Shadow and Wind: New legends
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Disclaimer: Everything that isn't Kishimoto's is mine. There's not a lot left, now is there? -_-'
This chapter has been Beta'ed by Zanros. Thanks a lot!
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37. The Fifth: Arrangements
Get ready Naruto: Time to leave with the Legendary Pervert!
Naruto woke up a tad earlier than usual, as the day promised to be quite busy since he was leaving the following morning. He still didn't want to leave with the so-called Toad Sage, but what choice did he have? He was the only one who had talked to him about the Kyuubi at all. Jiraiya was his only lead to prevent something like last evening from ever happening again.
Naruto did his morning essentials, donned his new clothes and set out. The first order of business: settle the score with Hinata. It wasn't out of vengeance or anything like that, but he felt like redeeming himself in her eyes. He shouldn't have held back against; it proved nothing for either of them. Besides, after a good night sleep he found something odd about Hinata's style. In any case he wanted his rematch now; before he came back with whatever new training his temporary mentor would put him through. It wouldn't be the same then.
For this reason he was currently waiting for his target, taking a deep breath when he saw her, he moved by her side and greeted her.
"Hello Sakura."
The kunoichi nearly jumped. "Naruto!" she gave her teammate a nervous smile. "Um… how are you?"
"Er… fine, I guess," he answered, which was kind of odd, since he did feel fine despite yesterday going to hell. "Mind if I tag along?"
Sakura looked hopeful blinked. "You have business with Kurenai?"
Naruto scratched his head, "Actually I wanted to talk to Hinata."
Somehow the kunoichi's expression deflated. "…Oh."
Naruto made no comment on his teammate's mood change as he had no idea what had caused it and, to be frank, kind of didn't care. The less he meddled with her problems, the less he meddled with her. Still, seeing her like that did annoy the hell out of him, so he decided to change the subject.
"Oh yeah, I guess I should tell you; I'll be leaving on a mission tomorrow. …with Jiraiya."
"Don't become like him," she warned him. Sakura then bit her lip. "Mind if I see you off?"
Naruto really wanted to say yes, since he didn't think Shikamaru would be there, but… "I… no, I guess not."
The way Sakura smiled was contagious. Naruto shrugged – he could handle Sakura in small doses. They talked a bit about Sasuke and soon arrived at Team Eight's training grounds. Naruto purposefully made his way to the Genjutsu specialist, who was a bit surprised to see him. "Hi!" he said, "Uh, could I borrow Hinata for a sec?"
A nearby Hinata blushed, making Kurenai narrow her eyes. "And why would that be, Naruto?"
The blond scratched his head. Well, no use in hiding it – a loss is a loss, after all. "She kinda kicked my ass yesterday and I want rematch, you know."
The Jonin was surprised, but it didn't even come close to what Shino was feeling judging from his comical expression, since he was the only one out of Team Eight who knew the extent of Naruto's strength. After a few seconds, Kiba regained his voice first. "Hinata did what?" he then slugged his teammate playfully, "Way to go Hina!"
This was nice and all, but Naruto still had things to do. A simple yes or no would suffice – he could always come back after training now that he knew of the place. "So, can I?" he tried again.
"Oi, you have to beat me first! I owe you one for the Chunin exams." Kiba said, jumping on the occasion of a rematch of his own.
Naruto however ignored him in favor of hearing what Kurenai had to say. The older kunoichi thought about it for a few seconds. "Hmm… I don't see why not," she said. Naruto beamed and headed into Hinata's direction when he was stopped by Kurenai's next words, "Including Kiba's proposition."
Naruto thought about it and shrugged. "Oh, I guess that's fine too. So once that spar is over, I can fight Hinata, right?"
"No. You must win," Kurenai insisted.
Naruto frowned. "…right." He looked at the Jonin instructor and couldn't detect any ill will at first glance, so he wondered about the trial. Looking again, Kurenai was looking at Kiba strangely. Maybe it was more about the dog user than him… no matter. She had asked for some ass whooping, who was he to turn down a friendly spar? So he nodded and started warming up.
In the mean time, the Genin where encouraging Kiba. "Good luck Kiba. But I must warn you, Naruto's is not going to lose," Hinata cautioned.
"Oi, you beat him once, didn't you?" the Inuzuka said with a snort, "He can't be that strong."
Shino who sided with Hinata on this one replied, "Naruto is much stronger than you think he is, and that's without his clones."
