บท 220: Chapter Twenty: A Heart to Heart
"The key to wind Naruto is to imagine your chakra as a blade chopping through your target. It's called the cutting element for a damn reason after all." Onoki explained as he floated in front of the blond and held up a rock. With a pulse of chakra the rock split in half via a perfect slash of wind charged chakra. "You can already cut leaves and small stones so now I want you to work on boulders as large as you are. The final step is supposed to be different and requires a waterfall however because I don't know where one in Konoha may be and neither do I feel like asking, this is what you'll do instead. When we return to Iwa, I'll give you a scroll explaining the final exercise and you can use one of the training grounds with a waterfall to complete it." The Kage told him before flipping through a few hand-signs and slamming dropping to the ground to slam is palm against the dirt. There was a small shaking before five large pillars three feet thick in diameter as tall as Naruto was sprouted from the ground. "If you managed to cut down all five of these vertically in a single burst each in time for the Finals then I will teach you the only S-ranked wind jutsu I know."
"You rock oji-sama!" Naruto cheered before stepping up to one of the pillars and placing a hand against it before getting to work on sharpening his chakra for his elemental affinity. The two were off in one corner of the large backyard training grounds of the Namikaze estate they had moved into yesterday for the duration of their time in Konoha. Looking around Onoki could see Kurotsuchi talking with Hikari about something while farther off Kurai had his scythe out and was sparring with Akatsuchi while Deidara flew above and occasionally dropped down a small bomb to attack.
The Iwa group had moved to the mansion and land owned by Naruto's father yesterday after the blond and Tsuchikage had spoken to the Hokage and retrieved the boys inheritance. After a small search of the house and grounds the group had converged on the study Onoki had found with a sealed off bookcase only Naruto could reach. Due to this fact the blond had pulled off every book and scroll one by one and handed it to the Kage for him to see. Regretfully it appeared that most of the items were embedded with seals that made them indecipherable to the group, again save for Naruto. The lengths that Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina had gone to ensure their secrets remained secret was irritating but understandable. As only Naruto could read the actual important items, Onoki decided to hold off on having him learn any of the techniques or secrets that could've been found in them for after their return home. They had also discovered the files for access to his parents bank accounts and had decided to empty them the day before the finals since they didn't need the money currently.
Naruto hadn't left everything alone though as he had found that two of the books from the shelf were journals written by his parents over the course of their lives. The first entry in his fathers was from after he made genin and he wrote that apparently it had been his sensei Jiraiya that had convinced him to write it, claiming that since he wanted to be Hokage he should leave behind something for the future generations to read to learn who he was beyond the title. Minato had taken to writing it afterwards at least once a week and especially after any mission the man had deemed important. A quick skim through had shown him the last entry was around a week before the tragedy of his birth so Naruto knew he had most of his father's life in his hands and was happy to be able to learn more about him. His mothers was similar in that it started in her genin days and went to a little less than a week before her death. The reason she had started it was apparently because Minato told her what Jiraiya had said and since she had also wanted the Hokage position she started her own as well, though even after giving up on the goal as she fell for Minato and it became obvious he would claim the rank she still kept adding to it as it had become a habit and comforting distraction for her.
It was through his parents journals he had learned that his godfather was the very Sannin his mother had apparently warned him not to be like in Jiraiya. This shocked Naruto and he had begun to wonder just how the man may have been affected since the Hokage's decision to send him away and his subsequent vanishing to Iwa. Very little had been heard about the man since his father's death outside of a few notices of him coming back to Konoha every couple of months making Onoki and Naruto wonder what he was up too. His godmother was also listed as being his mothers' best friend in life Uchiha Mikoto. While the blond also wondered how she had felt at his exile, he knew in her case he could never find out since she had to have died in the Uchiha massacre since the only living Uchiha left were the weakling in the Exams with him and their own killer Itachi.
