Chapter Five: Secrets revealed
Well still no reviews sadly, but i like this story that i've created and i'd very much like to finish it for once haha so here we go! Next chapter...
Naruto watched the two dance among the trees as they flew before him and he sighed. They had been at it for three hours now, and Jiraiya was showing no signs of stopping or slowing down. Naruto knew what he was doing of course, he was making absolutely sure that they didn't get followed a second time. He could see him mentally checking the air as well as all their chakras, and he was sure the man was listening so hard to their surroundings, he had almost hit one or two trees along the way. Naruto sniffed the air to test it briefly. Thankfully this time they were all keeping in their chakras, and making especially sure to leave no trail. His eyes flashed to Inari. She had completely closed off her chakra now, not even the slightest leak was trailing from her now. He could see her gritting her teeth, and a vain in her neck began to protrude ever so slightly. It was causing extreme discomfort to her at this point, and she had kept a steely gaze in front of her, showing obvious signs of pain and struggle.
Naruto kept silent for another hour as they still searched for a new territory, when he began to notice that Inari was no longer in front of him, and had now drifted several feet behind him. She kept her head bowed at this point, and Naruto could see now she had thrown a chunk of hair into her mouth to bite on. He had had quite enough at this point.
He kicked hard against a trunk of an old, gargantuan tree, and flew to get at the sage's side.
"We need to stop soon...I don't think Inari's gonna last much longer." The man nodded.
"I've been keeping a track on her. She's very close to her breaking point...She needs to let out some of her chakra and rest"
"When do you plan on stopping exactly?"
"We're not far don't worry...we're stopping in a village for a while." Naruto's brows raised in surprise. They hadn't been in a village for several months at least now. Jiraiya had claimed it dangerous to be spotted in an inhabited place for too long, which Naruto agreed with. Had they stayed in too many villages for too long, it would become far too easy to get discovered, not to mention distracted, especially in the Sage's case. After all, the last run in they had with the local village had been...needless to say bad. Naruto still had visions of the angry mob of women running at them both with whatever they had in their hands be it a knife or some other foreign object. Surprisingly they actually did a good amount of damage, making Naruto realize that whoever had spoken the words, "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn" was indeed a wise man. The boy sighed to himself. Hopefully this time they wouldn't have a repeat of that particular experience, and would actually be able to stay longer than two days.
Soon after that, Naruto began to spot the bright lights of a village up ahead, and his heart raised somewhat. Not only would he be able to get more information on Orochimaru, but he would be able to grab a few bowls (Only twenty or so...maybe thirty) of ramen and finally be able to bathe. All three very important, especially since both the teen and the sage were beginning to become very, very ripe. Although this would also mean that Naruto would be dragged along in Jiraiya's peeping antics, which would most likely earn him a black eye or two. Once they reached the outskirts of the town, the man stopped and turned to the both of them.
"Alright, time to release chakra if you need to, and before you do, just to warn you, the next time you both release chakra it will be in a spar." The man smirked evilly. He expected a glare in return from both teens, but instead Inari let out the breath she had been holding, along with a tsunami of chakra, sending the sage sliding back, as well as Naruto. She panted hard and knelt for a moment before rising.
"And what makes-" She took in a breath, "-you think you can make us?" Jiraiya shrugged with a smile.
"I have my ways of course." Ah, there were the glares.
"Why should I have to fight her anyway you old perv?" The boy huffed indignantly as he produced a big flock of clones surrounding them. He had a more efficient way of letting chakra go in his opinion. He felt his body relax with the excess energy gone.
"Because numbskull, you need to spar with someone else other than me. You can only go against me so many times before you know my style far too much, and at that point it's hardly fair and you aren't getting any sort of practice. Plus, she has a unique jutsu that would be good for you to practice against. And also, I'm betting she could kick your ass." He smirked yet again. Naruto seethed. He could literally kill the old sage at this point. "Right then! Let's grab some quick food and get somewhere to stay for a while." The man happily trudged off toward the village leaving the two fuming teens behind him. Inari sighed and began to go after Jiriaya while Naruto gave quick instructions to his clones.
"All of you disguise yourselves differently and head out into the village, see if you can get any new info on Orochimaru or Sasuke." The clones all nodded and with a big puff of smoke there were a hundred different strangers standing in front of Naruto, only to disappear a second later. Naruto lightly jogged to catch up with the two in front of him, meeting eyes with Inari.
"Doing some research with your clones?" It wasn't exactly a question Naruto noticed.
"You could say so I suppose." He smiled briefly. Just his luck, some one just as observant as Jiraiya to watch him. Fantastic.
