"Lust is easy. Love is hard. Like is most important." -Carl Reiner
Chapter 21: A Date and Apprentice
Naruto slipped his sandals on after having had breakfast in his house. He quickly slipped out of his home and locked the door behind himself as he made his way to Kurenai's, utilizing his stealth skills to avoid being spotted by as many people as possible.
As he traveled, Naruto thought over what he had come up with for his and Kurenai's first date, a moonlight picnic at his favorite spot, on top of the Hokage monument. He felt that it would be sufficiently isolated away from the village that no one would ever notice them without either himself or Kurenai sensing them and none of the civilians could ruin the atmosphere by their hateful stares. Also, he wanted to try out the cooking skills that Yoshino had treated him to when he showed some interest in helping her cook. Naruto had thoroughly enjoyed the hands on and very direct way Yoshino taught him to cook.
Naruto had to admit that he was far more excited about asking Kurenai on a date for the first time than he was about training, probably the first time he could say he was more excited about something other than training in the past four months. Naruto looked around, discreetly making sure no one had followed him nor that he was being watched as he made his way into Kurenai's apartment complex. Blinking, Naruto looked around once more, making sure he could not sense any chakra signatures near him.
Satisfied he wasn't followed, Naruto returned his attention to where he was and walked forward, reaching Kurenai's door in short order and promptly knocking on it, knowing Kurenai always woke early to train then get ready for her day. Naruto waited patiently, almost a full minute passing before Kurenai answered the door, her normal attire wrapped around her body as she looked down at him, a smile crossing her face.
"Ohayo, Naruto-kun... what is it I can do for you today?" she chirped in an extremely happy voice.
Naruto smiled as well, happy she was happy and opened his mouth to ask her out when his words caught in his throat as he looked at her, a tense silence engulfed them as Naruto closed his mouth and opened it again, attempting to speak the words he wanted to, until, "Uh, Ohayo, Kurenai-sensei, how are you?" he finally asked.
Kurenai raised an eyebrow in surprise before answering, "I'm fine Naruto-kun, how are you?" she asked back.
"Fine, Just fine." he said as he looked down, for some reason losing the courage to ask her out so brazenly like he had done with Sakura. "Ummm." he started, looking at her with hesitancy in his eyes, "I improved alot on Jiraiya-sensei's jutsu. He was impressed." he said with a small and hesitant grin.
Kurenai's lips pressed together but she responded, "Very good Naruto-kun, now, I know you didn't come here just to give me a training report." she said tersely, making it obvious she wanted him to explain why he had come to her house so early, it wasn't exactly early for shinobi but you didn't visit near this time unless you had some business or were lovers... since no one was to know of their relationship he should have another reason.
Naruto flinched slightly, hunching into his shoulders, his usually bright and stubborn personality being replaced with a shier person in front of the person whose approval and recognition meant the most to him pressing down on him. Naruto didn't see Kurenai's eyes softening but Naruto did hear Kyuubi.
"Oh great me!" Kyuubi said from its cage, "You stare me down with no fear yet you cower in front of the woman you want to go out with because you couldn't ask her out right away, how pathetic. Perhaps your words were nothing more than bravado and you really don't want this woman as your own." he taunted. Naruto's face twisted into a snarl. "Good!" Kyuubi said as he felt Naruto's anger grow, "That's it Brat! Now, use that anger and ask her out, I won't have you be some sniveling cowardly person, even in your personal life, that reflects badly upon me." Kyuubi said as it settled itself into Naruto's mindscape.
Naruto grumbled to the fox, sending it a picture of himself standing on top of its head with all its tails in his hand, yanking them harshly, before turning to Kurenai, his previous hesitancy completely gone as he spoke in a confident yet light tone, "Kurenai-chan, would you please go on a date with me tonight?" he asked.
Kurenai blinked, stood there for another moment, seemingly assimilating the information Naruto had just supplied before blinking again and a smile crossed her face, "It would be a pleasure, Naruto-kun." she replied in the same tone, making sure not to disturb her neighbors.
Naruto nodded, although he was jumping for joy inside, "Can I pick you up for 9?" he asked with a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.
Kurenai smiled as she nodded, "What should I dress for?" she asked.
Naruto smiled, "Um, we'll spend a decent amount of time outside so that should help you choose," at Kurenai's questioning look, "I want it to be a surprise." he said with a bit of a blush. Kurenai narrowed her eyes at him, questioning him but Naruto merely smirked foxily at her, letting her know he wouldn't tell her and she smirked before nodding.
"Wear a henge to pick me up please, once we are alone, as I am sure you picked someplace desolate..." she trailed off, as Naruto nodded, "Then we will drop our henges." she said and Naruto nodded again before Kurenai smiled at him, "I can't wait, Naruto-kun." she said, that same tone of voice sending a thrill down his spine as he blushed while Kurenai giggled lightly and closed the door.
