Hey. Here's the second chapter of Naruto: Legends of Two Jinchuriki.
Sorry to those who were hoping to see Fuu, but she won't show up for a few more chapters. Don't worry though, she enter the story soon and this is the last training chapter until then.
Just to let everyone know, this version follows the anime and movies more closely than the original, up until Sasuke's defection. So, for example, the Taki and Land of Snow missions occured, but the missions of the other movies and the filler arcs after Sasuke defected didn't. With the exception, however, of the Aoi mission, so he's still out there.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A bird flew across the clear blue sky, its call ringing out to anything close enough to hear, while Naruto and Jiraiya made their way down a road. Two weeks had passed since they had begun their training in earnest and currently, the pair were locked in the middle of an argument the two had had a quite a few times since their departure from Konoha.
"Oh come on." Jiraiya complained to his student, waving a familiar orange book through the air in exasperation. "How can you say 'no'?"
"Easy, it's only two letters." Naruto responded dryly.
Yes, once more, Jiraiya was trying to corrupt his young student and show him the joys of being a pervert, while Naruto was adamantly refusing to indulge. While Naruto had a healthy appreciation for the female form, he was not a pervert. Not now and, if he had anything to say about it, not ever.
But his sensei refused to let him rest. He'd badger him to at least try reading the book, which if what he said was true was at least thirty percent porn, at every opportunity.
"Geez, haven't you ever heard 'don't knock it till you try it'? Just give it a shot, you won't regret it."
Naruto turned and glared at the Sannin as he said, almost a shout, "Not a chance, now quit asking me!"
"You sure about that?" Jiraiya said, his voice taking on a persuasive tone as he held the book close to the blonds' face, who tilted his head away from his sensei's smut with an annoyed look. "It could give you all kinds of ideas on what you could do with your girlfriend someday…"
Naruto blinked as his steps slowed to a stop before he crossed his arms, his face scrunching up like a fox's as he seemed to think intensely on something. Jiraiya's expression brightened. Had he finally gotten through to the boy? Was he at last considering his words of wisdom?
After a few moments of anticipation of the blonds' answer, he couldn't take the wait any longer.
"Well?"
Naruto turned to Jiraiya with a dull look and said, in a perfect imitation of his sensei, "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Causing Jiraiya to face plant. Naruto then placed his hand on his chin and looked up to the sky. "I was just thinking of what Grandma Tsunade would do if she learned you were trying to turn me into a pervert."
From his place on the ground, Jiraiya's eyes bugged out and all color drained from his face as his blood ran cold. Images of his enraged teammate, towering over him, cracking her knuckles as she prepared to give him yet another beating, filled his mind.
Jumping back to his feet, Jiraiya held his hands forward in a placating gesture.
"No, don't do that! Look, if you feel that strongly about it, I'll back off, all right? Just don't tell Tsunade!"
Naruto tilted his head slightly, his gaze still on the clouds above before finally looking back to the terrified Sannin.
"Fine." Jiraiya's body slumped as a sense of relief fell over him… which was shattered by his next words. "But thanks for giving me the blackmail material." He said with a smirk.
"Huh?" Jiraiya broke into a cold sweat at that.
"Oh, you know. I can basically get you to do whatever I want by threatening to tell Tsunade about this." His expression turned thoughtful, though it still retained an air of mischief. "I could even say that you made me use my Sexy Jutsu all the time for your research."
"But I never did that!" Jiraiya objected.
"Really? Because I seem to recall you saying something about how you'd only train me if I stayed in that form the whole time."
"But I didn't hold you to it!"
"Who do you think she'll believe? Me or you?" Naruto's questioned with a mischievous grin.
Jiraiya stuttered until he suddenly calmed down and, much to Naruto's surprise, smirked.
"All right kid, you got me." Naruto took on a victorious stance before he continued after a beat. "Although… I wonder how she'd react if she learned about the sexy jutsu of yours." He said, cupping his chin thoughtfully.
Naruto face froze in an expression of shock at that as his mind was flooding with the images of how the Fifth Hokage may react to that tidbit of information.
"It is a pretty perverted technique, teasing someone by turning into a hot naked blonde… I'd hate to think how she might take it." Jiraiya added.
"I told you before; I made that technique to take out perverts!" Naruto shouted back indignantly.
"Maybe, but who do you think she'll believe?" Jiraiya said, throwing his own words back at him. "You throw me into the fire; I'm taking you down with me."
With a huff, Naruto jerked his head away and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Fine, you win Pervy Sage. I won't blackmail you." For now at least, but he'd keep an eye out. If he managed to get enough blackmail on the Toad Sannin, he could share it all with Tsunade in one go and make her forget all about the Sexy Jutsu… and then he could once again hold the threat of the enraged woman over his head.
Jiraiya chuckled at that and resumed walking, the blond following after.
"So, where are we headed, anyway?" Naruto asked, turning to his teacher and placing his hands on the back of his head in a relaxed stance.
