Naruko Uzumaki, Seal Mistress
Chapter 1 - Beginning
So I'm sure some of you guys who have read Vengeance of an Uzumaki and Hyuuga ar probably wondering where the hell I have been. My computer broke beyond repair, and by that I mean my dog stepped on it and shattered the screen and a few other internal parts. Now I have gotten a new computer and I'm ready to start pumping out more chapters for Vengeance. Also this is one of my new stories that I decided to start typing on my phone a while back. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have writing it. Anyway, without further ado, let the story begin... I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. Sadly...
LEGEND: "…" speech
'…' thinking
(…) probably authors notes
italics will purely be flashbacks
- Scene change
"There she goes! Kill the demon!" "Make her suffer!" "How dare you show your face to us monster!" "Demon!" These were the yells from the villagers of Konohagakure, and they were all aimed at a five year old blonde girl. Her hair spiked out in all different directions with no chance of ever taming it. She kept it short so the villagers couldn't grab it easily. She had cerulean blue eyes above six whisker shaped birthmarks on her face, three on each cheek. Her clothes were ragged and much to big for a five year old to wear. The shirt was almost like a dress, reaching down to her knees; and her shorts were barely held on her waist with a small length of rope. The shoes she wore were hardly what could be called shoes. Merely what was left of the soles of a very old pair of shoes tied around her feet with some more rope. This was what Naruko Uzumaki had for possessions, aside from a few small trinkets hidden away that consisted of a few ryo, the handle of a shattered kunai, and a bell.
Seemingly pointless trinkets to most everybody but we're very important to Naruko for some reason or another. However, tonight those were not on her mind at the moment. The only thought passing through Naruko's mind was to get away from the villagers that were trying to kill her. At least until she made a wrong turn down a dead end alley. Naruko turned around to try and run quickly back the way she had come but the villagers had already cornered her.
"Now we got ya you damn monster," one of the villagers spat. The man smelled strongly of sake and pulled out a knife from inside his shirt. "Tonight you are going to die so we don't have to deal with you anymore."
"Enough talking just kill the little bitch already before any shinobi find out," one of the more skittish men said quickly.
Naruko stared fearfully at them like a deer in the headlights. She tried to move but was frozen in fear as they all began to converge on the blonde. As they drew near, Naruko regained a little muscle control and tried to make a mad dash through the crowd only to be grabbed roughly by the back of the neck and thrown face first into the ground. Naruko yelped lightly as her face smashed into the ground causing her nose to bleed.
Naruko looked up at them fearfully. "Why?" She choked out. "What did I do to any of you?"
"You're a monster," the man with the knife said. "That's all there is to it. We don't need you corrupting our children." He lifted his foot and dropped it down on Naruko's ankle. A sickening snap sounded in the dark alley. Naruko cried out as she felt her ankle break.
Naruko was now surrounded by the men, each one of them taking their turn to stomp on the blonde. The occasional fist made its way into Naruko's face or gut through out the beating. This went on for another five minutes until they stopped, Naruko no longer making any noise. The only thing that said she was alive were the slight convulsions of pain that ran through her body. They glared at her, angry that they couldn't get Naruko to cry out in pain anymore.
The villager with the knife stepped forward and kicked her roughly in the ribs, a slight inaudible crack sounded. Naruko gritted her teeth, trying not to give the man the satisfaction of letting her pain be known. The man glared down at the girl who refused to show any weakness.
"Why does a demon like you get to live here in this peaceful village?" he asked angrily. "You should just die!" the man roared as he brought the knife down in a wide arc to stab Naruko right in the heart.
However, only the mans empty fist crashed into the girl's chest. He looked around stunned at why his knife had suddenly disappeared. "What the hell?" he asked incredulously.
"Oh we're you looking for this?" a voice said from the back of the alley. The villagers all turned towards the voice.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the villagers asked.
"Why are you trying to kill that girl there?" the voice asked again, now stepping into the light to reveal a man with white hair wearing a dark green kimono top and pants with a red sleeveless haori over it. Mesh armor could be seen on his arms where the sleeves ended. The same for his legs where the pants ended about midway down his shins. He wore red geta sandals on his feet that clacked with every step he took. He had metal plate guards on the back of his hands and a horned headband with the symbol for oil on it. Finally across his back was a giant red scroll.
(You're Going Down – Sick Puppies plays)
The villager who lost his knife glared at the man now casually twirling it in his hand. "This is none of your concern. That demon needs to die tonight!" he yelled.
At that the white haired man quit twirling the knife and he glared dangerously at the man before disappearing in a shunshin. They all looked around slightly nervous from the dangerous glint the man had in his eye. Suddenly from the back of the group one of the men cried out and fell to the ground in a heap. A pool of red slowly spreading out from under him. The men all now liked fearful as their only escape route was now blocked off by the man.
The man who had attempted to stab Naruko then stepped forward. "Why are you all cowering? He's only one man! There are a lot more of us than him! Let's kill him too!" he yelled, the words bringing the villagers out of there stupor and then charging towards the white haired man.
He looked up and glared at them all, releasing a large amount of killer intent at them all before charging forward, quickly ending the life of any and every villager in the little back alley. Barely even a minute passed and the only one left standing was the villager who had tried to stab Naruko.
