The Sannin's Apprentice

Chapter 7

"Damn it." cursed Sasuke quietly as yet another water balloon exploded in his face. Looking ahead and seeing a small building, Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and decided to take a break from getting doused.

"The key concept here is control." Sasuke sent a glare at Jiraiya to let the Sannin know just what he thought of the advice he had been getting constantly for over a month now as he tried constantly to master the third and final step of the Rasengan. The first step had been easy enough. While the Sharingan couldn't copy the technique, it did let Sasuke see the multiple directions the chakra was swirling in at once, and it was a simple process to replicate it.

The second step had focused on power, and Sasuke had plenty of that. Overall, he had mastered the water balloon and rubber ball in little more than a week. The he had been introduced to the water balloon once more, this time to use the power that destroyed the rubber ball without breaking the balloon. Sasuke had probably wasted enough water training to turn the Land of Wind's desert into a lake.

Jiraiya looked ahead and noticed the building as well. "Ah, looks like we're here. We'll get some dinner here, spend the night, and in the morning you can head to Katabami Gold Mine to deal with those bandits. You sure you're up to it?"

Sasuke was less than pleased at having his abilities doubted. "Please, these scum don't stand a chance against an Uchiha." Jiraiya laughed at his student's confidence, and opened the door to the inn they would be staying at. The main room was empty, save for a white haired boy in a purple shirt eating curry in an almost seductive manner that implied he was enjoying it immensely.

"Oh man, this curry is fantastic!" The sentence was punctuated with him taking a far too long swig from the gallon jug of water next to him on the table.

"Hohoho, I'm glad you like it." said an old woman, poking her head around the corner while carrying a large pot. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed Sasuke and Jiraiya standing in the doorway. "Oh, today is certainly busy. What can I get you gentlemen?"

"We need a room, and if the curry is half as good as he's making it out to be, we'll probably want some of that too." said Jiraiya, gesturing to the white haired boy who was chasing another bite of curry down with another half-gallon of water.

"I'll whip up another batch." said the old innkeeper with a smile as she returned to the back, presumably the kitchen.

"Make that two batches! This stuff is amazing!" the purple clad boy shouted after her. Jiraiya sat down at a table on the other side of the room, but raised his hand to stop Sasuke form sitting down.

"What?" asked Sasuke, rather annoyed. He had been repeatedly soaked throughout the day, another reminder of his failures, and the dampness only added to his exhaustion from travelling.

"I've been struck by inspiration over here, and my publisher wants the next installment soon." Sasuke was unfortunately familiar with his mentor's bestselling series. "A wet blanket like you would just kill this creative storm I've got going on here."

"Then what should I do?" Sasuke was still frustrated, but he wanted to be around a creative Jiraiya, who had a nasty habit of reading his notes aloud, even less than Jiraiya wanted him around.

"I don't know, go make friends with our well hydrated friend over there." said Jiraiya, gesturing to the inn's only other occupant, who was indeed chugging more water. Sasuke sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps the other boy would be decent conversation.

Hands in his pockets, Sasuke approached the table. "The hell do you want? If it's my food or my water, I'll cut you in half." Looking closer, Sasuke noticed a well-worn katana in the seat next to him.

"Neither. Just hoping you'd be decent conversation. Unlike some others." said Sasuke, raising his voice so Jiraiya would overhear the jab.

"That's the perfect line for the jealous boyfriend! Thanks Sasuke!" Sasuke's expression soured as his insult backfired in spectacular fashion.

Grumbling, Sasuke took a seat across from the swordsman. "So what are you doing all the way out here? I'm on a mission," said Sasuke as he pointed to his headband, "but it seems like an out of the way place."

"I'm looking for a man who likes to hide in out of the way places. Then I can finally ditch this stupid sword." said the swordsman, taking another swig of water. "Name's Suigetsu by the way."

"Sasuke. Why would you want to get rid of this sword? It seems good enough." said Sasuke. Sure enough, the blade had seen some use, but it by no means looked unusable.

