(Forest of Death 1st day of the 2nd Exam)
Orochimaru had successfully applied the cursed seal to Sasuke Uchiha's tired body. After a grueling battle during which Orochimaru had psychologically and physically tortured the three genin of team 7 it was finally time to leave his old neck of the woods. Sasuke lay prone screaming in pain as the effects of the cursed seal began to take hold. Sakura was shaking in fear of both the legendary Sannin and of the sound of Sasuke's screams. Naruto was nowhere to be found for the moment.
"Kukuku, I believe now you will come to see things my way Sasuke-kun. Come to me when you desire power to avenge your clan and I, Orochimaru the Snake Sannin, shall give it to you!" Orochimaru disappeared into the ground. The entire surroundings were filled with his echoing laughter.
(Two Days later)
Kabuto was curious as to his master's choice of actions. He knew that Orochimaru wished to take the Uchiha for his next vessel as he wished to gain complete dominion over all jutsu using the famous Sharingan dojutsu. What he did not understand was why Orochimaru was not trying to take the boy right then and there. He would have understood if his master had chosen to perform an invasion of Konohagakure using the tensions between them and Sunagakure as a means of gaining a military force. Yet, for some reason the Sannin had decided not to create such a plan and merely marked his target during the second stage of the Chuunin Exams that were taking place this year in Konoha. Kabuto has had to act as a spy for some time and knew that now was the time to strike just as any good spy worth their life would know. Of course he had communicated as much to his master.
Bowing humbly to his master upon meeting him within the great forests that surround Konoha Kabuto spoke "Orochimaru-sama what do you plan to do with the Uchiha now that you have marked him? As you well know the village is primed for an invasion and would allow for the killing of your old sensei Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"Kabuto?" Orochimaru was smiling pleasantly.
"Yes my Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto had a feeling he was not going to like the answer.
Thinking for but a moment longer Orochimaru then said "Are you questioning me?" Kabuto was about to answer in his usual obsequious manner but was interrupted "No do not answer that. You are my right hand man, and considering the information you have provided for me I do see your point. As it stands I am in a good mood and will answer your question." Pausing for a moment to gather his words he then explains, "I have decided to do things in a different manner, a fashion more befitting the name of Shinobi. For too long have I seen my fellow Shinobi do flashy battle with larger and more powerful techniques that lay waste to entire landscapes. It is useful I grant you but I also realize that it has caused the originally more commonly and more useful arts to be set on the wayside. I have decided to simply let things play out. It will take far less effort in fact to actually secretly remove Sasuke-kun from Konoha right out from under their noses in secret rather than in a war."
"Hm. I do see your point master. However would not a war provide the necessary cover anyways?" Kabuto questioned as he was genuinely curious as to this final choice by his current master.
Orochimaru nodded. "Indeed it could. The problem with an all out war though is that in the end our forces are not nearly as well trained or numerous enough to cause suitable damage. There are numerous other paths we could take for a far more successful war. In fact I could likely gain all the villages outside of Mist and Konoha itself to provide support towards a war to wipe out Konoha. As you know all the other villages basically have long standing grudges and or desires for what Konoha holds in bloodlines and other riches. Hell, I could choose to negotiate with the ever elusive Sora no Kuni and use their technology to outright destroy it. Another option is robbing Yuki no Kuni of its tech and going from there. As you can see Kabuto there are many…many options for this potential choice."
Understanding dawned in Kabuto's eyes as he finally understood exactly what scope Orochimaru was thinking on. He finally understood that the end goal was not the destruction of Konoha but was, in fact, the original goal his master had all along and that was the mastery of all jutsu and the perfecting of his immortality jutsu. Thinking along these lines Kabuto realized that it was simply a waste of time to actually destroy Konoha when spies such as himself could easily acquire any and all information to further this grand goal in the first place.
Bowing deeply Kabuto stated in a low humble voice "My apologies Orchimaru-sama. I did not think deeply enough about the entire situation."
Orochimaru smiled. He was glad his top agent was seeing things how he saw them. It was definitely most beneficial that he had taken to heart the old adage of patience being more than a virtue but a true path to victory. One must strike at the right time or there is simply no point in taking action in the first place. Like a true snake Orochimaru would not strike when the opportunity for such a strike would not be completely successful. Expanding further on the previous subject another reason to wait was that unlike other living beings Orochimaru did not technically age but instead simply moved from body to body he was able to live for a largely extended period of time rivaling those of the once great Uzumaki Clan. 'Shame Danzo was able to wipe them out using that combined force of shinobi from Iwa and Kumo. I also hear he used Sasori that old puppet master to deal a major blow as well if not the finishing blow. Crafty old bag.' The Uzumaki would have made for great vessels with their longevity and extra powerful chakra allowing for longer lasting vessels. Sadly with only Uzumaki Karin in his possession he was not able to create large numbers of them as of yet. She was much too young.
"One last thing on this subject. Remember Kabuto that while you are continuing to grow stronger as you grow closer to your prime and while I do not weaken since I am technically unable to age due to the imperfect immortality jutsu our enemies in the old Sandaime Hokage and Shimura Danzo do not have such a luxury. Time is our friend here. May as well use it to its fullest. Therefore, our future plans in the leaf are to remove, coerce, and or convert those who would become potentially powerful enemies. Preferably have them in our pockets. Its not like we have any money problems since our Otogakure is starting to bloom nicely."
