It was getting pretty late, Naruto offered to show the Gama brothers his apartment, which they accepted.
"Wow, this a pretty small apartment." Said Gamakichi.
"Hm? Really, maybe your right. It is stil is decent since i dont even have a job yet. You guys wanna have a sleepover?" Asked Naruto, he had never had a sleep over before, he had always wanted to have one, they seemed so fun, you get to have fun until you fall asleep.
"Maybe later Naruto, Tou-san doesn't even know where we are right now, he is probably starting to get worried. Maybe tomorrow or another day."
"Yeah, it was fun to be summoned" Said Gamatatsu.
"Um sure guys! You guys dont mind if i summon you guys during days when im bored, right?" Asked Naruto hopefully, he had learned most summons dont really like to be summoned if it isnt a battle or something the summoner needs help with.
"Not really no, Me and Gamatatsu are pretty bored during the most days aswell."
"Really? Thats awesome, then we can hang out tomorrow again?!" Said Naruto with a smile.
"Yeah sure, we dont mind, tomorrow we can try to find a good snack store." The Gama brothers sure liked their sweets.
Naruto grinned sheepishly: "Yeah, i can introduce you guys to Iruka-sensei aswell."
"Sure thing Naruto" Gamakichi's time with summoners were very low, Jiraiya rarely summoned the toads unless it was a big battle and then only very few were ever summoned, he didnt really bond with the new generation toads. Now Kichi started thinking, 'If me and Naruto is gonna be friends, i'll need to get him a nickname, but what shall i call him? hmm...'
"Well blondie, we gotta go now, maybe we can show you our home sometime" Said Kichi as he waved and dissapeared before Naruto. Now it was only Gamatatsu left.
"Im gueesing you're gonna leave aswell?" Naruto asked a bit dissapointed. Stil happy that he managed to make some friends.
"Yeah, us toads like our sleep!" And with that he left in smoke.
"Hmm, well today certainly was interesting. I should probably go to bed aswell". And indeed he did, he fell asleep almost instantly.
Jiraiya decided that if Naruto was gonna be his student, there were some things he should tell him, those things about the kyuubi and his parents. So with that he decided to make a visit. At 6 am, on a sunday, the only day without academy. To say Naruto was grumpy was a big understatement. He treasured his sleep damnit!
"So... what was so important to get here 6 am old man?"
"Well, i always wake up this early. It is so peaceful, ahh, life..."
"Get on with your point." Said Naruto, a bit grumpy over him being philosophical at this moment.
"Well, yesterday i went to talk with sensei about you being my student."
"What!? Really? Thats awesome old man!" Naruto was very glad with this. Jiraiya seemed like a nice enough man.
"Yes gaki, and we'll start in about a week. We are then gonna pack and leave this village. We are gonna train on the road. Its a big world out there, you have yet to even seen 1 percent of it. " It really made Naruto realize how little he knew of the world.
"That sounds fun, i get to skip out on the academy, its sooooo boring there... "
"Ohh before i forget, we are gonna talk about some secrets." Said Jiraiya motioning for Naruto to sit beside him.
"Secrets? What kind of secrets?" Asked Naruto as he thought about what the secrets could be related to.
"Hmm yes, there are 2 secrets that we are gonna be tackling today. Both is about you."
"Ohh."
"The secrets are both related. They are about your parents and the kyuubi." Naruto could chain the events together to realize that his parents probably died of the kyuubi. He continued: "Your parents name's were Minato and Kushina."
"Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were they're names."
Naruto suddenly realized were he had heard his fathers name. It was talked about in the academy alot. It was the fourth hokage, Woah... quite freaking cool.
"Really?"
"Yes Naruto, they were quite famous, your father more so than your mother. Both were very capable ninjas. Now lets get on with the second secret. Naruto, do you remember hearing about the kyuubi incident in the academy?" Asked Jiraiya.
"Yeah, it came to the village and killed alot of people, than the fourth came and defeated the evil beast."
