Slytherin's Pimp – I was thinking along the same line when I wrote it. She is, after all, the mother of Naruto so she would have left things better. No offense to Minato but his plan was too hasty for my liking.
Alpenwolf – I know right! Although Danzo was a good man at heart, the problem was the fact that he was too militant and archaic with no regard to human lives. And little Naru-chan finally accepted her father. :D
suzie1107 – Yeah, Hiruzen showed them who the boss is in Konoha! Something he should have done sooner! And the Uchiha Massacre, we'll see how that will go, ne?
mugu – Oh wow, another awesome review of yours! I really love reading your reviews! :D About the ideas for the fics, I'll be honored if you could help me with some things that are troubling my mind. I'll pm you to see what you think about it. We'll be travelling through Naru's life through the view of Jiraiya (especially him!), Tsunade, Kakashi, Hiruzen and a bit of Shizune, not much. And of course, Jiraiya will make EPIC fails which will lead to a beaten Jiraiya, courtesy of Tsunade, Kakashi or Shizune. I have a lot of ideas which I'm sure you will like, a lot of humor to be precise! :D For the other characters, I'll see who I'll put in, though I won't choose a lot otherwise I'll be crazy with the amount of people I have to write about. As for the plot twists and the rest, we'll see how that will go.
Erydanes – Heh. Yeah, figured that.. :p Anyway, thanks for reviewing tho.
Gruffard – It's okay. I apologize for the late update too. :p Of course, my little Naruto-chan will have family with her. I find it ridiculous that in canon it went so horrible for (him) her, I just had to correct that. And you were right about the time skip; it's three years later. Enjoy!
Domonation – Thanks for the compliment.
pucflek – Thank you!
Harteramo – I appreciate your compliment and the nice review! Enjoy another (late) chapter!
Ozymandias – Well, nobody forced you to read my story. Don't like, don't read.
EPICNESS RULES – Voilà! Another chapter! Sorry it took so much time.
Chapter 11: String of Emotions
~ You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening and live like it's heaven on earth. – William W. Purkey
"Naru-chan, tou-chan forgot something in the store, I will be right back. Stay right where you are." The silver-haired man told his three-year old girl seriously.
Currently, Jiraiya and little Naruto were standing in front of a grocery store were they had just shopped but unfortunately the Sannin forgot one of their grocery bags at the checkout.
The said blonde nodded brightly, her white perfect teeth sparkling under the sun rays, making the Toad Sage squint his eyes at the brightness of it. Somehow it reminded him of Gai and his …extrinsic behavior, along with his youth-addicting sentences. Shuddering at that horrifying image, he patted her on the head and waltzed in the store, looking one more time behind his shoulder to see his daughter standing there with a bright grin.
Jiraiya was confident in his daughter's intelligence and he knew for sure that she would listen to him and stay put. After all, she had shown enough potential to become the next Yellow Flash, stepping in the feet of her late mother. He looked at the check-out, trying to find them.
Where did he put them…?
Back with little Naru who was looking around, waiting for her father to come out. She was getting impatient when her father didn't come out after thirty minutes…
"What is tou-chan doing?!" The adorable girl huffed out in annoyance, crossing her arms as she averted her eyes back to the door.
A couple who passed her stopped and stared at her, "Little girl, are you lost?" The female of the two asked in concern.
"No, I'm waiting for my tou-chan." She nodded towards the door, indicating where her father was.
The female arched her eye brow in disbelief, "Your father left you here…?" Naru nodded. "Alone?" Naru nodded in compliance.
She raised her eye brows, wondering which kind of stupid father would leave a child, let alone a toddler behind. This was no way to be responsible. Many bad things could happen to the little naïve girl and yet this man dared to leave her behind. The woman narrowed her eyes in irritation, having a feeling that it may be a ninja. Only ninja's saw their child like adults. I mean they gave twelve-year old children a headband and viewed them as adults while in reality they were children. She hated those kind of people but what could she, a mere civilian, do about this? Nothing. She had hated living in a shinobi village but this was her home, she grew up here, she had beautiful and bad experiences here. She couldn't leave it, no matter how much she hated to live here.
"Hikaru-kun, we can't leave her here. Look at her, she is hardly a toddler. The nerve of that father, leaving her here…" She cracked her knuckles, thinking how much she liked to hit that man upside his head.
