Chapter 14: Contact
Before long we arrived in a small village by the name of Otafuku. We were officially taking a break in the village, unofficially, Jiraiya had contacts in the village and he was seeing if they had heard any news about Tsunade.
Thus, I was left in a clearing with an awake Karin, a plastic packet full of water balloons and the first step of the Rasengan. Naturally, I did the smart thing and created a few dozen clones to learn for me, each with their own packet full of balloons.
In the short amount of time that I had begun training, my clones had already made a huge amount of progress. Each time a clone figured something out, he created another clone and then dispelled himself. They had already completed the step by using two hands and were now on their way to mastering it with a single hand.
I've said it once and I'll say it again. Shadow clones are totally broken. I honestly don't know why more people don't use it. You don't need hundreds of clones to be able to benefit from it. Even 10 clones would be enormously beneficial. If you dispel them one at a time, each clone gets a copy of the dispelled clone's memories, by the time clone number 10 dispels, the number of memories would be anywhere from 400 to several thousand.
"Naruto…"
"Hmmm?" I hummed as I turned towards Karin. Ever since we got here and she 'woke up,' she had been quiet, only shooting me an odd look every now and then, before shaking her head and looking away.
"I… You saved my life," Karin continued. "You should take responsibility!"
"What?!" I breathed in too fast and began choking on my own spit.
Karin crossed her arms and glared at me as her face turned red. "In the forest… You saved my life from that bear… and then you went and killed the other bears," She replied, before reddening even further. "And… and then… you said that you would k-ke-keep me. I'm better than some old hag!"
Oh, so that's what this was about. "I knew that you were awake when I was carrying you… but you should have also heard the other thing… about me being mentally older."
"That doesn't matter," Karin shook her head. "I don't care about that. You could be older than Jiraiya and I… I would still like you. You saved my life in more ways than one… Back in Kusa, no one cared about me, no one helped, they only wanted to use my abilities..." Karin took a breath. "I… I can do more than just sense. If someone bites me… my chakra will flow into them and heal their body."
Pulling up her sleeve, I was greeted to the sight of numerous scars littering her skin in the shape of bite marks. Unzipping her shirt, Karin pulled it down, holding it to her chest to reveal the rest of the bite marks that littered her shoulders and upper arms.
"Kusa… wanted me to see that I was nothing more than a quick heal for them. Instead of only biting in one spot, they had their wounded bite me on my arms and shoulders to… serve as a reminder," Karin said, looking down as tears welled in her eyes. "Of what I am… to remember that I'm nothing but–"
I pulled her into a hug. "You don't have to say anything more, Karin," I hummed gently. I felt tears wet my jacket as Karin's arms wrapped around my body.
"But… but then, I met you and… you're so bright," Karin mumbled into my jacket. "You saved me in more than one way. You saved me from that bear and you saved me from my own hell… So, I'm not going to leave you. Never… I'm yours."
I… really didn't know where to go from here. Karin truly had a really shitty life and from the sounds of it, I was the first person to show her even a hint of kindness… There was also her stubbornness to consider.
Originally, Sasuke stabbed Karin through the chest with a Chidori and tried to have Sakura execute her and Karin was still obsessed with him. I doubt there's any way that I could dissuade her… Hell, to do that, I would probably have to treat her worse than Sasuke did and there was no chance that was ever going to happen.
"Naruto?"
"I'm… really not looking to date anyone right now. Going out with someone my physical age… the equivalent would be like you dating a 6 year old," I shivered lightly.
"But–" Karin began.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I would never date you… Just, not right now. When we both get older, if you still feel the same way, I'll gladly go out with you."
"Can't we just–"
"Nope," I interrupted. "Like how you feel strongly about me, I feel the same about this. I'm not going to date anyone my physical age. Maybe in a few years, yeah, but not a thirteen year old."
"Fine," Karin pouted. "But you better be ready for me. I'm not letting you go… ever."
