Chapter Seventeen
Heyo welcome back once again. Left you with a cliffhanger last time, so I hope you're excited. I stayed up late editing this just so I could put it out for you guys. Anyways, back to the story…...
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. If I did I wouldn't have to go to work.
"Ryuko! No! Don't!" The massive jinchuriki turned toward the boy's girlfriend and Naruto knew what was about to happen. He drew from the Nine Tails chakra, and poured everything he had into a single body flicker. He appeared aside her just in time. Just in time to watch the bulky jinchuriki punch his arm through the girl's chest. Blood burst out from around his forearm as it ripped straight through her with pure force alone.
The boy collapsed to his knees as he watched the elder jinchuriki withdrawal his arm from his girlfriend's chest. He was in shock, completely catatonic, his chest hurt, this couldn't be happening. How, how could this happen.
"Your turn brat."
Naruto's expression was blank and he couldn't move his body at all.
"This is it for you, Konoha scum."
Naruto couldn't think straight, he was stricken with grief and anger. How could she die. Why was he alone again. He wanted this man to pay. But what could he do against him.
"Come to me boy. I can give you your revenge, we will kill him, and destroy everything he loves. He will feel the pain you feel now." A deep voice echoed through his head.
Naruto suddenly found himself in front of the Nine-Tails' cage. He felt so hollow. What was left for him at this point. What was he even doing all this time. It was all so useless.
"Come boy, remove this seal... I will take away all of your pain. You won't have to feel it anymore."
"Can you... can you really make it all go away?"
"Yes...now rip away this accursed seal."
Han was sweating. Hard. The last thing he had expected was for this boy to be a jinchuriki let alone that of the Nine-Tails, this was bad. The boy was already up to the six tailed form. The younger jinchuriki was tossing him around like a rag doll. It was likely his beast had taken complete control of him. He didn't know if he could keep this up.
Han was never one for using jutsu. He mostly used his boil release to bolster his taijutsu, however desperate times called for desperate measures. He channeled the chakra of the Five Tails, gathering as much as he could, and he ripped through hand seals . The other jinchuriki was at seven tails already. "Earth Style: Sandwich Jutsu!" Two enormous rock formations formed on either side of the rampaging jinchuriki, closing in on it with tremendous force, and smashing the beast caught in between.
Han sighed in relief as it crushed the enemy. He had been worried. His eyes went wide. "No way." He thought. "This is bad". The almost complete form of the ninetails ripped through the earth with a mighty roar. "Fuck me." He said aloud, struck with fear and awe at the power of the Nine Tailed Fox. It had completely negated his most powerful jutsu, and it wasn't even at the full nine yet.
Naruto lifted his hand to the seal and began to pull. There was nothing left for him here. That Iwa jinchuriki had just taken that from him. "Remove the seal boy!" A hand caught his arm, and tossed him to the water a bit away from the cage. A figure landed in front of the boy, hand extended to help him up.
Taking the hand the boy stood with the assistance of the figure. He stared at the man, who he idly thought looked a lot like himself, before fully realizing exactly who it was. "F-Fourth Hokage."
The deceased Hokage looked back at him. "I worked it into the seal, that I would appear in your psyche, if it ever unraveled to the point that you had sprouted the eighth tail. Truth be told, I'd hoped that it would never come to this, since I'd hoped to never have to see you again, Nine Tails."
The massive fox responded with a mighty roar as the man looked back at it, before he turned back to the boy. "But then I was looking forward to seeing the young man that my son had now become. I guess it evens out."
"Fourth Hokage! Come here! I'll tear you apart!" The massive beast roared.
"Well if that's the case, then I think I'll just stay over here. Wouldn't you agree, Naruto?"
"Wait, why do you know my name?"
"I know because I named you, because the truth is, you are my son."
The boy began to laugh loudly tears beginning to spring from his eyes.
A massive roar interrupted the two. "Fourth Hokage!"
"He's still as rowdy as he was the day I sealed him. Let's go somewhere quieter huh?" The blond man snapped his fingers, and he and the boy appeared in a clean, open area inside Naruto's psyche.
"Hiruzen didn't tell you much of anything huh? If people had known you were my son, you'd have been in extreme danger. I had quite a lot of enemies." The man smiled lightly at the young man before him.
