NARUTO
Nox Noctis Ingredior
Training
A week later…
The Land of Grass…
"We are looking for your next target in some tavern?" Guren asked, looking over at Yoroi who was glaring up at the sign of the bar, expression quite irritated. "That reminds me, you never mentioned who it was we were looking for next. Who is it that Orochimaru-sama wants by his side, other then me?"
"Oh, I think you know her quite well," Yoroi replied, glancing over at the purple haired woman. "In a lot of the old photographs of well-known Feudal Lords, tyrants and criminal organizations, you can see her standing on the leader's right hand side. The funny thing is though, while she's frequently hired by, let's say, Akatsuki, answering to the bosses and doing their dirty work from time to time, in other cases, she would work against them without a second thought, or hunt down the wanted personnel in their group in her free time…"
Guren blinked, recalling some older memories of seeing a particular figure standing by Orochimaru's side in Kabuto's absence. As thrilled as she was to learn that Kabuto was dead, and wanted nothing more then to kiss the man responsible, she was pretty pissed that somebody else had taken his place so quickly. She had yet a couple more people to carve through.
"So we're looking for Kisarabi… ugh," Guren groaned, shaking her head. "I thought it would be another hundred years till I saw that hag's face again…" Folding her arms, she glared at Yoroi. "Do you think she's all fucked up after all her work in the last five years?"
Yoroi smirked. "Only one way to find out…"
Pushing the door open, the pair strode in, entering a dimly lit, two story bar with tables occupied by all sorts of people. The Land of Grass was a well known country, nestled between three of the major shinobi nations making up the continent, renowned for its hot-spot tourist locations, excellent forests, wide open, untouched country sides, good trade, and a great hiding place for internationally wanted criminals. However, instead of causing trouble here, this is just another place for rogue ninja and mercenaries to call home and, to put it into perspective, hide out. In days when they are not causing trouble or getting their butts kicked, Missing Nin and criminals would come here and drain away their sorrows.
Aside from the fact that the moment Yoroi and Guren entered the bar and noticed all the missing ninja in here, there was no fighting or arguing whatsoever.
However, ignoring everybody else, the pair immediately spotted a familiar person sitting at a round table in the middle of the bar, accompanied by three other ninja.
The one that stood out was the one Orochimaru's lackeys were looking for. A woman about thirty years old, but looking to be in her early twenties, with whitish blonde hair, with delicious, smooth, creamy skin, and a stoic expression ever constant on an angelic face. She looked serious, but was cute at the same time. Furthermore, she wore a brown, wide-brimmed hat overshadowing her face, an eye-patch covering her right eye, which was hidden by her hair, and had a series of protective, metallic ring braces on both her forearms and gauntlets jammed with gizmos and had miniature scrolls locked into them. She also wore a dark purple trench coat with royal golden markings lining it. Other then that piece of clothing covering her body, she wore just a pair of very short, tight, black spandex shorts. The trench coat was fastened together by crisscrossing string, covering most of her breasts, yet showing off a reasonable amount of cleavage. Metallic shin guards and brown sandals completed the look, as she had her feet set up on the table.
It was also noticeable she had holsters containing strange weapons that Guren had never seen before, and small scrolls holstered in a bandoleer around her waist. A long, staffed weapon was also strapped to her back.
The three ninja around her wore headbands that were blank, and they varied in size. The one sitting next to her and talking with her had spiky red hair (which bared a similar resemblance to that of the Yondaime) and wore beige purple and light brown trench coat, with strange gloved hands. The girl sitting across the table from her, looking to be a young teenager and very frog like in her facial structure had white hair, and similar purple and white beige clothes in contrast to her comrades. The last one sitting on the woman's other side was huge, with a slab of stone he calls a face, quite ugly, and wore dark green and light brown clothes. The three of them looked to be formidable ninjas, but the woman in the middle paid them little mind.
"I'm telling you… no, Ishidate," the blonde woman huffed in a very breathy, luscious tone of voice, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep drag on it. She glanced at the man she considered a friend and business associate with indifference. "I won't fight you on the grounds that you will pay me, but because I have a few rules. Rule 1; do not engage in direct battle with the client. Rule 2; that fight must not exceed the universal law of one-shot, one-kill, nothing that will go over the price of a single bullet."