I let out a small chuckle. This felt a little fucked up… but then again, the entire Shinobi world was a really fucked up place. "Sure." Releasing Karin from the hug, I looked away as she zipped her shirt back up.
"As touching as this is, I have news. It seems Kisame and Itachi are done in Konoha and are now heading this way."
I let out a shaky breath. 'How far off are they?'
"A few minutes. They're no longer walking."
Crap. I knew this was coming, but it didn't stop me from feeling nervous. Itachi was still on Konoha's side, but that didn't stop him from being a scarily powerful Shinobi that assisted the Akatsuki in apprehending Jinchuriki and sealing their biju.
"Naruto, what's wrong?" Karin asked.
"It seems there are some really powerful Shinobi on their way," I replied. Reaching out, I grabbed Karin's hand. "Look, there are a few things I wanted to tell you earlier, but I guess it'll have to wait. For now… please don't freak out."
I released Karin's hand and she looked down at it in awe.
"What is this?"
"A precaution! Do me a favor and tell me when you feel a massive Chakra signature arrive near us," I replied.
"A… Alright," Karin stuttered as she closed her eyes.
I dispelled my clones, immediately mastering the first step of the Rasengan. Biting my thumb, I flashed through several hand seals, before bringing it down, creating a cloud of smoke.
"Naruto-chan? Why'd you call me? I was just about to sit down and have lunch with Ma."
"No time, Pa," I said. "A pair of Shinobi are on their way here and one of them is Uchiha Itachi… the man who massacred his entire clan."
Karin inhaled suddenly.
"What?! Where's Jiraiya chan?"
"Meeting up with contacts in the nearby village, we're on our own for now," I explained.
"Bah, that boy is always missing out on the important things," Pa commented, before hopping onto my shoulder. "Alright lad, I'll help you with this."
"Thanks," I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his size, Pa was one of the most powerful living beings in this world, he along with Ma helped Jiraiya fight off Nagato who was using the paths of pain that in turn was capable of fighting an entire hidden village.
"Anything you could tell me?" Pa asked.
"Itachi has a mangekyou sharingan capable of putting you in a powerful illusion, he should even be able to control biju. He's good with fire style techniques and he probably also has access to the Susanoo, a defensive technique capable of withstanding a bijuudama, but with a great strain on the users body and eyes. The other guy… he radiates negative emotions and his chakra quantity is that of a biju."
"That could be trouble… you might want to summon Ma as well, she's been waiting to meet you," Pa commented, but then let out a sigh. "But then again, She's busy making lunch and she'll be really angry if she's interrupted."
I felt my eye begin to twitch. There were two S rank missing nin after me and Pa was more worried about pissing off his wife.
"It shouldn't be too much of an issue. Jiraiya will probably come running if we make enough noise… by the way, here," I poked Pa on his shoulder.
"Huh, what's this?! What did you do to my chakra, lad?"
"It's just a precaution. Just in case Itachi or his partner pulls something out that you're not able to block," I replied, shrugging.
"Just a precaution?!" Pa gawked. "Lad, I can feel how this works and it's incredible. Why, when we eventually make you a sage, all you would need to do is reverse the flow of this with a fellow sage and you would be able to permanently access sage mode!"
"Really?" I half asked. I had never thought about it like that, but I guess Pa was right... Now that I think about it, once I became a sage, I wouldn't even need a partner, I could just use a clone, or Kurama could help me out. "Huh, neat."
"Naruto," Karin gasped as she looked to me worriedly. "They're here!"
Hearing the sound of fluttering clothing, I turned just in time to see Itachi and Kisame land in the clearing. Red clouds displayed proudly on their cloaks.
"We're going to have to finish this conversation later, Pa."
"Yeah, lad. These two are trouble!"
Itachi turned his gaze to me and I immediately felt Kurama dispel an illusion. "Kyuubi. Come with us and no harm will befall you or your friends."
"That's rather rude. If you're going to address me by my biju, then you should call me Kyuubi-sama," I replied, channeling my inner Killer b. "Now what does Uchiha Itachi want with me?"
