A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Apparently lots of you wanted the New Year Cookie, it was a pretty easy question, considering the previous author notes I wrote but someone still guessed wrong. More on that inside this chapter.
The Eighth Swordsman thing was well received, it's not something I invented though, I've read some stories with that idea as the main point of the plot and decided to use it for my story as well, while keeping Naruto's official affiliation to Konoha of course.
With this chapter, the story now goes into the prestigious 'more than 100,000 words' category. This is definitely a nice step for my first story ever.
Anyway, welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other manga for that matter.
Chapter 30: Prophecy
Konoha – Main Gates
It only took two days for Naruto to come back to Konoha from Kiri, he decided to use one of his dragon summon transporter to travel instead of taking a boat when he left. Now that he was finally back in front of Konoha's Gates, he wanted to go back to his compound and continue his search for his father's notes on the Shiki Fuujin as soon as possible.
He could tell that even if Natsuki didn't say anything about it, she was starting to feel quite frustrated, if her reaction to Mei teasing him was a good indication. He was however disappointed that Jiraya didn't have more information on the seal, his only hope now was to find his father research on it.
Even though freeing Natsuki was his main goal, he also knew that the Shiki Fuujin was somehow related to his current problem concerning his power growth. To unlock the next level of his bloodline, he needed to be able to use more youki than the seal currently allowed him to. His fight with Yagura made him realize that he was still too weak. He would not be able to defeat more than one opponent of Yagura's level at the same time. He knew that Akatsuki always had two members moving together for their missions, he was terrified at the thought of them hurting Natsuki because he was too weak to protect her.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as he reached the checkpoint, the chunin guard Izumo told him that he needed to immediately go see Tsunade at her office. It was starting to become a routine for Naruto to be summoned in Tsunade's office as soon as he set foot in Konoha after a long mission. Consequently, he absentmindedly made his way to the Hokage tower without further delay.
Hokage Office
Naruto entered Tsunade's office to see her seated behind her desk, talking to a small toad in front of her. Shizune, who had been surprisingly quiet when she saw him, was right next to him and closed the doors to her master's office behind her.
"I'm back Tsunade Ba-chan, my mission is accomplished." Naruto loudly said.
"I already know Naruto, the Mizukage sent me a scroll earlier. I will read your mission report later but for now there's someone you need to meet." Tsunade replied in a low voice.
"Sure, who is it ? And what's with the old toad ? I thought you were summoning slugs while Ero-sennin was the one summoning the toads." Naruto said, taking a better look at Tsunade's 'guest'.
"Watch your mouth Naruto ! He is one of the two Elder Toad Sage Fukasaku-sama, from Mount Myoboku." Tsunade yelled.
"I see, please forgive me for my rudeness. What do you need me for and where is Jiraya-sensei ?" Naruto replied while bowing to Fukasaku.
"So this young man here is Jiraya's last student ?" Fukasaku asked, his eyes analyzing Naruto.
"Yes, Fukasaku-sama. This is Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, another one of your previous summoner and our Fourth Hokage. Naruto traveled the world with Jiraya for three years and was also taught by him during that time. However, he already had another summon contract with the dragon clan from his mother's side so he never signed the Toad contract, much to Jiraya's regret." Tsunade replied.
"I see, there is no easy way to say this but … Jiraya is dead Naruto." Replied the Elder Toad Sage.
"What ..." Naruto was stunned, unable to process the information.
"Naruto-kun ..." Shizune put a hand on his shoulder but he just stood there, unmoving and lost in his thoughts.
"How ?" He said, regaining his composure after some time.
Fukasaku then told him everything. Jiraya was spotted not too long after infiltrating Amegakure, he fought against an Akatsuki members but couldn't tell if one of them was the leader of the mysterious group or not.
The opponent possessed the Rinnegan, a legendary doujutsu said to be directly inherited from the Sage of the Six Path himself. The most surprising fact was that not one but six shinobi with the Akatsuki robes had the Rinnegan.
Jiraya used everything in his arsenal to fight them, going as far as summoning the Two Elder Toad Sages in battle. He could somehow discover that one of them only used summoning techniques and another one could deflect or absorb ninjutsu techniques. Jiraya managed to catch the one using summons in one of his Toad Trap jutsu as well as a random shinobi from Amegakure who knew a little about them. Their bodies were currently in the toad's possession.
Jiraya could have fled but in the end, he chose to stay and fight. He made an important discovery at the last moment but his throat was instantly crushed by his opponent, before he could voice his finding. On his last breath, Jiraya was able to carve a coded message on Fukasaku's back using chakra before the Akatsuki members silenced him forever.
"That's how it happened, I was right there with him until the end." Said Fukasaku as he finished his story.
Naruto couldn't handle it, he felt like he was suffocating, he needed to get out of Tsunade's office. He abruptly left the room without saying anything, Shizune tried to stop him but Tsunade told her to let him go.
"Leave him be Shizune, he needs to have a moment alone." Tsunade said.
