Living Decay

Chapter 25

Naruto sat on the inn bed silently. His held his hands in between his legs and nervously moved them back and forth. His two bodyguards had decided it best to return to their stationary positions atop the royal carriage instead of hanging about the largest city of the Land of Fire. Would probably create a bit of an unwanted stir.

The soft sound of the shower running in the bathroom was like an incessant drone in the boy's head. He could feel the heat coming from the smaller room and could smell the warm water; somehow making his throat feel very very dry.

The pair had just gotten back from their meeting with the lord of the land and Lady Orochimaru had told/ordered Naruto to sit on the bed and wait for her as she went to take a shower.

The boy had read enough to know what this usually lead to and was feeling both nervous as all Hell and as terrified as a rabbit surrounded by a pack of wolfs.

His mind raced with the possibilities that might unfold for him once the older woman had left the shower. Would he finally graduate to adulthood? Or, would she just tease him, making him wait until he was older to enjoy all she had to offer?

The sound of the shower turning off nearly caused the boy to jump. The now silent room made the boy feel even more conscious of himself. He did not want to make any strange noises that might embarrass him.

Why the Hell was he acting like this?

He was Naruto Uzumaki; the future Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. He was a highly trained assassin that had the ability to raise and reshape the dead into doing anything he desired!

Why was he acting so intimidated with the prospect of an ungodfully beautiful woman wanting to be even the slightest bit intimate with him?

Naruto steeled his gaze towards the bathroom door as the door knob turned. He was ready. There was no way he would loose to her feminine wiles.

That was what he last thought before his brain came to a screeching halt.

Right before his youthful eyes stood the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen.

Her image was like that of a work of pure art. Her pale white skin glistened like polished porcelain as the remaining droplets of water trailed down her form.

The white towel she had wrapped around her clung to her like a second skin, showing that she had not even bothered to properly dry herself yet while she used a second to dry her hair. Her eyes were closed and she waltzed over to the bed acting as if Naruto was not currently staring at her with the widest of eyes.

With a sigh, Lady Orochimaru finished with her hair and neatly folded the towel she was using before placing it on the bed.

Her eyes slowly opened and were focused completely on Naruto. They first looked over his shocked expression before darting down to the clear tent that his pants had made.

The boy instantly noticed and quickly covered the lewd display with both hands. His face turning a bright red and his eyes clenching shut in both embarrassment and an attempt to not stare at the older woman's lewd body.

"Oh little Naruto~." Her voice called out to him quickly followed with the sound of fabric hitting the floor. "Open your eyes."

Not risking his voice possibly betraying him, Naruto just shook his head instead of responding.

"Come on now." Her voice called. "Don't be like that." her voice was almost painfully melodic to the young lad.

"Is my body still too old for your liking? Does the idea of proclaiming one of the most powerful kunoichi in the world as one of your own not entice you?"

Naruto did all he could to drown out the sound of her voice in his ear. And the boy was being surprisingly successful.

That is, until he could feel her hot breath tickle his ear. "Or, perhaps you would like it to be the other way around?" The feeling of her hot breath on his ear mixed with her suddenly placing a hand over his own forced his eyes to open wide.

He kept his eyes facing forward however. He refused to even glance over at the woman's general direction for fear of falling for her wicked charms.

"Please, look at me little Naruto." Her voice whined. Begged for him to drink all of her with his eyes. The temptation was almost too much to bear.

His will was finally broken when the woman's hand slipped underneath his to directly touch his pitched tent and her tongue decided to snake along his ear.

Using every ounce of willpower he had, Naruto pushed himself off the bed, fell to the ground and scrambled as far away as possible before turning around to actually face the woman.

Naruto's terrified expression quickly blanched when he saw that Lady Orochimaru was actually fully clothed. The hard wall pressed uncomfortably against his back and the rapid thumping of his heart, mixed with the fact that he had been messed with so thoroughly finally mad the boy upset.

"Why do you keep doing stuff like this?!" Naruto shouted while getting back to his feet. He was finally getting annoyed with the woman's clearly fake displays of affection.