Nodding at this clearly logical line of thinking Kabuto then continued "While in the meantime you would like it if we silently spirited away the young Uchiha to be used as a future vessel. What would you do about all the experiments we have going currently?"
"Go ahead and allow them to continue. However I would like for our experimentation to be at a somewhat more relaxed pace. It seems to me after thinking carefully that we have actually had more failures in potential tests and test subjects due to exaggerated experimentation as of late. I may have been a tad bit too excited kukuku. On the bright side Karin has shown some results in reigning in Jugo's endlessly growing bloodlust. From what the reports state she learned from a observing different groups of religious monks and non religious monks that what makes them so powerful and in fact serene is their meditation. Using her superior chakra sensing abilities she was able to note that not only were they simply meditating but they were also communing with the natural chakra of the world and allowing it to flow through them. Have Jugo receive training in the arts as I think this would be the key to making our currently faulty cursed seals function properly without all the nasty little side effects. I was never the seal master after all." Stated Orochimaru.
Bowing once more Kabuto intoned "It will be done Orochimaru-sama." As he was turning he seemed to stop for a moment as he remembered something. "Oh and don't forget about the old lab that has Suigetsu-kun in. I figure we could use his water abilities for quite the useful bit of subterfuge in Mizugakure and Konohagakure. Suna, Kumo, and Iwa are too dry for his skills to not be more easily discovered."
"Excellent idea. Recall him immediately from the test site and have him put to work. I think we have gained enough data on his bloodline to recreate it at this time anyways. Make sure the data is compiled."
"Hai Orochimaru-sama." And with that Kabuto left to do his work.
(Konoha One Week after beginning of Chuunin Exams, Five days since ending of the 1st Exam and beginning of the 2nd)
Sasuke Uchiha was currently upset. Though this is not unusual for the 'Uchiha prodigy' it was for a seemingly in his mind good reason. Kakashi had just sealed up his cursed seal on he had received from Orochimaru after it began acting up during his preliminary Chuunin Exams match. 'Why can't anyone see that it is a source of power necessary to defeat my brother? If I can't kill him then I can't free the Uchiha name from the soiled ashes it currently resides in. And Naruto…CURSE HIM! I DESERVE THAT POWER HE SHOWED WHEN FIGHTING OROCHIMARU!' Of course the ranting and raving would go on for some time. Thus is what happens when one is simply not fit for duty and participates in so much death. Considering the countless events that occurred within the Forest of Death also known as training ground 44, before this on the C turned A-rank escort mission to Nami no Kuni, and finally the ever mentally scarring Uchiha massacre and the subsequent Tsukuyomi to relive it, did not exactly assist in this. Anyways the prodigal boy was fuming while trying to find a way to gain more power. Of course as per usual it is simply thrown in his lap in 3…2…1…now.
"Sasuke lets go. Were going to be training for the next month to help you defeat Subaku no Gaara. He is a powerful opponent especially with his ability to control sand. Therefore during this next month we will be not only increasing your physical attributes in speed and agility to help you keep up with your Sharingan's perception but also giving you numerous techniques to copy." Kakashi said in his usual lazy manner while reading his current copy of Icha Icha Paradise volume 34: Yayame Nom Nom Shop. Needless to say it was quite the enrapturing read.
Sasuke readily jumped at this chance to gain more power especially if it did not need excess effort to perform. He knew from experience the physical training would be grueling but at least the jutsu learning would be a breeze. "Fine. Lets do this. I need as much power as possible or I'll never win the exams let alone beat Itachi."
With that Kakashi took Sasuke away via Shunshin to train for the next month.
(Afternoon after the Preliminaries - Naruto)
The preliminaries had just ended. Naruto had a somewhat difficult fight against Kiba. He was not feeling right. His abilities were all of and he had no control of his chakra. It was like there was a massive barrier trying to squeeze him of all ability to produce any. Naruto being Naruto brute forced what little chakra he could get out. What little he could produce was of such low quality and in such low amount that it was surprising he could create any shadow clones. Well low quantity in comparison to his usually accessible amount. More than fifty percent was wasted per jutsu without the seal and with the seal about ninety-percent was being wasted. Needless to say the kid had some major issues in chakra control.
Naruto was walking around the village aimlessly the hour after the prelims. There wasn't really anything to do and his Jiji had told him to check by the hotsprings around two weeks after the prelims and, using a mysterious sentence as was his won't, told naruto he would find a teacher there to help him. The ero-Ebisu was suggested but Naruto already knew how that would turn out so he declined such an offer and stated he would figure something out in the meantime. Turning a corner Naruto bumped into someone. It turned out to be 'Kabuterimon….er Kabutops, or something I think?' Thought Naruto as he picked himself up.
Fixing his glasses Kabuto recognized who he had bumped into. "Oh hello there Naruto-san. I heard you passed your fight in the preliminaries against Kiba. Good work."
Smiling brightly at the compliment Naruto said, "Yeh it was crazy. Kiba was really nuts with his spinning in circles combination attacks he and his dog Akamaru did. I think it was called Getsuga or something. Thanks by the way…erm…."
Chuckling to himself Kabuto said "Kabuto, Yakushi Kabuto."
