Yo. Chapter Two. Enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I need a hug. No witty disclaimer, just...I need a hug. Preferably from the fairer sex but, bro hugs are welcome too. All I ask is that it's a good one. Because I need it. I need it bad.
Chapter 2: Three's A Crowd
"Faster gaki. Faster," said Jiraiya as he was defending against the jinchuriki. Jiraiya shook his head before palm striking Naruto in the face. The hit was unavoidable as the student dispelled in a poof smoke. "You're doing it wrong. Next."
A long line of Narutos was standing, waiting to jump in at Jiraiya. They all had a look of scrutiny on their faces having studied the small exchanges. One by one, they were facing off against Jiraiya in attempts to study the Taijutsu the man was teaching them.
Frog Fu, the legendary Taijutsu only accessible to Mount Myoboku. Being a summoner of toads, Naruto was one of those people lucky enough to learn the style. And learn it he was going to do. Another clone jumped in to face Jiraiya as the others spoke to each other.
"Did you see it? He was off a few degrees with his block and that's why sensei popped him in the face," said one of the Narutos getting nods from several of his identical brethren.
"What? Degrees? What do you mean? That doesn't even make sense," said another Naruto getting a larger grouping of Narutos to back him. "Stop trying to sound smart. Just say he was late or off by a few inches. Not degrees...that doesn't make sense. We can't even calculate that."
"Oi! I can because I'm the smart clone. We all know it's true," said that Naruto as one of the others laughed.
"Ha! Get over yourself. You're not even close to being smart," said the laughing clone.
"You're myself genius. Which means if I'm not smart, you aren't either dumbass," spoke the 'smart' clone getting the laughing one to stop and growl at being corrected.
"I'll kill all of you punks if one of you don't step up here and stop wasting your time," said Jiraiya impatiently tapping his foot. He'd defeated the other clone and said 'next' only to see the clones arguing. That wouldn't due because they were wasting their time. And by proxy, his time too. "I'm still going researching in 20 minutes. Better get while the getting is good."
The Naruto clones got into gear quickly before one of them took off to face Jiraiya again. Posted in a tree, hanging upside down with his legs hooked in a branch was the original Naruto. A shirtless Naruto who was sweating heavily and overlooking his clones and Jiraiya.
"Clones are so stupid," said Naruto shaking his head. He shrugged before leaning up to do a crunch. "They are so worth it though. How'd I never notice that little detail before?"
One of the special things about shadow clones was that upon death, their memories and experiences were shifted back to the user. And when it came to training, they sped up the process tremendously in that regard. It was like Naruto could look left and right at the same time. Thus allowing Naruto himself to focus on the physical aspects of training and let his clones handle the mental aspects. It was a beautiful thing.
Naruto was cutting training time in half. A lot more than half as he could make up to 1,000 and still feel fine. His first year of training under Jiraiya was a grueling physical regimen that did break him. He wasn't allowed to learn anything from the man until his body was up to snuff. Clones couldn't help him there so, he'd suffered horribly. Granted, Jiraiya did give him a new jutsu anytime he trained hard enough to leave him unable to move.
It was a pretty good method of getting him stronger. Want a new jutsu? Well, physically train until you couldn't move a muscle and Jiraiya had to come and scoop you up at the end of the day. That allotted you a jutsu and made Naruto go extra hard in his workouts. It helped that no matter how badly he overtrained, the Kyubi would have him right as rain the next morning. Jinchuriki hacks were so amazing.
Naruto smiled feeling how strong he knew he was becoming. The Naruto he was now would destroy the Naruto he was from a year ago. Even if that previous Naruto had a one-tailed cloak like he did against Sasuke in the Valley of the End. It wouldn't be enough to beat him and Naruto couldn't stop smiling considering he and Jiraiya had another year plus to go. Naruto stopped his hanging crunches though as he felt something was off in the area.
"2,446," said Naruto doing another crunch, followed by another and another. "2,447... 2,448."
"You've only done 448." came the voice of the 'disturbance' Naruto felt.
