Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto
Jutsu: Original (Translation)
Bijū/Summon Speaking
Bijū/Summon Thoughts
Naruto mental reply
! - dattebayo
Warning: There will be graphic depictions of violence in this chapter.
Edit 4/24/16
Chapter 51
Year 1: Mountain, Birds, and Hotsprings
Eight weeks later – Yama no Kuni (Land of Mountains)
Naruto sat resting under the shade of a large pine tree overlooking a steep cliff. Currently, Naruto was situated in a small mountainside clearing deep inside a small canyon and far from any nearby villages with only a small stream to provide water for drinking and washing.
After completing his training in Tanigakure, Jiraiya had made him stock up on camping provisions and purchase a few thicker articles of clothing and cold weather cloaks before they set out for Yama no Kuni.
Jiraiya had insisted on picking up gloves, a new scarf, and snow boots for Naruto, even though he had mastered cycling Katon chakra through his system to keep his body warm. As Jiraiya explained it, the extremities were the first to suffer from frostbite and become damaged. Even though it snowed in Konoha at the very height of winter, it never got near the sub-zero temperatures that they would experience in Yama and Yuki no Kuni.
Naruto was glad that Jiraiya had double checked his current cold weather gear. His old equipment from Konoha would not have been enough to keep him warm at this high altitude. While there wasn't any snow present, that fact could easily change if a storm decided to roll through. The first night had proven to be much more frigid than Naruto had expected, and he was grateful for his new gear.
So, for now, Naruto wore his sweater full time, complete with a new black and gray scarf, a regular pair of black gloves, and a cheap pair of closed-toe boots with some woolen socks. There weren't a lot of various styles to choose from as Tani's markets were much smaller than Konoha's, so Naruto settled for some of the less expensive gear with plans to purchase more quality clothing from Yuki no Kuni when they made their way there.
He did like the cold weather cloaks he had purchased, however, unlike in Konoha where the standard was white with a red border a few inches about the hemline, the Tani cloaks were dark gray with a medium gray border and a gray border above the hemline. The cloaks were also longer than the standard Konoha ones, reaching down to the ankle instead of below the knee. His cloak was currently hanging from a small branch above him, so he didn't get it sweaty from his workout.
For the past two weeks, Naruto had focused mainly on physical training at the high altitude and starting work on his Doton level 2 manipulation exercise. The physical training was a lot more intense than he expected because of the altitude, and for the first few days, he had to lower his gravity seal to be able to complete half of the physical regimen that Jiraiya laid out for him.
His Doton exercise was not much better, even with the 80 clones he had focused on it there wasn't as much progress as he would have liked. Even with the boost to his Doton affinity he received from Shukaku, it was still difficult for him to use Doton effectively because he had such a high Suiton affinity. Shukaku had only raised his negative Doton capability to a neutral one.
Naruto didn't even want to think how hard it would be to complete his Raiton chakra manipulation exercise given his extremely high affinity for Fūton now. Naruto would have simply written off the exercise as a futile endeavor if Kurama hadn't insisted that he complete the training to increase his overall chakra control. When Kurama pointed out his vulnerability to Doton because of a lack of Raiton jutsu, however, the blond relented and kept the Raiton exercises on his to-do list. He might not ever become truly proficient with the element, but as long as he could master one or two more jutsu to help counter any Doton based attacks, he would be able to mask his severe vulnerability to Doton and Raiton for him enemies.
Naruto looked over to his clones and watched as they progressed through the various stages of the exercise. The clones were able to raise an earthen wall easily but solidifying the wall until it turned into stone was where they were faltering. The dirt wouldn't solidify properly. Instead, the wall would crumble when the clones added more Doton chakra to try and compact the earth to a degree where it would begin transforming into stone. Naruto knew they had the process correct; it was just because of his affinities that it was such a challenge.
Now that Naruto had caught his breath, he got back up and prepared to run through his next set of push ups, sit ups, crunches, kicks, and jumping squats. Naruto cleared his mind and focused on each exercise as a way of meditating to keep his breathing even so he wouldn't tire himself out easier. That was the primary reason that high altitude training was so exhaustive after all. As long as he kept control of his circulation, he would be able to push himself further than normal and increase his stamina and strength even faster.
It took Naruto an hour to finish up the last of his physical exercises. Just as he completed his final set of jumping squats, an ice cold gust of wind blew down from the mountain drying the sweat on his body and causing him to shiver slightly. Knowing that the temperature was only going to get colder as the midday sun became blocked by the mountain peak to the west, Naruto decided it was the best time for him to wash himself and his dirty clothing before it became even colder.
Gathering a fresh set of clothing and his cleaning supplies. The young shinobi made his way to the small watering hole that Jiraiya had created in a small bend in the stream by setting up an impromptu dam of rocks. Naruto stripped down and gingerly made his way into the frigid water.
Rushing his way through his bracing bath, Naruto quickly cleaned up before drying off with a towel and a liberal use of Katon chakra to warm himself. When they had first arrived at this location, Naruto had asked about using Katon chakra to warm the water itself, but Jiraiya forbade him from heating the water as it could shock and kill the young fish that made the stream their home.
Once dressed in his new set of clothing, Naruto set about washing his dirty laundry. It didn't take long to finish cleaning all of his dirty apparel before setting them out to dry, so he went back to camp and took stock of his provisions to decide what he would make for lunch. His ramen stock was low, as were his dried noodles, but he had plenty of rice to use up. With thoughts of simple roasted fish and steamed rice on his mind, Naruto's lunch plans were set, and he followed the stream down the mountainside to where it met a larger river about a quarter mile away from their camp.
Naruto slapped on a chakra suppression seal before Using Tōton Jutsu (Transparent Escape) before he left camp. Modifying the suppression seal had been harder than he had imagined. He would have preferred to put all his focus into making an effective seal first, but Jiraiya had decided not to take him into town in the end. When they first arrived near the town, Jiraiya had scouted ahead and discovered that there had been more movement in Yama no Kuni than he expected. With a larger presence of skilled sensors and spies being active, Jiraiya had altered his plans and made Naruto set camp in a more secluded location to ensure he remained undiscovered while the Sannin gathered intel on why Iwa had increased their presence in this region so suddenly.