There was just no way that someone as beautiful as her would even think about having a relationship with a monster such as he. Sure, friendship was not too farfetched; but romance wise? That was far beyond the realm of possibility.

At most, the woman wanted to use him to sate her own needs as well as potentially abuse his power. That would be the only possible reason that someone like her would show any interest in a boy like him.

Lady Orochimaru's mirthful expression did not change; making Naruto that much more angry. Seeing this, the woman decided to make an effort to calm the kid.

"Calm yourself my little Naruto."

"Quit calming me your little Naruto. I do not belong to you." He snarled; both hands clenched together in fists. He was not going to put up with her cruel teasing any more.

The woman had been doing so every chance she could whenever the pair were alone for even the smallest amount of time. Usually it was just a teasing glance or a charming word, but now that the two were alone. The woman had become much bolder in her actions.

It was only because of his bodyguards that she was unable to make any attempt into his tent during their travels.

"Oh but I wish you were mine." The woman confessed. Naruto's mind came to a quick and sudden halt. "I want all of you to belong to me. I want you to be all mine. Heart, body, and soul."

Her expression had not changed, making it impossible for Naruto to tell if she was being honest or not.

"I want to know everything about you my little Naruto. It would be best for us all if you would just give in to me."

Seeing her face not change one bit made Naruto's anger return. With a huff he walked past the woman and left the room. He quickly made his way out of the inn and picked a random direction to walk in.

That damn woman kept playing tricks on him. Pretending like she was actually interested in him as an actual person. There was not a single doubt in his young mind that she was really after his power.

Probably just acting nice to him just so that he would fall for her and give her the chance to somehow take his power for herself.

Naruto continued to stew in his own thoughts as he wandered aimlessly. Eventually found himself in the more luxurious part of the city once again.

He was eventually drawn out of his musings by a series of harsh male giggles coming from a nearby fence. Naruto paused in his passing and noticed that the sound was coming from the other side. The steaming coming up from it was enough to tell the boy that it was part of the city's bathhouse.

The structure was situated well, with no buildings close enough that one would be able to look down if they climbed any roof.

The giggling persisted. Naruto was not sure why this one particular sound caught his attention as opposed to the countless others he had heard on his walk; but something about it drew the boy's attention.

He shoved his twisted hand into his pocket and went inside.

Naruto payed for a bath as well as some regular cleaning supplies. He was really not in the mood to see that woman again any time soon.

He quickly peeked within the changing room. Luckily it was too early in the day for there to be too many customers and the room was completely empty. Meaning that the young ninja did not need to worry about his hand freaking anybody out.

The ninja quickly stripped down, put all of his belonging in the offered basket, grabbed his towel and walked into the large bathing area. Deciding that since he practically had the entire place to himself, Naruto forwent covering himself with his towel and went straight to the task of properly cleaning himself.

He had to pay special attention to his deformed back and hand. The twisted flesh was not easy to clean since grim tended to stick to the rotten flesh. His claws also needed to be cleaned and properly filed too, unless he wanted for them to snag on pretty much everything.

It had been a good while since Naruto really felt like he could relax a little. So why not take the opportunity to do so here and now?

After making sure that he was all well and clean, Naruto walked to the back of the bathing area and through the dividing curtain. The bathing area was directly connected to an outdoor bath with the men's section separated from the woman's by a concrete wall.

Seeing no one around, Naruto carefully slipped into the heated water and allowed himself to finally relax a his bright blue eyes, all of his worldly concerned drifted away as the warm water and light steam enveloped him.

He could feel all of his tension just melt away. The boy even let out a sigh of relief as he could feel the tightened skin of his back and hand loosen a great deal due to the hot water.

His angry mind was able to release all of it's tension and more pleasant thoughts began to enter his mind.

Maybe had been a little harsh on Lady Orochimaru? The woman did offer to help him learn more about his ability as well as was kind enough to invite him on her trip to find her old team. Sure, she acted very perverted whenever given the chance, but she never teased him cruelly about it and never did anything in front of anyone that would embarrass him.