"So you've been watching me for that long?" asked Naruto continuing his crunches. He spoke evenly as the new arrival walked over to him. Naruto grinned seeing who it was. "A month, huh? Four weeks and you find me. To what do I owe the pleasure, Shizuka?"
Standing under the tree next to Naruto was indeed Shizuka. She was draped in a tan cloak but, Naruto could see her kunoichi uniform on underneath. Shizuka's green eyes followed Naruto as he continued his crunches. He was still oblivious it seemed to who she was.
"I guess your sensei didn't tell you about my village?" questioned Shizuka with a raised eyebrow. She knew Jiraiya was the one to face her sensei all those days ago. Considering the promise Jiraiya and she made, Shizuka figured he'd have at least told Naruto. Apparently not though. "Do you even know about your relationship with me as Jiraiya-sama's student?"
"Five hundred. And no, not at all. Ero-Sennin hasn't said a word. Five hundred and 1," said Naruto dropping from the tree in a backflip. He landed next to Shizuka and saw her raise an eyebrow. 501 was a weird number to stop on. "The extra 1 is for the ladies. Ero-Sennin said it's a must to do the extra one."
Shizuka grinned hearing the reasoning and nodded her head. Everyone had their own little quirks when teaching their students. That one was apparently Jiraiya's. And who was she to question the ideology of a man not only praised by her sensei but also, praised by the shinobi world. Naruto pulled his mesh shirt back on after toweling off and perked up hearing what Shizuka said next.
"Well, it looks like those extra ones are paying off," said Shizuka as Naruto gave her a smile at the compliment. Internally, Naruto was beaming and jumping for joy like an idiot. It was good to know that his training was paying off in an aesthetic way and that the muscles he saw were really there. "There was really no need to put your shirt back on if you're just going to keep training."
"True, but I couldn't let you get all hot and bothered." That was a lie.
Naruto was done training for the moment. The crunches had been the last thing he had left to do. Jiraiya's lessons told him casual flirting was to be used at every opportunity with the fairer sex, regardless of interest or not. This was one of those moments.
Jiraiya claimed he had to put out feelers to gauge whether the girl was interested back. It also got whether or not they weren't interested out of the way immediately. If you were barking up the wrong tree, it was better to know it from the start to save your breath. A pretty good tactic in Naruto's opinion and relatively harmless.
Naruto could see Shizuka smiling at his words and figured the former was the case. That was good because Shizuka definitely intrigued Naruto. Jiraiya also told Naruto that he needed to control the conversation because otherwise, the female he was flirting with would inevitably win the game he'd set in motion. That wasn't good because Naruto could see Shizuka's eyes shining like she had a good line ready so he beat her to the punch by changing the topic.
"So, what made you want to find me? Trying to get payback for our 'spying' on your village?" questioned Naruto stopping Shizuka's return fire. He wasn't that good with his game to try at the current moment. And he was glad Shizuka answered his question rather than hit him with a reply he wasn't ready for. "I'll work on my confidence later."
"I'm a bit miffed that you don't know. Why wouldn't Jiraiya-sama tell you about my village and our rules?" questioned the pretty girl looking Naruto in the eyes. She shrugged and decided to tell him herself. "Due to your besting me in conflict, we are to be wed. You must return with me to Nadeshiko immediately."
It was so silent that a pin could be heard landing in soft grass. Naruto had a progressively reddening face as he looked at Shizuka whose expression didn't change one bit. Naruto thought his working out may have impeded his ability to hear so, he wondered if he heard her correctly.
"Run that by me one more time please."
"In my village, we are predominantly kunoichi and normally bear female offsprings," spoke Shizuka not minding Naruto's blush. She could understand but it didn't faze her because this was how she was raised. "Because of that, our village operates on a policy. If we are defeated in battle by a man, we are to return with him and be married immediately. You left pretty fast so I couldn't tell you then so, I came to find you to let you know."
"Ah, I see," said Naruto as his blush left. Shizuka smiled seeing Naruto understand what she was saying. Except, his understanding didn't mean he was going for it. "I'm not marrying you because I beat you in a spar. That's stupid."
"...what?"
