Naruto:A New Path

The Great Jiraiya

Naruto didn't know what to do. He had just met a legendary ninja that was said to rival the Hokage in terms of strength. Yet the man had been spying on woman when they were bathing and had knocked out his teacher for the chuunin exam finals. The little dance Jiraiya did when announcing his name hadn't made things any better and Naruto presumed that the man thought of himself as 'cool.'
"Why did you knock out my teacher?" Naruto asked with a frown.
Jiraiya smirked. "Like I told him. I was busy with my research and can't be bothered at the moment." The sannin smiled and held up his notebook, "This notebook holds the first notes for my new 'Make-Out Paradise.'"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had heard the name of that book before, but where? A sudden image of a giggling Kakashi entered his thoughts. "You're the one who writes the book Kakashi-sensei reads, right?"
"So you know a fan?" Jiraiya asked with a smile, "I can't say I'm surprised since my books are known all throughout the nations!"
Naruto frowned. "You're nothing but a lowly pervert, aren't you?" The blond's frown turned into a grin, "I know how to deal with guys like you."
"As if you could do anything against me," Jiraiya boasted.
"Sexy Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke Naruto transformed into a naked and older female version of himself. Jiraiya's jaw hit the floor before fainting with a massive nosebleed.
Naruto grinned. "Serves the perv right." The teen walked over to Ebisu's fallen form before sighing, "I guess water walking is postponed for now. I might as well go work on the leaf so I can start with my new jutsus." With that Naruto left the hot springs in order to go train.
Naruto arrived at the clearing he had been using to train lately. The sun was high in the sky, meaning that it was around noon. The teen took a fallen leaf from the floor and sat against a tree. He had been thinking of trying to meditate while attempting to cut the leaf. If successful then it would kill two birds with one stone and he could go on to train in other things he needed to improve.
Naruto frowned. All he had done was try to cut the leaf but he still needed to train his taijutsu and find a way to counter genjutsu, not to mention that it would probably take him a while to learn the jutsu Kakashi had left him. The blond sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to improve a lot but had little time left for the chuunin exams, maybe he should ask someone else to help him train. He suspected that Ebisu wouldn't train him seriously because of the fox.
The blond shook his head in order to clear his head. Now was not the time to be thinking about how hard it would be to improve, now was the time to train. With a confident grin, Naruto tried to cut the leaf once again. No matter how long it would take him to get strong, he would never quit.
Jiraiya watched the blond with a grin. The kid could have been enjoying a day with his friends but instead chose to train. Contrary to popular belief, Jiraiya knew a good ninja when he saw one. Just by looking at the kid, he was reminded of his younger self. The kid would get far but he could get farther with the aid of a sannin, and Jiraiya was the one for the job.
Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his sweaty head. It had been a few hours since he started to attempt the leaf exercise once again and he was growing impatient. It was actually an improvement for Naruto to have stayed still so long but his short temper combined with the hot air hitting his skin were about to set off the teen. In his hands the leaf was still gripped tightly with only a very small improvement.
The blond finally growled and took his hands away from the leaf. He checked his work and saw that he had cut a visible amount of the leaf this time. He managed to smile a little at the small show of improvement, at least he was on the right track.
"Looks like you're having some problems with the leaf exercise," came the voice of Jiraiya.
Naruto turned towards the voice and saw Jiraiya walking towards him. "Oh great you found me." The blond sighed, "What do you want perv?"
Jiraiya smiled coyly. "Now that's no way to talk to someone who's willing to help you, is it?" The sannin smirked at Naruto's confused look, "Let's just say that I have a way to help you with your terrible chakra control."
Naruto frowned. "My chakra control is not terrible!" The blond crossed his arms, "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"I've been watching you try to cut the leaf for a while now, so don't try to lie to me." Jiraiya said with an amused grin, "So how about I help you?"
"How will you do that?" Naruto asked.
"Easy, I just need you to take off your shirt." Jiraiya explained. The sannin saw Naruto give him a shocked look and scowled, "Don't get any funny ideas kid. I only like beautiful women."
