Banners festooning the streets, golden paintings littered everywhere, bright paper lanterns all about. Festival had begun. The typically dun and drab buildings had, for the time being at least, been transformed into the bright and shining beauty of a remaining spark of soul.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Wow! So this is where Tsunade-obā-chan lives?"
"Is visiting. She was a native of the Hidden Leaf. Well, we'll probably find her here, somewhere or other," Jiraiya corrected softly. He extended his hand to Naruto. "Now, I'll give you fifty ryō to enjoy the festival."
"That's all right." Naruto smiled. "I have, uh." His smile froze as he checked his pockets. "Where are my savings?!" he demanded in shock. "I had my frog right—"
Kōju smiled, holding up the pouch. "Hey, Naruto—next time, you should be more careful with it, you know!"
Naruto's eyes widened. His jaw fell. "You're kidding! When did you do that?!"
"You should really pay more attention when you're sleeping." Kōju stuck out her tongue. "Bleh!"
Sasuke sighed. She reached into her pocket, taking out several coins. "Here, blockhead. She's right—if you let your money get stolen, you're no better than that Kankurō guy."
Naruto shuddered. He smiled. "Thanks, Sasuke-chan!" He waved over his shoulder, rushing into the crowds. "I'll definitely get you ice cream!"
"I HATE ICE CREAM!" Sasuke shouted, her cheeks flushing.
"Well, I'll get you some anyway!" Naruto stepped into one of the booths. He picked up a clay mask, holding the mask up to his features. A fox's whiskers and nose covered his face. He stared at his money.
"That'll be five hundred ryō," the attendant stated listlessly.
Naruto groaned. He reached into his pocket. Money really does go fast here. He smiled. Ice cream for everybody. Then if I'm lucky, I'll stop by the gambling area.
Sasuke reached downward. She ran her finger along the sword. "Hm. This is nice craftsmanship, but I'm more in need of ninja tools. What types of string do you have?" she questioned, looking up at the attendant.
"Mainly this, I'm afraid. We can attempt to get you something else."
"No, that's fine." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Also, recently, I've been in need of technique scrolls. Are you familiar with where I might purchase some?"
The attendant scowled. "How much are you willing to pay?"
"Enough to buy a house and plot of land." Sasuke's lips curled upward. "Do I have your attention?"
"You have my attention," the attendant replied.
A black cloak appeared behind the tent.
Sasuke stared at the gap. Her eyes narrowed.
A man and woman walked past the tent.
Sasuke frowned. Two ordinary people. Was it just my imagination? She turned back to the attendant. "Thank you."
Kōju smiled broadly. Yep! I can finally get everything with this! She hurled the DVDs into her small knapsack, tossing the heavy bag over one shoulder. I hope everyone's okay. The condition of this sort of thing is pretty important to consider, all right. Well, we're still in town; what could go wrong?
Naruto hurried toward the arcade. He carried the ice cream boxes in one hand. "Come on, then! I can definitely win back my losses—"
"Hah!" Jiraiya chuckled, throwing a poker chip down on the table. Two women sat beside him.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. One eyebrow twitched.
Jiraiya sipped the sake. "Oh. Naruto, how are things?"
"You call this gathering information?!" Naruto demanded. He took a step forward. His hand released the ice cream.
The ice cream hit the jacket of a man standing behind Naruto.
Red juice stained the jacket crimson.
A balding man shouted at Naruto. "Look at this! What are you going to do about this suit, you moron?!"
Naruto spun around, shocked.
"Akoki-sama's suit is now absolutely ruined! It is worth a lot! Give us 1 hundred thousand ryō for it!" the balding man demanded.
"That suit is worth that much?!" Naruto wondered in shock.
Jiraiya tapped his chin. His voice became remarkably solemn. "If that suit costs a hundred thousand ryō, I'm a fertilizer salesman. The fact is that that is cheap."
"You call this cheap?!" The balding man cursed rapidly in a foreign tongue. "Akoki-sama's quite skilled. A chūnin from the Stone Village. A legendary ninja who has sent many to their graves!"
"A legendary ninja, huh?" Jiraiya's voice lilted in amusement.
The thin man snarled. "I'll show you the true meaning of pain!" He rushed forward.
Jiraiya remained calm. "Naruto-kun, observe closely. I'm going to show you a technique you'll learn." He gestured to the side. Wind circled around his hand.
Naruto gasped in awe.
