Chương 372: Can Jedi Wear Orange? by dextron11 (NarutoxStar Wars)
Latest Update:March 21, 2023
Summary: At the start of their trip, a mysterious power pulls Naruto and Jiraiya into the distant future. With no way back home, and no idea what's going on, what will they do? Join the Jedi, naturally. But there are other, more sinister forces after them as well. With the Force to wield and a new group of friends, can Naruto change the future of a galaxy threatened by darkness?
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13884259/1/Can-Jedi-Wear-Orange
Word count:331k
Chapters:39
Chapter 1
"Alright brat, you got everything I told you to pack?" Jiraiya asked, looking down at the blond haired young shinobi standing next to him.
"Yes ero-sennin, now can we go already? I know how to pack for a trip," the boy replied, impatience all but dripping from his voice.
The Sannin's eye twitched at his student's careless attitude, but he carried on regardless. Naruto wouldn't get out of a gear check that easily.
"Spare clothes?"
"Yes."
"Kunai and shuriken?"
"Yes, I-"
"Passport?"
"Ugh, yes!"
"Secret ramen stash?"
"Yes! Now can we- wait, what?" As the last question actually finished processing through Naruto's mind he flinched, and a guilty look stole across his face.
"Aha! So you did pack ramen. Even though I said not to?" A knowing smirk adorned Jiraiya's face as he looked at his embarrassed student. He did so love it when kids thought they could get one by him.
"Uhh…no?" Naruto winced at his words. Even by his own standards, that was a transparent lie.
"Whatever kid. I'm not the one who has to lug the extra weight around. Make no mistake though, you will be eating healthy on this trip. I can't have a shrimp for an apprentice after all," Jiraiya said with a teasing grin.
Naruto, choosing the path of maturity and grace, blew a raspberry and flipped the bird at his mentor, before turning and marching off down the road. He wanted to leave, and quickly. It was hard enough, knowing he wouldn't see his home or any of his friends for three years. Lingering at the village gates wasn't helping his resolve. Every second he delayed was another second he wasn't training, and another reminder of what he was leaving behind.
Watching Naruto walk away, Jiraiya took note of the set of his shoulders and his stiff posture. The young shinobi practically radiated determination and stubbornness. That was good. The boy had been through a lot in the last few months. Enough to break most men twice his age. Fighting Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, the Oto-Suna invasion, Sarutobi's death, his teammate's defection and his injuries sustained at the Valley of the End.
'And now I'm taking him from his friends for three years,' Jiraiya thought. 'Even with all that he still stands straight. Damn if this kid isn't the most determined 12 year old I've ever seen. If he can survive what's coming for him, then he just might make Hokage one day.'
With those thoughts in mind, Jiraiya quickly caught up to his student. As he drew level with Naruto he briefly squeezed his shoulder. Naruto looked up, meeting his gaze. Upon seeing his mentor's look of approval he broke into one of his signature grins.
Turning back to face his village he shouted, "Just you wait guys! When I get back, I'll be the most awesome ninja of all time. I'm gonna kick the teme's butt and become Hokage. You'll see! Nothing's gonna stop me!"
OoOoO
"Alright brat, we're here," Jiraiya said, mentally counting down for the inevitable response from his pupil.
"Finally! We've been walking forever. When are you gonna start training me!? And where is here anyways?" Naruto responded as he waved his arms angrily. He had been expecting Jiraiya to teach him all sorts of cool and powerful jutsu. After all, the whole point of this trip was to turn him into a badass. How else was he supposed to kick the crap out of Sasuke?
"Geez brat, it's been two days. That's hardly 'forever', as you put it. And this is a favorite old campsite of mine. As for training, that starts in a bit. Before that though, let's set up camp. We need to talk."
Jiraiya gained a slightly grim look in his eyes as he spoke. Naruto, distracted as he was by the promise of imminent training, missed it. He immediately sprang into the small clearing with a loud cheer. As he set up their camp, Jiraiya could hear him muttering about the various jutsus he would soon learn. The older man chuckled at the boy's antics, before frowning again.
