Another chapter is here!
Enjoy!
Sakura liked all the libraries she visited. They were quiet, organized, and contained a wealth of knowledge. That being said, there was very little she could find on the Uzumaki beyond the fact that they were a clan that specialized in Sealing Arts and one of them was married to the founder of the village. Sakura then expanded her search for anything relative to the area where they lived, between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water.
The net result was that she found lore and myths from various areas that had been placed into a compilation by a wandering author, whose dedication page mentioned the many destinations he visited. One of them was the Hidden Whirlpool, the very same village where the Uzumaki stemmed from. The book listed their village's lore under the section near the last one-fifths of the pages known as the Oceanic Tales, right before the first entry into the Land of the Sea's local myths about the Kaima.
She wasn't sure how much of it was legit. But Kakashi preached 'look underneath the underneath' and that translated to truth in myths. Besides, some of them were interesting tales—like the priestesses who offered their bodies to mend the wounds of warriors, taking upon their flesh the marks as a sign of their devotion to others that they could be prideful of.
Taking it up to the counter with a book on nature transformation theory, for the sake of Naruto needing to learn to use Yang chakra, Sakura checked them both out and then made her way towards the flower shop Ino's parents ran. It was still early morning so Naruto probably wouldn't be home. She could get more flowers for Rock Lee and visit him until later.
Ino finished arranging flowers in a vase and turned to Sakura as she entered with a smile. "Nice to see you, Billboard-Brow. Need new flowers for Lee?"
Sakura almost called her Ino-pig, but caught herself. They had been enemies over Sasuke for so long that hearing her say that without the usual malice still took some getting used to. "Yeah, the usual ones please."
Ino went over to where they were stored as an awkward silence lingered in the air. Some topics between them were still hot-button and they didn't want to risk opening old wounds. But when the silence eventually became unbearable Ino abruptly broke it. "I heard that you've been coming and going at Naruto's place recently."
Sakura's eyebrow rose at that. "And who exactly did you hear that from?"
"Oh, you know. Just around." Ino gestured with her free hand in a lackadaisical manner, brushing it aside. "So what's going on there? Spill it."
"There's not much to spill," Sakura told her. "I'm just helping out my teammate while he's getting ready for the Finals. Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei have both disappeared somewhere and this way I can at least be of some help to them. Putting up with that girl at his place is a challenge sometimes, but after everything Naruto's done for me since we've been in a team I can deal with it."
"What kind of help are you giving him for the Finals?" Ino asked. "Anything special?"
"That depends. What kind of training is Shikamaru doing?"
Ino opened her mouth to say something, only to stop herself. "Hey, you're trying to get me to spill on my teammate."
A wry grin formed on Sakura's face. "Just like you were trying to get me to do."
"…Fine, you caught me," Ino confessed. "It's just that there's not a lot for me to do while the Finals are going on. I can't help Shika, Sasuke's gone, and Chouji is too busy with his father, while mine's working on something important."
"I hear that." Sakura couldn't help but sigh. "My father's on a mission of his own, and I don't want to bother my mother while she's organizing some big event. Not to mention it's still tricky for us to get along without the fear of offending each other. We let our feud go on for too long."
"Yep." Ino finished with the flowers and handed them over. "Anyway, good luck with whatever it is you're doing with Naruto."
"Thanks." Sakura paid for the flowers and then departed for the hospital where Rock Lee sat in waiting.
The entire trip she wondered if this was the best she could do for them. Flowers for Lee when chances were he might never recover. Looking up fairytales for Naruto so he can find out about the clan he lost the night of his birth and helping him with his training. As for Sasuke… well, she couldn't be of even that much use for him since she couldn't find him.
She ran her free hand through her shortened hair at the thought. Her hair, the flowers, and the books were something. So were the occasional lessons in genjutsu with Kurenai to give her a little more diversity in her skill-set. They were proof she was moving away from how she had been before, becoming useful….
But it all felt so small in the end.
[0-0-0]
"We need to have a serious talk," Jiraiya said, still in the guise of Gama. He was patiently sitting down with Naruto across from him. The pair was deep in the forest, surrounded by dense trees and a small mountain of no importance not far from the Hidden Leaf. Isolation was good given the topic that needed to be discussed.
"What about?" Naruto asked. "Why are we so far out for training?"
Jiraiya thought about how to broach the subject, but decided to just come out with it. "It's about the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of you. The Hokage asked me to teach you how to use its power."
He noticed Naruto's expression shift and his body tensed. The thoughts that were going through his head were as clear as day to the Toad Sage. 'Did he fear me? Would he abandon me? Would he hate me?' They were all apparent on his face to the trained eye. It was upsetting that the boy had been reduced to this train of thought when the topic came up.
"Relax, I'm not going to harp on you," he assured him. "I've seen other Jinchuuriki before. I know how they're ostracized from the majority of their villages as well. I'll be clear; you are not my enemy, but my student, Naruto. Just like Kakashi accepts that, I do too."