"Good enough isn't good enough for what I need to do. I need a legendary sword to kill the guy I'm after." said Suigetsu. "Well, the guy I'm really after. The man I'm hunting now just so happens to have a sword I want."

Sasuke thought of asking about the obvious revenge that Suigetsu wanted, but he had enough of that in his own life. But a legendary sword wasn't something you hear about every day. "A legendary sword?"

It was clearly a good topic, as Suigetsu stopped drinking and his eyes lit up as he launched into an explanation. "Yeah, the Seven Legendary Swords of the Hidden Mist Village. My lifelong dream is to collect all of them. Right now I'm hunting Raiga Kurosuki, wielder of the Thunderswords Kiba. They're a sword, well two really, that can control lightning. Not just Lightning Style chakra, though they can do that too, but actual lightning! They're super powerful, and once I find Raiga, they're totally mine!"

"Oh Raiga Kurosuki?" asked Jiraiya without looking up from is notepad. "I think he's leading the bandits at Katabami Gold Mine. They are called the Kurosuki Bandits after all."

Suigetsu didn't even bother to say goodbye as he grabbed his sword and flew out of the room. Sasuke didn't have much time to miss his companion, as the innkeeper, who introduced herself as Sansho, brought their food, slightly perplexed by the ruckus Suigetsu had made with his hurried exit. Sasuke was quick to excuse himself after eating to go train, as Jiraiya figured that good mealtime conversation consisted of asking his apprentice which kinks he should pander to in the side stories of the next Icha Icha novel.

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Behind the inn, Sasuke found himself soaked once more, and threw the scraps of rubber balloon on the ground in frustration. The Rasengan would undoubtedly be a powerful technique to use against Itachi, since the Sharingan couldn't copy it, and it could be created near instantaneously, but the trouble it was giving him made Sasuke borderline furious.

Hearing something rustle in the bushes, Sasuke sunk into a defensive stance and activated his Sharingan, ready for anything. Almost anything.

"YOSH! We have finally arrived. Lee, you have a fine taste in restaurants." Four people emerged, though two in particular caught his eye and refused to let him look at the normal two. Nearly identical and clad head to toe in green jumpsuits with cringe worthy bowl cuts and eyebrows that likely required a separate mailing address, they made an… interesting pair to say the least.

"Next time Guy sensei lets the winner of team spars pick where we eat for lunch, can we require that it be IN the village?" Managing to draw his eyes from what might be the only pair of ninja more ridiculously dressed than Jiraiya and Naruto, Sasuke took in the other two members of the ninja team. The girl who had just spoken was rather plain, with brown hair done up in double buns being her most unique characteristic.

"I have apologized for missing training that day. At this point, we can only hope that this curry Lee is so excited to eat is as good as he has made it out to be." The more normal looking male teammate had rather long, feminine hair, but the most attention grabbing feature were his pure white eyes, clearly marking him as a member of the Hyuuga clan. Sasuke had been raised to think of the Hyuuga clan as the eternal rivals of the Uchiha, and he instinctually disliked the Hyuuga. Somehow none of the four had noticed Sasuke, despite him standing right in front of them, so he made his presence known by clearing his throat.

"Ah! How rude of us!" said the adult, likely the sensei of the team. "I am Might Guy, leader of Team 9. These are my students, Neji, Tenten, and my personal protégé Lee."

"Truly, it is a pleasure to meet a fellow genin their Springtime of Youth! Have you also travelled here to partake of the most delicious Curry of Life?" said Lee, though shouted might have been a more apt term if Sasuke didn't suspect that this was how he talked all the time.

"Yeah, we are really out of the way, what are you doing out here?" asked Tenten curiously. Sasuke was glad for the distraction from the obnoxious genin.

"Out here on a mission at Katabami Gold Mine." Said Sasuke simply. "Though the curry was rather good."

"Ah yes. Miss Sansho is a truly skilled chef. Her curry once saved Lee's life!" Sasuke wasn't sure he would call the curry life-savingly good, but perhaps Lee had gotten some special, medicinal version.

