After a series of tests and basic training given by Jiraiya over several days to test the extent of Naruto's abilities and potential, the Toad Sage felt quite satisfied.
He saw the shadow of his beloved student, Minato, in this blond brat – an unyielding spirit and extraordinary hidden potential.
'Indeed worthy of being Minato and Kushina's child,' Jiraiya thought to himself, a faint smile gracing his lips.
'This kid... he has something special.'
A week later, after ensuring Naruto had sufficient basic chakra control, Jiraiya decided to start teaching Naruto his signature jutsu: Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
They were in a spacious training ground.
Jiraiya stood casually, while Naruto looked at him with full anticipation.
"Alright, Brat!"
Jiraiya began.
"Today, I will teach you a very useful jutsu, one that will give you a strong fighting partner. This is Kuchiyose no Jutsu, the Summoning Technique!"
"Kuchiyose?! Like when Kakashi-sensei summons those ninja dogs, right?! Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.
Jiraiya chuckled.
"Not just dogs, Brat. With this technique, you can summon various creatures, as long as you've signed a contract with them. And for you, I will introduce you to the mighty toads of Mount Myōboku!"
With a swift series of hand seals, Jiraiya slammed his hand on the ground.
POOF!
Thick smoke billowed, and when it cleared, a medium-sized toad appeared before them.
"Yo, Jiraiya-sama! What do you need me for?" the toad greeted with a hoarse voice.
"Gerotora," Jiraiya said. "I want you to show this brat the toad contract scroll."
The toad named Gerotora nodded, then carefully unrolled the contract scroll in front of Naruto.
The scroll was very long, filled with names and blood thumbprints.
"This is the summoning contract scroll for the toads, Brat," Jiraiya explained.
"To be able to summon them, you must sign this contract. Write your name with your own blood here, then put your thumbprint."
Jiraiya pointed to an empty column on the scroll.
Naruto swallowed, a little horrified to see so much blood on the scroll, but his spirit was greater.
"Alright! I'll do it, dattebayo!"
He bit his thumb until a little blood came out, then carefully wrote his name "Uzumaki Naruto" and affixed his blood thumbprint.
After the contract was signed, Gerotora rolled up the scroll again and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Now, try performing the hand seals as I taught you, then channel your chakra and summon a toad!" Jiraiya ordered.
Naruto enthusiastically formed the hand seals: Dog, Boar, Bird, Monkey, Ram. He focused his chakra.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu!
He slammed his hand on the ground.
POOF!
Thin smoke billowed, and when it cleared... a small green tadpole, no bigger than Naruto's thumb, lay wriggling on the ground.
"..."
Silence fell. Naruto stared at the tadpole.
The tadpole stared at Naruto.
Even Jiraiya was silent, one eyebrow raised, trying to suppress his laughter.
Naruto's face immediately turned beet red.
"WH-WHAT IS THIS?! WHY DID ONLY A TINY TADPOLE LIKE THIS COME OUT, DATTEBAYO?!" he shouted, embarrassed and annoyed.
Jiraiya finally couldn't hold back his laughter.
"BUAHAHAHA! A t-tadpole?! Brat, you truly are... unique! Hahaha!"
Hana giggled amusedly in Naruto's mind.
"Shut up, Ero-sennin! Something must be wrong!"
Naruto tried again, and again, and again.
The results varied, from a slightly larger tadpole to a fist-sized toad that immediately hopped away.
After several frustrating attempts, and with a little guidance from Jiraiya on how to focus and channel chakra correctly, Naruto finally succeeded.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu!
POOF!
This time the smoke that billowed was thicker.
And when it cleared, a dark green toad the size of an adult human stood there, looking at Naruto with its large eyes.
"I DID IT! I DID IT, ERO-SENNIN! LOOK! A BIG TOAD!"
Naruto jumped up and down proudly in front of the toad.
Jiraiya smiled, nodding.
"Not bad, Brat. Not bad at all for an initial attempt. You have talent."
However, for Naruto, that wasn't enough.
He wanted to summon a bigger toad, a stronger one.
"Hana-neechan! I need your help! I need more chakra!" Naruto whispered inwardly.
"Of course, my dear prince!" Hana replied with an enthusiastic and slightly coddling voice.
"Use all your strength! Show that Pervy Sage who you really are! I always support you! I love you, Naruto-kun!"
While trying hard to ignore Hana who was once again embarrassing him with her declaration of love, Naruto felt a warm and strong wave of chakra flow into him.
He immediately focused a very large amount of chakra, making Jiraiya, who was standing nearby, slightly surprised to feel the sudden surge in Naruto's chakra intensity.
Thin red chakra began to envelop Naruto's body.
He bit the old wound on his right thumb again, letting fresh blood flow out.
Quickly, Naruto's hands began to form the hand seals for Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"
Naruto pressed the ground with his bloodied right palm and shouted with all his might, gritting his teeth.
Very thick and massive smoke billowed from the point where his hand was pressed, spreading for tens of meters.
With such a drastic consumption of chakra, Naruto could clearly feel that an entity with a very large body and extraordinary power was emerging within the smoke.
