Logicalillogical : it was Intended to be virtue signalling. You have to remember that Naruto is an attention seeking teenager (from canon's 12 to fanon's 15), so he will be doing anything for such…and humans are of hypocritical nature, they show something else and are something else, no matter if he is the mc of the show. Humans can't be perfect, but they can always grow to be better. About becoming aware of female sexual behaviour? Perhaps in future chapters, other than that you will see that in this chapter…
Have a good day my friend!
...
It's a long chapter, so sit tight everybody!
Chapter 2 : I. Am. The. Honored One.
He felt alone.
So very alone.
It was a space devoid of color, texture, or sound. A void, an absolute nothingness – The Hyperspace. That was both overwhelming and strangely comforting. Yet, within this hyperspace, his consciousness persisted. It was Satoru Gojo, his spirit adrift in a sea of nothingness.
"I Lost." He said, but there was no sound nor did anyone hear him.
He chuckled, a hollow, mirthless sound from his metaphysical mouth. Loss. It was an unfamiliar word to him. He never even thought about the possibility of losing to someone, let alone dying.
There was no pain, no fear, merely an awareness of existence. He was a mind without a body, a consciousness without a vessel. He could feel no physical sensations, taste no flavors, smell no aromas. All that remained was thought, pure and unfiltered.
He could still vividly recall everything. His defeat at the hands of sukuna, his meeting with his dead comrades and his only best friend.
"What would you have done, suguru?" again, there was no sound nor any ear for such sound. His voice was no more than thoughts.
He chose North, the right path. The path of self improvement, as Nanami put it. He had to become a better version of himself, even in his next life.
Because you see, Satoru Gojo, the honored one, understood life only after his death.
One of the most selfish humans to ever exist, a person who rarely thought of others or their well being. What he seeked was a thrill of battle – his reason for being a jujutsu sorcerer.
But he found none.
When he thought he had fun, he didn't! He began to seek what he didn't have — Friends… People Close to Him…
But that changed. Death Shatters Ego, they say. Well, the monks and yogis weren't wrong. His ego got shattered when he died, the very moment sukuna used his world cutting slash. As he thought himself to be invincible and others believed it too, but he lost and died nonetheless.
He thought of himself as enlightened, a Higher being on the face of earth who has conquered death but he couldn't be more wrong. He is NOT enlightened, so he will return to the cycle of reincarnation – Samsara – and be reborn.
"Well, I can't do anything even if I wanted to… I am nothing but a soul with still intact awareness waiting to be reincarnated…sigh. There is nothing that can be done." Satoru Mused.
"Everything's up to you, my students…" he thought hopefully.
Looking at them now brought a lot of guilt. In Asian culture, a student-teacher relationship is very special, a bond greater than blood or ritual. But he let them down, all due his own foolishness in seeking the ultimate challenge.
To seek someone, someone else who could understand you.
As of now, he felt very alone…and empty…
He chuckled again, at his own mental comedy.
"Yeah, right... Like I was alone." In one way he is right. He never was alone. His loneliness was only a mental barrier he created due his perception of others as his inferiors and him being very superior. His arrogance as the honored one, the strongest, the chosen one.
There was only one human he ever saw as his equal; Suguru.
Suguru compared him to a flower, a Lotus. He was right, but if someone tried to understand the Lotus, shouldn't the flower let them do so? He didn't!
Satoru let his power decide his character. As one's character and mindset are their core and their overall strength – physical, financial or political – is a layer upon said core.
He let that covering decide what becomes of his core, whereas he should have shaped the cover according to his core.
He isolated himself after Suguru's fall from grace and was the one responsible for the death of many thousands – directly or indirectly.
But even with that knowledge, he had no regrets, as he died without them. But after his death, what Satoru mostly regretted was his life and how he lived it.
And now he is here, Satoru Gojo, The Honored One, World's strongest jujutsu sorcerer, lost, broken and shaken, alone in the vast expanse of an infinite number of endlessly expanding universes.
He signed tiredly. "I can't even remember when I died. My perception of time is messed up. Oh, Brahma or yama or whatever, just reincarnate me already!" He half ranted-half demanded.
It was a very peculiar thrill. Being able to witness your own reincarnation, that is. The changes to your very soul – true soul which only carries a spark of consciousness and karma – rewriting of the laws according to the universe, crushing and flushing of your astral body – which contains memories, ego, biological data, mental landscape aka innate domain and personality – and gaining a new one.
Suddenly he felt a strong pull in the back of his mind–er, well, his entire being that is.
Satoru grinned. "FINALLY! Finally! Hahaha… " he exhaled deeply and then his eyes – even non physical – glinted with hope. "It's about damn time… I will change and again be the Honored One, but with a different approach. A true Honored One."
Nothing happened.
He frowned in surprise. "What?" He paused, then added, "Is that supposed to happen?"
Another pull, stronger than the last one.
But again, nothing…
"…Wait…does the traditional isekai shit is about to happen? To me? Really?" he looked around the void with his spiritual eyes.
"Naw, it can't happen…" he trailed off, unsure.
Sure, reincarnation with memory is possible but that is counted as a siddhi – highest level spiritual accomplishments capable of altering the very universe on a fundamental level. Satoru gojo was many things, but spiritualist was not one of them.
Even if he was a spiritualist, he couldn't acquire siddhi. With his attitude and all… as well as the nature of his being which is Tamasic, opposed to a siddhi's Satvik nature. Afterall, jujutsu was derived from Tibetan tantric practices, a Tamasic aspect of reality…
This time, he felt the strongest pull he had felt. It was very similar to his Blue, but 10 fold in sheer intensity.
And in the blink of an eye, the hyperspace was no more, replaced with vibrant colours he could perceive with his six eyes… wait…
What?
Six eyes? How does he even have it? More importantly, how can he tell it's his six eyes?
…And he was falling…
…And now he landed/crashed…
"What. The. Fuck?!" Those were his first actual words as he found himself lying face first in a crater.
He couldn't get even one good reincarnation? Seriously?
He groaned and hard.
'Karma, You truly are a bitch!' he cursed and then added 'i really hate you, Lady Luck!'
Aaand Lady Luck hated one satoru gojo in return…
(Friday Morning, 8:15 A.M. with Naruto)
The morning sun painted the sky in the hues of pink and gold. Cold but gentle wind cascading Naruto's skin, the sound of Birds chirping in content and happiness, stores being opened and people walking up for their jobs and work…
Nothing can be wrong with this environment, right?
Wrong!
"Where the hell is that pervert?" Grumbled Naruto impatiently.
It's been almost an hour late already. Jiraiya told him to be in training ground 24, same as before, at 7 A.M.
Guess what? Naruto came on time! He was punctual! He understood what it means to make someone left waiting so he broke his sweet sleeping cycle with an ice cold bath and came.
But the toad sage was not present! He waited for him then began doing the normal warm up Kakashi taught him…
He even played hide and seek with his shadow clones, but jiraiya was nowhere to be seen.
He did what anyone else has done, search for the old pervert.
"I swear I will burn what makes him a man once I find him." He said darkly. Naruto was not a patient person, it was never in his nature to ever be patient.
He searched for jiraiya in a bar near his residence, in the hokage office and even –reluctantly– in a hot spring! Old man told him he could find jiraiya there, but he couldn't!
And all that brings here, Naruto stomping off impatiently through the central part of leaf village in search of toad sage.
"Hey boss!" Naruto heard from behind him. He looked back and found Konohamaru there.
His anger momentarily forgotten, he greeted him with a warm smile. "Hey there konohamaru! What are you doing here this early in the morning?"
Konohamaru chuckled. "I was just getting away from boring lessons ebisu-sensei gives. Seriously, that pervert has a loose screw when he thinks that reading history will help me become hokage!"
Naruto grinned. "Wow! I thought only I found those disgusting books boring. Welcome to the club, konohamaru!"
Naruto warped konohamaru in a heartly hug, which the aspiring ninja eagerly returned.
Ending their embrace in the middle of the road, they began walking and Konohamaru asked, "What are you doing here, boss? I don't take you as a type to wake this up early?"
Naruto laughed sheepishly. "I am definitely not the type… I was actually searching for jiraiya, as he is my new instructor."
Konohamaru's eyes went wide. "Do you mean the Toad Sage jiraiya?" His voice trembled with admiration.
Naruto raised his eyebrow in surprise. "Um, yeah, the same one." He replied, not understanding the kids' admiration for the pervert.
"Are you kidding me? You are being trained by the Toad Sage himself? So Cool!" he exclaimed with shining eyes and Naruto paused to stare at him.
