Sealing Salientia - Chapter 24: White - Author: PenSmoke

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

Previously on Sealing Salientia:
Naruto's eyes lit back up with their usual fire after that, animatedly explaining his newest brainstorm. Jiraiya smiled at the sight. Like father, like son.

Konoha
Saturday, October 10th, Year 71

"Eww! Why did we have to use Gamatoa?" The blonde boy stepped out after Jiraiya from the mouth of the large toad, into a furnished office. The man he was speaking to had exited first and was already in the process of greeting someone else that Naruto didn't recognize. It was an elderly man with severe gray hair and a pointed goatee, his face adorned with multiple wrinkles and a large spot on his cheek.

"Because, it's more fun that way! And besides, he's the one assigned to this seal." Jiraiya laughed heartily. "Naruto, I'd like to introduce you to my sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf." The shorter man next to Jiraiya gazed at him with a wistful expression in his eyes as if he was looking at a long-lost ghost.

Naruto took a moment to take in his surroundings before replying. The office that they were in looked to be part of a residential house and it looked warm and welcoming. It smelled of something slightly burnt, but had a pleasant odor more akin to the gentle wafting of campfire smoke. Judging by the light trail of smoke coming from the object held in the hands of the older man, he quickly determined that was the likely culprit. There were books on every horizontal surface, some titles using words he had never heard of. A high-quality desk was adorned with papers and inkwells and writing utensils. A couple of nice chairs sat to the side of the desk drew his attention next as Pops crashed down into one loudly. Overall, it seemed secure and safe and judging by Jiraiya's reaction, there was nothing to be concerned about from a ninja perspective.

"Uh… Hi?" Naruto said uncertainly. He didn't know what else to say, so he just stood there, silent under the man's gaze.

After several uncomfortable moments, Hiruzen spoke, though not to him. "You were right in your letter Jiraiya."

Jiraiya shrugged nonchalantly after heaving a deep sigh at the comfortable chair. "He's never really had to talk to anyone outside of me and the toads. He needs to learn."

Hiruzen turned back to Naruto. "Well, Naruto, it is nice to see you again. Welcome back to Konoha. Jiraiya wrote to me a few weeks ago and said that he explained everything to you about what was going on, is that correct?"

Naruto nodded in the affirmative, still not really sure what to say. He didn't necessarily like staying silent, but it felt oddly uncomfortable to speak. It was like the insides of his guts were twisting and squirming inside of him each time that he thought of opening his mouth. It was actually starting to make him slightly sick.

"That means that Jiraiya explained to you about who your biological parents were, correct?"

Another nod.

"And that you are not to tell anyone, under any circumstances, that you are the container of the Nine-Tails, correct?"

A third nod followed the second.

"He also told me that you didn't really want to come to Konoha. Would you care to tell me why?"

This time, the non-verbal response was a quick shaking of the head, complete with a break in eye contact and clear embarrassment evident on his face.

"That's okay. While I've known of you your whole life, I bet you don't even remember me, do you? I held you in my arms the day you were born."

Another shake of the head. Naruto felt like he had never been this silent in his life but the anxiety that he was feeling within him wouldn't let him speak up. He wanted nothing more than to just run out of the room and flee back to Mount Myoboku. However, he had made a promise and he wouldn't go back on his word five minutes into it. So, he stood there resolutely, trying to endure the feelings coursing through him.

"I've already got the paperwork drawn up for you to join the Ninja Academy starting next week. I believe that it will be the best place for you to start making bonds with kids your own age. Jiraiya has told me that you already have a decent amount of ninja training under your belt, so I don't believe there will be any issue. You'll join the first-year students on Monday."

Naruto opened his mouth to say "Okay." However, the dryness of his throat made the sound that he produced more of a wheezing noise than anything else. He swallowed heavily, trying to dislodge the lump that had seemingly formed in the back of his throat, to no avail. Attempting to repeat once again, it was at least audible the second time.

