Jiraiya POV
This boy. . .
"How did you. . .?" I look back and forth from the chasm I threw him in to the grinning boy beside me. "How'd you do that? You were supposed to unleash your red chakra under immense pressure from thinking your life was in danger!"
"Hee hee," Naruto grins, scratching the back of his head with his left arm. In his right hand he holds up a star-shaped kunai. "I used my dad's jutsu! It's super-ULTRA-powerful, and Moriko-nee taught me it. But it's a secret! I only told you 'cuz you're training me. Don't go telling anyone, or I'll out you as a pervert to ALL the bathhouses!"
This little--
" You mean to tell me you think the 2nd Hokage is your father?" I ask him, rolling my eyes. "Cause that's who made the jutsu." His face scrunches up in annoyance, and I patiently wait to see just how much he knows about his actual father.
Does he know that Minato was his father?
He shouldn't.
Not yet anyway. It's too early and he's too inexperienced to deal with any of Minato's enemies he may come across should he announce who he is.
"What?! That old fart isn't my dad! Moriko-nee says he created the jutsu but my dad mastered it. So, it totally counts as my dad's jutsu."
He may be foolish at times, but it seems he does know that his father wasn't the second Hokage. And that the jutsu is borrowed.
He also performed it swiftly and accurately under the assumption that it was a life-or-death situation.
This kid knows his stuff.
"I don't think Lord 2nd would like to hear that. It's his jutsu after all. You should respect the dead."
"Oh!. . . Yeah. . .you're right, dattebayo. My bad! Anyway, my red chakra didn't come out. Your way sucks Percy Sage. Since that didn't work, what else can we try?!" He shouts for the seventeenth time today, and I wince at the loudness of his voice.
Loud and feisty like your mother, I see.
I hold out my hand. "Give me all those Flying Thunder God kunai. I'd like to inspect the seals on them." He nods and starts pulling a bunch out of his pockets, pouches, and even one that was tied to his leg underneath his pants.
Good grief.
How many does he have on him?!
"The seal done on these. . . did you do them yourself?!" I ask, astonished at how well-done they are. Clearly, he's been doing his research on them. Although, the handwriting is a little sloppy, the seal is sound.
"Sure did! Hey, uh. . . you're not gonna tell anyone, are ya? It's really dangerous for me to use them. I was told that my dad has a lot of enemies, so. . ."
"Then why are you using them?" I ask him.
"Cause I gotta get stronger and faster if I'm gonna be Hokage someday! Moriko-nee says my dad was a really strong jonin, that even Old man Hokage worked closely with. So if I'm gonna get strong, I figured I'd start with my dad's stuff and then train even harder than he did. That way I become even stronger than he was! Oh, and about the seals: they're pretty simple to use once Moriko-nee explained them to me. Plus, there were a bunch of seals and stuff in my parents' things. Moriko-nee says heritage is important, so she sat down with me, and we went through them."
Moriko. . . nee?
I was told Kushina bore a single child.
Who is this. . . Moriko? How are they siblings?
And how did she get access to this without going through Sarutobi-sensei?
There's no way he agreed to this. . .
Did he?
"Hey Pervy Sage, where'd you go? You even listening to me?" The boy's voice cuts through my thoughts.
"Yes, of course." I take the rest of his kunai and set them beside me.
"Hmph. Yeah right. Probably thinking about some pervy stuff." Naruto groans, and I am starting to see why many find this kid annoying.
"That all your kunai?"
"Yup!"
"Good." I picked Naruto up by the scruff of his jacket and threw him into the chasm without any kunai this time. "Try again. And good luck!"
"Aaaah!" His scream echoes as he goes down the chasm.
And once training is over for the day. . .
I want to meet this Moriko. . ..
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During month interlude to train for final chunin exams:
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Sakura POV
"Again! Harder, damn it! What are you even doing?!" She roared at me.
My knees were shaking and sweat poured all down my back and face. Despite my ragged breaths and fatigue, I kept going. I need to get stronger.
And fast.
Naruto has begun his training with a new sensei, a man by the name of Jiraiya. Both Kakashi-sensei and Moriko have told me that he's in good hands. Sasuke ended up in the hospital after straining his Sharingan to watch Lee's match against Gaara in the preliminary battles, but even he's out the hospital now. Kakashi-sensei has taken him under his wing to further develop his Sharingan and lightning affinity.
That leaves me. . . with no one.
Originally, I was going to Kurenai-sensei for genjutsu training. I have been ever since after the bell test, where Moriko pointed out our faults. But now she's got her hands full. I mean, she has her own team to train, and it's not like she can ignore them just to help me.