"Ah, enough talk, we travelled a long way so Lee could eat this curry again, so let's get a move on!" said Tenten, actively trying to push Guy and Lee towards the inn. "Maybe we'll see you later Sasuke!"

Sasuke nodded politely to her as the three vanished into the trees towards the inn before turning to return to his training. Sasuke dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding the chakra laced jab that Neji had sent at his torso. Sasuke pushed off the ground with his hands, flipping upright and putting some distance between him and the Hyuuga. "Impressive reflexes. Perhaps my fate isn't a dull as I thought it might be."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sasuke, narrowing his eyes and readying the chakra for his Sharingan.

"Perhaps you don't know, but our clans have had a most bitter rivalry since before the founding of the Hidden Leaf." said Neji, slipping out of his fighting stance. "As I am a prodigy of the Gentle Fist and you are the last remaining Uchiha, we are fated to clash. It isn't our fate to battle here though. I trust I'll see you in the Chunin exams."

With that, Neji calmly walked past Sasuke, who kept his guard up the entire time. Only once he could sense that Neji really was leaving did he lower his arms with a heavy sigh. One thing Neji said had bothered him more than the rest. Despite being the personal apprentice of a member of the Sannin, he was still technically a genin. Sasuke tried to placate his indignation with the thought that he would talk to Jiraiya after this mission about a promotion to try and keep his chakra calm enough to prevent the water balloon from bursting.

He failed.

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Jiraiya woke Sasuke with a sensation the Uchiha had come to subconsciously dread, the sound of a water balloon popping followed by the felling of water being dumped on his face. Jiraiya was a skilled ninja, no doubt about it, and an adequate teacher, but sometime Sasuke wanted to kill him for his tendency to think of himself as a merry prankster.

"Rise and shine brat!" Sasuke sat up and glared, wiping the water from his face with one smooth motion. "An agent of mine called up an emergency meeting, so I won't be able to accompany you to the Gold Mine. Sorry 'bout that. BUT, I've arranged for Might Guy's team to join you as support. He thinks it will make for good experience. I agree."

"Good experience? They're bandits." said Sasuke shaking off sleep. Regular bandit troops were a threat to civilians, but any genin team worth their salt could easily disperse most groups of them. They wouldn't really be much experience unless Guy's Genin team was completely untested.

"Bandits led by a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. Raiga Kurosaki was an emergency fill in for the previous wielder of the twin swords Kiba, and he's a jonin in name only, but he's still no pushover." said Jiraiya. The legendary Sannin sighed. "Just try not to die."

Sasuke scoffed. "I hadn't planned on it." The Uchiha looked around slowly. "So where's my team?"

"It will be a pleasure to work alongside someone trained by the great Jiraiya!" Sasuke wheeled around to see Lee's excited face far too close for comfort.

Neji merely grunted, while Tenten sheepishly bowed. "Ah, I'm sorry for my teammates. Please lead us well."

"I'll leave you kids to it then!" said Jiraiya exuberantly. "Bring me back a souvenir!" With that, Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Sasuke sighed internally before turning to his temporary team. The avenger often trained with Kakashi Hatake when Jiraiya was too busy on important business, usually working on his control over the Sharingan or Lightning Style ninjutsu, neither of which were Jiraiya's strong suit. During his time with the one-eyed jonin, Sasuke had heard stories of Might Guy's training. Based on that knowledge and Lee's near identical apparel to his sensei, it was likely Lee specialized in Taijutsu. Neji's eyes quickly gave him away a Hyuga, and therefore another Taijutsu user. Tenten was the only real wild card, and Sasuke would bet money that she ran some form of support for her close range teammates, perhaps a long ranged ninjutsu user or medic. Of course, none of that mattered, since Sasuke had already decided on a plan. "Let's go then."

The four genin took off through the trees with an ease native to ninja of the Hidden Leaf, making good time towards their destination. Motioning silently for Guy's team to do the same, Sasuke crouched down to peek over the cliff face at the Gold Mine below. As the three other genin joined him, Sasuke noticed that the dark clouds that had been overhead finally split open and began to pour rain.

