Aftermath (A Sequel to A Flash to the Future)

Chapter 36 - Traveling with Pervy Sage

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and deftly caught the water balloon in his free hand and gripped onto it.

"Eh, I still don't get it, Pervy Sage. What kind of chakra control exercise is this anyway? I've been trying it for the last hour and all it does is stay the same or deflate." he said in frustration.

"Just keep trying. I'm sure you'll eventually figure it out." Jiraiya replied.

Naruto just groaned, although he scowled at his back. At the moment, he wished he could just shove a rasengan right into his back. For the past week, the pervert hadn't taught him anything except a few survival skill like starting a fire. Other than that, he spent most of his time doing 'research' and probably talking to one of his spies in his network.

He rolled his eyes as he channeled his chakra into the water balloon and 'struggled' to will it to burst. Despite of Jiraiya's instructional neglect, Naruto did not allow himself to be idle. Over the past 8 days, he been doing his own research and adding on to his jutsu arsenal. Hell, he even came up with another theory on Orochimaru's Curse Seal of Heaven while he was at it.

The only issue was that he need a medic's advice on it. He thought of a way he could subtly talk to Tsunade about it without exposing himself. Although Jiraiya was an idiot, he wasn't stupid. He was a spymaster for a reason which is why he did his best to maintain character when he was around him. Any subtle change would put the Sannin on guard and he didn't need the man snooping into things his nose didn't belong. Naruto inwardly sighed as he tried to bust the balloon again. Doing the exercise for a second time and messing up on purpose was such a drag.

"Try spinning." Jiraiya suggested after a while.

They were about 30 minutes away from their destination now and since he didn't think they would be there long, the exercise gave the child something to occupy his time with while he handled business.

"Spinning?" Naruto repeated. "Okay..." he conceded after another moment of silence.

Naruto closed his eyes and drew a deep breath as he began to channel his chakra into water balloon again. He concentrated on moving his chakra like the Sannin instructed him to. They were nearing the town entrance when Naruto suddenly jumped as he felt the water spin in the balloon rapidly.

"I did it- I mean, I'm doing it!" he exclaimed excitedly at his progression. "Now to up the chakra output...."

With a snapping sound in the water, the balloon burst and Naruto's right hand became drenched in water. "Hell yeah, it worked!" he cheered as he punched the air.

Jiraiya smirked and shot him an approving smile over his shoulder.

"So what now, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Keep practicing." Jiraiya said as he threw him another water balloon. "And I told you about calling me that, brat! You cramp my style."

"What style?" Naruto questioned innocently, earning a tick mark from Jiraiya.

"Hmph." Jiraiya said indignantly as they walked through the town entrance. "You know, it wouldn't hurt you to show a little respect. You got any idea what people would give to be my apprentice? Seriously, you're the luckiest kid in Konoha to have me as your master."

'Respect? Did he seriously say that?' Naruto thought with a scowl. 'What has he possibly done to earn my respect?' The blond never gave anyone his respect. For him, respect was earned. And he had lost all respect for this man who called himself his godfather when he abandoned him. It didn't help that he was too lax in training him. Hell, he learned much more in a month training with Anko than a month training with Jiraiya. And he was supposed to be her superior. That was exactly why titles meant very little to him. Carrying a title was nothing if you didn't embody what the title represented.