"Kid, I know he is supposed to be a super cool and strong ninja, but he is a mega pervert and claims to be the world's biggest super pervert." Naruto said with a sigh and resumed his walk.
Konohamaru deadpanned. "Aren't we the same? I mean, the first time I met you, we tried to sneak into the hot springs and you have the Harem Jutsu – the most perverted jutsu in existence!"
Naruto glared at him. Konohamaru returned it with his own, and after a few seconds Naruto looked sideways, shameful.
Guilty as charged it seems.
"You…are right. But at least I don't publically announce my desires. You gotta hide em' from others, ya know." Naruto bashfully said.
Konohamaru smirked mischievously. "I totally understand you boss. Grandpa also hides his books to who knows where. I can't find them anymore."
Naruto froze, eyes wide in shock. "You read erotic literature?!" Naruto grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Kid, you are really a kid! What are you, 12? 13? That's not the time to go there."
Konohamaru blinked innocently. "How old were you when you made the sexy jutsu?" He asked.
Naruto let go of Konohamaru's shoulders, turned and began whistling innocently, trying to deflect the question.
"Well…?" he persisted. Naruto looked at him with narrowed eyes in annoyance.
"...Sigh. Fine," Naruto gave in, " I was 11! I got my hands on the cover of the same book the old man reads and from there I got my inspiration for sexy jutsu. Happy?"
Konohamaru smiled slyly. "Happy!" he replied cheerfully and teasingly.
"You are an open-closet pervert." He tapped his chin, "A Mixed Pervert! I'd say!" He added.
Naruto just glared harder at him, huffed and began stomping off again. The anger on jiraiya rushing back with vengeance.
"All that aside," konohamaru began, "what about training with jiraiya?"
"Ooh, we just started yesterday, he taught me chakra control," said Naruto without looking at him.
"Like the leaf sticking?" he asked.
Naruto nodded. "Like the leaf sticking, but more advanced."
"Wow," he said in awe," could you teach me? pretty please?"
"huh?"
"Please!" Konohamaru was on his knees and was giving the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. They ignored others looking at them, "Ebisu-Sensei doesn't teach me anything useful or ninja related! And iruka-sensei never teaches anything interesting!"
Naruto patted him on the shoulder in sympathy. "I understand your frustration, but I myself just began to learn. what would I teach you?"
"What you learn!" Konohamaru replied instantly.
Naruto sighed dramatically, and spoke in a mighty, superior tone, "Sorry Konohamaru, I really like you, but I have my own duties as a ninja and my training, so that's a no go." Naruto shook his head in mock sadness.
Konohamaru looked crestfallen. But just then, his eyes glinted and a grin found its way to his face. "Really boss?"
Naruto nodded in fake sadness. "Really. I have to go now! You can go play with your friends, or train or do whatever. I have to find a pervert, ya know." He began heading towards the Burning Leaf Hot Springs, third on his list today.
"What if I give you a weeks' worth of ramen?" Konohamaru questioned in a knowing tone.
Naruto paused, considering, "...Liar." said Naruto after the pause, "You don't have the money for it, you are just a kid. And what do you think, a ninja like me will be sold for such a cheap price? If, and a big IF, sold at all?" he ended with a scoff.
"…"
…what? What do you expect him to do? refuse this offer? What good would that do? The kid will just go to his grandpa and request another instructor! And jiraiya forbade him from eating ramen from now on, even if he were to disobey him, it would do him no good.
The one week offer from jiraiya is already used to pay his dues to the blasted ramen stand…
Free ramen is the Best ramen in the world!
'too easy!' konohamaru thought with a widened smirk. "Really? Did you forget that I am a sarutobi and more importantly, the grandson of the Third hokage. Or did you forget that I am rich enough to have a jonin as my private instructor?" he pressed certain words to have the highest psychological impact.
Those basic psychology lessons sure come in handy sometimes.
Naruto's eyes went wide in realisation, but he quickly shook his head. "Spoiled much?" He asked rhetorically, "My answer is still no! I cannot abandon my duty just to train you, as you said, you do have a private instructor!"
The 'great grandson' wiggled his eyebrows. "How about 2 weeks?"
"…No! I will not be sold for any price!" Naruto replied heatedly.
"1 Month?"
Naruto took a really long moment to consider, '1 bowl of ramen costs almost 150 ryo with discount. And I easily eat about 15 bowls a day, and that equals to 2250 ryo per day on average then that multiplied by 30? Hmm…' he began doing mental maths, 'i suck at maths!'
'Oh my god!' Naruto thought, completely baffled. 'I eat almost 90 thousand ryo worth of ramen per month!? Adding special days?' he chuckled which confused his companion. 'I am amazing!' He mentally cheered.
"My answer… is still a NO kid..." he replied, but a tad bit unsurely. Debating whether to take up the kids' offer or not. Which konohamaru took notice of.
"3 Months? That's as far as I can go, How about it? Deal?" Konohamaru extended his hand for a handshake. 'ha! Bingo! I am not giving him even half of my allowance which I don't even use and he is ready to give in! Konohamaru, the future hokage, you are awesome!' he patted himself on the back.
"DONE!" Naruto took konohamaru's hand and shook it rapidly with a grin. They both crackled maniacally in the middle of the street and kept people wondering what is wrong with kids these days…
"When do we start?"
Naruto hummed for a few seconds, "Today Is Friday so from the day after Tomorrow! every Sunday. Come to training ground 3 alright? It will be empty on Sundays."
"Thanks boss! I'll see you tomorrow!" With that, konohamaru ran off to his friends house, probably udon. Naruto too resumed his search…
"He is going to pay! One way or another for making me wait like that!"
(Kuma Lane - 9:12 A.M)
Naruto ran.
At his top speed.
Ran from a mob of females.
Ran from their righteous fury.
It was good that he used a transformation jutsu to look like Tazuna or he'd be toast.
It was his fifth hot spring. But even now jiraiya was nowhere to be found.
'Maybe he gave up? Maybe it was only a one day thing? I should have known…' he thought dejectedly. 'afterall why would someone want to train me of all people? Hn!'
Seriously, if the Toad Sage was really serious about training him, he'd be on time and not stalling to whatever he was doing.
As he continued his mental musing, he crashed into something. Or rather someone.
"Watch it, Naruto!" Naruto heard. As he looked up, he was greeted with a scar faced individual looking at him with a slight frown.
Naruto brightened up. "Iruka-sensei!"
Iruka's lips quivered up ever so slightly. "Hey there Naruto! How have you been?"
Naruto gave a megawatt smile. "I am doing great sensei! How about you?"
"I am also doing great. You were in a hurry, so, where were you heading?"
Naruto laughed a little. "I am looking for my new teacher. Though, it seems like only I consider him a teacher. If he had any intention of teaching me, he would have come on time!"
Iruka noted the sadness on Naruto, and decided to lighten his former student. "I can't speak for them, but maybe they got strangled in an important business? You should give them some time." He said wisely and added, "Who is this new teacher of yours anyways? I don't see your teammates so it can't be Kakashi!"
"Yes, it isn't Kakashi. His name is jiraiya."
Iruka's eyes went wide in recognition. "The legendary Jiraiya?" He asked and Naruto nodded. "Then you shouldn't worry, Naruto. I am sure he had very important business to take care off, and that's why he couldn't train you today."
"More like he is perving somewhere." Grumbled Naruto under his breath.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, iruka sensei!" Then Naruto's eyes sparkled with an idea, "Ne, iruka-sensei, you always found me no matter where I was, so, can you help me with Pervy sage? Pretty please?"
Iruka had a good laugh on Jiraiya's nickname. "...hehe. Well, I don't have much time but I could at least try. But no guarantees, alright?" Naruto just gave him a bright smile.
Iruka closed his eyes and did a ram seal. Changing his chakra into sensory mode, and expanding his sixth sense in a wide area. Searching for the largest chakra signature aside from Naruto.
After almost a minute, Iruka opened his eyes. "Sorry Naruto, with my range I couldn't find him."
'range?' Naruto wondered, but outwardly signed heavily. "Wait, iruka-sensei, what did you do? With the ram sign?"
"Oh, nothing much, I am a sensory type ninja so with the ram seal, I changed my chakra into 'sensory mode' which allowed me to pinpoint others' chakra's location."
"Sensory Ninja? What is that? Is it a super cool ninja like you?"
Iruka gave a hearty chuckle and said, "A sensory ninja is a special type of shinobi with the innate ability to sense others' chakra better than normal, and pinpoint it."
He added, "It's not only the ones who can sense chakra via our sixth sense. For e.g. The inuzuka can smell chakra–"
"Chakra has a smell?"
"That I don't know off, but anyways, the inuzuka can smell chakra and the hyuga have the byakugan to look kilometres far, so they, by default, are sensors."
