Chapter 71 - 71. Guilt Trip
While a sand storm covered the Daimyo city in the Wind Country, Shiroken\'s clone at the Water Country was talking to Pakura, the ex-shinobi of Sunagakure.
Ex, because she just threw away her headband after waking up. Her hate went pretty deep, it seemed.
"Tell me, who are you exactly? I have people, strong people in Wind Country, they can find out why they tried to kill you." Clone Shiroken asked.
The only difference between a Clone Shiroken and a normal Shiroken was that of strength and body. Unlike the real Shiroken, they were made of wood, while strong enough to fight many Jonins at the same time, they were useless if someone of Kage level strength came to attack. Though they can stop the Kage and buy enough time for the real Shiroken to arrive.
Pakura made a spitting action at the name of Sunagakure, "I do not know. Everything was fine from what I remember. They just sent me on a normal mission. Who knows what made them decide to kill me. But whatever it was, I will never forgive them."
"Calm down, Pakura. You are still injured and should not move too much. Right now, you are in the Daimyo\'s Palace of the Water Country. I am the Supreme Daimyo of the Water Country, the Wave Country and the Dama Country. You are safe here." Clone Shiroken assured her.
But her head was now filled with questions, "What do you mean by Supreme Daimyo?"
"Umm... I am the boss of the Daimyos in the three countries I named." He explained in the least amount of words possible.
"Does something like that exist? Why didn\'t I know that before?" She wondered.
"Now you know, and for that, I will have to kill you." Shiroken monotonously replied.
"Oh... Oka... WHAT?" She nearly jumped from her bed.
"Haha... Just kidding. You take a rest. Tell me if you remember anything that can help my people at the Wind Country find your wrongdoers." Clone Shiroken left her to think alone.
...
Konoha,
If one were to compare, the current Naruto was much different from Naruto from a few weeks back. All of a sudden, he started radiating an aura of a grown-up. He was still goofy, but whenever the situation called for, he acted like an adult.
He also trained diligently now, seen by his recent missions with the team. Sasuke started to feel a bit of pressure from Naruto\'s progress while Sakura, Naruto\'s crush, started to feel different about him. But, too bad for her, Naruto didn\'t give her as much attention as before.
Of course, all this was not because of Naruto himself. This change started when he finally asked Jiraiya for some answers. Only Jiraiya at this point was aware that Naruto knew everything about his family and the beast.
Jiraiya then told him the history of Konoha as well as the person called Shiroken, who is the Demon Fox\'s family. After that day, Naruto purposefully visited the fox and asked him one thing. "Help me get stronger, so when you leave me I can hold on. And if I can one day beat the Pervy Sage, I will take you to the Dama Country myself and hand you over."
"Are you not afraid of dying?" Kurama asked him.
Naruto shook his head, "I am, but I don\'t want to live with the guilt of having enslaved you. So, what\'s it gonna be?"
Kurama silently kept his eyes closed and thought about it. ~Hmm... A Jinchuriki feeling guilty? Haha... What an amusing kid. Normally they are scared of me but this one continued to come and talk.~
"Only in one condition will I help you with your training." He spoke.
Naruto got excited. In fact, Naruto had knowingly come to ask him this. He had spoken to Jiraiya and the old pervert gave him advice. After he had made sure Kurama was asleep, he asked Jiraiya about it. Naruto found out that Kurama is a walking encyclopaedia of ninja techniques. And it would be good if he could get some advice from him.
So, he decided to get Kurama to agree. At the same time, he was training with Jiraiya to prepare for the upcoming Chunin exams. In fact, Jiraiya had not planned to train him so early, but he felt guilty for leaving Naruto in sadness all this while.
"What condition?" Naruto asked.
"You must consider all my commands when it comes to fighting, talking and living," Kurama demanded.
Naruto made a tense face, "HEY, are you trying to make me your slave?"
"Do you want me to ban Ichiraku Ramen too?" Kurama threatened him in a few words.
And this was all that Naruto needed, "No, sir. I will do as you say. What should I do first if I may ask?"
~I hope he\'s not like the Pervy-sage and tells me to peep inside public bathrooms.~ Naruto muttered to himself.
"I can hear you say that." Kurama shocked him with his voice.
Naruto cursed but didn\'t say or think anymore. "So, can you teach me some new jutsu or maybe a new fighting technique? Or even a Kunai throwing technique?"
