Authors Note: So I decided to have Jiraiya pop in quickly. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto, the world, the characters or any of the situations. All of these belong to the creator Masashi Kishimoto.
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Chapter 25
Pride and the Toad Sage
Roshi had spent almost fifteen years travelling the world in search of purpose and understanding. He had read useful and worthless text after another, biased and informative. The jinchuuriki had interviewed and studied the methods of the past jinchuuriki tirelessly, interviewed people for their knowledge. For over forty years he had learned to forcefully take chakra from the four tails and make it his own.
Which means, Roshi thought, shouldn't he logically be the most skilled out of the jinchuuriki. Even if the tailed beast he contained was on the lower end of the ensemble, he had more then four decade's worth of experience. He should, at least, be one of the best out of the bunch. Even if one was a Kage.
Now Roshi didn't care about power that much. But it did wound his ego when he was by far, the one struggling the most with their tailed beast. And Naruto, who was five times his junior had never even met the nine tails until a few months ago. Roshi hadn't even learned to harness the four tail's chakra at his age.
So, clearly something was going wrong for the oldest jinchuuriki. However, said jinchuuriki believed that the problem lay with their tenant, solely. The four tails jinchuuriki had tried to ask his closest relation in the group, Han for advice.
"Have you tried working with the Yonbi?" Han had asked blatantly.
"The four tails has no interest or care with working with the lowly human host." Roshi answered mockingly in a huff.
"Have you tried, asking politely?" The five tails jinchuuriki questioned, helmet off at the moment.
"Politely? The four tails doesn't deserve that kind of respect." The older of the two retorted, to which his companion gave out a long sigh.
"You are too much like Onoki…" Han trailed off.
Roshi's eyes narrowed to slits at the comparison. "I. Am. Nothing. Like. Him." He seethed out, hissing almost like a venomous snake.
"Couldn't fool me. You're both stubborn, arrogant, headstrong, and refuse to allow themselves to be wrong. You related by any chance?" The armoured individual prodded cooly.
"That's… He's my cousin, by a very distant connection." Roshi explained, not liking how he couldn't argue against Han's characterization and thus switching topics.
"Hmm, that must have been horrible. My grandfather was his childhood friend." Han stated, deciding not to fight the issue any longer.
From there the conversation spiralled away into a discussion on how much the Third Tsuchikage sucked, and was a terrible, horrible person who they both very much hated and despised. It wasn't until later that Roshi remembered his original purpose, when waking up the next day to the howling monkey's laughter and taunts.
The old jinchuuriki continued to struggle with his training. Blaming it on the four tailed beast and then looping on repeat until he was forced to accept reality. That maybe, he was in some way part of the problem as well.
After an particularly hard day full of frustrations and failures. Roshi went to a nearby riverbed to cool down and release his pent up anger. It was at this time, observing the calm rapids and once again wondering about what he was doing, that Roshi made a decision.
Roshi swallowed his pride, and attempted to have a peaceful talk with the Yonbi.
Getting into a meditation position, Roshi eased himself into his mindscape as he had so many times before to yell at the tailed beast in person. Those times were usually during his younger days and missing nin era, but now it was different. Now, he had a purpose besides unloading his grief and frustrations at the self proclaimed king of monkeys.
Roshi's mindscape had usually resembled a field at first. However, after meeting Kai the field had filled with some decorative plants to reflect his growing and shifting mentality. The one constant in the place was the huge volcano that imprisoned the four tails under steaming rocks and chakra chains.
The red headed jinchuuriki slowly stalked over to their tenant, contemplating their actions each lengthy step. The moment he appeared in the field the monkey had begun it's usual loud tirade against him and humanity in general.
This time though, instead of returning the arguments and escalating into a screaming match, Roshi listened with forced calm and patience until they were done. Then, he began to speak to his tenant of four decades.
"Hello." Roshi started, with the same forced tone.
"What are you doing here now you pitiful human?" The four tails angrily demanded.
"I am here, to negotiate some things with you." The jinchuuriki said, moustache scrunched up.
"So you finally want to talk after forty years of bemoaning my existence? Why should I even entertain the idea after so long?" The monkey roared like the boom of a volcano.
"I… have observed that maybe some things need to change in our, partnership." Roshi forced out, ignoring the urge to have a screaming match with his tenant.
"Is it because you realize you're the weakest one out of all my sibling's jailers?" The Yonbi asked arrogantly.
"I have been facing, the reality of our situation." The redhead jinchuuriki informed, not rising to the bait.
