Chapter 38:
The dragon's undulating made for a bumpy ride but Boruto managed to hold on to the smooth scales as he was pulled through the water-like air. They rose higher and higher off the seafloor and away from the castle. Boruto's legs dangled, holding on with just his arms. It felt like they were going faster.
"Get ready," came a booming voice from the front. The dragon had a more ferocious voice than the humanesque Sea King.
They were picking up speed and Boruto struggled to keep his eyes open from the pressure. It was a wonder he was able to still hold on, considering he couldn't get his arms halfway around the dragon's body.
The Sea King gave a thunderous roar, sending powerful vibrations through Boruto's entire body. Faster, faster. Then suddenly, the dragon turned its body sharply, flicking its lower half toward the front. Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki and Neji were all sent flying forward towards an underwater portal shimmering like sunlight on the surface of the sea.
Screaming, the Genin were sent through the portal which quickly shut behind them. Away from the sparkling water and its lower gravity, they spiraled through the air and came crashing down in an arch. Boruto threw out his arms and started flapping to keep himself upright. The ground was coming up fast.
He took the impact on the soles of his feet and tumbled over dirt the color of burnt iron. Sarada screamed and landed in a similar way. Mitsuki tucked and rolled as he hit the ground and stood up a short distance away. Neji landed more easily, landing on his feet without losing his footing.
"Is everyone ok?" he asked.
"Yeah." Boruto looked around, a new land before his eyes. "Where are we? I thought the Sea King was going to bring us to the Naosu guy, not fling us through a portal."
It was a land of rust. That was the only way it could be described. Everywhere they looked, it was like a scrapyard without the manmade mechanisms. Jagged rocks protruded from the ground like warped rusted metal. Even the air around them was the color of rust with exception of a few misty clouds that made Boruto feel like he was in a sulfur mine.
The strange thing was that the land they could see was concentrated where they stood. There were no walls and they couldn't see where the land stretched beyond this point. It was like standing in fog without the fog. Boruto didn't know what to make of this. He wanted to know where this land led and how far it went. Was this a cave or a valley or a field? He didn't know. He only saw the rust and cloud.
"The Sea King did bring us to Naosu. At least, where we could find him," said Neji, looking around.
"He wasn't coming with us? Even for an introduction?" questioned Mitsuki.
Neji shook his head. "You heard him. He cannot get involved in the issues of another unless it involves him as well. Since Naruto is unrelated to the Sea King in any way and this is not his domain, he has no jurisdiction here. Since there is nothing he can do, why stay?"
"This is our mission anyway," said Sarada. "We should be the ones to do it. Naruto isn't a servant of the Sea King. He is our Hokage."
"We're involved," added Mitsuki. "We have to do this."
Boruto's heart thumped in his chest. He was so close to saving his father.
"But where is he?" he asked. "I don't see anyone."
The Sea King should have brought them to Naosu, but they seemed to be alone. Rather than take them directly to him, it seemed the Sea King only brought them to the front door. Either that or Naosu wasn't here. There was no sign of Naruto either.
"Hello!" Boruto shouted and Sarada shushed him. "What? We have to find him, don't we?"
"We should make a good first impression," said Sarada. "Otherwise, he might not help us."
"Good impression?" Boruto scoffed angrily. "He's the one who took my old man. Forget manners. We need to kick his ass."
"But what if he didn't mean it?"
"He can't be confused if he pulled him through a portal from here. He wasn't in the human world, Sarada. He knew what he was doing."
"You don't know that."
"Even if he did do it deliberately, what do you plan on doing?" Neji asked Boruto. "Jutsu doesn't work in the spirit realm. Your weapons are useless and compared to a spirit's power in this world, your physical attacks are nothing. Perhaps less than nothing."
"Exactly," said Sarada. "How do you plan to fight it?"
"I don't know, I just will."
"Boruto…"
There was a sharp exhale of heat, silencing everyone and making Neji's long hair fly backwards. There came a dull thumping noise like footsteps and a low growl.
"Who dares enter my domain?"
Boruto turned to face the sound as it came closer. Something large came into view. Just shapes at first. Then a hand. With four curved claws and green scales.