"I'm not marrying you because I beat you in a spar. That's stupid," repeated Naruto getting confusion from Shizuka.
"But it's my village's-"
"I understand and I'm sorry. But no," said Naruto losing his interest in the girl. Her reason for coming to see him again was bad. A character flaw in Naruto's mind that he wasn't attracted to. "If that's why you came to see me after a month to tell me that then, I'm sorry you wasted your time. But no, I won't marry you." continued Naruto watching the girl go through a mixture of emotions. He didn't understand how much that meant to her and he refused to know because it would be a waste of time. He wasn't about to marry some girl he didn't know because he beat her. That was so weird. "But, I'd hate for that to be the end of our knowing each other. I was going to get lunch. If you want, you can tag along before you return home and I'll buy you a meal."
Shizuka stared at Naruto for a few seconds longer before nodding her head. It did suck that she came all this way to get rejected so casually. But, he did offer her lunch and she was hungry from her travels. She could eat before returning home.
"Sure. I can eat lunch," said Shizuka as Naruto smiled and turned to lead the way. Shizuka followed behind him a bit downtrodden until she remembered something. "My mission was to return with Naruto. It didn't have a time limit on it." thought Shizuka before smiling to herself as she stared at Naruto's back. He may have thought it weird and stupid but, it was her village's tradition and Shizuka was persistent. She was going to get him to agree with her and she let it be known. "I'm going to bring you back home and make you marry me, you know that right? I'm not going to give up because you said no."
Naruto continued to lead Shizuka to the small town they were located next to. He turned his head hearing her to see a determined look in her eyes. Naruto shook his head and gave a chuckle. Naruto turned back forward and continued making his way to civilization for a quick meal.
"Well if that's the case, you better be a good lunch partner," said Naruto getting a smile. Shizuka liked he didn't shut down her goal a second time. Maybe there was a chance? "That's one of the requirements if you want to be Mrs. Uzumaki Naruto. Losing to me in a spar isn't one."
"Lunch partner? Well, I'll be the best lunch partner. You may just fall in love with me."
"Oh my..." said Naruto turning his head to see Shizuka smirking. The girl was oozing with confidence and it made Naruto smirk back. Maybe he wasn't that bad at talking to girls? "Such confidence. That was another requirement. Good on ya. Slow down now, at this pace I'll be in Nadeshiko by sunset."
"That's what I'm after." Naruto couldn't help the smile that came to his face.
And with that, the two of them walked clean out of the clearing in route to some food.
"Go gaki," said Jiraiya while punching another clone in the face.
"Why can't I go with the pretty girl?" questioned one of the clones. Most of the other clones nodded their heads before another was punched in the face by Jiraiya. Then another and another as one of the clones got his brothers to notice what was going on. "Ero-Sennin has gone crazy!"
"Look alive chumps! Poppa Bear's going on a spree," said Jiraiya tearing through the clones like a buzzsaw.
If the original Naruto was taking a break, then Jiraiya saw no reason he couldn't either. He had research to get to. And maybe a little peeking in on what his new student was getting into.
"You better not blow it gaki...I've taught you too well for this." thought Jiraiya finishing off the rest of the clones.
He wanted to see what his student and that Nadeshiko girl were doing.
(With Naruto and Shizuka)
Naruto led the pretty kunoichi through the woods before stopping when a rush of memories kept filtering through his head. He growled realizing what was causing it.
"Ero-Sennin," said Naruto agitated that his time with the man was being cut short. "Just because I finished early doesn't mean he should have. Damn pervert probably just wants to go peeking."
"Ero-Sennin? Is that really what you call Jiraiya-sama?"
"Yeah, he's a toad sage and a self-proclaimed super pervert. So, Ero-Sennin."
"And he lets you get away with that?"
"Not at all. Ero-Sennin hates it as much as baa-chan does," said Naruto getting Tsunade to twitch randomly. Naruto looked into the pretty green hues of Shizuka and frowned. "Whenever he gets me in a spar, he goes a bit harder if I call him that during the middle of it. Pervert hits hard too." continued Naruto with a shrug before smiling. "But if they're going to call me brat, kid, gaki...then I'm going to call them a pervert and old lady respectively."
