Alrighty, I know it's a little early for an update (for me anyway lol) And you're prolly really shocked that I'm actually keeping an almost good pace! I'm working on that haha but you still haven't reviewed =( but that's ok, I enjoy writing, and this is a nice story in my opinion, so I'm going to actually finish it for once! So enjoy!
Chapter: Irony
Jiraiya sat in the dark room quietly, his mind and stomach doing simultaneous backflips. He honestly, completely never expected to ever see her face ever again, and yet here she was. Back again, into his life. Not only that, but now she was close to Minato's son, as if the goddess of irony hadn't had a good enough laugh already. In fact, their fates were all intertwined yet again, and the man wasn't entirely sure what this meant for the future.
He sighed and put his face in his hands, wishing for some sort of guidance or help. He knew it wouldn't come, but he was hoping some old memory of his sensei, or his student would maybe come to mind. And yet he sat there, still waiting. Nothing. Just the quiver in his body as the guilt took its spot in his heart and mind. Deep in his mind and his gut, he knew he was guilty of ignoring his promise, and his duties. But as much as he knew it, he couldn't go back to the village. There were too many memories and heartaches in the city, and it was tearing him apart. Not only that, but there was beginning to be questions as to why one of the three legendary Sannin wasn't being used. And he didn't want himself or the hokage having to answer them. In all actuality, he wanted to be alone, with time to roam as he pleased, and no assignments. Thankfully, the Third had given him just that, and Tsunade had honored that.
But now he was in an entirely new situation. The past was clawing deep into his back, and he had to deal with it. He honestly didn't mind training with Naruto for three years, in fact they had bonded closer than they probably ever would have. But now with their new addition, it was getting more and more complicated by the day. He didn't even want to start to think about the future...For now he would have to keep his trap shut. Yes, very very shut. If Naruto ever found out any of this...there would be hell to pay, and Tsunade would make sure of it. Not only that, but the boy's reaction to it would be completely unpredictable, and with his new training, it would be best if it was kept under wraps for now.
After a while of sitting there in his own emotional turmoil, his sensei image appeared in his mind. 'What good does it do to mope and sulk about your problems? It doesn't help you, it doesn't help anyone else. So it's best to keep it to yourself and deal with it in the best way possible.' The man leaned back and stared at the ceiling. The old man was right. He had to deal with this. If he didn't, who knew what would happen?
And as if to save him from his own thoughts, there was a loud knock on his door, following with his student's bright and happy voice.
"Come on you old perv! Get up, It's way past our usual morning wake up! We're supposed to actually do something today!" The man smiled and went to the door, letting the bright haired shonobi in. "What's with you?! Have you really been sleeping this entire morning?! The lights are out and you look like crap, so I'm guessing that's a yes." The man shrugged and shielded his eyes from the bright light.
"Hey, I'm dressed aren't I? Lets go ahead and get moving then." And then as if finally remembering something, he opened his eyes and looked around in confusion for the girl. "Where's your friend?" Naruto sighed and shrugged.
"I have no idea, she ran off last night, really upset about something, and she wasn't back this morning. I still haven't seen her!" The man's stomach sunk. She couldn't have ran off, could she? Not after one little argument? His stomach sunk a little lower with guilt. He knew it wasn't little. It was a brutal, emotional battle cutting deep into both of their skins, and Naruto had already told him exactly how upset she was.
"You don't know why she ran off do you?" Naruto looked closely at the man's anxious face. Jiraiya shrugged, in false confusion.
"Your guess is as good as mine. We better go ahead and head off, maybe she'll turn up later today..." The sage moved toward the window and threw open the curtain, prepared to jump, when he noticed Naruto hesitate for a moment, before reluctantly following. To be honest, the sage mentally agreed with him. He wasn't sure which was best, to simply move on and wait for her to turn up, or go look for her as soon as possible before she caused trouble or disappeared. He took in a breath and jumped out the window, following his first instinct. He would do as his sensei instructed. He would hide his feelings and troubles, and deal with them when necessary. He wasn't entirely sure when this moment would come, but he had a feeling it would come soon...
Jiraiya sighed and bounced along the rooftops, leading the way to the outskirts of the village, and back into the forest. They would be back of course, they just needed a nice, secluded area to train. It was obvious they were shinobi, that wasn't a problem that the townspeople knew, the problem would be if they knew what they could do, and what they were capable of. That's when things would get dangerous. As long as they stayed in a secluded area though, usually they had few problems.
