Eyes of a God

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form

A/N: Thanks for all the support last chapter, even though very few people ended up actually visiting the story. That's alright cause I hope things stay interesting this chapter and go in accordance to how you guys hoped.

"Speaking"

'Thinking' or emphasis

"Demon speaking"

'Demon thinking'

flashback

Jutsu

Ch2: It Begins

A pair of ringed purple eyes stared at the array of colors over the horizon. Early in the morning, the sun, a sliver in the distance, lit up the normally blue sky with a variety of vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges. Birds chirped from the treetops along the path leading from the gate. The two eternal chuunin, Izumo and Kotetsu, had dozed off at their normal posts, facing opposite sides of the gate. Had he known the word, Naruto would have called the morning an auspicious one. Content with the lack of attention towards him, the blond boy sat on the ground and looked at the sun rising from the trees, waiting.

"Jiraiya-oji said he'd be here," he mumbled incoherently to himself as he began to feel sleepy. He hadn't so much as rested for the entire night, too exited for his future. It seemed impossible, escape, freedom, but it was happening. Nobody had to hate him or try to hurt him ever again. Of course, that was simply the musings of a young kid, he wasn't fully aware of the dangers of travelling with a Sannin. Or with the meaning of being a powerful and important shinobi, which was his dream.

Unable to stop himself, Naruto closed his Rinnegan eyes and let sleep was over him.

Jiraiya arrived at the gate far later than expected. How was he to know that there was far more paperwork than the sheets he'd thrown at his sensei in order to adopt an eight year old boy. Then he had to endure the civilian council... That was possibly one of the most infuriating and annoying things he'd ever experienced short of dealing with Orochimaru when they were genin.

The stupid council couldn't make up their mind. One moment, an idiotic council member was thanking him then Danzō had objected. The civilian council, weak minded idiots that they were, immediately agreed with Danzō without a reason. Money, power? Who cared, it made Jiraiya and Hiruzen, yeah he sided with his student after seeing how he wronged Naruto, have a tougher time getting the boy out of the village. Ultimately, Hiruzen had put his fist down and used the powers of the Hokage to counter all of the infuriating civilians. Jiraiya was happy that his sensei demonstrated some of his former authority in the situation.

Without a wink of sleep, he was used to it from being a travelling shinobi, Jiraiya had arrived at the gate. He bent over and poked the recumbent boy on his side.

Naruto groaned and turned over. "Sleeping already, eh Naruto? Maybe I'll just leave without you."

"No no no no no! " He shouted, jumping onto his feet. He was wearing a white shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the back in orange. Without his idiotic jumpsuit, he looked much more normal. His purely blond hair was messed up, spiked, and draped over his eyes in a ruffled mass.

"You don't look too ready for a trip. Where's your pack? A jacket?" Jiraiya sighed, realizing what he signed up for.

Naruto gave him a smirk. "I don't need it! Besides, its not like I had anything to bring anyways."

Feeling awful for the boy, Jiraiya patted him on the back. "Lets get going then. I'd rather we not bother these tiered guards more than we have to," he said, pointing at the two chuunin. Naruto chuckled lightly then nodded.

Jiraiya, with a huge scroll on his back that stored his stuff, walked, rested a hand on the short kid's shoulder, and the two started to walk away from the village.

"Bye, Konoha," Naruto stated, not in a joyful voice but not angry either. He didn't have a reason to hate them now that he was with his super awesome godfather. Besides, Jiraiya was from Konoha and he wasn't mean at all.

Thus began their life-changing journey that would give Naruto a family, though an uncle-like figure, for the first time in his life.

-2 Days later-

"Why are we stopping, Jiraiya-oji!?" Exclaimed a confused Naruto.

They were standing close to the path, two days into their travels, in a secluded area of the woods. There was a large pond, about sixty meters in diameter, near the two of them. It was about midday, and it was smoking hot outside, considering that they had recently entered the desert-hot Land of Wind, yet they had not reached the signature desert yet. The trees were lacking branches and leaves from midway down, making the area feel a lot less cramped.

"I was under the impression you wanted to become stronger," commented Jiraiya, "but if you don't want to we can-"

"No! Please train me!" Naruto interrupted. The toad sage laughed at how gullible his new student was.

"If you insist. Now, do you know what chakra is?"

"Chakra?" Replied the confused blond.