"Dad..." Minato experienced a shooting pain expanding from his stomach as his son rammed his fist into his gut. "Why!? Why would you ever seal that damn thing inside of me!? I'm your son! How could you!? Do you even understand what kind of things I went through because of it!? All of the villagers looked at me with contempt and fear! I couldn't make any friends! I just wanted people to accept me! Or at the very least not hate me!"
The boy was screaming now, tears falling down his face. Minato could see the pained expression that consumed his son.
"Then I met Iruka-sensei. He taught me so much, he made me take my training seriously. I made friends with Sasuke and Kiba, even Shika and Choji! I was friends with most in my class! I even tied for Rookie of the Year with Sasuke! Sasuke, Sakura, and I were all put on Team Seven, under your student Kakashi. I was so happy! Then this group called the Akatsuki comes after me, and I find out they want the Nine Tails! Now I have to deal with knowing I have a group of S-Rank missing nin after me, and that puts everyone I love in danger!"
Minato couldn't help but feel his chest tighten at his son's words. Seeing what he had caused. He really was a shit father. He wished he could have done more.
"We've been at war with Otogakure, and I finally found a girlfriend! A girl actually liked me! And I liked her! I think I loved her! I was happy I could be on a mission with her. It was a routine patrol, but it ran along the Iwa border. And we ran into the jinchuriki of the Five Tails! We'd accidentally crossed the border, and he killed her team in seconds! And he killed her right in front of me! I watched her die damnit!"
The boy ran his hands through his hair showing the extreme mental stress he was experiencing, with such a simple movement. "I don't even know what I'm saying anymore! I just lost my girlfriend." Minato held back a tear seeing his son like this.
"Naruto, how old are you now?"
"I'm fifteen..."
"Ah I see fifteen already. It must have been hard for you. I'm sorry, my son. Though I suppose it's not worth much, me apologizing now. After everything I put you through."
"No, it's fine. After all I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage. I'll deal. Ya know, I...I'd had my suspicions, a-and I'd had these crazy ideas, that maybe you could be my dad. The one man I looked up to more than any other... but I'd always thought, that no, I couldn't be the son of someone so great."
"It's true, you are my son. Since you asked, I sealed half of the Nine Tails inside you, because I believed you could either use the extra chakra, or maybe one day master it's power. I did it because you're my son. Though, I suppose how you choose to be a ninja is up to you." Minato's face became serious.
"Fifteen years before now, when the Nine Tails attacked the village, I learned something. A man orchestrated the whole thing. He was a formidable shinobi, he possessed the Rinnegan eye. I believe he will attack the leaf once again."
"Father...was it the Nine Tails or the man, that killed mom?"
Minato's eyes went wide. "You know of your mother?"
"That was the one thing old man Sarutobi told me about."
"I see, I suppose I have time. Not much but enough. The man with the Rinnegan, he had a jutsu to extract the Nine Tails. Your mother, Kushina, she was the jinchuriki before you were. He showed up and ripped it from her after your birth. He put the Nine Tails under some sort of genjutsu. He is the mastermind behind the Akatsuki. Between keeping you and your mother safe, fighting him, and the Nine Tails, I was stretched to thin. I-I couldn't do it all. I wasn't strong enough to protect our family. You're mother desperately wanted for me not to seal the beast inside you, as she knew what you would go through. But we had to save the village, and preserve the balance. For that I am sorry Naruto. It makes me wonder why he chose to use the fox to attack. Maybe he wanted me out of the way, it's possible." Minato felt a pang in his heart, thinking of the way things might have been if he had been stronger.
Minato looked at his son, sadness filling his eyes. "I tried so hard just to protect you but I failed. Because of my failure, you've lived this pain filled life. I made a sacrifice, and forced a bigger sacrifice on you."
"Father?"
"Yes?"
"I forgive you." The boy smiled up at the man. "I could never blame you for thinking of the village as your family. I want to protect it too. There's so much hate in this world. I want to fix that. But I've also seen what we are as people. And that to me means no matter what, the village and my family come first. I'd love to work with the other villages to find peace, but if they intend to hurt my family, my village, then I will have no choice but to stop them. I don't ever want to not be fast enough again."
Minato smiled down at the boy. "You have something important to protect my son. As much as I also wanted peace, I too felt hate, and I killed without so much of a second thought. This is our life, and I trust you to forge ahead Naruto."
Minato placed his hand upon his son's head. "I entrust the Will of Fire to you kiddo. Be the next step in finding peace, even if you cannot find it yourself. I know you can protect the village and all of your loved ones."