'I just hope that this news doesn't kill that spirit of his. This world needs people like him,' Jiraiya thought. 'Still, whatever the outcome, this has been kept from him for far too long. I owe him the truth, at the very least.'
Sighing at his own thoughts, the Sannin started forward and joined his student in pitching the camp. The task, one he had completed thousands of times before, helped take his mind off of what he knew was going to be a very difficult conversation.
Soon enough, though, the camp was set up; and the two of them sat facing each other over a small fire. Naruto was practically bouncing with anticipation. He couldn't wait to get this talk out of the way so they could start training.
One look at Jiraiya quelled his enthusiasm somewhat. The older man looked uncomfortable. He kept shifting his weight back and forth, and he was absentmindedly shredding a tuft of grass between his hands. If Naruto didn't know better, he would say Jiraiya looked nervous. But that was impossible. For all his goofy antics, Jiraiya was the strongest and most awesome ninja he knew. He couldn't get nervous over a simple conversation...could he?
Before he could give voice to these doubts, his teacher cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter.
"Alright Naruto. Before I start, you should know that what I'm about to tell you is going to be…hard for you to hear. You're going to feel hurt, angry, and confused; and that's okay. Just know that the old man and I did the best we could with a bad situation." Jiraiya's tone was serious and heavy as he spoke. He stared at the fire, not meeting Naruto's confused gaze.
"Y-yeah okay ero-sennin," Naruto said. "What's all this about? You're making me nervous here."
"It's about your parents, Naruto." Naruto inhaled sharply and froze, his eyes wide. A thousand thoughts seemed to pass through his mind in an instant, but only one rose to the top.
"You know who my parents are?" Naruto asked softly, his voice tight with a mix of hope and pain. Pain born from too much bad news, and too many dashed hopes over the years.
"Yes I do. Hiruzen ordered Kakashi and I-"
"Wait, Kakashi knows too?" Naruto shouted, a look of betrayal flashing across his face as he leapt to his feet.
"Yes, he does. Now don't look like that, the Sandaime ordered him not to tell you. Kakashi fought that decision every step of the way, but in the end he is still a Jonin of Konoha, and he couldn't disobey a direct order from the Hokage. He requested you for his team as his way of trying to make it up to you."
Somewhat mollified at this, Naruto sat back down. After a moment's thought, he sighed and nodded. Jiraiya took this as a sign to continue and resumed speaking.
"I'll start with your mother. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She was a jonin of Konoha, and one of the most amazing women I have ever met."
"What was she like?" Naruto asked, desperate for any knowledge of his family.
"She was a lot like you, Naruto. Brash, loud, impulsive. She hated bullies, and gained quite a reputation for her temper. But she was also incredibly kind. She loved her friends, and they loved her. She would have been a pretty awesome mom." As he spoke, Jiraiya's voice grew wistful. He had tried not to think of these memories too often over the years, and it was still painful bringing them to the fore of his mind.
In a very small voice, Naruto asked the one question that had tormented him for as long as he could remember. "Did…did she love me?"
Raising his face to meet his student's eyes, Jiraiya said, "Yes she did. Your mom and dad were both incredibly excited to become parents. They loved you from the moment they found out Kushina was pregnant, and they sacrificed their lives to save yours. No matter what you may think of them when I'm done talking, never, ever, doubt that they loved you and wanted to raise you."
Naruto nodded and sniffled. His normally bright eyes were filled with unshed tears, but his mouth twitched into a small, but genuine smile. He took a shaky breath before nodding to himself. Looking back up at Jiraiya, he asked, "What about my dad? Who was he?"
"Your dad…your dad is where things get complicated. He is ultimately the reason that you weren't told any of this as a kid."
"What? What did he do? Why's he so complicated?"
"Your dad…well there's no easy way to put this, so here it is. Your dad was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, and my old pupil."
Naruto's mouth opened and closed repeatedly but no sounds came out. Disbelief waged war with shock and joy across his features. Shock won, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head as his brain finally accepted that, yes, he had in fact heard that right.