"Ah, I've got some business in the next town, so we're going to be staying there a week or two." Jiraiya replied.
Naruto gave the Sannin a skeptical look, making it clear he didn't trust the man not to start goofing off again as he said, "You're going to leave on my own while you go looking for more 'research', aren't you?"
"Huh, oh ye of little faith." Jiraiya scoffed. "Don't worry about it. At worst, I'll leave another shadow clone to supervise your training while I do my thing."
Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the Sannin.
"Hey! You're not planning to leave all the work to a bunch of clones, are you?"
Jiraiya cracked an amused smile as he wiggled his finger at the blond, as if to say 'hold on there'. "Now now, hold on there, Naruto. Isn't that exactly what we're already doing?"
Naruto crossed his arms stubbornly as he scowled and replied, "That's different. We're working alongside them, not leaving all the work to them while we go goofing off."
The toad summoner waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
"Relax kid, it's not like I'm going to do it all the time." The blond grumbled at that, knowing that if he let him, the Sannin would shirk his responsibility and go off doing kami knows what while his clones did all the work. "Speaking of which, from now on, I want you to double the amount of clones you make, ok?"
Naruto's brows shot up at that. Up until now, all they'd been using the clones for was chakra control and sitting in on Jiraiya's lessons. Did this mean…
Brightening up, the blond Jinchuriki asked, "Does that mean you're finally ready to teach me something cool, like elemental jutsu?"
Jiraiya closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to hold off on that one, kid."
Naruto furrowed his brow.
"Huh? Why?"
"For one thing, I don't have any chakra paper, so I can't tell what your affinity is." Jiraiya responded, seeing the slightly surprised expression on his face, he continued. "Oh right, they probably didn't tell you that at the academy, did they?"
Naruto shrugged.
"If they did, I didn't listen, not that I needed it. I mean, it's pretty obvious what you mean. So, everyone's born with an affinity for an element then? Huh. You learn something new everyday."
Jiraiya blinked, slightly surprised the usually wet-behind-the-ears boy before him had figured out what he meant before ginning.
"Ho ho! Well, look at that! I see my brilliant strategy is already starting to pay off."
"Huh? What are you…? Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly as he realized what the Sannin was referring to. Namely, his lessons in vocabulary. "I was never that dense! I could have figured that out just as easily before!"
Jiraiya's grin didn't fade as he shrugged, holding up his arms as if to say 'whatever'.
"Keep talking kid, but 'affinity' is pretty close to the beginning of the dictionary." He said, chuckling at the growl that escaped the blond.
Naruto huffed, wanting to get back on topic. "So why don't you teach me to use another element? Not like I'm only going to whichever one I have an affinity for anyway."
Jiraiya cupped his chin and looked to the sky as he mused, "You want to learn an element aside besides your affinity first?" He paused as he considered it. "That's a bit unorthodox… though you do have a point." Naruto's eyes took on an excited gleam, which quickly vanished when the Sannin continued, "But I still want you to get a firm handle on chakra control and the basics before we move on."
"Man." Naruto snapped his fingers.
Jiraiya chuckled at this before stopping and looking to the sky. Seeing that it was midday, he decided that it was time to stop for the day. After all, they still had training to do.
"This looks like a good place to stop. Come on kid, we need to set up camp before we can start training."
It wasn't long before they found a grove that Jiraiya felt was an adequate place to rest. It took about half an hour before camp was set up to his liking, but once the work was done, the two headed deeper into the woods until they found the tree line. Stepping beyond it, they found a large, open plane with knee high grass that swayed with the breeze.
Jiraiya crossed his arms, nodding to himself as he long ponytail blew with the wind.
"Yeah, this'll do… shame there's not a lake or a body of water you can stand on, but beggars can't be choosers. Ok, do your thing."
With a smirk, Naruto brought his hands together in the seal for the Shadow Cone jutsu and produced thirty clones, something Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at.
"Thirty?" He said, after taking a quick tally. "Hey kid, don't push it too far."
Naruto looked slightly confused as he said, "What'd you mean, Pervy Sage? The more clones I make, the faster I learn right?"
"Yes, it's true you'll gain experience faster, but you get all their fatigue too. It wasn't too bad before, but don't take things too far, or you might just collapse on the spot when you're finished."
Naruto grinned confidently as he replied, "Don't worry, I can handle it."
Jiraiya seemed to consider whether or not to let the boy go through with this and, deciding the worst possibility, collapsing from exhaustion when all was said and done, wasn't too bad and might teach him a lesson, shrugged.
"All right, but remember your limits."
It wasn't long before the clones were all divided into their duties as what was now the usual, one taking in a lesson from Jiraiya's clone and the rest dealing training in chakra control.
Unfortunately, this left the blond with Jiraiya for physical conditioning and taijutsu training. Something that caused the blond to pale as he realized before turning to the toad sage, who smirked down at him, tilting his head to the side as he said, "Ok, kid, we'll be sparring today, you know the drill."