"This one's got a mouth on him, Itachi. We should take his tongue and a leg to prevent him from running," Kisame grinned as he pointed his sword at me.
"You'll have to go through me first," Pa announced.
"Oh, the little frog can speak," Kisame noted. "Samehada has been feeling a bit… hungry lately. You should serve as a nice little snack."
I hid a smile. From the looks of it, neither of them had realized just who Pa was, that should come in handy.
Faster than I could see, Kisame rushed towards me and was violently thrown backwards, through several trees by a kick from Pa who was now standing in front of me.
'Shit, that was fast,' I thought suddenly. All the training I did in the last month didn't amount to anything in front of these two.
"Ready to get serious?"
'Yeah. Just remember, we need to start small and have Kisame and Itachi show their abilities… so we can avoid any… problematic questions.'
"I remember," Kurama replied.
Seeing Karin standing, shivering in fear, I let out a breath. "Karin… you should go hide. From here on out, this fight's going to get messy."
"Y-yes," Karin stuttered, before retreating into the forest.
Unmoved from his spot, Itachi regarded Pa stoically. "You're no ordinary toad."
"What was your first clue, brat?" Pa shot back. "Naruto-chan, you should go with that girl. I've already taken one of them down, I'll handle things here!"
"No can do Pa. They're after me," I said, before pointing towards Kisame who walked back into the clearing, completely unhurt. "Besides, that other guy's still alive."
"All the more reason for you to leave, lad, it would be tough to fight both of them and protect you."
Power exploded from my body as Kurama's chakra formed a bubbling cloak with three tails. A violent gale circled me as the very air grew caustic. Ordinarily, my body wouldn't be accustomed to this much of Kurama's chakra, but I had spent the majority of last month in the initial Jinchuriki state, which gave me a resistance to the caustic nature of the cloak.
I smirked. "I won't get in the way, trust me."
"It seems the little frog is stronger than I thought," Kisame noted staring directly at Pa before looking to me. "And the Jinchuriki can use a bit of his biju."
"Kisame, you take the Jinchuriki, I'll handle the toad," Itachi asserted.
I let out a light chuckle. "I'll handle Itachi, his Genjutsu shouldn't work on me. You take on Kisame… and be careful of that sword, it can absorb chakra."
In a flash of speed that I was finally able to see, Kisame spat a massive water bullet towards us and Pa matched it with his own wind bullet. The two techniques collided and shattered, showering the clearing in heavy gusts of wind and rain.
"Got it, lad," Pa replied as he hopped towards Kisame.
The two met in a flash, trading blows at blinding speed. Kisame kept trying to hit Pa with his sword, but Pa's small size worked in his favor and he was easily able to dodge it.
"It would seem that you're well informed," Itachi noted as he shifted subtly.
"My team ran into Zabuza on our first mission. I would be an idiot not to recognize one of the seven famous swords from Kirigakure," I shrugged. "And also, my teammate is your brother, so obviously I would realize who you are."
"Then you must realize that you will not win this fight," Itachi replied. "While it is true that the toad may be able to fight Kisame as an equal, you are far from being able to fight me, even with the Kyuubi's chakra."
"Perhaps," I smirked. "But then again, as I am now, your Genjutsu means precisely shit to me."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Itachi smiled as his mangekyou activated.
The world blurred and I found myself tied to a cross in a dark world illuminated by a red moon. Itachi stoically stood in front of me holding a Katana.
"You thought yourself immune to my Genjutsu, so you foolishly gave me time to activate my ultimate illusion," Itachi said as he stepped closer, his sword aimed at my stomach. "In here, I control both space and time, you will find yourself hard pressed in escaping this."
I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands as I felt the blade slowly slide into my stomach, before Itachi twisted it and started shifting it around inside my body. Forming a second blade, he was moments away from stabbing me through my chest, before he paused.
"What is this?" Itachi asked.