"You're afraid you might accidentally kill me?" Ishidate raised an eyebrow at her, before chuckling and propping his head on his hand. "Kisarabi, please…you know you are no match for me… I'm stronger then you… and I'm way above your league. I can take you out just like that…" He snapped his fingers, and his brute of a companion, Kongo, rose to his feet.
The man stomped around and grabbed the woman by the shoulder, Ishidate grinning. Kisarabi responded in a typical, monotone way, glancing at the enlarged hand.
"Please…" she breathed, a puff of smoke exhaling from her lips. "Don't touch the merchandise…"
Swiftly yet effortlessly, she grabbed the hand on her shoulder with her right hand and lifted it off of her shoulder. Suddenly, electricity streamed down the arm and began electrocuting the body the arm was attached to. Kongo cried out in agony as he was literally shocked into submission, with Kisarabi glaring at him uncaringly. After about half a minute, and after the man was brought to his knees, she released him, allowing the smoking rogue ninja to crawl away. Ishidate laughed out right, with Karenbana giggling on the sidelines at her electrocuted teammate.
"You still got it, Kisarabi!" Ishidate laughed, lifting his drink towards her. "Maybe next time when we meet on the battlefield, we'll see who the superior fighter is…"
Kisarabi raised her tea to him and tapped glasses. "Like wise…"
Sculling his drink, while Kisarabi sipped her tea after the toast, Ishidate and his two comrades then bid goodbye to her, got up and left the bar, the commotion surprisingly not deterring anybody from their drinks or meals. As the Three Wandering Ninja left, Yoroi and Guren approached the woman's table. Pulling out the once occupied chairs, the pair sat down in front of the mercenary, who looked up at them from under her hat. Huffing on her cigarette, she sighed.
"Oh, it's you…"
"Yeah, it's me," Yoroi exclaimed, smirking. "How have you been, Kisarabi?"
"Well, as you can see, I've found my happy place," she replied, gesturing to the hell-hole of a bar around her. Picking up her tea and removing the cigarette from her mouth, she glared up at them. "Got another job for me?"
"Not from me, from Lord Orochimaru …" Yoroi stated. A waitress approached them and asked if they wanted anything. Guren ordered some sake, with Yoroi agreeing to share. When she left, Kisarabi leaned back on her chair and looked at the pair curiously.
"Wouldn't Kabuto usually come around and ask for me on your master's behalf?" she asked, tossing her lighter around in her free hand, clicking it open, and closing it, in a random pattern. "He is Orochimaru's lapdog after all…"
"Not anymore," Yoroi replied, lacing his fingers together and leaning forward on the table. Guren sat back, casually listening in on the conversation. Kisarabi raised an eyebrow at him.
"Replaced?"
"Dead…" This answer had the mercenary woman return to a normal seating position, and glare at the man hard, trying to see if he was joking or not.
"Bullshit…"
"Yup! He screwed up in a mission and got his ass beat by a mere Genin," Yoroi huffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "The price on his head means that the brat that knocked him off his high horse, will definitely be collecting big from Kumo. Guess he beat you to the punch, eh…"
Kisarabi leant back in her chair, flicking the ass off of her cigarette. Tapping her metallic lighter on the table, she furrowed her brow as she glared at Yoroi.
"I would really like to meet the brat that killed Kabuto and thank him personally," Kisarabi exclaimed, half-smiling. "The story would be a hell of a lot more believable, not to mention more credit building if the asshole was beaten by one of the Sannin…"
"He gave the kid too much leeway, and underestimated him," Yoroi surmised, shrugging his shoulders. "It doesn't matter now."
"So you have stepped up to replace Kabuto, and Orochimaru also wants me by his side?" She looked at Guren, then back at Yoroi. At the same time, the waitress came back around with their sake and served them. Tipping her hat to the lady, she glared over at Yoroi. "Does he want me to kill the brat that did in Kabuto, or is there something else going down?"
