Eyes of God

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

A/N: Thank you 'Keep Calm and Be Ninja' for agreeing to beta my story. I hope this chapter can deliver after the cliffhanger.

"Speaking"

'Thinking' or emphasis

"Demon speaking"

'Demon thinking'

flashback

Jutsu

Ch4: Origins of War

In the middle of a now deserted dirt road in Tazaku Gai was a tall, sturdy, white haired man, prepared for anything. His opponents stood, unwavered by the Sannin's reputation, dressed in their black cloaks with red clouds. Akatsuki, they were called, an elite group made of only the most notorious criminals. Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigake Kisame. The unusual partners were strong, Jiraiya noted. The first was emotionless, calculating, and ultimately a strategic genius with no lack of skill. Kisame was an unknown, his small amount of information telling him of the man's past in the Seven Swordsmen.

Naruto watched on as the tension built.

The blue skinned man gave out a bloodthirsty laugh. "Well, lets begin." He placed his hands together in a snake seal, Jiraiya immediately working on countering it with his own hand signs. Itachi jumped out of the way, anticipating the attack.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave). A huge torrent of water sprayed from the man's mouth, as the Sannin struggled to finish.

By now a giant wave threatened to crush him, swamping three houses to the side. Naruto's rooftop remained safe. 'I have to push them back.'

He jumped, the wave crashing underneath him. "Katon: Endan!" (Fire Release: Flame Bullet). A magnificent inferno from Jiraiya's mouth crashed into the top of the wave. Steam hissed, placing the entire place in fog, the gound wet.

With the flames continuing their assault, the Sannin used the cover to land on Naruto's building. 'I have to keep him safe!' He thought, determined. 'Shit!' He cursed as a blur materialized to his right.

He caught a kick sweeping towards his knees. Itachi bounced black, landing lightly on his toes. With one swift motion, four shuriken were flying towards him.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy did you?" Jiraiya smirked as they all hit their targets. But then, he poofed into a cloud of smoke.

"Kage bunshin, clever," the Uchiha commented, "I could say the same to you, Jiraiya-sama," He twisted around and slapped away a punch to the back of his head. Jiraiya followed up with a kick at his side, deftly dodged. Itachi, ducking under, snapped his limp arm out of his cloak to deal a punch to the chest.

Naruto, meanwhile, had backed up farther away on the roof, avoiding the beginnings of a fight. He was surprised when Jiraiya, no a bunshin, walked up to him. "Follow me," he smirked, forming a plan to lure the Akatsuki members from the town. The blond nodded, words weren't necessary in the serious atmosphere.

"Forgetting me!?" A voice laughed as a wrapped sword swung at Naruto's chest. Quicker than humanly possible, Jiraiya was there, a kunai held in two hands to block the enormous sword. He countered by jumping back, pushing the jinchuuriki behind him, then throwing the kunai. Just as the man blocked, a fireball roared at him.

Kisame's sword sliced upwards, the intense fire cut in half. Jiraiya gasped at the properties of the sword, realizing the magnitude of the fight he was in.

While this was happening, the original Sannin was in the midst of a taijutsu battle with Itachi, wondering why the Uchiha hadn't employed genjutsu or ninjutsu. To force a move, he moved backwards, towards the clone and Naruto. At a blurring speed, Itachi ran through seals and puffed out his cheeks. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu," (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique) The man stated before expelling a torrent of fire. (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Techinique)

The ball of flames short at Jiraiya, who himself just finished hand seals."Suiton: Mizurappa!" (Water Release: Water Trumpet) He declared as a condensed jet of water collided with the fire, once again releasing steam and making their surroundings thicker. As it hissed through the air, neither stopped their jutsu for one second.

Fighting for dominance, the visibility suffered greatly. Kisame and the Jiraiya clone, still locked in a kunai versus sword fight, could no longer see Itachi with the original. Jiraiya smirked, his plan was almost in motion. As the bright jutsu subsided, both finally cancelled out, the two S-ranked shinobi faced off on the slanted black shingled roof.

