"Alright, Gaki, we've got a mission from Tsunade."

"Alright! What is it? Rescuing a beautiful princess? Beating up a terrible wild animal?"

"No. It's guard duty."

"Are we guarding a beautiful princess?"

"No. We're guarding a little brat, like you."

"Aww…but why?"

"He's the heir to a small but prosperous business. He was in Suna on vacation and we are to escort him back to his hometown."

"Who vacations in Suna?" I mumbled under my breath. "But WHY?"

"The town he's from doesn't speak Japanese. They speak English, the language of seals. I want you to learn it. It'll be a good base if you ever want to learn sealing."

"Can't you teach it to me without a brat in the way?"

"The best and quickest way to learn a language is full-immersion. I'll be leaving you when we get to the town. You'll be on your own for a month. I've got important research to do…"

"Fine, Fine, Ero-Senin."

~NTS

"Okay brat, be on your best behavior."

"Haaaaaiiii."

"Wolfwood-sama, this is my student, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto this is Wolfwood Niko-sama."

"Urufudo…" And he looked like a miniature Wolfwood. Somehow…after all these years passed, genes combined in such a way that the person standing in front of me could have been Nicholas' brother. Creepy.

~NTS~

TWO HOURS…traveled in silence…

"So, Urufudo-sama."

"Hai, Naruto-kun?"

"A-ano…nevermind…" Two hours quickly turned into three days…or would that be slowly?

~NTS~

Look like Wolfwood he may, but act like him he did not. Every time I glanced at him I thought 'my friend…' but then I noticed the surroundings, and his age (God, so young), and know it isn't him. Oh my friend…how I miss you.

~NTS

It took us another two days to get to the village. Turns out it was built over the old sky city. They still had most of the technology up and running, but it was badly in disrepair.

Jiraiya walked us to Wolfwood's house, introduced me and then left. Luckily Wolfwood's family knew Japanese and could 'teach' me easily. I pretended to be a fast learner, so by the end of the week I was 'passably fluent'. I explained that I knew a little somethin'somethin' about technology, giving excuses left and right. It took a few days but eventually they let me fix something small for them. Then they gradually allowed me to fix more and more things until I was working with their plant. In exchange I learned more about the time between Vash's and mine. I learned this Niko Wolfwood was a direct descendant of my old friend and Millie. And surprisingly enough, there was also a descendant of the Old Man who made me my prosthetic arm.

When the time came for me to leave, the town gave me a gift…a red jacket, similar to Vash's old one, but different enough to not have been copied. Must've been fate. Although, I'm almost certain the Old Man's descendant knew something.

Jiraiya was almost surprised at the 'changes' in my character. I decided, while 'learning' the language of sealing, that I could afford to change a little more to be like myself. A perfect mix between Naruto and Vash…or as perfect as humanly possible…

And so begin…Travels with a Hermit.