AN: This chapter felt a bit clunky to write, but I hope that it's just me. Leave a review and tell me if you enjoyed it or not!
Also, I'm undecided if this story will have any pairings in it (I know a lot of people care about that stuff). I honestly just haven't given it much thought. If that's something any of you are interested in let me know. I'm not asking for your opinion on which pairings I should do, just if you are pro-pairing and anti-pairing and why.
As for the last chapter, I'm surprised no one mentioned the filler character the courier ninja. I couldn't have been the only one who saw that filler episode? I thought his inclusion was rather funny, perhaps I was the only one?
Chapter 5: Sweet Dreams...?
Naruto had been running for what seemed like hours on end. The air was thick with mist, making visibility very poor for the genin. He took in a long harsh breath, filling his lungs with the oxygen necessary to continue. His heart was beating furiously, legs felt as if they were made of jelly, eyes heavy with exhaustion. Oddly enough, the blond had no idea why, or where, he was running. Stopping for a moment to calm down a bit, he leaned against a railing that he had been running alongside. Having been in such a hurry, the blond hadn't even taken in the surrounding area. Over the railing all that could be seen was water. Well, all that was able to be seen because of the sheer thickness of the fog.
'Am I on a bridge?' He mused, unsure of himself. A deep inhale of air left an almost fishy taste in the back of his throat. Where ever he was, he certainly didn't want to stay there for much longer. Energy now somewhat restored, the blond took off running, once again in the same direction. There was no logical reason why he was running this way, or at all, for that matter. The last thing he could remember was that he was running, so, he figured, wherever he was going was someplace important. Why was it important you ask? That was not something the blond could currently answer. The hope was that the answer would show itself soon. All that kept Naruto going was this strange feeling creeping its way up his body. He didn't like it. Not one bit.
There was just this sense of impending doom that he couldn't shake. It sent shivers up his spine.
He increased his pace, moving at speeds that would make a jonin proud. Whatever was about to happen, it wasn't good. That he knew.
After what seemed like more ten minutes of running, something could be seen in the distance. 'Light?' He thought to himself, as the fog lit up with a yellow, almost orange, hue. This had to mean that he was close. The answer was just up ahead.
The closer he got, the more his heart rate increased. Not from exhaustion this time, but from fear. Fear of what he might see. Fear of the unknown was something that even a seasoned shinobi dreaded. Naruto pushed those feelings down and continued his pace. 'No turning back now.' He thought in an attempt to motivate himself. The end of the fog was in sight. 'One more step!'
He broke through the fog and skid to a stop, waiting a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the now increased visibility. Now focused, his eyes immediately lit up in horror at what he saw. "This is…"
"NARUTO!"
Jiraiya watched as the boy's eyes snapped open in terror. The blond's pupils darted rapidly around the room, similar to the way a small animal scans its line of sight trying to locate a concealed predator. Even though the sage wasn't exactly quiet waking his pupil up, this wasn't the reaction he was expecting. "Naruto." He said much softer, putting a reassuring hand on his student's shoulder. "It's just me, Jiraiya. Are you okay?" He asked, shaking him ever so gently in an attempt to help him regain his focus.
It seemed to do just that as Naruto, still breathing heavily, shook his head vigorously to regain his senses. Now with focused eyes, the child realized where he was. He was back in the hotel room that he and Jiraiya were staying at. He blinked, now more confused than terrified.
"Is everything okay, Naruto?" Came the concerned voice of his teacher.
"Y-yeah." The blond said as he rubbed the side of his head with the palm of his hand. "I think I was having a bad dream." Voice laced with uncertainty. He glanced over at his alarm clock.
'5:30 AM' Read the evil device.
Jiraiya picked up on this. "You think?" He asked.
Naruto yawned as his face scrunched up in deep thought. There were memories floating at the back of his mind. Very recent memories that were just barely out of reach. He tried harder to get a hold of them, but they were just out of his grasp. "I don't really remember." He answered after a long pause.
"Do you remember anything, at all?" The sage continued to press, hoping his student would remember anything significant.