"You cannot escape these eyes."

'Don't look at them,' he reminded himself quietly, breathing softly to calm his anxiety. "Who said anything about escaping? I'm going to find out everything I want about Orochimaru, starting with you! Kage bunshin no jutsu!" A clone popped up next to him, holding a kunai in hand. 'I'm stretching my chakra too thinly, I have to get them away fast.'

Taking a page from Jiraiya's book, Itachi made a hand seal and a bunshin appeared next to him as well. "This strategy is not favorable to you, Jiraiya-sama."

'Shut up,' he thought definitely, mind running through some on-the-spot plans to get this to working. His clone was losing ground against Kisame, trying to keep him from using ninjutsu was taking its toll. Not to mention, the man was an excellent swordsman, a loosing battle for the clone. He needed to move them away from the city before they destroy more innocents' homes.'

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu," the original made a series of seals, holding his hand up to his mouth. A barrage of bullet-like flames flew at the Sannin. His clone jumped in front of him, spitting mud on the ground.

"Doton: Doryūheki," (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall) the real Jiraiya smirked as the mud solidified into a wall barely large enough to protect his clone and himself from the flames. He heard the thunks of hidden shuriken crash into the wall as well, making him happier that he didn't try to douse them with water and get sliced.

Back with the clone and Kisame, Naruto was in complete awe and utterly speechless at what was happening. Jiraiya was countering a giant sword, swung around like it was nothing, using only a small kunai. That was just a testament to the man's prowess. Kisame tried to form hand seals, jumping back, but Jiraiya had already thrown another kunai at him, stopping the shark-like man from finishing.

"Damn you..." he grunted, "Its going to be so much more fun when I cut off that right arm of yours."

"I'm a clone," Jiraiya's bunshin muttered to himself, though Kisame clearly heard.

Unfortunately, he was now out of extra kunai, the rest were sealed in the large scroll on his back. He held his last one, what he needed to protect against the chakra eating sword. One touch from that, and he'd be a goner, poofing into smoke and leaving Naruto helpless. On top of that, he was nearing the end of his stamina as a clone, the effort and strain nearly forcing him to disappear.

Kisame began the same sequence of hand seals, a victorious grin on his face. "Finally. Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique) He thrust his hand forward, attacking Naruto and Jiraiya. A huge shark enveloped his arm, reaching out in front of him, acting like a extension of his punch. It shot forward with incredible force. The clone had no way to counter it. Naruto would get hurt, and he was helpless, at the end of his limit.

The shark's open jaws swallowed Jiraiya in a loud poof, but it didn't stop going even when Kisame had stood still, attacking the blond boy. Naruto's ringed eyes widened as he felt fear, holding his hands in front to protect himself.

He closed his eyes.

Pain never came.

When he opened them, he saw the jutsu being absorbed into his hands. It was as if a protective wall ate all the chakra.

"That was unexpected, kid. I'll need to cut off your hands too now, since I have to drag you back to Leader-sama. He placed his sword in front of his chest menacingly.

"Naruto, lets go!" Jiraiya's voice shouted from somewhere in the mist. Sure enough, the original white haired shinobi appeared in front of the boy, once again protecting him. Clangs could be heard on the other side of the rooftop as Itachi fought with the clone. Jiraiya felt his memories return before Itachi was standing next to Kisame.

The two groups faced each other, neither making a move.

Jiraiya bit his thumb.

'Sorry, poor house,' he thought. Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram.

He slammed his hand down. "Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!" (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique)

An enormous frog appeared out of nowhere above the Akatsuki members, falling from only ten meters above them. As they dived to the side to avoid it, Jiraiya picked up Naruto and ran away to an open area outside Tanzaku Gai. He heard the loud crunch of the house being crushed and more civilian screams as a few ran away from the houses near the dusty wreckage, but he couldn't turn back. Hopefully, they were now far safer than if a high level shinobi battle took place on their roof.

Kisame walked up to his partner, Jiraiya still speeding off across the rooftops with Naruto in tow.

