The young brat glared balefully at Naruto, who returned the stare with one of his own.
"Ah, I hope you'll forgive Hikaru," Michiru said. "He's at that mischievous stage that boys go through."
"Whatever," Naruto mumbled, turning and beginning to walk away. "I'm going to begin checking the caravan and creating a patrol route. You guys do whatever it is you do." And with that, Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed.
"Wow," Michiru said as Hikaru gawked at where Naruto used to be. "So fast... is this the power of a ninja?"
"Partly, however, Naruto is stronger than most ninja his age," Jiraiya stated proudly. No matter if Naruto hated him or not, he was still proud of how strong his godson had become. "He's actually the most promising of our newest generation of leaf ninja."
"Is that so?" Michiru was suitably impressed, which would have caused Jiraiya to laugh some more as he told the man tales of how great his apprentice was, but there was business to be done. Bragging could wait until later.
XoX
The caravan had begun to move again. Slowly at first, but with increasing speed as the horses pulled the large wagons laden so full with crap only someone who was super rich and not afraid to waste their money would bother to buy that it looked like each one weighted a ton. Despite the heavy loads, the steeds didn't seem to be complaining. Maybe they were used to lugging around loads of crap?
Naruto found himself perched on top of one of the wagons, using it as a lookout point so he could see the entire operation from where he was. All around caravan walked a large number of clones, fifty in all. Their job was to dispel if they saw something out of the ordinary so that Naruto could deal with it.
That was the problem with clones, he lamented. They couldn't do anymore because they were so weak. Even if they had all of his abilities and a good portion of his chakra one good hit would destroy them.
He really needed to find a way to make them stronger. Nothing was impossible and Naruto was sure this wasn't either. All it would take was a little hard work and gumption.
Maybe he could use Kyuubi's chakra to enhance them? Naruto wondered what such a thing would do. It could make his clones more durable and able to at least take a few hits before dispelling, or it might have disastrous results like making the clone unstable enough that it could explode.
Which would actually be kind of useful. The exploding clone jutsu was a powerful technique. How powerful would exploding clone's be when filled to the brim with Kyuubi's chakra be?
"Hehe," Naruto chuckled. "I could just imagine the explosion that would make..." The image of one of his clones blowing up and destroying a small mountain appeared in his mind. That would definitely be awesome.
His small moment of amusement was short lived as the poor mood he had been in since discovering his heritage and that Jiraiya was his godfather returned.
Sighing, the whisker marked shinobi got back to work, looking out over the barren wasteland the caravan was currently passing through. Naruto wasn't quite sure what sort of environment this place would be considered. It was boiling hot like the desert of Suna, but there was none of the sand associated with that place. It was really just dried up and cracked gravel with loads of rocks. Could this terrain even be considered a desert then?
Hmm, better stick to barren wasteland.
Right now the caravan was moving next to a large mountain range made of steep cliff faces. As Naruto looked up at the giant cliff that was probably around the same size as the Hokage Monument in Konoha, his mind went through the information about the mission he and the pervert had been given.
They were actually on a B-rank mission, which would normally be given to a four-man squad of one jonin and three Chunin. With all of their ninja already on various missions, he and Jiraiya had been the only ones with a high enough rank in the ninja hierarchy to qualify. If they had not been able to do it, then Tsunade would have been forced to give the mission to a group of genin.
Not a very good prospect for what could end up being a difficult mission. They were protecting a prince, after all, one who had enough money that he could pretty much spend millions of it on a whim without a care in the world. It was unlikely that this mission would end up going off without a hitch. Especially now that he was here. No doubt Murphy was going to find some way to screw them over before the end of this journey.
'You're always so cynical.'
'I think I have a right to be,' Naruto said, rolling his eyes. 'Just look at my mission record. My first C-rank turned into an A-rank where I fought Zabuza and... Haku, then the Chunin Exams came and then there was the Sasuke Retrieval disaster. And let's not forget that mission to Tetsu no Kuni where I fought that prick Ao and the one in Tori no Kuni with the Cursed Warrior. I think I have a right to be cynical when it comes to the missions I'm understaking.'
'Point taken. You have some of the shittiest luck I've seen for this type of stuff. You're the biggest magnet for trouble I've met.'
'Oh gee, thanks.'
Continuing his survey of the area, his eyes strayed over to the front where Jiraiya was walking alongside the Prince's carriage, talking to the Prince about something with animated gestures and loud belly aching laughter.
Naruto glared at the man for a moment, then decided to ignore him and focus on the carriage itself.
It really was one of the most fancy looking carriages he had ever seen. A large white carriage with golden accents and designs. It looked much more streamlined then the other carriage, which were all large, bulky and plain looking. The thing was obviously designed with the intention of making people green with envy.
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