"That you're a stubborn bastard." The four tails stated with a growl.
"Partially. You see, I realize that I should at least try and make an effort to get along with you, if I want to get stronger we need a better relationship." Roshi explained with a defeated sigh, shoulders slumping.
The Yonbi paused when hearing this, before uncharacteristically sighing as if it were disappointed.
"So you only wish to improve this 'relationship' to further your own goals." The monkey surmised. Before Roshi could protest this notion they continued. "I envy my siblings you know." The four tails informed.
"Hmm?" Roshi went confused as to why he was being told this from the usually loud monkey.
"Their jailers don't just see my siblings as power sources or burdens. Most of the jinchuuriki right now are actually cooperating with them as partners and not prisoners. Even Kurama or Shukaku are playing along, even if their own jinchuuriki are uneasy, they're trying to befriend my siblings. The only other exception is Matatabi, but at least their jailor is tolerant of them. So why am I the only one who has to deal with a human bastard who refuses to even acknowledge my name?" The Yonbi spat out, the venom and anger returning to their harsh voice.
Roshi was a little shocked at the statement. He wondered why the Yonbi was telling him all of this now. Maybe the decades of negligence and lack of positive company just finally caught up with them. Maybe the roaring fire temporarily died down when the wind came in.
"Befriend the tailed beast…" Roshi mentally trailed off as silence returned. "The others, they get along with the tailed beast, because they don't see them as the problem. It's possible to have a good relationship. I never even considered the option. I was the problem." Roshi concluded, reaching a silent epiphany.
"I… I see. Do you think it's possible to start over then?" The jinchuuriki asked, further burying his pride.
The four tails grunted, as if to elaborate more. "Fine, I admit it. I'm a stubborn 'bastard' but I do want to change things between us." Roshi relented, trying to push his intentions.
"You think it can change? After so long?" The monkey questioned with a doubting tone.
"I do, despite our past differences I think we can, Son Goku." Roshi stated with a nod,
Son Goku paused, nothing that Roshi used their name for the first time in forty years. They looked down at their jinchuuriki for a moment, contemplating if they could trust him. Finally, they broke into a large laugh.
"Then we will start over, Roshi you bastard." Son conceded with a light but not negative tone.
"I hope so, Son" The jinchuuriki curiously said back with an amused but relieved tone.
—
The four tails jinchuuriki's performance improved drastically after that. He was no prodigy but it was definitely something to be proud of. The group was fairing well in the end.
A man with long spiky white hair walked through Kirigakure one day. He had red lines under his eyes and was dressed modestly. This was Jiraiya, the famed perverted toad sage and sannin of Konoha.
Usually, he would've been off exploring the wide world and writing his amazing novels. Though at the moment he had a purpose to fulfill in Kirigakure. Through his large spy and intelligence network, the sannin had discovered that the current Mizukage had been gathering all the jinchuuriki together. This included Jiraiya's own godson, Naruto Uzumaki.
He had gathered enough information to conclude the purpose of gathering the jinchuuriki. And if they were training to manage the tailed beasts then the white haired man figured that he should drop the key to the nine tails seal off.
But first, he would look around the hidden mist village. Maybe, he would even gather some research for his books.
Venturing toward the bathhouses for some time, then getting kicked out once discovered, Jiraiya decided to try and observe his godson.
It took a few hours, but eventually the toad sage located the area the jinchuuriki were staying in. Most of them were in the yard area, training it seems. Naruto was easy to see as he was almost the spitting image of Minato.
The blonde was showing a girl with wing like parts on her back and a male redhead some techniques. It didn't surprise the sannin that the son of the Fourth Hokage appeared to have inherIted some of his father's skill. Even if he did contain the nine tails within him.
Naruto looked like he was concentrating, and slowly he formed a red aura around him with about four tails. This was the nine tails version one form. Jiraiya's breath hitched, worried that the boy would lose control but no such thing happened. Naruto simply demonstrated some moves while in this form, seemingly impressing his companions who did similar feats.
The other two kids then re entered the house leaving Naruto alone to continue training.
Jiraiya then decided that was a good time to meet his godson. Approaching the field in a casual manner he called out to the blonde.
"Hey! Kid!" The sannin shouted, attracting the weary attention of said kid.
"Hi mister?" Naruto called back brightly, though he was on a guard as he had learned to be around strangers.
"What you doing?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"Training. I'm going to be the Hokage one day so I got to be strong!" The kid yelled energetically as he continued to train.