Yoroi glanced over at Guren, who frowned back at him and nodded. The man smirked and looked at the mercenary woman, who tapped her fingers impatiently next to her glass of sake.
"We're planning an invasion of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and Orochimaru would like you to perform a breach and clear mission for him, with some cold-blooded killing on the side," the man replied, taking a sip of his sake. "He insisted that we retrieve you for the mission…"
"A dog must obey its master, or risk getting neutered as punishment for defiance," Kisarabi commented, grinding her cigarette into the table and tossing it. "Go on…"
"He wants you to capture a girl named Haru, living in the Forth Hokage's old estate, a young child said to possess the Rinnegan eyes," Yoroi said, shrugging his shoulders. "She is guarded by formidable shinobi, including Anko Mitarashi, the Ice Cold Shinobi Haku, Ryoko Takahashi and Zabuza Momochi. If you eliminate the four of them to get to her, it will mean you can collect big on the bounties on their heads…" he rubbed his fingers together in emphasis.
"But to get to the girl I will have to go in deep into the Hidden Village, which is on high alert now due to the Chunin Exams reaching its final stages," Kisarabi stated, judging off of facts she learned from long ago. "It's impossible… not to mention… crazy…"
"I thought you were the best bounty hunter in all the shinobi nations," Guren exclaimed cockily, earning a glare from the girl. "The woman, who single-handedly brought down an entire country, wiped out an entire royal family without batting an eyelash and killed both Hanzo Hattori and Fuma Kotaro. Perhaps your… reputation… has been a bit exaggerated…"
"I didn't say I wouldn't do it," Kisarabi hissed. Sighing, she sat back in her seat, propping her legs back up onto the table. "I want a squadron of your finest Sound Shinobi, assassins with Cursed Seals who will not hesitate killing anything that gets in their way. Oh… and I will be… tripling my usual rate…"
"Money is of little concern," Yoroi replied, smirking. "We'll provide you with whatever you require, and also a route to get you inside the building…"
The woman smirked. "You've got yourselves a deal."
Meanwhile, as the Sound shinobi and their hired gun discussed payment, unbeknownst to them, two shinobi sitting by the bar drinking, dressed in black cloaks with red cloud patterns and wearing straw hats, with one of them carrying a huge sword wrapped in gauze on his back, had heard the entire conversation…
Konohagakure…
Training Field 3…
Anko and Sakura, taking a break from their morning routine, watched with great interest as Naruto attempted to take down the Third Hokage. The old man had agreed to spend some time with the blonde after being blackmailed by him for the hundredth time into training. Of course, he agreed to train the boy, for fear of being scolded by the female members of his ANBU bodyguards, particularly the former ANBU Rin and the present Yugao. Of course, he was having more fun then he cared to let onto, tossing the kid around single-handedly.
Though the news of another Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist being among the villagers shook the Third Hokage to the core, he could do little about it. The day of the exams was already set, and everybody was high strung. Canceling the exams would backfire on the village's credit. The best he could do at this point was having ANBU circling the Kiri Team around the clock, and so far, they weren't giving him any reason to step in and stop them.
Even news and information from Naruto prevented him from acting. In a discussion between himself and the boy, as well as the Hokage's best Jonin and ANBU, the village leader felt that the best course of action to take was to wait until the day of the final part of the exams. If the rogue ninja's plans coincided with Orochimaru's invasion time, then the chances of the Kiri Nin eliminating Orochimaru as a threat was extremely high.
Sometimes chaos was the best smokescreen for victory to slip through. Nobody knew this better then he Hokage.
After hitting the ground for the twentieth time in a row by the old man, Naruto, dressed in just a pair of dark green slacks and wearing training weight, rolled back to his feet and wiped the side of his mouth, glaring up at the old man as he huffed on his pipe, smiling.
"You're quick Naruto," Sarutobi exclaimed. "However, if you want to beat me, you have to be quicker then that to actually land an attack…"
Huffing, Naruto leapt back up and charged, zip-lining from side to side on his approach. Using as much physical strength as he could muster, he tried to throw off the old man, only to trip up when he lunged in with a jab, the old man tripping him and throwing him off balance. Flying through the air, the blonde hit the grass hard and rolled to a stop, groaning in agony.