Naruto turned around, heading towards the village gates. As he walked away his face was sporting another bright smile while he walked, his steps gaining speed as he reached the street. All of a sudden, Naruto found himself running, flying down the streets with his full speed in use, except with his weights on. Naruto whooped as he reached the village gates, his chest heaving slightly from his run and he yelled out, unable to hold it any longer, "Yahoo!" he jumped up in the air, pumping a hand in victory. Naruto turned to the chuckles that had started to his right, intent on telling the person to shove it up his ass for interrupting his personal heaven, when he saw Jiraiya smirking at him. All of a sudden, Naruto felt like a shinobi in the aim of a weapons specialist.
Jiraiya, however, merely chuckled as he waved at the two gate guards, tapping Naruto on the shoulder to indicate him to follow him as the two then made their way into the forest. Naruto jumped behind Jiraiya, his face burning from his blush but Jiraiya continued moving without speaking. Soon enough, Naruto dropped down next to Jiraiya appearing in the same clearing as the day before.
Of course, Naruto narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya as Jiraiya turned around, a perverted leer on his face as he rubbed his hands together. "So, did my semi-apprentice get laid by his beautiful sensei last night?" he asked as his eyes seemed to glaze over, "did she take you on a ride you would never be able to experience with those young girls you once called classmates?" he asked as a bit of drool escaped his mouth, "well, come on man, details! I live to write this stuff. Oh! what a story you would make, Icha Icha Sensei's Dirty Teaching methods." he said as he stared intently at Naruto, who blushed, certain Jiraiya was talking about perverted things because of what he wrote but Naruto had no idea what exactly Jiraiya was talking about.
So, "Leave me alone, Ero-sennin!" Naruto yelled out even as his blush covered his cheeks, figuring that denying whatever the man suggested was the correct path since whatever he was talking about was obviously something Naruto hadn't done.
Jiraiya giggled perversely, "No matter, I will get the details eventually!" he said as if he was planning some great heinous crime. Then, like a switch was flipped, Jiraiya stood up from his slightly crouched position and spoke in the same serious tone he had the day before, "Okay, show me how far you got before you kicked me into those girl's bathing spot," he said, "that was perfect by the way, thank you!" he added with another perverted leer as his hands came out from his body, seemingly groping something in front of him with his imagination as Naruto sighed and began the handseals for the Hari Jizō.
"Ninpo: Hari Jizō." Naruto said, allowing his mastery of the chakra he channeled to show how far he had progressed in the jutsu. He held the jutsu as Jiraiya walked around him, casting a critical eye on his progress.
"Good progress Naruto, you seem to pick up on jutsu much faster if you practice it." he commented, even after only one training session Jiraiya seemed to pick out Naruto's training habits. "I'm content with your progress, continue trying to master this today, once you have it down, I'll teach you Hari Jigoku. Get to work." he said as he walked off into the foliage again, Naruto assumed to spy on some more unsuspecting girls. Naruto sighed as he began his work for the day, looking forward to the night the whole time he was training.
Hours later, Naruto looked up at the sky, noticing the time, he tried the Hari Jizō one last time, finally getting the correct length, before calling it quits for the day. He needed time to bathe, get some food and then cook so he was about finishing training much earlier than he liked, but it was worth it. Naruto walked into the foliage again, having sensed Jiraiya in the same spot as the day before, quickly making his way behind his perverted sensei he spoke quickly.
"I have something to do tonight, I'm finished training for today. Thanks for today, I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto said as he bowed slightly to Jiraiya, who just waved him off before Naruto turned and left the forest, never noticing Jiraiya's eyes on the back of his head once he had turned, too preoccupied with thoughts of what he had to get and make for dinner.
Naruto smiled as he looked down at his sealing scroll. He had the whole dinner sealed inside and he was positive that he had done his best with the meal, he was actually quite proud of the food and thought it would be the best he had done so far. He looked at the time, seeing that he had about twenty minutes before he was supposed to pick Kurenai up, he checked over his outfit yet again, smoothing out the ripples in his kimono, the same black with orange swirls kimono that he had worn on his date with Ino, which caused him to frown as he thought of her. Shaking those bad thoughts away, he thought of how he felt about wearing this on his first date with Kurenai.
Though he thought that the kimono suited him perfectly, he also felt sad about the fact that he only had this for formal dressing. Since he hadn't expected ever having a girlfriend anytime in the near future, he hadn't bothered buying anything else that would be suited for a date with his girlfriend, at least that was how he felt. At the same time, Naruto had been surprised when the kimono had fit him as well as it did with his new physique. He had ordered some more kimonos but they wouldn't be ready for a few weeks so he was stuck with this until late next week.
