Naruto working on the third step on the journey.

When Jiraiya and Naruto finally get to Tanzaku City, Orochimaru had reached Tsunade first. Orochimaru offered Tsunade an exchange: heal Orochimaru's arms, and Orochimaru will bring Tsunade's little brother and lover back using Summoning: Impure World Resurrection. However, Tsunade must provide two human sacrifices. Orochimaru extends his deadline for her decision to a week, and leaves her.

That night, Jiraiya and Naruto go to a bar to eat and find out information about Tsunade, only to find Tsunade herself there, along with her assistant Shizune. However, she declines Jiraiya's offer to become the 5th Hokage, saying that only fools would want the title of Hokage. This irritates Naruto greatly, and Naruto and Tsunade head outside to "fight". Tsunade easily handles Naruto using only one finger, but when Naruto declares that it is his dream to become Hokage, Tsunade immediately sees the connection between Naruto and her brother and lover. Her reverie leaves Tsunade open, and Naruto takes the opportunity to try to use Rasengan on her, though it was incomplete. Upon seeing the Rasengan, Tsunade makes a bet with him; if he can master Rasengan in a week, she will give him the necklace of the First Hokage. If he loses, she confiscates his frog wallet and all its contents. Naruto accepts after learning the value of the necklace, and goes to train. Shizune is surprised that Tsunade uses the necklace in a bet, since the people that Tsunade tried to give it to (her brother and her lover) both died horribly the next day. Shizune explains this, and Naruto toughens his resolve to get it, not returning to the hotel at all for 6 days. On the 6th day, Shizune finds Naruto unconscious and brings him back, and Naruto recovers after just a night's sleep because of the demon fox's chakra.

Naruto wakes up the next day to find out from Shizune that Tsunade is going to meet with Orochimaru. Along with Jiraiya, they rush to find her and arrive in time to stop Kabuto from killing Tsunade. While Jiraiya (who was poisoned by Tsunade the night before) tries his best to hold off Orochimaru, Naruto and Shizune try to protect Tsunade, who had been paralyzed by her hemophobia (fear of blood). Kabuto knocks out Shizune and proceeds to attack Tsunade, but Naruto gets in the way. Infuriated, Kabuto pummels Naruto, all the while telling Naruto that he was only a ninja by luck and that he could never dream of being on the same level as Sasuke. This only fuels Naruto's resolve, and when Kabuto charges with a kunai, Naruto allows his hand to get impaled by the weapon, effectively trapping Kabuto in position. He then uses a shadow clone to mold chakra into his free hand, and hits Kabuto with a fully formed Rasengan, which shocks both Tsunade and Orochimaru. The Rasengan was so powerful that even with Kabuto's excellent regeneration ability, there was still too much damage for Kabuto to repair. However, prior to getting hit by the Rasengan, Kabuto had severed Naruto's arteries leading to the heart, so Naruto would die soon.

Touched by Naruto's resolution, Tsunade vows to heal Naruto (he can't recover himself because the demon fox's chakra cannot be used if the heart's arteries are cut). Tsunade is able to heal Naruto, but Orochimaru realizes that Naruto has become too powerful, and his only chance to kill Naruto would be right now. Orochimaru lunges at Naruto with the Kusanagi sword, but Tsunade uses her body to shield Naruto multiple times. When Orochimaru questions her actions, she tells Orochimaru that it is because Naruto would be the future Hokage, and then determinedly announcing, " And from today onwards, I too will bet my life to protect the Leaf, because I am the Fifth Hokage!" Tsunade finally overcomes her hemophobia.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru all use Summoning Technique, and they summon Katsuyu the slug, Gamabunta the toad, and Manda the snake, respectively. After a short battle between the summoned beasts, Tsunade is able to drive Gamabunta's sword down on Manda's mouth, thereby pinning him to the ground. Since Manda cannot move anymore, he leaves. Tsunade then proceeds to beat up Orochimaru with her monstrous strength. Orochimaru admits that this plan failed, but warns Tsunade that he can still revive his arms using another technique, and then leaves with Kabuto.

