Chapter 14
I quickly closed my eyes. That man could only be Itachi. I tried to reactivate my Deflection Shield only to find it had already shut down. I stuck my hands under a sheet and quickly started performing the hand signs for the jutsu. I heard heavy footsteps approach me. I finished the last hand sign.
"Deflection Shield no Jutsu!" I shouted immediately feeling a huge weapon contact the shield. I opened my eyes and looked at the person whose weapon had contacted my shield. He was dressed similarly to Itachi except his slashed forehead protector was from Hidden Mist. He was bluish and he almost appeared to have gills.
"What kind of jutsu is this, Itachi?" The figure said, taking his sword back and swinging again. His second swing again impacted onto my shield. Hmm, the drain is a little more than it should be for a normal weapon.
"It appears to be a perfect defense. The boy is smart. He closed his eyes and hid his hands from me so I couldn't learn it."
"What do you want from us, traitor!" I shouted at Itachi, not taking my eyes off of the former Mist Nin. Itachi laughed.
"We're here for you brother but I think we could take you two. You have, potential, young one." The former Mist Nin looked back at Itachi.
"You're kidding! She will kill you for not following the mission!"
"Kisame, from what I hear of this guy's abilities, given the proper training he might be able to replace Orochimaru."
"I don't know what you guys are talking about but I won't go anywhere with you and I know Naruto won't either." Kisame turned back towards me, swinging his sword. I was so glad my shield was up or it would have taken off my head.
"You are so lucky for your shield." He said, backing off.
"Well, Janus, here is the deal." I glanced over at Itachi's feet, not wanting to look into his eyes. "You come with us or your brother starts to lose body parts." I saw Itachi bring a knife up to Naruto's throat.
"Don't do it, Janus. I can take them." I saw a red aura start to surround him. Good, he's bringing out the Kyubi. We might be able to...Kisame swung his sword near Naruto. His aura vanished.
"My sword consumes chakra so if I were you, I wouldn't try that again." So that's why the drain was more than normal. "Now then, Janus, drop your shield and come over here and no serious harm will come to your or your brother." I stood up and relaxed my shield so that it dropped but still not shut it off completely. I might be able to use this to my advantage and get Naruto in the shield with me... Kisame bound my hands behind my back, palms away from each other.
"Now you can't use your jutsus, so don't try anything." I walked out into the hall and stood next to Naruto. Just give me a distraction for a few seconds...
"It's been a while Sasuke." I almost looked up into Itachi's eyes but I caught myself. I looked beyond him. Sasuke!
"Uchiha Itachi..." He said, panting. Kisame looked towards Sasuke behind him.
"This is a special day indeed. Seeing three Sharingan users in one day is a real treat. I'm only accustomed to see one." Come on, Itachi, look away... Sasuke raised his head, his Sharingan glowing angrily.
"I have longed for this day..." Kisame turned and got in a defensive position.
"Kisame, forget him. He's just my little brother. He's not worth it." Itachi spoke, not even turning around. Sasuke growled, the Chidori starting to form in his hand. This is going to get ugly. I glanced over at Naruto who was just watching the scene unfold in awe. Sasuke charged, screaming. Turn Itachi, turn... He turned and that very second I leaped in front Naruto and reactivated my shield. I felt a slightly larger drain, but I accredited that to holding two people within the shield. I then heard a huge explosion. Sasuke's Chidori had impacted with the wall to our room and blasted a huge hole. I then heard a sickening crunch and a grimace from Sasuke.
"Itachi probably broke his wrist." I whispered to Naruto. Kisame turned back around.
"I see we have a sly one here." Kisame said. "I guess I have no choice but to kill you. Our primary target is Naruto." I saw Sasuke visibly cringe out of the corner of my eye. But I was more focused on the huge sword that Kisame was preparing to swing towards me. I watched as it started to glow faintly. "I see that your shield is chakra based, not bloodline. That makes it to easy." I saw him swing downwards.
I forced more chakra to take the blunt of the blow. It impacted and I gasped and fell to my knees. The drain was greater than when I first used it. Must do something to stop shift the blade or it will kill me. I tried to shape the shield in a way so that the blade would slide off the surface and away from me when the shield finally gave way. I then felt the shield release and expected the killing blow, but instead I heard it impact with the ground. I glanced over and saw the blade wedged into the floor. It was mere inches from slicing my body in two!
