A hop, skip, and jump later Naruto had found his way to the hot spring. Paying to get in Naruto made his way into the open air bath. Walking to an area next to the bridge he looked down into the water as if staring it down.
'ok... shouldn't be too hard."
Gathering his chakra into his feet Naruto kept a constant flow as he attempted to walk on the water only for him to fall after the first step. And being in a hot spring the water was really, really hot.
"Yow!"Quickly jumping out Naruto's clothes were soaked to the brim and the water was scalding hot.
"Ok that was not an enjoyable bath, gotta press on though or else I won't be able to learn Bird Man's techniques."
Pressing on Naruto continued to experiment in ways to stay on top of the water until he finally managed to keep one foot on the water without sinking. Moving from there he attempted to take another step only for him to fall in again due to not adjusting the chakra correctly.
"Kuso! This is getting really annoying."
Quickly remembering back to his listen with Medivh Naruto calmed his emotions and centered himself. Putting his foot back out onto the water his foot help firm, attempting another step again Naruto managed to put enough chakra to stay afloat but as soon as he was fully on the water his chakra fluctuated and he fell in. And this went on for about an hour with Naruto attempting to take baby steps and him falling in. Pulling himself up Naruto was about to attempt it again when he heard arguing a ways off.
"I will not allow any shameless acts in my presence!"
Almost two seconds later there was a "poof" a "slam" then it was quiet. Deciding to check it out Naruto got up and made his way over to the ruckus. Coming onto the scene Naruto saw Ebisu face down on the ground presumably knocked out and an old guy on a toad with long white hair and hermit clothing on with a big scroll on his back.
'Ok either this guy must be pretty strong to beat Ebisu or Ebisu just sucks...I'll go with the second and say he just sucks... though he probably could help me with my chakra control.'
So walking up to the hermit Naruto gained his attention in a way most suitable of him.
"HEY PERVERT ON THE FROG!"
The so called pervert face vaulted at that and returned the yell
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A PERVERT YOU BRAT!"
"THE ONE WHO IS PEEPING INTO WOMENS BATHS THATS WHO!"
Hearing this the women in the hot spring quickly covered themselves and ran out of the hot spring screaming about a pervert.
"AAAAHHH brat why did you have to go and do that you just ruined my research!"
"Research?"
Reaching into his shirt pocket the he pulled out a book that Naruto seemed familiar to Naruto. With an orange cover and the title "Icha Icha Paradise" he finally recalled where he had seen it.
"Hey thats the book Kakashi-sensei used to always read."
"Ah so you've met a fan of the novel. My book must be quite popular."
"You mean your the one who writes that?"
Going into his long introduction Jiraiya flips his hair back over his head.
"I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the frog spirits. Also known as the Toad sage. Other wise known as Jiraiya of the Sannin!" at the end he finshes by posing on top of the toads head.
A sweatdrop forming on Naruto's head he then begins to pester the so called "sage" to train him.
"Ok so your the toad sage now will you help me train or not?"
Giving Naruto a critical eye he then gives him his response.
"And what would I get in return for this?"
Inwardly sighing Naruto thought about it for a minute until he came up with an idea. Cackling at its brilliance he puts it into action. Putting his hands into one of his favorite handsigns he calls out
"Sexy Jutsu!"
In a puff of smoke appears one of Naruto's orignal jutsu for dealing with perverts. Naruko as he liked to nickame himself stood there naked with little puffs of cloud covering the important areas while showing them off at the same time. And with his hair tied back into two pony tails it would be pretty hard for any pervert not to have a reaction at this. Getting the reaction Naruto expected he just bared with the sannin's creepy stare.
Eyes popping out of his head Jiraiya admired every aspect of this girl in front of him from the cleavage to the nice shapely legs.
"ALL RIGHT YOU HAVE GOT A DEAL!" bringing out two "winner" signs
Naruto sweat-dropped at this, again, but he didn't really care as long as the pervert agreed to train him.
"Although there is one condition to this agreement..."
Mimicking his voice that had made many men before him swoon he asked.
"Why Jiraiya-sama whatever could that condition be?"
Turning around, pushing his fingers together, and giggling like a schoolgirl Jiraiya answered.
"You have to stay like that when you are around me." Puffing out of his form in anger Naruto glared at the old man
"I knew it! You are a pervert!"
"I am not just any old pervert!... I'm a SUPER PERVERT!"
Sighing at his future teacher Naruto gave Jiraiya a blank look and just asked his question again.
