Bonds

Decision

"Hold on a moment kid!" The voice of Jiraiya bloomed throughout the clearing. Naruto found himself working on his fathers jutsu nonstop throughout the search for Tsunade whilst Jiraiya searched the nearby villages for information. He did have a large spy network after all. The blonde turned towards the approaching man.

"What is it sensei?" he asked through pants. The endless training was starting to build towards fatigue. This usually seemed like a logical conclusion, but it was foreign due to his freakish stamina. He hadn't felt this drained since joining the academy and putting himself through his insane training regimen.

The Sanin sat down and signaled for Naruto to do the same. Naruto felt as if an anchor was pulling him to the earth when he collided with the ground. Jiraiya rested his elbows on his knees as he looked up into the sky. The two had been quite rocky recently. Both him and the boy had shared words with one another that rubbed each other the wrong way, hence the tense silence. Naruto's eyes were on the ground as he sat with his legs crossed. Jiraiya finally cleared his throat, gathering the blonde's attention.

"Minato Namikaze created the Rasengan when he was just a couple years older than you." Jiraiya stated. Naruto's head snapped to his sensei with an intense gaze. The sudden topic of his father grasped his attention. He continued. "That father of yours, man o man was he a smart guy. To create your own jutsu at such a young age is quite remarkable, wouldn't you say?"

Naruto said nothing.

"...He was one of the strongest men I'd ever encountered. I'd love to take all the credit and say I whipped him into shape, but that would be a straight-faced lie. That boy was gifted with talent unmatched. He could take down anyone with pure strength and outrun anyone with his speed. He, I would argue, was the closest thing we've seen in strength since Hashirama Senju..." Jiraiya trailed off. Naruto just looked at the man. He'd heard these stories, about the unrivaled strength of his father, how shinobi would have a better chance crossing hell unscathed than attempting to put up some sort of a fight against Minato Namikaze. That being said, he had no clue why Jiraiya was going on about this, especially now.

"But he also had a heart of gold. He cared about people. Each Hokage has cared about the people of Konoha, there's no doubt about that, but he was different. Whereas other Hokage would turn a blind eye to misfortune in the village...much like both Lords Second and Third did with the Uchiha clan..." Jiraiya shook his head. "Minato made sure everyone was on the same page. He would stick his neck on the line for a random man in the village, hell he'd stick his neck out for a man he'd never met before. He fought to protect his family, the villagers, the village, hell, the entirety of the Fire Country."

"All of that is to say, that jutsu, the Rasengan..." trailing off once again, Jiraiya leaned forward, meeting Naruto's eyes. "The use of the jutsu is that of protection. I'm teaching it to you so you can use it like your father did, as a way to protect the people he held dearly, to protect any person worth protecting."

Naruto sat still as he stared into the man's eyes, his words settling into his mind. He gave him no time to digest this information however, as he rose to his feet and extended his hand.

"You think you can do that?"

*Present*

Naruto winced in pain as his hand had collided with a building that towered over the hospital roof. He blinked as his vision returned to him. The sudden motion of being tossed away was disorienting. One second, he was on course to collide with Sayu and her Chidori, next he was sent flying away, his jutsu meeting the before mentioned building.

He pulled his hand away and began to massage it, locating Sayu whose hand was planted into a water tower. She pulled it out and turned. She met his eyes, the enraged glare lessened but still there. Both shinobi's attention was stolen by a loud voice.