"Now that the shield is gone, I think it is time to finish this." He pulled the sword from the floor and brought it back up. I closed my eyes. Temari... I heard the clang of metal on metal. I looked up and saw a huge, armor clad frog in front of me paring Kisame's sword.
"You two obviously don't know much about me. I'm much better at seducing women than being seduced by them." Jiraiya! I almost turned around when I saw Sasuke back up from Itachi. Sasuke don't, admit your defeat...
"You all stay out of this! This is between me and him!" He shouted.
"On second thought Kisame, I'll deal with him." Itachi said. Kisame stepped into the middle of the hallway.
"Why don't we just let these two go at it for a while. You wouldn't want your pupils hurt now." We just watched. I struggled to my feet, watching Itachi beat Sasuke into a pulp. Near the end, Naruto charged past Kisame towards Sasuke's battered body. I stepped forward to stop him but fell back to my knees. I barely have enough chakra left to move. I looked up to see the walls change into a flesh like substance. I turned back to look at Jiraiya. I almost didn't believe what he just said. We're in the stomach of a giant frog? Kisame and Itachi started to run, leaving Naruto and Sasuke. I could feel movement in the stomach muscles. I smiled slightly. They weren't going to get away.
An explosion rocked the building. Jiraiya immediately ran around the corner. I followed him, slowly, using the wall for support. I turned the corner to see a huge hole in the wall, burnt by a black flame.
"...breaths fire. How can this flame break the stomach lining?" I heard Jiraiya say in the distance. He took out a scroll. Ah, he's going to seal it to study it later. Good. I turned to look at the wall that incased Sasuke to protect him. It gave way and he started to fall out. I carefully took him and laid him on the ground. I started checking him for injuries. Naruto came over as the walls started to return to normal.
"How is he?" Naruto asked, concerned.
"Well, I'm not good at this, but it looks like his wrist is broken, a couple of ribs are fractured, and his eyes are completely vacant. I don't know why." I suddenly felt an attack coming from my right side. I quickly opened three gates to give myself the power and speed to block. I turned just in time to get a foot impacted on my blocking arm. I skidded back a few feet and landed on my back, the green figure landed behind me. I closed the gates as not to cause my body any more damage.
"Oh, Janus, I'm sorry. I forgot my mirror and the way you were hunched over Sasuke made me think you were the enemy." I looked up. It was Gai!
"It's alright, could you help me up though, blocking that attack took the rest of my chakra out of me." I replied weakly. He reached down and picked me up and helped me limp back over by Jiraiya and Naruto.
"Gai, take Sasuke back to Konoha. He has suffered extreme mental damage and that's the best place to protect him." Gai looked at me.
"What about..."
"I'll be fine," I interrupted. "I've been getting used to using up all my chakra and gaining it back. I'll be up on my feet tomorrow and back to full strength by the end of the week." Gai nodded. He picked up Sasuke gently and turned around.
"One question, though. As weak as you say you were, how were you able to detect and block my attack."
"Well, I trained myself to be able to fight without using my eyes for the finals, so that's how I detected your attack. Secondly, I actually had to open three gates to get the speed to move to block." Jiraiya's and Gai's eyes opened in shock.
"Tell me, Janus, how many gates can you open and who trained you on opening them?" I looked up at Gai.
"Well, I know how to open all eight and for some reason, I know that in the past I have. As for who taught me, I don't know. Uhh, Gai, you might not want to drop Sasuke." He quickly took back his stance.
"When did you realize this?"
"I realized it when I was heard about Lee's fight during the preliminaries." Gai nodded and turned left with Sasuke. Naruto came over and helped me stand.
"Don't we just feel worthless?" He said. I nodded in agreement. Jiraiya just laughed.
"That is why you two are on this trip with me. The main point of this trip is to make the two of you stronger."
We walked into the town. It had been three weeks since our encounter with Itachi. Naruto was currently starting on his containment training of his new jutsu. I tried it but I was still stuck on the breaking the balloon with the water inside of it. This is after I had to go and do the water walking myself. I had also been working more on my Deflection Shield skills. I had reworked it so that I could have the shield much closer to my body. I also discovered that the closer I got the shield to my person, the stronger the shield got. I also learned how to form it around my body giving me the ability to use taijutsu with it up. The closest I've gotten the shield currently is a three inch aura around my body. I couldn't pick things up with my aura yet, but I could punch and kick people. Oh, I also could form the shield around a kunai I held in my hand inside my shield into sharp edges.