Hiruzen looked at him, this time with a little bit of sadness. The older man knelt down in front of him, looking him square in the eye. "I know that to you, we've only just met. But, to me, you're like a grandchild that I've never had. If you need anything, just let me know. I'm happy to have you back, Naruto." The man leaned forward, engulfing him in a hug. Naruto remained rock still, unsure of how to react. This was a kage level shinobi, someone that could kill him in a moment if he so chose. And he was acting like he knew everything about Naruto, promising to help him and giving him a hug. His brain was unable to process the situation, shutting down and leaving him like a stone statue.

Jiraiya pried himself out of the comfortable chair and positioned himself next to the boy. "We should be going, I'm sure there will be plenty of time for catching up later. I imagine that my apartment is still where I left it?" He held out his hand expectantly.

After a moment's perusal of a desk drawer, a small jingling set of metal keys flew through the air towards the hand, landing perfectly on the palm. "Yup, same spot as always. I had the boys stock it up after you sent us word that you'd be coming back." Hiruzen responded to his inquiry.

As Jiraiya pushed Naruto towards the door, making unmoving feet shuffle roughly against the floor, he called back over his shoulder. "We'll catch up tonight over some sake, right sensei?"

"You can count on it." The reply from the former Hokage bounced through the opened door just a moment before Jiraiya shut it and led them down the hallway and out to the main portion of the complex. The large front doors opened to a clear blue sky with a vibrant sun shining brightly overhead. Even though it was now October, the day was unseasonably warm, the sunlight prickling on his skin. The air was still, causing all of the scents from the house to slowly dissipate around him as the new smells of the village gradually appeared to his nose. First, the odor of pine and cedar, sweet and invigorating, rose to the forefront of his senses. It was replaced a few seconds later by the combined fragrance of a multitude of people, as they made their way to the streets.

The sea of new scents rushed into his nostrils and assaulted his brain in a sensory overload. He was overwhelmed. Everything cascaded through his system, making his brain go into overdrive to try and process them. He slammed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the stimuli, but that didn't help. The odor of men, women, children, dogs, cats and dozens of other lifeforms were readily available. He could smell the sweet perfume of the woman walking opposite them, the lunch that the kid she was walking with had eaten, the dirty acrid scent of the man who clearly hadn't washed in days sitting in the alleyway, the coppery dried blood of the ninja up on the roofs.

The nostrils weren't the only source of information that was frying his brain either. How could anywhere be so LOUD? Exploring the forests while wandering with Jiraiya or in the realm of Mount Myoboku was always quiet and he could enjoy it. But here, he didn't understand how anyone could even think. Hundreds of footsteps on the cobbled stone street echoed in his eardrums, 40 different conversations occurring simultaneously clamoring for his attention, the sound of a ball bouncing off a nearby wall, the shifting of roof tiles, the creaking of buildings. Even the animals were loud, dogs barking, cats hissing, birds cawing and mice scrabbling all over the place.

He sat down in the street, putting his hands over his ears, shutting his mouth, rocking back and forth, eyes closed and started to hum to himself. He could feel the vibrations of the footsteps from Jiraiya stop after Naruto's hand left his embrace. A second later, he got scooped up by his father figure and they proceeded quickly to Jiraiya's apartment.

A few quick ninja bounces that jostled his body and a minute later, they passed through a doorway. He chanced it and opened his eyes, even though he left his hands over his ears. He found himself in a room that was sparsely furnished. A small couch sat up on one wall, with a small box facing it on the other wall. A small kitchen was on the other side of the room, with a couple of doors past it. A small window let light into the area, filtered by some shaded curtains. Jiraiya set him down on the couch before walking back to the door. The man tapped his fingers on his arms and placed his hand on a spot on the wall and a small burst of light flashed through various lines all around the room. Naruto recognized it as a privacy seal and he immediately felt the pressure on his eardrums cease.