Kiba actually paid attention to that tidbit since his teammate had seen the blond in action recently. "Any tips then?" he asked.
The insect user shrugged. "Try not to lose too badly." Hinata looked like she disagreed, but then she glanced at Naruto, and back at Kiba. After one more look between the two she still couldn't say anything indirectly backing up Shino's claim.
Kiba flinched before storming off angrily. "Some teammates you guys are!"
Naruto took a neutral stance while his opponent looked at Kurenai ready to move at any time. After a tense moment, Kurenai gave the start signal and already the two were off. Kiba was already giving Akamaru his soldier pill, determined not to underestimate Naruto a second time, while Naruto made a dozen of Shadow Clones. What came next however surprised every member of Team Eight.
As the clones looked ready to dish out some pain, Naruto went in front of them and said, "Cheer for me guys!"
To say that the clones were not amused would be an understatement. Instead of obeying to the original, the clones cheered for Kiba instead. "You suck Naruto! Kick his ass Kiba!"
Of course Kiba was ready to do just that, so he didn't need to be told twice. "[Dual Piercing Fang]!"
Next thing he knew, the blond Genin was dodging two drills of potent destructive force. The boy weaved, bobbed, sidestepped, and jumped over every attack coming his way. Naruto, who at first felt pressured, adapted quite easily to Kiba and Akamaru's patterns, so much that he didn't even need to move more than beyond radius of a meter to dodge both the dog user and his companion.
After a minute of this, Naruto cocked his head. "Uh, Kiba… what have you been up to? You're not faster than I remember. It's like we're back at the Chunin exam."
Kiba could do nothing but press on, but he was getting upset. Naruto could understand; from the way he dodged the Inuzuka, it must've seemed like he was using the Byakugan or something. The blond saw him shift his glance towards the Naruto gallery, where only seven clones remained. Then it clicked for his opponent. "You're using your clones!" he accused.
Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, so…? You're using your dog."
Still he would be here all day if this went on. "Let's get this over with," he said, before closing the distance between Kiba and him in an instant. The boy had barely the time to react as Naruto made a single seal.
"[Wind Element: Great Breakthrough]!"
He had used a powered down and non-cutting version of the technique and it really showed as Kiba had used his claws and chakra to remain rooted to the ground without any real damage… though he did move a full meter back.
"That all you got?" Kiba gloated, "Won't work on me, Naruto."
The blond smiled. "I know that."
Worried, the hooded shinobi looked to his left, where his partner should have been only to find him gone. "Akamaru!"
"Unfortunately for you, Akamaru isn't a true shinobi, is he?"
Kiba growled before he lunged against his opponent with a swipe at his face, but the blond lazily jumped back. Furious, the young Inuzuka closed the distance again, but before he could strike two clones caught him, each one firmly holding an arm. Kiba tried to thrash around, but the clones were surprisingly sturdy.
"Gotcha!" Naruto simply said.
"When did you…?"
Naruto pointed to his now three-man audience. "Two Clones changed into pebbles while you were covering your eyes during my wind Jutsu," he explained as he stepped closer. "Now, are you familiar with the term solar plexus?" Kiba's renewed struggle was answer enough. His first punch was such that Kiba nearly lost consciousness, not to mention his breakfast. Then Naruto added, "I wonder how many of those until you hurl…" and the Inuzuka knew he was screwed.
Kiba made a superhuman effort to regain his breath and say, "Stop! I give, I give!"
Naruto looked a bit surprised and disappointed, but he let go of Kiba, who fell on his knees and all of the clones vanished. Seeing his sparring partner still on the ground, he outstretched a hand.
The fallen boy spent a good while catching his breath before finally taking the offer. "I can't believe Hinata beat you," he admitted as he got up.
Naruto shrugged, though inside he was a bit surprised. Hinata's new style was awesome, not to mention very effective. He could clearly see how the girl could have beaten him… Maybe they didn't know? That didn't make sense though; why would she try and hide something like that, and from her teammates no less?
He shook his head and let go of Kiba when he was sure the boy could stand on his own. He headed towards the Hyuga with a determined expression. "So, how are we going to do this Hinata?" he asked her.
The kunoichi was a bit startled. She looked at her teammates, then at Naruto, before her eyes trailed to her instructor. After another moment of thinking she nodded to herself. "Let's fight here."
Naruto blinked, but said nothing, respecting her choice. "…Alright." But seeing she was a bit unsure of herself, an idea suddenly popped. "Let's make a wager; loser owes the winner a favor."
