Ten Steps to Victory

…and stay warm…

Naruto stood near the prow of the ship, smiling slightly as they crested another wave. Drops of salt water stung his face, and he was once again glad he had thought to ask Shino for advice. While the stuff to put on his lenses had run out a while ago, Naruto had been practicing using chakra to keep them clean. It was tricky, and the first few times had sent his glasses flying, but with clones practicing too he had gotten it down pretty quickly.

After Jiraiya had spirited him away from Hidan’s religious service, they had found the remains of the battle Naruto had been meant to investigate. Jiraiya recognized the combatants as from two different branches of the Fuma clan, as evidenced by the ridiculous number of oversized shuriken all over the place. Naruto took a few since fuma shuriken were not cheap. Shurikenjutsu was more Sasuke’s thing; Naruto had never seen anyone match Sasuke’s talent with the fickle weapons. Fuma shuriken were a little less…subtle. They suited Naruto more. 

They sent a toad off to Tsunade with what little information they had gathered, then Jiraiya had dragged him to the port city on Hot Springs’ northern coast to book passage out of the country.

Naruto loved the ocean. He loved the boisterous cries of gulls circling above the shore, the pod of whales spraying water from their spouts as they breached the surface for air, the endless crash of waves against the hull, the complex array of ropes and sails that caught the wind, climbing the foremast and looking across the endless miles of rolling water, searching for the tattered sails of pirates and the silver flash of schools of fish. He loved it even during a spring squall, which threatened to unseat him. His imagination ran wild with what secrets the water held in its depths, and more than once he had to be fished out of the water.

It felt like home, in a way that Konoha never had. He understood the wind and the water, their obscure movements, the meandering stars above that guided their way.

Konoha had always made him feel like he didn’t quite belong. Another thing he shared with his mom. The ship’s crew didn’t know him as that boy, but just some kid who sometimes got in the way, until they kept him busy by putting him to work.  

He heard Jiraiya say something about damn Uzumaki. When asked, he had brushed Naruto off again, as he did every time Naruto asked about his origins. He wanted to lash out, shout at Jiraiya that he already knew, but his dad had advised him against sharing his knowledge with anyone.

Their journey took them into the cold northern sea, around a nameless country the sailors called the Land of Mountains. They kept clear of its coast, so Naruto only saw its icy peaks from a sensible distance. If there had ever been a hidden village there, decades of war had destroyed it. The smaller countries had always been staging grounds for the conflicts, and suffered the brunt of ninja warfare.

The thought of hundreds of ninja fighting in an all-out battle was unsettling. Naruto could contemplate team fights, having been in them himself. Even fights between clans, which he had recently seen proof of. Large-scale warfare didn’t comport with his idea of being a ninja. It was counterintuitive, lacked stealth and subtlety. And while he knew the reasons behind the Shinobi World Wars—competing over resources, territory, clients—and knew ninja had immense destructive capabilities…

Maybe it was something like the Suna-Oto invasion. He hadn’t seen the fighting in the village, having chased after Sasuke and Gaara, but he had seen the aftermath. Buildings crushed, bodies in the rubble, shrieks of terror, crying, begging, smoke clogging the air, the lingering heat of katon jutsu engulfing giant snakes, still burning where they had crushed the outer wall, rivers of blood flood flowing from their severed necks…

Naruto rubbed his nose, let the cold salt air steal the memories away. Konoha was still being rebuilt when he had left. And while there was relief in having survived, in repelling the invading forces, there were still losses, still scars of combat marring the village. It was a strained atmosphere. He wondered how they could once again ally with Suna after what they had done. Jiraiya had explained that Orochimaru was really behind it all, killing the Kazekage and stoking anger at Konoha getting jobs from Wind, but Naruto didn’t think that made Suna less responsible for their choices. It did make him wonder what he would do if Tsunade ordered him to attack another village. Would he do it, even if he thought it was wrong?

Naruto huddled under his winter coat, leaning over the prow as the ship broke through ice floes. They had reached the tip of the continent, a region the sailors called Land’s End. The coast was bare and rocky, slick with the rime of ice that clung to it. The icy fog made the sailing dangerous and slow-going, freezing the lines and their clothes. His dad had told him to keep warm, which Naruto had taken literally. Not that he had much of a problem with that in Konoha, with its generally mild weather, or in Hot Springs where sometimes the ground beneath you was heated by thermal vents. And there was the kyuubi too, whose chakra could warm Naruto from within if he complained long enough. 

He liked the cold. Back in his old apartment he’d always have the window open, thought it wasn’t the most prudent thing for a ninja to do. Someone could easily get in, or throw something in. That rarely happened, though. Naruto suspected ANBU, or maybe fear, had prevented the more aggressive villagers from attacking him outright. Gaara hadn’t been so lucky, since his own father had sent assassins after him. Naruto wondered what the others out there, the other jinchuuriki, were like. Were they the same age as him? Had their villages been better? Worse? Were they all the children of kage?

“You’re still out here?” Jiraiya asked, joining him at the rail. 

“Can’t you do something to help them?” Naruto asked, pointing at a chunk of ice. “You’re fire natured, right? You could melt all this stuff.”

Jiraiya snorted. “If they paid me, maybe. But there are animals that hunt on this ice, and melting one would just end up with another in its place. They know what they’re doing. These people have been sailing these waters as long as ours have been shinobi. Anyway, someone like you is better suited to this nautical stuff.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Jiraiya ruffled his hair, breaking apart the frozen strands. “Your elemental affinity, kid. It’s probably wind.”