"You Naosu?" Boruto demanded upon seeing the familiar claws.
"If you say so, I am," said the voice.
Boruto didn't care what that meant. He just wanted to confront this creature, whatever it was, and get his father back. Boruto made a hand-sign but nothing happened. Abandoning that idea, Boruto resorted to charging at the beast but was blown backwards by another exhale. His skidded backwards on his heels and looked to see what this creature was.
As the claws came closer, so did the rest of the creature and now they were more than just shapes. A snout appeared followed by a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, then a pair of eyes like orange moons with slits for pupils.
Boruto's head tilted backwards as he strained his neck to look upward at the creature, much larger than the Sea King. The massive beast was a crocodile. Its limbs were longer and thinner than a normal crocodile's but that was only a minor detail and one they missed at first glance as they stared at the massive mouth frowning down at them.
"Humans," it hissed, exhaling more heat from his mouth. "In this realm… Unforgivable!"
"What's unforgivable is what you-"
Neji cut Boruto off, stepping in front of the Genin to get the creature's attention. "Naosu, I am their guide. They've come to speak with you on an important matter regarding…"
"Silence!" the beast bellowed and Neji was thrown off his feet, flipping end over end backwards before slamming hard against the ground.
He lifted his head with great difficulty when Sarada shouted his name to let her know he was alright. He was hurt. That shout was enough to hurt Neji.
"Humans do not belong here!" shouted the crocodile. "Least of all mortals! Ungrateful, selfish scum! Greedy and vile. Enslavers of the great!"
Obviously, this creature was one of the spirits who didn't take too kindly to humans. Boruto and Sarada both suspected it might have been abused in the distant past which would make reasoning with it even more difficult.
Sarada tried to throw herself on its mercy, thinking it would be a better option than fighting. It would be a pretty one-sided fight anyway.
"Please! We mean no harm. We don't want to hurt anyone. We just came for the mortal you took from the human world."
The crocodile looked at her suspiciously. "The mortal man. Bearing whiskers."
"He's my father," Boruto shouted up to the crocodile to make sure he was heard. When the crocodile's head turned his way, Boruto did not flinch. "Give him back."
Hissing, the crocodile moved its left hand backwards as if to shield something Boruto could not see. "You will not be getting him back."
"But he's a mortal human," reasoned Sarada. "I thought you didn't want him in this world. He doesn't belong here."
"True. Mortals have no place in this realm."
"Then give him back," demanded Boruto.
"Enslaver, you shall not!" the crocodile bellowed and took a swipe at Boruto with its four curved claws.
Mitsuki rushed in to protect Boruto and both boys were thrown through the air. When they landed, Mitsuki gave Boruto a worried look. "How do we fight him?"
"I don't know," confessed Boruto. "Weapons and jutsu won't work and with something that size, our fists would do nothing. I doubt even Sarada could make a dent in its defense."
While the boys recovered, Sarada tried using her words to calm the creature but it responded with malice. Promising to leave only once they rescued Naruto ended up infuriating the crocodile.
"You wish to keep him prisoner in your world and work for you. I will not allow that."
Neji pulled himself to his feet but was struggling. He could not feel physical pain anymore, not even in this world, but creatures such as the crocodile could do him harm. Since Neji couldn't die a second time, if things weren't resolved, he would face unending torture at the claws of this spirit. Boruto could tell the spirit could make him suffer and it was hard to watch Neji drag himself forward to face the crocodile again.
"The human you took is mortal. He does not belong here. We will take him back to the human world and leave this place. We won't bother you again. Please."
The crocodile snarled at him and raised its claws. Neji blocked with his forearm and was violently thrown backwards by the impact. The feathers of light Boruto had seen so long ago reappeared as Neji tried to defend himself. They glittered and faded like shimmering snowflakes around Neji's body.
He pulled himself up and tried again. "Please."
Again, Neji was knocked to the ground and Boruto winced, seeing Neji's painful tumble. Neji stood back up and tried again. The crocodile roared and took another swipe at him and Neji spun sideways through the air.