Calming himself, Naruto dropped into his fighting stance, well aware of what lay ahead of him.
Naruto panted as he looked up at his sensei, nearly all of his renowned stamina used up as the sun set in the distance. The blond the only time he ever felt as tired as he did after a sparring match with his sensei was when he faced down Gaara during Suna and Oto's ill fated invasion of his village.
Seeing Jiraiya begin to move, the blond did his best to take a defensive potion, fighting his weariness as the Sannin charged towards him once again.
Jiraiya lashed out with a series of powerful punches, which Naruto did his best to block, deflecting each with his forearms but with each strike, he was forced to take a step back. This exchange came to an end as he clocked a downward chop from the Sannin with a both his arms in a cross guard, only for him to suddenly feel the wind rush out of his lungs when the legendary shinobi's knee slammed into his unprotected stomach.
As the young Jinchuriki doubled over from the blow, the Sannin followed up with a kick to the chest that sent him flying back and sprawling on the ground, coughing as he struggled to catch his breath.
Looking down at his student, and then up at the sky, Jiraiya said, "Well, I think that's enough for today."
Looking up at his teacher with one eye screwed shut as pushed himself off of the ground, Naruto stated, "You… you don't pull any punches do you?"
"Quit complaining, it's not like you won't be back to 100% after a good night's rest." Jiraiya responded as he watched Naruto pick himself up. The young Jinchuriki briefly stumbled back once he got to his feet, but quickly found his balance. "Now, gather up your clones, I'm heading back. I've got to make dinner."
The chirping of crickets could be heard echoing throughout the otherwise silent forest as night covered the land. Sitting across from Jiraiya before their campfire, its orange glow being the only thing illuminating their camp besides the few silvery rays of moon light filtering through the forest's canopy, Naruto happily took a bite of the steaming broth prepared by his sensei.
Though no where near as good as ramen and especially not Ichiraku's, the food was actually better than a lot of what he could get in the restaurants he'd been to. Even with the vegetables, which he normally avoided like poison, it was definitely a satisfying meal.
Leaning back as he sighed with content, Naruto said, "Man, you can sure cook, Pervy Sage!"
Jiraiya chuckled at the praise.
"Well, what'd you expect? A lot of people who live on their own can cook. You kind of have to if you care about what you eat and don't want go out for grub every day."
Naruto looked slightly surprised. "Really? That makes sense, I guess…"
Jiraiya frowned as he said, "Wait a minute, what about you? I mean, you've been living on your own this whole time right? What do you usually do for food?"
The blond shrugged, thinking on it before he replied, "I usually just eat cereal and instant ramen when I don't go to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. Sometimes I get some red bean soup too, but that's about it, why?"
"You never eat vegetables? Or fruits?"
Naruto's face scrunched up in slight disgust. "Not when I can avoid it."
Jiraiya stared at the boy seriously. Was that really all the boy ate? How could anyone get by on that? Well, that might explain why he was so short, his body didn't have the nutrients to grow properly. That couldn't be healthy. He needed to fix this.
The Sannin shook his head and said, "That's no good. I'm going to have to teach you how to cook a proper meal."
"What?" Naruto almost shouted, viewing it as a waste of time. "Why? I've gotten by just fine so far."
"Kid, do you have any idea why you're so short compared to the other genin?" Jiraiya asked, smirking as he knew exactly how he would respond to this.
Sure enough, the young Uzumaki immediately leapt up, pointing his finger at his sensei as he shouted, "Who are you calling short, Pervy Sage?"
Chuckling slightly at the blonds' predictable reaction, he raised his hands in a placating gesture and said, "Hey, come on, you must have seen it by now. So, do you have any idea why you're such a midget compared to them."
Naruto growled before huffing and turning his head.
"No, why?" He grumbled, having wondered that several times before.
"It's because you basically eat nothing but ramen!" Jiraiya said, a little more loudly.
Naruto turned back to the Sannin, utterly flabbergasted.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked, outraged that the Sannin dare speak negatively about what he regarded as being an almost divine dish.
"Do you have any idea how low in nutrients ramen is? Sure, it's tasty, but it's not exactly what one would call good for a growing body. I'm guessing you don't eat a lot of fruits or vegetables, do you? Do you even eat any meat at all, and I'm not talking about beef or pork on the side of ramen."
Huffing, Naruto responded, "Not that often. I prefer ramen to barbeque."
'Dear kami…' Jiraiya thought as he stared at the boy incredulously. The boy hardly even ate any meat either? No wonder he was so short, he was missing three of the basic food groups! Honestly, he was surprised the boy was as fit as he was. Thinking on it, he realized he probably had the Kyuubi to thank for that.
