Disclaimer: Don't have maid Don't own Naruto
Author Note: I hit my English to Japanese translation site again and came up with a whole new bunch of names. Well I had to have the names in Japanese because I already knew them in english but this is supposed to be a story set in Japan so what can I say.
Anyhow here's the list:
Gogyou means the Five Elements (even though I use six this was the closest I could find)
Kaze means wind (pretty much a well known one I think)
Hinote-or-Faia means Fire (Hinote; male form Faia; female form)
Mizu means water (also female title of address hence her being female in the story)
Chi means Earth
Erekiteru means Electricity (closest I could find to Lightening)
Etai-sei means Nature
Boruto means Bolt
And finally Ametsuchi means Heavenly Bodies or The Universe
Chapter Twenty-Three: Gogyou and Titles
The next morning he located Jiraiya in one of the other bedrooms and woke him up. Together they went down to the kitchen and made a small breakfast of fresh fruit nuts and toast. The nuts were brought to the door by the helpfulness of the forest inhabitants and someone had the good sense in putting a berry bush right outside the back door, making it much easier to gather berries for breakfast. They could literally stand right out the back door in their small clothes and pick their breakfast off the vine. After they were full, they cleaned up and got back to searching the house.
In the master bedroom, Naruto found a hidden compartment in the wardrobe. It required blood to open it, as he found out when he accidently pricked a finger on a splinter of wood. The compartment popped open, spilling a cloud of dust into the air and choking him in the process. Inside, laying on a faded silk pad, was a three pronged kunai and a yellowed note. He pulled both of them out of the cubby and was just about to examine them when he noticed another scroll tucked into the back. He pulled it out. The scroll hissed like a roaring fire and sizzled like a writhing bolt of lightening. He turned the scroll in his hands seeing the bits of ice clinging to it's ends with bits of hardened mud and wood caked between the edges and tears formed as he tried to slip a nail under the obviously brittle seal. The six elements, he thought with a smile.
Excitedly, he waved his hands in a complicated pattern in each of the six directions before biting his thumb and drawing the bloody finger along the edge of the sealed scroll. From tip to tip he left a smear of blood on the edge. When the whole length was covered he set the scroll on the floor where it ponderously unrolled itself. Snapping and snarling, the elements, Gogyou, poured out of the parchment. He watched as they formed into close approximations of people. When they were all out and standing just slightly apart from each other and not next to their rival they turned and grinned at Naruto. He grinned back and said cheerfully, "Hi guys. Long time no see. How ya been?" From the doorway came a muffled thump and every head turned in that direction to see a drooling, stupefied Jiraiya babbling without sound, and sitting on his rump while pointing at the Elementals.
Naruto sighed but rose to his feet and walked over to the old man. Carefully, he helped Jiraiya to his feet and led him to the bed. He helped him to sit down while Jiraiya never took his eyes off the glowing forms of crackling energy at the end of the bed. Once Naruto was satisfied with his position, he went back to the Gogyou and took his seat again.
"How come your scroll was here? And why didn't you just tell me to come here and get it. Could have saved us all a lot of grief."
"Weren't allowed to," rumbled Chi. He represented the Earth for them and his voice was the sound of rocks grating against each other to form dirt or sand. He was the most patient of them usually, though Nature could give him a good race in the area. But when Nature spoke she tended to say more than Chi did. Chi preferred short, explanative sentences that answered your question or told you what you needed to know without inviting more questions.
"Kami said you had to go in that place," sighed Etai-sei. Etai-sei was the representative of nature and the human population always tore her beautiful works of art up to make room for growth of their own kind. She wasn't a fan of humans in any way shape or form but she liked Naruto because he appreciated her efforts.
"Kami said you need to find the ones for whom he'll come," added Mizu, their water representative. Mizu was generally a tranquil being that took her time getting to whereever she was needed or requested. She was slow to anger but when she did get angry, she left no doubt you'd crossed the line. "She said we could not go in there no matter how much we might wish to."
