Disclaimer: I do fanfiction for a reason...that reason is because of copyrights...sigh. Naruto is not and very likely will never be owned by me...
Chapter 21: Student versus Teacher
(Konan's P.O.V)
We stood at the edge of a forest, waiting for the orders from Pein. The group from Konoha had arrived earlier today. It was now night and a rather clear, starry sky was visible above us.
"Pein-sama is taking more time than usual." I said to myself. Along with me was Zetsu, Kisame, and Itachi. Tobi was off in a different section doing some reconnaissance work on Umigakure. Aside from Pein and myself, no one really knew that the masked ninja was the real hand directing the plans of our organization.
We all turned to see Pein with his normal body, the burgundy hair and peircing eyes staring at us with indifference. He had orders, "It seems that the Jinchuuriki boy and his group are here under the purpose of forming an alliance with Umi." Pein paused for a moment so that we all understood the circumstances we were dealing with, "Chances are, if this mission for some reason or another fails, we very well could have much greater things to worry about than capturing the Kyuubi. Not to mention that Temari no Subaka is here to represent Suna on behalf of the former Shukaku Jinchururiki."
"So, long story short, we could have three shinobi nations hunting us down after all is said and done." Kisame spoke, shifting the weight of Samehada to his other shoulder.
"Precisely. However, we have the advantage; Umi's forces are small and unexperienced. We stand a better chance of getting in with little trouble. The only real threats are Kakashi Hatake, Anko Mitarashi, and..." Pein paused briefly, "...Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin."
I heard a growl from Kisame while Itachi merely blinked in his usual unexpressive manner. It seemed that the two weren't quick to forget the first time Jiraiya stopped them from taking hold of the Uzumaki boy.
Zetsu spoke, "I can understand Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya...but Anko Mitarashi? She's merely a Tokubetsu Jonin." His other half spoke, "She's no true threat to us."
Pein merely nodded, "This is true...aside from one little fact."
"What would that be?" spoke Itachi, who had remained silent until now.
"Since Orochimaru is dead, Anko holds a power that no else has access to." he again was silent, and looked towards Umigakure, "As of now, Anko Mitarashi is the sole ninja that is able to use the snake summon. Not to mention that the Curse Mark on her is almost nonexistent with the Snake Sannin dead. It seems that they found a way to counter it for good."
Kisame snorted, "Snakes? What difference does that make?"
"Anko Mitarashi can summon the most powerful summon now, since Manda had been killed during a battle involving Deidara and Sasuke Uchiha. This brings a new head to the clan of the Snake summons...which happens to be the son of Manda. Unlike Manda, his son does not demand human sacrifices. Apparantly the father and son never got along due to their beliefs on humans. This snake summon is known by the name Mankou. It would be wise not to underestimate the woman, since she has a great talent in the field of snake summons..."
Itachi spoke again, "This makes things more difficult. We are technically dealing with three of the greatest summons in Konoha right now. From what I know, Uzumaki and Jiraiya are able to summon the Toad clan, while Sakura Haruno is able to summon Katsuya and the other slugs. This could be quite a problem."
I narrowed my eyes while looking on towards the village of Umigakure. Itachi was right, this could be a major problem for us. Not to mention that Itachi's information on the Uzumaki boy and his supposed new found strength may be true.
Pein closed his eyes, "That's why we will proceed through this in the most reasonable fashion; stealth. I expect no problems from any of you. Tobi is currently scouting the area out, but from what he has explained to me so far about Umi's layout, I believe we can begin making plans. Here are your orders..."
(Jiraiya's P.O.V)
That night I sat outside on a dock near the hotel our group was staying at. The moon was shining rather brigthly tonight. I thought that nights like these didn't exist anymore. The last time I remember the moon appearing so bright was that day a little more than nineteen years ago...the day that one hero of Konoha died and another hero was born...
I sensed a familiar chakra near me. Speaking of those heroe, "Hey, Naruto."
"Ero-Sannin...how are you doing?"
I let out a sigh, out of habit more than anything, "How many times do I have to-?"
"Don't bother, I'll keep calling you that." he laughed, taking a seat next to me on the dock.
"What's up?" I asked, noticing that he seemed rather awake for this time of night. Well, it was only eight, but still...
"You feel like having a quick spar with me?" the blonde asked, cracking his knuckles.
I laughed at his proposition, "Where? We're in a village, Naruto. I respect the fact that you consider me a worthy opponent, but still..."
