Note: I have no ownership to Naruto
Part 4 – 10/8/04 updated 05/10/06 : Sorry about this being so late.
Ready or Not! Naruto has family!
A Kitsune's Adventure
"Bet you can't catch me Yuki" yelled a twelve year old Naruto as he jumped from tree to tree with the grace and speed of a kitsune. "You want to bet kid" yipped Yuki, as a flash of silver was seen from the corner of Naruto's blue eyes that were streaked with thin lines of red as he quickly banked away from the silvery kitsune.
"Yo, Naruto, Yuki! Let's break for lunch" shouted Jiraiya as his eyes followed the two as they flashed here and there in their game of tag.
"Lunch, yippee! Come on Yuki, let's eat lunch. Is it ramen ero-sannin?" said Naruto as he leaped down to Jiraiya, who was settling up a small fire pit. "Well it will be ramen and fish, if you go and get some water and the fish" replied Jiraiya with a grin. "Alright ramen!" shouted Naruto as he pumped his fist in the air and jumped up, as Yuki ran around Naruto and Jiraiya barking "Raman, ramen, ramen!"
Jiraiya thought 'that's a kitsune after Naruto's own heart'. "Hey, hey where's the water and the fish?" questioned Jiraiya with a quick grin. "Oh yeah! Let's see" murmured Naruto as he sniffed the air, to sense a water source.
"There's a small river about a half mile to the north" stated Naruto, "Let's go Yuki, last one there's a rotten egg" yelled Naruto as he took off with the water bucket in hand, with Yuki hot on his heels.
"And make it quick" yelled Jiraiya after them. "Be back in five" was the returning answer as Jiraiya chuckled as he continued to build a fire.
'That boy sure is growing by leaps and bounds' thought Jiraiya as he reflected on the past. 'I can't believe it's been almost eight years since we met the kitsune elders. Eight years, eight different kitsune, only two more to go. The next one should be finding us soon. I wonder what the next one will be teaching Naruto. He's had two teach him chakra control, one on medical jutsus and plant life, one on physical conditioning and taijutsu, another two on different defense jutsus, and two on offense jutsus using different environmental elements. Then there are all the jutsus that I taught him from his father. The fourth would be proud. Between kitsunes and me, he really will make his dream come true of being Hokage. Hmm, we should probably head back to Konoha so he can take the genin test.'
"Yo ero-sannin, you in there" Naruto said as he waved the fish in front of Jiraiya's face. "Yea, wake up. Where's my ramen" barked Yuki as he nipped at Jiraiya pants.
Chuckling, Jiraiya grabbed the bucket of water from Naruto to set a pot of water on to boil, as Naruto when to prepare the fish. "Patience Yuki, all great ramen takes time" replied Jiraiya with a grin as he broke up some ramen into the pot. "If you say so" pouted Yuki as he sat down by Naruto near the fire to await his mouth watering ramen.
"Yo Naruto, what do you think about going back to Konoha for the genin exam?" questioned Jiraiya with a sudden seriousness. "What about the next kitsune elder?" asked Naruto with a frown. "Don't I have another two to go? How can I be a genin if I am learning from an elder?"
"Well that would be simple. You are currently learning from me and elder kitsune. I don't see why, you could not continue to learning from a genin team and a jonin sensei plus your elder kitsune" stated Jiraiya as he ladled some ramen into Yuki's dish.
"About time old man" yipped Yuki as he started to snarf down his ramen. "What about you, are you going to stop being my ero-sannin?" started a worried Naruto as his ramen hung in suspension before his mouth. "I'll always be there for you Naruto, but I don't have to be your sensei to be there for you" laughed Jiraiya as he ruffled Naruto hair like a father would his son.
"You are one of my precious people, and I will always be there for you went you need me" Jiraiya stated with conviction as he made eye contact with Naruto. Whose face was like the dawn and broke into a smile to brighten the world. "Big Brother!" Naruto shouted with affection as he jumped into Jiraiya arms for a hug, while in the process knocking over his ramen bowl to Yuki's delight. "Ramen, ramen, ramen" yipped and barked Yuki as he dashed to catch the falling ramen. Laughter could be heard from Naruto and Jiraiya over Yuki's antics.
"So do you want to head back to Konoha and join a genin team? It would allow you to work on your teamwork skills and you would be around kids your own age" stated Jiraiya as he released Naruto to finish his lunch.
"Hmm! Well it would be nice to meet kids my own age. But would they be nice and like me? You know about the whole Kyubi thing and all" questioned Naruto as he picked at his fish with downcast eyes, as he remembered the villagers and how they treated him.