He thought for a moment. There was something. A detail he deemed so small and insignificant that there was almost no point in even mentioning it. But, considering that was all there was to mention, bringing it up could do no harm, either. "Water." Was the boy's simple response.
"Water?" The sage asked dumbly. "What about water?"
"There was water."
"Okay." The sage said slowly. "Do you remember anything else?" Water wasn't exactly something Jiraiya would deem relevant.
"I don't think so." The blond was now staring off into space. "I just told you that was all I remembered, didn't I?"
Jiraiya watched his disciple stand up and stretch out his arms. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" The sage didn't know how to approach this situation. Naruto was clearly a little shaken by whatever it is that he saw in his dream, but he was unable to remember anything about it except for the fact that it had something to do with water. How could he possibly help with that little bit of information? It's at moments like this where it becomes evident to Jiraiya that he is not cut out to be a parent. The only reason he tries at all is that he cares for the little blond so much. Not that he would tell Naruto any of that.
'What would Minato do in this situation?' He thought to himself desperately. Minato had all the makings of being a great father. The Namikaze was wise beyond his years, very patient with everyone he spoke to, reassuring, and had a kind face that made him easily approachable. Jiraiya wished that he had some of those qualities in order to be the father figure that Naruto needed, but he doubted that that would ever happen.
"I'm not even sure if there is anything that we can really talk about." The blond said unsurely. How can you talk about something that you can't really remember?
Now Jiraiya was the one deep in thought. How could he help his student cheer up a bit? Because of the blond's lack of memory, trying to talk about it would do little, to no, good. So, what else could bring the genin's spirits up?
"How about we take your mind off of all of this by finally starting that training I promised you? He asked hopefully.
Any negative feelings that Naruto had were immediately being washed away at the prospect of training. In fact, he was practically bouncing up and down from sheer excitement. How could he have forgotten? He beat Jiraiya in a bet, wrote a book, and was finally about to begin his super awesome training! It felt like an impossible dream that has somehow come true. "Let's go, Pervy Sage!" The energetic boy sprang to his feet. Before Jiraiya had even realized what was going on, his student was fully dressed in his orange jumpsuit and halfway out the door. "Times a wasting!"
"Hold it right there, brat." To which the blond, now sporting a pouty face, stopped in his tracks.
Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief. 'This kid is a roller-coaster of emotions, sometimes. I can never say he isn't an easy kid to cheer up, though. Give the brat training or a bowl of ramen and he's the happiest person you'll ever meet.' The jonin smiled lightly.
"What's the holdup, Pervy Sage." His bouncing was now from impatience, not excitement. "You said we were gonna train today!"
"We have to pack up all of our stuff." Jiraiya said calmly, hoping his student will mimic his demeanor. "We aren't coming back here."
Unfortunately for Jiraiya, Naruto could not be calmed so easily. "Huh? Why not?" There was a tinge of sadness in his voice. The blond had grown accustomed to the hotel they were staying. It was cozy. Why did they have to leave already?
"Shut up and listen to me for once in your life. The sooner we get our stuff packed and this place cleaned up, the sooner we can start your training. Got i-"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
'POOF'
Jiraiya's eye twitched in annoyance at being rudely cut off by his student. 'At least he's listening to me, kind of.' The sage, now trying to ignore the blond, walked to his side of the room and began to pack up his own stuff.
"Alright, you guys! You heard the man! I want our stuff packed and this room cleaned up by the end of the hour!" The blond's eyes were blazing with passion. There was nothing more he enjoyed doing than training.
"That's only fifteen minutes." One of the doppelgangers huffed in annoyance.
"Exactly. Which is why you should be moving instead of complaining!" The original shot back harshly.
The Sannin was watching the whole exchange and could only sigh. 'No wonder he got punched in the face the other day.' He thought to himself dryly.
Naruto, one knee bent and the other extended, leaned into a deep stretch. He winced slightly as his hamstring muscles burned lightly in response. Once completed, he sat cross-legged on the ground facing Jiraiya. For the first time in what felt like a long time to the Sannin, his pupil actually looked like he was going to pay attention. This surprised Jiraiya. After everything that transpired today - from his nightmare, to the excitement he showed afterward - the last thing Jiraiya expected from the blond was calmness. He smiled. A bit of silence every so often was refreshing. It was a rarity nowadays.