Naruto responded to my question by pointing out to an open area near the port of Umigakure. I turned to see him giving me his trademark 'foxy grin' with a laugh.
I grinned back, unable to resist the energy he seemed to give off, "Okay, if you're so eager to fight me, then I can't refuse. Don't say I didn't warn you though. ANBU or not, you're still just a kid in my eyes." I joked, and he merely chuckled as he gave me a hand to pull me up.
The boy in all truth was probably the strongest shinobi in the village, next to Tsunade...well, maybe stronger than her too. The only thing that kept him back from becoming Hokage was that he didn't feel ready yet. The Council seemed to be impatient, waiting for the minute to finally get the boy to take over the the seat and wear the hat, but the fact that he felt he needed more time was accepted. Four or five years ago and the council would have adamantly opposed such an idea. However, the major clans of the village gave the boy his support, even the usually stubborn Hyuuga clan fully supported the blonde, including Hiashi. Hinata and Neji probably played a part in this, but it was still good to see the sole survivor of Minato's family recieve the respect that was long overdue to him.
A few minutes later and Naruto and I were standing on the water, floating on the surface as we bobbed up and down with the movement of the waves. A few citizens and Umi-nin gathered around the edges of the docks as we assumed our battle stances.
"Looks like you got an audience now, Naruto. I expect you to give them a great display of the future Hokage's power, understood?" I smirked as we looked at the small crowd.
Naruto suddenly grinned as he noticed a pink-haired kunoichi along with Kakashi, Rin, and the others of our group along with Inari. I heard a few murmurs from the crowd until one voice stood out, "Allright, Naruto! Knock that old perv into next week!"
I restrained myself from having a certain Snake-using Tokubetsu Jonin kunoichi from sinking into the ground by my Dark Swamp technique, instead settling for a glare. I turned back to my student, "Okay, Naruto, whenever you're ready." Little to my surprise, Naruto was already gone from view.
I ducked to avoid a kunai from behind, then spun around to block a kick from a Shadow Clone.
"Come on, Naruto, you're better than this." I said, and grabbed the clone's ankle and swung him into a nearby rockface overlooking the ocean.
Naruto quickly appeared behind me, and took a few swipes at me with a kunai. I dodged the initial attacks, but noticed that I recieved cuts anyways. I suddenly noticed that the kunai were actually the trench knives used by Asuma Sarutobi. I guess a gifted wind-user deserved to use another gifted wind-users weapons. Naruto put the knives away, and jumped back as he went through a series of seals. He inhaled a large amount of air, and inflated his chest a bit, "Wind Style: Infiinite Windstorm Devastation!"
"Heh, using one of Gaara-sama's techniques without sand. Not bad." I quickly stopped the chakra flow to my feet and dropped into the water below to avoid the attack...
...big mistake...
A moment later found me spinning in a vortex. I looked to see Naruto on the surface along with four clones using miniature Rasengans to spin the water around rapidly, creating a whirlpool.
I bit my thumb and went through a few seals to summon a large tadpole. I grabbed a hold of it as it quickly pulled me out of the vortex before vanishing into bubbles of smoke. I then reached the surface and was met with a grinning face of Naruto.
"Heheh, got you good, Ero-sannin." the blonde laughed, pointing at me. To think that this guy was a part of the ANBU...
I decided to whip out my hair, and with a movement of my head, wrapped Naruto in the makeshift restraint. As my hair stretched out by the use of jutsu, I flung the young ANBU into the side of a cliff, and wasn't surprised when he turned into a puff of smoke.
"I have to admit it, Naruto, you've truly become a master of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. I almost thought that I had you there." I grinned as I turned to block a fist from the real blonde shinobi.
"I'm only doing this well because you're holding back on me!" Naruto growled a bit, clearly not happy with this fact of information.
"Hey, for the record, you're in no postition to blame me for holding out when you could put me out of commission just as easily," I avoided a kick to the temple, and backpedaled as the shinobi took a minute to gather himself, "However, if you want to bring it up a notch, fine by me then." I added, biting my thumb again. Naruto caught on and followed suit as we went through a series of seals.
"Summoning Jutsu: Gamabunta!" I shouted.
"Summoning Jutsu: Gamakichi!" Naruto shouted, twice as loud.
Two puffs of smoke filled the oceanic arena, and I soon was standing high above the rest of the scenery on the head of the Chief Toad. I looked down to see Naruto sitting cross-legged on the back of a fifteen foot high Gamakichi. Gamabunta's little boy had grown quite a bit.
