Sealing Salientia - Chapter 27: Ramen - Author: PenSmoke

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.

Previously on Sealing Salientia: "See ya tomorrow, jerk." "If you survive that long, weakling."

Konoha
Monday, October 12th, Year 71

Naruto waved to his new friends as they left the building for the day, then turned to the office where he sat and waited for Hiruzen. Mebuki had gone to fetch the older man as soon as she saw him enter and had returned a moment later saying that he would be right out.

True to Mebuki's word, the headmaster stepped out of his office within the minute, dismissing two older students that were exiting his office before greeting Naruto. "Naruto, come in, come in." Hiruzen held out a hand in a welcoming gesture and wore a broad smile that seemed to show every single one of his teeth.

After the door had closed behind the two of them, Hiruzen sat down and relaxed in his chair. The atmosphere being much less tense than the last time he had been in this office a few hours prior, Naruto decided to chance sitting in a chair as well, enjoying the soft plush fabric.

"So, Naruto, my boy, how did you enjoy your day here? Seems like you had quite the exciting day. Uprooting trees, getting in fights and impressing jonin. Most unusual for the first time someone attends school."

Naruto hung his head slightly. Jiraiya had told him at the beginning of the day to not create too big of a fuss and he had basically done everything but. "I'm sorry."

Hiruzen belly-laughed from way down deep, his entire body shaking with mirth. "Naruto, I would be lying if I said that I expected anything different, considering who raised you." The headmaster quickly scribbled a note down on some paper while he finished his chuckling and Naruto held his head low.

A moment later, Mebuki poked her dirty blonde hair inside. "Sarutobi-sama, Sannin Jiraiya is here to see you and Naruto."

"Send him in please." With that the blonde hair disappeared and a moment later was replaced by white as Jiraiya's large framed entered the doorway.

"Two times in one day, huh Naruto?" The sage's words came out slowly. Naruto could tell from the tone that he wasn't the most pleased with him, having been familiar with Jiraiya's speaking habits over years. "Well, damn. I lose. I predicted at least three." With that, the man slammed several bills onto the desk while Naruto looked up at him in shock.

"What?" Naruto spoke after a silent moment, his head tilted like a puppy that doesn't quite understand what it is hearing.

"Seriously? I thought you'd have either blown up half the school or pranked a teacher so bad that they wanted to quit. Come on, ya brat, I raised you. Why were you holding back?" Jiraiya pressed him on the question, leaning forward and wagging a finger in Naruto's face.

"But… You said to keep it down and not stick my neck out!" Naruto practically yelled back at the man he considered his father.

"Duuuhhhh. That was because I figured it would entice you to do the exact opposite." Jiraiya responded pluckily, a note of amusement in his voice.

"But… You… AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Naruto wailed in confusion while Jiraiya and Hiruzen shared a look, enjoying the moment.

"Okay, okay, calm down kid. I was just messing with you. Well, aside from the bet. I did really bet you'd get sent to the office three times." Jiraiya quipped.

Hiruzen sat there with his unlit pipe in his mouth, a smile on his face watching his student bicker with the man's surrogate son. Gaze flickering back and forth as the two exchanged words, he sat back to seemingly enjoy the moment. After the words had stopped, he looked fondly at both of them and spoke up. "On a somewhat more serious note, where is Sasuke? You two were supposed to clean up the training rooms."

Naruto whipped his head around towards the door where he had seen the boy leave just minutes prior. That bastard had scurried off and left him to deal with the cleanup on his own! Oh, he was going to get it. "He took off already. I bet he was trying to sneak out of doing it."

Hiruzen scowled slightly for a moment, before closing his eyes and chuckling. "Don't worry. I can just tell his father about it in our meeting tonight. I'm sure that'll end up with even more for the lad than I was going to give him tonight. Seems fair enough if he was going to leave a comrade behind to do the dirty work."

Naruto grinned for a moment, but faltered as he was handed a broom and pointed to a mop bucket.

"I expect the first-floor hallway to be spotless. And I've left the training room unlocked so that you can access it too. I expect the same treatment there. I hope that we can reach an understanding of how to behave in class from here on out." Hiruzen grinned at him, pocketing the bills that Jiraiya had put on his desk.