Her husband smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head at her wife's behavior. It wasn't strange for her to become a worried mother-hen, she often became like that. In fact, she really loved children, a bit too much. They were trying to start a family too, much to his happiness because that meant non-sex every single day. Though he hoped this fierce protectiveness wouldn't become a drag for their future children and him. He hoped not…
"Alright. We'll wait for the man to come outside." And get him scolded on by you, my dear wife. He couldn't suppress the chuckle that vibrated his chest at the image of his wife ranting about better parenting hood. It earned him a glance from his wife and the small toddler but he ignored them in favour of ruffling the child's striking blonde hair. Where did he saw that blonde hair…? It was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't quite register it. Hmm… It probably wasn't that important.
Oh, how wrong you are.
"What's your name, darling?" The woman asked sweetly, crouching on eye-level.
Naruto scrunched up his nose, glancing between the couple, "I'm not allowed to give my name to strangers."
The woman sweat dropped at that but nodded in approval. "You're very intelligent for your age. But it's good you don't give out your name."
"Yes, ma'am."
After another long torturing minutes, his wife was fed up and stormed inside, ordering him to stay with the child while she would look for him. He shuddered in fear as he looked at his wife's retreating back and prayed for that man's safety.
Nothing was worse than a woman's wrath.
Little Naruto sighed and dropped on the ground, mumbling incoherent words, "Ne, Mister-san, why is tou-chan not back yet?"
"Err…he must be lost?" He scratched his cheek, finding his own excuse lame. Hopefully the child won't start crying. He wasn't that good with children as his wife but he was progressing good. It won't do him any good if he sucked at being a cool father.
Naruto sighed quietly, having an inkling as to why her father wasn't returning soon. This was getting routine for her and she was getting sick and tired of this behavior of his. Why couldn't he be a responsible father? Why couldn't he be like 'Kashi? Maybe 'Kashi was her father because he had silver hair too? Or maybe aunt Tsu-chan was secretly her mother? She never knew the name of her mother… No one wants to tell her and whenever she question them, they get this hurt look in their face and their lips would be sealed. She had concluded that something bad had happened to her mother and none of them wanted to think about that hurting memory.
"Ahn, youthful Naruto-chan, what a youthful pleasure to see you again." A loud voice boomed up and the said girl looked up with wide eyes at the flashing green suit that stuck to his body.
Hikaru never noticed the loud man, moving closer to the store and hearing his wife's shrill screams of outrage. With a sigh, he walked in, it was time he intervened before blood would be shed and knowing his wife there would be blood. That little girl would stay put, after all, she sat there and waited for her father even before they had noticed her. When he walked in he was horrified to see the scene in front of him.
His wife was wrapped around a silver-haired man's back, hitting him with a giant cucumber and screaming many profanities at him. Other customers were throwing rotten vegetables and fruit at the man's face and there was quite a pile stacking up in front of him. Although the poor man was shielding his face, blotches of many colors were clear on his clothes.
He face palmed himself, wondering why he was put in the most weirdest and humiliating situations. Curse his bad luck! With another forlorn sigh, he walked towards the angry mob, gulping as a woman threw a knife at the poor man. How crazy were those women? – yes, women, they were all women, young and old, much to his shock. He had a feeling his wife had something to do with this outrageous act. She did always bring him into trouble. Why couldn't she be a quiet, obedient woman? This was all so troublesome and though knowing this all he loved her with his entire existence. He just couldn't bring himself to think about a future where she wasn't standing next to him, smiling warmly at him.
Pulling up his sleeves, he walked straight to the crowd. He avoided a carrot hitting him in the stomach and rolled to the side where the shelves provided him cover from the artillery's. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with his left hand and spied the war going on right under his nose. If he moved to the right and hid behind those crates he would have a good chance to get closer to his crazy wife. Screw that, he'd be veggied within the seconds. These were no times to be careful, right now a war brewing. Taking a deep breath he charged forward with a battle cry …only to be hit by a humongous water melon, the juice trickled down his clothes and made him sticky. That monstrous hit brought forth darkness and he cursed himself for running straight into a battlefield. He should have known better…
And all the while was Jiraiya trying to fend himself from the crazy mob. He was trying his best not to hurt any women because he sure as hell wouldn't hit a harmless - coughderangedcough – woman. Though it was getting very hard not to hit them. Silently, his mind wondered how it had come this far…?
When Jiraiya went into the store, he walked straight to the spot where he had pain for his grocery bags. After looking everywhere he had not found it and asked the cashier who didn't know anything about a forgotten bag, much to his annoyance. He had started taking the same items again from the shelves, having a feeling that the storekeeper did this on purpose just to get more money. Stupid greedy assholes. This will be the last time he'll ever shop her- Holy Tsunade! That woman surely had huge assets.
