Sooooo sorry for the delay. I was having exams therefore unable to upload. So consider this as my apology. My longest chapter yet, with containg twice the amount of words the last one had. This contains my first action sequence. Any suggestions on how to improve it would be appreciated. Thanks to all the reviewers.
Unfortunately, Naruto still belongs to Kishimoto. Very sad that. Oh well...
So, Enjoy!
Uchiha Itachi looked at the horizon, watching the sunset. His eyes for once were not their usual blood red. Instead they remained coal black. A slight breeze picked up, blowing through his hair. This was one of the few times he could relax, and forget everything. All was peaceful. Itachi wished it could stay that way. It was futile, he knew, but one could still hope. He was not fated for peacefulness. The Hokage's new orders echoed around his head, once again reminding him of what he had to do now. Itachi stood up from the edge of the cliff, his arm as usual hanging out from his cloak. With his back turned to the sunset, he walked back to the dark, ominous gloom of the forest, where his partner, Kisame was waiting for him. His sharingan sprung back to life, glaring into the darkness. It was time. He would have to make his move soon.
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Jiraiya sighed. He didn't know what else to do. Naruto had served Konoha faithfully, and this is what he got. It was like a slap to his face. He didn't even want to imagine what Naruto was going through. Naruto himself broke into a few tears while reciting his story. Jiraiya heart tugged out to him. Now, Naruto sat in front of him, waiting with a blank expression on his face, waiting to hear his story. Jiraiya sighed again. Perhaps the story of a good fight could ease his godson's mind a little.
"Well after you left, Tsunade immediately notified me. Luckily, I was in the area, coming to meet you and to give a repot on the Akatsuki and to meet up with someone. Anyway, I was passing through the forest when I heard the cry of a hawk…"
Jumping from branch to branch, Jiraiya hurriedly moved through the forest. After all, His godson and apprentice were in the ICU ward after his mission. Despite the worry, he felt immensely proud of Naruto. His morals, his loyalty and his dedication made him ideal for being the Child of the Prophecy. Naruto was the one he was looking for all this time. He would be the one to unite all the nations and bring peace to this cursed world. Suddenly, a hawk's screech interrupted his thoughts. Jiraiya stood still, perfectly balanced on the thick tree branch. His eyes examined the bird. After deducing it was safe, he put out his arm slowly. The hawk descended and landed on his arm. On its leg was a hastily tied note. Jiraiya untied it and lifted his arm. With a furious flapping of its wings, the hawk screeched once more, circled around the trees and headed back in the direction of Konoha. Jiraiya watched it return and then turned his attention towards the small scroll. He opened it carefully, and saw a small paragraph written in code. He smiled. It was written in the old code that only Team Sarutobi had used in the war. Quickly decoding it, he read the message, with the smile slowly wiping of his face. With a grim look on his face, he quickly burned the scroll and moved forward with a burst of speed, the tree branch from which he launched of shaking violently.
Jiraiya knew the general whereabouts of Naruto. He was near the north gate; it was the only entrance he knew really well, considering all his out of village missions, coincidentally, used that gate. He knew the policy for missing ninja. They were given four hours before ANBU was after them. However ROOT behaved differently. Once Danzou made a decision, his ROOT ensured it was followed no matter what the cost. For them, it was the mission and only the mission. ROOT did not follow the standard protocol. They were probably already after Naruto. He could only pray for Naruto's safety, until he got there.
With his speed, it was only in a matter of minutes that he reached the site where the ANBU Naruto had killed. It was gory and brutal. It looked like the Kyuubi's doing. Indeed the heavy residue of the Kyuubi's chakra could be sensed. Using a Doton justsu, Jiraiya quickly noticed that few more ANBU, all ROOT since the four-hour deadline hadn't reached yet, were approaching him, but none thankfully were behind Naruto yet. Looks like he would be toiling in the soil. A slight smile crawled its way onto his face. It had been a long time since he had to fight against ANBU. This would be good. Compared to him, they were merely amateurs. He pulled out a kunai. As he twirled it, he slowly masked his chakra, but not before utilizing a Henge. It would not do well for one of the ROOT to recognize him. Sending the chakra directly into his feet, he disappeared from view. Within mere seconds, he reappeared right in front of the first ROOT team. Not giving them any second to react, he quickly thrust his kunai into the chest of the team leader. The leader gurgled on his blood and then fell onto the forest floor dead. The rest of the team gave no indication that they were saddened by the loss. Such was the way of ROOT. Jiraiya once again disappeared from view, using his superior speed. The sensor in the group quickly formed a handseal and tried to sense Jiraiya. Jiraiya smirked. If he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. His hands folded themselves into the seal for the Shunshin no Jutsu; Jiraiya appeared in between the formation between the ANBU members, in a soft gust of wind, crouched, with three kunais in his hand. They were dead before he even stood up. The next group was almost upon him. Time to take them head on. Making a single handsign, three Iwa Bunshins sprung up from the ground and one Kage Bunshin puffed into existence. They also used the Henge. However Jiraiya made a slight miscalculation. He had underestimated the speed of one of the members of the other team. Out of nowhere, the ROOT member appeared out of the shadows, his hands already flipping through the handseals for Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu. A great fireball tore its way through the forest, its target being Jiraiya. Jiraiya marveled at the incredible size of the attack and quick use of it. He could honestly say that it rivaled Uchiha Itachi's, who was considered a master of fire jutsus. Just before it him, Jiraiya used the Kawarimi no Jutsu, replacing himself with a log nearby. As soon as he was out of danger, three Iwa bunshins, who were underground, sprung up behind the assassin. He had no chance and he too fell dead. Jiraiya frowned. The fireball alerted the others to where he was. He would have to fight the rest head on. Just as he finished his analysis, three more ROOT assassins landed onto the forest floor, positioning themselves in a way that the completely cut of all routes for escape. It would have seemed as an impossible situation to any other ordinary ninja, but then again Jiraiya wasn't one of the esteemed Sannin without any reason. His Iwa bunshin stood in a defensive stance around him, expecting an attack. They weren't disappointed. One of the ANBU created five Kage bunshin, with one going back to Konoha. Probably reporting to that old fossil, Danzou, but unfortunately for the ROOT assassin it wouldn't reach him. His hidden Kage Bunshin was already on it. Meanwhile, all the ANBU initiated their attack with one on each bunshin. However the original had two on him. They did not want him to leave. A volley of shiruken flew towards him, courtesy of one of the Kage Bunshin. The creator followed it up with a Katon: Housenka no Jutsu engulfing the shiruken with small fireballs. Jiraiya quickly went through handseals, his hands finally stopping at the seal for the dog.
