A Note: So, this is the first of a two-parter. I just decided to go ahead and post this part because I'm having trouble making the second part... not-ridiculous. You know how it is.
Blinking blearily, Naruto stumbles onto his feet and heads towards the nearest tree. Sighing contentedly as he goes about his business, he stands there will his eyes closed, head tilted back. There may or may not be drool. When he turns around, his eyes are still partially closed and he's not fully awake, focused only on the food bubbling in a pot over the fire. Mmmm, foood.
And then he steps into something hot. Very hot, actually. With a high, girly scream Naruto yanks his foot out of the fire as quickly as possible, sitting down and cradling it gently.
"You're such a chick sometimes," Jiraiya snorts, looking over at Naruto over their sizzling breakfast.
"Oh yeah? Wait till Tsunade hears you used that as an insult!"
Jiraiya pales beneath his makeup. "There's no need to get nasty."
"Then shut it and give me some food."
"It's not even done yet, brat. Siddown and shut up. No, better – do 1000 pushups while you're waiting."
"I'm not Lee, old pervert," Naruto mumbles, but does it anyway, mostly because there's nothing else to do – and besides, he wouldn't put it past Jiraiya to actually withhold food if he doesn't. Nothing, not even pride, is worth missing a good meal for.
Jiraiya mumbles to himself over the soup, stirring occasionally but mostly just singing to himself. When Naruto finishes, he walks back over, close enough to hear Jiraiya sing "Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head!"
"I can't believe you made up a song like that," Naruto complains, plopping down across the fire from him.
"What, a song about coconuts?"
"So that's what you're calling them now?! You pervy old man, I've had it up to here," and here he holds his hand up to his chest, "with your euphemisms."
"Oh my," scoffs Jiraiya. "That's not very high yet; guess I can keep going with them then. Short stuff."
Naruto bristles, about to launch into a great and mighty tirade when -
"Is this what passes for clever banter between you two? What a shame for both of you – Jiraiya-sama."
The woman crouched easily on a tree branch looked strange to Naruto. Her skin, her hair, her eyes, everything about her was black, or maybe just a dark, dark brown, Naruto thought, narrowing his eyes in confusion. Naruto's first overall impression was of a panther, but when she jumped down, he could see she loped, like a wolf. She moved, he realized, just like Jiraiya. Except, you know, with grace.
"You were Jiraiya's student?" Naruto asks, trying for shrewd and reaching odd and high-pitched instead.
She grins and comes closer. "A while ago now. And not for very long. Thank the gods."
"Long enough," Jiraiya grumps, folding his arms and trying to hide how pleased he is. He fails miserably, especially when she walks and gives him an affectionate pat on the cheek.
"I've been looking for you for several months now, Jiraiya. Where have you been hiding out from me?" She smiles. "And your food is burning, old man."
"Old man," Jiraiya roars, striding over to the pot. "Don't tell me you're going to start calling me that too?"
"I heard the boy and decided to try it out," she replies dryly. "Not sure whether I like it or not. It's certainly appropriate." Her gaze is direct and warming, like she and Naruto have been friendly acquaintances a long time, and she's glad to see him. "Here, child. Fine – young man – come over here. The old man obviously doesn't have the manners to introduce us. I'm Oltotsi. You are?"
"Naruto. I see you're not from around here?" he asks, again aiming at suave and shrewd, and again failing miserably.
"You see incorrectly. I was born only a few miles from here. Now. 'Naruto.' I'll remember it."
"Make sure you do. Someday I'm going to be Hokage of the Leaf Village."
"Really. Well then, show me what you've got." The amazing thing is that the friendly look doesn't shift from her eyes until after she's already gone. Where? Her lunge is quick and decisive, and it is over before Naruto has a chance to register it. Damn. She's obviously one of the squirrelly fighters. He always has the most trouble with the opponents that you can't. Really. Hit. And then he does.
Or not. His swing in her direction missed by an inch, and she ducks in under his arm, jabbing him in the stomach with a pointy stick. Ow. And then again. And again, as he tries to land hit after hit, only succeeding in hitting where she was a half second ago instead of where she is now. She knocks him to his feet after a hard jab to the stomach knocks all his wind out.
He doesn't waste any more time flailing around. He's not just some kid; he can catch all of her feints, up down and over, and can block most of her strikes, but not all, and he knows he has to go on the offensive. Bounding up the nearest tree, he sits and just pants for a minute. Then he starts to think. She's strong, but she's not stronger than him. She is fast. Well, I'll just have to slow her down.
His hands start to form as he jumps down, a long and complicated train that doesn't require a lot of finesse otherwise. She's circling around him, again like a wolf, but this time the prey is Naruto. He gathers himself, and... spits on the ground. She stops her constant circling to look at him, a skeptical look on her face. He grins toothily; she obviously hasn't spent enough time in Water Country. Slowly, a pit of water starts to form at Naruto's feet, and he darts towards her, hand pulled back for a punch. She dodges the blow, which is okay. Her feet are still touching the ground, which is exactly where he wants them. Water puddles at her feet, and then engulfs them, soaking her leather boots and bogging them down in the process.
"Ugh. Don't tell me that's your spit on my boots, Naruto."
Naruto grins, but doesn't say a word. He's not about to tell her that it's actually water, brought up by, well, his own water and his chakra. And he's definitely not about to tell her that if she jumps up high enough, feet off the ground, that she can break his hold. Especially because he's just not very good at it.