Grunting in effort as he carved into the pillar with his elemental chakra, Naruto's thoughts went around to the staying arrangements in the mansion. Naruto was allowed to take the master bedroom as it was his home and Hikari refused to sleep in a different room so she was staying with him as well. Kurai and Akatsuchi were taking one guest room while Onoki and Kurotsuchi took he last one. The only room left was the room that had been prepped with the never used baby supplies for Naruto years ago and Deidara couldn't sleep there, not that it stopped Naruto from joking that he should, so the older blond was sleeping on the couch in the main room, but he didn't mind that too much. Before Hikari had been able to even try to get into Naruto's pants though, Kurotsuchi told the two flat out that they were going to be doing heavy training all month so they were forbidden from having sex since she argued it would wear them out before they could even get to the training. Naruto had accepted it reluctantly but Hikari was downright livid at the order and actually tried attacking the woman for blocking her from what she viewed as her right as the boy's girlfriend. The younger kunoichi had been put down fairly easily by the more experienced sensei before Onoki backed up her order and making Hikari comply, under noted extreme reluctance though.
The blond sighed as he let the chakra flow stop and pulled his hands back to see how far he had managed to get in the one large burst of his chakra. Seeing a hand length cut only four inches deep made him scowl as Onoki looked at it before grunting and floating off to see how the other two genin were doing since it was clear Naruto would be at this for a while. The whiskered jinchuriki rubbed his palms together as he took a deep breath and focused before slamming his palms against the pillar again and channeling his chakra. He was going to earn that jutsu if it was the last thing he did.
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"How's it going sensei?" Sarutobi sighed but still managed to give his student a small smile as the man slipped into the room from his open window behind him. Said legendary ninja walked around his desk and stood in front of the Kage with his arms crossed and an easy smile on his face. Standing before him was a man with long spiky white hair, the extra held behind his back in a ponytail that went down to his lower back and rested slightly against the large scroll he carried there. Going down his face from his eyes were red lines while across his forehead was a horned headband with the kanji for 'oil' on it rather than the traditional Konoha symbol. He wore a red sleeveless haori over an olive green kimono top and pants while his feet were slipped comfortably into wooden geta sandals.
"Not very good Jiraiya." The Kage admitted before setting his pen down and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I will tell you in a moment but first please, let me know what you need to tell me so that you won't forget after I tell my news to you." Jiraiya raised a brow at that but nodded his head while taking a seat in the chair next to the Hokage's desk and started his report.
"Orochimaru is mobilizing for something. Whatever it is, it has major connections to that new village of Otogakure while I think Suna may even be involved since my spies have told me he's entered and exited the village on a couple occasions in the past few months. He also made a trip to Iwa but I don't have any spies there so all I could confirm was that he went in and left about an hour and a half later. If you recall I also told you he joined a group called Akatsuki for a while but then fled after an altercation with a member. Well now I know what Akatsuki are. They masquerade as a simple mercenary group comprised of powerful village less ninja but the truth is much deeper than that. Akatsuki in reality are all S-rank missing ninja with the secret goal to gather the nine biju for something. I don't know what yet but I'll let you know when I do since nothing good could ever come from gathering the nine demons." Jiraiya explained as Sarutobi took the information in with a nod. His last completely loyal student had been keeping tabs on things outside of the village for him, mostly on his traitorous student of Orochimaru, though other threats or oddities were noted as proven by him investigating Akatsuki.
"Thank you Jiraiya. Now I'm positive you wish to know what it is I have to tell you."
"Kind of. If it's big enough you think I'd ignore warning you of what I just did then it has to be pretty major." The man admitted as Hiruzen nodded.
"I have one piece of good news. However it is followed by so much bad that the good is a curse in disguise." He started making Jiraiya narrow his eyes. "I have found Naruto and he is in fact within the village this very moment." He stated as Jiraiya jumped to his feet.
"Really? Where the hell did you find him sensei? All my spy network has been able to get is rumors of a couple different spiky haired blonds all over the Elemental Nations! You know I stopped checking those after the eighteenth dead end." The man shouted as Sarutobi sighed again. When Jiraiya had first learned about what happened to his godson he had vowed to go to the village he was sent to and take him away and raise the boy himself outside of Konoha. However when he learned that they never got him and instead the boy was missing Jiraiya had devoted half his spy network to finding him. The thing was there were many blond haired and blue eyed children in the world, even adding in facial markings didn't lower the number down enough to viably locate Naruto. They couldn't use his name since they didn't know if whoever had him was using it so it wasn't really pragmatic to add it to the list of details to search him out with. Jiraiya had tracked down rumor after rumor for the first few years but hadn't found anything. The man had resented his sensei for the decision and it took the Hokage seven years to repair their relationship but eventually the Sannin had forgiven him.