Below however, was something that grabbed everyone's attention. Walking through the rain in a long procession were a multitude of figures, hooded as to keep the rain off of them. Near the front of the column was a large casket, and unlike regular coffins it was locked. If Sasuke remembered the mission briefing correctly, the person inside was likely still alive. Sasuke turned to look at the town surrounding the gold mine, hoping to find the bandit's headquarters, set up a trap, and take Raiga by surprise. After mulling it over for a second, he decided that Neji's Byakugan would be better suited for finding their objective, and so decided to let the others in on his plan. "Okay, that's Raiga down there with his men. While they're out here-"

"We will show them the power of our burning spirits! An excellent plan!" shouted Lee, standing upright and charging down the cliff before Sasuke could even react.

Of course, Sasuke was snapped back to reality by the knowledge that Lee would likely die if he didn't receive support. For better or worse, this was the plan now. "Damn it!" swore Sasuke quietly. "We need to go after him. You two help Lee with the bandits, I'll handle Raiga until you can lend support." With that the three genin leapt off the cliff to join their comrade, who was already engaging Raiga's underlings in what Sasuke had to admit was some impressive Taijutsu. Activating his Sharingan as Neji and Tenten broke off to support their teammate, Sasuke flew through the hand seals for his most powerful technique and pushed his speed to the max, hoping to catch Raiga off guard and end the fight before it began. "Lightning Style: Chidori!"

Blue lightning sparked to life in Sasuke's hand with a loud screech, its sheer power digging a shallow trench in the ground as Sasuke sprinted towards his target, the hooded figure at the head of the column. As he neared Raiga however, the Sharingan's crystal clear vision began to blur. Sasuke didn't really have time to figure out why his Sharingan was failing him, but he remembered Kakashi's strict warnings not to use the Chidori without his Sharingan, as the tunnel vision made it too easy for the opponent to counter the devastating lightning attack.

Forced to improvise, Sasuke changed the manipulation of the lightning chakra in his hand, releasing the tight control it was under and allowing it to rapidly expand at the cost of any power it had. "Lightning Style: Chidori Flash!" The bright flash of light erupted from Sasuke's hand, hopefully blinding Raiga to the kunai he whipped out of his pouch and threw at where he knew Raiga was.

Somehow, Sasuke heard the distinct sound of metal on metal, signifying that Raiga had somehow managed to deflect the kunai. Opening his eyes once he knew the bright lights had dissipated, Sasuke quickly ducked under the swing of a strange sword with a small spike at the base and another near the tip. Despite the splitting headache that his blurry Sharingan was giving him, Sasuke was still able to react to the sword's twin coming up from below and he jumped backwards, deactivating his Sharingan as he realized that if he wanted to focus on the fight, he'd need to alleviate the migraine pounding away inside his skull caused by the strange issue with his eyes.

"You care so much about your friend there that you'd rush headlong into death?" said Raiga, his hood now down. Sasuke glared back with his onyx eyes, waiting for Raiga to make the next move. "That's so touching. I'll be sure to remember these great times at your funeral. Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!" Crossing the twin swords above his head, Raiga formed a ball of lightning between the blades as tear freely fell from his face.

The attack was rather straightforward, is incredibly fast, and Sasuke leapt to the side, flying through the hand seals for his counterattack as he did. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball!" The lightning chakra gathering between the blades dissipated as Raiga leapt up and away from the flames. Raiga landed a fair distance away from Sasuke, who was panting from the exertion of his last technique, yet confident in its success. Just then Raiga jumped again, just as a pair of hands burst from the ground from directly beneath where he had been standing. Before the rest of Sasuke's shadow clone could get away, Raiga rained down lightning on the vulnerable clone and causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

This wasn't good. Sasuke might have gotten most of the chakra back from the clone, but he was quickly running out of tricks to deal with an opponent who could throw off his eyes and seemingly predict his every move. He needed to do something unpredictable, but planned. Something that Naruto would do. Pulling out a kunai, Sasuke recklessly charged at Raiga jumping into the air to add more power to his strike. Midair, Sasuke channeled Lightning Style chakra into the shorter blade, lengthening it dramatically.