Puffing his chest out, he checked his breath. He smelled like fresh mint. Perfect.
Forgetting completely about the shopping, he walked towards her. When she looked at him, he flashed her a seducing smile and was encouraged when she returned the gesture. For a moment he was lost in those blue eyes but he shook them off and stopped in front of her.
"Hey there. What's a beautiful woman like you doing here?"
And she was beautiful, long straight brown hair with wide blue eyes, she was lacking curves but her huge boobs made up for it. She giggled, nodding at the bags under her arms, "Grocery shopping."
He felt like hitting himself on those shelves but refrained from doing so. Instead he chuckled softly, "Of course you were."
"I guess you're doing the same, am I right?"
"I stopped thinking about my grocery shopping the moment I saw a breathtakingly woman like you."
She hid her smile, cheeks flushing a nice shade of red, "Oh my, ever the charming one."
Jiraiya took a hold of her hands and kissed it softly, making sure he kept eye contact with those gorgeous blue eyes, "Jiraiya, a pleasure to meet a beautiful maiden like you."
The woman flushed even more, "Natsuna, and likewise."
The conversation flowed perfectly and at the end of it he almost persuaded the woman to a date but then everything went downhill from there.
"Attention, attention, the father of the blonde girl outside is requested near the vegetable and fruit section. I repeat, the father of the blonde girl is requested near the vegetable and fruit section." The voice from the speaker boomed throughout the store and it took Jiraiya's immediate attention.
Naruto!
He forgot about the woman and dashed towards the requested section, praying that everything would be alright. Shit! Why'd he forgot about his daughter in the first place? If Tsunade or Kakashi would ever find out, he'd be dead meat. When he arrived there, he didn't saw his little cute Naruto anywhere instead a mob with women off all ages who were holding vegetables and fruits as a sort of weapon were waiting there and at the lead of it was a furious purple-haired woman with green eyes. The moment she caught his wide-eyed gaze, she narrowed her eyes, "Are you the father of the little blonde-haired girl?"
He could only nod automatically at how scary she sounded. …Just like Tsunade minus the barbaric strength, this was an ordinary female civilian, thank Kami.
And then the woman started screaming at him, stomping towards him with a giant cucumber in her hands. He tried to back away but failed when there was a shelve behind him. The woman decided to use his distracted momentum to jump on him.
Jiraiya wouldn't have minded that in the least because he could feel her soft mounds and fine curves perfectly. He liked spicy women but the fact that she was hitting him rather forcefully was not. And then to his horror things got worse, the other women started throwing many edible projectiles his way, bombarding him with the sour smell.
He slapped his head thinking as so why he didn't use a substitution jutsu with that unconscious man over there. Better that man being hit than him. So ignoring his conscience and guilt, he swapped places with the man, ignoring the loud angry screeching and fled the disastrous situation. It wasn't his problem.
He pushed the door open and walked to the place where he had left his daughter. "Nar- Huh? Naruto?" He looked from left to right but there was no trace of his daughter. He took a deep breath, deciding that he shouldn't freak out. He was a Sannin, this was nothing in comparison to the things he had done. When he got a hold of himself, he scouted the entire area around the store and still found no trace of her.
He still didn't start panicking though his heart was beating faster and his mind was so not helping with the images of a scared and fearful Naruto who was looking lost. Damnit! Didn't he say to stay put? She always obeyed his every command. What was wrong with this one? Did something bad happen to her? Was she forced to leave this area because of a hindrance or an obstacle?
Shaking those thoughts away, he henge'd into a simple-looking man and checked the store, ignoring the shudder that ran through his spine the moment he saw the purple-haired monster who was still looking around for him, a deflated cucumber in her hands.
The moment he had checked the store three times and still found no Naruto he started hyperventilating. Fearful thoughts invaded his mind and he dashed outside, summoning ten clones to aid him in the search for Naruto. His baby girl was in danger and it was his fault!
After an hour, he started pulling his bangs from frustration and worry.
After two hours, he started cursing himself, scrambling to every corner from Konoha, asking every passers-by about a little blonde-haired blue-eyed girl.
And after three hours, he met with someone he dreaded to meet. He met with- "Jiraiya! Where is Naruto?!"
He gulped fearfully, eyes going wide, "I-I-I…"
The person grew impatient and narrowed his lone eye, "Spit out!" He snapped in anger, eyes still trying to find the little chipmunk who would always trail behind Jiraiya.
