Hey, how's it goin'? I really did want this chapter out earlier, but problems came about for both me and my beta, Lykaos, that had to be dealt with. So, I hope you enjoy the chapter. As always, thank Lykaos for being my beta. Now, read on and find out what exactly happened to Naruto.
/
Disclaimer: I don't have enough creative juices to come up with something even remotely witty, so I'll just say that I don't own shit besides the concept of Konjyoyaki and leave it at that.
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Chapter 16: Male Bonding
Naruto groaned as he regained consciousness. His head was throbbing, he could feel the blood pumping in his ears, and he was definitely disoriented. He moved to grasp his head, an instinct that he thought would help ease the pain a bit before Kyuubi finally heal him, only to find the his hands were restrained behind his back. "Shit," he hissed out in anger.
What was more was that it felt like someone had used the rope on his wakizashi to do it. As he rolled over on his side, Naruto could definitely feel the jagged metal of the blade through his thin shirt. Wait, where was his jacket? As he began to move again, he finally realized that his legs, too, were bound together. This only elicited another swear from the blonde.
At least his senses were starting to return to him. Using this opportunity, Naruto decided to take stock of his rather... confined surroundings. It was pitch-black, that much was easy enough to tell. Not even a single sliver of light managed to penetrate the abyss of darkness.
There was a slight rumbling that seemed to drown out all other sounds. In fact, that combined with the fact that little tremors he felt caused Naruto to think of the bus that had brought him to Youkai Academy, only the characteristics were drastically lessened.
His thoughts were cut off as suddenly, the flat surface he was on sloped drastically to the right, causing him to slide headfirst into a barrier. The impact was only increased as the surface leveled out right as he hit. Naruto didn't have time to say anything as he quickly popped up and hit the low ceiling of his prison. "Son of a bitch!" he shouted out. Well, at least he now had a better understanding of his surroundings.
Now utterly pissed, the blonde glared into the darkness, imagining the things he would do to his captor once he got free. Though, that led to some questions. Who, exactly, captured him? Was it that bastard that got him here in the first place? What was it that Konjyoyaki called him? Oh yeah, Mr. N. That was his best bet. Then again, from previous encounters from him and his minions, that didn't seem likely. He would be confronted directly or left in the dark as a henchman stood right in front of him. He wouldn't be captured.
Of course, what did he know? All he knew was the guy's apparent name and that he was working on something that changed people into bastardizations of themselves. Fuck, he didn't even know what the asshole looked like under that damn cloak. Naruto growled at his situation. He was pretty much back at square one in his deductions.
Knowing that he probably wouldn't figure anything out until he was freed, the blonde let himself get as comfortable as possible and relax. Slowly, his eyes began to drift shut. Naruto allowed it. There really wasn't anything better to do than sleep right now. And who knew, maybe he would get an idea when he woke up.
/
Naruto didn't know how much time had passed when his blue eyes snapped open. He only knew that something had changed, otherwise his reflex wouldn't have kicked in. and then he felt it. What ever he was in had begun to quiet, the motion beginning to slow. Something was going on.
The blonde shifted his position, trying to find out more about what was going on. That when he discovered that his legs were no longer tied up. A savage grin came to Naruto's face. Oh yeah, whoever the fucker was that trapped him was going to pay now. He just needed to show himself.
Suddenly, everything seemed to stop. The low and idle rumble cut off completely and all movement stopped. There was a faint bang, like that of a door closing, before the sound of footsteps graced the blonde's ears. Anticipation welled up in Naruto as the sound got a little louder the closer it got.
Then, there was a faint click, and Naruto could see a small strand of brilliant light. The blonde jumped at the chance for freedom. He sprung forth from his confines, legs poised to kick his captor, the sudden explosion of light from knocking his prison door open temporarily blinding him.
He had expected the fucker to be standing directly in front of him. He was wrong, of course, and landed roughly on the ground, tumbling across the dirt and scraping himself on some gravel. The blonde wouldn't be deterred though. He quickly corrected his path of travel and hopped back onto his feet, facing where he was moments ago.
And there the asshole was. Konjyoyaki was standing next to one of those automobiles Naruto had seen in the human world where he had entered from the portal, a few feet off from where the blonde had launched himself, looking as stoic and passive as ever. Yeah, Naruto was gonna' kick his... wait, Konjyoyaki?