"So are you gonna train me or not." Sighing in defeat the sannin finally relented his side of the argument
"Find kid I'll oversee your training and help you as I am able."grinning from ear to ear Naruto cheered out loud and he went to continue his training when the pervert called out
"But we are gonna move to a better location for your training."nodding his head Naruto followed the sage out of the hot springs and towards the woods. They walked through the woods until they came upon a river with the ground next to it made it bedrock.
"Ok brat get back to your water walking and I will point out what I can." Taking a seat down further away from the river.
Going at his training Naruto continued to fall in the river as the day went on but each time he would be able to last longer as he stood out there longer. Jiraiya would occasionaly point out some flaws and Naruto would correct them. Pulling himself up onto the creek riverside Naruto began to speak to himself.
"Well at least I can control my chakra well enough anyway no thanks to that snake guy."
Curiosity peaked Naruto beckoned the boy to continue.
"Snake guy?"
"Yea his skin was pale white and his eyes were yellow and he had long black hair."
'Orochimaru' walking over to Naruto he stood over him and looked down at him.
"Hey kid I want you to channel your chakra again but this time hold it and dont step onto the water." Confused by the request but not looking to disobey he began to channel his chakra.
Naruto having stripped out of his clothes during the training was bare except for his underwear. Watching around where the area where the seal was kept he then saw it appear. Though there appeared to be nothing wrong with it... so what could Naruto have meant?
"Hey kid you sure that the snake guy did something to you?"
"I'm positive the last thing I remember was him shoving fist into my stomach with each of his fingertips glowing blue."
'Five pronged seal eh...' Naruto shifted a little as his seal was being examined
"Something wrong are you saying it's not there anymore?"
"You didn't know it wasn't there?"
Getting into a thinking pose Naruto thought to what could have happened to his seal when a certain man came into mind. Whispering so Jiraiya couldn't hear or so he thought he spoke aloud.
"hmmm maybe Medivh got rid of it." Jiraiya listening to Naruto's ramblings took quite an interest in this Medivh Naruto was talking about but decided not to question the boy on it... yet. If this man was able to remove a five prong seal and leave no chakra to trace it by he would definitely be an exceptional seal master.
"Ok well whatever boy keep up your training until you can't walk on water without falling and maybe I'll teach you a cool jutsu."
Motivated at the prospect of learning something new Naruto doubled his effort in attempting to waterwalk. After another couple of hours of trial and error Naruto had surprised Jiraiya by not only able to walk on water but also to push chakra out of different parts of his body and still be on the water. The way Naruto saw it the more he learned about controlling his chakra the faster he could get to learning new techniques.
"Ok kid since you got the technique down how about we call it a day and come back tomorrow."
"But what about that new jutsu that you were going to teach me?"
"We'll start it tomorrow as soon as you get here so be here at noon tomorrow."the toad sage then took off running towards the hotspring to continue his research after a day of training...Well teaching but it really didn't matter to him, it was a hassle just to get the boy to shutup about a new jutsu and he felt he deserved it after putting up with it.
"'Sigh' stupid pervy-sage it isn't even 6 yet, oh well might as well go see bird-man and see if he'll give me any pointers on that lightning."
Jumping off into the forest Naruto took the long way to enjoy the scenery. Naruto knew the village was his home but it was out here in the forest that he was at peace. Surrounded by trees and wildlife Naruto felt as if he were becoming close with nature. Along the way naruto passed a fox that was chasing a rabbit around the brush and had to laugh at the scene. The fox had a hard time attempting to catch the rabbit but eventually the rabbit managed to outwit the fox and dash leaving the fox there still looking around. Passing through Naruto eventually got to the cave and entered the door and once again he saw Medivh standing there as if he knew he was coming.
"Well Naruto it is nice to see you again did anything interesting happen today?" Naruto walked forward and stood a couple of feet from Medivh.
"Well I managed to get someone to teach me a bit about chakra control but he's a perverted sage so he won't top you." Medivh smiled at his apprentice and rubbed Naruto's head in affection.
"So Naruto what are you here for today, shouldn't you be training with your sensei?" Naruto shrugged at the question
"Well he says he wont teach me anything new until tomorrow now that I mastered the water walking exercise."
"You are able to do it already are you now?" Naruto beamed at him with one of his famous grins
"Yea and now he says he'll teach me a new jutsu tomorrow at noon. So until then I was wondering if we could work on controlling the lightning a bit more." Medivh nodded
"Sure boy now lets get started I want you to gather your energy like you did last time but instead of releasing it like an explosion," Medivh began to drag his front a middle finger along a path on his arm
"I want you to guide it along the pathways in your arms and out of your body. And remember not to let it pass through your heart, your lucky that it didn't kill you last time." Naruto nervously chuckled at that and began his training.