Maybe he should apologize to the woman once he returned from this little break. Hopefully she won't tease him too badly.

A series of rough giggles brought Naruto out of his musings and back to reality as he was instantly reminded why he had even entered the bathhouse in the first place.

He, begrudgingly, stood up and began to search the outdoor bath for any signs of where the giggling was coming from. Searching all over the place, Naruto was unable to find a single sign of anyone else in the bath.

But that damn noise persisted.

He needed to be able to see what could not be seen. To somehow see past any tricks or techniques that would normally obscure or confuse. He closed his eyes and focused all he could.

His eyes began to bleed.

Once he opened them, everything around him had taken on a reddish hue. He looked around a bit, noticing the vaguely human shapes coming from the other side of the dividing wall and all of their weak organs and brittle bones.

Naruto did his best to ignore the whispers of madness in his ear and focused on the task at hand.

With his new eyes, it did not take Naruto long to find the culprit. An old man wearing some sort of red-based outfit, old-timey sandals, and sporting a mane of long spiky white hair. He had a massive scroll on his back and was currently crouched down right on roof of the dividing wall; a dumb, perverted expression written all over his face.

It did not take a genius to figure out what he was doing. And a genius he was not, but Naruto knew right from wrong and refused to allow the woman on the other side be humiliated by some dirty old man.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted loudly. "What the Hell are you doing?!"

At first, the man ignored the kid. So, Naruto picked up a nearby wash bucket and chucked it, beaning the old guy squarely on the back of the head.

"Ow!" The man shouted as he stumbled a bit and quickly held the growing knot forming on the back of his skull.

Naruto quickly blinked his eyes back to normal and hid his monster hand behind his back before the man could turn to see who had attacked him.

The old man shot a glare at the only one that possible could have hit him. How the Hell did this little brat see right through his ultimate technique? He gave the boy a once over and easily noticed the boy's attempt at hiding something behind his back. Possible something else to throw at him.

Instead of risking getting caught by the woman he was 'observing', the old man leapt down onto the appropriate side of the bath and seized up the kid.

"Do you know who I am?" He demanded, expecting the kid to bulk at the boom of his voice. Instead, the kid only continued to glare.

"No." He responded quickly. "And I don't care. You can't just do stuff like that."

The man chuckled. "You poor, poor deluded boy. I can see now that you are still too young to truly know the pleasures of the female form." He struck a pose. "I, however, have years of experience with every type of woman possible!" He glanced down to make sure the boy was still paying attention.

"For I am the ultimate pleasure of women! The lover every lady alive!" He boasted loudly. "The most powerful womanizer to have ever lived!" He struck another pose. "I am; The great and Powerful Toad Sage Jiraiya."

A large red toad suddenly appeared underneath the man in a plum of white smoke.

Naruto immediately wanted to bulk away from the bizarre man. But then an idea game to mind.

It appeared that this strange old perverted appreciated showmanship and would likely respond and even possible respect Naruto enough if he overacted like Hell and put on a bit of an introductory show himself.

How could Naruto possible pass up the chance to show off? Sending a mental signal, Naruto began.

"Then let me tell you just who I am!" He struck a pose of his own.

"i am the great defender of the Village Hidden Within the Leaves. The ear the listens to the whispers of the damned!" He struck another. "The voice that speaks the words of the dead. The bringer of life and death!"

His two Stalkers burst forth from within the changing room and ran circles around the large bath.

"I am the commander of the countless. Ruler of the decayed."

The twin beasts made a beeline straight for their master, leaping over the water before landing nearby, skidding along the slick floor and posing directly in front of him.

"I am the great Nightmare of the Leaf Village, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Jiraiya just stood there in complete and total shock. This guy. This boy. This BRAT; just tried to one-up him. No one one-ups the great Jiraiya, the man that can make any woman putty in his hands.

Jiraiya quickly regained his composure. "You still don't seem to grasp just who I am." He chuckled loudly. "Or else you would not have even bothered introducing yourself." He stuck a powerful posse.

