Just then, one of the shadow clones guarding the caravan dispelled, sending all of it's memories back to Naruto. This was followed by several more dispelling in quick succession. Naruto's eyes fluttered a bit as images bombarded his mind. Images he got from the clones memories.
Images of several dozen people dressed in filthy rags and bearing rusted weapons. Bandits or highway men most likely.
Opening his eyes, the blond Uzume turned his head and looked up at the ledge the caravan was currently traveling alongside of. There, running down the ledge with weapons bared were several bandits, all of whom were screaming like a bunch if idiots.
Naruto smiled. He had been hoping for an opportunity to release some pent up tension for a while now. He was so pleased to see his wish had finally been granted.
XoX
'That was awfully brutal of you.'
'Kyuubi?' Naruto perked up at the sound of the voice he had not heard since some time yesterday morning passed through his mind. 'Are you finally talking to me?'
'Would you rather I not talk to you?'
'Ah, no. I didn't mean it like that,' Naruto was quick to let her know he wasn't being rude or sarcastic or anything like that. As strange as their odd relationship was, he did not want to give it up, especially when she was the only person he could now talk to since he couldn't even stand the sight of Jiraiya. 'I was just surprised. That's all. I didn't expect you to start talking to me after you cut out so abruptly.'
'I was bored.'
'Ha...' Naruto sighed, 'figures.'
With a deep expelling of breath, Naruto fell backwards on the futon he had been sitting on and looked up at the sky. It was nighttime now. The stars painted the velvety canvas above him like a billion small beacons in the night sky. He had to admit, it made for a fantastic sight.
'You were awfully brutal during that battle today,' Kyuubi continued along her previous line of thought.
'You mean when I fought those bandits?'
'Mm. I don't think I've ever seen you kill someone so violently. At least, not since that time in Nami no Kuni.' Naruto closed his eyes, remembering that time in Nami, the day where Haku had died. 'I have to admit, I was a little shocked at how violently you ripped that guy with the pick axe apart.'
'Ugh.' Naruto grimaced as he took remembered the battle, if someone could even consider that slaughter a battle. It had been so one sided that to call it a complete massacre wouldn't even begin to describe how poorly that fight had gone for the bandits arrayed against Naruto. 'Well, I've been pretty angry recently. What with the pervert withholding information on my parents on top of being my godfather who abandoned me to the hatred of an entire village for thirteen years of my life.'
'I wonder how long you're going to hold onto your hatred for...'
Naruto frowned.
'What do you mean by that?'
'I mean you have never been one to let your hatred get the better of you. You even decided to forgive the villagers of Konoha for treating you like utter shit for years. Yet you hold a lot of anger towards your godfather.'
'It's because he's my godfather that I'm so angry at him.' Naruto closed his eyes as his mind went over the issues he had with the man who should have raised him. 'I can forgive the villagers of their ignorance because they don't know any better. Sure, they could have taken the time to get to know me, but by the time I was old enough for them to possibly move past their hatred, I was beginning to play pranks in order to get attention, which did not endear me to anyone.'
Naruto let out a heavy sigh.
'On the other hand, Jiraiya is my godfather, and he does know better. He was the one who taught my dad everything he knows about seals so he knew damn well that I was not you. That means he ignored me not out of irrational hatred, but out of negligence. I can't forgive something like that.'
'Doesn't the pervert have a spy network to take care of?'
'That doesn't change anything, Kyuubi. Jiraiya had to have at least visited Konoha on occasion to give a report or something. Even if he only spent a week out of the entire year every time he came into Konoha with me, I would have been satisfied, but he didn't. He ignored me. I didn't even know I had a godfather until he told me.'
'And now you're upset that he didn't spend time with you. You humans are always so emotional. I wonder, is it because of how short lived your species are?'
'Yeah, well... I'm not really human anymore, am I?' was Naruto's bitter reply.
'Are you still upset about that? I had thought you had gotten over it.'
'I guess it's just now starting to really hit me,' Naruto admitted. Truth be told after Kyuubi had revealed her theory on what had happened to him after he absorbed half of her chakra, he had pretty much forgotten all about the possibility that he may be immortal. There had been more important things to worry about; the Chunin Exams, the Invasion, Sarutobi dying, the search for Tsunade and his rising in rank to Chunin. In the wake of all that happened, the knowledge that he was not quite human anymore had been pushed into the deepest recesses of his mind.
His battle with Guran had brought those realizations back. Guren, who was more powerful than him, more skilled then him and just plain better than him. Despite his incredible disadvantage, he had managed to fight her on mostly even ground.
It was not because of his talent as a ninja, nor because of his skills and unpredictability. It had been because of his ability to regenerate from any damage received at an astounding rate. Cuts were healed in seconds, broken bones in minutes. Even getting impaled by a crystal javelin did not keep him down for long. His body had taken all the punishment Guren could give him and simply healed right back up, allowing him to fight longer and harder than what should have been possible for someone of his skill level.
'You had better get over that hang up quickly,' Kyuubi advised him. 'Such thoughts will only hold you down from reaching your potential.'
'Whatever,' Naruto sighed as he wrapped the blanket he had been using to keep warm around him tighter. 'I'm done with this conversation.'
Uzumaki Naruto closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. However, no matter how hard he tried, sleep would not come. The next day, he would be incredibly irritable.
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