The ground, the air… hell, everything started to vibrate violently before the world shattered under a terrifying roar. A massive tail wrapped around me, breaking the wooden cross as it pulled me away from Itachi.
Itachi's eyes widened as he caught sight of Kurama. "Kyuubi," he was able to mutter, before Kurama let out one last roar, completely shattering the illusion.
I found myself back in the clearing. Looking at my stomach, I could see no wound, but there was still a phantom ache.
Across from me stood Itachi, clutching the left side of his face as blood streamed down it, it seemed that his body hadn't reacted well to Kurama rejecting the Genjutsu.
Rushing forward, the ground exploded out from under me with each step. I cocked my arm back and punched heavily, aimed at Itachi's chest, but he was already on the move. Despite his overly strained eye, his illness and the massive chakra cost of his Tsukuyomi, Itachi was still capable of dodging my three tailed state.
My fist impacted the tree behind him, shattering it into splinters and sending a shockwave back that picked up dust and leaves that were torn from several other trees.
It was actually kind of terrifying, despite all my speed and power along with Itachi's handicap, he was still capable of fighting me on equal footing. I have no doubt that if he were healthy and possessed an eternal mangekyou, Itachi would be one of the strongest Shinobi to ever live, probably not as strong as Hashirama and Madara, but definitely up there.
Every punch, every kick, every swipe with my chakra claw was deftly evaded all while Itachi nursed his left eye. It was incredibly frustrating. Right now, I was probably fast enough to be able to fight Gai on even ground, but Itachi wasn't fazed.
"It would seem that we're at an impasse," Itachi began. "None of my Genjutsu works on you and you are not fast enough for your Taijutsu to work on me. Likewise, I cannot touch that cloak of yours!"
"Then I guess we're down to Ninjutsu," I replied as I brought my hands together.
"Not quite," Itachi commented.
"Lad, move!" Pa called out from behind me.
Dodging forward, I was too late to completely avoid Samehada. The sword impacted my side, its scales shaved into my ribs, tearing through my jacket, the armored mesh shirt underneath and directly into my skin and muscle as the blade absorbed the three tailed cloak.
I came to a stop next to Pa, clutching the bloodied side of my body.
"Naruto-chan," Pa said worriedly.
"I'm fine," I grunted, before I felt Kurama's chakra flow through my body once more. My wound began to let out steam as it swiftly knitted itself back together.
'Kurama, how are you with your chakra?'
"Mostly full," Kurama replied. "The three tailed cloak doesn't even account for a twentieth of my full chakra!"
'Good," I thought back as my three tailed cloak roared to life again.
"You know, if you want to beat them, you're going to have to enter the second state!"
'Itachi and Kisame aren't really that much of an issue in the grand scheme of things. This was never really about beating them, it was about stalling for time.'
"My oh my, what have we here," Jiraiya announced as he jumped into the clearing with Karin slung over his shoulder. "An Akatsuki duo bullying my student and my master, but then I, the gallant Ji–"
"PUT ME DOWN YOU PERVERT," Karin roared as she punched Jiraiya's back. Jiraiya let her go and Karin fell to the ground with a shriek. "What the hell was that, you just dropped me!"
"You asked me to put you down," Jiraiya shrugged.
"GENTLY," Karin roared back. "And what was with taking me here. I told you that there's scary, powerful Shinobi here and you just decide to bring me anyway?!"
"I brought you because there's no place safer in this world than being by my side," Jiraiya smirked at Karin.
There was a look of disgust on Karin's face. "Why are you looking at me like that? Are you hitting on me, I'm 13, that's gross!"
"Even if I was into girls, why would I be interested in you? You're too flat for me!"
"WHAT?!" Karin shrieked.
I let out a sigh. This was my life now, fighting super strong Shinobi only for Jiraiya and Karin to show up and make asses of themselves.
"Kisame, we're leaving. The situation is no longer in our favor," Itachi announced.