Naruto looked at the time again, noticing five minutes had passed since he had last looked, he grabbed the scroll, placing it inside his kimono, he applied a henge, gaining the appearance of a nondescript brown-haired teen, and shunshined outside of his house, into a nearby alley.
Looking around, Naruto smiled as no one was present in the alley. He exited the alley and made his way, leisurely up the street, towards Kurenai's apartment, enjoying the first time in his life that he wasn't glared at for simply being himself.
Of course, Naruto was surprised when some of the civilians would actually nod towards him, acknowledging him as a fellow human while he walked along. Naruto's shock caused him to miss some of the children, who always avoided him because of their parents, run past his legs, chasing a ball with laughter and smiles on their faces. As expected, Naruto heard a dark whisper start in the back of his mind, tainting his happy mood with thoughts of how despicable these people were that a mere change in his appearance would allow him such freedom and acknowledgment. As if to accentuate that whisper, Naruto felt a spark of jealousy rear its head within him, wishing for such a peaceful and wonderful life of living as if no one was aware of his burden.
But, Naruto shook those thoughts away as he looked at Kurenai's apartment complex. It was pointless being jealous of a life he would never have, it was pointless to be angry at the villagers for treating him as they have so far. It would serve to do nothing more than turn him into a person which acted with derision to others on the levels of what Sasuke was and he would never trample on people like Sasuke did so he cast those horrible thoughts and feelings to the back of his head, regaining his previous attitude as he stepped into the complex with a small smile on his face.
Naruto began to walk through the small foyer, heading towards the stairs, when he stopped. His eyes panned around the foyer, catching sight of only one other person standing in the communal place, a nondescript blonde haired woman whom held a small smirk on her lips that Naruto felt was very familiar. Naruto's eyes seemed to gain a glint as the girl sauntered up to him, that smirk still playing with her lips as she spoke, "Hello, Naruto-kun." she said lowly.
Naruto smiled, "Hello to you too, Kurenai-chan." he replied, looking at her, now, hazel eyes, "Are you ready?" he asked, holding his arm out for her to take. She nodded, her loose blonde hair flailing around her head a bit as she reached out, taking hold of his arm and the two turned to the exit, a disguised Naruto leading the disguised Kurenai out onto the streets and into the growing dusk.
Naruto and Kurenai walked in silence, Kurenai seemed to be looking around, curious on where Naruto was leading her as Naruto smiled lightly, enjoying how she tried to guess where he was taking her. Naruto led her past the clans' part of the village, reaching the edge of the forest surrounding the Village, Naruto smirked as he took a stronger hold on Kurenai, Kurenai looked at him with questioning eyes as Naruto shunshined them up onto the viewing platform, about halfway up the Hokage Monument.
Kurenai stumbled for one step when they arrived, looking at Naruto with a bit of surprise before she turned her eyes to look around at the abandoned post, "I didn't know you could shunshin." she said, her disguised voice sounded nothing like her normally celestial tones to Naruto's ears, he could almost hear Kyuubi gagging in the back of his mind from his thoughts, he quickly set up a mind block on the great beast as he turned his attention back to Kurenai's disguised face, which was now facing him.
"It wasn't hard to learn, the hand signs aren't exactly long and it takes a chakra control I now have." he said with a small smile. Kurenai nodded, she couldn't deny that.
"So," she said slowly, "Is this were you wanted to bring me?" she asked. Naruto shook his head and dropped his henge.
"No, we have one more shunshin before we reach there, but I wanted to show this to you." he said as he waved at the edge of the platform, drawing Kurenai's eyes. Kurenai saw that the sun was slowly dipping down on the horizon and figured out what he wanted to show her, but she turned back to see Naruto eyeing her henge, she smirked lightly as she finally dropped her own henge.
Naruto figured Kurenai had liked what he wore as she had smiled lightly at him when he lost his henge, he blushed slightly under her acceptance and eagerly awaited looking at what she would be wearing under her own henge. As such, when she dropped her henge, a soft gasp flew past his lips as he saw her, not in her usual wrappings but dressed up slightly.
She had on a one piece black dress that had straps over her shoulders, covering almost her whole shoulder while leaving her creamy white skin from the top of her arm all the way down to her fingertips open to Naruto's roving eyes. He followed the curve of her dress, which supported her breasts nicely, showing their shapeliness along with the bountifulness of her endowment. Of course, it did not show too much of her cleavage, only enough for a peak at them before the dress converged and fell around her in slight folds down to where her hips filled out the dress. It continued past that all the way down to her knees, leaving her with plenty of fabric for which to walk with as it didn't hug her legs. On her feet were black heels that were obviously as comfortable as they were functionable.
