I do not own Naruto Thirteen or any of the characters.
Pain
Naruto stared at Minato and Tsunade in confusion, his brain refusing to let him understand what they had said. It couldn't be true. How could it?
"W...what?" Naruto questioned earning a sympathetic look from both of them.
"Jiraiya Sensei is dead," Minato repeated. "He wanted to gather information on the leader of the Akatsuki but instead was detected and drawn into a fight. He died fighting them but managed to give us both a body, one of six that all seem to be the same person and a message on Lord Fukasaku's back."
He held up a picture of the message they had taken before Tsunade had healed Fukasaku's back. Naruto looked to Fukasaku, a small, elderly toad with a bear, large eyebrows that wrapped around his head, and a tuft of hair on top of his head, all white. Naruto had never seen a frog with hair before.
"I think you've had enough for one lifetime," Minato sighed after a moment of watching Naruto's emotionless face. "Go. I know you need some time to mourn."
Naruto nodded and turned, walking out of the office then into the village. After a few minutes, he had gotten a popsicle then went to a bench overlooking the village where he and Jiraiya would sit once in a while to rest before they had left to train. Over the next several hours, Naruto sat in silence, his popsicle melting as it dripped to the ground between his feet. His mind was miles away, stuck in his memories of Jiraiya so he didn't notice the sun setting. Eventually, Hinata found him and sat beside him, noticing the tears rolling down his cheeks silently.
Hinata gently pulled him into a hug, not caring that he still remained silent and wrapped in his memories. They stayed like that for more than an hour before Hinata finally spoke.
"I'm sorry," Hinata whispered, Naruto's head on her shoulder.
"Not your fault," Naruto stated, voice hoarse despite him not having made a sound for hours. "It was the damned Akatsuki. Again."
"That's not what I meant," Hinata whispered. "I meant, I'm sorry that you have to suffer so much. I can't imagine how you must feel. You lost both Itachi, one of your best friends, and Jiraiya, your Godfather and grandfather figure. I'm so sorry."
"I know," Naruto smiled fresh tears flowing from his eyes. "You've always been there for me. I'm sorry I can't say the same."
"It's okay," Hinata smiled. "You tried your best."
Naruto smiled and nodded just as Shikamaru arrived.
"Bad time?" Shikamaru questioned.
"I know you want my help," Naruto sighed. "I'll help."
"I'll come too," Hinata said as they both stood. "Maybe I can help."
Shikamaru nodded and they returned to Konoha's special code breaking squad. Once there, Shikamaru handed Naruto the picture of Jiraiya's message.
"It's a series of numbers but no one in the village can figure it out," Shikamaru stated.
"Probably because you're wrong about what it is," Naruto smirked. "The first character isn't a nine, it's the Katakana character, 'Ta'. I know because I had to proofread one of Jiraiya's books as a punishment."
"Ta?" Shikamaru questioned.
"It's a penmanship quirk!" Shiho, the head of the Konoha Cryptology Team, gasped. "Only Naruto could have known."
"You're right," Shikamaru nodded. "You said a book had it. Which one?"
"Shit, I can't remember now," Naruto sighed.
"U-um," Hinata began blushing beat red. "I-I m-may kn-know w-which."
"You..." Naruto trailed off grinning wickedly before laughing for a moment before wiping a tear of mirth from his eye and nodding. "Go get it."
Hinata nodded and left after a short while, returning, face already scarlet and the book hidden behind her back.
"Come on Hinata," Naruto grinned. "We already know it's one of Jiraiya's. You might as well just show us."
Hinata blushed even more but took the book out from behind her and earning a massive fit of laughter from Naruto and Shiho both while Shikamaru managed to stifle his own.
"I'm sorry Hinata," Naruto sighed wiping his eyes again. "It's just, why the hell do you have Make Out Tactics?"
"W-well...u-um...K-Kakashi s-said...um...I-I sh-should r-read it," Hinata stammered blushing. "I-I h-haven't s-started y-yet."
Naruto nodded, failing to miss the tiny bookmark sticking out of the book halfway through.
"And why, exactly, did he start you off with the last book in the series?" Shikamaru questioned, not seeing the bookmark. "He seems like the type that would make you read them in order."
"Or you would face Thousand Years of Death," Naruto grinned.
Hinata was about as red as she could get without glowing, which she almost was, and couldn't think of an answer. Naruto was the only one that caught on, however.
"Well Shiho?" Naruto finally questioned. "What do we do now?"
"Hinata, if you're done with that...oh, hello everyone," Kakashi said smiling as he appeared in the window and trying to hide the fact that he had been caught.