"That's the problem Jiraiya and when you hear it, you'll see why finding Naruto is not good news at all." He warned as the white haired man scowled and wondered why finding his godson could be anything but good. "Around a little less than a month ago, Kakashi and his genin team encountered a team from Iwa on their mission to Nami no Kuni. The mission ended on a technically successful note but the team from Iwa swooped in the second they left to turn it into failure. After they did Kakashi confronted them and was given a warning; beware the snake and the prodigal son will return for what's his. Obviously the snake was a reference to Orochimaru, a reference you yourself just confirmed unknowingly. However 'prodigal son' was quite vague as many in Konoha could be argued to hold that title depending on your reasoning, you yourself could even due to being the last truly loyal member of the greatest three man team Konoha has ever produced." Jiraiya nodded his head in understanding as he knew that was true. It could've also been a shot at Uchiha Itachi for all they knew so he could see how Sarutobi wouldn't instantly know it was Naruto. "I then received a message from the Tsuchikage that he would be sending a single team to the Chunin Exams, of which we are currently in the thirty day period between the second phase and the finals."
"You don't mean to tell me he's been in Iwa do you sensei? That's impossible! They'd kill him on sight the second they saw him and knew who his parents were." Jiraiya cut in so Sarutobi shook his head.
"There were preliminary rounds due to far too many genin passing the second test so I've laid eyes on the Iwa team myself. One is a very highly skilled genin of little apparent importance, another is the heiress to the Hanamaru clan, however the third is named Namikaze Naruto. He also looks just like Minato did and before you suggest they're faking it let me ask you how Iwa would know to fake the facial markings the baby had?" Sarutobi asked as he opened up a drawer in his desk to pull out the file they had composed on the blond and handed it to Jiraiya. "His information checks out as the correct age and birth date, his looks obviously check out and he's extremely skilled. He defeated a taijutsu focused genin capable of opening the Gates using nothing but his own taijutsu in turn, limiting himself purposely because he craved a challenge. All three of Iwa's genin passed to the finals so I knew Onoki would be coming and sought to speak with the boy to confirm if it was him or not but they used political loopholes to avoid my attempt. Onoki arrived yesterday and instantly came to meet with me, bringing Naruto into the meeting."
"And?" Jiraiya asked as he set the folder down with a scowl, knowing there had to be more to the story his sensei was telling.
"And after getting a close look at the boy and talking with him I can confirm it's him. He knows of Kyuubi and from what I gathered appears to be on good terms with the demon. When I tried to play up his parents to convince the boy to defect Naruto shot me down, claiming Kyuubi told him all about them and then even shared some of what he was told so I know he wasn't lying nor was he lied too. Naruto also claimed Iwa gave him nothing but facts about Konoha and that it was the letter I wrote to explain who he was to the civilians I was sending him too that gave him his feelings of the village."
"You told me what was in that letter and depending on how you worded it that could be good or bad sensei." The Sannin stated as Hiruzen nodded his head with a look of regret on his face.
"He took it as an order of banishment. His exact wording to me was that I exiled him and then tried to hide his rightful heritage from him." Sarutobi admitted as Jiraiya sat back down.
"There was no way to get him to come back willingly was there?"
"One. He made one offer but the terms were too steep to accept." Jiraiya raised a brow as the Kage rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He only had three requests, two simple and one impossible. The simple requests were to claim his inheritance and have his heritage revealed to the village while he entered our forces as a jonin. The impossible one was for myself and everyone who called for his death that day were to be gathered together for him to kill by his own hand."
"That's most of the older generation of this village sensei… no wonder you couldn't take it." The man mused as his teacher nodded. If it had just been Hiruzen himself who had to pay for his crime against the boy Jiraiya knew the man would've taken it and only held off to name a successor first before submitting to Naruto's judgment. However, bringing in a good portion of the village wouldn't let him agree.
"He even offered to convince his Hanamaru teammate to abandon Iwa with him and Onoki mockingly added an alliance treaty to the deal but still I could not accept. Since I could not agree to his terms to make him join Konoha he instead demanded his inheritance and I was forced to hand it over. He and the rest of the Iwa ninja in Konoha currently; three jonin, three genin and the Tsuchikage, are all staying at Minato's mansion now." The man added as Jiraiya shook his head.
"I've gotta speak to him. Maybe I can convince him to abandon Iwa."
"I hope you do, otherwise I'll be forced to enact the only other option Konoha has left at this point."