"I can see is his eyes that he really cared about Jiraya." Fukasaku added.
"I'm sorry Fukasaku-sama, I know you wanted to tell him more about the Prophecy but he wasn't in the right state of mind." Tsunade replied.
"It's quite alright Tsunade, I'll come back again tomorrow." The elder toad said before he left the room too.
Shizune decided to go back to her duties and left Tsunade alone in her office, the blonde Hokage then sealed the room. Finally alone, she stopped holding back her emotions and shed her first tears in a very long time. The pervert died without ever knowing how much he really meant to her, she was too stubborn to admit her feelings for him, and now it was too late.
With Naruto
Naruto aimlessly wandered Konoha's streets for hours before he arrived inside Training Ground Seven. It was not used anymore since Kakashi's Team had been disbanded after Uchiha Sasuke's betrayal. Naruto stopped in front of the Memorial Stone, a large stone tablet where Konoha's heroes names were carved for eternity. The last addition was what caught his attention, it was his master's name. He just starred at it for several minutes without moving.
"I had a feeling I'd find you here." Said a voice from behind Naruto.
"It's been a long time, Jiji." Naruto replied to his surrogate grandfather.
"How are you doing my boy ?" Asked Sarutobi.
"Not so good Jiji, I assume you've been told about Ero-sennin." Naruto said with a sad voice.
"Yes I learned about Jiraya. I guess I also came here to collect my thoughts about my former student." Replied the Sandaime Hokage.
"And how is it going on your end ?" Naruto asked without looking at the old man.
"Not so good either, I'm afraid. I only took one genin team in my long shinobi career, Jiraya is the first student that I lost. I feel that it shouldn't be that way, students aren't supposed to die before their sensei ..." Sarutobi said.
"It's all my fault, Jiji. I should have insisted to go with him when we split in Kusagakure. I knew it was a dangerous mission, I could have helped him against that Akatsuki member. Akatsuki … it's my fault again that we're investigating them in the first place, if it wasn't for me, Ero-sennin would have never fought them to the extend of losing his life in order to discover their weakness ..." Naruto said with tears rolling down his cheeks.
Sarutobi gently put a hand on his surrogate grandson's shoulder and then spoke to him.
"Naruto, even though losing a student is new to me, I also lost both of my sensei when I was younger so I can somehow understand your train of thoughts right now." The old man started.
"First of all, I'm sure Jiraya told you that the Amegakure mission was an infiltration one, that means that he had more chance to success by working alone. Furthermore, nothing about Akatsuki is your fault Naruto-kun, you are also a victim, you never chose to have the Kyuubi sealed in you." He continued.
"Finally, I think I understand what motivated Jiraya in his fight against the Akatsuki member, it is true that he could have easily fled the area with his skills but he chose to remain. He knew that a confrontation against such a foe would have certainly resulted in death for anyone who would have come unprepared. He decided to stay and gather everything he could in order for you to win the fight next time against that enemy." The Sandaime finished.
"Me … I don't know what to do anymore." Naruto said.
"I have no doubt that the encrypted message he left with Fukasaku-sama was for you. Teachers always try to leave something behind for their students when they die. Before Tobirama-sensei died, he entrusted his Will of Fire to me. I'm sure Jiraya did the same with you Naruto." The old man replied with a smile while remembering his own teacher's last words.
"Saru, protect those who love the village and those who believe in you and nurture those to whom you can entrust the next generation. Starting tomorrow, you are the Hokage!"
Naruto then remembered a conversation he had with Jiraya during their training, trip three years ago as Jiraya's words flashed in his mind.
"Even I can see there's too much hate in our ninja world. And I wanted to do something about this hatred, yet I'm not sure what must be done. But I have faith that there will come a time when people can truly understand one another. And if I can't find the answer, perhaps I will entrust you to find it."
Naruto then clenched his right hand fist and raised it to the sky, "I'll find a way, I promise you Jiraya-sensei." he yelled.
"Thanks Jiji, I think I know what do do now." The blond said before he used Shunshin to leave.
Sarutobi then looked back at the Memorial Stone and stopped his eyes on two other names, Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato.
"You would be both so proud of him, Minato, Kushina." Thought the old man before he slowly made his way back to his home.
Namikaze Compound
That night, when Naruto arrived in his family compound, he was physically and mentally exhausted. On his way back, he had met Iruka who invited him to go eat ramen but the blond was not really in the mood. Naruto simply got inside his room, took a shower and then went to bed. There was only one person he wanted to be with right now, and he was currently making his way to her house.
Mindscape
Naruto joined Natsuki in his mindscape, the vixen was patiently waiting for him in front of her house. When she saw him approach, she ran straight to him and embraced him in a warm hug. Naruto was the one who broke the hug and spoke first.
"Hey Na-chan, I know you're still mad at me about the kiss thing with Mei but I really wanted to see you tonight." Naruto said in a low tone.
"Shh, it's alright now. I'm not mad at you at all, I was just frustrated that she could hold you in the real world while I can't." Replied the vixen.