"He…I…but I…WHAT! Just WHAT!" Naruto shouted as he, once again, leapt to his feet, his arms waving about him wildly. "My dad is the fucking Yondaime! The guy I idolized! The guy who-"
Naruto suddenly froze, his burst of exuberance fading away. One fist clenched, while the other gripped his jacket, directly over his stomach.
"Why?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. "Why me. Why use his own son for…for that? I thought you said he loved me. So why would he do that to me? WHY!?"
"Listen to me Naruto," Jiraiya said, his firm voice cutting through Naruto's distress. "Your father did love you. He just didn't have a choice when it came to the sealing."
Naruto dropped his arms and sat down again. The tension in his body was visible, but he forced himself to be still, and motioned for Jiraiya to continue.
"The first thing you should know is that your mother was the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi before you. It was sealed into her when she was just a girl, when its first host, Mito Uzumaki, was dying."
"Wait," Naruto said. "Every jinchuriki for the fox has been an Uzumaki. Why? What makes us so special?"
"The Kyuubi isn't like the other bijuu," Jiraiya replied. "It's far more powerful. Too powerful for an ordinary human to contain, no matter the seal. Uzumakis and Senjus have extraordinarily powerful life forces. Only they can contain an entity that powerful without exploding."
Naruto felt a small flare of chakra from the seal, accompanied by a low growl echoing in his mind. He shook his head and ignored it. If the fox didn't like hearing about this, tough. Naruto needed to know this stuff.
"When I arrived after the Kyuubi's attack," Jiraiya continued, "I conducted an investigation into how it had escaped your mother. The seal on a female jinchuriki weakens when they are giving birth, but your father had prepared for that. It turned out that an unknown shinobi somehow broke into the chamber where they were hidden, and managed to release the Kyuubi from Kushina, dooming her."
"What do you mean 'dooming her'?" Naruto asked.
"When a bijuu is extracted from a host, the host dies," Jiraiya replied, his voice grim. "Her powerful life force and determination let her cling on for a little while, but as soon as the fox was ripped from her, her fate was sealed."
Naruto looked pale and sick at that revelation. Jiraiya couldn't blame him. He had just learned that his mother had been murdered just to get to the beast now sealed in his own belly.
"Wh-what happened after that?" Naruto asked.
"Pretty much what you learned in the academy," Jiraiya answered. "The fox ran rampant, destroying everything it could reach. We think your father was busy dealing with whoever attacked your mother and released the Kyuubi. Eventually the Sandaime pushed it out of the village, and your father showed up to seal it. He and your mother pinned it down, and then they sacrificed their lives sealing it into you."
"So I was just…convenient. He sealed it into me because he needed someone who could hold its power. That's it?" Naruto asked, his voice bitter.
"Not quite," said Jiraiya. "Your father lived just long enough to tell the Sandaime his last words. Hiruzen then told them to me, and now I'm telling them to you. He said, 'Tell Naruto that I gave him this burden because I believe in him. After all, it's a father's job to believe in his son. I know he will grow up to be a hero.' That was his final message for you, word for word."
This last revelation proved to be too much for Naruto's already flimsy emotional control. The tears that had been threatening to fall for the last few minutes finally began to flow freely down his face. As Naruto's shoulder shook with quiet sobs, Jiraiya walked around the fire to sit next to his student.
Sensing the proximity of his teacher, Naruto buried his face in the older man's shoulder. He desperately needed something, anything to cling onto as he weathered the storm of emotions these revelations had brought him.
Neither said anything for several minutes. Jiraiya merely sat there, offering silent comfort to the distraught boy crying into his shoulder. He had enough experience in life to know that Naruto didn't need words right now. That could come later. Right now, Naruto just needed to express his pain until he found that he could handle it.
It was perhaps ten minutes later that Naruto's sobs began to lapse into more muted hiccups. Not too long after that he stopped crying altogether. After one final, unsteady breath, Naruto regained control over himself.