"Heheh sorry bout that I have never been good with names." Naruto said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
Appearing to think for a moment Kabuto realized that Naruto seemed to be just wandering aimlessly. Seeing as he had nothing better to do Kabuto decided he may as well spend some time with the kid. He figured Naruto has had just as lonely if not worse circumstances than his own. He was not delusional to the fact that his own life had been pretty crazy what with all the spying but at least he had understood who he was. Naruto had basically no idea about himself, where he came from or even how to use his own basic abilities to any truly useful extent. Plus Kabuto was bored. Boredom always helps. "Say Naruto, are you doing anything right now?"
Naruto looked surprised at the quest as he never expected the older genin to ask such a question. "No why what's up?"
Shrugging nonchalantly Kabuto said "Well, I was just thinking and seeing as your not really doing anything at the moment would you like to spend some time together? I don't really get to spend time with my fellow ninja as I am usually busy working as a medic at the hospital and since we have free time…" he purposely trailed off.
"Are you saying you wanna hang out with me?" Said Naruto with stars in his eyes. I mean c'mon the kid has like no friends so when given such an offer he will jump on it like an Akimichi on a steak full of delicious barbecue sauce….(salivates). Naruto drooled for a second as his stomach growled. He laughed embarrassedly.
"How about we go get something to eat? My treat." Kabuto was stifling his laughter though it was still obvious he was laughing. Naruto tried to look perturbed but couldn't turn down a free meal for Sage's sake.
"I'll take you up on that. In fact I know just the place. They got THE best ramen in town and the owners Ichiraku Teuchi and his daughter Ayame are real nice too."
A few minutes later saw the two sitting down at the stools outside the ramen stand. It was a quant little place. Not many people stopped by to eat but those that did knew it to be out of this world. Like straight up stuck in the land of Shinigami or something. Hell the Spirit king himself along with Shinigami-sama and Kami-sama would visit here on occasion just to enjoy its celestially given taste. They would know they gave the Ichiraku line the recipe centuries ago and they still loved it.
Naruto was chowing down on ramen like he was dying of hunger. Though in his defence he didn't actually have food or money for food as it was all super expensive or just plain rotted shit. Kabuto was extremely surprised and somewhat scientifically fascinated by the sheer amount the boy was tucking away. By his judgment the kid should have died from either drowning from the 10 gallons of broth he drank or from asphyxiation form it all clogging his throat and lungs or just from his stomach plain exploding inside him sending his stomach acid to destroy his body. Needless to say none of this was happening so his mind was blown. It reminded him of that one show he watched once a child where a man with some insane spikey black hair in an orange training outfit had like one hundred plus plates of food next to him emptied out in seconds. Though he did shoot beams of energy capable of destroying planets so he figured that stuff didn't fly. Apparently he was wrong and now he wondered if Naruto had a little golden cloud lying around to fly away on.
Kabuot was still on his first bowl of ramen having found it to be just as heavenly as it smelled. He had to admit it was beyond delicious. However, he also knew it to be exceedingly unhealthy to eat and knew from his position as spy master that the boy literally could not afford anything else on his meager pay. Furthermore, he knew no one would sell him food at the right price or at all so he did understand. However, no person that Orochimaru-sama was interested in as more than simply another body to be in would be left in such a state.
After leaving the stand and paying for Naruto's one hundred and twenty bowls of ramen and his own two bowls, he kids you not- Naruto ate enough food for fifty full grown adults- Kabuto decided he would bring some positive enlightenment to this kids life. "You know Naruto I couldn't help but notice all the ways the villagers have been looking at you."
Naruto became depressed upon hearing this reminder of his status of pariah. "I see. So are you going to leave too?"
"No that's not what I meant,' Kabuto placated, 'what I wanted to add on from there is I understand that sometimes its difficult if not downright impossible to get the food you need and the goods you need. I think have a solution to the problem for you. Not only would it help you get what you need it would also assist you with your shinobi training."
Naruto thought for less than a second before looking at Kabuto with an excited yet guarded manner "What did you have in mind Kabuto-san?"
Kabuto wanted to frown for a moment but decided ignore Naruto's reticence. "Considering what the rumors say as to your mastery in stealth and as well as your forbidden Transformation jutsu I would wager you could easily get what you need by simply turning into a pretty CLOTHED girl and simply doing your shopping that way. I would suggest having an alias available as well to hide your identity. Another option is simply having your Shadow Clones Transform into whatever random non-descript villager type appearance you want and have them do your shopping for you."
Needless to say Naruto was extremely surprised in the first place that Kabuto would help him. He was aware of what he housed by this point thanks to the Forbidden Scroll incident and knew that most people hated him if not downright wanted to kill him given the slimmest of opportunity. He also realized that Kabuto's suggestion was something he should have thought up easily considering he loves using the Transformation jutsu. Naruto frowned as he felt that maybe he really needed to pick up his pace in not only physical training as he had thought but also in some mental capacities. For now he figured he could simply use Kabuto's idea to send Transformed Shadow Clones to the Ninja Library in the appearance of different ranked ninja's and have them all start reading…what he didn't know but everything would at least be a place to start.
Naruto was beaming now while looking at Kabuto as they rounded a corner. "That was probably the best piece of advice anyone has given me ever. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't think of that. That would solve my problems in getting into any of the facilities within the village."
