/~/
He had never been one for funerals; he hadn't been to one in decades. Somewhere along the way in his life he had gone to one too many, buried one friend more than he could stand, and avoided every other he was supposed to be at like the plague ever since. It wasn't about respect; everyone he had ever fought beside knew just how much he cared for his comrades. It was about his own happiness.
No shinobi he had ever fought beside would care if he showed up at their funeral, so he didn't. Life was too short to be spent mourning those who had lost theirs; he had had that figured out by the start of the Third War.
Was it selfish? Probably. Did he care? Not a chance.
He hadn't attended the service for his most prized student years ago – though he had considered it – so it would come as no surprise that he didn't show up at his sensei's either.
Instead, he gathered up his newest student and whisked him away to find the old man's replacement. It was a journey filled with adventure, intrigue, and, most importantly, debauchery – or at least that's what he'd told Naruto when he'd kicked his door in that morning.
"Ne, sensei. You still haven't told me who we're looking for," Naruto whined from just behind him as they powered through the treetops. "Or, ya know, where we're going?"
He had been known to leave out potentially key details on more than one occasion, but in his defense Naruto hadn't put up much of a fight when told they were leaving this morning – the boy was as big a fan of funerals as he was it seemed.
"We're going to find a princess!" Jiraiya exclaimed, a shit-eating grin on his face as he turned to behold his student's stupefied expression. Hehehe weren't expecting that one, were ya, kid?
"If you didn't wanna tell me you coulda just said, jeez," the blond mumbled. Jiraiya laughed outright at the irritated expression on the boy's face. He was too easy to tease.
The Sannin turned himself fully to face his student, now skipping backwards through the trees at pace. "Who says I'm fucking with you, kid?" he returned easily, expertly hiding the smallest of hitches in his voice as his newest student morphed into a ghost.
Close cropped blond hair lengthened, forming bangs that framed a sharpened jawline. Narrower blue eyes glimmered in annoyance as whisker marks faded to nothingness, replaced with unblemished tan skin.
Namikaze Minato stared back at him for a lost moment in time before Jiraiya blinked and the ghost of his past faded back into the ether. Despite having his mother's face, Naruto was damn near the spitting image of his father with his new green flak vest.
The Sannin quickly turned back around to face forward.
"Oh, I dunno, sensei, common sense?" the blond piped sarcastically.
Fair point, Jiraiya conceded, still shaken. "Bah! You shouldn't doubt me, my very young apprentice. I have wisdom far beyond your meagre comprehension, for I am Jiraiya! The one true – "
"Sage of Mount Myōboku. A man so gallant that no woman has ever refused him. A man so powerful that his enemies quake in fear at the mere mention of his name," Naruto recited, voice flat. His eyes held a glimmer of amusement, however, and Jiraiya felt himself grin. "Am I on track here, sensei?"
Heh, so he does listen. Ever since their first impromptu lesson in the hot springs, the blonde's awareness of the world around him had slowly but surely become something resembling acceptable. He was far from proficient, but he wasn't quite as liable to be killed because of lack of attention to detail.
Which meant that Jiraiya could actually focus on developing the boy as a shinobi. He hadn't been this excited in years – damn near thirteen years in fact.
Thirteen years of travelling the world over, searching for whispers of his traitorous teammate. Thirteen years of poor leads and dead ends. Thirteen years of dedicated service to his village, looking for threats and neutralizing them before they truly materialized. Thirteen years of trying to forget about the loss of a man who was supposed to change the world, and thirteen years of wondering how he was ever going to explain everything to his godson. Thirteen years of trying to put into words how Sarutobi's request – not order – to stay out of Naruto's early life, in the wake of Minato's death, had been a good enough reason to stay away.
He had no explanation; none that he had dreamed up had ever satisfied his conscience, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would satisfy Naruto.
So he leapt when Sarutobi had finally put him in charge of the boy's development. Over a decade of traipsing about every corner of the continent suddenly became worth it. He had uncovered information about an organization that was hell-bent on capturing the biju – their hosts be damned – and knew that Naruto would soon be hunted.
And not just by the Akatsuki. Not even he had predicted that Naruto would ever get caught up in Orochimaru's twisted machinations.
Which only heightened the pressure he was under. Naruto needed to be well prepared to fight the coming darkness, and the task had fallen to Jiraiya.
Perhaps thirteen years was too conservative of an estimate. He hadn't been this excited since the end of the Second Great War. He had had two students prodigiously talented in the shinobi arts, either of whom he had been certain would change the world as the Child of Prophecy. Minato and Nagato, two boys from different nations that he had been blessed to bestow even a fraction of his knowledge upon; legends in the making who had the potential to shape the world into a place worth living in.
And then they were dead. Nagato and his friends slaughtered by Hanzo sometime near the end of the Third War. Minato cursed to an eternity in the Shinigami's stomach stopping the Kyuubi's rampage.
Naruto was the only one left, and where before Jiraiya had felt all hope for the prophecy lost, he now saw a glimmer of possibility. At thirteen, the boy was blessed with his mother's vitality and strength of chakra; as an Uzumaki, he would have had large reserves even without the Kyuubi being sealed into him at birth, but with it?
Jiraiya had sensed – truly felt – Naruto's chakra three times since he had known the boy. Once in the Forest of Death when he had unleashed his rage upon the outmatched Oto genin. Once when he had completed the second stage of training to master the Rasengan. Once when he had let loose a fraction of the Kyuubi's power in his fight against Gaara.
Massive didn't truly begin to describe what Jiraiya had felt. Oceans of chakra had greeted his senses; the Kyuubi's otherworldly reserves had bled through the seal for over a decade, leaving the blond teenager with so much that Jiraiya doubted that he'd ever in his life experience true exhaustion.
