Naruto: Nine And Seven

Chapter 5

Two months after they had received their swords, Naruto and Fu were sparring with Jiraiya. The pair had raised their skills with taijutsu and kenjutsu to low jonin level and trained with their swords abilities. They had also learned a few new jutsu with their elements as well as a few other techniques such as the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu. Naruto had also begun to learn space-time jutsu to follow in his father's footsteps, but it was the same problem that they had with genjutsu, Jiraiya wasn't skilled in that branch of ninja arts aside from the Summoning Jutsu and he had made little headway in the art. Their skill with genjutsu had improved and they could now use it in an actual fight, though not to particularly great effect yet. Still, they knew even a weak genjutsu could turn a battle if used correctly and at the right time.

Jiraiya blocked Fu's Okibi no Yaiba with his kunai, the two traded blows for a bit before Fu jumped back to avoid an upward slash and lunged forward, her sword suddenly consumed in fire as she slashed it through the air, unleashing a wave of fire. Jiraiya jumped over the fire and Fu only for Naruto to burst from the ground with an upward slash where he landed. The toad sage leaned back, barely avoiding the blade before jumping back and running though hand signs as Naruto charged towards him.

"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!" Jiraiya yelled, his hair transformed into countless sharp needles and encasing him completely, Naruto stabbed at Jiraiya only for the blade to clash against the needle armor. Naruto jumped backwards into the air, recognizing this attack pattern.

"Ninja Art: Hell Needles!" countless needles fired from the armor at the blond, who swiped his sword, creating a gust of wind that blew the needles away. He landed near Fu who thrust her blade forward as he slashed his.

"Tempest Wind!" "Searing Blaze!" Naruto and Fu yelled out, respectively. Naruto's slash created a powerful gust of wind while a stream of fire erupted from Fu's sword, creating a firestorm. Jiraiya cursed at this as he disappeared in the blaze. Naruto and Fu looked on, both knowing they didn't catch the pervert.

The blaze cleared to reveal Jiraiya was nowhere in sight. Naruto and Fu skipped back as they detected something beneath them and Jiraiya jumped out of the ground.

"Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" Jiraiya called out and the ground Naruto and Fu landed on turned to chakra infused mud. The pair land in the mud and despite their struggles, sink into the ground. Jiraiya smirked as he watched the pair struggle.

"Heh, looks like it's still too soon for you to face me head on." Jiraiya said, only for his smirk to fade when the two grinned before turning to smoke.

"Lashing Wind!" A whirling gust of wind carves a path in the ground towards the toad sage from the tree line behind him.

"Damn!" Jiraiya jumped out of the way of the blast, right where the pair wanted him. Jiraiya landed and suddenly, a swarm of insects erupted from the ground and the Toad Sage yelled in shock as he is consumed by the swarm before a blade of wind cut into him and he to burst into smoke.

Naruto and Fu looked where the sage once stood as they walked back into the clearing before smiling.

"Alright, you two." the real Jiraiya said as he approached the pair who turned to him. "You win, but don't get cocky just because you beat my shadow clone. Get some rest, tomorrow, we'll start training you to draw on your Biju's chakra. Take the rest of the day off."

That night, Naruto and Fu talked while they sat around a fire at their camp and Fu noticed Naruto had been quiet, thinking about something intensely.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Fu asked concerned.

"Huh? What do you mean, nothing's wrong." Naruto replied with a fake smile, which didn't fool the green haired girl for a moment.

"Naruto, I know a fake smile when I see one." She said and his smile faded. "What's wrong, does it have to do with the Kyuubi?"