new chapter :))
If there was one thing that Naruto hated about being in the hospital it was how boring it was, no wait, second thing. The first thing was that they didn't serve ramen that was the worst thing. He was still being held for the injuries and chakra exhaustion from the Sound/Sand invasion, although personally he felt fine. At least his dad managed to get him a replacement mask; it felt weird not having one.
Plus he got a feeling the nurses were giggling at how 'cute' the whisker marks on his face were. He felt a bit embarrassed about that, only Hinata could say that to him. He sighed as she went back to staring at the ceiling. Hinata wouldn't come in with his daily ramen that he asked to bring for another few hours. He loved that she came every day and that she brought ramen with her as well. It was the most he had to look forward to, sure his dad visited, Anko, Gai, his friends and others but Hinata made him feel a lot better.
But there was one thing that was nagging him and that was Gaara. He had been placed here under guard while he healed up with his brother and sister. When Gaara was ready to be released they would let the Suna team go. After it was known that Orochimaru killed Suna's Kage and impersonated him, Suna was pretty outraged that they had been played for fools. It helped to solidify their alliance again, although there were still some hard feelings on both sides, as Kakashi had told Naruto. But it looked like Suna was an ally again with stronger ties, nothing like a mutual enemy to bring people together.
But Naruto really wanted to talk with Gaara, this was the first time that Naruto had met someone like himself. He had only learned of the truth this year, about the demon inside of him, about him being adopted and who his birth parents had been. That was still something to get used to, they might have given birth to him, but Kakashi would always be his dad. He had been there for him growing up, teaching him, helping him, and playing with him as a kid and all sorts of things.
But Gaara was different, the boy seemed to be filled with so much anger and hate and Naruto wanted to know why. He also wanted to show that there was more to life, Naruto might have been luckier than Gaara but he refused to believe that Gaara was lost to his darkness. Naruto wanted to help because if things had only been a bit different, he could have ended up just like Gaara. Helping Gaara was just something Naruto felt he had to, because if anyone was going to help a jinchuriki then it should be another jinchuriki.
'Well if I stay here then I might miss the chance to really talk with him,' Naruto thought to himself. The room was empty and he had an idea where Gaara's room might be. He grinned under his mask as he slipped out of bed. He quietly opened the window and looked outside. He didn't think that there would be anyone watching the hospital but you could never know. With what happened there might be some patrols out and seeing someone on the side of a building in the dead of night was suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
Well it wasn't like he didn't have any experience with this, he was the one that painted the Hokage mountain without anyone seeing him until the morning. With a quick scan he was already out the window and using chakra to stick to the side of the wall he starting looking through all the windows. He started with his floor and so far there wasn't any sign of Gaara. There were plenty of others though. He moved to the next floor, it wasn't until he got to the fifth room that he saw Gaara in his bed looking up at the ceiling.
'Man, doesn't this guy ever sleep? Might explain why his eyes are so dark around the skin.' He mused as he figured he might as well go in.
Gaara had was used to staying up, it helped to prevent the voice in his head. Although for the moment the demon within was a bit more silent than usual. It might be due to the fact that he was totally drained after that fight. His demon was most likely 'sleeping it off' and would return eventually. But he had another reason for keeping awake. That fight with the boy, Naruto, he kept going through it in his mind. He had thought the boy had shown his true self in their fight, having drawing on his true power of the demon.
During that fight Gaara had lost, he should have died as well. Naruto had him in his hands, literally, but then something changed. It was that girl, the small one with the short hair. She had done something, something he couldn't fathom and somehow Naruto had forced the demon back inside. But that wasn't the end to it all, the girl had shown genuine feelings for Naruto. Despite showing what he was to the world, even the boy's teammates had even shown to be happy about him.
All that caring for Naruto and Gaara just couldn't wrap his mind on why they seemed to care so much for that boy. A jinchuriki was a lonely life, filled with pain and suffering and yet Naruto seemed to have more than that. For the first time as far back as he could remember, Gaara felt doubt about his way of life. People had been trying to kill him or were afraid of him for so long he couldn't remember a life without any of that in there.
He wanted to talk to the boy and to understand why they were so different.
Apparently, the boy also felt the same as he noticed Naruto looking in through the window. For a brief moment he thought that Naruto was here to finish him off, after all, that was something Gaara would have done. But he sensed no killing intent from the other boy so he relaxed but kept his guard up. Although it wasn't like he had much chance of doing much, Gaara could hardly move his body at the moment anyway.
Naruto slowly came into the room and looked around, they were alone which was nice he really didn't want anyone interrupting them. Besides this was something for just them, looking at the boy he could see all the bandages covering Gaara's body. Although from experience it most likely looked worse than it was at least he hoped so.
"So...how are you doing?" Naruto really wasn't good with opening lines and he kind of wished that he could have at least came up with something while on his search.
Gaara just stared at Naruto and it really wasn't helping Naruto try to think of what to say next.
"So...uh...I guess we have some things to talk about?" Naruto asked hopefully.
Gaara only blinked at him and Naruto was starting to think this might have been a bad idea after all.
"Why?" Gaara asked simply.
"Oh well you know we're kind of the same and all." Naruto shrugged thankful that Gaara was starting this off with something simple.
"We are not, you are different than me." Gaara looked at the blonde boy, he just couldn't get why the other boy was trying to be friendly. "Why are you not hated? Why do you have others in your life that don't fear you and what was that girl's power?"
"What girl?" Naruto asked as he wasn't sure what he was getting at with that question.
"The one with short dark hair, the one that made you control the demon. What did she do to be able to control it? I can't figure out what she did." Gaara explained to him.
It took a moment before Naruto got what he was talking about. He grinned as he scratched the back of his head. "Ah, that's Hinata-chan and well she doesn't have any special powers like that, but she is special. She's always been special to me but lately she's a bit more special." He chuckled.
"I don't understand."
Naruto didn't really need to think about it much when it came to Hinata. "Well she's by very first friend, she's my best friend and lately she's my girlfriend. We've been together for years and we've always been there for the other." Naruto frowned a bit when he remember her calling out to him that day. Seeing the tears in her eyes at what he was doing made him feel horrible. He could still remember the day her mother had died and her crying out her pain filled heart that day he found her.
"Something...bad happened to her once. She lost her mother and she was crying and I found her. I never wanted to see her cry again to see her in pain like that again but I caused her pain in our fight. I made her cry and I don't want to do that again."