"Well, I think I could have found them all out here without having to subject myself to the feeding frenzy but Kami knows what she's doing. I think." Erekiteru and Hinote both rumbled with laughter. Erekiteru was lightening personified into an electric bolt. Sometimes he answered to Boruto but his real name was unknown so it really didn't matter. Not even the representative of lightening knew what he'd originally been called. Hinote sometimes, depending on whether he wished to be perceived as male or female would be Faia instead of Hinote and was the embodiment of fire. Both were quicksilver in their temperaments and tended more to loudness and fast actions than careful planning and decisive reasoning.
"But anyway, why was your scroll here? That told me why you couldn't tell me but not why it's here."
"You have things still to learn don't you," stated Chi. The earth was the wisest and oldest of them all. Although the universe was older than all of them Chi had been created first since all the others needed his form to gain theirs. Together they formed Ametsuchi, or otherwise known, the Universe. As Ametsuchi, there was no power under the Gods themselves that could rival them but the forming of Ametsuchi took their complete agreement to be subjucated one unto the other and so it was not often they formed into their ultimate being.
"Yes. I do indeed have things still to learn. I still can not make all six of your powers form together in the same ball of chakra that I can wield. I can put as many as three of you together so long as your natures are not competitive but I can not make all six of you bind together."
"Our ultimate form. Good to know but have you as yet formed our lesser destructive forms? Opposites together first?"questioned Chi.
"You mean like fire and water together into one? You mean that would work without one canceling the other?"
"Humans use fire to heat water for bathing and cleaning and eating don't they?" asked Hinote.
"How do you think that happens if we cancelled each other out all the time?" asked Mizu.
"You must begin by mixing smaller forms and studying how they fit together to make the whole. Of course we can work together. If we couldn't there would be no world," added Chi. "I, Hinote and Mizu are basic elements but we are also all opposites. Fire warms my belly and keeps me on an even spin as I move through the heavens, collecting dust and debris. When I collect too much he pours out and burns some off. Mizu and I share the surface to keep our weight even. Without her I would weigh too much and spin out of control. Without me she would weigh too little and not be able to spin. Together with Hinote for help we can keep moving." It was a long statement for the quiet slow moving element but it was undeniably pure truth also.
"Erekiteru, Etai-sei and I are what's called secondary elements. We are just as important to life on this rock as the primary forces but we depend on the three of them for our existence. Without them, we can not exist. I can not blow the top off mountains without earth to put the mountain there or Etai-sei grow forests without his crumbling surface to mold and Mizu's waters to help them grow. Erekiteru shoots his yellow-white form across the skies from the effects of their constant motion. So you see we all need them."
Naruto thought about it. He slowly began to nod in agreement. "I see. You said when I saw you last time that the next time I saw you you'd be able to stay with me. Is that still true? Will Kami allow you to stay with me now?"
"Only until the battle draws nigh, young Warrior. Then to keep all in balance we must depart. But you will know by our departure that the time is at hand and to gather your forces together,"answered Mizu.
"I have found most of them but I have yet to locate Friend or Loyalty. There is just too many that could fit the first and not anyone who really fits the second." He gave his elemental friends a look that was at once laughing and asking for help.
Kaze, the wind element, got his message. He drifted across the room and laughingly said, "I would have thought he'd be the first one you'd recognize."
"Ero-sannin?! You got to be kidding me. All he ever wanted to do was write dirty books and peep into women's bathing rooms. Are you sure?" Naruto feigned shock at the idea of Jiraiya being someone that important to him.
His reaction worked as he hoped it would. He struggled to maintain his shocked and disbelieving expression as he watched Jiraiya sit up and fold his arms over his chest in a huff. "I'll have you know that I was always looking out for you."
Naruto didn't look too sure as he pictured his abortive attempt at an unscheduled flying lesson down the side of a canyon back when he was still an orange-wearing twelve year old loud-mouth. He watched as Jiraiya's expression grew glummer. Finally he burst into uncontrolled laughter. "Thanks Kaze," he gasped when he could finally talk again. "I was getting tired of waiting for him to ask."