"Kid, you need to eat more than ramen if you want to grow bigger and stronger. You want to know how I grew up to be as tall and strong as I am? Hard work and proper nutrition, you won't get the full benefit of one without the other. Don't believe me? I can find a book on biology and prove it to you if you want."
Naruto simply stared at the man in shock, his mind reeling at the thought that the heavenly dish could actually be bad for him, every part of him refused to believe it, even though the evidence told him otherwise. Finally, with a shake of his head he snapped out of his stupor and crossed his arms stubbornly. "No way am I giving up ramen."
"Who said you have to? Everything in moderation, kid. You want to gorge on ramen every few days that's fine, long as you eat right the rest of the time."
Naruto seemed to think on it, tilting his head forward and closing his eyes in thought and Jiraiya pressed, "I'm offering to teach you. I may not be a gourmet chef, but I'm a decent enough cook." When Naruto didn't respond, he pressed on.
"Come on, kid, this is an essential skill we're walking about here." Jiraiya then smirked as he teased, "And don't you want a girlfriend someday? Maybe that pink haired girl back in Konoha? Girls like guys who can cook, you know. You might just be able to sweep her off her feet with a romantic dinner, made just for her. You'll need every advantage you can get with her still pining for Sasuke."
Naruto blushed, the thought of him sharing a romantic dinner with the pink haired girl, her amazement at learning he'd taken the time to make it especially for her filling his mind. A few moments later, nodded.
"All right. I might as well, I mean, not like we're going to get ramen every night out here."
Jiraiya sat back and grinned smugly at the boy as he said, "Glad to hear it. All right, tomorrow I'm giving you your first lesson on how to cook for yourself."
Going back to their meals, a silence fell over the two. Looking to his student, Jiraiya was surprised to see he was staring into his bowl, swirling the food, obviously deep in thought about something. He wondered what the boy was thinking of, as he seemed to be doing this a lot recently. Ever since he showed him just how poor his taijutsu skills were, he seemed to go into deep reflection on occasion.
A few moments later and the silence was broken when Naruto looked up.
"Say, Pervy Sage."
"Yeah, what's on your mind?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto looked at him with a surprisingly serious expression when he asked, "I was wondering… you said you trained the Fourth Hokage, right? What was he like?"
Jiraiya raised a brow, having not expected that line of questioning.
"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"
Naruto shrugged.
"It's just… he was always one of my greatest heroes. That didn't change when I found out what he sealed into me, though I'd probably deck him if I ran into him…" Jiraiya winced at that. "… but since then I wondered why he chose me. And that made me wonder what kind of person, and student he was. So, can you tell me anything?"
Jiraiya closed his eyes as he arranged his thoughts before crossing his arms and responding, "Well… I can tell you, the Fourth was that rare kind of genius that only shows up once a generation. No matter what kind of technique or concept I tried to teach him, he'd pick it up in no time at all. As you know, he created the Rasengan, and also the Hiraishin, the jutsu that earned him the title: Konoha's Yellow Flash. Using that technique, he'd clear entire battlefields in mere moments during the Third Shinobi World War. He was so feared, he was one of only a handful of shinobi to receive the flee on sight order, the others being Hanzo of the Salamander, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha, shinobi who's names alone struck terror into the hearts of any who would face them. He was a firm believer in the will of fire and as you know, a man who would pay any price to protect Konoha and those precious to him. Despite how feared he was on the battlefield, he was a very kind hearted and respectful person, and he was always calm and observant, no matter the situation."
Jiraiya looked up and said, "But I'm guessing you want to know something that might let you know why he chose you to serve as the Kyuubi's jailor, right? Sorry, but I've wondered about that myself. Ultimately, all I can say about that is that he trusted you with this power."
Naruto was quiet again, waiting a few seconds before quietly speaking up. "You know, for some reason, I've always looked up to him more than anyone else… Why do you think that is?"
Jiraiya had some thoughts on that, but wasn't about to voice them at this point. Instead, he simply said, "Probably because he's the one you've heard of the most. His generation was closest to yours after all. I mean, he was Kakashi's sensei."
Naruto was visibly shocked to hear that.
"What? Kakashi-sensei was trained by the Fourth?"
"Oh, never told you that, did he?" Jiraiya questioned. "That's right, his teacher was none other than the Fourth. A prime example of how good teachers beget good students. Stick with me kid, and your name will be up there with his in no time."
Naruto brightened up at that, thinking of having his name go down in history as a great hero like the First and Fourth Hokage. Of having the strength to truly protect the entire village from any threats that appeared in the future before a sense of melancholy fell over him.
Jiraiya frowned when he saw his mood sour. Before he could question the blonds' rapid shift in demeanor, Naruto said, "I wish the old man was still around…" He said, obviously referring to the Third Hokage. "I'd always dreamed that he'd be there, watching as I take his position."
Jiraiya sighed, closing his eyes again.
