Chapter 10: Falls

"You don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there."

-Edwin Louis Cole

I glared down at the black scribbles in front of me. Mocking giggles and chuckles oozed from the evil strokes.

I compared them to the ones in the tiny little book.

They had absolutely NOTHING in common!

Who knew that learning to read was so damn hard?! While English came to me easily (if it didn't, I would be extremely worried), these Japanese hiragana baffled me completely? Especially seeing how he just tossed the paper to me, as if he was expecting me to know what they mean!

"UUUuuUUUGH!" I crumpled the paper roughly, and threw it onto the floor. It bounced several times, and rolled to a stop. The book followed the paper onto the floor. This was supposed to be easy!

I rolled off the plush inn bed onto the floor with a distinct thump.

I gazed blankly at the ceiling.

Now that I was here... with Jiraiya... what would I do? Sure, I had managed to convince him to teach me how to read (even though it's through a cheap picture book), but I didn't know where to go after this! Was I supposed to become a shinobi now? Would he take me to Konoha?

The feelings of loss flowed around me. They were... I...

I smashed my head against the hard wooden floor, and clenched my fists. They were, weren't covered in blood. Thrums of fear began making my heart pound faster. No. I was in Amazake-gai. I woke up two days ago. I am safe. Jiraiya is nearby.

I am safe.

I wobbled as I pushed myself to my feet. I really, really needed a breath of air. This room was stifling. My limbs still felt weak after the... experience.

Right before I reached the door, it opened. Jiraiya stepped inside, holding a plastic bag of groceries. The modernness of the plastic felt so comforting after those four years in an almost feudal-like era.

"Chou, I'm back," Jiraiya greeted. He quirked an eyebrow at me, who was half-crouched on the ground still.

I mumbled an unintelligible response, muddled by frustration and boredom, and threw myself back onto the bed.

Jiraiya sighed, and picked up the simple storybook that I had thrown on the floor earlier. "I thought I told you to practice your reading and writing while I was out."

I rolled over, pulling the blankets over my head. I replied, "I did."

"Did you?"

"Y-yes."

"Really now."

"It's... It's the truth."

"What's the name of the story?"

"..."

"Well?" He ripped the blankets off me, and placed the demonic storybook in front of me. They were mocking me again. Those evil characters.

"The W-white... uh..."

"Yes, continue."

I had no idea what the next part meant, and I looked on the cover for clues. There was an old man in front of the sea, and a white... butterfly! That's what it meant! Butterfly!

"Uh... erm... w-w-white... butterfly! "

"I can tell that you can't actually read the title and that you're just looking at the pictures, Chou."

I groaned loudly in response, and pulled the blankets over my head again. The picture book tumbled to the ground for the second time today. Jiraiya grabbed me up by the back of my new, ultra-comfy, non-scratch shirt and pulled me out from my burrow. "Oi, brat. Quit that."

"Y-you just try and stop me."

"I just did." He smirked triumphantly, and I scowled in return. I missed my beloved stick.

I turned my face from him, and to the bag that he brought. "What did y-you buy?"

"A pair of shoes for you, some more storybooks, and some practice kunai and shuriken."

I processed his list slowly.

Did he just say shoes?

Shoes?

"Gi-give 'em."

Jiraiya waggled a finger in front of me. "Where's your manners, brat? What's the magic word?"

I weakly frowned at him. "Give t-them, um... now."

"If you're trying to be intimidating, stuttering and saying 'um' in the middle doesn't help your case."

I flushed crimson. When I had first started out, Japanese had been fairly easy. However, I was still uncertain in it. I hesitated frequently when speaking.

"I-I-I, i-it, it's... I ca... can't, h-he-I... I k-know."

How shameful.

I buried my face in my hands to cover my scarlet face.

Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We'll have to fix that, then. If I'm going to be stuck with you, then I can't let you embarrass the Great Jiraiya!" I didn't respond. "Hello? Anyone in there?" I peered out from a gap in between my fingers as he swung the bag in front of me tantalizingly. "Well... I guess you can't have these wonderful presents that I bought just for you... It's such a shame that I have to return them now. I even prepared something special for you."

I ripped the bag out of Jiraiya's hands, and dumped the contents on the bed. He shook his head at me. "Jeez, you really need to learn some manners, brat." I ignored him as I looked at everything he bought for me. Shoes, kunai, a small bag, picture books...

These were mine.

The first thing I touched were the shoes. They were black ninja sandals. I slipped them on my feet.