"Now hold on, brat, you don't get to start a fight with us and then just run away," Pa replied. "Jiraiya, get serious, these two are planning on retreating."
"Right," Jiraiya said.
"Itachi, it seems they won't let us go," Kisame smiled, revealing his sharp teeth.
Itachi finally released his left eye, wiping the blood from his cheek he glanced at all of us.
"They won't have a choice!"
'Kurama, get ready!' I thought suddenly.
"Like we'll give you the opportunity," Jiraiya began.
Karin let out a startled shriek as she fell to the ground. Her body had suddenly ignited in black flames and at that same moment, Itachi and Kisame made their exit.
"Shit," Jiraiya cursed. "Wait, what is this?"
"That was faster than I expected," Kurama commented.
Surrounding Karin's body was a bubbling red cloak of chakra shielding her from the black flames, similar to mine with the exception being that it only had a single tail.
"What's… going… on," Karin stuttered.
"This is my precaution," I explained. Holding my hand towards Karin, her chakra cloak stretched towards me and was absorbed into mine, pulling the black flames towards me. "I had a feeling that Itachi was going to pull out some crazy shit, so I planned ahead. What you are experiencing is the Kyuubi's chakra protecting you."
"Holy shit," Jiraiya said in awe. "This… this is something else entirely."
"The lad really is impressive," Pa nodded.
"No time to gawk," I replied as the black flames of Amaterasu was suspended in front of me in a pair of chakra claws. "Itachi gave us a nice present and I think we should return the favor while he's still in the forest. What do you say, I'll supply the wind while you two do the oil and fire?"
Pa let out a chuckle and hopped onto my shoulder. "Works for me, I'll supply the oil."
"This is going to cause a lot of destruction," Jiraiya began, "but when does one get the chance to use a combination jutsu with his student and his master.
The three of us unleashed wind fire and oil as one, creating a wave fast moving, boiling, Amaterasu enhanced flaming oil that rushed into the forest. Trees were ripped out of the ground and burnt away in seconds.
Deeper in the forest, Itachi only had a moment to activate the ribcage of his Susanoo to shield himself as he retreated. Kisame on the other hand used Samehada to absorb the combination of techniques, but that didn't stop some of the oil from burning him, leaving angry red marks on his arms and even burning part of his face.
Releasing our combination technique, my chakra cloak began to fade, but not before purging the left over Amaterasu by stretching onto the ground, before separating from the chakra that was holding it.
"That might have been a bit of an overkill," Jiraiya said as he took in the burning forest in front of us. "Not to mention that thing we learned about Itachi!"
"What thing?" Pa asked.
"He tried to torture me in an almost unbreakable illusion and then he tried to set Karin on fire. I don't feel guilty," I shrugged. While it was true that Itachi was actually a good guy, that didn't mean that I was going happily let him harm myself or the people I care about. "Besides, Itachi's a tough bastard, he's probably still alive."
Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his face.
"Lads, what was that thing about that Itachi brat you both seem to know?" Pa asked once more.
"It's… kind of a long story and I would rather you be told somewhere more secure," I replied, before glancing at the forest, or more specifically what remained of it. It was likely that every tree that had survived the hot wave of toad oil would die, if not from the amaterasu that was slowly spreading, then from the sheer heat that was coming from the remaining burning oil. "We should probably do something about that!"
"Oh, you think," Jiraiya said sarcastically.
"You wanted to combined our jutsu just as much as I did," I commented idly.
"And now we're dealing with the aftermath," Jiraiya groaned.
"So, how do we do this? Can you seal that fire away?" I asked.
"No, there's too much fire," Jiraiya shook his head. This black fire… it's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's both extremely hot and if it wasn't extinguished by the kyuubi's chakra, then it's likely incredibly difficult to put out. We'll need to contain it and let it burn itself out."
"So earth style techniques?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
In hindsight, it was a bad idea to use Itachi's Amaterasu in the Goemon, but at the same time I was pissed that he intended to light Karin on fire and that he used his Tsukuyomi on me… not to mention, I've been tempted to use that specific jutsu combination ever since I learned how to use the toad oil bullet.