While Naruto was exuding a level of calmness, inwardly he was conflicted. Yes, he was ecstatic to begin his intense training, but he also could not shake what had happened during the morning. He doesn't have like that dreams often and couldn't remember the last time a nightmare was as intense as that. However, the most infuriating thing of all was that he could barely remember anything from the dream that had left him so rattled. 'You think something like that would have left a lasting impression on me that'd be hard to forget.' He thought, slightly annoyed at his useless brain. As far as he was concerned his brain had only two jobs. Let him know when he was hungry, so he could eat, and remember things! Simple, and yet, it still somehow managed to screw it up.
"This." Jiraiya's voice pulled the boy from his thoughts. The sage was gesturing to the decent-sized clearing they were standing in the middle of. "Is where we will be training for the next month or so."
The clearing was about one-hundred feet in diameter, surrounded on all sides by a dense forest. The ground, which had some grass patches here and there, mostly consisted of a firm, packed down dirt. Perfect for the boy to train on. They had found this clearing after several hours of traveling. Based on the position of the sun overhead, it was now roughly noon.
"Hmm?" The blond cocked his head to the side in apparent confusion. "Why are we not staying here for that long?" While Naruto didn't like the idea of trading in his comfy hotel bed for the cold ground, having to pack everything up and travel so frequently might be even worse. He just wanted to train!
"I thought it would be a good idea to use this time not only to train but to travel the world a bit. It would be a little dull to stay in the same place all of the time. We would have never left the Leaf Village if that was the case." He finished with a light shrug.
'What we really need to do is try and stay off of the Akatsuki's radar. Staying in one place might cause some unwanted trouble to come our way. I already cut it close by staying in Tanzaku town for too long, can't make that rookie mistake again.' Even though they had stayed in Tanzaku town for nearly a month, the sage was confident that the Akatsuki had not found them. 'In a secluded forest like this, a month should be completely safe.'
Naruto nodded in reluctant acceptance. He had a feeling there was something that Jiraiya wasn't telling him but decided not to dwell on it. As long as he got to train it really didn't make that much of a difference where they did it. Training was the only thing that mattered today.
Jiraiya inwardly sighed in relief. 'Thank God he's dumb.'
"Alright, Pervy Sage." The impatient student chirped. "What super awesome jutsu are you going to teach me today?" He was rocking side-to-side in anticipation.
While the excitement was certainly there, Jiraiya noted that his protégé seemed a little different than usual. The Naruto he knew just a few short months ago would be in his face screaming that they should have started fifteen minutes ago. This Naruto was far more reserved than he had expected. The Sannin smiled. 'Perhaps he's finally starting to take things seriously.'
Jiraiya was right, in a sense. Despite not realizing it, the whole process of writing a novel had changed the blond's outlook on how a task should be completed. Had he gone in guns blazing, fully unprepared to write his novel, he would have failed miserably. However, the realization he had about being dumb and not having any writing skills at all was, quite possibly, the best thing that could have happened to him. Slowing things down, teaching himself the necessary tools to succeed, these were the keys to writing his novel. The boy didn't realize it, but he was carrying this methodology over into his training.
"Well." Began the older man. "You can start by not calling me 'Pervy Sage' anymore. After all, I am your master and you should be showing me the proper respect."
Naruto brought his hand up to his chin and squinted his eyes. "I'll think about it, Pervy Sage." He answered after a short pause.
'Sigh.'
"Just start with a warm-up." Muttered the older leaf ninja. His eyes scanned over the entirety of the clearing. "50 laps should suffice."
It was Naruto's turn to sigh. "Fine. We'd better do some actual training next." He grumbled as he started to jog around the circumference of the clearing.
Jiraiya, paying no attention to his student's grumblings, walked to the edge of the clearing and sat down against the trunk of a rather large tree. "Time to start the fun part." He said to himself as he began reaching into his bag. Slowly, while also watching to make sure Naruto wasn't half-assing his warmup, the sage took out the necessary materials for the next phase of the boy's training.