"I'm guessing 'baa-chan' is another authority figure in your village?"
"Yeah, like the authority figure. Baa-chan's the Hokage."
Shizuka's mouth dropped hearing Naruto say that. He not only called Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin, a pervert openly. He doubled down by calling another sannin and leader of Konoha an old hag. How was he still alive?
"We've made it, I hope you like pancakes."
"Pancakes? But it's two in the afternoon?" questioned Shizuka confused as she stepped into the restaurant. Naruto followed behind her as she looked to see other customers in there eating eggs, bacon, and all kinds of breakfast. "You eat breakfast after the morning time?"
"Yes, all the time because of Ero-Sennin. He loves breakfast outside of normal breakfast hours," said Naruto with a smile and a wave to the chef behind the counter. He'd been here almost every day since he and Jiraiya set up camp right on the outskirts of this little town. "I need another order for my friend here too pops."
"No problem for a future Hokage and his friend," spoke the old chef getting a smirk from Naruto. Naruto led Shizuka to a table where he pulled out her seat. Once she was settled, Naruto sat across from her only to see her smiling at him. "Why the smile?"
"Two reasons. One, it's nice to know chivalry isn't dead."
"Ero-Sennin is a pervert, yes, but also a gentleman. He passed the latter down."
"Mhmm, he'll pass the perversion down too if you aren't careful. Or did you not look out of the second telescope when I caught you both on that mountain?" questioned Shizuka getting a sheepish grin. Shizuka smiled wider seeing it before continuing her earlier point. "The second reason I'm smiling is that you're a rule breaker like him. Jiraiya-sama eats breakfast outside of breakfast hours, same as you. He refused my grandmother's proposal after his defeating her, same as you. Rule breakers all around."
"You're really set on this marriage thing?"
"It's my destiny."
"Stop, don't do that," said Naruto getting attentive green eyes from the pretty kunoichi. Her smile was no longer there as Naruto sighed. "There was this annoying guy I beat in the Chunin Exams who spoke about 'fate' and I feel like your 'destiny' is following the same pattern Shizuka. Don't do that."
"But you defeated me...it's village tradition that-"
"And would you be happy if I did marry you?" cut off Naruto with a question that got Shizuka's eyes to widen. She couldn't answer that. "I don't know much about marriage and stuff but, shouldn't you at least love and be attracted to them first before you marry them? Seems silly to lose a fight and be married because of it." continued Naruto closing his eyes while he verbalized his thoughts. He didn't think he was good at words like this but, it seemed like the only way Shizuka would understand. "I have a girl that I love anyway. At least I think so..."
Shizuka could do nothing but look at Naruto. He had a tiny smile on his face as he shook his head.
"It's a bit one-sided though, she doesn't return my feelings. She's madly in love with this teme named Sasuke," said Naruto opening his blue eyes to hold Shizuka's gaze. "I would never try to force her to love me. Plus, we're only thirteen and love is... well, love dattebayo." Naruto smiled and clenched his fist tightly. "I made her a promise. And I intend to keep it no matter what. I can't do that going off to Nadeshiko and marrying you."
"He wasn't just saying no just to say it..." thought Shizuka watching a waitress come and deposit a huge breakfast spread in front of Naruto. The same waitress then put an identical tray in front of her before dismissing herself. Shizuka looked back at Naruto to see him already giving thanks and digging into his meal. "If I beat you in a spar, will you come back to Nadeshiko and marry me?"
Heh, couldn't break her with a few words it seemed. He knew he wasn't that good with words. Naruto smiled with a mouthful of pancakes that he gulped down before looking at her.
"No, but I wouldn't mind sparring," said Naruto getting Shizuka to concede and agree to that. "You should eat your food. You're going to need the energy if you want to hang with me."
"Last time was a fluke," said Shizuka grabbing her own utensils to begin digging in. The food did smell good and looked like it tasted even better. "I'm winning this time."
Naruto smiled in return which got the Nadeshiko Kunoichi to do the same. They'd be seeing about that very soon.
