Symphony of Fate
Chapter 2: Training Begins
Author's Note: I was surprised to have so many hits already. Thank you for you reviews and for taking the time to read this fic. I was gonna wait a while but I decided to go ahead and upload chapter 2. I feel better about this chapter than the first one but I'm still not too fond of it. Maybe it's because I'm the writer or something, I don't know but anyway these first two chapters are supposed to kind of make a prologue and lay out the foundation for the rest of the story. Enjoy.
Naruto, Tayuya, and Jiraiya walked along a road in the Land of Fire. It had been a week since they left for their training trip. They had begun on their way from the town in the Land of Sound and had continued on through the Land of Fire and were currently walking through dense fog. Jiraiya had sent a messenger toad to Tsunade to relay to her the events following Naruto and Sasuke's battle involving Naruto and Tayuya. She was upset by it at first but decided that if the girl had both Naruto's and Jiraiya's trust then she must be alright.
"Toad-fucker, where the hell are you leading us anyway?" Tayuya asked in annoyance. It had only been a week but they had yet to do any training and had stopped at every hot springs they came across. It was beginning to work her nerves.
"Yeah Ero-sennin I want to start training soon!" Naruto whined as they continued walking.
Jiraiya simply waved them off. "You two stop whining already, geez it's only been a week. We'll begin the training when we reach our destination."
"Which would be?" Tayuya asked with crossed arms.
Jiraiya stopped and pointed ahead of them. They looked to see the fog was clearing and there was a large bridge in front of them. "The Land of Waves." Jiraiya answered as he took a step forward and looked at the bridge. "It's been awhile since I passed through here, I don't remember there being a bridg- GAAH!"
Jiraiya's jaw had dropped as the fog cleared enough for him to see the writing inscribed on the bridge. Realizing where they were Naruto grinned. Tayuya looked confused and followed the sannin's gaze only to be met with a similar reaction when she read the words.
Naruto grinned and adjusted his headband as he read out loud. "The Great Naruto Bridge. Has a nice ring to it don't you think, Tayuya-chan?"
Tayuya mouth opened and closed as she failed to form words and just stared dumbfounded at the bridge before finally finding the words she was looking for. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR OWN FUCKIN' BRIDGE?"
Naruto shrugged. "I guess because my team had a mission here once and saved their village. Didn't know they named the bridge after me though, kinda cool." He said as he looked up at the inscription.
Jiraiya shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Unbelievable." Regaining his composure he addressed the two. "Well Naruto, I assume that if this bridge is named after you then you could surely find us a place to stay while we're here."
Naruto thought for a second and then grinned widely. "I know just the place."
Inari was having a bad day. His mother, Tsunami, was sick so she had sent him out to buy some groceries. He had a list of what he was supposed to pick up but after he pulled it out of his pocket he dropped it and it blew away in the wind. Eventually he chased it down and made it to the store. As he came out of the store he thought maybe his bad day was over but then on the way home he was jumped. Which lead to the current situation: he was cornered at the shore by two samurai that he recognized as the same men who worked for Gato and attacked his mother, Zori and Waraji. They had chased him out of the sight of the villagers to the shore. And of course, Inari still couldn't swim.
He gritted his teeth as they laughed at him. Zori took a step forward. "What's wrong kid? You look scared." The samurai laughed as he took another step towards the boy, making him almost jump out of his skin.
Inari was trembling in fear though he tried to act brave. "Y-You think you c-can just walk back in here after all you've done?" He said, his voice shaky.
Waraji also began to draw closer to the boy, unsheathing his katana partially to scare the boy. "You sound upset kid, what's wrong? You were so brave back when you're ninja friends were around." The dark skinned samurai said as Inari fell to his knees.
"J-j-just leave me alone! G-Get out of here!"
Zori frowned and stepped towards him again. "Oi, shut up kid. You're being too loud."
"HELP!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, catching the two samurai off guard.
Waraji scowled at the boy and leapt forward. "Damn brat! I'll shut you up!"
Inari closed his eyes as the man leapt towards him. He awaited the imminent pain but it never came. He slowly opened one eye to be met with a surprising sight. Naruto stood in front of him, kunai drawn and used to parry the Waraji's blade.
Waraji and Zori looked at the boy in horror as they recognized him. Zori started to back away. "W-Waraji, it's that brat who beat Zabuza!"
Waraji on the other hand was too paralyzed to move. He busy was looking into the red, feral eyes of the blonde before him. Fear washed over him as he looked into those cold eyes and he was hit with the force of the blonde's killing intent.
Naruto didn't blink as he spoke in a low growl, "Leave him alone."
Zori gulped as he tried to turn and run the other way. He didn't anticipate to be met with the fist of an angry redhead, sending him flying past Naruto and Inari into the water. Waraji looked in behind him to see Tayuya and Jiraiya standing arms crossed glaring at him. The samurai was no fool, he dropped his sword and fell to his knees. "I-I surrender."
Jiraiya frowned as a toad, a little bigger than a man, emerged from the water and regurgitated an unconscious Zori. "What lowlifes, picking on an innocent kid. Disgusting."