" Doton: Doryuuheki"Jiraiya called out as he spew mud from his mouth which almost instantly took on the shape of a huge earthen wall. The flaming shiruken clanged harmlessly against it. However the ANBU wasn't finished. With his sword, covered in lightning, he thrust it forward against the earth wall, utilizing the thrust force; a crack appeared on the wall, slowly spreading itself out. Jiraiya was analyzing the jutsu. It looked a lot like that kid Kakashi's jutsu, Raikiri. Jiraiya launched himself onto the branches of a nearby tree branch as his earth wall exploded.
"Oh? That's quite interesting." Jiraiya thought with a smirk on his face, as he watched his attackers dodging the flying rocks. He lunged forward, dodging the pieces of earth flying towards him. He pushed chakra onto the tip of his hands as he flipped over yet another piece of earth, creating a sharp chakra point at the end of his fingers. To do that required delicate chakra control, and to do that while moving and in the middle of a battle was nothing short of amazing. However, with the aim dead on, the clone's Katon: Karyuu Endan roared its way towards the Sannin, who quickly without any handseals or words, indicating his mastery of the justsu, blew out his own massive Karyuu Endan, which screamed its way to its twin. They clashed in the middle, locked in a violent struggle, each struggling to gain the upper hand over the other. It was indeed a sight to behold. As, the creator of the clones rushed at him, Jiraiya thrust his arm downwards as the ANBU tried to perform yet another Katon jutsu, Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu. Jiraiya was faster, however, meanwhile yet another clone had a kunai in his hand and was right behind him almost flying parallel to the ground with the weapon aimed for his neck. Jiraiya cursed under his breath. The guy was almost like Naruto in the way he used his Kage Bunshin, but he used them wisely and to his benefit. He definitely had some interesting strategies. Jiraiya let go of his Katon justsu. The clone let the kunai fly. From his peripheral vision, as he saw the kunai fly, Jiraiya rolled out of the way, as fast as he could. Even so, the kunai had given his hair a trim. The kunai went whizzed past and went straight ahead, right into the chest of its creator, whose hands were still folded together in the seals for his jutsu. The 'creator' burst into smoke. Meanwhile the enemy's Karyuu Endan had hit the clone behind him instead of him. Even then he could feel the intensity of the attack. Jiraiya once more smirked as his hand made contact with the ground. The earth under him exploded, due to the intense and condensed chakra at the end of his fingertips, revealing the hidden ANBU. One flying kunai and he was dead two seconds later. Now that he was not in battle, he was free to appreciate the strategy of the ANBU he just faced off against. From the beginning itself, the original had never come out. The assassin let Jiraiya think that the clone that confronted him was actually the original. It was only due to Jiraiya's wealth of experience that he was able to figure it out. What gave him away was that the 'original' clone dodged even the slightest of rocks when the earth wall had exploded after his lightning attack. From there on, everything was painfully obvious to Jiraiya. Looking around, his bunshin had taken care of things quite efficiently. The rest of ROOT members that attacked him were already on the ground. He dispelled his Iwa bunshin, as he realized his clothes were slightly singed. Well, it was time to go and he still had that meeting with Itachi. Suddenly a large influx of memories came to Jiraiya from the Kage Bunshin who had apparently as soon as he finished his mission dispelled himself after the assassination. Once more, putting his hand to the ground, he quickly searched for any immediate threats. He frowned. More ANBU were coming. It looked like since Naruto was the Jinchurikki of the Kyuubi, Tsunade couldn't stall any longer. There was nothing he could do about that. His priority was Naruto. He couldn't hurt the ANBU loyal to the Hokage anyway, but he could lead them on a merry chase. He dispelled his Henge as another Iwa bunshin sprang up from the ground. He exchanged a nod with the bunshin as it went East, Henged. Jiraiya made sure to flare his chakra before leaving; making sure his pursuers could sense it, ensuring his trap would work. Quickly without wasting any time, he once more leaped onto the branches, heading north, after Naruto.
All definitions from /ninjutsu/ and Narutopedia.
1)Henge- Transformation Technique
2)Shunshin no Jutsu- Body Flicker Technique(High speed movement)
3)Iwa Bunshin- Earth Clone
4)Kage Bunshin- Shadow Clone
5)Katon: Goukakyuuu no Jutsu- Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique
6)Kawarimi no Jutsu- Body Substitute Skill
7)Katon: Housenka no Jutsu- Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Technique
8)Doton: Doryuuheki- Earth Style: Earth Rising Wall
9)Katon: Karyuu Endan- Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Blast
Hope this helps!
