AN: Hi everyone! thanks for the lovely reviews you left, I was really happy that you liked the first chapter. I was quite anxious about it to say the truth. Anyway, to answer CrescentMelody, yes the rating will I think go up. I just keep it K+ for now, because there's nothing that can be rated T as of yet. Then the Kyuubiwill indeed have a role, but that won't happen until later in the story. As for the gender, I haven't really thought of it, but I like your suggestion, I might keep it.
Anyway new chapter mainly focused on Naruto really and Jiraya. So not much of magic here. I really wanted to have a glimpse in the shinobi affair and the minds of our two characters.
Notes
Text: Japenese speaking
[ Text ] : Letter, message
Disclaimer : I don't own HP or Naruto
Chapter 2 – Ponderings
Trees and bushes were gently rustled by a soft breeze, awakening the wild life in them. The sun had arisen a few hours ago, slowly warming the chilled morning and transforming the surrounding vegetation into a glistening garden. The neighbourhood was relatively quiet at this hour of the day. Only a few early cars could be heard leaving the area. Eyes closed, his body was now in a seemingly relaxed state. Although in a peaceful atmosphere, he was alert and open to every sound and every movement that he could detect from his sitting position. Breathing evenly, he slowly stood up and adopted the position to begin his katas. A minute later, he was practising the fluid sequences. Each gesture was precise. He would not accept anything but perfection. Soon his rhythm increased and strength was added, making him look lethal.
Keeping his senses alert while doing his katas, he managed to dodge the first wave of kunais. Soon other waves of kunais and shurikens followed making him jump from side to side. Each time, they were coming from different angles, making it difficult to retaliate. There was no pattern in the attacks so he could not predict his adversary's moves. Bringing his hands together, he quickly summoned five clones. Each was immediately sent to pinpoint their attacker's position and to bring him into the open. Soon enough, a first clone was dispelled, bringing the attention of the others towards the high bush on his left. It was a question of minutes before the Sannin appeared and faced his student. The clones had all been dispelled, so it was the two of them. They eyed each other for less than a minute, before Naruto rushed forward, initiating the combat.
The first fist was predictably blocked and he had to dodge a kick aimed at his stomach and immediately retaliated by trying to make the older man fall. This did not work. Stubbornly, he continued his attacks while Jiraya just blocked and responded from time to time. However, the Sannin soon became more active and Naruto was now having difficulty at dodging or blocking the attacks. The older shinobi was not soft and used full force to attack. At least this was the genin's impression. Slowly, the fight grew in intensity and the Sannin increased the pace. The blond boy had difficulty to follow now and he barely managed to block the well-aimed kicks he was receiving. Soon, he found himself receiving a hard blow on the stomach cutting his breath out. However he was not Naruto Uzumaki for nothing. He stood up and tried to punch his shishou only to find himself lying on the ground, heavily panting.
"You still have a lot of work to do, but you're improving. You managed to stand up to my attacks longer this time. This is good. Your taijutsu has also improved. It seems you're more comfortable now. You still need work on your strength and your speed. That and you also need to improve your strategy skills."
"Strategy? How the hell am I supposed to build a strategy when you make a point of beating the shit out of me?"
"I gave you some time."
"Yeah well, if I had my bunshins I could build a proper strategy."
"As useful as your bunshins are, it's not necessarily good to solely rely on them. You have to be able to come up with something by yourself. Also, if you manage to fight properly by yourself, then when including your clone, you will have an edge and a more likely chance to win."
"So, what you're saying is that if I improve my abilities to fight in solo, then it will be beneficial for when I use bunshins?"
"Exactly."
"That makes sense."
They were silent for a while, one recovering from their early spar, the other peacefully noting the improvements and changes in his pupil.
"Eh, Ero-sennin, do you think I'll be ready? Do you think I'll be strong enough?" The older man looked at Naruto carefully, seemingly pondering how to answer his student.
"When I made you my pupil, I made a vow to train you so that you are able to face the threats that are looming in your path."
"But will that be enough? How strong will I be?"
"If it will be enough or not, is something that only you will be able to tell. As how strong you will be, well, only you can make yourself strong enough."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I can give you all the training necessary, I can teach you lots of jutsus, but in the end, it is what you make of it that'll make you more or less strong." At Naruto's silence, he went on. "Strength is a very difficult thing to measure. Some says that a strong shinobi is someone with a wide range of jutsus. Some says it is someone who can beat a Kage. But I think it is a bit more than that. One can have very few techniques, but can still beat one who knows lots of jutsus, if he has the drive to do it. For me, this drive, this will is what make you strong or at least what make you want to be stronger therefore making you strong."
"Like when you fight to protect your precious ones. But, you still can face someone who is stronger than you and then lose even if you have this will," the genin replied remembering his confrontations with Orochimaru and Itachi.
"This is why you train even more."
"But, do you think I'll be strong enough to protect Harry?"