He also quickly added, "It isn't to say others cannot do it, with sufficient practice anyone can become a sensory ninja but natural born have a good advantage in that field."
"Even I can do it?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Yes, even you can do it! It will take practice if you are not a natural born, but if you are, you would be able to do it in a matter of weeks."
"How can I learn it?" Naruto's eyes were sparkling with curiosity.
"Well… You have to meditate. As simple as that." He shrugged. "You have to do the ram seal and sit to meditate. It will be frustrating but you will reach it with enough practice."
"Thanks iruka-sensei!" His voice was very happy, for really today, for the first time today. "For telling me this. I won't find out until I try and if I try, I won't give up until I become a sensory ninja! I can practise this instead of wasting my time finding pervy sage! Believe it!"
With that said, Naruto bid Iruka farewell and headed towards training ground 24. Today's goal was set, even if a pervy sage won't teach him for whatever reason he has, he would become an awesome ninja and the hokage.
'Believe It!'
Naruto walked towards a nearby banyan tree at leisure pace. "This place is good enough!" He said as he sat beneath the giant tree.
The tree was old.
Very old.
Very big too.
He began breathing deeply to steady his nerves. The most basic meditation taught to them was One Point Focus. In this, they had to concentrate on the feeling of their chakra. He could apply the same principle to feel others' chakra.
It was in no way a meditation technique but a concentration technique.
Once his heart rate became stable, he did the Ram Hand seal and began focusing his chakra senses outwards.
Naruto was many things, but incompetent was not one of them. It took him nearly a year to awaken his chakra – the average being 6 months – as it required good concentration which he always lacked.
He lacked concentration but not guts. He never gave up and kept going until he did.
So he began his training. Slowly but surely, his thoughts slowed down to the point of being unnoticeable.
He began withdrawing his senses. One by one. First was his ears – Sound. And the easiest of them all. As his eyes were closed, vision was already checked.
His other senses grew sharp immensely, to compensate for the missing ones and began bombarding Naruto with a good deal of sensory information.
This went on for nearly an hour and Naruto opened his eyes in frustration. "I swear this –#* *" he began cursing rather loudly.
"Sigh. My progress is really slow. But iruka sensei said it could take weeks if i am a sensory type but if not it may take months…"
He shook his head rather violently. "No! I won't give up!" he declared loudly.
'is this the reason why nobody is patient enough to teach me? Because I myself am not patient enough?' he wondered.
Who is going to tell him that a skill can't be developed in merely hours!
sigh.
That was the level of Naruto Uzumaki's patience…
Just then, replacing his internal chatter, came a thought which made Naruto grin ear to ear.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu" he shouted and the empty training ground was filled with chakra smoke, accompanying them were more than 1000 clones of Naruto.
"Okay guys!" Said Naruto to get his clones' attention. When he had it he added, "Everybody spread out! And do sensory meditation! Now all of us have less energy and can sit for a while! If anyone makes any progress, dispel at one, alright?"
Naruto's clones chorused a "YES SIR!" And when their separate directions. Naruto also resumed his meditation to detect chakra.
Slowly but surely Naruto began making progress. And the extra help from his clones was also welcomed.
A clone was able to withdraw his sight, hearing and taste before his chakra senses opened. That clone he instantly dispelled himself.
The original Naruto's eyes snapped open. "Yes!" He yelled on top of his lungs then resumed his exercise…
…
It was nearly 1 P.M. in the noon, and Naruto made very steady progress. He was able to feel the chakra of everything in the entire training ground! Beginning from the very tree he is sitting beneath…
He was able to sense the potent chakra the tree possessed. He was also able to sense the state of animals nearby him. Many were hungry, some hostile and some just… lazy. He snorted 'they might be shikamaru's relatives.'
He dispelled each and every clone, then fell to the ground, clutching his head tightly. "Aaahh…! what the fuck! My head!" He roared in pain.
Naruto also discovered the downside of using so many shadow clones and dispelling them at once.
It took a good 30 minutes for him to regain his bearing. He was panting heavily, mental exhaustion hitting in full force.
"I am feeling tired and sleepy already! Dammit!" He lamented.
He closed his eyes. "It's lunch time and pervy sage is nowhere to be seen. I guess he won't be coming today after all…"
"Well, whatever." He released a deep and tired breath. "I will just practise my new sensory jutsu some more and then go home!" Then he groaned in more pain, "maybe in one more hour… ahh! Fuck!"
That was the day for one Naruto Uzumaki.
"Burp. Ahhh~ That hit the spot! Thanks old man!" said Naruto while rubbing his stomach with a foxy grin.
Teuchi just gave him a thumbs up, picked up 20 bowls he so hastily devoured and went to wash them.
Now what remained was to practise his sensory ninjutsu in the real world to detect specific people, and Naruto had the best idea on how to squeeze the ability of shadow clones without the damned headache.
Naruto shuddered, even remembering the pain. It was the worst Naruto has ever felt in his life!
Hell, it gave him phantom pain even now!
With that in mind, Naruto paid Teuchi and headed towards the hokage monument, to get the best view of the village.
Once he reached it, he sat on minato's head and made the cross hand sign with a wide grin. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He said and 40 clones materialised behind him. Each one having the same grin as their original.
"Divide into groups of 10," they did so, instantly. He pointed at the first group, "Go and Find Kakashi sensei, try spying on our teammates without going into the training grounds. With only your sensory skills!" They saluted and ran off.
He turned to the second group and said, "You go find and monitor Kiba's team." They did the same, saluting and running.
"You go to shikamaru's group," do I really have to tell you again? The third group did what they did, "you go, um, you… what would you do?" he asked his clones and they shrugged.
"Whatever you tell us!" Clone 1 said.
"You made us after all, how would we know what to do? You are an idiot if you don't even know what to do!" The Clone 3 said and all clones, including the original turned to him, stating. "What?" He asked in annoyance.
"Didn't you just call yourself an idiot?" his fellow clones said as one.
C3 blinked. "Did I? I mean, it is true isn't it? We are idiots!"
"Hey!" the original Naruto barked out, offended. "Who are you calling an idiot huh, you idiot? I am not an idiot!"
"Sure you aren't! I am!" C3 replied rather smoothly, and other clones began guffawing.
Naruto just glared at the offending clone who blew a raspberry in reply. Then he sighed. 'they are my clones alright!'
"Why don't we search for pervy sage?" C5 supplied helpfully.
"And how are we gonna do that?" Naruto questioned.
"Isn't pervy sage supposed to be strong?"
C10 nodded. "Yeah he is. What does that have to do with us searching for him?"
"I mean, wouldn't he have pretty large chakra reserves which would make him easy to spot, ya know?"
"Yeah…" Naruto said in understanding, but still a little surprised with his clone's better intellect than even him. Which was just baffling!
"But where to find him. I mean, our village isn't very small ya know."
"I have an idea!" The only clone who didn't speak till now – C2, did. "Why don't we search in most likely places he'd be? Like the hot spring, the bathhouses, bars and brothels."
All clones turned cherry red at the mention of brothels. "Should we really go there? What I mean is if we found him there then maybe the pervy sage would try and do something to make us perverted? I know, we already are, but he might drag us to his level of degeneracy! I wouldn't push it beyond him."
Somewhere a certain white haired super-pervert sneezed rather loudly…
Then resumed his activities…
"It's not like we haven't been there before!" Clone 7 quipped cheekily.
All of their faces exploded like miniature nukes as they spluttered.
"""Shut up! Don't say it like that! It can be misunderstood!"" All of the clones and original shouted as one.
"Yeah, whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Let's just go. We haven't got all day ya know."
All of the clones just glared at the cheeky one. 'He is wayyy too cheeky, even for me!' Naruto thought in mild irritation.
Isn't it funny? Being angry and frustrated on yourself?
Everyone gave a two finger, left handed salute and left to their destinations to perv–I mean search for jiraiya! Yeah, search!
Naruto inhaled a long and deep breath, then exhaled. The sun was still up, but due to the height, the wind was cold.
"Man, I love this sensation of wind on my skin!"
Naruto stretched, to give sore muscles some relaxation. He didn't do anything physically taxing but he was oddly tired today.
'I Really feel like I would sleep like a log today.'
He sat down in the lotus position and did a ram hand seal.
His perception changed as he began to feel others' chakra. The first one he noticed was the old man hokage's chakra. It was huge and a mushy mess of multiple things.
It also held…amusement?
Naruto mentally blinked. Twice. Then shook his head.
'Strange'
Then he picked up multiple Anbu guarding him, they too took notice of Naruto sensing them and instantly became invisible in naruto's mind's eye. 'i really outa learn how to do that!' he mentally added.