"Something's wrong." I looked over at Jiraiya. He was looking at a castle nearby. "There, let's go!" We all took off in that direction. Hanging around Jiraiya really increased my running speed. I guess trying to get away from his angry fans does that to you. We quickly landed in the courtyard. The building destroyed itself on our way there. We finally arrived to see nothing but ruins around us.
"We were two late. Something happened here, something big." I nodded. We wandered around town, finding a place to stay. Luckily this town didn't have a hot springs, so Jiraiya wasn't hanging around there. He was more hanging around the bathhouse down the street or asking Naruto to use his Sexy no Jutsu to inspire him.
"Well if you two are just going to bicker like school girls, I'm going to go get some dinner." Suddenly both their stomachs growled. Like teacher, like student.
"So, Janus, are you going to treat you sensei to some steak?" I turned to Jiraiya.
"Pervert-sennin," he cringed. He knew I only used that nickname when I was pissed at him. "I will buy my own dinner. If you want me to get you food, you can have what's left over when I'm done, ok?" Naruto laughed.
"He told you, pervert-sennin." He jeered.
"That goes for you to, dear brother." His head dropped I laughed as the followed me out the door, sulking. We entered the diner across the street. I looked around for an empty table as Jiraiya just walked in, heading to a table with two young women sitting at it.
"Stupid pervert..." I mumbled, wandering over towards him. "I'm going to hurt him for..."
"It's been a long time, Tsunade." I stopped. Tsunade was the woman we were looking for. But she was on of the Legendary Nins and should be about Jiraiya's age. Oh, wait, that's right. She has a jutsu that can make her look younger.
"I see you've made two new pupils. I thought you had given up after your last one."
"Well, not every one is as talented as the Fourth." Jiraiya never told me he trained the Fourth! Jiraiya took a seat next to Tsunade and Naruto took a seat next to Tsunade's companion. I grabbed a nearby chair and sat at the end of the table.
"I doubt you've gone out of your way to look for me to just catch p on old times. What brings you out of the women's hot springs then?" She really does know Jiraiya.
"I come to bring you back to Konoha. You have been requested to take up the position of Hokage." Tsunade's companion gasped while Tsunade herself just glared at Jiraiya.
"What! I thought were just tracking her down to heal Kakashi and Sasuke! Hokage! Are you out of your mind?" Naruto shouted, very upset.
"It was the decision of the council. They came to me first but I knew that you would be better at the job than I."
"Who would want a job where you are expected to die?" I turned to look at Tsunade. "Anyone who wants the job is asking for death." Naruto leaped up on the table
"How dare you insult the name of the Hokage! How dare you! I challenge you to a fight to take back your words! The Third and the Fourth gave their lives as Hokage to protect Konoha! To protect Konoha is why I dream to be the Hokage!"
"You want to fight me, fine. Outside, now!" We all moved outside. I was kind of worried for Naruto. If this woman was really one of the Three, Naruto wouldn't be able to beat her. "Come at me with all you have, I will only use this finger to defeat you!" Naruto growled and charged. I watched the fight. She was blocking every one of Naruto's attacks with just her index finger! Amazing. Naruto back up, panting. He stuck out his hand, trying to perform his new jutsu. I started to feel the wind from his hand whip my hair back. Was this what the jutsu was capable of? I looked at Tsunade. She was mildly shocked as Naruto charged her. She slammed her fist into the ground creating a small crack in the earth which Naruto fell into. The chakra orb in his hand exploded making a two foot diameter hole in the ground at Tsunade's feet.
"You are more a fool than I thought you were, Jiraiya. You know only you and the Fourth can perform the Rasengan. Why did you even try to give him hope that he ever could?" She looked down at a Naruto. "Some Hokage you turned out to be." Naruto slowly stood up.
"Give me three days and I will master the it!" Naruto shouted. Tsunade laughed.
"Fine then, it's a dare. If you don't master the jutsu in a week, you will admit that being the Hokage is a joke. If you do master it, which I doubt, I will give you this amulet," She holds up an unusual jewel around her neck. "And I will return to Konoha with you."
"Like I want some stupid necklace." Naruto said, pouting. Tsunade's companion turned to him.
"That pendant is something she has never bet before. It is a relic from the First. Using it, you could buy an entire mountain." Naruto looked back at Tsunade's retreating form. Jiraiya put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Don't start training until tomorrow, you need you rest tonight." With that, we returned to our hotel.
I stood on the roof of the hotel. My shield was shining around me, two inches from my body. I looked at the wall of the next building over. My target was surrounded with slowly decaying shining objects. I swung my right arm and four more high speed disks sped towards the target. I smiled to myself.