Tayuya walked over to the dark skinned samurai who looked up at her curiously. Without a word she reared her foot back and kicked him in the balls, causing the man to cry out in pain and the other males present to wince. He fell forward holding his jewels and crying as Tayuya grabbed his arms and tied them behind his back. "Stupid fucker, picking on a fuckin' kid! Next time why don't you and your fuckin' lover over there pick on someone your own size. Rot in a sack of rat shit, weak-ass prick!" She emphasized her anger by spitting in his eye at the end of her rant.
Jiraiya decided that was enough and had the toad swallow up both of the men. "Take these two to the Konoha Prison. Give this to the guards and they'll permit it." The toad sage said as he gave the toad a scroll. The toad croaked in response then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto helped Inari to his feet and dusted him off. "Hey Inari, you ok?"
Inari smiled and nodded at his blonde friend. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks to you guys. But I can't believe you're back! Where's Sakura and Sasuke? And Kakashi? "
Naruto frowned and looked away. "I'll explain it to you later, at your house."
"A training trip? That's so cool!" Inari said in excitement as Naruto puffed out his chest proudly. Tayuya rolled her eyes at his display. They were all currently in Inari's house and were sitting in the living room. Naruto was telling Inari about all his adventures since he had left the Land of Waves and the boy was in awe. Tsunami and Tazuna were simply watching the two boys converse contently.
"Then I saved Sasuke's butt from the Gaara and took him down in his giant sand tanuki form!" He said proudly as Inari listened intently.
"So who are your friends here Naruto?" Tsunami asked after Naruto finished his story.
"Oh yeah, this is Ero-sennin." He responded, pointing to the toad sage. Jiraiya sweatdropped and Tazuna and Tsunami raised an eyebrow at the nickname but Naruto continued. "He's kind of a pervert but he's also a really powerful shinobi. We're on a three year training trip and I'm his apprentice now." He declared proudly. The blonde then pointed to Tayuya. "And this is Tayuya-chan, we were enemies on my last mission but she helped me out and we've become friends now… She's kinda got a dirty mouth though."
Tayuya took off one of her shoes and threw it at the blonde, hitting him on the head. He winced as a knot appeared and she looked away with a 'hmph'.
Tazuna then decided to speak. "Ah, that's right where's Sasuke? And Sakura and Kakashi too, aren't they with you?"
Jiraiya and Tayuya looked at each other then back to Naruto who had hung his head. The three non shinobi in the room gave him curious looks.
"Sasuke… he abandoned the village. He's gone off with Orochimaru, the one who attacked our village, to gain power… I tried to stop him but… We fought and he ended up getting away." The blonde jinchuuriki explained with sadness filling his eyes.
Tazuna frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that Naruto. I could tell you two were close, though back then you wouldn't have admitted it."
Naruto chuckled as he remembered Team 7's stay in Tazuna's house. He thought about the tree climbing exercise and his fight with Haku. "Yeah… He's my best friend…"
The mood suddenly became gloomy as Naruto thought about Sasuke. Jiraiya stared at the boy while Inari frowned and Tazuna and Tsunami exchanged worried looks. Tayuya couldn't help but feel partially responsible for the current mood. Even though at the time she was just following orders and never would've dreamed she'd become friends with the Uchiha's best friend.
Naruto surprised everyone by breaking the silence and smiling at Tayuya. "But it's alright. I'll bring Sasuke back one day. And besides, if he hadn't left I wouldn't have had the chance to become friends with Tayuya-chan!"
Tsunami and Tazuna smiled seeing the boy had returned to his cheerful self. Jiraiya gave a small chuckle when he noticed the boy's words had a certain redhead blushing. Inari looked at the two curiously before tapping Naruto's shoulder.
"Naruto-nii, does that mean she's your this?" Inari pointed to his pinky finger.
Now Naruto and Tayuya both blushed wildly. "W-What? No! We're just friends that's all!" Naruto explained frantically.
"Yeah, who the fuck would date this shithead?" Tayuya added for good measure. Naruto sweatdropped at her words.
Jiraiya decided to change the subject to a more serious topic, addressing Tazuna and Tsunami. "Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san, would you be willing to allow us to stay here while I train these two?"
Tazuna glanced at Naruto, who was in a headlock courtesy of Tayuya while Inari watched laughing. "You're welcome here anytime. We're greatly indebted to that kid for all he's done for us. Besides, I haven't seen Inari so happy in a long time."
Tsunami smiled warmly at the sight. "Naruto is a hero in this village, and he's like a big brother to Inari. You all stay as long as you like."
"Thank you." Jiraiya said with a smile before turning to Naruto and Tayuya. "Alright you two, training starts today. Let's go." Naruto cheered and Tayuya smirked as the two followed the white haired sannin.
Jiraiya led the duo to the beach not far from the house. Inari and Tazuna had also followed to watch while Tsunami was making dinner. "Ok, let's start off with showing me your abilities." The sannin said as he walked past the two.
Tayuya groaned. "You mean you want us to demonstrate all our techniques? That's fuckin' boring!"
Jiraiya chuckled. He was now standing about fifteen yards away on top of the water. "Oh I believe you'll like this. I want you two both to come at me with all you've got. After I've seen enough or beaten you thoroughly we'll stop."
Tayuya was shocked when Naruto immediately charged forward, hands in a cross like seal. Jiraiya sunk into a defensive stance as the blonde approached. "Shadow Clone jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he summoned up more than two hundred clones.