Her mind blanked for a moment and Naruto swore that he saw a bit of steam coming out of a blushing face, in fact she almost fainted by the way he saw her sway. He really wondered how he kept doing that to her. A moment however later it was replaced by a determined, if not fierce Hinata. "Naruto Uzumaki, prepare to lose," she boldly declared. The blond didn't know what exactly had produced this reaction, but he was more than ready for it.
They took their starting position and at the starting signal, Naruto immediately lunged for Hinata, only to be countered and land face first in the dirt. That did not stop him however, as his attacks became relentless. Everyone was surprised by what was happening, most of all Hinata herself. Things were happening exactly as last time… what was Naruto up to?
Meanwhile, the rest of Team Eight were startled, but for different reasons. Kiba, who decided to watch the fight next to Kurenai and Shino let out a breath he didn't know he had. "Whoa, is that really Hinata?" he asked to no one in particular. He then looked up to his mentor. "Did you know anything about this Kurenai?"
The Jonin, whose eyes hadn't left the fight since its beginning, was as clueless as her pupil. "…I didn't," She admitted.
Shino, ever the quiet observer, quickly saw what was wrong in this picture. Hinata has become stronger, but I still cannot see how she could have beaten Naruto, because he is much stronger than that.
Back to the spar, Naruto got up and dusted himself. Despite the blood he was getting ready for more punishment. Across from him, Hinata looked quite upset. So upset in fact, that she dropped her stance. "What is wrong Naruto? I thought this was a serious spar." The blond raised an eyebrow. What am I doing? He shook his head. Fine, I guess time's up.
Naruto sent two clones to attack Hinata. The two copies nearly arrived at the same time and the one slightly in ahead threw a punch. The Hyuuga, seeing the move coming from a mile away was already in mid movement when the second Naruto came out from behind the first one in a crouching position. The way he had moved made it impossible for Hinata to see the maneuver before it was too late – all she could do was block.
Naruto saw Hinata fly farther than anticipated. He became a tad worried when she landed on her back, but she quickly recovered. The Hyuga got up and massaged her arms which were still throbbing, meanwhile looking at him in a mixture of awe and confusion. But soon enough her eyes went back to the two clones who were calmly heading to her direction. The Naruto who gave Hinata her first flight rolled his shoulders and full of confidence said, "I have no problem getting serious, but if you think your new style is enough without the Byakugan, you got another thing coming." He cracked his knuckles and added. "And I won't hold back next time."
That did nothing to help Hinata out of her daze.
"He's joking, right?" asked Kiba, turning a little green as he remembered Naruto's fist.
"Naruto might not, because he's able to dent metal with his punches, if I recall correctly."
Even Kurenai's eyes grew wide.
Hinata quickly replaced her gob smacked look for a grim smile. "Good, then I'll get serious as well. [Byakugan]!" She took the same stance as before, but the clones could already tell things were going to change.
This time, Team Naruto decided for a simultaneous attack. They positioned themselves in front and behind of the kunoichi and one tried a jumping roundhouse to the back of her head, while the second aimed low with a sweep. Hinata lunged before the leg sweep was anywhere near her and tapped his right leg three times before striking his chest with her palm, as he disappeared, she rapidly spun around to raise her right arm deflecting and flipping the still airborne Naruto. Her next strike dispatched him before he even hit the ground.
The real Naruto, who processed the whole fight, had only one thing to say "Awesome!" He repeated his tactic a couple more times and the results were similar – even with five clones. The true power of the Hyuga heir was something to behold; it made him boil with excitement. Seeing that she still attacked faster than he could, Naruto decided he would change tactic. He made some hand seals and now fifteen clones were surrounding Hinata.
"Attack!"
Hinata was clearly outnumbered, and couldn't hope to take on some many foes at the same time, but she smiled. The only thing Naruto saw was Hinata moving her hands at blinding speed, and then a dome appeared, shredding his clones like paper. Naruto was once again speechless.
"That's like Neji's technique – with only your hands!" he shouted once he regained the function of his vocal cords.
"I call it the Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty four Palms of the Hand."
Naruto grinned "I like; sounds fancy. Well let's continue, shall we? [Shadow Clone Technique]."
Once again a small army circled the Hyuga heiress, but this time she didn't even wait for them to move in, she already had her hands in position, prepared to get her chakra dome up and running at a moment's notice. The clones didn't move, waiting for some kind of game plan, and that was Naruto's current focus. He was pretty confident on his chakra reserves, so he first thought of simply outwait Hinata's technique. He thought better; there was a simpler and more fun way of testing her defenses.
