Naruto frowned as he walked through the barren wasteland. Squinting his eyes as the sun bore down on him, he tried to use his enhanced eyesight to see if he could discern whether or not there was anything living within this Kami forsaken place. There was nothing. Nothing except for the heat waves distorting the air around him.
"This place..." Naruto murmured to himself in discontent. Even wearing nothing more than a pair of white shorts and an equally white skin tight sleeveless shirt did nothing to quell the heat threatening to bake him like an overcooked turkey. His clothing was liberally caked to his skin as sweat drenched his body only to dry up and leave that disgusting, sticky after feel. "Is this really the rendezvous point where we're supposed to meet our client?"
'Who the hell meets in a place that's so fucking hot?'
'You know, watching you suffer out there almost makes me glad I'm in here where it's always nice and cool. It almost makes being sealed worth it.'
Naruto scowled at the sound of Kyuubi's voice.
'Ugh, sure, rub it in why don't you?'
"That's right brat," Jiraiya answered as he saddled up to the blond, one hand on his hip and the other shielding his eyes like a visor. Naruto scowled. "The Prince of Tsuki no Kuni (Land of the Moon) and his caravan should be coming this way. Our job is to meet up with them and protect the Prince on his journey back to his country. You'll want to keep a sharp eye out. I don't think I need to tell you how important this client is."
"I wasn't talking to you, Jiraiya!" Naruto snarled at the man, the anger and loathing in his voice earning a wince from his sensei.
"Aw, come on, Naruto. Are you still upset about before?"
"Upset? Upset!" Naruto grit his teeth, his larger than average canine's baring themselves angrily at the man. For a moment, his pupils became slitted, before reverting back to their normal round look. "How could I possibly be upset? I mean, I only learned that my own fucking father sealed the Kyuubi into me and that the man who should have raised me decided his time would be better spent whoring himself out and perving on women in hot springs so he could write those filthy novels."
Jiraiya grimaced.
"I already said I was sorry..."
"SORRY DOESN'T TAKE AWAY THE PAIN FROM THIRTEEN YEARS OF NEGLECT!" Naruto bellowed so loudly the noise echoed across the vast wasteland. "It doesn't change the fact that my own godfather, the person who was supposed to take care of me if something ever happened to my parents ignored me for thirteen years of my life and is only now trying to work his way in! You think you can just come into my life after ignoring me for thirteen years!? Think again, Jiraiya!"
With each word that escaped Naruto's mouth, the wound Jiraiya felt opening as he realized how badly he had inadvertently hurt his godson became deeper. He knew the boy would be angry at him when he revealed their relationship. It was only natural that the child would be angry, especially when his past was taken into consideration.
What the Gama Sennin had not expected was just how angry Naruto would be. Even after two months the boy refused to even speak with him except when they were training. And even then, Naruto would speak only enough to get his point across, then he would continue to ignore Jiraiya as if he didn't exist. This was actually the most he had even heard the boy speak in one sitting since he had revealed Naruto's heritage to him.
Naruto turned around so that he would be facing away from Jiraiya. Just looking at him filled him with so much anger it was taking all he had not to rake his claws down the man's face.
"I will accept you as my teacher, because I know I'm not strong enough to look out for myself or defeat a single S-class ninja much less nine, but that's all you are to me now. I refuse to accept you as my godfather!"
As Naruto began marching again, Jiraiya sighed. He did not regret telling his godson of his heritage, because really, the boy deserved to know who his parents were. It was just as he told Tsunade, the boy had a right to know.
That did not mean having the boy he should have raised since his parent's death ignore him like he didn't exist did not hurt. It did. A lot.
Unfortunately, there was not much he could do about Naruto's anger towards him right now. All he could do was complete this mission to the best of his abilities and hope the boy's anger cooled down soon.
'Don't you think you're being a tad harsh?'
'Don't tell me you're taking his side, Kyuubi.'
'You know I'm not. I was just stating that you are being quite harsh and that it's unlike you. And don't take that tone with me. I am not the one who ignored you for thirteen years.'
'No, you're just the reason my parents died,' Naruto said snidely. Almost as soon as he spoke those words he came to regret them. 'Kyuubi ―'
'Do you think I wanted to kill your parents, Naruto? News flash, I couldn't have cared less if they had lived or died. Had they just let me go, I would have simply left that Kami forsaken village and never looked back. I simply wanted my freedom, but your parents refused to give me that. Your mother had to be an idiot and held me down with her blasted chains while your gods be damned father sealed me into you when all I wanted was to be free!'
'Look...' Naruto sighed tiredly. 'I didn't meant that. I ―' he paused, then blinked. 'Hold on, how did you know who my mother was? Jiraiya only mentioned her in passing.'
…
…
'Kyuubi?' When only silence greeted him, Naruto sighed. 'Great, and now I've just pissed off the one person I can talk to in this fucking wasteland. Smooth Naruto, real smooth.'
XoX
"What. The. Fuck?"
Naruto had seen a lot of things in his short life, many of which would cause any civilian and even some ninja to shiver in fear... or lose their lunch. He had traveled to a number of different countries and had seen villages both small and large. From the tiny community at Nami no Kuni where everybody knew everyone else to the great city in Tetsu no Kuni, Naruto could honestly say he had seen things that few ninja could lay claim to.
.
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