Then he began broadening his perception which was limited to a few hundred metres but was slowly expanding.
60 metres, he was able to pinpoint many ninja going in and out of the hokage tower.
150 metres, he could sense normal civilians, with little to no chakra and chakra, doing their things. Shopping, talking, laughing, kids crying, and whatnot.
300 metres, and he could make a mental map of the very landscape based on the chakra he is sensing.
'Am I supposed to sense the chakra of trees, animals and…a little bit of earth?'
Yeah, there was a strange thing, he could understand the sensing chakra of the living, but earth? How? And more importantly, what was it? It behaved far more differently than chakra, and he could only observe it –how, even he didn't know– but it was not as same as chakra within humans, animals or plants.
'Chakra of Nature…Nature chakra? I have to ask pervy sage about it later.'
'Wait… what if I try sensing my chakra? Like seeing the inner you?' He hummed, 'let's try!'
Then he delved deeper into his own chakra…
(This Morning – Jiraiya)
Jiraiya scribbled ferociously with a shit eating grin.
Yup, you guessed it right, peeking on the girls, in the open Hotspring.
'This has to be the best material in months! Leaf village is the best!' he thought lecherously.
Just as he was about to savour another moment of scandalous inspiration, a sudden tug on his mind jolted him out of his reverie. His face instantly hardened, and the lecherous grin vanished.
With a swift movement, he tucked his notebook away and leaped from the tree. Not a single leaf stirred as he vanished into the dense foliage.
This was the level of Jiraiya's stealth.
A Master Of Espionage for a reason.
He sped through the streets –they were empty– and reached a secluded place, the moment he arrived — Puff.
A small, yellow toad carrying a small slip of paper appeared.
The toad handed the paper to Jiraiya and he paid it in some fresh, alive bugs he kept sealed on his person. The small toad croaked happily, and left in another puff of smoke
'What could be so important that my important agents would use an emergency toad to deliver a message?'
He opened the slip and it read:
Meet me in room 72, at 100 Day paradise, Fourth Street, Red Light District.
~ Agent Metatron.
This caught Jiraiya in a dilemma. He couldn't figure out what should feel about it?
Happy? He is! Metatron-Yona-was one of the sexiest women in his network – in all of the elemental nations – of women spies, and she always 'rewarded' him.
She was also one of his only true friends.
…Okay, Friend with benefits, but a Friend nonetheless.
He giggled giddily.
On alert? He was ready to jump in a war on moments notice! Metatron - again -yona- was a serious woman, and one of the best in the art of espionage. It means she has information which can cause international incidents or at worst, another war.
Jiraiya truly didn't know what to think or what to feel.
Surprise. Happiness. Fear. Anxiety. Excitement.
With a whirlwind of emotions within him, Jiraiya Body Flickered towards his destination.
Jiraiya arrived in front of a brothel; 100 Days Paradise. It's promise of pleasure stark against the otherwise serene morning.
He ignored the ladies calling for him, and you better believe it took a lot of willpower.
'Today's training is off. I'll have all the time in the world to greet most of them!' he thought with a dopey grin, blood began dripping from his nose.
For now, he certainly forgot about his waiting godson.
Inside, the air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume and exotic bodies. The dim, opulent interior was filled with a low hum of conversation and laughter even in the early morning.
He checked in, paid, entered room no. 72 and was instantly propelled back by the blood gushing out of his nose.
His specific regions began to hurt like crazy, roaring in approval and desire to be unleashed.
You see, the sight greeting him was good enough that any straight man would kill for it.
A blonde haired curvaceous woman – vision of voluptuous beauty – with emerald green eyes, pale, smooth–flawless skin, sensual smile – all this while she laid naked atop of the bed.
Her face is the epitome of the word; Beautiful and her body, far better than even Tsunade.
That coming from the white haired pervert, was saying something.
Yona was a True Woman. His type of women. Open with her desires and slating them when they arise.
"Hey there, handsome~" she cooed seductively.
Jiraiya looked up, and spotted a slutry smile. he grinned ear to ear in return.
"Come on now, don't make me wait!" She almost whimpered. Almost. "We have a lot to talk about you know~"
He took a long wipe to clean his nose off, and closed the door behind him.
Doing some hand signs at light speed, he casted a S-ranked privacy barrier; Solace Infinite. 'no disturbance!' he all but screamed mentally.
"Don't worry sweetheart, you won't have any chances to even think of anything else once I am through with you!"
Yona giggled and their morning descended into exchange of information and carnal pleasure.
More carnal pleasure than information…
…
All the while a certain blonde haired, whiskered teen sought after the white haired pervert relentlessly.
(With Naruto)
Slap.
What the hell were you doing?
"Wha-what?"
Clone Naruto snarled. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?! BOSS SENT YOU TO FIND PERVY SAGE AND NOT TO PEEP ON GIRLS WHILE YOU LISTEN TO THEM TALKING!"
"Oh yeah?" Clone 2 twitched heavily. "If you heard them talk, you wouldn't have been able to even think, let alone move a muscle! Think before you say anything! Believe it!"
Clone 1 groaned. "Oh God, Why, just Why me?" But no one answered him.
It was a good thing they were away from anyone at that moment or that outburst might have warned them of a beating of a lifetime.
What led these two Naruto clones here? Simple answer would be Naruto's suppressed teenage desires. And a more appropriate answer would be… it's complicated.
You see, when clone Naruto two – the one who suggested the idea to go and check on the red light district – arrived at the Sun Flake hot spring, he didn't expect to hear a rather… let's say, interesting discussion.
FYI, Hot Springs in leaf village were open 24x7, as there were only 13 of them in the entirety of leaf. For more than 3.2 Millions population, only thirteen naturally occurring Hot Springs were available.
It was a small number to say the least. And busy as hell as well.
Anyways, what he heard was about Blind Partner Swapping in an Orgy.
And as any healthy -straight!- teenager would do, he listened, and in very excruciating detail, he heard the raunchiest sex discussion of his god forsaken life!
'Oh. My. Fucking. God' summarised his thoughts perfectly.
If the puddle of blood under his feet was anything to go by.
Today, Naruto (C) understood –and the real one (R) would soon understand– why pervy sage was pervy. And his claim as the biggest super-pervert was just that, a claim.
Said claim was the biggest piece of dog shit he'd ever heard.
There existed perverts bigger than him!
Today Naruto (R) will understand that an average woman with an active chakra network has a 7x higher sexual appetite than any male.
It makes up 78% of the general population actually, and 88% of the female population, kunoichi or not. Even civilians have an active chakra network for utilities' sake.
Elemental Nations had a messed up gender ratio. With all the deaths on a daily basis and preference of men in most fields.
And the opposite is also true. Male with an active chakra have less sexual drive than a male without. As their bodily energies go to generate chakra more than the growth of it.
And…today, Naruto lost a part of him, a very innocent and childish part which just forever be a memory…
Funny thing is, he enjoyed it! And has no regrets!
"Found Him! Hah!" Yelled Naruto on top of Minato's head.
C7 found Jiraiya in a restaurant near the red light district, in Tobirama Lane. There was also a strange but beautiful woman with him.
What they were doing, talking about, Naruto had no idea. Neither the interest to know, feeling the goofiness and funniness of Jiraiya's chakra, and Jiraiya's chakra being present in the lady's system gave him a good enough idea.
'They both are peas in a pod! Total, shameless perverts!'
He was right! Jiraiya was just wasting time!
With a heavy and long drawn sigh, he ordered his clones to dispel, and was instantly hit with a mild headache.
The first batch were quite successful. They were able to observe his team from quite a far distance away and make out of their activities based on chakra fluctuations.
Kakashi was running them rigid.
'Only if he had trained like this when I was still there…' Sigh. Wishful thinking.
The Second Group were partially successful, as they were able to observe team 10. But halfway through, when he tried to probe in on ino's chakra to understand it's composition and how she did her mind thingy jutsu, he was spotted. Then dispelled by a kunai from Asuma.
Dang it!
Who could have thought that ino is also a sensory type?
No matter. His third group was the only one to fail spectacularly. Kurenai spotted him before he even entered their training ground, followed by Shino's bugs, kiba's growls and Hinata's nervous 'eep'.
Team 8 were all Sensors!
and
By the gods, they hit hard. He'd known that Hinata is more than what meets the eye. But being suddenly struck by a chakra laced finger to the heart and then bugs eating all your brothers is rather painful.
Darn it! He already has a mess to clean with other teams or it might damage his reputation!
Whatever that is anyways.
Then there comes his eccentric group of misfits.
He was blown back by the sheer intensity of the nosebleed he had!