He stared wide eyed at the man before him and took a step back. "W-who are you?" he stuttered, fear now entering his expression. "Why can't you see that we are doing this for the good of the village? That monster there deserves to die!"
The man took a few steps forward then charged the remaining distance between them. The white haired man grabbed the other by the neck and lifted him up into the air. "My name is Jiraiya of the Sannin. And you just tried to kill my goddaughter," he said dangerously low.
At the revelation of the name the villager went wide eyed. Most everybody knew of Jiraiya of the Sannin. One of the three students of the Sandaime Hokage himself.
"W-wait! Have mercy on me!" the villager pleaded. The pleas fell on deaf ears and Jiraiya tightened his grip on the man before letting him drop the ground in an ungraceful heap. The villager looked up with hope in his eyes that he was going to survive this night. That look, however, was dashed as he suddenly felt something imbedded in his chest. He looked down and saw his knife reflecting the moonlight.
"Scum like you don't deserve to live," Jiraiya said coldly before ripping the knife from the mans chest and quickly slicing his throat before tossing the knife away. Jiraiya watched the light fade from the mans eyes before rushing over to Naruko. She was still alive thanks to her tenant but barely. She was covered in wounds and probably had more than a few broken bones. Jiraiya carefully picked the girl up before walking down the alley way. Before he left though Jiraiya turned back and looked up at the rooftops. "Get down here and clean this mess up now," he commanded to the hidden ANBU. "Also when that is done go straight to the Hokage's office. You are going to have some explaining to do later."
With that Jiraiya turned and left the alley heading straight for the hospital. It took the man no time at all the reach the hospital where he quickly found a medical ninja to take care of Naruko, after a small amount of threats when nobody decided to step forward, before heading off the Hokage's office. Jiraiya rarely used the door, he preferred to waltz right through the window. This time was different, however. He completely ignored the sleeping secretary before going upstairs and knocking on the Hokage's door before entering. There were already four ANBU standing in the room, the same from from the alley.
The Hokage looked up from his seemingly endless pile of paperwork and directed his gaze towards his former student. "What's going on Jiraiya?" The old man asked.
"Sensei," Jiraiya began. At that the Hokage stiffened. Jiraiya only called him that when it was a very serious matter. And from the way the ANBU seemed so nervous, he could only imagine what had happened. "Naruko was just attacked earlier by a group of villagers. They nearly killed her."
The Hokage's eyes widened at that. "What happened to her?" the old mans voice was laced with worry.
"She's fine. I took her straight to the hospital after..." Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Dismissing the villagers from their actions this night." The Hokage knew what that meant, aside from more kamiforsaken paperwork, and it didn't seem pretty. "What's even more pressing is that the four ANBU who were supposed to be protecting Naruko simply watched and did nothing to intervene."
Sarutobi glared at the four ANBU in the room that weren't hidden in the rafters. "Is this true?" he asked them, his voice dangerous. The ANBU all looked down and nodded. There was no way of getting out of this unharmed for them. "Very well. You will all be stripped of your ranks. As of now the four of you are simple Genin, and you will be visiting T&I for the next six months. Half of any pay you will receive with go straight to Naruko. And your current mission of protecting Naruko will be marked as a failure. You are to hand in your masks and gear immediately." With a wave of his hand the hidden ANBU in the room all dropped to the floor, each on landing in front of one of the others. The previously hidden ANBU took their masks and gear before sealing them away in storage scrolls. "Now go. You're dismissed," the Hokage said not giving the former ANBU another look as they left the room.
Jiraiya looked over at his Sensei as he withdrew a hidden bottle of sake from a compartment hidden away in his desk along with two saucers. Jiraiya smirked and took the saucer Sarutobi offered him. "So what are you gonna do now Jiraiya?" the Hokage asked.
Jiraiya emptied the saucer and walked over to the window to look up to the Hokage monument, his eyes resting on the Fourth's face. "I'm going to train her for the next 7 and a half years until she's ready to graduate from the academy," he said after a moment of silence. "No more secrets from her Sensei. I'm going to tell Naruko everything about her. Who her parents were, her clan, all of it."
"I don't think that is wise Jiraiya. You know how many enemies her father had, and the same goes for her mother. The Yellow Flash and The Red Death made many an enemy during their lives," Sarutobi warned.
"Yes. I realize that fully Sensei, but she has a right to know. And as her godfather I'm going to be the one to take care of it. She deserves better than what she has," Jiraiya said sadly. "I just wish I would've come sooner."
The Hokage sighed as he drank another saucer of sake. "Very well. I'm granting you permission to train her until she's ready to graduate. I'll also give you what her parents left her," the old man said and stood up from his desk. He walked over to the picture of the Fourth Hokage on the wall and pulled it back to reveal a safe with numerous seals across and around it. A chain of hand signs later and the seals crept back into the center sealing matrix. With one final click the safe opened and Sarutobi retrieve three scrolls; one red, one yellow, and one orange; and a single three pronged kunai.
Sarutobi set them on his desk in front of him and looked over at his student. "Here they are. Where are you planning on going with her?" he asked.