Confident that he was safely hidden away as required, Naruto exited the small canyon the camp was tucked away in and picked his way down towards the larger valley below. With Iwa on the move, Naruto was on full alert as he cautiously moved out of the canyon and into the forest of pine and ash trees. While he could technically fish from the stream, all the fish that he had netted with his chakra strings were too small, so he simply tossed them back.
The main river had proven to be laden with larger fish of various types. Even with his terribly made chakra string nets, he had able to catch several large trout and salmon each time he had set up his snares. He still needed to work on the chakra strings more but couldn't use too much chakra in this area. Jiraiya promised that he would get to spend more time with his chakra strings and Jiton (Magnet Release) abilities once they were in the secluded wilderness of Yuki no Kuni.
Naruto scanned the area and reached out with his senses as he neared the larger river. He had run into a group of Iwa-nin resting by the river only one time in their extended stay here in the mountains, but it had been enough to drive Jiraiya's warning home quite firmly. Kurama had estimated that the group of four Iwa-nin were all Jōnin level, something Naruto would not have been comfortable taking on alone.
His sensitive ears picked up the sounds of a skirmish and Naruto debated returning to camp or investigating the disturbance.
"You should investigate. If these fools report a disruption in the area our hidden rest area may be compromised," Kurama said.
'What if that draws unnecessary attention to us?' Naruto said worriedly.
"I can sense the ones battling are equal or below your skill, you will not have any difficulty with them if you are detected," Kurama said reassuringly.
'Okay.' Naruto said before he began making his way towards the disturbance he was hearing.
Naruto slowly climbed a large pine tree and crept out onto one of the larger branches to look at the battle occurring less than 15 feet away from him.
The fight was between a team of, what appeared to be, Iwa chūnin and a Taki genin team. One of the Iwa chūnin was already dead at the hands of the Taki Jōnin, who was fighting off two of the Iwa ninja with the help of one of his genin. The remaining Taki genin were paired up against the remaining Iwa chūnin.
The Taki team was fighting bravely, but Naruto could tell the two genin were quickly losing ground against the lone chūnin while the Jōnin was starting to sustain injuries that would soon catch up to him.
'What do you think, Kurama. Should we interfere? It seems like Iwa will be the victor in this battle. If they win, maybe it will be less of a threat to us then if they disappear.' Naruto said with a pained tone.
He didn't want to watch the Taki-nin die, but he had to be cautious while he was in enemy territory and the Taki team would have known the risks of entering an area allied with Iwa.
"Hmm. I think perhaps it would be better to make them disappear instead. It might bring down some suspicion to the area, but if they survive they may increase forces in this area knowing that enemy villages are moving through their territory." Kurama advised.
Naruto merely nodded and began to sync with Kurama as he watched how his opponents were fighting to help craft his plan of attack. He was a little low on chakra due to the supercharged clones working on the Doton exercises, and the suppression seal had cut what remained of his chakra reserves in half to conceal his presence. All of the Iwa-nin seemed to be more focused on ranged attacks, so Naruto planned on ambushing them while they were preoccupied. Using Makoto to eliminate them would keep the amount of chakra flaring to a minimum and hopefully, there were no Iwa reinforcements en route already. From all appearance, it seemed that both sides had already thrown a considerable amount of jutsu out of each other, more than enough to alert a sensor.
When Naruto saw the Iwa kunoichi use Kawarimi to avoid a melee charge from the Jōnin, the blond was presented with his first target.
With a plan of action set into place, Naruto created two clones to fulfill his goals before drawing Makoto and engaging in the battle.
Naruto's first move was to relieve the Jōnin and his genin in case reinforcements arrived. Naruto threw a handful of shuriken towards an Iwa kunoichi who was in the process of using Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Flow Spears) to try and separate the black haired genin who was sticking close to his Jōnin sensei.
The kunoichi canceled her jutsu to leap back and avoid the shuriken while looking in the direction Naruto had thrown the projectiles from. As she scanned the tree line, she pulled a kunai and began deflecting another round of shuriken before running through the hand seals for Doton: Doryūsō once more. A barrage of earthen spikes erupted from the ground, spearing the bush that she suspected was concealing the owner of those shuriken.
Her eyes widened as she sensed a chakra spike from behind her and she whirled around quickly to lash out only to feel a blade sliding through her sternum and into her heart. She coughed up a stream of blood when Naruto twisted Makoto and pulled, letting the Iwa kunoichi fall to the ground in a heap.
The second Iwa chūnin had formed a Doton: Doryūheki (Mud Wall) to block an attack from the black haired genin before running through several hand seals and using Doton: Doryū Taiga (Great Mud River) to bog down the charging Jōnin.
Once he saw both the jōnin and the genin struggling to get out of his mud, he looked around for his partner only to see a blonde kid pulling his sword out of her chest.
"SHIZUKA! You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" the Iwa-nin said before he began running through hand seals and calling out Doton: Doryūdan (Earth Dragon Bullet). A giant dragon head rose from the muddy pool the Iwa-nin created and began hurtling muddy bullets towards Naruto, who used Kawarimi with a dirt clod next to the Iwa-nin and swiped at him with Makoto aiming to slice his carotid artery.
The Iwa ninja was able to duck under the high slash and roll away from Naruto's follow up backslash before he pulled several shuriken and threw them at Naruto to create distance between them.
Naruto was able to deflect most of them, but a few managed to slice into his arms and shoulder as he was not as proficient in blocking with Makoto just yet. Naruto saw the Iwa-nin begin to flip through hand seals and knew his charge was too slow to reach the man before he finished his jutsu. Thinking quickly, he formed a half ram seal to use a lower chakra version of Fūton: Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough) to disrupt the man's attack. The Iwa-nin was caught off guard by the sudden gale of wind which lifted him off his feet before he could use chakra to cling to the ground. The wind carried the Iwa-nin back several feet before slamming the man into a nearby boulder with enough force to momentarily daze him. By the time the Iwa chūnin recovered his senses, he felt a sword sliding into his chest and felt it twist, shredding his heart and causing blood to gush out of the wound and clog his throat.