Naruto frowned but didn't argue the point. The man was in charge here and his rules held sway. "Yes sir."

Jiraiya patted him on the back and walked out of the office with him as he was dismissed.

"So, what did you think? Of school that is?" The voice sounded fresh and rejuvenated. While they were out on the road, Jiraiya had always seemed so tired. Even in the toad realm, the man never seemed to actually truly take any time for himself.

"It was different, but I liked it. I made a few friends, or I think I did. It's kinda hard to tell. Our teacher is nice. We talked a lot about the different types of throwing weapons and how to use them. I actually didn't know a lot of it. I never would have thought the Academy would be so intense."

Jiraiya made a scoffing noise and motioned for Naruto to start sweeping up. Naruto grabbed the broom as the older man spoke. "It didn't used to be that way. The Academy was basically a daycare at young ages back in my day." Jiraiya paused for a second, mumbling something under his breath about 'that made me sound old,' before resuming. "Sarutobi really revamped it over the past couple of years. The things that they taught in the final year are now being taught in the first year, and they are focusing a lot more on refining the shinobi who come out. He's been keeping me up to date on his progress through our letters back and forth."

Naruto set the broom down for a moment, thinking about it. "So, that means that everyone now is a better ninja than you guys ever were?"

Jiraiya reached out one of his calloused hands and ruffled the hair on his head. "Not quite kid. Tsunade, Orochimaru and myself were leagues above the standard shinobi back in the day. Hiruzen's made progress, but it'll never reach the point where every shinobi that Konoha produces is Kage level. He's just made it so that our Academy Students are actually trained to high genin level before technically becoming genin. The idea is that we may have a few less shinobi but every single one of those is far more capable than a shinobi of the same rank from another village."

Naruto hummed in acceptance of the information, though his mind was on something else. He had been looking at the hallway that he had started to sweep and it looked like it was going to take an hour to do it. Not to mention the mopping and then the practice room. There had to be a faster way. Ideas began forming in his head as he set the broom down.

He walked over to the main doors as threw them wide open, latching them in place. Due to his departure, Jiraiya stopped his tangential tale about how the kids that went to the recent chunin exam were already practically jonin by the time they took it. The sage started looking at him funny but a few moments later got a smile on his face as he worked out what the boy was about to do.

Naruto jogged to the far end of the corridor, turned around and got ready. Making a few handseals, he did some shape manipulation of his wind technique that he had been working on to stick to his skin. Rather than putting it on his skin, which was a strange surface, he just applied to the flat floor, which was much easier. Swirling eddies of wind formed a line in front of him, stretching across the hallway. Pushing his hands forward and urging the technique along, he saw the rivulets of dirt particles fly away in front of his tiny wall of air, turning the area in front of him into a dusty fog. Running back down the hall, he kept up the process, creating a small tidal wave of dusty air that crashed over the barricade to the outside world. The wave broke on the stairs, cascading a torrent of tracked in dirt back to the world where it once came.

The white-haired boy giggled. That worked perfectly. He dashed back inside, grabbing the bucket of water from the stand where the mop was. Sloshing it at the far end of the hallway, he repeated the technique, this time flinging an inch-high river of soapy water through the entire school, leaving the floor shiny and clean behind him.

Cheering triumphantly, he turned to see the gleam in Jiraiya's eye. "Nice work, kid. Well done. Come here, let's go fix those bricks that you cracked with your skull."

A few minutes later, having Jiraiya's help in repairing the broken stonework, the pair left the school. Naruto continued his re-telling of the day's events to a beaming Jiraiya.

"After you left, this girl with pink hair, her name's Sakura, she questioned if you were really my dad. So, of course, I told her that you were. And then the door slammed into me and I crashed into her! And this annoying blonde girl, Ino, she didn't even apologize for it! Then the teacher came in and she was really nice! Her name is Mikoto Uchiha, and she's Sasuke's mom."

Jiraiya shot him a startled gaze, clearly recognizing the name. "Wait, Mikoto is your teacher?"

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"Yup. I was her teacher."

"Wait… WHAT?"