"I did it. I can throw stuff now. Awesome." I returned to the balcony of our room only to see Naruto and Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice, hunched over Jiraiya. "What happened?"
"He says that Tsunade drugged him or something. Shizune just told us about Orochimaru's proposition to bring back to of her loved ones who has died." I clenched my fists. Orochimaru!
"And what did you plan on doing, sitting around and waiting? Come on, Naruto. Let's go after her!" Naruto nodded as Jiraiya stood up. He leaped away and we followed. A short time later we arrived at the ruined castle. It was empty.
"It seems the princess has left to the ball without us." Jiraiya said, jokingly. Jiraiya pointed in a direction. "They went that way." We all immediately followed where his finger was pointing. We found ourselves out side of town in a rocky field. We jumped in front of Kabuto with Tsunade behind us.
"Five on two, I like these odds," I glanced over at Orochimaru who was currently glaring at the five of us. "And it looks like one of them is quite disadvantaged due to what I believe is an injury left over from killing the third." I turned back to Kabuto. I had my shield glow brightly. Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged pleasantries.
"Naruto-kun, Janus-kun, it's been a while." Naruto gasped while I glared.
"I had a feeling there was something fishy about you." At that moment, Tsunade pushed Jiraiya aside and charged Kabuto.
"Why is Tsunade fighting Kabuto?" I tried to hit my forehead with my hand, but my shield got in the way.
"Naruto, look at his forehead protector, he is a servant of Orochimaru." Suddenly, Tsunade came flying backwards. I looked at her. She was frozen in fear. Why...I looked closer. She was covered in blood but I saw no wound... Oh! It hit me. Fear of blood. I looked back.
"Such poor skills of observation, Naruto-kun. That is why Sasuke is better than you. Why, even your own brother has more talent as a shinobi than you do." I glared at him and I knew Naruto felt the same. "But even faced against two of the Three, you are nothing but a bug to me."
"Naruto...?" I asked.
"He is mine." I nodded. Naruto charged Kabuto.
"I'll take the other one then. I have a score to settle with him." Jiraiya put a hand on my shoulder.
"Skilled as you are, you are still no match for Orochimaru even if he is weekend as he currently is. I'll handle him." Naruto was knocked back. I leaned down to pick him up. "Shizune, you take care of Kabuto. Naruto, Janus, you protect Tsunade, alright?" I curled my lip while Naruto begged to fight too. Kabuto took some of Orochimaru's blood while Jiraiya bit his thumb. The both preformed a summoning jutsu. Two huge snakes appeared under Kabuto and Orochimaru and a small frog appeared by Jiraiya.
Everyone was distracted long enough for me to open three gates and charged the snakes. Only when I was two meters from Orochimaru and Kabuto did they realize I was there. I glanced down and saw that Naruto had provided a quick distraction by attempting to summon his self. I charged only to get my kunai shield blocked by Kabuto. I leaped away down the snake's back.
"Interesting jutsu you have. It seems that you have improved it since you first used it." I jumped back. "Orochimaru-sama, I need a weapon to penetrate his shield." Orochimaru spit out a snake and a sword from the snake's mouth. I freaked. If that sword can penetrate my shield I'm dead. I forced all my chakra to bust my fourth gate open by crouching. Suddenly, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh's gates burst open. Everything started moving in slow motion. Leaped at sword, feeling the snake's spinal cord beneath me break. Eyes slowly started turning to me with bodies slowly following. I was running towards the sword.
I saw the look of fear in both Kabuto and Orochimaru's eyes as I shut off my shield to grab the sword. I grabbed it in mid air as I leaped off of the snake. I had an overpowering urge to slice off the head of the snake coming from Orochimaru's mouth. I felt my body break half a dozen muscles as I brought the sword around and sliced off the head of the snake. The body started to deteriorate as the head fell slowly to the ground below. I saw the snake slowly descend into a swamp underneath it. Kabuto and Orochimaru jumped towards me but I was moving far to fast.
I felt myself slowly start to fall to the ground. I looked down. I gasped. I was fifty meters in the air. Opening seven gates makes me this strong. I looked down at everyone. Naruto and everyone started charging their targets as Orochimaru landed on the head of the other snake and Kabuto landed on the ground. I forced all the chakra I had left into the defense of my shield. It was all I had left to keep myself alive. The gates closed and time sped up. I impacted into the ground seconds later. I fell unconscious before I stopped moving.
