In a moment of adrenaline-fuelled panic, Fukasaku makes a split second decision that wrests our favourite toad sage from the cold grasp of death!

AN: Sorry for the long wait, Uni has most of my time at the moment. I can't tell you when I'll get time to write up the next one, so I hope you enjoy this one for now.

Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto and things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant Continues by ShadowedNara

XxX

Chapter 5

Know Pain

"Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one."

—Benjamin Franklin

Naruto's eyes were brimming with an unbridled hatred and determination that neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade had ever seen from the blonde. His blue eyes were shining with unshed tears for the loss of his silver haired sensei that had died in his arms, and all that raw emotion from witnessing such a thing, all of that rage, was directed at the ring leader behind this attack on the village. The target of Naruto's anger was Pain. 'And I'll make damn sure he feels some pain!'

Tsunade casted one last sorrowful glance towards the boy she thought of as a son before turning to go seat herself back inside her sealing circle. She needed to continue feeding her chakra to Katsuyu so that the villagers and ninja that needed healing could be assisted. She halted in her strides however as she caught sight of a small figure rising slowly into the midday sky, her eyes straining against the glaring sun to see what it was.

"That—it looks like the Pain that the Akimichi kid just described!"

Tsunade, Jiraiya and Naruto's eyes all shot to the sound of the Anbu's voice, and they stared at him for but a second before their attention shifted back to the figure they now knew to be Pain. He was getting higher and higher in the sky, and his body was becoming more difficult to discern as he levitated in line with the sun, the massive yellow star positioned directly behind him.

"All the other Pain's have fled the village," Katsuyu's small voice informed them, the tiny slug slithering up from behind Tsunade and perching itself on her shoulder. "And the summon creatures that were terrorising the village have been dispelled as well."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as they watched Pain continue to rise, and she ground her teeth together worriedly. "I don't like this. Pain's planning something. He's planning something big. We have to try and stop him before he executes whatever scheme he's cooked up!"

Naruto and Jiraiya nodded at her, and the three of them as well as the four Anbu who had been guarding her raced along the rooftops towards Pain. There was a sudden sense of urgency in their leaps, and they pushed themselves as fast as they could to reach him.

Watching as Pain drew his arms out and spread them over the whole village as if to pass judgement like the God he claimed to be brought rise to a feeling of dread, and all their eyes widened in panic as a massive surge of chakra emanated from the man. "What is he—"

Words were quickly forgotten as Pain's deep voice cut across the village like a swathe, a deathly quiet settling over the village as the so-called calm before the storm. "And now… this world shall know Pain. Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)!"

There was stillness for a second, and then a crushing rumble followed by what felt like an earthquake, the whole village shaking to its very core. Clouds of dust and large pieces of debris from buildings were flung around the inner walls like confetti, and the jutsu itself drilled a massive crater into the centre of the village. The crater dug itself deeper and deeper as the area of effect jutsu expanded further, encompassing the entirety of the Hidden Leaf in its destruction.

The gates to the village spilled open as the build-up of debris was forced outside the walls, and nothing aside from the walls themselves and the Hokage Monument were left untouched by the jutsu. The massive cloud of dust hung lethargically in the air, hiding the extent of the damage from any would be onlookers. It was destruction personified.

A single Anbu kicked back a slab of concrete, looking relatively unharmed, and a massive cocoon of spiky white hair unravelled to reveal an unscathed Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade, the latter of which was panting heavily and sporting a sheen of sweat on her brow. Jiraiya sent a cursory glance over her form, his gaze concerned as he worriedly noted the lack of the diamond seal on her forehead. "Are you all right Tsunade?"

"I'm fine, but the village…" She bit her lip in anger, her eyes blazing furiously with hurt. "This—this is unforgivable! What Pain's done here… the village my predecessors worked so hard in order to forge… This is unforgivable!"

From the spot they found themselves in, they could see all the damage that had been wrought to the village, and the massive crater that now stood smack bang in the middle of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto clenched his fists in restrained anger, his knuckles going white.

The target of all their emotions descended toward the centre of the crater, disappearing within the dust cloud. Tsunade clenched her own fists before launching herself in his direction, and the others followed wordlessly. Trying to argue with her now would be pointless, and would no doubt result in bodily harm.