"That's what I like to see!" Jiraiya yelled as he charged the large group of clones. He effortlessly dodged their attacks while landing hits on several causing them to dispel. Eventually however the number advantage kicked in and they surrounded him. The clones then charged in from all sides and Jiraiya leapt into the air to avoid them. The clones looked up to see the toad sannin quickly running through some handseals. "Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball jutsu)!" The sannin said as he shot a large fireball at the clones below, taking out most of them.
He landed carefully on the water staring down the remaing fifty or so clones. Then from under the water beneath him, Jiraiya caught sight of a small glowing orb. He was surprised as Naruto jumped out of the water and buried a rasengan into his abdomen. "Not bad gaki." Jiraiya whispered as the sphere connected. "However…"
Naruto was shocked when Jiraiya poofed out of existence. "A shadow clone?" The blonde turned around to see the white haired sannin taking out the rest of his clones with taijutsu. He was about to charge him again when he heard something strange. It sounded like a flute being played. To his surprise Jiraiya froze in place.
The redhead standing behind Naruto's clones had begun playing her flute to cast a genjutsu on the toad sage. "Genjutsu: Arctic Imprisonment!" Tayuya smirked as she saw her genjutsu had taken effect. The genjutsu she had used had made it seem to Jiraiya that his body was frozen solid. The older man cursed under his breath as he tried to break the genjutsu. "Fuck yeah!" She yelled as she charged the sannin and connected with a roundhouse kick to his abdomen, sending him flying towards Naruto.
Naruto grinned and formed a rasengan then prepared to intercept the white haired sannin. "Got you Ero-sennin!" He said with a smirk as he lunged with the rasengan. Jiraiya however expertly dodged by rolling in the air and then ducking under the rasengan. He landed on the water with his hands and spun, delivering a hard kick to the chin on the real Naruto. Naruto's clones dispelled as the boy was sent crashing into the shore. Tayuya gritted her teeth, it was just her and Jiraiya now.
She charged forward as she activated level one of her Curse Mark. Jiraiya was surprised when she charged forward with increased speed and began her attack. The two had a taijutsu showdown as Tayuya threw punches and kicks and Jiraiya caught and deflected them with ease. He was once again surprised however when she progressed to the second level of the Curse Mark. Her hair grew longer and her skin turned a dark chocolaty brown while horns grew on her head. She was actually able to overwhelm him and landed a hard punch to the face that staggered the sannin. She followed up with a spinning back kick that connected with his ribs and sent him flying backwards.
The experienced sage caught himself and began to make several handseals before taking a deep breath. "Katon: Rekaion (Fire Release: Raging Lion)!" He yelled as he exhaled a large amount of fire taking the form of a large lion. Tayuya was surprised as the flaming lion pounced and the flames swallowed her before quickly dissipating after hitting the water. Shakily she stood up to look at the toad sannin. Instantly however, he had sprinted towards her and connected with a series of punches before executing a powerful kick to her abdomen that sent her barreling into the shore as Naruto had.
Satisfied with the test Jiraiya walked over to his two students. Naruto was out cold and Tayuya was trying to stand, having reverted from her Curse Mark transformations back to normal. "Well I believe I've seen enough."
Tayuya slapped Naruto across the face a couple of times to wake him up. "What, where am I? Oh! Did we win?" The blonde asked Tayuya as he started to wake up. Tayuya shook her head and Naruto hung his head in depression.
Jiraiya chuckled at the display and took a seat next to them on the beach. "Now that I've assessed your abilities lets go over what you're training regimen is going to look like for the next few months." The two younger shinobi listened intently. He pointed to Naruto. "Naruto, you've got loads of stamina and guts and that's good, but you're also an idiot and that combination is more likely to get you killed one day then be any help in a real fight. Ninjutsu wise you're not bad, you're taijutsu sucks and I know you're not a genjutsu type but neither am I. We're gonna focus mostly on building up your taijutsu skills and teaching you about strategy." Naruto frowned at the idiot comment but nodded affirmatively.
Jiraiya then turned his attention to the redhead. "Tayuya, you're a genjutsu type for sure, but you're taijutsu is good as well. As for ninjutsu you didn't use any so I'm not sure about that."
Tayuya sighed and hung her head. "I've never been too good at ninjutsu, I mostly stick to genjutsu but against more experienced shinobi my genjutsus aren't strong enough."
Jiraiya nodded. "Well then we'll focus on building up your ninjutsu skill and refining your taijutsu. What style taijutsu is it you use by the way? It resembles a combination of the Arhart Fist and the Cyclops Fist."
"Yeah, I used to spar with fatass when I was with pedo-fucker and he used Arhart Fist. I picked a few things up from him and put it together with what I learned from the Academy in Takigakure."
Jiraiya nodded. "Well it's a very interesting style. It's probably best for offense rather than defense if it's a combination of those two styles. Anyway, we'll work on your taijutsu and ninjutsu. I know you're a genjutsu type but I can't really help you there since I never learned any genjutsu myself." He said the last part sheepishly. "You two meet me here tomorrow morning at sunrise and we'll get started with the serious training."
"Hai Ero-sennin/Ero-sensei!" Naruto and Tayuya said in unison.