"I, the Great Toad Sage Jiraiya, have toppled entire armies single handed. I have fought more demons barehanded than you ever could with a weapon and have had so many bed mates that there is without a doubt several hundred of my children running across the world."

The old man stood proudly upon his massive toad. "So, I ask once again, who are? Give me a reason to care!"

Naruto knew that it was time to pull out all of the stops. He needed to show this old guy just exactly who it was he was messing with.

"I, the Great Naruto, have risen more dead than any battlefield could ever hold. I have created monsters that would fry your mind. I have sent armies running away scared like like children with just my presence alone. I am the most powerful genin the world has ever seen and I will become the Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves; with or without my army!"

A fire burned behind the young boy's eyes. A fire that Jiraiya did not fail to notice. Taking a good long look at the boy, the old man finally took note of the twisted appendage replacing his hand as well as the two strange beasts that had burst in just moments ago.

His network of spies and informants had told him about a strange boy living in his home village that had the power to make undying monsters. He had also been told that one of his old teammates had been seen spending time with the boy.

It was clear that the kid standing naked in front of him was this rumored child. This also meant the the sensual Lady Orochimaru was nearby as well.

A perverse smile formed on the old mans face. After not seeing her for so long, he knew that the woman was nothing less than an absolute bomb shell. If he played his cards just right, he might even get the opportunity to see the pure skin she hid behind her robes.

Sex with her was too scary of a thought even for the legendary pervert.

Still, to see the boy's creations first hand was something to behold.

"Your name is Naruto, right?" His boisterous voice had become serious.

Naruto continued to glare at the old man. He seemed to be glaring at people a lot recently. "Yeah, as if my awesome display was not enough proof." He huffed.

Jiraiya decided to ignore the boy's tone and continue. "Your supposed to be in the Hidden Leaf Village. What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Why does that matter to you?" Naruto responded harshly. He had no patients for someone that was willing to peek on women as well as think that they were better than him. No tolerance for it at all what so ever.

The old man gave a heavy sigh, maybe he shouldn't have riled the kid up since it turned out he was so important.

"Look kid." He started. "You know who I am now; and I have been told that you know one of my old teammates. So it stands to reason that if you are here, then there is a chance that she would be here as well."

He began to smile strangely. "You've spent a lot of time with her, right? So there is a chance you might have seen a little bit of what she hides under her robes, huh?" His voice had changed completely from straight-as-an-arrow business, to creeper-next-door.

Naruto took a step back at the sudden change in tone. "Uh..." As well as being unable to properly respond. Unfortunately, the red tint on his cheeks was all that the toad sage needed to confirm his accusation.

"You have!?" Jiraiya hopped off his toad right before it vanished in a plum of smoke.

He took a nearly threatening step towards the boy. "Tell me." His voice was demanding. "Tell me every last detail of her flawless skin. What are her exact measurements? Is her skin completely pale or does she have just the slightest of a tan?" He pulled out a small notebook and a pen.

Now Naruto was officially creeped out. "No way!" He shouted. "I ain't telling you anything, you freaky old pervert!"

"Please!" The old man practically begged. "I just know that if I can get the details just right, then my next novel will best all others that I have written. It will be the ultimate story of the ages!"

"Oh you and your silly books." A soft voice cooed from the entry way to the outdoor bath. Both male heads snapped towards the direction of the voice.

The jaw-dropping image of Lady Orochimaru already wrapped up in a towel hit both males like a ton of bricks. Sure, Naruto had just ran off from the woman being in such a state, but not a soul alive would deny the immense joy one could feel upon seeing such a beauty in so very very little.

"What are you doing here?!" Naruto shouted. "This is the men's bath!"

Jiraiya was too preoccupied staring at every inch of the woman's exposed skin. This was the most skin he had ever seen exposed on the royal woman and you can bet he was memorizing every last detail for future use. It was such a shame that her pink towel hid everything from the neck down to her ankles; but this was the first time he had ever seen all of her arms.