A set of light ankle and wrists weights, some ink, and a brush. A wicked smile appeared across his face. "The kid wants some hard training? Let's hope he doesn't regret those words." With the small brush now dipped in ink, he grabbed one of the four weights.
Naruto, now on his fourth lap, sighed out of agonizing boredom. Despite really wanting to take his training as seriously as he could, jogging was not what he was expecting, or wanted. Muscles now warmed up to his liking, he scanned the area to find where his master had gone off to.
He noticed Jiraiya sitting against a tree at the opposite end of the field. Deciding anytime away from pointless running was well-spent, he walked over to him. As he got closer, the genin noticed that Jiraiya was scribbling out some weird symbols that he did not recognize.
"Hey, Pervy Sage?" He called out questioningly. "What are you doing?" He took a peek at what his sensei was drawing, hoping the closer distance would assist him in figuring out what those odd symbols were. His face scrunched up in confusion. "What's with all the weird scribbles?" Gesturing to the small weights now adorned with odd swirly patterns.
He decided to not even ask about why the sage had such a such a creepy looking smile on his face. Something told the blond that whatever it was, he didn't wanna know.
"These aren't scribbles, brat." The older man retorted, slightly annoyed that the blond did not recognize what he was doing. "This is Fuinjutsu, also known as the sealing arts."
"Sealing, huh?" His student repeated in feign understanding. Whatever it was, it looked kinda cool. Maybe that was something Jiraiya was gonna teach him. His excitement increased. "So what are those seals you're drawing for?"
The sage finished writing the necessary seals on the last weight. He picked up all four at once and infused a bit of his chakra into the seals. That way, they would respond to his chakra when he wanted to activate them from a distance. "Why don't you put these on and find out?" Jiraiya's tone betrayed nothing, but on the inside, he was chuckling mischievously.
Naruto nodded dumbly and took the weights from his sensei. Now, with a weight strapped to each limb, Naruto waited patiently for something cool to happen. The way Jiraiya was making Fuinjutsu sound, something cool was bound to happen, right?
The blond frowned. These felt like normal weights. The wrist weights were only a meager five pounds, and the ankle weights weren't much heavier. Naruto would venture to guess they weighed, at most, ten pounds. "Pervy Sage, what is supposed to happ-"
"HA!"
Suddenly, it was as if Choji in his expanded form had just fallen on top of the blond. Arms now swinging at his sides, it felt as if the ground was a magnet and the weights around his limbs were hunks of metal. He struggled mightily, muscles bulging in an effort to keep the boy's body upright. The initial shock of the massive increase in weight, however, was too much and he could no longer resist. The blond crumpled to the ground. "What the hell are these?" He asked, head thrashing about in a vain attempt to help himself back up.
"Those would be gravity seal." His master said with a humorous tone. "With the seals I put on those weights, I can freely manipulate the amount of gravitational force that is exerted on them. I can either choose to make them as light as a feather or heavy as a boulder. In other words, they are the perfect tool to use for your training."
Had he not been pinned to the ground with what felt like hundreds of pounds of weight, Naruto would have found that explanation to be rather fascinating. For the time being, though, getting up to a standing position was the current objective. "That great and all." He said through grit teeth, still trying in vain to get up. "But, don't ya think you should lighten these up a bit?"
His anger, coupled with the very unthreatening position he was in, caused the Sannin to break out in uproarious laughter. Once calm, he obliged and reduced the gravitational force just enough to where the blond should be able to stand under his own power.
Naruto, now upright, shot his teacher a dirty look that carried the promise of pain the boy knew he couldn't deliver.
"Whoops." His master said lamely, throwing his hands up in exaggerated surprise. "Perhaps I made them a bit too heavy?"
"You think." The younger ninja said through gritted teeth. He tried to lift his arms up so he could strangle the bastard but to no avail. The weights were still too damn heavy for that.
"How heavy are these anyway?" The blond said, knees buckling slightly from the stress.
""Right now the seals are set to about eight times normal gravitational pull, give or take a few pounds. That means each wrist weight is roughly 40 pounds, and each ankle weight is somewhere around 80 pounds. That's a total of 240 pounds." The sage explained to his blond student. He noticed the dubious reaction that his student gave and smiled. "You're the one who wanted this training, kid. Don't complain now that you have just what you asked for!"