Since Hinata wasn't moving he was able to get the preparation ready. And he didn't even need to hide the shuriken in a larger on like last time either.
[Naruto Chronicles: Star Shower!]
Hinata's only response was to move her hands even faster for her new shield. Once the metal rain was over most of the ninja stars were gone, some of the remaining ones were cut apart. Unreal! Naruto thought. Still, Hinata's defensive jutsu had dimmed, and Naruto noticed that the kunoichi's hands had started to slow down.
"Okay guys, let's blow it up!"
Naruto's clones each took out a tagged kunai and got themselves ready. Meanwhile, the real Naruto was making some hand seals. "Ready?" he started pumping his wind chakra in the jutsu. "Fire!"
The salvo of explosive tags reached their target around the same time. The explosion was deafening. Fortunately, Hinata was unhurt, but the concussive power of the tags finally took its toll on her shied and she staggered. She quickly recovered, ready to use the technique again but five Naruto were already in melee range, the real one among them judging by the menacing whirlwind in his hand.
Naruto had to give credit to Hinata. Even with that explosion and in her tired state she still moved faster than he did. Thankfully, he had enough foresight to call his clones with him. When he began his strike and her hand came within reach he unleashed his trump card; a seal-less Body exchange. Of course the beauty of it was that the clones switched with him, so he could keep his jutsu going. Even then Hinata recovered from her surprise fast enough to follow up the real Naruto up to the fourth one. This setup had him face her back when he switched places with his last clone. Knowing she wouldn't be able to escape this he started his uppercut motion.
Hinata knew she couldn't counter attack from her position, she also knew what ever that wind was she couldn't let it make contact with her so she leaned forward. Unfortunately it didn't matter to the blond Genin: she was still within range.
"[Tornado Upper]!"
Hinata found herself trapped within a localized whirlwind and couldn't move. Naruto kept the jutsu going as long as he could, thinking of taking advantage of the damage done to gain the upper hand. He stopped when her clothes had started to tear. When he stopped, the girl rose to meet an already airborne clone who met her with an axe kick, non-powered of course. Hinata met the ground for the second time this spar, but this time she did not get up.
"Hinata? Are you alright?"
The kunoichi stirred. She managed to painfully get into a sitting position. "I'm OK, Naruto. Fortunately you held back with that kick." Hinata didn't not want to think of the state she would be in if that kick had been anything like the punch she received earlier.
Naruto nodded, a bit relieved. He wanted to lend a hand to his friend, but they were still sparring, so he took his stance and asked, "Should we stop now or are you still up for it?"
Hinata shook her head. "I think I had enough for one spar. Besides, I have enough chakra to use the Sixty four Palms only a few more times. I don't need the Byakugan to see you won this time.
Naruto grinned at the praise and like for Kiba, lent a hand to his friend. He felt a bit uneasy about what he was going to say next, but he knew if Hinata wanted to be stronger, she needed to hear this. "Um, Hinata, how do you call you new style by the way?"
"Flowing Gentle Style."
"Catchy… anyway that style is great, and The Eight triangles… that was as awesome as I thought it would be, but… why didn't you try to attack?"
Hinata could see why he had asked that. Neji had told her the same thing many times over. And her answer had always been, "Because I'm better suited for a defensive style."
Naruto cocked his head. "Yeah but, you gave me all the time in the world to think of a way to counterattack."
Hinata hadn't thought of that at all. Neji attacked relentlessly, but it seemed that wasn't Naruto's style – he made use of trickiness as well. And giving an opponent time to prepare, she couldn't think of more fatal mistake.
Hinata smiled. "I see… Thank you Naruto, I'll keep that in mind." In fact, she was already thinking of ways to counter this weakness, And of ways to prevent her new barrier type jutsu of being overwhelmed.
"Whatever – now for the fun part." Naruto grinned. It seemed Hinata had forgotten their wager because she became a bit confused before she paled. Not wasting time, the blond whispered something in her ear. Hinata's eyes grew wide at first, then she became crimson, and finally she shook her head, refusing to comply. This confused Naruto. "Eh? Why? I don't think I asked something that bothersome. I just don't want to upset you like last time."
Hinata looked more embarrassed by the second realizing that Naruto had noticed her change of mood yesterday. Finally, she gulped and whispered her answer to Naruto. The blond blinked a few times. "Oh? …OK, then I won't do that anymore." He said with a shrug "See you around Hinata!"
