See chapter 1 for disclaimers.
AN: Sorry for the long delay. I do plan on finishing this.
Ch. 30 Training and toads
OOOOOOOOOO
Naruto sought out Kakashi almost as soon as he got back. His first stop was the hospital to visit Hinata. He spent an hour talking about the matches and who was fighting who in the finals. She needed the distraction. Naruto had seen no sign of any other Hyuugas at the hospital, and that confused him.
"I better get going." he said, eventually. "I need to find Kakashi-sensei and work out our training schedule. I'll be back to visit when I can."
Hinata nodded, a happy smile on her face. He had been her only visitor so far that was not a member of her team. She hadn't expected a visit from anyone in her family, and she wasn't surprised. Her performance against Neji had ignored the family style, and in the eyes of her father, that would be a slap in the face. Worse, she had still lost.
Naruto's support and that of her team meant the world to her. She knew she would be relying on that support in the months to come. She knew the elders had plans for her, and that her father's desire to protect her was waning. She would need all the friends she could get.
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Kakashi shook his head. "Sorry, Naruto. I can't train you. I've got my hands full training Sasuke. He's got Gaara for an opponent, and that won't be an easy fight."
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Naruto demanded. "I've no idea how to fight an Aburame. Hiro's off on a long-term mission after today, and Keiji just started at the academy, teaching the new students."
"He is?" Kakashi asked, a bit surprised. "I hadn't heard he'd accepted a teaching job. Good for him. Don't worry, though, Naruto. I'm not abandoning any of my students. I've arranged a special tutor for you and Keiko."
"Who?" He still wasn't happy, but at least Kakashi wasn't abandoning them completely.
"You'll meet him later today at Ichiraku's. Be there at noon." With that he turned and left. Naruto glared after his sensei for a moment, and then went to find Keiko. She wouldn't be any happier with Kakashi foisting them off on another sensei than he was.
OOOOOOOOOO
Keiko scowled. "He just dumped us on another sensei?"
"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "I guess I can understand him worrying about Sasuke, after what we saw Gaara do in the forest, but still…"
"So, who did he get to tutor us?" They made their way toward Ichiraku's a little early so they could get lunch before training. Ramen wasn't her favorite food, but it made for a good meal once in a while.
"He wouldn't say," Naruto admitted as he pushed aside the curtain and approached the counter of the small stand. They looked around and saw only two customers. One was a grocer that scowled when he saw Naruto, earning disapproving looks from the owners. The boy himself ignored the man. He was instead focused on the ninja that was scowling at him.
"Hey, it's the pervert. You haven't seen a ninja around here, have you?"
Ebisu bristled at the appellation and the question. "You have the nerve to call me a pervert after using that disgusting technique? I suspect the term fits you better."
"That trick only works on perverts." Naruto shrugged. "Anyway, we're supposed to meet our tutor here. Kakashi-sensei said he'd be here."
"That would be me." Ebisu said flatly. "I took the job out of curiosity, wanting to learn if you actually had any other skills."
"So… You two know each other?" Keiko asked, feeling a bit lost.
"Kakashi got us a tutor that I took out with one punch." Naruto explained.
"I will test your skills to determine your strengths and weaknesses. If you think I have nothing to teach you, we will begin with a game. Hide and seek. Go. I'll give you until I finish my lunch." He turned back to his ramen.
The two genin looked at each other and then took off, heading off in a randomly chosen direction and quickly changing it before stopping on a roof a fair distance from the stand.
"That wasn't hard at all. Try to be more of a challenge. I'll give you 30 seconds."
Naruto whirled around and glared at the special jonin. "Ramen should be savored, not bolted." He grabbed Keiko's hand and they were off again.
Ebisu found them quickly six times in a row, and finally, Naruto agreed. He suspected the man was a talented sensor, but that didn't negate the fact that he'd succeeded.
"The first thing I need to do is assess your abilities." Ebisu looked at the two genin. "I got a general idea of some of them during the game. Now, I need specifics. List the jutsu you know." He nodded to Keiko to begin.
The next hour was frustrating and irritating. Naruto, Ebisu declared, badly needed to improve his chakra control, while Keiko needed larger reserves. He showed each of them exercises to improve, but refused to teach anything new till he saw improvement.
"You do know the third stage is in a month, right?" Keiko asked.
"So, you had better get started." Ebisu huffed.
