Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the associated characters, locations, jutsu, etc. The only thing I own is the plot of the story. If there is any plagiarism of any form it was completely unintentional.
"A lot of life is dealing with your curse, dealing with the cards you were given that aren't so nice. Does it make you into a monster, or can you temper it in some way, or accept it and go in some other direction?"
Wes Craven
"Ah! Kumogakure, it's been ages since I've been here." Naruto said as he looked around the cloudy, cliff ridden panorama.
"You've been here before? Jiraiya asked in curiosity.
"Yeah, long time ago. Dad wanted me to come with him in a meeting. He was trying to get me interested in politics, I think, though I didn't really pay attention then." He said with a hint of hurt in his voice.
"This time it will be different, officially we are not here, so I need you to lay low. Got it?"
"Got it!" Naruto said as they both walked into the village with a hood over their heads.
"Halt! Who are you? Take the hood off." Jiraiya reached up and grasped his hood.
"Act natural." He whispered. He uncovered his face, but he looked different, and so did Naruto.
"Hello there! Me and my nephew are just visiting the town. He wanted to see the impressive buildings of your magnificent country." Jiraiya said in an overly excited voice. The guard looked at them both before nodding.
"Alright, go in." He said as he stepped out of the road.
"Thank you very much, sir!" Jiraiya said with a wave as he and Naruto made their way into the city. Shortly after Jiraiya's face went back to normal, and Naruto assume his did as well.
"What did you do?" He asked curiously.
"A simple genjutsu. Small enough to go unnoticed but strong enough to work. I learned a couple of tricks in my travels." He said casually as he was examining the surroundings.
"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed as he too looked around, but in a more fascinated way. "So, who are we looking for, ero-sennin?"
"You'll see. For now keep an eye out for any large crowds."
"Like that one?" Naruto said as he pointed towards a large mass of people surrounding a large stage.
"Bingo!" Jiraiya exclaimed as they both approached the crowd. When they got closer Naruto saw the man standing on the stage. He looked... Odd. He was a big, tall shinobi with a pair of dark glasses, He was rapping some incoherent rhymes, but for some reason everyone was cheering for him.
"I wonder what all the fuss is about, that guy is terrible!" Naruto said. One of the people in the crowd turned back towards him with fear in his face.
"SHHH! Don't let Bee-sama hear you. He might just make you watch again!" The man said while looking over his shoulder.
"Omoi! Get back here!" A red haired woman yelled as she yanked the man back into the crowds.
"Bee-sama?" Naruto said in confusion. "Why does that name sound familiar."
"Your father must have told you about him at one point," Jiraiya said, "he is the brother of the Raikage, as well as the jinchuriki of the Hachibi."
"Oh, I remember him now! Ero-sennin, is he the guy you were talking about?" Jiraiya nodded with a serious expression while glancing around.
"There is too many people here to talk to him. We'll need to do it later."
"Then can we go get something to eat? I'm starving!" Naruto said while rubbing his stomach, which was making loud noises. "That senjutsu thing is really tough, and all I've eaten for the past few days have been bugs. I want real food, I want... RAMEN!" He yelled at the top of his lungs while pointing at a nearby noodle shop, however he got a wank in the head as an answer.
"Will you be quiet?! We need to keep a low profile." Jiraiya said while walking towards the ramen shop.
"Got it, low profile. Sheesh, you didn't have to hit me!" He said while rubbing his head. As they were walking Naruto started looking around again, admiring the unique look of the village. Eventually he turned around while walking backwards, which made him bump into someone.
"Oh! Sorry, didn't see ya there." He said sheepishly.
"Well the maybe you should try looking in the same direction you are walking... Idiot." The man said while walking away.
"Hey!" Naruto said angrily. The other man gave a quick glance backward, revealing two deep onyx eyes.
That face. Seems familiar. Jiraiya thought as he looked at his retreating figure.
"Ero-sennin! Come on the place is filling up!" He heard Naruto yell. Jiraiya turned for a brief second to look at the blonde as he ran to the shop, but when he returned his gaze to the mysterious man he was gone. Jiraiya looked around but was unable to find a single trace of him. "Hurry up!"
"... Al right. I'm coming." Jiraiya said while he followed Naruto into the shop. Meanwhile, a couple of blocks away a young man with onyx black eyes was looking at them as they exit the streets.
"That was close." He said as he pulled a hood over his head and walked in the opposite direction.
...
Night had fallen over Kumogakure, but the jinchuriki of the Hachibi was still up and about strolling through the village. He kept on rapping various incoherent lines with every step he took, while making exaggerated motions with his hands. Eventually he reached the end of a street and reached into his pouch to pull out... A pen and a pad. He quickly jotted down some of his last rhymes, before tapping the pencil a couple of times on his glasses and then launching it at an astonishing speed towards a nearby rooftop. The pencil flew just over the building and got lost in the darkness of the night sky.