"You think I can protect them all? Do you think I can be that strong?"
Minato ruffled the boy's hair, smiling down at him. "Of course I do! I believe in you completely! It's a parents duty to have unconditional faith in their child."
The older blond pulled his hand away, seeing it start to fade. "I have to go now, Naruto. My chakra is beginning to fade."
"Wha- no you can't go yet!"
The elder man smiled. "I'll rebuild the seal now, but this will be the last time I can. Steel your will. And be strong my son. I believe in you. I love you, and so does your mother. Forever and always, my son."
The boy cried again smiling at his father. "I love you too dad. If you can, tell mom the same."
"Of course if I can I will, and Naruto. Tell Jiraiya-sensei, to take you to my northern safe house. You said you don't ever want to not be fast enough again, so that place holds that very ability son." And with that Minato faded away, and Naruto steeled his resolve once more.
"Northern safe house, got it. Goodbye, Father." Naruto said aloud.
His eyes snapped open. Seeing the Five Tails jinchuriki crouched before him, exhaustion evident in his body language. The man craned his neck to look at the blond. "I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being, Han. The jinchuriki of the Steam release. But I won't take revenge. That's not who I am. However, if you ever attack Konohagakure or my fellow Konoha shinobi again, I won't hesitate to strike you down."
He walked away from the man, following the route of destruction he had caused when in his jinchuriki state. He found the location of the original ambush. He sealed away the bodies of the jounin and the twins in a scroll. At least he could take their bodies back for a proper funeral.
He then turned to the lifeless body of his girlfriend. He crouched before her. Staring blankly at her limo form. She was dead. It hurt, a lot. He was still so mad. But this wasn't the time and he was still in enemy territory. "I'm sorry Ryuko...I wasn't strong enough...more than that, I wasn't fast enough." He cried silently for a few moments before picking her up bridal style and looking to the sky. "I'm sorry Ryuko..." With that Naruto was gone. Rapidly flickering back to Grass Country and later Konohagakure, her body held gently in his arms.
Kotetsu and Izumo were currently playing a card game, trying to pass the time during their gate guard duty. They suddenly heard heavy, shaking breathing, and Izumo stood to check it out. As he exited the guard shack, he was greeted with the sight of a physically exhausted Naruto, covered in blood, and holding a girl in his arms. "Naruto!? Are you okay? Kotetsu, go get help!"
"Right! Yelled the second chunin, flickering off.
Izumo ran over, as Naruto collapsed to his knees. "Naruto, what happened?"
Naruto looked up at the chunin slowly. Izumo took in the sight of the exhaustion gripping the boy's face. The red puffy eyes from what must have been a days worth of crying. The sadness and guilt was evident in the boy's expression. "I-I was-wasn't." He said choking in a sob. Along the way home, having so much time alone to his own thoughts, even the reassurance Minato had placed in him couldn't keep the boy from turning into and emotional wreck. "I wasn't f-fast enough…." He began to fully sob for about a minute, before the exhaustion caught up with him, and the boy passed out.
Naruto had been in the hospital for two weeks. After he had given his report on the events of the mission, he had locked himself down completely. He'd left everything about his father and the Nine Tails out. The boy had simply said that after she died he had blacked out. He hadn't spoken since. He couldn't stop thinking about how he could have saved her, how he could've been faster. She plagued his dreams, so he barely slept. He hadn't been eating other than the food Tsunade literally had to force him to consume.
A knock at the door moved Naruto's empty, blank gaze from the ceiling to the door. The door handle turned, and Iruka walked in. "Naruto…." The boy stared at his first mentor blankly. The scarred chunin approached the bed and sat beside it. "How about we go get a bowl of ramen? My treat?"
"Sensei….." he spoke for the first time in two weeks. His voice was a raspy, jumbled mess. "Why do we form bonds…. if it hurts this much when they break?"
"Naruto…" The scarred man had no answer. The boy lay still. His eyes shifted back to the ceiling, and the only thing he could see was her, with a massive hole through the chest. The twisting and pain inside his stomach from the thought was almost unbearable.
"Naruto, you can't stay in here forever. It's so unlike you to sit here like this. Is this what Ryuko would want you to do?"
"Of course not. But I can't move myself. Even when a small part of me says, hey get up, I can't. I feel like my... will is broken."