After removing his face from Jiraiya's, now very wet, shoulder, Naruto quickly wiped the snot from his nose and looked away, embarrassed. Jiraiya chuckled internally a bit at that. Just minutes ago Naruto had been concerned over whether or not his parents had even loved him, and now here he was, all red faced and mortified that someone had seen him cry.
"I don't know what you're embarrassed about, kid. I'm the one who has snot all over his clothes," Jiraiya said with a laugh. Naruto shot him a glare, but he ignored it and continued. "Nothing wrong with crying at something like that. That was some heavy stuff. I'm sure you have questions."
Naruto recognized when he was being given an out, and he seized it, grateful to distract himself from his recent breakdown. Clearing his throat he said, "Well yeah. First one; why was I never told any of this before. You said that jiji made it an order to keep it quiet, but why would he do that?"
Jiraiya nodded, having expected that very question. If anything, he was mildly impressed that Naruto had managed to ask it so calmly. He had been expecting an outburst of rage and pain, especially after how Naruto had cried just now. He could see the anger there, but Naruto had control of it for now. Kakashi must have been working with the kid since he last saw him.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, he began to answer his student's question. "Hiruzen believed that it was the only way to protect you. Minato had a lot of enemies. A lot of enemies. If they found out that he had a son, a jinchuriki no less, they would have stopped at nothing to get to you."
"So…what. He thought I would have blabbed it to everyone. I wouldn't have done that!" Naruto protested.
Jiraiya just raised an eyebrow at that and stared. After a few seconds, Naruto started to twitch.
"Alright fine," he exclaimed. "Maybe I would have told people. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about this. It sucked not knowing who my parents were, or if they even wanted me. Stupid jiji."
"No one expects you to be happy about this, Naruto. You got dealt a raw deal, especially after the knowledge that you were a jinchuriki leaked. But if you want to be mad at anyone for how you grew up, be mad at me."
"You?" Naruto asked, confused. "What do you have to do with this? Why should I be mad at you?"
"You should be mad at me, because I am the man who should have raised you," Jiraiya said, his voice leaden with guilt. "I'm your godfather."
Naruto didn't say anything at first. Jiraiya wasn't brave enough to look at his godson's face, for fear of seeing the hatred he knew he deserved. He just stared off to one side, waiting for the shouting.
After a couple more seconds he heard a very small voice from beside him.
"Why? D-did I do something wrong?"
Jiraiya's heart lurched at that. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to storm back to the village, find whatever subhuman pieces of filth had done this to his godson, and rip their bones from their still living bodies. The boy had just found out that his appointed guardian had abandoned him without a word, and his first thought was that it was somehow his fault. How dare they! He ought to-!
'No,' Jiraiya thought to himself. 'Revenge solves nothing, and I have a much more important job right now than satisfying my own anger.' Namely, setting his godson straight.
"No Naruto! Listen to me very closely. You. Did. Nothing. Wrong. How could you, when you were just a baby? No, I left you for several reasons, some good, and some selfish. Do you want to hear them?"
Naruto paused for a moment, before slowly nodding his head.
"I'll start with the most practical reason. My duty to the village. We lost over a third of our forces and our leader in the Kyuubi's attack. Not even six months later, Orochimaru fled, taking even more of our strength. Konoha looked like a tempting target. You know that I am the village's spymaster, right?"
Naruto nodded his head again. He thought he could see where this was going, but he wasn't ready to talk yet.
"Well I was back then too. I needed to be out in the field, making sure we could neutralize the threats of war before they even materialized. I couldn't take a baby with me on missions, and I couldn't refuse them either. Protecting the village kept you safe too. At least, that's what I told myself."
"And what was the selfish reason?" Naruto asked, his voice completely flat.
"I was scared," Jiraiya said. "By the time I wasn't constantly needed in the field, you were eight years old. I had…you have to understand, I thought of your parents as my own children. After I lost them, I was scared that if I let myself get close to you, I would just lose you too."
Jiraiya took a deep breath at that. Even now, it still hurt so much to think of Minato and Kushina. Still he owed it to their son, his godson, to continue.