Sarada begged for the both of them to stop, unwilling to see Neji suffer any more punishment.
"It's alright," he told her as he stood again. "He can't kill me."
"But he's hurting you," Boruto called, knowing Neji was in pain but not the same kind of pain they could feel.
Neji blocked another attack and the feathers danced around him, blooming in the air with each impact and fading away like dying fireflies. Neji was tossed each time he asked the creature to relinquish Naruto and each time he stood up to do it again.
Neji could not cry. Neji could not bleed. He no longer needed to breathe or required sleep.
Even so, Neji was in great pain. He was being broken down in a way none of the Genin could understand because they were still alive. However, they could tell he was hurt because it hurt them to watch.
He was no match for this creature but he kept getting back up, even when Boruto started to beg for him to stop and stay down.
"You will not get him back," snarled the crocodile.
"I'm not asking for me," said Neji as he walked towards the crocodile for more punishment.
Boruto cringed when the crocodile slammed Neji into the ground again and hissed when Neji stood back up in defiance.
"There are too many people who rely on him. Too many people who need him for me to stop."
The crocodile raked its claws across Neji's face and chest but he got up again.
"I didn't stop back then. There were too many people willing to die for him. I couldn't let it happen."
The crocodile hissed threateningly and scratched the ground with its claws, anticipating Neji's approach.
"There are too many people who love him for me to give up. She was willing to die for him. So I had to."
Neji walked forward with a smile on his face and clarity in his eyes.
The crocodile did not swing this time.
"If I hadn't… they wouldn't be here. And they wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."
If things had happened differently in the past, there was a good chance none of the Genin would exist. On top of which, if Naruto hadn't meant so much to them and others, the same Genin wouldn't be in the spirit realm, fighting to get him back.
"It's my job to look after her. In the past, I didn't do that. I hurt her when it was never her fault. I worked hard to make up for my mistake. I devoted myself to her for real and not because of some predetermined nonsense but by choice. When I saw what she was willing to do for Naruto, I knew what I had to do."
Neji stood in front of the crocodile and looked it in the eyes.
"I will still do my job. Not even death can stop me."
The crocodile stared into Neji's eyes, letting out a slow, deep growl. It huffed in his face and readjusted its clawed hand on the ground, shifting ever so slightly.
"It matters not. Guardian spirit, ghost of the past, server of man. Whatever you be, whatever your devotion, I will not let you have him," said the crocodile.
Neji did not look away or blink. "Not for me but for them. He still has a part to play. They still need him. Please."
The quiet exchange was broken by the deafening swipe of the crocodile's claws on Neji's chest. He flipped backwards through the air and landed on his stomach beside Boruto and Mitsuki. The crocodile gave a monstrous shriek which stirred up the air, creating an atrocious gale.
Sarada was nearly blown off her feet by the gust. She shielded her face with her arms and braced herself, feeling her feet slide backwards.
She didn't know what to do. Her analysis yielded unfavorable outcomes for the Genin. She didn't see any way to fight this creature. It was too strong, too big and any attack they used would do it no harm. Weapons, jutsu, fists. None of that would work. What else could they use? Neji tried words but he couldn't get through to the crocodile. Maybe the words had to come from Boruto. Naruto was his father.
Before she could share her theory with the others, the crocodile bellowed and lowered itself to the ground as if it were preparing to spring. No, this was a defensive position, the kind cornered animals made when threatened or when protecting their young.
"The human may belong to your world, but the one within has no place among your kind. Used and forced to serve man as slave and weapon. The husk is yours once divided."
Boruto grit his teeth in anger. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Neji stared open-mouthed at the crocodile, not saying a word.
"Cocooned within the human is the one I must defend from the likes of you," said the crocodile to the group. "He has not yet emerged which is why they must stay."
"But he can't survive here!" Boruto shouted up at the crocodile. "He has to come back with us!"
"The human's fate is inconsequential so long as the kitsune divides from him."
The Genin looked at each other, confused and worried. The crocodile mentioned kitsune and a relationship with Naruto. Perhaps this creature believed their friendship was wrong.