Kurama just scoffed, "Huh, I am going to sleep. I will advise you when I see something worthy of such. Also, call me Lord Kurama from now on."
"Oh, your name is Kurama? That\'s somewhat... Cute." Naruto muttered without thinking much.
"LORD KURAMA! And if you dare to call me cute ever again I will rip your stomach out." Kurama threatened him, prompting him to bite his teeth.
"Okay, okay... Lord Kurama. Please go to sleep." Naruto apologised, but...
~And stop being a pain in the ass.~
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"AH, MY DAMN BRAIN!" Naruto cursed himself in a frustrated scream.
...
So, Naruto and Kurama became partners. From there, Kurama would interrupt him whenever he was doing something stupid, but Kurama would sometimes let him do stupid things that he found funny.
"SAKURA CHAN!" Naruto jumped at seeing his crush.
And just then Kurama\'s angry heavy voice sounded in his mind, "Do you have any idea how creepy and repulsive you look? She has no interest in you boy, she wants the boy you had your first kiss with."
Kurama had a habit of reminding Naruto of the most hated memory of his. Naruto talked back, ~No, I like her because I think she is nice. Sasuke is not good for her.~
*Sigh* "Kid, stop thinking from your reproductive little finger... don\'t argue, I know it\'s size. You only like her looks, because in terms of personality, ah... She\'s so bad. Actually, she doesn\'t even look good. You should maybe go after that blonde friend of yours if prettiness is what you want... Though she isn\'t much better either personality-wise."
~You mean Ino? Yeah, she\'s pretty but stupid. She also likes Sasuke.~ Naruto replied.
"KILL HIM! Kill Sasuke. Show dominance over your species." Kurama advised him according to his own instincts.
Naruto\'s shoulder fell, "I will be arrested and imprisoned. You are very bad at advising me, you know that?"
"Huh, I just want to say that you need to stop with your foolish chase after that Sakura girl. By acting like a dog in heat around her you are only dropping your personal value. Do you have no self-respect? If pretty women are all you want, then become the Hokage, or even a strong ninja, girls like this Sakura will throw themselves at your arms to have your kids." Kurama seriously suggested. He was talking about having kids with a nearly 13-year-old kid. But, Kurama didn\'t feel ashamed or embarrassed because Jiraiya was 100 times more shameless.
And the biggest reason was that Naruto himself was a closet pervert, why else would he develop a Jutsu to turn himself into a pretty naked girl?
"Really? If I become strong, will Sakura come to me?" Naruto asked, this was his motivation it seems.
Kurama sighed, "You horny teenager. Yes, she will, but take my advice, you deserve someone better, who truly values you and will love you. Someone like your mother. Even though she was crazy and considered me an evil demon fox, she was indeed kind to people."
Naruto forgot all things they were talking about and got engrossed in thinking about his mother and father. Jiraiya had secretly given him a photo of them, and Naruto looked at it every single day when he went home.
"Hehe... She did look like a good person. Kurama, can you tell me about my dad? How strong was he?" Naruto inquired longingly.
"Your father was smart yet dumb, however, he was undeniably strong. He was called the Yellow Flash of Konoha because he was so fast that you\'d only see a blurry yellow after image of him. He became a renowned ninja during the war because of this technique.
"It\'s called the Flying Thunder God Technique. Hmm, kid, you should try to learn it. With your Uzumaki Chakra, you will be able to do so many great things by learning this technique. It was originally made by that bastard Tobirama Senju but your father perfected it." Kurama revealed in depth.
Naruto\'s eyes were already shining, "REALLY? If... If I learn this, will I become the strongest? Even stronger than your son, Shiroken?"
Naruto had learned a few things about Shiroken from Kurama as the old grumpy fox sometimes liked to reminisce about the old days.
Kurama scoffed, "Huh, in your dreams. No human can ever become stronger than him."
Naruto\'s shoulders fell, "Eh... Then... Then someday I will ask him to teach me. But Kura... Dear Lord Kurama, how can I get this technique? The last time stole a scroll from the Hokage Residence, all hell broke loose."
"Demand it, or at least take what you deserve after being tormented for so many years. Haha, kid, I am going to teach you something amazing today. The ability to make others agree with you by making them go on a guilt trip." Kurama evily chuckled.
[A/N: Since so many are asking, Tsunade will be appearing from Chapter 100 or so.]
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