Although she did seem pretty upset about not having time to train me anymore.
Her own team don't really have a knack for it.
She settled with making them resistant to it.
She even told me that I soak up genjutsu like a sponge.
I'm so glad I thought to go to her.
After hearing that I was out of a person to train me, I didn't know what to do. I've been working on honing my archery skills with daily practice and perfecting the different genjutsus I've got down-packed. But it. . . never felt like it's enough. I was visiting Lee in the infirmary to bring him flowers one day, when I had an epiphany.
Poor Lee. . .
The battle was amazing, but. . .
They say it was the last he'll ever have as a shinobi.
"Get your heads outta the clouds, Sakura!" I dodge a boulder thrown my way, backflipping out of the clearing and into the forest trees. I prepare a genjutsu as my attacker walks further into the wooded area, heading weaving left and right to find me.
When the time is right, and she's come close enough, I activate the genjutsu.
"Ninja art: Crimson Leaf Dream. . ." I jump down and prepare the first half of the genjutsu, attacking her front, then backing away, letting the jutsu take effect. It makes her think I'm still within her field of vision as the real me sneaks up behind and prepares to launch her into the air.
It... almost works.
She spins around, grabs me by the foot I was about to kick her with, and throws me back out into the clearing.
I lay there panting on the ground, exhausted as he walks up to me.
Smiling, she leans down and wipes the hair from my face.
"That was great! Much better than last week. Normal chunin without my senses would've definitely fell for it. It's battle ready." She affirms.
"Thanks, . . . Mor. . .iko." I pant, still trying to catch my breath. "I think I'm out of chakra though. A break would. . .. be very. . . much. . ap-pr-preciated." She nods and sits down beside me, humming to herself.
I take the time to look over her features.
She's sweating a little from her arm pits, but it's barely noticeable. And there's not a bead of sweat on her brow or forehead.
She's barely sweating, and we've been out here since 5 AM?!
I'm a complete mess!
Well. . . guess that's werewolf genes for ya.
Amazing.
My gaze travels up to her new hairstyle.
Her hair is braided up into a bun, but it's unlike any style I've seen girls wear before. She calls them, "cornrows," which I assume is because they are braided in rows like how corn is planted and farmed in rows, but I honestly don't know.
They are braided parallel to her scalp and are adorned with wooden, bead-like accessories where the braids meet at the top of her head. I watched her paint some small, wooden trinkets a few months ago when I visited for dinner one night but thought nothing of it at the time.
She made them herself?
They're beautiful.
The various shades of blue and purple beads travel in a diamond-pattern on her braids. The braids are wrapped around into a bun at the top, and a boar's tooth is the centerpiece "jewel" on the bun.
"It's from my first ever solo hunt." She comments proudly, and I look away slightly embarrassed that I was caught staring at her hair.
"Sorry, I. . ."
"It's cool. No harm done."
"You came up with that?"
"No. It's part of my culture. Many warriors would wear this kind of hairstyle. As time went on, they became coded maps to lead my people to freedom when we were undergoing oppression and slavery. It's also a form of self-expression; in some places, you could even tell one's marital status by looking at how they wore their hair. Ya know, like the marumage hairstyle."
M-marriage?!
Marumage?! That round-knotted hair style mom wore?!
I cringe. "Yeah, but my mom wore the marumage for her wedding. It's so old! And yours is gorgeous."
Moriko laughs. "Thanks. And you might think marumage is old, but I think it's really pretty. You might wear it one day too, who knows."
"Gee, I sure hope not." We both laugh, then Moriko gets up, pulling me up with her now that I've caught my breath.
"I'm glad you came to me for training, Sakura." She says, as we head to a bathhouse together for a spa day.
"I'm glad too. Your training is pretty harsh though, maybe even more than Kakashi-sensei's."
"Pfft. I've got nothing on him, I promise. And I'm sure I'm no way near close to what your mentor will teach you." She chuckles darkly in amusement.
"I'm glad I don't know who it is then. . ." I mumble in relief. I'd probably be really intimidated and back out if I knew.
Moriko trains like the devil.
Almost feels like a comrade dies every time I miss a mark.
But the rewards are high too. Like trips to the spa, all paid for.
It's a nice balance.
"Sakura-chan! Moriko-nee!" I hear Naruto shouting and look up to see him walking towards us. He looks pretty beaten up.
"Guess you're training is going pretty well, huh?" I ask him, and he grins.
"Yup! You know it!" He laughs, then he turns to Moriko and quiets down. "Um. . . Moriko-nee, there's something I gotta tell you though. I. . . messed up."
Huh?