"You... wait why the hell... what the fuck... what the hell is that thing?" Naruto was at a loss for words. Deep down, he knew he should have at least suspected Konjyoyaki was somehow behind this. Yet he hadn't. So now he was left wondering what the hell the bastard wanted. Of course, he was so surprised that he couldn't quite get that out. In the end, he was left pointing to the machine the crippled man was slightly leaning against, wondering how he got one.
Idly, he turned his one eye onto the thing. "This?" he asked as if talking about the weather. "it's called an automobile, more commonly referred to as a car."
The car, as Konjyoyaki had put it, was sleek in design. It had four thick, black wheels with strange markings going all around the circumference of them. From what Naruto could see, it had two doors with mirrors sticking out. There was also a panel sticking up from what the blonde assumed was the back of the car. However, above all else, it was... orange.
"More specifically," Konjyoyaki continued, causing Naruto to look back to him as he reached into one of his main pockets and retrieved a booklet with a picture of the car on the cover, "A Nissan Datsun 370Z." the man read off the inscription on the front mechanically before returning it to his pocket." Naruto just stared at him.
"Oooookay. Why is it orange?" now, it was Konjyoyaki's turn to look at Naruto. Then, he just shrugged.
"I thought you would have liked the colour. Truthfully, it was the first one I could find that had its ignition source in it."
"So you stole it?" all Naruto received was a nod, as if Konjyoyaki didn't have a problem with that. Personally, he didn't either. Taking a closer look at the car, Naruto's attention was once again drawn to the protruding panel, and saw a small compartment that may have been covered by it. "Wait, was I in that?" he asked. Once again, he got a nod. "But, it's so small. How did I fit in it."
"It's actually quite spacious, and you're actually quite small." Naruto shrugged off the jab about his slightly shorter than average stature and turned his gaze back onto the white coated man as he closed the panel on the car.
"Alright, why did you bring me here. And why the hell did you have to knock me out?"
Sticking to his previously laid behavior of acting like he didn't give two shits about what was going on or had expected everything thus far, Konjyoyaki shrugged. "It's easier than having to explain everything before hand. And then I don't have to listen to you bitch on the way over here. Plus, I don't want the upholstery ruined by whatever stupid shit you may do. As for why here, it's a perfect place to train."
As Konjyoyaki said that, Naruto was enticed to look around. The car had come up on a gravel road, before it had merged into smooth earth. Off to the sides, tall pine trees reached up to the sky before the ones to the left parted a bit to reveal a pristine lake. Directly behind him, a tall, rock crag had formed,encircling the area there and leaving the only true entrance the way they had come.
"What do you mean train?" asked Naruto after he had surveyed the area. As he asked that, Konjyoyaki finally decided to show some emotion.
He just snorted. "You're kidding, right? First off, any well trained shinobi would have found a way out of their bindings by now. It shouldn't even be a question of time in your case considering that rope on your sword is a special chakra conductive material. In other words, you should be able to control the direction it goes in. Hidan obviously didn't teach you well, or you would have known that. And then there's the fact that your not particularly fast, or smart. You could work on your strength a bit. Your about as stealthy as an ox herd. You don't use all of your abilities to your advantage. You lack control in stressful situations and fail to plan for the future. To be absolutely blunt, as a shinobi, you are one of the worst I have ever encountered. If it weren't for the fact that you're immortal and posses the Kyuubi, you would have no redeeming quality's whatsoever. And even for an immortal, your pain tolerance is severely lacking. In fact, your raw potential is really the only thing that really makes up for your short-comings."
Having all of his abilities critiqued only made Naruto angry. He growled at Konjyoyaki before replying with a, "Fuck you! I didn't ask to be kidnapped so you could 'help' me."
At this point, Konjyoyaki let a little anger leak into his voice, more from frustration than anything. "For once would you stop being an idiot who lets their emotions dictate everything they do or say? Think! Realistically, you have nowhere to go, nothing better to do than to let me help you."
"And what makes you think I want your help? Maybe I can just leave this whole thing behind me! I'll take Mizore-chan with me and return home!"
Konjyoyaki just shook his head at that, letting out a dry chuckle. Naruto stared at him, wondering what was so funny. "You stupid fucker. What you fail to realize is that the portal you ripped open with Kyuubi's power didn't drop you directly on the other side. It opened a dimensional rift and deposited you in a random part of the world. Quite frankly, you're lucky you didn't end up in the sea, considering over seventy percent of this world is covered in water."