"Jiraiya?? What are you doing summoning me in the ocean?!" bellowed the gigantic toad, who then looked to see Gamakichi, who simply waved with a 'Yo, Dad!', "Why is my son here too?!"
Naruto, who was actually favored more than me by Gamabunta, decided to reply, "Um...we're just sparring...and we kind of summoned the two of you."
Gamakichi decided to add his opinion, "Hey, Pops, let's spar! I haven't gotten any good practice with my sword for while now."
"Gamakichi has a sword?" I asked Gamabunta.
Gamabunta blew a plume of smoke from his pipe, "He's going to take over the head of the Toad Summons when I've retired, so he's been training."
"Hey, what's the hold-up?!" called the younger toad.
Gamabunta grumbled something about impatient youngsters, put his pipe in his mouth, and drew his sword, "Fine...but don't expect us to take it easy on you little younglings!"
Gamakichi said something to Naruto, and the blonde nodded. Gamakichi unseathed a blade and looked up to us with a nod.
Before we started, Naruto went into a familiar kabuki stance like I usually did, and grinned, "Prepare yourselves!!! You are about to face the might of the student of the great Sharingan Kakashi, the wrath of the Toad Sannin Jiraiya's pupil, and the righteous fury of the son of the legendary Fourth Hokage. My enemies tremble in my presence, mountains crumble before me, woman swoon for me, and allies cheer in triumph as I fight! I am Naruto Uzumaki, the Future Hokage of Konohagakure!! Know the name and remember it well!!!" he finished with a pose while Gamakichi gave a dramatic pose with his sword.
I wiped away a tear: Naruto has learned well.
A voice from the audience interrupted the dramatic silence, "Naruto! You better be lying about the whole woman swooning for you thing in that speech of yours!!!"
Naruto jumped, "Eheheh, o-ofcourse I was Sakura-chan!" The two younger combatants then resumed their battle stances, giving us a silent signal that they were ready.
Gamabunta quickly slashed at the two, and Gamakichi literally rocketed into the sky as Naruto held on, using chakra no doubt. The two hopped onto the back of Gamabunta, and quickly turned to leap at me. Naruto began to channel chakra while Gamakichi raised his weapon. Naruto applied some chakra to the short blade while Gamakichi came closer to me.
"It's ready!!" Naruto yelled.
"Right!" Gamakichi replied, "Toad Wind-Blade Cut!" the young toad shouted, and slashed at the air. A wave of wind flew at me, and I dodged it quickly as it careened into the night sky.
Gamabunta took the oppurtunity of Naruto and Gamakichi recovering from the attack the dealt by hopping into the air, forcing the two to jump off. As they landed, the Toad Chief shot a few blasts of water at the two, which were dodged.
Naruto was again making seals, another wind jutsu I noticed, "Wind Style: Wind Dome Jutsu!"
This was Naruto's personal creation, made a year ago. A vortex of high power wind surrounded the port around us, but stopped a ways from the crowd. I knew enough to not touch the wind, unless I wished to be slashed by incredibly high powered winds. Gamabunta and I were trapped. Clever.
Gamabunta managed to hit the two with one of his water bullets, and Gamakichi fell into the water as Naruto flipped backwards to avoid a large toad's foot from crushing him. A sudden blast of water signaled that Gamakichi was back already from the depths of the ocean, and Naruto hopped back onto his back.
I went through a few seals, and watched as the water began to literally attack Naruto and Gamakichi in the form of giant tendrils of liquid. I smirked with pride as Naruto managed to disrupt the attack by using his own chakra to attack with his own water techniques. The boy had gotten smarter.
Gamabunta took a moment and nodded as he smoked his pipe at the blonde and his son, who were both currently busy with the water attacks, "He's grown stronger..."
"I should say the same for Gamakichi. The little toad's grown by leaps and bounds it seems, and his strength is much more than years ago."
Gamabunta grunted in reply, "Yes, I agree. Ofcourse, Naruto has trained with him in the past two years in his free time. The two are actually a great team together."
We turned to see the last of the water tendrils. Naruto quickly went through seals at a rapid fire pace. I noticed the air around him began speeding up, and he finished as the air took form, "Wind Style: Wind Dragon Missle Jutsu!"
"Earth Style: Giant Mud Wall Jutsu!" I shouted, and was relieved to see the giant earthen shield take the brunt of the attack. Gamabunta swiped at the remains of the wind jutsu while Naruto seemed to be unphased by the setback. The grin on his face didn't help either...