(2 months later - Konoha)
"What's wrong forehead? Shouldn't you be happy right now?" came the voice of Yamanaka Ino, a pretty blonde and the leader of the Yamanaka Clan's daughter. She was speaking to the pink-haired girl walking with her down a path in Konoha. "We kicked butt at Suna's Chunin Exams. We both got promotions!"
"Yes, yes. I am happy Ino-buta(pig)," said Sakura in reply without looking up from the ground. "We're Chunin now but I can't help but think about Naruto you know. He probably wanted to be there to help and cheer us on."
A smirk came to Ino's face as she looked at her friend. At first, Ino was going to simply agree. Naruto was a loveable idiot and it'd have been nice to have him there cheering them on. But with the way Sakura's face looked, Ino couldn't help but notice that it was a bit deeper for the member of Team 7.
"You miss the boy who always wanted your attention and affection," said Ino getting Sakura to freeze. Ino's smirk deepened seeing the deadpan stare her friend was giving her. "And now that he's gone, you're in love with him. They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"No. I'll never feel that way for Naruto," said Sakura with the utmost confidence. Naruto was her teammate and she did like him, but not in that way. She couldn't see it happening. "But it feels weird. He's out training with the Toad Sage, I'm training with Tsunade-sama, and Sasuke is being trained by Orochimaru. Is this like a sign or something, we're all training with a student of Sandaime-sama."
"I'd really not like to talk about Sasuke-kun or Sandaime-sama," said Ino a bit more about Sasuke. That one still hurt her a bit so, she went back to admiring the chunin vest in her hands. "But that is weird I guess, is that what you're all down about? You think the universe is conspiring to make you all like the Sannin?"
"Kind of. We were all so close and in a week, we all separated..." said Sakura with a frown. "But that's not even the weird thing. I had a dream that Naruto had another girl he was doting over."
"What? No way. Naruto is Sakura-chan all the way," said Ino mocking Naruto's voice when she said Sakura-chan. That got Sakura to giggle as Ino shook her head. "You know that. He's totally hooked. You're his favorite drug even if you won't ever return his feelings."
"Drug? I'm a drug?" questioned Sakura as Ino merely nodded. "What if he finds a better drug? It's not far-fetched is it?"
Ino merely rose an eyebrow at that.
"You took that analogy too far," said Ino tired of thinking about things that weren't right in front of them. And what was in front of them was their promotions to Chunin! Ino wanted to party. "Let's get to this celebration for our promotions. We'll worry about Naruto when he comes back. That's what, like two years from now or something?"
"Yeah, or something. Wonder how good he'll be..." said Sakura as she looked up to the sky. Her thoughts on her two teammates both currently away from home. "I hope you both are okay..."
(Unknown Location)
Seated in a lotus position, Sasuke sat with his eyes closed and his hands in the tiger seal. He was calmly meditating in a dark room barely lit by several candles. It was quiet and serene until the door to the room was opened.
"What is it?" questioned Sasuke abruptly and rather rude.
"So harsh Sasuke-kun. Good morning to you too," came the voice of the shadowed man standing at his doorway. "Was making sure there wasn't anything you needed before I left?"
"No, there isn't."
"Splendid. I will leave you to it then," spoke the man closing the door. Just before he did though, he left Sasuke with a bit of intriguing information. "Your teammate, Naruto-kun, left Konoha and is traveling the world with Jiraiya to get stronger."
That bit of information got Sasuke's eyes to open. The red of his fully matured Sharingan glowed as he grew a smirk.
"Good. It still won't matter but, good..." said Sasuke getting a smile from the man as he closed the door. "Train hard dobe. I'll crush you if you don't."
And with that, Sasuke decided he'd go train some more. He wouldn't let Naruto catch him.
(Land of Water - Naruto Age 13)
"Hmm, she's actually staying with us," said Jiraiya munching on a large roasted fish. Naruto was sitting beside him, also eating a fish, as he nodded his head. "Two months and she hasn't so much as returned home. You must be pretty important there kiddo."
