Chapter 11

When everyone had gone to sleep, Naruto nudged Sasuke awake and tilted his head towards the men's restroom. Sasuke frowned in confusion, before seeing the look Naruto was giving him. They made their way over quietly, trying not to wake Sakura, Team 10, or the Suna jinchūriki's team, which had arrived not long after they did, minus the jinchūriki himself, who had wandered off earlier. Once they were in the restroom, Naruto locked the door and put a simple seal on it that blocks sound from carrying out of the room.

"So? How are you really feeling?" Naruto asked, leaning against one of the stalls. Sasuke was leaning against a sink, with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"I told you. I'm fi-" Sasuke began in annoyance.

"Cut the bullshit." Naruto cut him off, with a serious look on his face. Sasuke sighed.

"I don't know." He finally said. "At first, I felt really angry, almost like when I was still intent on killing Itachi, but that went away when I woke up. Now I just feel like there is something off with my chakra." Naruto nodded in understanding. That was the same feeling he had.

"The Cursed Seal that Orochimaru placed on you should only have been meant to control you by injecting his chakra into you. Somehow, he must have modified it, adding something more than just his chakra. What that could be worries me." Naruto said with a frown. "I know you detest letting people know when something is wrong, but I would really appreciate it if you tell me if you feel anything out of the ordinary. The least I can do is try to help you figure out what's wrong."

"Alright." Sasuke said in acquiescence. "I said alright." He repeated, seeing the look Naruto gave him. Naruto just stared at him for a minute, with his eyes narrowed, before nodding and removing the seal on the door and unlocking it. Sasuke moved past him quickly, closing the door behind him when he noticed that Naruto was not following.

Naruto had a feeling that that was not the end of it. But he had a different feeling that was occupying his attention more and that feeling was of the Suna jinchūriki a few rooms away. Naruto was positive that he was not able to sense that far yesterday, but all of a sudden, he could pinpoint exactly where the jinchūriki was, as well as the chakra signatures of everyone on the first and second floor and just outside of the tower.

Please tell me that it's you causing this. Naruto told the Kyūbi.

Wish I could. Looks like you were right about feeling like there was something else in that Cursed Seal. The Kyūbi responded. It feels almost like natural energy, but that can't be right… He mumbled, almost inaudibly. Naruto frowned.

Natural energy? He asked, but the Kyūbi had gone silent. Naruto left the bathroom and stood, looking at his and Shikamaru's teams for a moment, before heading towards where he felt the Suna jinchūriki was. He had never met another and was curious to speak with him to find out if other jinchūriki had similar traits.

When Naruto entered room where the front door was, he saw the jinchūriki sitting on the balcony of the second floor, looking out the window. He didn't move as Naruto approached and only gave a blank stare when Naruto leaned against the wall in front of him with his arms crossed. They stared at each other for a few moments in silence, before the Suna jinchūriki narrowed his eyes.

"You're like me." He said.

"Naruto." Naruto said with a nod.

"Gaara."

"So? Which bijū do you have?"

"Shukaku." Gaara told him. Naruto looked at him blankly. "The Ichibi."

"What's Shukaku?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"That's the Ichibi's name."

"…"

You guys have names? Naruto asked in a deadpan voice.

Of course. You aren't just called 'blonde human' are you? They Kyūbi replied with a snort.

Were you ever planning on telling me this? Or even your name? Or were you just going to keep having me refer to you as 'Kyūbi'?

Hadn't given it much thought.

Thanks for that. Naruto told him sarcastically. He noticed Gaara looking at him strangely.

"The Kyūbi." He told him. A strange look came over Gaara's face for a moment and he looked like he was starting to go mad. "You okay there?"

"Shukaku doesn't like the Kyūbi. He's telling me to tear you apart right now…" Gaara's eyes were starting to glaze over as he was talking.

"And you're going to listen to him?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. Gaara didn't answer, just kept looking at him with that maniacal look in his eyes and his hands twitching. "Know what? Never mind. I thought it would be nice getting to know another person like me, but you're nothing like me. You're weak." Naruto told him with a sneer, jumping down off the balcony.

"I am not weak." Gaara said angrily, his voice taking on a higher pitch. Sand had started pouring out of his gourd, circling him in a threatening manner.

"I beg to differ." Naruto didn't even turn around, just left the room. He walked over to the couch he and Sasuke were sharing and sat down, leaning his head back, staring at the ceiling.