Jiraiya went red. He didn't need the red make-up now. His natural shade made it look pale. "Well, I figured if I was important to you, you'd tell me, Gaki. It's not exactly the kind of thing you go around asking people."
"Like you told me so very much about the Rasengan and why you wanted to be my trainer, Ero-sannin? I knew it couldn't really have had anything to do with my own abilities or potential but it would have been nice to have someone tell me straight out why they wanted to train me." His expression grew sad as he remebered wondering if he was making a mistake in agreeing to go into the unknown with the make-up wearing pervert.
"I'm sorry, Gaki. I didn't know how to tell you. I knew you both loved and hated the Yondaime and I feared if you knew I was training you because I promised him to teach you his techniques you'd refuse to go with me. But I always wanted you to be safe and at that time Konoha was becoming too much of a trap for your safety."
Naruto nodded. "I know but still I wanted to believe it was just because I was me and yet I knew it wasn't." It was his turn to shake off the memories. A few minutes of silence fell over the room before he said, "But enough of the past. I've known since the three of you showed up at the shelter that you were Loyalty and Oba-chan was Trust." He titled his head to one side and asked, "Why do you think I would have gone with you otherwise?"
Looking embarrassed and sad Jiraiya said, "I honestly didn't know you were even capable of choosing not to. None of us did. You scared the 'ell out of us. I never want to see someone I care about in that shape again." Shaking off his memories, he asked, "Who do you think is supposed to wear the final one of those titles?"
"No idea. Friends were never really something I allowed myself to believe in. Too open to getting hurt just from knowing me and not worth the risk. There are several possibilities but none of them seem right." He sighed again. "That's why I had Shikamaru come by actually. Shogi and Go are fun games but I really need to find this person and I have no clue who it is."
"I take it that it's not him?"
"Nope. It could be Kiba but I doubt it. He's as competitive as I am but outside of battle we really don't have much in common. He thinks too much like the pact while I am an original thinker. It's the same with Shino. Lee is a friend but all he thinks about is training. Who ever this person is will be someone who fits this role on all levels of my life outside of battle."
"So tell me who are the possibilities and maybe I can narrow it down for you."
"Well, there's Neji, Chouji, Ino, Tenten, Anko, Kakashi, and Sakura that are left. I know for a fact it won't be the village's Cherry Blossom Special. Nor do I believe it is the other three girls which leaves only the guys. Neji, Chouji or Kakashi." He paused for a minute, "or maybe Konohamaru."
"I'll think on it tomorrow and see if I can come up with something that might point out why it would be one of them but how are you so sure it will be someone who fits your life as securely as the other title holders do?"
"Easy. These are people who are important reasons for me to fight. Important reasons for me to see the world continue on as it has, growing and evolving, developing new ways of doing things and new things to do to make your lives easier as you grow older."
"Then why are you so sure that it won't be, as you call her, "The Cherry Blossom Special"?
"Because she is more important to Sasuke than she ever has been to me. For him, she is the world and one day Sasuke will defrost his heart and mind enough to realize that. When he does, you will see what I mean. Just trust me, she can be nothing to anyone who is not him. She was born for him. She is what will complete him and when I am truly gone, he will need everything she can give him to survive."
"Ok. . . Well it's still possible it's one of the other girls but you have your reason for thinking it isn't so I'll let it rest until you've been through all the guys. Out of curiosity, why isn't Sasuke on that list?"
"He is important but I already know who he is. I know his title and I can do without the distraction of having him poking around trying to find out things he doesn't need to know until it is time to pull him in close. Sasuke can not help his competive nature and his desire for power has in the past, is now and will always be a driving need. He would try to copy the things I must learn if I am to prevail in the final battle. I can not let that happen or Kami will be forced to take actions neither she nor I want."
Jiraiya nodded his understanding. It was true that Sasuke, once he saw the power of the jutsu Naruto now used, would try to copy them but Jiraiya understood they were not for mortal hands. They were too destructive and he suspected the amount of chakra they required was beyond the amount any mere human could safely summon without destroying themselves. "What is his title? If you don't mind my asking?"
"You sure you want to know?"