This time Naruto used the least amount of energy so he wouldn't kill himself if his attack went wrong. Separating his bodily energies like he did before when he released it this time he attempted to guide it out of his body. It seemed to work for a second as he could feel it running up his arm but as soon as it got to his shoulder he felt his shoulder seize up.
"You must make sure you don't allow the energy to enter your muscles either or it will cause them to seize up." Naruto slowly started to get the feeling back in his arm so he rubbed his shoulder until he could feel his arm again.
"Ok Bird-man gotta keep it out of my muscles understood."
For the next 4 hours Naruto kept at his exercise until he finally got a concrete result when he managed to get a tiny excuse for a bolt to come out of his arm. At this Naruto figured that since he could now actually guide the energies out of his body all he had to work on was getting larger amounts to be more effective and devastating.
"Ok Bird-man since it's getting late I am going to go home and hit the hay, I'll be by early so that we can continue this." Naruto then started running out of the cave and off home.
"Ok my boy see you later." Medivh continued to wave softly as Naruto left.
After a quick dinner of Ramen Naruto hit the hay eager for the new Jutsu the pervy sage was going to teach him. Dreams of destructive jutsu raced through his head as he slept.
Meanwhile outside his window on the next apartment over Jiraiya silently watched as Naruto slept deep in thought about the day when Ebisu walked up to him.
"So it seems you finally came back to the village Master Jiraiya, when are you gonna tell the Sandaime that you have returned?" Jiraiya shrugged at the question seeing no necessity to tell his old sensei he was back yet.
"There is no rush for him to know yet and I will be busy training the boy to summon." Ebisu looked shocked for a bit before his composure returned.
"Master Jiraiya you mean your not here to find Orochimaru?" Jiraiya shook his head
"No I don't plan on getting involved with the likes of him again." Ebisu was now rambling about how only a Sannin could beat a Sannin. Jiraiya ignored it all in favor of enjoying the night. The moon was out and full shining enough light to where he could see the village clearly even though it was the middle of the night. And a light breeze blew which rustled his hair a bit. It was times like these that reminded Jiraiya that no matter under what circumstances you leave it, home does not cease to be home. No matter how you lived there.
Eventually Ebisu gave up trying to convince Jiraiya and walked home in thought. Jiraiya sighed at the man but could not really hold it against him. After all, he was trying to do was protect his home.
Naruto woke up early again this time to go see Medivh before he goes to train with Jiraiya. Getting dressed in his usual jumpsuit Naruto made a quick meal of instant Ramen and was on his way to Medivh's cave for more training on his technique. Taking the usual route Naruto soon arrived at the cave and walked in to see Medivh in a lotus position. Seeing the perfect opportunity for a prank Naruto quietly slinked into the cave and tiptoed his way behind Medivh and took a deep breath, only for Medivh to open his eyes and start talking.
"Why hello boy and what may I ask are you doing?" Naruto embarrassed that he had been caught just whistled innocently
"Well before I go to Pervy-Sage for training I wanted to ask if there were any ways that I could make my lightning more powerful." Stroking his beard a bit Medivh got out of his meditative position
"Well one way I can see to do it is to increase control over your chakra. The more control you have over your chakra the better in tune with it you will be, and there it will be easier to separate your energies thereby making your spell cast faster and more powerful." Hearing all of that in one sentence caused Naruto's head to hurt but he did get it in the end.
"So better control equals a more powerful lightning bolt?" Medivh nodded
"Well you have any ideas for an exercise?" Sighing Medivh looked Naruto in the eyes.
"My boy I think it is time that you go out and learn on your own." Naruto looked a bit saddened at that.
"If I keep just spoon feeding you it will not help you much at all so you must learn to locate and learn for yourself." Naruto grudgingly accepted and jogged out of the cave
"hehe well boy lets see what you come up with child."
Meanwhile with Naruto...
"Ok ok ok hey maybe Kakashi-sen..oh wait he's training the teme hmmm... I guess I have no choice but to go the (gulp) Library."
Jumping from building to building Naruto had reached the Library which was situated a couple of blocks away from Ichiraku's Ramen. Entering the library Naruto was greeted with a smile from the Librarian.
"Hello is there anything I can help you look for while you are here?" Naruto scratched the back of his head
"Uhhh yea I'm looking for a book on chakra control do you know where I can find one?"