You know Kyūbi, or whatever your name is, I think I will enjoy beating the shit out of that guy. Naruto said with annoyance.

As will I watching you do it.

Naruto looked around at the other finalists. Only four teams had made it: His team, Shikamaru's team, Neji's team, and Gaara's team. He wondered if taking the scrolls off the Oto team and a Suna team before they entered the forest was the reason so few made it to the finals, but he didn't really care. He just wished that Gaara's team hadn't made it. It looked like Gaara was holding a grudge and he could tell that he was glaring daggers at him, but Naruto didn't feel threatened by him. He had no interest in someone who had no mind of his own and was only strong due to another's power.

"You will have one week to prepare for the finals. Good luck to you all." The Hokage said, finishing his speech. The two rookie teams walked out of the tower together and made their way back into town. Once they had left the forest, they found the other rookie team waiting for them.

"How the hell did you guys make it to the finals, but we didn't?" Kiba said loudly. "The team we fought in the forest didn't even have a scroll! Can you believe that?!" His dog barked in response to his aggravation. The rest of Naruto's and Shikamaru's team gave Naruto a look, which made him shrug in response.

"If you hadn't been so focused on avoiding that one Suna team, we could have found another to fight before the time ran out." Shino said calmly though his collar.

"I don't remember you objecting at the time!" Kiba yelled back.

"Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, please stop fighting!" Hinata pleaded. Naruto just watched them with a blank look on his face. Was that fighting? It looked like the Aburame was just trying to make a point.

"Time to get something to eat!" Chōji said, breaking up the awkward moment.

"Good idea, Chōji. You guys coming?" Shikamaru asked the rest of them. Naruto shrugged his shoulders but started following along, the rest of the group following suit.

"Hell yeah! We're starving, aren't we Akamaru?" Kiba asked, his dog barking in agreement.

"Uh, um…Naruto-kun?" Naruto shifted his eyes to his left, to see Hinata quickly look away from him, pointing her eyes towards the ground and nervously playing with her fingers. "Are you… Um… Is everything okay?" She asked him, a blush on her face. Naruto raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Of course." He responded.

"You're acting very different from before, when we were all at the Academy." Shino added.

"Yeah, you're acting all arrogant. That's just not like you, man." Kiba said with a frown. "Spending too much time with Uchiha?" Sasuke huffed and glared at Kiba, but didn't say anything.

Naruto slid his eyes to Shikamaru for a moment before looking back to at them and shrugging.

"People change." Naruto said cryptically. He saw Shino and Hinata looking at him strangely, with Kiba just snorting.

"It's for the better, really." Shikamaru told them.

"It really is." Sasuke said with a nod.

"He's a much better teammate now." Sakura added in.

"I'm hungry!" Chōji interrupted irritably. They quickly made it to the BBQ restaurant and chatted for a few hours.

Naruto was surprised. None of the others seemed like what he thought they would be. They were actually all pretty nice and didn't treat him like the villagers and other shinobi did. They just treated him like a normal person. At first, they seemed surprised by his responses when they would ask him something, but they looked like they were getting used to the change in him by the end of the night. Even Ino had stopped being rude to him. He was also surprised by their intelligence. Even Kiba and Chōji, who he thought was only slightly smart, were more intelligent than he had initially thought. He also wasn't getting as irritated by talking to them as he thought he would.

They all stood outside of the BBQ restaurant for a bit, chatting, before saying their goodbyes and heading off home. Naruto walked with his hands in his pockets looking up at the stars. He never thought that he would have any friends. And he never even thought he would want them, but spending the evening with everyone was starting to change his mind. It was actually nice having friends, just sitting around and chatting with people that knew you. Having grown up by himself, not really talking to or interacting with many others and then only having the Kyūbi to talk to, made him think that he was fine alone. He hadn't even felt lonely. Maybe because he always kept himself busy. But now he could understand why people valued friendship so much.

His thoughts were interrupted by a crash coming from the alley on his left. He could just make out a shadow of someone that looked like they were trying to fight a trashcan. From the mumbling and cursing coming from the person, he could tell that it was a man. Naruto held back a sigh and made his way into the alley. The smell of alcohol coming off the man was almost unbearable.