A ball of wind formed in Jiraiya's hand. Acting swiftly, the toad sage hurled the wind into the man's midsection.
The chūnin flew back, gasping, into a cart.
Naruto, suddenly revived, grinned. "Co—Cool!" he declared.
Two figures in black robes ducked into the smoky section of the bar.
A green-haired girl looked over her shoulders, her eyes wide.
A water balloon hurled through the air into Jiraiya's hand. Catching it easily, Jiraiya placed the balloon in his bags. "Sorry about the damage," Jiraiya apologized.
"What was that technique?" the thin man asked, gasping.
"Your saving grace. You guys are weak. If you challenged somebody really strong..." Jiraiya didn't finish his statement. Instead, he retrieved some money from his purse and handed it to the shopkeeper. "That should cover it."
"I don't mind." the man got out after a while.
"Naruto-kun! Time for training!" Jiraiya informed his young pupil, his eyes glittering with pride.
Naruto grinned. "Yeah!"
Hm. The red-eyed man's eyes narrowed. Jiraiya of the Three Sages, here? He glanced sideways. "Kisame-san. Would you mind taking a brief look at the residents of this city?"
Kisame sighed. "Sure." He placed his hand on his sword. "Crown, Samehada."
A faint rush of sea water ran along the ground. The shark scales showed through the covering.
Naruto groaned. And now my shoes are wet. He glanced down at his shoes. Did one of the goldfish bowls break?
The green-haired girl hurried on through the streets of the city.
"Follow me. Finding Tsunade-san will take more time than that, anyway." The red eyes widened. The tomoe glistened.
A few minutes passed. Kisame grinned. "Found her. We planning to kill her?"
"Certainly not. We will merely be paying a visit, and offering a deal. That, I think, should serve." The red-eyed man's eyes narrowed. "Let us inquire, then."
Naruto grinned as he looked at Jiraiya standing across a meter's length from him. "Here we go! I can already feel it!"
"A water balloon."
Naruto tilted his head to the side as Jiraiya handed him the water balloon. "Well, what's up with that?"
"You saw the technique I just did. How much did you observe?" Jiraiya asked shortly.
"Well." Naruto hesitated, thinking back.
Both flew backwards, and spun slightly.
"They kind of spun when you hit them."
Jiraiya smiled. He took the water balloon back.
The balloon rippled and flowed.
The water's spinning? Naruto wondered with shock.
The balloon popped with a faint cracking sound. Water sprayed over Jiraiya's hand.
"The first two exercises you performed both focused on one thing. Tree climbing required concentration. Water walking required continuous exertion of energy. Now, you must combine them. A continuous flow and maintenance of energy is needed for this."
Naruto grinned. "I get it!" he proclaimed. His mind stirred the balloon swiftly.
"You'll eventually get good at this! All right, let's train until nighttime," Jiraiya requested.
Naruto grinned. "Yeah!" he shouted.
History
Rain poured through the cracks of the tents. The smoke rose through the bar. Poker chips sat against the table in the back. A hushed murmur echoed through the streets.
"Senju Tsunade."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. She turned around, her hand lowering to the table top. "And what might two members of Akatsuki be doing looking for me?"
Kisame smiled. "Seems our reputation precedes us."
"Kisame-san." The red-eyed man raised a hand.
"Including one from my village. Uchiha Itachi, the one who murdered his clan."
"We're here to offer a deal." Itachi sat down at the table. His red eyes glistened as he regarded the tiles. "You see, at the moment, it's more than likely that our objectives coincide."
Tsunade scowled.
"Orochimaru has come here."
Tsunade's eyes widened. "Orochimaru?"
"The heretic scientist—a man who would tear from the earth and the heavens a confession of their true nature. It is for this reason that we are here. He has come here for you." Itachi paused. "So I would like to offer you an alliance."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
"Of course, it's temporary. For the time being, we will work together in an effort to kill Orochimaru."
"And why should I take this deal?"
"He's desperate."
Tsunade's eyes widened.
"A snake slithering through the grass without noise. He's keeping his head down until he can receive your expertise. It is not impossible that he will attempt to kill you, or steal away that experience by other means. Using certain kinjutsu, well, it is possible." Itachi paused. He rested his finger against a blank tile. "At this time he is desperate. Hence, he will require your help in his desperate effort to live. If you ally with us, we can kill that man together."
Tsunade scowled. "And if I don't accept? You seem to have forgotten that we Senju have pride."