The Iwa-nin merely gurgled his last breath before sliding to the ground when Naruto removed Makoto from his torso. Taking the opportunity to clean Makoto off on the Iwa nin's shirt, Naruto made a mental note to run through his cleaning routine back at camp as he returned Makoto to her home before turning towards the Taki-nin.
With the help of the Jōnin and the black haired genin, the other two genin managed to finish off the last Iwa chūnin and were now tending to each other's injuries. Naruto began rifling through the corpse of the Iwa kunoichi first while he let the Taki-nin gather themselves. Besides some mild distrust, he didn't sense any hostile intent, so he just continued with his task of looting, letting them decide if they wished to approach him or not.
Naruto found nothing of interest on the kunoichi besides the usual ninja tools and some personal effects which he left alone. He moved to the other Iwa-nin that he had killed and began searching his body.
This corpse had a few scrolls that were deemed important enough to secure with blood seals, so Naruto pocketed those to try and break later on. Practice made perfect, after all, and it was rare when he had a justifiable reason to break a blood seal. Naruto also found a package that contained two storage scrolls and a sealed box which looked valuable. Naruto sealed those away for later examination once the Taki-nin had left.
Naruto looked up to find the Taki team eyeing him warily. They didn't seem to have searched the other bodies yet, so Naruto merely raised an eyebrow in question as they stared at him.
One of the more dubious lessons he had learned in the Academy had been to take advantage of the fallen by searching their bodies for supplies and intelligence. Sure it was taught to act with some decorum and leave items of a personal nature to the fallen, but there could be vital documents or supplies that could help you survive after a taxing battle. Naruto thought such lessons would have been taught in Taki as well.
The Jōnin stepped forward to address Naruto.
"I thank you for your help, stranger. Those Iwa-nin ambushed us after we delivered a diplomatic parcel. I fear what would have happened to my genin if you had not intervened." The Jōnin said with a polite bow of his head.
"It's not a problem. I'm not a fan of Iwa anyways, so I was happy to help your team out if it meant less Iwa in the area." Naruto replied with a casual shrug.
The Jōnin looked confused by Naruto's response. "If you are not a fan of Iwa then what are you doing out here on your own? You seem to be the same age as my genin team here."
"Oh. I'm not alone." Naruto said with a chuckle. "My shishō thought to observe how I handled the situation. I will return to him after I search the rest of these bodies before burying them to hide the evidence of their deaths," Naruto said calmly.
The Taki genin looked surprised by Naruto's answer and were murmuring amongst themselves. The boy looked to be the same age or younger than they were, but he was already an apprentice. That was highly unusual for most villages and Yama no Kuni had no shinobi village, so they were curious about the mysteries surrounding this kid.
The Jōnin cleared his throat to silence his genin team before he spoke again.
"Well. Thank you again for your help, all I can offer you is some ryō for your assistance, but I am afraid that we must hurry back to our village as soon as we can."
"It's not necessary for you to reward me." Naruto raised his hand as an indication to stop the man from insisting. "Please, keep your ryō. It would be best if you did move on quickly, however, as there are always Iwa patrols moving through this area, and I should really bury these bodies right away." Naruto said before he moved towards the third Iwa chūnin and began searching the body without giving the team another thought.
"...okay, would you like any help with that at all?" Jōnin asked with a strange tone in his voice.
Naruto inwardly rolled his eyes at the annoyance before replying. "I can handle it, thank you for your concern, though." Naruto concealed the annoyance in his tone by adopting a falsely cheerful tone to send the Taki team off. "Safe travels to you and your team."
The Jōnin, luckily, took the hint and bid Naruto farewell before his genin team took off running after him.
Naruto searched the last corpse and was surprised to find this corpse had as many storage seals as he had. Naruto created a group of clones to use Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Headhunter Jutsu) to pull the other corpses deep underground while one clone carefully applied chakra to the seals on the last body.
Naruto's excitement proved to be premature as the last body didn't have anything special hidden on his person. There were a few storage scrolls with the usual supplies, a substandard fūinjutsu kit with some notes but Naruto could only scoff at some of the Iwa nin's prototypes. The rest revealed provisions, clothing, and camping equipment which were on par or below his current supplies.
Kurama snorted as Naruto rifled through the Iwa nin's notebook. "The fool is lucky he has not wound up dead by some of these haphazard seal arrays."
'I know right? Oh well. At least, we have a few more interesting puzzles to solve with those sealed scrolls and that box. I wonder if it has some kind of treasure or relic inside.' Naruto thought excitedly.
"Hmph. Focus on the scrolls first before you tamper with the box, kit. You never know if something vile is sealed away inside that box instead of treasure." Kurama warned.
'Good point. First, I need to get rid of this last body and scrub this area down as much as I can, then catch some fish.' Naruto thought as his stomach grumbled in hunger.
The last clone pulled the final corpse underground before the group began using Doton chakra to fill in any large gouges. Using a branch to sweep off all the various footprints and other signs of activity, Naruto then piled all the broken branches and logs before burning them with Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Great Fireball) and scattered the ashes for good measure.
Naruto reached out with his senses once more and besides the dissipating trail of the Taki-nin, he couldn't detect anyone else, so he made his way back to the river and began assembling a shoddy string net using Chōmei's gift. With his hopes set on trout over salmon, he cast the rudimentary net into the water and settled down on a branch overlooking the river to wait.
Four Hours Later – Yama no Kuni campsite
Naruto was stretched out on his stomach next to the campfire as he focused on the box he had taken from the Iwa-nin earlier in the day. He had easily broken through the security on the scrolls, and most of them were easy to decipher. The ciphers used to encrypt the documents were very similar to the one that Jiraiya had taught him in Tani, so it didn't take long for the blond to puzzle out the differences.