"Damn it…"
"Don't be so hasty," the Third chuckled. "By relying solely on movement and reflex, you involuntarily reveal your weaknesses to your enemies. That's a mistake you cannot make in direct combat. Work your way around, and instead, use your opponent's own weapons and strengths against them…"
Sakura giggled when she watched Naruto sit up and rub the back of his head in annoyance, with Anko shaking her head.
"Admit it; he's getting his ass kicked, isn't he?" Anko exclaimed.
"Naruto-kun can't be beaten by just anyone," Sakura replied, smiling up at her teacher. "Although, when he does fight someone like Hokage-sama, he realizes just how much further he needs to go. Sometimes, a great win can come from an equally great loss."
Flipping through the air, Naruto reengaged the old man, who, with his eyes closed, ducked under a roundhouse kick and dodged a combo attack, before chopping at the side of the boy's head as if he were swatting a fly when the blonde over swung in his punch. Naruto managed to block the blow, but the resultant impact sent him flying through the air and straight into a tree some twenty meters away. Crashing, and forming a deep imprint in the tree, he slumped to the ground and glared up, his arm sporting a red and purple bruise.
The Third put his arm behind his back and smiled at the boy. "Come now Naruto… balance…"
"He tripped me. Fighting dirty…" Naruto rubbed the bruise on his arm, feeling it numb away as the Kyuubi started healing it. If that hit connected with a more vital area, it would have either knocked him out flat or killed him. The blonde smirked. "That's how a real ninja should fight…"
Grabbing a stone, Naruto tossed it once then pitched it at his opponent, the rock curving through the air. The Third, with his eyes still closed, dodged the projectile barely, at the same time, stepped back when Naruto's kick came flying through the air at him. He blocked the next incoming punches and kicks with his one free hand, which was holding onto his pipe.
Sliding back to avoid a leg swipe, the Third Hokage then side stepped as Naruto hooked at him, the blonde leaving himself wide open. He whacked the pipe at his arm and knocked him downwards, Naruto stumbling and barrel-rolling to recover, effectively avoiding the Hokage's jab. Assuming a crouched stance, the blonde then spun around and, at the same time, kicked up dirt with his foot and flicked it up at the old man. The Third shielded himself from the debris throw, and reacted in time to catch Naruto's incoming leg on a backwards, roundhouse kick.
Naruto growled as he tried to yank his leg back, but was thrown over by the old man, who chuckled as he watched the boy back-flip and land a safe distance away, panting.
"Very good! Keep it up," the Third said, refilling his pipe. "I've got all day!"
Anko blinked. "Just what is Naruto trying to prove?" She watched as the Third stepped around every attempted attack made by the boy to follow. Sure he was old and had a lot of paper work to do, but apparently, he was having quite a bit of fun at the moment. Naruto was too, finally finding someone he could really vent out his full strength against without the concern of hurting that person. "He's really letting himself go."
"Hokage-sama is his idol, and one of the first people to genuinely care for Naruto-kun," Sakura said, smiling at Anko. "Becoming stronger then the one he admires is one of Naruto's goals, and he will stop at nothing to achieve this. He told me and Hinata that… quite some time ago. He also told me… you really cared for him as well… and that he grew up admiring you and Hokage-sama…"
The Snake Jonin smiled back at the girl and nodded. "I did, and I still do." She looked up towards her student, still playing catch the old man and try to knock him on his ass. "I cared for him when he was young… and then… after a while, I started to admire the brat as well. He's really something else." Anko grinned widely and giggled. "He's cute to. I really love strong, young men…" The Jonin licked her lips excitedly, sending a shiver down Sakura's back, with a deep blush accompanying the action.
"If I have to share sensei with Naruto-kun, she can have him on Wednesdays and I'll have him on Mondays…" Sakura shook her head and looked away, returning her attention to Naruto's training. The blonde was now chasing the Third with more explosive movements, his speed really going up a notch as he, with great effort as deduced by his yelling, attacked the old man. He was now starting to focus a bit more, his experience in this making him wearier of Naruto's moves.