Tsunade then puts her necklace on Naruto, saying that just once more, she wants to believe.

When Naruto comes back around, the fight is over, and Gamabunta and Katsuyu are gone. Upon hearing that Tsunade has now accepted the title of 5th Hokage, Naruto proceeds to run down the reasons why she wasn't a good choice (and there were quite a few). Annoyed, Tsunade once again challenges Naruto to a fight outside. And once again, she handles Naruto with ease, but instead of flicking him away with a finger, she symbolically plants a kiss on his forehead, like she did with Nawaki and Dan when she gave them the necklace, telling him to "be a good man", and (thinking to herself) an excellent Hokage. With that, Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya and Naruto head back to Konoha.

Upon their return, Naruto hears that the village of Konoha must continue their missions. Iruka explains to Naruto (over a cup of ramen, of course) that they must not show other villages that they are weak, so they do as many missions as they did before Orochimaru's invasion, even though their strength has been cut in half.

Tsunade is known as a great medical ninja, and she heals Sasuke and Kakashi of their ailments received during the fight with Itachi. She sees Lee (who was badly injured during his fight with Gaara in the Chunin Exam preliminary rounds) after persistent nagging from many characters, and tells him that he should discontinue being a ninja. There are fragments of bone in his spine, and the one operation that can be done (and also can only be done by her) has a 50% chance of either curing him or killing him.

Konohamaru, grandson of the Third Hokage, becomes upset at the thought of a new Hokage, especially a girl, and shows his anger by lashing out at his friends (including Naruto) and locking himself in Tsunade's new office. While this occurs, Tsunade is introduced to the large amount of work required of a Hokage, and is reluctant at first, but finds herself oddly interested in Lee's case. Konohamaru's friends, Moegi and Udon, along with Naruto, try to find ways to let Konohamaru out, since he set a lot of obstacles that lead to Tsunade's new office. Tsunade, who was looking for a book in her new office, successfully got in, destroying all of Konohamaru's obstacles with her mighty strength. Naruto and Konohamaru are walking down the street and they overhear Shizune talking to Tsunade, and they hear the Fifth Hokage state her concern and her motivation to help Lee. This convinces Konohamaru that Tsunade really is a good replacement for his grandfather.

Just minutes before Tsunade is inaugurated as the Fifth Hokage in front of the villagers, Shizune stumbles upon an open book on Tsunade's desk. It shows a series of mathematical equations surrounding a chart of a body. "50%" is written and crossed out, followed by an arrow pointing to a circle, which contains "58%", and Shizune can only smile.

Sasuke Retrieval
Naruto's influence on Sasuke, though profound, is powerless to prevent Sasuke from leaving his village and friends to receive training from Orochimaru. Sasuke's decision to leave is the result of a chain of events that rekindles his hatred for his brother and desire to avenge his clan. To do so, he must claim a great amount of power that becomes the center of his entire life.

Humiliated by Itachi's declaration that he is disappointingly "weak" and aware of the fact that Naruto may be his superior, Sasuke challenges Naruto to a fight when Naruto returns to Konoha. They engage in a heated duel on the rooftop of the hospital, where Naruto tells Sasuke that he never considered himself inferior to Sasuke. Kakashi leaps in to stop the fight just when Naruto and Sasuke are about to use their Rasengan and Chidori on each other, deflecting both their attacks into adjacent water towers. While Sasuke's Chidori makes a larger dent on the front of the tower than Naruto's Rasengan, Sasuke is shocked to find that the back of Naruto's water tank has been completely blown out by the power of his Rasengan. Sasuke realizes he may have lost the fight and received major injuries if Kakashi hadn't stopped the fight. This only makes Sasuke even angrier that Naruto is getting stronger by the day and could actually be able to defeat him in battle.