"Mmm... Like I said before, magic is something very obscure, at least to us. But this doesn't mean you won't be able to support and fight for him. However, you also have to trust in his own strength and skills. After all, it is his area. Plus, don't forget that you also have to deal with your own set of threats. Akatsuki is a very dangerous group, Naruto. I can assure you you'll have your hands full with them." Since they had arrived in Britain, they did not really have the chance to speak about the Akatsuki. He knew they were after him, but not much.
"What can you tell me about them? Why are they after the bijuus?"
"Well, the group is made of nukenins. I haven't been able to pinpoint their base, if they have any, nor do I know who is the brain behind this organisation. For a few years now, they had been doing jobs as mercenaries for different kind of rich and usually greedy men. I also know that they had been hired from time to time by different countries and villages, among them Iwa."
"The shinobi village of Earth Country?"
"Yes."
"But, why would they hire them? I mean, they are ninjas, they don't need mercenaries. And they are criminals no less!"
"Well, it's hard to tell why they would do such things. But I suppose they have their reasons. And as far as I remember, Iwa had never had any problems to do what was necessary for the good of their village, even if the methods used were more than questionable." Naruto could not really argue with this. After all, he was a jinchuriki made to avoid the destruction of Konoha.
"Don't they have a jinchuriki?"
"I think they do, although I can't really confirm it. Every shinobi villages are keeping their jinchuriki a secret."
"But, that doesn't mean the Akatsuki won't find them."
"You're right. And this is worrying. I don't know what they intend to do with the bijuus, but it can't be anything good."
"How do they plan to use us? I mean I can't even control Kyuubi."
"Well, right now, this is something that I don't know of. But, they have at least two possibilities. The first one would be to train the jinchurikis to control their beasts. But this is not an easy task. Then they can also extract the bijuus from each hosts."
"Extract? I didn't know this was possible," Naruto exclaimed with a slight hopeful tone.
"It is possible, but at the life of the host."
"What?"
"A jinchuriki never survives an extraction, Naruto." Of course, it could not have been easy. In the end, he would still have to fight for the right to live.
"Why would they even want the bijuus? Those are horrible monsters. It would only cause chaos. Why would they want that?"
"For the same reason that the main shinobi villages have their own jinchuriki."
"Power." It seemed that it always ended to that. Power. What was so great in power if you used or were a monster? If he could he would get rid of his bijuu and be the happiest powerless person in the world. "Sasuke... is it really worth it?" Jiraya decided to remain silent. There was anything to say really. It seemed his student was very aware of the Uchiha boy's nature. He knew he should not encourage him to chase after the boy, but perhaps he would succeed where he failed.
"Anyway, I think you recovered enough. We should go back to training. We'll work on your speed. Come." Not letting Naruto time to answer, the older man simply stood and went to retrieve something inside the house. A few minutes later, he was back holding what seemed to be wristbands.
"Here. Put these on. Two on your wrists and two on your ankles." Naruto did as he was told, although he seemed to wonder how these would help. Once on, Jiraya simply applied a small amount of chakra in them, and the genin felt as if a huge weight had been added to his frame.
"Wha..."
"Those will help increasing your speed. As you certainly noticed, you feel heavier. Well, these bands actually work like the weights Gai-san uses for his training. The idea is that if you can move with these on, then you'll move faster without them." Jiraya explained all the while looking rather smug. "Now, to get used to it, I suggest that you begin to move now. So how about we go to the park and you spend one hour running." One hour! He must be crazy, how the hell was he supposed to run with those on! However, he did not have time to complain, as the Sannin was already heading towards the park. Huffing with annoyance, Naruto reluctantly followed.
000000000000000
Worn out. He could not move at all. Not even to wrinkle his nose. It was as if there was no energy left in his body. His body was sore, tensed and covered in scratches. He was currently sprawled on the floor of this room. How did he manage to get up there he did not know himself. Today's training had been pure torture. Never could he have guess that his shishou was a pure sadist. The man had made him run, do push-ups, sit-ups, and then he had decided to work on Naruto's dodging abilities. All the while wearing those damn gravity seals. He was really grateful that it was over. He really hoped that this would pay. It seemed that Ero-sennin had been quite mild beforehand. Now that Harry was at Hogwarts, his real training had begun. The older shinobi had already planned their future sessions and what happened today was apparently nothing to what he would be subjected to later on.
A good bath would be welcomed right now. Could he move? Slowly flexing his fingers, he saw that it was less painful to twitch now. Painfully, he stood up and made his way to the bathroom. It seemed to take ages to reach the room. Once inside, he stripped while the water was running. Once the bath full, he slipped into the welcoming warmth and slowly relaxed. Letting out a contented sigh, he let his mind drift. The earlier talk he had with Jiraya had been enlightening and quite helpful if he was honest. Sure his sensei was a real pervert and could be a perfect idiot sometimes, but he really knew how to talk to him. In a sense, he was what Kakashi-sensei had never been. A guide, a mentor.