"I know… I miss him too." He said, thinking, not for the first time since that battle that claimed the lives of so many, of his sensei and the memories of his team, before it all went sour when Orochimaru and Tsunade left. He'd been like a father to him, as he'd been like a grandfather to Naruto. "But there's no sense moping over it. It's not like we can turn back time and undo the past. But in a sense, they're still here with us. They live on in our memories, and in the will they left behind." A smile spread across his face as he looked to the blond. "What we can do is try our best to make those who are no longer with us proud."
Naruto smiled at that.
"Right."
The Sannin was right about that. The blond looked to the sky as he remembered the Third Hokage, and the words of encouragement the man gave him. The current Hokage, Tsunade, also showed her faith in him by giving him the First's necklace. They believed in him, and that faith was yet another reason he had to fight to fulfill his dreams.
The next day, Naruto and Jiraiya looked down from a tall hill upon a fairly large village, a look of slight puzzlement and awe on the blonds' face, taking a step forward and shielding his eyes from the sun as he took in its unique sights.
Unlike almost every other village in the continents, and every one the blond had seen so far, the buildings, with a few exceptions, were in purely western in architecture.
"Wow… weird." Naruto said with a perplexed expression as he mentally compared the buildings before him all the ones he'd seen before. "Hey, Pervy Sage, what's up with this place?"
Jiraiya chuckled at his student's bafflement before saying, "It's certainly out of the ordinary, wouldn't you agree? The place was actually founded and built mostly by refugees from another continent, so it's not surprising it looks so different compared to what you'd see everywhere else."
"Refugees? What could have happened that was so bad that they ran from their entire continent?" Naruto asked, obviously curious.
Jiraiya's expression turned serious at that and he closed his eyes.
"Well, kid. My spy network doesn't exactly reach over there, but from what I understand things are pretty bad over there. We're lucky by comparison, with what we have to deal with." He turned to look at his student. "You see, according to my knowledge, the other continent is divided into several nations, like our own, but unlike the Elemental Nations those countries are constantly in flux because they're each ruled over by a different warlord. They're constantly battling with one other in an attempt to dominate the whole shebang, and most of them care little, if at all, for their subjects. The end result, poverty is rampant, rebellions are put down… hard, war is commonplace, even more so than here, and all too often civilians get dragged into the battle." With a shrug, he added, "Course, that always happens in war, but over there no one usually bothers trying to protect them. It's not surprising they'd try to leave and start anew elsewhere, those that can afford to anyway."
Naruto's face twisted in abhorrence at what he'd just heard. From what his sensei was saying, most of the continent lived like the people in Wave back when Gato was in charge. Worse even, as they didn't have to worry about war coming to their land.
He could definitely understand their reasoning. He'd considered running from Konoha a few times during his early youth to escape his suffering, a lot of Jinchuriki did, but he wouldn't because of his loyalty to those few who cared for him and the friends he had. Besides, either way the village was his home, even as a child he identified with it as his birthplace.
But this place… he could see why anyone not fortunate enough to have power would want to run from there.
As he thought on that, something Jiraiya had said struck him. He said they were lucky by comparison. Who wouldn't be compared to that? But… why'd he say that?
"Wait a minute, What'd you mean we're 'lucky by comparison'? What's wrong with the way things are now?"
Jiraiya gave a grunt as before saying, "That's right… you're still young. You've only begun to see the darker aspects of our profession… and you've never seen war."
"I'm sorry, excuse me." Naruto responded a bit caustically. "You may have forgotten, but we just got invaded by Suna. What'd you call that?"
He wasn't happy to be reminded of it, but from what he heard the Pervy Sage was trying to downplay what went down that day… all those people who were lost.
"You think that little skirmish was a war?" Jiraiya scoffed. "No, kid… war is much worse." Naruto was surprised to see a grim expression on his face. "You never paid much attention in history class, did you? War is much more terrifying than what you experienced. It lasts much longer… there are far more casualties, and things aren't as cut and dry as Orochimaru's invasion."
Though a little afraid of just what his response would be, with a slight sense trepidation, Naruto asked, "What'd you mean?"
Jiraiya crossed his arms and closed his eyes, his voice taking on a grim tone as he explained, "In a real war… both sides are fighting for what they believe is best for their people, which is how Orochimaru tricked Suna into aiding him. There's no real 'villain' behind it all from all perspectives, like during the invasion. From the very first battle, there are losses, but things don't just stop there. The loved ones of the fallen take up arms to avenge their comrades, and it becomes a battle for revenge. Facts get twisted by hate and opinion, things like 'who did what' and 'who started it all' are forgotten, and ultimately, both sides become little better than the other. Sometimes, we manage to overcome our old hatreds, like us and our pals in Suna, but in others it lingers. Take Iwa for example. We were actually allies early on, but something happened around the time of the First Shinobi World War, and whatever it was kicked off a deep grudge between our villages. We're still hostile to one another to this very day. Iwa's made several attempts to avenge the losses they suffered both in times of war and peace, and no one even remembers how it all began."