I quickly closed my eyes. That man could only be Itachi. I tried to reactivate my Deflection Shield only to find it had already shut down. I stuck my hands under a sheet and quickly started performing the hand signs for the jutsu. I heard heavy footsteps approach me. I finished the last hand sign.
"Deflection Shield no Jutsu!" I shouted immediately feeling a huge weapon contact the shield. I opened my eyes and looked at the person whose weapon had contacted my shield. He was dressed similarly to Itachi except his slashed forehead protector was from Hidden Mist. He was bluish and he almost appeared to have gills.
"What kind of jutsu is this, Itachi?" The figure said, taking his sword back and swinging again. His second swing again impacted onto my shield. Hmm, the drain is a little more than it should be for a normal weapon.
"It appears to be a perfect defense. The boy is smart. He closed his eyes and hid his hands from me so I couldn't learn it."
"What do you want from us, traitor!" I shouted at Itachi, not taking my eyes off of the former Mist Nin. Itachi laughed.
"We're here for you brother but I think we could take you two. You have, potential, young one." The former Mist Nin looked back at Itachi.
"You're kidding! She will kill you for not following the mission!"
"Kisame, from what I hear of this guy's abilities, given the proper training he might be able to replace Orochimaru."
"I don't know what you guys are talking about but I won't go anywhere with you and I know Naruto won't either." Kisame turned back towards me, swinging his sword. I was so glad my shield was up or it would have taken off my head.
"You are so lucky for your shield." He said, backing off.
"Well, Janus, here is the deal." I glanced over at Itachi's feet, not wanting to look into his eyes. "You come with us or your brother starts to lose body parts." I saw Itachi bring a knife up to Naruto's throat.
"Don't do it, Janus. I can take them." I saw a red aura start to surround him. Good, he's bringing out the Kyubi. We might be able to...Kisame swung his sword near Naruto. His aura vanished.
"My sword consumes chakra so if I were you, I wouldn't try that again." So that's why the drain was more than normal. "Now then, Janus, drop your shield and come over here and no serious harm will come to your or your brother." I stood up and relaxed my shield so that it dropped but still not shut it off completely. I might be able to use this to my advantage and get Naruto in the shield with me... Kisame bound my hands behind my back, palms away from each other.
"Now you can't use your jutsus, so don't try anything." I walked out into the hall and stood next to Naruto. Just give me a distraction for a few seconds...
"It's been a while Sasuke." I almost looked up into Itachi's eyes but I caught myself. I looked beyond him. Sasuke!
"Uchiha Itachi..." He said, panting. Kisame looked towards Sasuke behind him.
"This is a special day indeed. Seeing three Sharingan users in one day is a real treat. I'm only accustomed to see one." Come on, Itachi, look away... Sasuke raised his head, his Sharingan glowing angrily.
"I have longed for this day..." Kisame turned and got in a defensive position.
"Kisame, forget him. He's just my little brother. He's not worth it." Itachi spoke, not even turning around. Sasuke growled, the Chidori starting to form in his hand. This is going to get ugly. I glanced over at Naruto who was just watching the scene unfold in awe. Sasuke charged, screaming. Turn Itachi, turn... He turned and that very second I leaped in front Naruto and reactivated my shield. I felt a slightly larger drain, but I accredited that to holding two people within the shield. I then heard a huge explosion. Sasuke's Chidori had impacted with the wall to our room and blasted a huge hole. I then heard a sickening crunch and a grimace from Sasuke.
"Itachi probably broke his wrist." I whispered to Naruto. Kisame turned back around.
"I see we have a sly one here." Kisame said. "I guess I have no choice but to kill you. Our primary target is Naruto." I saw Sasuke visibly cringe out of the corner of my eye. But I was more focused on the huge sword that Kisame was preparing to swing towards me. I watched as it started to glow faintly. "I see that your shield is chakra based, not bloodline. That makes it to easy." I saw him swing downwards.
I forced more chakra to take the blunt of the blow. It impacted and I gasped and fell to my knees. The drain was greater than when I first used it. Must do something to stop shift the blade or it will kill me. I tried to shape the shield in a way so that the blade would slide off the surface and away from me when the shield finally gave way. I then felt the shield release and expected the killing blow, but instead I heard it impact with the ground. I glanced over and saw the blade wedged into the floor. It was mere inches from slicing my body in two!
