Chapter 52: Chapter 6: Elemental training
Sakura stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her body. The window to her room was open letting the wind blow into her room giving a cool breeze. She walked towards her wardrobe before adorning clothes suitable for sleeping in. She sat in front of her mirror before fixing up her hair.
It had been a week since the newly reunited Team 7 had begun to perform their missions. Most of the missions assigned to them included administrative duties and helping the Godaime with her paperwork. The Hokage had seemed extremely different lately as it was quite apparent to the pink kunoichi that she had some big issues dwelling on her mind, not that Sakura knew what they were. She was intrigued as to what could have resulted in the sudden change in behaviour for her mentor.
Team 7 itself didn't feel as it should have due to the notable absence of a certain hyperactive blonde. Neither of the members of the team had seen Naruto for over a week now. His usual liveliness and merriment was being missed heavily by Sakura as she realised how dull and boring it could become at times. Although she and Sasuke had tried to locate him on several occasions they failed terribly. They had checked in on his apartment however he was never in whenever they went. The only comfort she felt was from knowing that he was still regularly visiting the ramen stand for his monstrous meal devouring and from being told by the owner that he was happy and cheerful as always. The Godaime herself had reassured her that everything was fine but Sakura found herself disbelieving of her words.
She had finished tying her hair with a ribbon and looked at the recent team picture that they had taken after rescuing Sasuke and defeating Orochimaru. She picked it up and observed it closely. Naruto was standing in the middle with a large smile plastered across his face with one of his hands in the victory sign while his other was wrapped around Sasuke's neck strangling him a little much to the Uchiha's chagrin. Sakura herself was looking at the two laughing while Kakashi had stood behind his team; the only thing notifying them of his smile was the form his eye had taken. She had enjoyed that day immensely as it had been the first day that they had all spent together after such a long time. A smile spread across her pretty face as she felt the warmth inside her spread.
On the other hand she had also noticed that Naruto seemed to grow more distant from his team not much later after that day. The blonde became increasingly tenser and seemed to be mulling over things. The return of her black-haired team and reunion of their team was something she had wished for over 2 years. However her love for the Uchiha had largely diminished over the years and she found that she wasn't as attracted to the stoic teen like she used to be. She had become more open around him and acted much like her usual self instead of trying to please him with each of her minor actions.
She lied down into the warm confines of her blanket whilst staring at the ceiling. So much had happened to their team that it was amazing that they had survived. Sasuke had returned which brought her tremendous happiness however she was still worried about her blonde team mate. The organisation of Akatsuki was still on the prowl even though they had lost three members. She had tried her hardest to find out the objective behind the Akatsuki capturing all the Bijuus but she couldn't find a grain of information that could help her. The organisation itself was shrouded in mystery as the only known information about them was that they consisted of a group of S-class missing-nin who were capturing the tailed beasts.
The power of the tailed demons was something that had scared her immensely as she had witnessed Naruto unleashing some of the terrifying chakra of the Kyuubi which was known to be the strongest bijuu. She couldn't forget the sight she had witnessed when Naruto's desperation had him unleash enough chakra that he transformed into a 6 tailed miniature form of the kitsune. The spectacle was something that nobody present would forget as the blonde's appearance changed radically. However Sakura's fear was largely overwhelmed by the concern and worry she had for her blonde friend. She wanted more than anything to somehow stop him and help him but she couldn't.
After his battle had concluded she felt as if her heart was being ripped out from her chest. Never before had she seen the genin in such a physically devastated form. His body was significantly disfigured as he was covered in pools of his own blood. Sakura began crying, praying for the best as her mentor worked as hard as humanly possible to repair the damaged blonde. Sakura herself had attempted to help however she was prevented by Jiraiya being told that she would die of chakra depletion as she only had a small amount remaining. She had seen the hesitance in the sannin's eyes along with the trepidation and dread.
The pink haired girl found that her cheeks had become wet from droplets of tears from reliving the experience again. The revelation that Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi had showered him in a new light to the kunoichi. She felt great admiration for the shinobi as she realised how painful and lonely his existence must have been. Yet he had endured it and persevered never giving up hope and always attempting to cheer others up. She couldn't help but feel that she didn't know the real Naruto. Had it all been a façade? What was behind the mask? She finally realised that she wanted to find out and help him in any way possible before drifting to a peaceful slumber.
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Jiraiya was currently at Konoha's bathhouse mounted in a tree peaking and admiring the voluptuous curves of the women currently bathing whilst hidden under the shadows. He had a small amount of drool emanating from the corners of his mouth whilst he gave small giggles every now and again. Due to his intense concentration pertaining to his 'research' he failed to recognise the presence of a blonde woman looking at him indifferently from the ground below.
