Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Not Quite
Prologue: The change
3 reviewsA chance encounter with Jiraiya when Naruto was seven leads to a very different route in Uzumaki Naruto's shinobi career.
4Original
Disclaimer: I hold no claim to Naruto. This is merely Fan Fiction, I don't earn money from writing this. I do, however, waste a lot of time happily. :)
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Not Quite
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Prologue: The Change
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A young boy of seven, with bright yellow blond hair and determined azure eyes was practicing hand-seals furiously in a secluded forest glade. With all the expended chakra due to the practice, the boy was huffing with exhaustion, but anyone with eyes could see that he wouldn't rest until he succeeded in performing the jutsu. In fact, he would have done so all night in vain if it wasn't for an elderly drunk man stumbling through the brush near the clearing.
Now Naruto had never had much luck with drunk folk, they either hung on you in a daze sprouting all sorts of nonsense, or became very violent and insulting. The violent sort of drunks, who he'd often encounter due to the location of his apartment (in the "shadier" side of Konoha), were one of the main drives for him to become a ninja. That and he really wanted to show all those people who glare at him and call him worthless that they were wrong. One of these days he'd be accepted as a valued member of the Konoha elite! Maybe even the Hokage.
To get back to the situation at hand, however, Naruto was sufficiently wary at the sight of the drunk, but when the elderly man collapsed on the ground he went back to his practice. A man who couldn't stand, couldn't hurt him, right? Well, it eased Naruto's mind, at least.
Ten attempts later Naruto was looking very frustrated and downtrodden. Why wasn't it working? He knew he wasn't a bad ninja, the Old man Hokage himself told him so! And he was doing the hand-seals exactly as his sensei taught him. He was so frustrated with his failure that he forgot the old drunk was even there, and that's precisely the reason he was scared out of his socks when he heard someone speak behind him. "You're doing it wrong."
Whirling around in alarm, not to mention jumping back a few steps in reflex, he noticed it was the old drunk from before! Suspicious, and feeling a tiny trickle of fear when noticing that the man was dressed as a ninja (with an odd looking hiat-tai), he didn't take the words with much heed, only as an insult to his skills. "How would you know? You're probably just trying to make me do it wrong! My sensei told me this is how it's done, he wouldn't lie to me." Well, in all truth, it was very likely the guy would lie to him. Most of the time his teacher sent him glares, and never answered his questions or helping him. Actually, it was down right suspicious that after weeks of asking for help learning a jutsu the man suddenly showed him exactly how to do one, but he wasn't going to let this old drunk know that!
He didn't even want to admit it to himself. It was the reason he was trying to get the jutsu to work so badly, denial goes to great lengths to keep its hold, after all.
"Well, your teacher knows shit, because someone taught you how to do the monkey seal wrong." The man took another sip out of the alcohol bottle clutched in his left hand and laughed. "That or you are incompetent at following directions."
Naruto was hurt at the implications settling in, but would rather be angry that hurt, so lashing out at the old man who came all the way out here to belittle him was a prime directive. "Oh yeah! Then show me how it's supposed to be done! Do you think I'm just going to believe the words of any old geezer over the words of my sensei's? And I'm not incompetent! I'm doing it just like he said!" Actually, he would rather believe the words of a stranger over Kuze-sensei's words, but at least this way he could goad the man into showing him how to do 'bushin no jutsu' correctly. Even if it wasn't supposed to be taught until their graduation year of the academy, all of his other classmates already knew it from their parents or Kuze-sensei. It wasn't fair.
The old man snorted and answered, "Very well, brat, watch and learn." Naruto, while hiding his happiness at the fact the man was willing to help, watched with eager eyes nevertheless. The sealing process didn't look any different from what he did, but obviously the man was doing something right as two clones popped into existence next to him, both with the same spiky white hair and tattoos.