"Which is?" Jiraiya asked with a scowl, knowing that killing the boy wasn't that option.
"After the Exams are over I plan on stepping down, regardless of whether Naruto is with us or not. I plan on going over the candidates and naming the Godaime before I retire once more." Sarutobi started making Jiraiya sigh but nod, understanding the man was getting on in his years. "If Naruto is not with us though then I will be leading a team of our very best to assassinate the Tsuchikage and his entourage on their way back to Iwa and kidnap Naruto where he will be forced to impregnate a child and then Kyuubi shall be ripped from him and placed in the newborn, with all of Minato's and Kushina's wealth and belongings going to that child. Naruto… Naruto will die when the demon is extracted and I'm sorry but it is the only way to keep Konoha safe." He finished quietly as Jiraiya stared at him in shock before narrowing his eyes.
"I won't let it come to that sensei. I'll get the boy back myself."
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"Excellent work Neji, Tenten. Your flames of youth will surely shine brightly for the Exam Finals!" Gai praised his two students as Lee wasn't there, doing laps around the village for his 'warm-up' while the sensei decided to focus on his other two students for the time it took. The two had just finished a few drills and were waiting for their next instructions. "Now Neji, your first opponent is the only genin from Oto and we saw he uses sound to attack the inner ear and sense of balance. My advice is to simply use some reinforced ear plugs and then rush him with your Jyuuken to disable his chakra before he can figure out a way around the plugs." Neji nodded as that was already what he had been planning to do and was more interested in his next match.
"I know Gai-sensei. It was simply fate the boy was matched with me. Such a weak offense will not be able to stand up to the might of the Byakugan." He boasted while Gai inwardly frowned at the teen's superiority complex. Nothing he had been doing was working to break it since he had yet to meet a match in his age group. With nothing else to say on the matter he turned to his kunoichi protégé with his advice for her.
"Tenten, you opponent uses the secret art of puppetry that Suna has mastered and treasures! My advice for your battle is to keep an eye on the puppet but get close to the puppeteer. That is the main weakness to puppeteers that I've yet to encounter an exception to, they are so focused on their puppet skills and construction, they lack skills for close combat. Though not as skilled as Neji or Lee in the art, your own taijutsu skills are quite youthful and I have no doubt you can overcome those of the Suna genin." He told her as she nodded with a slight smile. She knew she wasn't as good as Lee or Neji at the art, one had a clan completely focused on it and the other literally had nothing else to work on. If she could beat either of them in a straight taijutsu spar then something was wrong. However that's why she started focusing on weapons, so that she could provide ranged support to her close combat focused teammates.
"Thanks sensei."
"A word of caution though Tenten." Gai added in a serious tone. "Most, if not all, puppeteers add poisons to their weaponry and those of their puppets. Not only that but you never know what a puppet is capable of. Some have had saws while others have had kunai launchers and I even encountered one puppeteer who had a puppet meant to physically smash their opponents through making his reinforced puppet mimic taijutsu. He was quite the youthful match as well." The man added as he thought back to the encounter for a moment before pulling himself back to the present. "My point is that a puppet is similar to your sealing scrolls in that they can carry anything. Expect the unexpected and make sure to dodge everything it can do because the slightest scratch may become fatal. While frowned upon killing is allowed and I hope the Suna genin will only use non-fatal poisons if he uses them at all but there is no guarantee and Suna is known for being more brutal than Konoha." He warned as the girl nodded with narrowed eyes as she thought over a way to try and counter the puppet if she couldn't avoid it.
"Got it sensei. Avoid the puppet and aim for the puppeteer. But don't ignore the puppet either because that's the true threat." The man nodded with a smile as his student summarized his advice for her before he thought over the second round possibilities.
"For the second round, should you win you will be facing Uchiha Sasuke guaranteed." The man mused, starting with Tenten this time since her possible opponent was for sure only one option. "While I can't say anything about his personal skills, I know Kakashi will be pushing him extremely hard to be able to fight whoever he must and come out on top. I'd expect nothing less from my eternal rival after all!" He cheered while his genin rolled their eyes at the man. "However I do have some experience dealing with a Sharingan and the first and most important piece of advice I have for you is to avoid eye-contact at all costs. The Sharingan is capable of launching extremely high level genjutsu through the smallest glance and while I have trained the both of you in breaking free from the art, the split second it occurs may be enough in a battle. Especially if you find yourself having trouble breaking free of his illusion should he cast one, it would only grant him more time to attack you or set up traps for you."