He took his hands away from his ears, slow breaths from each of the occupants of the room was the only sounds that reached him. A welcome change in his opinion. He noticed Jiraiya's curious gaze.

"So, what was that about? We walked out into the street and you just froze up. You've never done that before."

Naruto looked down. He wasn't sure why but he felt ashamed. It was as if his reasoning sounded stupid once he thought about it. What kind of ninja could be taken down by something so simple? "It was too loud. And everything smells. It felt like my brain was going to burst."

Jiraiya looked at him confused for a moment. Then he went back to the privacy seals and undid them. The sounds again assaulted his ears, though nowhere near as loud as they were earlier. The scents also returned and he could smell the stale air of the apartment and the dust of disuse on every surface.

Jiraiya spoke up, "Tell me what you hear."

Naruto focused for a moment. "I hear the constant pounding of footsteps outside on the streets. There are at least 7 different conversations loud enough for me to hear as well. Someone else in the building just shut a door and is walking around." He paused for a second and listened closer. "There's at least a half dozen rats above us, some water running both above and below us, as well as that way," he said pointing to the right, "and I think that there's a ninja on the roof, I heard a thump and nothing else."

Jiraiya looked astonished at him. "How long have you been able to hear like that?"

"Forever, I guess?" Naruto was uncertain. This was how he always heard, everything was always so loud and clear to him. The quiet nature of all the areas in which he had lived had always allowed him to hear the sweet song of the crickets, the splashing of the fish in the water and the creaking of the trees. It wasn't unusual for him to hear things thousands of feet away.

"How about you tell me what you smell?" Jiraiya prompted.

Naruto drew a long breath in through his nose, trying to sort out all the foreign scents. "I can smell the dust on all of the surfaces in here, telling me that nobody has lived here for a while. Though there are two other scents besides us that were inside, probably a few days old at this point, both males. I can still smell the lady from earlier, she was wearing something that smelled of twenty different flowers all mixed together. I can smell rusted metal in the wall and the rats overhead. There's also a faint hint of dried blood that seems to kind of permeate everywhere, seeming to come from all the ninja."

"Hold still for a second. Let me check something." Jiraiya walked up to him and covered his ears with his hands and whispered "Naruto" very quietly.

Naruto, of course, responded with "Yes?"

Jiraiya looked at him in shock. "Nobody's hearing should be that good. Are you channeling chakra to your ears?"

"No? Should I be?" Naruto questioned back.

"No, no, that's not necessary. It's just a technique that many ninjas use to improve their hearing while on missions. I was wondering if you were purposely doing it." Jiraiya looked him over carefully, before his eyes rolled. Obviously, he had just figured something out.

"Of course. The fox. I bet he's been improving your sensory perception."

Naruto sat there and blinked. It made sense, he thought. The fox had been healing his wounds, he knew that from long ago. That the fox would meddle in other areas where he could, was pretty much a given. Hearing and smell would make sense for a fox too, they lived in the woods and hunted their prey. They would need the senses that would allow them to track and capture.

Jiraiya continued, oblivious to Naruto's internal thoughts. "Well, we will have to get you used to the sounds and scents of Konoha over the weekend. That way you aren't frozen while at the Academy. Speaking of, do you have any more questions about there?"

Naruto still remembered the conversation that they had about the ninja training facility within Konoha. He would start attending classes there and continue for a minimum of one year. They would be teaching him the basics of being a ninja, even though he thought he was already a basic ninja with all the training he had gotten from the toads and Jiraiya. He could already do the 'Basic 3' with minimal difficulty, could handle simple chakra shape manipulation and understood up to advanced sealing matrices. There had also been countless anecdotes that he had learned over the years. The only unknowns for him was the other kids and the teachers. But Jiraiya wouldn't know anymore about those now than he did previously, so he shook his head in the negative.