Ever since the Chunin exam and the fight against Gaara of the Sand, Sasuke felt that Naruto had been improving immensely. Naruto only wanted recognition from Sasuke, recognition that he really had gotten stronger. However, Sasuke would never recognize Naruto, because by doing so, he would also have to admit that he is weaker than him. Despite a lecture from Kakashi about the pointlessness of revenge, the appearance of Orochimaru's Sound Four with an offer of greater powers and yet another humiliating pummeling took Sasuke over the edge.

Choji vs. Jirobo

A five-man squad is set up by Shikamaru, including himself, Kiba, Naruto, Choji, and Neji. They easily catch up to the Sound Four, who are escorting Sasuke to Orochimaru. Strategies are not used; rather, the team splits up. The same was on the part of the Sound Four: they dropped people one by one, and Choji ends up fighting Jirobo by himself. Using two of the secret pills of the Akimichi Clan, Choji is able to increase his chakra enough to keep from being defeated. In the end, he has to consume the red pepper pill which increases his chakra a hundredfold but leaves him in an extremely critical condition usually resulting to death. Taking the pill slims down his body as the excess calories were converted into butterfly wings of chakra. After getting back at Jirobo for eating the last chip and calling him fat, Choji puts all his chakra and power into his fist and kills Jirobo for insulting his best friend, Shikamaru.

Neji vs. Kidomaru

Next, Neji ends up fighting Kidomaru. Kidomaru has trouble at short range since Neji's Byakugan and Juken are too powerful to penetrate. Kidomaru ends up fighting from long-range, but the battle is locked in a stalemate until Kidomaru discovers a weakness of the Byakugan: it has a blind spot behind Neji's first thoracic vertebrae. Knowing that he will be hit in this area, Neji intentionally allows Kidomaru hit him with a powerful arrow, to which Kidomaru had affixed a chakra string to ensure accuracy. However, Neji uses the chakra string to use his Gentle Fist to damage Kidoumaru's internal organs. Neji then catches up with Kidomaru, and uses his 8 Trigrams to close Kidomaru's tenketsu(chakra holes); Kidomaru dies shortly after. Neji is left in a critical state after the fight.

Shikamaru vs. Tayuya/Kiba and Akamaru vs. Sakon and Ukon

Shikamaru is matched up with Tayuya, while Kiba and Akamaru are with Sakon and Ukon. Kiba and Akamaru do an amazing tag team on Sakon, but Sakon splits with Ukon right before Kiba and Akamaru lay a devestating blow. Sakon and Ukon activate their cursed seal to level two, which are far too powerful for Kiba and Akamaru. Meanwhile, Shikamaru, despite all his prowess at strategy, simply cannot kill Tayuya because of her sheer force. He manages to use his Shadow Posession Jutsu on her three summons, but she quickly despells them both. Then he catches her in his Shadow Posession Jutsu, then his Shadow Strangle Jutsu, while at the same time, Akamaru has gotten injured and Kiba will not leave him, and without Akamaru to do their combo's, Kiba and Akamaru are forced to run away (Kiba himself had to stab himself, in order to escape), and Shikamaru, for once, can't come up with any ideas to beat Tayuya, and is forced to keep his Shadow strangle jutsu on her. Finally, Shikamaru and Kiba are ready to accept their deaths. However, before the finishing strike can be executed, the Sand ninja arrive to help.