Confident in the power of his swords, Raiga simply raised them to block, channeling some lightning down the length of his own swords for good measure. Just before the lightning coated swords connected, Sasuke decreased the length of his lightning blade, barely grazing the twin lightning swords with the tip of his own before immediately increasing the length again. The blade barely reached Raiga's chest, leaving a long, if shallower than Sasuke would have liked, cut from shoulder to hip.

But Sasuke was far from done, and he took advantage of Raiga's distracting pain press the attack by pivoting himself around to deliver a powerful spin kick to Raiga's right arm, spinning the swordsman around so he couldn't use his swords to counter. Having dropped the kunai eaten away by the lightning chakra, Sasuke grabbed another from his pouch and stabbed at Raiga's oddly shaped back, leaving the kunai jammed in after feeling the small knife bite into flesh.

"AAGGHH! Lightning Style: Banquet of Lightning!" Sasuke jumped back to put some distance between him and Raiga's final attack. Unfortunately, the lightning that spread outwards from the two blade buried in the ground was too fast, and Sasuke was given a powerful electric shock when he touched the ground. Shaking his head, Sasuke tried to fight through the pain and get his head back in the fight. Raiga was down, but his men might still be causing problems.

Then, oddly enough, Sasuke heard Raiga's voice, surprisingly loud and clear for someone who had just been stabbed. "Ranmaru! Ranmaru, c'mon, wake up. You can't be dead." Looking over, Sasuke noticed Raiga weeping over the body of a small child, who had apparently been in a pack on Raiga's back throughout the whole fight. Sasuke realized then what he had actually stabbed with his kunai. Even worse than Sasuke having kill some kid though, that meant Raiga was more or less fine, which was really bad news for Sasuke. "You…" said Raiga, standing up and turning to face Sasuke, his face twisted by equal parts pure grief and unbridled rage. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Raiga smashed the hilts of both his blades together and spun the longer sword around with terrifying speed. "LIGHTNING STRIKE ARMOR!"

Sasuke stared in awe at the skill of Raiga's lightning manipulation as a bolt of actual lightning fell from the skies and hit Raiga, coating his whole body with an armor of lightning. Still though, Sasuke couldn't afford to lose here, and he struggled to his feet. Preparing himself to fight again, Sasuke instinctually activated his Sharingan, only to find that the crystal clear predictive vision of his bloodline was once again fine, no longer a headache inducing blur. Smirking, Sasuke prepared the one technique he had specifically to punch through any armor. "Lightning Style: Chidori!"

With his Sharingan once again working, Sasuke easily dodged around a blast of lightning that carved a furrow in the ground as it tore past him, carving his own with the shrieking lightning in his own palm. Avoiding another of the powerful lightning techniques that Raiga was hurling from his swords with reckless abandon in his rage, Sasuke closed the gap even further.

With his blood red eyes negating the tunnel vision caused by the Chidori, Sasuke saw and ducked under the swing of Raiga's blade as he entered striking distance before trusting his hand out to run Raiga through. Raiga's Lightning Strike Armor was quite effective though, and the Chidori merely sparked furiously as it tried to pierce the incredible defense. Sasuke's Sharingan widened in shock and terror as Raiga brought the blades down on him. Luckily the proximity spared him a quick death, as it was the hilts of the swords that collided with Sasuke's skull, pounding him into the ground.

Rolling out of the way of a downwards thrust designed to finish him off, Sasuke flipped to his feet and put a bit of distance between him and the rampaging swordsman. Unlike Naruto or even Kakashi, Raiga was a Lightning Style specialist whose skills with the element were on another level entirely. Meaning that Sasuke either had to somehow punch through Raiga's armor without the use of Lightning Style jutsu, or get a Lightning technique more powerful than anything Raiga had. His mind briefly turned to the Rasengan, before caution chased the thought away. He still hadn't gotten it right once, and he doubted Raiga chucking lightning bolts at him would improve his concentration.