The two were waved down by the spoken of man, and Naruto felt his smile drop just a bit as he noticed it was not in fact a Ramen stand. He perked back up not long after of course. There was always another day and time to get ramen!
They ate in a loud silence for a while, each merely sipping on their own small china cup of tea, and occasionally picking at their food. There was a tension in the air, hanging over them all, each being dared to speak, or move first. Finally, it was Jiraiya who set his drink down and spoke.
"I know I've already tried asking you...but I think I honestly have to again." He looked Inari dead in the eye as he spoke. "Who Are you?" He said each word carefully and slowly, never looking away from her face. She in turn kept her elegant poker face as she spoke back.
"I have already told you who I was, and everything you absolutely had to know." The man frowned.
"What exactly do you think we don't need to know?" She shrugged.
"Anything that could be detrimental to your survival or mine." The man scoffed.
"Please, you haven't even told us that much. You never explained why the Akasuki are after you, or why you have such chakra problems, you didn't even tell us you had them! And then your jutsu of course, you never exactly mentioned anything about that."
"None of which is anything you need to know." The man barked out a laugh.
"Then how do you expect us to help you?! To hide you? Hell, why should we even let you travel with us? You could be an S class shinobi for all we know now." Both Naruto and Inari paled. If Naruto lost her now, he could be losing a chance to find Sasuke, and defeat Orochimaru. He hoped the man honestly wasn't considering just letting her go. After all, it was clear she had something the Akasuki wanted, although, who wouldn't want someone with her jutsu on their side? If the sage let her go now it could be very devastating for them and a good number of other people.
"I assure you master Jiraiya, in due time you will know who I am...how long it takes is of course up to you, and after you know who I am, it's still your decision as to whether or not I am still welcome." Her last sentence chilled the two men. They both felt a sense of knowing her, and yet it wasn't there. Jiraiya kept eye contact with her, calculating her every move, word and feature, and yet nothing clicked. It aggravated him to no end. They took the last few sips of their drinks in an even heavier silence, before Jiraiya quickly paid the check and the group began to find an Inn. They luckily didn't have to search too far before coming to quite a luxurious inn, standing tall over the small village. The sage pulled them both in quickly, not that they needed much persuasion, after sleeping on the ground and trees, one of the first things on their mind was a large, plush bed to sleep on. But when they entered the small lobby, Naruto knew that the man had a little more in mind. There was a large group of pretty maids standing around, chatting with a rather voluptuous secretary. Naruto rolled his eyes. The man really did have a problem. He watched as the sage puffed his chest out, slicked his hair ever so slightly and strutted over to sweet talk the ladies. Naruto had no doubt that in no time he would actually end up getting himself kicked out, but he would wait and see what became of his antics.
Surprisingly, soon all the women were giggling and cooing at the man, and he came back with two keys. He held a triumphant grin on his face and sauntered over to the teens.
"Here ya go! I got the keys, and we're gonna be here for about a month or so," He giggled madly, "And on the bright side, the bath houses are huge, all the women here are pretty, and they are falling all over me!" Naruto squinted suspiciously at the man. Something was not right here...Since when did any of Jiraiya's plans work on women? Naruto leant over to the man.
"I swear you old perv, if I walk in on you again i will not hesitate to blow you and all of your 'parts' to pieces. Keep it down for once." The man giggled insanely.
"Luckily kid, we don't have to worry about that. I can't keep it down (Especially this time!) and we don't have to worry about you blowing off my uh, 'parts'" Naruto didn't like where this was going.
"...What exactly did you tell those women?" The man grinned evilly.
"Weeeeeell for starters, You two just got married, and are on your honeymoon." The two teens' jaws dropped.
"What?!" They shouted in unison.
"That's not even the best part! I told them I was your father kid," He pointed at Naruto, "And that I was a lonely old widow glad to see his son happy, and That I wanted to treat you to somewhere nice. They ate it up! We're staying here free!" Naruto had to admit, the man was smart.
"So you lied, and I'm just going to room with you right?" Naruto felt relief wash over him.
"No!" The man scoffed. "Weren't you listening? I get my own room to do as I please, and you two are sharing a room!" Naruto couldn't believe it. This had to be the absolute worst thing the man had done to him to date. Minus maybe the time he transfered him 15 miles away from camp by accident, in the middle of quicksand might he add. Then as if to make matters worse, the sage leaned in and whispered to the boy.
"And as for me keeping it down, you just try it yourself! In fact, try to 'get some' for once, you'll love it I guarantee it. Then you won't be able to harass me." Naruto's face flushed bright red and he stifled a nose bleed.