Once they got into the forest, the sage chose a very dark, very quiet place. It was a good area for their training, and in one case, a good area for a jutsu. But as the man looked around, he found no trace of the girl, and they didn't appear to have been followed. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Naruto in defeat.
"Well...I had planned for you to spar with Inari...but I guess that's not happening today..." 'Maybe not at all...' The man noted mentally. But just as he finished his thought, he was whipped up into the air by his hair and put to rest on a large tree limb. The man stood up, regaining his composure as Inari stepped out of the shadows.
"How wrong you are Master Jiraiya...I am here, and I followed you all the way here. Sadly you don't seem to be the shinobi I remember...Has time wasted you away?" She glared at him, daggers digging into his heart. There wasn't even a snide smirk of delight as she spoke, just pure hate. The man resisted the need to take a step back. He doubted even Tsunade was capable of such a hateful expression. Naruto luckily missed the look and became anxious for the promising spar.
"Well let's go then! I wanna kick your ass and get outta here." The boy remarked with a cocky grin. She rolled her head in his direction and stared blankly at him. Naruto's heart stuttered as the movement reminded him vaguely of his lost friend. She continued to stare at him, as if she was analyzing him ever so carefully. Finally she snorted.
"Jiraiya, is this boy even worth my time?" Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"Why you-!" He ran at her, kunai in hand and ready to attack with full force, until he was lifted in the air and binded with invisible ropes of darkness. He yelled in anger as he realized he had walked right into the shadows of the trees. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head.
"Thank you for answering my question...It wasn't difficult by any means." She turned back to the man. "So, is he even half the worth as him?" The sage knew who she was referring to. He too snorted.
"It's hard to say...he's just as reckless, but not near as analytical unless the instinct kicks in, then it's like a ghost." She crossed her arms and looked at Naruto, who struggled and yelled down at the two of them.
"What the hell are you guys even talking about?! I can hear you you know!" Inari looked up at him and spoke.
"Well boy you convinced me, if it's a fight you want, then you got it." She released him and let him fall to the ground with a thud. She smirked as he scrambled out of the shadows. "Don't worry, I'm gonna kick your ass today with skill alone." Naruto growled, but luckily kept his composure this time. He watched as she began to shed clothes until she stood in a long battle kimono, with slits on both sides up to her waist, which was covered with bandages. She bandaged her hands in the blink of an eye and tied up her hair. Naruto's heart pounded in his head. This time was far different than then when she fought the akasuki member, he could definitely tell. She was serious this time. This time she wasn't going to play around. She was in full on attack and kill mode. She sunk low, and slow into an attack position as her eyes thinned.
"Lets see just how good you are boy." And with that she pounced like some sort of wild animal, her eyes intense with the instinct to fight. She was intensely fast, like a blur of light in the air. It was like watching Gai or Lee, but on a slightly lower level. Naruto cursed under his breath as he barely dodged her first strike, and then cursed loudly when he was stabbed a split second later in the shoulder. He slid backwards as he pushed off of her leg, and watched in awe as she went back for her next attack in merely one small tap of her foot on the ground. This time he threw up his own kunai and the two began a matched knife fight in the air. Both slashed back and forth, sending sparks as the two blades clashed against one another. Then out of nowhere she was gone, and then back again as she flew through the air and jumped on him from behind.
She growled menacingly as she kneed him to the ground and pulled both arms back. She held the kunai to his throat before he threw her off and began his own assault. But when he finally got close enough she disappeared in another flash and tried her own attack, which he usually barely dodged. They went at this for several more minutes before she stepped back and looked at Naruto.
"You'll have to try harder than that if you want to even land a scratch on me. Come on, use your head! You have brains in there somewhere don't you?" She taunted him as she spun the kunai in her hand with skill. He yelled out in anger and ran at her again. As they started their fast paced dance of attacking, he realized she was right. He would have to use his head. Not that he usually didn't, it just worked in odd ways sometimes. He pulled back from the fight and the two circled around each other. He had her beat in strength, but she had him beat in speed, and the two were almost equal in skill, but he suspected she had better skills that had yet to show themselves. He thought hard. How could he use his strength to an advantage? He wasn't entirely clear on his plan, but he had it at last, and he jumped at her once again, watching as she threw more and more strikes at him, jumping around him and through the air. Finally he saw an opportunity.