"How could you have caused her pain? You never attacked her," Gaara asked as he didn't remember Naruto harming her.
"She was in pain because of what I was doing to myself," Naruto said mournfully. "She doesn't want to see me in pain either."
Gaara tried to comprehend what that had to be like, to have someone care for you so much that they hurt when you hurt. He had been so very alone his entire life, he had filled that hole in his heart by trying to love only himself. Because for someone like him, there was no one else that would love him, that would care if he lived or died. To kill to prove his own existence even if it was just for himself was the only life he knew.
But here before him, this idiotic boy was just like him and yet he had found a way to have so much more in life. For the first time in his life, Gaara felt envious of someone else.
"Why do you have so many that care for you?" Gaara asked as the question was burning him up inside to know the answer.
"Well it wasn't easy," Naruto told him. "I didn't have any friends until Hinata-chan, and then I met others and became friends with them. My dad helped out a lot too since I can remember a lot of adults looking after me when he was away."
"I don't have anyone." Gaara told him and he was surprised by the aching pain he felt in his chest at saying the words.
"What about your brother and sister?" Naruto asked.
"What about them?"
Naruto couldn't believe that he had said that. "Oh come on! I would love to have siblings, I'm an only child but I would have loved to have had an older brother or sister growing up. Hell, I'd like to have a younger one too like Hinata-chan has with Hanabi. You got two older siblings and don't you think they feel anything towards you?"
Gaara hadn't really felt much of anything to his two siblings for a very long time. He had been kept separate from them for a very long time and by the time they were put on a team together, they weren't much better than strangers. Plus they were always afraid of him, he could see it in their eyes their fear of him killing them one day.
Gaara looked at Naruto. "They fear me."
"Well duh, you're all killing people all the time for anything, crushing them with sand and all that. When was the last time you were nice to them?" Naruto folded his arms over his chest. "I mean come on, did you ever give them a reason not to be afraid of you? From what my friends told me, they were actually a bit worried for you in our fight."
Gaara looked a little surprised by that.
"What? Family is important and they are your family. Look, just give them a chance okay? If you don't be nice to others then no one will be nice to you and if that doesn't work than just try harder! You can't give up because I don't give up on anything. If you want others to like you than all you got to do is make them see that you're not scary." Although he said it Naruto couldn't help but wonder how Gaara would pull that off. Even now he felt a little uncomfortable with the boy and how he didn't seem to blink all that much. It was kind of creepy but he pressed on.
"I know I got luckier with a cool dad and friends," Naruto looked him in the eye now. "But you're the only other person like me that I know about. You're the only one that I can see that could even understand what it's like having the responsibility of holding one of the tailed beasts. In a way that makes us 'brothers' and I don't want to see my only brother in this world be lonely."
He smiled at Gaara then, "So tell you what, I'll be your first friend if you'll let me."
"You'll...what?" Gaara wasn't sure to believe his words or not but something long and buried deep inside of him was stirring and it wasn't the demon.
"You heard me," Naruto put out his hand to Gaara. "I'll be your friend so you're not alone in this world. Others were there for me so I want to be there for you. I want to show you that there is more to the world than just loneliness. So what do you say, friends?"
Gaara stared at the hand, he couldn't believe this was happening. He had tried to kill this boy and yet he wanted to be...friends? The word felt so alien to Gaara and yet something inside of him wanted to reach out to finally reach out a hand in friendship and have it actually accepted for once. He could remember being so small and alone, crying himself to sleep at nights from the pain in his heart. The loneliness had been consuming, like he was living in eternal darkness even when the sun was out. To feel so alone even in a room full of people with their cold or fearful eyes looking at him.
He had been alone for so long he couldn't remember what it felt like to not be alone. Yet, even now his hand was slowly moving forward. His hand lightly placed itself into Naruto's, for a moment Gaara thought that this was all a trick to lower his guard that Naruto would attack in that moment of weakness.
It never came, Naruto only smiled and shook his hand.
"There, we're friends now." Naruto said happily.
"Friends..." Gaara felt the words slid out of his mouth, he wasn't sure if he had ever call anyone that or how long he had said that word. But if felt strangely good to say it and deep in the darkness of his own heart for the first time a small ray of light was slowly coming into being. A light made of hope and of friendship.
-Hatake Home-
Kakashi shifted a little as he woke up with the dawn, the first thing he noticed was purple hair in his face. He smiled as he felt his body pressed up against Anko's back, one arm wrapped around her waist. She had been staying with him ever since the end of the invasion. Apparently her place had been hit in the invasion, nothing major but it would be without power and water for awhile. So she had started to make herself at home, not that Kakashi minded.
With Naruto still recovering it was just too quiet without his adopted son around. Plus it was easier with Naruto out of the house for him and Anko to have some more private time together. He could feel Anko's soft breathing as she was still asleep. It had been a long day yesterday, with all the rebuilding that was going on. It didn't help that the Hokage was still in his hospital bed. He would make it through but his battle with Orochimaru had pushed his old body beyond its limits.
Professionals said that it was a marvel that he was still alive but they were in doubt if he could ever be a ninja again. His old body had just warn itself out, there were rumours flying around that a new Hokage would have to be made soon and he would go back into retirement.
But that was only one of the worries and at the moment Kakashi didn't want to think on that. He just wanted to snuggle his girlfriend in peace, which he did. He felt her warm body against his through the clothing they had on, well at least the amount they did wear to bed. Kakashi was just in boxers while she settled for panties and a dark black shirt. They had been so busy lately with the rebuilding that last night they only had the energy to change and go to sleep. But it was still nice, having her here in his bed felt perfect. She even seemed to fit well like this in this position.
He took a small sniff of her hair, getting her scent, the smell of her favourite tea, dongo and a hint of snake. He once made a small joke about that, she came back saying he smelt like dog.
She shifted a bit as she groaned, "What time is it?"
"Looks like seven in the morning," He told her gently.
She grumbled something as she turned around and snuggled into his chest, "Too early..."
His hands slowly ran up her bare skin of her back making her sigh in contentment. She really did have very nice skin something he liked very much. It wasn't until he saw all the extra products in the bathroom that he knew just how much work she much put into certain things. Not that he was complaining of course. He could feel her bare legs against his, her warm body against his, the scene was just too perfect.