Minato had been a genius among geniuses. Orochimaru had been the same. Nagato's legendary eyes had given him an insight to the workings of chakra that Jiraiya had never dreamed of. At thirteen, all had been better shinobi than Naruto was currently; Jiraiya himself had been as well.
Naruto's skillset wasn't developed. He wasn't unbelievably fast. He had no naturally inherent grasp of ninjutsu. He was unrefined, his potential untapped, and yet had still tackled a fully manifested biju, for the most part, on his own.
The Sannin contained a shudder as he glanced once more at the blond keeping pace with him. No, excited didn't really begin to cover what Jiraiya felt about being able to teach Naruto.
/~/
People looked at him differently now.
They had always looked at him, whether they wanted to or not. At first with disdain and thinly veiled rage. Then with wariness. And finally with disdain once more.
He wasn't used to awe.
What were you expecting, idiot? his traitorous mind supplied. He had, after all, damn near fought a biju on his own. It wasn't unreasonable that the general populace started seeing him in a different light considering he played an integral part in defeating the greatest threat to Konoha-proper since the First Great Shinobi War – with a little help from a friendly neighborhood ANBU squad, of course.
The general populace didn't care about that part of the story. Hell, few enough shinobi cared that he had had help. He had beaten back the threat, scattering the biju's chakra to the four corners of the continent when he obliterated Gaara.
They didn't see the exhaustion that had kept him unconscious for over a day. They didn't see the tears that fell when he was told that the Sandaime had died in a last-ditch, failed effort to destroy Orochimaru.
They lauded him as a hero where they had once scorned his very existence. Some were still wary of course – thirteen years of hatred could hardly come undone that easily – but the blond had never been the recipient of so many well-wishes in his young life.
He wasn't used to awe, and he didn't like it.
The irony? He was only a few short years removed from having wanted that kind of attention more than anything else in the world.
Even Ino and Kiba looked at him differently, though they hid it well. There was a wonderment in their gaze even as they made fun of the villagers who damn near tripped over themselves thanking him. A wry tint in Kiba's voice as he made a joke about still being able to take him in a fight. A glint of pride in Ino's eyes as she pulled back from giving him a goodnight kiss.
They were the Hero's teammates now.
With the villagers it had been a surprise and an annoyance at their hypocrisy, but altogether not unexpected. Ino and Kiba were his family; they weren't supposed to treat him like anything other than their teammate and friend – and a bit more, in Ino's case.
While he supposed it wasn't nearly as heavy handed as the villagers' turnabout, it still irked him. Worst of all he couldn't really explain it to them.
How did one explain that they hated almost everything to do with the fickle population he had lived among for his entire life? That their change in behavior, however slight, reminded him of the villagers he had come to hate.
They had seen his anger, even gleaned a hint of understanding upon learning about the Kyuubi. But they had never lived it. They had no idea what it felt like to be regarded as nothing more than a manifestation of the villagers' worst nightmares.
He wasn't a person. He was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Nothing more, nothing less; and this latest rush of favor would evaporate just as quickly as the last when the time came.
"You are their pawn, a weapon forged in the heat of desperation to be used and discarded. Konoha's to ignore for your service, and a scapegoat to be held up in times of strife."
Perhaps the Snake Sannin hadn't been entirely correct in his statement of Naruto's utility to Konoha, but he certainly appeared more right than wrong.
The only two who didn't treat him differently were Sasuke and Jiraiya. The Uchiha had shown up in his hospital room sporting a new chunin vest, apparently for outstanding service during the invasion. He had given him a quick once-over, sneered at his bedridden state, said, "Tch, find me when you're out of this place. Usual spot. No holding back this time, dead-last," and left him to his recovery.
And he would've, if only for a glimpse of normality in his whirlwind of a life, had his new sensei not burst in on the day of his release, thrown his own chunin vest in his face, and unilaterally decided that they were going to find the old man's replacement.
Fuck debauchery, he groused, sweat pouring down his face and chest as he used every ounce of concentration he was capable of to remain invisible.
Naturally, he was in an onsen. Jiraiya, true to form, wasn't about to let finding the next Hokage interfere with his research. The Sannin was sprawled next to Naruto in the baths, in a small town called Shukuba, calmly taking notes in between the occasional giggle.
Of course, the legendary nin was using his usual cloaking method, leaving him completely invisible to the numerous women scattered around the bath. As a matter of course, Jiraiya had decided to turn the relaxing afternoon into a training exercise.
The Meisaigakure no jutsu was difficult enough to perform and maintain under normal circumstances. Using it while trying to avoid sharp bursts of Suiton chakra Jiraiya casually sent at him every few seconds was a bit more frustrating.
I am gonna wring every ounce of knowledge outta this guy, Naruto thought, chakra control working in overdrive to maintain his cloaking as a jet of water clipped him under water. And then I'm gonna fucking murder him with it!
Preoccupied as his thoughts were, his focus slipped. The Gama-sennin wasted no time and a jet of water, more powerful than the last, caught Naruto on his upper thigh. He clamped down on a squawk of pain as he felt his cloaking jutsu begin to fail.
Tiger-boar-ox-dog-snake – Naruto's chakra reached out and deftly replaced himself with a log that was conveniently placed outside the back wall of the onsen where he and Jiraiya had been lounging. The blond exhaled hard as the Meisaigakure no jutsu faded completely, slapping the ground in frustration.
"Fucking hell," he muttered, shaking his head and leaning it back against the bamboo wall of the hot springs. Maybe Yamato's insistence he work on his chakra control before the Chunin Exam Final – he contained a wince at the thought of his second dead sensei – had been better founded than he'd originally thought.