"You are not alone in that." Itachi studied the table with distant eyes. "Well, if that's the case, then we'll kill him ourselves. He'll try to contact you first, however; if that does occur, I would like for you to send us his location. That's all."
Tsunade scowled. "Fine." She paused. "Well, I'll make that decision myself."
History
The sky glimmered. Light poured through the heavens. The field of rocks crumpled under the impact of the fist, piercing through the rocks. Lances of lightning tunneled through.
Sasuke gritted her teeth. She lifted her arm. Lightning danced around the fingertips. It's still not good enough. Beating that damn attack. Shit. Just how far do I have to go to surpass him?! It shouldn't be that hard! Sasuke groaned, holding her hand downward. But there's that summoning thing.
History
The hotel glimmered with the remnants of the festival's authority, its dance. The echoing memory of the light filled the sky, but the memory had passed. A certain dullness filled the clouds now.
Kōju lay back on the couch. She took a bite of the ice cream, staring at the screen with empty eyes.
The wind blew through the room.
I don't really want to keep moving forward. I want to stop here. I want to stop with friends. Kōju ran her hand through her hair. Her green eyes stared at the screen, reflecting the image of the princess. I'm fine just stopping here! What's wrong with those guys? Kōju lay back on the couch. Her eyes flicked around the room.
The sword slammed downward.
"You can never win, villain! For I am defended by the force of justice! There is no way the Emperor would let me lose."
Kōju turned off the television. She stared out the window, her eyes studying the buildings.
The rain fell through the sky.
Kōju stared outward. I wonder: what is it that's beyond this sadness? What do they see that I cannot? There's no point to it all!
History
Morning arrived, colored by the bright sunlight.
Chakra fully restored, Naruto grinned as he looked out at the morning sunrise. "Today is a new day. Now, let's see how Jiraiya-sensei is doing." He walked over to the bed and looked down at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya snored, one nostril expanding and contracting steadily.
Naruto glared at Jiraiya. "Hey! You could at least wake up for this, ero-sennin!" he shouted, slapping Jiraiya across the face.
No reaction. Jiraiya continued to snore.
"Heh," Naruto reflected as an idea struck him. He collected one balloon from the stack of balloons and held it over Jiraiya's head.
Jiraiya, spluttering, awakened as the water splashed his head. "Eh? What?" he demanded in a frazzled tone.
"I've completed the first stage!" Naruto declared proudly, hand dripping with water.
Jiraiya sat up, rubbing his head. "Well, let me see it, then," he requested in a quiet voice that indicated his tiredness.
"Okay, watch and learn!" Naruto declared, a foolish grin on his face. Pulling back his left hand, he prepared to strike the ball. Drawing in a deep breath, he opened his eyes wide as he focused his energy into the ball.
Both hands rotated swiftly.
The water sprayed out of the balloon, splashing onto the ground.
"YEAH! SEE?!" Naruto shouted, thrusting his fist in the air.
A trail of drool slipped down Jiraiya's mouth. He had fallen asleep sitting up.
"AARGH!" Naruto shrieked, his voice tempered with raw anger.
After a moment, Jiraiya's eyes snapped open. Rubbing the back of his neck, the toad-sennin laughed. "Sorry—I'm exhausted from finding out about Tsunade-hime by night." His eyes narrowed as he regarded Naruto again. But that's remarkable indeed. Holding the water balloon in his hand and hitting it in the other to make the water swirl, I defy any 'prodigy' to make that move. "But, your intelligence isn't great enough to allow for that kind of move."
Naruto scowled. "Is too! I watched this guy and it came to me!" He held a cat between his hands. "He's Shu."
Jiraiya's eyes widened. Jiraiya wondered, briefly, if his student had gone totally insane.
"He was bouncing the water balloon with his front leg again and again, and it finally broke. When it's hit a lot, the water goes in different directions, and then it breaks!"
And he got that just through observing a cat. Jiraiya's brow dripped with sweat. Well, he's got a ways to go before he can make the chakra spin on one hand. But he did resolve the problem, and he's in his own way succeeded. Jiraiya smiled slowly. "That'll conclude step one. Step two is going to be much, much harder."
History
Midmorning sunshine lit the day as the wind blew through the trees. The
"Step two is just as complex as step one," Jiraiya confirmed, "if not more so. Now."
"Finally, some real training!" Naruto shouted, his fists clenched. "Maybe a new technique? More energy? Flight?"