"Now that the shield is gone, I think it is time to finish this." He pulled the sword from the floor and brought it back up. I closed my eyes. Temari... I heard the clang of metal on metal. I looked up and saw a huge, armor clad frog in front of me paring Kisame's sword.
"You two obviously don't know much about me. I'm much better at seducing women than being seduced by them." Jiraiya! I almost turned around when I saw Sasuke back up from Itachi. Sasuke don't, admit your defeat...
"You all stay out of this! This is between me and him!" He shouted.
"On second thought Kisame, I'll deal with him." Itachi said. Kisame stepped into the middle of the hallway.
"Why don't we just let these two go at it for a while. You wouldn't want your pupils hurt now." We just watched. I struggled to my feet, watching Itachi beat Sasuke into a pulp. Near the end, Naruto charged past Kisame towards Sasuke's battered body. I stepped forward to stop him but fell back to my knees. I barely have enough chakra left to move. I looked up to see the walls change into a flesh like substance. I turned back to look at Jiraiya. I almost didn't believe what he just said. We're in the stomach of a giant frog? Kisame and Itachi started to run, leaving Naruto and Sasuke. I could feel movement in the stomach muscles. I smiled slightly. They weren't going to get away.
An explosion rocked the building. Jiraiya immediately ran around the corner. I followed him, slowly, using the wall for support. I turned the corner to see a huge hole in the wall, burnt by a black flame.
"...breaths fire. How can this flame break the stomach lining?" I heard Jiraiya say in the distance. He took out a scroll. Ah, he's going to seal it to study it later. Good. I turned to look at the wall that incased Sasuke to protect him. It gave way and he started to fall out. I carefully took him and laid him on the ground. I started checking him for injuries. Naruto came over as the walls started to return to normal.
"How is he?" Naruto asked, concerned.
"Well, I'm not good at this, but it looks like his wrist is broken, a couple of ribs are fractured, and his eyes are completely vacant. I don't know why." I suddenly felt an attack coming from my right side. I quickly opened three gates to give myself the power and speed to block. I turned just in time to get a foot impacted on my blocking arm. I skidded back a few feet and landed on my back, the green figure landed behind me. I closed the gates as not to cause my body any more damage.
"Oh, Janus, I'm sorry. I forgot my mirror and the way you were hunched over Sasuke made me think you were the enemy." I looked up. It was Gai!
"It's alright, could you help me up though, blocking that attack took the rest of my chakra out of me." I replied weakly. He reached down and picked me up and helped me limp back over by Jiraiya and Naruto.
"Gai, take Sasuke back to Konoha. He has suffered extreme mental damage and that's the best place to protect him." Gai looked at me.
"What about..."
"I'll be fine," I interrupted. "I've been getting used to using up all my chakra and gaining it back. I'll be up on my feet tomorrow and back to full strength by the end of the week." Gai nodded. He picked up Sasuke gently and turned around.
"One question, though. As weak as you say you were, how were you able to detect and block my attack."
"Well, I trained myself to be able to fight without using my eyes for the finals, so that's how I detected your attack. Secondly, I actually had to open three gates to get the speed to move to block." Jiraiya's and Gai's eyes opened in shock.
"Tell me, Janus, how many gates can you open and who trained you on opening them?" I looked up at Gai.
"Well, I know how to open all eight and for some reason, I know that in the past I have. As for who taught me, I don't know. Uhh, Gai, you might not want to drop Sasuke." He quickly took back his stance.
"When did you realize this?"
"I realized it when I was heard about Lee's fight during the preliminaries." Gai nodded and turned left with Sasuke. Naruto came over and helped me stand.
"Don't we just feel worthless?" He said. I nodded in agreement. Jiraiya just laughed.
"That is why you two are on this trip with me. The main point of this trip is to make the two of you stronger."
We walked into the town. It had been three weeks since our encounter with Itachi. Naruto was currently starting on his containment training of his new jutsu. I tried it but I was still stuck on the breaking the balloon with the water inside of it. This is after I had to go and do the water walking myself. I had also been working more on my Deflection Shield skills. I had reworked it so that I could have the shield much closer to my body. I also discovered that the closer I got the shield to my person, the stronger the shield got. I also learned how to form it around my body giving me the ability to use taijutsu with it up. The closest I've gotten the shield currently is a three inch aura around my body. I couldn't pick things up with my aura yet, but I could punch and kick people. Oh, I also could form the shield around a kunai I held in my hand inside my shield into sharp edges.