"Naruto... that was the version the society recieved, the fact is that it was much more complicated. The kyuubi was to strong, a human can't possible defeat such a beast. He did what was the only solution to stopping the beast from killing his precious village. He sacrificed himself to the deathgod for it to go away." Naruto was starting to really like his dad, to sacrifice himself for the safety of his people was exactly how leaders should be. But before he could think to much Jiraiya started to speak again.
"But he had to put the kyuubi somewhere, it can't just dissapear. And no inanimate object can hold such a beast. He had to seal it. Seal it inside a human. Seal it inside his son..." Jiraiya said getting a bit quieter at the end.
Emotions washed over him. A bit of relief, some dissapointment and some anger quickly went through his head. Sacrifice himself and send his son to have a bad life to save the village, well, he'd probably do so to if he was ever in that position, but emotions dont really mix with using one's head. So he was pretty dissapointed and feeling a bit down. He was gonna prove this village wrong, he was gonna become a great ninja who was spoken about throughout the world.
"Well... im glad you trusted me with this, and honestly... id probably would have done it aswell, if i was ever in his position." Said Naruto feeling a bit grim right now.
Jiraiya was thankful that he could see reason. And hey, it wasnt all that bad being a jinchuuriki, it is making his chakra reserves quite big.
"hey gaki, dont worry about it, i'll train you to become a great ninja! And hey, people outside of the village wont hate you. Its most likely just because the kyuubi killed some of their relatives that people in this village dislike you." (Dislike was putting it mildly, they went out of their way to give him glares).
"But hey, we dont like brooding around. Im not the sad or brooding type." Said Jiraiya hoping to cheer Naruto up.
"I guees so, i dont really like being sad. But hey, i had some cool parents" Said Naruto trying to cheer himself up and it was quite effective, surprisingly enough.
"Yeah, gaki! You know, i knew your parents quite well. I was your fathers sensei, and now i will be yours to! Now now, lets get you some knowledge on your parents, shall we?" Naruto quickly nodded his head.
Jiraiya proceeded to tell him his parents interests, likes and hobbies. It had taken quite a while just to tell him that. But he went ahead about what kind of shinobi's they were. Naruto was really glad that they were good people and damn good ninja's!
His parents were quite wealthy, and he got acces to their wealth. It felt good to know that you can buy relatively cheap stuff and be able to get away with it. But he wasnt gonna waste it. Nope. He was not gonna go buy useless stuff. Maybe shinobi gear, food and weapons. But he was actully really excited, he would be able to get some weapons that was of good quality.
Time flew for the both of them and soon it was evening, agreeing they should get something to eat. They went to ichiraku's after some convincing (begging) from Naruto's part.
Naruto entered with Jiraiya and quickly ordered. They could talk after they were done. They were both hungry. As they both entered, they saw Teuchi looking over at him with a smile. They quickly went to get steated.
"Seems you are quite the popular guy these days Naruto" Said teuchi smiling to see him with some company.
"Yeah, guees so huh. Anyway, im gonna introduce you to my friend, this here is Jiraiya". Pointing to Jiraiya and then introduced teuchi. "And Jiraiya this is Teuchi, the best ramen maker in konoha!".
"Seems you got quite the reputation, huh teuchi-san?" Said Jiraiya smiling
"Hah, guees so" Said Teuchi grinning before going back to the kitchen,
"Ayame, come over here." Said Teuchi calling for his best daughter, granted, he only had one daughter, but she was so nice and obedient it was hard to imagine how he could have a better one.
"What is it" Asked ayame while walking to him.
"Naruto-kun got a new friend" Said Teuchi smiling
"AHH Naruto, your getting so popular these days, how do you do it?" Ayame asked stil walking over to Naruto, before quickly hugging him, as she always does.
Jiraiya would have made a perverted grin if it wasnt for her father watching. Seems the gaki got potential. And he wasnt gonna let potential go to waste, ohh no, he would bring out that potential to its fullest.
"Ohh, you know... im just that awesome" Said a grinning Naruto.
"Well, that you are." She said before touching his nose with her finger before going back to stand by her fathers side.
"Ohh, i almost forgot to tell you guys something. Jiraiya here is gonna be my new sensei, we are both gonna be leaving the village to train. We're gonna explore the world". Said Naruto while thinking how awesome it was gonna be.