Around her neck was a silver necklace with a few rubies set into it on every three links, which accentuated her ruby earrings and her wine red eyes nicely. Of course, this was topped by a messy bun of her curly black hair, strands of which seemed to stick out of her bun, but it only seemed to enhance her beauty as they fell about her shoulders framing her face. All in all, she looked as beautiful as she had when he first laid eyes on her.
Kurenai smirked and swayed her hips a bit as she took the three steps she needed to reach Naruto's side, "I take it you like this?" she asked with a giggle as she wrapped an arm around his waist. Naruto nodded numbly as he gulped down the spit that had accumulated during his staring. "Good." she said happily as she pecked him on the lips lightly and turned back to the coming sunset.
Naruto shook his head and wrapped his own arm around her waist, squeezing lightly, "I love the view of the sunset from here, it's perfect." he said as the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the Village and sun in a sharp pink color from the last of its rays. Naruto and Kurenai stood by each other, enjoying the view as the light slowly faded away to the night and the stars appeared in the dark sky. "Ready to go?" he asked after having spent a good twenty minutes watching the sunlight dissipate. Kurenai nodded and Naruto activated his shunshin again, the two of them appearing on the top of the Hokage monument, in the same spot Naruto had spent not two days ago. Kurenai gasped lightly as she looked down at the Village, seemingly another sky with how their lights looked like stars of their own. Naruto smiled.
"Amazing isn't it? I love coming up here, especially when I was younger." he admitted as he reached into his kimono and drew out his sealing scroll, taking a few steps away, he pointed his sealing scroll away and unsealed the dinner he had prepared. The soft blowing of the wind quickly dispersing the smoke, allowing a blanket with two places set for two people to eat along with a decent size basket which had a wonderful scent coming from it.
Kurenai turned around, slight surprise showing on her face as Naruto led her to her own place and she easily sat down on her knees, kneeling at the small table set up on top of the blanket. Naruto kneeled down at his own place, smiling across at Kurenai, who returned the smile with one of her own, as he reached into the basket next to him, pulling out a plate filled with steaming Kushiyaki(1) as well as a container of steamed rice along with a Kasutera(2). Kurenai looked at the food as Naruto waved his hand, indicating for her to dig in. She favored him with a small smile as she pulled two skewers of Kushiyaki onto her plate with a small bowl of rice to accentuate the food. Naruto smiled as he served himself, a healthy portion of rice going along with his four skewers.
"Itadakimasu." the two chorused as they prayed over their food. With this done, Kurenai took a skewer in her hand and gracefully brought it to her lips, seemingly oblivious to Naruto's staring as he eagerly awaited her trying his cooking. He was amazed at how easily she managed to eat the chicken off of the skewer, not leaving a even a small amount of her lipstick on the green pepper that was right next to it. Naruto waited eagerly, as Kurenai chewed her food, seemingly enjoying the taste before she slowly swallowed her food and opened her eyes, to see Naruto's intense stare.
A hue of pink tinted her cheeks and she smiled demurely, "I didn't realize I looked so good eating." she said with a flirting tone that Naruto almost missed, as it was it caused Naruto's heart to flip in his chest as she fluttered her eyelids.
Naruto smiled, "You don't realize how beautiful you look all the time Kurenai-chan." he replied, causing Kurenai to blush a bit harder, "But, I was curious what you thought of the cooking." he said after having paused. Kurenai blinked before looking down at the food.
"It's good, I have to say it holds a unique taste that I haven't ever come across in Konoha. Where did you get it?" she asked as she took the green pepper into her mouth along with a smaller piece of beef on the other side of the pepper on the skewer.
Naruto smiled, not even bothered by the assumption that she had, "I cooked it." he said as he picked up his own skewer and dug into his food with a gusto, keeping an eye on Kurenai, catching her guilty gaze, he swallowed his food quickly and smiled at her.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, I shouldn't have assumed." she apologized. Naruto frowned slightly.
"It's fine Kurenai-chan, you didn't know I could cook. I just hope you enjoy the rest of the meal." he said as he watched her nod then take another bite, following suit they both fell into a comfortable silence as the two ate.
Moonlight bathed the monument in its glow as Naruto and Kurenai partook of the small feast Naruto had made, thoroughly enjoying the food and the sweet at the end. They each made a few small attempts at conversation but the two were already so aware of each other due to their previous relationship that it was hard to find something to talk about that wasn't part of their careers, which was something they both seemed to want to avoid.
As they were getting to the end of the sweets though, Naruto seemed to find a good point, "So," he started, his hesitancy coming to the forefront, "what's your favorite color?" he asked with a piercing gaze. Even though someone would normally be embarrassed asking such a question like this, Naruto seemed so genuinely curious, Kurenai chuckled.
"Oddly enough," she said as her eyes gleamed in the moonlight, "it was crimson, but I have somehow come to like a golden yellow." she answered with a small smile while she blushed slightly.