"Yeah, something about how it was her mission to find me and get me to marry her," said Naruto taking another bite of the delectable food his sensei had prepared. "Since she hasn't succeeded and her mission doesn't have a timetable, she said she'd stay for as long as it takes." continued Naruto with a shrug. "Weird but, at least she pulls her own weight."
"Pulls her own weight?"
"Yeah. Of course she does. It's why you've let her tag along for this long," said Naruto easily. Jiraiya couldn't deny the boy's following points. "She's a great sparring partner. She doesn't ask us for anything because she already has her own money being the princess, princess Ero-Sennnin, of her village. She's quiet and unobtrusive. And well...she looks so~~o good."
"Heh, she looks what?"
"Shut up. I'm not a pervert because I think she's pretty. I can say she's pretty. I'm not blind," said Naruto only getting Jiraiya to grin lecherously. Naruto had a mild blush tint his cheeks that he vehemently shook his head to get rid of. "It's a healthy appreciation of the fairer sex. Not perversion. I refuse to be a pervert like you."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto before nodding his head and dropping it. He'd get the boy to admit it someday. Everyone had a little pervert in them and being the boy's sensei, Jiraiya aimed to bring out his student's best. Whether that meant as a shinobi, as a man, or as a pervert. Jiraiya was going to bring out his very best in all areas. He'd get him soon.
"Yeah, she hasn't given me any problems," said Jiraiya with a smile. Plus, it was better for Naruto to face off against someone around his skill level every now and then. He couldn't keep taking shellackings from Jiraiya. The boy would never know if he was progressing or not. "But she could have at least brought an older friend for me. Told you you suck as wingman."
"Shhh. The spar is almost over," said Naruto as he went back to watching the spar in front of them. The real Naruto was currently engaged in a heated spar with the Nadeshiko princess as the two were trading blows in Taijutsu. "It's starting to get good."
The battle of pure Taijutsu was slowly but surely going in Naruto's favor. Shizuka could keep up being speedier than Naruto but, Naruto was an animal. He kept coming forward and crowding Shizuka and it was wearing down the Nadeshiko princess.
"I have to get him off me..." thought Shizuka dressed in a sports bra and shorts. No shoes on her feet as she blocked a strong straight from Naruto that pierced her guard and set her skidding back. "He's so strong. Those workouts aren't solely for looking good."
"Good to see all that working out is paying off," said Naruto with regard to his punch connecting despite her block. Naruto only wore shorts and kept his shirt off as he lunged forward to keep his current advantage. "Kipping it up!"
Shizuka's eyes widened when Naruto took a step and then vanished from sight. Shizuka took no chances as she went through a set of hand seals and whipped out a set of kunai. The girl began to spin as a tornado covered her from view. Kunai flew all across the clearing out of the tornado in a wide-sweeping attack.
"Enbu: Ni no Dan (Dance Performance: Second Step)," spoke Shizuka whilst kunai were beginning to land. The kunai hit trees, rocks, the small pond they were settled next to, and everything else in the clearing. The girl eventually stopped her technique and checked around to see if she'd gotten Naruto. "I hit everything...there's nowhere he could have hidden except for-"
"Above you!"
Shizuka smirked hearing Naruto say above. She knew that already. If he wasn't hit by a kunai from her latest technique, the only place he could have been was above her. So while Naruto thought he had the drop on her, he was met with Shizuka's actual attack. The girl's left arm coated in wind chakra as Naruto's eyes widened.
"Koha Reppuken (Hardliner Fist)"
"Rasengan," said Naruto in reply as a ball of chakra swirled to life in his palm.
He at first was aiming to grab her and end the spar that way. That wouldn't work since she was already turning around before he spoke to counter what he thought was a surprise. Good thing he could make the Rasengan in an instant now to combat the girl's own finishing move. Though he realized too late the girl's trajectory was different than his.
Shizuka didn't ram her fist into Naruto's Rasengan like he thought she would. Why would she do that when she was certain Naruto would overpower her? Just didn't make sense to her so, she rammed her jutsu straight at his shoulder after sidestepping his move. Shizuka's eyes shined seeing Naruto not ready for that as he took the hit cleanly.
