Shut Up and Fish

"Ow, ow, ow, ow. Get it out! Get it out!" Naruto yelled as he shook his bleeding finger. He pulled out his kunai and moved to cut the fishhook out.

Jiraiya slapped his hand away. "Stop that. You'll cut your damn finger off. Let me."

He cut the hook out of Naruto's finger. It was weird how Naruto would shrug off serious wounds in battle but whine like a child over small cuts and bruises. He decided it must be either the Kyuubi's influence or the adrenaline rush of battle.

"Next time don't rush," Jiraiya said. "If you were more patient you wouldn't have hooked yourself." He threaded a worm onto his own hook and tossed the line into the lake.

Naruto scowled at him.

"Don't give me that look. It's your own fault."

"I don't know why we're doing this anyway," Naruto said. "It's stupid. I could catch food if you're hungry. I've seen two rabbits while we're sitting here."

"I could explain it, but I want you to find the answer yourself."

Jiraiya sat the cut heal in front of his eyes. It always gave him a twinge of sadness when he saw evidence of the Kyuubi's existence. He could only hope Naruto mastered himself before the Kyuubi mastered him.

"What did Kakashi teach you? It will help you learn the lesson."

"Don't mess with his Icha-Icha porn."

"It's not porn. It's a beautiful love story!" Jiraiya snapped. He stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Naruto really knew how to work his nerves.

"What else did he teach you?"

"Teamwork is important."

"That's true, but it's not what I'm looking for. I've heard you mention something before, something about perception."

"Per-what now?"

"Shut up and fish," Jiraiya growled.

Jiraiya didn't pay attention to the time. Fishing was a form of meditation, something he hoped Naruto would grasp. The boy desperately needed to learn patience.

Naruto played with his pole, jerking the line to see the water splash.

"Stop that, or you'll scare the fish. We're not stopping until you catch one."

"I don't even like fish," he whined.

"Since when does your training involve whether you like something or not? You're stuck with this, so you might as well apply yourself. If you catch a fish I'll teach you a jutsu later."

Naruto perked up. "I'll catch a fish then, believe it!"

He scowled at the lake, giving his task all his concentration. Jiraiya caught a large perch.

Jiraiya heard Naruto's stomach growl. "You'd better catch your dinner," he said.

Naruto mumbled something and began pulling off his shoes.

"What are you doing?" Jiraiya asked.

"Look underneath the underneath the underneath. That's what Kakashi said."

Jiraiya watched him pull off his shirt. "That's right, but what the hell are you doing?"

Naruto pulled off the rest of his clothes, grabbed his kunai, and leapt in the water.

Jiraiya watched Naruto swimming underwater. He crawled out of the lake and threw a large fish at Jiraiya's feet.

"There, I looked underneath the underneath. Teach me the jutsu now."

"You took that more literally than I meant. I just wanted you to learn how to meditate. This was supposed to be an exercise in patience."

They were interrupted by feminine giggles. Both turned to see several girls blushing and pointing at Naruto. He grabbed his clothes and hid in the bushes so he could dress.

"Perverts!" he yelled.

The girls ran away giggling.

"I guess they were looking underneath the underneath too," Jiraiya said. He dodged a clumsily thrown kunai and went back to fishing.