Naruto blinked before reaching behind him, pulling a full spikes of his hair forward, he looked at them, before looking back at Kurenai as she blushed slightly. Naruto chuckled as well. "What about yours?" she asked.
Naruto smiled at her, pushing his empty plate away from himself, he leaned forward slightly, "I liked my neon orange jumpsuits but I like the burnt orange that my sash is right now." he said honestly. Kurenai nodded, "When's your birthday?" he asked.
"June eleventh." she answered, to which Naruto nodded, "Yours is October tenth." she said with a small giggle at Naruto's open mouth before he remembered the event of that day and suddenly nodded to her.
"Kasutera?" he asked, holding a knife up to the cake he had made for desert.
"A small piece please." she said as she held out her plate. Naruto smirked as he picked up a small piece of the cake, no bigger than his pinky and placed it on her plate, struggling to contain his laughter as she looked at the piece in disbelief before looking back at him, noticing his shaking sides she glared at him. That is, until she grinned herself.
Naruto cut himself a piece and went to sit back, placing the knife on the plate with his cake. That is, until Kurenai's piece of cake splattered against his face, the frosting on the top of it causing it to stick to his face. He grimaced as he wiped his face of the frosting before turning an eye on the silently giggling Kurenai, whom was now eating a piece of cake that was more along the size she had asked for.
Naruto looked down, figuring he had asked for that, when he noticed his plate was gone. He looked around for a few seconds before it dawned on him that the cake Kurenai had been eating was the piece he had cut for himself! He looked at her, to see her place the last piece of cake into her mouth and visibly swallow the cake. Naruto's eye twitched as he watched her calmly wipe her face with her napkin then slowly look up at him. The smirk that then graced her lips was the snapping point, "No one outpranks me!" Naruto thought to himself as he launched himself across the table, tackling the surprised Kurenai.
Naruto and Kurenai rolled, each trying to gain the upper hand as Naruto spoke, "Trying to outprank me! The Prankster king from hell huh!" he said as he rolled Kurenai onto her back.
Kurenai smirked as she lifted her body, rolling Naruto's lighter body over for the final time, "I can't exactly be dull if my boyfriend tries to pull one on me." she retorted as she straddled him, looking down at his panting face with her own breath coming in slightly labored breaths their little tussle having taken more energy out of them than expected, of course, Naruto rose his hips, trying to jostle her off.
Kurenai smirked wider as she leaned down after his third attempt to move her and sensually licked his cheek, her tongue catching the leftover icing he had missed, but more importantly, gliding over his whisker marks, causing Naruto's body to stiffen before he shuddered. Kurenai pushed herself back up, so she could take a better look at Naruto's face, only to see a glazed look as she giggled at him, "So, your whisker marks are sensitive?" she asked. Naruto's only answer was a locking of the eyes as she bent back down, pressing her bountiful breasts against his chiseled chest and licking the little bit of icing that was hanging at the edge of his lips. She paused, letting him wonder what she was going to do before pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss.
Naruto grumbled in his mind as Kurenai teased him about his whisker marks before then teasing him with her semi kiss. He leaned forward, hoping she would kiss him and she answered him, their lips meeting in an explosion of passion as the two explored each other's lips. Naruto felt Kurenai's lips pucker slightly and he took hold of her lower lip with his own and sucked on it lightly, knowing she seemed to like it as she moaned the last two times he did this. He was rewarded with yet another moan as she pressed herself slightly harder into his body.
Naruto and Kurenai made out for almost three minutes under the moonlight before they parted, both of them smirking at their partner as they panted slightly. "I love kissing you." Naruto whispered between breaths as Kurenai's smirk turned into a smile, she pecked him on the lips.
"Your not bad yourself." she said as she then stood up, allowing Naruto to stand up as well. They both looked up at the moon, checking the time before Naruto sighed.
"Would you be angry if we called it a night here?" he asked, "I have training tomorrow morning." he explained.
Kurenai shook her head, "Let's get you packed up." she said. Naruto smiled as he walked back over to his previous sealing scroll, tapping a seal, he held it out and all of the items previously sealed within it were sucked back up into its seal. He smiled at Kurenai.
"Takeshi-san's shop is incredibly useful." he said as he held his hand out to Kurenai, who stepped up to him.
"This night was one of the best dates I have ever been on Naruto-kun." Kurenai said as she leaned down and looked at him in the eyes, seeing his eyes widen she smiled, "I wanted to tell you that as myself and not under my henge." she added as she applied a henge, transforming back into the same blonde-haired woman.
Naruto nodded before applying his own henge and then taking Kurenai's hand, shunshining them back down to the village before walking her home, leaving her in her foyer, where he had picked her up in and heading to his own home, his heart flipping in his chest as he thought of her eyes while they sparkled in the moonlight.