"I want to take her to Uzushiogakure. I'm sure there are secrets that only she would be able to get and it will help in her training. I could teach her my style of taijutsu, but I would feel better if she could use her clan's own style of fighting," Jiraiya told his Sensei. "Also I'm going to teach her fuinjutsu and what better place to learn than where the strongest fuinjutsu reside."
"I though everything there was either destroyed or taken?" The Hokage asked.
"That's what I thought as well, but Kushina said that Mito told her that the Uzumaki stored anything of major importance deep within Uzushio. Only an Uzumaki could retrieve their hidden scrolls," Jiraiya replied. "I'd love to get my hands on some of there more powerful sealing scrolls but I feel as though that wouldn't be a wise choice."
"Of course. The Uzumaki probably have seals placed that only an Uzumaki can read the scrolls without getting killed or losing all of their chakra," the old man nodded.
"Well that settles it then," Jiraiya said and grabbed the scrolls and kunai off the desk. He placed the scrolls inside his shirt and stared at the kunai for a moment before doing the same to it. "I'm going to go check on the gaki then we are going to leave first thing in the morning."
"Be careful out there with him Jiraiya," Sarutobi said. "Don't let anything happen to her."
"What do you take me for, some weak Genin?" Jiraiya said with a laugh. "I'll make sure that when she comes back she will be one of the strongest academy students to ever graduate. Maybe even stronger than Kakashi and Itachi when they graduated." And with that Jiraiya left the office to walk back to the hospital.
He arrived at the hospital in a few minutes and walked right into Naruko's room where the blond was laying in bed, seemingly asleep. Jiraiya sat down in the chair next to her bed and watched the kid sleep. She probably wouldn't wake up for another couple of hours at least. Jiraiya shrugged and decided to catch a quick nap while waiting on the girl. This way he could make sure nobody else tried to hurt his goddaughter for a while.
Naruko woke with a start. She looked around at where she was at and noticed that she was in what looked like a sewer. 'Great. The villagers probably threw me down here thinking I was dead,' she thought to himself then sighed. Why couldn't anybody just treat her like anything other than a monster or demon?
Naruko decided to try and find her way out of the place so she began walking down a seemingly random corridor. She walked for what felt like hours through twists and turns that never seemed to end. Finally though she got a little bit of hope as she saw a light up ahead. Naruko quickened her pace and was soon running down the hallway. As she emerged into the light she noticed that it wasn't the exit she was expecting but instead a giant room with a pair of cage doors taking up the far wall that seemed to have nothing but a never ending darkness behind them.
Naruko sighed and turned to leave the dismal place until a low rumbling stopped the girl in her tracks. She turned slowly back to the cage doors and tried to peer through the darkness. "Who's there?" she shouted fearfully.
When no answer came Naruko released a breath she didn't realize she was holding and was about to walk out of the room again when a deep growling stopped her dead in her tracks. "What are you doing in here?" a deep voice growled.
Naruko spun around quickly and looked up at the cage and locked eyes with a giant pair of red ones. Naruko swallowed the lump in her throat as she stared up at the slitted eyes. "Who are you?" Naruko barely managed to make her voice loud enough to be heard.
"Who am I?" the deep voice asked. "I am the Kyuubi no Yoko! The most powerful tailed beast!"
"Who?" Naruko asked confused.
The fox seemed to sweat drop as it stared down at the clueless blonde before it. "The fox that attacked your village five years ago," it growled. "Do you know anything?"
"That was you?!" Naruko yelled up at it. "Why are you here then? I thought the Fourth Hokage beat you?"
The fox sneered. "No! You fool!" the fox roared. "I was merely sealed away inside of a clueless idiot!"
"Really? Who was that?" Naruko asked.
If the fox didn't have more pride than all the tailed beasts put together he would face palmed. "I was sealed inside of you. You idiot child," the Kyuubi groaned.
"Oh," Naruko said simply then seemed to realize she had been insulted. "Hey! I'm not an idiot!"
"Clearly," the fox said skeptically.
"I'm sorry," Naruko said suddenly.
The fox grew confused as to why it was being apologized too. No human had ever apologized to it before. "For what brat?" It asked.
"For being sealed inside of me. I'm sure you didn't want to be sealed away," Naruko said.
The fox huffed. "Like you could do anything about it," the fox said.
"What if I made this place not so dark and creepy?" Naruko asked.
"How could you do that?" The fox asked curiously. It knew full well the blonde could do anything that her imagination could think of in this place but was rather curious to see if the blonde could figure that out.
"Well if you're sealed inside of me wouldn't that make me kinda like the ruler over this place?" Naruko asked. The fox merely nodded making Naruko grin. "OK! One big forest coming right up!" Naruko exclaimed and began to think about the forests outside of Konoha's walls. She focused really hard on them and when she opened his eyes, not realizing she had closed them in the first place, she was now standing face to face with the giant fox without any cage doors separating them.
Suddenly glowing lines of kanji floated through the air from behind Naruko and swirled around the foxes neck before forming a simple leather collar. "What the hell is this thing brat?!" the fox growled as it tried to rip the seal from its neck.