"Well, you know I had a team, right? I've told you that before. You know, the Yellow Flash was one of my students."

Naruto nodded his head quickly, already making the connections before Jiraiya even spoke them.

"Well, Konoha usually has three per team. Used to anyway, Hiruzen's changed it a bit now. Anyway, Minato was paired with Mikoto and another ninja. In fact, I think I'll bring you to meet him later. It's pretty cool that you'll be the student of my student. Keeps a long line of students going in the village. But, go on, keep telling me about your day."

Naruto made a mental note to ask Mikoto about the Yellow Flash, to see what she could tell him. He had plenty of stories from Pops about him, but he'd love any additional perspectives. "Anyway, Mikoto was really nice, at least until she thought I was sleeping in class, even though I was just meditating. She threw erasers at me a bunch of times."

Jiraiya chuckled loudly, "I bet those hurt. She always had a mean throwing arm."

"First one caught me right between the eyes too. I did manage the dodge one though, so that was cool." Naruto paused to inhale, trying to decide what part to tell next. "I got sat next to this boy who always wears sunglasses, even inside. His name was Shino, and he and Sakura are like really smart. He did the best outside of Sasuke and me in kunai throwing. And he was really good at taking notes in class too."

"Must be an Aburame." The off-hand comment from the older white-haired man next to him grabbed his attention.

"Yeah, he is. How did you know?"

"The Aburame are one of many clans that call Konoha home. Many of them have a very distinctive trait and fighting style. For example, the Aburame almost always wear heavy glasses with a high collared shirt, and they always fight with bugs as their companions. Another example is the Inuzuka all use dogs in battle and look rather wild and unkempt. Or sometimes you clan clans like the Hyuuga or the Uchiha who all share the same eye colors. Though I doubt you'll see any Hyuuga around anymore."

"Huh, that's pretty cool. That reminds me, I wanted to ask you something. Everyone today had two names and a couple of them asked why I was only Naruto. Are you part of a clan. Am I? Do I even have a last name? All the other kids seemed to have a name from their family. I mean, I know that you aren't..." He looked around real quickly to see that there were groups of people meandering the same street that they were on. "Well.. you know... Shouldn't I get a name from my dad or my mom?"

"Well, for the first question. Nope, I'm not part of a clan. At least not anymore. That's why I don't have a last name. I named myself Jiraiya as a kid, never looked back."

They passed through to the residential district and the traffic was getting more crowded, no longer filled with only ninja running around, but many civilians were wandering the place. The rocky streets carried the sounds of people around, making the somewhat private conversation they had been having become rather interrupted by passers-by and their closeness. Silence dawned between the two of them as Jiraiya tugged on his arm and they both hopped to the rooftops, bouncing along until they landed on the roof of the apartment complex where Jiraiya lived. Hopping in through the open window allowed them entry into the living space, where the conversation could continue in a more private setting.

"You named yourself?" Naruto breached the quiet and the topic.

"Yeah, sure did. I was the kid of two non-ninja nobles from the capital of Fire Country. When I showed an obvious talent for the ninja arts, they shipped me off to Konoha to have me attend the Academy." Jiraiya plopped heavily into the padded couch, the exhalation from his mouth matching the movement of air leaving the cushions of the seat in a whoosh of air. He kicked his feet up onto the nearby table, resting the appendages and canting back into an almost reclined posture. Jiraiya's face was somewhat turned away from Naruto, but the boy could still make out the general shape. It was fairly easy to tell that this particular story seemed to bother him.

"Outwardly, they seemed like they just wanted the best for me, but I always felt like they were just kicking me out so that they could live their life of nobility without a kid in the way. They made sure I was provided for monetarily, sure. But, they never visited or wrote a letter or responded to anything. I hated it."

Naruto could see that Jiraiya was getting lost in his story, drifting back decades. The man before him now looked old and wizened, wrinkles spreading across his face as the perennial smile that always seemed to appear on his face slowly faded out. It was like the smiling man he always had witnessed was just a façade in front of this other man, who was broken and tired underneath it all.