Kabuto was a bit surprised at how happy Naruto was but took it in stride. I mean c'mon its not everyday someone actually thanks one of the most vicious spies in the world for their information. It's also not everyday he gives it for free but hey he was feeling philanthropic today. "Glad I could help you. I'll be going now then as I have to be at the hospital to assist with any medical procedures there and to check on all our new patients." Naruto laughed at that last part seeing as how he put one of those patients into the med bay himself. "Oh and Naruto? If you want any training in medical techniques feel free to stop by the hospital to see me. I'm there just about everyday of the week including weekends usually from noon to midnight working."
If Naruto was surprised before he was surprised further with the offer of training and we all know there was no way Naruto would ever EVER turn down free training. Dear Kami if he could he would buy training. "Absolutely Kabuto-sensei! I'll see you tomorrow after lunch time there." Waving good bye the two separated and went their separate ways.
'This could be highly beneficial for Orochimaru-sama. Teaching the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki how to defend himself would be most prudent and would also help bring the boy over to my masters side should it ever become necessary. Though considering the plans we spoke of before it should not even be needed.' Kabuto mused. He had a gut feeling that Naruto may be a more influential individual in his life than even he thought.
(Two weeks into the Month training period before the Chuunin Exam Finals)
Naruto had been training endlessly. He constantly had at least three-hundred Shadow Clones all around the library reading endlessly. He dispersed them once a week in groups of ten after the first day where he had dispelled them all at once. Needless to say he was knocked out cold for several hours in the middle of training ground 45, a small meadow style area besides the infamous training ground 44. He had begun training there because no one went there as it was literally right next to the grand electrified fences of the Forest of Death with scarcely a small group of trees in between them. For some reason during the whole ordeal within the forest Naruto had gained a sense of happiness inside of it. Maybe it was because while within it his team had actually listened to his words and worked together as a team for what seemed the first time since the disastrous A-rank mission in wave. Naruto was still sore over that mission as it was the first time he ever felt the need to kill. He hadn't told anyone but he had actually performed the deed on a number of Gato's former mercenaries who were still within the area after Zabuza, Haku, and Gato's deaths on the bridge. If he had not done so it was very much possible the building bloodlust would climax and cause him to go berserk on his team as well as Tazuna's family and friends. Fortunately, the act itself was simple and without remorse considering who and what the men were as well as what they had done while in Gato's employ. No one was the wiser to this activity as Naruto was very careful to remove any smell of blood from his clothing and body using his advanced senses of smell to be sure it was all removed.
Not only was Naruto training from dusk till noon in the training field on a major physical training regimen that would have made Maito Gai cry tears of bloody joy at how extremely youthful Naruto was, but he also had another seven-hundred clones all over the training ground the neighboring training ground 46. Three-hundred of these clones were working on the most basic chakra exercise he had found on the first day researching in the library called leaf balancing. He knew he could do tree walking, which was supposed to be more advanced, but he also knew that there was little to no point in what little skill he had in it as from what he had read he had not mastered it in the slightest. Apparently for it to gain true mastery one must be able to run around on vertical and upside down surfaces as if one was moving on the ground and fight the entire time. The duration he had to do this for was at minimum of one hour. After trying and failing miserably he realized he just needed better chakra control so he set out to do more training in all the possible routes to gain it. Two-hundred of his remaining clones were attempting learn how to write all over again. He had read that fuuinjutsu was an amazing art that could do absolutely anything. Of course being Naruto he got stars in his eyes thinking of how many crazy pranks he could pull and all the Ramen he could store. Being all the motivation he needed he had a group delegated to studying it while a massive group was learning how to have proper handwriting again. There were a few clone rebellions that reminded him of that old science fiction movie Star Wars. However, they were put down when Naruto mentioned that if they didn't do it then they could always go do D-rank missions to help Naruto make some money. They immediately got back to work and did not complain again. After catching "The Demon Cat" Tora so many times they knew that their already temporal life spans would end far quicker and in a much more bored fashion than continuing their work. The last two-hundred clones were practicing a basic taijutsu style known as a form of Kung-fu practiced by the Fire Monks. This version was, in fact, a basic teaching tool that was better than the academy taijutsu style, and was far more versatile. It also was something one could easily build on or move on from to more complex and more deadly styles of combat. Just like the book said it was foundational Taijutsu that anyone could learn no matter their skill level and he took to it like a squirrel to nuts or a cat to catnip, with great gusto.
Naruto had read that his body needed to be given all sorts of nutrients that were quite simply not in Ramen. Putting this together with the idea given to him by Kabuto, he concluded that his body would be many times stronger if he simply ate a greater variety of foods. Thinking on this he had some of his library clones memorizing entire cook books and was practicing cooking many different foods for each of his meals. He didn't know it but combined with the strenuous activity he was doing each day while wearing Gravity and Resistance seals he had managed to apply properly after his first weeks training, and with the ever powerful natural bloodline regeneration of the Uzumaki Clan and the powerful regenerative abilities gifted him by the Kyuubi he was fleshing out at a rapid pace and was already on par with Lee's strength and speed without his weights while still wearing the already more powerful seals on his body. Another nice facet of these seals was their ability to grow more effective and stronger as Naruto's body became acclimated to them. Each day basically saw the seals doubling at least once if not twice in power as Naruto's body easily regenerated through the usually debilitating negative effects of using such seals during strenuous physical activity.