"Ready, Gamakichi?" Naruto asked, and the toad nodded. Naruto began to summon a large amount of chakra...way more than usual. What technique was he preparing? He went through a few seals, and I felt the toad under me let out a breath.
"Naruto's...using a...fire technique?" I said.
"Gamakichi, now!" Naruto yelled. Gamakichi spurted out oil and Naruto shot out a blast of fire, "Fire Style: Toad Flame Bomb!"
Gamabunta hopped to the side as the flames missed us both. Unfortunately, the attack hit the wind-dome.
"Jiraiya, we're going to be cooked in here if we don't find a way out of this wind dome! Look, the fire's already spreading!" Gamabunta rumbled, and he had a point. Naruto and Gamakichi seemed to know this, and had planned it out the whole time. Very clever.
"Since when could Naruto use Fire Jutsu? That was his weakest elemental jutsu category, and he has trouble performing lightning based jutsu as well. For crying out loud, he's better at earth style techniques, and his affinity is to wind!" I spoke as the temperature made the water begin to steam a bit.
Naruto stopped with the flames, and seemed to be panting a bit. I was right in my guess; Naruto only could do so much with fire techniques, so Gamakichi helped make up for this with the oil, providing extra firepower to Naruto's attack.
The flames were now surrounding us, and we were now trapped in a dome of spinning flames...not good.
(Naruto's P.O.V)
I smirked as the dome ignited around us.
"Ready to finish this, Gamakichi?" I asked the toad.
"Let's do this." he replied, lifting his large kunai.
The toad leapt into the air, flying at his father, and swung his blade. Gamabunta barely had time to react, and blocked with his sword.
Gamakichi quickly hopped to the side and avoided an attack from the larger toad's blade, and the occasional shurikan and kunai from Jiraiya. I could tell that we would have to end this soon or face being boiled alive in the trap I made.
"Since when can you use Fire Jutsu??" Jiraiya called from above.
I merely grinned. I wasn't too keen on the situation at hand to go into a huge explanation on how it took me two months to harness a standard Fireball Jutsu.
"Um...I think we should get out of here." I said meekly as the Toad Sannin continued to look at me.
"Really? You think so??" Jiraiya yelled, clearly not happy about the encroaching flames.
"You two should get out of here. We don't need the two most skilled clan members dead now." I spoke to Gamakichi.
"Why don't we just shoot water at it?" Gamabunta suggested.
"My wind powered chakra is keeping that fire alive. It would do little to stop it if we shot water at the dome." I repleid, feeling the air around us rising in temperature.
Gamakichi gave me a look, "You going to be okay getting out of here?"
I smirked, "I've dealt with much worse situations, believe me."
"Point made. See you, Naruto." the two large toads dissapeared in giant clouds of smoke, and now it was just me and Jiraiya again.
After Jiraiya and I used our combinded strength to summon enought sea water to engulf the wind dome, we stood off again, facing each other, both of us a little weary. I decided that we should finish this with a bang.
We both lifted our hands, and blue spinning spheres of chakra appeared in either of them.
"So, you can finally make a perfect one-handed Rasengan. About time." I heard Jiraiya say as he held his in his right palm. Despite how taxing this was for him, the Toad Sannin refused to show any fatigue. I couldn't help but grin at the older man.
"Okay, Ero-sannin, let's have this decide the match. Dueling Rasengans!"
"Fine by me." Jiraiya replied.
Another moment passed and we were now holding fully charged and spinning Rasengans, whistling madly in our palms, begging for release.
"You look like your father right now." Jiraiya commented, giving me a grin.
"...thanks, Jiraiya-sama."
We sprinted at each other, going at dangerous speeds with our palms facing towards each other. The air around us was literally warping with the saturation of chakra...well, mainly my chakra...but still...
"Rasengan!!!" we both cried out!
(Kakashi's P.O.V)
I squinted as I watched the Toad Sannin and his pupil crash into each other. The place lit up briefly as the two spiraling spheres exploded into bursts of chakra and intense light.
"He's gotten better at it..." I heard Sakura state, a smile gracing her face. I nodded as I heard the loud whooping from Kiba and Konohamaru.
The two combatants went flying in opposite directions, skidding on the water as the force of their attacks blew them away. After a few seconds, the two stood up, eyeing each other like warriors would in a classic movie...
...then Jiraiya stooped on one knee, clearly exhausted.