"How did I know that I would find your perverted ass here?" The rhetorical question caught the frog hermit's attention as he looked towards the person interrupting his peaking session.
He felt fear rush through the core of his being as he realised that the Godaime was standing a few feet from the base of the tree he was currently occupying. He had received a few beatings from the large busted woman for his perverted sessions of peaking at the bath houses. He knew that Tsunade greatly despised perverts and wouldn't hesitate to once again beat him into oblivion since he had been caught red handed.
He began to wave his hands in front of him, "Ah…Tsunade I can explain. You see…" The pervert was interrupted from his droning.
"I don't care…we need to talk." Tsunade looked directly into the eyes of her ex-team mate not blinking.
Saying Jiraiya was shocked would be an understatement as he couldn't understand why he wasn't feeling the woman's wrath. He then noticed the distinct look of sadness etched deep within her eyes. "Okay."
He jumped towards the blonde's side before the two of them began to walk away from the bathhouse. Jiraiya decided to break the silence, "I'm guessing he has told you."
Tsunade released a sigh, "How long has it been since you knew?"
Jiraiya had a serious expression, "The day of the celebration." He turned to see that the Tsunade was currently staring at the ground.
"Do you know where he is?" The blonde woman was eager and curious as to the genins whereabouts.
"He's probably at his training ground. I was going to go there myself later on but guess I'll take you there now."
Tsunade gave the white haired pervert a nod before they headed towards Naruto's position.
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Naruto was currently sitting under the shade of a large tree with numerous scrolls littered around his position. It had been a week since he implemented the gravity training and today was his day for relaxation. The seal was currently inactive and he found himself appreciating the rest his muscles were having.
The seal had helped tremendously as Naruto found himself faster and more agile than he had ever felt before. He was more than twice his original speed. He also realised that his muscles had become a lot more defined and he felt a lot stronger physically. The seal had done an excellent job however it had been a hellish week as his Tajuu Kage Bunshin training was also affected by the seal. He still couldn't run at his maximum speed with the seal activated. This caused conundrums for the clones that were doing the chakra control training as they couldn't get a running start to climb the waterfall.
However on the whole his training had gone really well. The clones even with the added handicap of the gravity seal had still managed to reach halfway up the waterfall. Naruto knew that it would only be a matter of time before he'd be capable of travelling the full length of the waterfall. However due to the seal some of the clones would be dispelled as they lost their footing and fell into the plunge pool below with resonating impacts.
The second group had completed their objective successfully as Naruto was now able to mentally communicate with the Kyuubi whilst remaining aware of what was happening around him. The Kyuubi himself wasn't too happy with being annoyed by the blonde hence Naruto hadn't tried to talk with the demon since the first test try.
He had refined his skills with the Kaze No Yaiba technique and knew the basics well however he would need to get someone to teach him if he wanted to understand fully how to fight with his weapons of wind and increase his current skill level in kenjutsu. He had improved the jutsu so that he was now able to wield two blades at once. He received the idea by seeing the twin swords at the weapons store. He had named the new technique Souansha Heijin.
His clones had also managed to create 47 attack formations. Naruto had looked through the list and chose 5 that he knew would be the most successful and decided to use them in future battles. Additionally he had finally mastered his elemental affinity. He fully understood how to implement the positives of the element and how to avoid wasting chakra. This had also helped him with his Yasha Kachuu technique as he could execute it better now than before. Being caught by this overwhelming technique would definitely spell the end for his enemies.
Also he was now capable of performing all the D class and C class techniques he knew with one handed seals. The speed at which he performed the seals was now extremely fast due to the seal and his constant practice. Jiraiya wasn't joking when he said the seal affected every muscle in his body. He could carry out the seals within a second.
His genjutsu defense had increased solidly and he was now confident that he would be able to deflect all genjutsu except the high level ones. However due to the mental link he could create with the Kyuubi he realised that he could never get caught in a genjutsu since his demon inhabitant was immune to such techniques. The demon was more than capable of preventing Naruto from becoming trapped in one as long as the link was present however the question was whether the kitsune would. Although an inadvertent development Naruto was exceedingly happy.
The blonde had also mastered the Rasengan and was now capable of performing the Oodama Rasengan with one hand. This gave the blonde 2 devastating finishing manoeuvres. The exploding clone trials had also been completed with Naruto realising what he had to do to create exploding clones. He had to create imperfect clones that didn't have their inner coils as developed as much as they should be resulting in volatile chakra which would make them explode. The Bunshin Daibakuha was a technique that Naruto knew would be of great help to him due to his large chakra level and monstrous stamina.
He had accomplished most of the tasks he had set out to complete at the beginning of the week only having to improve his kenjutsu skills, chakra control and learning to execute the rest of his remaining techniques with one hand consequently he was currently trying to brainstorm fresh ideas. He was failing and he was scanning his brain as hard as possible to come up with new objectives.