One final thing to note is that Naruto had been going every single day after eating lunch either by himself or with Kabuto to train under Kabuto in the arts of medical ninjutsu's. He did not have the chakra control as of yet to perform any of the jutsu's but the knowledge he gained while tutoring under him was beyond anything he had known before. For example Naruto had no idea the brain was part of a system known as the Central Nervous System. The more you know! These study sessions also helped him become used to being around dead bodies of various stages of decomposition as it was a necessary skill to have when performing autopsies or surgeries on highly diseased patients. After all they were ninja and were bound to see even worse things in their life times as Kabuto could silently attest in his time working for Orochimaru.
By the time it came for Naruto to head to the hot springs to meet his latest potential teacher that was suggested to him by the Sandaime Hokage, he had changed greatly. No longer was he the four foot three inches shrimp he used to be. Now he had gained seven inches in height and towered over his contemporaries at a grand height of five foot nothing. Hey it may not seem like a lot to you and me but Naruto was damn ecstatic to not be the freaking runt of the litter anymore. He had to buy new clothing twice as his body seemingly grew over night. The regeneration finally had something to work with and was able to catch his body up to its true physical potential. It did in fact happen as he slept because it was the only time he was completely still. His muscle mass had grown greatly from with his body going from the malnourished half dead little kid to an Adonis like twelve year-nearly thirteen years - old body. He didn't look like a steroid monster but instead had the appearance of an Olympic triathlete. The kid had monstrous stamina before and could outrun Jounin and Anbu ninja during the chases after his pranks but now he simply couldn't be touched. His stamina was endless at this point and only sheer physical damage mounting in an exceptionally short amount of time would even put a hamper in this little jet engine. His clothing was more laid back. He had darker colors of dark blues reds and blacks. The only bright color was his white-netted undershirt seen below his open dark blue and red coat. It wasn't nearly a trench coat but did go down to around his lower thighs. It had lots and lots of pockets for all sorts of goodies. He wore black pants that cut off at mid shin with ninja tape wrapping around his legs all the way to the balls of his feet. He had wrappings around and between his toes all in order to support his legs and ankles for any extra jarring impacts. The shoes he wore were close-toed ninja sandals versus the normal open toed ones. Other than that his gear was not visible and was all hidden up his sleeves and in his coat. He was already a master trickster from all his pranking days so why not apply that in a more productive manner he had thought.
Naruto approached the hot springs. After waiting for about an hour he was starting to get impatient. He was thinking about who might his trainer be for the ninth time when he suddenly heard a low pitched girly giggle. At first he thought he was hearing things but then he heard someone giggle again. He carefully climbed a nearby tree and sat on one of the lower hanging yet still hidden branches. With this position should he wish he could have incidentally have seen into the women's hot springs, but he honestly held no interest in such things at this stage in his life. Looking around carefully he finally spotted someone hiding between two larger bushes peeking through a tiny hole in the wall into the hot springs. Another giggle went off and the pushes seemed to shake slightly. Feeling bored and and annoyed someone was having fun while he was waiting on his new sensei he decided to play small little trick on the person. Nothing major, just causing a small little itsy bitsy rampage of righteously infuriated Kunoichi to chase the man around Konoha for his entertainment. Seriously, what was better than watching someone who deserved it getting the living pervert beat out of them? Nothing that's what.
Using the Shadow Clone jutsu he summoned a single clone who he had Transform into a crow. What better animal to denote the man's impending doom. The Naruto crow then flew over to the top of the fence above the giggling pervert. It looked down and saw a man with long white hair in a red and maroon colored out fit of sorts. He seemed to be writing little tidbits of what he saw down on a small notepad. Taking note of this the Naruto crow decided to add onto the prank by Transforming again into the form of Uchiha Sasuke after it alerted the women and setting a weak explosive note on the book when the man was being chased. This would of course get Sasuke in trouble too. Two birds with one stone bwahhaahaha-cough- gotta work on that. The crow cawed once then jumped down onto a small branch from the shrub on the left side of the man and cawing once again.
"Shoo you bird your going to get me caught!" The man whispered furiously. He so did not want to be caught his time. He had just gotten an idea for one of his greatest works of fiction to date. "Stoppit you mangy crow. Your interrupting the great Jiraiya-sama from his great research." Said the now named Jiraiya in a louder voice as the crow had cawed again with greater volume. Of course this little bit of noise was enough for the highly trainined Jounin and Anbu level Kunoichi inside to hear the name of the man and to find out that they were being peeped on. Cue one extremely massive amount of Righteous female fury knocking down the fence and beating the living shit out of a now screaming Jiraiya. At this point the Naruto clone had transformed into Sasuke and placed the tag on Jiraiya's little notebook. The women saw Sasuke and while stunned for a moment decided to chase and beat him too as he wore a lewd smile on his face as he ran before dispelling after rounding a corner out of sight of the women. They would remember this that was for sure. Naruto's clone had activated the tag just before disappearing causing Jiraiya's worldly little booklet to go up in a small burst of smoke and ashes. Jiraiya wept for the loss of his little book of secrets as he saw it go up in flames all the while continuing to take the beating.