"Hai sensei." Both chorused, Neji paying attention as well since he knew there was a chance he could face the Uchiha if they both made it to the final round.
"Now for you Neji, you will face either the young kunoichi from Suna or the possible relation to the Yondaime. I-"
"That boy is not related to Yondaime-sama sensei. It's inconceivable that the man had an heir when he was never even married. Not only that but if an heir existed then he or she would undoubtedly be a Konoha shinobi and not allied with our village's greatest enemy." Neji cut in as he scowled before scoffing. "Whether he wins his match against the girl or not, fate will not allow a liar and failure to defeat a prodigy from a powerful clan such as myself. He will lose and I will move on." The teen stated with certainty so Gai shook his head.
"I'm sorry Neji but it is actually possible. Kakashi was the Yondaime's student and I spoke with him the night after the preliminaries. He told me and the other jonin sensei that were present for that event that Yondaime-sama did in fact marry in secret and had a child that was born the same night as the Kyuubi attack. However due to reasons I cannot tell you, the child was sent away from the village for its own protection. It is quite possible Iwa discovered the child and took him back to their village to train against Konoha for a demoralizing weapon against us." Gai corrected as the two stared at him with shocked eyes. They glanced at each other for a moment before Tenten turned back and nervously started speaking.
"Sensei, we encountered him and that kunoichi girlfriend of his at a ramen stand a few days ago and spoke with him." She admitted as Gai narrowed his eyes to focus on the girl. "Neji confronted him about his claim to the Namikaze name and brought up how we've all been taught that he didn't have any relations. That made him freeze up before muttering something about being exiled and covering up his existence. He even said something along the lines of taking back the thought of giving mercy to Hokage-sama. When we asked why he could've possibly been exiled the guy said it was because he was a jinchuriki and most of the village wanted him dead." Gai's eyes went wide at the term so Tenten narrowed her eyes in confusion. "You know what it is don't you? We left before getting an explanation because Neji didn't want to eat near them since the 'lies' he was claiming made him mad. What's a jinchuriki and why would people want to kill a Kage's son for being one?" She asked as Gai sighed and shook his head.
"I am sorry Tenten, a jinchuriki is a very special type of person but saying any more than that is forbidden by an S-rank decree by Hokage-sama. The only reason he likely wasn't taken in was because as he's from a foreign village he has some diplomatic immunity so long as he obeys the laws and that is not a law we advertise. He also didn't go into detail about it so I believe that any watchers that he possibly had allowed it since as you know, all foreign shinobi are monitored by Anbu agents while within the village." The man explained as Neji scowled.
"If you cannot tell me what a jinchuriki is then answer me this; is it bad enough people would want to kill the child of a Kage for being one?" He growled and Gai looked reluctant before nodding.
"In most cases, yes it is Neji. In fact in most cases its far worse than simply wishing for them to die, Kage relation or not." He admitted before shaking his head. "Do not misunderstand me, the hate is irrational and wrong, and I do not condone it in any way, shape, or form. I am merely saying that to the general populace the term jinchuriki is synonymous with evil even though the jinchuriki themselves have never done anything wrong to earn such hatred."
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"Alright Naruto, take a break now." Onoki ordered as the boy nodded and stepped away from the second pillar, breathing somewhat heavily. Even his jinchuriki levels of chakra were getting pushed after a few hours of constant high level use. He had managed to break the first one an hour ago after three of trying to cut it with his chakra. After a small shout of his excitement the boy had only paused long enough to take a breath before rushing over to the next pillar and trying to cut it in half. His progress was faster than the first as he was already halfway through however he still had a ways to go before he could cut the pillar in one strong pulse of his wind chakra.
"So… how am I doing oji-sama?" Naruto asked as the man grunted before staring off back at the house.
"Why not ask the man who's been watching for the past half hour? You can come out now!" The Tsuchikage ordered as Naruto scowled while getting himself ready to attack should he need to. There was a shimmer in the air as the man let the jutsu fade to show Jiraiya walking up with a scowl on his face as he stared at Onoki. The Sannin stopped a fair distance away from the pair while his appearance got the attention of everyone else on the field and they all rushed to their Kage to be ready. "Stand down everyone. If he was hostile we'd have been fighting him off already." The oldest there ordered while the jonin reluctantly did as Kurai kept his guard up and Hikari stood next to Naruto. "So Jiraiya of the Sannin. What are you doing on my genin's property?" He asked as the white haired man scoffed and crossed his arms.