Jiraiya tried to yell at them as the two ran off towards town but it was no use. He sighed as he started to head back for the house. 'Those brats have no respect for me at all…' He thought to himself as he approached Tazuna's home. He stopped when he heard women giggling and talking about going to the town's hot springs for a bath and a perverted grin crossed his face. 'Research time!'
Naruto, Tayuya, and Inari walked the streets of the town. It had been two weeks since Naruto and Tayuya started their training with Jiraiya. One thing was for sure, he didn't go easy on them.
The first half of the day he made them practice their taijutsu skill. They started off with running, he made them run twenty miles to raise their stamina. He then had them do exercises like punching and kicking a log, push-ups, chin-ups, squats, sparring, and crunches. After all of that he created a shadow clone and sparred with both of them, helping Naruto build a solid fighting style and Tayuya refine hers.
After taijutsu training was done he had them work on ninjutsu. For this training they were split up. Naruto had massive reserves but horrible control, so he had Naruto doing exercises to raise his control. Tayuya on the other hand had good control but relatively small reserves, Jiraiya had her doing exercises to increase her reserves. Naruto's exercises were mostly just frustrating but Tayuya's left her completely drained.
Naruto had decided that he needed something to give him an edge on Sasuke next time they fought. Today Jiraiya gave them the day off after they finished their taijutsu training (so that he could go do some 'research') so Naruto and Tayuya decided to stock up on weapons. Inari had been watching them train the past week and tagged along with them to get some medicine for his sickly mother.
Tayuya groaned as they walked the streets. "My fuckin' legs are so sore! That damn toad-fucker… He's gonna fuckin' kill us before this trip is over. Fuck, even the pedo-snake bastard wasn't this cruel!" She complained as they searched for the weapon shop.
Naruto frowned at her foul language and covered Inari's ears. "Easy Tayuya-chan, you shouldn't be using that kind of language around Inari. He's still a kid after all."
"Oh, he'll be fine! He's old enough to hear it as long as he don't repeat it." She said waving it off. Naruto sweatdropped and uncovered Inari's ears. Inari just smiled at the two innocently.
After a while they reached the town's only weapon shop. They went inside and began to look around. Tayuya went ahead and bought some kunai and shuriken with the money Jiraiya had given them. Naruto was busy trying to find a weapon that suited him while Inari was mesmerized by all the weapons and was currently slashing imaginary foes with a katana in the back.
Tayuya decided that she too could benefit from using a weapon so after looking around for a bit she decided to go with a broadsword. The hilt was black with a ruby adorned in the center of it on either side and the blade itself was about 40 inches long. After purchasing her sword and supplies she walked over to Naruto as he picked up a staff. "A staff? Doesn't really suit you shithead." The redhead said as Naruto hung his head in disappointment.
"I just can't decide! There's too much to choose from!" The blonde yelled in frustration as he put the staff back.
Tayuya smirked, amused by the blonde's breakdown. "I honestly don't see you as the katana type, it's just not your style. Then again, you wouldn't have the skill to handle a kusarigama and ranged weapons wouldn't suit your close combat fighting style… Damn, this is hard." She said as she looked at every weapon on the wall before them but couldn't picture the blonde with any of them.
He was too much of a brawler type. He just charged in with his clones and a rasengan in his hand and pulled something out of his ass. Having a weapon almost just didn't fit with him, but she guessed he wanted something to give him an advantage when he fought the Uchiha. Just as they were going to give up and leave the shop, Tayuya saw something out of the corner of her eye.
It was a pair of trench knife like weapons. Chakra blades, like those that Asuma Sarutobi used. She picked them off the wall and examined them. They were perfect for him and suited his close combat style very well. She smiled as she put a hand on the sulking blonde's shoulder. "Shithead, I believe I've found your perfect weapon." She said proudly.
Naruto looked in awe as she displayed the chakra blades. "Chakra Blades? Asuma-sensei uses those too now that I think about it. They're so cool!" He exclaimed as he took the blades and put them on. "These are awesome! Thanks Tayuya-chan!"
Tayuya was blushing fiercely at his words. She still wasn't accustomed to people thanking her. Averting her eyes, she composed herself. "Don't mention it shithead."
"Hey, I just noticed, I've called you Tayuya-chan several times today and you haven't hurt me or yelled at me at all."
"Eh, I figured what the hell. You obviously don't learn through being beaten the shit out of and yelled at so it's a lost cause."
Naruto frowned and looked away scratching the back of his head nervously. "Well if you don't like it I can just call you Tayuya."
"No, it's actually started to grow on me a little bit. I don't mind really so… you don't have to stop…" She said as she blushed even more.
Naruto blushed as well and they both looked away. "Oh well ok then Tayuya-chan… I wouldn't care if you called me Naruto-kun either…"
"…Not a chance shithead…"
"Tayuya-chan!"
"Shithead-kun?"
"…On second thought, just shithead is fine."
"That's what I thought shithead."
"Paper?" Naruto said as he stared curiously at the small pieces of paper in Jiraiya's hand.
Tayuya sighed. "Not just paper dumbass, Chakra Nature Paper."
Naruto blinked. "Chakra Nature Paper?"
"..."
Tayuya cocked back her fist to punch the blonde when Jiraiya restrained her. "Easy Tayuya, easy. Listen gaki, these are papers for figuring out your chakra affinity." The white haired sage explained as he as he released Tayuya.
