Hello everyone! These are still not coming as fast as I would like, but believe me I'm trying my best! Not much is happening here, but it's still necessary to get through. Whatever it's worth, here it is...and enjoy!
Naruto had successfully done the meditative lotus position before. Using it for the purpose it was intended for was another story. "Tell me, what do you feel?" the elder sage asked as he meditated across from his newest student.
Naruto scrunched his face as he concentrated. "…nothing."
The sage sighed. "I was afraid of that." Swinging his club behind him, he hopped around him. "Don't feel bad; it takes time."
"You sound disappointed I'm not getting anything despite just starting." Naruto checked himself as he talked back.
"JUST started? My boy, you haven't even begun." The sage said.
Naruto's brow scrunched. "You said-"
"Yes, you took the position, but you're not doing what I said."
"I'm trying to sense the chakra, alright!" Naruto opened his eyes and snapped at him.
"I'm afraid that's the problem." The sage sighed. "You're TRYING!"
"What else am I supposed to do!?"
"Let it come to you naturally."
Taking the toad's advice, Naruto decided not to force it, and just sat there. "Nothing?"
"I'm still sitting here." He replied sarcastically.
"Yes, but surely, you should be able to at least sense it by now?"
Naruto growled. "Well, what's it going to take!?"
"For one, clearing your mind." The elder toad said. "Let go of all unnecessary thoughts."
"I have…"
"No, you haven't." the toad said. "I can see it written all over your face: you're distracted." Naruto at first didn't respond. Then the amphibian dropped a bomb on him. "You're thinking of her, aren't you?"
Finally, Naruto lost his cool as he shot up and threw his arms up. "What else do you expect!?" Naruto shouted. "I'm in exile, and I can't come home until I master these sage arts! You said it yourself, it takes YEARS to master! Meanwhile, Sakura is out there raising my kids on her own! So, you can imagine how I'm in a rush to get this done!"
"And that's the problem!" the elder toad snapped back. "Believe me, I understand how you feel! But these arts are not something you can force to work for you! You have to feel it out!"
"Augh!" Naruto growled as he threw his arms up. "I'm not in the mood for this crap!" he yelled as he stormed off.
Naruto just wandered aimlessly, the fauna no longer shocking him. Seeing a rather large tree, he suddenly ran up it on a whim. It took longer than most trees he climbed, but he still reached the top shortly. Looking out at the horizon, he had to admire the green and the mountains. Gently, he settled himself on a branch as he took it all in. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Naruto turned to his right to see Jiraiya seated next to him on the same branch. "How did I not sense him?"
"And you picked my favorite branch. You and I really are alike." Jiraiya said as he took another whiff of his pipe. "First lessons aren't going well, I take it."
Naruto just growled as he turned back to the view. "He wants me to let go of everything."
"Sounds about right." Jiraiya answered affirmatively.
"Including my love for Sakura."
"You misunderstood." Jiraiya said as he put his pipe out. "He doesn't want you to forget your love for Sakura, or your children. He just wants you to let go of your attachment."
"I don't see the difference." Naruto mumbled.
Jiraiya sighed. "Love takes many forms. There's unconditional love, where you have love for a person for whom they are and wish them happiness no matter what. Then there's possessive love, which makes you want to spend all of your time with them and part under no circumstances."
"I DO love Sakura unconditionally!" Naruto protested.
"Yes. I've no doubt of that." Jiraiya said. "But, you are only human. Ever since you two consummated your relationship, did you ever think about letting her go?" Naruto was about to retort, but fell silent. They didn't marry, but they practically were a married couple. Hell, Naruto would have asked to make it official were it not for Kabuto! If Sakura for any reason wanted to break up with him…he couldn't even entertain the idea. "There's nothing wrong with having that kind of love." Jiraiya continued, seemingly reading his student's mind. "But this type of training requires great sacrifice. I can't take you back until you succeeded. I hope you will always LOVE Sakura during this time…but as long as you still WANT her, you'll never succeed."
"Why is that?"
"Possessive love clouds focus. Most of us don't notice it; most training we undergo is only temporary, and we don't think too much on it. We generally don't think of such things as such a great sacrifice. But now, knowing you have a family and what's at stake, you want so desperately to see them again."
The two just sat in silence for a while. "Remember when you took me away from Konoha the first time?" Naruto asked out of the blue.
"Hm." Jiraiya nodded, faintly smiling. "Good times."
