Jiraiya focused on his godson, the blond boy still was not at ease in his presence. The man had tried everything to get the boy to relax and tell him more than the basic information about himself, but Naruto had refused. It was as if he still didn't trust him.
The Sannin sighed, knowing that if he had done what he had supposed to from the beginning it would not be like this. The man had spent years cursing himself over his weakness, which had allowed the Saindame to take Naruto away from him. His long sigh was cut off by a new resolution.
He was going to be the godfather he was supposed to be, and he would start it off by being honest.
"What do I need to do to gain your trust Naruto?" He asked, simple and to the point. It was the best way to gain honest answers after all. The blond shinobi stayed quiet for several minutes, leaning up against the wall behind him in the restaurant they had eaten in.
"I will need honest information from you, so I can piece together many of the things that have been bugging me." He said his tone only a hair better than the emotionless one he had held two hours ago at the training ground.
"About what?" Jiraiya was as serious as anyone had ever seen him, in fact if his enemies could see him now it would ruin the image he had worked years to build. He was going to do his best for Naruto, and not just because Minato would have expected it of him. 'Heh, if the gaki could see his son now. While he wouldn't like the fact that Naruto has a battle-mask on all the time, he would be incredibly proud of how far he has come. I will do my best for you and Kushina, my son.'
"First is why you left. You are my godfather, and that should not have happened." Jiraiya lowered his head in shame. "Second, I need to know why the Third is insistent at keeping me weak, despite it obviously not working. Next, I need to know an honest record of your skills, to see where I match up. Fourth is more of a curiosity. I want to know more about my father."
Jiraiya nodded in understanding, his keen mind already knowing why the boy wanted to know each thing. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and figure out a way to best explain it.
"As I told you during the meal, I took care of you for six months, the first six of your life, despite the efforts of the third to the contrary. I will admit, it was surprisingly some of the best months of my life, you were a little ball of sunshine that brought nothing but joy to me." The man's tone turned sad.
"Unfortunately, after five months I started seeing Minato in you. I had been able to suppress my grief enough to take care of you, but it turned out to be a bad decision. Despite my efforts, the third was able to see you, and it wasn't long before he was comparing you to Minato. That caused me to see my former student in you, and eventually the grief was just too much." A long, shuddering breath wracked the man's frame, the grief still affecting him even now.
"I left you with Rin, one of the students of Minato, as I took two months to deal with my pain. Rin had you for a grand total of one week before she was sent on a mission, and that mission resulted in her death. The third instantly swooped down and placed you in an orphanage, and used the council to craft several laws that prevented me from removing you from the orphanage." The Sannin's voice was now laced with guilt, and it was with sorrow filled eyes that he looked at Naruto.
"I have no excuses for my actions, it was my fault that you were forced to fight for your life for three years. Even during those three years I tried to help you, but something started targeting my spy network.
I trained you enough to keep you alive, to avoid the mobs whether shinobi or civilian, and I ensured that the foundations were laid to make you strong. I removed these memories from you via seals before I left, but the training remained. You just mistakenly believed you gained it through terrible experience. I am both happy and sad that you managed to develop what little I could give you into skills a last year academy student would be jealous of. Happy because you could do it, sad because of what it took.
For what it is worth, I am sorry." Jiraiya finished, and he was indeed sorry, far sorrier than he had ever been before. The nod was not the forgiveness he sought, but it was a start. He sighed before continuing.
"Next you asked about the third, well, that was something I asked about too, especially once I found out that he was being such an asshole." It was a sign of his anger at the man that he cursed, as Jiraiya had always gone out of his way to avoid cursing. He believed that his parents, whoever they were, would have expected better of him than that, and it was only now that he was breaking years of habit. He had cursed more today than on any other occurrence, with the sole exception of when Orochimaru betrayed the village.
"It actually started a long time ago, and just like with Danzo it was out of a desire to see Konoha on top. Whereas Danzo became a silent guardian, Sarutobi became Hokage. The mission where Tobirama died decided the fate of Konoha, and sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been better if Danzo took over.
Sarutobi had always wanted to seem like the father of the village, possibly to make up for his own lack of children at the time, as he feared his wife would be unable to produce. Well, he succeeded with the village until the beginning of the second shinobi world war.