"Does this mean it won't let the Hokage go until Ryosuke and the others agree to give up their friendship with him?" Sarada asked, unsure of what the crocodile was talking about.
"But how would it know about their relationship?" asked Boruto. "Ryosuke wasn't there when my old man was taken."
"Perhaps that Jonin's words somehow reached this spirit," mused Mitsuki. "He didn't take kindly to the criticisms and concluded that this was the best solution."
"That makes even less sense," said Sarada.
"No," said Neji, realizing the meaning behind the creature's words. "No, this has nothing to do with Ryosuke or their relationship."
They turned to Neji and saw the look of horror and worry on his face as he stared at the crocodile growling at them. Whatever he discovered, it wasn't good news.
"Naosu believes Naruto has a confused spirit inside of him and he's trying to help it."
Boruto looked from Neji to the crocodile, trying to wrap his head around this information. Naosu seemed to believe Naruto was in a similar position as the headman who was invaded by Deidara. He was trying to help them. But unlike Ryosuke who coaxed the spirits gently, Naosu pulled them back to their native land by force, grabbing them in his fist and hauling them through a portal in an instant.
"Why would Naosu think that?" Sarada asked.
Neji lowered his head as reality sunk in. "Because he's mistaken the Nine-Tailed Fox for a kitsune."
Sarada was quiet for several seconds, thinking about what this meant. Boruto knew Kurama was inside Naruto but had never given it much thought since he couldn't really see it or talk to it. For the most part, he thought of the fox as Naruto's split personality, not that they were two separate beings in one body. He wasn't really sure what this meant until Neji explained.
"He thinks the Tailed Beast is a confused kitsune that's jumped into Naruto's body and won't come out because it can't figure out how. He must have taken Naruto here in the hopes the kitsune would recover and recall how to extract itself from a human body. Since the Tailed Beast isn't a kitsune, it won't work, so Naosu is probably trying to help the fox escape."
Ryosuke was right all along. This was a case of mistaken identity. Naosu was trying to do a good thing and help a spirit it thought was in trouble but it wasn't a spirit at all.
"Can't it tell the difference between a Tailed Beast and a kitsune?" Boruto asked, faulting Naosu.
Neji shook his head. "In all honesty, I can see why it would make that mistake. Kitsune can grow a total of nine tails and possess great power and, since Naruto and Kurama are sharing the same body, it is very similar to kitsune possession."
"But I read that when kitsune do get nine tails, their fur turns white and become godlike," said Sarada. "At least, that's how it works in folklore. Until recently, I've never even seen a kitsune or thought they were anything other than legends."
"I've never met any kitsune with nine tails, so I couldn't confirm that," said Neji. "They are hard to come by. Naosu might never have met one either but that doesn't mean he doesn't know about them. You can know of shinobi from other villages and never meet them. All he seems to know is that he thinks one is in danger and is trying to help them."
"By extracting the fox from Naruto," finished Mitsuki.
If that was all it took to satisfy the crocodile…
"What would happen if we let it separate them?" Boruto asked Neji.
Neji's troubled expression spoke to Boruto before Neji could open his mouth. Boruto felt his heart sink.
"Removing a Tailed Beast from a Jinjuriki would kill the host. If Naruto is ever separated by the Nine-Tailed Fox, he will die."
Boruto's mouth fell open.
There was no way to win this. If they left things as they were, Naruto would die because he couldn't survive in the spirit realm. If they let the creature do what it wanted, thinking it was helping him, Naruto would die.
How could they resolve this? Boruto frantically searched for answers but couldn't find one. The fear of losing his father in such a pointless way was making him dizzy and unable to think straight. He was starting to panic.
"How could someone do that?" Sarada asked, wanting to gather as much information as possible to know if there really was something for them to worry about.
"There is a jutsu that the Akatsuki used to remove Tailed Beasts from their hosts," said Neji.
Sarada felt a wave of hopefulness wash over her chest. "Then we're good. Spirits can't use jutsu and even if they could, jutsu doesn't work here."
Hope returning to Boruto, he looked up.