Chakra control chakra control fucking chakra control! It's what it all seemed to come down to these days. Too bad I've got a fucking demon in my system, Naruto thought derisively. "Thanks for that one, dad."
He had raw power to throw around, and a lot of it. But raw power was useless unless he had the control to direct it. Not every enemy was as big a target as the Shukaku's head had been.
Raw power had its uses. It had carried him through Wave and River Country, two situations where he'd likely have been killed otherwise. But it hadn't been enough to strike a killing blow against that treacherous Suna jonin from the Third Exam – Baki, his mind supplied. It hadn't been enough to even touch the traitorous ANBU that had killed Yamato; his wind chakra – the most offensively oriented element – hadn't even touched the arrogant man. In the end it was his deception that had caught the man off guard; his power had merely been the blow landed.
He didn't bother to entertain the idea that raw power would be enough to help him survive the Akatsuki, whenever they decided to make a move on him.
Shaking his head at his circular musings, he formed a tiger seal and disappeared in an explosion of smoke –
And reappeared in the men's changing area, where he was immediately greeted by his new sensei. "What took you so long, brat?" the Sannin asked, already changed and flipping casually through the pages of notes he had collected in the hot springs.
Naruto blinked in surprise. Jiraiya always took his time before leaving the onsen if Naruto had been cast out first; for research purposes, of course. "Thinking, sensei."
The white haired man snorted. "Didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
Naruto felt one of his eyes twitch. This guy…
Skillfully ignoring his immature sensei, the blond quickly changed into his standard attire – now complete with his brand-spanking new Chunin vest – and led the way out of the onsen. Jiraiya swiftly overtook him, still flipping through his notes in earnest.
Shukuba town wasn't quite a city, but it was unlike any other place Naruto had been in his admittedly limited travels. It was a place designed entirely for the pleasure of those who were within its walls. Inns, restaurants, bars, and – most notably – brothels lined the main streets. It had a small casino that Naruto and Jiraiya had scoped out upon their arrival the day before, and the hot springs they had just left.
Even though Jiraiya insisted that this was the first, entirely legitimate stop on the way to finding the Sandaime's replacement, Naruto had his suspicions.
Jiraiya sighed from in front of him, tucking his notes into a seemingly nonexistent pocket of space. He turned to Naruto, eyes serious. "Alright, kid, look; I'm no good at all this touchy-feely emotional crap you've had going on since we got here, but I'm gonna try anyway. What's eating you?"
The blond started, but before he could even open his mouth in protest Jiraiya had cut him off. "And don't feed me some bullshit line about 'thinking.' You can't bullshit a bullshitter, brat; I'm the best there is at what I do."
Naruto glanced away, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. "Dunno where to start…"
"Some say the beginn–"
"Yes, the fucking beginning, sensei," Naruto snapped, pointedly ignoring Jiraiya's self-satisfied smirk. "I…I need to be stronger."
The Sannin paused in the street and Naruto halted just behind him. Jiraiya pondered his statement for a long moment before –
"That's what you're going all angsty on me for, kid?"
He was going to kill him.
"Seriously, kiddo, you're twelve—"
"Thirteen!"
"Same shit." Jiraiya waved him off. "My point stands. This isn't the type of shit you need to be worrying about right now." The older man sighed heavily. "You're young. You'll get plenty strong in time."
"I don't have time," Naruto bit out, nearly spitting the words. The Chunin Exams had shown him his limits in extensive detail. Nearly ineffective against the two treacherous shinobi in the arena; powerless at the whim of Orochimaru…
"Now, picture yourself standing alone, against an organization of my near equals…"
No, raw power wasn't going to be nearly enough.
Jiraiya sent him a measuring look that the blond returned with equal measure. The Sannin huffed, closing his eyes in apparent exasperation before focusing back on his student. "Look, Naruto, I get where you're coming from," he said. "You've seen a lotta strong shinobi these past few weeks, never mind the Shukaku."
"It's intimidating, it's mind-boggling, and it's scary seeing that kinda strength thrown around," he continued. "But you can't let that change you. You can't let that glimpse of power alter how you live your life – it's not worth it. Trust me on that one."
The Sannin trailed off, gazing outward and upward for a moment, seemingly lost in some memory or another. Naruto was silent as he watched his teacher.
"I remember one day, I wasn't much younger than you are now, me and the rest of my genin team were coming home from a mission and ran into an Iwa Kill Squad. Four elite jonin, went by the name of the Sentan Butai – they were pretty well known back in the day too," Jiraiya said. "Wanted Sarutobi-sensei's head, of course. Well, the old man just told us students to stand back while he took care of business."
He shook his head with a wry smile. "Sensei made quick work of them, but three managed to survive the first few seconds of the fight. I just remember thinking that they were three tough-ass shinobi to be able to do that – real elite jonin."
Jiraiya snapped back to the present in an instant, taking Naruto off-guard with the sharpness of his gaze. "None of the three of us were the same after that. We had seen sensei show off before, but to dispatch three A-ranked shinobi without blinking an eye? It was unfathomable. We all wanted a slice of that cake, so we went out and got it."
The Sannin sighed, rubbing his temple tiredly. "I guess what I'm trying to say, Naruto, is that it's easy to fall into the trap of constantly chasing power. It's there for the taking, but it demands a sacrifice. Me and Tsunade? We sacrificed a lot, and we got a lot stronger for it. And Orochimaru? That day changed him more than any of us. And, well…you know how he turned out."
He pinned Naruto with a searching gaze once more. "I've seen a lot of shinobi go the way he did, kid. Good shinobi. Good men and women twisted by their need to get stronger. I've had to cut a few of 'em down myself."
Naruto's stomach dropped to his feet.