"Wow! Cool!" Despite having seen it many times by his classmates, none of them had ever made two copies! And he'd never get over the sheer coolness of jutsus in general. However, that didn't change the fact that the man used the same sealing process as he did to get these results. A sense of failure was creeping up on him, but he'd make sure that it there wasn't another explanation before admitting defeat! "But you didn't use the monkey seal any different than I did!"
The man seemed to be expecting that answer and asked him to make the monkey seal again. Pointing at the smallest finger on the backside of his hand the old man explained, "See, right there, that finger should be tucked into the hand sequence like your other finger. They must mirror each other. Ha, that's it kid. Now try it out." The old man stepped back and motioned again for Naruto to proceed.
The young academy student, figuring he had nothing to lose, quickly started the short sealing sequence again. "Ram, monkey, ha!" Naruto was about to curse the man out for lying to him when he noticed there were two exact copies of himself standing right next to him! Two! That was more than anyone else in his class! In his distraction the clones were dispelled, but that didn't stop Naruto's joy. 'Maybe I can make even more!' He nodded in agreement with his thought and was about to try it when the old man interrupted him.
"Hey kid," The man was now frowning thoughtfully. "Did your sensei teach you the hand-seals one by one, or did he go through the process and have you imitate them?"
Naruto didn't see any harm in answering, especially after the help the man gave him. "Kuze-sensei had me try them from watching his movements, but he said I had the monkey seal wrong too. My ring finger was out of place, he said I was doing it right afterwards, though. Maybe he just missed it 'cause it's in the back and all." Naruto wasn't buying it, he knew for sure his sensei did that deliberately, but when he had implicated others before he'd received all the blame, not that many people bothered to ask before blaming him, that is.
He observed the man's frown deepen, and knew that the man didn't believe his sensei was innocent either, not completely anyway. In any case, it was getting late and he had to go to the academy tomorrow. He'd best thank the man and leave. "Hey mister! It's getting late... um, thanks for the help and all." Just as he was about to leave, and run back to his apartment the old man spoke again.
"Hey brat, what's your name?"
Hesitating slightly, as informing people of his name never seemed to end well, but he figured he owed the man that much. "Uzumaki Naruto."
The old man let out a thoughtful 'hm', and brushed off his clothing. "I'm Jiraiya, and it's Jiraiya-sensei to you, brat. Come here two days from now after your lessons and I'll train you to be a real shinobi." With that said, Jiraiya stumbled back the way he came.
Uzumaki Naruto was stunned, and was left staring after at the place his new sensei was just standing until a huge grin overtook his features. Yelling out, "Yeah!" with a little jig in the air, he dashed off in the direction of his apartment. He'd sleep peacefully that night with dreams about all the cool jutsu he would learn, unaware of how this chance meeting would change his life.
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Jiraiya let a smile creep onto his face upon hearing the boy's exclamation before a particularly nasty bruise on his head throbbed, distracting him. Quickly, he took another drink of the sake, as it was the only thing that eased the pain of so many hits to the head; he sat down against a tree. While the girls here were beautiful, they sure hit hard when they catch him researching! It was partially the reason he would stay out of Konoha for the most part, women from other villages were rare to catch him (mostly from being unaware of the resident pervert, like most of Konoha) and even if they did, they didn't hit half as hard!
As it is, he'd have to work on his stealth technique a bit more now that he was staying in Konoha to train the boy. 'I can't believe they'd go so far to sabotage his whole ninja career like that. That's treason! But I can't call attention to it; the council will probably thank the man for coming up with the idea and encourage further attempts! Sarutobi-sensei can only do so much... No, the most I can do is counteract any damage and make that boy into something his father would be proud of. Besides, I need a new student to pass along my knowledge to.' Jiraiya frowned at that line of thought, but knew it was true nonetheless.
He would train the container of the Kyuubi the same way as the man who sealed the beast up. Jiraiya snorted in amusement and took another sip of the sake. Somehow, it all seemed so very fitting.