"You gave Hinata a porno book?" Naruto grinned.
"Well...I figured...well...she might...um...like it," Kakashi explained coming up with a lie as fast as he could, not that anyone bought it. "And...she...um...should know...well..."
"I think that's about enough," Naruto grinned tossing the book to Kakashi as Hinata fought to remain conscious. "You'll be reading what we need."
"But-"
"Consider it payback for trying to make Hinata read it," Naruto grinned and both Kakashi and Hinata turned scarlet but Kakashi nodded.
"Alright," Shiho spoke up. "Turn to page thirty one."
"Alright," Kakashi said flipping through the pages. "Now what?"
"Read the first sentence out loud please," Shiho instructed and Kakashi's visible eye instantly grew and his face turned pink.
"Oh...um...uh...heh...um...no...I mean...uh," Kakashi rambled face darkening.
"We ain't got all day Kakashi," Naruto grinned. "Spit it out! How bad can it be?"
"It...eh heh," Kakashi laughed backing away.
"Spit it out!" Naruto snapped.
"Really...I...love you," Kakashi finally stated, face beat red as everyone in the room burst into fits of laughter, even Shikamaru.
Twenty minutes later, Shiho circled the first character of each page the code's message had listed and scratched her head while Naruto chuckled at Kakashi and Shikamaru, who had eventually decided to help Kakashi out by reading the last two, much to his own regret. Both were wishing they could just die and Kakashi looked like he might. Luckily for him, Shikamaru had had to read the less desirable lines.
"What's it say?" Hinata questioned.
"It says, the real one's not among them," Shiho stated.
"Come again?" Naruto questioned in confusion.
"Maybe Lord Fukasaku will understand," Kakashi spoke up. "He did fight Pein alongside Jiraiya."
"Good idea," Naruto nodded. "I'll go."
"I'm coming with you," Hinata stated. "I don't want to be here if Kakashi starts reading again."
Naruto grinned and nodded and teleported them both away, heading to the top of the Hokage Monument instead.
"So," Naruto grinned and Hinata's face instantly turned scarlet since she knew he knew. "The whole series huh?"
Hinata didn't speak so he grinned.
"Any good?" Naruto grinned. "I personally thought they were boring."
"You...you read them?" Hinata questioned in surprise.
"He made me," Naruto sighed. "It was a worse punishment than anything Ibiki could come up with."
"I-I th-thought th-they w-were g-good," Hinata stammered blushing and instantly regretting speaking.
"You like Kakashi's porn huh?" Naruto grinned and Hinata instantly stared at the ground in silence. "Sorry. I just had to ask."
"I-It's o-okay," Hinata stammered.
"Come on," Naruto grinned. "We should go report."
Hinata nodded and he took her hand, teleporting them both to Tsunade's office where Minato raised an eyebrow at the grin on Naruto's face.
"We broke the code," Naruto grinned. "And Kakashi and Shikamaru really regretted it."
"Why?" Minato questioned.
"The code was hidden in Make Out Tactics," Naruto grinned.
"Ouch," Minato grinned. "Poor guys. So, what's the message?"
"The real one's not among them," Naruto stated. "Mean anything to you Lord Fukasaku?"
"Maybe," Fukasaku said thoughtfully. "I just can't think of it now. However, as much as I know you want to fight Pein to avenge Jiraiya Boy, you would be squashed like a fly. Jiraiya Boy used Sage Mode, and even then it wasn't enough to stand a chance. You cannot defeat him, even if Pein was tied up and blindfolded he could still kill you with ease."
"I see," Naruto sighed. "What do you recommend then?"
"You come to Mount Myoboku and train in Sage Jutsu," Fukasaku suggested.
"Is Sage Jutsu really that strong?" Naruto questioned.
"It is," Minato nodded. "Jiraiya Sensei is the only one that has ever been able to use it. I can, but I can't use it for any Sage Mode techniques or gather it with any form of speed. Even Jiraiya never truly mastered Sage Mode. He could only partially balance Sage Chakra with his own. If you could master it, you would be even stronger than Jiraiya."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and grinned nodded then turned to Hinata.
"Do me a favor," Naruto grinned. "Train under Guren and have my mother train you with a sword. She is almost as good as Itachi."
Hinata nodded then turned to Fukasaku and nodded.
"Alright," Fukasaku nodded. "I'll return to Mount Myoboku then reverse summon you. You'll be staying there until you finish your training or until Pein attacks. Ready?"
"I guess so," Naruto nodded. "See you in a minute."
Fukasaku nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and a moment later, Naruto did the same.
Read and review.