As she flew in the air above him, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. She cried out and twisted about for an attempt to strike at his face, but her grabbed her wrist and stopped her hand inches above his face. Angrily she thrashed about for a well placed kick, but he threw her to the ground and kept her there, unable to escape. She kept her face to the ground, as if in shame and in defeat. He barked out a laugh.
So was I worth your time? Because it looks like I beat you." He flashed his cocky grin, only to notice she kept her face to the ground. "Well come on, answer me! Who's the better fighter now?!" She mumbled some words, and the boy frowned. He leant in closer to hear. "What was tha-" And suddenly he was being forced downward, as she turned around with a kunai in her mouth, pressed up against his neck. She smirked
"Don't talk shit before the battle's over" She said awkwardly with the blade in her mouth. Naruto cursed as he heard the sage down from his spot in the trees. The man had been surprisingly quiet during the entire thing, and now was also smirking.
"Well, you skimmed the surface, but you didn't quite get there." She spat the kunai out and kicked the frozen Naruto off of her.
"I figured. I wasn't so sure I could get it anyway. But he's nothing like him yet. The man I knew didn't even take a second before he had me. You have your work cut out for you Jiraiya." The man huffed.
"It's there, you just have to work to see it. It takes a while to get there, but he's just like him trust me. His training and upbringing was just far different." She hmph'd and muttered,
"No kidding..." The two's hearts clenched, as well did their teeth and fists. But neither said anything else. Jiraiya figured the argument was over, but wasn't entirely sure. He also wasn't sure if there was a winner yet, but he supposed it could wait. Naruto stomped up to him angrily.
"What the hell are you two talking about! Stop acting like I'm not here!" Jiraiya looked at him with pity. He wished he could tell him about his father, he really did. But now was not the time. He wasn't supposed to know until he was older, and wiser. Besides if he told him now, not only would the boy's ego increase by tenfold, so would his target factor, and the two would not mix very well. Not only that, but the boy would want more and more answers, and only get himself into more trouble.
"I'll tell you someday kid, hell maybe she even will, but for now, you don't need to know anything." Naruto grabbed hold of the man's front and looked him in the eye, his own now threatening to change into cat slits, and the whisker marks on his face were stuttering in and out of thickness. The kyuubi's breath fanned over the man's face, wreaking of charcoal and acid.
"Tell me." Naruto growled angrily. The sage slapped his hand away.
"Control yourself." He said with an air of calm. "You'll know when the time is right. Until then, you will go on living your life as if nothing is different." Naruto clenched his fists and shook with anger. He shut his eyes tightly.
"Don't you dare talk down to me! I'm not some little brat anymore! This is something important! About me! I think I have a right to know! This stupid bastard fox was kept secret from me for years, I don't want something else important about who I am slip through my fingers!" Jiraiya looked away with shame. It was true, his whole identity was being kept secret from him as part of it had been for years. He had every right to know. But he couldn't tell him. He turned his heel before he could change his mind and walked back to the Inn.
"You training is done for today..." Naruto jammed his eyes shut harder, but couldn't stop the flow and the sting of the tears that were coming out. This was ridiculous, he was being ignored and talked down to, like a pathetic child. It was unfair, and the man knew it. His entire life was a lie, and now he was sure that more parts of it were as well. His whole world had been shattered apart and rebuilt so many times, he wasn't sure if he could handle another world shaking change of information. But he had a feeling it was coming and there was nothing he could do about it.
.................................................
After a quick, brutal, (and somewhat unnecessary) beating of a tree, Naruto made his way back to the hotel. He had it somewhat planned in his head. He was going to burst right into the room (Where hopefully Inari would be) and force her to tell the truth. Even if he had to attack or poison her, he would get the truth. This wasn't going to slip out of his reach again. He strode proudly through the hallways of the hotel (sadly he wasn't allowed to take the usual shinobi way through the window. After all, their existence and identity was suppose to be secret) and practiced the speech mentally. He smirked to himself, confident that his words would work. Although his mental pattern was somewhat disrupted as he passed the sage's room, and an unusual amount of music and giggling was coming from behind the door. He grimaced and shook his head. The man truly had no control. He then gave himself a self awakening shake and regained his thought train. He threw open the door to their room confidently and took in a deep breath of air, prepared for his speech of harshness and wit. However, he was stopped right in his tracks and all brain processing as he spotted Inari lying on her back, looking up at the ceiling with a bored face. Wearing nothing but her bandages on both top and bottom, and a pair of surprisingly skimpy underwear.