"I wanted to see if sensei was telling the truth about my godson. I have a key to this place since I was Minato's teacher and closest confidant so getting in without activating the sensory seals was simple enough." He explained before looking to Naruto and sighing with a shake of his head. "Kid looks almost just like his dad, that's for sure."
"Not going to try and deny it? Or ask why I'm with Iwa?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya shook his head.
"The fact the key didn't try to kill you when I set this places' defense seals on lockdown means you have to have the same blood as Minato so that's your heritage confirmation right there. As for why you're with Iwa, I don't really have to guess on that since it's obvious you hold loyalty to them for raising you. What I'm more concerned with is how they got you in the first place." The man admitted as Onoki scoffed.
"Pure chance to be honest, but you don't need to hear that story Sannin. What do you want?" The man demanded as Jiraiya scowled at him before glancing at Naruto and sighing. Turning back to Onoki the man uncrossed his arms before doing something none of them expected.
He bowed.
"I humbly ask that you allow me some time to speak with my godson alone Tsuchikage-sama. You have my word I will not do anything to him. I merely want to get to know the child I should've been the one to raise." The man requested as Onoki raised a brow at the act. Jiraiya was well known for being a headstrong and somewhat prideful individual. That he would bow like this to someone for something, an enemy leader no less, showed he was actually sincere in his desire to get to know Naruto. Glancing at the boy Onoki could see that Naruto was actually staring at Jiraiya in some interest himself so the man sighed and lowered himself to the ground.
"Feh, you get fifteen minutes Jiraiya. Kurotsuchi will also be watching from a distance to see if you try anything against Naruto. Do so, and you will die." The man told him as Jiraiya straightened himself and nodded. "Now I'm going to get some lunch. The rest of you are free to do as you wish or join me." He commented before he walked off. Deidara scowled at Jiraiya before following his Kage as it was his duty to be his bodyguard while they were in Konoha, Akatsuchi following for the same reason. Kurai stared at Jiraiya for a second before dispelling his scythe and walking away to do his own training while Kurotsuchi vanished in a Shunshin and appeared next to the house where she took a seat while keeping her narrowed eyes on the Sannin. The man let out a breath and looked to his godson to see that Hikari was leaning against him and didn't seem like she wanted to move.
"I'd like to speak with him alone please." The man repeated as the girl frowned and was going to say something but Naruto spun her around and kissed her passionately, making her forget what she wanted to say and instead focus on the blond she loved. Jiraiya's eyes went wide at the display while Naruto pulled back and rested his forehead against the girls.
"I'll be fine Hikari-chan. Kaa-chan is watching and I'm sure Jiraiya doesn't want to be dusted off by Oji-sama's jutsu either. Just go. I've been wanting to talk to Jiraiya ever since I found out he was my godfather from my parents' journals." The boy admitted so the girl frowned but sighed and relented.
"Fine. I guess I'll go with Tsuchikage-sama and get something to eat." She muttered as he pecked her on the lips again.
"Think you could bring me back some ramen?" He asked as she giggled and poked him in the chest.
"Noodle addict." She teased as she pulled back and walked off.
"Nympho!" Naruto called back as she shrugged and looked at him over her shoulders.
"I don't hear you complaining." The boy just laughed and turned his attention back to Jiraiya who had at some point pulled out a notepad and was writing something down at high speed while giggling with a huge grin on his face.
"What're you doing?"
"Never mind that." Jiraiya waved off before putting the notepad away and walking up to Naruto to place a hand on the boys' shoulder while smiling proudly. "Before anything else, I've gotta say I'm already proud you have a woman in you life that seems to love you dearly. Some free advice is to never let her go and do what you can to keep her safe and happy." The blond shrugged his shoulders while looking up to the taller man.
"I already planned on the first and the latter is awesome sex. What kind of man would I be if I turned that down?" The blond quipped while Jiraiya let out a laugh and chuckled perversely at the ideas that ran through his head.
"Oh the missed opportunities…"
"What?"