"Sorry. I didn't do that. It just happened on its own," Naruko said sheepishly.
The fox glared down at Naruko for a moment before turning around and walking through the forest. "You should go back. I'm sure that man would like to talk to you brat," the fox said.
"OK. But when I leave how do I come back here?" Naruko asked.
"Just close your eyes and focus on this place. Now leave," the fox growled.
"See you later Kyuubi!" Naruko called before vanishing from the seal.
The fox turned around and watched the boy disappear before shaking its head and walking further into the forest.
Naruko woke up slowly and looked up. She was in the hospital. Naruko hated hospitals. Too much sitting and not enough moving. Naruko's eyes began to wander around the room until a cough caught her attention. She quickly turned to the sound.
"Jiji what hap-" Naruko began then grew very confused at who this person was. "Wait your not Jiji. Who are you?"
Jiraiya chuckled. "You call the Hokage Jiji? That's amusing," he said. Naruko just continued to stare at the man. "I'm The Great Jiraiya! The Toad Sage of Myobokuzan and one of the students of the Hokage himself!" The man exclaimed suddenly striking a very ridiculous pose.
Naruko just tilted her head to the side and stared strangely at the man. "You're weird," Naruko finally said causing Jiraiya to face fault onto the floor.
After Jiraiya regained his composure and a little bit of his dignity he cleared his throat and sat back down. "Naruko do you remember what happened earlier?" he asked suddenly very seriously.
"All I remember was being cornered by those villagers then they started to kick me a lot. I don't remember much after that," Naruko said sadly.
Jiraiya sighed. "It's alright. They won't ever hurt you again," he said. "I promise."
"Did you help me?" Naruko asked. Jiraiya nodded. "Why? Nobody ever helps me. Everybody hates me." Naruko looked away.
"Why would I hate my goddaughter? Especially when she's my old students daughter," Jiraiya asked casually.
Naruko's head turn around so fast Jiraiya thought she might get whiplash. "Goddaughter?" Naruko said the word quietly. Fearful of this being a cruel trick.
Jiraiya simply smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'm your godfather," he said. "So that would make you my goddaughter."
Naruko felt tears coming to her eyes. "You mean this isn't some sort of horrible trick? I actually have a family?" Naruko asked feeling a few tears fall down her face.
Jiraiya smiled softly at the girl. "Of course you have a family," Jiraiya said. Any other words he was going to say we're lost as Naruko suddenly leaped from the bed to barrel into the mans chest and hug him as tight as she could. The tears finally falling freely down her face. Jiraiya was startled at the sudden hug but then returned it. He let Naruko cry there for a few moment before he pulled the reluctant blonde off of him and set her on the hospital bed. "I've got a question I want to ask you, but I feel as though I may already know the answer. How would you like to come and train with me for the next seven years. I could teach you all sorts of techniques. Including your families taijutsu styles."
Naruko's grin threaten to split her face in two perfectly identical halves that would've made a certain black haired kid in another dimension smile happily. "Yes! I want to be the best ninja there is and then become the greatest Hokage ever!" Naruko exclaimed.
"I thought that's what you would say," Jiraiya beamed. "We'll leave tomorrow after we get plenty of supplies and you some new clothes and plenty of ninja tools."
Naruko grinned excitedly. "Alright! Dattebayo!" She exclaimed.
"You definitely got that verbal tic from your mother she was worried you would get," Jiraiya chuckled.
Naruko seemed to break out of her stupor. "You knew my mom?" She asked.
Jiraiya nodded. "And you father. But I'll tell you all about them later. For now you need to get some rest. Let's go back to your apartment," he said.
Naruko simply nodded and got off the bed and followed Jiraiya outside of the hospital. Naruko continued to hammer Jiraiya with questions about training and where they would be going. Jiraiya, however, skillfully avoided every question thrown at him so as to not reveal how grueling it would get. Instead Jiraiya was able to learn everything that had happened to Naruko up until now.
"You know what gaki. I've got a little surprise for you," Jiraiya said suddenly.
"What is it?" Naruko asked excitedly.
"I'm not telling you," Jiraiya said. "It wouldn't be a surprise then. Watch. This is gonna be one of the first jutsu I teach you." Jiraiya made the clone seal and focused his chakra with many years of practice. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He called out. In a puff of smoke an exact replica of Jiraiya appeared.
"Whoa! So cool!" Naruko exclaimed loudly.
"The Kage Bunshin. Much stronger than a normal Bunshin, it's not an illusion. Great for training," Jiraiya explained shortly before turning to his clone. "Go on," he told the clone before it nodded and disappeared in a shunshin. Naruko and Jiraiya continued to walk through the streets until they finally arrived at Naruko's apartment. They walked in and looked around. There were empty ramen cups and milk cartons lying around everywhere. The trash was overflowing and there was a constant drip of the kitchen faucet.
Naruko sighed. "Home sweet home," she mumbled.
Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. When we get back from our training trip, you'll inherit your father and mothers place," Jiraiya said encouragingly.
"Who were they?" Naruko asked.
"I thought I said we would talk about this tomorrow?" Jiraiya inquired.
Naruko shrugged. "And I'm not tired. There's plenty of time," she said casually.