POOF!
When the thick smoke slowly began to dissipate...
"AMAZING! IT'S HUGE, DATTEBAYO!"
Naruto exclaimed in awe, his eyes wide.
He found himself standing on something hard and slightly slimy.
He looked at the giant, deep crimson figure now beneath his feet.
A giant toad, carrying a giant tantō at its waist, and smoking a large pipe.
Jiraiya was now indeed looking at Naruto with a completely new, astonished gaze.
But not because Naruto had succeeded in extracting Kyuubi's chakra, but because this brat actually had the guts to stand on the head of Gamabunta, the Boss Toad of Mount Myōboku, and act wildly as if it were a normal thing.
Except for Minato, Gamabunta had never submitted or allowed anyone to ride him so casually; even Jiraiya himself often got an earful.
"YOU DAMN RASCAL!!!" Sure enough, Gamabunta's thundering voice exploded in the next second, making the ground around them tremble.
"DO YOU KNOW WHOSE HEAD YOU'RE STANDING ON AND SHOUTING LIKE A MADMAN, HUH?!"
Gamabunta turned his head slightly, looking at Naruto standing on him with his large yellow toad eyes, unconcealed anger flashing clearly in them.
"THIS IS MY HEAD, THE HEAD OF THE LEGENDARY BOSS TOAD GAMABUNTA!"
Gamabunta was clearly very angry.
He began to jump and shake his head violently, trying to throw Naruto off his head.
However, Naruto, with the additional chakra from Hana helping him stick on more firmly, continued to hold on with all his might, gripping Gamabunta's scalp tightly.
"WOAAAH! DON'T SHAKE LIKE THIS, MR. BIG TOAD!" Naruto shouted.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING MR. BIG TOAD, YOU DAMN BRAT! GET OFF MY HEAD BEFORE I SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!"
With Hana's continuous chakra flow and Naruto's unyielding determination, finally, after a rather fierce and amusing 'battle' (for those watching from afar), Naruto managed to calm Gamabunta down a bit, or perhaps more accurately, Gamabunta began to feel a little respect (or annoyance) for this blond brat's persistence.
Finally, Gamabunta returned to Mount Myōboku with an annoyed snort and a large puff of smoke, leaving Naruto lying on the ground, exhausted but with a satisfied smile on his face.
Jiraiya approached Naruto, who had fallen fast asleep from exhaustion. He smiled gently.
"You really... surpassed my expectations, Brat."
Carefully, Jiraiya carried Naruto's light body on his back and took him home to his apartment.
It was already nighttime, around eight o'clock. The village air felt cool.
When Jiraiya arrived in front of Naruto's apartment building, he saw a red-haired girl with glasses just about to enter the housing unit next to Naruto's apartment.
The girl, Karin, was slightly surprised and wary when she saw Naruto being carried by a suspicious-looking, white-haired stranger.
"Na-Naruto?! What happened to him?!"
Karin asked with a worried tone, her eyes looking suspiciously at Jiraiya.
"Who are you? And why did Naruto faint?"
Jiraiya smiled kindly.
"Don't worry, Young Miss. This brat is just a little tired after training too hard with me. He'll be fine after a night's rest."
Hearing that explanation, Karin could finally sigh in relief.
"Thank goodness... I thought something bad had happened to him."
Jiraiya observed the red-haired girl carefully. Fiery red hair, and a faint but distinct chakra aura... reminded him of Kushina.
And Naruto, looked so much like Minato.
A warm, sentimental feeling suddenly spread through Jiraiya's heart.
A mischievous (or perhaps romantic, in his view) idea suddenly popped into Jiraiya's mind.
With a swift movement that surprised Karin, he tossed Naruto's sleeping body into Karin's arms.
"There! Please take care of your tired boyfriend, Sweet Miss!"
"WH-WHAT?! B-BOYFRIEND?!" Karin's face immediately turned beet red like a boiled crab.
She staggered slightly from Naruto's sudden weight but managed to hold him.
"W-wait! He's not my boyfriend! We're just fr—"
Karin's words got stuck midway as Jiraiya had already leaped away, laughing heartily.
"Hahahaha! Youth truly is wonderful! Take good care of him!"
Jiraiya's laughter faded into the distance, leaving Karin standing frozen with a flushed face and Naruto still sleeping soundly in her arms.
Karin looked at Naruto's peacefully sleeping face, then sighed softly.
Carefully, she reached into Naruto's pants pocket, searching for his apartment key.
After finding it, she opened the door to Naruto's dark apartment and carried him inside.
After struggling to lay Naruto down on the narrow sofa in his living room, Karin covered him with a thin blanket.
She looked at Naruto's face for a moment, then quickly turned and went straight back to her own apartment, her face still blushing to her ears.
She didn't know that all along, from within Naruto, a pair of fox eyes (or more accurately, the eyes of a woman now residing in a fox's body) had been watching the entire scene with an amused smile.
"Fufufu~ Too bad there was no secret kiss scene or anything like that," Hana muttered softly within the seal, slightly disappointed but also amused. "But at least, my prince has someone who cares about him besides me. This is interesting."