Hello! I'm glad I got some votes, and so far Shinigakure is in the lead. Now, there were some questions about the last chapter. Dragon Noir, the reason Toku was referred to as a dobe was simply because the other kids looked down on him for being handicapped. And sadly their treatment of him really isn't that surprising. Naruto is the exception to that kind of life, not the rule. Those kids were only doing what they saw everyone else do, not to mention most bullies have been or are the victim of other bullies. And finally, I don't think killing my sister is my best option, but thank-you for the suggestion. Actually, I take that last 'finally' back; the pegasuses are there because I wanted a clan like the Inuzuka's but something original at the same time. Anyway, enough rambling, onward!
The several bullies had just had the biggest talking to of their LIVES. And by talking to I mean Sakura had to forcefully restrain Naruto at the end of his surprisingly poetic speech. "We really aren't any better than the rest of the assholes back in town…" one of them muttered and kicked a rock across the sand.
"Think we should go pay Toku a visit?" Another one of them mentioned.
"You can do that after I've finished training you into the ground." The whole group jumped, but the leader, a dark haired, wiry youth, managed to face the voice.
"Sasuke-sama?" The other black-haired boy nodded.
"Yeah, the do-Naruto is going to get more villagers, so I'll be torturing you in the mean time." The half dozen boys gulped.
"Ero-sennin?" Naruto blinked curiously at the white-haired pervert.
"N-Naruto?" Jiraiya stared right back at the blond. This was most certainly an unexpected meeting. Just as Naruto had entered the new, busybody village, he had literally bumped into Jiraiya.
"Naruto, good to see you. I heard about the-" Naruto brushed it off with a wave of his hand before leveling a disapproving frown at the old ninja.
"You're not doing more of that perverted 'research', are you?" Jiraiya huffed at the young boy.
"I'll have you know that my books are best-sellers!" Then the white-haired shinobi shot Naruto a perverted smirk. "What are you doing here? This is the red light district."
"I'm recruiting!" If his tone hadn't been so utterly innocent, Jiraiya would have made a joke about it.
"For what?" Naruto froze. Himaru didn't tell Jiraiya, which means…
"Er, nothing, nothing! So, what areyou doing here?" Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow but left it alone.
"Old Sarutobi-sensei is looking for a replacement, so I'm looking for my old teammate."
"Kaiki-sennin?" Jiraiya still couldn't help but chuckle at Orochimaru's nickname.
"No, no. My other teammate, Tsunade." A little light bulb flashed over Jiraiya's head. Perhaps Naruto's infectious spirit could be put to use… "How about you come with me?" Naruto opened his mouth to refuse, but Jiraiya silenced him with a hand. "I'll teach you a super powerful jutsu." Naruto closed his mouth and his brow furrowed in concentration. On one hand, he really needed to recruit more people for the village, but on the other hand he did need to have as many powerful jutsu under his belt as possible to be a good kage. Suddenly, the blond snapped his fingers and grinned.
"Just a sec, Ero-sennin." Naruto created several shadow clones and quickly gave them mental instructions before dismissing them to search. "Ready!"
Jiraiya was pretty much amazed. A mere couple of hours and Naruto was already nearly cracking the rubber ball exercise. 'What the Hell did Himaru do to his kid?'
"I think I got it, Ero-sennin!" Naruto shouted, snapping the older ninja out of his thoughts. Sure enough, the rubber ball was twitching back and forth as chakra swirled around inside it. "Just a little more…" A piece of rubber shrapnel smacked Jiraiya right in the head as the ball was blown apart. There was an awkward silence as Jiraiya peeled the rubber away from his eyes to stare at a sheepishly grinning Naruto.
"Yeah, I think you've almost got it, Naruto." Once Jiraiya shook himself out of his stupor, he dropped the piece of rubber and continued walking along the busy road. "Well come on, Tsunade is probably either drunk off her butt or gambling. Now practice using the Rasengan by itself." Naruto nodded rapidly before beginning to gather chakra to his palm.
"So what's this old lady like?"
"I think she'll surprise you for once, Naruto." The blond, of course, had no idea what Jiraiya meant, so he just blinked curiously at the much older shinobi. "But first, there's a hotel coming up, and I've got some…business to run…" Jiraiya slowly descended into a fit of giggles as he watched a beautiful woman no so nonchalantly strut by them. Naruto scowled in disgust at the old pervert, but Jiraiya was the first to speak up. Say, Naruto, how much money do you have?" Naruto opened his mouth to answer as a mischievous sparkle filled his eyes, but for only an instant.
"Didn't bring any." Jiraiya's eye twitched and he grumbled something before reaching into his own pocket and slamming a few coins into Naruto's hands.
"Go check into that hotel, and practice the Rasengan while you're there." Naruto gave him a mock salute before dashing off toward the hotel, accidentally flashing a little bit of wallet in his back pocket. "YOU CONNIVING BRAT!"