She landed in a lopsided crouch as the figure of Pain came into view, and just as they had guessed, it was the Pain that Chōji had described earlier. It was the Pain that resembled Yahiko. Another Pain dropped in behind him soon after, and another puff of smoke cleared to reveal the other five Pain's all in attendance.

Tsunade's breathing was further laboured as she struggled to get up from her crouched position, and she settled for kneeling on one knee. "Why Pain? Why?! You've trampled over the jewel of the previous Hokage, destroyed all their hard work and dreams… I cannot forgive you, and I'll settle this, as the Fifth Hokage of the Leaf!"

"It seems you do understand a little about pain," he said in a deep voice, though his eyes narrowed after that. "But I'm not here for you Lady Fifth Hokage, so please get out of my way." His voice was eerily cavalier as he spoke, and the Pain that was comprised mostly of metal shot forward at that moment, coming at Tsunade with great speed and intent to kill.

It's momentum was halted though as it was crushed from above, and a snarling blonde emerged atop it as the small dust cloud cleared. "That's right! You're here for me!" Naruto's face was furious, and the anger was radiating off his body in waves.

"So you are Naruto Uzumaki," Pain stated lowly, his eyes curious as he regarded the blonde that had just dispatched of one his paths of Pain. "Good of you to join us. Saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down."

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulder and forcefully held him down, preventing him from jumping in further without thinking. "Easy there Naruto. You don't want to rush in there without a clear head." He then turned his gaze down towards Tsunade and gently helped her to her feet, eyeing the Anbu that just landed nearby and beckoning him over. "Take Tsunade away from the fighting. She's in no state to be here."

The Anbu nodded and prepared to escort her back towards the upper parts of the village, but a quick call from Tsunade halted him. "Here Jiraiya, take Katsuyu. She'll allow us to keep in contact with you during your fight. Good luck."

Jiraiya allowed the small slug to slither up his arm before taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Take care of yourself Tsunade. And tell the rest of the villagers not to get involved. Leave this one to me and Naruto. We can't afford to be worrying about everyone else while we're fighting Pain."

She gave his hand a small kiss before nodding her head softly, the Anbu leaping away with Tsunade in his arms. 'Good luck you pervert. Don't you go dying on me…'

Jiraiya watched her go from the corner of his eye, never quite taking all his attention off Naruto and the many Pain's that stood before them. As he judged her to be a safe distance away, he fully turned on the five remaining Pain's and made sure to hold Naruto just a little tighter. His godson was shaking with fury, and Jiraiya was getting a little worried about him fighting in such a state. "Yahiko, Pain, Nagato… whatever you call yourself these days, just know that as your sensei, I'll be guaranteeing your end here today. That duty falls to me as your master—"

"Like hell it does!" Naruto's shout rang loudly in Jiraiya's ears, and his eyes widened in shock as the Naruto he was holding down burst into a cloud of smoke, the real one now darting forward towards the collection of Pain's with a snarl on his face. "If I have anything to say about it, it'll be me that kills him!"

Naruto was flying into the battle in a fit of rage, and Jiraiya could almost fully guarantee that it was because Kakashi had been killed by Pain, the silver-haired man subsequently dying in his student's arms. The destruction of the village definitely added to that, but Naruto was already angry before they'd destroyed the village. Naruto was now fighting solely to avenge his sensei. But he was letting his rage consume him and impair his judgement, and Jiraiya would have to keep an eye on the blonde.

Several large puffs of smoke signalled the arrival of more summoning creatures, and Jiraiya gritted his teeth in annoyance before leaping on after his student, glancing sidelong at the two small toads riding atop his shoulders. "Boss, Ma'am, you think you can take care of those things? I'm going to go after the summoner!"

The two small toads nodded in unison, clapping their webbed hands together and disconnecting from Jiraiya's shoulders for the moment, hanging in mid-air. They stared down at the large rhino and ox-like creatures before their cheeks expanded, their mouths opening in a loud croak that generated piercing sound waves. "Senpō: Kawazu Naki (Sage Art: Frog Call)!"

The sound waves encompassed the two summoning creatures, and they were effectively halted in their movements, the jutsu simultaneously distracting and paralysing them.