Neji nodded. "That's true. But it might not be enough to stop Naosu from his rescue attempts. I'm only aware of the one jutsu that can remove a Tailed Beast but I'm sure there's another that won't harm the Jinjuriki. How else could you have several hosts over the years with the predecessor surviving? However, that's only moving it from one host to another, not setting it free."
"But either way it involves jutsu so we're safe, right?" asked Boruto.
Neji still looked troubled. "Just because it can't use jutsu doesn't mean it won't try. But that won't mean its other method won't do harm to Naruto. I fear that any forcible extraction of the Nine-Tails could end up killing Naruto. After all, it isn't a spirit. Naosu's doing the wrong thing on the wrong person. He's basically giving Naruto medicine for a condition he doesn't have."
"So there is a way for him to split them up, yes or no?" Boruto demanded.
"I'm saying that if he's desperate, Naosu will try anything, even ripping them apart by force. If he thinks there's a trapped kitsune in there, Naosu will do everything in his power to get it out, including cracking Naruto open like a walnut. It might work, it might not, but either way he won't be freeing a kitsune and, no matter what the outcome, will kill Naruto."
"Then we have to tell him that it's not a kitsune but a Tailed Beast," said Boruto. "He's got the wrong thing."
"I don't think he'll understand," said Neji with a shake of his head. "The two are too similar. He already can't tell the difference and I don't know how we can explain it in a way he'll comprehend."
"We can't give up. We've gone this far. We just have to convince him he's wrong."
"Doing that won't be easy and he'll probably get pissed. He might even say we're trying to trick him. He might say that there is no difference between a kitsune and a Tailed Beast and that humans simply know it by another name."
"If we can't fight him, what else can we do?" asked Mitsuki.
Neji didn't have a response. He knew they were at a stalemate but also knew how important it was for them to save Naruto. They couldn't walk away.
Mitsuki looked at the crocodile watching them and waiting. "If we find out where he's keeping the Hokage, we can simply take him. Create a distraction and someone will sneak over and grab him."
"No good," said Sarada. "We'd have to open a portal back home and none of us have the power to do that. Even Neji couldn't without help. Aside from that, it wouldn't resolve the problem. Nothing's stopping the spirit from opening another portal to take him back and this whole thing starts all over again. Nothing we do will matter if we can't convince Naosu that he has the wrong person."
Beating Naosu into submission wasn't going to work. Which left only one option.
Looking back on the lizard spirit and the headman sharing his body with an Akatsuki, Boruto had the answer.
"We have to talk to him."
His teammates nodded in agreement.
"How are we supposed to get close enough without enraging him?" asked Mitsuki.
"I'll go first," said Boruto. "It's my dad. He might listen to me."
Sarada looked over at Naosu. "Try not to get too close to his left side."
"Why?"
"I've been watching him and noticed that he always leans his body to the left after he pushes us back. See how he's lowered himself like that? He's guarding something. I think he's got the Hokage on his left somewhere. Getting too close might agitate him."
Now that Boruto knew this, he wanted to rush in and grab his father but he restrained himself. For one, he couldn't get close. For another, he didn't want to risk sending Naosu into a rage. If he flailed around, he might accidently step on Naruto. Also, if he knew they were targeting that spot, Naosu would only cling more to Naruto. Like a child or animal unwilling to surrender their favorite toy, they could huddle around it, compress it under their body or clutch too hard and crush it in their hand. Naosu might also take Naruto and run, never to be seen again.
With too many risks, Boruto knew he couldn't do what his impulses were screaming for him to do and had to instead go for a different approach.
"You guys hang back for a little bit while I try talking to him. If we all go in at once, he might think we're attacking."
"Be careful, Boruto," advised Sarada.
Mitsuki nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Boruto turned and started to walk slowly towards Naosu.
The monstrous crocodile hissed and lowered itself to the ground.
"Listen," said Boruto to Naosu. "I get that you're looking out for your own kind. But I'm also looking out for my kind, too, you know. You took a human into this world. He didn't come here willingly. Aren't you putting your kind in danger by doing this?"
Naosu growled at him.