"Y-You old perv! You're sick! What other teacher would go and try to get his student laid?!" The man smiled.
"I know! Aren't I amazing? You two have fun now! I'll be in the bath if you need me!" Naruto flushed again and looked at Inari who had her hand slapped against her face and was shaking her head, her skin showing signs of a leftover blush. He sighed, It was going to be a long month, that was for sure.
"I don't know about you, but I'm going to go hit the baths too." Inari made her way over to the women's bath house and Naruto stopped her.
"Are you sure you wanna do that with him over there?" He gestured over to the men's bath house, where no doubt Jiraiya was currently sitting, getting prepared to go on a peeping frenzy. She shrugged and sighed.
"Well I'm going to be living with you in the same room for a month, and probably traveling with both of you for a while, so honestly, I may as well get used to it. That doesn't however mean I'm happy with it" She gave one last grimace. Naruto resisted the urge to salute her bravery. He had to admit, if he was a girl and in the presence of Jiraiya, he would be terrified. Not that the man was harmful in anyway, just that he could be very...odd at points. He stood there for a moment, before realizing her looked like an idiot, and then he too began to walk over to the bath house.
He set his bag down and stripped down, grabbing a quick towel for the short journey to the water, and prepared for the layers upon layers of dirt to come off. He sunk down into the hot water gladly, letting his muscles relax. He was the very least to say, 'angry' when he was ripped from the water.
"What the hell?!" He struggled against who he found to be none other than Jiraiya. "What is wrong with you you old creepy perv?!" The man giggled insanely.
"You have to see this!" He pushed the boy up against a stone wall, and forced him to peer through the large crack, giving a view of the entire bath house. The boy ripped his face from the wall and wiped away the small trickle of blood trailing from his nose.
"You old creep! I'm not helping, you peep, or peeping with you!" He began to walk away only to have the man grab him and push him back against the wall again.
"Well looky here, there's your girl." The man smirked. Naruto began to whip away from the wall, before hesitating. Perhaps...a peek wouldn't hurt? He slowly opened his eye that was peering through the wall, and felt relief when he noticed thankfully, the girl had already immersed herself in water, and was now turned with her back facing them. But he could've hit himself.
'What was I thinking?! What an idiot, I'm only going to get myself into trouble. I'm not like Jiraiya." He smacked himself mentally, cursing under his breath. But as he looked one last time, he took in a full view of the odd mark on her back. It was in the form of a tail he could clearly see the skin, looking as if it had been bleached or burned to give it a bright white color. In the hot water, it was beginning to turn a light pink color. He pulled himself away from the wall, angry, and walked back to the bath waters. The sage watched him leave and sighed. He shrugged. Some cases just couldn't be fixed.
He looked himself with a low giggle, and watched the giggling women chatter and gossip in the waters. Ahhh what a show what a show...He hated himself for it, but he couldn't help but look at the girl. Not in a moment of pervertedness, but rather in a moment of curiosity. Like Naruto, he got a full view of her brightly colored scar in the water. He stood transfixed, looking the blemish over. It was suddenly cut off however when she turned around and leant against the rock wall in a moment of relaxation. He noticed she had her hair tied up in a quick knot, keeping her long white locks out of the steaming waters. Slowly, she opened her eyes, revealing their bright blue irises, shining brightly in the falling sunlight. The Sannin's breath hitched in his throat. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible, it just wasn't!
It was her.
Inari threw on a robe and let down her hair carefully, padding her way up to the room she would be (reluctantly) sharing with Naruto. She sighed as she ran her hand through her thick white hair. She wasn't entirely sure what would become of this arrangement, but it was quite clear, it wouldn't be good. She padded softly to her door, and held her hand up to knock on the small wooden door, hoping the boy would be in the room by now. When suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and pulled into another room. She whipped around and bared her teeth, hissing madly, prepared to strike, when she noticed it was in fact Jiraiya. She stood up straight, regaining composure. Soft. Elegant. Normal. To fool and to trick.
She looked closer into his eyes, and found anger. Her heart dropped. Had he found out? Did he remember? Did he know? He took in a quick breath and spoke in a low voice.
"I recognize you now." There was a pause, and Inari could feel her heart pumping her full of adrenaline. "How long exactly did you think you could keep this up? How long did you think it would take me to figure it out?" She shrugged.
"I was hoping I could avoid you somewhat, cover my face, cover my chakra, shorten my story, anything. Just to give me time. Otherwise you would have just kicked me to the streets, and spat in my face." The man's eyes thinned.