"That feels nice," Anko muttered feeling his nice strong hands running up her back and spine. She loved how he would trail his fingers along her spine making the cluster of nerves there fire off in pleasure. She had been surprised to find out that their love life wasn't all just down and dirty, which was great. But the gentler side to things like this she found herself liking as well.
She started to run her hands over his chest feeling the hard body under her fingers. She was slowly starting to get more and more awake and was liking where this was going. She decided to up the stakes as her own arm wrapped around his own torso. She started to place light kisses of his neck, she heard him groan slightly and his hand trailing ever so slowly down lower on her body. She felt his hand caress her firm ass and suddenly staying in bed felt like a good idea only she didn't want to sleep at the moment.
After their little 'wake up session' Anko was feeling more energized as she took first shot at the bathroom. Kakashi didn't mind, plus if they tried to shower together they might stay in there until noon anyway, plus using that much hot water wouldn't be good. So he put on a pair of sweat pants and a shirt as he went to get some breakfast ready for them. Pulling on his mask he entered the kitchen to see that already someone had made himself at home.
"Jiraiya.." Kakashi nodded to him. "When did you get here?"
"Somewhere around," his voice pitched up slightly. "Oh kami yes, right there yes, do it harder, oh you are-"
"Okay I get it!" Kakashi cut him off. "If she knows you were here for that, she'll castrate you."
"Haha, noted," Jiraiya smirked at the blush he could see around the mask. Although he hate to admit it, the masked pervert had it good sometimes. If only he and Tsunade could have gotten together in their youth, or ever...well that was a heartbreak that he didn't want to revisit again so he quickly got to business.
"I'm going to find my old teammate Tsunade, the council feel it's time for a new Hokage and she's been nominated."
'So the rumors were true,' Kakashi mused as he started on some breakfast.
"I want to bring Naruto along with me," Jiraiya told him.
"Oh really?" Kakashi looked interested in this. "Why is that?"
"I want to see how far he's come along, plus I want to teach him a few things," The old sage told him. He had to admit the kid was slow to start but he always finished things off. Plus it might do to use all that energy and focus it into some training that he felt the boy might be ready for.
Kakashi thought about it, he knew that Jiraiya was the godfather for Naruto, even if the boy didn't know it, and he guessed the old man just wanted to spend some time. After all he had only seen Naruto a few times when he was really young, Naruto didn't even remember those times when they had met again and Jiraiya had trained him for the chunin exams.
"Well I don't have an issue with that, but you'll have to ask him yourself," Kakashi simply told the old man. "Besides with everything going on we'll be busy here."
Jiraiya nodded, one of the reasons he needed to get Tsunade was because without a leader the village would suffer for it. They needed solidarity plus she was the best choice, he sure as hell wouldn't want Danzo to get in charge. That old war hawk never did sit right with Jiraiya, the man's philosophy on how to run things was all too apparent and left a bad taste in Jiraiya's mouth.
Before anything else could be said a new feminine voice called out into the room.
"Oh Kakashi, looks like we're out of towels." Anko's teasing voice was heard.
Kakashi swore that they had plenty of towels that is until he had a sudden realization of what she was thinking about. He quickly turned around in his chair to give out a warning that they had company, all to find out that he was a little too late. Anko came into the doorway looking slightly wet and without a single thing on other than a smile. Which that too soon quickly went away as she saw that Jiraiya was looking at her in his seat that just had to be facing her direction.
Actually looking might have been a bit too kind, he was grinned like a perverted young boy, a small bit of blood coming out of his nose as he was trying to burn the mental image into his mind.
Anko yelled out as she quickly went around the corner so that she was no longer visible in the room. "Kakashi, what the hell!?"
Kakashi sighed knowing she was going to be pissed and whatever she had planned he wasn't going to find out what it would be now. "I was going to warn you that we had company. I didn't know you were going to do that."
"No excuse!" Was her only reply as her footsteps were heard and a door slamming shut. She was going to get dressed and Kakashi knew that if Jiraiya was still in the room, she was going to kill the old pervert.
"How I envy the young some days, you got a real woman there," Jiraiya smiled at the young man across from him.
Kakashi just sighed, "I think you should go once she comes out dressed she'll be coming out armed."
That got the old hermit's attention, "Well I better go and look in on Naruto then. Good luck with your woman I think you're going to need it." With that the man despite his age, was very quickly and nimbly got out of the room and out the open window.
"Where the hell is that guy and why didn't you warn me we had company while I was in the shower?" A very irritated Anko stormed into the room. She had only her skirt and one of Kakashi's shirts on with a kunai in hand and murder in her eyes.
He had to admit she did look somewhat fearsome and even a bit erotic like that, all furious with her slightly wet hair all loose and the fact he could just make out that she wasn't wearing anything else under his shirt. She even hadn't buttoned it up all the way, but any dirty thoughts were quickly gone when she turned her eyes to him. He knew that without a target she would shift all that anger on to the next available one, his rotten luck was that was going to be him.
'This is going to be a long day,' Kakashi thought to himself.
-
Naruto was feeling a lot better as he sat in his room in the hospital. He had spent a lot of the night just talking with Gaara and getting to know the boy, he wasn't sure, but Naruto thought that he might have started to reach the other boy. Although heading his story like that, Naruto could see how Gaara had turned out like he had. He didn't want to think about where he might have been if he had been all alone in the world he could easily have ended up just like Gaara.
But it looked like maybe he had helped the other boy, only time would tell and he hoped that Gaara would open up.
He sighed as he counted down the time Hinata was usually around to visit in about an hour. That made him grin she usually brought ramen with her making it even better when she showed up. Although personally he couldn't wait to get out of here, it was just boring. At least the doctor had just told him that morning that he would be released tomorrow. There was so much he was planning on doing.
First was to hit Ichiraku ramen as he had a lot of meals to make up for it. Then he planned on seeing how everyone was doing, maybe bug Neji and Sasuke for a bit since that was always fun. Maybe get in some training with his dad, or maybe Lee if he was up for some as well. Then of course there was also hanging out with Hinata. He never got to really do much with her given all the insanity of the chunin exams to do much, plus him in the hospital didn't help matters.
He grinned with his hands behind his head as he started to think of all the things they could do. Normally they hung out as friends for years but now that things were different, there were all kinds of secret places they knew where they could be alone. Originally it had just been a way to play alone, which was hard when your best friend was the oldest daughter of a major clan. Especially when that clan could see through objects, thankfully with Hinata she knew the kinds of things her clan could do.