It may have been hand to hand, but Naruto was as passionate about fighting as Lee was, but in his own way.
"Naruto-kun is getting stronger… every day…"
A week later…
Naruto was out with little Haru, Haku and Kin, taking a break from his rigorous training regime, and heading off down town with them to do some shopping, as well as go down t the local hot springs later onwards. The blonde happily carried Little Haru on his shoulders, the young raven haired girl giggling loudly and cheering as he hopped down stairs and jogged a bit, with Haku and Kin following close behind, looking at the pair with smiles on their faces.
As they walked down the main shopping boulevard, passing by various restaurants and stalls, Naruto and Little Haru stopped for a moment outside of a Kiri Cuisine restaurant, peering through the window into the restaurant's aquarium, where the fish and sea creatures they cooked fresh for their customers were displayed. Little Haru awed at the sight of such exotic fish and delicious items, including the huge spider crabs on display, crawling about the tank, wondering who was going to be selected next on the dish.
"Wow!" Haru exclaimed, pressing her face up against the window, with Naruto also doing the same in their double-decker position. "They are so big…"
"Aren't you scared?" the blonde asked, looking up at the little girl. "Crabs scare me sometimes, with their eight arms and legs, and the way they stare at you…" He made a weird face when he did this, scaring the barramundi swimming around in front of him.
Haru shook her head, grinning. "I like crabs! When you play rock-paper-scissors with them, they always pick scissors!" She made snippy gestured with her fingers, and pinched the glass. "Pinch! Cut! Pinch! Cut!"
"Well, I wouldn't want to be the crab that challenges you!" Naruto grinned. He then laughed when he saw Little Haru playing a game of rock-paper-scissors with the crab on the other side of the glass. The crab, seemingly understanding the little girl, played along with her, timing the hand movements and releasing on the go.
"Jan! Ken! Po!" Haru giggled, throwing a rock, with the crab throwing… well… scissors. "YAY! I WIN!" The young girl laughed and clapped her hands, the crab frothing and bubbling at the mouth, with that cute, animated smile on its face.
Haku chuckled as he watched Naruto and Haku ogle the fish in the aquarium, and glanced over at Kin. They were both wearing casual clothes, him in his pink kimono and Kin wearing a yellow sundress. Unbeknownst to Haku, he was getting a lot of glances from a lot of girls walking by, who would giggle and walk off.
"Naruto-kun really cares for his precious people…"
Kin nodded and smiled back. "Just like you and your friend Zabuza-san, right?"
Haku nodded back, looking up towards the sky. "He is my master, teacher and mentor, the person to rescue me from my loneliness. Because he saved my life, I will repay my dept with it, by protecting him no matter what." He then looked back down at Kin, smiling. "If you truly care about someone, it will show in one form or another." He closed his eyes and nodded his head. "I care for my friends and the person most precious to me."
"Did Naruto learn that from you?" Kin asked, to which Haku replied with a nod. He closed his eyes and smiled even wider.
"We all learn something from somebody… don't we?" Haku opened his eyes again and looked back at Naruto Haru, who was shooed away by the manager after ogling the fish for too long and distracting some of the customers inside. "No one is really self taught. In reality, there's always a shadow we are standing in, a light we are following, and a path already laid out for us to walk along. We live in a world where lessons of the old are taught to the new, where the old are eventually replaced by the younger generation, and surpassed."
"I can… understand that," Kin exclaimed, while she and Haku followed after Naruto and Little Haru to the next store, the pair checking out some of the fruit. The blonde bought Little Haru an apple, and she immediately began eating it as soon as it was paid for. "I mean, when you look down at your feet, you're actually find walking on a footpath laid out by somebody else, literally and metaphorically…" She looked up at the older teen, smiling brightly. "As time goes on and the footpath begins to deteriorate, it is eventually repaired by a new generation, and so on…"
"But don't count out the old generation just yet," Haku said, slipping his hands into his pockets. "They've still got something to prove to the world. That's what Zabuza-san wants to do, make a name for him, before he passes on the torch…"
As soon as Naruto, Haku, Kin and Little Haru arrived at the hot springs, they received a rather strange welcome from the entrance of open-air baths. Well, not really from the entrance, but right next to it. Sitting by the bamboo fence, giggling perversely, and looking through a small hole he had made in the side, was none other then Naruto's other 'beloved' mentor, Jiraiya: the Toad Sage of Mount Myobokuzan. Apparently, his teacher was back in town and engaged in his favorite, spirit lifting past-time; researching.
