OUGONJIDAI: The Golden Age

Prologue: The Will of Fire

A funny little world it is, when some persist when the cause is helpless.

The countless hours of concentration was finally taking its toll on the boy's body and mind. His wet face, wrinkled in tension reflected his ambition to reach the next tremendous level. Yet… can he endure the fatigue any longer?

Only a set of three thick tails protruded, four to go. These tails were not organic, but constructed of a gathering of red, bubbling hot energy; chakra. A layer of the same crimson chakra engulfed the young man like an encasing of armor, or a contamination. A pair of long ears jutted from the boy's head in the same manner and substance as the swaying, inorganic tails. The riverbank was growing restless. As the boy's boiling energy expelled, the forces rustled the fresh water at his knees, triggering the brook to sway akin to an ocean storm. Waves of the river reflected a broken image of an inspecting orange sky.

Extended nails, sharpened fangs and scarlet glowing orbs for eyes, this transformation Naruto was undergoing appeared to be far from good-humored. No, this form was demonic in every aspect. Nevertheless he purposely summoned the monstrous power, training himself to unleash more.

Sweat forming in beads on his face thickened to streams. The severe meditation was devastating his energy. Bringing forth an inner vigor such as the Kyuubi devil was ultimately tearing at the boy's adolescent essence. His energy was wavering. Consciousness was coming to an end. He resisted giving in. Training his body and mind since dawn, he felt he wasn't finished with his routine meditation.

For Sasuke. Power was essential for retrieving his stolen ally. The only motivation that kept Naruto from dropping was the covet to see Uchiha in Konohagakure once more.

The strain was too much. In his eyes, the pine forest surrounding him was smearing. His skull was throbbing, numbing. Fading in his ears was the whistling of the airstream, the tossing of water and the eerie roar emitting from the movement of chakra. His senses were folding into nonentity, and it was maddening him.

An angered bellow to the evening sky interrupted the woods. The young voice, full of frustration and misery. Uzumaki's eyeballs rolled into his head and his dog-tired, juvenile body plunged face-first into the canal below him. Hitting the fresh water, his demonic aura dissipated as fire pitted against its rival element.

It was like the environment died just as he did. The current ceased and the wildlife faltered to chatter. Not a sound was composed.

-

Blurs of flickering reds and oranges materialized at the right corner of his vision. Then a vague impression of green and navy shades flooded into view as his eyelids fought to open. Turning his head Naruto witnessed a figure, humanoid shaped and strapping. The boy picked himself up from the cushion he was previously resting on. Details rushed into view, the reds sharpening into a neighboring fire, the green becoming overhead pines and the dark blue clearing into a late evening sky spotted in the first appearing stars.

"Hey, look who's conscious." The outlying man reacted to the awakening teenager. His features were filing from an unexplained form to a human. It was a ripe aged male with an unkempt mass of ashen hair hugging the sides of his face. Red face paint shaped as a slim stripe trailed from the lower eyelids to the base of his cheekbones. His eyes reflected historical wisdom and his build portrayed he was a robust, lofty man. The elder's smile could say something different though, that he was considerate and serene, yet full of entertainment.

"Ero-sennin?" The boy mumbled. Naruto addressed the man disrespectfully.

There was a small silence until the hermit spoke out. "You did it again, eh? A little while in the third stage and you pass out on me." He suspended a silver fish over the flame with a thin stick, charring the membrane delicately. "Oh, and my name's Jiraiya, not Ero-sennin. Get it through your head."

Ignoring Jiraiya's remark, Naruto ogled the roasting fish. The corners of his mouth watered in appetite. The sennin had detected the boy's starvation. He reached near the base of the fire and handled a stick dressed with a silver fish on the end. Uzumaki stretched his arms out longingly and with charming innocence, then accepted the meal. Eyes pinched closed and a wide grin as a display of gratefulness, Naruto hovered his feast over the blaze.

"And after this," the young blond told, "I'll prepare some more near the waterway."

"No." A very blunt, yet firm statement from the frowning Jiraiya. Uzumaki turned a sour face to the hermit.

"I'm fine. Really."

"Don't be a dunce. You've completely exhausted yourself. Wait until tomorrow afternoon."

It was unbelievable how many times the boy had heard that from his old master, ever since he accompanied him a year before. Naruto always expected the negative response, 'no.' In spite of that he urged to train after every black-out situation, although there was never any hope of him coming first in the disagreement.

The jinchuuriki boy with a thick lower lip, scowled at his right, opposite of the campfire. He hoped his sensei would uphold his disappointment, but it was doubtful. Jiraiya instead fixed a void gaze onto the combustion. It wasn't long before the strapping male's attention rolled to his secluded student. His grimace expression curled into a snug grin.