"Got you," said Shizuka releasing the wind collected in her palm as she rocketed Naruto off the end of it. Naruto flew back from the powerful attack before dispelling in a poof of smoke. "What?!"
"Nice moves but," came the voice of the Naruto. He stood rather close behind her with a kunai to her back. He'd won again. "I love my clones so much. Such a great distraction as always."
Shizuka felt a chill run through her body. Naruto was standing with his head next to hers so his voice was right next to her ear. She could feel goosebumps forming because while he'd gotten behind her before, she really didn't see this one coming at all. Shizuka didn't move her head from right next to Naruto's though as the two stood there for a bit.
"Even after two months...you can still get my back," said Shizuka annoyed by that. She hadn't beaten him once in two months. His misdirection was annoyingly good. "And no matter how many times I see those clones, I can never tell the real one from the fake. It's so agitating..."
"Oh, that hurts my heart Shizuka-chan," said Naruto removing the kunai from the girl's back. Shizuka turned to Naruto with a curious eyebrow raised. What hurt his heart? "You can't tell me from a clone? That means I could have sent one back to marry you and you'd have been none the wiser. Man, I should have done that."
"Not really, I'd have come right back."
"How? You can't tell me from a clone."
"I'd have noticed when it was time to consummate the wedding," said Shizuka causing Naruto to falter a bit. She smiled seeing the red tint Naruto's cheeks as she continued. "The clone wouldn't last and I'd have to find you again so I could finish what I started."
"Mhmm. I see your point," said Naruto coughing into his hand to regain his swagger. Jiraiya rules, always win the flirting. Never let the girl get in the last jab. "Let me know if you ever want to practice. You know for your future husband. Not saying it won't be me, it still could, but if you ever want to go through a trial run...I don't mind helping."
"Oh thank goodness. I was hoping you'd say that," said Shizuka untying her hair to let it cascade down her back. She placed her hands on the underside of her bra. Naruto's eyes widened seeing her lift it up slightly. "Can we do the trial run now? "
Naruto never answered Shizuka verbally. He merely fainted with a stupid look on his face and blood leaking from his nose. Shizuka smirked and turned to Jiraiya and the clone Naruto with a smile on her face as she walked out of the clearing. She hadn't beat Naruto in any of their spars but, she'd be damned if she let him win their verbal jousting. In that regard, he hadn't won once.
"Damn. Knocked us out cold, again..." said the Naruto clone sitting beside Jiraiya. Jiraiya nodded his head before realizing he was sitting with a clone. A clone that was eating. Jiraiya gave the clone a look as it wondered what was wrong. "What's up Ero-Sennin?"
"Why is a clone eating? You know that doesn't revert back to Naruto right?" questioned Jiraiya as the clone nodded and kept eating.
"Eh. Us clones have dreams that maybe we're the real one," said the clone with a shrug. "It's never true but a clone can dream right? Plus, I've never eaten anything before. Wanted to see what it's like. Maybe I'll even be able to poop later."
Jiraiya could see where the clone would be curious. Clones never did do anything normal. Granted, Naruto himself did those things so the clones should know. Jiraiya didn't feel like correcting the clone though. It didn't affect him in the slightest.
"You're eating the gaki's piece anyway. He won't be happy that you ate it but you'll dispel anyway," said Jiraiya biting down into his own fish. Jiraiya continued to eat with the Naruto clone as they waited for the real Naruto to eventually wake up. "We still got about two years left. I wonder how good you'll become?"
"We're going to be the best dattebayo." Jiraiya smiled at the confidence from the clone.
"Yeah kid, you're going to be the best," said Jiraiya with a smile toward the actual Naruto. The boy had a dopey look on his face as Jiraiya smiled wider. "You're going to be great. I think it's time I get to really shaping you up."
Jiraiya would make Naruto great. Even better, Jiraiya would pass down his techniques to the boy. Naruto was now his pupil. It was time for his pupil to start looking and fighting like it.
"Actually, not my pupil. He has to get way better first."
Pupil denial aside, Jiraiya was going to make Naruto great. There was no question in his or Naruto's minds.
And scene. Got more coming soon.
-Hamp