It had been a while since he thought of his former sensei or of his village for that matter. He wondered how they were faring. He supposed that most of the villagers were probably happy that he was gone. Relieved to be free of the demon. And his friends... did they think of him? He liked to think so. They had given him their best wishes when he left. They had all seen him off at the gates. Tsunade baa-chan had given him a bone-crushing hug. Shizune nee-chan had also hugged him all the while crying. He had been embarrassed. No one had ever cried for him before. Hinata. Sweet Hinata had stuttered while giving him some healing balms and wishing him good luck. She had always been nice to him, now that he remembered. Kiba had barked that he would be stronger and kick his ass when he was back. He had then given him a slap on the back and threatened him to come back safely. Shino had told him to remain safe in his usual quiet way. Chōji had given a bags full of packets of chips from his personal collection. Shikamaru had started by saying that he was troublesome for making him wake up so early, earning him a hard blow from Tenten. But one look in the Nara's eyes and Naruto had known that the other boy had wished him well. Lee had been the most vocal and had sworn that he too would train ten times as hard so he could be on par with Naruto, all the while crying about the power of youth. Neji had been the most surprising of all. He had thanked him and had shown him a respect than no one before had ever bother to give him. Tenten had hugged him tightly and given him a small sword saying that it could be of use. Finally, Iruka-sensei had play the role of a father by giving him some last minute advice while Kakashi-sensei simply nodded and gave him a scroll about fuinjutsu. Ino had not come, but that was to be expected. They had not been close.
However, it was Sakura's absence that had brought a pang to his heart. His own team mate had not shown up. This was proof that Team 7 was really dysfunctional. At least, she did not hate him as much as she did before. He remembered her conviction to become useful and stronger for Sasuke's retrieval. Could it really be that someone's obsession made her strong or did it make her blind to the rest of the world? She called it love, but was it really worth it if it only caused your heart to break? He had stayed longer than he thought in his bath and the water was now chilled. There was no need to stay any further. So he got out, dried himself and went back to his bedroom. His body felt less sore but was still heavy because of the seals. He dressed himself in a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt before flopping down on his bed. As he was relaxing in his bed, a blur of white feathers entered into his room before landing on his stomach. Glancing up, he could not help but smile softly at the owl.
"Hey beautiful, it's nice to see you again," he said while scratching the bird's head. "You have something for me, I see." Detaching the letters, he was about to open it when the owl loudly hooted. "Oh, you're hungry, right. Mmm... Ero-sennin can feed you, he's downstairs." Naruto watched as Hedwig flew off towards Jiraya. Now, she would pester the old pervert until he fed her. That was a good payback, the blond thought to himself. Returning his attention to the letter, he quickly unfolded it and began reading it.
[ Dear Naru,
It's been a week and I terribly miss you. I mean, the castle is great and all, but it's not the same without you. How are you doing? Is your training going all right? How is Jiraya-sensei?
As for me, I'm good. There's so much to tell you. The castle is huge and really impressive. I got lost on my first days, but really, they could give us a map. Between the moving stairs and all the similar looking corridors, it's no wonder that you get lost! Fortunately there are portraits who are kind enough to help you. Oh yes, the paintings here are alive. I mean people in it move and talk. This is quite fantastic, don't you think?
My classes have been great so far. I really like charms. The professor is a little funny man. For what I gathered he is a half-goblin, but he doesn't look as unfriendly as the one we saw at Gringotts. Our transfiguration teacher is very strict but fair, she's also my head of house. Oh, but there's one teacher that hates me. It's the potions one. I don't know why, but he really seems to hate me. Ron says that he's like that with everyone else, I hope he's right.
There's also something that happened on the first day here, during the Welcome Feast. To sort the students they use a hat that can read your mind. When it came to me, it was normal, until it began to utter strange things. It seemed shocked and then hopeful. Then, it said that I had to be hidden and that is why it put me in Gryffindor. I couldn't ask it why I had to be hidden. But do you think it knows, that it reads our secret despite the seal? Somehow, I feel that it had nothing to do with us. The headmaster hadn't called me and it doesn't seem that he will. But still, I'm worried. What do you think I should do?
Yours,
Harry ]
He read the letter a second time. Moving stairs? Talking portraits? Those wizard people were really weird. However the end of the letter was worrying. What did this hat know? Could it have really broken the seal? It could not have been possible. Jiraya and him had worked for weeks on it and they were pretty sure that only a seal master could break it. Could it be that this hat had managed to get over it. No, it was not possible. The toad sannin had told him that from his meagre experience, wizards could not use chakra, and dealing with seals demand chakra and a good control of it. So the seal was probably intact. Then why did this hat feel the urge to hide Harry? He tiredly passed a hand through his hair. How come that they had to stumble on mysteries after mysteries? As he saw it, the best way to have answers would be to ask the hat, but somehow he doubted that this would be an easy fit. Well, all the same, he would have to talk to Ero-sennin about this. However, for now, he was too tired to move. It would have to wait until tomorrow.
Well here you go. There will be other shots on the shinobi side of the story, because I really want to make this story balanced between the Naruto and HP world. I don't like the idea of having one world getting all the spotlight really.