Jiraiya chuckled lightly. "Alright then," he said and sat down at the table. "Your mothers name was Kushina Uzumaki, or more commonly know as the Red-Hot Habanero. She had a temper like no other. She was also one of the remaining survivors of the Uzumaki clan after the attack during the Second Shinobi War."
"What happened?" Naruko asked.
"Iwa and Kumo forged an alliance with each other out of fear that the Uzumaki were too powerful in the sealing arts," Jiraiya said. "People tend to fear what they don't understand. And not many people understand the art of fuinjutsu. The battle was a massacre. For both sides. The Kumo Iwa alliance lost over two thirds of their forces before the final Uzumaki was killed. When I say the Uzumaki clan was a powerful clan, I mean it.
"Your mother definitely inherited the Uzumaki tenacity and strength. She was also a level 8 seal master. Your father, however, was just as good as me if not better at sealing. He was known as The Yellow Flash during The Third Shinobi War. He alone dealt with an entire battalion of Kumo shinobi. This was also the man that created the Rasengan and became the Fourth Hokage."
Naruko went wide eyed at that revelation. "My father was the Fourth Hokage?" her voice came out barely a whisper.
Jiraiya nodded smiling proudly. "Yep. And he was my best student too. I was never more proud of him the day he became Hokage. Well besides the day he married Kushina," Jiraiya grinned.
Naruko was amazed at this revelation. "Wow," Naruko said before her face spilt into a grin. "My father was the Fourth Hokage!" Naruko yelled leaping from where she was sitting on her couch.
Jiraiya chuckled at Naruko's antics. "Settle down gaki. I've got some things for you," Jiraiya said and pulled the scrolls and kunai from his shirt. Naruko walked over to him and sat down in the other chair. Jiraiya placed the items in front of Naruko. "These scrolls were left behind by your parents. The red one contains your mothers secret to using chakra sealing chains. The yellow has the secrets to the Rasengan and Hirashin. The orange scroll here was one your mother got from Uzushio specifically for you. I'm not entirely sure what it contains, but only you can open it."
Naruko stared at the scrolls in front of her. She was almost fearful to take them. Thoughts of this being nothing but a dream flooded her head. She finally shook her head of those thoughts and picked up the scrolls. The sealing formulas that were around them flared for a moment before disappearing the moment Naruko touched them.
"It seems your parents wanted only you to read them. I only know of what was in them because your father told me himself. You can read them later. This kunai was your fathers, well one of his many kunai anyway. I'm sure you'll find out how to use them in his scroll," Jiraiya said.
She picked up the kunai and stared at it for a moment. "It's so heavy and why is it shaped so weird?" she asked curiously.
Jiraiya shrugged. "My guess is to help with deflecting other weapons and it was easier to use for the Hirashin. And now, finally from me I want you to have this," Jiraiya pulled out a book from his shirt. "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. My first book that I ever wrote. Your parents actually named you from the main character in the book. Well with the exception of a single letter." Jiraiya chuckled lightly.
Naruko opened the book to try and read a little of it. "This is pretty hard to read," she said.
"Well you're only five. I wouldn't expect you to be able to read this yet. But I'll teach you when we are traveling. For now though," Jiraiya trailed off and held up three fingers then brought them down one by one. As the last finger fell his clone appeared in the room and set down a cake with five candles all lit on the table. "Happy birthday Naruko," Jiraiya said excitedly.
Naruko stared at the cake wide eyed. She had never had a cake before let alone gotten anything for her birthday aside from beatings that seemed worse only on this day. She couldn't help the tears that fell down her face. "T-thank you," she sniffed, wiping her eyes and nose on her shirt. "This is the best birthday I've ever had."
Jiraiya smiled softly at the girl. "You're welcome," he said kindly. "Well what are you waiting for? Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Naruko sniffed one last time before taking a deep breath and blowing the candles out in one huff. "Let's dig in!" Jiraiya exclaimed before cutting a huge piece for Naruko and placing it in front of her.
Naruko beamed up at him and did just that. The two of them devoured the entire cake that night, which was no huge feat considering Naruko's appetite. Once the last bite had been eaten and the dishes put away Naruko finally began to feel tired.
"Alright gaki. Now get to bed. We've got things to do tomorrow," Jiraiya said.
Naruko simply nodded sleepily. "OK. Goodnight," Naruko mumbled as she walked into her room. Jiraiya stood up to leave when he was suddenly enveloped in a hug. "Thank you for the best birthday ever," Naruko said.
Jiraiya smiled kindly down at Naruko and hugged her right back. "You're welcome. Now get to bed," Naruko stepped back and nodded before going to her room and shutting the door behind her. Jiraiya smirked and flipped the lights off before leaving.
Out in the night air again Jiraiya stretched and took a deep breath of fresh air. The next seven years were definitely gonna be interesting.
The next morning Naruko jumped up out of bed early and quickly got ready for the day. After making sure it wasn't all a dream she opened his door to go and find Jiraiya only to find the man waiting outside. "Well you're awfully excited for today," he said with a smirk.
"You bet! I've never left the village before!" Naruko said excitedly.