"And the kids all made fun of me for being some rich noble playing at being a ninja. It didn't matter to them how hard I worked or how much I improved. I was born a noble and so I'd always be a noble to them. When I realized that, I just tossed it away. I became the gallant Jiraiya and never looked back to who I had been before. I've not ever heard from my parents since that day. I don't even know if they are alive or not."

Naruto watched as the face turned to him and a small sad smile appeared on the older man's visage. The man looked happy and content with his decision, but haunted by years of memories of what could have been. The blonde turned cotton-top spoke up after a few moments of silence. "What was your name before it was Jiraiya?"

The man gazed at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"I guess I'm…" Naruto paused, trying to be honest with himself, "Just curious, really. I kinda want to know if your parents are still alive."

"I suppose I'll tell you if you promise me something."

"Sure, anything."

"You have to promise me that you'll never go seeking my parents out. And if you do somehow chance across them, never tell them about me or never tell me about them. I…" The voice cracked and faded out for a second, raw emotion cutting through. "It should be them that reach out to me first. If it ever happens."

Naruto could see that this meant a lot to Jiraiya, the emotions rolling off of the older toad summoner were obvious. Naruto wasn't used to seeing this more vulnerable side to his Pops, and wasn't really comfortable with the man that he had always thought of as always being in control having such a weakness. He felt slightly uncomfortable with the knowledge that he had just learned, but also knew that if Jiraiya hadn't wanted him to know, he'd never have said anything. The thoughts must have been strong on his mind for some reason.

"Yeah, Pops. I promise. I'll never say a word."

Jiraiya heaved in a big breath, looking as if he wanted to retract the decision to say the name that he had denied using for decades. Eventually though, the words tumbled out. "I was born to the Ogata family of nobles. The name they gave me was Shuma Hiroyuki. The only people that know that name are those who were around from before I was your age and anyone who has looked at my original official ninja registration."

Naruto sat in silence for a minute. He struggled to digest the information, but eventually realized that it didn't matter what the names given at birth were, a person wasn't trapped by that. No person was the same as they were at birth. Getting that realization, he moved on to the other part of his original query.

"That explains your clan. What about mine? Do I have a clan? I know you've told me a lot about my father's side, but you only really mentioned my mom a couple of times."

Jiraiya sat up and looked at him. Naruto was met with a smile on the older face, shining down at him, filling him with warmth. The veneer of the smiling man was back, but Naruto had now glimpsed underneath and knew that there was so much more to this man whom he considered his father. "I'd love to tell you all about what I know, but I think that's best a story told another day. Suffice to say your mom was a total bad-ass who could kick the butt of just about any jonin in the village if she was angry enough."

He paused, changing tones. "But for now. Come on. I know a great place for dinner. We can go there to celebrate your first day of school."

The sage slung an arm around his shoulders and they walked out of the apartment and downstairs, eventually exiting the building. The hand on his shoulder started directing him towards the market district with a gentle push of the fingers to force his body to turn in the correct direction.

Jiraiya slowly ushered him onwards through the dozens of open stalls and shops where people peddled their goods. Naruto watched the people and the signs go by. The sounds were just as loud as they were a couple of days ago when he first arrived in town, but he was starting to grow used to them. He had been dealing with the crowds and the sounds and the smells overwhelming him, treating them as if they were yet another training exercise. He looked around, taking note of the various establishments that they passed whilst trodding the broken cobble of the paths.

A brown-haired man standing at the door of a ninja tools shop, exaggeratedly talking about his wares to all passers-by, claiming to have the best kunai in town. A blonde-haired man with a ponytail standing behind a counter of a flower stall, wrapping a bouquet while conversing with a customer. A place that smelled of wonderful roasted meat had a familiar face standing outside, as well as a larger copy of the boy he met in school, likely his father. An open-air stand with read and white curtains that was the source of a wondrous blend of noodles and broth wafting out into the market. This last one seemed to be their destination as Jiraiya brushed the curtains aside, loudly yelling "Teuchi!"

The raised voice instantly gathered the attention of the man behind the counter who quickly took in their appearance and responded in a similar volume, "Jiraiya-sensei!"