He raised his head as he sensed two chakra levels heading towards his position. The rigidness of his body instantly relaxed as he recognised who they were. In the distance two people had landed and were now heading towards him.
A large smile spread across his face before he shouted, "ERO-SENNIN…TSUNADE-BAACHAN!"
Jiraiya instantly grimaced at being called his nickname and began to mumble under his breath about the deteriorating respect that the youth showed their elders. Tsunade simply smiled at seeing the blonde act his usual self. She had only seen the blonde once since he broke the news to her. At first she was highly depressed but she felt happier when she was in the jinchuuriki's presence as he always managed to cheer her up. They quickly arrived at the tree where Naruto was.
Tsunade walked up to the blonde and gave him a strike to his head, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Naruto began to whine while he smiled inwardly at seeing the older woman acting more like her customary self.
Jiraiya simply looked at Naruto still seemingly upset at being called a pervert by the young genin. He had made it clear to him that he was a super pervert on more than one occasion, "Gaki, what's with all the scrolls?" The perverted sannin looked at the various scrolls around the blonde boy which had writing scribbled all over them.
Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head giving a small laugh, "Heh, I'm trying to come up with some new things to practice but I can't." He gave a death glare to the scrolls upon finishing his sentence. Tsunade smiled at seeing his childish behaviour.
Jiraiya began to laugh at his student. His full blown laughter didn't die down and became even more maniacal in nature as the minutes passed by. Tsunade irritated by the frog hermit's behaviour quickly got up and punched him across his face launching him into a nearby tree.
Naruto was the one to begin laughing as he saw his mentor soar threw the air. Jiraiya quickly recovered and made his way back to the two blondes sitting under the shade of the tree. The perverted sannin gave a steely look to his ex-team mate but instantly cowered upon receiving one back. "Ahem…before I was rudely interrupted I was going to offer you some help."
Tsunade raised her eyebrow, "By laughing like a senile old woman?"
Jiraiya ignored her comment and pulled out five large scrolls from his pouch. Each of the scrolls was a different colour. They were coloured red, blue, brown, white and purple. Before Naruto could ask what they were Jiraiya began to speak, "Katon, Suiton, Doton, Futon and Raiton, the five elements. You have mastered your elemental affinity but it is good for a ninja to know a variety of skills as that will help increase his defensive and offensive power as well as developing his understanding of the elements. Over the next few weeks learn how to manipulate each of the separate elements and learn the techniques inscribed within the scrolls."
Jiraiya handed the scrolls to Naruto before the blonde gave him an appreciative smile. Tsunade didn't understand what was happening, "Wait, why are you giving him those scrolls? And why are you training so much Naruto?"
The blonde remained silent as a signal for his mentor to answer the Hokage's question. "Before his passing…he plans on defeating the Akatsuki."
Tsunade looked at the blonde who was eyeing the scrolls in his possession. "You don't have to do that. Live the rest of your days in peace."
Naruto looked at the older woman and gave her a warm smile, "I have to do this. It's my final promise. I won't break it."
Tsunade couldn't believe the words of the blonde. The younger boy's determination hadn't faded, if anything he had strengthened his resolve upon learning of his coming death. She couldn't help but smile at the younger boy and gave him a hug, "I believe in you. And we'll be right there to help you"
Jiraiya gave a touching smile and began to walk away to leave the training grounds but was stopped upon hearing his protégés words, "Where are you going, Ero-Sennin?"
Jiraiya laughed it off, "I'm going to investigate what Akatsuki is doing. I'm leaving Konoha for a while to meet up with my informant. I'll return in two weeks."
Naruto nodded before Jiraiya waved to them and left. The remaining two blondes began to talk. Naruto kept the Godaime entertained as he began to talk and felt overjoyed by the fact that the defeat of Akatsuki by his hands was becoming more plausible as time went by. Tsunade enjoyed the younger boys company as she knew that she wouldn't be experiencing such moments after some time. She decided to leave the paperwork that she had to complete and continued conversing with the boy whom she considered a brother as she felt it more important to spend time with him. However what she didn't know was that her personal assistant Shizune was currently running over various places around Konoha in a desperate attempt to find her in order to complete her duties. Before they realised the sun had begun to set and Naruto felt his stomach rumble viciously asking for food. The two walked into the city as Naruto went to his favourite Ramen stand and Tsunade made her way back to the Hokage tower.
Bunshin Daibakuha - Clone Great Explosion
Kaze No Yaiba - Wind Blade
Oodama Rasengan - Great Sphere Rasengan
Souansha Heijin - Twin Blades (Original)
Tajuu Kage Bunshin - Mass Shadow Replication
Yasha Kachuu - Demonic Maelstrom (Original)
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone