At first Jiraiya had wanted to teach Naruto how to summon toads and get him started on using the nine-tales chakra. However, upon seeing the brat had at least 30 times the chakra of an average jonin level ninja, he reconsidered. If he could get him to be less liberal in his wastage of chakra, and give him a couple high level techniques, namely the Rasengan, he would be a dangerous opponent to nearly everyone he would face, especially with his ability to crank out ridiculously complicated yet efficient strategies in the heat of battle. Training with the fox could wait, this kid had too much potential, and it would be wasted trying to tame the fox's chakra especially since from what he had seen the container and the demon needed to be in some sort of agreement for it to be efficient. Since Naruto didn't have that kind of relation with the fox it would be an uphill battle, one that could be put off for a few months in exchange for training that would have both immediate and long term benefits.
That being said, training Naruto to use his chakra efficiently wouldn't be easy, considering the way he threw around those shadow clones. He would need some convincing.
"Listen brat, me the Legendary Toad Sage of Mount Myobuku, Sensei of The Fourth, one of the three Sannin, has decided to train you, feel honoured." Said Jiraiya all the while summoning a rather large toad and striking what he thought of as a heroic pose.
"Wait really, you taught the Fourth that's awesome, so what are you gonna teach me some super awesome jutsu that will make me the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf!" Exclaimed Naruto, absolutely brimming with excitement.
"Yeah I am, watch this." He stated, and began to form a spiraling ball of chakra in his hand and walking towards a nearby boulder and pressing it against it. Only for the ball to sink into it like a hot knife does to butter, and then pulling the ball out only for the boulder to explode outwards from where the ball had hit. "Ready to get started." And upon seeing Naruto nod he continued. "Right then, first things first make a couple of shadow clones and make them go into town and find a few hundred water balloons and hollow rubber balls. Meanwhile the Rasengan requires really good chakra control, and seeing as you've already mastered water walking, I want you to do water walking while doing the leaf concentrating exercise as well, once you can do that start running on the water, then do it with two leaves one your forehead and one on the back of your head, then move on to the other sides of your head and then your shoulders, and knees, and elbows, and you get the idea right. Well then get to it, I need for you to have this mastered in three days tops, the faster you do this the faster I can teach you more techniques. Okay good come find me when you can do that, and I'll get you started you started on the first step of the Rasengan, meanwhile I have research to do." And off he went with a decidedly perverted giggle.
"Hmm, don't worry pervy-sage I'll have this down in no time. Believe It!" Shouted Naruto at Jiraiya's retreating form. With that out of the way Naruto got to it. He didn't have a lot of trouble learning how to run on the water, but the second he added the leaf to his forehead he was reduced to standing still on the water for a good half an hour before he could start taking single steps. A further two hours were required before he could walk at a leisurely pace without falling in, and just as it was without the leaf running on the water didn't cause him much grief.
The second leaf he added to the back of his head didn't nearly take as long as the first to get accustomed to, instead of the three hours the first leaf took, the second leaf only took him two hours. The third and fourth leaves he decided to attach at the same time, which took him approximately 2 hours, at which point he decided to call it a day and resolved to finish the exercise tomorrow.
Jiraiya had in fact not been conducting his researching, because he had already gotten all the inspiration he needed to right his next book, just before Naruto had convinced him to teach him. Instead he had concealed himself in the canopy of a tree and was keeping an eye on Naruto while writing the first chapter of Icha Icha Covert Operations. If he said so himself, this was going to be his best work yet, the story was of a young teen by the name of Hakashi Katake, and his many misadventures as an ANBU Captain leading a squad of all-female operatives tasked to protect his ninja village from the nefarious intentions of a S-Classed missing-nin.
What he had witnessed however was fascinating. From what he had seen the brat barley took anytime to master running on water, but had taken an inordinate amount of time to learn how to walk. Furthermore, it seemed as if the more leaves he had added the easier the exercise had become for him. Strange, for most every other ninja this exercise had gotten harder and harder the more they had to divide their focus on the different leaves. For Naruto it was the opposite. What made Naruto different? He didn't know but he resolved to find out.