Naruto watched as the two men embraced in a hug, Jiraiya scooping the newcomer off of his feet for a second. After the stranger had been placed back on the ground, Jiraiya pointed at him. "I'd like you to meet my son. Naruto, say hello to Teuchi Ichiraku, one of my former students. He makes the best ramen I've ever tasted."

"Uh. Hello?" Naruto responded tentatively, his eyes barely focusing on the man for a moment before drifting back to the ground. He felt slightly awkward and embarrassed, though he wasn't sure why.

"Why hello Naruto! It is a pleasure to meet you." Teuchi replied.

Pops turned to the man and proclaimed, "Two of your biggest bowls, pronto!"

"You got it!"

Jiraiya ushered Naruto to a couple of the seats at the counter while Teuchi started preparations. After they took their seats, Teuchi and Jiraiya started animatedly talking to each other.

"So, what brings you back into town? You've been gone for what, six years now?"

"Yeah, a little more than that, I think. I'm back because it's time for little Naruto here to enter the Academy." Jiraiya punched him lightly in the shoulder while indicating that he was the subject of 'little Naruto'.

"Oh, so you're going to be a ninja like your old man, huh?" Teuchi quipped while slicing a mixture of vegetables using a cleaver with high speed and precision.

"Hey! Watch the old stuff! I'm not that old!"

"Older than me!"

Naruto looked back and forth at the two men who were talking like old friends and supposed it made sense. Jiraiya had obviously been a teacher to this guy along with Minato and Mikoto years ago, so their relationship had been built upon decades. It was a little odd, he never really saw others looking up to Jiraiya like he had that day. The toads had always regarded him more as a student that was about their equal, and some toads even disrespected him. But, here in Konoha, the man seemed universally known and loved and respected. It seemed like it would be nice, to have everyone know who you are and appreciate you. Perhaps that could be what he attained one day.

The good-natured banter lasted all the way through dinner preparations and the conversation temporarily ceased as two gigantic steaming bowls filled with a divine aroma were placed in front of both white-haired customers.

Naruto dug in with gusto, pleased that it tasted just as good as it smelled. A few bites down and he couldn't help the smile that erupted on his face. It was a good day. No, it was a great day. Konoha wasn't so bad after all. He didn't have to eat bugs, he didn't have to sit under a waterfall or get eaten alive by mosquitoes, and he was still practicing ninja skills. The smile lasted throughout the last slurp of broth into his mouth.

Teuchi looked down at him appreciatively, likely pleased at how quickly the boy had finished off the gigantic meal. "Would you like anything else, young Naruto?"

Looking up at him, then resting his hands on his stomach and letting a moment pass, Naruto decided to decline. "No thanks, Mister Ichiraku. That was delicious though." He could feel the belly gurgles that were already starting, and while he knew that he probably could eat another bowl, it might not be the best of ideas.

"Thank you! I learned how to make ramen from my dad, and then Jiraiya here showed me some tricks on how to make it even better."

Jiraiya turned his head over at the pair for a second, a questioning look on his face, before realization must have set in and he turned back to his own bowl, apparently having answered his unasked question.

"What do you mean, Mister Ichiraku?"

"Please, Teuchi is just fine. And I mean that your dad here is a master of seals. Did you notice how your ramen stayed the perfect temperature right to the very last sip?"

Naruto looked at him for a moment, before the light bulb dawned on him. He looked at the bowl for a second, then back up to Teuchi. "You mean that was a seal that did that?" The boy stole a glance over at Jiraiya, who was contentedly slurping up some noodles.

"Yup. Can you tell me how it was done?"

Naruto thought for a second. He hadn't noticed the man performing any sort of technique at the time he was there. That meant there must be a matrix written down somewhere. "You must have the seal inscribed on something. I didn't notice you activating it, so it must have been active when we walked in."

"Not quite. Pick up your bowl."

Naruto grabbed to bowl and looked at it. Catching a glimpse of something on the bottom of the white porcelain, he carefully tilted the bowl and spied the letters written on it. Studying them for a moment, he got lost in the details of the seal, finding and dissecting the little parts that he knew. It was like a puzzle to him, finding the pieces and assembling them into a more recognizable whole picture. "This symbol captures the chakra. This one is related to the element of fire. And this is a release. But there isn't enough here. You're missing the activation sequence. And the way this captures chakra isn't like it is coming directly from you. Something's missing."