"That's right. We're gonna create a large hole in the center of the fire and let the oil drag the fire in with it," Jiraiya explained. "Then you're going to create a few hundred clones to look for any more black fire and have them throw it in the hole."
"Sadly I'm not that versed in using earth style techniques," Fukasaku explained.
"Alright, Jiraiya and I will handle this," I responded with enthusiasm. "So… what jutsu do we use to do this?"
"Just follow my lead," Jiraiya replied as he slowly cycled through the hand seals.
Mastery of a jutsu was seen through how effective a Shinobi could use it and how few hand seals the Shinobi needed to pull it off. Jiraiya using more than 30 hand seals showed me one of two things. Either he wasn't a master of using this technique, which was doubtful, or he was dumbing it down for me so we could pull it off together with maximum efficiency, which was extremely likely.
Together, we brought our hands down and I felt my chakra seep into the earth. Deep in the destroyed forest, a hole formed, small at first, but it quickly grew in size and depth, sucking up the left over oil, fire and splintered trees.
Looking at the massive hole, I felt both awe and a little nervousness. Awe at how large and deep we had managed to make the hole and nervous at what it contained. The toad oil had served as an excellent conduit for Itachi's Amaterasu and had bolstered the flames. Even now, I felt the heat that was being generated in the hole.
"Normally, after Shinobi fight, they just leave the area, but when it comes to powerful jutsu that can sustain themselves for longer than the battle, it's best to clean up," Jiraiya explained. "To keep the jutsu from spreading and to keep civilians safe from stumbling into it!"
"I… didn't really think about that," I replied. It had never occurred to me that civilians might accidentally get caught up in a jutsu hours after it had been used.
"You wouldn't have. Not many Shinobi reach the point where they have to worry about their jutsu sticking around for hours," Jiraiya explained. "Only powerful Shinobi need to learn that lesson… Those with powerful elemental kekkei genkai and Jinchuriki especially."
"Well it's not like I was the one who made those black flames," I defended myself.
"But then you used those flames in our combination jutsu. You're a powerful Shinobi, Naruto, but you need to learn restraint."
The look Jiraiya was giving me was enough to make my blood boil. It was close to the same look the villagers would give me. It was hurtful.
"Restraint?!" I snapped. "That was me restraining myself! If you've forgotten, I can actually access a whole lot more of the kyuubi's chakra, but I realized that if I did, this forest, civilians and Karin even Pa would have been at risk of dying. Is that enough restraint, Jiraiya, or should I have just let Itachi capture me to avoid damage?"
"Naruto," Jiraiya began.
"No, fuck this. You obviously have some weird sort of vision of how I should act and I want no part in it. Either accept who I am or this whole training under you thing is finished," I turned and stormed off, barely realizing that Karin was following me.
The forest was silent, save for the sound of crackling wood and the simmering flames of amaterasu in the hole.
"He forgot to have his clones scout for more of those black flames," Jiraiya sighed. "You think you could help me out here, Pa?"
"Jiraiya-chan, what's wrong with you?" Pa snapped. "We were all involved in using that Jutsu and you put all of the blame for its fallout on Naruto!"
"Naruto… has the full power of the Kyuubi to back him and is an extremely likely candidate for being the child of prophecy. He needs to be held to a higher standard and I need to guide him into being the savior!"
"That's not how any of this works," Pa snapped. "The prophecy said that you will guide the Shinobi who will either be the savior or the destroyer, not that you would choose for him."
"If I don't choose for him, he'll likely destroy the Shinobi world," Jiraiya argued. "He's only 13 and he already has the backing of the Kyuubi. He's only going to get stronger from here on out, stronger than any other Shinobi. He needs guidance! He needs to become the savior!"
Pa shook his head sadly. "It's precisely that way of thinking that will create the destroyer! Naruto is a good lad, but you're choosing to only see the bad inside of him, you see only his flaws, not his virtues."