While this was going on the real Naruto having been entertained decided to take some time to soak in the hot springs himself.
The hot springs were divine that was for sure. He had transformed into an older man whom he had seen as one of his most avid haters around the village before entering the hot springs. The attendant recognized him and gave him a free passage inside as she knew he was one of the greatest banes to the demons existence amongst the older generation of civilians. Thanking her he decided to remember her as well as the man he had chosen for future discreet payments concerning this now discovered slight to his person.
Naruto was soaking the springs up in his real form. There were no other men inside at this time of day as it was still before lunch-time. While relaxing he noted that someone had just gotten in beside him without saying anything. The person was not releasing any animosity towards him so he figured the guy either knew him for what he was or didn't know him at all. Out of the corner of his right eye he saw it was the man who had been peeking before. What was his name? Jelal, Janna, Jagan? Meh Ero-san outta be fine.
Sighing heavily with pleasure Jiraiya turned his head slightly to face the boy next to him who he had noticed sensed his arrival in the hot spring. While not necessarily a surprise it was interesting that he had been noticed at all. He was one of the three legendary sannin for a reason. His abilities in all manner of ninja techniques were second only to his sensei the Sarutobi Hiruzen. "So gaki you enjoyed yourself out there?" He also was not retarded and knew the kid was the one who set off the female rampage machine of death. As much as he hated it he absolutely did laugh about it after picking his tattered form off the ground as it was pretty ingenious to use a crow form and then frame that Uchiha brat for also peeping.
Relaxing further Naruto looked at Jiraiya with heavily lidded eyes. Speaking calmly he said "Oh? You like my work? I figured when I saw someone here just peeping and my potential sensei nowhere to be found, and on top of that myself being bored silly from waiting I would entertain myself."
Jiraiya was a bit shocked at the blunt and straight up sleepy sounding answer. Recovering his relaxed air and appearance quickly he said "Do you have something against the Uchiha who you made to seem to be running from the scene of the crime?"
Shifting a bit Naruto frowned. "Not necessarily but the kid has a ego the size of ten Hokage Monuments. I'm surprised he can get up in the morning with how heavy it must be to carry such a massive load of bull around. But yes I will enjoy watching them chase the living daylights out of him next time he is around the village."
"Ah yes I did hear he was taken by Kakashi out of the village for training from Sarutobi-sensei. Must be real nice knowing your own sensei didn't exactly leave you with a means of training, eh?"
"Meh, it could be worse. At least I was left to my own devices. I could have instead been saddled with a person hell bent on killing the Kyuubi brat for being the great demon in human form or something. Instead I have gotten time to reevaluate myself." Stated a slightly more awake Naruto.
Thinking on what Naruto said Jiraiya asked "And what conclusion did you find?"
Pausing for a moment Naruto answered "I found I had literally no skills in anything besides advanced stealth and supreme levels of endurance and chakra. I did not have any skills to speek of besides spamming Shadow Clones to hopefully outlast the enemy and sometimes relying on Kyuubi's chakra when in a super, major, life-threatening jam. Like with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death."
"Orochimaru huh. Tell me how did that go and what did he end up doing with you all?" He was genuinely curious why Teme-maru hadn't taken the Uchiha kid right then and there after marking him with a Heaven Cursed Seal. By kami he didn't understand why the kid's teammates weren't dead.
"Thinking back I was originally frightened and scared shitless at the sight of him especially when he tried to get me eaten with a giant snake. After that I became angered that my teammates were basically not trying to do anything besides stand there in fear of him. In their defense he is a sannin and a tad hard for us genin to go against at all. Anyways I called on Kyuubi's chakra and killed the snake summon while protecting my teammates. Orochimaru was impressed and decided that he would apply a seal of some kind to prevent me from relying on Kyuubi's chakra to pass the remaining exams. He said it would be useful to me even if it wasn't the normally gifted Cursed Seal since it would force me to use and train my own personal chakra more. Then he went after Sasuke, beat him up a little bit then extended his neck to give him the Cursed Seal via a bite that I bet inserted some of Orochimaru's genetic code into him to be the basis of the Seal. Though I gotta say your old teammate did not seem like he actually wanted to kill anyone when he was here. He basically just stated he was interested in the Uchiha bloodline as a means to understand Jutsu's of all kinda more thoroughly and made me have to prove that I by myself was worthy of the Chuunin finals without relying on the fox's chakra."
"You do realize that Orochimaru is one of the most wanted missing Konoha nin in history for his heinous experimentation toward immortality." Stated Jiraiya. Though Jiraiya knew the original reason Orochimaru started his experiments and honestly did not fault his old friend and rival. Sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do.
Naruto nodded. "Yep, I realize that. I also realize that were ninja. Ninja are taught and ordered to do whatever it takes to realize victory. If it means becoming un-killable in order to best the remaining enemy villages then by all means do it. If it means slaughtering a group of innocents who have a potential for great power or to turn the tide in a war then you do it. I'm sure you of all people have had to do as such Ero-san."