The man was forced to make a choice that destroyed an entire countries economy, which wound up with the people of Konoha disliking him. That destroyed him for some time, as Sarutobi has only ever wanted to do what was best for Konoha, and the fact that he was hated for doing so warped his mind." Naruto scoffed at that, but the deadly serious eyes of Jiraiya held him back from doing anything more.
"I know, it's pathetic that such a great man could be turned from a god amongst shinobi to a doddering old fool who lives for public opinion, but his mind was weak at the time, I'm still not sure why. Regardless, even when he recovered he was never the same, more distant then he had been." Jiraiya's eyes misted over in memories.
"At the time I didn't think anything of it, as I was focused on my petty rivalry with Orochimaru and attempting to gain Tsunade's affections, but looking back I can see the changes in him. Before he had been like a father figure to Orochimaru, his favorite student, and afterwards he was distant even to the teme.
I think it was about the time that we faced Hanzo and got our title that the old monkey got his idea. This idea was unheard of in the shinobi villages, heck; it was even unheard of in the long tradition of Daimyo's.
He was obsessed with the image of the Hokage, fixated with the idea that the Hokage should be able to do what they needed to protect the village, yet be able to maintain a nice outward appearance. Of course, there wasn't much he could do with the idea, so he shoved it to the side. But for the rest of the war, Sarutobi was slightly distracted, taking to the field less and less as he puzzled over his little dilemma.
It was only slightly before, but mainly after the Kyuubi attack that he figured it out. The council was well known at that time for being a little power hungry, but they would prefer to help Konoha rather than take advantage of a turbulent time for petty gains. And so entered the manipulator."
Jiraiya was quiet for some time, thinking over just how much his formerly beloved sensei had lost, and how far he had fallen. His long white mane shook back as forth as he did the same to his head, reminding himself that this was not the time to be reflecting on his grief.
"Sarutobi took full advantage of the moment, somehow manipulating the civilian council into not wanting to give up their power after it was time. From then on it was cake to the man, using his skills to insure that the current pathetic civilians got in, allowing him easy access to make laws.
Sure, the man was unable to get everything he wanted done without making concessions. I am unaware of just what concessions were made, but I do know that several civilian family members who were clearly unfit to be shinobi even with our low standards for genin be promoted. The fact that they died not to long afterwards is merely an unfortunate coincidence, or that's how Sarutobi passed it off. The fact that grieving people are easier to manipulate is also just a coincidence I suppose.
Regardless, ever since that one time, Sarutobi has been a slave to public opinion. It is not that he hates you, but more along the lines of the village hating you. Because the majority of the village hates you, he would rather the people of Konoha have an outlet for their anger and grief from the Kyuubi attack. If possible he would have had you remain a civilian, but Danzo would not have allowed that, and the war hawk would have involved the Daimyo."
Jiraiya and Naruto stayed in silence for several minutes as Naruto absorbed the information. The older man took several nervous sips of his drink, watching his godson closely for any sign of emotion. A nod informed the sannin that Naruto was ready to continue. Jiraiya sighed at the fact that he was unable to read Naruto; it bugged him far more than he was willing to admit.
"You asked for my skills next I believe? Well I am one of the three Sannin, and am currently the strongest one. However, I am also willing to admit that I am the strongest now only because Orochimaru stepped out of his arena and into mine when he decided on his newest dream
As you know, the three of us Legendary Sannin had areas where we specialized in. Tsunade's was taijutsu, as with her super strength we proved unable to ever truly match her. Orochimaru's was actually kenjutsu along with his summoning techniques, with a strong backup in genjutsu. It was only after the battle with Hanzo of the Salamanders that he took a true interest in his current dream, that being the mastery of every ninjutsu in existence. He hated the helplessness we faced when we fought that man.
My strength used to lie in sealing in toad techniques, and I still remain far stronger with that then most people will ever be, and it is my go to method of fighting. Where my strength actually lies though is ninjutsu. In my long life I have mastered all five elements and many jutsu of each element, along with creating a few of my own. One of my specialties is turning low ranked jutsu into creations that can threaten other high ranking ninja, especially as it takes less chakra than the higher ranked jutsu.
My taijutsu is also at a high level, but I fight defensively with that, using the time to set up my opponent for combo's and traps." The man's eyes had a bit of a glint to them, obviously taking pride in his skills. He had left multiple things out, and Naruto knew that, but he also respected it. After all, what shinobi worth his salt would tell another shinobi their full skillset? It was just asking for death, the same as those who took the time to explain their unique techniques on the battlefield.