Naruto paused for a moment at hearing that. 'Wait, is it true that I didn't come in where the portal was?'
Kyuubi was silent for a moment before responding. 'I was going to tell you eventually. But think about it. Why would you have been the only one to go there? There were three other people also sucked in with you that weren't there. One thing Konjyoyaki is right about is that you don't think.'
Naruto growled silently to himself before he noticed the cripple had stopped talking, apparently having the decency to let him confer with Kyuubi. He soon continued, sensing he was done. "I'm the only one who knows where the portal is; the only one who can get you home. And the only way I'm going to tell you where the portal is is if you help me kill Mr. N. And the only way that will ever happen is if you let me train you. If not, this world and everyone in it is doomed."
Naruto contemplated his choice, really having no say in the matter. On one hand, he could put up with this asshole and eventually return home. On the other, he could leave and have everyone die. The choice was obvious, "Fine, but on one condition," Naruto said, angry about being trapped like this. He was going to get something in return for this, something that would prove that he wasn't the dumbass Konjyoyaki made him out to be. "I want to know about you: your history, your abilities, and, most importantly, what you know about Mr. N. I want to know your stake in this, why this is so important to you."
Konjyoyaki just smirked at the determination in the blonde's voice. "Very well. In that case we'll start in the morning." Naruto was about to ask why not start right now, when he noticed that it was starting to get late. The stars were visibly, like little, sparkling diamonds in the sky as the moon crawled along the horizon. Konjyoyaki walked over to him and quickly undid the binding on Naruto's arms. "Get some sleep," was all he said before he walked away. With that, Naruto sealed up his wakizashi and just lied down on the ground before drifting off to sleep once again.
/
That night, Naruto didn't sleep very deeply. He was on edge. As far as he knew, the man who had just kidnapped him was several yards away, probably not even sleeping. He was partially right. Konjyoyaki wasn't sleeping. In fact, the man was currently sitting cross-legged by the lake, trying to meditate. The cigarette in his mouth would glow in tune with his steady breathing.
He heard the night, all the creatures just trying to live, survive, just to keep their species alive. Such a simple existence. Konjyoyaki envied it. Why couldn't a human's life be so simple? Why were they such social animals, making bond with others, despite the knowledge that they might be turned on. Even if they weren't, they would just eventually die, their bonds destroyed.
However, even if Konjyoyaki was against it, even he had bonds. He didn't like to admit it; bonds could be exploited, innocent people hurt. Even knowing this, the man couldn't bring himself to actually want to dissolve the bonds. Even when he had left Kiri, he had tried to remain in contact with his team. He really had to wonder if human's really were such advanced creatures.
Regardless of all these thoughts, times like this made Konjyoyaki relaxed. This deep, contemplative state that many people often didn't have time to get into. It was also time like this that allowed him to rest. Now, Konjyoyaki wasn't an insomniac by any means, but he was able to rest, think, and stay on guard all at the same time.
At that moment, Konjyoyaki's eye snapped open. He realized that he would need some actual sleep. That thought in mind, he stood up and began to dig a fire pit. It was going to get cold tonight, so he had to make sure he could stay warm.
/
Naruto was rudely awoken the next morning by something hitting him in the head. Hard. Here's a hint, it was Konjyoyaki's foot. The blonde shot up, grasping his now throbbing skull. "What the fuck man?" he shouted, turning his head towards the offender, eyes still bleary from sleep. Of course, that was to be expected, as the sun wasn't even peeking over the horizon yet, only its radiant light.
Konjyoyaki, meanwhile, was looking down at his new charge, disdain in his eye, contradictory of his lax stance. "You asked for that, we're burning daylight. Now get off your ass and get ready for training." grumbling, Naruto got to his feet, ignoring Konjyoyaki's call of, "Hurry the hell up." the blonde just glared as finally got up and fully faced his tutor.
"What time is it?" asked Naruto as he rubbed his eyes, trying to awaken himself fully.
"It's time for you to start earning my respect," was Konjyoyaki's simple answer. "I'm going to need to trust you for what's going to happen. I'm going to need you to be at your best. And that's never going to happen until we start training."
"Wait, what do you mean, 'for what's going to happen'? What's going on?"