Naruto felt dizzy, before his healing factor kicked in and began regenerating his blood. He lay there, on the ground on his back, blood gushing out of his nose at rapid pace, and his nether regions reaching new heights.
'I feel like a hypocrite! Pervy sage, i totally understand ya…' he thought goofily, the mask of at least decency slipping up.
He will no longer be suppressing his desires! Decency be damned!
But that's a thought for another time.
Where were we? Oh yeah, Jiraiya! So Naruto's Clone C7 found him in a pretty good restaurant, eating with a lady with a goofy smile and laughter.
Genuine laughter and not his perverted one.
He also understood that today was important for jiraiya more than training, so he might let it slide -Might!- being a keyword. If and only if Jiraiya teaches him a new and cool jutsu!
Won't hurt to try ya know.
With that thought, he got up, whipped a towel out of thin air, cleaned his face and then throttled towards the restaurant. As the sun was beginning to descend, he had nothing more on his agenda today.
Castrated pervy sage, talk to him/threaten him to teach him a new and cool jutsu, and leave for home.
Best. Plan. Ever
Right?
Jiraiya dodged a well-aimed kick to his nether regions with practised ease, a smirk playing on his lips. "Feisty, aren't we, Naruto?" he teased, his voice carrying a hint of amusement, along with apologetic fear.
Naruto hissed, eyebrows twitching madly and rage barely controlled.
Naruto6 patience wearing thin, burst into a tirade. "You promised to train me, Pervy Sage! And here you are, 'spending time' with some hot chick!" His voice echoed down the street, drawing curious glances from passersby.
Yona chuckled, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Jealous, Child?" she teased, ruffling his hair playfully.
Naruto sputtered, his face turning a deep shade of red. "Me? Jealous? Of Him? Please!" he snorted, then returned to glare at Jiraiya's form.
Jiraiya sighed, trying to ruffle Naruto's hair, but failing when the blonde swatted his arm. "Hey now, don't be so impatient. I was busy, okay?"
Naruto's glare intensified. "Busy doing what, exactly? Perving on women? Other than that I can't see anything worthwhile for you! You shameless leecher!"
Yona laughed, her laughter like tinkling wind chimes. "Now, now, child, don't be so harsh. Jiraiya is a man of culture, after all."
"Don't call me child!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.
Jiraiya bowed dramatically. "Thank you, my dear. You have an excellent understanding of the finer things in life."
Naruto rolled his eyes, but a flicker of curiosity sparked in his gaze. He had never seen Jiraiya with a woman before, let alone one as striking as this woman.
"Who is she?" Naruto asked, his voice laced with suspicion.
Yona extended a hand. "Yona, a traveller," she introduced herself, her voice smooth as silk. "And you are…"
"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki, Future Hokage of Leaf Village! Believe It!"
Yona giggled. "You have a firecracker as a student, Jiraiya. I can tell, he will do great things in life."
Naruto puffed out his chest in pride, stroked by this beauties' praise. Anger on Jiraiya all but forgotten.
"You are an excellent judge of character, madam!"
"That I am." She turned to Jiraiya and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well Jiraiya, we will meet again. Until then…" she disappeared in a lightning body flicker.
Leaving the perverted toad sage to deal with an irate teenager blonde – known as the most troublesome sub-species of humans – alone.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya, who just chuckled nervously in return.
No, Naruto was not jealous! No. Not at all. No, Just…No!
…Was he?
"Uh-Huh. So you had fun, Jiraiya-sensei?" Said Naruto with a sickly sweet smile and glowing red eyes. Jiraiya began sweating bullets, saw an opening and broke into a run…
But he didn't go much far, and an unholy scream permeated the streets. Scream of a man, being attacked on his manly pride by his student…
He swore that day, never piss off Naruto, no matter what.
(Training Ground 24 – Two Days Later)
The relentless cascade of water pounded against the base of the cliff, misting the air with a fine spray. Naruto, drenched to the bone, clung precariously to a jutting rock, his knuckles white. Two days of attempting to walk on water had yielded little more than spectacular failures.
His once vibrant orange jumpsuit was now a muddy, tattered mess, clinging to his damp skin. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest, but the spark of determination in his eyes remained undimmed. He took a deep breath, his chakra swirling within him. With a surge of adrenaline, he pushed off from the rock, his body arcing through the air.
For a brief, exhilarating moment, he was airborne. Then gravity asserted itself, and he plummeted into the icy waters below, the world exploding into a kaleidoscope of white and blue.
Why was he doing this? Answers!
Answers to his question of what he felt when using sensory ninjutsu. With the energy of earth and all.
He and Jiraiya made a deal. Obviously after the toad sage was pummelled to the ground and Naruto had a satisfied smirk.
Jiraiya will teach Naruto 2 ninjutsu, give him a summoning contract, and tell him about that…Dangerous –As Jiraiya Put It– energy. Only, and only if he completed waterfall walking in a week.
Easy right? He thought that as well.
But the universe had other plans, you see. It was one of the most difficult chakra control exercises in all of shinobi's existence!
On day 1, he also learned what chakra exhaustion is. Shadow clones were out of the equation!
On day 2, he learned what it feels like to have a cold and bone rattling ache all day and night.
While the blonde hokage aspirant continued his internal musing and attempted to cling to the waterfall for even a second, jiraiya watched him, no giggling, no writing, just watching. Like a hawk.
'I was surprised beyond belief, would be putting it mildly.' Oh, yes, the day before yesterday -their first real training day!- Naruto told him about his newly acquired sensory ninjutsu.
Jiraiya already knows of course, already sensing him sensing for him -balh! Tongue twisters!- but what he didn't know was the potency of it.
The kid could already sense emotions and natural energy!
An art which takes decades for a shinobi to truly cultivate on such a level, the blonde had it in spades! and innately.
That moment Jiraiya was the happiest man in the whole world!
He was not a perfect sage, his first apprentice, the boy's father became and now his godson will also become one! Could there be anything else to feel more pride about?
He guessed it might have something to do with his condition as a jinchuriki, mixed with immensely powerful Innate sensory abilities as an uzumaki and being a son of a sage.
Just to test the blonde, he gave him an impossible task; to reach the top of the waterfall before the end of the next week.
It took him, Tsunade and Orochimaru almost a year to do so. A truly impossible task, seeing how much chakra it takes.
Plans change all the time. And sometimes they are beneficial all the same.
Just because of Jiraiya meeting Yona, Naruto was able to discover his extremely potent sensory skills and now possessed the best, sharpest chakra control in all of the genin in the leaf.
Jiraiya never wanted Naruto to complete this test. It was merely a test of will and determination on his part, which the kid had in spades.
From next week, his real training will begin. Nature transformation, espionage, battle tactics, weapon techniques, traps and ambush, shape transformation, basic medical training, sealing arts, and any other he needs. The white haired sage was making a schedule for the blonde to follow through.
Also making a healthy diet plan, as from next week, his eat-only-ramen offer will be expiring.
As of now, he also had to write a formal letter to the hokage, requesting Naruto as his permanent apprentice!
.
..
…
officially!
Sigh. So much to do, so little time…
(4 Days Later – Naruto)
The sun was beginning its descent, casting long shadows across the training ground. Naruto stood at the edge of the waterfall, his reflection a distorted blur in the rushing water. Another day, another failure. His body ached, his spirit bruised.
Sigh. So much to do, so little time…
He Failed. Again. Nothing new to him, but it was getting ridiculous!
He still couldn't do it! Practising nearly 17 hours a day, from day to night without any break was still or enough!
Not even one day he slept well, evident by the dark circles present on his face, and a pale complexion.
But he still couldn't do it! Dammit all to hell!
A chuckle echoed through the air, breaking the sombre silence. Jiraiya, ever the opportunist, strolled up to the dejected ninja. "Rough day, huh, kid? For all your talk, you couldn't do it, huh?" he teased, a grin splitting his face.
Naruto's lower lip trembled, the dam of his composure on the verge of breaking. "Funny," he managed to croak out, his voice thick with emotion. "Really funny."
Jiraiya's smile faltered as he took in the extent of Naruto's distress. "Hey now, don't get too down on yourself," he said, patting Naruto on the back awkwardly. "Everyone fails at first."
"Why are you teaching me?" Naruto stammered out, "why waste your time with no talent like me? When you could train someone like… sasuke? Why me?" His voice was nearly broken and it tore Jiraiya's heart.
Who could have guessed that a test and a teasing will nearly break him emotionally?
Well, it's not even unexpected. Naruo has been a lonely child, always hiding his true emotions underneath a facade of happiness, hiding his self doubt under a display of supreme confidence.