"Telling you about your father will have to wait though, as I could easily spend months waxing on about him, rather than doing what should be done, which right now is training you to match up to the strongest of foes."
Naruto stared penetratingly at the perverted sage for some time, causing him to shift uncomfortably. "Ask your questions then, but I reserve the right to leave some of them unanswered." Jiraiya nodded, already pondering on just what all he wanted to ask Naruto. Perhaps the most pressing one was already fighting to get out, so he voiced it.
"During my time away, or even recently, have you made any friends? Comrades even?" His tone was anxious, hopeful, praying that the answer was positive.
"Up until the point of my initiation as a genin I had little to no contact with anyone in my graduating class, or anyone in the village for that matter. I was too focused on my training, well, that and the fact that the rare attempt I made was shot down by the person's parents and the villagers.
Upon reaching genin level and being assigned to the team I found a comrade in Kakashi, who has informed me as to the identity of my mother. He has some of my trust, and is the closest thing I have to a friend." Naruto's eyes turned icy, letting Jiraiya know to be on guard for the next bit.
"This will not leave the two of us, am I understood?" Jiraiya nodded, his incredible senses working overdrive to make sure that no one was close enough to hear them.
"After Kakashi and the others began taking missions without me I joined Root for six months. Whilst I made no friends in that core, Danzo gained a place of value in my mind. He ensured I had what I needed to survive, as well as making sure I could improve beyond recognition." The blond fell silent, eyes returning to their normal cool cerulean and Naruto waited for the next question.
Jiraiya wracked his brains for the questions that had been buzzing around just minutes ago, but a curse of humanity fell upon him. Now that the moment was available he was unable to word any of the questions he wished to ask properly. He decided to work with it anyways.
"What motivates you? What are your goals, your dreams, your ideals and values?" Naruto was silent, resulting in another few minutes of anxiety for Jiraiya, wondering if the boy was going to answer him.
"The desire to survive motivates me. Regardless as to how screwed up it is, the only one with the right to end my existence is me. Because of that I will work my ass off to grow strong enough to kill any who threaten me. Seeing as I have no friends, and the only two I care somewhat about are more than capable of protecting themselves, I see no purpose in fighting to protect them.
My ideals are practically nonexistent. My own life has ruined me of any childish ideals that may affect my performance, and my values are much the same. I value a moment of peace, but also the moment my blade sinks into an enemy's flesh and the blood splatters the ground. If you are in my way I kill you, simple as that."
A shiver trailed down Jiraiya's spine at those words, and the pure promise that they held. Those were not the words of a cocky genin, that was the fact of a world weary shinobi's life.
"My sole goal is to survive, and I will do whatever it takes to achieve it. On the odd chance that someone does take me down, well" a sinister grin slid onto Naruto's features, and for a moment the older man saw a demon behind the boy.
"They won't live long enough to celebrate it!"
In the aftermath of that bold statement Naruto's face easily slid back into its usual emotionless mask, but left Jiraiya curious and slightly disturbed. 'Naruto has had more damage done to him than I thought he would and I don't believe Root was the best option for him to recover. Apparently he has had more attempts on his life than I thought. I wonder just when he decided to fight for his right to exist rather than suicide?' Shaking his head away from the sudden morbid turn to his thoughts, Jiraiya continued on with his questioning.
"What is your skill level?" Naruto gave no indication that he heard the white-haired man as he attempted to judge an area to put his skill level at.
"I can hold off Orochimaru of the Sannin for some time, perhaps even if he were to go all out I would still be able to hold my ground, seeing as I still have a few tricks he hasn't seen. Anyone else of his level I stand a chance against normally, but with Orochimaru I can only hold off because of his unique weapon."
"The Kusanagi." Jiraiya stated, causing the blond to nod.
"My ninjato was a high quality one, but I was forced to use large amounts of chakra to keep it from being sliced to pieces when we fought, and even then it shattered at the end of the fight. Seeing as Orochimaru is a skilled swordsman it would be suicide for me to go up against him with anything less than a high quality blade, but the amount of chakra I waste by keeping the blade together winds up in him gaining the upper hand, seeing as I am unable to divert that chakra to other, more tactically useful ways.
If I was to place myself at a level I would say that I am slightly better than Kakashi, but only slightly, his experience might allow him to one-up me. Of course I cannot beat an expert in their area of focus, but I can match them for a while." Jiraiya hummed lightly to himself in thought before asking a new question.