A perfect fit.

For some reason, I felt the urge to cry. But I pushed it down. Jiraiya would tease me about crying over a pair of shoes.

The storybooks I ignored (because I couldn't read what they said). I would look at them later. Much later. My reading skills were still extremely sub-par. It couldn't even be called sub-par. It was practically non-existent.

I fingered one of the dull practice kunai gingerly. "What are these for?"

Jiraiya guffawed at my question. My eyebrow twitched slightly in response. "Well, they're obviously for your shinobi training!"

I dropped my mouth open in disbelief.

"What, you didn't think that I wouldn't teach you how to defend yourself? Pfft, fat chance. Traveling with me isn't exactly safe, y'know," Jiraiya said with a scoff. I stuck my tongue out at him in return. He flicked me.

I gave him a short glare, and replied, "I only... expected you to teach m-me how... to read. Not t-to kill, kill people"

Jiraiya wagged a finger in front of me. "Killing people isn't only what a shinobi does. We take escort missions and genin run errands for the people." He stroked his chin thoughtfully, and continued, "We aren't ruthless killers, brat. Many Konoha shinobi strive to protect their home and precious people." A small pop came from his shoulders as he stretched, and scratched his head. "If you really don't wanna be trained, I ain't gonna stop you."

Huh, what he said pretty much matched up with how the shinobi in the Naruto manga acted. Though, it also could've just been propaganda.

Nevertheless, defending myself was... a good idea. I didn't want to go through anything like... that... again. I wouldn't be defenceless next time. No, there wouldn't be a next time. Jiraiya was strong, and I would become strong like him. Stronger than him, even. Strong enough to take down any of the Sannin, and any of the enemies that would appear in the future. Orochimaru... the Akatsuki... Madara... Kaguya.

If I was going to die, then I wouldn't go down without a fight.

"I want to be a shinobi. T-teach me." My voice came out shaky and flat, weak and stumbling. A warm hand landed on my head, messing up my already messy orange hair. I looked up, and Jiraiya smiled warmly at me.

(It reminded me of my mother.)

"Of course! We'll start in tomorrow, when we leave. We'll be heading towards Takigakure, so I can meet with the head of the village. So be ready to wake up nice and early!" He ruffled my hair harder, enough to start hurting slightly.

A growl emanated from my throat, and I tried to bat his hand away. "Okay, okay! Stop messing my hair up!" I began to struggle, jostling the bed.

Jiraiya laughed raucously, and bellowed, "The Gallant Jiraiya does whatever the Gallant Jiraiya wants to! Take this!" Both of his hands began messing with my hair.

"M-mwuh! Stop!"

"Gahahahah!"

Ugh, this man... was even more of a child than I was currently. I grumbled, "T-that's enough. Really. Stop."

His laughter died down to several chuckles, and he sat down heavily on the bed next to me. Jiraiya said flippantly, "Aaaah, I got tired of doing that anyways." He reached down and picked up the storybook again. "Anyways, why don't we take a look at your picture book together? C'mon."

I released my breath in an irritated huff, and replied, "F-finally..." I scooted closer to him, and Jiraiya placed the book between us.

"Alright, Chou, these characters together spell 'shi' and 'ro.' You were slightly correct before in inferring that the title was 'White Butterfly,' but the complete name is the Tale of the White Butterfly..." His callused fingers pointed at each symbol, explaining the meaning and the sound derived from it.

We read together for the rest of the day, until my eyelids grew heavy and my vision darkened in exhaustion.

I couldn't wait to go traveling with Jiraiya.

It was official. Traveling with Jiraiya was the worst.

My eyebrow twitched as we walked, carrying the small backpack he had bought me on his back. The gravel on the road crunched underneath by my new shoes, and the sun shone into my eyes.

It was hot.

The heat was only worsened by the fact that I wore a SKIN-TIGHT FROG SUIT. It might've been cute if I wasn't the one wearing this green abomination. The disgusting frog suit did not breath in the slightest, trapping all my sweat inside. I was so, so tired.

The only thing that made the situation slightly better was that he wore one too. Jiraiya didn't even seemed fazed by the suit he wore, looking cool as ever.

He noticed me staring, and smirked. "We're about three hours away from Takigakure. How are you doing, brat?"

"T-t-terr-terrible."

"Try saying it again, but make sure to visualize the word in your head before saying it. It helps to talk slower, too."

I would've flushed pink, but my face was already red from exhaustion. "Teri... Terrible."

"Better."