His disciple grinned sheepishly at being called out. "Maybe you could reduce the weight a little bit more?" He asked hopefully.
Jiraiya shook his head, swiftly dashing the blond's hopes. Go finish your laps, brat"
"I finished them already." He lied poorly in response.
"No, you didn't."
"How do you know?" He attempted to point his finger accusingly at the sage, but his muscles wouldn't let him. "You didn't even watch me!"
Naruto was just simply waved off by his sensei. "You've got 46 laps left." He replied smugly. "Go finish them. And when you're done you're going to be doing agility drills and other movements to improve your overall maneuverability."
Naruto began to open his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off. "Yes, with the weights on." His master said dryly.
Naruto grumbled something about a 'sadistic old man' and began to trudge through his laps.
Jiraiya shook his head. 'I guess the kid needs a little motivation.' He thought to himself.
"Naruto." The aforementioned blond turned his head towards the sound, a scowl plastered on his face.
"What?"
"You know your friend? The one with the big eyebrows on Gai's team?"
Naruto's scowl disappeared, confused by the turn the conversation took. His head now cocked to the side, perplexed. "You mean bushy brow? What about him?"
"How do you think he got so fast?" To which Naruto shrugged. "He did something very similar to what I'm making you do. These weights are going to help you greatly increase your speed in a short amount of time. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the next time you see your friend, you're even faster than he is. Not only that, but these weights are much more compact and won't restrict your movements like the bulky weights Gai uses." There was a tinge of pride in the sage's voice. Using his own sealing design, he was confident that his method would be even more effective than the one employed by the Leaf Village's Blue Beast.
Naruto's eyes lit up. Had he heard the older man correctly? Faster than bushy brow? He looked down at the weights strapped to his limbs. 'Can these really make me that fast?' He thought to himself, astonished. His eyes hardened. 'If that's true, I need to stop complaining and push through the strain. I need to get stronger.'
'There's that gleam in his eye again.' The sage mused. That was the same gleam the Sannin saw when he challenged Naruto to write a novel. 'If the outcome of that was any indication, this is about to get very interesting.' Goofy Naruto was fun to be around, sure, but serious Naruto was something to marvel at. 'The determination the kid carries in his eyes. I don't know if I could ever bring myself to bet against him when he looks like that.' He sat back down against the tree and just watched. 'Are you proud of him, Minato? Kushina?' He wondered.
…
…
Naruto grunted from the effort. Every step he took was a struggle, every swing of the arm to help with his momentum caused his biceps to strain. Only halfway through the tenth lap and his muscles were already begging him to stop. The only things that were keeping him going were the thought of all of his friends, and the desire to get strong enough to where he can protect those friends. "This… is… nothing." He grunted out in-between steps.
Jiraiya smirked.
"Every exercise you do will push your mind and your body to the very limit." The sage made sure to speak loud enough that his protégé could hear him on the other side of the field. "Even the most routine warm-ups are going to be so intense that your muscles are going to beg you to stop. Every time you think you're starting to get used to that weight, I'm going to double it. You're going to want to quit and I won't blame you." He stopped for a moment and allowed his words to sink in. "So, I ask you, do you still to continue." He concluded, tone firm but not harsh.
"Yes, I do!"
His lips turned up into a smirk at not being referred to as 'Pervy Sage'. "Good."
…
…
…
"Come on!" The 13-year-old said through grit teeth as he took yet another step. He was 49 laps down and still going. The blond didn't even know how long he had been going for, or how he was still standing.
The sun was no longer directly overhead, now at about 45 degrees. It's been at least a couple of hours.' Wincing from the strain his body was under as he took another agonizing step. 'So much for this being a warm up.' He thought to himself bitterly.
After nearly three hours of dragging himself around with the added weight, he felt his muscles beginning to adjust. That didn't make it any easier on his exhausted muscles, but it was a start. At least there was a somewhat noticeable level of improvement.
"Ah!" He squealed, nearly tripped over his own feet.