Once again Naruto blinked. "Affinity?"
"…"
"…"
"FUCK!" Tayuya lunged at the blonde but was restrained again, this time by one of Jiraiya's shadow clones.
Jiraiya facepalmed. "Don't they teach you anything at the academy these days? Ok, you've seen techniques like the Fireball jutsu I used in the spar and Kakashi's Raikiri? Well moves like that require you to transform the nature of your chakra." The sannin explained.
Naruto was intrigued. "Nature of chakra?"
"Yes. Take the rasengan for example, it is just a pure chakra technique. But to use an attack like the Grand Fireball Jutsu you'd have to mold your chakra into a fire element nature to use the attack. The thing is every person has one affinity, or chakra nature that they're naturally better with. The purpose of these papers is to figure out what your affinity is so we know what kind of jutsu to teach you."
"But wait, so does that mean that you can only use the nature you have an affinity for? Because I've seen Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei use different types of techniques before." Naruto recalled.
"Not precisely. Most people learn to use at least two elements, some people can use three and very rarely four elements, but it takes years to master that many."
"Oh alright. So how can these papers tell us about our chakra affinity?"
"Well they're made to respond to chakra. All you have to do is pump some chakra into one of them and it'll react differently based on your affinity. For example if your affinity is fire," The sannin pumped a small amount of chakra into one of the papers and Naruto watched in awe as it burned into ash. Jiraiya smirked at the boy's reaction while Tayuya watched with a small amount of intrigue. "The paper will turn to ash."
Naruto looked at his master with sparkling eyes. "That's so cool Ero-sennin! I wanna do mine now! Can I? Can I?"
Jiraiya laughed and handed a paper to the beaming blonde. Naruto adopted a serious expression and concentrated on the paper. He focused a small amount of chakra into the paper and was surprised when it instantly split in half. The blonde held up the two pieces of the paper and cheered. "Ero-sennin, what does this mean? What's my affinity?"
Jiraiya smiled softly at the feeling of nostalgia he was experiencing. "You got a wind affinity gaki. Just like another old student of mine." The sannin explained as Naruto leapt for joy. 'Minato, he's your son alright.' The older man thought to himself. "Alright, your turn Tayuya."
Tayuya grabbed the paper eagerly and quickly pumped some chakra into it. She smirked when her paper became damp. "Water affinity, fuck yeah!" She yelled as she pumped a fist into the air. The other two present sweatdropped at her actions. Realizing her outburst she blushed and scowled at the two. "What are you two cocksuckers lookin' at? I'm just happy that my affinity kicks the shit outta Shithead's!"
"Hey, wind is definitely cooler than a water affinity!" Naruto yelled in defense.
"Bullshit!" Tayuya countered.
Jiraiya sighed as the two began to argue. 'This is gonna be a long trip.' He thought as Naruto struggled to push Tayuya, who was strangling him, off of him. Seeing the sight the old sannin couldn't help but smile. 'I haven't been there for Naruto like I should have Minato, Kushina… But I'll make up for it now.' The blonde and the redhead finally stopped their scuffle and were laying sprawled out on the ground laughing. Jiraiya blinked as he watched the two smile at each other, it was short lived however as they both quickly looked away blushing. 'Wow, I think that's the first time I've seen those two really smile.' The toad sage thought as he blinked in surprise before bursting out laughing.
The two pupils glared at their master and yelled in unison, "What are you laughing at Ero-sennin/Old Pervert?"
Jiraiya wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter died down. "You two lovebirds of course. I think that was the first time I've ever seen Tayuya without a scowl on her face."
The two teens turned crimson and Tayuya threw a rock at the older man. "As if I'd ever fall in love with a Shithead like him!"
Jiraiya dodged the rock and shunshined to Naruto's side. In the blink of an eye he reached into his pocket and pulled something out and handed it to Naruto. "Make sure to use this when you two do the deed. Better safe than sorry." He whispered in the blonde's ear loud enough for both teens to hear before turning to walk off. "Research time. Later gaki!" In a puff of smoke the man was gone.
Naruto blinked then looked at what the older man had slipped into his hand. His face was beet red as the man's words sunk in and he looked at the object in his hand. Unfortunately, Tayuya was also curious and looked at the object in the blonde's hand. She also blushed when she saw the condom in the older man had given the blonde. The two sat there in awkward silence.
"…"
"…"
"So do you think we should-"
"IN YOUR FUCKING DREAMS PERVERTED SHITHEAD!"
'I was just gonna ask if we should give it back to Ero-sennin. What's her problem?' A bloody, beaten Naruto thought as the irate redhead stormed off.
Tayuya sighed as she watched the waves crash against the coast from her spot on a rock on the shoreline. The past month had been very eventful for the redhead. Not only had she failed to bring Sasuke Uchiha to Orochimaru's hideout in time but she was also defeated by a stronger woman from Sunagakure. Miraculously she survived having a forest dropped on her and was able to make it to safety without being discovered. Although she had damaged her pride, lost her purpose for living, and would surely be killed by Orochimaru for her failure, she did gain something that day.
The redhead sighed as she thought about how she stumbled upon the unconscious blonde in the Valley of the End. She wasn't sure herself why she hadn't just walked on that day. The normal Tayuya would have left the boy to die there without a second thought. Perhaps she wasn't herself, maybe one of those trees hit her a little too hard on the head. Whatever the reason she had felt that he could be trusted.