Naruto gave Jiraiya another look before taking off his jacket and shirt. He instantly felt some of the terrible heat leave his body and he wondered why he hadn't taken off his jacket before. The blond gave Jiraiya an odd look. The sannin was eyeing his stomach in deep seriousness. He couldn't know about the fox, could he?
Jiraiya smiled and moved away from Naruto's stomach. "Just as I thought. There's something wrong with the seal keeping the Kyuubi locked away." The sannin explained, "Don't worry kid, I know just what to do."
Before Naruto could ask what it was, he was struck on the stomach by Jiraiya. Naruto got the wind knocked out of him and cursed the sannin. He felt a burning sensation where the seal was but it soon left.
"What the hell was that!" Naruto exclaimed.
The sannin smirked. "Just try to cut the leaf again, and everything will be explained."
Naruto frowned but followed Jiraiya's orders. He put a leaf on his hands and started to pour and mold chakra. On his other training sessions, he found that molding the chakra into a kind of blade worked the best. The blond did just that and kept on focusing on his task.
"Let's see how you did?" Jiraiya commanded.
The teen took his hands away from the leaf and got a big smile on his face. No longer was there only a small part of the leaf sliced, now about one-fourth of the leaf had been cut. The blond couldn't believe that Jiraiya had actually known how to help him.
Naruto turned to the sannin with a smile. "Thanks a lot Pervy Sage!"
"What did you call me?" Jiraiya exclaimed.
The blond smirked. "I called you Pervy Sage, it kind of suits you."
Jiraiya crossed his arms and frowned. "Well, I guess that I won't take you as my apprentice after all." The sannin watched Naruto's shocked expression in amusement. He turned to leave and waited for Naruto to try to stop him, "I'll be on my way then."
Naruto tried to think of something to do and quickly got an idea. "Sexy Jutsu!" Jiraiya turned around at the mention of the jutsu and got a perverted grin on his face. "Pwease train me Jiraiya-sensei."
"Of course I'll train you!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
Naruto smirked and dropped the transformation. Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and frowned at the influence that jutsu had over him. Naruto, on the other hand, was smiling in joy and excitement at having a sannin train him. This way he would be able to protect his friends in no time.
Jiraiya sighed. "Okay kid you got me." He crossed his arms and faced Naruto with seriousness on his face, "Now let's talk about your training. What are you working on as of right now?"
Naruto put on a look of thought. "Well I've been working on my wind chakra control but I also need to work on my taijutsu and gain a way to counter genjutsu. But the wind chakra training has been taking up all of my time."
Jiraiya nodded in understanding, "How many jutsu do you know?"
Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "W-well I know how to do shadow clones but that's about it."
The sannin raised a brow at this. He had no idea that a kid could actually use shadow clones. Even though he was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki it was an amazing feat. It was actually a good thing that Naruto knew how to use shadow clones since it would give him more time to train the kid in different subjects.
"Do you know the true use of the shadow clones?" Jiraiya asked. At seeing Naruto's confused look he continued, "You see, shadow clones were made to for spying purposes. They are not only solid but they are able to transfer their experiences to the user. We are going to use them to train you in different subjects at the same time."
Naruto got an exited smiled on his face, "What will those things be Jiraiya-sensei?"
Jiraiya smiled. Seeing the blond kid call him Jiraiya-sensei he couldn't help but remember the good times he had with Minato. It was somehow a true coincidence that he ended up training them both but then again maybe it had been fate.
"Your training will be divided into three categories." Jiraiya explained, "First, I'll teach you some of the toad taijutsu that I know. After that you will finish that water walking I saw you practicing at the hot springs and finally I will teach you how to summon toads. The wind chakra control will be done on your free time."
"When will we start?" Naruto asked with an exited smile.
"The training will start tomorrow at eight in the morning. I will come get you and take you to a great spot for training. I expect that we'll be done by five in the afternoon so it'll give you some time to master your wind control." Jiraiya took out his notebook and grinned, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some research to do." With that the sannin disappeared and left a frowning Naruto alone.