The move pays off as they continue the fight; slowed down that little bit, she's unsteady enough that he can land in a couple good punches, and he doesn't pull any of them. She can dish out the hits, but she can't seem to take them, and he thinks he has her against the ropes when there are teeth latched around his throat. Or, no, a kunai. But close enough. He cautiously releases his hold on her hair, waiting for her to pull it back, when she slices him a little.
"That was for my shoes, little one." And then she sheathes her kunai and backs away. "Not Hokage yet, are you."
They both look around at the clanging of a spoon against the pot. "Oh children," Jiraiya calls. "While you two were off playing I've been busy with our food. Which is done, by the way. Come here before I eat it all."
They eat and train the rest of the day, Oltotsi and Naruto getting to know each other. Jiraiya sits under a tree in the shade dozing the entire day, obviously not caring whether they kill each other.
She's actually pretty cool, Naruto has to admit. She doesn't have a whole motherly attitude, which he appreciates, but more like she's just... really cool. Which she is. She walks with confidence, but she doesn't strut. Naruto does strut, pretty much all the time, and so does Jiraiya. At sunset they sit by the river and fish with makeshift fishing poles. She tells him fishy folktales and they joke around. Naruto tells her about Leaf village, and when he sees that Oltotsi is actually listening to him he feels interesting and like he's cool too. She's kind of like Shikamaru, he realizes. Except not lazy. Easygoing. That's it. Easygoing. They return to camp with enough for all three of them, and they force Jiraiya to cook while they lie down and look up at the stars come out.
He's already half asleep when he hears a low conversation, Oltotsi's voice strained. "Master, I need this. Please. The boy doesn't have to come, but I can't do this alone. Only a legendary nin can pull this off."
Jiraiya's voice is rough and tired. "I can't leave him alone. Not now. There's too much Akatsuki activity in the area."
Naruto misses the next part of the conversation because he has to scratch his nose. Even his awesome hearing can't register anything over the rustling of his clothes. "...reach Shattered Mountains before the month is out."
"Which gives us what, six days? I'm sorry, I just don't think it can be done."
"This is my life." At that, Naruto can't hear anything more and isn't sure he wants to anyway. Not at night, anyway, when private thoughts surface and pain is fresh all over again. Whatever, it is, he'll hear more tomorrow.
The sun isn't up yet when Jiraiya shoves Naruto in the leg with his foot. Naruto drags himself out of bed with a tired sigh, knowing that wherever they're going it's probably going to be quite a trek. To his surprise, Jiraiya doesn't fill him in as they all get dressed and ready. Naruto and Jiraiya's normal ablutions consist of basically going to the bathroom and setting out, but Oltotsi is very fastidious and careful, actually bothering to wash her face and stuff.
"This must have driven you crazy when you two were training," Naruto says to Jiraiya, both of them sitting side by side on a log near the fire.
"Yup," Jiraiya replies glumly.
Naruto eyeballs Jiraiya. "So... where are we going?"
He grins. "You know that don't you? When you were listening last night?"
"Only sorta. Shattered Mountains?"
"I could tell you, but I think this should be a lesson to you: pay attention in Geography."
"Wha? That's not very fair! I'll have you know Geography was at the end at the day. I was usually gone by then."
"There you go then. Don't cut class." And with that Jiraiya gets up to follow Oltotsi, who's moving off along the river, leaving Naruto to scramble along behind them.
They travel for several days, Oltotsi getting more and more tense, though she hides it well. She obviously doesn't know that Naruto knows, because she's continuing to joke around and pretend that they're not traveling on a time limit, one that shows clearer and clearer on her face with each day. The forest grows thicker and thicker as they move further and further into Fire Country, going further and further into the wilds that surround the bases of the great Fire mountain range. Leaf village, Naruto thinks, is not so far from here, just on the other side of a cascade of hulking peaks and crags. As they move closer and closer though, one grouping becomes more and more prominent. From this distance, they look like the edge of a serrated knife. A knife made out of diamonds. They're not tall enough to be topped with snow, and they're actually below the tree line, he can see by comparing them to other peaks nearby, but they're completely bare above a certain point, and gleam with a sharp pearlescent light. As they get closer it gets warmer and warmer every afternoon, as they get closer to a refracted setting sun shining through the peaks themselves. Even distracted by the beauty, Naruto can't forget whenever he sees Jiraiya's grim face and Oltotsi's gaunt one: five days. Four days. Three days. Two.
Water Country is a faded memory when they reach the foot of the Shattered Mountains. Even the most prominent one is not a very large mountain, but its bright jagged edges present challenges to anyone that would climb up. Somehow there are parts of the Shattereds that reflect light, white and searing, so that every few steps are punctuated by a blinding flash. The effect starts about three miles from the actual base, and Naruto spends them wincing and cursing every few minutes. Both Oltotsi and Jiraiya handle the light in stoic silence.
There is a path winding up the base of the largest, and Oltotsi's eyes turn up to trace its precarious and sporadic presence upwards. It peters out about halfway up, but she nods decisively, so apparently that isn't a problem. A hut punctuates the beginning of the path, and when the three nin knock they are ushered inside by an old, wisened man. The hut is small, but warm, and there are three beds inside, and children's toys scattered about. "Your grandchild?" Naruto asks, pointing, and then blushes when the "old" man says they belong to his five year-old. Looking closer once they're all by the fire, he realizes that the wrinkles hide the youthful eyes.
"Sun damage," Jiraiya mouths, nodding towards the mountain man.
They exchange some rations and a kunai for a hot meal and directions, and then they're off on their way, leaving their hotter clothes behind in the man's safekeeping. Apparently it only gets hotter the further they go up the mountain.