Chapter 71: traveling to Kiri
The trip to Kiri was slow and boring for the most part as Jiraiya and Naruto traveled by boat most the way only changing boats along the coast of the land of fire on their way to the land of water with it taking about ten days till they reached it. When they entered the land of water they spent three days traveling from one island to another in order to reach the one that contained Kiri. When they arrived on that island it took them half a day to reach the gates of Kiri. It takes them a while to get in sight of it due to the mist filling the island. They didn't get a good view of it till they were right at the gate. They are stopped by the guards and wait for them to send word to the mizukage of their arrival before they're allowed to pass. The mist clears up as they make their way to the mizukage's building. They enter it rather quickly and head to the mizukage's office where they find her sitting there looking out the window at the village.
"Hello Mei" Naruto says
"Oh Naruto Jiraiya I see you arrived rather quickly I figured you would take a little longer to reach my office." Mei says
"Well everything is mostly covered in mist so there weren't a lot of sites to take in on the way to your office." Naruto says shrugging
"That's true I guess you wouldn't see much as the mist is blocking the view of the city even from here and usually doesn't lift very often unless it's a very clear day." Mei says in thought
"Anyway it's good to see you again, so what do you plan to have me train in?" Naruto says excited
"It's good to see you too, as for training tomorrow we plan to train you in chakra absorption techniques and how to counter them for a couple of months before training you in advanced chakra natures of ice release and boil release." Mei says with a smile
"So where will I be staying? It wouldn't happen to be the mizukage's mansion would it?" Naruto asks
"Why yes you will be staying with me at the mizukage's mansion." Mei says
"I'm not surprised I stayed at the other kages mansions as well." Naruto says shrugging
"Well you're a honored guest after all we couldn't have you stay in a hotel for five and a half months no matter how nice." Mei says sweetly
"I guess I should go look for the place." Naruto says as he turns to leave
"Actually let me escort you. I'm calling it an early day due to it being slow and can catch up on any new paperwork tomorrow." Mei says as she gets up from her desk and begins to guide Naruto and Jiraiya out of her office and leads them across the village to the mizukage's mansion. When they arrive Mei takes Naruto to a vacant wing of the mansion and shows him a guest room to unpack his things. While he does, Mei heads to the kitchen to get a snack for the day as Naruto decides to get some sleep. He wakes up the next day and meets Mei in the kitchen where they have breakfast before she guides him to the training fields to meet his trainer in chakra absorption techniques. Mei leaves them to get back to work at her office leaving Naruto and his trainer to begin his training. Over the next couple of months Naruto and his trainers realize he's better at transferring chakra than taking it so help him develop ways to counter chakra absorption techniques. After two months is up he moves on to working on ice release with some new trainers and makes some decent progress until two more months pass as he switches to training in boil release. During this time Mei would come by on her breaks to watch him and see how he is doing. After a little over a month practicing boil release Naruto calls an early day when he notices Mei.
"Mei did you finish your work early again?" Naruto asks
"Yes and decided to see how you're coming along using boil release." Mei says
"We'll I came up with a few new jutsu with it but I wouldn't call it a major breakthrough." Naruto says rubbing his head
"I see, but that's to be expected as boil release isn't as versatile as most elements so I'm not disappointed." Mei says with a shrug
"I'm calling it an early day. Do you want to get dinner with me?" Naruto asks innocently
"Are you asking me on a date with you Naruto?" Mei asks sweetly
"Well I wasn't thinking along those lines but it would give me a chance to know you better." Naruto says shyly
"It's fine Naruto we can go out together for dinner." Mei says pleasantly
"Alright let's go." Naruto says as he leads his way to a restaurant as Mei follows by his side. When they enter they take a seat near a window and order. As they wait they start up a conversation.
"So Mei, how has work been?" Naruto asks nicely
"Well it's been pretty boring ever since the war ended almost two years ago it's been nothing but paperwork though about eight months ago it slowed down to normal levels again." Mei says with a sigh
"I guess that means everyone has recovered from the war." Naruto says relieved
"For the most part yes we're back to normal sending shinobi on missions at a normal level. We also have a drop in rogue nin so we don't have hunter nin out much now." Mei says with a smile
"That's good, how are relations between you and the other kages been?" Naruto asks curious
"For the most part good though Onoki is still cautious with relations, A is still hiding things apparently, Gaara is being rather reasonable, and Kakashi is trying to be supportive." Mei says thinking over her words.