"Impressive." The white haired man observed which elicited no response, the boy was really focused.
"So, why are you here mister?" Naruto asked when he was done the movements, moving next to the observing shinobi.
"I was just looking around and thought what you were doing was interesting." Jiraiya answered nonchalantly. "Should I tell him I'm his godfather?" He mentally wondered inside.
"Thanks. Just wait until I'm the Hokage, then I'll show off what I can really do!" The excited blonde cheered.
"No, I won't be around in Kiri for much longer when I'm done. But I can't just do nothing… hmm." The toad sage stated in his head as he wondered on what to do next.
The nine tails jinchuuriki meanwhile, was still blabbering. "I can't wait to learn more techniques from Yugito and Killer B…" He was saying filled with eager readiness to continue his training.
That gave the toad sage an idea. "I got it! I'll teach him Minato's rasengan." He thought happily. "Hey kid! Want to see something cool?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk.
Naruto gave him a confused look but nodded. The toad sage then stalked over to a tree and slammed a small rasengan against the wooden trunk. The wood blasted off as expected but nothing too major. The young jinchuuriki looked at the sannin in shock before a wide grin spread across his face.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" He eagerly pestered, dashing up to stand beside Jiraiya.
The older man pat the boy's head warmly.
"Sure. This is a technique created by the Fourth Hokage though, so it might be pretty hard for you." Jiraiya stated.
Naruto's eyes widened at the Hokage part, filling with avid determination to perform the technique. "I wonder if he knows that Minato is his dad?" The white haired shinobi wondered as he began walking the boy through the procedures of performing the rasengan.
The jinchuuriki took to the technique quite well, though he couldn't pull off the final step after a few hours of attempts.
Eventually, Jiraiya had to leave to deliver the seal key. This disappointed Naruto but Jiraiya simply told the boy that he would get the hang of it if he kept practising. He trusted the young jinchuuriki to know what the final result should look like after all.
Later, he entered the Mizukage's office to hand the seal key in. The Fourth Mizukage was hard at work, surrounded and glaring at paperwork, which reminded the sannin of the Hokage.
"Greetings, Lord Mizukage!" The white haired man yelled out in a cheerful tone.
"Hello too- who are you?" Yagura answered back, realizing that no one had told him someone was coming.
The Mizukage readied their staff for battle. Jiraiya frantically waved his hands to signify he wasn't a threat.
"Hold on! I'm not here to do any foul play, except maybe do some research for my books but-" The perverted sannin was interrupted.
"Research?" The short Kage said, perplexed.
"Um, lecherous subjects, Lord Mizukage." Jiraiya casually waved off, grossing the Kage out.
"So, who are you exactly? And why are you here?" Yagura slowly asked, still confused at the sudden arrival in his office.
"Oh, I heard that all of the jinchuuriki are here in Kiri." The toad sage answered, shocking the the shorter man.
"How do you know about that?" The Mizukage demanded to know in a firm, serious voice.
"It's not important, I'm just dropping off something for Naruto." Jiraiya stated, summoning Gerotora.
Yagura looked at the toad sitting on the scroll, blinking before looking back at a serious Jiraiya.
"Is that a frog?" The Kage deadpanned.
"The scroll contains the key to Naruto's seal. Gerotora, do what this guy tells you to do." The sannin called over his shoulder as he suddenly disappeared before either could protest.
"Pervert, frogs… was that Jiraiya of Konoha's legendary sannin?" Yagura asked the frog in disbelief at the short and sudden encounter, though he was questioning his mental state at the moment.
"That was." Gerotora confirmed as they began explaining in more detail about the key.
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Yugito, Killer B and Utakata were in the house talking when the Sanbi Jinchuuriki entered, a frog with a scroll wrapped around them floating behind. The trio just stared at the frog as the Kage approached them.
"One of you needs to swallow the frog." Yagura explained with a quiet, irritated voice.
"What?" The three other jinchuuriki yelled.
Eventually after much squabbling, they decided to just let Gerotora stay in the house until they could give Naruto the key for his own usage. In that time the frog could help the young jinchuuriki in whatever way they could. Said jinchuuriki was a little weirded out by the frog but accepted it nonetheless, though he had already been doing well at harnessing the Kyubi's chakra.
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Authors Note: So I struggled with this chapter as well. I hope you don't mind me sort of skimming past training, but it wouldn't have sounded good. Anyways, I figured out how many chapters the story is going to have, thirty five including the prologue and an epilogue.