Back to the Beginning (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 17

Jiraiya was sitting at the bar while he looked down at the notes he had taken. Alright, so this one here disappeared in a puff of smoke, so that was a shadow clone... and this one was attacked before suddenly disappearing, so shadow clone... He had been working as much as possible to figure out where the "real" Naruto was hiding.

It has been three days since Minato had talked to him and he has so far been able to get the number from four hundred to just over one hundred. "Man, this kid is hard to find." Jiraiya was talking to himself and he looked at his list.

"Who are you looking for, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya looked up at the owner of the bar. "Oh, just a kid from my home village. One of my old students is trying to find him, so I'm helping him out." Jiraiya has known the owner for a long time, so he felt comfortable talking to him.

"Seems like it's been tough. I haven't seen you this concentrated since you finished your first book." The owner was amused at how Jiraiya was acting.

"Ha! Yeah, that's probably true! This kid is really giving me a run for my money. He's a tough one." Jiraiya shook his head as he looked back down at his list. "I've been staring at this list for so long everything is starting to blend together."

"Hmm... Well, have you tried finding a central point?"

Jiraiya looked up at the question. "A central point huh? I suppose it's possible." He started mapping out all the sightings of the kid's shadow clones. It was only once they were drawn out that he saw what the owner meant. "Yeah, you're right. There is a small village here. I've been there before. It's as good a place to start as any." With that said Jiraiya paid his tab at the bar, thanked the owner, and walked out. He was ready to go and find this kid.

Naruto was sitting on the window seal of the room he was staying in. Man...having the shadow clones out this long is starting to wear me down. I've taken care of Hanzo, plus I've gotten Orochimaru out of the picture... but I've barely been able to sleep and there is still a lot to do. Naruto was thinking this to himself as he watched the sunrise.

"Naruto, when was the last time you slept?" Kurama was worried about him.

"Oh hey Kura. Um, I'm not sure. I think I got a couple hours last week." Naruto just shrugged as he answered.

"You need to sleep. You are going to collapse at this rate."

"I'm not an idiot, Kurama! I know that! I just... I can't... Every time I try to sleep I just have nightmares..." Naruto didn't know what to do anymore.

"Maybe you need to tell Minato. He would help you, you know that." Kurama tried to soften his voice.

"Yeah, I know he would. That's the problem. He would worry too much about me when there are more pressing matters. I can't distract him."

"You never know until you try, Kit."

"Did you just call me Kit?!" Naruto could not believe what he just heard.

"Yeah, so? It's shorter, so I think I might use it more often." Kurama was teasing now, trying to lighten the mood.

"Please don't ever call me that again. It sounds weird coming from you." Naruto clapped his palm to his forehead.

"Well now I'm going to!"

"Go back to sleep you annoying fox."

"HA! I think I will, you brat!" Kurama had a slight smile as he quieted down to go back to sleep.

The sun had risen fully into the sky by the time Naruto decided to leave the window. He wanted to take a walk to clear his mind a little.

"Hey! Did you hear about the new crazy strong ninja the Leaf Village has?"