The reports weren't of any interest to Naruto, merely troop numbers after the invasion of Konoha, and some mentions of negotiations with Kiri since the civil war was apparently over. Naruto knew that Jiraiya would be all over this stuff, but Naruto couldn't find it in himself to care. Especially when he had such a lucrative box he needed to crack open.
Apparently the box contained some jewelry from the Earth Daimyō's late mother that was very dear to him. The letter with the box had strict instructions to deliver the jewelry to be cleaned and refitted in Yama no Kuni by one of the most famous jewelers in the elemental nations. There was also a hefty sum of ryō to ensure that the jeweler completed his task in time for the Daimyo to gift them to his granddaughter for her coming of age ceremony.
Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the trouble this would cause Iwa in the future. What better way to rub it in their face then giving said jewelry to Tsunade to wear in front of the Tsuchikage. Perhaps there was something in here that Hinata would like as well.
It was odd that the Tsuchikage had given a chūnin team this task, but since the seals on the box were pretty complex. They must have assumed the seals on the box would protect the items and give them enough time to recover the items should the delivery team fail their mission.
Naruto wasn't concerned with that thought. He had already eliminated the tracking seal and a few of the trap seals quite easily. The locking seal, unfortunately, was a little complicated for his skill level at the moment, and he had been running a few theories through his head on how to safely break the seal. It was one of the most challenging and enjoyable puzzles he had encountered in years.
Naruto looked up with a huge grin on his face as he scented Jiraiya approaching the clearing.
Jiraiya took one look at Naruto and couldn't help but smile also. If Naruto had that kind of look on his face, then something magnificent must have happened.
"So, what is with that cat ate the canary grin on your face there?" Jiraiya asked.
"Well. When I went to go fish down by the river for lunch today, I ran into a battle between a Taki genin team and a team of Iwa chūnin." Naruto turned his attention back to his box while continuing his story. "At first, I was just going to hang back and let it play out but I thought that leaving those Iwa-nin to report a Taki group in the area would cause them to start patrolling the area, even more, causing our camp to become compromised, so I intervened." Naruto pulled out the scrolls he had recovered before tossing them over to Jiraiya. "I think you will find these scrolls very interesting shishō."
Jiraiya began scanning the reports eagerly, and his grin only grew larger as he continued to read.
"This is some good intelligence you intercepted here, kid." Jiraiya said proudly "While Iwa might adjust some of their strategies since you caught this report, they won't be able to alter their numbers or movements so easily now. They will be far too concerned about how deeply our spies have infiltrated their forces if they believe we intentionally intercepted this team for that very reason." Jiraiya said gleefully.
"Judging from the rest of the stuff you looted from that team leads me to believe that these aren't fake reports either. Good job Naruto!" Jiraiya cheered before he pulled out a blank scroll and began scrawling a message.
"Have you summoned Gamakichi yet today?" Jiraiya asked as he wrote.
"Yea. We hung out for a bit, but he didn't like how cold it was and left." Naruto replied.
"Alright. I'll just have to use one of the other toads to deliver these to Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya said before summoning a toad.
"Deliver these scrolls to Tsunade right away please," Jiraiya asked the toad.
The toad saluted before taking the scrolls into its mouth and disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Jiraiya then moved over to Naruto and began studying the lock seal on the box over his shoulder.
"That is a pretty complicated seal there, but I have dealt with this kind of seal before. You want me to take care of it or would you prefer to break it on your own?" Jiraiya asked.
"I think you should go ahead and break it," Naruto said after a few minutes of thought, "I don't want to risk the contents, and I would like to see if my theory for breaking it is correct."
"Alright," Jiraiya took the box from Naruto, "Watch my movements closely so you can see how these interruption lines work."
Naruto observed Jiraiya as he applied a few additional lines of kanji around the lock seal before channeling chakra into it. The seal flashed between black and red a few times before fading away.
Naruto was impressed with Jiraiya's method. The approach that he had worked out with Kurama would have been more dangerous to the contents inside.
Kurama merely snorted in contempt at such a thought. The items in that box seemed trivial to him and belonged to an enemy. Destroying them would be a suitable form of revenge.
Jiraiya handed the box over to Naruto to open up. He grinned when he saw Naruto's eyes light up with excitement.
"They're your spoils, kid, so you should get the honors. Let's see what you took from the Daimyō, eh?"
Naruto lifted the hinged lid of the box and whistled at the contents he saw inside of the box. He noticed small scroll attached to the top of the box and opened it up. Inside was a list of items detailing the items within and what materials went into their creation as well as instructions describing the modifications the jeweler was to make to each piece. Naruto set this list aside to compare the descriptions of each item he studied.
The first thing that caught Naruto's eye were a group of necklaces that were dripping with large diamonds. High-quality diamonds and platinum settings from the looks of things. Naruto was no expert, but if a Daimyō prized these items, then they had to be top quality. Reviewing the list only confirmed Naruto's suspicions. Spreading out a sealing scroll on the ground to help him sort through his treasures, Naruto lay each piece out for careful study.
There were six of the platinum necklaces of various designs with diamonds of all sizes. Removing the little wooden shelf revealed several rings with various gemstone and/or diamond settings. He pulled these out one by one and laid them out for Jiraiya to examine, but one particular ring caught his eye, and he studied it carefully.
The ring had a large green stone that seemed to have red veins running through it. Referring to the list, Naruto found a matching description listed under the Plasma Jasper ring. The platinum band with decorated with alternating wires of silver and gold filigree that wrapped around the dark gray band before they coiled over the bottom portion of the Jasper itself, securing it in place while tying it into the main band. The ends of the wire were curled in a small spiral before they flared out over the center of the gem with the golden wire coiling to the left, the platinum wire framing the coiled silver wire that flared towards the right providing a pleasing frame around the bottom of the gem itself.