"Relax, it's not for a while off. I'll tell you more tonight, but for now, I need you focused. Now, the way I see it, we can split training into two main sections. During the day, you will undergo physical training. At that time, we will improve your speed, strength, stealth, and pain tolerance. I might even teach you a few jutsu, since you seem to be lacking in that area. We good so far?"
"Yeah, I got it. I'm not an idiot, you know" that last part was grumbled under Naruto's breath, but Konjyoyaki heard him any way.
"Yes, you are, and the sooner you can come to terms with that, the better. That's why during the nights, we will be going over strategy, general knowledge, and try to deal with the problems that prevent you from being the best you can be in battle. It will also be the time when I tell you about myself. Now," as he said this, Konjyoyaki shifted his position, lowering his center of gravity and putting his arm forward, ready to attack, "This exercise is relatively simple. You simply have to avoid getting hit for five minutes. This will test your speed, reflexes, and pain tolerance. Get ready or regret it."
"Wait, what?" asked Naruto, shocked. "How the hell am I supposed to fucking dodge you? Without even trying you're one of the fastest people I know! Shouldn't we start with something easier?"
"Stop making excuses!" Konjyoyaki barked. "I'm well aware of the fact that you will never be able to fully dodge me with the time we have. That's why I'll be holding back. As for why we're starting with this, it's because we don't have time to waste if we want to teach you everything I have planned. Now take your stance. I'm being nice enough by waiting for you."
Naruto just grumbled, knowing that he really had no choice. If he tried to run, he would be easily caught and beaten down anyway. At least this way he preserved some of his dignity. So, with that, he lowered him self and got ready to dodge like a mother-fucker.
However, as soon as his knees began to bend, Konjyoyaki shot off, catching the blonde in the stomach with a punch before spinning around to deliver a kick to his head. Naruto, caught by surprise, gasped in pain as he flew low to the ground and slammed into a tree.
"Wh-what the fuck?" the blonde managed to gasp out. He was holding his mid-section, trying to get some air back into his lungs. Personally, he was glad that he hadn't eaten anything yet, or else it may have been all over him right about now. To add to that, there was a deep cut on his forehead, running from above his left eye, which was squeezed shut to keep the blood running down his face out, to the temple.
Konjyoyaki just snorted at the sight. "I told you to get ready. Now get up, we're starting over."
Naruto slowly got to his feet a Kyuubi worked to heal his container the best he could. He was a bit shaky, but that was to be expected. Luckily, he was still cognitive enough to dodge out of the way as Konjyoyaki slammed his fist right where his blonde head used to be, deeply cracking the tree. He was not, however, lucky enough, to dodge as the cripple lashed his foot out and caught his shoulder, causing Naruto to hiss in pain.
Immediately, he knew that his arm had been knocked out of the joint. So, to help the healing process along, he quickly snapped it back into place, the only sign that he felt something being a slight cringe. However, he never took his eyes off Konjyoyaki. "What the fuck! I thought you were going easy on me!"
"Rule number one: never take what people say at face value, especially shinobi," he responded as he turned to his human punching-bag. "And for the record, I could go much harder on you. Now shut up and start dodging!" in his mind, Konjyoyaki sighed. As he once again landed a solid hit on Naruto, he knew his work was cut out for him.
/
It was now around noon, the sun at its apex in the sky. The two had stopped for a quick break only once so far, to have a light breakfast of some granola Konjyoyaki had packed. Naruto felt slightly better after that, but then went back to being a tool for the cripple to take some repressed frustrations out on. However, it wasn't all for naught. The blonde could now probably dodge around four hits from Konjyoyaki moving at half speed before being knocked away.
Naruto was heavily panting now, having spent the last several hours pushing his body to the limits. His legs screamed in agony and his lungs burned from the exertion he had put them through, his upper torso was racked with pain from the blows dealt their. Even his eyes hurt, being forced to track such a fast moving target for so long. However, he had Kyuubi on his side to help alleviate some of the problems he was suffering from.
Konjyoyaki didn't have the Kyuubi to help with his problems though. Truthfully, his lungs felt like they were about to burst, even if he did a good job hiding that fact. He had never been what you would call an endurance fighter, something he attributed to his years of smoking and his one major downfall... or maybe it was his second. Either way, it was why he had aligned his strengths away from endurance.