The Sannin gave a mirthless laugh.
"No, I take that back." He amended. "The current Tsuchikage, Onoki, has been around since the days of the First Hokage. He'd probably know where it got started. Good luck getting him to explain it to you though. Ever since the start formation of the hidden villages, there's been a war every few generations, and those fights continue on in a never-ending cycle. As you experienced in the invasion, it's not just adults that suffer, countless children die fighting these battles too. And that's not the only horror you'll see in war. You have entire villages that are razed to the ground, leaving any survivors with no home and sometimes they're the lucky ones, that is if there are any survivors at all. Worse off are those who wind up in a village occupied by an enemy nation. If they don't bow down and switch allegiances, examples will be made of them, people killed until they all finally give up, and even that's not as bad as what can happen to prisoners of war. Not to mention the fact that, with resources stretched thin, a lot of villages are left with little, if any, protection, leaving them at the mercy of bandits, slave traders and wanna-be tyrants, like that Gato you helped take care of."
With a shake of his head, he continued. "It can bring out the best in people, when they give their all to protect what they love, but it can also bring out the worst. There are people who sell equipment and intel, sometimes false information, to both sides, prolonging the wars as long as possible to make a profit without care for who gets hurt in the process. Some let their hatred get the better of them, sinking to levels they never would have otherwise to cause as much pain as they can, and some are simply depraved to begin with, and war lets them act out their worst fantasies This can lead to cold blooded torture, not for information but payback, or worse, rape. And sometimes… if one side gets their hands on something that they think might give them an edge… they might test it on genin from the other side, or on the people of an occupied village." He turned, his steely gaze falling on his student as he concluded, "What we have now is a vast improvement over what came before, but still… wars are all to frequent. Often, it ends in a stalemate and many of the fallen die for no real reason. More often then not, war becomes a horror that steals everything from everyone involved."
"That's…" Naruto began, clearly shocked at what he was hearing and almost unable to form his thoughts into words. He'd always thought of the positives of being a ninja, of being a hero and being respected by everyone and all the awesome things they were capable of.
This was the first time he'd considered what was wrong with the shinobi world, because until now he'd only experienced brief glimpses into its darker side. Beyond protecting his comrades and being a hero, he'd never thought of what war would be like. It didn't shake his resolve to stick to this profession, he wanted more than anything to protect his friends and his home and he'd already known how they had been risking their lives but… was all this fighting… all this death… really endless?
Jiraiya looked at him with an unreadable expression, knowing the still naïve boy needed a wake up call. He'd seen loss and suffering, but he'd yet to realize just how dark their world could be.
"That's awful… Are you saying that… that's all there is for us? And everyone just accepts this? Why hasn't anyone tried to change it?"
Jiraiya shrugged.
"People have tried… Kami knows I have. But so far, hate and mistrust usually comes out on top. But then… there are times like the invasion. Ever since then, the relationship between us and Suna has been closer than ever, aside from a few individuals. Maybe it's a sign things are changing." He turned to Naruto with a smile. "Course, it could just be because we had a common enemy."
"But then… how can we stop it?" Naruto began before his expression became more determined. "I… I can't believe that there's no way to put a stop to this. I can't just stand by and do nothing while all this stupid fighting continues!"
Jiraiya closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side.
"Like I said kid, many have tried. Even the First and Fourth Hokage held that same lofty goal of breaking the cycle, but neither managed to pull it off. What makes you think you can?"
"… I don't know…" Naruto admitted with a troubled expression. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to stand by and let it go on." With conviction, Naruto stated, and with conviction he added, "When I become Hokage, I'll do everything I can to end it. Just tell me where to start."
The toad Sannin made no response to Naruto's declaration, instead simply scrutinizing the boy. After a moment, Jiraiya smiled again.
"That's what I wanted to hear. Problem is… I have no idea." Seeing Naruto's slightly disappointed look, he continued, "Like I said, I've tried hard to bring peace to the world, as did the Fourth and the First before him. I'll keep trying… and if I don't, then the task falls on your shoulders as my apprentice. You ready for that?"
With a confident grin, Naruto replied, "You know it, Pervy Sage."
Jiraiya chuckled, "Well, glad you're so enthusiastic about it." He took a few steps forward and gestured for Naruto to follow. "Come on, we've spent enough time musing on this hill. Let's go."
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Tsunade sat behind her desk, resting her head on her knuckles as she glared down, annoyance and thinly veiled hatred clear on her features, at the greatest enemy of the day. The bane of Kage's everywhere. A never ending enemy which insured that they had little time to enjoy life's little pleasures.
Paperwork.
Briefly considering reaching for her hidden stash of sake, she sighed as she took the top piece of paper off the rather large pile, grudgingly picked up her pen, and got back to work. Sometimes, she wondered why she let herself get talked into taking up the mantle.
Of course, it only took looking out the window, seeing the people bustling about or the faces of the Hokage carved into the mountain wall, to which her own face would soon be added, or thinking of her former lover, her younger brother, or a certain blond brat to remind herself why she took the position.
As she returned to her papers began writing, she heard a tap at the window. Turning her head, she was mildly surprised to see a red messenger toad covered in black markings in a red vest with a scroll strapped to its back, waving at her.
Getting up and walking over to the toad, she opened the window, allowing it to jump in.
"One of Jiraiya's messenger toads…" Tsunade mused, raising an eyebrow at the toad before moving back to her desk. "So, what's the pervert want?"
"Hey, well that's a fine 'how do ya do'!" The toad complained. "Don't I even get a hello?"
Tsunade sighed as she sat down, raising her hand to her head. She was actually a little happy to see the small amphibian; after all it gave her a reason to take a break from the paperwork. However, she was still not in a particularly good mood at the moment.
"I'm not in the mood to chat today, so if you have a message from Jiraiya just give it to me." Tsunade said with an exhausted tone as the toad leapt onto the table before her.
"Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. And it looks like she didn't get much beauty sleep either." The toad sneered back at the woman without a trace of concern. However, he immediately regretted this when the woman growled, an angry tick mark appearing on her forehead, and shot out of her chair with a deep frown on her face.
The toad, in a mild state of panic, quickly brought his hands up in a placating gesture.
"Sorry, sorry! Look, here's the message." He quickly reached around his back and pulled off the scroll.
Tsunade snatched it from the toad and, after throwing a glare his way, unrolled and began to read.
Hey, Tsunade.
How're things hanging? Hope you're not buried under a mountain of paperwork, it'd be a crime to cover up that beautiful bosom from the world.
Tsunade's eye twitched and she resisted the urge to tear the paper to shreds right there.
Things are looking up on my end. We've had no trouble so far and I've had an amazing idea. Why not put the brat's unending chakra supply to good use? By combining that with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he can improve by leaps and bounds. He's been doing so for the past week, and the results have been amazing. At this rate, I'll wind up being the sensei of two Hokage!
Tsunade's brows shot up at that, her mind quickly working out the possibilities. She couldn't help but smile. She really chose a good person to bequeath her grandfather's necklace too. Actually, thinking about it, she saw a lot of him in Naruto. If the boy were smarter… and had an addiction to gambling… he'd almost be his spitting image in personality.
Putting that thought aside, she returned to the note.
Maybe if I do, you'll see fit to come up with some special way to congratulate me!
Tsunade's eye twitched again, almost able to hear her perverted teammate's laughter.
Anyway, I didn't send this just to give you a progress report. There are a few things I need. I didn't originally plan to teach him elemental jutsu, but I've had second thoughts on that. So, I'm gonna need some chakra paper, and some other supplies I've written down. Have someone gather them up and put it all on my tab. Also, I've got something I want to run by you…
Jiraiya chuckled as he looked down at his student, who lay on the ground before him on his back, panting from exhaustion. Once more, the Sannin's physical training had completely burned out the boy's seemingly boundless stores of energy; the only sign of what he'd been doing was a boulder roughly the same size as his body lying on the ground beside him. The Sannin found it somewhat amusing to put the young teen through his paces.
Really, that was half the fun of teaching genin, aside from the familial bonds that so often formed of course. One half was in seeing them succeed, and the other in making them push themselves to their limit and seeing them comically fail.
Recalling his messenger toad and that it had had enough time to get what he needed, he decided now was as good a time as any call it back.
Taking a few steps away, he formed the hand signs for the technique, drawing Naruto's attention, and raised his hand.
"Summoning Jutsu!" He slammed his palm to the ground and, with a poof of smoke, his messenger toad appeared.
"Yo, boss man. Took you long enough to call me back." The toad greeted.
"Sorry about that, Gamatsukai. You got what I asked for?" Jiraiya replied.
The toad reached around his back and picked off the scroll, extending it towards the Sannin while Naruto watched curiously. "Yep, everything you asked for."
"Thanks." Jiraiya said as he took the scroll, turning his gaze to it after the toad returned to his home in another burst of smoke. Naruto stepped up to his sensei as he unrolled the message.
"What was all that about, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked as he looked at the message, wondering what the contents of the message were.
Jiraiya simply chuckled.
"Oh, it's just the ok for an idea I had. Now…" Jiraiya said turning the paper around and placing it on the ground, causing Naruto to frown in confusion until he saw a seal engraved on the back of the letter.
Kneeling down and making a single hand seal, Jiraiya released the seal, three large cloth bags to appear before him.
"What ya got there, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, taking a step forward and looking at the bags curiously.
"Don't worry about it kid, nothing you'll need to think about until much later." Jiraiya replied as he searched through the bags, eventually locating a packet. "Now, this, on the other hand, your going to like."