Naruto had a feeling this ring would be perfect for Tsunade and held it up for Jiraiya to inspect.
"That is a very fancy ring," Jiraiya stated after studying the ring for a second and letting out a low whistle. "What do you want to do with it?" Jiraiya asked.
He could tell Naruto had something particular planned for the ring as the blond had been staring intently at it for several minutes instead of going through the rest of the jewelry. None of the other jewelry had seemed to catch the boy's interest as much as the ring had.
"I think that one should go to oba-chan," Naruto said with a look of contentment. "Do you think she will like it?".
"Are you kidding me?" Jiraiya asked incredulously. "Tsunade-hime will love it! Not only is it her first present from you, but it also happens to be her favorite color. Even with the veins of red in it, I think she will be more than pleased with it." Jiraiya said honestly.
Jiraiya had thought Naruto would want to give it to his little Hyūga hime instead, but he knew a gift like that would floor Tsunade, even if it hadn't come from her precious nephew. The fact that it was loot stolen from a Daimyō would only be icing on the cake to the Slug Sannin. She had never been a fan of the pompous, uptight and greedy lords.
"Should we send it to her or wait until I return to give it to her instead?" Naruto asked, "It might be dangerous to hold onto all this stuff." Naruto added with a frown.
"I think it will be better if you hold onto it for now and give it to her in person. The effect would be much stronger if you did." Jiraiya replied with a thoughtful look on his face. "As for carrying this stuff around I wouldn't be too concerned about it, I do have a few ideas on how to really piss off Iwa with this stuff, but you should take as much of it for yourself as you want before we put any of my plans into action," Jiraiya said.
Jiraiya was confident Naruto wouldn't be too upset about letting some of those items go for low cost or free. Despite his initial upbringing as an orphan, Naruto never exhibited signs of hoarding, greed, or excessive frugality that was common for children that had grown up with very little.
"Okay. Shishō." Naruto replied before he began setting aside the rest of the rings. He sealed away the ring he planned to give to Tsunade into the storage seal on his medallion to keep it safe.
After briefly glimpsing through the remaining rings he studied a silver ring with a moonstone and diamond setting for a moment, thinking it would be suitable for Hinata, but in the end, it just felt wrong for her, so he set it aside and lifted the next wooden divider out of the box.
When Naruto spotted the next section of items, his eye was immediately drawn to, what appeared to be, arm cuffs for the biceps or forearms. Naruto lifted one of the arm cuffs out of the box discovered that the two separate cuffs were actually one piece. Connecting both cuffs was a group of evenly spaced thin golden chains with little gemstone settings laced through them. Naruto looked over the list and saw that this was an armband that was designed to fit above and below the bicep with the chains creating a net-like design of gemstones over the arm. Laying the band over his own covered forearm helped Naruto to fully appreciate the effect of the intended design.
The inch wide golden bands themselves were also ornately decorated with solid squares of mother of pearl held in place by golden cherry blossom shaped settings that sat between each pearly tile. The 14 karat golden chains were about five inches long and ran in straight lines between the top cuff and the smaller bottom cuff. Each chain had alternating gems of red garnet, rose quartz, and white chalcedony.
When Naruto held this item, the image of Sakura came into his mind. It only made sense given the theme of this piece. The gold and gems would compliment her unique shade of hair perfectly. Naruto frowned a bit at the thought. Hinata would be extremely jealous if he were to give something like this to Sakura, but Naruto just had that feeling that this belonged to Sakura. He didn't understand why Hinata was so jealous of Sakura. Hinata had been quite aware of how Sakura treated him in the Academy. It should be obvious to his Hyūga teammate that he wasn't as close to Sakura as he was with Hinata. They had only overcome their animosity towards each other for a few days and were barely beyond acquaintances at that point. To Naruto, it seemed inherently selfish of Hinata to expect him to avoid befriending a woman who had obviously approached him to make up for her errant behavior in the past.
After all that had happened in his life, he had sworn never to turn away someone who approached him with genuine intentions of becoming a friend or comrade.
Jiraiya saw Naruto intensely focused on another item and felt it was an excellent opportunity to tease his young apprentice.
"Ah. Found a good piece for your little hime there?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk.
"No. This item belongs to Sakura, not Hinata-chan." Naruto said in an oddly serious tone.
Naruto sealed the arm cuff away into his medallion before turning his attention to the rest of the bracelets. Hopefully, there was something inside here that would be perfect for Hinata, and she wouldn't get so upset.
Jiraiya frowned. "What do you mean by 'belongs to Sakura'? That stuff all belonged to the Daimyō."
Naruto let out a sigh as he continued studying the bracelets. None of these belonged to Hinata. He would have to find something else instead it seemed.
"I don't know how to explain it but when I pick up certain things I get this feeling that they belong to someone, and I see that person in my head. It doesn't happen all the time, and it has never shown me a stranger before." Naruto paused as he looked at another bracelet but set it aside, "When I picked up that ring I saw oba-chan. When I held that armband, I saw Sakura."
Naruto sighed. "I know Hinata-chan will be upset when I give it to Sakura, but I don't understand why. She was so upset about me enjoying the tea house because Sakura was the one that took me there."
"I brought her there so she could understand why I liked that place so much and to share something I enjoyed so much with her, but all she did paint everything in a negative light," Naruto said as he set aside another bracelet. "It really annoyed me that she was acting that way. She even said bad things about my parent's house when I took her there afterward. I actually started to get upset at her behavior. It was unsettling to me." Naruto finished with an exasperated huff.
"You have to understand that women are just as competitive as men but in different ways." Jiraiya soothed.
The poor kid was going to have to learn just how complicated women could be, and it was only going to get more confusing for him. It was the main reason Jiraiya loved being a ladies man in the absence of a genuine relationship. Figuring out how different women worked was like a puzzle with a very, very sweet reward if you succeeded.