The Uchiha regarded him seriously. Actually, the look on his face did not falter from its emotionless norm, but the undertones of seriousness broke through in his voice. "He means to find an open area to attack us with full force. This is not a fight we can win."

"Itachi-san, that is where you are wrong; I am stronger than you think. But this is not the time to test our limits. Leader-sama told us this is only a scouting mission, and advised us not to approach Jiraiya." The shark-like man swung his sword with a menacing grin. "I still think we have time for some fun."

And just like that, the Uchiha's partner took off, launching himself after the jinchuuriki. Internally, Itachi sighed. He needed to give Jiraiya a warning, some form of silent heads up of the goals of their organization. Konoha was his home, and he'd just as soon kill himself as see the Akatsuki complete their goal of world domination. Besides, he'd always been a silent protector of Naruto when he was in the ANBU, so the last thing he wanted, after that goal, was to intentionally harm the boy. He would have to employ some fancy trickery to make this turn out right.

It was a good thing he was a professional.

As the Toad Sage arrived at a large, grassy clearing, he set Naruto down on his feet. "Please, stay away from me in case any of our jutsu cause destruction."

Taking the silent approach, Naruto gave a sharp nod, feeling the crushing weight of helplessness once again bear down on his shoulders. Even with the so-called Legendary Rinnegan, he was no more than an ant to these shinobi. The ranking system of shinobi had always eluded Naruto's knowledge, preventing him from understanding the true prowess and ability of an S-rank ninja. One did not simply become that strong overnight, it took years, starting at young age.

With a 'whooshing sound, two blurs once again landed across the clearing from the pair. Uchiha Itachi had his Sharingan blazing, appearing far closer and more potent than anything else.

Jiraiya grinned, positioning himself in a ready position. "Heh, you guys actually followed us, that was your first and last mistake."

Itachi turned towards his partner. "Kisame, our objective was only to capture the Kyuubi should Jiraiya-san be occupied or otherwise incapacitated. You've had your fun already, lets go; there are others we can fight." Knowing his partner would eventually see sense and follow him, Itachi slowly began to walk away. There was utter silence apart from the gusty wind and the quiet sound of sandals crunching grass. The air was tense as Kisame tried to make his decision.

"You think I'd let you get away?" Jiraiya called. No one who threatened his godson would get the luxury to leave easily. "Hari Jigoku!" (Needle Hell) His long white mane of hair extended around his body, sharpening into white spikes.

The spikes shot from him like a machine gun as he hair returned to normal. Caught unaware, Uchiha Itachi was impaled with hundreds of small, senbon-like needles. Without a warning, everyone thought he was dead, a black crow flew from Itachi's shoulder. Then another. Soon, the air was filled with the loud 'Kawws' of many crows as his body disappeared. Kisame remained passive, watching the events with a raised eyebrow and hungry smirk.

"You are already within my genjutsu," a voice behind him intoned. As the Sannin tried to twist around, he was forced to hold in place by a kunai to his neck. 'Dammit, genjutsu is my weak point, when did I look into his eyes?' he cursed before remembering that he saw them in the distance when they arrived at the clearing. 'I'm fine. Calm down. I've been through two wars, the amount of times I've been stuck in a situation like this is far too many to count.'

Jiraiya smirked, an idea forming in his head. Itachi couldn't stop him from making hand seals, at least the Sannin had time to use just two. As discreetly as possible, he placed his hand in the boar and tiger signs.

"Doton: Yomi Numa," (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld) he said as Itachi began to sink into the ground. Before the missing-nin could register what had happened, Jiraiya slammed him with an elbow, knocking him backwards into the mud. The Uchiha continued to sink until he was only a head above a miniature black swamp.

"In the shinobi world, experience is vital," Jiraiya commented, returning the favor by holding a kunai to the man's throat. "Who is your leader and what does he want with the Kyuubi?"