"I don't wanna see that happen to you too, kid," Jiraiya finished quietly, turning to resume their walk back to the inn. Naruto, shell-shocked, followed in his wake.
"I think…I understand, sensei," the blond ventured after a few moments of silence. His lack of time, however, remained. "But—"
"But you've still got my crazy ex-teammate interested in you," Jiraiya cut in. "Never mind…others."
The hairs on Naruto's arms stood up as a swooping sensation passed through his stomach. Could he mean… "Others, sensei?" he asked quietly.
The large man sighed – and he had done a lot of that today – lips quirking into a mirthless smile as he looked at his student. "It's all about power in the end. Ever since the time of the Rikudō Sennin people have been obsessed with the biju. That hasn't changed in centuries. There are always gonna be people trying to claim the power of the tailed beasts, and the Kyuubi especially."
"My old teammate is one of them, and he's far from the only one," Jiraiya said. He sighed once more. "I'll get into them with you soon enough, Naruto. For now, just trust me, ok?" He offered the silent Naruto a reassuring smile. "I'm not about to let guys like that get their hands on you, and I'm a pretty good guy to have watching your back."
It was Naruto's turn to sigh. "I just wanna be able to take care of myself. I don't want you to have to watch my back, sensei."
He nearly started as Jiraiya clapped a hand to his right shoulder and squeezed. "'Course you don't, kiddo. Gotta give it time, though. I'll have you whipped into something resembling a decent shinobi soon enough. Hell, you already don't suck nearly as much as you did a month ago!"
Naruto swatted at the hand on his shoulder good-naturedly, managing not to bristle at the casual insult to his skills. "Sensei, with all due respect, please go fuck yourself."
"Ha! You should know by now, brat, there's always a willing woman waiting for me just around the corner."
The blond rolled his eyes, smiling in spite of himself. "Sure there is, you perv."
"Super pervert to you. I told you not to sell me short," Jiraiya chastised seriously. "And would you look at that!" he whispered fiercely. Naruto followed his gaze and immediately felt his eyebrows shoot toward his hairline.
A buxom brunette sashayed toward them from the front of one of the many "pleasure houses" they were passing. She wore a tight, strapless blue dress that left little to the imagination. Two gold bands that gleamed in the midday sun encircled her slim waist, accentuating soft curves. Black heels placed her a couple inches taller than Naruto, and the blond felt his pulse begin to race.
Daaaaaaamn, he thought, uncaring that he was staring at the stunning woman.
The smallest upturn of full lips belied her awareness of the attention she was being paid. She surveyed the two of them for a moment before her eyes, as dark as her inky hair, settled on Jiraiya. A wink so quick Naruto wondered if he imagined it was tossed the Sannin's way – the blond ruthlessly quashed a flare of envy for his teacher – and she turned slowly to walk toward the storefront she had come from.
"Ahhh," Naruto heard Jiraiya breathe at the invitation. "Every woman has their own beauty, my very young apprentice. Some, of course, are easier to observe than others…"
Naruto sighed. Lucky bastard, he thought uncharitably, still staring at the retreating form of the woman. "The room key, sensei?"
"Heh, you catch on quick, kiddo." Jiraiya tossed him the key and spared him a glance far sharper than the blond had expected. "Go work on your meditation back at the room. Focus on your awareness of the here and now." His face was relaxed, as befitted a man about to greatly enjoy his afternoon, but Naruto's eyes – slowly but surely learning to truly see – noticed a slight tension in his teacher's bearing.
He exhaled, immediately on his guard. "Yes, sensei."
"There's a good student," Jiraiya said, swiftly ruffling Naruto's hair before the boy could react. He strode off after the woman in blue, hastening to catch up to her. "I'll be back before too long, kiddo," he tossed over his shoulder.
A promise.
Naruto nodded silently. He didn't know what had suddenly set Jiraiya on his guard, but he knew to be wary. Anything that would set the Sannin on edge was definitely worrisome.
"For now, just trust me, ok?"
Doesn't look like I have much of a choice, Naruto thought, Jiraiya's request from just minutes ago ringing in his ears.
He formed a single sign and disappeared in Shunshin.
/~/
The door locked with the 'click' of the tumbler. Naruto wasted no time creating three Kage Bunshin. One immediately Henge'd into a chair next to the door that the second sat on. The third took a seat on the bed, legs crossed under it, and began to meditate.
Naruto, the original, formed a tiger seal with his hands. Taking a deep breath, he pushed his chakra to the surface of his skin on the exhale. The feeling of eggs breaking broken over every inch of his skin was familiar now as the Meisaigakure took effect.
Precautions taken, he plopped down against the wall facing the door of the small room, the window looking out into the street just above his head.
Jiraiya had sensed something amiss back down on the street, which could mean a few different things: someone knew about their search for the next Hokage and was looking to put a stop to it; or someone was after Jiraiya and Naruto was to wait at the room so as to not be caught in the crossfire.
Not bloody likely with my luck, the blond thought, his heartrate elevating in nervousness.
Was Akatsuki finally making a move? He had always expected to be blitzed by whatever S-ranked monster would be sent after him. He had had nightmares about the scenario for years – nightmares of dead bodies of teammates and senseless destruction and his own inability to prevent it.
He hadn't expected to be waiting for the assault; sitting in a hotel room while the clock ticked away in the corner, possibly spending the last moments of his life wondering when the other shoe would drop.
Pull yourself together! Jiraiya isn't far away. He'll be able to handle this, Naruto comforted himself, all the while nearly snarling at his own helplessness. Unbidden, the Kyuubi's chakra began to stir in his gut and he clamped down on the impulse to let it explode outward.
Whoever found him here – if they find me – would be getting a face full of Kyuubi as a welcome.