It had the intended effect of allowing Jiraiya safe passage to the one that had summoned them, and he launched himself in the air, coming down at the summoning Pain with a fist that cratered the earth. A large cloud of dust was kicked up in his wake, but it was quickly dissipated as another large white puff of smoke erupted ahead of him. Jiraiya had to click his tongue in annoyance. "Now what is it?"

His question was answered as a familiar massive two headed dog with small wings suddenly emerged from within the smoke, and his eyes narrowed. 'I know just what to do about you.' Jiraiya bit down on his only thumb before fisting his shirt and lifting it up, holding the edges of the fabric between his teeth. Glancing at his chest, his eyes landed on the intricate sealing tattoo that was drawn over his left breast. He quickly swiped his bloodied finger through the seal and started gathering his chakra. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"

Jiraiya was suddenly thrusted into the air atop the large magenta coloured toad he'd summoned, and a large sasumata was subsequently plunged on top of the two headed dog, the weapon successfully pinning the summoning for now. "Seeing as you've had experience, I thought you would be best suited to take care of this one Mister Gamaken. Do you think you can keep it busy while I take down the summoner?"

The large toad applied a bit more force into his weapon, plunging it deeper into the ground and further restricting the dog. "I'm quite ungraceful, though it goes without saying that I will try my best!"

Jiraiya clapped the toad on the head before leaping in after the summoning Pain. First thing was first though. Jiraiya had to keep that Pain from summoning again, otherwise he'd just find himself back at square one. He brought his hand into a half Ram seal and focused his chakra as best as he could into his hair, not used to having to use only one hand for this jutsu. 'It's a work in progress I guess.' His hair began growing longer at a rapid pace before shooting off at the summoning Pain, albeit slightly slower than it normally would have. "Ranjishigami no Jutsu (Wild Lion's Mane Technique)!"

His hair splintered off into three individual strands, two of which wound their ways down Pain's arms and around his hands and fingers, keeping them from forming any more hand seals. The last strand of hair was a little larger and wrapped around the Pain's neck, winding its way down the rest of his body and keeping his legs from moving.

Pain's body was now completely immobilised, and all he had to do was reel it in and destroy it. If there was one positive thing that came out of Naruto running and gunning against Pain as recklessly as he was, it was the fact that he'd split up their formation and was holding pretty much all of their attention. It gave him free reign to thin their ranks and take the Pain's out one by one if he was given the chance.

A glowing ball of rotating chakra spun into existence atop his outstretched right hand, the summoning Pain being pulled towards him by his jutsu. 'Time to end this one—'

His thoughts were brought to a screeching halt as another of the Pain's suddenly popped up in his peripherals, his eyes widening in silent shock. The Pain had long hair, and Nagato had referred to it as Ningendō if he remembered correctly. It was moving to intercept Jiraiya's rasengan and take the hit instead of his intended target. 'He sacrificed it last time as well. I guess it doesn't have much battle application if he's so ready to use it as a human shield just like before.'

Just before the Pain known as Ningendō could intervene in Jiraiya's attack though, he felt the two small toads Fukasaku and Shima land back on his shoulders, and a tongue suddenly lashed out and wrapped around the interfering Pain's body, flinging it away and leaving him to take out his original target. Jiraiya grinned as he raised the palm of his hand at the incoming summoning Pain, the small orb of chakra growing in size until it was the size of a small ball. "Ōdama Rasengan (Big Ball Rasengan)!"

The spiralling sphere of chakra violently drilled into the body of Pain before being launched away with tremendous force, leaving a bloody spiral in the Pain's flesh. Jiraiya breathed a sigh of exertion before glancing sideways at Shima. "Do you think you could perform a Kekkai: Gama Hyōrō (Barrier: Toad Gourd Prison)? We don't need this one to be revived again. He's definitely one of the more troublesome Pain's."

Shima nodded her head with a triumphant smile. "Of course Jiraiya-boy. You and Pa just focus on that long-haired fella we just launched away. I'll be ready with the barrier jutsu when you finish him off to capture him as well."

Jiraiya gave a small smile before turning his attention on Ningendō. "Okay Boss, you up to take on one more?"