"I lost her, damnit! I lost her!" Jiraiya lost his composure, shouting those words out. But the moment those words left his mouth, he was faced with a furious Kakashi, his Sharingan eye swirling madly and narrowed dangerously, holding his collar rather tight.
"You did what?!" The grip on his collar increased to the point where his breathing got difficult.
Jiraiya looked down in shame and clenched his knuckles. "I just left her in front of the store …and when I came back she was gone."
"Let me guess you were distracted by a woman." Kakashi interjected with his harsh words, making him even guiltier. He was right, though that didn't make the situation any easier. "You're a despicable person. Naruto deserves a better father than you." Then with a darker tone, "Sensei deserved a much better person."
Those last words made him boil in fury and mustering all the chakra in his hands, he punched the silver-haired ANBU in the stomach, enjoying the way the man staggered backwards and clutched his stomach, coughing out blood. But then he watched with anger as he dispersed into smoke. A fucking clone.
"Such a disgrace." Kakashi continued, appearing from behind him and throwing a punch to his back. He crouched down and took a hold of his leg, throwing him towards the tree but the irritating boy used that momentum to push himself towards him, Chidori chirping loudly in his hand. Jiraiya pushed raw chakra in his left hand and with narrowed eyes he aimed the Rasengan at Kakashi. He wouldn't lose to a brat like Kakashi, not in a million year.
He'd teach that nuisance a lesson.
Before the attacks could collide, the ground was ruptured, destroying their concentrations on their jutsu's. They were forced to retreat on the trees that were still standing.
Jiraiya knew only one person who could deal so much damage and it didn't bode any good news. In fact, he was screwed, literally.
"Jiraiya! Kakashi! What in the name of Kami are the two of you doing?!" A familiar blonde screeched in rage. "Where the hell is Naru-chan?!"
Kakashi sent Jiraiya a snarl and jumped down, walking towards the source of that voice. With hesitant steps, he followed and shuffled behind Kakashi, glaring a hole through his head. How he wished he could chop his head off. Unfortunately, he would never get to see that for it was forbidden to kill your comrades. Maybe if it looked like an accident…?
"That old senile fool lost Naruto... again." Kakashi answered for him.
"He did what?!" Tsunade screamed loudly, snapping her head towards him. She knew she shouldn't have let Naruto go with Jiraiya. He was always careless around her. He kept losing her and that all in favour for women. She knew it was because of a woman. Lately, he kept sleeping around with women, flirting ashamedly with them, not caring about the fact that Naruto who saw it all happening in front of her. Within seconds she appeared in front of him, anger crushing every sense of rationality within her, chakra-infused fist already aimed at his stomach. The force behind it sent Jiraiya crashing through five trees and he was sure three ribs were broken. But Tsunade didn't stop the ruthless attacks, she continued assaulting him and in her rage she forgot all about Naruto.
Kakashi frankly enjoyed the show playing in front of him, though he did wince when he heard bones crack rather loudly. But he didn't feel sorry for that pervert. He deserved it for his disgraceful behaviour lately.
For the final attack, the barbaric woman threw the heel of her shoes down on him, like an axe, knocking the very breath out of him. She was emotionless when she was this angry, nothing could stop her. Still, she didn't stop until a strong loud voice made them all stiffen, a voice they recognized immediately.
"Tou-chan!" With small legs, the small toddler ran towards her beaten father, her aunt standing there with wide eyes, her fists bloodied. Behind the small girl a spandex man was running after her, screaming out her name, "Naruto!"
Jiraiya coughed out blood and wished his daughter wouldn't see him like this. "Na-aru-uto…" He tried to get up but it was becoming a hard task. When Naruto stopped in front of him, she crouched down, eying his wounds and bruised face, "Tou-chan, don't die…" She sniffed, stroking his cheek. The moment she saw her father, her strong father, crippled and beaten to death, she felt so scared. She didn't want to lose her father too, no matter how irresponsible he was. She didn't want him to suffer the same fate as her mother. She loved him! Why did aunt Tsu hurt her father this much? Was it because she agreed to eat ice-cream with uncle Gai? Because he couldn't find her afterwards? Because he lost her…again?
"I'm sorry for not listening. But uncle Gai came and then-and then-…" She started crying, holding her father's hand close to her. Forcing herself to look at her aunt, she glared at her, "Why did you do this?! I hate you!" She spat those words out, growling. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"
Ocean-blue eyes became red slits.
Her childish voice became darker, harsher and a feral growl left her throat.