Jiraiya placed his hand against his forehead in irritation. The academy must have been insane to not teach the kids what chakra was. "I guess have to explain another concept," he sighed.

The Sannin began, trying to dumb it down a little "Chakra is a life force that flows through the body, like your blood. There are 361 points around the body that can emit chakra, and the Hyūga clan can release chakra from all of them, but people like you and me can't. Hand seals, which you are familiar with I hope," he paused, waiting until Naruto gave him a nod, "hand seals help change the flow and nature of chakra to allow you to use jutsu. A Doton jutsu might require you to direct more chakra to your hands, while a Katon jutsu would need chakra in your mouth and stomach."

"Ya, ya, I get it. How is this important to training?" Naruto
asked.

"You really couldn't let me finish... Some jutsus requires more chakra than others, so you need to have more chakra focus in a specific point." Jiraiya stopped talking and walked to the murkey pond, not pausing as he continued on top of the water. Small ripples spread out from where his large sandals contacted the liquid.

"Whoa!" The jinchūriki was flabbergasted to say the least. His godfather just walked on water, making shinobi seem even cooler than before.

"I can't push too much chakra into my feet, otherwise the water will become wavy and I'll fall in. I also can't put too little because then I wouldn't be able to hold myself up. This is similar to using jutsu. You can't use too muh or too little."

"Sweet! I'm going to do this!" Naruto walked up to the water, following Jiraiya. The middle-aged man debated telling the boy that it was plain dumb, trying to walk on water before doing the tree climbing exercise. Deciding that he was in for some humor, he ignored some of his logical instincts and put on a huge grin as he awaited an epic fail.

Naruto placed one foot on the water tentatively, though he didn't shift his weight yet. Finally, he had found out the name of the energy in his body that he became familiar with two years ago. Chakra, it was called, and it let shinobi do cool jutsu. He just had to be able to focus it, like to his feet. Squinting his eyes in concentration, he tried to push the flowing energy into his feet, unaware that they began to be covered in a light blue tinge.

He shifted his weight.

Jiraiya gasped. The boy had taken one step, no two, in the water and was now standing shakily on the surface. "The Rinnegan," he muttered to himself.

"Whoohoo!" Shouted Naruto as he looked at Jiraiya. "Look at this, Jiraiya-oji!" He jumped, landing back on both feet. Suddenly, the water seemed to move, making him swing his arms wildly to balance himself. Jiraiya began laughing as Naruto looked like a flailing windmill. Then, he found his balance and stood up straight again.

"You have to focus, Naruto."

"Shut up. I got this!" He proclaimed, taking off in a run. With a loud plop, plop, plop, he ran circles around Jiraiya, a foolish grin on the boy's face. The toad sage couldn't help but grin too at his godson's antics, before he thought up a great idea.

Slamming his foot on the water, he sent a wave in front of Naruto.

Wide eyed, the boy slammed into the water, sandaled feet kicking up in the air. He flipped forward, tripping on the water, as he saw the pond grow close and closer. Unable to stop himself, he fell face first into the pond.

Jiraiya clutched his stomach in an exaggeration as he laughed hysterically. 'Maybe this is why Tsunade thought I was immature...' Still, he was impressed, incredibly so, that Naruto had that level of chakra control.

Dragging himself out of the cold water, Naruto huddled up into a ball on the grass. "T-t-that w-was m-mean, O-oji-san," he stuttered out in between shivers.

"Good job, Naruto!" Jiraiya complimented, walking back onto the grass next to the boy. "I think that the Rinnegan helped with your chakra control."

"O-okay. W-what do we do n-now?" He asked with chattering teeth.

"Now, we work on that control, and you'll practice that gravity jutsu of yours."

"Shinra Tensei," Naruto clarified, finally warming up. Even though the pond water was cold, they were near the Land of Wind, meaning that the air was dry and warm.

Jiraiya nodded, he remembered Nagato calling the jutsu that as well. The Sannin found it odd that two people unfamiliar with each other, who each thought that they were the ones to invent a jutsu, somehow telepathically agreed on a name. Then again, the world of bloodlines was a weird one, and thankfully the toad sage didn't have to worry about things like that, seeing how he didn't inherit any skill from whoever his parents were. Now he had to help Naruto 'discover' the same techniques that his previous student had, though they were limited. He always assumed there was far more to the Rinnegan than Uzumaki Nagato revealed, then again the redhead probably knew more now. That said, Jiraiya had no clue where he was, since the rumors of Yahiko's involvement in Amegakure had faded.