Sasuke knew that if Raiga's armor had repelled his Chidori, then his Fire Style techniques didn't have enough power to cut through lightning either. His eyes widening, Sasuke grabbed hold of that last thought as he dodged more blasts of lightning. Remembering back to his spars with Kakashi when Jiraiya would pawn his training off to the equally lazy and perverted Jonin, Sasuke remembered that Kakashi called his version of the Chidori something else. The Chidori was the basic technique, but Kakashi had honed his to the point that it had sliced through natural lightning, a force of nature no mere jutsu could ever hope to compare to, and been renamed the Raikiri. Based on the story, Sasuke had assumed the name was simply some epithet or moniker earned from the feat, but perhaps it was something more. A more advanced form of the Chidori. Unfortunately, Sasuke was running low on chakra, and would likely get only one shot at this.

Charging the Lightning Style chakra in his hand again, Sasuke flew through the hand seals and began to sprint towards Raiga, ducking between blasts of lightning. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw the blue lightning sparking every which way. "Damn. This isn't good enough. I need it to be sharper, more focused." thought Sasuke as he straightened his fingers from the usual fist of the Chidori's lightning quick jab to a spear hand, and shaped the mass of Lightning Style chakra around it to form the shape of a blade.

Sasuke noticed in the slowed down world of his Sharingan that while the technique looked more likely to cut through the Lightning Strike Armor with ease than before, it was still leaving arcs of lighting to the air and ground around him. Focusing next on the density of the chakra, Sasuke tried to hold the wild Lightning Style chakra together, a herculean task. Finally, Sasuke focused as much of the chakra as he could to the very tip. Seconds from striking Raiga, something clicked, and the lightning changed from an electric blue to a blinding white.

Sasuke looked up from his improved Chidori just in time to realize his mistake. He had focused so much on making the technique, he had ignored Raiga' whose blade was coming down, and would likely split open Sasuke's head. Sasuke's only hope was to be faster, to get there first. "RAIKIRI!"

Raiga pulled his blade out of Sasuke's body and stepped back with a sickening squelch. The young genin fell to the ground, blood beginning to flow from the wound he had sustained from the former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

"Ranmaru…" said Raiga sadly, "Looks like I'll be joining you." With that, Raiga finally succumbed to the hole through his chest left by Sasuke's Raikiri.

"Sasuke!" shouted Tenten, running up to their temporary leader's prone form and rolling him over. The wound was bad, and would likely scar, but the lightning that had been coursing through Raiga's sword had cauterized most of the cut that ran straight down from Sasuke's left shoulder to his hip. Tenten was no medic, but a quick look over diagnosed his unconsciousness as a symptom of severe chakra exhaustion instead of any life threatening injuries. They would take him back to the inn to rest up for a day or two, and then head back to the Hidden Leaf Village. Quickly bandaging the wound, Tenten hoisted Sasuke up over her shoulder, letting the unconscious boy lean on her as they went off to go find Lee and Neji.

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Jiraiya was no Tsunade, but he knew enough medicine to do a quick field breakdown of a shinobi's corpse. While Sasuke's Raikiri had destroyed some rather important organs, Raiga's body was still recognizable and worth a good amount of money. Sealing the body into the scroll, Jiraiya turned to the small kid lying in a bag with a large gash across his back.

"So, your grand spying mission was spying on our own students?" asked Might Guy, walking up to Jiraiya, carrying the two legendary blades loosely in one hand. "I won't argue with you, but I'd like to hear your reasons for not helping out."

"Sasuke is a terrifyingly fast learner. Ever since he got those fancy eyes, he picks up any jutsu I teach him almost instantly. It's more than just copying the hand seals though. He really is a genius of the Uchiha clan." said Jiraiya, singing the praises of his student. "But the Rasengan is something he's had to start from the ground up, and it's a complicated and taxing technique. It's all he's been working on, and the lack of progress is starting to get to him."