The blond huffed and turned to go home, "At least I have someone to train me now. As long as I don't become a pervert then I'll be fine."
Jiraiya giggled as he wrote furiously on his notebook. He and Naruto had gone to a waterfall in order to train his water walking that much was true but what Jiraiya didn't tell him was that it was one of his favorite places to do his research. When they had started training early in the morning, Naruto had gotten down most of the toad style taijutsu. After the taijutsu portion of the training was over he had Naruto fight one of his clones while water walking. The brat had made good progress and it would only a matter of time before he was finished. Jiraiya had to admit that he was impressed at the level at which the kid learned. The sannin heard a loud cheer followed by a round of laughter and instantly knew that his student was done with water walking.
Naruto turned towards Jiraiya and grinned. "You better stop peeking on those girls Jiraiya-sensei. I beat the clone and that means that you have to teach me how to summon toads!"
Jiraiya sighed and dropped down from the tree. "Alright already!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a frown, "Sheesh kid, has anybody ever told you that you're too loud."
"A lot of people actually," Naruto confessed.
"As long as you know that." Jiraiya said with an annoyed expression as he took off the scroll he carried on his lower back. The sannin opened the large scroll and Naruto could see that there were two names written in blood, "I need you to sign this using your blood, it's the first step in using the summoning jutsu."
Naruto smiled in excitement. "No problem Pervy Sage!" The blond bit his thumb and drew blood. He began to write his name next to the one that read Minato Namikaze, "All done!"
Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh, maybe having a hyperactive blond as an apprentince wouldn't be that good after all. "Now you need to do the hand signs I taught you. Remember that the toad summon depends on the amount of chakra you put into it."
Naruto smiled and went through the hand signs. He slammed his hands into the ground and watched as a poof of smoke appeared. He smiled in excitement but groaned when he saw a small green toad had appeared.
"What did I do wrong?" Naruto whined with a frown.
"I told you to put more chakra into it." Jiraiya scolded, "Now do it one more time but put more chakra into it."
The blond frowned and did as instructed only to summon a slightly bigger purple toad. Naruto growled and went through the seals one more time only to summon the previous green toad.
Jiraiya frowned, it looks like he'll have to use that chakra after all . "That's enough kid." Jiraiya said, ignoring Naruto's complains, "We have to go over some things now."
The teen groaned but walked over to Jiraiya. "What are we going over now Jiraiya-sensei?"
The toad sannin chuckled. "We have to start a new training schedule. I didn't plan on you learning to water walk so quickly so we have to make some changes." Jiraiya explained, "We'll still work on your taijutsu first but it will grow on level as time goes on. Right after the taijutsu we'll be having sparring matches to help you learn how to use it in battle."
"After the sparring I'll help you with your wind chakra control." Jiraiya continued, "When the wind training is over I'll teach you the basics of sealing. The art of sealing is very useful to ninja and, if you have enough skill, you can create your own seals. When we're done with that you'll continue to try and summon bigger toads."
Naruto nodded. "I got it Jiraiya-sensei but will I still be able to train on my free time?"
Jiraiya grinned. "You're welcome to train whenever you want but I assure you that you won't have the energy to do so when I'm done with you." The sannin had a glint on his eye that made Naruto shiver involuntarily, "We're done for today, I'll see you tomorrow morning kid."
The sannin disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto sighed in contempt and stretched his sore muscles. He couldn't wait to get started with his training but that glint on Jiraiya's eye had told him that he'll be in pain in the future. The blond chuckled and summoned two clones, like Jiraiya had instructed, and began to work on cutting the leaf.
The sun was setting when Naruto was making his way home. For the first time in years, Naruto was tired. It had been a long day and he knew that it would be nothing compared to what was to come. He walked through the streets and played his oblivious act. He had learned how to pretend that he didn't notice the stares the villagers threw at him but he could still feel the gazes on him. How he hoped that the stares would stop.
"Naruto!" He heard a voice scream. The blond turned around and was met with the sight of Ino running towards him.
"What's wrong Ino?" Naruto asked as Ino tried to catch her breath.