Naruto still seemed unsure, even as he nodded his head. "There are others like me?"
Jiraiya held up nine fingers. "To be exact, there are nine known Tailed-Beasts. As far as I know most of them have been sealed inside of others just like you. We need to teach you how to access the Fox's chakra so that you'll be able to use it in a pinch."
"But I don't know how," he said.
"You've already done it once, according to Kakashi's mission report. It stated you let its chakra out briefly during your mission to the Land of Waves. I want to hear how it felt from your perspective."
"…Anger," Naruto said. "I was angry at Haku for what I thought he did to Sasuke. Then my chakra got heavy and dark, like… red instead of normal. Things became slower or I could see them faster. I couldn't keep up with Haku before but I was able to hit him afterwards."
"You need to learn how to access that chakra on command," he told Naruto. "So every few days, between your other training, we'll come here to do so. If you can manage to use it before the Finals—"
"I'm scared of it," Naruto cut in. "When I was using that chakra, all I felt was anger. That anger made my own worse, bubbling up to the point I wanted to tear someone limb-from-limb. What if it gets control of me? Not to mention some people already think I'm the Fox. I don't want to give them more of a reason to do so."
"Which is why you need training," Jiraiya said. "Being able to use that chakra without succumbing to its influence is the key thing here, more than anything else. There are safeguards in place to stop it from going out of control, for the most part."
"And what are those?" he asked.
"The seal on your stomach for one thing." Jiraiya pointed down towards it. "It was designed by someone who knew the last Jinchuuriki well and studied under Kushina. She knew her clan's Sealing Arts well enough to help make it. It's easily the best and most complex one to date."
Naruto's eyes widened at that and he looked to his stomach. "My Mom helped make it?"
The Toad Sage nodded. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the time to tell him the whole truth. "She and the seal-maker knew how the last Jinchuuriki struggled with containing the beast within and strove to make a seal capable of easing that burden. That seal is her gift to you, a way to keep you safe despite how powerful the Nine-Tailed Fox is. The proof is that you went for over a decade without it influencing you, and only when you were on the verge of death and angry did it empower you. Naruto, have faith in your clan's art and your mother's gift."
Naruto reached down and touched where the seal was beneath his clothes. When he looked back up, there was resolve in his eyes. "Okay, so how do I draw it out?"
"Self-preservation," he said. True, there was meditation and other assorted means, but… well, when has an energetic and ambitious pre-teen ever sat still on his own accord for that long? "Jinchuuriki are linked to their Tailed-Beast. In a lesser seal, it might be able to break free with the death of its host. But more prominent seals ensure that should the Jinchuuriki be killed, the beast goes with them. They'll likely reform after several years, but they'll be diminished as a result. As long as you don't give into it, it's stuck with you and will give you chakra in order to save its own neck."
Of course, he was using what he learned from Kushina and Minato as a basis. Being the former Jinchuuriki, she knew best what it was like. The fox was sapient and manipulative, but it was still useful to the village.
"But first, there's still one more technique for you to learn—the Summoning Technique." He bit his calloused thumb and smeared the blood over his palm, making the hand-seals and slamming his palm onto the grass afterwards. Sealing script from the blood stretched out like a spider's web onto the surface of the ground and then there was a large plume of smoke as he stood atop a toad nearly twice his size while striking the same pose as it.
"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "Not the pose, but the giant frog is awesome! I wanna give it a try!"
"My poses are awesome. You just haven't realized their greatness yet!" He blamed the disguise. If he didn't need to hide who he really was in preparation for whatever his former teammate had planned, it'd be a different story. Regardless, he tapped his foot down on the summoned toad's head. "And they're toads, not frogs. Keep that in mind."
"Okay." The large summoned toad extended its tongue and revealed a scroll there for Naruto to take. He set it down on the ground and unraveled it to see a list of various names until an empty spot appeared. "So I need to write my name here?"
"In blood," the Toad Sage added. "Using a trickle of chakra and pressing your fingerprints beneath it to finish signing the contract."
He did so eagerly. "Okay, what next?"
"Keep in mind that we're using it for training purposes only right now," Jiraiya told him as the scroll was rolled up and returned to the toad. "It's the Hokage's orders to keep it secret and not to use it during the exam unless it's a life-threatening emergency. Now, you didn't use any chakra the day before, right?"
Naruto shook his head. "I just spent that day with Karin-chan and visited Hinata-chan for a bit."
"Good. Then you should be able to summon the Boss Toad, Gamabunta." Jiraiya had already given him a heads-up about what they were doing, so he would come when called and explain how things would work. "You're going to summon him to introduce yourself by using as much chakra as possible with an offering of blood. But be respectful, got it?"
"Sure, sure. Now what are the hand-seals!?" Once Jiraiya told him, the Jinchuuriki focused his chakra to the point it formed a visible aura. Then he slammed his hand down on the ground and sealing script crawled over a massive section of it. "Come out, Boss Toad!"