"He's got the full power of the Kyuubi," Jiraiya replied stoically. "He's one bad day, one tantrum away from destroying Konoha."
"And yet he hasn't," Pa pointed out. "Konoha has mistreated Naruto since he was a baby and yet he has never turned on it. During the invasion, If Naruto had entered that cloaked state, he likely could have beaten the Ichibi, but he didn't, he did something no one else has ever done and talked a biju down!"
Jiraiya sighed. "That's only one example, while the damage to this forest is another. The next time, if he's had a bad day, he might just decide to unleash a Jutsu like this in Konoha. It doesn't even have to be intentional, it could even be in a spar that goes wrong!"
"A bad day? Do you mean a day where Naruto-chan is attacked by a pair of powerful Shinobi, fights for his life, protects his friend and then is immediately treated poorly by his master who acts like a hypocrite and holds him to a standard he himself doesn't even follow?" Pa asked cheekily. "Do you mean a bad day when his enemy is treated better than he himself was by his master no less?!"
"I…"
"Tell me, Jiraiya. If Naruto has had such a bad day, why do I not see a fully formed Kyuubi rampaging… Could it be that your worries were misplaced?" Pa hummed. "You need to stop looking at Naruto-chan like he's the savior or the destroyer and realize who he truly is, a boy who, while going through a lot, is rising to the challenges the world is throwing at him."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "I know who Naruto is."
"Do you?" Pa asked. "Don't think of him in regards to the prophecy, don't think of him as Minato's son, don't even think of him as the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki and now tell me who he is!"
"He's…" Jiraiya's face scrunched up in thought. "He likes training…"
Pa just sighed and rubbed his head. "This is what I was afraid of. You've become so obsessed with the prophecy, your own fears and regrets that you haven't even bothered to learn who your student really is."
"It hasn't been that bad," Jiraiya argued. "I mean… I did teach him during the chunin exams."
"At the request of your sensei," Pa shot back. "Try again!"
"Fine. I've started teaching him the Rasengan," Jiraiya replied.
"Oh, and how's that going?"
"I'm sure he's close to mastering the first step," Jiraiya smirked.
"You don't know how far he is?" Pa asked. "So you've shown him the first step and you haven't even bothered to watch his progress… show him what he's doing wrong…"
Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, we're currently looking for Tsunade, she's going to be the next Hokage."
"I see," Pa nodded sympathetically. "You must be over exerting yourself, not being able to create a single shadow clone to watch after your student and his friend."
"The thing is–"
"Enough," Pa snapped. "All you've been doing is making excuses for your own shortcomings. If Minato was alive to see how you are treating his son, he would have been severely disappointed in you!"
"But he's not. He's dead and gone. Minato left the rest of us with our grief and regrets," Jiraiya snapped back. "I should have been there, damnit, but I was too busy. I was on a mission at the borders of Amegakure. I was stationed there to prevent Hanzo from leaving and invading the land of fire. It was a pointless mission that never amounted to anything."
"Jiraiya," Pa began softly. "Losing Minato hurt everyone, but right now we're discussing his son. The one who you insist on holding to the highest of standards and scolding for a mishap you helped cause."
"Yes, I know… I screwed up," Jiraiya groaned, rubbing his face. "I haven't bothered learning who my student is and I've been hypocritical… Pa, how badly have I screwed up?"
"Immensely," Pa replied. "But luckily there's still time to make things right. You're looking for Tsunade, but it's unlikely that you're going to be able to find her quickly. Use this time to get to know your student. Learn who he really is, his hopes, his dreams and so on. If you don't… I doubt you'll be his master for much longer."
"Right," Jiraiya nodded and turned to follow the same path as Naruto.
Pa coughed into his hand. "Jiraiya, are you forgetting something?"
"What?"
"The forest," Pa replied. "You've got to make sure none of that black flame is outside of the hole!"