She frowned as she stared at the ground. 'Why did I follow that idiot anyway? It's not like me at all.' She thought. Though she wouldn't admit it, she had problems trusting people due to her childhood. She knew Orochimaru had been using her the whole time she worked for him but it didn't bother her, she atleast had a reason to live. It gave her a purpose. She looked out at the sea once more as she thought to herself. 'What is my purpose?'
"Tayuya-chan!" A familiar voice called, snapping her out of her musings. She turned her head to see Naruto walking towards her with a smile on his face.
"What do you want shithead?" She responded coldly.
It didn't faze the blonde as he sat next to her on the rock and looked out at the sea. "You've been out here for a while and it's getting dark. I thought I should come see what's up."
"It's nothing you need to worry about shithead. I'm just thinking about some things."
"Like what?"
"Like none of your damn business!" She snapped at the blonde. She instantly regretted snapping at him, it's not like she liked doing it but it just kind of slipped out.
Naruto frowned in response. "If it's bothering you this much it does concern me." Tayuya gave him a confused look. He smiled warmly at her. "Because you're my friend."
Tayuya felt an unfamiliar warmth spread in her body hearing that. She blushed slightly and looked away from the smiling blonde and after a few seconds of silent thought she sighed in defeat. "Alright, you win. I was thinking about where I'm gonna go from here. What the hell am I gonna do after this training trip is over and all. I've got nowhere to go, no family to return to, I have nothing. I have no purpose." She admitted sadly as she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them.
She was surprised to feel two hands grab her shoulders and shake them, forcing her to look up at the blonde responsible. He had a serious expression, it was uncharacteristic for him yet at the same time it fit him well. "Don't talk like that Tayuya-chan, you're not alone! You've got me and Ero-sennin and Inari and his family too! We're all here for you! After the trip you can come with me to Konoha and join the village. I'm sure Tsunade-baachan won't mind if me and Ero-sennin talk to her! And I don't know about a purpose but I know I fight to protect my friends and for my dream! So don't feel like you have nothing Tayuya-chan!"
Tayuya was taken aback by the blonde's words. She stood up and shoved him to the ground with a scowl. "You don't know me damnit! There's no way I'd be allowed to join your shitty village anyway. I'm a fucking bad guy remember? I worked for Orochimaru, I helped bring your friend to him! I helped kill the Sandaime! So why? Why don't you hate me?" Tayuya demanded as she kneeled down and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt.
She flinched as she stared into his eyes, they were stony and unchanging with resolve. "I know that Tayuya-chan is a good person. Tayuya-chan is my friend, that's all that matters to me." He said kindly.
Tayuya released him from her grasp and stood back up, turning away from the blonde. She stood there for a moment before breaking the silence with a question. "What if your Hokage tells you I can't join your village. What if they decide to lock me up or kill me. What will you do? Will you go against your village for me? If you did you know you may never be able to become Hokage."
Naruto was shocked by her words but quickly collected himself and stood to his feet. "I won't let that happen, I'll make Tsunade-baachan accept you into the village and if anyone else has a problem with that I'll make them see that you're a good person too. I give you my word that I will protect you Tayuya-chan." Tayuya shocked at his words but didn't turn to face him. "And I never go back on my word, that's my nindo, my ninja way!"
A small smile appeared on the redhead's face unbeknownst to the blonde. "Baka," She whispered before she ran off towards Tazuna's house, leaving the confused blonde alone on the beach. The smile was still on her face as she ran and a single thought ran through her mind. '… I guess I've found a purpose after all.'
Tayuya and Inari watched as Naruto prayed a silent prayer at the graves of Zabuza Momochi and Haku, the two missing-nin that Naruto's team had fought on his first trip to the Wave Country. Naruto had made it a point to visit their graves every day since they arrived in Wave two months ago. In a short time Naruto and Tayuya both could feel that Jiraiya's strict conditioning and taijutsu training was already helping them improve by leaps and bounds. Also they had found out their affinities and begun training with their new weapons.
Jiraiya had taught the two the basics of their weapons but told them he couldn't do much more than that since he didn't really use any weapons himself. After struggling with nature transformation Jiraiya revealed that the Kage Bunshin technique has a secret that could help their training progress more quickly. He explained that the clones share experiences gained so by making many clones Naruto could greatly reduce the amount of time it took for him to learn nature transformation. Tayuya was taught the technique by Jiraiya to help her as well but couldn't make more than five clones at a time, much to her irritation.
Using that secret Naruto had found himself progressing rapidly with his nature release training and Jiraiya predicted that he may even be able to use a second element by the end of their trip if he kept it up. Tayuya had also been progressing quickly, having a natural talent for nature transformation. She also had found that her reserves had been increasing steadily over the course of the past two months.
Aside from their own training, Naruto had taught Inari how to mold chakra. He did so upon request from the boy who wanted to be able to protect his mother and grandfather if he had to. Tayuya soon found out and initially lectured Naruto but then started assisting the blonde in teaching the younger boy the basics of ninjutsu as well as how to use kunai and shuriken. They kept it a secret from Jiraiya, there was no telling how he'd react to knowing they'd been sneaking off and teaching a civilian boy how to mold chakra. However, Naruto felt it was alright since it was for a good cause, he could respect the boy wanting to protect what was precious to him.