"Come now, my little Naruto." The woman chastised lightly as she stepped into the warm water, still keeping the towel on just to deprive the old man of his dream. "Did you really think I would loose something as precious as you that easily?" She sat down and gently stirred that water with her finger tips. "I can always find you my dear."

"Oh my dear sweet Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted while instantly tearing off all of his clothing. For some unknown reason, the old man had a towel already wrapped around his waist underneath all of that cloth. He quickly leapt into the water and almost teleported right beside the woman.

"How have you been my queen? What brings a goddess such as yourself to such a magnificent city?" He asked in the absolute best suave voice he could muster. "It has been such a long time since we had last seen each other. I would love to catch up; over drinks?"

Lady Orochimaru ignored the man's words. Instead she appeared to be more focused on the water trailing down her lithe arms; and occasionally flickering her eyes over to the still exposed Naruto.

It took the boy a good moment before he realized why she kept looking at him. With a very embarrassing shriek, the boy quickly plunged himself back into the water; hoping that it and the steam would prevent his most intimate of places from being seen.

The woman gave a disappointed sigh before forcing her attention towards her past teammate. The old man had been a constant annoyance to her and the other female member of their team. His constantly failing attempts at flirtation and his obvious attempts to peek or grope her throughout their growing years had permanently stained the man's image in her eyes.

The fact that he was currently gazing at her with those same perverted eyes she had seen years ago made the woman's skin crawl. But she would not allow her desire to chastise and beat the man overtake her. She needed her image of perfect control to remain steadfast in front of her pet.

"I have been well." She finally responded. "We have come looking for both you and Lady Tsunade." In truth, she only really wanted to see the other female of their past, but deep down she knew that she would eventually need the perverted old man's help; eventually.

Jiraiya's pleasant expression hardened as he sat more properly in the bath. "I assume it is about the boy?" His tone had become dead series. There was a time and place for everything.

Said boy was off to the side trying his damnedest to clean his two Stalkers. Even if they were undead and did not really rot, mold and general gunk did sneak its way into the tiny bits of torn flesh and chipped bone. All together making the creature none too pleasant to be around; scent wise at least.

"Yes." She was blunt. "You know who he is; don't you?"

Naruto did not respond.

"And you know what he is." She finally turned to look at her old teammate, her harsh yellow eyes piercing right through any sort of defense he might have thought of bringing up. "Don't you?"

"So what is the problem?" He was focusing on Naruto, more specifically on his mutated hand.

"Quit a lot." She started. "First, the fact that if he sustains any injury, that thing inside of him use the wound to forcefully change him. It is just a matter of time before he is no longer human and possibly becomes a vessel for that entity. We need to find a way to insure that Naruto will always be in control."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Jiraiya mumbled under his breath. "We just have to make sure he wants to stay in control. Making sure that he has people close him should help prevent any take over by that thing. If he is anything like his father; giving up will simply not be an option."

"But that is not a guarantee." The woman emphasized. "That may help, but his mind is already heavily damaged by what that thing is doing to him. It would not take too much for it to break completely. We need something that can guarantee that he will always be in control."

"That may take some time to find out." Jiraiya responded. "What other issues are there?"

"Another part of him needing to stay in control, is learning how to control. The changes that entity bestows upon the boy have other uses than just simple replacements."

"I gathered that much seeing that claw of a hand he had. I took a wild guess and assumed that he wasn't exactly born with it."

"The snark is unnecessary." Lady Orochimaru replied hotly. "He needs to understand all that his do now or else risk possibly paying for his inexperience on the battlefield. Or worse, finding out at the worst possible moments." A shiver went down the woman's spine as a terrible thought entered her mind.

"I am sure that with time, he will be able to learn how to use his new parts with ease." The old man did not sound concerned in the slightest. "Is there anything else?"

Lady Orochimaru shot the man a foul glance. He did not appear to grasp the seriousness of what could happen if Naruto failed to control his body and the things he could create.

"Then I assume that you are not worried about the group of rouges that have formed and are trying to obtain every demon that the world has?"

Jiraiya failed to hide the twitch of concern that suddenly appeared; making Lady Orochimaru smirk nastily in success.

