Chapter 11: Narus innocence and air walking
"Hey, H-hokoge-jiji, where is Jiraya-sama? H-he was supposed t-to train me, wasn't he?" Naruko asked. "Yes, but ah, he got caught up in some of his ahh, research so he couldn't make it here for now. You could wait here if you wanted, though." Sarutobi said. "N-no, that's ok, I can j-just use byakugan to f-find him." Naruko stated. Naru was looking around Konoha, when she caught Jirayas chakra signature near the hot springs. "Ah, l-looks like hes r-relaxing at the hot s-springs!" she said. Sarutobi chuckled at her innocence, which she had retained despite what had happened to her.
Jiraya had just finished his 'research' and was walking away from the hot springs, when a little blond girl walked up to him and asked "A-are you Jiraya o-of the sanin?" "Why yes I am, little girl, and who are you?" Jiraya responded, slightly curious as to why a little girl was seeking him out. "Jiji t-told me that I was to t-train with you over the n-next month." she responded "Oh, a-and my name is N-naruko, but I p-prefer Naru." she said with a shy smile. "And I suppose that your jiji is the Hokoge, right?" Jiraya guessed. "R-right." Naru nodded. "Well then, we should start right away then. Before we start, do you know chakra control exercises?" Jiraya asked. "Y-yes I do, Jiraya-sama, I h-have mastered the tree walking a-and water w-walking exercises." Jiraya looked impressed "Wow, for someone with your chakra reserves, and at your age to have mastered both, is quite impressive. However, there is one more exercise in that particular series, it is called, air walking. It is what the name implies, you focus the chakra to your feet, and if you get it right, you will be able to walk on the air." While he was explaining this, Naru was filing the information to use later. "Here, let me demonstrate." Jiraya then scrunched his face up like he was focusing realy lhard, and then started walking. While he was walking, he suddenly started floating into the air, and while he was demonstrating, Naru had silently activated her byakugan to study the way he was focusing his chakra, so that she could copy it. "That is how you do it, now don't be discouraged if you can't do it right away, it is normal for it to take at least twenty tim-" he was cut off when Naru suddenly started walking, and floated, although slightly wobbly into the air. "WOW! How did you get that right away?" Jiraya asked. "W-while you were demonstrating, I w-was studying the way you m-molded your chakra, a-and I just copied it, that was o-ok, right Jiraya-sama?" Naru asked, apparently worried that she had done something wrong. "Y-yes, I suppose it was, but just warn me next time you pull something like that, ok?" he said to ease her fears. She was obviously fragile, he would have to work on that, along with asking Sarutobi how she got like this. "Ok, I want you to work on that for the next two days, then we will begin sage training." "Y-yes, Jiraya-sama." Naru said with a bow.
For the next two days, Naru and Jiraya both trained their air walking skills (Jiraya had been out of practice, so he did a few rounds around Konoha walking through the air on his hands, pausing when he got over the hot springs and letting loose a perverted laugh.) Jiraya also revealed that he was Narukos god father, and he apologized for his not being there for her while she was groing up. By the end of the two days, they had developed a strong bond, and Naru was a little more relaxed around him, even going so far as to drag him to Ichirakus after he claimed that he had never been there before. " H-how can anyone have not b-been to
Ichirakus before?!" Naruko demanded. Jiraya chuckled at the change she had gone over in the past few days.
She had went from shy and closed, to open and affectionate. She may still have the stutter, but it was bound to disappear with familiarity. "Ok, ok, now quit your whining and order already." he said with a chuckle. "Ok, I-i'll have a bowl of m-miso with pork, please!" Naru said with a smile. "Same as the kid." Jiraya said with a smirk. Naru stuck her tongue out at him when he made the kid comment. "See? That just proves it!" Jiraya laughed out loud. "F-fine, but if I-I'm a kid, then y-your an old man!" Naru got back, laughing at Jirayas indignant expression. "Well, we make an odd pair then, the kid and the old man!" Jiraya joked, both of them laughing.
Many bowls of ramen, and an injured wallet, later, they headed back to the forest they had been training in. "Ok Naru, the real training begins here, you must learn to channel Nature chakra through your body to unlock the sage mode." Jiraya explained to her. "Learning how to do this will take up most of this time. It usually takes many, many years of hard work and determination, but from what I hear you are a very quick learner, and pick things up almost instantly, so this shouldn't take years, but don't expect to get it right away, even I still need help to get into sage mode, and I have been training for it since I was your age." Jiraya said, giving Naru a look that said he wasn't kidding. Naru nodded, and watched, byakugan activated, as Jiraya summoned two funny looking toads. "By the way, Naru, do you have a summoning contract with any animals?" he asked, thinking she didn't, but surprised when she shook her head 'yes'. "Well, child, what are they?" the female toad on his left shoulder asked. "I-I have a contract w-with the dragons, and f-foxes." Naru said, blushing slightly at the shocked looks on their faces. "How did you get a contract with the dragons?" the male toad asked. "W-well, I accidentally reverse s-summoned myself one day, a-and I appeared in the dragons d-domain." Naru started, but stopped when the toads chuckled, and Jiraya blushed. "Same thing happened here to Jiraya-boy, but continue." the male toad explained. "Uhh, w-well, a dragon saw m-me, and asked what a human was d-doing in dragons land, a-and I told him it w-was an accident, and t-that I had been t-trying to summon one of H-Hokoge-jijis apes, and he appeared to b-be indignant, wondering w-why anyone would want to s-summon one of those 'weak fool mammals' a-and revealed himself t-to be the prince of the dragons, and h-he led me to his f-fathers palace- and his father a-agreed to let me s-sign the d-dragons summoning contract, on the condition that I n-not summon the king to battle u-unless it was a very important battle, o-or unless all the other dragons h-had been defeated, and I could no l-longer fight, then they s-sent me back, and supprised H-hokoge-jiji by making me land i-infront of him while he was walking." she finished her story, and the others were looking at her with a new respect. "for the king of the dragons to allow you to summon him at all, that is astounding, did he tell you that you could summon him outside of battle?" the old toad asked. "Y-yes he did, Fukashaku-sama, he also t-told me the names of all of the l-leaders names on Mt Myoboku, and t-their advisers " Naruko said. They looked impressed, but still had doubts. "Would you mind summoning him then Naru?" Jiraya asked. "I-I could try, but if he doesn't want to see you, he wont come." Naru said, and then began preforming various hand seals, and all of a sudden, the clouds darkened, and a great dragon came out of the sky, and landed next to Naru, wrapping around her gently.