One day, he could take Naruto to Ame and see for himself what befell Nagato. Untill then, he would make the blond far stronger than his other Uzumaki student.

"Can you try to manipulate gravity?" He asked.

Naruto frowned. He hadn't done it for two years, and he hardly remembered what happened then. Secretly, he had his doubts that he could manipulate such a powerful force as gravity. "I can try," he replied with his 'I won't ever give up' undertone. The same tone that reminded the toad sage of Kushina.

There was complete silence as the blond focused, closing his eyes. Instantly, Jiraiya felt lighter. A small pebble and specks of dirt began to float a few inches off the ground. The area around the two became devoid of the light wind gusting through the air.

"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto snapped open his eyes, Rinnegan blaring, and held his hand out. A light shockwave ripped through the forest, pushing everything within three feet of Naruto away. Sadly, Jiraiya wasn't moved more than a foot by the jutsu, and it hardly had an impact on his surroundings.

"Meh," shrugged Jiraiya, "it'll take some practice."

Naruto placed a hand over his eyes to keep himself from the slight pain, the midday light was only making it worse. "I guess, but I don't think I can do that again today."

"Well, then we'll do some taijutsu!" Naruto groaned. His evil teacher had made him do katas for his style for an hour the last night before he could get any dinner. It was way too boring for the boy, but his godfather insisted that it would help him, and the man was a Sannin after all. He had to know something.

Jiraiya showed him to a tree and they practiced katas for what seemed like years before Naruto could grab some food and rest.

-5 Days later-

Sunagakure was an inferno to say the least. Heat waves were a common occurance and water was neigh impossible to find, forcing the inhabitants to make houses of hardened sandstone. Huge domes of these houses protected everyone from the persistant sandstorms. Two figures, one a tall, well built man with overly long white hair that looked like a lion's man, the other a short kid with unruly, spiky, blond hair drapped over his eyes, which were effectively hidden.

"How long do we have to be here?!" Naruto complained to his mentor as they finished checking in with the gate guards. They pushed their way through the busy streets, people overflowing from the houses into the market square.

"Long enough to get the political business done and catch up on my 'research,'" Jiraiya giggled perversely at the last part.

Naruto did not really care about the political aspect of the trip, it didn't affect him that his godfather was checking up on the political alliance between Konoha and Suna. It was shaky at best, and it needed constant surveillance in case Suna tried anything sneaky. That just goes to show the trust between people in the shinobi world and how far honor had fallen.

Wait, Naruto knew that the sage kept mentioning research every now and then, but nothing more was said. "What are you researching."

"I'm an author!" Jiraiya proclaimed, pushing past a rowdy man. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and they went into a large dome that appeared to be a hotel. Before they went up to ask for a room, he elaborated. "I'm researching for my next book. It's going to be so awesome!"

"You're a writer!" Naruto exclaimed with starry eyes. This Sannin could do absolutely anything. "I'm not that great a reader, but can I have one of your books?"

Panic hardly described what happened next. The room felt much hotter, more constricting for the toad sage as he recalled what his books were about. He couldn't curropt this innocent little kid, could he? "Err... Uhh... No..."

"Why not?" Complained Naruto. "I bet your books are amazing!"

"They'reabunchofpervertedbooksforadults," he stammered out as quickly as possible.

"Huh?"

"They're for adults. Mature books," he clarified looking at the confused Rinnegan wielder.

"I'm mature!" The boy argued, crossing his arms.

For once in the past few years, Jiraiya was completely and utterly lost at what to do. How can he get out of this predicament? At long last, what felt like forever, he changed the topic. "I'm going to do 'research' which you are NOT allowed to follow me to, got it? I expect you to stay in the room and practice that meditation gravity thing," Naruto raised an eyebrow at how ignorant and immature the 'old man' could be. "Do NOT go outside for any reason."

The Sannin bent over and whispered the last part. "Don't let people find out that you have the Rinnegan. They might want to carve those eyes out and put them in their own head, okay?"

Only shaken slightly by the... intimate... description , Naruto nodded a few times for good measure, internally aligning his plans to follow Jiraiya anyways.