It was why he focused on speed, to dance around his enemies defenses and land a fatal blow. It was why he focused on stealth, so his enemies never knew he was there and couldn't put up a fight. And now, he was paying for it.
Ignoring the pain, Konjyoyaki once again rushed at Naruto. The blonde managed to dodge by ducking behind a tree. The cripple quickly followed, losing sight of his target for only a moment. He sent a kick at the blonde's jaw, something Naruto easily dodged. He wasn't able to move fast enough, though as that same foot came down on his skull.
His foot came down so hard that Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke. Konjyoyaki scowled, not expecting to hit a clone, and was forced to quickly correct for the lack of substance under him, spinning a bit before bringing his foot down completely. He stood there for a moment before jumping up into a nearby tree.
A moment later, Naruto was sent flying from that very tree head first. He landed and skidded across the ground before he was stopped by a foot slamming down on his chest. Konjyoyaki stood before him, gazing down with his one eye.
"While it's nice to see you working on your evasion skills, this test is about raw speed and pain tolerance." Konjyoyaki gave Naruto a good stomp to the chest to emphasize that last point. "However, seeing as you have made good progress on your first day, I've decided to be generous. I'll get some lunch ready, you take a break, and afterward we'll get started on stealth training." and with that, Konjyoyaki left the blonde on the ground to do what he had said.
"Bastard," Naruto mumbled under his breath before beginning to get up. He almost regretted accepting this training now. And he was going to regret it a lot more later.
/
It was a few weeks later, and Naruto definitely regretted taking Konjyoyaki's training. That wasn't to say that he wasn't making any improvements. In terms of speed, he was able to dodge the cripple's onslaught for about a minute with him at half speed. His strength had improved, no doubt about that, and his stealth skills were the best than they had ever been in his life.
However, Konjyoyaki still saw one major flaw in Naruto's skill set. And that was his ability to use a blade. Which explained why the cripple was currently using an ice blade to jab at the blonde who was clumsily trying to swat the crystalline blade away.
"Come on! Keep your guard up!" he shouted, slipping the blonde's serrated blade up and taking a swipe at his mid-section. The blonde jumped back, missing the blade and returning with a strike of his own.
Konjyoyaki easily twirled out of the way and sent a downward slash at his temporary student, catching him in the hand and kicking the newly released blade away. He followed up by stabbing the blonde deeply in the shoulder.
To Naruto's credit, there was barely a wince as the freezing blade penetrated his shoulder. Instead, he called upon some info that Konjyoyaki had told him. Pumping some chakra into the rope that was around him, he controlled the blade and sent it after his attacker.
It wasn't exactly as fast as he wanted it to go, but it still caught Konjyoyaki by surprise. The man jumped back, but not before receiving a small gash on his leg. "Hmm, not bad, but you could still use a little work. You need to hold your sword a little higher for better leverage and weight distribution."
"Right," Naruto said. He had learned a while ago that if Konjyoyaki gave him advice, he should take it. The cripple nodded in approval and the two once again clashed with their blades. This continued for a few more minutes before Konjyoyaki called for a break. "But we've barely gotten into it," said Naruto. Usually he wouldn't question taking a break, but he found it a little odd.
"I know, but I think it's time I taught you something else. Follow me." so, sealing up his sword, the blonde did just that, following his mentor right up to his car. Before he could ask what was going on, Konjyoyaki turned to him. "Get in," he said, before going to the left side of the car.
Naruto was left going to the right. He opened the door and climbed in, only to be confronted with a strange wheel with a strange board behind it covered in weird gauges. "What the hell?" he asked, turning to Konjyoyaki.
"I realized that I should probably teach you to drive. Now," with that, he handed over some strange key, which Naruto just looked at. Eventually, he found where it was supposed to go and turned it on Konjyoyaki's instruction, watching as the board lit up with more symbols. "Now, just so you know, most cars have the driver sitting on my side, but this set up fits my condition better. Besides, your left handed, so it will be easier for you to learn." idly, Naruto wondered how he knew he was left handed, but let it slide. Instead, he hooked his belt and 'put it in drive', as Konjyoyaki said. As he began to move forward, he hoped that he wouldn't fuck this up too badly.
/
A few nights later, and Konjyoyaki and Naruto were sitting around a fire that Konjyoyaki had made. Naruto was now losing the regret he had earlier on in training, as the results were definitely showing. His skill with a blade was better than he ever thought it would be, and so was his speed. He could now dodge Konjyoyaki for up to two-and-a-half minutes with him moving a half speed, something that blonde thought was a sort of accomplishment. His lessons in driving weren't that bad either, much to his surprise.