Jiraiya smirked. "Well first we're going to go and get some new clothes that actually fit you. And then some gear for you to train with," he said and began to walk into the shopping district. Naruko stuck close to Jiraiya to avoid anybody who was there. The villagers all glared at Naruko for just being there but didn't say anything due to Jiraiya's presence. They continued to walk until Jiraiya stopped in front of a clothing store and opened the door to walk in. He turned when he saw Naruko not budging from where he stood.
"What's wrong gaki?" Jiraiya asked.
"I'm not allowed to go in there," Naruko said quietly.
Jiraiya walked back over to Naruko and put his hand on the girls shoulder. "Nonsense. They won't mess with you if I'm around," he said encouragingly.
Naruko nodded slowly, still unsure about this idea. She followed Jiraiya into the store and the shop keepers eyes immediately went to Naruko.
"I thought I told you not to come in here anymore!" the man yelled, ignoring Jiraiya entirely. The shop keeper walked around the counter to throw Naruko out of the store but his wrist was grabbed roughly before he could grab Naruko's collar. "What the hell are you-" the man began but was quickly cut off when he felt the killing intent being directed at him in such a small space.
"Don't you lay a finger on her," Jiraiya said dangerously quiet. The man nodded hurriedly before scrambling back behind his counter and away from Jiraiya. "See? Told you nobody was gonna bother you while I'm around," Jiraiya grinned down at Naruko.
Naruko smiled regaining a little bit of her confidence before going right over to a bright orange and blue jumpsuit. She grabbed it and was about to go try it on when she felt Jiraiya's hand on her shoulder. "Hell no. You're gonna be a shinobi, not a moving target. Get something different gaki," Jiraiya said with a shake of his head.
Naruko sighed sadly and put the jumpsuit up before going over to the other clothing racks. She grabbed a few pair of dark pants and double the amount of shirts. Half of them each had some sort of orange on them. Naruko was about to take them over to Jiraiya to leave when she noticed an orange hoodie with a pair of fox ears on the hood stuffed away in a dark corner of the store.
Naruko grinned and grabbed it before going over to Jiraiya. The man sighed when he saw the hoodie but decided not to argue with the blonde over it. She seemed to like it tremendously. Jiraiya paid for the clothes along with a new pair of shoes for Naruko he had grabbed. After Naruko changed into her new clothes complete with hoodie, even if the hoodie was way to big for the girl. The hoodie went just passed her knees, but she didn't care either way.
"Alright gaki, next stop," Jiraiya said, leading a smiling blonde out into the street. The next time they stopped it was in a shinobi supply shop.
"Welcome Master Jiraiya," the clerk said.
"Morning Tasha. Is my order finished?" he asked.
"Yes. I'll go get the-" Tasha ever got to finish what she was saying due to a small brunette bursting through the door.
"Kaa-San! I got all bulls eyes!" the little girl exclaimed. She was wearing a pink kimono that ended just above her thighs. Under that were dark capris that went down to mid calf. Her hair was done up in a single small bun.
"Tenten! I'm in the middle of something right now," the clerk scolded her daughter.
The little girl looked down sheepishly and bowed to Naruko and Jiraiya. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize."
Tasha sighed and shook her head. "It's fine. Just pay more attention next time," she said. "Master Jiraiya if you'd like to check over the contents I'll release the contents of the scrolls in the back."
Jiraiya nodded and followed her behind the counter leaving the two children in the store. Tenten walked over to Naruko and put her hand out. "Hi! I'm Tenten," she said excitedly.
Naruko shook her hand cautiously. "Naruko Uzumaki," she replied.
"What brings you in here today?" she asked curiously.
"My godfather is getting some weapons for our training trip," Naruko said with a grin.
"Master Jiraiya is your godfather?!" Tenten exclaimed. "Wow! You're so lucky! He's one of the coolest shinobi ever. Besides Tsunade of course."
Naruko nodded. "I'm really excited to get trained by somebody powerful. Then I can finally become Hokage!" Naruko declared.
"You want to be the Hokage? That's really cool," Tenten said. "I want to collect every weapon the Sage of the Six Paths owned. They are really rare and very powerful."
"Who?" Naruko asked confused.
Tenten looked at him like he had just kicked a puppy. "The Sage of the Six Paths! He was the first person to use chakra. He's the one who gave us ninjutsu!" Tenten exclaimed. "Here I'll show you!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a far wall with a bookcase on it. She grabbed a very old looking book and placed it down on the floor. Tenten sat down and pulled Naruko with her before she opened the book and scanned the pages until she found what she was looking for.
"Here he is," she pointed to a picture of a man wearing a pure white haori wielding a shakujo. He had white hair and what looked like horns on his forehead. Naruko couldn't see much more than that due to his back being turned. In front of the man was a horrible looking creature. "Apparently he was the first jinchuuriki ever after defeating the Juubi. He sealed it within himself then created the nine Bijuu we know of today. He made several weapons to help him fight that creature, and I am dying to get my hands on them!"
Naruko was fascinated with the man in the picture. To be able to fight a creature on that scale by himself and be the victor, you would have to be extremely powerful. "Wow. That's incredible," Naruko said.