Iruka sat the boy up in his bed, before turning around in the gesture of offering a piggyback ride. "Here, get on. For today I will be your will, Naruto." The blond stared at his sensei a moment before he nodded solemnly. He slowly and sluggishly climbed onto Iruka's back.
"Ramen…" He whispered.
"Of course."
After they ate in silence, Naruto asked Iruka to take him to Ryuko's home. It would be foreclosed soon enough, considering her death, but he wanted to stay the just a little while. As the chunin set Naruto in a chair in the kitchen, he began to make tea. "Naruto….what...what happened?" The man finally asked.
Immediately Naruto's eyes darkened in sadness. "I-I wasn't fast enough Iruka-Sensei. She died and I watched from mere inches away. I couldn't stop it. I gave everything I had, to be as fast as I could and I was still to slow." He immediately broke down into a full sobbing mess. He could barely even stay seated.
Iruka quickly ran over and caught the boy as he fell from his seat. "Naruto… it's alright...it'll be okay." The man said as Naruto buried his face in Iruka's chunin vest, and sobbed. "It'll be alright, I promise. I know it hurts, but eventually that pain fades, and it may always hurt, but you can't let it overtake you."
"Y-y-yeah…." The boy stuttered our through sobs. Eventually the boy fell asleep as his surrogate brother/father/first friend held him. Iruka picked the boy up, and carried him up the stairs, laying him in the bed.
Iruka had placed a blanket over the boy, and made his way downstairs. He drank a cup of tea, hanging around to see if Naruto awoke. Once he was confident the boy would remain asleep, he made his way to the door. "Kakashi can speak to him on a much more personal level when it comes to this...as much as I want to help...this might be something only Kakashi can do." He thought as he left the house.
The next day, around twelve o'clock Naruto awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. He shot up in bed, it couldn't be. "Ryuko!?" He thought, as he bolted down the stairs into the kitchen, only to find his sensei standing there, fresh bacon and eggs cooked and set out on the table. Even a freshly made pot of coffee was ready.
"Naruto...have a seat."
"Yeah." He said sitting at the table.
"I heard all about it. And I read the report. Naruto…. you can't keep yourself locked up in here. It's not even your own house."
"This is all I have…..her smell is here...our memories are here. I just want her to be here. I just want her back."
"Naruto….in this life style, in the shinobi world… you're going to watch a lot of comrades die."
"Kakashi…. I can't stop seeing her. The image of that man's hand through her fucking chest is burned into my mind. When I dream I see her, except she turns her head, and she asks me why I didn't save her. Why wasn't I better. I'm supposed to be a skilled shinobi, I'm supposed to be fast, so what the fuck is wrong with me." He said through gritted teeth as his emotions took hold, and his anger bubbled to the surface.
"Why!? Why was it her!? Why did she have to die!? It should've been me! She was special! She was perfect! Why her!" He screamed, standing quickly and slamming his hand into the table.
"Naruto….do you know why I stand at that memorial stone everyday?"
"...No Sensei."
"Minato-Sensei, his team, my team. We were the generation of Team Seven that came before you." Kakashi said with a sigh, as he set a cup of coffee before Naruto. He sat at the table across from the boy and continued. "I had a friend named Obito Uchiha….he was a lot like the younger you. He wanted to be Hokage...he was loud and brash, and a total idiot. But like you, he cared immensely for his friends. Me, I was a lot like Sasuke. I was cold to those around me, I thought that, to be a shinobi meant to follow the rules." Kakashi explained.
Naruto stared intently at the man, he was now fully absorbed in the white haired jounin's story. Kakashi sighed and looked down before he continued. "Obito taught me that phrase I told you when you became genin. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."
"I'm sorry Sensei, but I don't get where you're going with this."
"I'm getting there. Be patient please, Naruto. Anyway, Obito died the same day he taught me that. My first and best friend died, because I wasn't strong enough, and if I hadn't been so self absorbed with the rules, he would still be around. I wish he could be the one to train you. Not me. But I made one promise to Obito when he died. I would protect our teammate Rin."
"I've never met her, so I'd assume that…."
"Yeah….. you're right. But…..you see Naruto, I killed Rin." Naruto's eyes, which had been locked on the cup of coffee in front of him, shot up to stare at Kakashi. "With Obito's eye, I watched as my hand burst from her chest, the same way you watched Ryuko." The masked jounin explained the whole mission to the blond, all the details of Rin's death.