And how fucking long have I been—
Two knocks at the door cut off his thought and Naruto's heart leapt to his throat. Seriously? he thought, thrown for a moment even as the clone closest to the door slowly rose to answer, a kunai behind his back.
Ignoring the absurdity of Akatsuki potentially knocking on his door politely, Naruto willfully brought the Kyuubi's chakra into his system. S-ranked or not, if the person behind that door was an enemy, he was ready to unleash hell.
The clone opened the door and every ounce of fortified strength was sucked right out of him as Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan stared over the head of the clone, through his cloaking jutsu, and into his eyes.
"Shit," he breathed, stunned and unmoving as he beheld the man who had, with his words, shaped the past five years of his life. A black cloak adorned with red clouds covered the man from the bottom of his chin to his knees. Hair the color of slate framed an angular face that had haunted Naruto's dreams since the night of the massacre.
"Hello, Naruto-kun," Itachi said pleasantly, his voice a smooth tenor that was somehow calming despite the perilous situation. "I must ask you to come with me, please."
"They will hunt you, Uzumaki Naruto."
The clan killer had neglected to mention that he would be the one doing the hunting.
Naruto entertained the idea that Itachi didn't mean him any harm; he had warned him of a group of powerful criminals who wanted him dead years ago, after all. But then S-ranked criminals rarely meant good news, and Itachi had slaughtered his own clan that night – his criminal status wasn't in question. His sanity, on the other hand…
The blond didn't bother mincing words as he formed a hasty Rasengan and slammed it into the wall behind him. He propelled himself backwards and out into the town with a burst of chakra as his three clones rapidly converged on Itachi.
A crackle of lightning and the phantom smell of ozone was the only warning he got from the memories of his destroyed clones before Itachi was in his face. So fast! was all his mind had time to process as he barely got his arms raised in time to stop the Uchiha's punch from caving his chest in.
The strike sent him rocketing toward the street below, and only a hasty roll prevented him from cratering. He found his feet quickly, hands forming the familiar cross shaped seal. Three clones burst into existence next to him with a pop, the first already speeding through hand seals.
Rat-tiger-dog – a Futon: Renkudan exploded out of the clone's mouth and hurtled toward the Uchiha. Itachi broke to his left, directly into the path of the second clone bearing down on him, knuckle knives roaring with wind chakra. The clone slashed out at the missing-nin's head, a three foot blade of pure chakra extending from the end of the knife.
"You've grown, Naruto-kun," the rogue Uchiha complimented, ducking the blow with ease. Naruto winced as the memory of a straight-kick to the chest greeted him upon the clone's demise.
The blond palmed two kunai and sheathed them in his wind chakra before hurling them at Itachi. The final clone gripped its wrist, and suddenly the sound of chakra grinding against chakra filled the town as a fully formed Rasengan sprang to life in its hand.
A seal-less Kawarimi was thwarted as the missing-nin knocked both kunai off course with twin throwing knives of his own. Recovering quickly, the clone blurred faster than Naruto's eyes could track in a Shunshin.
The speed ninjutsu proved useless, as Itachi reacted faster than Naruto thought possible. He smoothly redirected the Rasengan with the back of his left hand before stabbing the overextended clone in the neck with a kunai hidden in his right sleeve.
I am so fucked.
"My best friend was a man given the moniker of Sunshin no Shusui," Itachi stated placidly, his kunai disappearing back into his sleeve. "Your Shunshin, unfortunately, pales in comparison to his."
The Uchiha disappeared and Naruto's eyes widened as he hopped over sliding kick, reflexes acting before his mind caught up to the speed of battle. Itachi stuck a hand to the ground with chakra, halted his momentum, and drove a kick into Naruto's exposed stomach that knocked the breath out of his lungs.
"Your tactics are simplistic," Itachi critiqued, appearing above the airborne blond. Naruto twisted in mid-air, snapping out a chakra laden kick towards Itachi's torso. It crashed into the Uchiha's outstretched arm and halted. "Your attacks lack potency," the missing-nin said before slamming his fist into Naruto's face.
The blond hit the earth like a meteor, cratering in a four foot deep hole as cracks in the road expanded outward rapidly. Stars flashed in front of his eyes as his vision blinked in and out, the sky turning from blue, to green, to yellow, to white, and back to blue again as he lay dazed – distantly, he recognized that he'd never been hit harder.
Soft footfalls greeted his ears as Itachi came to stand at the edge of the crater he'd punched Naruto into. His cloak, unruffled from the conflict, rippled in the breeze. To Naruto's slowly readjusting eyes, the Uchiha looked almost disappointed.
"Tales of your exploits have been spread far and wide, Naruto-kun. You have indeed grown strong since we last met," Itachi said. His voice was entirely calm, not a hint of strain at having so soundly beaten the blond below him. "You are, however, under-developed in many ways. You cannot hope to stand against me as you are today. Your skill pales in comparison to my own when I was your age, even. I fear my words from so long ago have not been enough."
Naruto blinked and suddenly found himself with his back against the wall of his hotel room once more. His clones were frozen, and Itachi had stepped around the one who had answered the door to face Naruto fully.
"Genjutsu," the blond breathed. He bit down on his lower lip harshly, drawing blood in an attempt to break the secondary illusion he was undoubtedly caught in. Blue eyes widened when nothing happened.
"My Sharingan casts genjutsu that are not so easily broken," Itachi said.
Naruto gingerly rose, unsure. "Why not just kill me?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper.
The Uchiha blinked. "You have undoubtedly surmised that I am a member of Akatsuki, however, I have no wish to kill you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto balked, incredulous. "Then what the fuck was that?" He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the street where their one-sided 'fight' had taken place.