"Ah, so you had hoped the perilous situation would push him into completing the Rasengan." said Guy. "A sink or swim trial of sorts."

"Yeah, though I was on hand to pull him out if the water was too deep. I was about to intervene right there at the end when I saw him using the Chidori again. Three times was always his limit, and he was putting a lot more into that one. Guess it paid off though." said Jiraiya with a light hearted chuckle. "It wasn't the Rasengan, but learning the Raikiri by himself is still a breakthrough. It should keep him satisfied for now."

Standing, Jiraiya turned away from the deceased boy. "Now then, there's only one thing left to deal with." said Jiraiya. Before Guy could even question him, Jiraiya shot past the green clad Jonin and kicked the white haired youth trying to grab the twin lightning blades out of Guy's hand. Rather than being launched back, the boy's head exploded into water.

"A water clone?!" exclaimed Guy, instantly on guard for the opponent who he hadn't even sensed sneaking up on him a second ago. Much to his surprise, 'the water clone' reformed, and held his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa! Whoa! I give up! I give up!" he exclaimed. Jiraiya recognized him as the youth from the inn the other day, minus the katana he had been holding so close that evening.

"That's no regular Water Style technique." mused Jiraiya, still watching the boy intently for any sudden moves. "I recognize that bloodline. You're a member of the Hozuki clan, aren't you?"

"Suigetsu Hozuki, yeah." he replied, still scared a little stiff by the legendary Sannin's gaze. Suigetsu knew when he was hopelessly outmatched. He had planned on grabbing the swords and making a run for it, but that plan had flown out the window the instant Jiraiya had turned around and noticed him.

"Well I'm guessing you aren't welcome back at the Hidden Mist with the Mizukage's policy on bloodlines as of late." Taking Suigetsu's silence as confirmation, Jiraiya continued. "I don't see a forehead protector anywhere, so am I right in assuming you didn't join any other village?" Once again, Suigetsu was barely able to nod under Jiraiya's scrutiny. "Well I'm not sure Sarutobi sensei would forgive me if I let a ninja with so much potential slip by without even pitching the idea. What do you say to joining the Hidden Leaf Village?"

Suigetsu was torn. On one hand, his dream of gathering the Seven Legendary Swords would likely go up in smoke if he joined a Hidden Village. On the other hand, Suigetsu liked to put his own survival above even his dreams, and telling such a powerful ninja no directly to his face probably wasn't great for one's life expectancy. Eventually though Suigetsu decided to see if his bloodline might be worth haggling for. "I might be willing to join your village, but only on one condition!"

"Oh?" asked Jiraiya, raising an eyebrow. This deal would have to go through the Hokage one way or another, so anything Jiraiya promised had no weight whatsoever.

"My goal is to collect the Seven Legendary Swords of the Hidden Mist. I want those swords." said Suigetsu, gesturing at the blades held in Guy's hand.

Guy prepared to argue that there was no way the Hidden Leaf would just hand over the swords, when Jiraiya held up his hand to stop the green clad jonin. "We can sort this out with the Hokage back in the village. But it is rather likely that you'll get them. After all," said Jiraiya with an exaggerated wink, "you did help my apprentice defeat Raiga and get the swords in the first place. I'm sure the answer will be a resounding absolutely."

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"Absolutely not." said the Third Hokage resolutely. Suigetsu's jaw dropped in disbelief, before turning to Jiraiya in anger.

"You said he'd say yes!" he exclaimed, gesturing to the Third Hokage across the desk on which the legendary swords sat. To his credit, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not react at all to being talked about as if he weren't there.

"I said he would respond with a resounding absolutely." sniffed Jiraiya, turning his head up in disdain. "Never said anything about yes."

Keeping a stoic face on the outside while chuckling at his student inwardly, the Third Hokage decided to make his position clear. "These blades are powerful tools, capable of making a good ninja great, and a great ninja legendary. I am not about to entrust them to an untested ninja not even from the village. Perhaps once you prove your strength and loyalty as a Leaf ninja…"

Suigetsu pounded his hands on the desk as he stood up abruptly. "Screw that! I'll just take the sword then!"