The Sand Arrives: Kankuro vs. Sakon and Ukon/Temari vs. Tayuya

Right before they die, they are aided by Temari and Kankuro respectively, who have been ordered to help the Konoha ninja. Kankuro's puppets are unaffected by Sakon and Ukon's ability to fuse with cells. When Sakon arrives, he attemptes to do the same thing he almost did with Kiba, but Kankuro turns out to be his new puppet Kuroari (a.k.a. the Black Ant) to injure Sakon, forcing them to fuse back and Ukon to take over. However, it is not until Kankuro simply traps Sakon and Ukon inside his puppet Kuroari. Kankuro then uses Karasu to stab them through holes in Kuroari, and uses Karasu and Kuroari to do a devastating and deadly combo, Secret Black Move: Iron Madian, killing the brothers. Meanwhile, Since Tayuya uses sound, Temari's wind was a natural enemy. Temari uses Wind Scythe Jutsu, which blows away Tayuya and cutting her flute in half. Shikamaru uses this time to tell Temari about Tayuya's stratagies. After a while, Tayuya fixes her flute and is ready to kill Shikamaru and Temari, but Temari uses her summoning Technique and uses Cyclone Scythe Jutsu which is able to kill Tayuya by destroying an entire tract of the forest, the sliced debris falling atop her and crushing her.

Naruto/Lee/Gaara vs. Kimimaro

Last, Kimimaro, who is stronger than all four of the Sound Four combined, comes to aid the escort mission. At first, he is faced with Naruto, but even Naruto's massive amounts of shadow clones prove to be no match for Kimimaro, whose taijutsu skills are more than a match for Naruto's superior numbers. Naruto even uses his Nine-Tailed Fox Chakra, and he is still loosing. Rock Lee then comes to help Naruto, allowing Naruto to chase after Sasuke while Lee fights Kimimaro.

Both Lee and Kimimaro are taijutsu experts, but since Lee recently recovered from his surgery, he is not in top shape. Lee drinks some sake that he thought was medicine and becomes intoxicated, and fights with the Drunken Fist style. With this added unpredictability, Lee gains an upper hand against Kimimaro. However, he clearly has no idea what he is doing, who he is fighting, and why he feels so drunk. After a while, Kimimaro is forced to do his Dance of the Camellia, but Rock Lee then appears to be virtually invincible, and lays a devastating blow to Kimimaro. Seeing that there is no chance of him defeating Lee in his present state, Kimimaro uses his Cursed Seal Level One and overpowers Lee, manifesting his horrific ability to use his bones at will. Not only this, but he begins to sober-up. Lee would have been killed if Gaara had not arrived in time and used his sand to protect Lee.

Clearly, Kimimaro is at a disadvantage, since Gaara can block all physical attacks and Kimimaro can only use physical attacks. However, like the Sound Four, Kimimaro is able to get past Gaara's defense and offense by sheer force. Kimimaro's bones are so tough that they simply force their way through Gaara's sand. Even Desert Funeral and other crushing forces can't bring down Kimimaro, as he creates a film of bone beneath his skin to protect himself. Kimimaro would have defeated and killed Gaara with his last attack, but just before Kimimaro could finish Gaara, his terminal illness ended his life.

Naruto vs. Sasuke

Naruto finally catches up with Sasuke. Naruto tries to convince Sasuke that it isn't too late to turn back and not to forget the experiences they had as Team 7. However, Sasuke is unaffected, going full out against Naruto while saying that he isn't leaving because everything they did as Team 7 was meaningless; he intends to kill Naruto because he is his best friend- which would be the way to attain the Mangekyo Sharingan. Naruto, however, doesn't know what Sasuke means and is deeply upset by Sasuke's words. After beating Naruto senseless, Sasuke has a flashback to his life as a child, revealing the reason he must go to Orochimaru is to fulfill his life's purpose of revenge; in the scene, he is crying as his older brother, whom he thought he once knew and shared many memories with, stands over the bodies of his parents with a bloodied ANBU katana. What makes it worse is that Itachi then proceeds to torture the broken and sobbing Sasuke with the Mangekyo Sharingan by showing Sasuke his parents' deaths at the hand of the person he used to look up to. This is what ultimately makes Sasuke betray Konoha in search of power.