"You look like a boy with some interesting thoughts," a familiar voice broke him out of his day dreaming.
The boy shot up to see Jiraiya there sitting on his window with a perverted grin on the man's face.
"I've seen that look plenty of times of a young man in love with a girl," Jiraiya told him. "Just remember that she has a scary father from what I remember."
Naruto sweat dropped, "Yeah, I know." Naruto muttered remembering Hiashi chasing him around the village when he thought that he and Hinata were up to something very naughty. It had been a complete misunderstanding but still, the threat had been there. He had to revise his plans about Hinata to make sure that whatever they did alone, they weren't caught.
Jiraiya heard what the boy muttered, maybe he could use this for his latest book. The plot of a young boy seducing a princess was turning out very well, now with an overprotective father figure? Oh he really wanted to take out his note book the ideas this boy was giving him could make him finish his latest novel fairly soon.
"So what are you doing here Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked the man.
Jiraiya scowled a bit, "I really wish you wouldn't call me that."
"Yeah but it's true," Naruto grinned.
'Oh yeah he got her personality all right,' the man thought to himself. "Well I got a special mission and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."
"A special mission?" Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought. "What kind?"
"Oh trust me this is a good one. I'm going to track down my old teammate and bring her back to the village."
Naruto looked confused, "That's it? Man, that sounds boring, I think I'd rather stay here and go on a date with Hinata-chan."
"Kid this is important!" Jiraiya couldn't believe how fast the boy blew it off. "Look I'm going after my old teammate Tsunade." He saw the boy blink as the name didn't register. "One of the Sannin?" Still nothing. "She's the greatest medical ninja the world has ever known!"
Naruto thought about it, "I think she sounds familiar..."
"Brat, didn't you ever learn about the Third Shinobi War or personal history of the village in school?"
Naruto just shrugged, "I never liked the book stuff in school, I was better in the practical thing."
Jiraiya was about to say something, before he realized that he had been the same way in school and there was no way for him to chew him out without being a hypocrite. He pushed that aside as it wasn't important and wanted to get to the matter at hand. "Okay then, look she's important for the future of the village because she's going to be the next Hokage."
"What!" That got a reaction out of Naruto. "The Old Man is Hokage!"
"Look he was my teacher and trust me when he was made Hokage I was never prouder. But he's old and his injuries were pretty bad. He only took up the job again because there was no one else that could be the Hokage. But he's old, you can fight the world but you can't fight time. Sooner or later, time catches up to all of us." He stepped off the window and stood in front of Naruto.
"Hell even I'm starting to feel my age. I'm not as fast or as strong as I used to be, sure I make up for it with experience and knowledge and I'm still good enough in a fight. But there comes a time when we have to admit that we can't just keep doing this. He's realized that he's just not strong enough to go on and he's picked Tsunade to replace him." That is if he could figure out a way to get her to agree to the job he thought to himself.
Naruto looked down as he thought about it. As far back as he could remember the Old Man had been the Hokage, he always thought that the day would come when he would take over for him. He never once thought that someone else would be Hokage. Naruto looked up at Jiraiya.
"Is she really good enough to take over for him?" Naruto wanted to be sure that if there was going to be someone to take over, then they were the right person for the job. Not just anyone was going to take over for the Old Man after all.
Jiraiya grinned, "Kid, she's the granddaughter of the First Hokage, as I said she practically invented modern medical treatments. She's also pretty damn strong, maybe one of the strongest ninja in the world."
"She's really that strong?"
He barked out a laugh, "Trust me I wouldn't want to mess with her and I'm one of the few people that could take her on."
Jiraiya thought that Naruto was on the fence he could sense it, just one more little push and the boy would agree and he knew just what the kid would want to hear. "Tell you what, while we're searching for her I'll teach you a killer technique that only a handful of people know."
Naruto's eyes lit up like it was his birthday, "Really?"
"Yep, so what do you say kid?"
Naruto thought about it, he really wanted to get out of the hospital and enjoy some time with Hinata but this mission seemed to be really important plus this Tsunade woman sounded really strong. A new technique would also be something he could really use. That invasion had been a tough battle and he saw just how bad things could get. If he wanted to become Hokage one day he would need to be strong enough to protect everyone.
Another thought came to him his dad had told him about how because he was so busy his team wouldn't have much to do now. In fact his dad had a mission in a few days and Sakura and Sasuke couldn't go on it as it was a jonin only apparently from what he had said.
Naruto didn't like the idea of maybe getting stronger while his team was left behind, his dad always told him the importance of team work.
"Well I might but I want my team to come with us." Naruto told him.
Jiraiya hadn't expected that, "What do you mean you want your team to come?"
"They worked really hard for the chunin exams and they were with me to help me when the invasion happened. It wouldn't be right to leave them behind since my dad will be too busy with a genin team for a bit. We're a team and if they can't go then I can't go."
Jiraiya sighed as he thought about it, it would change his plans a bit but it was doable. Plus he had to admit the kid was thinking of his team that was something he could appreciate. He also knew that if he trained Naruto in the rasengan like he was planning to, he would have to think of something for them as well. He knew plenty of techniques but he wasn't sure he knew much about them. This was looking like a lot more work for him as he ran a hand through his long white hair.
Three students...god it had been so long since he had that. An image of three young students looking up at him in Rain country as he taught them how to be a ninja, those had been good years with them. An old pain filled him the loss of Yahiko, Konan and especially Nagato had been hard on him.
For a moment he didn't want to do this again, the memories were old but the pain still fresh. He closed his eyes as he wondered what he should do. He really wanted to spend some time with Naruto and to teach him the rasengan as it was his heritage. Kakashi had apparently already did the first stage so it shouldn't be too long to teach him.
'Brat has got me over a barrel and he doesn't even know it,' He thought to himself slightly amused. "Fine kid you got it."
"Alright!" Naruto couldn't wait to tell them. "Hey you think Hinata-chan can-"
"No." Jiraiya was firm this time. "Look brat, you're lucky I'm allowing them to come but that's it. This isn't some kind of vacation it's a mission and I'm not going to bring everyone you want. It's your team and that's it."
Naruto slumped a bit, being with Hinata on the mission would have been great but he knew he was pushing his luck. "Alright."
"Good, I'll get a few things settled with the Hokage and Kakashi about your team and see you tomorrow at noon." Jiraiya left through the same window he had entered by.