Naruto dropped down into his normal training clearing, looking at Jiraiya, whom was looking back with his own perceptive eyes. It had been two weeks since his first training with Jiraiya and his subsequent date with Kurenai. He had taken Kurenai out to one other date, one in which they sat at Kurenai's house and watched a movie while enjoying a quiet night to themselves. Though it wasn't much of a date, Kurenai had seemed quite happy about it, almost as much as Naruto.
He had advanced well in his use of Hari Jizō while also training his control in Kyuubi's youki, capable of using one tail of its chakra for what he wanted, though it wasn't anywhere near what he desired, it would work for the finals. Naruto had mastered the Hari Jizō as a matter of fact and was now working on the Hari Jigoku, which he was sure he almost had mastered. The final thing he had been doing during the break was researching on the Byakuugan, there were some very interesting books in the Konoha Library that Naruto had found.
"Show me." Jiraiya said as he watched Naruto go through hand seals.
"Hari Jizō." Naruto said as his hair lengthened and grew steely as weapons. Jiraiya walked around him, checking the jutsu for flaws before he appeared in front of Naruto. Jiraiya flicked his wrist and a kunai smashed into Naruto's jutsu, being deflected by his spiky hair, Naruto smiled as did Jiraiya.
"Good Job, next!" he barked at Naruto as Naruto went through some more hand seals.
"Hari Jigoku!" he called out as the area was literred with sharp spikes of Naruto's golden blonde locks. Jiraiya had summoned an earth wall to block the needles heading towards him and after a sufficient volley of needles had been expelled, Naruto stopped his attack allowing his hair to shorten back to its normal length. Jiraiya peeked out from his earth wall and smiled.
"You progress well Naruto. Though you're the first I taught these to, I took much longer to learn them so I'm impressed." Jiraiya admitted. "Kurenai truly worked your chakra control to something impressive for your chakra pools. I never expected you to be able to handle the chakra flow for the Hari Jizō when I first heard about you from Sarutobi-sensei." Jiraiya said as Naruto smiled at the praise he gave to Kurenai and to himself.
After a suitable pause, Naruto spoke, "So, what's next?" he asked with a bit of excitement in his voice, despite his changes he still couldn't curb his insatiable thirst for new techniques, especially ones as versatile and powerful as Jiraiya had introduced to him. Naruto knew that this hair jutsu was very useful for his chosen field and Jiraiya seemed to be able to pinpoint Naruto's weak points as fast as seeing him in battle only one time.
"Hmm, I have three things I wish to give to you, one of which requires a decision on your part." Jiraiya said, to Naruto's slight surprise. Jiraiya smirked, "After having fought you a little, and according to Kurenai, you have no taijutsu style." he said, as Naruto nodded, "Then this scroll has the basics of a style of taijutsu which centers on strong and fast kicks, something which you have in spades because of your speed training. I've seen masters of this style manage to fight taijutsu masters on the level of Gai and still be capable of drawing a stalemate." Jiraiya said, as he handed Naruto a scroll with an odd kanji stamped on it. "Take care of this, I can't get another copy of this scroll." Jiraiya said seriously, Naruto nodded his eyes gaining their usual frosty appearance. Jiraiya nodded, satisfied.
"Second, is this scroll on a B-rank wind jutsu named Fuuton:Senpuuken. Its a short range but it should cause anyone you come across anytime soon to think twice about staying in close range along with the Hari Jizō." Jiraiya explained as he handed this scroll over, the kanji for wind stamped on the scroll. Naruto smiled, nodding happily at Jiraiya, who returned his smile before going unusually serious.
"The final thing I want to give you has a condition attached to it." Jiraiya said as Naruto narrowed his eyes, Jiraiya pulled the large scroll from his back, something Naruto had never seen him do, unraveling it, Jiraiya looked at the scroll for a second before biting his thumb and wiping his blood on one part of the scroll before Naruto felt his chakra spike. Naruto's eyes widened as a giant plum of smoke appeared in front of him, about the same size as before when Jiraiya had crushed his shadow clone. Out of the smoke came a toad, the same one that had crushed Naruto, a necklace around its neck and many markings on its back.
The toad's tongue unfurled, placing a slimy scroll with the same kanji as Jiraiya's headband emblazoned on the seal. The toad poofed away as Naruto held the scroll, gently putting it down on the ground, his mind racing as he concentrated on what Jiraiya was asking without actually saying anything yet. Jiraiya walked up in front of Naruto, looking down at his crouched form, "What I am offering..." Jiraiya started.