Ino frowned and pointed at Naruto's clothes. "Look at you Naruto. You're a mess!" Naruto took a look at his clothes and noticed that his clothes were in fact cut up in some places and filled with dirt, "What happened to you?"
Naruto grinned lightly. "I was training with Jiraiya-sensei." The blond answered, "I think I was cut up when he tried to teach me how to block a kunai with my new taijutsu."
Ino sighed. "Naruto you have blood in your jacket." Ino said in concern, "You're coming with me."
"Going where?" Naruto asked in slight concern.
Ino took hold of Naruto's sleeve and dragged him with her. "I'm going to take you home and clean your wounds."
Naruto stiffened. "A-are you sure your parents will be okay with me being there?" He asked in alarm, "I don't want to bother them."
The girl chuckled. "Are you kidding?" She asked with a smile, "They've wanted to meet you for a while."
The blond's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" He asked incredulously, "Why would they want to meet me?"
Ino sighed. "Naruto you're a great guy." She said with a small smile, "You beat Kiba by not giving up and took everyone by surprise. Ever since you became a ninja, my parents have wanted to meet you."
Naruto nodded slowly. "Okay let's go." He managed to say. He didn't understand why they would want to meet him but if Ino really wanted him to go then he would, they were friends after all.
The blond watched the streets around him in wonder. He didn't go to this part of town frequently since almost everyone hated him on these parts, the time he had walked Ino home this certain fact had slipped his mind. Again, he found himself being the target of many glares. He noticed that Ino had seen the stares and wished that she didn't mention them. He would continue to play his oblivious act and hope that she wouldn't mention them. The blond saw the Yamanaka sign only a few houses away and smiled in relief.
Ino smiled, as if proud of the sign that hung on her home. "We're here." She declared before taking Naruto's sleeve and dragging him in through the front door. "Mom I'm home!"
Naruto's heartbeat increased when he heard approaching footsteps. He was always afraid of meeting with adults since most of them blamed him for the Kyuubi, he only hoped that this wouldn't be the case.
"Welcome home Ino," A blonde woman said as she entered the living room. The woman turned her gaze to Naruto who stiffened at her gaze. "Who's your friend Ino?"
Ino smiled. "This is Naruto." She pointed at the woman and turned to Naruto, "This is my mom, Miki."
Miki smiled at the boy. She saw how nervous he was about meeting her and it didn't surprise her. She was sad to see what the village had done to the boy. He was completely nervous about meeting a single person. Miki had always been amazed at the strength the boy showed, she had seen him walk through the village with a heartbreaking look on his face but the boy was now a ninja of the leaf.
"Nice to meet you Naruto." Miki said in a soft tone, "Would you like anything to drink?"
"I'll be okay ma'am," Naruto said quietly.
Ino gave Naruto an odd look. "What's wrong Naruto? Why are you so quiet?" She whispered to him, "It's not like she'll eat you alive or anything." Naruto kept his gaze to the ground and only grunted in response. Ino threw her mom an apologetic look and dragged Naruto upstairs.
Miki glanced sadly at Naruto's disappearing figure. She hadn't known that the boy was so afraid of adults. She remembered meeting him once before when he was about seven, if she had to guess. The boy had been pushed out of a store by the owner for no apparent reason and she had tried to help him up. The boy had looked at her with complete fear before running away from the spot. It was sad to see what the ignorance of the villagers had done to the boy.
Meanwhile Ino sat Naruto on a chair in her room. Her room was painted in a very light color purple. Her bed had dark purple blankets with light purple pillows. The room suited Ino very well and went with her personality really well. Speaking of Ino, she had gone to get her first aid kit.
Ino entered the room with a frown. "Why did you ignore my mom like that?"
Naruto lowered his gaze and sighed. "I really didn't mean to Ino." He said with a sad expression, "I'm just not good with adults."
Ino's face softened and she sighed. "I'll let you off the hook this once." She said with a small smile. "But if you ever ignore my mom okay you'll pay the consequences."
Naruto gulped and laughed nervously. "It won't happen again, I promise."
"Good," she said before checking Naruto for any wounds.