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End prologue
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Author's note: My little "introduction" piece to writing Naruto fanfiction. Yes, this is my first Naru-fanfic. Please comment, I'd like to know if I'm not going the wrong way about this. Updates might take a bit, not because I don't write often enough, but because my computer is a piece of garbage and hates me.
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Not Quite
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Prologue: The Change
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A young boy of seven, with bright yellow blond hair and determined azure eyes was practicing hand-seals furiously in a secluded forest glade. With all the expended chakra due to the practice, the boy was huffing with exhaustion, but anyone with eyes could see that he wouldn't rest until he succeeded in performing the jutsu. In fact, he would have done so all night in vain if it wasn't for an elderly drunk man stumbling through the brush near the clearing.
Now Naruto had never had much luck with drunk folk, they either hung on you in a daze sprouting all sorts of nonsense, or became very violent and insulting. The violent sort of drunks, who he'd often encounter due to the location of his apartment (in the "shadier" side of Konoha), were one of the main drives for him to become a ninja. That and he really wanted to show all those people who glare at him and call him worthless that they were wrong. One of these days he'd be accepted as a valued member of the Konoha elite! Maybe even the Hokage.
To get back to the situation at hand, however, Naruto was sufficiently wary at the sight of the drunk, but when the elderly man collapsed on the ground he went back to his practice. A man who couldn't stand, couldn't hurt him, right? Well, it eased Naruto's mind, at least.
Ten attempts later Naruto was looking very frustrated and downtrodden. Why wasn't it working? He knew he wasn't a bad ninja, the Old man Hokage himself told him so! And he was doing the hand-seals exactly as his sensei taught him. He was so frustrated with his failure that he forgot the old drunk was even there, and that's precisely the reason he was scared out of his socks when he heard someone speak behind him. "You're doing it wrong."
Whirling around in alarm, not to mention jumping back a few steps in reflex, he noticed it was the old drunk from before! Suspicious, and feeling a tiny trickle of fear when noticing that the man was dressed as a ninja (with an odd looking hiat-tai), he didn't take the words with much heed, only as an insult to his skills. "How would you know? You're probably just trying to make me do it wrong! My sensei told me this is how it's done, he wouldn't lie to me." Well, in all truth, it was very likely the guy would lie to him. Most of the time his teacher sent him glares, and never answered his questions or helping him. Actually, it was down right suspicious that after weeks of asking for help learning a jutsu the man suddenly showed him exactly how to do one, but he wasn't going to let this old drunk know that!
He didn't even want to admit it to himself. It was the reason he was trying to get the jutsu to work so badly, denial goes to great lengths to keep its hold, after all.
"Well, your teacher knows shit, because someone taught you how to do the monkey seal wrong." The man took another sip out of the alcohol bottle clutched in his left hand and laughed. "That or you are incompetent at following directions."
Naruto was hurt at the implications settling in, but would rather be angry that hurt, so lashing out at the old man who came all the way out here to belittle him was a prime directive. "Oh yeah! Then show me how it's supposed to be done! Do you think I'm just going to believe the words of any old geezer over the words of my sensei's? And I'm not incompetent! I'm doing it just like he said!" Actually, he would rather believe the words of a stranger over Kuze-sensei's words, but at least this way he could goad the man into showing him how to do 'bushin no jutsu' correctly. Even if it wasn't supposed to be taught until their graduation year of the academy, all of his other classmates already knew it from their parents or Kuze-sensei. It wasn't fair.
The old man snorted and answered, "Very well, brat, watch and learn." Naruto, while hiding his happiness at the fact the man was willing to help, watched with eager eyes nevertheless. The sealing process didn't look any different from what he did, but obviously the man was doing something right as two clones popped into existence next to him, both with the same spiky white hair and tattoos.
"Wow! Cool!" Despite having seen it many times by his classmates, none of them had ever made two copies! And he'd never get over the sheer coolness of jutsus in general. However, that didn't change the fact that the man used the same sealing process as he did to get these results. A sense of failure was creeping up on him, but he'd make sure that it there wasn't another explanation before admitting defeat! "But you didn't use the monkey seal any different than I did!"