"Dammit, why is it so much harder to do without the ball!?" Naruto shouted before releasing a practical river of curses at his latest failed attempt at creating a stable Rasengan. In his tantrum, Naruto kicked out, sending his boot into the trash can and making a myriad of clinging sounds as it swirled around inside its container. The blond paused for a moment before a grin slowly started to spread across his face.
"Woohoo!" He leapt from the cough and fetched his boot, but a knock on the door stopped him from continuing his training. "Eh? Is Ero-sennin back already?" Naruto padded over to the door and opened hit. "Sasuke?" The blond blinked at his 'teammate' who was suddenly much taller. Naruto's eyes flew open. "You're Itachi!" Naruto leapt backwards to gain distance between himself and the cloaked visitors.
"Come with us, Naruto-kun," Itachi said.
"Hey, Itachi, how about we cut his legs off? You know, stop him from squirming?"
"Kit! That sword!"
'Not now, Kyuubi!'
"Listen to me: get it, and a certain shark will be in your debt!"
'Shark? What are you-'
"ANIKI!" At the sound of Sasuke's voice, Naruto took action and promptly rammed through the wall next to the door. Not exactly neat, but it didn't involve going through Itachi and the fish-man.
"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he formed up beside his fuming teammate.
"I'll tell you later, but now Itachi must die!" Sasuke grabbed Ryuchi with one hand and placed the other in his pocket. "Naruto, please don't get in my way." The Kyuubi container's mouth set in a firm line, but he nodded.
"Fine. I'll take Fish-Face."
"Ha! Think you can beat us, brats?" Kisame bellowed as he hefted Samehada into fighting position. Both boys smirked.
"We know we can." Sasuke charged forward and popped a navy blue pill into his mouth as he unsheathed Ryuuchi. Meanwhile, Naruto's aura flared and changed into the shape of a one-tailed fox.
"Kit! Suck it in!" Without hesitation, Naruto pulled in the aura as Samehada swept over his head.
"You're not as stupid as you look," Kisame said as he readied Samehada to attack again. On the outside, Naruto still had his bestial appearance and power, just not the protective chakra shield or tail
"If that impressed you then this will be easier than I thought. First, Second and Third Gates: Release!" The floor cracked nearly to the point of shattering as Naruto's power slammed into it. "Time to die." With that, the blond disappeared and almost instantaneously reappeared underneath Kisame before kicking him through the roof. While Naruto unleashed hellish mid-air combat on Kisame, Sasuke fought Itachi with a seriously buffed up Sharingan. All three tomoes were there, and the veins around his eyes bulged out in a style akin to the Byakuugan, not to mention the kind of creepy glow emanating from them.
"Borrowing a demon's power, little brother?" Itachi asked as he narrowly dodged a sword slash.
"Borrowing my friend's power!" Sasuke roared as he dodged a strike from Itachi. 'These eyes are incredible, I can see all his movements so clearly!'
"It will take more than this to defeat me, foolish little brother." Itachi was dodging Sasuke's attacks easily enough; even if he couldn't land a hit on him yet, Itachi was confident that Sasuke couldn't keep this up for much longer.
"How about this then? Amaterasu!" With another swing of Ryuchi, a massive blade of black fire hurled itself at Itachi. The Uchiha genius was surprised to say the least, but he still managed to use his own Amaterasu to block the brunt of the attack. In the end, it was Sasuke's attack that won out, pushing his brother back and slightly burning the palms of his hands. Once the black flame cleared, Sasuke was charging again, a golden dragon head cloaking his fist.
"Nenshouga!" Itachi stuck out his own hand and the two forces met, Sasuke's jutsu pushing with all it was worth against Itachi's sheer power. That is until Kisame came slamming back down from the roof, and then through the floor, and so on. The surprise caused both shinobi to lose concentration, resulting in an explosion that rocked the building and sent both warriors stumbling back.
"Naruto Uzumaki is here!" Naruto soon followed in all his one-tail glory. Itachi narrowed his eyes. He didn't think the container would join in the fighting until Sasuke lost, but uncertainties were not something he liked.
"The Toad Mountain Sage is here!" Definitely time to leave. As the hotel morphed into the intestines of a giant frog, Itachi escaped in a blast of black flame.
"DAmmit…"Sasuke collapsed to one knee and began hurling his guts out. Jiraiya rushed over and canceled the frog jutsu before checking the boys for damage. Naruto, who had changed back, looked exhausted and strained but otherwise fine thanks to his healing abilities. Sasuke, on the other hand, Naruto had to take into the nearest bathroom and hold his head over a toilet. Ah, true friendship.
Still a little shorter than I would have liked, but oh well. One more week to vote, people! Next chapter I will declare the name of the village! Please read, review and VOTE!