"Ohh... Well, how long is our favorite customer gonna be gone?" Teuchi was getting a little worried. He was around 20 % of their income. And he was a nice guy.
"Ehh, i dont really know, it could be years i guees..." Said Naruto, his excitement dropping when he heard Teuchi's tone. Seems he was gonna be missed, atleast that made him quite glad.
"Yeah gaki, we're going around the world, ofcourse it will take years!" Said Jiraiya while giving a light slap to Naruto's back.
"We're leaving in about a week, i just thought i should let you know".
"Well, we're gonna miss you Naruto-kun!" Said Ayame as she went ot him yet again to hug him. She squeezed him extra hard since he was gonna be leaving soon.
"Remember to tell us when you'll be going, we'll both go and wave you of the gate! Right tou-san?" Ayame said while giving Teuchi the puppy eyes.
"Heehe, i guees we can do that". Teuchi answered
"Great!"
"well, we'll be going now, the ramen was great as always." Said Naruto while pulling out Gama-chan (his wallet is shaped like a frog or toad, and he calls it Gama-chan).
"No worries about this Naruto, its on the house today." Said Teuchi while reciving a wide grin from Naruto.
"Thanks old man! Come Jiraiya-Sensei".
They made their way out of the ramen stand and started walking, eventually they came to a point where the road seperated.
"By the way Naruto, im gonna head out of here, im gonna go do some research" Said Jiraiya while grinning and quickly shunshined away, not even bothering to wait for a reply.
"ohh well..." Naruto than quickly remember last night, and how he'd told Gamakichi that he was gonna introduce him to Iruka-sensei.
He did the required handseals and quickly said the name of the jutsu and pressed his hand against the ground, while thinking of the little yellow frog. "Summoning jutsu". And voila. There was Gamakichi before he hopped up to Naruto's head. "Yo".
"Hey there kichi, you know, you can jump really high" Said Naruto while thinking he had such a cool toad friend.
"Well, us toads are quite acrobatic" Said Kichi in a happy and proud tone.
"Hmm, but we gotta train you to stand on your hands sooner or later..." Muttered Naruto.
"Anyway, you ready to see Iruka-sensei?"
"Sure am. I'll just rest on your head while you locate him".
It took quite a wihle, because it was evening, Naruto had gueeses he was in his apartment, and his apartment lay at the outskirts of the village, so he had wasted a whole lot of time just walking to his apartment, than he decided to go to the academy, maybe he was working late.
Right he was, there Iruka sat grumbling about something.
Iruka and Naruto had only been friends for about 3 weeks. At first when he entered the academy, Iruka seemed to hate him or dislike at the very least. Their friendship grew, not sure how it happened, but it happened and he was glad it did.
"Hey there Iruka-sensei, there is somebody i'd like you to meet". He walked over to Iruka.
"Ohh, may it be that frog you got on your head?" Iruka shaking his head slightly, 'Naruto is always so wild natured...'
"Im a toad damnit" Said the toad and Iruka quickly got surprised, it was a summoned toad, but, who could summon toads, only Jiraiya-sama can summon the toads, he is the last toad summoner.
"Naruto?! How did you get your hands on this summoned toad?" Iruka grew curious. DId he find it? but where?
"Why i summoned it ofcourse" Said Naruto offhandedly, Iruka quickly replied in haste:
"What!? How can you summon toads Naruto?! Summoning contracts are extremely unique."
"Well, Jiraiya-sensei wanted me to get some friends." Naruto said.
"Jiraiya- Sensei?" How is it possible the great sage Jiraiya just gave a kid a summoning contract. Theories quickly entered his head but none made senese.
"Yeah, Jiraiya have decided to become my sensei, ohh and i forgot to tell you, i'll be leaving the village in a week, to go around the world and live life!And train to become strong ofcourse, making my parents proud! Ohh, i believe i have not yet introduced you yet, kichi"
"Iruka, this is Gamakichi" Pointing to the top of his head.
"Gamakichi, this is Iruka-sensei, the only sensei in the academy i respect!"