"I never thought too much about going back home during that time. Sure, I loved Sakura-chan back then, but it wasn't the same as I feel now. I was convinced she was completely in love with Sasuke, and I resolved to let her be happy. I just…accepted it, and made the most of what I had then. When I came back…I just fell more in love with her. I still kept her at arms' length, but time passed. We grew closer, and when she finally indicated she had let Sasuke go, we cautiously took the relationship to the next step. And after the war, we really took the plunge. Now I just can't imagine a life without her." Jiraiya slightly nodded in understanding. "Hey, Ero-senin?"
"Hn?"
"Didn't you train with these toads?"
"I did." Jiraiya answered. "After me and my team became young adults, we more or less went on our separate paths. I sought the toads, and that took up much of my time until I turned 30. Of course, I came back…I was never banished like you are now…but it was a good excuse to get out of the village and be at peace when other things in the outside world nagged at me."
Naruto finally looked at Jiraiya. "But…you said you never mastered the sage techniques."
Jiraiya sighed. "Yes, that's right."
"…Surely, you learned something, right?" the jinchuriki asked.
Jiraiya stood, facing him. "I said I never mastered it." He answered. "But I did learn things, yes." Jiraiya put his palms together and closed his eyes. For several moments, he was still as a statue. "On your own, sage techniques are impractical." He explained. "It takes too long to gather the natural energy around you. You'll need to summon the masters to help you cut the gathering by a third." Naruto nodded, as he saw the changes begin to occur. Jiraiya's skin began to be covered by warts, his fingers enlarged and fused into three digits. His nose enlarged, and finally, he opened his eyes. Instead of natural human pupils, the became horizontal slits and red markings surrounded his eyes. "Ta-da!"
"EWW!" Naruto shouted in horror as he scrambled all the way back to the trunk. "I'M LEARNING HOW TO TURN INTO THAT!?"
"This is incomplete." Jiraiya answered. "Gathering natural energy causes a metamorphosis to more toad like features. In theory, if you master it, those features should be minimized." Jiraiya looked at his hands. "I haven't faced a worthy opponent in a long time to justify using this technique." Turning his head to the mountain, he smirked. "But, if I had to…"
Suddenly, he jumped to a height impossible for a normal ninja. "Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed. Jiraiya punched the mountain; a giant crack formed, and the very peak slid backwards as it fell back into the forest below. "Holy…"
"Yup, that's the gist of it." Upon landing, Jiraiya then began recede back to his normal appearance. "And that's the incomplete version. Had I mastered the form, that mountain would have shattered to pieces from the get-go."
For the first time in days, Naruto began to chuckle. He imagined himself transforming and beating Sakura in all sorts of contests of strength: arm wrestling, power lifting, breaking solid objects… "Oh, the things I could do with that power…" he snickered.
"As long as you master it and don't actually turn into a frog." Jiraiya reminded him dourly. Naruto's face then panicked as he imagined himself as a giant frog trying to kiss Sakura, as she turned away in disgust from getting slime all over her. "Anyway…" Jiraiya said as he brought him back down to earth. "…I know this is hard Naruto. I understand you're in an impossibly bad situation. All you can do is make the best of this situation. Relax. Enjoy the view. Take the time to do something you haven't been able to in a long time." Naruto huffed as he looked back to the horizon. "And I want you to think about this: Which do you want more? To be with Sakura? Or for her to be happy?" Naruto was just left speechless as Jiraiya walked away.
Naruto did not address the sage toad the rest of the day; he just stayed outside and went straight to bed. At night, Naruto stared up at the ceiling from his futon. Still, Jiraiya's words stayed with him. He thought he could get over it after a good night's sleep, but that sleep eluded him. He began to toss and turn, and still he could not rest. "Aw, damn!" Naruto threw the sheets off and stormed outside again as he wandered aimlessly, having been assured earlier the forest had no dangerous predators. Naruto just kept walking for what seemed like hours when a huge feeling suddenly came over him. He fell to his knees as he felt his eyes water. The emotions finally burst through their walls, and he wailed into the night. "SAKURA!"
Come the next morning, the Sage Toad was seated at his rock, meditating. He opened an eye as he heard something crunch the grass and approach him. He turned, seeing Naruto approach him, his eyes red from crying. "I owe you an apology." Naruto relented. "I…I desperately want to get home. I have people I love, and it's hard for me to let them go."
"I know." The Toad Sage said sympathetically. "And I think I owe you an apology as well. I should have chosen my words more carefully. Letting go of what you are afraid to lose is one of the hardest things an individual can do." Stroking his beard, he smiled. "Perhaps, that's where we should start. State of mind is important to mastering this art. And as long as your mind is clouded, we will never get anywhere." He beckoned Naruto to sit in the lotus position, to which he complied. "Now, we're not going to search for something abstract this time. Instead, I want you…to think about your family."