"I think that's rather good compared to the way things were before the war." Naruto says happily
"Your right about that before we all kept our distance from each other and didn't keep much contact now we communicate at least once a month and have future kage summits planned." Mei says upbeat
"Let's hope they continue to get better." Naruto says optimistically
"I think they will and things will pick up when you defeat Toneri." Mei says confidently
"How are preparations for that going anyway?" Naruto says curious
"Things are progressing smoothly and we're still trying to come up with contingency plans." Mei says calmly
"Have you come up with any alternatives to stopping the moon that don't involve me." Naruto asks with curiosity
"We haven't come up with anything realistic after all we're talking about stopping the moon from colliding though we expect A to try and use his dimensional cannon to send the moon away if you don't succeed." Mei says with a shrug
"It didn't work before so I guess I'm still our best shot huh." Naruto says nervous
"Naruto just relax. We have faith you'll succeed, your training has progressed smoothly and you've picked up what we taught you well all that's left to do is for you to defeat Toneri." Mei says comfortingly
"It's still a lot of pressure for anyone to deal with. During the war I had the support of the entire alliance at my back and when I faced Kaguya but this time I'm going to be fighting one on one with no possible support to come to my aid." Naruto says worried
"I understand that shinobi are used to using teamwork to see them through in most situations but you still have our indirect support as the world will be rooting for you." Mei says supportively
"If I fail the world dies and I either die as well or am sent to the past again and will have to relive my life again." Naruto says with a sigh
"Naruto I can't imagine the burden you feel and having to live the life of a jinchuriki all over again but just remember no matter how many times it takes there must be a future waiting for all of us." Mei says sympathetically
"I realize that I will win eventually against Toneri but I won't know the state the world will be in if I do after all I could mess up the past and bring calamity to the alliance instead of the peace we have now after all we went through." Naruto says exasperated
"Don't think like that you helped bring us together with your spirit and am sure you can do it as many times as it requires till you win." Mei says with confidence
"It requires a lot of faith that I don't screw things up with time travel considering the hazards of doing such things. I'm lucky things have turned out the same way for the most part or else I wouldn't be nearly as useful." Naruto says doubtful
"It's not your strength that has carried you through, it's been your convictions to the world that have gotten you this far despite overwhelming odds." Mei says gently
"I could unknowingly change and stop being able to keep my convictions." Naruto says with worry
"I'm certain that you won't change for the worse as you have so many comrades to support you and will continue to gather them to you multiple times if need be." Mei says confidently
"So my spirit draws them and their support motivates my spirit to draw them again and they will once again motivate me to continue." Naruto says in thought
"That's right it's an endless cycle and won't be broken that easily I'm confident of that fact." Mei says with conviction
"Still the thought of losing my bonds with my comrades is scary to me." Naruto says with worry
"Naruto you're capable of remaking bonds as you showed with your history with Sasuke who everyone believed was a lost cause." Mei says with pride
"Still starting over is tough. I had to go through it once and it was a rough road to get here." Naruto says sighing
"I imagine it is so what you need to do is win and that problem ends for good." Mei says firmly
"You make it sound more simple than it actually is." Naruto says exasperated
"It may be that way but it's true just win." Mei says confidently
"It all comes down to me winning huh." Naruto says calmly
"Yes" Mei says happily
"Thanks Mei for talking with me." Naruto says thankful
"It's not a problem, we need to keep up your morale after all." Mei says chipperly as dinner arrives and they have sake together. They leave a little while later and head to the mizukage's mansion with Naruto helping Mei inside due to her having drank too much. Naruto helps her to her room and guides her to her bed.
"Here we are Mei, it's time for bed." Naruto says as he helps tuck her in and is about to leave when she grabs his sleeve.
"Will you stay and cuddle with me Naruto?" Mei asks innocently
"If you want I don't mind." Naruto says as he joins her in bed underneath the sheets.
"Thanks Naruto." Mei says flushed
"No problem good night Mei." Naruto says gently
"Good night Naruto." Mei says as she gives him a deep kiss and snuggles into him and falls asleep in his arms. Naruto falls asleep stroking her hair affectionately. In the morning Naruto awakens to find Mei still snuggling into him and decides to wake her for the day.
"Mei it's time to wake up." Naruto says softly
"Hmm Naruto?" Mei says confused as she opens her eyes
"Yeah it's me." Naruto replied calmly
"So you decided to stay and cuddle with me last night." Mei says nicely
"Well you asked and you looked a little lonely in bed." Naruto says shrugging
"Thanks for staying, it was nice to fall asleep in the arms of a man." Mei says with a smile
"I'm surprised it was only cuddling you were asking for." Naruto says honestly
"Why did you think it meant something else?" Mei asks curious
"I kind of thought you meant sex when you said cuddling." Naruto says rubbing his head
"You thought I was thinking of having sex with you." Mei says calmly
"Yeah sometimes girls say cuddling instead when they mean sex. I even think you were tempted to after kissing me good night." Naruto says casually
"Well I did consider having sex with you but settled on a kiss because of a rumor I heard." Mei says embarrassed
"What kind of rumor?" Naruto asks curiously if it was what he was thinking.