The man seemed to be expecting that answer and asked him to make the monkey seal again. Pointing at the smallest finger on the backside of his hand the old man explained, "See, right there, that finger should be tucked into the hand sequence like your other finger. They must mirror each other. Ha, that's it kid. Now try it out." The old man stepped back and motioned again for Naruto to proceed.
The young academy student, figuring he had nothing to lose, quickly started the short sealing sequence again. "Ram, monkey, ha!" Naruto was about to curse the man out for lying to him when he noticed there were two exact copies of himself standing right next to him! Two! That was more than anyone else in his class! In his distraction the clones were dispelled, but that didn't stop Naruto's joy. 'Maybe I can make even more!' He nodded in agreement with his thought and was about to try it when the old man interrupted him.
"Hey kid," The man was now frowning thoughtfully. "Did your sensei teach you the hand-seals one by one, or did he go through the process and have you imitate them?"
Naruto didn't see any harm in answering, especially after the help the man gave him. "Kuze-sensei had me try them from watching his movements, but he said I had the monkey seal wrong too. My ring finger was out of place, he said I was doing it right afterwards, though. Maybe he just missed it 'cause it's in the back and all." Naruto wasn't buying it, he knew for sure his sensei did that deliberately, but when he had implicated others before he'd received all the blame, not that many people bothered to ask before blaming him, that is.
He observed the man's frown deepen, and knew that the man didn't believe his sensei was innocent either, not completely anyway. In any case, it was getting late and he had to go to the academy tomorrow. He'd best thank the man and leave. "Hey mister! It's getting late... um, thanks for the help and all." Just as he was about to leave, and run back to his apartment the old man spoke again.
"Hey brat, what's your name?"
Hesitating slightly, as informing people of his name never seemed to end well, but he figured he owed the man that much. "Uzumaki Naruto."
The old man let out a thoughtful 'hm', and brushed off his clothing. "I'm Jiraiya, and it's Jiraiya-sensei to you, brat. Come here two days from now after your lessons and I'll train you to be a real shinobi." With that said, Jiraiya stumbled back the way he came.
Uzumaki Naruto was stunned, and was left staring after at the place his new sensei was just standing until a huge grin overtook his features. Yelling out, "Yeah!" with a little jig in the air, he dashed off in the direction of his apartment. He'd sleep peacefully that night with dreams about all the cool jutsu he would learn, unaware of how this chance meeting would change his life.
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Jiraiya let a smile creep onto his face upon hearing the boy's exclamation before a particularly nasty bruise on his head throbbed, distracting him. Quickly, he took another drink of the sake, as it was the only thing that eased the pain of so many hits to the head; he sat down against a tree. While the girls here were beautiful, they sure hit hard when they catch him researching! It was partially the reason he would stay out of Konoha for the most part, women from other villages were rare to catch him (mostly from being unaware of the resident pervert, like most of Konoha) and even if they did, they didn't hit half as hard!
As it is, he'd have to work on his stealth technique a bit more now that he was staying in Konoha to train the boy. 'I can't believe they'd go so far to sabotage his whole ninja career like that. That's treason! But I can't call attention to it; the council will probably thank the man for coming up with the idea and encourage further attempts! Sarutobi-sensei can only do so much... No, the most I can do is counteract any damage and make that boy into something his father would be proud of. Besides, I need a new student to pass along my knowledge to.' Jiraiya frowned at that line of thought, but knew it was true nonetheless.
He would train the container of the Kyuubi the same way as the man who sealed the beast up. Jiraiya snorted in amusement and took another sip of the sake. Somehow, it all seemed so very fitting.
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End prologue
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Author's note: My little "introduction" piece to writing Naruto fanfiction. Yes, this is my first Naru-fanfic. Please comment, I'd like to know if I'm not going the wrong way about this. Updates might take a bit, not because I don't write often enough, but because my computer is a piece of garbage and hates me.
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