By the middle of the next day, Naruto had managed to stick 16 leaves to various locations on his body and was running around the lake at which point Jiraiya revealed himself to Naruto.
"Ah, I see you've mastered the exercise to a reasonable degree, now normally I would make you do the same thing with kunai, but since your competing in the chunin exams in about a month ill start teaching you the Rasengan. Now where are the water balloons and rubber balls I asked you to get?" Inquired Jiraiya while looking across the training ground.
"Oh, my clones left them in my apartment I'll go get them right now." Said Naruto
A little while later and Naruto came back with the training supplies and began the first of the three steps required to create the Rasengan. Surprisingly it only took him a few hours to get balloon to burst the way Jiraiya had showed him. The second step took him an entire two days of constant practice to get down. The third step proved to be too troublesome for him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't contain the Rasengan in a balloon. On the third day of learning the third step of the technique he came up with the idea to use shadow clone to stabilize it. Unfortunately for him Jiraiya pointed out that people trying to kill him wouldn't patiently wait while he was busy trying to use a jutsu, and told him to get back to it.
By the end of the day it became clear that he wouldn't be able to master the Rasengan in less than three weeks, hence the reason why Jiraiya decided to get him started on learning how to use it.
That proved to be a wise decision, because the Rasengan was a close range technique, it required the user to be able to actually land a hit on the enemy, something Naruto wasn't awfully good at.
"Alright brat let's see your taijutsu." Said Jiraiya, and frankly he was disappointed. Naruto just rushed towards him and began flinging his arms and legs at him with no apparent form. "Stop, I've seen enough kid. Your problem is that you have no apparent form, and your technique is essentially just running at me and hoping that something connects, and we need to fix that."
So here he was standing just outside the village at 4 in the morning with the oddly upset Might Guy.
"Hey Big Brows Sensei, why are you so upset this morning, I know that Bushy Brows got injured pretty badly, but he'll be better in no time!" Exclaimed Naruto.
"Yosh Naruto-Kun, your flames of youth are unrivalled only by a few, alas the matter is not that simple. Lee-kun was wounded gravely and the medics say that there is little that they can do. I am afraid that the only medic that has the ability to heal him is Tsunade of the Sannin. She however requested an indefinite leave after the third shinobi world war because of the un-youthful deaths of both her lover, and brother. Since then she has not stepped foot into the village." Said Guy in a depressed voice.
"Huh, be that as it may but I believe in Bushy Brows, and if anyone can pull through this its him, and if only this Tsunade lady can heal him, I will personally set out to find her and bring her back to cure Lee after the Chunin Exams. That's a promise of a life time. Believe it!" Affirmed Naruto as he settled in to a pose similar to what Jiraiya had done when they had first met.
"Yosh Naruto-kun, your flames of youth burn most brightly, and to make them even brighter, we shall run 100 laps around the village as fast as we can!" Yelled Might Guy, his spirits rising.
"Yeah that settles it." Thought Naruto after running in a dead sprint around the village 30 times, "Big Brows is completely insane, and to think I have to keep up this pace for another 70 laps."
After completing their laps around the village Guy proceeded to teach him basic taijutsu stances which he explained were designed to be the building blocks of a style that he was meant to grow into and modify to fit his needs as he grew as a ninja. Incorporating into it room for his own techniques.
Later that afternoon, after finishing his taijutsu training with Might Guy, he went back to the clearing where he trained the days before. Upon entering the training ground he proceeded with trying to maintain the Rasengan within the water balloon. Half an hour later Jiraiya was greeted to the sight of the blond failing to master the final step of the Rasengan.
"Hey pervy-sage, I have a question." Naruto shouted seeing him in the clearing. "How come I'm forming the Rasengan in the palm of my hand, wouldn't it be better to make it on the outside of my hand, it would make using it easier right?" Questioned Naruto.