Naruto watched him go and was wondering just how he was going to break it to Hinata the he was going on a mission that he had no idea how long it would take. He sighed, he had really been looking forward to spending time with her too.
-Elsewhere-
Hinata was currently on her way to visit Naruto in the hospital again, she made a point to see him every day when she could. The last few days had been crazy but the village was slowly starting to get back to normal. There was still a lot of construction but that would take time anyway, the villagers themselves seemed to have gotten over the shock of the attack and were slowly putting their lives back in order.
She had also been able to think a lot about what she had learned about her boyfriend, a word she still had trouble thinking about without blushing slightly. Naruto had been adopted all this time, which looking at an image of the Fourth Hokage she could see a slight resemblance, given that she was one of the few that knew his face for the longest of times.
Still the fact that he had the Kyuubi itself sealed inside of him was something she had never known could happen. Although Naruto had told her that he hadn't known about it for long, it had hurt a bit that he hadn't trusted her with it. They were the oldest of friends but she could see that he had just been too afraid to tell someone. It was a frightening thing to have to deal with but she was a bit proud that he was keeping the village safe. All his life he had been secretly guarding their village from the demon and Hinata felt a sense of pride in Naruto's accomplishment.
She walked into the hospital going straight to his room, she knocked gently and heard Naruto's muffled voice. She opened the door and saw him sitting in his bed smiling through his mask as usual. She always felt her heart warm at his smiles, they reached his bright blue eyes and she felt like she could look at his eyes forever. They were just so expressive and deep she loved to look into them. They were such a stark contrast to the eyes of her clan.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted her eagerly.
She couldn't help but smile at how happy he was to see her. "How are things today Naruto-kun?"
"Well, I'm getting out of here tomorrow that's the good news."
Hinata's expression lit up, "Oh that's wonderful. I know that you don't like it in here."
"Yeah it's just so boring," he sighed. "There's no one else in this room either and mostly everyone is busy. I kept telling the doctors I was fine a few days ago but they wanted to make sure I was okay. Oh well at least when you visit it makes things better."
Hinata blushed slightly as she walked over to him and placed the take out ramen on a dinner tray for him. "I got your favorite."
"Awesome!" Naruto eagerly dug into it like he was a starving man. Since it was just him and Hinata he pulled down his mask to eat his meal.
Hinata nearly giggled as she saw him eat, he always looked so happy when he started eating ramen. He was soon finished and she noticed he had a noodle piece on his cheek. She had to take care of it soon or else he might put his mask on it and then it might get stuck. Without even thinking she took a small napkin that came with the takeout and wiped his cheek.
"Naruto-kun you shouldn't eat so fast, it's not healthy." She told him gently as she got the piece.
"Then how else would I get you to be this close," he grinned at her.
Hinata suddenly realized what she was doing and blushed deep crimson. She was very close to him now and her heart was beating faster. He could always do this but it got worse ever since she started actually dating him. "I-I just wanted to make sure that your face was clean."
He chuckled, "That's what makes you a good girlfriend." He noticed her blush and look shyly away. "And you're really cute when you blush and stutter."
"Y-you really think so?" She always felt self conscious of her stuttering and tried to work on stopping but it was a hard habit to break.
"Yeah I do."
She felt pretty happy that he said as much to her.
Naruto liked to see her happy but he knew that he had to tell her about the mission. He sighed, he really wanted to enjoy this. This might be the only time he would have with her until the mission. "Hey Hinata-chan? I got something to tell you..."
Hinata looked at him and noticed the serious expression on his face and was starting to get a bit worried. Naruto told her all about the mission he was going on as soon as he was getting out the hospital. By the end she knew that it was a very important mission but she also felt a bit sad. She was hoping to spend some time with him, that entire month during the training for the chunin exams she missed seeing him.
The only time she got to see him was during the final rounds. She had seen him only in the hospital and even though they were alone at times she did miss going about the village with him. She had been looking forward to some time together outside of the hospital.
Naruto did notice her downed expression and tried to think of something to cheer her up. "Hey Hinata-chan, I don't know how long this mission will take but how about we go out on a date when I get back?"
"A d-date?"
"Yeah, I want to make a special one for just us. What do you say? When I get back I'll take you out." He smiled at her.
She blushed at the idea and liked it, she nodded her head feeling slightly giddy at the thought of Naruto taking her out. They hadn't really had the change to actually do much in the way of dating and her mind started to wonder exactly what he had planned.
"That's good, so don't worry I'll make sure it's a great date." Although he had no idea what to do, at least he might have a long time to think on it. He could also ask Sakura for advice and get a girl's view on things. "So if we're not going to see each other for awhile then how about we make the most of this?"
-Elsewhere-
It had taken most of the day but Jiraiya had finally gotten around to finding Kakashi to tell him what Naruto wanted. Apparently he was laying low, not that he blamed the younger man, that woman although pretty he was sure had a temper to her. Still it had been a pain to find the man, someone didn't become an elite jonin for nothing after all. Kakashi had given the go ahead, he was going to be too busy with a few upcoming missions to take care of his team.
The Hokage had gone along with it as a genin team that was only partially complete and without their captain couldn't be used for missions other than D rank and there was much more important work to be done.
So he had gotten the approval for the mission, Kakashi would let his other two genins know and so that they could prepare.
At the moment he sat in a branch of a nice tree thinking about what was going to happen. It was going to be a major pain tracking down Tsunade. Oh sure he could do it, she left an obvious trail when you know what to look for and she was only interested in keeping creditors and the loan sharks out of her hair. Of course that was only half the challenge and might even not be the hard part of it.
No he knew that the hardest part would be convincing her to come back and take the job. Oh that wasn't going to be easy, given the loss of both her younger brother Nawaki and also Dan. After the war and all that death she just broke inside. She just couldn't take it and so she ran, it was only through the favour of the current Hokage that allowed her to do as she wanted.
Truth was he had no idea what he could say to her, he hadn't even seen her in years although he was certain she was still using that genjutsu of hers to say young looking. A perfect example of a woman that was vain about her appearance but then again, if anyone knew her secret to keeping a young looking appearance that genjutsu would be all over the place. He grinned as some even though that her looks were even enhanced than how she had really looked like.
Truth was she had looked like that, he knew all too well. All too many times he had gone to sleep with her image in his mind. Yeah he knew he was an old fool, hell he had been a young fool trying to get her to date him since they first met as genins. Back then she was pretty flat but he still thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. So over thirty years or trying and rejection and even now he would still love it if only once she would give him a chance.