Jiraiya moved to the next thought. "Well, to help you get used to the level of sound and scent, I'll leave the privacy seals down and open the window. You should try to acclimate yourself to everything. I'm going to take a look around and make sure everything is how I left it." With that, the other man walked behind him and unlatched the lock on the window panes, letting them creak outwards. After that, he meandered over to the kitchen and started inspecting the shelves and cupboards.

Naruto closed his eyes. He focused his ears on the sounds outside and listened to the sounds of everything. The atmosphere sounded hectic and excited, as if there was a celebration ongoing. The sounds of mothers admonishing children chorused amongst shopkeepers peddling their wares. He could clearly hear several loud voices yelling at each other in a nearby green field, kids playing together. There was a closer conversation being held nearby in quieter tones, seeming to come from up above. Those words were unintelligible to him though, he suspected ninja talking in code. Other sounds aside from voices pervaded his consciousness too, the constant patter of feet falling upon stone, the gentle chimes of bells above shop doors, the chittering and squawking of the local wildlife. He was grateful to not be down amongst the chaos.

He could also smell a variety of different and new things. Most were completely unfamiliar, though a few shone through that matched his previous life experience. He could smell the grass and the trees, which were plentiful. Various animals leaving their scent trails and of course the absolutely colossal number of people walking about leaving their own invisible markings. The odd acrid stench of sulfur also rose to his nose, surprisingly. There was also a delicious aroma that wafted by every once in a while that he desperately wanted to follow.

This place was new and somewhat terrifying. He didn't know that there could be so many people in one place and he didn't understand how they all could exist so close to each other. It made little sense to him, having spent most of the past 3 years living in a swampy wilderness, isolated from all humans outside of Jiraiya and only encountering maybe a half dozen toads at any one time. But maybe it wasn't all bad. He started to relax for the first time since he had arrived, letting the new stimuli wash over him.

He stirred a few minutes later, a new scent catching his nostrils. This was warm and simple, filled with salty and savory hints. He knew this scent. It was one of the few things that Jiraiya had regularly sent him, as it was easy to store, easy to make and only required a bit of water. Instant cup ramen.

Naruto cracked open an eye, watching as Jiraiya set a filled container in front of him, the steam lazily wafting up out of the opened lid. The broth smelled delicious and he realized that he was quite hungry. He snagged the chopsticks and started to blow on the noodles, ensuring that they were cool enough to eat. After verifying that he wouldn't burn his tongue or the roof of his mouth, he devoured the entire thing within a minute.

Jiraiya watched him and spoke up, "You must be really hungry then. I was going to wait for a bit later, because I wanted to show you something, but I think it can hold off until we get something to eat." He returned to the kitchen to prepare something a bit more filling.

Naruto sipped the last of the broth from the cup, the drops drizzling down the inside of the cup as he tilted it. "What'cha want to show me Pops?" Naruto, now feeling much more relaxed, had returned into his more normal informal method of speaking.

"They hold a festival each year on this day, which is also your birthday. You get a free birthday party while in Konoha. I was going to take you around town, but I was thinking that with your reaction earlier, you might prefer something a bit more private."

"That sounds good, Pops. Sorry about that. Ya know. Earlier. I don't know why it got to me like that."

Jiraiya frowned. "It's okay. It was something brand new for you and I wasn't expecting that you'd react that strongly to it. I'll keep it in mind for the future but it isn't your fault. No need to be sorry."

Naruto nodded mutely, feeling that there wasn't a good response to that. He really didn't like that it had freaked him out, but the past was the past. One lesson that he had been told often was that you couldn't change the past, but you could learn from it. He had learned a lesson, that the outside world could be a scary and loud place. He would have to figure out ways to combat that.

After Jiraiya had cooked a more filling and nutritious meal and they had eaten it, they wasted some time to talk shop about some seal ideas that were ongoing. Namely Naruto's though of how to cover his skin with chakra, which Jiraiya had shown some interest in. The adult had thought that there could be a potential application for genjutsu prevention or removal by coating the entire body with chakra and was working with him on how to create something that could achieve the desired result. An hour passed with the two comfortably just coexisting in the same space.