The small toad punched a fist into his open palm, a ghost of a smirk twitching at his mouth. "One more and then some Jiraiya-boy. Let's make sure Pain regrets the day he ever messed with the Hidden Leaf Village!"

With Naruto…

Naruto's eyes were flashing dangerously as he raced forward at Pain, a rather large and rotund Pain taking centre stage and engaging Naruto first. Naruto clenched his fists in anger, his knuckles going white from the strain as he stared hatefully ahead. "You—you'll pay for killing my sensei!"

Naruto lead in with a flying drop kick, coming down at Pain with crushing force. Anger was radiating off him in droves, and his attacks were directing it with extreme fury. The large Pain stepped away out of Naruto's attack, and Naruto snarled lowly, throwing out a sweeping kick before firing off several punches.

The larger Pain though just continued to dodge effortlessly, his eyes half the time not even on Naruto. It infuriated him to no end, and his eyes widened as he remembered something Jiraiya had told him. 'All their visions are linked. What one sees, they all do, so trying to hit him like this will be impossible!'

And true enough, as Naruto's gaze wandered over to the other three Pain's that were as of now still holding back, his suspicions were confirmed. All three of them were watching him intently, and Naruto realised taijutsu alone wasn't going to cut it. His lips pulled up into a hostile smirk. 'I'll just give them an attack that they can't dodge, even if they are all watching!'

Naruto flipped backwards away from the larger pain before quickly summoning a pair of clones. Naruto stretched his hand out while gathering chakra, the two clones stretching their hands out over Naruto's. His chakra began swirling as the regular rasengan began forming, but wind natured chakra soon entered the mix as well. A low pitched whistle screeched through the air as four blades of pure chakra formed around the rasengan, and Naruto held the mass of chakra above his head before launching it at the group of Pain's with a growl. "Fūton: Rasenshuriken (Wind Release: Rasenshuriken)!"

Naruto watched in triumph as his strongest jutsu raced ahead at the Pain's, confident in the fact that this would definitely do some damage and take out at least one of them. This was what happened when people messed with his village. This was for Kakashi-sensei. This is what those murderers would get for thinking that they could—

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the large Pain held his hands out and began absorbing the rasenshuriken, the process taking all of a few seconds before it was completely dissipated. His shock gave way to confusion before understanding dawned. 'Oh yeah, that Pain can absorb all ninjutsu. Damn it! I should've remembered that! Pervy Sage made sure to brief me on all of them.'

Naruto took a deep breath and slowly came to a begrudging realisation. 'I've gotta calm down. Pervy Sage was right, I'm fighting recklessly and making stupid mistakes.' Naruto formed three clones around him before grabbing a couple of smoke bombs and throwing them on the ground.

The large red cloud of smoke obscured Naruto from the rest of the Pain's vision, but that was only a cover. Soon enough, the low pitched screech of the rasenshuriken was soon filling the air again, and the deadly jutsu cut a swath through the air as it headed for the absorbing Pain.

"You never learn," the Pain that resembled Yahiko muttered. "Deidera was right. You really don't listen."

The large Pain held its hands out and once again began absorbing the rasenshuriken, though this time his eyes widened as something felt a little off. The rasenshuriken was suddenly encompassed in a puff of smoke, Naruto's black haori clad form emerging and dive tackling the Pain that could absorb to the ground.

"You tricky bastard—"

Pain was cut off as yet another rasenshuriken came flying out of the cloud of smoke, this one heading straight for the group of Pain's with nothing in its way to stop it. The jutsu flew straight between the three Pain's gathered at the back before expanding, exploding in a massive sphere of cutting chakra.

The shockwave kicked up a massive cloud of dust, and the real Naruto who was still on top of the absorbing Pain shielded his eyes for a second before remembering Pain was still beneath him. His calm suddenly fled, and his eyes were filled with rage once again.

Naruto threw a punch at Pain's eyes, making sure to cut off his vision before launching into a massive hate-filled offensive, beating the Pain underneath him into a bloody pulp. Dull thwacks and thuds filled immediate area as the dust cloud settled around them.

The sounds eventually ceased, and as the dust began dissipating, Naruto's form could be made out straddling a bloody mess clad in equally as bloody Akatsuki robes. The absorbing Pain was barely distinguishable any more, and Naruto's eyes were leaking warm tears as he stared down at what he'd done, his breathing hard and heavy.

