Naruto: The New Sealmaster

A while later, Aoshi was walking up to the hot spring Kakashi mentioned. Nothing of note could be seen there so he wondered whether he was sent on a wild goose chase. That was until he heard a scream, and a scream he recognised well. There stood Naruto in his underwear, with some old man staring at him. Aoshi rushed over screaming.

"Hey! What's going on?"

But he stopped abruptly when he saw what appeared on Naruto's stomach. Aoshi rushed over once more only to study what had appeared on Naruto, sadly it disappeared once Naruto lost his focus.

"Green-san? What are you doing here?"

The old man seemed annoyed at being interrupted, but Aoshi didn't care.

"Naruto, could you do that again? Please. That looked rather interesting."

The boy looked confused but closed his eyes and moulded his chakra once more. A seal appeared on his stomach, and not a simple seal like the one Aoshi had on his hands, but an intensely complex and profound seal. Aoshi was star-struck with what he saw. At that moment, he didn't consider why it was there or who put it there. He only cared about analysing what he saw. And when he did that, he spoke out loud without meaning to.

"That's a real peace of art. The combination of two profound seals in order to make an even better one with an intentional opening. Why would someone place a five element seal on it though? It seems to completely ruin the purpose and destroy the lovely work put into this beauty."

A voice behind him spoke up.

"What makes you say that?"

Aoshi just kept on talking as he slowly inspected the masterpiece.

"Well even an idiot would know not to put a seal with an odd number of components over one with an even number."

"And for what reason would one do so anyway?"

"Well, to ruin the original work if you're not capable of removing it entirely I suppose."

That was when he considered the other person next to him. The man was old, but not like the hokage. This man still had youthful glory left. His hair was entirely white though, which didn't help his image. He had some red lines going down from his eyes and when Aoshi finally looked at his headband, he realised who he was talking to. It said 'Oil' and that could only mean one person. Aoshi bowed his head.

"Jiraiya-sama. I didn't know it was you. All I was was an old man staring at a topless Naruto, which was why I didn't think too much of you."

That caused his eyes to twitch, and he looked around actually thinking about how this looked to the women walking out of the hot springs. It was perhaps not the best look when Naruto was clearly not related to him. Eventually, Jiraiya waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. I take it you're interested in seals then?"

There were very few people in the village who had taken their time to properly learn the sealing arts, and among them none had talent for it like Jiraiya and his old student. He hadn't heard of this kid's existence though. Jiraiya inspected Aoshi from tip to toe and knew what family he was from without thinking about it, he was certain he heard of their downfall and defection from the village though.

"Yeah, sort of runs in the family. Though perhaps not the last two..Anyway, do you know why there would be a five element seal on Naruto?"

That's when the question struck him. Why was the intricate one on Naruto to begin with? What kind of thing would need such a seal? Only one possibility came to mind as he looked at Naruto with a surprised gaze. Jiraiya seemed to know exactly what went through the kid's mind and waited to see his reaction. If it went poorly then he'd have to include the Hokage and a couple of Yamanakas into this matter, which he'd rather not.

To Jiraiya's surprise, Aoshi scooted over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Does..Does Naruto know what that seal contains?"

His eyes widened and he looked down at the kid with a smile. Perhaps there was promise in this one.

"He does. Naruto has been aware of the nine-tails for about half a year now."

Aoshi whistled. That was some pretty heavy news to throw on a freshly graduated Genin. Though he supposed it did explain quite a few things about him. Aoshi looked over to Naruto who looked gobsmacked at the conversation the two were having as if he wasn't there. He didn't understand any of the technical bits, but most of all he was surprised at Aoshi's reaction to the fox. He was ready for him to react poorly, for him to lose one of the few who treated him well. But Aoshi didn't; he merely seemed interested.

"Green-san..It doesn't bother you then?"

Aoshi raised an eyebrow at the kid and shook his head.

"No, why would it? I can understand some ignorant people, but I've studied seals since I was four years old. If anything I think of you as a canvas for a beautiful piece of art. Not a demon."

Naruto's mood skyrocketed as he shouted out and fist bumped the air, until Jiraiya stopped him and told him to get back into position and raise his arms. Naruto did so and the next second Aoshi could see Jiraiya's fingertips glowing. It was an unsealing art, very similar to how the five elements seal was described as working in one of the texts Aoshi had read. Jiraiya slammed his fingers into Naruto's stomach and the next second the Five elements seal was gone.

"Wh- Why the heck did you do that?"