"Oooh… what a beautiful sight! Yes! Juicy, perfectly shaped, superb!" He pulled out a notebook and began jotting down notes. "This is just the kind of scene I need for my up and coming book! Icha Icha Beach Party is going to be a hit!"
Kin frowned at the sight of the pervert, while Haku and Naruto sweat-dropped. Though his other two companions have not met his old teacher before, he knew something was going to happen. He figured after all these years, Jiraiya would have at least wised up a little more, maybe even a bit more shame to go with it. Unfortunately, some old habits never die out.
"Ugh… here it comes…" Naruto watched as Kin rolled up her sleeves, figuratively… due to the fact she didn't have any sleeves on her sundress, and stormed up to the old man. Assuming the position, Kin strode forward and, with a mighty yell, kicked the old man square in the nuts and sent him over the fence.
"PERVERT!" she roared, her exclamation shortly followed by a splash, and screams from the girls in the bath. Seconds later, Naruto, Haku and Kin were introduced to the sounds of fists smacking the old man around, along with kicks, shouts of 'pervert' and 'get out', and the sounds of begging from the 'Great Sage'. It was a pretty hilarious musical piece, to which Little Haru clapped and laughed to. It was made complete when the geezer was eventually thrown back over.
The group outside watched as Jiraiya's ungrateful and beaten up body crash landed in a crumpled up heap outside of the female bath, swirly eyes, animated bruises and everything. Looking up, Naruto saw Ino pop up from the other side, wrapped in a towel and shaking her fist.
"AND DON'T COME BACK!" she roared. She then spotted Naruto and his group, and her expression did a complete one-eighty. "Oh, hi Naruto-kun!"
"Hey Ino-chan! What's up?"
"Not much! Hey! You're here for a bath? Why don't you four come and join us!" Ino suggested, gesturing them in with a head nod. "It's great in here!"
"Ino… no! Don't let the guys in!" The voice of a random girl hissed up at her. The pale blonde waved back uncaringly.
"Oh, don't worry! It's fine! I mean, he's my boyfriend, and the other guy is cool… and he's with his other girlfriend, so it's fine!"
"Boyfriend?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, but Haku thumped him in the shoulder.
"Just go with it…" The blonde looked up at his teen friend oddly to see him combing back his hair with his hands and straightening up his kimono in preparation for his play-day with destiny.
"Are you sure it's alright?" Naruto asked, glancing back up at his friend.
"Sure!" Ino grinned, waving him in. "I'll just let the boss know!" She disappeared a second later, leaving Naruto, Haku and Kin scratching their heads. Kin, rejoining the blonde, grabbed his arm and began pulling him in.
"Come on, Naruto-kun! Let's share a bath!" Kin grinned, pulling the whisker marked Genin in against his own will. Albeit hesitation and a bit of a struggle, he eventually succumbed to the girl's willpower and pulled on in. Haku followed after, taking Little Haru along with him.
They left Jiraiya twitching and unconscious outside of the bath house for the next hour or so…
An hour or so later…
"Ow… it hurts…" Jiraiya groaned as leant up against a tree beside a rushing river, rubbing an icepack over his aching head, with the sound of the waterfall not too far away filling the air. Though he admitted it gave him a bigger headache, he was just relieved to be as far away from that bath house as possible. He rubbed his jaw, also taking a moment to count his teeth. "Next time… wear padding…"
His answer from the universe was a smack over his head from a nearby Ino, who was snuggling up against Naruto, with Kin on his other side. Little Haru was also accompanying the group, following after a green tree frog hopping around near the river side. She imitated it, croaking when it croaked, and hopping when it hopped. Her impression, none to say the least, was pretty good.