Itachi turned his eyes toward Jiraiya, who moved his gaze away from the Sharingan just in time. "In the shinobi world," he repeated, "information is also vital, Jiraiya-sama." Once again, he burst into crows that scattered, flying towards the space next to Kisame. Uchiha Itachi reformed, his stoic expression returning to his face. Jiraiya cursed internally at the infernal genjutsu master.

"Kisame," the Uchiha said to the former Kiri nin, "It would be best if we leave. Give us some cover."

The blue skinned missing nin returned with a thoughtful frown. Finally, he decided to give in to Itachi's whim. "Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha." (Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave). An enormous wave more than twice the size of the one in the village spewed from Kisame's mouth, roaring towards Jiraiya and Naruto. The raging water gave the Akatsuki members to run away without another word, leaving the promise of a small ocean in their wake.

"Naruto! Grab onto me!" Jiraiya commanded, bracing himself for the wave. Naruto latched onto his back. "Hold your breath," he added as the giant wave loomed closer.

As the water came closer, Naruto held his hand out in front of Jiraiya. "Preta path," he muttered.

The water crashed into them, but it never actually hit them. The chakra-infused jutsu was being absorbed into the blond boy's hand as if it was a vacuum. Jiraiya watched on in awe as the torrent was separated around the two, forming a bubble with them inside. The jutsu washed by, saturating the formerly grassy clearing, turning it into a lake. Fortunately, Tanzaku Gai was uphill, so the jutsu never reached it. Instead, it piled up until they were stuck fifteen feet underwater.

Naruto felt heavy, exhausted. It shouldn't have been possible, absorbing a jutsu. He didn't even absorb most of it, only instinctually keeping the small amount of water from crushing them.

He couldn't concentrate; his focus was slipping. Then, the bubble burst.

Water rushed in, quickly slamming into the two, trying to compress them. The jinchuuriki passed out, falling into Jiraiya's arms as the Sannin swam determinedly to the top. He surfaced, gulping in sweet air, setting Naruto to float on his own back, unassisted.

"Hmm," Jiraiya thought out loud, looking at the sun's reflection in the water. "Today went much better than I thought."

Later

Naruto had woken up, soaked, laying on a stiff bed. On second thought, he noticed it was actually the ground, making his back hurt like a bitch. He felt groggy, tired beyond belief, and his eyes hurt. It was like whenever he tried to increase the size of Shinra Tensei, only to have his eyes feel a sharp pain instead. He could still see, the sun was staring at him from around a 4:00pm position.

"Urrgh," he groaned, rolling over. As he opened an eye, he saw Jiraiya sitting down, holding a pot over a cackling bonfire. It appeared like his sensei was making a pot of his famous stew... again. Naruto couldn't help but wish for a chance to eat Ichiraku's ramen. Or even instant ramen. Anything with the word ramen in it was game. Thinking about food emphasized how hungry he was after his ordeal.

"Ah, Naruto, you're awake."

"Oji-san," Naruto murmured back. He sat up, holding his throbbing head. "W-what happened?"

"Chakra exhaustion." At the confused look the boy seemed intent on always showing, Jiraiya continued, "you used too much chakra, so there wasn't enough to flow to your vital organs. This usually happens when you try to overdo a jutsu without practice, or if you use too many jutsus. It could have been a lot worse, but that furry friend of yours gives you practically unlimited supplemental chakra reserves. In other words, you're an idiot, but a goddamn lucky idiot." He ignored his foul language around the kid, no doubt he heard worse around Konoha's streets. Especially from some of the more... colorful... people that likely lived in his apartment complex.

"I absorbed that chakra?" He mentioned, still unclear about that.

"Yeah. Some wierd Rinnegan jutsu I'm guessing, which probably means that you unlocked a new path."

"Preta path," Naruto answered. "If I absorbed chakra, how come I had chakra exhaustion?"

"Beats me," Jiraiya replied in an uninterested tone, "Three years training Nagato, and the Rinnegan is still a complete mystery to me. You'll have to figure this out on your own. Rabbit stew?" He handed Naruto a bowl of the stuff.

"Thanks."