"Good, let's get checked in."

The odd team gave the receptionist some cash and silently received a room on the second floor. For a sandy dome, the hotel was surprisingly comfortable, more so than when sleeping on the cold hard ground for the past week. The second floor was significantly smaller than the first, but the room wasn't too cramped. Jiraiya twisted the key in the door, and it slid open with an odd dusty cloud of sand.

Naruto coughed a bit, rubbing his Rinnegan. How dare the sand get in his 'super awesome' eyes, as he now called them?

The jinchuuriki, though he still didn't know it, kicked back on a nice, comfy little bed that he never had the pleasure of sleeping in. His last room was awful, the mattress was stained from 'something' happening before he moved in, and sprigs popped up through the comforter. He pretended to close his eyes and take a nap, looking through a squint as his godfather was about to leave.

"Alright then, see ya Naruto!"

'Is he gone?' The boy wondered as the door slammed behind the Sannin. How could he follow an experienced ninja without him finding out? There had to be a way. His attention was drawn by the window, and he fixed a devious smirk on his face. This was going to be good.

'Where's the old man going?' Wondered the boy as Jiraiya swerved his way around a bunch of crowded venders and shops. There was an enormous sandstone building that had the kanji for 'wind' written on it, and the Sannin was going towards it through the sandy roads. Must have been the Kazekage's tower.

'Huh, guess he's not doing any 'research,' and he actually will do that political stuff...' That was boring, so Naruto decided to wander around a bit.

There was a group of kids playing outside of a building that Naruto assumed to be the local academy. Some sat down at tables and ate while others played around with a ball, likely a game of catch. A majority of the kids were younger than Naruto, six or seven, but a few appeared to be a year older as well. There was even one odd looking boy, or was it a girl, in a black cat costume of sorts.

He continued wandering, bored with nothing to do. There was only so much attention that he could put to training, especially with the amount of time he spent sitting around with his eyes closed, meditating. He was eight, for Kami's sake, and there was no way that he could force his energetic self to stay calm. Like those boys playing catch.

There was a small redhead boy, standing alone behind them, watching them with longing. His teal eyes were lined with black, and the kanji for 'love' was written in red on the left side of his forehead. He glared at the other kids, who were also around seven, with hate that Naruto felt all too familiar.

Ignoring the group of academy students, Naruto walked towards the lonely boy, thinking that he could connect with him. "Hey," the blond said, facing the other kid. The redhead was actually shorter than the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, surprising considering that most of his former class was taller.

The other boy looked at him with almost hungry eyes. "Will you prove my existence?"

"Huh?" Naruto replied, confused. "What do you mean?"

"The only meaning of life is to live for yourself. I'll kill you to prove my existence. Tell me your name!"

He didn't know how to respond to such an odd declaration. Though, when he looked at his past, he used to have a very similar opinion to this boy. For a year after the incident, he lived only for himself. "Uh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What are you talking about?"

"I am Gaara, a demon who loves only himself. Mother is screaming for your blood." The now identified Gaara held his hand out as if grabbing something, and Naruto felt the sand under him move. The grains seemed to respond to the redhead, moving towards the Kyuubi jinchūriki slowly as Gaara laughed maniacally.

'Who is this mother? This was so sudden, and I don't know what's going on! Jiraiya-oji was right, I should have stayed in the hotel!' The sand creeped towards Naruto before wrapping itself around his legs. "Y-you don't need to kill me to prove you exist!" He argued.

"There is no other point to my life other than to kill." Despite his insane shout earlier, he had absolutely no emotions leak through these words. To him, they were fact.

The Rinnegan user prided himself on his ability to completely and utterly bullshit his way out of tough situations. Seeing that the sand slowed down, as Gaara wanted to argue, he continued. "What about friends? Family?"

"They make you weak. I am stronger than you because I live for myself." Trying to escape, Naruto struggled and tried to flail his hands. He was weak, helpless, and instead of helping, people seemed to be backing away. They were all scared of Gaara, but why?

Alright, he had to calm down, focus. That's the only way that he could escape from the sand's gripping hold. Breathe, in and out. He had to survive, he had to. If not for himself, than for Jiraiya, who promised to take care of him. He closed his eyes.

"You bore me," Gaara commented nonchalantly, holding his hand further up. The sand began to cover Naruto's upper body, suffocating him and compressing his chest. It was like an elephant was sitting on him.