"Oh yes, they would be over on that shelf over there, shelf 2 section C." Nodding kindly to the women Naruto walked around the library till he found what he was looking for.
"Ok let's see..." Naruto began to look through the books one at a time.
"Chakra Control Basics... You and Your chakra... Chakra Control for Dummies... Your way with your chakra... I'll go for the first one." Taking the book out of the shelf he notices a book behind it out of sight from anyone.
"Hmmm hello what have we here?" Opening it the scroll says 'Leopard Style' deciding that he may like the taijutsu style he took it with him.
As he checked out the books the librarian waved goodbye to him in which he kindly returned it.
Deciding to go to his teams training ground he arrives in a few minutes. Sitting down the scroll for Chakra control he opens it up to see what the first tip would be.
'Practicing your taijutsu while using water walking is one way to hit two birds with one stone.'
Getting the point Naruto then opens up the other scroll to start learning this so called Leopard Style. Opening the scroll he could tell it was a very unique style. The Leopard style according to the scroll amounted to the words "Why block when you can hit?" which suited Naruto almost perfectly in his rush in and pummel the opponent attitude.
Looking over the first set of instructions he read that you had to be extremely conditioned to use this style. A few ideas from the scroll and the water walking would definitely give him a work out. Walking out to the center of the lake near the training ground he then slowly gets in a push up position. According to the scroll the Leopard Style the style's main fist attack was the Bao Chui or Leopard Fist. And to condition his knuckles enough for the style he would have to strengthen his hands for the tough task.
For the next few hours Naruto would continue his workout of push-ups on the water along with periodically punching a tree to make sure he wouldn't break his fingers using this style. When it was about 15 minutes before noon he stopped his workout. After doing his workout for nearly 4 hours Naruto felt like he could fall asleep right then and there.
'And to think Bushy-Brow does this every day.'
Looking at his knuckles he noticed that there were several bruises and callouses along the ridges from the continuous workout and flow of chakra.
'Well I better get to Pervy Sage before he decides to forget about my training'
Making his way towards where they were yesterday he spots him peeking through a bush at women in a pond a little ways off. Getting a bit peeved that he was just peeping again he slowly crept up to a few yards behind the sage and made sure his aim was right. Taking slow dramatic steps until he was right behind the pervert he reared his foot back and kicked Jiraiya straight out of the bush and into the lake currently occupied.
Jiraiya currently being preoccupied by the ladies never knew Naruto was there until he was sent flying through the air and landing into the pond. As soon as he pulled his head above the water he regretted it because as soon as the women saw him they ran off screaming, leaving him without a source of inspiration. Naruto meanwhile was laughing his ass off at his awesome kick.
"BRAT why did you have to do that!" Naruto glared at Jiraiya and crossed his arms
"Your supposed to be training me not looking at women!" Jiraiya had anime tears falling
"What am I supposed to do now brat..." Naruto shrugged
"Sooner you get done training me faster you can go back to your research." Motivated at the chance to do some more peeping Jiraiya was about to commence the brat's summoning training when Naruto's knuckles caught his eyes.
"Hey kid what did you do to your hands?" Naruto raised his left hand up and showed it to the sage.
"I was kind of going overboard with training earlier." Naruto scratched his head laughing a bit nervously.
Although Jiraiya was concerned with the kids hands he really didn't see any need to push it since the kid seemed fine with it.
"Ok kid lets get to that summoning contract."
-7 Hours Later
"Dam I am not summoning Gamabunta for another long while" Naruto walked out of the hospital rubbing his sore hands from which he was hanging onto Gamabunta with.
After managing to pass the toad boss's test he was finally allowed to summon Gamabunta and all the toads beneath him. And also the talk with a certain fox in his head proved to be a very interesting one at that.
Flashback-
Naruto was falling into the crevice that Jiraiya had pushed him into when he had suddenly appeared in what looked like a sewer. Wondering where he was Naruto got up off his butt and onto his feet when all of a sudden the hairs on the back of his neck stood stock straight when he heard what sounded like a growl. Walking down the hall he feels a certain malevolence in the air similar to the red chakra he used before. Taking a left down a seemingly random hallway he hears the growling get louder and louder until he finally enters an open room. In the center of this room is a gate towering over Naruto, it easily being over 3 stories tall.
"What the.." but before he could finish a presence made itself known inside the gate as a giant row of teeth and a pair of blood red eyes stared down at him.
'Kami this thing is huge.' Not that he would say it out loud, Naruto would admit to himself that he was afraid of the being behind the cage. He was rattled out of his inner thoughts when the creature spoke.