Yeah he was now an old fool still in love with the first girl that had stolen his heart and had no desires of returning it as she had said many times over. But the heart would want what it wanted apparently. He could put his emotions behind him when they met, he was a professional at times but this would be hard on him. Seeing her for the first time in years would be a bit hard but she needed to finally come home. Konoha needed her more than ever and in a way he knew that she needed to come home and face things. She needed to learn how to heal those wounds. He just hoped that he could figure out a way to do that, and baring that at least maybe he could hope Naruto could.
He had been watching the boy and something about him could change a person.
"Wow you look pissed today." A female's voice broke through his thinking.
"Tell me about it, I was having such a good morning and then it gets ruined because of some damn pervert." A very familiar voice that he heard that morning in fact.
Jiraiya looked down into the steam filled area of the woman's open aired baths. He noticed the familiar purple hair and from what he could see was a familiar body wrapped up in a white towel.
"I swear to god if I see that guy again it will be too soon." Anko told Kurenai.
"What exactly happened?" Kurenai had seen her friend looking a bit in a bad mood.
Jiraiya cursed his rotten luck, he thought a little peeping would have been nice before leaving for the mission but this was getting dangerous. He had gotten an eyeful of that woman this morning and apparently was lucky to get away with his skin intact. Well he wasn't going to tempt fate now and slowly got up and tried to silently leave. But of course, cursing his damn love for the female form after it happened. He took one quick peep and stepped on a small twig growing out of the branch which snapped under foot.
He looked down at it in horror and he could almost count it off in his mind before it happened.
"Is there someone up in that tree!?"
He tried to move but when they started throwing anything that wasn't nailed at his location. A wash bucket slammed into his head, that made him loose his balance. The good news was that he fell into the pool so it was a soft landing the bad news, was that he landed in the pool.
Coming up for air he was met with the angry looks of many women of Konoha including a very familiar face.
"Oh this must me karma," Anko said thankful she still had on her towel as she cracked her knuckles, a very sadistic grin on her face as she looked down at him.
His face paled he knew that look he had seen in on Tsunade many times. "I can explain..." he tried to say.
"Tell it after we kick your ass," Anko told him.
The screaming from the hot springs that day could be heard half way through the village.
-Elsewhere-
It was early morning as Sasuke and Sakura were waiting by the North Gate for everyone else. Sakura sighed as she hoped that Naruto wouldn't be late. Knowing him he could be trying to get a last meal of ramen in, saying goodbye to Hinata or both. She kind of envied Naruto and Hinata, they seemed very nice together. She cast a look to Sasuke, he was still in the new black clothing that he had for the chunin exams. His katana that he was learning to use was sheathed behind his lower back as usual. It did kind of suit him more she thought trying not to blush.
She looked down at herself she had changed her own style since her training. Gone now was that red dress she normally wore, Anko had told her time and again that it wasn't proper ninja attire. She had to admit her new clothing did allow for better movement and protection. Her tonfas were slung by her hips in a new belt and holster that felt a bit more at ease on her body. Now she had on a pink shirt and a red vest with shin protectors like Anko wore and forearm protection. It got a bit heavy at times but she was getting use to the wait.
The ninja mesh she wore over all her exposed skin was another thing she got used to. But she had been glad for it, her match in the chunin exams would have gone a lot worse for her without the protection. She still remembered how badly Ino had been cut up by that kunoichi from Mist. Sakura did wonder what happened to that team they just kind of disappeared in all the chaos. Then again looking around she could still see the scars of the attack on her village, no one could say for certain how long it would take to repair it.
"Finally he's here," Sasuke said as Sakura looked to see Naruto running up to them with a backpack on.
"Sorry I'm late!" Naruto told them.
"You're turning more and more into your father," Sasuke sighed.
"Hey I couldn't help but be late!" Naruto shot back.
"This better not involved the road of life, cats or any other excuse we've heard all before or I'll hurt you," Sasuke told him seriously.
"Hinata or ramen?" Sakura asked him.
Naruto blinked before smirking behind his mask placing a hand behind his head, "Both actually."
She only smiled and rolled her eyes she wasn't surprised at all, she had known him for years so by now she had a pretty good idea of his personality. Which was odd as Naruto also kept up ways of surprising everyone. Sakura felt that if she knew Naruto until they were both old and retired he would still be finding ways to keep surprising everyone.
"So all we're missing is Ero-sennin." Naruto said looking around.
"No you're not and stop calling me that," Jiraiya said as he made his way to them from behind. Although the genin knew who they were going on this mission with and why they couldn't help but look. Mainly at the few bandages on his face and he seemed to be favouring his left side slightly.
"What happened to you?" Naruto was the first to ask.
Jiraiya just grumbled, "You never mind about that, just fell at the wrong time at the wrong place. Anyway let's go the sooner we leave the sooner we can find Tsunade before she decides to skip whatever town she's currently in."
The four of them made their way out of the gates and onto their new mission. Although Naruto was the one to ask a few questions as soon as they were starting.
"So where will we find her?" Naruto asked the old man. "If she moves around a lot won't she be hard to find?"
"I know her well enough to know her habits," he explained to not only Naruto but the others as well since they should know this information as well. "She likes drinking and gambling so places where she can find both in good supply is a primary target. She'll also stay in our country, although she had been given leave of the village she can't leave the country."
Even the Hokage couldn't have gotten away with letting a ninja leave the village and wonder around the world as they pleased. Staying within the country was one of the few stipulations that Tsunade was given before she left. Jiraiya himself as an exception since he was the spy master for their village so him going into any country was a given. That was why he made sure to send reports now and then just in case anyone was wondering what he was doing.
Since it gave the illusion of him actually doing work he was supposed to.
"The only time she won't be is when she's ducking her creditors." He continued on.
"Creditors?" Sakura asked him wondering what he was getting at.
"She loves to gamble but the thing is, she sucks at it," he said bluntly. "In fact she's so bad she's called the Legendary Sucker." He thought about warning them about not making a perverted comment on that nickname in her presence but he figured that they wouldn't make the same mistake he had a few years ago when he came across her.
"Anyways, if she goes to ground it won't be for long."
"So how exactly do be pick up her trail?" Sasuke asked.