Jiraiya tossed a rubber ball at Naruto. "Flight? That's ridiculous."
Naruto scowled. "Another one of these dumb tests?"
"It's not a test. It's the basis of the technique." Jiraiya raised his own hand, focusing his energy on the ball. The ball exploded violently with a 'pop'.
"Wow." Naruto regarded the teacher with newfound respect. He focused on the same trick as his mentor, hitting the ball swiftly with one hand.
The ball deformed, and then returned to its original shape.
This is going to be tough, Naruto mused, frowning.
"See you," Jiraiya smiled, waving goodbye.
"Wait. Didn't you say you were going to train with me?" Naruto asked with sullen anger.
"I said I'd teach you," Jiraiya replied calmly. "I never said I'd train with you." He headed outwards.
Night came well prior to any revelation.
Naruto scowled as he threw down the ball. "It's no use!" He stared at the sky with rage. "I've tried everything and it hasn't broken!" This is no good. My arms are exhausted and I'm not getting anything. He sat up slowly, his body protesting with every movement.
The ball continued to sit there.
"Oi, Sasuke!"
Sasuke groaned. Her hand lowered, crackling with light. "What?"
"Can you tell me how to do this? You learned a super A-ranked technique, too, right?" Naruto demanded.
"The process was totally different. You could ask Kōju-san, too—she's quicker on picking up techniques than I am."
"Can't that eye of yours copy techniques?" Naruto whined.
Sasuke sighed. "Take a seat." She gestured to the rock. How do I get this across to him?
Naruto sat down, scowling. He folded his arms across his chest. "So why can't you tell me?"
"First, I haven't seen Jiraiya use that technique."
Naruto blinked. "Oh." He rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe. I guess I'll try to convince him to show it again."
"Second, the Sanzengan doesn't work like that."
"Eh?"
Sasuke pointed at her eyes. "It doesn't outright copy techniques. The more difficult the technique, the less likely I can copy it. That goes doubly for a release I don't already know. Even if you learn the technique, I can't copy it until I learn Wind Style and manage to see you use it a lot." She sighed. She looked at the rubber ball. "That being said, I think you've got the right idea."
"Eh?" Naruto frowned.
"You learn through experience. Every time you do it the ball deforms more." Sasuke paused.
"Wait. You just praised me, didn't you?"
Sasuke's cheeks flushed. "EH? I didn't say anything like that! Don't confuse what I said!"
Naruto smiled foolishly.
"Though." Sasuke sighed. "I must admit. It's not awful being with you two all the time. I think I can live with it a bit longer."
Eh? Naruto's eyes widened. His cheeks flushed. What's she saying all of a sudden?
"Naruto! Sasuke!" Kōju waved her arm. "Come back already!"
"I want to train a little longer." Sasuke scowled. She rose to her feet. "Break's over, blockhead." Turning her head to the side, she waved at Kōju. "You can come up and join us if you want, Kōju-san."
Kōju sighed. "I'm already really sleepy," she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Sasuke shrugged. "Your loss," she remarked, lifting her arm in the air. Lightning crackled around the surface of the fingers.
The rock shimmered.
Lightning danced along the fingers. Sasuke rushed forward.
The hand cracked the rock. A long lance of lightning passed through the rock.
Naruto scowled.
The lightning died away. Sasuke sighed wearily. Her hand lowered. "A pity I can only use it twice per day."
"All right! I'll learn to use this new technique three times per day, and then kick the shit out of you!"
"You're a dumbass." Sasuke sighed. "Whatever." She turned her gaze to Kōju. "Kōju, could you leave dinner on for us? We'll be done out here soon, I promise."
Kōju nodded. Her lip trembled.
Naruto gripped the ball tightly. Damn it.
The air glimmered.
Wind blurred around the body.
Naruto scowled. What the hell am I doing wrong here? I know there's something. I know I'm missing something.
Kōju slowly turned and walked back down the hill. Her eyes glistened. They don't… She reached upward, rubbing her eyes. They don't need this, do they? They don't need me! Didn't we promise? We all promised to stay on the same road to power. Yet they've abandoned me. They left me behind!
Lightning crackled along Sasuke's arm.
Hey, this isn't some prank, you know? Why aren't you angry at me for stealing your pouch? Kōju lowered her hand. Her body shook. She cried silently, tears running down her face. She ran into the streets of the city.