Recovering from his beating enough to form coherent speech, the old Sage glanced round at his student, who was relaxing back against the tree with a reed in his mouth, his two girlfriends hugging him on either side of the blonde.
"You're one lucky brat, you know that?" Jiraiya sighed, removing the icepack from his head. "I get knocked around by the ladies for hanging around outside doing my… research, while you get invited in. It's an atrocity… UNACCEPTABLE!" A grin crossed his lips. "I want details! Spare nothing…"
"I don't kiss and tell, Ero-Sennin," Naruto exclaimed, grinning up at his teacher. "I'm not that kind of guy…"
"Fine, but know this…" the old man looked down his nose at the blonde, a shadow crossing his eyes. "When you're married and, Kami-forbid, I'm dead; I will haunt you and your respective girlfriends for the rest of your lives."
"Meh…" Naruto chuckled, looking away. "I'm not worried. I know you'll just be haunting the women side of the hot springs…"
Jiraiya huffed and folded his arms. "Damn you and your father's deductive ways."
"You're just easy to read, old man…"
"Where's your feminine friend, anyway?" Jiraiya asked, looking down at his sloth of a student. He including the girls resting against him, shrugged.
"Probably off with Ami and a couple of the other girls from the bathhouse. They… did get pretty attached to him back when we were in the hot springs, they made a connection, he flirted with them… and things just… sort of carried on from there," Kin replied, nuzzling Naruto's arm. "Neh… he's not that impressive. I only have eyes for one man in my life…"
"Me too," Ino exclaimed, rubbing her cheek against Naruto's shoulder. "Ahh… Naruto-kun…"
"I envy the youth," Jiraiya said, but then raised his fist in declaration. "BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP! TRUE LOVE AND ROMANCE IS OUT THERE FOR ME SOMEWHERE! AND WHEN IT SHOWS ITSELF, I SHALL SEIZE IT! FOR I AM… THE GREAT SAG…GAAaaooohhhh!" He punched in the nuts by Ino, the girl giving him the swift jab before returning to hug Naruto, while the old man collapsed to the ground, legs crossed and face in the mud. "OOooohhh… my rice cakes…"
"Don't be so loud… we're napping…" Ino huffed.
For a majority of the day, Naruto and the girls spent their time drifting in and out of sleep, while also discussing the coming final exams. Ino described her rigorous training sessions with her teacher and, much to her disdain, Zabuza Momochi to the blond, continuing to chastise him about living with the eyebrow less monster. Naruto also discussed his lessons with the Third Hokage and Anko, which reminded him to ask Jiraiya about training him some time in the following week… once he regains consciousness. Kin also went on to talk about her time spent with the Hokage, discussing the invasion of Konoha, not to mention her application to become a ninja of the village.
Eventually, when Jiraiya did regain consciousness, Naruto was up and ready with his question, while Ino and Kin went off to the side to play with Little Haru.
"So…" Jiraiya dusted himself down, rising to his feet. "You want me to train with you for the final stages of the exam, eh?" The man thumped his chest, smirking down at the blonde looking up at him. "Do you think you can handle the fuzz?"
"The fuzz?" Naruto queried, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have chest hair?"
"No it's my head of hair…" Jiraiya gestured to his spiky mane, but then sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Try to keep up. Anyway, do you think…you can meet the expectations of yours truly; the Great Jiraiya of Mount Myobokuzan?"
The blonde rolled his eyes and nodded his head.
"Are you strong enough, near willing enough, and have the Gaul to face your worst nightmares, your greatest fears and your…"
"Oh, come on old-timer! I'm the only one here!" Naruto threw his arms out. "Look Ero-Sennin… are we gonna do this or not?"
Propping his scroll against the tree, the white haired geezer cracked his fingers and grinned down at his blonde apprentice.
"Let's rock…"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: For all those who don't know, the mercenary Kisarabi is a cameo character from the series of Ninja Girls, and the three wandering ninja she was talking to in the bar were from the Third Naruto film. Peace!
Please review…