"I hate you!" Naruto continued, oblivious to her changes, though the others weren't as lucky as Naruto.
Whisker marks deepened and nails became claws.
Her teeth became sharper.
And red clouded her entire being.
"No! Naruto!" Jiraiya's desperate shout was forgotten as Naruto charged at the woman he used to love. He couldn't even get up and help them out. Damnit! This was his entire fault! Why couldn't he do something good? He always screwed up! Always! And now her dear daughter was in danger of losing her inner persona.
Tsunade reeled back at the anger behind those words. Never in her life did she feel her heart stop beating until now. And if it wasn't enough, Naruto was losing all control thanks to that bastard fox. She was caught off guard when little Naruto appeared in front of her, claws slashing at her. She used a substitution jutsu just on time. If she hadn't… She didn't want to think about it. Kakashi was already standing next to her, a seal tag in his hand. They had to stop her before it would become worse. She shudder seeing the hatred in those devil-red eyes.
"Kakashi! I'll distract her! You'll be in charge for strapping that seal tag on her forehead!"
The silver-haired man nodded and Tsunade performed a set of seals, shouting, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A slug the size of Naruto appeared, "Katsuyu hold Naruto down but be careful with her!"
The summon nodded and the moment Naruto dashed towards Tsunade, the slug covered Naruto's tiny frame. But the fox' vile chakra was already burning through the slug's body. "Tsunade-sama, I can't hold her for long! Hurry!"
Kakashi didn't hesitate any longer and put the seal on her forehead, sighing in relief when the evil chakra was vanishing, leaving Naruto's burnt body behind. Within seconds Tsunade knelt down and started healing her, crying and sniffing pathetically. "I'm so sorry, Naruto, I'm so sorry."
A pained groan to her left made her aware of the fact that Jiraya was in critical damage. After healing Naruto's sensitive skin, she moved over to Jiraiya, "I'm so sorry, Jiraiya, I've lost my composure. Forgive me." And even then Jiraiya managed to smile, though strained, it was a smile. This was good for it meant that he had forgiven her. But the guilt wasn't quite satisfied with that, in fact it worsened.
"Hime, don't worry. I deserved it."
Kakashi wasn't nearly as forgiving as Tsunade, "You deserved even more."
With narrowed eyes, Jiraiya snapped at him, "Will you shut up! Your presence is not appreciated! Go stuff your ass with all the shinobi rules!"
Kakashi snarled and picked Naruto up. Not after it, Gai joined them, looking quite guilty and pained. "Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, forgive me, I've taken Naruto out for ice-cream. I didn't think the situation would led to this." Never in his life was Gai this serious. He even left out the youth-part, for Kami's sake!
Jiraiya's eye crinkled upwards, another bloody cough leaving his throat, "It's alright, Gai. You didn't mean any harm."
Gai nodded hesitantly, standing awkwardly next to an angry Kakashi, not feeling up to anything.
When Tsunade was done with healing Jiraiya, she helped him up, flinching when Jiraiya staggered. Said man waved her worries away, "Don't fret, hime, it doesn't look good on your pretty face."
And then Hiruzen appeared, looking downright furious, "What in the name of Kami happened here? I felt the Nine Tails! Explain!" His eyes moved to an angry Kakashi, a sniffing Tsunade, a crippled Jiraiya, a guilty Gai and an unconscious Naruto in the arms of Kakashi. He could feel the potent chakra from the fox in the air and with narrowed eyes he demanded answers.
Kakashi and Gai stiffened. "Hokage-sama, Jiraiya lost Naruto again which led to a fight with Tsunade and I. When Naruto saw her father lying on the ground, badly hurt, she lost all control and released the fox' chakra." Kakashi emphasized the 'again' part, glaring at Jiraiya who was returning the gesture happily.
Hiruzen couldn't believe what he was seeing, he had teleported to this place the moment he felt that dangerous chakra. But what he saw wasn't something he expected, he didn't expect this entire drama to happen. Again. There was always something wrong with those four whether it be about Naruto, Mina or something else, a discussion escalated into a fight. He was fed up with the hostility between Jiraiya and Kakashi and he wasn't the only one. Rubbing his temples, he ordered them to leave for the hospital for a clean check-up, following after them. Paperwork could wait, this was more important. It was time this dysfunctional family learned a lesson.
Somewhere deep in the mind of Naruto, a presence stiffened, groaning in pain. This wasn't the place it was supposed to be. Where in the name of Kami was this place anyway?