At the sound of the nickname Jiraiya's right eye twitched. 'Not another akward nickname…I swear first it was his father and mother and now him. Imagine what would have happened to me had he known me earlier than now.' Thought a now depressed Jiraiya. Receiving such a name once isn't too bad but twice and he can't help but feel he may be over doing it somewhere, probably in the super pervert department. Bah he'd think about it later. "You got a point gaki. Ninja do what it takes. Glad to see someone of your generation understands those concepts. I know I did my fair share of horrendous acts during the previous Shinobi war. After all, where do you think I got my title of Sannin from if not for being extremely powerful and following orders."
Jiraiya was honestly pleased. The last information he had gained on Naruto was that of a stupid, over active, supremely stupid, completely under skilled, dumb as a brick, short stack of a retard. Did he mention ignoramus yet? Ye that too, but this new Naruto struck him as a learned individual who had at least seen something about what it meant to be a Ninja. In fact he had the feeling the kid had already performed his first kill and was already a true shinobi. As far as he knew none of the other genin in his graduating year had performed a proper kill yet with all the vomiting and everything that usually comes with it. It made sense as some of the jounin-sensei's would be too lazy or wish to keep their students innocence for a time longer. This, however, resulted in stunted growth in Jiraiya's opinion especially if they were then entered into the Chuunin Exams not even 6 months after their graduations. He honeslty did not know what to think about Sarutobi accepting the recommendations for those three novice genin teams under Asuma, Kakashi, and Kurenai. He would have to talk with his sensei later about potentially improving the academy training system by beginning the training three years earlier at the age of five or by implementing a stronger program in the time allotted with a minimum of on hundred D-ranks before a team may leave the village for a C-rank or that the team needs to be trained heavily to be properly on par with what is expected of upper genin low chuunin rank. In his humble (not humble) opinion this would bring up the quality of ninja in the village as a whole and lead to the village being stronger long term. Oh and he'd make Kakshi write down every last jutusu he knew from his original ones to all the copied ones and every special style and exercise if he had to tie him up and put a temporary slave seal on him to make him do it.
"Well Naruto, I'm sure you already figured this out but I am Jiraya the Toad Sannin. I was requested by my sensei the Sandaime Hokage to teach you what I could during these remaning two weeks before the Chuunin Exam Finals. From our conversation so far I would like to say I am most pleased to see you are not currently the tiny pint sized mentally retarded child I was lead to believe you were. Thus, when we are done here we are doing some super serious training as I feel you could at least be considered capable of handling the more arduous tasks." Jiraiya said with a smile on his face.
Naruto heard that last part and realized that obviously the great toad sannin and spy master must have been keeping tabs on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki using his network in the village. He would let it slide that the man never introduced himself before as he understood such a powerful person must be incredibly busy. Oh and he figured the guy was either too lazy or too scared to talk to his own Godson and see his student the Yondaime Hokage in him. What? Naruto had done an amazing amount of studying in his brief time in the library. He had found birth records and hidden information sheets as well as full pictures containing images of his father as well as his mother together in them. It didn't take much to piece things together now that his intelligence had finally something to work with in terms of fuel. After all knowledge is power right. Plus who else was looked like the Yondaime Namikaze Minato and had the same last name as the last known living Uzumaki clan heiress, none other than himself. After studying so much he had realized that most people who had a last name had a connection to a clan if not a well to do family of some sort. He deduced that the young girl named Tenten must then have been an orphan while Rock Lee was likely one as well and had chosen he last name Rock for himself because it sounded so youthful and made sense considering the Taijutsu style he was training in was the Goken style, a hard hitting and highly damaging style that was similar to smashing the opponent's body parts with boulders ergo the name Rock. Sakura happened to have a small family who used to be a small clan once upon a time but were simply civilians now. Who knows maybe they have some scrolls containing their techniques somewhere. It would explain why Sakura is still alive after all the insanity they had been through if she had some kind of heritage to speak of giving her the natural talent necessary to survive and succeed even if its not in the most "graceful" of forms.
Nodding once again Naruto complied with Jiraiya's order. He knew that as a genin he was supposed to take orders from those in positions of authority such as Jiraiya, within reason of course. "Absolutely Ero-sensei. How about you remove the seal Orochimaru gave me now and then tomorrow morning we can begin meeting regular to continue this training? "
"Alright. But are you sure you want that extra seal removed? Its called the Five pronged seal and is meant as a disrupter of chakra channels. Since you are a Jinchuuriki it mainly interrupts your Bijuu's chakra and not your own letting you train properly."
"I know. However, I have gained enough knowledge in this time since the prelims ended to be able to use my chakra without using the fox's chakra. Besides its best to leave the original seal as it was so that the Kyuubi's chakra can continue to filter in at a constant rate as it does assist me with training and would be give an even greater bonus to my already substantial regenerative abilities without the extra seal in place. This would also let me properly test my current level of balance and finally make me have to learn how to keep our two chakra's separate long enough to forcefully improve my own individual reserves. As I recall all Uzumaki's are born with practically Kage level reserves that only increase as time goes on. I read that one of the oldest known Uzumaki's who wasn't even trained in the ninja arts but had the bloodline in full had at least 10 times Kage level reserves by the time he died. So with training I'm bound to increase it even further and will need to have the balance necessary to make sure I'm doing the needed chakra control exercises to keep myself in top form." Naruto said. He breathed out slowly knowning this was a lot of information even for a legend such as Jiraiya. He likely did not know about the highly potent regeneration Naruto had as was proven by his next words.