Without even rising, the killing intent from the Third Hokage immediately put Suigetsu back in his seat by reminding him just what the old man across from him was capable of. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Suigetsu turned, and was also reminded that despite his rather laid back demeanor, Jiraiya was one of the Sannin, and was easily able to kill him without a second thought. Instinctually, Suigetsu's body began to drip as it became less solid.

"Alright, so where do I get my headband? That leaf insignia sure looks cool!" said Suigetsu his compliance resulting in the disappearance of that paralyzing killing intent.

Chuckling lightly, the Hokage motioned with one hand. Suigetsu tensed up again as another presence made itself known behind him. "Tora here will help you with the paperwork." Standing up stiffly, Suigetsu turned and left the Hokage's office, followed by the masked ANBU agent.

As the door closed, Jiraiya collapsed into the now vacant chair with a heavy sigh. "Ugh, this whole mission was a complete failure."

"Oh, how do you figure that?" asked the Third Hokage, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "You recovered a pair of legendary swords, recruited a powerful bloodline user, and your student managed to stand on even ground with a former jonin of the Hidden Mist. I'd call it a rousing success. Even if young Sasuke was injured, the reports from the hospital don't indicate any long term damage."

"Psh, standing up to Raiga is no big deal. He was only ever a jonin because they needed someone to take up the swords for Ameyuri Ringo. He was decent with the swords, but he was a push over in every other aspect." scoffed Jiraiya. "Still, Sasuke was supposed to either sink or swim with the Rasengan. I was hoping the pressure would make a diamond with the Rasengan, and even if it didn't I could jump in, stomp Raiga, and teach Sasuke a lesson about knowing when to pull out."

"Heh, but instead he opted to increase the power of one of his existing jutsu." Said the Hokage, smirking at Jiraiya, who merely huffed some more.

"Either way, Sasuke is getting to strong to be a Genin much longer. He's a big fish in a small pond, and there's no way to show him to the ocean as it is. He's ready for the Chunin Exam, and if Tsunade and Orochimaru have done their jobs, Naruto and Sakura are too." said Jiraiya, getting serious and leaning forward.

"I'll see what I can do." Said the Hokage, taking out a stack of papers to begin dealing with all the bureaucratic red tape that came with the Chunin Exams. "I know you might not particularly care, but the recent graduates from the Academy are all rather promising as well. With your apprentices leading the charge, this year could be an excellent showing for the Leaf."

"Alright then. I'll go pitch the idea to Tsunade and Orochimaru to see if they feel Sakura and Naruto are up to snuff." With that, Jiraiya stood up and jumped out the window, leaving the Third Hokage to bemoan his student's inability to use doors.

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A/N: Chapter seven up! Wooo! Sorry I'm late, got lost on the road of life. Not much to say about this one other than this chapter somehow drained motivation like none before. Which is why it came out months after I had planned it to. Raiga is surprisingly frustrating to write. Oh well, hopefully the next one is easier, so let's move on to questions.

Sasuke basically has Kakashi as a secondary mentor, both because Kakashi is the only other person to teach Sasuke about his Sharingan and because he needs someone to train him while Jiraiya goes off to do his own thing, as he is apt to do. I specifically kept the timeskip's length vague in order to avoid getting bogged down with all the timelines and such, but the basic constraints are that it started after the Uchiha Massacre and ends after Team Guy graduated but before the Rookie 9 graduate. Naruto's affinity will still be just wind, since that's a canon fact and I didn't change his genetics any for this story, but he will likely use other nature transformations as the story goes on. I plan to touch on pairings later on as part of pushing my boundaries, but the story is tagged as Adventure/Friendship, so Romance won't ever really become the focus. As for what jutsu Naruto, or anyone for that matter, will be learning, I don't want to hand out spoilers like that, so the best I can offer is an apology.