As they ate, Naruto tried to reason out why he didn't get any chakra from his technique. Lets be honest, Naruto wasn't the most skilled in the concept of theory, so he scoured his brain to find the answer. There had to be a reason, there always was. The more he looked, the further away the answer grew, it jut didn't make sense.

Then it hit him. All the sudden, it was so clear. He had tried to pull too much chakra into his system, overloading it. An odd concept, true, but he kept thinking about it while he ate, and he couldn't find a flaw in his simple theory. The human body wasn't supposed to house two, much less three, types of chakra. He didn't have the control to keep the new chakra from, in large amounts, conflicting with his already existing chakra. Maybe, he could build up a tolerance to the foreign chakra, and he could fully absorb larger jutsu.

As he ate, quiet on the outside, his thoughts drifted from paths to the Akatsuki. They wanted him? No, they wanted the Kyuubi, but why would anyone want the Kyuubi? It was only good for destruction and death. Oh, wait, he realized, S-rank criminals probably wanted destruction and death.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya's thoughts were also on the Akatsuki. First off, he tried to puzzle out who could be the leader of such a powerful organization. It couldn't be Orochimaru, his teammate couldn't lead something like this. It would be too out in the open, where the possibility of betrayal existed within the members. No, the snake summoner like to hide in the shadows, waiting until things were just right to orchestrate something big. It wasn't his style to lead a bunch of ragtag supercriminals.

Then their was the impossible discening of their goals. It seemed their leader was not after the Rinnegan, but the Kyuubi. It made him think, they could likely be after other Bijuu as well, especially since Naruto was guarded by a Sannin. This would be vital to tell his Sensei, Naruto could be in far more danger than they anticipated. Taki's jinchuuriki might not be safe either.

The last was Uchiha Itachi. A genius, a strong genius. Strong against Jiraiya's weak point, genjutsu. So why was the young teen so adamant that they retreat? What did that accomplish for them? And how come Itachi didn't even try to kill Jiraiya when he 'captured' the Sannin (not like he could have died from that anyways, his escape was done well)? The man even went and mentioned that their goal was the Kyuubi and that they were going to fight more people. Where those people jinchuuriki as well? It would make sense, Bijuu were a powerful military asset and probably expensive in a ransome. Or their power could be harnessed, though few people could do that. Still, they were S-ranked, who knew what they were capable of?

He still couldn't shake his mind from this. If his assumption was true, it was almost like Itachi was trying to warn them. This bothered him greatly. A traitor and a killer, trying to help keep the world in balance? Insane. He would need to find out more in the future.

"Naruto," he said finally.

"Yes Jiraiya-oji?"

"I'm going to step up your training. We can work on taijutsu more often later, when your muscles develop. I need to teach you some basic ninjutsu to protect yourself. Also, you need to figure out how to use those paths of the Rinnegan and discover how they fit together."

Normally, Naruto would jump for joy at the idea. Taijutsu was boring, and Jiraiya told him he'd need to be many years older to match anyone who is already a jounin, just due to strength and experience. Even if his form was perfect. He always wanted to try ninjutsu, and he felt as if the fact that he had all five affinities meant he should become an expert in jutsu in general. Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy to express his internal gratefulness. His mind was also on grave issues, distracting from the true elation the boy normally would feel at this.

"I only know Suiton, Katon, and Doton, so we'll eventually need to stop in Konoha and get someone to start you on Raiton and Fuuton." After a glance at Naruto's unenthusiastic face, he added, "I know how you feel about Konoha. You'll get over it, and you already have blocked out most of that hate. In fact, we are leaving today for Konoha."

"Why?"

"To tell the old monkey what's happening in the world. We can pick up some tutoring while we're there. Jutsu scrolls are way overrated, and they often get you doing the technique completely wrong, killing or hurting yourself. The shinobi world has few shortcuts." Jiraiya didn't like that people went out and bought jutsu. It was dangerous, reckless, and did not give anyone the full capacity or understanding of the technique. It's not too hard to receive instructions from an actual person, if only for a few hours, then spend a lot of time practicing.