"You don't want humans here, yet you brought a human here. Now we're here to take him back. Don't you see how this situation's gotten worse?"
Naosu snarled and said, "You put the blame solely on me, human? You chastise me?"
If he didn't phrase his words carefully, Boruto be subjected to the crocodile's rage. Instead of giving a one-word answer, he tried to take a page from his father's book and tried to be sympathetic.
"I'm just trying to understand," he said. "If you don't want humans here and bringing a human here would endanger others, why do it?"
"It is not the human I am after," said Naosu.
"But there is no kitsune in the human you brought here. He's just a human. No kitsune is coming out of that man because there isn't one. You had good intentions but you made a mistake."
The suggestion of the creature's well-meaning actions being erroneous was enough to anger the crocodile. To Naosu, it was a roundabout way of saying he was wrong, to which this prideful creature took offense.
Naosu brought its snout closer to huff angrily in Boruto's face. Its expelled breath was like a furnace. "You dare?" he huffed.
Boruto squinted against the heat and said, "I'm not trying to insult you. I'm just saying it isn't fair for you to do this to someone who did nothing to you."
Furious, Naosu picked Boruto up in its claws and held him tightly.
"Did nothing to me? Unfair? The only mistake I ever made was trusting a human!"
Naosu began to squeeze.
Boruto pushed against the claws but there was nothing he could do. He was like a gecko held in a human's fist. He was too small and frail to cause the giant any damage or resist.
He could hear his teammates call out to him and beg Naosu to release him but he refused. Boruto imagined Neji was fighting as well but couldn't see or hear him as the fist holding him clenched tighter.
"Please," Boruto squeaked, gasping for air. "Please, Naosu! Please! Nao..! Yah!"
The crocodile's eyes went wide and he stopped crushing Boruto.
"What… what did you call me?"
As air returned to Boruto's lungs he tried to think. He called it Naosu but then when he tried to do it again, he couldn't get the name out and yelped instead. Had that yelp sounded like something else?
Piecing the words together, Boruto answered carefully, "I said… I said… Nao… ya?"
The crocodile opened its fist, allowing Boruto to rest in its palm. "Naoya. That is my true name."
Boruto looked at the crocodile and noticed that its demeanor had changed once its true name was spoken. Even its eyes had changed. It looked pained.
He remembered that there were spirits who went by other names and that the lizard spirit said that it only knew the crocodile by the name Naosu while knowing that that wasn't its real name. This creature didn't want anyone to know its real name was Naoya, not even its own kind.
"Why the alias?" Boruto asked calmly.
The crocodile dropped its gaze as if ashamed. "I did not want to be found."
"Why?"
"I was ashamed. With a different name, I felt I was no longer who I was before." The crocodile looked sad. "I did not want to be me anymore, remembered for what had happened. I did not want to be found by others, myself… Nor the human we forged a contract with so long ago."
Naoya had dealt with humans before and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. Boruto couldn't blame it for wanting to start over but going by a different name seemed extreme. Maybe it came to view its other identity as a slave name which stirred up all kinds of negative emotions. Anger, shame…
Naoya also said 'we' which meant there was another creature involved.
"I heard that creatures used to get the bad end of a deal when they made a contract with humans," said Boruto. "I was told that there was this guy from a long time ago who kept making more work so the creatures who offered to stay until the work was don't couldn't leave."
Naoya lifted its eyes to give Boruto that pained look again. "I was the second spirit."
All the anger and hate he had felt for the crocodile left in an instant. Boruto's heart leapt in his chest, realizing that Ryosuke's story was true. Knowing that those were true events and that he was sitting in the claws of one of those manipulated spirits had Boruto's mind racing and his heart thumping with pity.
"When my friend saw how the humans were suffering, it was he who convinced me to come aid them. We met with the human leader and forged a contract. It was only to be for a short time. Just enough to give the humans the resources they needed to make it on their own. Food, water, shelter. Basic necessities for human beings."
As the crocodile told his side of the tale, it sounded almost exactly like the story Ryosuke told, leading Boruto to the conclusion that this was a true event. Hearing it from the crocodile's perspective made the story sound even more heart wrenching.