"But it's not your fault Sensei."
"Just like it isn't yours." Naruto made to argue, but he realized his sensei was right. He had just put himself through all of the pain he had gone through as a child, just to prove a point to Naruto.
"So, I'm guessing you knew?"
"Knew what Naruto?"
"About my dad. He was your sensei after all." Upon hearing the words leave the boy's mouth, Kakashi's lone eye widened in surprise.
"How...how did you find out?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you, but I ask you keep it a secret from the Hokage. I'm dealing with enough right now. I promise I'll tell Jiraiya-Sensei soon and have him tell her."
"Alright then kiddo, I promise." The jounin said, and Naruto began to fill him in about meeting his father. He left out the parts about the man with the Rinnegan.
"I see. I'm glad he got to meet you Naruto. He loved you very much." Kakashi said, staring at the table a moment. "I told Lord Third, that the only way I would take a genin team, was if you were on it. I wanted to train you, the same way sensei trained me."
A long pause filled the room, the student and teacher sitting in silence before Naruto spoke. "Sensei…..?"
"Yeah?"
"What does it mean? What does it mean to be a shinobi?"
"To be a shinobi huh?" Kakashi stood, walking to the kitchen window. He stared out at the midday sun. "A shinobi is one who endures. I don't know why I haven't given up. But Obito would never forgive me if I did. And I'm sure Ryuko wouldn't be to happy if you did either, Naruto."
"Sensei….thank you."
"Of course. If you ever need to talk Naruto….you know where to find me."
"Yes sir." And with that Kakashi was gone, leaving Naruto alone to his thoughts. Eventually he cleaned the house up. He collected all of his things, and put his gear on. As he left the building, he closed the door to the house for the last time. He took his things and dropped them at his home before heading to the training ground.
"One who endures huh?" He thought it himself. "Never again, will I not be fast enough. I will become the fastest shinobi on this planet." He quickly began training his body flicker. He would make it as fast as possible. And once he did that, he would finish the resistance seals, and he would make his physical speed second to none.
Anyone who walked by this training ground over the course of the next month would be greeted by a blond boy disappearing, and reappearing all around the clearing. He moved almost nonstop, training all day until he dropped. When he awoke he would start anew.
At the end of his month, his resistance seals had him to the point, that if released he was on par with fifth gate Lee. The only problem was Naruto had completely thrown himself into his training. He hardly slept, and was just going nonstop. Finally one of his friends had decided to take action. She couldn't stand this any more. She was sad over Ryuko's death as well, but she knew the boy blamed himself.
"Naruto."
"Hey."
"Stop for a minute."
"I can't I've got to get faste-."
"Shut up. Come here and listen."
"Fine." He said appearing before the girl, staring into her red eyes.
"Naruto. It's not your fault."
"Rikka….I wasn't fast enou-." He was cut off immediately by a loud echoing slap. She grabbed him and hugged him.
"I miss her too, she was my best friend. But it's not your fault." Rikka said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"If I'd have been fas-." Once again Naruto found himself cut off by a slap.
"Shut up. She chose to be a ninja, she chose to try to save the twins. And she chose you. And she would never want you to destroy yourself like this Naruto. You can't keep this up, it's literally stupid."
"Rikka….if I-."
"Are you stupid?"
"Huh?" He asked, that had caught him off guard.
"Are you stupid?" She said looking him in the eyes. "Ryuko wouldn't want to see you doing this to yourself. If she was here, right now, she would tell you the same things I'm saying. Forgive yourself Naruto. Forgive yourself and move forward."
Naruto looked to the ground in shame, he new she was right. His father had told him to steel his will. And now, Rikka, Iruka, and Kakashi were all telling him the same thing. It was time to move forward. "Thank you...Rikka."
"Of course. Now I have a mission, so go home and sleep, eat, and for kami's sake take a shower. You smell." She said laughing as she walked away.
Later that night, Rikka stopped by Naruto's apartment to check up on him. She still had Ryuko's spare key, she had planned to return it, but she heard screaming from inside the house. In moments, the girl had the door opened and was trying to find the source.
"Ryuko! Ryuko please! Please don't go! I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I'm sorry!" The screaming was loud, and coming from the bedroom. Rikka quickly ran in, and what she saw saddened her. Her heart hurt from the loss of her best friend. And now her heart hurt for the poor boy she was currently looking at.