"Crap," Jiraiya cursed. "Do you think that you could help me out?"
Pa shook his head. "No. Think of this as a punishment for being so hard headed."
"Damnit."
I stormed through the forest angrily. Who was Jiraiya to say that I went too far. Sure, the Goemon was a bit of an overkill, but hadn't he seen what Itachi and Kisame had done?! My jacket and undershirt were covered in blood and had a huge hole torn in them.
If I hadn't been a Jinchuriki that was on good terms with his biju, it was likely that I would have been stuck in a hospital for a few weeks.
That's not to mention what Itachi did. He tried to mentally screw me over with his Tsukuyomi and then he tried to set Karin on fire with Amaterasu. I don't care how much shit he's been through, he had no right to try killing one of my friends just so he can escape.
And now somehow I'm the one in the wrong! I was just protecting my friends and myself and I'm the one that needs to learn restraint! Jiraiya ditched us, sure there was no way that he could know that Itachi and Kisame would pull something like this, but that doesn't' detract from the fact that he left us alone, me, Kurama's Jinchuriki and Karin, the girl Danzo has been circling.
"When you're done with your anger, I have some… insight for you!"
I wasn't, but I took a calming breath and let it go anyway. Anger wasn't going to get me anywhere, in fact, it would be detrimental. 'I'm calm…'
"Good. I'm not going to put up with a friend that loses his temper over the slightest of things," Kurama commented. "Your sensei, while an idiot was acting on emotion rather than logic. While scolding you, he was radiating several negative emotions, fear being the primary one."
'So he was afraid. What, was it of me?'
"More than likely it was of our potential. Jiraiya had seen just a small fraction of what we're capable of together and it's likely that it scared him," Kurama explained. "You blocked the Amaterasu and even though you insisted that the toad and Jiraiya help you with that combination jutsu, you didn't need it, you could have used a pair of clones to fill in for you."
'But he should see that I'm on his side. It's not like I'm going to go mad with power or anything!'
"You humans are foolish creatures, Naruto. Jiraiya has likely drawn a connection from what we told him about Obito to you. His team mate, Orochimaru went rogue, Obito went rogue and now Jiraiya is watching your team to see who goes rogue," Kurama replied. "Not to mention that although I know you're not a kid, Jiraiya doesn't. To him, you're a strong 13 year old that has my full backing and can seemingly sweet talk biju."
I felt the rest of my anger melt away with a sigh. If I knew a 13 year old had full control of a power that dwarfs even nuclear bombs, I would be terrified. If I had been merged with Sasuke instead, a fully realized Naruto would be terrifying to me.
Jiraiya didn't know I wasn't 13, to him, I was an odd kid that could blow up entire mountain ranges. It didn't excuse him of how he acted, but at the very least, I now understood why he was acting like such an enormous dick.
'Thanks Kurama, I really don't know how I would do all of this without you.'
Kurama simply grunted, but I could feel his chakra pulsing through my body almost happily.
This issue with Jiraiya would have to be solved. I can't exactly tell him that I'm not just Naruto, but also a person with future knowledge, but that didn't mean I couldn't push the fact that I have more experience than I'm letting on.
"Um… Naruto?" Karin began, lightly poking my shoulder.
"HOLY SHIT," I jumped. How long had Karin been following me?
And We've got Chapter 14.
This is a bit of a large chapter.
Firstly, on Jiraiya's end. He screwed up a bit by having double standards and was judging Naruto a bit too harshly. He quickly became aware that Naruto has a ton of power at his disposal and let his worries get the best of him... I hope it didn't come off as if I was bashing him, because that is not my intentions.
Karin got a moment to show how she feels and how bad her life was before Konoha and it was bad.
Kisame and Itachi appeared for their fight and it ended with a lot more destruction.
...Yeah that's pretty much it.
I'm up to chapter 19 on the Spooky P word website. I'll always be 5 chapters ahead there at the very least.
P
A
T
R
E
O
N
I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.
Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.
See you all on the 5th of April.