Were his emotions entirely fake? His cheerfulness, his optimism, his happiness?
No.
But they weren't completely real either! It was more skin to a skin, a layer upon something you wanna change.
His emotions such as cheerfulness, his laughter, his happiness and spirit were all too real, but he always hid his pain. Pain of rejection, loneliness and the pain of failure.
Doesn't seem much right?
It is! For humans, just one simple word can cause immense pain. Just imagine going through it all your life. From your peers, strangers, your teachers, your friends. It all equates to unimaginable emotional pain.
You'll begin to see only hurt in every negative in your life. Even as simple as not being able to buy a product. You'll curse and in time break down.
He'll have to change that, wont he?
"Naruto," Jiraiya began in a soft voice, "It's alright to fail. Failure is a very important part of us. If you never fail, that means you'll never improve either."
He knelt down, and put his arms on Naruto's shoulders, "And to answer why I chose to train you? Because you are worthy. Not everyone can take the training I'll give them. There are many circumstances for why you were specifically chosen to be trained by a higher level shinobi, fox in your gut is one of them."
Naruto touched his stomach with a grimace. "...is the fox the only reason? So if it gets out, you could seal it away?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "No, not completely. Yes, the fox played a large part in it, but it's insignificant where I am concerned."
Naruto tilted his head with a frown. As on que, Jiraiya continued, "I wanted to train you, Naruto. Few reasons I cannot tell you just yet. And won't be telling you until I can make sure you are emotionally stable enough."
Naruto's frown only deepened, but he said nothing.
The wind began picking up speed, and Naruto shuddered. As he was still very wet, soaked to the bones.
Jiraiya saw this and unsealed a big towel, a set of Naruto's orange tracksuit and began drying him from the head up, like a child.
"But most of all, I wanted to train you because I saw a blend of potential, reason and determination to never give up. Are you saying that you'd rather give up on my training? And what i saw was false?"
Naruto's eyes went wide, he shook his head rapidly. But now he looked at Jiraiya in a whole new light.
Acknowledgement.
Jiraiya just gave him acknowledgement!
The thing he sought after his whole life!
He gained it today!
As for the toad sage, his features softened further and he smiled, a very fatherly, familial smile. "You also remind me of myself when I was a genin, Naruto. I was also a failure, never getting good marks, physically weak, and had no ambition other than to get laid. But as I grew up, I acquired what I didn't have."
Jiraiya looked up at the setting sun. "I made up for my lack of talent with creative thinking, and acquired a long lasting drive for my life; World peace. I fought and grew, constantly. You can do the same, fight and grow. Because, face it Naruto, you lack everything, you are nothing but an empty, hollow shell."
Naruto's features darkened on his remark, as he looked down and he clenched his fists. "But that makes it all the more interesting to train you, to teach you. You are a blank canvas, just like once I was, and the people around are the painters. You didn't have a good environment to grow up in, but I wanna change that. I want to give you a chance to become what you desire. Screw your status as a jinchuriki! screw the leaf village! I want you to find what you truly want with your life, without external influence, completely unfiltered."
Jiraiya stood up, his smile never faltering. Say what you will, but right now, Jiraiya looked the coolest person to Naruto, and his talking, it was like Jiraiya was teaching his…son. Yes, that was the right word for what Naruto was feeling right now, like a father was arguing with his son. A father was motivating his son.
A father.
Jiraiya gave him a confident and assuring grin. "You see, Naruto, Because I believe in you. All you have to do is truly believe in yourself and you will reach your dreams. Maybe not now, not tomorrow, but one day, you will, Naruto, you definitely will! One more failure means one more trial, and more experience from that failure."
Naruto couldn't control himself any more. He burst into tears, completely unrestrained.
"Let it all out, Naruto. Let go of all you hold within yourself." Jiraiya whispered softly as he hugged the blonde genin.
"Never take me as someone else," He added in a firm voice. "I am your teacher, you are now my responsibility. I will guide you to the best of my abilities. It doesn't matter if we don't share blood. As your teacher, our bond transcends any physical connection. A mentor in someone's life is only second to their mother and father, and sometimes even above them. Do you understand?"
He just received a slow nod and muffed; "Thankyou!"
It continued for almost an hour, the sun was no longer visible. As the evening descended, they left.
Today, Naruto formed a bond. A true bond. A bond with his mentor, and a bond he can truly call his own.
He also knew for a fact that this bond will only deepen, and with time. Jiraiya will really be like a father to him, as the blonde already began to see Jiraiya in a new light.
'Having a father wouldn't be bad' he thought with a genuine, heartfelt smile.
Naruto was tired. Physically, Mentally and Emotionally. All that remained was to rest and retry.
'Thank you, pervy sage, for believing in me. I won't let you down, believe it!' He thought with all the determination he had.
As for now, One Naruto Uzumaki was happy and content.
One of the highest points in his life!
He chuckled mentally. Truly, the failure of today taught him an everlasting lesson and helped him bond with his mentor on a personal level.
"Hey pervy sage," Naruto called out. He laid on the ground, battered and bruised by the intense spar he just had.
He received a hum of acknowledgement so he continued, "How did I do today?"
"Honestly? Very good! It's been only a week, two if you count the waterfall climbing exercise, and your base has become very Solid. Your taijutsu form is improved and you can break out of E-ranked genjutsu. I will call it a win in my book." He answered with a shrug.
Naruto grinned ear to ear. "Ain't I awesome? Hey, so how long will it take for me to become hokage now?"
Jiraiya sighed dramatically. "Don't get ahead of yourself brat! You still have years to come to even come close. Now shut up, and rest. After lunch, you'll be signing the Toad contract and I'll teach you Summoning jutsu."
Naruto's eyes sparkled. "Can we have ramen today? Pleaseee?"
"No."
Naruto just pouted while Jiraiya laughed. 'The kid is just too cute! He doesn't even know that it takes a lot out of me to not crush him in a hug! And just in a week, his physique has improved. He'll be a Minato in no time!' que perverted and lecherous crackling.
A dread chill went up Naruto's spine as he looked at Jiraiya's creepy grinning face.
'Yup. He's definitely thinking something very perverted. No doubt about it.' he thought with the shake of his head. 'Who am I kidding? I became no better… not so open, but I have…' he couldn't continue his thought as a lot of blood rushed to his face.
He shook his head rapidly and slapped himself on both cheeks. He'll have to be on guard, just in case.
It's not that he hadn't think about getting laid.
But,
He is saving his virtue for sakura, ya fool!
The second he thought that Jiraiya was in front of his face, with a wide and knowing smirk. "My Special Senses are tingling with barely controlled excitement! You thought of something AMAZING, didn't you?"
Naruto groaned. "...Shut Up! Pervy sage…" he mumbled, but said nothing more. Neither accepting or denying Jiraiya.
The white haired pervert grinned in triumph.
Slowly but surely, Naruto is accepting The Dark Side.
'Welcome to the dark side kiddo.'
"What now?"
"Summoning jutsu." Said Jiraiya with a nod.
"?"
"It's a technique which allows you to summon a being you make a contract with."
Naruto nodded slowly, then asked. "Where do they come from? Ya know, like, where do they live?"
Jiraiya paused. "As much as I know, they live in a separate dimensional space linked to our own. That makes it possible to visit them via foot from certain places but it's near impossible to find."
"Separate dimension?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"It's not as much as a separate dimension as it is a section of space unavailable to us. If you want to compare it, then our universe will be like a big house and different realms in it – where multiple beings reside – are like separate rooms. Not totally one but not completely different either." jiraiya explained.
With that said, jiraiya went through the hand seals. "Ninja Art : Summoning." and after a puff of smoke, Game, Jiraiya's personal summon and the keeper of the toad contract materialised.
"Croak"
"Wow! That's one big ass toad." Naruto remarked and gama looked his way with narrowed eyes and an expression like…anger?
Haha!
Toad was angry!
For calling it a big ass toad! Which it totally was!
Naruto began to snicker at the absurdity of the situation. Gama's anger began rising, and he summoned his armour and sword.
Luckily, Jiraiya intervened by bonking Naruto on the head. "Shut it kiddo! You haven't even signed the contract yet and you are already annoying the toads."
Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "But you have to admit it is one big toad!"
"That he is. We are wasting time here!" He clapped his hands. "Gama." The toad withdrew a scroll from its mouth.
Then the toad -Gama- disappeared in another puff of smoke. Jiraiya picked up the scroll, unfurled it and gestured to Naruto to come.
Naruto throttled towards Jiraiya. "Cut your fingers with a kunai, or bite it enough to draw blood, then sign your name here," he pointed at the upper section, "then smudge your blood on all five of your fingers and make a handprint here." He pointed to the section below.