"That you have a harem." Mei says bluntly
"It's true I have multiple girlfriends due to being in my village's CRA program." Naruto says with a sigh
"What's the CRA?" Mei asks curious
"It's the clan restoration act which requires people that belong to a clan with a bloodline to have multiple spouses." Naruto says clearly
"I guess they did it for your wood release then." Mei says indifferently
"Yes they didn't want it to die out again so the shinobi council put me in the program." Naruto says calmly
"So how many girlfriends do you have?" Mei asks with some curiosity
"I have ten with two of them seeing if they're comfortable with sharing me." Naruto says casually
"That's a lot, Naruto how did you convince them to be in a harem?" Mei says curious
"Well they admitted to having feelings for me so I told them about the CRA and asked if they were interested in being my girlfriend and they said yes for some reason." Naruto says shrugging
"So, you really don't know why they agreed do you?" Mei says pointedly
"Nope I just accepted their feelings." Naruto says scratching his head.
"I imagine you have a very active sex life." Mei says neutrally
"Not as much as you might think I've only been with each of them a hand full of times." Naruto says in thought
"Is that why you thought I wanted sex." Mei says curious
"Kind of the last couple of times I went out drinking with a girl led to me having sex with them." Naruto says with a shrug
"I was tempted to but the thought of you having a bunch of girlfriends turned me off." Mei says calmly
"Well if you were interested I would offer you the option of being one of my girlfriends." Naruto says casually
"Don't you consult with them first before adding a new girl?" Mei asks
"I used to leave it up to them but they decided to leave the decision up to me from now on." Naruto says
"Why would they do that?" Mei asks surprised
"They trust me and my judge of character." Naruto says indifferently
"Why would you offer me a place as your girlfriend?" Mei asks curious
"You seem lonely and desire companionship. I figured the girls and I could cure that for you." Naruto says shrugging
"You think being in a harem would solve that!" Mei says irritated
"The girls are really supportive of each other as eight of them I know are bisexual." Naruto says neutrally
"Really!?" Mei says shocked
"Yeah came as a shock to me too when I was told and probably was a surprise to them when they found out while I was away on a training trip with Jiraiya." Naruto says understandingly
"Did you find out before or after you started dating them?" Mei asks stunned
"All of them were before except for one of them that I started to date after she found out." Naruto says calmly
"I can't even imagine the odds of that happening." Mei says still stunned
"That's been pointed out to me and knowing my luck the other two I started dating on my journey will turn out to be as well." Naruto says casually
"You might be unknowingly drawing bisexual women to you." Mei says in thought
"It's possible so do you want to try and be my girlfriend and see how it goes as others have?" Naruto asks nicely
"You're a good man Naruto but I have no interest in joining a harem no matter how well the girls get along." Mei says nicely
"I understand I guess you have your standards after all and I'm sure you don't have an interest in finding out if your bisexual." Naruto says with a shrug
"I'm surprised you aren't trying to at least be a little pushy on the subject." Mei says surprised
"I kind of expected that eventually a girl would turn me down after all my luck can only hold out for so long, my streak with girls seems to be at an end." Naruto says in acceptance
"I wouldn't call it luck, you're a handsome, strong, and charming young man. It's just that I don't envision my future with someone who has other girls." Mei says supportingly
"Thanks Mei I guess since you're older than me you have more firm expectations than girls my age would have and wouldn't likely change them after reaching your prime." Naruto says in understanding
"That's about right I've lived longer than you so have developed harsher expectations and standards about my life. Even if I desire to find a good man like you to one day marry." Mei says firmly
"Do you think we can stay friends Mei?" Naruto asks nicely
"Of course I would love to have you as a friend." Mei says pleasantly
"I appreciate your friendship Mei." Naruto says kindly
"I know you do now if you don't mind I have to take a shower and get dressed for work." Mei says sweetly
"I guess that's my cue to leave, then I'll head to my room to get ready for the day. I see you in the kitchen for breakfast." Naruto says as he gets out of Mei's bed.
"See you Naruto." Mei says nicely
"See you Mei." Naruto says give her a nice kiss on the lips and heads out of her room to his. As Mei goes into her shower thinking about the kiss Naruto gave her. They both later arrive in the kitchen and have breakfast together before both leave. Mei heads to the mizukage's office and Naruto goes to the training fields to resume his training in boil release. Naruto continues for the remaining weeks before it's time for him to leave. Naruto and Jiraiya both at the gates are seen off by Mei as they plan to return to konoha.
"Well this will be the last time I see you for a while." Mei says
"Yes but we had some good times together to remember." Naruto says
"Have a safe trip home." Mei says
"Thanks take care of the village." Naruto says as he begins to walk down the road with Jiraiya following him.
"Bye Naruto!" Mei shouts
"See ya Mei!" Naruto shouts back as he disappears along with Jiraiya into the mist of the island as they head for the shore to charter a boat to head out of the land of water and head in the direction of Konoha.