"So I convinced myself that you were better off without me. I told myself that you looked so much like Minato that if anyone saw us together, they would make the connection."
Naruto blinked at that last bit. Hesitantly, as if the words were somehow fragile, he asked, "I look like my dad?"
"Yeah you do. You got your nose and your cheek bones from your mom, but everything else? That's all Minato. But that's not the point. The point is, I was just grasping at straws, because I didn't want to face you. I wasn't just scared of losing you. I didn't want to face my own failure to look after my pupil's son. I am so sorry for that."
With that done, Jiraiya turned his head to the side. His eyes were clenched shut, burning with unshed tears. He sat and waited for the inevitable judgment. He didn't have to wait for long.
Thwack!
"Hrrk"
The toad sage's eyes bulged out as he felt a small but very strong foot kick him straight in the balls. He slipped sideways off the log he was sitting on and began to curl into a ball.
'Well, that's it,' he thought through the fog of pain. 'He definitely hates me. Not that I don't deserve-'
Whumph.
Jiraiya's self-recrimination was interrupted as a blond haired, orange clad rocket latched onto him in a desperate hug. Naruto kept mumbling something into his shirt, but he could quite hear it. Returning the hug in pure instinct, Jiraiya strained his ears until he could hear what his godson was saying.
"I have family," Naruto kept repeating, over and over, as if stopping would make the words a lie. "I have family. I have family. I have family."
"Yes you do, Naruto," Jiraiya whispered as he squeezed his godson a little tighter. "Yes you do."
OoOoO
The next day, Naruto awoke to the heavenly smell of ramen. Upon extricating himself from his sleep roll, he found his godfather busily stirring a pot of the divine dish over the campfire. As he stretched out his stiff muscles, Naruto froze mid yawn.
His godfather. That was right. It hadn't been a dream, like he half hoped, half dreaded it would turn out to be last night. Glancing up, Naruto sighed. He still wasn't sure how he felt about everything that he was told last night. They had stayed up half the night talking, with Jiraiya answering every question Naruto asked him about himself and his parents.
It had been…nice. But also confusing. He couldn't figure out what he was feeling.
Happy. He was definitely happy to know who his parents were, and that they had, in fact, loved him. That secret fear, that he had been unwanted, had poisoned more than a few of what should have been happy memories for him.
Anger. He was most certainly angry. Angry at the man who murdered his mother. Angry at his father for not finding some other baby to sacrifice. Angry at the fox for even existing. And angry at Jiraiya for not being there when he needed him.
'But he was there,' Naruto thought. 'He was there for me before the third round of the Chunin exams. He was there to help me find Tsunade and learn the rasengan. He was there when Sasuke hurt me and I needed advice. And he is here now, telling me the truth, and willing to train me even more.'
'Ah, but what about all those cold nights, lonely and afraid,' another part of his mind whispered. 'What about all those times I was yelled at, or thrown out on the street, or had rocks thrown at me. Where was he then?'
Naruto shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. He had never been one to live in the past, and he wasn't about to start now. Jiraiya was here now. That was what mattered. That and the ramen. Never forget the ramen.
Deciding that a bowl of ramen would help him untangle the knotted string of his thoughts, Naruto stood up and walked over to the fire. He silently scooped a bowlful of ramen and sat down next to his godfather to eat it.
They sat there in silence for several minutes, each eating their ramen. After some time, Naruto looked up at his godfather and said, "I thought you were going to make me eat healthy on this trip, ero-sennin. Does this mean that ramen is healthy?"
Jiraiya blinked at this, not having expected such a normal (by Naruto's standards) question. Still, it was a chance to break the awkward tension that had been building for the last few minutes, so he chuckled before responding.
"No, brat, this does not mean ramen is healthy," he said with a teasing smirk on his face. "Just think of this as a 'please don't kick me in the balls again' bribe."
"Oohh," said Naruto, before smirking himself. "So when I kick you in the balls I get ramen?"