"Yo" Said Kichi
"Hello there Gamakichi. But Naruto, do you realize what a chance you are getting by being allowed to be trained by Jiraiya-sama? Few have ever gotten that chance." Iruka stated factly.
"Jiraiya-sama, huh? Didn't realize he was very famous" Seems Naruto have not been keeping up with his studies in the academy thought Iruka.
"You should have kept up in the academy Naruto. Jiraiya is the strongest of the three legendary Sannin, he is a sage".
"Sage... why do people keep mentioning it? What is a sage?" Both Jiraiya and Kichi have said it before
Before Iruka had a chance to asnwer kichi stepped in and explained.
"A sage is one who is able to gather Nature energy from all around us and balance it with their chakra, which is really hard, i mean super hard. Jiraiya hasn't even perfected it."
Not much was known about a sage's abilties, the people who was a sage didnt share the information.
"hmm, could i become a sage?" Naruto asked, it sounded cool.
"Hmm i suppose, but you should probably get better chakra control and mature a little, ive heard of the training. Its terrifying, we got a bunch of statues of people who have died during the training".
That did the trick as Naruto didnt wanna bring it up until he was older.
"well, its starting to get a little late, im gonna go train Kicki to be able to stand on his hands, see you later sensei!"
"Bye Naruto!" Said a waving and smiling Iruka.
'Remerkable, to be getting trained by Jiraiya-sama, get the toad summoning contract and stil be the dead last at the academy'.
Naruto and kichi was trying to build up their strenght in their hands and biceps.
"Ok kichi, we're gonna do this training together, kay?"
"Yup, lets do it blondie"
The yellow and orange bodies did the training for around 2 hours, kichi was surprisingly weak in his hands, probably because he rarely uses them thought Naruto.
They went walked to his apartment (And by they, i mean it was only Naruto that was walking, complaining that Kichi was getting a free ride, he demanded that when Kichi got big he would give Naruto free rides whenever he wanted to. Somehow he manged to persuade Kichi to saying yes.)
"Ahh here we are" Naruto hurried to the couch and slammed his body in to it to lie down. Kichi wasnt prepared and gave a yelp as he slammed into the floor than the two argued like brothers who was right, Naruto saying he was training Kichi's instincts and speed to react to danger.
Kichi went home to sleep and Naruto did the same.
TIME SKIP TO THE DAY THEY WERE LEAVING
Naruto had told the people he liked in the village to go to the gates to wave him of.
Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka and the hokage stood there at the gate to wave them of
Ayame went and hugged him the hardest she could have, she then whispered into his ear "Come back safely, ok?"
Naruto got a huge grin on his face and nodded rapidly
"Well, Naruto, we wont be seeing eachouther for a while, i do hope you have a safe and fun trip, and learn a thing or two."
"Old man, im gonna learn plenty of stuff!" Naruto said with a cocky grin
"Ohh im sure you do" The people gathered laughed at Naruto's confidence (In a friendly manner)
Naruto turned to the last member of their little 'good bye group' and smiled at his old sensei.
"Have a safe trip Naruto, but i guees thats out of the question..." he mumbled the last part.
"But be sure to have fun while your gone, not many have had the chance to go explore the world, make the most of that chance, okay Naruto?"
Naruto nodded as he realized how much better his life had gotten from when Jiraiya had entered the picture. It really had gotten so much better. Man, a friend or family member could help his life so much better. He was set on getting alot of friends on his journey.
"Dont worry, i will!" And once again the huge grin was plastered on Naruto's face.
Naruto turned to Jiraiya and began walking towards the border of the village. Naruto turned back and waved with his hand as he took the first step out of the village.
"woah, first step away from the village. Ive never been this long away from it ever before."
"Hah, gaki, you and ill have a great trip, ill promise you that much"
"First stop is wherever this road ends, ive got no idea where we will end up, but lets do it this way, its more spontaneous and fun this way" Jiraiya said and grinned at the equally grinning boy. Ohh, if only he would imagine what kind of horror journey it would be because he chose to do it "spontaneously".
END CHAPTER