"Come closer little one..."
Warily, Naruto walked forward until he was a few feet from the cage when out of the darkness a giant claw crashes against the cage nearly impaling the jailor. Needless to say this caused Naruto to stumble back in fear.
"I will take great pleasure in killing you and devouring your soul, but this accursed seal stands in my way of my freedom. So why have you come mortal? It would be nice if you would would let me feast on your marrow."
Steeling his resolve Naruto glared at his prisoner before going on his rant.
"Ok you stupid fox I need your chakra or we are going to die so pay up now!"
Grinning maniacally the kitsune let out a chuckle that sent dread down Naruto's body.
"Well I suppose I can't kill you, after all if you die then I die... Your courage is most impressive boy for that I will loan you my chakra."
Even before the Kyuubi no Youko had finished talking the water on the ground had started to ripple before the cage and soon after the chakra poored out and surrounded Naruto. Wrapping itself around Naruto as if it were a strait jacket he felt suffocated but empowered at the same time.
"Oh, and kid before you go, be watchful of your sensei. There is more to him then meets the eye."
End Flashback-
Walking at a slow pace towards the cave Naruto thought back to the fox's words.
'What could cause a demon to be interested in a human?'
The fox seemed to know something about Bird Man and he was keeping it to himself just to toy with his container.
'I'll ask Medivh later about that and I'll probably tell him about the fox too.'
Naruto didn't really feel at all nervous at the prospect of telling Medivh about the fox. For some reason he could feel a bit of bond with his Sensei. That he could tell him about the fox and he wouldn't care either way. Like they were two peas in the same pod.
'Yep I've made up my mind I'm gonna tell him.'
Slowly trudging along the usual path Naruto made it to the cave and entered the way he usually did. After putting his hand on the door Naruto walked in to see Medivh in his meditative position like last time. Deciding to get his major obstacle out of the way he was going to speak up but Medivh beat him to it.
"Why hello there my dear boy, are you going to work on controlling the release of energies tonight?" Medivh turned his head and looked at Naruto never getting out of his position.
"Well... actually there is something I've got to tell you." Medivh adjusted his body to where he was facing Naruto and beckoned the boy to continue.
"Well I'm not exactly sure how to say this so I am just gonna come out and say it." Taking a deep breath Naruto calmed himself before he began
"I have the Kyubi no Yoko sealed inside of me."
Nothing moved after he said that. Medivh just stared at the boy and Naruto stared back. It was as if they were staring into each others souls.
"Whats the Kyubi no Yoko?" Naruto face vaulted at that
'Well he knows how to break the mood.'
"Well the Kyubi is a giant fox demon that attacked our village 12 years ago before our leader the Fourth Hokage sealed him inside of me."
Medivh had the look of a kid who had just received a treat.
"I see I see so here you have animal demons, most interesting. I was wondering what kind of demon it was but this is definitely something I have not encountered before." Naruto was stunned at what Medivh said
"Wait, so you mean you knew I had the kyubi sealed in me?!" Medivh shook his head
"No boy I did not, however I could feel the demon's chakra ever so slightly emanating from you. It must be a creature of some power for me to be able to feel its presence even behind the seal." Naruto had an inkling but wanted to make sure with medivh first
"Were you the one who removed that thing the snake did to my stomach?" medivh looked appraisingly at his pupil
"Why my boy finally your mind is starting to tick, well anyway yes I was the one who removed it from your stomach. And it looked like it helped wonders with your control" Aside from being a bit pissed at his insult of intelligence Naruto did remember his control had sky rocketed after that now that nothing was screwing up his chakra.
"Hey Medivh I have one more question, how are you able to sense the demonic chakra emanating from me while others have to wait until I use it to feel it?" looking off to a corner to a corner of the room as if he was looking into the past Medivh answered
"My boy I am sorry but that is going to be a story for another time when I feel you are ready." Naruto didn't mind the secrecy after all he had been keeping the fox a secret from his friends since the first second he found out.
"Now my dear boy I have a question to ask you, what did you do to your knuckles?" Naruto brought his knuckles to his face like he had earlier with Jiraiya
"Well I found a taijutsu scroll in the library while I was looking for chakra controls and I don't know how to explain it but it felt... right." Naruto thought of any other way to explain it but couldn't
"I'm not sure of any other way to say it."
"Success is often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction my dear boy."(1.)
Naruto put his hand back down and grinned at Medivh.
"Ok Bird-man lets get to my training!" Medivh smiled at the energy the boy was full of and commenced the training.