"What's up?" She asks, eyebrows furrowed in concern for her adopted brother. She wraps an arm around his shoulder as we walk. "Everything okay, hun?"
"Well. . .let's say I slipped up and mentioned you when talking to Pervy Sage says. . ."
"Okay. . . so, what? He doesn't like ninken? Well, that's interesting. Didn't know that."
"Well. . ." And this time, Naruto averts his eyes from her, and she narrows them at him.
"Naruto. . ." I say in a warning tone, "What did you tell your new sensei about her?"
"Nothing! I swear! It's just that since I was talking about you like a big sister, he. . . um. . . wants to meet you."
"No. Tell him I don't want to. I'm busy. I teach at the academy or something." She instantly responds, spouting out a lie that might actually be believable. I could totally see Moriko as a sensei.
"Why don't you want to meet him?" I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me.
"Well actually I do, but now's not a good time. He's been snooping around. Got word he asked the Hokage about me."
"Whoa, really? Why'd he'd do that?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure Naruto here will tell me." She winks, then turns back to the boy, who smiles sheepishly.
"Yeah. . . I kinda used forbidden jutsu in front of him. . ."
"And? The Shadow-Clone jutsu is forbidden; no one cares. I know he doesn't." She waves it off.
"No, not that one. . ." He pulls out a star-shaped kunai, like the one in the chunin exams and I gasp in shock.
That's the one Moriko was growling about.
I looked it up afterwards.
The Flying Thunder God technique uses those.
"And then I mentioned that you helped me go through my parents' stuff and teach me some other jutsu. . . I didn't realize what I said until after I said it. I'm so sorry."
Moriko was silent for a moment before responding to him quietly.
"Does he know what I look like?"
"No."
"He assumes I'm human?"
"Yes."
She smiles and claps her hands.
"Okay. Tell him I'm busy, like I said previously. If he pushes, tell him I read his books and hope to never encounter him. That'll hurt him, but he'll understand."
"You read his books?!" Naruto and I say in unison, and she laughs.
"Yeah. The first one was kinda interesting. But once I got to the second one, it became cringey and funny. I never made it past that. I don't hate the books or him, but I know how important they are to him, so if I want to avoid the man, that's the way to go."
Naruto sighs in relief.
"Whew, I'm glad you don't wanna meet him. He's pretty strong, but also pretty weird. Especially around really pretty girls: he might have a heart attack if he got a glimpse of you, Moriko-nee."
"What's that supposed to mean? I met him the other day! What am I, chopped liver?!" I yell, and Naruto hides behind Moriko, who snickers.
"Naruto told Jiraiya you're off-limits. He's very respectable when he wants to be. It seems he already sees Naruto as his respected student. That's why he didn't act too weird when you met him the other day. get what I'm saying, hun'? He was holding back because Naruto would've knocked his lights out for you."
"Oh. . ."
"Oh, and thanks for the compliment, Noodle. You're pretty too." She pokes him, and he giggles.
"No, silly you're supposed to say handsome." He laughs.
"Fine. You're my adorable, handsome little Noodle." She squeezes his cheeks as she says it in a sing-song voice, and I laugh at their interactions. We round a corner and make it to the bathhouse at last.
"Moriko!" He whines.
"Okay, okay. I'm done. Anything else you wanna tell me?"
"Oh, um. . . what was it. . ." He trails off, mumbling to himself. "Oh yeah! He's snooping near the bathhouse. You should just shower at home today. He keeps coming back when we take breaks."
WHAT?!
"WHAT?!" I shout, and Moriko busts out laughing.
"Yeah, that sounds like him. Research. Pfft."
"You're not. . . upset?" I ask her tentatively. She tilts her head to the side and chuckles.
"A little, yeah, but not furious like you'd think I'd be because of my visions." Naruto and I stop mid-stride. She doesn't talk much about what she's seen, so we both wait to see her reaction, but she waves us off at first sight of our expressions.
"Jiraiya is a man of his word. His peeping actually IS for his book. There's a bunch of bathing scenes in his books. Doesn't make it right, but it does make him better than most peeping toms. Dude makes legit money off of it. He's been doing this for years, since he was a hormonal teenager. Despite his age, the man's a giant little boy at times. Only a certain lady teammate of his can stop his peeping. Until then, I guess it's up to the kunoichi of Konoha." She turns to me and grins.
"Guess you'll be meeting him after all. . ." Her grin is contagious, and soon even I can't stop myself.
"Yeah. Guess I'll use a transformation jutsu for now." After a poof, she's got hair the same color as Naruto's, but in two big puffy buns. Her eyes are blue, her height has shrunk a little, and her clothing matches Naruto's jumpsuit.