"I got a few ideas," Mainly from how he had been secretly keeping tabs on her all this time. He worked with the Hokage to make sure that her debts never got out of control. It wouldn't do to have her debts so high that they couldn't protect her from the law. Or the usual loan sharks as well. The last thing they needed was for loan sharks start looking to hire other mercenaries or worse, other ninja to hunt down Tsunade.
That could be bad for all kinds of reasons depending on which country they were hired from.
He signed looking at the kids. "I know of a few places she was last scene. All we have to do it follow the trail of money she owes and it should point us in the right direction. In the meantime I can help give you kids a little training. I heard Kakashi boast once that he wanted to make you three into this generation's version of my team, the Sannin."
He had heard that that was the excuse Kakashi gave for picking these three for his team, although looking at what they had done so far it might be possible. Sure they were a little rough around the edges but he felt that he could almost see them as a younger version of his team back in the day. It should prove interesting to say the least to see what skills these kids had. Granted he wanted to train Naruto for more personal reasons but maybe it was the nostalgia that was getting to him.
"So when we get the time, I'm going to see what you kids got. We can do some basics so I can get a handle on your skill levels and see where we go from there."
"Cool! When do we start?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Brat, I can still see the damn mountain and the gate," Jiraiya made a mental note on Naruto's impatience. He would have to see about fixing that, if it was possible. "We have to at least make some distance. Look tonight we'll camp and I can see what you kids got, it will give me time to plan out your training."
Naruto looked a little disappointed but the fact was that he was going to get some training in later, he just hoped it didn't involved being thrown into another chasm. One time was enough for him, not to mention having to ride the boss toad hadn't exactly been fun either. Looking at his teammates he could see that Sasuke was eager to learn something new as well. Sakura looked interested but she was more relaxed about it.
"So how far is this village we're heading to anyway?" Sasuke asked if only to find out how long they would be on the road.
"A couple of days to get there, we'll spend a day or two looking around and then well head on out again." Jiraiya told them as they started their journey together.
-Unknown Location, A few Days Later-
Deep underground in one of many of his secret bases, Orochimaru was in his personal quarters as she checked over his body, well the one he was currently using. He peeled back the fake skin showing the face of a young woman. He didn't care about things like gender he was beyond such matters now. He had ascended into a higher being, something beyond such notions. He had moved beyond the limitations of being human long ago.
But he couldn't find a body that could hold him for more than a few years. Looking at the face he could see the signs of this body starting to decay. Faint veins were starting to show in certain areas, the skin felt a bit colder to the touch and waxy. This body wouldn't last too much longer and he would need a new one soon.
Already a selection process was being used but he really wanted Sasuke's body, to have the sharingan would make it so easy to learn every single jutsu in the world. Knowledge was the ultimate power and to know everything would make him a god among men. His injuries from his fight with the Hokage were healed given that the fight had ended from the entire building collapsing under them. To think that a genin was apparently responsible for it, at least that's what his spies had informed him.
It was such a shame that the Uchiha clan had been wiped out he could have taken his pick from an entire clan. Instead he was left with but only two choices, Itachi, well that was a road he wasn't willing to go down again. He had been beaten too easily so he focused on the only other living Uchiha. Sasuke was still a bit too young but with time and some training the boy could be the greatest host body he could get his hands on.
He had already marked the boy, the power would lure him over to him, at least that was the plan. So far things hadn't gone as well as he had hoped. Suna had found their dead leader and figured out that he had played them for fools. Now both the Konoha and Suna's ties were stronger and he was at the top of their list of missing nin to find. Not that he cared about it, but any Sound ninja would be fair game in their territories now.
The Leaf village hadn't been as damaged as he had hoped and he had still failed to kill his old master. Sasuke himself hadn't seemed to be using the curse seal either at last nothing that anyone could find. His spies in Konoha were limited now ANBU had been looking deeper in how far Orochimaru's spies in the village went. They wouldn't find them all but they would have to go underground for a bit.
Orochimaru replaced the fake skin onto the body's face he had no idea who the person once was not that it mattered. She had been a strong ninja and that was all that he needed to know. Looking back into the mirror his face now looked as it did decades ago. He smirked at how only Jiraiya was the one that looked his age from his own team. As soon as he finished he heard someone knock on his door.
"Enter," the leader of Sound commanded as he sat in a large chair awaiting whoever it was. Orochimaru was pleased to see it was Kabuto the young boy was the best servant he had. No one was more loyal, dedicated and skilled. It was hard to find people like him, in fact he didn't know of anyone off hand that he trusted more than Kabuto. The boy was a rare find and one of the reasons he would never consider using him as a host, even if the boy would do it gladly. No, Kabuto was worth more than just another host body.
"I'm glad to see you got out of Konoha in one piece," Orochimaru smiled at his spy.
The boy bowed slightly and smiled. "It wasn't entirely easy but in the confusion it was easy to move around. I did have to ensure that we still had some information coming out of Konoha, now that I'm known as a spy for you there."
"It had to happen eventually," Orochimaru agreed.
"Yes but I was able to get one last piece of information, it's why it took me so long to get here," Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Sasuke has left the village apparently."
"Oh?" Now Orochimaru was getting interesting.
"He's on a mission with the rest of his team but the odd thing is, it's not with Kakashi. My contact said that the man looked to be Jiraiya himself."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as his mind went to work, there was something going on that man wouldn't take on three genins for no reason. Although a memory of those three orphans came to mind, was the sentimental old fool trying again where he had failed? No, Orochimaru didn't feel that it was totally correct. No, the man was up to something, plus this could be either a problem or a solution.
The problem was that if Sasuke was getting training under Jiraiya then he might not view as needing Orochimaru's help to kill his brother. That wouldn't do at all, the solution was a simple one, he would find out what they were after and deal with it himself. He would show that boy what real power was and also he could also throw a wrench into Akatsuki's plans if he could kill the jinchuriki of the Leaf as well. Plus he owed the boy for ruining his fun earlier as well.
"Kabuto, I think it's time I had a reunion with my old friend," Orochimaru smirked. "Send out best trackers I want to find out where they are heading at all times but do not let them know that they are being followed. Don't underestimate Jiraiya, if he suspects something he will be even more deadly with his guard up."
Kabuto bowed to his master, "As you wish."
- Fire Country-
Jiraiya looked at the open field in the forest it was the perfect place to stop for the day. It had been a few days and already he felt he had a lead with what he had learned in the last village they had been at. Plus he was able to buy the items he needed for the next few training he was going to give. Plus it was a nice out of the way spot too.