"The sick were on the mend, the people grew stronger with access to food and clean water. Yet the human leader said the work was not done. He demanded more from us. Some we understood but others were luxuries, not necessity. A fountain in the square, a larger home for himself, detailed carvings on the molding, statues. We questioned these requests but he only repeated what we agreed to in the contract. We could not leave until the work was done."
The crocodile stifled a scoff before continuing.
"Seasons changed and were still working for the human, catering to his every whim. When the storms came, he ordered us to mend the damage. Clear away the sticks and leaves, fix the leaky roofs. All things they could have done themselves, but so long as work was brought to us, we could not leave. We may have volunteered to assist the humans, but we had other duties to attend to. We wondered what took place during our absence. We could not leave to check. All things were on hold until we were released. He did not care, repeating the agreement. Finally, we decided to make sure he could never find us again."
"By turning invisible," Boruto finished.
The crocodile answered by lowering its head.
"You escaped by doing that, you know. He was taking advantage of you and you got away without breaking your word," said Boruto. "I know how important that is to you."
The crocodile lifted its head to look at him. "But there was damage brought on by that human's selfishness. If it had not been for his demands, our generosity would not have been exploited and our time there would have been short. That we could have managed. Being away for so long had repercussions. Since we could not attend to our other duties, others suffered."
Spirits such as Naoya were tasks with important responsibilities only they could do. Other spirits relied on them. The spirits realm may have been different from the human world, but in that, they were the same. Everyone had a job to do and when that job wasn't done…
"Others were relying on us and when we did not show… devastation struck. A spirit known well among our kind lost their life because we were not there to help. We were blamed."
"That's not fair," said Boruto. "You were under contract. It wasn't your fault."
"They did not see it that way. They said we should have known better than to enter into a contract if we would not have time to fulfill it and resume our own obligations."
"You didn't know he'd do that. It's not your fault."
"I know whose fault it is!" bellowed the crocodile. "It was the human's! If only my friend hadn't convinced me to help. He took pity on them and was tricked. After what happened, I knew humans didn't deserve our help. When it was decided to split the world in two, I saw to it that I would never be taken advantage of again. And this time, I convinced my friend to follow."
Naoya and his friend were just trying to help someone in need and were taken advantage of by a selfish, greedy man. Their good intentions brought about pain and suffering, for themselves and the innocent. Their peers chastised them for the outcome, even if it was not their intention. They were blamed for what happened when they were not there.
Boruto did not think this was fair. It was like sitting at a noisy lunch table and having a teacher come along and punish everyone for being too loud, even the one who was quietly reading and did not know the others. He always hated that. The difference was that the spirits were doing charity work and were scolded for shirking their other duties to help those in need, which wasn't how it happened but how their peers saw it.
There were times when Boruto went to help someone, knowing his mother had asked him to do something and made helping the friend his priority. If he took too long, when he came home late at night, his mother reprimanded him for not doing his chores.
Once he was supposed to bring in the bedding from the clothes line, the only chore his mother tasked him with that day, and left to help Metal do something important. It took longer than expected and started to rain. He thought his mother would handle the bedding during his absence but she wasn't home, which was why she asked him to do it. By the time he got back, the rain had soaked the bedding and wouldn't dry before morning. His mother was furious with him and told him he should have taken care of his responsibilities before doing something else, even if it was well-intentioned.
However, this was different than sleeping on bare beds and spare sheets because the comforters were soaking wet from rain. In Naoya's case, someone lost their life. Damage was done to an area because they weren't there to help prevent it.
After being yelled at and asked repeatedly, "Why weren't you there?" Noaya had come to despise humans. He blamed them for what happened and what made Boruto shudder was the fact that he couldn't blame him. It was the human's fault. The spirits tried to help. The human manipulated them.
Changing his name meant that he was no longer that spirit who was taken advantage of. He was no longer the one who was to blame. The events changed him and he was a new spirit, as his name suggested.
Naoya was determined to be different but Boruto needed the part of him who sought to help humans for this one request. If Naoya didn't believe humans deserved help, it was going to be impossible to get Naruto back.
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