Uh oh. That definitely hadn't been the conclusion Jiraiya had wanted his godson to draw. Fervently shaking his head (while covertly covering his groin), Jiraiya put a stop to that notion.
"Hell to the fuck no. That fucking hurt, brat. You do that again, and I'll burn every ramen shop in the country."
A look of horror crossed Naruto's face, before they both burst out laughing. It wasn't so much that what Jiraiya had said was funny. It was just a relief to know that they could still have this teasing banter, even after everything from the previous evening.
After they had both calmed down and finished their breakfast, Jiraiya suddenly sat up straight. He smacked himself on the forehead and cursed, drawing Naruto's attention.
"What's the matter, ero-sennin? Did ya forget something?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, I did," Jiraiya said as he reached into his vest to pull out a scroll. "I meant to give this to you last night, but with everything- well I forgot. Anyway, it's from Tsunade. Have a look."
He tossed the scroll over to Naruto, who neatly caught it. Unrolling the scroll, he scanned it quickly before his eyes widened. A grin broke out across his face as he looked up at his mentor.
"This is-"
"Yep."
"So I'm-"
"Uh-huh."
"When?"
Grinning, Jiraiya reached over and clapped his newest student on the back. "Kakashi and I recommended you right after the retrieval mission. Tsunade signed it the day we left. Look on the bottom of the scroll."
Naruto's eyes flicked down to where Jiraiya had mentioned. He saw a small storage seal drawn right next to the Hokage's signature. Biting his thumb to draw blood, he smeared it across the seal. A brief flare of chakra and a puff of smoke later, he had two mid-sized bundles sitting in his lap.
He grabbed the larger one first. With a quick tearing noise he ripped the paper cover off and unfolded its contents. In his hands was a brand new green Konoha flak vest, a symbol of his new rank.
"Ha, I knew baa-chan would have to promote me. I can't wait to see everyone's faces when they see I made chunin. That'll show them to doubt Naruto Uzumaki."
Satisfied that he had made a suitably awesome proclamation, Naruto turned his attention to the second package. Picking it up, he looked at his mentor, slightly confused.
"I already have the vest. What's in this one, ero-sennin?"
"I'm not sure," Jiraiya said. "Kakashi put it in there. He said it was a gift."
Grinning like a lunatic, Naruto proceeded to tear open the second package. Three small bundles fell out. He picked one up and unrolled it, revealing a set of navy blue pants and an identically colored shirt. It was a set of standard issue Konoha shinobi clothing, identical to the ones Kakashi always wore.
As he looked at it, he saw something fall out of one of the pant legs. Setting the clothes aside, he picked it up and examined it. It turned out to be a mesh armor bodysuit wrapped around a pair of metal plated gloves and lobstered steel vambraces.
Naruto quickly checked the other two bundles. They were each identical, save for the last one. Along with the same items as the other bundles, it contained three cloth masks, and a note.
Unfolding the note Naruto read it to himself.
Naruto,
I wanted you to have these gifts to congratulate you on your well-earned promotion. I never doubted that you would reach this level, just as I do not doubt now that you will soon surpass me. Your determination and hard work have taken you this far, and I see no reason why they will not take you as far as you care to go.
No doubt you have noticed the masks I included for you. In my clan, it was traditional for the men of each new generation to wear a mask until they had sons of their own. While I may not be your father, I think of you as family. It is in that spirit that I offer these masks to you, so that you may represent me and my teachings wherever you may go. I can think of no higher honor than to have the traditions of my clan carried on by you.
Farewell for now, Naruto. Until we see each other again, I wish you good luck. Make me proud, and enjoy the road of life.
Kakashi Hatake
Naruto felt his eyes sting as he blinked rapidly. This overwhelming show of trust and support from his sensei was enough to bring a lump to his throat. He wordlessly passed the letter to Jiraiya and stood up. Scooping one of the bundles of clothes into his arms, he grabbed his new vest and one of the masks before walking into the bushes to change.