"I'll resume my research on the seal as soon as possible, missions be damned, Ba-chan won't be able to force me to take any additional mission until I find my father's notes on the Shiki Fuujin, even if I have to use my clan head privileges for that." Naruto told her.
"Freeing me is not the most important thing right now, you have to discover what Jiraya wanted to say in his dying message." Natsuki said back to him. She saw the sadness in his eyes when she mentioned his master.
The red head then took his arm and pulled him inside the house. They made their way to her room and she then went to her bed and pulled him close to her. She smiled when she felt his arms around her as Naruto pulled her into a tight hug.
"I love you Na-chan, I wish we could stay like this forever." Naruto whispered in her ears.
"I love you too Naru-kun, that will never change. We still our whole lives in front of us, you need to focus on defeating the Akatsuki first. To do that you need to decrypt your master's last words." Natsuki said.
"I will, but not tonight. I just want to hold you in my arms tonight." Naruto replied.
They fell asleep like that, in each other's arms.
Hokage Office
Naruto arrived in Tsunade's office the next afternoon with Shikamaru and Shiho, a scientist working for the Decryption department of Konoha's Intel Division. They took the entire morning to crack the codded message that Jiraya left behind for Naruto. Turns out the pervert used his own book as a reference for Naruto to be the only one to understand his message. It said : 'The real one is not among them.'
Fukasaku was there too but the message still seemed to vague for him to know what Jiraya actually meant.
The elder toad then decided to reveal to Naruto the Great Prophecy Jiraya was told.
"A long time ago, when Jiraya-chan was still as young as you are right now, the Great Sage announced that he would journey all over the world, writing books. He would then one day take an apprentice, and that apprentice would later either become the savior or the destroyer of the world." Fukasaku said.
"And you think that I'm the one mentioned in this Prophecy ?" Asked Naruto.
"There's no doubt about it, you are Jiraya's last living apprentice. He believed in you and sacrificed his life for you to defeat Akatsuki. We, of the Toad clan, will believe in you too. I'm sure that you are the one who will become the Savior of this world." Fukasaku said.
And with that, the Elder Toad left Konoha. Since Jiraya did not chose and train a successor to be the next toad summoner, Konoha just lost one of its most powerful summoning contract.
Unknown Location
Akatsuki was meeting again in one of those dark cave they usually use. The giant sealing statue was there too. In front of it were the five corps of their victims.
"That's the last of them, good work everyone. You all accomplished your missions and brought back your designated targets." The leader said.
"It was a piece of cake, the Rokubi jinchuriki had some nice moves but in the end he stood no chance against our immortal powers. The Sanbi was even easier, apparently the Kyuubi brat took him down at the request of the rebels, we just waited for them to transfer him to a secure place to kidnap him." Hidan bragged.
"Everything went as I anticipated, we used his fame against him." The leader replied.
"What now ?" Zetsu asked.
"You will continue to monitor the remaining jinchuriki from afar. Don't let them notice you. Everyone else is on standby until further notice." The leader announced.
They all left after that and the leader dispelled the Gedo Mazo before disappearing in the darkness himself.
Namikaze Compound
It had been a week since Naruto came back. He was still searching the house for his father's notes. He already verified every corner of the library room ten times, and he was getting more and more desperate.
"Maybe you are looking at this from the wrong point of view. Are you sure the library room was the only place your father would have been working inside when he developed his techniques ?" Natsuki asked.
"If we follow your reasoning, those notes could be everywhere inside the compound, and it's pretty damn huge." Naruto replied.
"It must have been his latest work since it's not inside the library." Natsuki added.
"Then it should have taken place close to my day of birth. Where would he work during those days ?" Naruto said.
"If he's anything like you, I doubt he would have left the mother of his future child out of his sight for long." Natsuki supplied.
"If that's the case then there's only one room where they would most likely pass those days." Naruto said as his eyes widened.
Naruto ran straight into his parent's bedroom, it was a room that he left untouched since he arrived. Inside the room was a huge bed, lockers and a small desk in a corner of the room. There was no visible trace of his father ever using the desk but Naruto decided to inspect it anyway.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, Naruto sat down behind the desk and tried to imagine himself working there. He closed his eyes for a second and then he suddenly stood up, he looked at the desk again, and then he found it. A seal was carved under the desk, it was a blood seal again.
As he unlocked the seal, a poof of smoke appeared on the table, revealing what he had been looking for since he came into this house, his father's notes on the Shiki Fuujin.
A/N : What do you think ?
Jiraya's fate, told in a small summary by the toads as suggested by some of you when I previously asked.
Naruto's reaction to the news and how he overcame his sadness, I bet most of you forgot the old man was still alive and kicking.
Had to go watch again the manga to find Jirya's and Tobirama's dying wishes for their students.
Pain's plan seems to go well, they only have four targets left out of the nine. How will they move next ?
Naruto finally found the notes on his seal, how will he solve his youki control problems ?
You'll have to read the next chapters to know :)
As usual Read and Review please.