Jiraiya frowned as he looked at Naruto as he started, "You know Naruto, it has been a long time since you were in Konoha, and most people will not remember that you are the container for Kyubi, but some will" warned Jiraiya. "But your precious people will not care, and will accept you for you. Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Konoha!" "Although", Jiraiya paused "you still have a long ways to go there" teased Jiraiya the toad sannin with a smile and a cuff to Naruto head. "Yea, I am going to be the future Hokage. Then they will have to accept and acknowledge me" shouted Naruto with a victory pose. "Hokage, Hokage, Hokage!" yipped Yuki as he jumped and danced around Naruto. Jiraiya just chuckled at the two's antics.
"So we are heading to fire country are we?" was barked to the three, which then halted all actions as heads turned towards the barking voice that was located on a large tree branch.
"Elder Kui!" barked Yuki, as he bowed to the elder kitsune. "Elder" replied Jiraiya as he nodded his head, and put his hand on Naruto's back. Naruto who was quiet looked at the elder kitsune with wide eyes, as he watched the elder kitsune leap gracefully to the ground from the tree branch in a flash of red gold, to come right before him.
"Greetings Naruto-sama" barked the red gold elder kitsune with blood red eyes that was the size of a large dog. "It is an honor to be your kitsune-sensei for the next year. My name is Kui. I am the great-great grand-daughter of Kyubi-sama. It is a pleasure to be with family again" barked the Elder Kui to Naruto with a bow.
'Family' thought Naruto with shock. 'I have a kitsune family', pondered Naruto with a slowly building kitsune grin. "Greetings Elder Kui, it is a pleasure to have family" greeted Naruto with a bow.
"Oh please call me Kui, we are family after all" barked Kui as she sat down before the group. "Greetings, Jiraiya-san and Yuki-kun; I have heard many great and interesting things from Naruto-sama's prior kitsune-senseis" yipped and barked a grinning Kui. "Hopefully only good things" joked Jiraiya with a laugh. "Oh yes, Naruto-sama has greatly impressed the elder kitsunes with his energy and determination" barked Kui.
"So" began Naruto, "are you going to teach me cool jutsus and stuff" asked Naruto with a cheeky grin. "So it is true!" barked Kui. "One of the first questions you ask is about cool jutsus" barked a laughing Kui. "You think that's bad" he asks me that question everyday" chuckled Jiraiya as he ruffled Naruto's hair. "Hey, that's not fair. You're ganging up on me" pouted Naruto as he sat down at Jiraiya's feet with a huff and crossed arms.
"Stop picking on Naruto" growled Yuki as he sat down by Naruto and put his head on Naruto's lap and started to purr at Naruto to lift his spirits. "Thanks Yuki" replied Naruto as he started to pet Yuki's head in slow long strokes.
"Don't worry Naruto, I will teach you some of our family's elemental jutsus over the next year and as we go to Konoha, I will start to teach you one of Kyubi favorite jutsus, the fire-spin no jutsu" barked a reassuring Kui as she sat down in front of Naruto to look at him.
"Really, sugoi!" started Naruto in awe, as Jiraiya chuckled at Naruto's reaction.
"Well when are we going to start heading to Konoha ero-sannin and how long will it take to get there?" questioned Naruto as he looked up at Jiraiya, while continuing to pet Yuki. "Let's see, we are currently in Water Country and it will take around two plus weeks to get to Konoha. The regular genin exam was two months ago, but we can have you take an out of season genin exam. So I say we head out tomorrow morning and you can get to know Kui a bit better. So we will stay here for the rest of the day, since we already have a mini camp started. What do you think Kui?" stated Jiraiya as he started to pull out their tent from his pack.
"That sounds fine to me" replied Kui as she glanced over to Jiraiya. "While you finish setup camp I will take the boys hunting for dinner. That will allow me to evaluate Naruto-sama's stealth skills" commented Kui.
"Naruto can be very stealthy when he really wants to be" stated Jiraiya. "Hey" pouted Naruto as he and Yuki started to get up to go hunting with Kui.
"Bet you I find dinner first Yuki" as Naruto took off to go hunting. "Yeah right" growled Yuki, hot on Naruto's trail. "Wait up for me" barked Kui as she gave chase to the distance blurry figures.
'Well the next few weeks should be interesting' thought Jiraiya. 'But then the real fun will begin' reflected the toad-sannin.
'Ready or Not, Here We Come Konoha!'
To be continued