Jiraiya considered not knowing but he liked to know everything. That's why he was a spy after all. He nodded.
"Sasuke is Family. That bond was formed when we graduated the academy and found out just how much we actually had in common. When we found we both knew loneliness in the same way. When we found we both went home to empty places where no one would be proud of our accomplishments. When we found we were the two strongest genins in our class. And we learned to share the quiet moments no one else ever saw."
"Did you know when Kakashi would make us stay in the village for that stupid festival, Sasuke would come find me and we'd slip away until it was over? Kakashi made us stay for Sakura's sake and so the villagers would have a decent chance of catching me for my yearly beating. They actually believe it brings them luck throughout the coming year if they can catch and beat me bloody during the festival. But Sasuke hated it as much as I did. For different reasons, of course, but that didn't matter. What mattered is neither of us wanted to be there. So we ran and hid out until the day after it when we'd come home. Kakashi would always grouse and we'd smirk knowing the reason why." He fell silent letting the memories play through his mind. "When he left us, that was what I missed him the most over. I couldn't accept that he was willing to let me face that alone again after all those times he helped me avoid it." He sighed and concluded with, "And that's why he wears the title Family. Because he is my family. My only family." He stood up and noticed for the first time that the Gogyou had scattered in different directions.
As he was about to leave the room Jiraiya asked, "Why, just because of all the things I know he has put you through, is Kakashi even still on your list?"
"Don't worry about it. Kakashi isn't the one meant to carry the title of Friend. There is or was a title for him but I don't know if he'll make his way back to it in time to carry it. All I really know is it will be a lot harder to win if he doesn't but this is his journey to traverse. And neither I nor anyone else can help him on it any more than he has already been helped. He must find his way back alone."
"And which title is his?" Jiraiya practically growled. It infuriated him to be classed in with him.
"You won't like it. Are you sure you want to know?" he asked again.
Once more Jiraiya thought it through and wondered did he really want to know? Yes he finally decided. "I do. I know I don't trust him and I know Tsunade-hime doesn't either but if he's important to you then I need to know how and hopefully from knowing how he's important then maybe I'll know how best to help you where he is concerned."
"He is Honor. Honor is something his father taught him before he could walk and when his father committed suicide, the action robbed Kakashi of the meaning of honor. Kakashi has been trying ever since then to redefine it but the true meaning has been the same he's always known it to be. He just needs to admit he does indeed understand it. And by admitting that, he will be able to forgive his Father for leaving him and his teammates and my Father also. He feels each of his precious people betrayed him for the sake of their honor, placing their honor above his need of them in his life. He sacrificed his own so as to not be required to make the same sacrifice as they each did. But by forgiving them, he can reclaim his own honor and no longer be manipulated as he has been since the death of the Yondaime. Once he does that, then he will be able to bear living his life by it's code again as he used to. Only then will he be able to carry the title for all mankind."
"And that's what each of you are doing. You don't carry the title for you yourself alone. You carry it for everyone. And for every person I find who can carry the weight of a title, it takes that much weight off of me in the battle. Any title I have not granted to another, before the battle is engaged, is one I myself must carry for mankind, lest it be lost for all time. And some titles are heavier than others. Yet to drop any of them is not a price I am willing to pay. Mankind has a need for each of the things the titles represent."
"You've given me a lot to think about and I'll need time to process it all but I will still help you to find this last person. Is he/she the only other person you need?"
"Well, there are the lesser titles but I can easily carry them if I must. I didn't tell Shikamaru but there's a possibility that he is to be the bearer of the title Wisdom. He does know more than any other person I know but I really don't know if that's good enough to consider him the holder of Wisdom."
"Just how many titles are there anyway?" sputtered Jiraiya.
"Not sure really but those are the important ones. Trust, Courage, Hope, Love and Loyalty being the Primary Titles that must stay in the world. Under no circumstanses is dropping them acceptable to either myself or Kami. Next comes Friend, Honor, Family and Wisdom. They are the secondary titles. It would be useful to have someone carrying them for me because they do carry more weight than you would think. But after those nine, if there are others, they will present themselves when the time is right. And, of course, the more I find, the less weight I will carry into the battle and the better the chance for our side to win the conflict."