".T-terrible."

"Good, but try it again."

"... Terrible."

"Very good. You want me to carry you?"

"... Yes."

He picked me up, and placed me onto his back. I placed my arms around his neck and leaned into his white, fluffy hair, and we relapsed into silence. I felt my eyes drooping, and I blinked my eyes open when Jiraiya suddenly broke the silence. "We're fifteen minutes away from Takigakure now."

I stretched out my neck to the side, cracking it. "W-w-what are we, I mean... what, are we doing in T-takigakure?"

He hmm'ed, and said, "I'm going to be meeting with the leader of the village to talk about grown-up stuff. I'll drop you off at the inn, and maybe you can explore for a bit. Hey, I'll even give you a bit of money, too. How about that?"

That didn't sound too bad. "Mm.. okay." A thought suddenly struck me, and I asked, "A-a-are we gonna wear these... suits... t-t-too?"

Jiraiya guffawed, his entire body shaking. "Well, I'm not wearing it. You are!"

I grabbed a double fist-full of hair and began pulling. Jiraiya let out a yelp, and continued, "G-gah! It's supposed to teach you how to remain calm in the face of adversity! It's shinobi training!"

I responded angrily, "I-i-it's h-humiliation!"

"No, really! I've used it before, really! Stop pulling, my hair's gonna come out!"

"A-a-at least, wear it w-w-with me!"

I managed to pull out one chunk of hair when we reached Takigakure's entrance. His hair is pretty durable. A guard met with us, and bowed to Jiraiya. He must've been very well-trained, because he managed to keep a straight face when he saw Jiraiya and me. We were still wearing the embarrassing frog suits. He did glance at me for a few seconds, but that may have been because I was some kid hanging around with Jiraiya.

He led us up the rocky path next to the waterfall, and led us behind the waterfall. Jiraiya took me off his shoulders onto the ground. I kicked a stone on the ground, and we entered the vast cave system behind the waterfall. Greenish pools of water were everywhere in the cave.

I nudged Jiraiya, and whispered, "H-how... how, are we getting into the v-village?" He shushed me and gestured to follow the guard. The guard walked over to one of the pools of water, and dove in.

Uh.

Oh hell no. I began backing away.

Jiraiya grabbed me around the waist, and I began struggling wildly. No, no no nonononononoonooo a thousand times hell fucking no, I was not going in there, nononoono.

"Make sure to take a deep breath, brat!" We dove in.

The chilliness of the water shocked me. I felt myself freeze up, and I gasped in fear, clamping my mouth shut again when my precious air escaped. I didn't want to drown again. Bubbles washed around me, and I held myself stiffly under Jiraiya's shoulder.

Running out of air.

The darkness of the underwater passage frightened me. I needed air. Holding my breath started to hurt.

I began choking, desperate from a breath. Vaguely, I felt Jiraiya swimming faster. Water rushed into my lungs, and I just. Couldn't. Breath.

Light... the surface, air...!

Jiraiya and I broke the surface, and I instantly began coughing out the water I had breathed in desperately. He swam over to the edge of the lake, where the guard waited patiently. I collapsed on the shore, chest heaving, vision spinning. I vomited the second time in the past week.

Well.

Welcome to Takigakure.

Author's Note:

- Chou is two years older than the main cast. Thanks for your support and interest, I really appreciate it!

WinchesterNimrod - ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Survive? Of couuuurse Chou will survive! Ohohoho!

Tsuchigumo - Haha, I understand. I always thought people used that premise because it's one of the simplest to implement. You already start out close to the main storyline, have genetic advantages, the drive to become strong, etc...

lizy2000 - Thank you! I-I can't make anymore promises about updating frequently, but I'll try!

RandomCitizen - Mmm, that's pretty true, how Chou got over it pretty quickly. I'll keep that in mind if I revise the story.

Helvetica - Hohoho... Moses becomes a prophet in the future. Who acts like a god in Naruto? Foreshadowing...

greymouser - Hmm, I'll try to flesh things out a bit more description-wise.

ilat-2 - Spoilers. But he will meet a variety of people.

Moka-girl - Yes!

Robynhood13- ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

war sage - Thanks!

Hah, I apologize for the lateness. That's all I really have to say, other than I enjoy putting Chou into situations in which he'll suffer. Haha. Thank y'all for reading!

Bye. -Rin

P.S. There's a poll on my profile about my future stories. You can vote to choose which one you want implemented first.

Status: Unproofreaded

Word Count: 2671