With little choice, the two began the chakra exercises he dictated. Naruto knew that, in time, they would have the desired effect, but time was the issue, and they would not help with the upcoming battles.
For three days they worked at this, ending each day with Keiko exhausted and Naruto frustrated. Neither was making noticeable progress. They discussed it while walking to the training field on the fourth day.
"It took us months of training to get where we are, doing similar exercises." Keiko pointed out. What's Ebisu-sensei thinking, focusing on this?"
Naruto shrugged. "Let's just ask him."
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"Neither of you is ready to be chunin." Ebisu stated flatly. "With focus and training on your basics, you might be ready next year."
"We're in the exams now." Keiko gritted out. "The basics won't help us."
"Assisting you in that regard would be a disservice to Konoha. You won't die in your matches, although I would advise simply forfeiting to spare yourselves and the village the embarrassment."
"Let's go, Keiko. This guy's useless." The two turned and left, both wondering how they would find a new trainer at this point. They walked for a time, aimlessly, considering their options. Eventually, they passed the local baths. Naruto was thinking hard and not paying too much attention to their surroundings, which is why Keiko's angry exclamation caught him by surprise.
"Huh? Wha…?" He followed her glare to a white-haired man that had his eye pressed to a hole in the outer wall of the women's baths. Naruto shook his head. "Perverts. Konona's teeming with them. Really should spray."
Keiko rolled her eyes and shouted. "Hey, old perv. See anything you like in there?"
Angry shouting started to come from the other side of the wall as the man whipped around to glare at Keiko and Naruto, who was snickering.
"Do I interrupt your research?" the man groused just before he had to dodge a brace of kunai from the top of the wall. He was soon fleeing the baths with several angry kunoichi and civilians in pursuit.
"Well, that was fun." Keiko smiled. Naruto decided not to comment, and they continued on their way, catching glimpses of the running battle from time to time. They eventually spotted the white-haired pervert sulking on a bench. Keiko had to stifle a laugh at the black eye he was sporting.
"Not funny," the man practically growled.
"Keiko." Naruto interrupted. "Sakura's house is just down the street. Could you go get her?"
"Sure, but why?"
"She's been studying medical techniques." Keiko shrugged and headed off.
The man eyed Naruto curiously.
"I figured there was a reason you didn't go get that treated at the hospital."
The man shrugged. "They have more important things to do." He gave Naruto a considering look. "What's your story?"
"My teammate and me need someone to train us for the third stage of the chunin exam. Our sensei dumped us on a so-called elite trainer who turned out to be useless."
"So, you want my help, I suppose?"
"Why would I ask you?" Naruto asked, puzzled. "You got that black eye from the civilian wife of the green grocer, not a kunoichi."
"Why would the grocer's wife hit him?" Sakura asked, walking up. She examined the impressive shiner. "Wow. Remind me not to get her angry. May I?" The man nodded, and she began the hand signs for a minor healing jutsu.
"He was caught peeking at the women's baths." Keiko supplied.
"Ah. You must be Jiraiya." Sakura nodded. "My teammate and I were warned you would be around, and to avoid the public baths." She finished. "The swelling will start going down in a bit. If it still hurts, try an ice pack and looking in the men's baths."
"Funny." The man rolled his good eye. "You in the exams, too?"
"They put me up against Gaara of the desert and I forfeited."
Jiraiya winced. "Good call. I've heard about him."
"Is he someone we should know?" Keiko asked, slightly confused.
"Jiraiya of the sanin. He and his team are legends…for different reasons." Sakura supplied.
"Diplomatic." Jiraiya nodded with a slight smirk. "Naruto was just telling me you need a trainer."
"I don't need to learn to spy on the baths." Keiko shook her head.
"I'm a great ninja." the man said indignantly, and then shrugged as he noted her staring at his fading black eye. "It was the easiest way to end it. They'd keep chasing me till they got a little payback." He shrugged. "Anyway, I wasn't offering. I have important research to do."
"Looking in the men's baths?" Sakura offered, and the other two laughed.
Jiraiya looked annoyed for a moment then, reluctantly, amused. "You've got guts, girl. I'll give you that. Fine. Maybe I should give my research a break for a while." He looked over Naruto and Keiko. "What precisely do you need to work on?"
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"Not bad, Keiko," Jiraiya nodded as the girl yanked a kunai she'd thrown at the target back to her with a chakra string. "With continued practice and a little imagination, that technique has a lot of potential. Show me again."