"Not like that isn't enough to worry about. That's nine individual people for you to keep track of and in a battle every person is one more thing to distract you at a crucial moment."
"I am not alone in keeping you all safe, Ero-Sennin. Kami has been watching over all of you all of your lives. Though she can't interfere directly she has made sure to send you aid as you needed it. And of course there are the Gogyou who have also been helping you and the summons as well. So you see I am far from alone in this battle. As for our enemy he has his own things to be concerned over. Yes he will use any trick he can to win and yes he is a danger to us but he won't be able to use my people against me if I have identified them beforehand. You will all be moved to a safe location to await the outcome of the battle."
"Will he have chosen people also?"
"Yep. He will have someone to represent those things that suit his nature just as I have chosen for my own. Where I have Love, he will have Hate. Where I have Friend, he will have Enemy and that's why it is so important I find this friend."
"I see. After the battle, what happens to us? Both sets of titles as you say.
"He will vanish or I will vanish. Our representatives will remain here until the victor decides their fate. I am sorry. I would have liked for you not to ask those questions but you did. All I can really say is you better hope I win. I don't think you'll like his plans for my chosen if he does."
"Now I really need to go get some practice in. I have a lot to learn and a very limited time in which to learn it all."
"Don't forget that." Jiraiya pointed to the forgotten kunai and scroll.
"What is that anyway?"
"Your father's forgotten technique. He could use that kunai to immediately flash to whatever location it was in. He had several of them made and gave one to every important person so he could flash instantly to their side in times of need. He also had several in hidden locations throughout the village. So long as you know the location of one keyed to your blood you can go there. I'd imagine the scroll will tell you how to use it and where he got them made so that you can get your own done."
Naruto smiled sadly. "If I were going to live past the outcome of this battle than I could definitely see the long term need for this technique but we both know I'm not. Save it and teach it to the next young nin who comes long with the requirements to learn it. There will be someone. Believe in it."
"I am never taking on another student, Naruto. I've done this too many times already."
"Ero-Sennin, do not give up so easily. Kami rewards her children for every time they have been required to suffer great hurt to do her will. Somewhere out there is a boy or a girl with potential going to waste because no one sees. You will find him or her and you will see. A lonely child starved for attention and someone to care. A child screaming to be seen and recognized as existing. You will become their Sensei for me. For Kami. Then your heart will smile again. Because you need a student as much as I needed you."
"I don't know, Naruto. Every student I have taught, I watched helplessly as they died. I don't think I could handle that again. Too many deaths of important people . . . I'm just not sure there's enough of me left to do it again."
"Tsunade said something similar once but now she is the Hokage and a Sensei and a Doctor. If she can wear three hats on one head than I think you will find another young student with fire in the belly and determination in their eye. All you have to do is look. That student will do the rest and you will pass my Father's techniques on to him or her. After all, Rasengan and Hirashin should not die just because the Namikaze Clan did."
He walked out leaving a very old and tired feeling man behind on a crumpled bed. Jiraiya shook his shaggy mane and wondered just when had he gotten so damn old.
Author Note: Sorry this update was soooo very slow in coming. I must say that although it is frustrating to try and write quality work with a house full of kids their presence isn't the only reason the update was slow in coming. I honestly will try my hardest to have the next chapter out no later than this time next week. Now that school is back in session I have at least five hours a day to work mostly in Peace and Quiet.
Hubby: Rose are you complaining again?
Disclaimer: Who me? Complain? I do NOT complain, Dear.
Hubby: Uh-huh. Sure, Rose. Whatever you say. ( mumbles- -Sounds like complaining to me)
Disclaimer: I give reasons, Dear. I do not complain. After 15 years, you should know that by now. And where is my maid? If I didn't have to take time out to clean up after your Tax write-offs I could write faster and post more often you know.
Hubby: (turns to Rose) Huh? You say something?
Disclaimer: Grrr . . . Go watch the idiot box and let me get this posted.
Hubby: Yes Ma'am