Also in the past couple of months Inari's mother, Tsunami had become increasingly ill. It started out as a cold but quickly became more serious. She's been bedridden for several days, unable to even get out of bed under her own power. While it didn't seem to be anything life threatening, it still had Inari worried and motivated him to learn as much as he could from Naruto and Tayuya. He wanted to be strong enough to take care of his mother who had done so much for him.
With one final prayer, Naruto rose to his feet and turned to the two accompanying him. He beamed brightly at them. "Alright, let's head to the usual spot." The cheery blonde suggested.
The other two nodded in agreement and they headed for the forest where Naruto had learned to climb trees with chakra on his first trip to Wave. They had been meeting here to train Inari since nobody usually came out there. So far Naruto had taught Inari how to mold chakra and use shuriken and kunai as well as the basic academy jutsu like the kawarimi and henge. Tayuya had helped as well, teaching him the bunshin jutsu and how to break genjutsu. She was surprised to see that the boy seemed to have a natural talent for learning, he was able to pick up everything she and Naruto said and did exactly as he was instructed each time. She was equally surprised to find that Naruto was a good teacher. The two were able to feed off of each other well.
Naruto reached into his pocket and felt around for something before finding what he wanted. "Here it is!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a piece of Chakra Nature Paper.
"Wait a minute shithead, you don't really intend to teach him Nature Transformation jutsu do you? Coz if he has an element other than wind or water we can't help him you know, not to mention we're just now learning it ourselves and he's still a beginner." The redhead inquired.
Naruto waved it off. "I just thought it would be nice to see what element he is so that if he keeps training once we leave he'll know what nature to train."
"When you leave…" Inari whispered low enough that the other two couldn't hear.
Tayuya noticed Inari's expression sadden hearing that the two would be leaving one day. She cursed herself for becoming soft as she ruffled the boy's hair and smiled warmly at him. "Don't worry, we ain't goin nowhere for a while and you know that once we leave shithead's gonna wanna come back to visit you ALL THE TIME." She said in a comforting voice.
Naruto was surprised to hear her trying to comfort the boy and nearly laughed out loud when she gave him a 'Say-Something-Now-or-I'll-Kick-Your-Ass' look. Naruto walked over and put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Let's make the best of the time we have together, alright?" The blonde said with a foxy grin.
And that grin proved to be infectious as Inari smiled back brightly at the blonde. "Yeah! Let's have fun while we still can! I gotta get stronger to protect my village and my family!"
The two shinobi smiled at each other, then at the boy. "That's the spirit! Now let's find out you're affinity!" Naruto yelled as he handed the boy the paper. "Now pour some chakra into that paper and we'll see what your nature is.
Inari nodded and focused on the paper. He closed his eyes and poured chakra into it. His eyes shot open as he felt the paper get hot and begin to burn into ash. Tayuya whistled as the ashes of the paper were blown to the ground by the gentle wind. "Fire affinity huh? Pretty cool."
"Fire? Cool!" Inari exclaimed as he looked over to an equally excited Naruto.
"You have a fire affinity! It's just like Ero-Sennin!" The blonde said as he high-fived his pseudo-younger brother.
Tayuya rolled her eyes at the two boys. 'No wonder they get along so well, Naruto's as immature as a kid himself.' The redhead thought to herself as she watched the two boys continue to cheer about fire being Inari's element.
The excitement was short lived however when Naruto stopped in his tracks, his expression becoming serious. A memory from a clone he had left behind at Tazuna's house had returned to him and he quickly looked to Inari. "Inari! The clone I left at your house just dispelled himself, you're mother collapsed!" The blonde explained. Inari's eyes widened and Tayuya frowned. Without another word the three ran for Tazuna's house as fast as their feet would carry them.
Rain fell steadily down as a large group of mourners gathered around a coffin preparing to bury it. Naruto fought back tears as he looked at the picture of the woman in the coffin. It was the picture of Tsunami, Inari's mother. Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder and Tayuya stood by his side squeezing his hand comfortingly. Naruto's attention however, was focused on the small boy weeping beside the casket with his grandfather by his side.
It was only a week ago that Inari's mother collapsed. She had been ill since they arrived in the Wave and it turned out that her illness was serious. She had been bedridden for five days while the doctors in town tried their best to help her. Despite their best efforts Tsunami passed away on the sixth day.
Inari had been taking it very hard. She was all he had left so of course it was devastating to him. He had been thankful to have gotten a chance to say goodbye when she briefly woke up the night before she died.
Naruto was at a loss. He felt terrible for the boy and Tazuna. He wanted to say something to make Inari feel better but he knew there was nothing he could say. He thought back to Sasuke's words in the Valley of the End.
Flashback
Naruto slammed Sasuke into a wall and pinned him so that he couldn't move. He frowned at the raven haired Uchiha.
"Sasuke, you don't have to do this." The blonde said desperately.
"Why are you stopping me?" Sasuke demanded.
"Because, you're my best friend… you're just like me…"
Sasuke began wriggling free of the blonde's grasp as he snapped at him, "We're not the same! You've been alone from the start! You don't know my pain!'