"A measure of your capacity," Itachi replied. "As I said, your exploits have become rather well known to those who are interested enough to listen. I wished to see what rumors were based in fact."
The rogue Uchiha sighed almost imperceptibly. "I had hoped that my warning from years ago would have helped push you toward the strength you will need to fight the coming darkness."
The 'you're not good enough' was left implied.
Naruto felt his mouth go dry and his stomach drop to his feet even as he bristled. "You don't fucking know me!" he bit out. "You have no idea what I've done, the training I've put myself through…" The words tasted like ash in his mouth even as he said them.
He didn't give a flying fuck about Uchiha Itachi's disappointment. What that disappointment meant, however, was significantly more terror-inducing.
"I doubt neither your training nor your dedication. Merely your skill." Itachi regarded him impassively, Sharingan eyes seeing everything, perceiving everything about him. Naruto averted his gaze, clenching his fists at his side.
I'm fucking nothing to this guy, he realized.
"You fight with precision," Itachi continued. "Your chakra is both potent and expansive, but you do not know how to use it properly. Your potential is easy to see, but that is all it is."
"Not that I don't appreciate the lecture, but is there a point to this?" Naruto asked, teeth bared in frustration.
The Uchiha kept his gaze firmly rooted on the blond. He paused for a moment, seemingly weighing his options before, "I did not warn you of Madara and Akatsuki simply for your own benefit. Your survival, however, is integral. Madara recruited me to help him achieve his goal of world peace." Naruto felt his eyebrows shoot up of their own accord. "Unfortunately, his idea of peace would benefit few other than himself. He must be stopped at all costs."
"He intends to collect the nine biju in order to resurrect the Juubi, the legendary biju defeated by the Rikudo Sennin. With its power at his disposal, he will cast a massive genjutsu on the world in order to end all conflicts."
Naruto blinked, opening and closing his mouth ineffectually as Itachi watched patiently from the center of the room.
"I-I…you're serious?" the blond finally managed to ask. At the Uchiha's raised eyebrow he shook himself. "You do realize how ridiculous that sounds…right?"
Itachi's lips twitched, but he recovered from his bout of hilarity quickly. "Regardless of how bizarre his plan might by, Naruto-kun, he is a powerful man with powerful forces working for him. Your life is very much in danger, as is the rest of the world."
So go to the Kage! Naruto almost screamed, but stopped himself as his mind caught up to Itachi's situation. Missing-nin had no credibility with anyone, least of all with any of the Kage. The story he had just told Naruto was flatly ridiculous in all aspects – the only reason the blond hadn't rejected it out of hand was because Madara's continued existence had been confirmed by the Kyuubi. Any of the five – four – sitting Kage would laugh off the story before calling their ANBU or attacking Itachi themselves.
The renegade Uchiha was short on potential allies, but the possibility forming in Naruto's mind was still farfetched to the point of being ludicrous.
"So…what? You told me about Madara and Akatsuki years ago, and you're telling me more now. What do you want from me?" Naruto asked, feeling his heartrate spike at the possibility of finally, finally, learning why Itachi had singled him out five years ago.
"You are, no doubt, wondering if I placed my hopes for eliminating Madara in an eight-year old boy," Itachi began. "Your potential, both as the Kyuubi's jinchuriki and an Uzumaki, is great; greater, even, than my own. I had hoped that my warning would help drive you, and that you would become a worthy ally against Madara."
"It seems my words were not enough," he finished, and Naruto felt the cold edge of failure pierce him.
He didn't care about Itachi's hopes and expectations. But he did care about his life.
Excuses could be made easily enough, but they could just as easily be dismissed. He was thirteen, but Itachi had been thirteen when he'd murdered his clan. He was hampered by being in a team, but Itachi had been in a team and simply blew past them in the ranks. Every obstacle to strength that Naruto struggled to overcome in Konoha was one that Itachi had surmounted with ease.
"So what now?" Naruto asked, voice quiet. His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists at his sides.
The renegade Uchiha cocked his head to the side, surveying the blond. "Are you so easily cowed by the idea of your own failure?" he asked, a true note of confusion in his voice. "I thought you would be more determined in the face of death, Naruto-kun."
His knives were in his hands, wind chakra obliterating the room around him before he even processed his reaction. "What the fuck do you want me to do, Itachi!" he all but screamed. "I've trained day and night for years. Taken every scroll I could get my hands on, taken every tip and lesson Konoha decided I could have. And you're gonna tell me I'm not determined enough?"
Itachi closed his eyes. "Determination alone, however great yours may be, will not be enough." The Sharingan wielder's eyes snapped open, but the red pupil had changed. The fully developed three tomoe had morphed into a three pointed star that resembled a curved fuma shuriken.
Naruto started as the world faded to shades of red, black, and gray. He shivered as a terrible coldness seared him to the bone, his breathing increasing as terror took hold.
The renegade Uchiha regarded him for a moment before turning his head to his right, gazing off into the distant plains of the world his eyes had created. Unbidden, Naruto followed his gaze and beheld legends reborn.
Thick fingers of wood exploded up from the earth to wrap around a shadowy figure clad in red battle armor that danced around them with precognitive grace. A massive battle fan appeared from nowhere and was snapped out, expelling massive blades of wind that shredded the wood with ease.
A second figure burst out of the rain of splinters and Naruto recognized him as Senju Hashirama just as he slammed a zanbatou into the shadowy figure's fan in an overhead smash. The Shodai's face was contorted in concentration, sweeping red lines of some sort of jutsu curving from under his eyes up into his Konoha forehead protector.
Then that's… Naruto thought, snapping his gaze to the shadowy figure that repelled the sword strike with contemptuous ease before landing a snap kick to the Shodai's chest.
"Uchiha Madara," Itachi murmured, eyes rooted on his patriarch.