Naruto knew it was, he could feel his own chakra, bright and yellow. Like how he knew Jiraiya was best at fire, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu preferred water, Sakura’s chakra had the solidity of earth, Kakashi’s crackled menacingly, and Sasuke—

“I want to learn elemental techniques,” Naruto said, looking up at Jiraiya. He didn’t have to crane his neck so much lately. He was getting taller. Maybe he'd be as tall as his dad!

Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, which made Naruto bristle. It should have been an easy yes! He bet Sasuke was learning all sorts of jutsu. If he wasn't, he definitely would have left Orochimaru already. If he could. Right? He was Sasuke’s closest friend, Sasuke had said it himself! That it was worth killing Naruto because of that. It didn’t make sense to Naruto at the time, and he still couldn’t figure out what the hell Sasuke had been going on about. He had to get better than Sasuke, no matter what. He had to be someone worth killing.

Naruto shook away his dark thoughts 

“It takes most ninja years to master one element,” Jiraiya said, looking at him critically. Naruto stood his ground, glaring back at his lackadaisical sensei. He thought about mentioning Orochimaru, just to see what kind of reaction he would get. If he and Jiraiya had been rivals, maybe it would motivate him to train Naruto more.

“So I should start now,” Naruto said instead. “The sooner the better!”

Jiraiya hummed contemplatively. “I suppose it would keep you out of my hair.”

Naruto looked skeptically at the mass of Jiraiya’s hair, the source of a number of the man’s techniques. 

“Ero-sennin,” Naruto said. “Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of famous ninja? What will baa-chan say if I come back without learning anything new? Kakashi-sensei taught Sasuke Chidori in a month!”

Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively. “That kid’s an Uchiha genius. You can’t compare yourself to someone like that.”

“I learned kage bunshin in one night,” Naruto pointed out. “And Rasengan in a month or whatever. I can even do it one-handed now!”

Jiraiya sighed. “Fine, if it’ll get you to shut up.” He rummaged around his pockets and took out a piece of paper. He handed it to Naruto. 

“What’s this?” Naruto asked, holding it up to his face. It felt different from regular paper, denser somehow. 

“Chakra paper,” Jiraiya said. “Made from trees fed with chakra. I use it for certain seals, those which require large amounts of chakra. See what happens when you try to put chakra into it directly.”

Naruto frowned, but did as he was told, channeling chakra into the paper. 

It split in half. 

Jiraiya nodded, smiling triumphantly. “Just like I said, you’re—”

The two halves became soaked with water. 

“What does that mean?” Naruto asked, though he already knew. He flapped the soggy pieces of paper around.

“I’ve never seen that happen before,” Jiraiya muttered to himself. “Er, that you’re strongest with wind, but second strongest with water. I guess. I don’t know, kid. But,” Jiraiya said, perking up. “It’s lucky for us. I don’t know any wind techniques, it’s a rare affinity in Konoha and if I need it I can summon a toad. But I do know some water techniques. Well, oil techniques. Toad oil.”

“Right,” Naruto said, a little concerned. Maybe he should ask the toads to teach him…

“For now, practice converting your chakra into wind, or water,” Jiraiya said. 

“Uh, how?”

“Try to do the same thing you did to that,” Jiraiya said, pointing to the two wet slips of paper, “to regular paper. Use your chakra. Think wind thoughts.”

“Sure,” Naruto said, watching Jiraiya walk away, apparently satisfied with this level of instruction.

Naruto turned back to watch the water. It seemed deeper, this far north. Darker. Immense and incomprehensible. He thought back on the times he had seen people using elemental techniques. Sasuke and his katon. He could breathe fire! It was so cool. Naruto didn’t know how he avoided hurting himself. Something must have been happening to his chakra between him doing the hand signs and breathing out. For Chidori, the chakra in his hand turned into electricity. Shukaku had used a technique Naruto couldn’t even see—because it was wind, he now realized—and Gamabunta had spat out massive bullets of water.

It didn’t seem wise to try doing any of that on a ship, so Naruto went back to his cabin and tried his best to cut paper.

Naruto was somewhat relieved to be on solid ground again. Having spent the better part of a month on a ship crewed almost entirely by men had been…an experience. He had a lot to think over. It had given him a fantastic idea for a new jutsu, too, since his standard oiroke didn’t work on everyone. 

It was an oversight on his part, his one-dimensional sexy technique. Not everyone was attracted to women. There were probably girl perverts, like all those fangirls Sasuke had. Naruto had always disliked those girls, trying to get Sasuke’s attention…

He looked back up to the ship and waved goodbye to the sailors still hard at work.

Yes, it was definitely an oversight he needed to correct immediately. 

Jiraiya pulled him away, steering him through the busy dock and into the town to find a place to stay for the night. They were in another country with an ever-changing name. Some people called it the Land of Caverns, others the Land of Canyons. The only constants were Takigakure, the hidden Waterfall village, and the civilian towns scattered throughout the land. 

“What are we doing here?” Naruto asked, watching as an octopus tried to escape from a stall. 

“This and that,” Jiraiya said. “Get some leaves to keep practicing on. It’s cheaper than all that paper you wasted. Since I have to buy more, it’s coming out of your wallet.”

Naruto scowled, but kept an eye out for a tree. Jiraiya was lucky Naruto hadn’t started using his shitty manuscript for practice. If he was going to get stuffed into a room while the old man painted the town red, he would need a ton of leaves.