"Apprenticeship." Naruto said as he looked at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya blinked before nodding, "I already discussed with Kurenai about this and she says it is completely your decision. Of course, I want you to continue training with her as your Genjutsu is nothing short of amazing and has already made your imprint on the world." Jiraiya said. Naruto nodded unconsciously. "If you sign this, you'll be removed from your team and train exclusively under myself and Kurenai, when she has the time, until you become a jounin through the exams or I acknowledge you as competent in all I can teach, which I can promise you, won't be until you are beyond a jounin's level of skill." Jiraiya explained, making sure Naruto was fully aware of what he was getting himself into.
"You will take some missions but it won't be as many as if you were on a team and if you sign this contract, you must know that you won't be able to sign another contract with summons, you will be a toad summoner until you agree with the elders of the toad clan and yourself to cut ties amicably or they forcefully cut your ties, at which time I doubt other summons will accept you." Jiraiya said finally as Naruto was still looking at the scroll.
It was silent for a few minutes, Jiraiya seemed oddly shifty at the edge of Naruto's vision but Naruto closed his eyes thinking hard about the advantages and disadvantages of signing the contract. Summoners were rare, hence the reason for the fame of the three sannin along with their titles. They were also known as masters of their respective summons. It was unlikely for Naruto to find a summoning contract on his own if he refused this one. There weren't any disadvantages Naruto could see, being separated from his team was actually more of a plus and the training would more than make up for a drop in missions.
"Take the offer." Kyuubi spoke from its cage, its voice not haughty for once, it almost seemed serious. Naruto cocked his head slightly, sending a silent question to his tenant, who scoffed before answering tersely, "Their boss summon is the only animal to have ever faced me down in battle and survived." the fox said, which caused Naruto's eyes to fly open in surprise. If it fought the fox, and lived, then it meant the fox probably held a decent amount of respect especially since it was actually admitting to not killing it. Of course, Naruto thought about Kurenai's feelings but she couldn't take him as an apprentice and he would actually get more time to spend with her this way since Jiraiya was willing to work with Kurenai, unlike him not telling Kakashi.
With his mind made up, Naruto looked up at Jiraiya, who was watching him with an almost anxious expression, again sending an odd feeling through Naruto but he said, "Okay, I would like to sign it." he answered, Jiraiya seemed to relax under Naruto's gaze and answer, before a smile appeared on his face as Jiraiya instructed him to open the scroll.
Unrolling the scroll, Naruto reached the last two names on the scroll and froze, there was Jiraiya's name, right before 'Namikaze Minato' written in blood with five fingerprints below his signature. Naruto turned a sharp gaze on Jiraiya after having blinked and checked the name again, "The Fourth was a toad summoner?" Naruto asked, then almost face-palmed himself. Of course he was, how else did the boss summon fight the fox and not lose. Not to mention the history books which always showed the fourth on top of a toad's head while facing Kyuubi.
Jiraiya blinked before Naruto muttered, "Never mind, I sign this with my blood?" he asked. Jiraiya nodded and Naruto quickly but surely signed his name before placing his five fingers under his name and then rolled up the scroll, handing it back to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya took the scroll, sealing it into another scroll before looking at Naruto, "Do you have a feel for how much chakra I used for summoning Gama?" Jiraiya asked, Naruto nodded, "Good, then all you need to do is bite your thumb and leave a little bit of blood, make the hand seals, Boar Dog Bird Monkey then Sheep, then put your hand out to allow the matrix to spread out and summon your companion." Jiraiya explained, Naruto looked at his hand, checking for his still bleeding thumb, "Give it a try with about five percent of your chakra and we'll see how much more you need." Jiraiya said as Naruto nodded, beginning the hand seals.
Naruto finished his hand seals and thrust his hand down on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." he said as a puff of smoke appeared from the sealing matrix that had materialized from his blood. Naruto and Jiraiya waited, trying to figure out how much more Naruto may need by using whichever level of toad he had summoned as a scale. When the smoke cleared, Naruto looked a bit disappointed but Jiraiya's face shown with a smile as the reddish-orange toad, whom had blue markings around his eyes and lips, while wearing a blue jacket, spoke, "Yo!" he said, raising a webbed front hand in greeting.
Naruto's eye twitched as he heard Kyuubi snickering from the back of his head, "That the best you could do?" it taunted, apparently taking pleasure in the irritation Naruto felt from summoning such a small toad.
"I guess you summoned me," the unnamed toad said as it eyed Naruto, "You must be a new summoner, nice ta meetcha, I'm Gamakichi." he introduced himself. Naruto's eye twitched again and Jiraiya watched as Naruto began going through the hand seals again.