"Tell me, has Hinata ever introduced you to a place that you really liked without some some input from you?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto thought it over as he removed another bracelet and set it aside. He lifted the last of the shelves out of the box and began to dig through the final section looking for something that might fit Hinata.
"Well. She did show me the Omusubi cafe, but Sasuke loves that place more than I do. I enjoy eating there also and make a point of eating there as often as I can because they didn't treat me like dirt, but the old lady at the market by my old apartment still makes hers better." Naruto said with a shrug, "Other than that. I can't say that she has. She does make me food sometimes, and it is always good."
Naruto's eyebrows furrowed when he spotted a very simple necklace. The necklace seemed to be entirely out of place in this jewelry box. Looking over the list, he was surprised to see the necklace mentioned. The necklace had spherical turquoise beads and cube shaped crazy lace agate beads on a steel chain. Naruto felt that this definitely belonged to Jiraiya.
"That's not the same thing kid, and you know it," Jiraiya said while shaking his head, "It's like this. Hinata couldn't help but be jealous because the girl who tried to kill you and was abusive to you during the Academy was able to find something you really enjoy through her own merits while she herself, who has been close to you for much longer I might add, was unable to do the same." Jiraiya stated while studying Naruto's expression.
When no look of comprehension appeared on the blond's face, Jiraiya decided to explain further.
"Let's face it, Naruto. You are not a very open person. If someone is trying to find a way to make you happy, they have to take a guess and hope they are successful." Jiraiya said with a gesture towards the tea Naruto had steeping next to him. "The fact that Sakura was able to introduce you to something new and that you enjoyed it immensely has made Hinata feel like she has lost an opportunity to discover some of your secrets. In some ways, you can say that she feels like she has lost a part of you to Sakura." Jiraiya explained.
"So, you are saying that I won't ever be able to enjoy that place with her because it will remind her of losing? That doesn't make any sense! And it doesn't seem fair honestly." Naruto said with a frown. "There was no way for Sakura to know that I would end up enjoying that place so much and learning about my love for tea when I had no idea about that stuff in the first place."
"Women aren't always fair, kid, you will learn that soon enough," Jiraiya said with a chuckle, "If you just explain everything to her I am sure, with some time, she will be able to enjoy that place with you and not talk so negatively about it. If she doesn't then you might as well kick her to the curb because she is being unreasonably selfish," Jiraiya said succinctly. "A true woman will give you just as much as she takes from you. If either of you seek to skew that balance for too long, your relationship will only go down in flames. Keep that in mind whenever you are involved with a woman and things will turn out just fine."
Naruto nodded before he sat up from his prone position and held out the necklace he was studying to Jiraiya.
The Toad Sannin plucked the simple necklace from his apprentice's hand and studied it briefly. "Huh. This thing certainly seems out of place with all this high class and expensive jewelry." Jiraiya mumbled.
"That's why it's perfect for you, shishō," Naruto said with a smirk.
"What are you trying to say, brat? That I am low class and cheap?" Jiraiya said with a scowl.
"If the geta fits..., seriously, though, that necklace belongs to you," Naruto said firmly.
Jiraiya sighed as he looked over the necklace some more. He had to admit that the feel of the smooth turquoise and blunted edges of the agate felt nice on his fingers, and he couldn't help but feel more confident and secure as he held the necklace in his hand.
"Thanks for this, Naruto. I am glad that you thought of me with this mysterious power of yours." Jiraiya said with a smirk.
His comment may have sounded sarcastic, but by putting the necklace on and tucking it under his gi top right away was a show of his sincerity.
"Your welcome, shishō. I should return the favor after everything you have given me." Naruto said with a soft smile before he turned his attention back to the box and sorted through the rest of the jewelry.
Nothing else seemed to call out to him, so Naruto rearranged everything back the way it was and handed the box to Jiraiya to put his plan into place before settling down to enjoy a nice hot cup of tea.
Jiraiya's plan was to distribute the jewelry to some very high profile geisha and madams making it harder for the Daimyō to recover the items and adding more embarrassment for him.
Plus, Jiraiya would be allowed exclusive access to all the geisha houses and bordellos with the price that some of these jewels went for, but he wouldn't tell Naruto about that part. Unless he sets the boy up to lose his virginity in one, but he would have to decide on that later if Naruto's hormones start getting in the way of his training over the next few years.
Six weeks later – Tori no Kuni (Land of Birds)
Naruto sat perched on a branch henged as a Sparrowhawk as he watched an Iwa battalion training near a local village on the border of Tsuchi no Kuni and Tori no Kuni. Jiraiya had already scouted this division and determined this would be good practice for Naruto to avoid detection and gather intelligence.
Naruto's job was to collect as much information as he could and compare it with what Jiraiya compiled from observing this group. Plus he was required to learn another jutsu from them just like he had learned the Suiton: Suiben (Water Whip) in Tani.
Naruto was still trying to get the gist of the Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist), but he had not been putting much effort into practicing it recently as his focus was still on Doton level 2, sleep seal, and the crippling seal.
Naruto turned his attention to a chūnin that was being berated by a jōnin. Naruto stretched his hearing out to catch wind of why the jōnin was yelling.
"Masaharu, I don't know how you managed to make chūnin without mastering this technique. This jutsu is a requirement for any loyal Iwa shinobi! How can you expect to take part in the barrage platoon if you can't even provide part of that barrage?" the Jōnin yelled.
"It's not my fault Takeru! I tried to tell my father that I was better off in the blitz division with my Doton: Domu (Iron Skin) and Doton: Kengan no Jutsu (Stone Fist) but he refused to listen. Somehow he reassigned me here instead of in the blitz division. If you can reassign me to that division instead, I would be grateful, and you won't have to go through any more trouble." the chūnin said while fidgeting.
"Oh, just fucking great! I should have known you would be a councilman's son. It's the only way that this kind of oversight could be made." the now identified Takeru sighed before continuing. "Look. I'm sure your quite capable of joining the blitz division, but it will be a lot more trouble for me to get you reassigned. You're just going to have to button up and learn this technique as soon as possible."