"And after that?"

"I'll probably take you to Takigakure, though I have no idea how we're supposed to get in. Maybe Sensei will help."

"Hmm, alright." Naruto placed an empty bowl next to Jiraiya and laid back on the ground. They were both exhausted, and would need to eventually go back to Tanzaku Gai and book a hotel. For now, they could enjoy a relaxing rest in the afternoon.

With an enthusiastic grin , Jiraiya said, "I hope you don't mind if I give you an early birthday present."

"Present?" Naruto replied. He never really received many presents when he lived in Konoha. Much less an early one. He assumed it would be dumb, since the Sandaime always got him lame textbooks or a new set of clothes.

"Yeah. Well, I'll give you something special in two days, but I thought you'd want something to make travelling easier and less lame when you're not training."

"It's kinda hard to meditate and stop gravity while I'm walking."

"See?" He rummaged though a bag that he summoned from that giant scroll while he was talking. "What I'm going to give you is a copy of my most prized work. Not really anyone actually bothered to consider it, they thought it was stupid, a dumb visionary ideal. It kinda reminds me of you though."

"Me?" Naruto asked, not understanding. He really hoped the man wasn't getting him smut. It took him the whole of ten seconds to know he wanted nothing to do with that.

"Ah, here we go!" Jiraiya slammed the book on the grass with a lound thump.

"The Tale of an Utterly Gutsy Shinobi," Naruto read aloud, looking at the dull grey book with a dark green binding. "It doesn't look like that other crap you write."

Jiraiya sighed. "You're too young to appreciate it for what it's worth. Anyways, this book is full of action, adventure, and some of my hopes for the world from way back twenty years ago. It may seem mature for you now, but you've seen plenty of what people are capable of. Oh, by the way, the main character's name is Naruto. This copy belonged to your father." Jiraiya turned around and began fiddling with his large scroll, rewriting some seals and resealing the bowls.

"Naruto..." the blond muttered. Was he named after the character in this book? This belonged to his father? So Jiraiya must have been close with the man?

"Oh, you might as well start it now. We won't be travelling back to Tanzaku Gai for a few hours, when we're all rested up."

Naruto looked at the binding, turning it over, examining his present. Eventually, he decided to open it up to the first page. It couldn't be all ther bad, right? His godfather was a smart man, a brilliant shinobi, so he probably wasn't that bad a writer if he claimed to be good. He looked at the stiff page. There was a note in ink, a piece of paper inserted in addition to the pages of the book. Someone wrote this in after the book was published.

From Jiraiya,

To my student Namikaze Minato: I hope you like this present for you and Kushina. I heard that your first one kind of got lost when you were moving into the Hokage mansion, but no matter, I can always print more. Not that I need to, with stacks of copies that no one read sitting around. Not many have a true appreciation for the word 'peace' these days, eh my student? You'll change that, I'm sure, with your genius and remarkable people skills that I can't hold a candle to.

I really have hopes for you to carry out Naruto's actions in the book and put a stop to the cycle of hatred. While on the subject, congratulations to you and Kushina on your child. I head from her that you plan to name him after the main character. I gotta say, I'm beyond honored. I wish you luck on both the family and the hat.

"NARUTO!" Jiraiya shouted, realizing that they boy had looked inside. "Don't... read that paper..." he sighed, facepalming. How could he have been so stupid?

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki looked at his godfather, tears welling up in his eyes. He understood why Jiraiya and the Sandaime hid this from him. The man had enemies, and Naruto couldn't live his life in his father's great shadow either. It didn't mean he could contain his emotions.

The tears started streaming down his face as he let it all out.

"M-my father was the Yondaime!"

A/N: I hope I caught you guys off guard there at the end. I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hoped you liked reading it. Not much in the times of time going by, but the plot is progressing, and the truth of Uzumaki Naruto is finally coming out. The fight was probably much cooler in my head -.-

Oh well, hope you liked. Don't forget to review!

Jiraiya out.