The legend of old landed lightly and wove a hand seals before Naruto's mouth dropped open at the unfathomable amount of chakra that suddenly saturated the air.
"This is our enemy, Naruto-kun," the younger Uchiha stated, but Naruto was scarcely paying him any attention as a meteor rapidly descended from the atmosphere and obliterated the earth where the Shodai had stood.
Even before the dust had truly begun to settle, a deafening groan split the air before crashing rock gave way to a titan of pure wood that pulled itself from the rubble. Hashirama stood calmly upon its head, arms crossed and eyes searching for his enemy.
Madara wasted no time, and chakra that made Naruto's skin crawl filled the air once more. A gaping hole split the air between the two combatants, air even colder than that which had descended with the vision bringing the blond to his knees.
A roar of primal fury echoed from the tear in reality, foreshadowing killing intent that Naruto knew all too well.
"No," he breathed. "That's not possible!"
He was proven wrong less than a second later as the Kyuubi ripped its way out of whatever hell Madara had opened, its fury shaking the very earth it stood upon.
And just as suddenly as it had appeared, the vision receded.
"You now understand just what you are facing, Naruto-kun," Itachi said, somehow just as calm as ever despite the vision of immeasurable strength he had just conjured. "Just who your enemy is."
Naruto glanced up from where his eyes had settled on the floor. Incredulity didn't even begin to describe his state as he stared down his captor. "You…you want me to fight that!?" he whispered harshly.
He was nothing next to Itachi's might. He might as well have been a newborn baby next to Madara's.
"As he is now, Uchiha Madara is but a shadow of what he once was," Itachi said. "His mind is keen, his agents are numerous and powerful, and it is still beyond the limit of my abilities to kill him alone. He is vulnerable, but as you are you would be nothing but an insect to be swatted."
"You must do more," the missing-nin said sharply. "Your determination, as it is now, is meaningless compared to Madara's strength. Become more than a shadow of the potential that you possess. Cut yourself free of the shackles that bind you, Uzumaki Naruto, and become strong."
Itachi was nearly nose to nose with Naruto before the blond could react. "Cling to life as you've never done before." Naruto's eyes widened at the desperation that colored the Uchiha's tone as the Sharingan bored into his eyes. "Defend your existence as if the survival of the world depended on it. For it very well might."
Just as suddenly as Itachi had invaded his personal space, he was back in the doorway. The blood red of the renegade's dojutsu had turned to onyx, and his unfrozen clones suddenly went on the offensive. Naruto realized belatedly that the genjutsu must've ended even as Itachi casually snapped the wrist of the first kage bunshin, ending its life with a jab to the chest.
He sat stupefied as the two remaining clones leapt futilely into action. Less than a moment passed since the door opened, and we've been talking for ten minutes. This guy…he's unbelievable.
Memories of a blow to the head and a slashed throat pulled Naruto from his stupor as the smoke from the final clones dissipated. The Uchiha was unruffled, looking for all the world like nothing had happened since the door had opened. The only sign of strain was the conspicuous lack of Sharingan coupled with a slight tightness around his eyes.
And Naruto realized that even one month before he wouldn't have noticed even that about his supposed ally. Despite his strides toward strength, despite how far he had distanced himself from his peers since graduation, despite everything, he was still nothing to shinobi of Itachi's caliber.
Less than nothing, his mind supplied. And for the first time since the night of the massacre, Naruto realized the true magnitude of his situation. Orochimaru had spoken the truth: talent and potential alone would leave him dead against the likes of Itachi and the Akatsuki.
A cold sweat broke out along the back of his neck, and it had nothing to do with the monstrous, shark-like man who had just stepped behind Itachi.
"Ne, Itachi-san, I expected a bit more of a fight from this one. All those stories...I was looking forward to giving Samehada a nice lunch." The blue man grinned, baring pointed teeth as he reached back and grasped the handle of massive weapon wrapped in bandages. "Should I cut off a couple limbs for good measure?"
The statement forcibly yanked Naruto back to the present. Itachi said nothing, continuing to gaze at Naruto impassively as the fatigue around his eyes slowly regressed.
The blond didn't have time to contemplate his next move before the wall directly to Itachi's left exploded inward and the sound of a thousand screaming birds nearly deafened him. His eyes widened as Sasuke – and what the fuck was he doing here – darted through the opening, his hand filled with blue lightning and aimed at Itachi's chest.
The elder brother didn't even flinch, and Naruto formed a cross shaped seal as he realized what was about to happen. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, manipulating his chakra into a Kage Bunshin that formed across the room.
Doing the same to his brother as he had done to Naruto earlier, Itachi effortlessly redirected the no-doubt lethal technique to the side. A sharp crack ended the jutsu as Sasuke's wrist broke, and the younger Uchiha cried out in sudden pain as the renegade turned his momentum into a throw.
The clone used its body to cushion Sasuke's impact against the opposing wall, bursting into smoke that Naruto used as cover for a body flicker to appear behind his friend.
"Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what're you doing here?" Naruto hissed.
"Uchiha Itachi," Sasuke grunted, directed more at his brother than at the blond behind him. Naruto's eyes narrowed as black flames began to rapidly spread across Sasuke's neck and the air became heavy with malice.
"Hello, Sasuke," Itachi said, calm as ever in the face of his younger brother's palpable rage. "It was foolish of you to come here today. I can see it in your eyes; your hate is not strong enough to defeat me."
Sasuke's chakra ignited into blue lightning tinged with black as his voice became low and guttural. Naruto hastily stepped back, away from the jutsu's fallout as Sasuke bit out, "I'll show you just how strong my hate is, Itachi!"