"Ah! It's you!" The man yelled pointing at him, finally standing up, but swaying dangerously. Naruto raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "I am the Great Gama Sannin Jiraiya! Come help me out of this trash heap!" He knew he should have just ignored the man. He was so drunk, he was spouting nonsense. There was no way this drunken slob could be the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya. He could barely even stand. Naruto moved closer to the man, when he was close enough the drunk man moved to punch him. Naruto just barely dodged the punch and was glad he did. The wall next to where his head had just been had a huge hole in it and massive cracks were coming from the hole, taking up almost the entirety of the wall.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked angrily while crouched in a defensive position. He had not been expecting that. The man no longer looked drunk and he was completely stable.

"Hm. Good reflexes. Speed's not too bad either." The man commented, nodding his head.

"Do you always thrash around in garbage piles acting drunk and attacking random people that come to help you?" Naruto asked in annoyance.

"Oh, no. Well, not usually. You're a special case." The man said seriously, acting as though he had not just been insulted. "I just wanted to test your skills. Seems the old man was telling the truth about you." Naruto frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about? What old man?" He asked, still annoyed.

"The Hokage. He told me about how strong you are. Said that he wanted to advance you through the ranks as quickly as possible and asked me to help train you." The strange man said, picking pieces of garbage out of his long white hair.

"I highly doubt that." Naruto said with a snort.

"Don't believe me? Well too bad. Meet me at Training Ground Thirteen tomorrow morning at nine." The strange man said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto just glared at the place the man had just been standing, before quickly making his way back home.

Naruto was heading towards the Forest of Death the next morning, just after nine, to train. There was absolutely no way that he was going to the training ground to meet that freak. He had more important things to do, like meet his clones in the forest to train. He had already sent some clones out to meet Sasuke and Sakura for their training once he left his apartment.

As he was passing by the bathhouse, he heard some giggling coming from around the corner of the fence. Naruto frowned and turned the corner. There he found the same man from last night peeking through a hole in the fence of the women's bath. He stared at the man blankly for a moment, before turning around, in an attempt to leave before the man noticed him.

"You found me! So you have great tracking skills as well. Excellent! You are definitely worthy of my training!" Naruto heard the man yelled from behind him, making him walk away even quicker. "That eager to start training, eh? Very well! We shall start immediately!" Suddenly the weirdo was next to Naruto, grabbing his arm. Before Naruto could say or do anything, the man used his shunshin and they appeared in an empty training ground. He opened his mouth, ready to tell the man what he could do with his training.

"We will start with summoning. You don't have a contract yet, correct?" The man asked. Naruto quickly shut his mouth. Summoning was something he had been interested in since he had first seen Anko do it. If this man could teach him how, then maybe being here was worth his time.

"First, I'll show you how it's done. Watch closely." The man told him, biting his thumb. "The first thing you need is blood. Then, you perform the seals. Next, you place your hand on the ground and say 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'!" Once the man finished talking, a small toad appeared in a poof of smoke.

"Yo, Jiraiya-sama! Whatcha need?" The toad asked. Naruto's eyes widened slightly.

'Seriously? This is seriously the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya?' Naruto thought in surprise.

Come in all sorts, don't they? The Kyūbi responded without surprise.

"Hey, Gamakichi. I was just showing Naruto here how to summon." Jiraiya told the toad. The small toad's eyes widened then fell on Naruto.

"So this is the one, huh?" Gamakichi asked, looking Naruto up and down, before nodding. "Not bad. I can see the resemblance." Jiraiya shot the small toad a glare.

"That's right; my father could summon toads too. Did you know him?" Naruto asked the toad. Jiraiya looked at Naruto in surprise.

"Nope, that was before I was born, but my dad knew him. Used to talk about him all the time. He even has a picture with him up in our living room." Gamakichi said with a smile.

"How did you know?" Jiraiya asked Naruto, still looking shocked.

"I read the scroll that he left me." Naruto told him off-handedly.

"Well, if that's all you needed me for, I'll be off now. See ya later!" Gamakichi said, before disappearing. It took a moment for Jiraiya to get over his shock and get back to teaching Naruto how to summon.

"Let's have you go through the hand seals before you try summoning." Jiraiya told him.

"No need. I've got it down." Naruto said, biting his thumb.

"Wait a sec." Jiraiya said watching Naruto go through the hand seals, his eyes widening. "H-hold on!" He yelled, watching Naruto finish the seals and start to move his hand towards the ground. "I said-!"

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Naruto said, finishing the jutsu, and disappearing.

"Dammit! The old man's gonna have my head for this…"