Naruto sat down, excited at the prospect of being able to summon powerful warrior toads! He bit his thumb and was just about to write his name but paused. He narrowed his eyes at jiraiya
"Why the pause kiddo?" jiraiya inquired curiously.
"I may be dense, but I am not stupid Pervy sage! You said this is a contract, and each contract has a price to pay. So what would it be for me to pay, huh?"
Jiraiya was really impressed. 'This kid is perceptive alright.' "you don't actually have to pay to just sign the contract. But yes, there are prices on what type of toad you summon and the toad itself." He explained with a smile.
Naruto's eyes narrowed further. "What does that mean?"
Jiraiya blew out a sigh for his suspicion. 'What got him so suspicious?' "As I said, it depends on each toad you summon. The contract itself is like a link to a network of many toads you could summon depending on your requirement."
Naruto blinked and frowned in confusion. "So…I don't have to pay them ryo or anything?"
Jiraiya chuckled. "No, you don't have to pay them ryo. Let's see it like this; you go to a ramen store," Naruto perked up, "The contract represents the store itself. Now, if you, let's say, order a miso ramen, you'll pay a certain price, won't you? That represents what category of being your summoning. And if you add pork or beef, it will represent what individual being you are summoning. Do you understand now?"
Naruto nodded rapidly. His stomach grumbled with all the ramen talk. "Um…can we have ramen today pervy sage? Please… just today!" Naruto pleaded.
Jiraiya rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Alright brat! But no more than 5 bowls!"
Naruto hugged him. "Thankyou Pervy sage! You are the best!"
He resumed what he was doing. He signed, and stamped his handprint on the scroll. The scroll automatically furled and disappeared in a plume of smoke.
Jiraiya gestured for him to follow, which Naruto did. They arrived near the river and then jiraya began, "Now, the hand seals are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and ram, then you have to slam your hands with the right amount of chakra for the summoning. And yes, while you do the hand seals, specifically after the dog, you have to mentally chant a phrase for the technique to work." Then jiraiya handed him a slip of paper with a mantra on it.
Naruto blinked in surprise. "Ninjutsu has chanting?" he wondered aloud.
Jiraiya shook his head. "Not normally, at least not elemental ninjutsu or purely combat oriented ninjutsu. But ninjutsu does have chanting with hand signs, as ninjutsu was derived from some ancient practices of exorcism."
"But why is chanting necessary?"
"To mould the chakra and create the necessary technique formula for the spatial transition. And also each ninjutsu is unique in its chakra composition. You just don't do hand seals at random, shout a name and a technique is born, no! It takes time, effort, research and a lot of brain to craft even the simplest of techniques in any branch of ninja arts."
Naruto tilted his head. "What the heck is a Technique Formula? And Spatial Transition?"
"In due time…" jiraiya dodged his question
Naruto huffed. "You always say that! Even when I told you to teach me wind style after we discovered it!"
Jiraiya repeated with a smirk. "As I said Naruto, all in due time. First you'll have to master the summoning jutsu then any other jutsu, okay?" Naruto clicked his tongue in frustration.
It was always like this! Jiraiya never answered him directly!
It took a few minutes for Naruto to fully digest what was said to him. 'And here I thought if I do random hand signs then I can create my own ninjutsu. It has to be this easy!.' he thought sarcastically then grumbled which raised Jiraiya's eyebrows but both of them said nothing.
Naruto made 50 clones to memorise the mantra and 50 to practise the hand sign without infusing chakra for the technique.
— — — One Eternity Later — — —
"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto shouted on top of his lungs.
After a huge plume of smoke, a tadpole appeared.
He facefaulted, ignoring a laughing jiraiya in the background.
He whined. "Why aren't any supercool toads appearing?"
Biting his thumb -which was healed from the previous cut- he drew blood, doing necessary hand signs and chanting the necessary mantra, he tried again.
Nothing.
"Put more chakra into it." He heard Jiraiya from behind who was scribbling something from his notebook onto larger sheets of paper.
With the same old perverted grin and added nosebleed.
Naruto snorted, then returned to his practice.
One more try but still nothing.
Naruto groaned "What am I doing wrong? HEY PERVY SAGE! Tell me already!"
Jiraiya closed his notebook shut and glared at his godson. "Patience brat! You aren't getting anywhere if you keep that attitude." He reprimanded.
Naruto rolled his eyes in boredom. "That's not the first time you are telling me this, and it won't be the last time."
Jiraiya muttered something about disrespectful brats, but came to him. "It's gonna take at least a week to summon a toad if you're gonna keep that attitude!" Then he paused. "Say, Naruto, you are decent with sensory jutsu, aren't you?" The blonde in question nodded, "...then activate it and sense how much chakra I am putting. try mimicking it, alright?"
Naruto did as he was told, and gauged the amount of chakra it took Jiraiya to summon a palm sized kunai wielding toad. 'That's like…4x of how much I used? Yeah.'
After showing it to him, Jiraiya returned to writing his smut.
Naruto did the whole process again, and failed. Multiple times. As it took good concentration to pull enough chakra and mould it at the same time.
…
Puff. "Yo!" said an orange palm sized toad, with a blue jacket. "Name's gamakichi. Are you the new summoner?" he asked while looking at a panting form of Naruto.
It took a few seconds before he was able to speak. "Oh, yeah… I am the one who summoned… you. My names' Naruto, Future Hokage! Believe it!..." he continued panting.
He was able to summon a real toad! Naruto did a few mental backflips.
It was difficult dammit! He had to concentrate on controlling his chakra, chant the mantra to make the summoning array – even if mentally– then do the hand signs! It was confusing and difficult as fuck.
But he did it.
Gamakichi hopped closer to Naruto, eyeing him with interest. "Future Hokage, huh? You've got spirit, I'll give you that. But summoning me ain't enough, squirt. You've got potential, but you're gonna need to work harder than that."
Naruto nodded in agreement, still panting. "I know...I just need to practise more...!"
Just then, Jiraiya looked up from his writing, eyeing Naruto with concern. "Naruto, you're pushing yourself too hard. Here, drink this." He threw Naruto a canteen of water.
Naruto took a few sips, still trying to catch his breath. "Thanks, Pervy sage...I just need to get this down..."
Jiraiya shook his head. "Not now, Naruto. You're going to exhaust yourself. You were able to stabilise the summoning array enough. That's great! Practice projecting that same array until you can get it down within 4 seconds, then we will move on. I have a plan. But that's after you rest."
"Alright!" Naruto replied, not having enough energy to argue.
Few hundred attempts, and losing almost a litre of blood will do that to anyone.
Jiraiya started at Naruto, deep in thought. 'He has a massive amount of chakra but it's just so hard to control that he wasted nearly 80 percent of it. It will really be hard to teach him how to dispel E-rank genjutsu without any internal injury though…' he mused.
It will literally be life threatening to teach him how to counter genjutsu, as it involves releasing a miniscule amount of chakra into your system, but with naruto's shitty control, he would rupture any organ he applies chakra to.
A big problem considering his supposed rival is an uchiha. And he is a jinchuriki.
An hour later, Jiraiya brought Naruto to training ground 9. It had everything Training Ground 24 did, with few added things no one knew.
It's Wonder why it is an Anbu exclusive zone?
They approached a cliff. Naruto began to grow nervous, but has trust in Jiraiya. He spoke up, "um… pervy sage? Why are we here?"
Jiraiya looked at him with a neutral face, and it didn't ease naruto's worries. "We are here to help you tap into 9 tails' chakra. As well as summon gamabunta, the boss toad. He is a giant, so we are clear to summon him here. As this forest has a self repairing seal around it, courtesy of Tobirama senju."
That's why! It's an Anbu exclusive Zone!
"How?"
"How do you remember?"
Naruto thought for a moment. "Well I was very pissed off when the bastard was dead; to me at least. And I was injured too!"
"So it's rage and danger. We will be emulating the danger here."
"What danger? I don't see anyone here who can be any danger to me when you are here?"
Jiraiya felt a knife stabbed through his heart. 'Dammit naruto! Why do you have to say that?!' he thought. It was baffling how much trust Naruto had in him and they didn't know each other for more than 2 weeks! Well Naruto at least.
He won't let anything happen to him. His shadow clone has already been stationed to catch him in case of failure and a summoning array with enough chakra to summon gamaken just in case he was away from the clone. But it was very painful to hear such words before you plan to throw someone off the cliff. Literally.
And damn it hurts! If his twisted face is any indication. It could jeopardise their still developing relationship but it needs to be done. Naruto may hate him, but his life and development is more important.
He mentally shook it off and motioned Naruto to come. The blonde did and then saw the depth. "2450 metres." jiraiya said.