He left so fast he didn't see Hinata, still red faced, get up and bang her head against the nearest tree. Kiba who was the first to arrive asked a bit perplexed, "You OK Hinata?"
"I'm fine."
The blood trickling from her forehead seemed to disagree however, so Kiba tried again, "Hinata are you sure you're…" he then felt it, the aura a girl mysteriously emitted that told a guy he was becoming annoying.
"I'm fine Kiba," she repeated in the same tone, yet Kiba flinched and hid behind Kurenai.
The Jonin being a woman recognized the situation immediately. "Come on Hinata, I'll take you somewhere." And with that the two kunoichi were off.
Kiba was still overwhelmed by the turn of events. He turned to the remaining member of Team Eight. "What just happened," he asked.
"I have no idea," replied his companion, "girl stuff probably."
That made a frightening amount of sense, so he nodded, and both went back to their clans for training.
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Naruto's next stop for the day was Team Ten's training grounds to meet with Asuma. The tips the melee oriented Jonin had provided had helped Naruto shape his swordsmanship to a level where it wouldn't do more harm than good. Besides that, Naruto had decided to work on his improved Corkscrew Hurricane with him. In a couple of days they had found a perfect solution to Naruto's problem, even creating powerful variations of the technique. By the end of his training session, Naruto had even managed to master one of them.
Next was supplies and food for the trip. The blond Jinchuriki didn't know how long this mission of Jiraiya's could take, but he wasn't about to spend it eating soldier rations. After that he spent the rest of the day equally window shopping and hiding from Konohamaru and his friends.
The sun had started setting and Naruto headed towards Ichiraku's in hope he could speak with his now favorite Chunin. He wasn't there, but Uzumaki remained, bragging about his latest exploits. As usual, Teuchi and Ayame humored him, but Naruto could see they didn't believe a word he said, as usual. He was still trying to find a way to convince them when his friend arrived.
"What's up Naruto?"
"Shikamaru!" beamed the exuberant teen, "Help me out here! They don't believe a word I'm saying." The lazy shinobi let himself fall on a stool and waited for some kind of explanation. "Like the fact that I fought Zabuza in the Wave Country."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Demon of the Mist, Zabuza? As in one of the Legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist? You?" The workers of Ichiraku were wearing knowing smirks and Naruto about to protest even more when Shikamaru grinned. "That explains a lot."
Ayame and Teuchi were definitely surprised when the young Chunin hadn't denied Naruto's claims. "What do you mean by that?" asked the young waitress.
The Chunin chuckled. "You know that bridge they made in the Wave Country?" Teuchi nodded, having no idea what he was getting at. "That's where Zabuza died, according to the reports." He let that information sink in before adding, "But the real kicker is the name of the place: The Great Naruto Bridge."
Naruto nearly coughed out the ramen he was eating when he heard. It was funny how everyone outside Konoha seemed to acknowledge him. He shook the depressive thought away and instead focused on the two Ichiraku's workers who asked about every story the blond had told them, just to be sure. Shikamaru confirmed every one of them – while sticking to the facts of course; sadly the young Nara didn't have his flair for storytelling. Still the faces they made when they realized that their favorite customer had told the truth all along made Naruto smile in triumph.
"See," he teased. "The client is always right."
Teuchi, laughed about it, glad for Naruto that he was wrong about his stories. "Man! Our Naruto, a little hero! Wait till the boys hear about that one."
That little matter being settled, Naruto informed Shikamaru of his latest mission with Jiraiya. Shikamaru looked skeptical, but said nothing. He tried asking his friend to come with him, but the genius refused of course, give Shikamaru the opportunity to slack off and he'd do just that.
"You'll be fine Naruto," the Chunin assured him, "As long as you stick to your own training, you're bound to get stronger." The Chunin then looked through his vest. "Which reminds me… here," he handed the blond a new sets of training weights, "I tweaked those a bit, so they'll take a bit of getting use to."
Naruto smiled. Shikamaru always came with something to help him improve. More importantly, those ideas always stuck to the basics leaving Naruto to create an improve his own style. He appreciated that. He might not make use of these depending on how long the mission would take or what dealing with the Kyuubi would entail, but he was grateful.
Naruto and Shikamaru spent some more time simply enjoying their meal, before it was time for Naruto to pack his things. "…Right then. I probably won't see tomorrow, so take care." And with that the blond Genin left.