The massive blue man stepped forward, bandaged weapon still strapped to his back. "Not to interrupt the touching family reunion, Itachi-san, but you were the one who said we have a time limit."
The renegade Uchiha's eyes narrowed for a moment. "Indeed. I'll deal with my foolish brother. Apprehend Naru–"
The missing-nin stopped abruptly, tensing as his partner unlatched his weapon and swung it at the wall that separated the room from the hallway. The sound of chakra grinding upon itself greeted Naruto's ears a moment before the wall blew inward, a Rasengan meeting the mysterious blade with a high pitched whine.
Behind it, Jiraiya grinned savagely. "Sorry to crash this little shindig, but I just couldn't stay away." The Rasengan suddenly expanded to twice its original size before exploding in a thunderclap of blinding light.
Naruto's eyes widened against the blast, just as he felt someone grab him by the back of the collar. His vision blurred, and he found himself halfway down the hallway outside the now-destroyed room. Sasuke was beside him, lightning jutsu aborted in the confusion, and Jiraiya stood in front of them protectively.
"You alright, kiddo?" the Sannin asked over his shoulder as the smoke cleared to reveal the two missing-nin, mostly unharmed save for the bandages on the blue man's weapon having burned off.
Naruto snorted. "Never better. What took you so long?"
"I never leave a woman unsatisfied. I work fast but not that fast," Jiraiya said, a grin in his voice. Distantly, Naruto marveled at how at ease he was in such a perilous situation. He glanced left to see Sasuke still glaring daggers at his brother, though the mysterious black flames had receded from his skin.
"As for these two…" Jiraiya began, his full attention on the missing-nin. "Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. I had wondered if the rumors were true. So you are after the containers, huh."
The blue man, Kisame, grinned as Itachi surveyed the Sannin. "You are the source behind Kakashi's knowledge," the Uchiha stated.
"Got it in one, kid. Your organization is really something else, what with high profile scum like you guys being members." Jiraiya turned slightly to glance backwards. "Get to a safe distance with you friend, Naruto. I'll deal with these guys."
"Don't!" Sasuke burst out. "Itachi is mine to kill!"
The Sannin regarded the young Uchiha impassively. "Revenge, eh? Can't say you don't deserve it, but these guys are a bit outta your league at the moment, kid."
Kisame brought his scaly sword to bear. "That's big talk, old man. I wasn't all that impressed with the other one of you Sannin that I met a couple years back."
Naruto stared as Jiraiya actually chuckled. "Met Orochi-chan, did you? Surprised he didn't feed you to one of his snakes, what with manners like yours. He might be a bastard, but he and I were kicking trash like you around for years before you were born."
"Enough of this," Itachi cut in. "Kisame, this isn't a fight we want today. Let's go." The blue man grimaced but holstered his weapon all the same.
"One of these days, Itachi-san…" Kisame grunted, before turning and sprinting after his partner down the hallway.
"Oh no you don't!" Jiraiya exclaimed, speeding through seals and slamming his palms to the floor. Fleshy pink tissue burst from the walls with a squelch, immediately slowing the fleeing shinobi. A Rasengan formed in his hand in an instant. "You guys are already in the belly of the beast."
He tore after them in a burst of speed that Naruto hadn't thought the large man capable of, only to stop short as the air inside the walls suddenly spiked in temperature. Pitch black flame burst from nowhere in front of Itachi, burning a hole ten feet wide in the fleshy walls in an instant. The nuke-nin wasted no time powering through the opening and into the open air.
Jiraiya reached the opening a moment later but halted, surveying the still burning black flames with something akin to morbid curiosity. "Well I'll be damned…" he muttered, sparing the sprawling town that the nuke-nin had disappeared into one last glance.
Naruto and Sasuke hurried to his side. "You're not going after them?" the blond asked, sending a side-along glance at his friend; Sasuke was still quivering with rage, but was breathing heavily and cradling his broken wrist gingerly – he wouldn't be attempting anything else.
"Wouldn't do much good, now would it, brat," Jiraiya said absently, pulling a jar from nowhere and scooping up some of the black flames. "I'd chase them, we'd fight some and maybe I'd get one of them, maybe they'd get me…" He surveyed the flames for a moment more before the jar disappeared back to wherever he'd pulled it from.
Naruto stood in wonderment at how easily he broached the topic of his own death – not happy with the possibility for sure but neither did he seem particularly concerned. What's that like, he wondered.
"In any event, we have a mission to complete and a Hokage to find!" the Sannin said with some of his usual cheer before he noticed Sasuke. "Oh," he started, face falling into contemplation. "You weren't supposed to know about this, super-secret mission and all that…ah, I'm sure you won't tell anyone!"
Sasuke blinked and nodded in bewilderment, shooting Naruto a look filled with confusion. The blond just shrugged, long since used to his bizarre sensei's antics.
"Good, good," Jiraiya said, clapping his hands. "Now, we should probably get that wrist of yours taken care of. I'm not much of a healer myself, and we can't turn back to Konoha at this point…Well, I guess it's a good thing backup should be here in about three, two…"
"Dynamic Entry!" was all the warning they had before Jiraiya casually dropped to a knee and a leotard clad man hurtled through the empty space his head had just occupied. Naruto flattened himself on the ground, just barely avoiding a heel to the face as the man's momentum carried him overhead.
"Just in time to be late to the fight," he heard Jiraiya mutter, uncharacteristically uncharitable before the man boomed, "Gai! You're just in time!"
Naruto rested his hand on his forehead to calm his spinning head. He doubted his day was even close to being over.
/~/
Well it's been a while. As usual, thanks to the folks over at DLP who make my work that much better.
I've been writing for a while now, just not this. Hopefully that'll change. Want to finish this bad boy up before we move to the sequel.