"Nothing, it's not important." The man diverted before sitting down on the ground and motioning for Naruto to do the same. With a simple raised brow Naruto joined him on the ground while Jiraiya let out a deep breath as he looked up to the clear sky. "You know…" He started as he gathered his thoughts of what he wanted to say. "I wasn't in the village when you were born and the attack happened. Meaning I wasn't here to stop sensei from sending you away either. Everyday, I wish I could turn back time to change that but wishing won't do anything Naruto." The man admitted before looking down at the boy. "I should've raised you from the beginning and while I won't apologize for not being there that day since I was doing important work for the village your father asked of me, I will apologize for never finding you to live up to my godfather status and take care of you. As things stand, unless you defect from Iwa to your birth village here then this will likely be the only good encounter we'll ever have."
"I know…" Naruto muttered as he reached into his jacket and pulled out two small books bound in brown leather and looked them over. "These are the journals my parents wrote. You're mentioned quite a bit in both, more my dad's but still quite a bit in hers too. It was even you that got dad to start writing the thing and then he got mom to start hers through your advice himself. So in a way, thanks to you I'll know my parents from more than just the stories Kyuubi can tell me of them. I can read through their lives and learn what they thought and believed. For that, thank you." The boy said as Jiraiya smiled.
"Not my intention but it looks like that was for the best." He admitted before sighing. "Naruto, I know you're angry at sensei, he told me of your 'offer' to join the village and I've got to ask; is that really the only way you'll join Konoha?" He asked and the blond sighed but shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I don't like how he couldn't take command of his own people. Not only that but I learned that my very existence and that of my jinchuriki status was hidden from the public. When I revealed I'm the Yondaime's kid, everyone couldn't believe it and I was called a liar and told the man never had a kid. So not only could your sensei not take control of his village like a real Kage would, he then covered up his mistake so that nobody would know. That… that kind of weakness is something I don't want in a leader." Naruto admitted as he scowled. "It really made me mad when I found out and then actually talking to the man as he tried to act as if it was all a mistake and use my parents as leverage to make me come back pissed me off even more. In my mind, someone like that needs to face the judgment of someone he's wronged and pay for his mistakes."
"I understand what you're getting at and while I don't like or agree with it, you are right that sensei was wrong." Jiraiya commented as he ran a hand through his hair. "If it was just him you wanted to kill then he actually would've agreed. He would've name a Godaime and issued out what orders need to be given for your other demands and then would've bowed down and let you do what you wanted." The Sannin told him as Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "It was the addition of the everyone else that forced him to refuse."
"What do you mean?" The blond asked as Jiraiya sighed again.
"Naruto, the people calling for your death that day was most of the older generation of civilians and a small portion of the shinobi. Sensei is the Hokage, it's his duty to do what is best for the village and the village isn't the buildings or the monuments. The village is the people. A home can be rebuilt so long as the people survive to do it. To keep the people safe, he had to refuse you. Even though you have every right to be angry and hateful to sensei, he couldn't submit himself to your, as you called it, judgment because you wanted to bring in the village."
"Well they wanted me dead for something that wasn't my fault! Hell, they didn't even care I was a Kage's kid or not or anything of the sort. They just saw me as Kyuubi!"
"I know and you're right again in that they were wrong. But does that mean they should die?" Jiraiya asked in response to Naruto's shouts. The boy was about to answer but Jiraiya held up a hand to stop him. "Let me ask you this. I hate Iwa with a passion for what they've done against Konoha. Now I'm not saying we're really any better, but the fact remains I hate the village for what they did. Does that mean I'm right in saying I should be able to dish out my own 'judgment' against them and kill everyone in the village? Whether I've ever actually had a negative encounter with them or not, should I be allowed to kill them because I hate them? Should they be allowed to kill me just because I hate them in return?" Jiraiya asked as Naruto paused to think for a second as the man clasped his hand on the younger males' shoulder again. "The answer is no Naruto. It's wrong and there is no justification for it. You're hate is only spreading more hate. It's only by looking past the hate that people can understand one another and get along."
The boy couldn't help but nod to the wise words his godfather was giving him. Technically he had already seen this in action somewhat with Hikari. Her entire clan hates him for his heritage. He had never personally done something to earn their ire but they still hated him for something out of his control and passed that hate down to their younger generation. Hikari though chose to look past it and get to know Naruto and now the two were in love with one another. But had she followed the blind hatred of her family, then they likely would've never bothered speaking or getting to know each other.