The man identified as Masaharu must have had a dejected look on his face since his instructor Takeru seemed to cool off a bit after staring at his student for a minute.
Takeru sighed and rubbed his head in frustration. "Okay. Here is what we'll do to resolve this mess. I'll let the commander know, so he doesn't start riding your ass even more. Your skills will still be useful for our division because we tend to get charged by the enemy anyways, so don't worry about it so much. You'll have plenty of opportunities to kill some tree huggers and cloud heads up close and personal."
"I understand. I will do my best." Masaharu said glumly.
"Listen close I don't want to repeat myself. This technique is the trick to using Doton: Iwadeppō no Jutsu (Rock Gun)..." Takeru then broke down the jutsu in detail while Naruto and Masaharu listened carefully.
'So, that's why I keep failing at the Doton manipulation exercise, I knew I had to create layers and compress them but I must not be making enough layers, or they are too thick.' Naruto thought to himself.
"I think I understand now Takeru. I'm sorry for the trouble that I have caused." Masaharu said apologetically.
"Forget about it Masaharu; it's not your fault. As long as you work hard, I'm sure things will be just fine. I'll speak to the commander about identifying you as our close range support or something along those lines, so the others don't pick on you for not being as efficient at ranged attacks. Now. Let me see you try the jutsu a few times." Takeru said.
Naruto carefully watched Masaharu form the hand seals and try to expel the boulder as instructed. Kurama helped Naruto memorize the hand seals so that he could practice the jutsu later to show Jiraiya that one of his objectives was complete. Naruto realized it would be the first truly offensive Doton jutsu he would have.
After watching the chūnin attempt the jutsu a few more times, Naruto grew bored and turned his full attention to the rest of the group training. Just as he turned his gaze to the others, he caught sight of a small group of chūnin sneaking away from one of their instructors before making their way deeper into the forest surrounding the village.
Naruto took flight and began to circle above the direction that the group of chūnin took. Once Naruto was confident that no one followed the group, he flew off into the forest to find a good spot to observe them.
It took Naruto a little while to locate the group, and when he did, he nearly fell out of his perch. From the distance he was spying from he couldn't tell that the entire group he followed were all kunoichi. The kunoichi had apparently discovered a natural hot spring which they were all bathing in now.
Naruto debated leaving them to it and keeping watch on the rest of the training group, but he remembered what Jiraiya said about how women will talk about everything while sitting in hot springs. Resigned to his fate of emulating his shishō the undercover hawk pressed forward in his task. Hopping up to a higher branch to get a better view, he shimmied his way closer to enter hearing range and keep an embarrassed eye on the kunoichi as they bathed.
Usually, Naruto would have just averted his gaze, but Jiraiya had drilled it into him that not keeping your eye on the target in some manner would cause you to miss valuable information since spies always acted contrary to how they spoke. If you weren't watching the target, you might miss a document exchange or a signal that indicated that the targets were aware of your presence.
Jiraiya's lessons managed to hold truth to them as the conversation evolved from common gossip to a more detailed discussion about the army itself. Naruto learned the name of the battalion that was training currently, which division they were a part of, and how many other battalions were barrage focused within the division these kunoichi were assigned to join. Naruto took a mental note of all that the kunoichi were talking about since it sounded like something important to keep track of for further study.
Once the conversation started to drift into areas that seemed unimportant to him, Naruto made his way back towards the main camp and perched in a tree overlooking the central campfire. Naruto knew better than to get much closer to the main tent as the commander would be highly likely to sense him.
After a few hours of listening to the rest of the battalion, Naruto flew off towards camp to meet up with Jiraiya and relay what he had managed to learn.
Naruto relayed everything he had learned over dinner and was happy to hear that he had satisfied Jiraiya's requirements for completing his training mission. Jiraiya was disappointed that Naruto had not paid more attention to the women bathing in the hot springs, but Naruto just disregarded his lecture as being part of his usual ribbing on him. All of the reasons Jiraiya advocated for studying the women's bodies as they bathed were shallow at best.
Naruto spent the next few days working on mastering Doton: Iwadeppō no Jutsu while his clones continued working on Doton level 2. With the new information he had received from overhearing the Iwa jōnin and chūnin, he was able to help his clones get further along, but they still had quite some way to go before he could master the exercise.
On the other hand, it didn't take him very long to master Doton: Iwadeppō no Jutsu based on comparing his attack with the practicing Iwa-nins. He was satisfied that he had a good attack to use against a Suiton based opponent. All that remained was strengthening his Raiton, and he could be considered well rounded.
Once Naruto had finished mastering his new jutsu, Jiraiya ordered him to pack up camp and summon Gamatatsu for a reverse summons to Myōbokuzan. Once they arrived there, Gamakichi would then reverse summon the duo to Yu no Kuni so that it didn't take them a month of travel to get to their next destination. Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow)
A few hours later Naruto and Jiraiya disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving no evidence behind of their presence.
Three weeks later – Yu no Kuni (Land of Hot Water)
Naruto sat in a private hot spring that Jiraiya rented out for Naruto's 14th birthday. Jiraiya was probably out spying on some women for "research" while letting Naruto relax for the rest of the evening.
Besides having a massive feast and receiving a gift of some jutsu scrolls and sake, Naruto had opted not to do much else for his birthday. He wasn't used to celebrating the event, and there wasn't much else to do in Yu no Kuni besides shopping, drinking, or relaxing in a hot spring.
As he sat back and let the hot mineral water soothe his muscles, the content teen closed his eyes and began to reminisce over everything that happened to him the past year.
His training for the chūnin exams. Everything that happened from when Orochimaru marked him up to his disastrous reunion with Makoto. Even the more recent events of his training trip and how he felt about his progress so far.
After Nami no Kuni had had grown so much closer to Team 7 and had inadvertently let them in past his guard. Much more than he had planned. He couldn't deny that he had bonded with them strongly, and was surprised to discover that he wasn't unhappy about that fact like he might have been just two years ago.