Gamakichi, knowing the hand seals Naruto was using, quickly jumped up onto his head of blonde spikes, "You owe me some treats!" he yelled as Jiraiya jumped away from Naruto, sensing his spike in chakra.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled a full quarter of his sludge-like chakra being poured into his technique. Naruto was rewarded with a whoosh of air as he was carried over fifty feet into the air atop a toad that Naruto was smirking at as he looked at him. The toad he had summoned was a dull rusty red color, he had on a larger form of the blue vest the toad in his hair was wearing. Naruto saw the hilt of a large dosu blade hanging on the side of the toad's waist and a pipe, much like his Jiji's hanging from the toad's mouth as he calmly smoked. Naruto beamed with a smile as he walked onto the large toad's nose, about to speak, he was interrupt by the large toad.
"You li'l punk! What the hell ya doin on top my head?" he questioned, Naruto stared at the toad, a bit taken aback as the toad continued his rant, "I finally get some fresh air and some shrimp is standing on top of my head." the large toad apparently didn't see Naruto's eye twitch as he narrowed his eyes at the large, still ranting toad, "That old perverted geezer summons me and puts this shrimp on my head, where the hell is he!" he roared.
Naruto's eyes gained a bit of a frosty exterior as Gamakichi mutters into his nest of blonde hair, "I think pops got this guy mad." Naruto smirked.
"I summoned you, what's your name?" Naruto stated in a barely controlled voice, his irritation plainly seen in his tapping foot.
The big toad froze for a moment before its eyes narrowed, looking at Naruto scrutinously for a few moments then its eyes screwed shut and the large toad laughed, its pipe hanging from its lips as the laughter came rolling from the toad's big mouth, "Lieing is a bad habit! A little shrimp like you couldn't possibly summon me!" the toad managed to gasp out as Gamakichi grabbed ahold of Naruto's hair, feeling the air surrounding the man drop a few degrees.
Naruto's foot raised, as Naruto glared into the toad's eyes, "Don't!" Naruto said as he stomped down on the toad's nose, causing the toad to blink, "Call!" Naruto stomped down again, this time the toad flinched slightly, "Me!" Naruto stomped yet again, now a imprint of his foot being made in the toad's nose from the chakra he was using to enhance his stomps, "A Shrimp!" he yelled as he stomped one last time causing the toad to flinch once again and Gamakichi to peek out from his perch, chuckling.
The big toad seemed to blink before his voice boomed out, "Gamakichi! What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.
Gamakichi, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, much like Naruto would do, as he sat atop Naruto's head, responded, "Ummm, he summoned me right before you pops!"
The toad then looked back at Naruto, who was still glaring at him, they continued their staring match for a few minutes before the big toad started to chuckle, "Well then, may I ask the name of our new summoner?" he asked.
Naruto's countenance didn't change, "Uzumaki Naruto, and I asked for your name first." he retorted hotly.
The big toad's eyes widened almost imperceptibly but Naruto somehow caught it before it vanished, "That is true, my name is Gamabunta and I am the boss toad summons. You can understand why I would doubt the validity of your summons without some sort of proof? Only two others have ever been able to summon me." the toad boss said, his way of apologizing Naruto figured.
Naruto nodded, "Then you acknowledge me as a summoner?" Naruto asked, figuring that was what was needed. Gamabunta chuckled.
"After a drink of sake with me, yes." the big toad answered, "Now where is that pervert Jiraiya?" he said as he looked around, "I have some business with him."
Naruto closed his eyes, concentrating on feeling for Jiraiya, of course, he realized Jiraiya had long since ran away when he summoned Gamabunta since he couldn't feel the man's chakra signature within his sensor range. "Sorry Gamabunta-san, but he seems to have run away when he realized I summoned you." Naruto said.
Gamabunta looked at Naruto for a second, "Your a sensor?" he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. Naruto nodded and Gamabunta chuckled again, "Jiraiya sure picked a good one. Gamakichi, we should head home, your mother is going to be worried sick if we are gone any longer." he said, Gamakichi nodded, giving Naruto a two webbed salute, he poofed away. Gamabunta looked at Naruto and said, "Summon any of my kin when you need us and we will answer your call. Bring pride to the Toad clan Naruto-kun." Gamabunta said as he poofed away as well, leaving Naruto to fall about 20 feet to the top of a tree, to which he stuck to with some chakra.
Naruto smirked as he then made his way down to the floor of the forest, feeling the two scrolls Jiraiya had given him, his smirk widened as he knew what he would train with for the next week and a half. The finals were going to be fun for him, he could finally cut loose and show the clients exactly how skilled he was.
A/N: Okay, so we have the first date and the signing of the Toad contract, next chapter begins the Finals, I think. Unless I decide to put something about Shikamaru and the Nara family in first, what do you guys think?
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the little bit with Naruto and Kurenai, it will be the end of the fluff for a little while. I don't want to hear complaints about the age difference! I warned you from the beginning if you didn't like the Mature women fics then you shouldn't read this. Not to mention the half a chapter I wrote on Younger girls not being a viable option.
Thats all I have to say, hope you all continue to read my fic and give me your opinions. Even if I disagree with them.