Naruto was kicking and thrashing in his bed. It was clear a strong nightmare had a grip on his mind. He screamed her name, and cursed everything he could. She was very surprised such a nightmare hadn't woken him up. But she guessed from his lack of sleep, his body was too exhausted to wake.
She quickly jumped atop his bed. She straddled him and grabbed his face. "Naruto! Naruto! Wake up! It's a nightmare! It's not real!" The boy continued to thrash and scream, and she saw no other choice. With one hand, Rikka firmly grasped the side of his face, and with the other, she delivered a slap that would make Sakura proud. "Naruto! Wake up! It's okay!"
He shot up into a sitting position, almost head butting the bluenette in the process. "Ryuko!" One more mighty scream split the evening, before the boy was fully back to the real world.
His gaze shifted to the girl that sat atop him, and a stunned expression filled his face. "Ri….kka?..." he questioned. At this moment the girl took notice of his physical condition. The boy was drenched in sweat, and shivers and shakes racked his body. He gasped for breath, the terror of reliving the worst day of his life still evident in his eyes.
She quickly wrapped her arms around his head, and pulled him into her chest. "It's gonna be okay honey. Everything will be okay." One hand began to slowly pet his head.
"I...I can't stop…." he said sobs being to break through him. "I can't stop seeing her!... She keeps asking me, why I didn't save her! I wanted to save her so bad Rikka… I tried! She's always there when I close my eyes!" At this point he had broken into a complete sobbing mess.
"It's okay Naruto… you'll be okay." She said as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. Eventually the boy had fallen back asleep, and Rikka left the small apartment, sad thoughts plaguing her mind.
A few days later, Naruto had just stepped out of the shower when he sensed it. "That's not possible, he's not due back for another month." He thought, before Jiraiya appeared in his window.
"Hey brat."
"Jiraiya-Sensei?"
"In the flesh."
"Why are you back?"
"I came when I heard what happened." The sage said solemnly.
"Oh."
"Yeah, say brat. Why don't we go grab a bite to eat."
"Alright."
Ichiraku Ramen currently held master and apprentice as they conversed about Naruto's disaster mission.
"Wait what!? Did you just say the seal broke!?"
"Jiraiya-Sensei…..I met my father."
"You….you met him? You met..?"
"Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash of Konoha. Yes. He repaired the seal, and told me a bunch of stuff." Naruto then proceeded to explain the whole story of meeting his father to the Sannin.
"Nagato…. That sure sounds like you….but I thought you had died….I'll have to tell Naruto about you later." The Sannin thought to himself. "I see. Naruto...I know I wasn't there when you were little but, I'm your godfather."
"You… are my godfather?"
"Yep."
"You're a dick." Naruto said laughing.
"You know I gave you gama-Chan right? Your frog wallet?"
"Wait what!? That was you?"
"Indeed it was."
"Thank you, Jiraiya-Sensei. Say Sensei?"
Jiraiya turned his gaze to the boy smiling. "What is it?"
"Can we go on that trip now, I don't want to wait."
Jiraiya grinned widely before letting out a loud chuckle. "Of course we can! Now that's the guts I expect from you!"
"Oh!" Naruto said smacking his fist into his palm. "I almost forgot, dad said to take me to the Northern safe house. Also, I left that out of my report….could you tell Tsunade for me?
"Hmmm… I guess. And oh yeah, I have a map of all of those safe houses, so it should be easy enough to find. Alright let's get going!" The large man said laughing before he stood, laying money on the table.
"Yes sir!"
About fifteen minutes later found the Sannin and the boy standing outside a smallish shack on the outskirts of Konohagakure. Unknown to both shinobi this was one of the Fourth's most important and well secured safe houses.
Jiraiya stepped forward to the door and when he attempted to open it he was pushed away by a barrier. "Shit….hmm Minato liked to use barriers for locking buildings…." Jiraiya stood in thought, but Naruto had began to investigate the barrier, finding a sealing formula applied beside the door.
"Jiraiya it's a level six, high grade barrier seal. I read about it in the book you said dad helped you write. It takes familiar chakra or blood to open. I can open it." He said immediately weaving a few hand signs and pushing his chakra into the seal.
"Wait Naruto you don't kno-."
He was cut off when the barrier fell and an audible click of the door unlocking was heard. "Man dad sure was good with seals, to set it up that the door would unlock if the barrier was turned off properly." Naruto thought.