At that time, it had started to turn dusky, the evening sky filling with yellows, oranges and reds as sunset came and went. Now the deep blues and hues of purple spattered the cloudless early night sky like a gradient painting, seamlessly transitioning from one edge of the sky to the other. Unlike the forests of the toad realm, though, the land was aglow with the lights, sending prismatic bursts of color radiating throughout the cracks and crevices of buildings. Jiraiya led him to the window, where they jumped out to the nearby roof, the older man pulling Naruto along.

Naruto winced, both at the sudden increase in sensory stimulation and the tugging of Jiraiya on his arm. Jiraiya hopped from roof to roof, pulling along the freshly turned six-year-old towards their destination. He could make some of the smaller jumps, but wasn't fully capable of jumping and consistently landing the larger gaps yet. They cleared the busier section of the town and headed towards a large cliff face that dwarfed every building in town except for the large tower in front of it.

Soon, the rocky area loomed overhead like a monolith amongst the deep violet sky behind. The top of the rock had irregular formations all along the top, creating a jagged appearance. The face of the wall itself was exactly that. Faces. Five of them to be exact. Lit from below by giant spotlights, they looked like ghostly protectors of the city from a distance, shadows darkening the eyes and creating a supernatural look to them.

"Who are they?" Naruto questioned, somewhat to himself and somewhat to his father figure.

"Those are the Hokage. The leaders of the village get their likeness carved into the hillside, creating a sense of protection even when they are gone. They look out for the village in their job and their faces look out over the village forever." Jiraiya raised his arm to point at the middle stone bust, towering over them. "That's my sensei, who you met earlier. Hiruzen Sarutobi, 'The Professor' and 'The God of Shinobi'. He served for decades as the leader of the village." His arm moved to the right by one face. "And that one. That's my student and your father. 'The Yellow Flash', Minato Namikaze."

Naruto looked at the faces, one by one. "Who are the others?"

Jiraiya went back to the first stone figure. "Hashirama Senju, the founder of Konoha along with Madara Uchiha. Those two helped to end the warring clans state that existed before the ninja nations and sparked an era of peace and prosperity that was unknown at the time. Hashirama had a bloodline that allowed him to use Wood Release techniques and was able to control the tailed beasts. The one next to him is his brother, Tobirama Senju. Tobirama created hundreds of techniques that had never been heard of before, including the one on your stomach. He was also sensei to Hiruzen." Moving to the last one, which was far more freshly carved into the rock slab, the tone of Jiraiya's voice changed from respect to contempt. "That one is 'Wicked Eye' Fugaku Uchiha, great-grandson to Madara. He took over a couple of days after your father died."

Naruto thought for a moment but let the question in his head die. He figured that if Pops had wanted to tell him more about the man, he would have done so. The obvious lack of descriptors used when talking about him compared to the others was a big red flag.

Jiraiya tugged on his hand again, beckoning him forward. "Come on, we're going to get the best seat in the house." They jumped up to the base of the stone faces and quickly climbed a set of stairs off to the side of the first face. Reaching the summit a few moments later via ninja speed, they came to a rest on the top of the Fourth's stone facsimile of spiky hair, which was the highest point of the monument. Jiraiya sat down cross-legged, Naruto following suit.

A moment later, a masked man appeared next to them, causing Naruto to whirl his head toward the newcomer. The stranger was dressed in all-black, wearing a face mask that kind of looked like a dog. The man faced Jiraiya's back and started to speak. "I'm sorry sir, but the Hokage Monument is off…" The voice trailed off as soon as the mask tilted towards Naruto. Even though he couldn't see the actual eyes behind the porcelain face covering, he could feel the gaze burning through to him. It was unnerving, the way the man behind the mask just focused on him, completely abandoning whatever other things he had been doing. Naruto was certain that he had heard a whisper of "No way. It couldn't be." just barely hidden under a soft exhalation of air.