Kakashi had shown Naruto the real value of deception and perceptiveness when it came to combat. Before, Naruto could only be convinced to perform any type of deception with a heavy dose of coaxing from Kurama. With Kakashi's training methods, however, deception had subtly worked its way into Naruto's plans just by example. Kakashi also brought out his teasing nature which gave rise to the back and forth arguments he would have with Sasuke, much to Hinata's chagrin.
Sasuke was someone he could grow stronger with and rely on entirely. His attitude was similar to Naruto's own approach, but Sasuke had proven to have a different perspective on how he viewed things which helped Naruto look at things in a different light. Before Team 7, Naruto had a very narrow-minded view of things. With Sasuke's influence, he had slowly begun to understand that there were shades of gray in between the black and the white.
Hinata was the reason Naruto began to open himself up to more of the emotions he tried to suppress within himself. Naruto had developed a healthy fear of the base emotions because of Kurama's lectures, but Hinata had slowly made her way past his defenses and began coaxing these feelings out of him against his will. Naruto found it strange that neither himself or Kurama held resentment towards her for it. Instead, he found himself curious about exploring these feelings but reluctant about embracing them because of nervousness and a little fear. Kurama had simply told him to exercise caution so that he wouldn't lose control of himself.
Then the Chūnin exams came, and Naruto had been feeling very confident in himself and his teammates. In some ways, he had been overconfident because of his growing control over Kurama's chakra. That fact became painfully obvious when Orochimaru showed up and shattered that overconfidence with a healthy dose of humility.
His internal battle with Orochimaru had awakened a darkness inside of him that he didn't admit to anyone. Naruto had been hesitant to kill people unless they were morally bereft and obviously committing serious crimes.
Bandits, thugs, assassins were all targets that Naruto could kill with impunity, but spies, saboteurs, and traitors with a cause were a gray area that would give Naruto pause (unless they were trying to kill him of course). Now, he no longer felt that way.
This darkness only became more prevalent after the events of the invasion. Before, Naruto would have tried to gain help for Makoto like he did with Sakura, but his darker side demanded that he kill her for her treachery.
At that moment, he had no regrets, but when he analyzed what happened, he became deeply unsettled. It had been far too easy for him to embrace and kiss her tenderly while he drove a kunai into her heart.
Then he had killed scores of Root members without a trace of any remorse. He actually took pleasure in killing them. At the time, he was willing to accept the fact that it was simply the synchronization with Kurama that allowed him to kill mercilessly. Now he was not so certain that was the primary cause.
Over the next few days after the invasion, Naruto had feared that he had been more corrupted by Orochimaru's influence then he realized. He had clung to the guilt he had felt for Makoto's death as a way of confirming to himself that he had not become something despicable. Even with the aftermath of his assault looming over him he tried to embrace the fault of what occurred entirely while convincing everyone else that he had begun to recover and no longer felt guilty about it.
Naruto could never hide such things from Kurama but aside from a some encouraging comments, Kurama was content to let Naruto sort these feelings out on his own.
It wasn't until he had his date with Hinata, and tea with Sakura that he had been able to let everything go completely. Naruto realized that not having remorse over killing threats or even people on the wrong side of things had not fundamentally changed him. He was not in danger of becoming a mindless killer who reveled in taking lives regardless if they were innocent or not.
Instead, he was leaving behind his childlike tendencies. He was moving forward into his adult life with a better understanding of reality. A shinobi didn't need to justify the death of his targets to try and shield himself from the fear of consequences. Instead, he would accept what would come and try to prepare accordingly. That was the best way to ensure that he and everyone he cared for came out of a conflict whole.
Naruto had approached his training trip with a determination to remain primarily focused on achieving his goals and become stronger. Nothing else would distract him or come between advancing the plan or gaining the strength to complete it. Taking time out for trivial matters would only slow him down, or sidetrack him, so he had no intention of stopping to smell the roses, so to speak.
Yet, that belief was squashed before it even managed to mature when Naruto met Fū.
Fū's inherent cheeriness and unrelenting determination to befriend everyone and enjoy her life regardless of her circumstances had affected him more than he would like to admit. When coupled with the lecture about the ruined city of Makimuku, the lessons in espionage, and the drunken mishap that occurred in Tanigakure, Naruto realized that the path he had been determined to follow would have made him the emotionless weapon that Danzo had always wanted.
Stopping and taking in one's surroundings was essential to gaining the ability to "adapt on the fly" as Jiraiya had called it. Familiarizing himself on normal human behavior allowed him to gain a better understanding of how people would react or adapt to certain situations. He had never had that opportunity in Konoha because people altered their behavior around him because of Kurama. Taking the time to enjoy his surroundings also helped him keep things in perspective and question his actions to ensure what he was doing was the right choice.
It had been a very long time since he had questioned Kurama's motives on anything. He couldn't even remember when he had last disagreed with Kurama on something completely. Jiraiya had pointed out just how dangerous that belief could be.
Naruto trusted Kurama more than anyone else, and he would never doubt Kurama's intentions or motives, that was a given. Yet, he couldn't dispute that Kurama had only one perspective to work with and had been essentially sequestered from the world for a long time before he awoke in Naruto on the night of the attack.
Naruto needed to provide a different point of view for Kurama to consider. To do so, he would need to take other people's opinions into account as well. Then they would both be able to come up with a plan that worked best for everyone. Naruto still felt Kurama's original plan was the best way for them to fix the problem right now, but perhaps as they gained more knowledge and information about the ancient jutsu, they would be able to find a way that was equally beneficial to everyone.
For Naruto, the risk to himself wasn't even a consideration. When it came to solving the problem, any cost was acceptable. Making an experimental and potentially dangerous jutsu, even more, dangerous was not even a minor concern for him.
How could it be when his father had been willing to pay the ultimate price to save a village? Naruto would not take that option off the table when it came down to saving the entire world.
Perhaps then humanity would not have to pay a steep price, even if they were the primary cause of the problem.