Flashback End
He frowned as those last words echoed in his head. No matter how much it stung, it was true. He didn't know the pain of losing someone so close, he couldn't understand what Sasuke went through and he couldn't understand what Inari is going through. Naruto hadn't experienced the pain of losing someone close to him because he had never had anyone in the first place.
Once the funeral was over Naruto, Tayuya, and Jiraiya headed back to Tazuna's house. Inari and Tazuna had stayed behind to talk with some of the villagers who wished to pay their respects. Naruto sighed as he entered the house followed by Tayuya and Jiraiya. The three removed their shoes and went to their respective rooms to change out of their wet clothes and into some dry ones.
After drying off the all went to the living room. Tayuya sat on the couch while Jiraiya sat in a wooden chair and Naruto leaned against the wall. The three sat in silence for a while before the Naruto broke it, "This sucks! I wanna help Inari but I… I don't know how…" He said sadly.
"Just be yourself gaki, let the kid know you're here for him and that'll be enough," Jiraiya responded thoughtfully.
"In this situation, nothing you can say will make him feel better. His fuckin mom just died, he's not gonna be himself for a while. The best thing you can do is give him time." Tayuya said.
Naruto frowned. He wanted to help but he knew Tayuya was right, nothing he could say would make Inari feel better.
Jiraya sighed, breaking the silence that had again befallen the gloomy trio. "I've been thinking that maybe it's time we change location. We've been here for two months now after all. And with this new development, I think it might be best if we give Inari and Tazuna some space to deal with their loss."
Tayuya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's nice here and all but I'm getting pretty tired of the same scenery day in and day out. Moving on with the trip sounds like a good idea."
"Maybe that would be for the best." Naruto agreed. He could imagine it was gonna get pretty gloomy around the house with Tsunami gone and Tazuna and Inari would be able to deal with it better with them gone. He would miss them though, the past two months had made him feel even closer to the family.
"It's settled then. Tomorrow morning we set off." Jiraiya said as he stood up and stretched with a yawn. "Now if you two will excuse me I-"
The toad sannin was cut off by the sound of the front door being flung open. The three shinobi quickly turned to face the direction of the sound. To their surprise, Inari stood in the doorway panting and dripping wet from both the rain and his tears.
"Inari?" Naruto said shocked by the boy's entrance. The brunette ran straight up to the blonde and dropped to his hand and knees in a bow. Naruto looked curiously at the boy bowed before him. "What are you-"
"Please!" The boy pleaded from his position on the ground. Tazuna entered the front door as well panting, most likely from chasing Inari. The boy continued, "Please, train me Onii-san! Make me your apprentice!"
Everyone in the room was shocked by the boy's request. Tazuna was the one to speak up first, "Hold on Inari, what do you think you're ask-"
"Please!" The brunette cried, ignoring his grandfather. He raised his head up to look at Naruto, with determination burning in his eyes. "I want to be able to protect what's precious to me! So please, help me get the strength to protect the ones I love Onii-san!" Inari pleaded as tears fell from his eyes.
Naruto was flabbergasted. He looked to Jiraiya for guidance, but the toad sannin just stared back at him with something in his eyes that Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on. He then looked to Tazuna who frowned and hung his head.
"Inari. If this is the path you wish to take… I won't stop you." Tazuna said with sorrow in his voice. "But you know you don't have to do this."
Naruto looked back to Inari who hung his head and stared at the floor. "I know but… someone once told me that if there's something I love… I should work hard to protect it and fight with all my strength for it! For that reason, I want to be strong!" The small boy said.
Naruto gave one last glance to Tazuna who nodded approvingly. Taking a deep breath he turned his attention to the boy bowing at his feet. "Inari!" The blonde said. The boy's head jolted up and the two locked eyes. Naruto looked into those eyes for a moment searching for something. After a few seconds he smiled sadly and placed a hand on his head. "From today on, you are my apprentice. It's gonna be a tough road ahead, and I'm still learning a lot myself but we'll work hard together to protect what we love!" The blonde said with his signature foxy grin.
Inari stared for a second in shock, partly not expecting the blonde to accept, but soon lit up with a grin of his own that rivaled the blonde jinchuuriki's. Tayuya rolled her eyes as a small smile spread on her face. Jiraiya and Tazuna exchanged skeptical glances before sighing and opting to just go with it.
After all the tension had died down Jiraiya cleared his throat, "Alright, alright. Let's all get some sleep, we're still gonna be leaving tomorrow morning and we'll need to get up early if we wanna get to the next town by tomorrow night."
"Hai!" Naruto and Inari said in unison as the two ran off to their bedrooms for the night. Tayuya sighed and followed slowly behind them leaving Jiraiya and Tazuna alone. Jiraiya sighed in relief and pulled out a bottle of sake.
"You up for a few drinks?"
"After my daughter just died and my grandson decides he's going to be a ninja, what do you think?"
"…"
"…"
"…I'll just leave the bottle here then."
"Thanks."
Author's Note: And that is chapter 2. After this there is a time skip, I'm not sure yet if I'm going straight to Shippuden or if I'll add an arc between now and Shippuden. Regardless there will be a timeskip now. But this was mainly what I wanted to get in before the time-skip, Naruto forming a friendship with Tayuya and taking on Inari as his apprentice. I have a few surprises in store for this story but it will partly follow canon. Thanks for reading and please review.