"Something's wrong." I looked over at Jiraiya. He was looking at a castle nearby. "There, let's go!" We all took off in that direction. Hanging around Jiraiya really increased my running speed. I guess trying to get away from his angry fans does that to you. We quickly landed in the courtyard. The building destroyed itself on our way there. We finally arrived to see nothing but ruins around us.
"We were two late. Something happened here, something big." I nodded. We wandered around town, finding a place to stay. Luckily this town didn't have a hot springs, so Jiraiya wasn't hanging around there. He was more hanging around the bathhouse down the street or asking Naruto to use his Sexy no Jutsu to inspire him.
"Well if you two are just going to bicker like school girls, I'm going to go get some dinner." Suddenly both their stomachs growled. Like teacher, like student.
"So, Janus, are you going to treat you sensei to some steak?" I turned to Jiraiya.
"Pervert-sennin," he cringed. He knew I only used that nickname when I was pissed at him. "I will buy my own dinner. If you want me to get you food, you can have what's left over when I'm done, ok?" Naruto laughed.
"He told you, pervert-sennin." He jeered.
"That goes for you to, dear brother." His head dropped I laughed as the followed me out the door, sulking. We entered the diner across the street. I looked around for an empty table as Jiraiya just walked in, heading to a table with two young women sitting at it.
"Stupid pervert..." I mumbled, wandering over towards him. "I'm going to hurt him for..."
"It's been a long time, Tsunade." I stopped. Tsunade was the woman we were looking for. But she was on of the Legendary Nins and should be about Jiraiya's age. Oh, wait, that's right. She has a jutsu that can make her look younger.
"I see you've made two new pupils. I thought you had given up after your last one."
"Well, not every one is as talented as the Fourth." Jiraiya never told me he trained the Fourth! Jiraiya took a seat next to Tsunade and Naruto took a seat next to Tsunade's companion. I grabbed a nearby chair and sat at the end of the table.
"I doubt you've gone out of your way to look for me to just catch p on old times. What brings you out of the women's hot springs then?" She really does know Jiraiya.
"I come to bring you back to Konoha. You have been requested to take up the position of Hokage." Tsunade's companion gasped while Tsunade herself just glared at Jiraiya.
"What! I thought were just tracking her down to heal Kakashi and Sasuke! Hokage! Are you out of your mind?" Naruto shouted, very upset.
"It was the decision of the council. They came to me first but I knew that you would be better at the job than I."
"Who would want a job where you are expected to die?" I turned to look at Tsunade. "Anyone who wants the job is asking for death." Naruto leaped up on the table
"How dare you insult the name of the Hokage! How dare you! I challenge you to a fight to take back your words! The Third and the Fourth gave their lives as Hokage to protect Konoha! To protect Konoha is why I dream to be the Hokage!"
"You want to fight me, fine. Outside, now!" We all moved outside. I was kind of worried for Naruto. If this woman was really one of the Three, Naruto wouldn't be able to beat her. "Come at me with all you have, I will only use this finger to defeat you!" Naruto growled and charged. I watched the fight. She was blocking every one of Naruto's attacks with just her index finger! Amazing. Naruto back up, panting. He stuck out his hand, trying to perform his new jutsu. I started to feel the wind from his hand whip my hair back. Was this what the jutsu was capable of? I looked at Tsunade. She was mildly shocked as Naruto charged her. She slammed her fist into the ground creating a small crack in the earth which Naruto fell into. The chakra orb in his hand exploded making a two foot diameter hole in the ground at Tsunade's feet.
"You are more a fool than I thought you were, Jiraiya. You know only you and the Fourth can perform the Rasengan. Why did you even try to give him hope that he ever could?" She looked down at a Naruto. "Some Hokage you turned out to be." Naruto slowly stood up.
"Give me three days and I will master the it!" Naruto shouted. Tsunade laughed.
"Fine then, it's a dare. If you don't master the jutsu in a week, you will admit that being the Hokage is a joke. If you do master it, which I doubt, I will give you this amulet," She holds up an unusual jewel around her neck. "And I will return to Konoha with you."
"Like I want some stupid necklace." Naruto said, pouting. Tsunade's companion turned to him.
"That pendant is something she has never bet before. It is a relic from the First. Using it, you could buy an entire mountain." Naruto looked back at Tsunade's retreating form. Jiraiya put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Don't start training until tomorrow, you need you rest tonight." With that, we returned to our hotel.
I stood on the roof of the hotel. My shield was shining around me, two inches from my body. I looked at the wall of the next building over. My target was surrounded with slowly decaying shining objects. I swung my right arm and four more high speed disks sped towards the target. I smiled to myself.