Understanding that Sasuke will never return on his own, Naruto vows to bring Sasuke back by force, even if he must break every one of Sasuke's bones. The two of them keep raising the bar, Naruto uses the fox's chakra, to which Sasuke can't handle, in fact, he seems to stand no chance since Naruto has gotten faster and stronger, however, Sasuke levels his Sharingan to three tomoe, to which he can now read all of Naruto's movements, and is now able to not only fight back, but he begins to get an upper hand again. After Naruto's shadow clones fail, Naruto nearly loses consciousness toward one of Sasuke's attacks, Naruto turns up into his own mind, to which the Nine-Tailed Fox calls him weak, and that Naruto better be grateful to him and the Fourth Hokage "For sealing [him] into a "runt" like [Naruto]". The chakra is so great that Naruto turns into his one-tailed state, to which Sasuke can still read his movements, but Naruto's chakra becomes a shield "with a mind of its own". Sasuke realizes that Naruto has some kind of "special power" (the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) and also realizes that in order to stand a chance, he will have to keep a distance from Naruto. Sasuke realizes that even if he keeps his distance, all he can do is dodge. When Sasuke is served with a powerful punch by Naruto, he finally powers his Cursed Seal of Heaven to level 2. A demon fox-powered Naruto and Level-2 Cursed Seal Sasuke face off in a final clash, Chidori vs. Rasengan. The two attacks explode and bathe the two in a blinding white light. For a brief moment, their hands touch, and a scene of Sasuke and Naruto smiling at each other as children is shown. Before both are knocked out, Naruto purposely puts a scratch on Sasuke's protector (refuting Sasuke's boast that Naruto wasn't powerful enough to even scratch his forehead) at the same time Sasuke hits him. Naruto is slightly wounded and unconscious while Sasuke is left in critical condition by his cursed seal because Naruto quits the fights. Making it to his feet first, Sasuke is tempted to kill the helpless Naruto - his best friend - and thereby obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke, however, realizes that this is exactly what Itachi wants, and refuses to play by his rules. Sasuke vows to become stronger than Itachi his own way: through Orochimaru's powers.

This experience is traumatic to Naruto, not only because he has promised Sakura to bring Sasuke back, but also because it's the first time he is unable to live up to a promise he made to an important person. Unlike Jiraiya, however, who from his own experience with Orochimaru believes that Sasuke is out of reach so Naruto should forget about him and concentrate on his own survival, Naruto believes that there is still hope for Sasuke. He tells Sakura that he will, one day, bring Sasuke back to the village and live up to his promise. Sakura then nods, and says determinedly that next time, they'll bring Sasuke back together.

Aftermath

Although the mission to rescue Sasuke was considered a complete failure, Shikamaru was commended for at least keeping everyone alive during the entire ordeal. Choji and Neji were saved by advanced healing techniques while he, Kiba and Naruto were returned to heal both their physical and emotional wounds. While in recuperation, Naruto is approached by Jiraiya telling him two vital pieces of information: that Orochimaru would not be able to join with Sasuke for three years and that Akatsuki also has a plan that will begin three years from now. Seeing the opportunity to assist him in training and protect him from his inevitable threats on both fronts, Jiraiya offers Naruto to train him for the future ordeals. Although unsure at first, Naruto eventually accepts Jiraiya's deal. Meanwhile, Sakura approaches Tsunade about training her so she would no longer be a helpless burden to her teammates, upon which the Hokage also accepts.

Three months later, life returns to normal in the Leaf Village. Shikamaru sees off the Sand siblings while Kiba makes a new promise to protect Akamaru. Choji recovers and begins to rebulk up and Neji begins training again with his uncle Hiashi. Lee continues his own taijutsu training once again and even Sakura begins to show inroads in her healing abilities under Tsunade's watch. It is at this time that Naruto finally leaves the village, starting his own ordeals for the future. Grasping the face of the Fourth Hokage, he asks for him to watch over him during his new ordeals. Meanwhile, in the shadowy depths of a cave, the members of Akatsuki make their own pledge that in three years, their master plan will begin.

The Sasuke Retrival arc concludes the first part of the Naruto plot, though a number of filler arcs take place before the time skip. Proceed to the post-timeskip era.