Making a connection between herself and the hilt, she took aim at one of the target posts and threw. The chakra string 'playing out' as it flew. At the midpoint of its flight, she twitched her hand carefully, altering the flight path so it struck a different target. It didn't strike dead center, but she was getting more accurate. It was just one odd use of the chakra string technique that she'd managed to come up with. She was getting better at redirecting kunai and shuriken midflight, and even begun trying to use it during taijutsu spars by attaching it to her opponent's limbs so she could yank them off balance.
Leaving her to it, Jiraiya moved to where Naruto was practicing his water walking. It was going well. The boy was doing a basic kata while standing on top of the river.
"Good. Your chakra control is improving. You may be ready to sign the Toad contract, soon."
"Toad contract?" Naruto looked over at him.
"A summoning contract. Several prominent jonin have them, including myself. I believe Kakashi has the Dog summing contract."
Naruto nodded. "He does. I think his 'eternal rival' has the Turtle summoning contract." Then a thought occurred to him. "I'm up against Aburame Shino for the first match. If I had the Toad summoning contract, he'd probably forfeit." Denkouyama Keiji had drilled him on the relevant facts about all of Konoha's clans and prominent shinobi. He knew about the bugs the Aburame clan used, and knew that Shino would be a pain to fight. The Toad contract could change everything. It seemed kind of a cheat, he admitted, but he could save it in case nothing else worked.
Jiraiya nodded. "Toads do love to eat bugs." After a moment, examining Naruto's expression, he said. "It might seem like a cheat, but a true ninja seizes every advantage. We rarely do standup fights like in the tournament. You need to get passed any notions of fair play when it comes to ninja combat."
"I know." Naruto answered, a bit grumpily. "Keiji has told me that over and over."
"It's something that everyone going through the academy struggles with at some point. Might be harder on the civilians."
They went back to training, and soon, Naruto was sparring with his clones on top of the water, only occasionally falling in. He watched Keiko for a while, and saw she was improving. Two of his clones were sparring with her and trying not to get tripped up by the chakra strings she attached when landing punches or kicks.
It had taken a few days to get to the point where she could connect a chakra string in an instant with hands or feet. She had also gotten proficient with retrieving thrown weapons or attaching a string to random objects to use as a surprise during a fight. Naruto watched as she drew back a hand, apparently in preparation for a strike, only to see a stick fly toward the back of his clone's leg, distracting him at a critical instant.
It was almost a week before Jiraiya felt that Naruto was ready to sign the Toad contract. He used a summoning jutsu and retrieved a scroll from the toad that appeared.
The small amphibian looked Naruto up and down, assessing him. "If you think he's ready," the toad croaked, sounding somewhat doubtful.
"He is." Jiraiya answered seriously. "I'll take it from here." The toad nodded and vanished. "Okay, Naruto. Here's how it works." He quickly ran through an explanation of what had to be done, and Naruto followed his instructions, signing the contract in blood.
"How much chakra should I use?"
"Normally, I'd say as much as you can, but since your reserves are larger than mine and the Hokage's put together…Go for about five percent. I really don't want you summoning Gamabunta on your first go."
Nodding, Naruto made the hand signs and slammed his hand down, just as Jiraiya had shown him. One burst of smoke later, a bright red toad the side of a full-grown wolf stood before him.
"What's this?" the toad demanded, looking around. "Summoned? I never get summoned." He looked up at the celebrating Naruto. "New guy, huh?"
"That's right." Jiraiya nodded, as he clapped Naruto on the shoulder to settle him down.
"So, what's your name, kid? I'm Ringo."
"Uzumaki Naruto. And I'm really glad to meet you." He shrugged. "I'm getting better, but chakra control is kind of a work in progress for me. I was certain I'd get a tadpole or something."
"Glad you didn't." Ringo assured him. "I've been itching to put some of my warrior training to the test."
"Sounds good to me." He glanced at Jiraiyia, who seemed pleased with the outcome of Naruto's first effort. "So…, what can you do?" Naruto asked. "I guess we should start by comparing skills."
OOOOOOOOOO
Two members of team seven arrived at the stadium half an hour before the tournament was to begin. Of their sensei and last member, there was no sign.
"Standard Kakashi or dramatic entrance?" Keiko asked. Naruto shrugged, not really caring. He was certain that Sasuke wouldn't let Kakashi spoil his chances at promotion, and he was too excited to worry much over Kakashi's motives.
"Let's go. Third exam awaits!"