'I'll be the luckiest person alive if I can get out of this training alive.' Jiraiya wasn't kidding when he said this wasn't gonna be easy. After just one day of walking, this was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. Apparently, the genin was too deep into his own thoughts, he momentarily lost his, collapsing face first into the dirt.
Jiraiya's student tried to push himself up with all of his remaining strength but to no avail. He was just too drained. "Dammit!" His eyes darted around the clearing, looking for the only man that could help him out of his predicament.
Except, no one was there.
"Really!?" He exclaimed. "Where the hell is that bastard?" The blond swore he was here just a moment ago. "He stayed for the first 49 laps, but not the last one? I mean, who does that!?"
The blond was starting to get angry, head flailing about. "When I find him, I'm going to kick his ass!" He shouted in hopes that it would somehow reach the ears of his master. He thought for a moment. "But first, I'm gonna need to stand…"
'There's gotta be something.' Eyes searching for anything to grab on to. 'A stick, a rock, a tree, anything!' Nope, there was nothing even close to being within reach.
"If only I could move my arms to make some clones." They were only 40 pounds each, but it felt as though a boulder was on top of them! The genin could feel the necessary chakra swirling around within him, it was right there. Without the necessary hand seal, it just had nowhere to be directed. He closed his eyes and concentrated. His goal was to try and force the chakra out of his body. Would that solve his problem? Who knew, but no sense in not trying anything. "C'mon!" The veins in his forehead bulged out from the effort. "It's there If only I could just-"
'Poof'.
Upon hearing the sound, his eyes snapped open in surprise. Looking to the left, then right, his eyes locked with another familiar pair of blue orbs. Standing beside him was, well… him! Could it be, a seal-less clone?
The clone blinked. He looked down at his hands, face scrunched up in confusion. After patting himself on the chest to confirm his solidity, he frowned. "Uh, how am I here?" He asked dumbly.
The real Naruto, however, didn't even register his doppelganger's question. Something much more interesting caught his attention. "You have weights on, too. Don't you feel heavy?" The clone didn't seem to have any difficulty standing.
"Huh?" The clone threw a few mock punches and kicks, bouncing off his heels for added assurance. "I… guess not." He concluded. "That's weird. I guess a clone of a seal doesn't exactly work like the original?" Voice laced with uncertainty.
Naruto silently thanked whatever deity that decided to bestow this good fortune upon him. "Alright, help me up. I need to go find that jerk!"
"Fine." The standing Naruto said, reaching down to pick up his bossy summoner. "Damn, you're heavy. You've really let yourself go, you know that?" The clone joked with a laugh.
The original, who's arm was now slung over the other's shoulder, didn't laugh. "You know if I didn't need you, I would so hit you right now." Despite his good fortune for being able to summon a clone who could actually stand, Naruto was in no mood for jokes, even if they were technically his jokes.
"You mean IF you could hit me you would so hit me right now!" His snickering was silenced by a heavy fist.
'Poof'
"That'll teach me not to be such an ass…"
Now, body fully erected, the blond could reflect on what had just happened. Anger now subsiding, he was overjoyed at what he had just accomplished. 'I made a clone without a seal! I didn't even know you could do that!' The genin didn't know how he had done it, but he was sure of one thing. That was something that definitely needed to be looked into.
"Now I gotta go find that bastard." He grumbled to himself. Taking another step, he suddenly remembered just how hard it was for him to walk with his tired muscles. He glanced over at a very comfortable looking spot in front of a tall tree.
"Now I gotta wait for that bastard to come back." Grumbling again as he walked in the direction of the tree.
AN: This is where I would say the fanfic really begins to deviate from the canon storyline in a significant way. Some things, of course, will stay the same or be somewhat similar. However, many things will also change drastically. VERY drastically. Be prepared. Depending on how upcoming chapters play out, I may be forced to change the rating of the story from T to M.
I'm trying to keep the pacing at a slow-to-moderate level for now, so as not to rush any of what I deem important development for our young protagonist. As you can see, he's already thinking in a slightly different way from his canon counterpart. What else will he learn? I am of the school of thought that Naruto did not get as strong as he should have from training with Jiraiya. He's going to be strong, but I will do my best to not make him over powered. OP Naruto fics are boring IMO.