Jiraiya and his toad grabbed Naruto and hopped out of the large plume of smoke that followed as Gamabunta appeared, to avoid accidentally perching on his head without his permission. The Boss Toad sat tall, a string of smoke coming out of his pipe just thin enough to not warrant someone to check for a fire as it dissipated past the peak of the mountain. His eyes fell upon the pair, only to roll when Jiraiya waved at him while in his disguise.
"So, you're the kid he was talking into becoming the next contract-holder, huh?" Gamabunta exhaled and then leaned down to get a better look. "Yeah, I see the resemblance to… never mind. Anyway, if you want my help during a summoning, you're gonna have to prove yourself, kid."
"How's that?" Naruto asked.
"A challenge," he announced. "You're a bit younger than my last few contractors, so I'll have to adjust it but we'll set a timer. You have to stay on my head for the duration of that time without falling off. If you're successful, we'll talk terms. If not, you'll have to try again after one week."
Naruto frowned. "If I fail I can't summon anymore that week?"
"Not exactly," Jiraiya cut in. "There are a number of toads with unique abilities. You'll summon one a day when training in private with me and get to know them. Remember that the summoned toads are sapient beings that deserve to be treated as equals, so forging a friendship with them is the key to being a good summoner."
That seemed to mollify Naruto. His excitement renewed, he turned and pointed a finger to Gamabunta. "Okay, I accept your challenge. Prepare to be my toad!"
[0-0-0]
Karin had to admit shelving her reservations about Naruto's teammate had been beneficial. The compilation of lore she found wasn't something Naruto would have picked out on his own, and so far she found that there was some truth to the tales passed down in it. The story about priestesses who offered their bodies to warriors was her ability in a nutshell and some of the stories also featured the figures that the masks were based off, giving her another reference point with them. As long as she didn't hit Naruto again, Karin would put up with her for the moment.
It was then that she heard a knock on the door. It struck her as strange since Naruto had a key and his teammate had left hours ago. She activated her Mind's Eye and found the signatures recognizable, though Naruto's was miniscule. Karin tossed the book aside and ran to the door.
"Hi there," Gama said, standing there with Naruto in his arms. The Genin out cold. "Can I come in to drop him off?"
She stepped aside to let him in while asking, "Shouldn't he be taken to the hospital for chakra exhaustion?"
"You could tell at a glance?"
"There are few things that can put him down to this extent and I don't see any signs of physical injuries," she lied. "Was his training that hard?"
"Yes it was," Gama said. "Don't worry though. He'll recover quickly enough with rest. He's been asked to keep this aspect of his training quiet though, so—"
"No prying, I understand."
"Good. And before I forget…." He pulled out Byakko's mask and set it on the nightstand next to the bed.
"You're leaving the mask this time?" Karin asked.
He nodded. "Technically, Naruto is entitled to it and you've confirmed it won't hurt him. On the days when he isn't training with me, I figured it would be good for him to get familiar with it. Though I suspect you'll be the one using it, as long as it's with his permission you can help train him with it."
The last time she tried using it the mask nearly sapped her chakra reserves dry and she couldn't maintain it for more than a minute. But she wasn't using her chakra most of the time while in the village to maintain her cover, so Karin supposed she could take it with her to the inn and fill it before going to bed every night. At least until they managed to teach Naruto how to refine his chakra into purer Yang chakra.
She gave his tutor a small bow out of courtesy. "I'll be happy to help him. Thank you for bringing him back home and have a good evening."
"You too." With that said, he left and Karin turned her attention back to Naruto.
He looked so peaceful while he slept, like there was nothing worrying him. Karin hadn't slept like that since she was with her mother in their village, before everything changed. It was just the two of them curled up in bed, lying next to one another as her mother's warm and soothing chakra lulled her into dreaming peacefully.
Back then, Karin didn't know how to turn off her sensory ability. There was no need to with the village being so nice and peaceful. There was no malevolence or hatred strong enough to taint the very nature of someone to the extent she could feel it. So she left herself open to everything the world had to offer without reservation.
That changed when she lost everything. Not being able to shut it off while they died horribly until she passed out had given her mental trauma, or so Orochimaru explained when she told him about it. The power incontinence that followed was basically her mind coming to terms with it and giving her the ability to turn it off so she didn't go insane from feeling just how horrible the world was. Karin still wished she could recapture the feeling from before then. She could just lay next to him, close her eyes and….
No, I can't. Karin shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks. "He'll be hungry when he wakes up. I should make him something…."
She set to work, doing her best to avoid thinking any deeper on it. Karin couldn't afford to fall into that trap, not when it meant going against Orochimaru and Kabuto. As much as she longed for those nostalgic days and nights, her fear was too strong a leash for her to break alone.
No matter how much she wished she could.