"Huh, good to see you using our head brat. To answer your question, the Fourth was a seal master, and he regularly used seals in battle. He did this by rapidly moving beside his enemy and slapping a seal on to the enemies back. So when he created the Rasengan, he incorporated that into his style. What he would do was move beside his enemy, but instead of a seal, he would slap a Rasengan into the back of his opponents head. Effectively ending the fight." Answered Jiraiya.
"So why do you create it in the palm of your hand pervy-sage?" Asked Naruto.
"Well, to be honest the Fourth taught me the Rasengan when I was around 35 years old. By then I already had a style that worked for me so I didn't really feel the need to make the technique fit my style of fighting. Even now if I happen to get into a fight I don't really use the technique, I have my own that work just fine for me."
"So why did you teach it to me then, how come you didn't teach me one of your own techniques?" Questioned Naruto.
"I will, but I figured that the Rasengan is a powerful technique, and that since you're still a genin learning how to fight properly, you could put it to use better than I ever could. As for why I didn't teach you my techniques, well I will if I can get permission to take you on as my apprentice after the chunin exams." Jiraiya replied with an easy smile on his face.
"Hmm, I don't know about that I mean Kakashi is still my jonin sensei, isn't it his job to teach us?" Inquired Naruto, unsure about the response especially since Kakashi had only been teaching Sasuke for the chunin exams, instead of both of them.
"That's not how it works kid, the role of a jonin sensei is to keep an eye on and take missions with their genin until they are deemed ready to take missions with other genin and chunin. In fact most jonin don't even teach their genin anything since genin are expected to gain strength on their own. The fact that Kakashi has decided to train Sasuke is rare onto itself, it probably means that he thinks Sasuke is in over his head and decided to train him a bit in order to make sure the kid doesn't die." Explained Jiraiya.
"If I'm expected to gain strength by myself then why are you teaching me?" Asked Naruto suspicious of Jiraiya's intentions.
"Heh, don't read too much into it kid. Time to time ninja want to pass down the knowledge they themselves have gained to the next generation. To continue their legacy if you will. Keep in mind that just because I decided to teach you a thing or two, doesn't mean I want you to depend on me either, in life no one hands you the secrets to their power without a reason. Before you ask, mine is to make sure my techniques and dreams don't die with me." Explained Jiraiya once more.
"Ahh I get it! Your old and have no kids or anything so you want me to know some of the stuff you do so people don't forget you. I see." Exclaimed Naruto while sagely nodding his head. "So what's your dream pervy-sage, mines to become the Hokage, so everyone has to acknowledge me and so I can keep the people I love and the village safe!" Shouted Naruto.
"Heh, this world is trapped in a cycle of hatred kid, and my dream is to break that cycle. You weren't there during the last two shinobi world wars, but let me tell you, the world as it is now is an ugly and cruel place. I want to change that." Said Jiraiya in a somber tone.
"What do you mean by the cycle of hatred pervy-sage?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Heh, let's suppose you were on a mission, and were attacked by an enemy ninja, for whatever reason, and you killed him in self-defence. Now let's suppose the person you killed had people who he was precious to, and hearing about his death the people that person was precious to grieve. Eventually, that grief is going to leave them and in its place only anger is left for the person who caused it. Now with that anger comes the desire for revenge, so the people who the person you killed was precious hunt you down and kill you. In response the people who you were precious to grieve, and then hate, and then seek revenge. As this happens hate spreads, and both the guilty and the innocent die in the crossfires spreading the hate. My dream is to end that cycle and let peace prosper." Said Jiraiya with conviction.
"I understand sensei, and I'll do whatever I can to help you, believe it that's a promise of a life time!" Yelled Naruto
With that, Naruto set out to master the Rasengan, this time however, he formed his hand into a fist, and tried to create it on the outside of his hand.
AN: This is my first Naruto fanfic, so let me know what you guys think about it. If you have any ideas PM me, or leave a review.
The 6 King