He blinked a few times, and was incapable of breathing or thinking. She turned her head, still wearing a bored look on her face as she acknowledged his existence.
"Oh, there you are. I was wondering when you would get back. Did you cool down a bit?" Her expression and voice were as calm as ever, while his was completely the opposite. "Are you alright?" She frowned slightly. He began to regain slight speech.
"Uh-guh-ah-buh-beh...uh, um....ah." He blinked a bit more, quite heavily, and a bit more words began to flood back into his brain. "Uh..ah your...um clothes?" He closed his eyes and willed himself not to look. But in the silence he looked up again and saw a confused look on the girl's face. She blinked with confusion a bit and giggled.
"So? What does it matter?" Naruto felt the blood starting to rush to his face and nose and he slapped a hand to his face as he looked away. His eyebrow twitched a bit.
"What do you mean 'what does it matter?' It matters!" He heard her shake with light giggles. His fox hearing picked up the slight squeak and rattle of the bed. He moaned a bit and the blood flow from his nose started to become heavier.
"Are you embarrassed to see me without clothes?!" She said it loudly with a teasing tone. "You know, with your so called, 'sexy jutsu' I would imagine you would be used to seeing pretty girls naked entirely. Especially running around with Master Jiraiya." She had a point. And the twitch in his brow got a little more pronounced. Why should this have any effect on him? He supposed it was because he knew her personally, rather than her just being another stupid girl strutting around naked. He decided to defend his point however.
"What gave you the idea to strut around like that anyway?!" He looked her in the face, trying to focus on only her face. She shrugged.
"I didn't feel like wearing clothes. I wanted to relax. I didn't think it would be that big of an issue. I've been with plenty of other men and it didn't effect them. They didn't really have a problem with it." He rolled his eyes.
'Gee I wonder why...' He thought to himself mentally. He could wave the answer in front of her face if he felt like it. However it was becoming increasingly harder to keep his eyes focused on her face. In fact, he had forgotten his whole reason for coming up to the room. He shrugged mentally. "I think I'm going to go walk around the village for a while..." He diverted his eyes to his small pack on the ground, and walked almost cautiously into the room. He searched for his money pouch furiously in his pack, only to remember he had hidden it in the folds of his jacket. His face flushed and he quickly got up.
"Alright, well hopefully Master Jiraiya and I will join you for supper. At least I will...We'll see if he even makes an appearance tonight." Inari flopped back onto the bed, making Naruto resist a groan. He grunted a reply and walked out of the room as quickly as possible, almost using his shinobi reflexes and speed. It was obviously best that he got out of there as soon as physically possible. He had a feeling that she would continue to walk around half naked, but there was nothing he could do, except cover his nose, close his eyes and pray for mercy.
Inari watched him walk out and sighed. She didn't expect his reaction at all. At least, not now. She had hoped it wouldn't come at all. But it was as if history was repeating itself. She clenched her fists. She wouldn't let it happen again. After all, you were supposed to learn from your mistakes right? Not ignore them and let everything happen all over again. She closed her eyes and threw her arm over her face. She heard a chuckle in the corner and she whipped up and toward the man.
"Irony having it's way with you too?" The sage stepped away from the wall. She snorted.
"No kidding...I may as well be Irony's bitch." She thinned her eyes. "I won't let it happen though." This time Jiraiya snorted.
"You're a little late in that case, because it's just begun. And I don't think you can do anything to stop it."
"I can ignore it. Pretend it's not there."
"Yeah, because that's a good solution to everything." Jiraiya's sarcasm raged.
"Well then what else am I suppose to do?!" She said esaperated.
"...You could let it happen." She was silent for a moment.
"I won't let that outcome happen again. Nor will I destroy anyone's future ever again."
"Well, we just have to hope you can resist. But he has a good portion of his father in him. Let's see just how good you hold up..." The man had a smirk to his voice and Inari resisted the temptation to knee him in the gut.
"Fat chance...." She muttered as the man slipped back over to his room through the window. "I won't let it happen." And deep in her gut she began to feel slightly ill. She wasn't sure just how long she could keep this charade up.
AU: Review please please! Thank you! hopefully the next chapter will get up faster.