As they walked in, they were met with a decently large room. A large desk on one side, with a bed beside it. The desk's shelves and drawers were filled with books and scrolls. On another side of the room was a set of three shelves, with three large bags on each one. To complete it all, dangling from a piece of rope attached to the ceiling, was a singular tri-pronged kunai.
"Naruto….why exactly did Minato want me to take you here?"
"I told him I never want to not be fast enough again. And he said the best answer to that problem lies here, why Sensei?"
"Well I just remembered exactly what this specific safe house is for. This is where Minato stored most of his notes, technique books, and kunai. All of it for the Flying Raijin jutsu." Jiraiya sighed. "So you want him to learn it then Minato? Heh, The Nidaime Kiiroi Senko or the Second Yellow Flash. He'll make a great successor to your legacy."
"Wait you mean the Flying Raijin? As in the one that made him famous as the Yellow Flash?" Naruto asked shock overtaking him.
"That's the one kid. It seems your dad is leaving this jutsu to you. Once you master this, well I've no doubt you will be the fastest shinobi in the world." Jiraiya said his voice now fully serious.
"Dad...is entrusting all of this…. to me..?" Naruto asked in wonder.
"Naruto….this isn't going to be easy. This will take everything you've got, if you want to master it. I'll help you all I can, but even I only helped Minato learn to use it in combat. The complex chakra and seal theory that goes into this jutsu is ridiculous. Don't do this unless you're ready to give it everything you've got."
"Jiraiya-Sensei….I'm sure. I will master this, and I will be the fastest shinobi in the world."
"Alright then. Now Naruto, when Minato finally somehow convinced Sarutobi-Sensei to let him have access to the Second Hokage's jutsu, it took him five years to master. So just don't expect it to go quickly."
"I won't Sensei, now want to help me gather what I need from here so we can bring it along?" The young man asked.
"Yeah, but first here." Jiraiya said pulling his scroll from his back. He made a hand sign, and in a puff of smoke, as scroll just as big as the one it came out of popped into existence. He pulled it open and motioned for Naruto to come closer. "This is where we will seal all of this gear for storage. You will carry this scroll on your back during the duration of our trip. You will not, under any circumstance, let this out of your sight. Got it?"
"Yes Sensei." Naruto said, serious tone completely over taking him.
"Good now let's get to collecting." The Sage said. The two moved around the small shack for hours collecting every bit of information pertaining to the Flying Raijin. They collected over two hundred scrolls full of notes on the theory behind the jutsu alone. Another hundred scrolls were collected that contained notes on the execution of the jutsu.
Fifty more scrolls were found on how the jutsu was incorporated into the Hummingbird Fist, and on multiple techniques Minato had named specifically, most used in conjunction with the Rasengan.
Another ten scrolls were found on space-time sealing theory. Those would be the building blocks to start with, and Naruto would have to become much more adept in sealing jutsu in the future. There was a long path to walk, and Naruto was ready to take the first step.
The final things they collected, were the nine bags on the shelves, inside each bag were a set of ten scrolls. Each scroll contained twelve of the inscribed tri-pronged kunai. Although, the last bag had the same number of scrolls and kunai, but the kunai did not have the Flying Raijin marker. These were left over from Minato's training. They had been used to get him adjusted to the heavier weight, and longer blade they possessed. Naruto would replace his entire kunai arsenal with these, and Jiraiya ordered him to collect all of his kunai after a battle if possible.
With that they were finished cleaning the place out. They sealed it up once again, leaving and empty shack with only a bed and a desk. As well as a lone kunai, rocking slightly on a rope attached to the ceiling.
So yeah. I did that. Now we are stepping forward to the training trip, and like probably a like stuttered time skip, but I might go over the entire journey. I'm not sure yet, but anyway. Yeah Flying Raijin. I made it stupid hard to learn, so he won't be using it for quite a while, but he will be using the tri-pronged kunai, so he can adjust to how they throw and are used in combat. Also, as I am sure you're wondering. Yes Nagato attacked the village. Obito did not, because in my story, he died a hero. And he stayed dead. Madara is dead too. There will never be mountain leveling battles in this fic, not by ninja anyway. That scale of battle was only seen with Hashirama and Madara, and will never be seen again, unless like maybe two tailed beast duke it out or something. If you have questions ask in the reviews, or on my Twitter and I'll try to answer what I can. Darling in the Fox out!