And best of all, he was learning a lot. Not just practical knowledge, he was also learning a bit about his mentor as promised. So far, all he knew was that Konjyoyaki was born in the outskirts of a small village some twenty-five miles away from Kiri, had a sister, Haku's mother, and a brother, and was one of the famous seven swordsmen. Really, it was stuff he already knew, but he was beginning to see how Konjyoyaki ticked. Or, at least, he thought he did. He still had many questions to clear some issues up. For instance, despite what the cripple had said, he had yet to learn what exactly was coming. He practiced restraint, though, and decided that it would be brought up eventually.
Then again, Konjyoyaki also wanted some things cleared up. Sure, he thought that his student was developing at a marvelous rate, past his expectations, but he still had some concerns. One was that he hadn't really worked on helping the blonde deal with his emotions. He feared that in a real fight, the blonde would let his emotions drive his actions and cause him to forget everything he had learned. It would be six months, wasted.
Then there was the fact that he felt that there was something... off about Naruto. There was something he felt that prevented the blonde putting his all into a fight until it was necessary. Now, while Konjyoyaki thought that it was unnecessary to brutally beat down your opponent with flashy maneuvers, he thought that one should use a proper amount of power to end a fight quickly and efficiently.
However, he had noticed that Naruto hesitated. He stopped himself from using all the powers at his disposal, especially around his friends. And that's what concerned Konjyoyaki. His student relied mostly on his immortality and Kyuubi, a combination to trick his enemies into thinking he was dead before being completely healed and taking them by surprise. But what about an enemy that knew all of his tricks? The blonde rarely used his curse technique, so that was a secret that would take most anyone by surprise, but to the cripple's knowledge, the blonde had only used it once, and that was because he was pissed.
So, Konjyoyaki needed to sort this problem out before this break was over. He needed to get the blonde to use things like jutsu a bit more judiciously. But to do that, he needed to find out what the problem was. "Hey, kid," Konjyoyaki said suddenly, catching the blonde by surprise. He was poking the fire to keep it going when Konjyoyaki's voice reached his ears. "I need to ask you something," he continued.
"What?" asked Naruto, curious. This was unusual. Normally, it was him who asked the questions while Konjyoyaki answered. Of course, the cripple didn't answer everything, but this was still a strange occurrence.
"I need to know, you rarely ever use your curse technique, or any other jutsu for that matter. Why is that?"
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, trying to play stupid. From the start he knew it wouldn't work, but he had to try, even if it did just annoy Konjyoyaki.
Of course, that's all it did. "You know exactly what I mean. You know what, forget regular jutsu, I'll just chalk that up to you actually thinking and trying to blend in. I'll let that slip if you start using them in real fights. But you are gong to tell me why you won't use your curse technique, a gift from your 'god' himself."
Naruto growled a bit a that. He didn't like how Konjyoyaki referred to Jashin-sama, the tone in his voice. There was no need to insult his faith. "Exactly, it's a gift, something that should only be used in special occasions."
"Really," Konjyoyaki asked speculatively. He could tell Naruto was getting indignant, and really couldn't blame him, but this was something that needed to be pushed out of the way. "Hidan seems to disagree. From what I remember, he would use that any chance he got."
"Well, that's his choice. There are different ways to show our faith. Besides, making the symbol is time consuming. An enemy isn't going to stand around while I use blood to draw on the ground and stab myself."
"I would have to agree, but I would still expect you to try, to find a way around that. That leads me to believe that something else is preventing you from using it." a look of contemplation came across Naruto's face, and there was a tense silence for a bit. Then, Konjyoyaki told Naruto his theory, taking a shot in the dark. "This has to do with Haku, doesn't it?"
Naruto remained silent, before he spoke, his voice low and weary. "I promised myself, that day in the forest of death, that I wouldn't use that technique for anything but defending those people important to me. And even then I don't want to use it. It... only seems to harm my relationships."