"Is this with or without the Kyuubi's chakra? Oh, and how much control do you have over it?" Naruto stared at Jiraiya, making the man uncomfortable yet again, before speaking.
"This is without the Kyuubi's chakra, not that it is any of your business, especially considering that if I dare to use the Kyuubi's chakra I stand a high risk of losing my shinobi career, but I have control over three tails of the Kyuubi's chakra. Of course, it comes with a cost." Jiraiya waited for several minutes, but apparently the cost was not going to be shared today. He came to a decision, seeing as he was unable to draw forth anymore questions.
'After all, the best way to get to know someone is to fight them, and I am sure Naruto would be up to a training spar…'
"Alright then Naruto, how about something different now?" The boy tilted his head slightly, showing that he was listening. "You and me spar, all out." The boy stated something that made Jiraiya's blood run cold, despite the façade of bravado he swiftly placed. It wasn't even what was said that got to him, more of how it was said.
"You will die." Cold, emotionless, as much interest as Jiraiya would show a male civilian, and stated clearly as a fact.
"We'll see about that now won't we Naruto?" He chuckled, sweating internally as he wondered if he truly would have to go all out for this. He hoped not, going all out was a pain.
~Break~
Two men stood across from each other in a clearing, one with a drawn ninjato and the other with a kunai in hand. The taller of the two smirked, "come on" gesture with his free hand. He was swiftly surprised to find a cut on his arm; thankfully it was only a cut thanks to a last second doge. The blond boy appeared in mid-air in front of him, sword ready for a stab.
"Underestimate me and you really will die." He coldly stated as he stabbed the Sannin, wrenching his blade free from a log a moment later. Naruto whirled around, hurling a dozen Senbon at the white-haired man from where he had appeared just a few feet behind him.
Each and every Senbon was deflected with a slight clang before the boy paused a moment to observe his opponent. Jiraiya was still standing there in a ready position, a smirk clear on his face. Most other opponents would have gotten angry at that, and by consequence gotten sloppy, but Naruto was far better than that. Instead he watched as the man was surprised by a pair of clones, the two engaging him in ninjato to kunai combat, the man barely keeping up.
'Crap, I got cocky.' Were Jiraiya's thoughts as he blocked one blow while dodging another. 'Their herding me somewhere…I need to end this and fast. The original has been left alone long enough to make several traps.'
Using a quick burst of speed Jiraiya tried to eliminate the clones, only to realize that they easily kept up with the new speed. He amped up the speed to his max for a brief moment, marveling at how the clones still kept up with him. Still, he was faster than them, and was able to knock them both off balance and leap into the air, throwing the kunai at one and striking it through the head while preparing seals for a technique. He never got far enough to use it.
A large muddy stone structure appeared from the ground in the shape of a dragon's head before shooting nearly a dozen massive cannonballs of earth in a few seconds. 'Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu! (Earth Dragon Blast)' he thought with a bit of fear. He had no time to gather chakra for a kawamiri considering he had been molding elemental chakra, so he changed the garget of his attack to the cannonballs, hoping to drill a hole through them.
"Raiton: Raikou Boruto no Jutsu! (Lightning bolt)" A D-Rank technique to begin with, Jiraiya proved his point from earlier by turning the simple technique into a high A-Rank as a massive, single bolt of lightning seared out from his hands and pierced through the mud balls headed directly for him, allowing him to simply fall in peace and prepare his next jutsu.
Jiraiya hit the ground as the smoke from the collisions cleared, both Naruto and he unleashing their techniques at the same time.
"Raiton: Piercing Arrows!" Muttered Jiraiya, two fingers pointed out from each hand, one at Naruto and one at the dragon head.
Naruto countered with one he did not expect from the boy, foolishly believing he would stick to earth techniques. "Katon: Phoenix flower jutsu!" Naruto showed his own skill at turning simple techniques deadly, combining the small but hot fire balls with the massive mud balls fired from his dragon, the pair shooting a score of flaming mud balls, with the mud at the consistency of stone. The raiton technique didn't stand a chance against the combined technique, and Jiraiya was forced to substitute to a different side of the field.
That came in quite handy as he used the same jutsu again, single handed this time, to destroy the dragon head before Naruto could locate him.
The two continued to form new jutsu, remaining in Jiraiya's field of expertise because of Naruto's lack of time to do anything else. Jiraiya roared out a new technique as Naruto stamped the ground.