"With good reason. Do you have any idea of the mess you left behind? Do you?! Do you know what you did?! You could've stopped it! And instead you ruined his life, her life and Naruto's life! You practically killed the village!" The tears began to stream from the man's eyes. He couldn't remember crying this much for a long time. He watched as the girl's fists clenched and the knuckles whitened.
"Yes because you! You are so innocent in this entire thing aren't you?!" She hissed at him, tears threatening to fall from her already red eyes. "You couldn't have stopped him could you? You couldn't have helped? And at least I had the decency to stay for a while, and carry out my promise! You! You ran from it! Like a coward! As so did the others! The only one with enough decency left in him was the Third! And he could only do so much as the Hokage! You and Kakashi both ignored him! Neither of you cared for him! When I came back after three years, he was shut away in the shittiest place I have ever seen! There were dogs and cats living on the street better than he was! He was smacked around, yelled at, screamed at, avoided and most of the time they refused to feed him!" Tears were pouring from her eyes.
"And you didn't even give a damn to come back and look! When he was six he was kicked out of all of the orphanages! All of them! He was sent to a shit hole on the outskirts of town, sent to live on his own with a ration of food and no clothes to call his own! Six! He was six! Throughout his life he was chased around, beaten and abused and you and Kakashi ignored him! I may have left a mess behind me, but you! You left a hell behind you!" And with that she turned from the room, and slammed the door shut.
Jiraiya's head bowed. He had never felt a guilt so deep in his life. Never had he been yelled at or told off in such a manner before. Never had he taken a step back to look at what he had done. And now...he was paying for it.
(~~~~~~~~)
Inari sunk down by a wall and shook with heavy sobs. She didn't think she had ever yelled at anyone like that. Never. And now she was reliving the past sixteen years all over again. Sixteen years of pain, hate, sorrow, and loneliness. All racked with guilt. And yet he dared to accuse her. No, she couldn't of been any more angry than she had been. In fact it had been very long since she had shed tears of anger. Very, very long. She sat there, and laid her head in her hands, her hair creating a curtain, and waited for the tears to stop. She whipped her head up when the soft padding of feet on the elegant floor was heard. Naruto stood there, his hand in the air, uncertain if he should comfort her.
"Why are you crying?" He asked softly. There was a twinge of pain and sympathy in his eyes as he looked upon her. Like a parent looks at a child who has hurt themselves. His eyes were soft, and comforting. And yet he stood there, and uncomfortable look to his body. She looked him over for a moment and wiped away the tears angrily.
"No reason...Just some hurtful words and some bad memories." She smiled dully at him, as if to convince him she was alright. He frowned slightly.
"You're lying." Her smile fell and she took in a sigh.
"Yes. I am. But don't expect the truth." His head cocked to the side like a young pup.
"Why not? After all, if you're sad, shouldn't you want comfort?" She could've laughed, if she were not upset.
"Of course I want comfort, just not in your form I'm afraid." She smiled softly at him. "And my troubles don't concern you, so you shouldn't worry about them." That was a lie. In fact it was a complete and total lie. Her troubles had everything to do with him. They nearly revolved around him.
"Just because they don't concern me doesn't mean I can't help you, or comfort you." She slowly stood up as she spoke.
"Even so, I'll be fine in a moment or two."
"You're lying again." Damn the boy. She clenched her teeth and opened the door to their room with fury.
"Who cares anymore?!" And with that, the two both sensed the conversation was over. Naruto stood in the hallway, defeated and speechless, that is until an elderly woman passed and gave him an odd look as he stood there, nothing but a towel and a few things in his arm to cover him. Then he found it in his best interest to go ahead and go into the room.
When he entered, he looked in the large room for Inari, only to find the window thrown open, and a soft summer breeze flowing through. He looked at the window and sighed. There was no telling where she had gone, and Naruto didn't think he had the energy (Metaphorically of course) to go after her and try to talk the truth out of her. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the sage yet either, and he usually popped in once or twice before the night was over. He groaned and flung himself onto the one bed. That would be a problem later he came to think of it. But for now, it would simply be ignored. He was far to drained to care at this point. He cracked an eye open and thought about closing the window, and then thought better of it. Hopefully the girl would come back in the middle of the night, and by tomorrow this would all be over.
Author's note!
Now, before you all start raising your brows about how much of the plot I have given away, trust me, it's with good reason! It's actually going to make the true plot more interesting in my opinion, but who knows! Oh that's right, you do! Please please review! I love them so. I need foodies for my story after all lol