"So I guess you want me to forgive the village, right?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya nodded.
"I would. I want you to join Konoha for sure, but even if you don't I'd like for you to at least forgive them. Besides, not everyone in the village was against you that day or now even. An entire generation of the village wasn't even alive back then, is it fair to hate them for the mistakes of their parents?" Naruto shook his head as he thought over Jiraiya's words and sighed.
"But I don't want to leave the people I care about in Iwa. And I know they won't abandon the village they love either. Hikari-chan probably wouldn't care since she has major issues with her clan and just wants to stick with me but the rest would never leave and I would never leave them." Naruto told him as Jiraiya nodded. "As I said to the Hokage, I've got nothing against this village itself, just some of the people in it. But I love Iwa and its people. I mean, I grew up there, it's my home more than this village can be just because of that. This may be the village of my birth and the one my parents died to keep safe but I don't know anything about it but the barest facts. I don't feel any connection to it so why should I abandon my home for it?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya stayed silent, not having an answer. Naruto though wasn't going to take silence. He wanted the man to actually say something, mostly to give him something to argue against as he wasn't like how much sense Jiraiya was making. It was making him uncomfortable with how the man knew exactly what to say to erase his reasons against Konoha.
"I don't have an answer for that Naruto because your right. You don't have any connection to Konoha outside of your late parents. Their wishes for you though are not the laws you have to live by. They died so they couldn't raise you to mold you into the child they hoped for. Their journals that you have will tell you what they valued and what they hoped for and through those you can become what they wanted, but that still doesn't give you a connection to Konoha that would make you want to defect to it." The man admitted before letting out a sigh. "But you want to know something about Konoha? Then how about I tell you something every Konoha shinobi believes in. It's the belief that drives our village forward and through our hardships and struggles to remain strong and united."
"What is it?"
"The Will of Fire." Jiraiya told him as Naruto listened. "That's what the Shodai dubbed the belief and it's what guided Konoha since then. To us, our comrades are everything. It's by working together through our differences and helping one another that we can over come everything that stands in our way. Not only that but it creates the bonds that we'll come to cherish and fight to protect. By fighting with something you want to keep safe, you can draw on power unimaginable as you're not just fighting for you then. Your fighting for them as well. And their beliefs and cherished ones. The Will of Fire burns in the heart of everyone in Konoha and that's what makes us strong."
Naruto was silent as he thought it over. It was different from the Stone Will that drove Iwa. That said that people were like the rocks of the earth, hardy and strong. However we are also numerous and replaceable which is why we must do our best to shine and show the gem within to stand out. Iwa was a gathering of those gems as they shined together to do what was needed for survival. But if one gem should crack and break or go missing then another could take their place and keep the village shining.
It was extremely different actually.
On one hand you had united but replaceable while on the other was untied and irreplaceable.
It was this 'replaceable' mindset that drove Iwa shinobi to always fight until the end since they believed another 'gem' would step up to shine in their place. However to Konoha they fought together so that not even the smallest flame would go out but instead that all would fuel the one fire of the village.
"What should I do then?" Naruto asked as Jiraiya ruffled his hair lightly.
"That's up to you. It would make me and many others happy if you decided to stay in Konoha but that's your choice. I'm sure many others would be happy if you stayed in Iwa. As for you parents, while I know they would wish for you to be a part of their home, they would want you to pick the one that makes you happy. I knew both of them well enough to say that for certain. I'm pretty sure you'll reach the same conclusion after reading their lives too." The man explained before seeing the Tsuchikage coming out of the house as his fifteen minutes was up. With a sigh the man stood as Naruto got up next to him. "I just want you to promise me that no matter what you'll keep today in your head alright Naruto? Iwa or Konoha, just never forget it alright?"
"I won't Jiraiya." The boy promised as the Kage walked over to him and looked to Jiraiya.
"Thanks for letting me talk to my godson Tsuchikage-sama but I've gotta be going. Stuff to do and all. Make Naruto strong alright?" He quipped before leaving as Naruto watched him go with a small smile and Onoki turned to him with a raised brow.
"So, what did he want?"
"Just some advice and stuff to think about Oji-sama. Don't worry about it." The Kage grunted but let it drop, thinking it wasn't truly important and that he could find out later if it was. Naruto meanwhile just went back over to the pillars he had been using for training to get back to work, his godfather's words echoing in his mind.
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