Jiraiya told the boy that he had only stimulated some points and told him to try and walk on water again. Teaching Naruto control seemed like a good choice, Aoshi agreed. It seemingly went a lot better now as Naruto was very happy. They then had a conversation about whether Naruto was aware that he could tap into the fox's chakra and how to do so. He had no idea, and with that they finished for the day. Aoshi felt a bit left out so he was going to leave when they were making plans to meet the next day.

"Rokushō, could you stay back while Naruto goes home and rests?"

The two looked very confused, for different reasons. Naruto because he didn't understand why Green-san could stay and not him. Aoshi because he hadn't introduced himself, Jiraiya knowing his name was probably not a good thing. They both did as the man asked, and soon they were alone.

"I was under the impression that the Rokushō had completely fallen after the latest generation chose to abandon the village."

Aoshi sweat-dropped.

"Not quite. My brother, Rokushō Aoi, is indeed a traitor, but I, Rokushō Aoshi, remain. And I do not intend on joining him."

Jiraiya looked at the green-haired kid in front of him for several seconds, before nodding with a grin.

"Excellent. It's been a while since your family produced anyone interesting. I had hopes for your father once, but those were squashed rather intensely."

Aoshi didn't know what to say to that, and so silence reigned between the two until he explained himself.

"I have…never agreed with my father. And he has only gotten worse with time. My brother fell into the same trap. I'd like to think I take after my mother in the brain department, and I kind of live with her sister, my aunt, Yuhi Kurenai."

Jiraiya nodded once more.

"And why did you show up here at the exact moment I had started training the kid?"

"Kakashi sent me."

The old man chuckled at that.

"Good. Good! Listen, kid. I owe a lot to your family, your great grandfather was a great man. Taught me most of what I know about sealing honestly. I would love to return the favour but that would go against what I know he wanted."

Aoshi blinked in surprise, he didn't know what to say.

"You knew him well then? What do you mean what he wanted?"

Jiraiya summoned a small frog and asked him to pick up a few scrolls. A couple of seconds later, the frog appeared again with three scrolls in his mouth. He handed them to Aoshi.

"These were written by Rokushō Akihito, your great grandfather. He wrote these for me to use while I was away. You see, I was a rather slow learner when it came to theory. Sending me off with scrolls to read whenever I had time to, was his way of accommodating me. Everyone else had to learn by listening to someone lecture. Your clan had only two members left by then, him and his sister who refused to be a ninja, and he was afraid his knowledge would be lost in time. Now though, they are your responsibility."

Aoshi looked at the scrolls with reverence. This was his legacy, what he had been fighting so hard to regain. It was as if the universe wanted him to keep fighting. As if it wanted him to succeed and become a chunin. He bowed down deep to Jiraiya.

"I won't have time to teach you anything, I'm planning on teaching the brat whatever I have time for. But those scrolls contain the basics on three topics. One is to do what I just did and seal without writing or drawing anything. One is the theory behind creating pockets inside a person you can fill with chakra, like the ones you saw on Naruto. The final one is the theory behind the summoning jutsu. I never had any use for the last one since I was given a contract, but your family's summons have died out I'm afraid."

Aoshi was listening but his eyes were on the scrolls he held tighter and tighter to his chest. Jiraiya smiled down at him.

"I would teach you specific techniques but I still remember what he used to say."

Jiraiya cleared his throat and altered his voice to sound croaky but still somehow nasal, clearly imitating someone else.

"I will teach you how to do this. I will even teach you specific seals. But know this, this is not how I do things. This is not how a Rokushō would ever do things. A Rokushō doesn't work off of a pattern or template. A Rokushō doesn't copy another's work. Neither do we use a specific style someone else came up with. A Rokushō must find their own style and their own interpretation, they must focus on understanding the basics to build upon them. Inspiration is of course somehow needed, but never copying or compiling. That is just not our way."

He let the words sit in the air for a short while.

"I was too stupid for his ways, too impulsive, and had too little imagination. I had a talent for sealing, but not coming up with the seals themselves. That is why I won't teach you any seals whatsoever. You must walk that path alone, since there is none other who currently does. Good luck little Rokushō! But for now, leave me to handle this."

He waved in the direction of the guy with glasses Aoshi had seen walking out of the hospital with Naruto. Apparently he had been sleeping on the ground next to them the entire time. Aoshi once again bowed deeply towards the man.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama. You don't know what this means to me."

Jiraiya chuckled at the kid as he ran off. A couple of days later he would discover what it actually meant, after a talk with the Hokage. He had no idea that the kid had no scrolls at all to work with anymore. He had assumed that Aoshi was just grateful to receive something that belonged to his family. To think that his father was even more useless than Jiraiya had thought.