"So cool!" He cheers. "You really look like my sister now! Well. . . almost. . ."
"I'm not changing my skin tone. When he sees us together though, he'll understand why we call ourselves siblings. He'll call it coincidence or something. Let's go Sakura! We've got a man to beat up!" She roars, then runs towards the bathhouse.
Gathering what little strength I have left, I scurry after her.
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A few days later. . .
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Moriko POV
"That's everything. Everything that I can see so far anyway. The village survives, as does the spirit of the people." I finish.
Hiruzen nods, then pulls something out his drawer.
"Here. It took a while to do under the radar, but this is what remains of Minato's and Kushina's belongings." He hands me a bulky key with seal markings on it, and a map to the site where their stuff is stored.
"Their house?"
"Cleaned out years ago and sold to a merchant I'm afraid."
I sigh heavily.
"Their saved earnings are in that box as well. I never counted, but I'm sure it's enough to get Naruto out of that apartment."
"That's fine. I've been saving money from the solo missions you've sent me on outside the village. If it's not enough, I'll make do and get Naruto what he needs."
"They still believe you're doing solo hunts?" He asked, and I scowl at him.
Tch. I haven't seen the team in quite some time thanks to you.
I've been using blood clones to interact with them when I'm not here.
"They don't want me working with the village anymore. Not since the coma incident. I'm supposed to help only when it benefits me. I tried being that selfish, but. . . I can't. What they don't know is that I made a deal with you. Been using my ability to 'see' in order to track dangerous nin and corrupted lords you want to keep an eye on. Or should I say that the elders and Dan--"
"I thank you for doing this. I know it isn't easy lying to them, especially Naruto." He cuts me off, afraid there are people snooping. I made sure to put silencing seals at every nook and cranny in my home. I've had lots of practice, so doing his office was a piece of cake.
"Tch. You make it look like a walk in the park." I fire back at him.
Hiruzen has learned to live with my. . . dislike of him, so when we're alone, I hold nothing back. I talk my shit.
Cause he IS a shitty kage. Period.
But I respect his dedication to the village. He thought he was doing okay despite his age, which is a lie he's been feeding himself, but he did believe it for a while. He admitted it at last, that it was all a lie.
He knew he fucked up.
But it's not like he was the first kage to fuck shit up, so I decide to cut back on the bitchy and bow to the man. His sharp intake of breath suggests that he'd never thought I'd do such a thing.
I gotta give him props though.
I just told the man exactly how he'll die.
Every detail I could remember at that moment.
Then I told him all that I can currently recall about the future.
All the way to the war.
Although I can't dream the outcome. It gives me a headache.
And even the bits of pieces I dreamt beyond that.
That were of the village prospering.
Children playing, laughing.
Kakashi as the 6th Hokage.
An expanse on trade for the village.
It even had a train of all things.
And he's. . .accepted it. All of it.
"This is a lot to take in. Most would cower at the thought of an inescapable death. I may not look favorably upon what you've done and NOT done for the people in this village, but. . . you've earned back my respect. It should've never left, I realize." I say to him, head still bowed low to the ground.
"Raise your head child. You are the one I should be bowing to."
I immediately stop bowing and look up at him, confused.
"Huh?"
"This knowledge of yours. . . it's a great burden, whether you use it or not. You carry the weight of not just this village, but the entire shinobi world on your shoulders, even though it is not what you asked for. Every step backwards humanity takes, you take as a wound on your very heart. You remind me of someone. . ."
I roll my eyes and put my hands on my hips.
"Let. Me. Guess. Itachi?" I say, unsurprised.
He smiles at me. "Yes and no. You are only a little bit like him. You are more like 1st Lord Hokage, Hashirama Senju. He held the weight of many things on his shoulders and still did his best to smile around others, so they needn't worry. Just like you."
The comparison shocks me, and I'm left speechless by the man.
Whoa. Seriously?
"My vision shows the man as a little goofy." I say after I gather myself.
Hiruzen laughs. "Yes, well he was quite the character. Another similarity between you two. However, your ruthlessness and determination when it comes to your friends' and family's protection and happiness is more like how Madara Uchiha was described to me back then. It seems you truly are an Uchiha at heart." He chuckles that signature old man laugh, and the similarity of his speech and Fugaku's speech hits me hard.
"Hiruzen. . . maybe I could---" I start solemnly.
"There's no turning back now, Moriko. Can't risk it." He interrupts me, patting me on the head gently. Tears begin streaming down my face. Unwanted tears.
Damn, I hate crying.
Why am I crying?
"Besides, the final part of the chunin exams is tomorrow."