Those words piqued Naruto's interest. He watched as Jiraiya opened the envelope and pulled out a small slip of paper. "What's that, Pervy Sage?"
"I'm glad you asked." Jiraiya replied with a wide grin as he held up the sheet after pocketing the remaining ones. "This, Naruto, is chakra paper. It's a very valuable tool we use to discern one's nature affinity."
"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly, his hands balling up in anticipation. "How's it work?"
"It's simple. All you have to do is channel your chakra into it and the paper will react to it. This reaction shows what your affinity is. If you have an affinity for the fire element, then the paper will singe." Jiraiya explained. "If your element's water, then it'll get soggy. Lightning and it'll wrinkle, wind and it'll split in half and with earth, it'll crumble to dust. Now, knock yourself out. We're still a ways off from starting your elemental training, but it couldn't hurt to know."
With that, he handed the boy the piece of paper. Naruto eagerly took it and immediately began channeling his chakra into the small it. It only took a second to get a response.
The two watched as a cut appeared right down the middle of the small sheet and it fell into pieces.
"Well, what do you know?" Jiraiya commented. "The wind nature's pretty rare outside of Suna."
"Wind huh?" Naruto asked as he stared at the sheet, memories of the chunin exam flashing into his mind. He recalled seeing Temari fight, watching how she manipulated the wind and air currents to create and control tornados and produce punishing walls of wind.
His face once more brightening up as an excited gleam shined in his eyes, Naruto inquired, "What can you tell me about it?"
"Hn. Well, I'm pretty sure you already saw quite a bit of it during the exam." Jiraiya commented. "You can manipulate the wind and air in various ways, creating powerful blunt force attacks, blades of wind, drilling air currents… your manipulating the air itself. The sky's the limit, kid. It's also particularly effective in that it's one of the only elements that can counter its vulnerability."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, raising a brow.
"All the elements are at a disadvantage when faced with another. For example, I shouldn't have to tell you what happens when water meets fire, but for another example, water is soaked up by the earth and due to its fluidity, it's not often effective against the hard stone defenses produced by the earth element. Wind disperses lightning, rendering it ineffective, but because oxygen feeds fires and wind fans it, if you tried to counter a fire attack with a wind jutsu, you'd just wind up with a stronger attack coming your way."
Seeing Naruto frown as he considered this, he continued, closing his eyes and bringing his hand up in an explanatory gesture. "However, certain jutsu, or a powerful enough attack, can overwhelm such vulnerabilities. For example, water at certain levels of pressure can cut through a lot of the earth techniques out there. If it's too much stronger, lightning can pierce wind jutsu. Thing about wind techniques though, is that they can be used to create vacuums." The Sannin said, getting to the crux of his explanation. "Because neither lightning nor fire can exist in a vacuum, vacuum based wind techniques can completely shut down both elements." He opened his eyes and looked down at the boy, who was amazed at what he'd just learned. "That being said, vacuum based techniques are of the highest order of wind jutsu. Not many manage to master them."
"Oh yeah? Well just you wait, Pervy Sage. I'll have it down in no time." Naruto said, very enthusiastic about the wind element now. After all, this could completely trump both of Sasuke's elements, giving him a major advantage over his fallen rival.
Jiraiya chuckled. "I think you're underestimating what's ahead of you. Don't think this'll be easy just because you've got an affinity for it."
"Heh," Was all Naruto responded as he grinned confidently before he remembered the letter. "So, what was that idea you were talking about, Pervy Sage?"
Letting out another chuckle, Jiraiya crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
"Let me ask you something. What do you think all your old friends are doing back in Konoha right now?"
Naruto blinked in confusion at the question before shrugging.
"I don't know. I guess they're training, going on missions, the usual. Why?"
"Simple, while your with me, you're not getting any experience in the field. Do you think your former classmates are all just going to stand still? Chances are, by the time we get back, you'll be the only one who's still a genin." Jiraiya had to resist the urge to laugh out loud at his student's horrified expression. "Which is why I decided to ask Tsunade to kick a few missions our way. If you've already participated in the exams once, and you've got a ninja of high enough standing backing you, like yours truly, you can be promoted as long as you're record's up to par."
"You mean I could be promoted to chunin as soon as I get back?" Naruto asked eagerly.
Laughing at the boy's enthusiasm, Jiraiya responded, "Kid, if I have any say in it, you'll be at least a special jonin material, if not full jonin, when we finally return to the village. And it just so happens Tsunade had a mission on hand when she read my letter."
"Really?"
Jiraiya nodded.
"Yep, we'll be heading out at dawn. It seems like a pretty easy job. We'll be guarding a caravan of peddlers from the Land of Vegetables, a simple C-rank mission, no sweat."
Of course, as the toad Sage would soon find out, things were rarely that simple when Naruto was involved.
In case anyone's wondering, the western style continent mentioned in this chapter is Temujin's continent from the Legend of the Stone of Gelel movie.
Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. As always, please review.