"Doton: Doryu Taiga! (Mud River)" A large portion of the ground between Jiraiya and Naruto converted to mud, forming swiftly into a raging avalanche of mud and earth, along with several hidden boulders carrying along with it to bludgeon anyone caught in the technique.
"Doton: Tsuka no Tsuchi Souzou! (Earth mound creation)" In accordance with Naruto's strategy a steeply sloped mound rose up twenty feet with Naruto standing at its peak, the mud roaring around him as the boulders struck the hill and bounced off. Jiraiya had no time to curse his ill fortune because Naruto's next technique was already taking affect.
"Doton: Bakudan! (Earth bomb)" The earth underneath Jiraiya shifted slightly, and that was all the warning the man got before a massive explosion rocked the battlefield, the earth river swiftly ceasing with no more chakra to guide it. Naruto looked around himself, stretching out his senses. He knew Jiraiya would not fall from that.
Meanwhile the man was hidden in the woods observing the boy. 'His abilities are truly incredible, and he is mainly using earth techniques. This kid is a pain to fight because he adapts to the lightning jutsu I have mastered as fast as I can crank them out. When combined with the enhanced chakra reserves from the Kyuubi Naruto could easily be a monster on the battlefield, every bit as feared as his father was.' He looked at his burnt right arm, wincing as he saw the blackened flesh.
'That was a great strategy, blasting upwards in order to both avoid whatever attack I made as well as to get a clear view of me, which he used to make the Bakudan. Quite an explosion as well, but I am afraid that I am going to have to go all out.' He made a few single handed seals and his left hand glowed green, rubbing the hand over the burnt flesh of his arm he sighed in relief when the pain disappeared. 'Having Tsunade as a teammate was good for more than just eye-candy.'
He looked back at the clearing, only to see no Naruto. He mentally swore at himself for getting distracted as he extended his senses. He found the boy alright.
"Katon: Searing Migraine!" A massive amount of fire spewed from Naruto's mouth, and only a very swift technique from Jiraiya stopped him from becoming extra crispy.
"Suiton: Mizu Tate no Jutsu! (Water shield Technique)" A shield of water formed around Jiraiya in a cylindrical barrier, barely protecting him from the flames. Jiraiya, though not knowing yet, had just fallen into another trap of Naruto's.
Using the liquid from the mud where Jiraiya had created a mud river the blond used his own water technique from behind Jiraiya, the underpowered Katon technique having been a distraction by a clone.
"Suiton: Suihou no Jutsu! (Water cannon technique)" A boiling beam of water sprayed from Naruto's mouth, straight on path towards Jiraiya and strong enough to cut through stone. The older ninja was skewered, at least until the shattered remnants of the log hit the ground.
A kunai stabbed through Naruto, but he burst into dust, causing Jiraiya to cough and stumble backwards, the dust in his eyes and lungs and that provided enough time for the real Naruto to knock him out, ending the fight.
He stood looking at the older man for several minutes, finally accepting it was the real Jiraiya. He sat down and analyzed the fight. Something told him that Jiraiya was not truly going all out; after all he didn't use summons or seals. Naruto supposed that the elder man wished to test his Ninjutsu, as that had been what most of the fight had been. He awoke Sannin and they soon began again, this time in melee, with Jiraiya pointing out the mistakes the boy made and just how to fix them efficiently.
~End~
AN: Holidays are now over for me, and here you go a chapter on my first day back. Thank you R. Peter for pointing out that I had not shown what motivated Naruto, I apologize for that and hoped this answered some of your questions. I have gotten a complaint or two about the lack of change from canon events, well; I answered that as well in this one.
Naruto has had very little contact with anyone to change the events, so he will have little effect on plans involving Konoha at the moment. For now he just wants to survive, because his years on the streets have not left him.
Next, thank you Red for the compliment on my villages, I thought that out quite a bit and will expand on it in the future. Thanks to anyone else who complimented it, but he or she is the one I am seeing at the moment.
In regards to Orochimaru he is like Danzo, greyer than anything else at this point. His only limit is child experiments, and that is limited to younger children. Anko was his apprentice, so it is only natural he formed a bond with her similar to the one between Jiraiya and Minato.
Illusionfox I am unsure of the pairings at the moment, but I know that fem Haku will not work because, well, Haku's dead. Naruto killed her. Naruto at this point is not the kind of person to explore a relationship anyways. Perhaps in the Shippuden arcs.