We went over to the two, and I heard Naruto chuckle, "Oh, come on, Ero-sannin, you were still holding back on me!"
Jiraiya laughed a little, "True, however, had I used my other form for combat, I may end up scaring away all the beautiful woman. Besides, Hermit Mode is for dangerous situations," Jiraiya got up with Naruto's help, "Regardless, you beat me, and you hardly broke a sweat...aside from the fire technique. Tsunade may have to step down sooner than- er..."
"What was that, Ero-sannin?" Naruto asked, not catching the last part. Sakura, who was now healing Jiraiya's wounds while warning him not to try anything perverted, gave him a smile. I too heard the Sannin's words, and was glad to see that Jiraiya believed in Naruto so much. Sakura seemed to suddenly become more cheerful to Jiraiya.
'Note to self, complimenting Naruto keeps you on Sakura's good side.' I mentally noted.
"He's really like Minato-sensei...isn't he?" Rin spoke with a quiet tone, looking at Naruto with a hint of pride.
"That's for sure." Anko said in agreement. Though she had only been a kid when Minato-sensei took the title of Hokage, very few could forget the blonde-haired Yondaime that easily.
I decided to bring up a topic that Jiraiya, Tsunade, and I discussed before this mission, "Jiraiya-sama, don't you think Naruto's ready to start learning his father's other technique?"
Jiraiya simply smiled, and gave a nod.
Naruto's head snapped to look at me, "What technique?"
"Well, he's not quite ready yet, but I guess I could at least give him the scroll for it." Jiraiya said with a shrug as we all headed back into the village.
"What technique, what technique??"
"Naruto, will you settle down? Jiraiya-sama said he would give you the scroll so just be patient." Sakura chided.
Jiraiya made a scroll appear in his hands, and he handed it to Naruto. The blonde looked at it, and his jaw dropped.
"Is...this...r-really it?" Naruto whispered, trying to contain his excitement. The Toad Sage nodded with a smirk upon seeing Naruto's reaction.
"Yep...that's the Hiraishin no Jutsu; the Flying Thunder God Technique. Perhaps Konoha's Yellow Wind can take on his father's technique and become as well known by shinobi nations all around the world somday." Jiraiya nodded.
We all laughed seeing Naruto grumble upon the mention of his nickname. It was well known that while the name 'Yellow Wind' was feared by enemies, Naruto still hated the nickname he seemed to inherit.
I put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Don't worry about the nickname, Naruto. At least you aren't known as the Legendary Sucker." I said, trying to cheer up the young ANBU, and managed to get a chuckle out of him.
We headed back through the village gates, and went to our respective rooms in the inn. I raised an eyebrow as I saw Sakura practically haul Naruto into their room, which they had to themselves. Naruto gave me a sheepish grin as he was yanked through the doorway. A sign saying 'Do Not Disturb' was put on the doorknob, followed by a click signifying that the door had been locked. I felt a small flare of chakra from Sakura, then nothing. She placed a seal that let no noise leave the room, along with chakra.
Rin laughed as Anko smirked at the locked door, "Geez, I've never seen her so eager to get it on with Naruto..." the Snake-kunoichi commented.
"...and you would know this...how?" I asked.
"Kunoichi have their secrets, Kakashi." was all I got from her. She turned to a giggling Jiraiya, who immediately stopped and went to his room after recieving a death glare from Anko. Anko then went to her room after giving us a quick 'Goodnight'.
"Well, I'd prefer not trying to invade my former students' privacy, so I'm going to bed as well." I spoke. Rin joined me, letting out a yawn as she walked with me.
"You know, Naruto's going to be representing Tsunade-sama tomorrow. Hopefully Sakura won't wear him out too much." spoke Rin with a laugh.
"Well, the boy is known for his stamina."
"Kakashi!" she gasped, and then broke into more laughter as we went into our bedroom to retire for the night.
end of Chap. 21- Wow, finally done. I don't know if it's because I was just extremely tired, or if this was alot of to type, but I feel like I completed a major chapter here, even if it wasn't much more than a simple filler for the transition from Konoha to Umigakure. Well, I still like it. As you can probably guess, Akatsuki will make an apperance soon, so look forward to that. Until then, keep on reading! Thanks!
A.N- on a side note, I'm going to start just sending personal messages instead of doing shoutouts. They take up a lot of space, and sort of add on to the word count, even though they aren't neccessarily part of the story. Kind of feels like cheating...lol, well you get the picture.