When Naruto re-emerged a few minutes later, he cut a very different image than he had previously. Gone was the hideous orange outfit, as loud and brash as its wearer. In its place was the professional looking garb of a Konoha shinobi. With the mask covering the bottom half of his face, Naruto was transformed from a baby faced youth into a serious warrior. Only his eyes, still shining with barely restrained energy and innocence, gave away the fact that he was still the same boy.
That, and the fact that he promptly began to dance around the clearing like an idiot, loudly exclaiming how awesome he was to everything within earshot. Thankfully for Jiraiya's reputation, this only included a few birds and squirrels.
The sage sighed in exasperation as his eye twitched at his godson's antics. He was seriously going to have to teach that kid how not to spoil a cool moment like that. This was just ridiculous. Sighing again (he had been doing that a lot lately) he reached out and plucked Naruto off the ground by the back of his collar, earning a startled yelp from the hyperactive jinchuriki.
"Okay, that's enough celebrating for now, brat. Settle down, we've got training to do."
"Yatta!" Naruto cheered as he swung in Jiraiya's grip. The mention of training instantly drove any other thought from his head.
Grinning in spite of himself, Jiraiya set his godson down. Oh, he was so going to enjoy this. The enthusiastic ones were always the best. They made the funniest faces when they realized what they had signed up for.
OoOoO
"I'm dying."
"No you're not, brat. You're just a little tired."
"Nope. I'm definitely dying."
"You certainly seem to have enough energy to bitch and moan. Maybe we should go again, hmm?"
"Nonono! I'll shut up."
"Hahahaha."
Any casual observer who happened upon the scene between Naruto and Jiraiya would have immediately noticed several things. The first, was that the two of them evidently took a dim view of the world's casual observers, judging by the remarkable number of traps that ringed the clearing they were in.
If they survived the various pitfalls, explosives, and pointy metal implements that awaited the unwary, the second thing they would notice was that Jiraiya looked utterly fine. His clothes were clean and unwrinkled. He had a distinct lack of sweat dripping from his brow. He wasn't even breathing hard.
The third thing this casual (and apparently very lucky) observer would notice was that Naruto looked far from fine. Very far indeed. He was covered in muck, sweat, and a multitude of small cuts and bruises. His breathing was ragged, as he desperately gasped for air. He would have been swaying on his feet, if he had had the energy to stand.
As it was, he was kneeling on the ground, panting with exhaustion. He had only been pushed this far once before in his life, in his fight with Gaara. That had been a fight with a manifested bijuu, after he had already fought Neji and a dozen or so invading Oto shinobi. This had been one guy, and he hadn't even laid a finger on him.
"I'm really glad…that I don't…have to fight you…for real, sensei," Naruto managed to gasp out as he staggered to his feet. It was a testament to his incredible stamina that he was already able to stand after his most recent sparring session with Jiraiya.
"You should be proud of yourself, brat," the older ninja said. "You've come a long way in the last two weeks. I'm impressed."
Naruto nodded at the compliment, too tired to do anything more exuberant. He began to shift into a ready stance again, but a raised hand from Jiraiya stopped him.
"We're done for now, brat. Take a break and clean yourself up."
Naruto nodded wearily, before stumbling off towards the river to clean all the muck off of himself. Internally, he wept with relief. Jiraiya was an absolute sadist when it came to training. Nothing less than perfection was allowed in each new technique, and he would demand that Naruto repeat a kata at least five times without flaws before he was allowed to move on.
When it came to sparring, Naruto felt like he was trying to lay siege to a castle with an army of feather dusters. Jiraiya blocked every attack, countered every trick, and evaded every trap; all seemingly with minimal effort. He never went on the offensive against Naruto. Instead, he waited for his pupil to grow frustrated and make a mistake, or overextend himself.
The instant that happened, Jiraiya would brutally counterattack, putting Naruto on his back within one or two moves. Then he would point out his mistake, and have him stand and try again. And again. And again.
Still, he was making progress, Naruto reflected as he washed the grime from his clothes. He was lasting longer before Jiraiya spotted an opening. He was also managing to block the first of Jiraiya's lightning fast counterattacks more often. He had yet to manage blocking the second strike, but he was close. He could feel it.