"Regeneration you say? Are you saying your body currently has the ability to say pull itself back together after hard training session in which all your muscles are torn to shreds?" Asked the now smirking Jiraiya as he felt he had just found the most PERFECT student to tor- train. Sometimes a means of coping is necessary. Like Mitarashi Anko says if you can't join em the beat em till they drop and learn something from it. Either that or laugh like a madman the whole time and crush their spirit permanently resulting in them never being anything but worms ever again. On second thought that last part might not be a good idea to use on Naruto as he wasn't sure exactly how mentally strong the boy was at the moment. Though he could tell the kid was at least very stable and sane considering all he had been through. Likely the pranks were his form of insanity to cope with everything.
"Let me put it this way. Right now I train more than Rock Lee and his teacher combined in the physical arts and continue to grow stronger every hour I train due to my body continually repairing itself and becoming much stronger for it every time. With the Five Pronged Seal, as you named it, gone I would be able to regenerate my entire being from a single living cell given enough time." Naruto said with a hint of pride in his voice. He may not have wanted to be the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki but it came with the most epic perks. Who could blame him? After learning more about medical systems and the way it all works from Kabuto and then learning about how chakra had major healing potential enough to regrow limbs and repair severed spines, on top of all this was his natural Uzumaki regeneration, strong Life force, and Chakra Chains, though he couldn't' use the latter as of yet, he realized that unless he was literally wiped completely from the face of the earth there was in all practicality no means to kill him. This didn't mean he would be reckless as it was obvious things like seals and other powers could obviously take down the Kyuubi that meant so too could he be beaten and or killed. It just meant it would that much harder to do so and with proper training in all manner of skills he would be by all rights un-killable just like the snake sannin wished to achieve.
A serious face came over Jiraiya. One he had not had for a long long time. He realized the depths the gaki hinted at with just those few sentences. Naruto basically had the ability to live forever, and given the correct training would be a force that rivaled if not surpassed the Bijuu someday. The method of regeneration he mentioned also sounded eerily similar to how Bijuu came back to life, albeit after a set number of years dependent on their tail number. Thus the stronger they were the longer they stayed dead till they inevitably came back to life. Jiraiya had just found the perfect student who would not die no matter the situation. One he could be proud of and train to his fullest with the knowledge that the kid was loyal to a fault even with his changes. That was one thing that was obvious about the kid. He never gave up unless it was absolutely necessary. And that was only when he literally was on his deathbed. At this moment Jiraiya promised to himself to make this kid the most powerful ninja in all existence and teach everything he knew as well as everything his parents knew. After all, Jiraiya was the boys Godfather and had access to the Uzumaki and Namikaze estate. Though he never visited it as the knowledge contained was something he felt this village could not and would not use properly or even to its fullest potential.
"Naruto," Jiraiya said in a rare moment of extreme seriousness. He had a plan now. He knew how to get this kid the means to save the world. Even if it meant the end of the shinobi era he knew this kid that was the child of prophecy would bring peace one way or another and he wanted to be the instrument that helped the boy bring about that peace, no matter what it took as that is the way of the ninja. "We are going to train you so hard you will be unable to function even with your impressive regenerative abilities. We are going to turn you into a man with such power you would be able to move mountains. Get ready gaki this is going to be one hell of a ride."
Naruto gulped. He knew that look. It was a look of sheer pain coming. A reckoning for all that has been done and all that will be done. He had seen a similar look in the eyes of one MItarashi Anko when she looked at him in the eyes while licking his cheek. Did he mention that was pretty hot? NO? Well it was. He maybe only twelve going on thirteen but the kid knew what it meant to be a Kunoichi, and Anko just so happened to be one of the few in the village who were the epitome of it. The look promised even more pain than what Anko's had. And boy had the Forest brought a lot of pain. He could only hope his mind would stay intact after it was all over. If not then they would have an un-killable killing machine on their hands with a great interest in making sure that all humans do in fact have the same color blood. C'mon we all know we wondered about that as kids even if we then knew better as adults.
With that the hot springs mist grew thicker while a low dark chuckling could be heard as well as a scream a little frightened girl coming from the men's hot spring.
(Author's Note)
Hey I'm just another avid reader like you all. I was honestly just bored of reading so much of the same that I finally thought "Why not do my own mini fic?"
I figured I could do two things with this fic. I could A) Make it a super gradual growth thus resulting in something of epic length, which I may or may not actually keep up with. (ergo why were doing plan b) OR B) I do a story of a shorter length that I should be able to finish as it would hit all the major events I wanted to touch while telling the tail I waned to tell.
I do apologize for the paragraph long monologues from my characters. However, to explain exactly what the hecks I'm doing I've found myself needing to put those in. If only to properly explain the direction I want this to go without actually completely giving it away.
Here's hoping you all enjoyed reading it. There are so many great Fan Fictions on here and I know this one is merely a drop in the ocean, but please review, favorite and follow should you decide you like it. If you don't at least review just to tell me what you hate so I can maybe write something more tailored towards a different audience in the future. I would hate to only write a single work and it be something with little to no interest in it seeing as such a thing has been done so much as it is.
Thanks for reading!
-T51bMoridin