"I know," Tenten said and stood up with the book along with Naruko. She put the book back up and walked back over to Naruko. "Want to go throw some shuriken with me?" she asked with a smile.
"Sure!" Naruko grinned. "Only, I've never thrown any shuriken before. Nobody would ever sell shinobi supplies to me so I could train."
"Why?" Tenten asked curiously.
"I don't know. But a lot of the villagers hate me," Naruko said sadly.
"Well that's dumb. You're a nice person," Tenten said. "Do you wanna be friends?"
Naruko looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah!" She exclaimed.
Tenten grinned. "Alright! But my friends need something first," she said and went behind the counter. She came back with a necklace with a very small shuriken and kunai on it. She handed it to Naruko. "Now where friends!"
Naruko grinned and put the necklace around her neck. "Thank you Tenten!"
"You're welcome," she grinned back.
Just then Jiraiya came back from the back room. "Hey gaki, you ready to go?" he asked.
Naruko turned to Jiraiya. "Yep!" She said enthusiastically. She then turned back to Tenten. "We'll still be friends when I get back right?" She asked.
Tenten nodded. "Of course!" she smiled and lifted up her pinkie. "Promise."
Naruko smiled back and wrapped her pinkie around Tenten's. "Alright!" She said with a nod.
Jiraiya smiled down at the two. "Alright we're off," he said and started walking out the door.
Naruko quickly ran after him. "Goodbye!" She waved to Tenten.
"Bye!" she waved back.
Once they left Tasha turned to Tenten. "She was a nice girl," she said.
Tenten smiled. "Yeah she was," Tenten said.
"Now what was it I heard about bulls eyes?" Tenten grinned and dragged her mom out to the back of the shop.
Jiraiya and Naruko were making there way to the gate. "Well gaki are you ready to begin this journey. Once we leave the gates there's no turning back," Jiraiya said.
Naruko looked up at Jiraiya then over to the Hokage Monument. "If I want to be up there I need this training. I'm not gonna back out!" Naruko declared and lifted her fist up to the sky.
Jiraiya chuckled. "Alright then. Your training trip begins now," he said as the two of them walked out of the village gates. They wouldn't return for the next seven years and Naruko knew she would become strong.
The two arrived in a small town a week later. Jiraiya got them a room to stay in at the inn and tossed his bag in a corner the moment he walked in. "Alright Naruko. We're gonna stay in town until you learn the three basic academy techniques along with the shadow clone after we work on your chakra control. I don't expect you to get these all on the first try since you're only five. However, if your clan was still alive those Jutsu would be required before you entered their academy. So I have full confidence you will be able to do them," Jiraiya stated. "But first up now is lunch. After that we'll go find a quiet place for you to train."
Naruko nodded enthusiastically. "Can't we just go start training now?" Naruko asked loudly. "I want to start right away!" Naruko made a valiant stand until her stomach grumbled loudly. Naruko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well maybe I could eat something," she chuckled.
Jiraiya shook his head with a smirk. "Let's go find something to eat," he said and walked out the door with Naruko hot on his heels.
"Ramen!" Naruko exclaimed.
Jiraiya laughed. "Yeah, you're definitely Kushina's daughter alright. That woman had one of the biggest appetites for ramen. But I'm not gonna let you eat only ramen. You're gonna eat healthier or you won't ever get stronger. So for now we're gonna go find something else," Jiraiya said.
Naruko pouted. "But I like ramen," she grumbled and crossed her arms.
Jiraiya chuckled. "Tell you what," he began. "With every technique you complete, I'll treat you to ramen. Until then no ramen. How's that sound?"
Naruko beamed up at him. "Ramen as a treat for finishing my training! That makes me want to train even harder than before!" Naruko yelled as they left the inn.
Jiraiya laughed. "Perfect. Now I know how to make you train harder," he said evilly rubbing his hands together. Naruko shuddered as he watched Jiraiya. "Don't worry, the hard training won't start until after you finish the shadow clone training."
Naruko sighed. She was worried for a moment. "Hey why don't we go eat over there?" Naruko pointed over to an outdoor grill. "It smells really good," she said with drool sliding down her chin.
Jiraiya looked over and shrugged. "Why not," he said and walked over with Naruko in tow. They sat down in front of one of the grills and quickly ordered. Jiraiya grilled the meat and veggies and gave a portion to Naruko. "Eat up gaki," he said as he dug into his food.
"I don't like green food," Naruko said and pushed the vegetables away.
Jiraiya sighed. "Do you want to train?" he asked with a mouthful of food. Naruko mumbled under her breath and unwillingly ate the veggies on her plate. Jiraiya smirked. "Keep talking gaki. We'll start the training with a thousand sit ups." Naruko sat up straighter and shut her mouth in an instant. "That's what I thought," Jiraiya chuckled.
"So what kind of cool techniques are you gonna teach me?" Naruko asked suddenly.
"Eventually you'll get to sign the toad summoning contract," Jiraiya began.
"What's that?" Naruko asked.
"It's the contract you sign so you can summon the toads from Mount Myobokuzan," Jiraiya replied. "But that won't be for a while. Your chakra reserves are fairly small right now, despite your heritage. To sign the contract and summon one of the toads would probably cause chakra exhaustion."