"Alright kids, get your stuff unpacked and set up over there," He pointed off to the side. "We might as well start the next training."
"So you're not just going to watch us spar again?" Sasuke asked. The last few days Jiraiya had them spar against each other as well as show what they were capable of doing. He could understand that and the man had said he needed to know their skills but he was anxious to get to some real training.
"Yep, alright get to it, the sooner your stuff is put away the sooner the training can start," He told them smiling as he watched them run off. It was nice seeing kids so eager to learn again he found. When they were ready he had them stand in front of him as he got a few items ready himself.
He stepped up to Sakura, "Alright you're pretty good with genjutsu and water right?"
Sakura nodded her head, "Yes, I trained a bit with Kurenai-sensei and she said I had a gift for it and learned a couple of them from her. And I know two water techniques, aqua tower and the hidden mist technique as well."
Jiraiya paused, "I haven't seen you use that last one yet, when did you even learn that?"
Sakura looked a bit bashful now, "Well it's hard to move around as I can't really see that far on it. I've only really used it in training. Kakashi-sensei taught me it as I think he learned it from his fight again Zabuza."
Jiraiya nodded as he guessed that Kakashi learned it from his sharingan most likely. He knew of the technique as well, the village of Mist wouldn't like it if they found out one of their best jutsus were slipping out among the Leaf. He also guessed the other reason the girl didn't use it, you had to use your own chakra to spread it out. The larger the effect the more chakra you needed and the girl was very careful of her use of her chakra. He might have to help her expand that later.
"Well unfortunately I'm not good with genjutsu or have an aptitude for the element of water." He could see she looked a bit disappointed with that. "But I can help you learn these little things I got from Konoha before we left."
He handed her a scroll as she looked at them, opening them up she saw the scroll was about how to make water clones as well as a few other water based jutsus. She was a little confused as to why water clones were here as she had already been taught that in her training with Anko and Kurenai. At least the other two were ones she didn't know.
"Like all the elements they are easier to do when you got the actual element to work with," Jiraiya explained to not only her but the others to make sure they all knew this part. "When you can't use the actual element you can forge your chakra into that element as you all should know. In a way you can use a part of yourself for this, using body heat to help form fire, the water inside of your body to help connect to the element of water and so on. Wind is one of the only ones you usually don't have to worry about since if you can't breathe then you're in trouble anyway."
"But I suppose if you're underwater you could use the air in your lungs. Anyways each element is different and requires slightly different skill set. Water is actually a decent one to work with from what I gathered. Anyways take the water clones for example. They only have a fraction of the strength of the person but that means that unlike say the shadow clones where you strength is equally split between them all."
"With this you'll only have to put a fraction of your strength and chakra reserves into them. This should also help you out in battle too."
"Yeah, I remember," Sakura nodded her head, "I noticed that when I used them earlier but why is the water clone on this? I already know this one."
"It came with the scroll, I got it off a Mist ninja years ago and just never really could learn any of this. But since this is a real scroll from a country that specializes in water techniques it should have a bit more details on the water clones that I know Konoha wouldn't normally have. You might find some useful new information about it. But the other two should be more helpful to you." He explained to her. "The other two water jutsus in there are the water whip, which is good for capturing and I think I heard you had an encounter with the other one."
She looked to see that the other was water bullets that Mist genin she had faced used it and it had been a good offensive move. Sakura started to memorize it immediately at that point. Jiraiya looked to Naruto and already knew what he was going to teach him. He went over to a box and got an item out of it he threw it at Naruto who caught it and looked at it. It was a rubber ball as he looked at it wondering what this was going to be fore.
"Since Kakashi trained you all in that balloon thing earlier, this Naruto will teach you the next step in that training for a special jutsu." Jiraiya told him. "You see although that was a perfect example of how to shape a jutsu, it was actually the first of three steps to learning a special jutsu that only me and Kakashi know."
"Really?" Naruto's eyes lit up with that. "So was dad going to teach us all this jutsu?"
"No," Jiraiya told them all seeing the looks he was getting. "This jutsu was created by the Fourth Hokage himself and since you all know Naruto's past, you should all understand that only Naruto is going to be trained in this as it's his heritage. I know it because I trained him and he taught it to me, he taught it to Kakashi who used it to develop the chidori. But if you want to learn this it will be Naruto's choice later on as he's the only one that should be the one to decide on who to teach this to."
Naruto wasn't sure what to say as he looked down at the ball in his hand, he never really had much from his biological parents. He had a picture of them that he kept in his room, but other than that there really wasn't much. If he could learn this then he would have something important that he could carry with him at all times.
Sakura and Sasuke looked on both getting the feeling that they could feel what Naruto was thinking. Sasuke himself knew what it was like to want something of your family. Naruto had known his adopted father all his life but not his biological parents.
Jiraiya threw an iron rod to Sasuke who caught it and looked at it as though he was being played with. He gave Jiraiya a look as though to ask if the man was being serious.
"You know that lightning technique of Kakashi's the chidori right? Well think of this as taking that training to a new level." He explained to the boy. "I'm going to train you how to use lightning and put it into your weapons as well as manipulate it even further. Lightning can be formed easily but it's hard to control as well as dangerous."
"But if you can learn how to control it, lightning could be a very deadly weapon for you that only your imagination can limit you. For this for example will teach you how to put lightning into that sword you carry."
Sasuke looked at the iron rod and he had to admit that did sound appealing to create his own jutsus would give him an advantage as no one, not even his brother would know what to expect until the fight began. Plus he was already thinking of other kinds of uses with it if he would master that element like Jiraiya was explaining.
"That rod will act like a lightning rod for you," Jiraiya explained further. "it will help you draw out the lightning but the problem will be keeping it in. It will want to run out on you, jumping from the iron to somewhere else. You'll have to keep it reigned in, in a way you're going to have to keep a hold of lightning in your bare hand." Jiraiya smirked. "That won't be easy and you better start small, you don't want to fry your own hand in one day."
Jiraiya looked around him and crossed his arms this might turn out well after all. "Alright each of you pick a large area for your own and I'll watch the three of you. Sasuke, I want some extra space for you, I don't want you accidentally throwing out a lightning bolt by accident."
The three genins quickly got to picking out their own training spots as Jiraiya started to look over their training, it brought be memories of good times in the past. Of his own training as a genin to his training of his other students.
Maybe, just maybe these kids would surprise him.