"Damn... I missed." He said with a stern face as he turned around to look at two shadowy figures that were blocking the alley. One of the figures reached out to pull its hood down, which made Bee slowly reach for his sword.
"Holy shit! That was one impressive shot, and with a pencil! I don't believe it, I mean a kunai for sure, but a PENCIL!" Naruto said excitedly as he yanked down his hood.
"You... Who are you?" Bee said with his hand still grazing over the hilt of his weapon.
"Excuse our secrecy," Jiraiya said calmly while lowering his own hood, "but we needed to speak to you in private." Bee quickly glanced between at both of them before relaxing his stance.
"Man, you either gotta be the bravest or the dumbest to come to Kumo to attack me. Whichever one it is I'll have you begging for your lives down on one knee. BakayarÅ! KonoyarÅ!"
"We don't want to fight, we want to talk. And I'm sure you can sense why." Jiraiya said while looking over at Naruto. "I don't know if you remember the fourth Hokage, apparently he was here a couple of years ago. This is Naruto, his son, he is a-"
"Jinchuriki," Bee cut him off. "Ha-chan could sense him a mile away. I could too since it seems he never bathes."
"Hey! Watch it, old man!" Naruto said angrily while holding a single finger against him. Jiraiya reached out and lowered his hand and then looked back at Bee.
"He needs your help. There are many tales about you being the perfect jinchuriki. So I thought you could teach him to make peace with the fox." Bee eyes Naruto for a few seconds before turning back towards Jiraiya.
"No." Was his only answer as he turned around and started to walk away. Jiraiya sighed, but Naruto wasn't so passive.
"Hey, hold it right there!" He yelled as he ran after him. But when his hand reached his shoulder, he vanished in a cloud of smoke. Naruto looked around to try and find him, but he was gone. "God dammit!" He screamed.
"Let's go. It is useless to try and chase him." Jiraiya said while putting one hand on Naruto's shoulder. "It's dark and this is his home. He knows it a million times better than us." Naruto didn't say anything. He just shook the hand off and started walking away, with Jiraiya following close by.
...
The next day Jiraiya said that he had some important business to take care off, so he left Naruto alone to wander around town. He walked through the streets looking down at the ground, occasionally kicking a pebble out of his way. Eventually he walked down an alley where he saw a group of kids cornering a young boy. He was crying while the others were laughing and pointing at him.
"Crybaby! Come on, can't you say something without sobbing!" One of the kids said while laughing even louder. Eventually one of them raised his fist to hit the boy, but his wrist was grabbed before it could land.
"Pick on someone your own size," Naruto said as he released the boy, "better yet, try picking on someone bigger than you." The group of kids ran away when they saw him, tripping over a couple of trashcans on the way. When they were gone Naruto knelt down in front of the crying kid with a soft smile.
"Hey, they're gone." Naruto said while reaching out for the kid. However, he only cried even harder while trying to distance himself. "No, I won't hurt you."
"Aito! Aito!" Naruto heard a woman calling. He stood up and looked at the ends of the alley, where he saw a woman desperately looking around. Eventually she looked towards him and ran as fast as she could into the alley.
"Hey, don't worry he is-"
"Get away from him!" The woman yelled while pushing him back. Naruto's smile immediately left his face as he watched the woman take the child into her arms.
"I was trying to help him!" Naruto said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.
"I said don't touch him, monster!" The woman screamed while running away. Naruto stood still in the dark alley, with his gaze fixated on the ground.
"I am NOT a monster." He said in a low, but menacing, voice. Without looking up he stuck his hands on his pockets and walked away. Once again he started to wander around town, but this time he noticed the way people were looking at him. Those cold, hateful stares he was so familiar with. The glares of indifference, he hadn't done anything but people still looked at him like he was a freak.
"Why are you all staring at me?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. The streets immediately went silent as everyone around stared at him. Some low whispers started floating around the air, and he could hear them clearly. Naruto ran away as fast as he could, never looking back. He jus ran and ran, until the streets under his feet turned to dirt and rocks. It was then, and only then, when he stopped running, and dropped to his knees. A few tears hit the ground as he started recalling all of the painful memories of his home.
"You know, they weren't staring at you because they thought you were a monster," he heard someone say, "they were staring because you look different." Naruto looked up and saw Bee, sitting on a tree branch looking down at him.
"What are you doing here." Naruto said while whipping the tears of his face.
"How do you expect people to approach you if you keep on yelling?" He "answered" while jumping down to the ground.
"They all avoid me because I'm a monster!"
"You are as much of a monster as the creature inside you." Bee said with an emotionless face.
"Exactly!"
"And whoever said that the creature inside you is a monster?"