"I did it. I can throw stuff now. Awesome." I returned to the balcony of our room only to see Naruto and Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice, hunched over Jiraiya. "What happened?"
"He says that Tsunade drugged him or something. Shizune just told us about Orochimaru's proposition to bring back to of her loved ones who has died." I clenched my fists. Orochimaru!
"And what did you plan on doing, sitting around and waiting? Come on, Naruto. Let's go after her!" Naruto nodded as Jiraiya stood up. He leaped away and we followed. A short time later we arrived at the ruined castle. It was empty.
"It seems the princess has left to the ball without us." Jiraiya said, jokingly. Jiraiya pointed in a direction. "They went that way." We all immediately followed where his finger was pointing. We found ourselves out side of town in a rocky field. We jumped in front of Kabuto with Tsunade behind us.
"Five on two, I like these odds," I glanced over at Orochimaru who was currently glaring at the five of us. "And it looks like one of them is quite disadvantaged due to what I believe is an injury left over from killing the third." I turned back to Kabuto. I had my shield glow brightly. Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged pleasantries.
"Naruto-kun, Janus-kun, it's been a while." Naruto gasped while I glared.
"I had a feeling there was something fishy about you." At that moment, Tsunade pushed Jiraiya aside and charged Kabuto.
"Why is Tsunade fighting Kabuto?" I tried to hit my forehead with my hand, but my shield got in the way.
"Naruto, look at his forehead protector, he is a servant of Orochimaru." Suddenly, Tsunade came flying backwards. I looked at her. She was frozen in fear. Why...I looked closer. She was covered in blood but I saw no wound... Oh! It hit me. Fear of blood. I looked back.
"Such poor skills of observation, Naruto-kun. That is why Sasuke is better than you. Why, even your own brother has more talent as a shinobi than you do." I glared at him and I knew Naruto felt the same. "But even faced against two of the Three, you are nothing but a bug to me."
"Naruto...?" I asked.
"He is mine." I nodded. Naruto charged Kabuto.
"I'll take the other one then. I have a score to settle with him." Jiraiya put a hand on my shoulder.
"Skilled as you are, you are still no match for Orochimaru even if he is weekend as he currently is. I'll handle him." Naruto was knocked back. I leaned down to pick him up. "Shizune, you take care of Kabuto. Naruto, Janus, you protect Tsunade, alright?" I curled my lip while Naruto begged to fight too. Kabuto took some of Orochimaru's blood while Jiraiya bit his thumb. The both preformed a summoning jutsu. Two huge snakes appeared under Kabuto and Orochimaru and a small frog appeared by Jiraiya.
Everyone was distracted long enough for me to open three gates and charged the snakes. Only when I was two meters from Orochimaru and Kabuto did they realize I was there. I glanced down and saw that Naruto had provided a quick distraction by attempting to summon his self. I charged only to get my kunai shield blocked by Kabuto. I leaped away down the snake's back.
"Interesting jutsu you have. It seems that you have improved it since you first used it." I jumped back. "Orochimaru-sama, I need a weapon to penetrate his shield." Orochimaru spit out a snake and a sword from the snake's mouth. I freaked. If that sword can penetrate my shield I'm dead. I forced all my chakra to bust my fourth gate open by crouching. Suddenly, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh's gates burst open. Everything started moving in slow motion. Leaped at sword, feeling the snake's spinal cord beneath me break. Eyes slowly started turning to me with bodies slowly following. I was running towards the sword.
I saw the look of fear in both Kabuto and Orochimaru's eyes as I shut off my shield to grab the sword. I grabbed it in mid air as I leaped off of the snake. I had an overpowering urge to slice off the head of the snake coming from Orochimaru's mouth. I felt my body break half a dozen muscles as I brought the sword around and sliced off the head of the snake. The body started to deteriorate as the head fell slowly to the ground below. I saw the snake slowly descend into a swamp underneath it. Kabuto and Orochimaru jumped towards me but I was moving far to fast.
I felt myself slowly start to fall to the ground. I looked down. I gasped. I was fifty meters in the air. Opening seven gates makes me this strong. I looked down at everyone. Naruto and everyone started charging their targets as Orochimaru landed on the head of the other snake and Kabuto landed on the ground. I forced all the chakra I had left into the defense of my shield. It was all I had left to keep myself alive. The gates closed and time sped up. I impacted into the ground seconds later. I fell unconscious before I stopped moving.