Ten minutes later a freshly washed Naruto walked into camp. Upon spotting the campfire that Jiraiya had started, Naruto pouted slightly, a pall seemingly falling across his typical good cheer.
"What's got you looking down, kid?" Jiraiya asked when he spotted his students' sudden attitude shift.
"I'm still pissed off that you burned my tracksuit," Naruto muttered.
"You're still hung up on that? For the last time, I did you a favor. That thing was hideous. I mean, it was orange for crying out loud."
"Hey! I've told you, orange is an awesome color. Why can't anyone else see that?"
"Shinobi don't wear orange, brat," Jiraiya said, an air of finality to his voice.
Naruto just shook his head at that. Some people just couldn't understand. So what if it wasn't subtle. Orange was great. It made everything better. Sure, he loved the new clothes that Kakashi-sensei had got for him. But he still mourned the death of his tracksuit. It had served him for years, it had been comfortable, and most important of all, it had been orange.
Fortunately, in this case at least, Naruto was easily distracted. In this case it was a strange humming in the air that pulled him from his plots to avenge the death of his beloved tracksuit. Glancing around, he didn't see anything that could be causing the noise. Frowning, he palmed a kunai.
Jiraiya also heard the unusual hum, and immediately went on guard. He moved next to his godson, ready to protect him if the need arose. He was pleased to see that Naruto had the good sense to arm himself. All the lessons in preparedness and suspicion were finally paying off.
Before either of them could do more than tense, the humming spiked in volume. A bright light flared throughout the clearing. Unable to identify where the attack was coming from, or if it even was an attack at all, all they could do was brace for the worst. The last thing either of them noticed before consciousness fled was a sensation of falling, and then nothing.
OoOoO
Naruto's return to consciousness was surprisingly swift. There was no grogginess or numbness to suggest he had been drugged. One moment he was unconscious, the next, his eyes had snapped open and he shot to his feet, looking around wildly for his godfather.
"Jiraiya," he hissed softly, unwilling to shout if there might be enemies lurking nearby. "Jiraiya, where are you?"
"I'm right here, Naruto," a voice said from the shadows off to his left. Naruto turned to see his godfather standing up, seemingly unharmed.
"Are you alright?" Jiraiya asked. "Any injuries?"
"I'm fine," Naruto replied. "What happened? What was all thought light and humming?"
"I'm not sure. It's nighttime though, so we've been out for at least a few hours," Jiraiya said as he looked around. Now that his eyes were adjusted to the darkness, he noticed something that made him frown in confusion.
This wasn't the same forest that they had been in earlier. He didn't recognize any of the plants, and there were boulders strewn about where before there had been flat ground. Glancing down, his frown deepened. All of their gear was still with them. It was, in fact, set up exactly as it had been before the…whatever, had happened.
Before he could further ponder the meaning of his observations, he heard a startled gasp from behind him. He whirled around, a kunai appearing in his hand as if by magic, ready to face whatever threat may have surprised his godson. Upon turning, all he saw was Naruto, frozen in apparent shock, one trembling hand pointing at the sky.
"Ji-Jiraiya-sensei, that isn't right, is it?" Naruto asked, his voice shaking.
Following his godson's finger up into the sky, Jiraiya paled when he saw what Naruto was pointing at. His jaw dropped, and the kunai fell from his hand.
"No. No it isn't," he said. For up in the night sky, where before there had been only one moon, there were now two.
OoOoO
Tens of thousands of light years away, or in another plane of existence entirely, depending on how you looked at it, a green haired woman fell back into a chair with an exhausted sigh. It had worked.
To be sure, it had cost her dearly. She had spent a great deal of power on this desperate plan of hers. Power that would take years to recover. But that was her problem. What mattered was that there was now just a little bit of hope for the galaxy to weather the coming storms.
For all that her brother crowed about the supremacy of his power, he forgot one thing about the Light. It was never alone. There were always people willing to help.
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13884259/1/Can-Jedi-Wear-Orange
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