Naruto stared down at the battered body he was straddling, his now azure blue eyes half lidded as sage mode wore off. He was left feeling thoroughly exhausted, by a combination of the lack of sage mode, as well as the emotional roller-coaster he'd been on since witnessing the death of his sensei in his arms. He just felt tired.

It left him with a sense of clarity he hadn't been able to possess in his hate-induced rage from earlier, and now that he had calmed, he looked down at his bloodied hands, clenching his fists tightly as a wave of remorse overcame him. What had he done? What had this accomplished, beating this Pain into the bloody mess he was now?

He felt no better after having done what he had. He felt worse in fact. And he realised with a pang of guilt, that he'd failed his master. He'd succumbed to his hatred, letting it consume him. But Jiraiya had once said that it was his dream to end the cycle of hatred. Was Naruto now not directly going against what his master wanted to achieve?

Naruto felt a little sick to the stomach, but he knew what he had to do. He took another deep breath and wiped a sleeve across his eyes, ridding the tears from his face and letting that clarity from earlier wash over him. 'No more running in blindly in a fit of rage. I need to honour Pervy Sage's teachings and try resolve this without hate.'

Even as he thought that though, the eyes of Pain flashed through his mind, Kakashi's limp and bloodied body held tightly within his grasp. Naruto felt like he was lying to himself, but despite the lingering hate, he would try. He would try, for Jiraiya.

Before Naruto could get back to his feet however, blinding hot pain erupted from his stomach, and his wide eyes travelled south to find the end of a metal rod sticking out of his stomach, dripping with his own blood. A searing cough ripped through his body as ring-patterned eyes flashed through his mind and disrupted the flow of his chakra, blood flying out his mouth from the injury. "W-What—"

"I must applaud you on taking out Gakidō, it was a valiant effort," a voice suddenly spoke out from behind him. Naruto knew that voice all too well however, and he didn't need to turn around to figure out that it was Tendō. "I imagine however that leaving your guard wide open to your enemy was not part of your ingenious plan of attack."

The tone of his voice was mocking, the tone he spoke with making it seem like everything Naruto had done was worthless, all for nothing, futile. Naruto brought his hands up to the steel sticking out from his chest, gripping it shakily as another cough escaped his lips. "W-Why are you doing this? What's the point of it all?"

Tendō twisted the metal rod held firmly within his hands, enjoying the sound of Naruto's pained rasps as he aggravated the potentially fatal wound. "I hardly feel the need to explain my motives to you Nine-Tails. Just know that as a jinchūriki you are precious, and your life is not in danger. Not yet."

Another sharp cry rang out and Naruto coughed out in pain. He gritted his teeth to try and hold some form of composure, but it was becoming difficult. His breathing was becoming laboured, and if he could just get back into sage mode—

Naruto's eyes widened as he realised that he was currently still, more than still enough to gather up nature energy and re-enter sage mode. Another cough racked his body as he fought down the urge to grin. His ears perked up though as a dull thwack echoed out behind him, and he let a grin blossom across his face as a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Damn it Naruto! Didn't I tell you not to rush in without a clear head?"

Despite Naruto's guilt as disobeying Jiraiya, he felt relief wash through him, and he bowed his head apologetically. "I know I messed up Pervy Sage, but I've calmed down. Thanks for saving my arse."

Jiraiya clicked his tongue and then began addressing Tendō, momentarily forgetting about Naruto. The blonde in question turned his eyes south once again to the metal protruding from his chest, and an idea suddenly popped into his head as he slowly slipped into sage mode.

Closing his eyes and taking a breath, Naruto used the nature energy all around him and the honed chakra sensing ability granted to him by sage mode to reverse-trace the chakra being fed into the metal rod. His eyes remained closed for a few seconds as Jiraiya and Tendō's voices echoed softly in the background. Not a moment later however did Naruto's grin turn feral, and he ripped the metal rod from his chest and threw it to the ground, the metal clanging roughly on the dirt below. 'Sorry Pervy Sage, but I'm trusting you to handle the rest. I've got a bone to pick with the real Pain.'

Hope that chapter was all right, I was stuck with this one for a while, I still don't particularly like the end product. Penny for your thoughts?