Focus. He snapped open his ringed eyes.

"DIE! Sabaku Sõsō!" (Sand Burial)

"Shinra Tensei!"

The sand moved to crush him, but just before he felt his body get smashed to mush, an invisible wall pushed back. He had to live!

Dense chunks of sand exploded out, flying away from him, sending him crashing back down to the sandy ground. Sand rained down near him as he kneeled and panted.

"How!" Gaara screamed, sending more sand after Naruto. The blond knew he couldn't get trapped by it, so he held his hand up for another pulse of gravity. Nothing happened. 'The hell?' He cursed, then cursed again at himself for cursing. 'Is there some sort of recharge time?'

When that didn't work, he had to dodge, but the sand was fast. Running to escape, Naruto heard Gaara scream after him, though the sand didn't seem to fully want to follow him. Clutching his head, the redhead fell face first onto the road. The sand that was chasing Naruto also rained back down to the ground.

"You say you're a demon?" Naruto said, standing up straight and regarding the pained Ichibi jinchūriki. "They said I was a demon before, but I realized that acting like one makes it true. I wanted to live for myself, now I don't know why I want to live. Maybe for others. Jiraiya-oji says I've got some kind of destiny, and he believes in me. I think if you find someone who believes in you, you won't be so lonely. I hope I see you again, Gaara."

With that, he left, taking off running. His godfather was right, he should have stayed home, but maybe this meeting was far more important than he could have expected. It raised questions in the blond. Why did Jiraiya believe in him so much, and why was he considered a demon? There was another boy out there just like him, but they were completely different. Why? He wanted answers, and there was only one way to get them.

Jiraiya had a fantastic day. Well, most of it was amazing. After two hours of scouring the Kazekage's office when he wasn't there and talking to various other people in the building. Turns out, nothing changed in the relationship between Konoha and Suna, considering that they were truced but hated each other. A war was far on the way, though Jiraiya assumed it wouldn't be for many decades or until someone important got assassinated.

The good part was that he got a chance to see some of the women in Suna. While few and far between, the rare bath house was godly in such a desolate place. Unfortunately, he found no usable ideas for his new Icha Icha Paradise book. He's have to make a trip to Yugakure and check out the hot springs there.

Letting out a tired yawn, the white haired man burst through the door to his and Naruto's apartment. "How's your training going?" He asked, half expecting Naruto to be either fast asleep or training so intensely it was stupid.

The sight of his godson sitting and staring a the Sannin unnerved him. His Rinnegan eyes were glaring at him, obscured halfly by his blond hair. 'What did I do now?' He sighed.

"Jiraiya-oji, if you're my godfather, then you knew my parents."

It was silent. Neither spoke for a few moments, Naruto waiting angrily while Jiraiya was saddened.

"Your father was a legend and an amazing person, as was your mother. I don't know why you need this information now, after staying at the hotel all afternoon," he raised a knowing eyebrow at the boy, "but their names will only make whatever hurt you are feeling worse. I will tell you who they are when you're responsible enough to handle it."

The blond processed the information, frustrated at his godfather. Knowing his parents was the first step to finding out who he was and why his past was so rocky. 'I guess its okay though, if they were that important. Jiraiya-oji's nice enough, at least he told me they were good people. Still, I don't like it, and that's not even the end of my problems.'

"I have another question. Why did they call me a demon?"

"Um, uhh." Jiraiya was overflowing with guilt. He wasn't able to tell Naruto squat about his heritage, even if he did reassure the kid that his parents were great people. Could he tell Minato's son? Could he bear not to?

Jiraiya sat down on the bed next to Naruto and put his arm around his godson's neck.

"Its time I tell you what it means to be a jinchūriki."

A/N: Thanks for sticking with this story enough to read this A/N. I really appreciate it! Anyways, leave a comment if you hate it or like it. Oh, and if you have any ideas for the future, just cause some of them might be interesting enough and fit well with the story.

I'm sorry there wasn't more about Naruto training, it's just kinda boring to write compared to fights and events. Training is just so repetitive and nothing ever gets done... Naruto will find out more about the Rinnegan in the future, but right now he is only able to kinda use Shinra Tensei. You can add what path he should 'discover' next in a review if you want. Thanks for reading!

Jiraiya out