Timeskip will finally happen on February 15th, 2007. Second part of Naruto anime series, Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles (Shippuuden), has been given an official air date according to the full page ad on Shonen Jump. There will be a one-hour special that features the all grown-up characters after two-and-a-half years. The said episode will also be a sneak preview of what to expect on the upcoming episodes.
Fillers will finally come to an end early weeks of February. It had been noted that the series had so far featured 80 [and still counting] episodes of the fillers since May 25, 2005. Remarkably one of the anime that featured longest fillers in the anime history. It has also been said that the second part of Naruto anime would be ending soon. Naruto games are also due this Spring of 2007 which also features characters from the series’ second part.
On the other hand, there will be no Manga release from Shonen Jump. It will be back on January 15th and for Naruto with the much anticipated Chapter 338 which now features Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Yamato giving a hand just in time to Team 10 [now led by Kakashi] against the Akatsuki members. And as per the serialized version, Naruto Manga Volume 12 climbed from #164 to #77 according to USA Today Booklist for the week ending December 31.
And to wrap up my post, there has been an image thats been circulating on the net courtesy of Jojohot.com featuring Naruto and Gamakichi. Some says its purely a fanart while some says it leaked out from the production house. Asking me, I believe on the latter. Here’s the image.