"You did well, nonetheless."

Ah, the sweet sound of appreciation rang pleasantly in the boy's ears. Naruto couldn't help but put on a huge smile after being esteemed. He almost lived to earn the respect of others. "Yeah? Did I really?" It was obvious he wanted Jiraiya to be detailed with his praise.

The sennin retorted as he swiveled his meal over the flames. "Well you did keep the three tails longer than an hour this time, and you were going for four. I got to say, you're exercising that Kyuubi of yours."

"Oh, he'll listen to me soon enough." The teen also rotated his fish, still keeping his cocky beam.

"Who knows, you'll probably be able to last against me."

"Yeah, and Sasuke too!"

Ending his words, Uzumaki then knew what he had said. Narrowing his eyes to the base of the campfire, his optimism altered into grim. Jiraiya dropped his smile as well and dully watched his silver fish singe a little from the blaze. Dead was the campsite. Throughout the hushed moment a passing breeze was the only sense of activity. Both master and apprentice, extinct in thought, mutely saddened by the subject of the young, lost Uchiha.

"I wonder if he'll come back." The boy broke off the stillness in a meek tone.

Jiraiya leveled his food away from the fire, seeing it was nicely cooked, lightly blackened. The hermit responded before attempting to consume his catch. "Honestly, I don't think you should bet on it, Naruto. From my experience."

"But," Uzumaki flashed a passionate fix onto his master. "Sasuke's different. He has to be, or I'd never respect him." The sennin was visibly stunned by the boy's quick change to solemnity. Naruto's cerulean orbs for eyes mirrored the campfire's embers. "That's why I'm working so hard. I need to get better than him. I'll show him that I'm bent on getting him back, and I grew stronger because of it. That can change him. Right?" Fervor in his expression was mixed with helplessness and melancholy.

The master looked upon his student like any compassionate sensei would. Naruto turned away to retract his fish before it completely blackened. The boy said nothing more.

Jiraiya flashed a grin. He was beginning to recognize the desperation both boys had. "You know, you're right. I shouldn't judge your charisma with that kid, but it'll be hard to get him back. He has a goal himself, after all. He's bent on getting it."

"But I'm bent on getting him back." Naruto plunged his jaws into his meal and tore a portion of tender white meat from the prey.

The sennin couldn't help himself from staring. Not from Naruto's mannerisms, but that he reminded him so much of himself in his younger days, it was almost a conspiracy. Both had yearned for attention. Both wanted to live big dreams. Both were indomitable to save their best friends from darkness. Although occasionally comical, Uzumaki possessed a determination. A fiery one, like the Young Thunder, Jiraiya, or the Yellow Flash, Yondaime. The hermit cherished it so. He knew he shouldn't have been doubting the boy before, but he was only underlining the danger.

"You know, I was just like you." Jiraiya tossed his bare stick to the side of the campsite.

Naruto seemed to narrow his gaze just as he eyed his master. "Sorry, Ero-sennin. You've always been more of a lecher than I ever was. That's a department I can't beat." He continued wolfing down his fish.

"Well I didn't mean everything. That was a hobby of mine."

"Still is."

It appeared Jiraiya was deaf to the boy's comment, or was skilled in faking it. The hermit fixed a deep observation upon the sparking blaze, a sneer across his face. "You should know, I didn't rise to my fame over my 'anatomy studies'. In fact, all three of us were promising as Shinobi, thus our title. There's more to us than you think."

Uzumaki looked up from his meal. "You mean, you were good from the beginning?"

"Well, not exactly. I had to work for my brilliance. Believe me. It wasn't pretty. Especially with the instructors cracking down on me all the time, not letting me have any fun. Of course, there was my rivalry that pushed me to work harder. And Tsunade."

"Tsunade?"

The master straightened his posture to stretch his spine and lungs. Jiraiya let out a hearty sigh; his attention fixed on the overhead leaf crowns.

"Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning. It's no use telling you small pieces of the Golden Age."

"The Golden Age?" Naruto muttered while guzzling his food, perceptibly not entirely interested. He took a gulp. "Are you talking about fifty years ago?"

Jiraiya displayed a smile of fond memories and a gaze lost in them while viewing the stars. He turned away from them soon enough and to Uzumaki. "It was the best years of Konoha, and some of the worst. We were born right in the middle of it. The real cases began when I was about twelve years old---"

"Sensei?" The blond narrowed his brows in impatience. "Is this going to turn into a story of the old days?"

"Not very respectful of the Golden Age, are you? Don't worry. You won't be disappointed."