When he was sure that his friend was out of sight, Shikamaru turned to the Ichiraku's owner. "I have a favor to ask you," he said.
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It had been a full day since Jiraiya had left with his pupil and he was already close to the breaking point. They had traveled at a leisurely speed so far but that wasn't what irked him. Naruto had been, for a lack of a better word, quiet. Each time the Toad Sage looked back to his student he could see the boy thinking about something serious, but the fact that he didn't tell him about it – didn't even mention it out loud unnerved him. It just wasn't Naruto.
"So…" the man nearly jumped when Naruto finally spoke, "What are we going to do, Jiraiya?"
"I…" the Sannin blinked before whirling around, "did you just call me by my name?"
The blond huffed. "You're supposed to teach me so I guess I could be polite. But you only get one shot… don't blow it up."
Jiraiya frowned. He didn't like this new and serious Naruto he was stuck with. Since he had come back to Konoha it had been surprise after surprise with the brat. First he had pulled a decent Wind elemental jutsu out of nowhere, meaning he both a better grasp of the basics and he had perfected his chakra control to a point he could now focus on elemental composition… and master it too, judging by the potential of his new technique.
Thenhe had refused to train under him – him, the Great Jiraiya – only to accept without protest the same evening. Now it seemed the brat could even be polite when he needed to. And why does it look like I'm the one who's lucky to be teaching him? The powerful shinobi became all of a sudden more imposing. "Oi, I think you got our roles reversed: I'm the great teacher," he said pointing at his all important self, "and you are the brat lucky enough to end up being my pupil, so calling me by my proper name is the least you could do."
The blond shrugged. "Whatever. So, lesson plan?"
Naruto's indifference seemed to hit the sage pretty hard. "Aren't you at least curious about our current mission?" he nearly whined.
"Your mission," corrected the teen "you brought me to train me – I ain't doing your work for you, you know."
Jiraiya kept his cool, but inwardly seethed. That brat… I don't care what Kakashi says, he's nothing like Minato! He shook his head and sighed. "Well I'll tell you more about it once we arrive at the next village."
That being said they spent another while in silence until Naruto initiated another conversation. "Jiraiya, are you good with seals?"
That got a grin out of the man. "Um… pretty good if I say so myself. The only one that I know to be better than me was…" he deflated again, the memory still painful after more than a decade, "The Fourth."
Naruto seemed to ignore his pain in favor of showing the pervert his belly. "Do you know anything about this seal?" he asked, channeling chakra and showing the red markings on his stomach.
Jiraiya's tone became hesitant. "…A good bit." He hoped that this conversation wasn't heading towards where he was thinking it was heading.
"Enough to seal it completely?"
Apparently it did. "Are you out of your mind brat? Didn't I tell you already how stronger you get when you use the Nine Tails Chakra and—"
Naruto frowned. "I can't use the Nine Tails chakra."
The Toad Sage fixed the boy with a stare. "Can't or won't?"
Naruto flinched, but did not give up. "Can't" he pressed, "as strong as I am with the Nine Tails chakra it's useless if I end up killing my friends when I use it."
Ah… a valid point, especially so after facing someone like Gaara. He didn't know what happened for Naruto to want his tenant permanently disabled, but it must have been important. This wasn't the kind of request the man could simply refuse; he would have to reason Naruto out of it. "I understand you fears brat, but that's exactly why you should train with it. Maybe I could help to take control. You wouldn't have to worry about hurting me… I am a Kage level shinobi after all."
The infuriating brat didn't even think about the proposition. "No," he said bluntly, "I don't want to just be in control when I use it. I'm barely able to think straight when it happens. Whenever I use it only thing in my mind is to finish the fight as soon as possible, and that's on a good day."
"And more important than that," he added, "I'm stuck to taijutsu when I'm fighting with the Nine Tails chakra; if I lose control, I can't even use my clones… and that's even more dangerous because I'm not even Sasuke's level at taijutsu; my specialty has always been ninjutsu."
"All the more reason to learn to use it then," argued the Sannin, "Besides, that's exactly why you have those seals on you. The fox will never be able to fully take over with those. Think of it as a dangerous bloodline limit."
Naruto shook his head. "It's still too dangerous. I almost killed a friend in a serious situation, and recently it happened again." he stared at Jiraiya with a resolute expression. "There's no way I'm ever going to let something like that happen again, you know!"