"Is that bad?" Naruko asked taking a mouthful of food.
"Severe cases of chakra exhaustion have been know to put shinobi into comas. Even more severe cases can kill you, but we'll make sure that doesn't happen," Jiraiya reassured and reached his chopsticks forward to grab some more meat but scraped against plate. He looked over and saw an empty plate and Naruko with a mouth full of food with sauce dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Naruko looked up at Jiraiya. "You were talking and I was hungry," Naruko shrugged and swallowed her food. "Sorry?"
Jiraiya stared at the girl for a few moments. "How?" he finally asked. "How is it that somebody so small could eat all that food?"
Naruko shrugged and downed her drink while Jiraiya ordered another round. When it came out he made sure to keep most of it away from the bottomless pit next to him. 'Kushina. You're daughter definitely got your appetite,' Jiraiya thought to himself.
Once they finished lunch Jiraiya brought Naruko out to a field away from town with a single tree. "What are we doing out here Sensei?" Naruko asked.
"We're going to work on your chakra control. You're going to hold this leaf on your forehead for as long as you can," Jiraiya said plucking a leaf from the tree. "Once you can successfully do that then we'll move on to the henge, the kawarimi, and lastly the Bunshin. Once that's done and over with, we'll begin working on the Kage Bunshin. Once that's done we are moving on to the next town."
Naruko nodded. "Alright! I'll nail this on the first try, dattebayo!" Naruko declared loudly.
'And she's got that annoying verbal tic too, gonna have to break her out of that eventually,' Jiraiya thought to himself. "Show me what you can do then," he challenged.
Naruko nodded and put the leaf to her forehead. She stood there holding the leaf for a moment before she turned to Jiraiya. "Umm. How exactly do I do this?" Naruko asked sheepishly.
Jiraiya sighed. "Focus your chakra to the leaf in the middle of your forehead. This will allow you to hold it there. But you must concentrate. You can't allow your mind to wander or it won't stick," Jiraiya said in a sagely tone.
Naruko nodded. She was determined to get this quickly. Naruko placed the leaf on her forehead and began to focus on it. She closed her eyes and felt her chakra reserves flowing. Suddenly she opened his eyes and the entire leaf was shredded apart. Jiraiya's eyes widened as did Naruko's.
"Umm, Sensei? Is that normal?" Naruko asked.
"No. That hasn't ever happened to my knowledge," Jiraiya said. "You must incredibly huge chakra reserves, but that honestly doesn't surprise me. Especially being an Uzumaki and that other thing." The last part was said more to himself while he was in thought.
"Other thing? Does that involve the Kyuubi?" Naruko asked making Jiraiya freeze.
"How do you know about that?" Jiraiya asked cautiously.
Naruko shrugged. "Before I woke up in the hospital, I was in a dark sewer. I walked around until I was in a room and I saw a giant fox that said it was the Kyuubi no Yoko. And I was able to change the way the room looked just by thinking about it. What does that mean exactly, Sensei?" Naruko asked.
Jiraiya sighed. "I was honestly hoping you wouldn't find out about that for a long time. Not until you were ready at least," Jiraiya began. He sighed again. "But yes the Kyuubi has a lot to do with why he leaf was completely shredded. The seal your father used to seal it within you was designed to allow its chakra to slowly seep into your chakra coils all the while being converted into safe chakra to use. Being an Uzumaki gives you large chakra reserves as it is, probably low chunin I'd guess. Add in the factor of the Kyuubi giving you chakra and it increases by a large margin." Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought.
"This is going to make things much more difficult for you. Most likely when you try to perform any Jutsu you'll output too much chakra and the Jutsu won't even work. That or it will be a much weaker version," Jiraiya told Naruko.
Naruko sighed. "So I won't be able to do anything well then?" Naruko asked sadly.
Jiraiya put his hand on Naruko's head and ruffled her hair a bit, much to Naruko's annoyance. "Don't worry about it Naruko. As determined as you seem, I'm sure you will figure it out," Jiraiya encouraged. "Why don't you try and focus as little chakra as you can then place the leaf on your forehead. Only use as little as possible. It'll be difficult, but I've got confidence you'll get it."
Naruko nodded, a fire in her eyes. "Alright! I'm ready to get this finished and move on to the next step," Naruko yelled.
Jiraiya chuckled as he watched Naruko shred another leaf. He had a feeling that they would be there for a long time. "Don't forget, if you complete the stage, you get ramen," Jiraiya encouraged.
"I'll definitely get this now!" Naruko yelled.
Jiraiya chuckled as yet another leaf was destroyed. They were definitely going to be in this town for a while.
And here's chapter one. Hope you guys enjoy and please remember to Review/Fav/Follow. This is ForsakenAng3l signing off.
Ang3l: KURAMA CUT!
Kurama: Bite me!
Ang3l: *glares and pulls random lever. Trapdoor under Kurama opens and he falls into a tub of ice cold water*
Kurama: I'M GOING TO HAVE YOUR BALLS FOR THIS!
Ang3l: Not down there you're not! *turns away from Kurama* Anyway, I gotta go! Later!