Jiraiya's snap of fingers brought the masked man back to reality, though the gaze was still focused at Naruto. "What were you saying, Dog?" Jiraiya spoke up, obviously referencing the caricature of the animal design on the mask.

The man stumbled over his words, "I was saying… That is… The Hokage Monument is… well, it was supposed to be… for the celebration that is… You aren't supposed to be here."

Jiraiya laughed. "And let me guess, it's off-limits because it is dangerous to be up here?" When the opposite figure nodded mutely, a belly-laugh sounded out from Jiraiya. "Come now, Dog, I know you know who I am. Do you really think that some fireworks are dangerous to me?" A shake of the head later and Jiraiya continued. "We'll be fine up here, thank you. I'll personally handle it if something happens."

As the odd black-cloaked man turned to leave, Naruto caught a new detail, silvery hair spiking up from behind the mask, only visible from behind. Then Jiraiya spoke up again, "And Dog? Yes. It could be and it is. But I trust you to keep that intel to yourself. That comes from the Third. Understood?"

The silver-haired man gave a firm nod and leapt off into the darkness beyond.

Jiraiya relaxed again and mumbled to himself. "Well, that's going to be a problem." He then turned to Naruto, explaining further. "It's just as I feared, anyone who knew the Fourth is going to instantly recognize you. I was hoping that with time, the resemblance would be ignored, but that doesn't appear to be the case. That much was evident with Dog."

Naruto couldn't resist anymore and asked a bevy of questions that had popped into his head in the past 30 seconds. "Who was that man? Why did you call him 'Dog'? How did he recognize me? Why was he dressed in all-black? And what do you mean 'it comes from the Third'? What comes from him?"

Jiraiya sighed audibly and ran his fingers over his arms in a familiar pattern. He slammed a palm down onto the ground to activate one of his many privacy seals. This one Naruto was familiar with, he brought it out if he didn't want anyone or anything or overhear him. Once the seal spread out and shimmered into a dome around them, Jiraiya spoke again. "That man was a member of an organization called the ANBU. They are a group of ninjas that directly serve the Hokage, usually some of the more elite ninja available. As far the exact identity, nobody is supposed to know the names of individual ANBU. That's part of why they are dressed in all-black matching uniforms. Saying their names out loud while they are in uniform is considered a major security breach, so I called him by his mask name. That's what you're supposed to do with any ANBU. However, that particular person is someone I know quite well, he was a student of your father. That's why he knew me and recognized you."

Jiraiya took a breath in and breathed heavily out, deflating a bit. "As far as the Third, I mean Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. Before the Fifth Hokage was sworn in and took over, Hiruzen made it a top-level secret to not reveal your identity to anyone. Only three people from Konoha knew that you even exist, or who your parents were, though that number is four now. The official story is that you're my son and I've brought you back to Konoha to join the Ninja Academy. Which conveniently, is practically the truth. The only deception is that you aren't biologically mine, but I consider you my son in every way that matters." Jiraiya had to pause as Naruto had engulfed him in a hug and was squeezing the air out of his lungs.

Naruto felt the reciprocation of the hug coming from the older man and just enjoyed the moment, letting go several long seconds later. "I love you, Pops. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, Naruto. I know. I love you too."

"Anyway, what were you saying about stories?"

Jiraiya picked back up where he left off, "The only people that know the truth besides you and myself are the Third Hokage, the previous ANBU Commander and now that particular ANBU member. As far as I know anyway. But, based on that reaction, every ninja that worked closely alongside your father is going to immediately pick you as his son. We're going to have to come up with something to throw them off."

Jiraiya looked at him up and down for a minute. "Got something," he finally responded after a close inspection. "I bet if we changed your hair color to match mine, it won't be nearly as obvious. Your father was the only person in town with that electric yellow blonde hair color. If we put it as white, that should sell that you are my kid a bit more reasonably."