"To be honest, I've only known my children for a few minutes." Naruto answered nervously. "They're not even a month old."
"Then take what you know about them thus far, and guess on how they will be. Only the good stuff…" the sage instructed him.
For a long time, Naruto only thought about his family, this time under the Sage's instruction to do so. This was more complicated than it sounded. He had to learn to push away his worst fears, while trying to imagine the best possible outcomes. He imagined his children as great ninja, Sakura looking at them with pride. He then had to learn to be okay with not being in the picture. At first, he tried to keep track of the time he spent with this training, but the sage forbade it after a few days. "No distractions. You can't afford it." Naruto relented, and let go of keeping track of the time.
They kept at this for a while. Naruto wasn't told if he was making progress; he was ordered not to think of it. This training truly forbade any distractions of the mind. Eventually, he was able to do the meditating on his own. Not worrying about his family, but simply thinking of them. Being proud of what his children would become, what a wonderful mother Sakura would be, and appreciating that he had a family, despite the circumstances. One day, in the middle of his meditations, he opened his eyes, thinking of them as he observed the sunset, admiring the orange hue. "Sakura would like this place…" Breathing deeply, he said out loud. "Sakura…whatever's going on…I hope you're happy…and please understand…I love you…"
The Sage observed Naruto's meditation again one day. "Something in you has changed, boy." He noted.
"You really think so?" Naruto asked, staying calm and not even opening his eye.
"Your mind is clear. Your heartbeat is steady…" The Sage said as he listed the changes with a smile. "You are truly at peace now."
Naruto chuckled slightly. "Well, I wouldn't call it peace so much. Just…acceptance." He opened his eyes as he explained. "Make no mistake, I'm going to do everything I can to return home as soon as possible. But…I've accepted it will take a while. I can't force this process to go any faster. All I can do is complete this training to the best of my ability, and trust in Sakura to be strong during my absence."
The sage smiled proudly as he gestured towards him. "I believe it is time for a change in our training regimen again. Close your eyes, and center yourself." Naruto did so. "Feel the energy around you. Reach for it, but don't force it…"
Naruto breathed as he let go of all distractions. Then, he felt something. It felt similar to chakra, but instead of being focused on one point, he felt it was all around him. "Wait!" he said excitedly. "I…I think I feel it! It's like the pressure of my rasengan in my hand…but it surrounds me."
"By the gods, you've done it, boy!" The sage said, jumping up from his perch and swinging his fist in excitement. "Now, comes the next step…you must absorb this energy!"
And...this is all I've got so far..
There's not too much for me to rant about with Boruto currently. I think I've left out how now Boruto has lightsabers. Yes, they're "Chakra" Sabers, but if it looks like a lightsaber, makes sound effects like a lightsaber, than it IS a lightsaber. Other than that...eh, the usual blandness.
Also, there was a bit of an incident with one of the animators of the series. Apparently, during his free-time, he made some rather intimate fan-art of Naruto and Hinata. Nothing Hentai-like mind you, but something that probably wouldn't have made it on the broadcast. Anyway, apparently people complained on his twitter and he had to remove it. And guess whom the NH fanbase blamed? Us.
WHAT!? Look, it's been years since the endgame was decided; do you honestly think we care at this point? They're in full swing with a story about the NH and SS children, do you think we really matter to them? If we had that kind of power, Boruto as we know it would not exist.
Then who was throwing a hissy fit? Well, two people. One group were concerned parents who believed that the young fans should not be exposed to this kind of fanart (despite all the crazy shit Japan animates, there is SOME restraint and unspoken rules on what can and cannot be done on children's programming). Another...was the SasuSaku fanbase. Yes, that's right. One of the winning fanbases was mad at this guy because he didn't draw any fanart of Sasuke and Sakura being intimate. Which to be fair, is not his fault (Kishimoto literally gave SS NOTHING).
Besides, it seems there's actually a professional incentive NOT to do this kind of stuff. One of the animators for the series Haiyakuu drew intimate fanart of two of the males characters together. And that person got fired.
So, if something goes wrong in Boruto, can you please not attack us? Yes, we complain and make fun of the new generation, but most of us have gotten it through our heads that they don't care about us, we're not the ones currently supporting the series, and if there is a shake-up, we're not the reason.
That's it. I'll try to get the next installment up soon.