Naruto and Ino walked out of her house. Naruto had been wary of bumping into Ino's mom but thankfully didn't see her on the way. He hated being afraid of meeting adult strangers. He didn't have this fear towards other ninja since most of them had treated him fairly unlike the villagers who all treated him with resentment.
Ino looked at her friend sadly. The blond had a look of exhaustion on his face that seemed alien on his face. "Why do you train so hard?" She asked, "I know you want to be a chuunin but isn't this a bit too much."
Naruto gave a small smile and shook his head. "I'm not training to be promoted." He began, "I'm training so I can protect my precious people. I've been unable to help my friends with my own power and want to change that. I don't want to watch as my friends get hurt and rely on something that isn't my own power, I want to be someone they can always rely on."
Ino looked at Naruto in a whole new light. She hadn't expected an answer like that and gained a new respect for the fellow blond. His dream of being Hokage didn't look like a ridiculous idea anymore, she actually believed that with more experience he could actually become Hokage one day.
"I have to go Ino, I'm really tired," Naruto said with a weary smile.
Ino smiled. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Naruto gave a foxy grin. "Of course, maybe we could train together one day."
Ino nodded in agreement. "I'll get stronger too." Naruto looked at Ino in confusion, "You were right about what you said. I feel like a burden on my team sometimes and I want to change that. I'll follow your example and get stronger."
Naruto smiled. "You'll get stronger for sure Ino." He said with a grin, "We should train together sometime."
Ino grinned. "Just you wait Naruto, I'll be a lot stronger next time we meet."
"Don't think that I'll just let that happen." Naruto smiled, "I'll get stronger so we can both protect our precious ones."
Ino gave Naruto a sweet smile. "Now go get some rest or you won't be able to train tomorrow." Naruto chuckled in response and left the store with a single wave. "I knew he would be a good friend."
Inoichi stretched as soon as he entered his home. It was past midnight and he had had an annoying mission. He was supposed to travel to a nearby village and stop a small gang of thugs who apparently had some information on Orochimaru. It turned out that the thugs had said that they knew Orochimaru in order to gain recognition.
He smiled as he made his way to his room. It was always nice to come home to a loving family after a long mission. When he entered his room he was surprised to see Miki awake. She usually fell asleep right after Ino so it was strange of her to stay up this late.
"Is anything wrong Miki?" Inoichi asked as he took off his ninja sandals.
Miki smiled and shook her head. "I just haven't been able to sleep." She admitted, "You know, Ino brought a boy home today."
Inoichi instantly perched up at the mention of her daughter and a boy. "Who was it?"
"It was Naruto," Miki said.
Inoichi raised a brow at this. "I thought that she didn't know him that well?"
Miki smiled. "Apparently she does." She said with a yawn, "He's a good influence on her. She was talking about taking her training seriously when he left."
Inoichi looked taken back before smiling. "Did she now?" He asked with pride on his voice, "I'm glad she'll take it seriously. She has a lot of potential and I know she'll surpass me one day."
Miki got a sad look on her face and looked down. "You were right about Naruto?" She said. Inoichi looked at her with a look of confusion, "He's completely afraid of meeting with adults. It was sad to see how he reacted when he saw me. He looked so afraid."
Inoichi smiled sadly and laid in bed with his wife. "It'll be fine don't worry." He said to his wife, "He has Ino now. I'm sure she'll get rid of his fear of stranger. It might be hard since I suspect is a trauma but she'll get it done."
Miki smiled. "I believe she will and maybe he'll help Ino with her own problems." With that the two fell asleep. Hoping that Ino could fix the mistakes the village had made.
The next day Naruto woke up with a smile. Today would begin his real training and he would take the first step into his sort of promise with Ino. When he thought about it, it was a little strange to have become good friends with Ino in such a short time. It helped that they had a lot in common and he wondered why they hadn't spoken more in the past.
He pushed those thoughts away and prepared for training. He put on some clean clothes, ate a light breakfast and walked out the door with a smile. He had made a good friend in Ino and he would show her that he could become a lot stronger.