"And." She continued. "That you are not concerned about the possibility of them finding little Naruto and possibly influencing him for their own ends? Or the possibility that the may kill every demon they find just so that Naruto would be able to bring them back more dangerous than ever?"

"I never said I wasn't worried about any of that." The man's cool and unconcerned tone had shifted greatly as he adjusted himself so that he was sitting up a little more straight. "It just does not seem likely. If anything that my spies have told me is true, then we should have nothing to worry about in regards of him betraying his village; consciously or otherwise."

"But there is no guarantee." She reiterated. "That is what I have been trying to focus all of my energy on. Keeping the boy home."

"And I'm betting you want me and Tsunade to help with everything else?"

"It would be greatly appreciated."

Jiraiya crossed his arms and began to think. Why should he care about this brat? What does it matter to him if he destroys that crummy village?

"I am sure his late parents would greatly appreciate it as well." The woman interjected threateningly.

Instantly; Jiraiya began to sweat, and it was not from the heat of the bath. The thought of arriving in the afterlife to only be greeted by the rage demons his student and his student's wife would surely become made the old man panic very quickly. He was old, he knew that. He was more than aware of the fact that his time on this plan was limited.

He would much rather be greeted with a kind smile than a demon's fangs.

"Alright, alright." He said in an irritated tone. "I'll help."

"I knew you would."

"I have been focusing all of my time on studying and trying to understand the boy's power as a whole; as well giving him a reason to stay home, as I said earlier. Why don't you start by actually getting along with him before helping him understand his new hand?" Lady Orochimaru suggested coyly.

Jiraiya shot the woman a dirty look. How could someone so beautiful and perfect be so mean to such a poor old man? It just wasn't right. Didn't help that the woman had somehow retained her youthful beauty despite being in her fifties.

The old man grumbled as he stood and made his way over to Naruto; who was still busy trying to get his creatures clean.

"Hey, Naruto right?" He called to the kid; who ignored him completely.

Jiraiya gave an exacerbated sigh before slumping back down into the water. "Look kid." He started. "We got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over."

Naruto had actually turned to acknowledge the old pervert. The guy was Lady Orochimaru's old team mate, so at least trying to get along with him would not be the worst possible thing in the world.

"I heard everything about you from Lady Orochimaru." Jiraiya explained. "And after some careful consideration, I have decided that I will help you with your training and shall take you as my student."

Naruto was conflicted. On one hand, another of the worlds greatest shinobi was willing to train him and teach him techniques and abilities others would die for just the chance to witness. On the other, the man was a colossal perv and an idiot that might cause Naruto a lot more trouble than any education the man could offer would be worth.

Naruto returned his attention to the undead monster's back he had been scrubbing; putting every ounce of strength he had in getting every inch of the creature cleaned.

"And what could you possibly teach me? How to be a pervert like you?" He did his best to sound completely uninterested in the offer.

"That would be part of the training." The old man chuckled. "But I would be able to help you with the changes that thing is putting you through." His tone was dead serious.

Naruto paused. Someone else that was willing to help him understand himself? Lady Orochimaru was already doing all she could, so what could this old man do that she could not?

The boy was tempted to say those words allowed, but something stopped him. Something told him to accept the man's offer. Maybe deep down he really knew he needed it; that he needed all the help he could. Maybe the scared little child that was still inside Naruto was still grasping for the affection that he had just now started to receive.

Maybe that small voice was still calling out for anyone to come and help keep the demons away. Any help.

"How?" Was the only word the boy spoke, but it held so much emotion within it. Hope, desperation, fear and a dozen others that Naruto would never be able to describe.

"With time and effort." Jiraiya responded truthfully. "I only know as much as the lovely lady. But I can promise you that we can work together to understand everything you are going through and how to control it all.

Naruto stopped his scrubbing for a moment. A swarm of thoughts flooded his young mind.

Thoughts about the past.

Thoughts about the possible future.

Thoughts about the people around him.

And thoughts about himself.

"Ok." Naruto said after a good minute of silence. "Where do we start?"