Well that explained a whole lot of things. Maybe Naruto didn't have the mental strength to deal with the Kyubi's influence yet. He would have to plan some time to train Naruto's use of his Jinchuriki powers. In the mean time… the seal was perfect as is. The fact that the Nine Tails wasn't fully sealed was an upgrade compare to the seal the previous host had. The leaking chakra had done wonders for Naruto's stamina among things. Cutting the brat off the chakra now…
"Do you remember the first time we met kid?" asked Jiraiya.
Naruto did. "That was when you helped me with chakra control."
The man nodded. "Do you know why your control sucked so much before?" he didn't let Naruto the time to think of an answer and went on. "Orochimaru did exactly what you want from me. The reason you had such crappy chakra control when we met was because of a seal preventing you from accessing the Nine Tails Chakra." Well his was rough, so in theory his chakra might not be as messed up but… "That's not all, your healing powers and fast chakra recovery would be gone as well. Even your stamina could suffer from it."
He hoped that his arguments were good enough, but from what he could see, the only thing Naruto absorbed from his little rant was the possibility of sealing the Kyubi's chakra.
"You're not going to drop this matter, are you kid?" seeing the fire in his eyes, Jiraiya was forced to admit the kid was the kind to try on his own… definitely a bad idea. "…Fine," he said and Naruto's face lit up in a disgusting way. "But on one condition; no matter what the effects sealing the Nine Tails chakra will have on you, you're still going to train under me and learn that jutsu we were talking about. If you don't learn it by the time this mission's over, I'm taking it off, and you never bring up something stupid like that again. Deal?
For Naruto, that was a challenge if he ever saw one. "Deal."
"Annoying brat," Jiraiya muttered. The Sannin took a deep breath as the fingers of his right hand started to light one by one. "Be careful this is going to hurt – [Five Element Seal]!
The hit sent Naruto rolling on the floor, as expected. However what he didn't expect was the brat losing consciousness.
"Naruto!"
…Nor the seals on his stomach turning into an ominous shade of orange. The Situation could be only summarized in one word:
Shit!
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"So, like I was saying, the kid does such a good job telling it straight to the little kid, and kicking ass left and right, that they named the bridge after him," claimed the owner of Ichiraku's ramen.
Sitting on a stool not so far away, a disgruntled middle aged man snorted. "Yeah, like I'll believe that kid can do anything more than screw things up,"
"I figured you'd say something like that Shou, so I got myself the latest map of the Wave Country." The man took out a scroll and opened it on the counter. On it was an island map experienced folk could identify as Wave with a glance. On the western part of the map, was said bridge.
Shou gawked. "Well, I'll be damned! It says it right there 'The Great Naruto Bridge'!" The man shook his head. "I guess the d… brat isn't such a screw up after all." He said, trying to quickly make up for his slip up, but the slight to Teuchi's little friend hadn't gone unnoticed.
Teuchi stare hardened. "This is my last warning, Shou, you try to insult Naruto in front of me again and friend or not, I will kick you out of my stand, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," muttered the man, "you're damn lucky you make the best ramen this side of the Fire Country, Teuchi."
"You know it Shou!" the cook gloated. And soon the famous ramen stand was again full of life and laughter.
"Still, where is the little twerp?" said a merchant, who this time disliked the blond for entirely different reason, "I haven't heard of him since the last Genin exams. Believe or not I kind miss his pranks. At least it made the town livelier now and then – when I wasn't the target anyway." The response was chuckles and muttered curses all around.
Teuchi always happy to boast about his clients – a good business practice really – smirked, anticipating the general reaction. "Last I've heard he left for a mission… with Jiraiya." There was a moment of silence. Then all of sudden everybody was talking.
"The brat left with Jiraya?"
"Jiraiya was here?"
"Has a new book come out already?"
"I swear, if he peeked on one of my daughters again…!"
"Wait, Jiraiya knows the brat?"
The news made such a fuss that no one noticed the pair of travelers who left the stand without a word. In fact, not even one of the clients or the stand workers noticed that the two of them had not eaten, let alone shown their face.
This mysterious pair swiftly headed towards the main gates of the village, eager to go on with their mission.
"Damn, we missed him by a hair!" said the taller of the two, "Then again, this might not be so bad. It's not every day you get to go toe to toe with one of the legendary Sannin."
"And it is not today that we will either," his partner chided emotionlessly, "Naruto's protector is fearsome. It would take much more than the two of us take him down, and that's not the goal of our mission anyway."