"Huh," Konjyoyaki grunted, "so you do it to protect your relationships. I will admit, it is rather brutal to watch, but let me ask you this, your friends have seen you use that technique, haven't they?" he received a nod. "And they think nothing less of you. They are true friends who like you for you, not because you pretend to be something you're not. As long as you're not overly vicious, they will remain by your side. Understand that they are monsters, accustomed to violence. They can understand things better than most people, and Tsukune is no exception to that. He has hung around you guys long enough to understand that things are just that way. Shinobi are only human. Most can try to understand that, because they make a living from violence, but many young people can't seem to wrap their heads around that. What I'm trying to say is that Haku wasn't ready to be a shinobi. She was to peace-loving. She couldn't understand why a shinobi like you did the things you did."
"You're just saying that because you have something against Haku," Naruto growled out. He would admit that some of what Konjyoyaki said made sense, but he didn't like him insulting his dead girlfriend. You would think he would have more tact since she was his niece.
"You want to know something," Konjyoyaki interrupted. "Do you want to know why I became a shinobi?"
Naruto was a bit surprised at that. Truthfully, he was kind of curious, but he didn't understand why he was changing subjects. Still, he was angry, so he asked, "Why?" rather harshly.
"My onee-san left the house when she was twelve, I was five. It was because our tou-san had tried to teach her to be a kunoichi, but she had refused him at every turn. She was a lot like Haku, actually, more about conflict resolution and peaceful negotiations. The point is, tou-san thought it was because he had waited too long to begin teaching. He began working on me immediately. Despite the fact that I only wanted to be a simple bartender, I developed fast. Seeing this, tou-san decided that an even younger child could develop even faster. I was nine when my imotou was born. My kaa-san refused to let him be trained so soon. Tou-san, angry, killed my kaa-san and then tried to do the same with me. He torched our house and I never saw him or my imotou again."
Naruto sat, held completely by the story. He was unmoving as he gazed at Konjyoyaki. As he told the story, no emotion was shown on his face. He just stared into the fire.
"Injured, I began to crawl away from the scene. I don't remember how long I crawled, but I was eventually found by the Mizukage. He took me in, knowing what I was, but he knew that I could be of use to him. I trained even more, doing the only thing I was good at. The whole time, I wondered why my onee-san didn't take me with her. When I was ready, I went off to find her. She was only the next village over. When I got there, I found her, dead, along with a bunch of other villagers and her husband. All were impaled with ice. When I asked what happened, I discovered that apparently a small girl had done it. She was a bloodline carrier. I put two and two together. Haku had inadvertently caused the last of my family's death. But I didn't blame her for that. I didn't blame my tou-san for what he did, either, I just wanted answers, not revenge. The real reason I was so hostile towards Haku was because whenever I looked at her, I saw only my onee-san. It was her I was mad at. Do you remember what I told you when you went after Sasuke?"
realizing that he was being addressed, Naruto thought back onto that day. "You said to tell Haku that you were sorry."
"Exactly. I realized that I was being unfair to her. A bit too late, apparently. I don't regret what I said, Haku wasn't meant to be a shinobi. She became one out of necessity, almost like me. I guess I also saw a bit of myself in her, and that's what I was angry about. I couldn't do anything when I was needed most by my family. I'm not discriminating against her, I'm only saying what's true." As he finished, he looked up to the sky. "I hope you think about what was said here. The point is that you may have to do things you don't want to, you may do things you regret, but your friends will still love you if they're your true friends. Now, go to sleep."
With that, Konjyoyaki walked off, presumably to think, leaving Naruto to think himself about what was said. Needless to say, he didn't get much sleep that night.
/
And what you have just read is more than eleven pages of filler. It's important filler, but filler nonetheless. So, yeah, sorry to keep you guys on hold for so long, but last month was dedicated to another fic which actually didn't get updated at all. So, yeah. I wanted this out earlier, but problems arose. I won't say what, as you probably don't care, but all that matters is that this is out now.
So, some of Konjyoyaki's past is revealed, the reason why Naruto doesn't use his cures technique (which you would have already known if you had just read the prequel ) is... re-revealed? And I'm starting on the second season of Rosario+Vampire. Expect more plot twists as the story progresses.
In other news, I have a pole up in my profile page. Been up for about a month now, and I want opinions on what story I start next. None of this stories sequels are options as this series is my primary focus and I'll do this as often as possible. I'm thinking of putting preview chapters for each story. Tell me which ones you would like to see them for. And with that, this chapter is over. This has been a chapter by Acolyte of Truth, totaling 6,711 words!