"What is the danger?"
Jiraiya with a straight face said, "You'll be jumping off this cliff."
Naruto stared at him, then began launching. "Hahaha… really pervy sage? You take me for a fool? I won't be jumping from here, I ain't stupid, believe it!"
"While you fall, you'll get approximately 22 seconds before you reach the bottom, so quickly gather as much chakra as possible then summon. And remember what you want to summon is the biggest and strongest toad you can."
Naruto stopped laughing and frowned deeply. "Are you stupid or deaf? I just said that I won't be jumpi–" but before he could finish his sentence Jiraiya pushed him off the cliff into the caravan.
"Just do it kid! I believe in you! Let's meet again if you survive!" he heard Jiraiya's voice saying to him.
But he was not focused on that. Jiraiya pushed him.
His heart sank. The pain of betrayal and such thoughts began to plague his mind as he began free falling.
'Was he the same as other villagers? Hating me for the fox? What did I ever do to them?! Why?' tears began to gather in his eyes.
Due to the fall, such thoughts were squashed from his mind and were overtaken by Jiraiya's words. He will not let him die, and that's for sure! He just knew it. Call it a hunch if you will. So he began concentrating.
The amount of adrenaline released in his body allowed him to pull a massive amount of the fox's' chakra. Jiraiya had tweaked his seal a bit to allow him to access more chakra.
A shroud of red chakra -Visible- formed around him. His azure blue eyes became red slits, whiskers grew and became like a cat, nails and hairs – everything grew.
Power. Unimaginable Power coursed through him, elevating his very being. Along with his negativity.
Jiraiya also felt it and smirked widely. 'You got it Naruto!'
As for the blonde, he began chanting and doing hand signs, as the sense of danger gave him immense mental clarity. Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram and slamming his hands in the air.
Once the array appeared he thought about what he wanted to summon; 'A Powerful, no, the most powerful entity! Wise and strong, who is on the top of their field, someone who can help me become a hokage!'
A strange thing happened. Instead of the usual white smoke which indicates successful summoning, a black smoke and a strong black light appeared.
How the hell can light be black?
But that's not the issue here. Then, that black smoke morphed into a circle and someone… no, two figures fell from there.
'Why? Am I going to die now? Is this it? End of everything?' he thought as he approached the end. He closed his eyes, everything flashing before him…but nothing happened.
Fuck. it. all. He is tired of "nothing" happening!
He opened his eyes to stare at the figure who caught him. He has the same azure blue eyes as him, but with the added glow, snow white hair with the touch of extremely light purple.
"Hey there blondie! How'd ya doin?" the figure -Man!- Said, and he also heard a croak.
"Did you summon me here, tadpole?" a small green toad croaked out. Naruto couldn't take it anymore. His physical exhaustion catching up, and 9 tails' chakra being withdrawn, he fainted. Everything hitting in full force.
…
(Satoru - Time Of Landing)
Satoru tumbled to the ground, cursing under his breath. His hypercognition kicked in, instantly analysing the situation. He knew he had to intercept the blonde, orange-clad teen.
With a fluid motion, he rolled to his feet, dusted his clothes -to have some style!- and caught the falling teen without even looking up, before he could hit the ground. He grinned upon spotting the same shaded blue eyes as his, without the glow "Hey there blondie! How'd ya doin?" He asked in a lacklustre manner.
"Did you summon me here, tadpole?" He heard the toad speak.
Despite the situation he was calm. "A Talking Toad?"
The toad, seemingly unperturbed by Satoru's lack of surprise, introduced himself, "I am Fukasaku, also known as Pa, a sage of Mount Myoboku. Welcome to the world of shinobi, Sorcerer."
Satoru raised an eyebrow, "You know who I am?"
Pa nodded. "Your arrival in this world was…unconventional. Your soul, still in flux, is using an immense amount of natural energy to stabilise and accommodate new laws inscribed on it. It's a signature that's hard to miss. We were aware of you from the moment you entered this universes' dimensional void."
Satoru frowned curiously. "Nature Energy? Do you mean ambient cursed energy?"
"No, there is no cursed energy in this world. A phase created by the sage of six paths filters all negativity from natural energy on our planet. This world has chakra, a mixture of one's physical energy and spiritual energy. Nature's energy is the source of all things, permeating and binding everything in the universe. Did it not exist in your world, Satoru Boy?"
This time satoru was not able to hide his surprise. "You know my name too? How much do you know about me? Ahh, as for Natural energy, it did exist but was out of reach for humans due to the amount of cursed energy always corrupting it. Other than forms of sustenance such as food, water, oxygen, sunlight, etc. There was no way to consume natural energy for people in my world."
Pa smiled. "You'd be surprised by how much I know. It would be everything. The great toad sage saw everything in your life and we are aware of who you really are and how you arrived in elemental nations."
"Good to know." Satoru said with a shrug, then laid Naruto down. "Hey, pa, I am just curious. How is my soul using natural energy? My 'Body' using it…I can understand. Isn't natural energy supposed to sustain the physical world and not the spiritual one?"
Pa chuckled good naturedly. "Even for all your knowledge and power, you overlooked it, didn't ya? Did you forget that nature energy also has spiritual components? Or did ya forget that every plane of existence, or higher dimensions as humans call them, overlap each other in every universe? Hm? Their energy is collectively called 'Natural Energy' ?"
Before Satoru could reply, a powerful presence descended upon them. Jiraiya, using Wind Style to cushion his landing, spotted the unconscious Naruto and the strange white-haired individual. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he drew a kunai, unaware of Pa's small form near Satoru's feet.
"Who are you and what did you do to him?" Jiraiya said in a very threatening voice. Aware that a toad has been summoned. Chakra rolling off in spades, a visible blue shroud resonating with anger and the need to fight in force to this strong individual. An oppressive pressure made satoru hard to breathe.
"Hey, hey," Satoru raised his arms in a sign of surrender, with the same grin. "I didn't do anything to him, old dude. He was falling and I just caught him, that's all." He declared. Despite his casual tone, Satoru felt a surge of unease. Without the ability to use Infinity or Cursed Energy, as his soul was still unstable, he was at a disadvantage.
"Calm down, Jiraiya-boy!" Pa interjected, dispelling the oppressive aura. Satoru sighed in relief.
This new world was full of powerful individuals.
Jiraiya snatched Naruto, and spoke in a not very friendly tone. "Talk. Who are you? Why are you here?"
Satoru straightened his posture. But he had a superior smirk on his face "Names' satoru Gojo. The resident jujutsu sorcerer and a newly reincarnated, summoned individual. At your service, old dude." He bowed dramatically and it lessened the tension on Jiraiya's shoulders.
Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow towards fukasaku. "...pa? You know this one?"
Fukasaku nodded with a miniscule smile. This situation was a mirthful one. "Indeed I do, jiraiya boy. But I'd rather not explain it multiple times. Hiruzen boy is watching us, no doubt the amount of chakra Naruto boy released alerted him. Let's go to his office and I'll explain."
Jiraiya nodded and began climbing the wall of the canyon at high speed. Fukasaku perched on his shoulders whispering things.
Satoru watched him and his six eyes analysed the strange energy – which his body now possessed as well – used to stick to the wall. He was able to understand it, and thanks to his blasted eyes, which granted him absolute control, began climbing after them.
Brahma : is not only a deity in sanatani traditions but also the concept of very creation. Akin to a bigbang, as every universe has its own Brahma and each Brahma only lives as long as the universe itself. He is also the person who decides what you would get for your karma, also known as Destiny.
Yama : यम (lit. Control) is a sanskrit word which means control. Yama is also the personification of death in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc. controlling the cycle of reincarnation and punishment for past karma according to the laws set by Brahma.
Siddhi : means Accomplishment or spiritual accomplishment, capable of altering reality on a very fundamental level. As reality is not totally real, one can freely shape it according to their will. There are many types of siddhi and they do not function the same as superpowers. One having a powerful siddhi is already an elevated being, free from the clutches of Illusory reality, so they do not possess the desire to use it, as they view the siddhi itself as nothing more than annoyance distracting them from the truth of universe.
A/N : Sensory ninjutsu will be important in the future. Afterall, it was the skill Madara used to dodge the flying thunder god… Observation Haki Equivalent of Naruto World.
Yona is of no relevance, but the information she bought Jiraiya is. You will find out in future what that information was.
If you have any requests or suggestions, you can just PM em' or tell me in a review.
If you want a specific character? Tell me! I will think about how to incorporate them if possible…
If you want the entire verse integrated, TELL ME, I will do it, and have already plans for one.
Have a good day…
…And review, would you, kindly?