Naruto looked up to see Jiriaya looking at him, pride in his eyes. While Teuchi stood there and smiled, watching him put together the picture.

"It's almost like it connects to… Something…" On a hunch, he asked. "Is there another part of the seal somewhere else?" He could see the answer in the ramen stand owner's eyes before the verbalization even occurred.

"Very good! I see you're just like your dad. Come on back here, I'll show you."

Naruto stood up and got to the back of the counter, where Teuchi had knelt down to the point where the six-year-old was taller than him. The man had his arm pointed up under the counter from the cooks' side. "Tell me what you see here."

Naruto bent his head for a second, before deciding to kneel just like the other man had, disappearing down beyond sight from the customer side. Underneath the counter was a vast array of goods and produce and spices for cooking, as well as stacks of bowls and chopsticks, stored on various shelves. The scents of the unusual herbs and spices struck his olfactory nerves, sending them tingling with stimulation. While pushing through the barrage on his nostrils, he looked up at the bottom on the counter. Carved into the wooden area underneath where his dinner had previously rested was a long spiraling seal that contained the missing pieces. He was quickly able to deduce the meaning of the seals under the bottom as their design was rather basic.

"That's the activation. And a chakra bank." Naruto pointed to the two different parts of the design as he identified them. "But, what's that?" The last part underneath had him stumped. He heard chuckling from above. He tried to stand up, but distracted by the chuckle, he misjudged where his head was in relation to the wooden plank and smashed the top of his cranium against the unyielding board. Rubbing the back of his head where the impact had occurred, he more carefully avoided the obstacle and looked right into Jiraiya's eyes.

"If I remember right? That's a mistake." Jiraiya said with a mirthful smile on his face.

"Huh?"

"Teuchi asked me to come up with some seals to help out his business a long time ago. We put together some basic things, but I never really figured out how to do the last part that he wanted. I gave it a try, but it didn't ever work. So, we gave up on the idea."

"What idea was that?"

Teuchi interrupted this time, "A way to make it so that their order is sent directly from the pot to the bowl, so there wasn't any way of spilling or overage. The whole thing was supposed to make the experience as great as possible. You order your food, and it magically appears in front of you, staying the perfect temperature all the way through while tasting great."

"That would be really cool," Naruto replied.

"Yeah, I thought so too. But, Jiraiya-sensei couldn't figure that part out, so we went with what he could. Did you figure out what the rest of the seal did yet?"

"Well, you have the activation on the bottom, as well as a chakra bank. So, you give the bank a charge of chakra at some point. And then the seal links to the bowls when you activate it?"

"Close. The bowl activates the seal. When you set one of my bowls on the counter, it starts the cycle of maintaining the heat the contents to the specified temperature."

Naruto looked on in confusion for a moment. A second later, he whirled on Jiraiya, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "Wait! You never told me that a seal could activate a seal?! You mean you could chain seals together for anything like that?"

Jiraiya looked at him for a second, seemingly not quite sure of what to say. "Yeah, you can link a seal to trigger off of another seal. I thought we had covered that before. It's not commonly used, but definitely possible. You just have to tune it right."

Naruto's mind whirled with new possibilities. A seal activating a seal meant that you could chain a sequence of seals together. His biggest problem was most of his ideas was that he knew how to do most of the individual parts separately, not the all at once. But, an avalanche of triggered seals cascading to the desired effect would work perfectly! He just sat there in stunned silence while thinking of all the ways that he could use this knowledge.

He could vaguely hear Teuchi whispering to Jiraiya, "I think you broke him."

Jiraiya could do nothing but nod at the accurate assessment.

AN: A bit of writer's block on this one. Mostly just busy with real life though. Hope you all enjoyed. Jiraiya has a bit of character development and Naruto has a new breakthrough that will lead to some interesting things down the line.

Constructive Criticism welcome! I'd especially like to know if that method of exposition of past events is something that works well, or if there are better ways of communicating that. I thought having the interaction between the two as though he is telling it to a character in story that wouldn't know is a good way to inform the reader who doesn't know. Thoughts?