After applying a basic transformation, Naruto's brilliant yellow hair turned white. Since he couldn't see it, he wasn't really sure how it looked, but the smile on Jiraiya's face seemed genuine, so he wasn't concerned. A second later, he had an idea though. "Hey Pops? Wouldn't this break if someone tried to dispel a genjutsu though? And they'll probably have us do that in school, right? I don't think that it'd be a good idea to be constantly having to check if the hair color has changed. Could we do a seal that'd make it a bit more resistant?"

Jiraiya's face lit up at the mention. "That's brilliant, kid. Seals can fix everything, right? Actually, my old teammate, Tsunade uses a semi-permanent transformation seal to change her appearance. We can make one just like it."

They spent the next 15 minutes theory-crafting how it'd work before Jiraiya made Naruto write it out. Doing so carefully, it passed Jiraiya's inspection. He dispelled the transformation technique on himself, with Jiraiya confirming that the temporary hair color change was gone. Then, the older man drew a small seal on top of his scalp, in between the follicles of hair. A quick burst of chakra and his hair turned white again, though he still couldn't see it. Jiraiya's thumbs up and verbal confirmation assured that it had worked as intended.

Naruto then did his best attempt to expel chakra through his system to disrupt a genjutsu, to see if the seal would be affected. Jiraiya followed up by touching his shoulder and pushing some chakra into his system. The white hair remained in place, not wavering at all.

Jiraiya dropped the privacy seal a few moments later, as true dark had settled across the sky and the general lights of the city were the only illumination. Leaning over to Naruto, he whispered, "And now the fun begins."

A second later, there was a few muffled 'whumps' from a few hundred feet behind him and Naruto could smell that acrid smell again. A trail of smoke appeared in the sky, illuminated by small flashes of light, accompanied by more thumping noises.

Overhead, in a blindingly bright display, an explosion happened. Colored flames spread everywhere, light shedding down across the landscape, creating patchwork glimpses of multi-colored scenes below him. Trails of sparkling and twinkling flames descended towards the ground, still glowing iridescent from the aftermath of the explosion. A thunderous 'boom' blasted across his eardrums and he flinched away from the sound.

More bursts of fire from behind him led to new beacons of light exploding forth above him, in a display that continued for minutes. The continued thunder of the explosions and the blazing beauty of the sparks as they flew outwards stunned him into silence.

The reflections of pinks and reds danced across the ground and he could see the villagers gathered and watching the display as well, thousands of them lined up in the streets. The streets themselves glowed with an intensity of multi-colored lights, showing the enormous amount of decorations put up for a festival. The people below were joyous and exuberant, yelling and screaming with delight at the display.

A frenzy of smaller pops was immediately covered by two enormously loud 'whump' noises that shook his chest and overpowered his nose with the acrid stench that he now associated with explosions. Lines of fire shot into the sky as ninja techniques were cast to add to the show. Glittering trails of sparkles brighter than any star of the night light up the sky above him, creating a majestic starry sky that twinkled crazily. Then two gigantic bursts of color exploded overhead, as the largest fireworks as of yet were displayed, showing the two kanji representing the name Konoha. The characters faded out after a few seconds and the display went dark after the last of the light from above died down. What didn't die down was the yells from the onlooking crowd, which escalated in intensity after the finale. After a few more moments, the noise settled back down to the volume of a loud festival, which still easily reached his ears.

He laid his head back on the rocky surface as Jiraiya sat with him. This town that he had arrived in, they were celebrating his birthday and the sacrifice of his father in such a way. It was loud and blinding and terrifying and full of explosions. In other words, it was glorious.

AN: That was fun to write. Naruto is back home everyone. Now begins the Academy, where some very different dynamics than normal will be affecting all involved.

As always, constructive criticism welcome! See you next week!