The only clue of his partner's disapproval was a grunt, as they had reached the gates and didn't want to attract attention. But the quiet remained even after they left Konoha. It was only a good distance away from the hidden village than Kisame threw away his straw hat and asked his partner, "So what's the plan?"
"We find Naruto, we distract Jiraiya, and then we kidnap Naruto."
"Simple, easy to remember, and a three-step plan to boot," teased the missing nin, "You make it sound easy."
His partner did not rise to the bait. "We should hurry, or the tail will grow cold."
"I'm afraid we can't let you leave that easily," said a third voice. A moment later and the two S-Ranked criminals were surrounded by four of the Leaf's most powerful shinobi. Kakashi was in front of them, kunai already drawn, to their right and left were Kurenai and Asuma respectively, and closing the circle was none other than Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey.
Kakashi spoke again. "I know you haven't done anything wrong per say, but you must pardon my curiosity when a missing nin like Kisame of the Mist pays a visit to my village."
Kisame only chuckled. "And here I thought things would be boring," said the shark-looking man. In one movement, he drew his sword, still in warps. The four Jonin shifted into a more comfortable position, ready to attack. The only one who hadn't moved was Kisame's partner.
"It has been a while Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai," said the second Akatsuki member.
Asuma, the battle hardened veteran, shivered when he heard the greeting. "That voice…" he started. The raven-haired missing nin, took off his hat, if only to confirm Asuma's hunch. "Itachi Uchiha," breathed Kakashi. "Jiraiya was right; you did come back to the Fire Country."
Itachi barely raised an eyebrow. "It seems Jiraiya's spying prowess is still admirable."
The copy ninja revealed his Sharingan. This wasn't a fight where he could afford to hold back. Still, even if he knew the pair's goal, he had to keep up appearances.
"What are you after?" he asked them.
"The Fourth's Legacy," Itachi answered
This surprised the Hokage's son. "You're after Naruto? Why?"
"That is for me to know," the Uchiha said still without a battle stance, "In any case, our business in Konoha is over. Letting us be on our way would be the wisest course of action," he warned, but none of the Konoha shinobi parted ways. Seeing this he took out a kunai. "Very well, you are welcomed to try and stop us," suddenly the usual pattern of Itachi eyes technique changed, "but know that you are all powerless before the full power of the Sharingan."
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Naruto woke with no idea of where he was. As far as he could tell, he was inside of a building or a city – big change from the road he had traveled along Jiraiya. Furthermore the place seemed dark and humid. Looking downwards, Naruto could even see putrid smelling water coming up just above his ankles. But he didn't feel wet… odd. After a second look, Naruto felt like he had been here before.
Naruto shook his head; this wasn't the time to ponder on that. The important thing was to leave the place and find Jiraiya who was no doubt worrying about him. The blond took a look around. Well, the obvious first step was finding the exit.
Without more consideration, the Genin took off, and after a right turn, his feeling of Déjà vu intensified. I think I might know where I am, realized the blond. Somehow though, it did nothing to alleviate his worries. To his left was an open area. As he neared the area, he could make out huge iron pillars. Naruto thought about looking for a proper exit, but his feet had a will of their own and decided to guide their owner directly in front of what could only be described as a giant cage.
Again, the Jinchuriki tried to turn around, but he froze in his steps when he heard a menacing growl. He looked for the one responsible for this sound had found razor sharp looking teeth in what could only be considered an evil grin. Next he saw eyes that shone with hatred and malevolence. Finally, the beast stepped out of the shadows and made Naruto regret being here in the first place. For behind the bars that seemed for some reason here only for decoration, stood what had been Naruto's bane for most, if not all of his life.
The demonic fox called Nine Tails.
Naruto gulped.
And the creature looked happy to see him too.
"Hello brat."
Naruto is in trouble! The only question is: how much?
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A/N: Hey readers, what's up? Sorry for the late update. Anyway I did some spring time cleaning. First up, the Jutsu-pedia has been moved to my profile.
Second, some of you might have noticed, if you skipped ahead of this to read the R&R, that it isn't there. Now, before any bodily harm, note that there is one this chapter; just go in the review page; it's posted under the Anonymous name R&R as a Ch 36 review. I'm going trying to see if people mind or not. Depending on the response, I might put the past and futures one there too.
Rant/ Still, how come I'm the only one who gets called on this kind of things? I've seen other authors doing omakes and other stuff just as long if not more… people don't complain about those! *Grumbles* /Rant
Next chapter will focus more on Shikamaru. See you around.