A Mother's Knight

Part 19

Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a stern look on his face, he didn't want to believe what the blond had just said – it wasn't anything wrong, it was just that it came as a surprise to him given the situation that the village was in. Naruto wanted to leave Konoha, not permanently, but for some time away to train.

He had been doing just fine inside this village, so what was the problem now? He had disappeared once when things got tough, but things were not that tough now. Actually, they were good. The villagers appreciated Naruto's efforts as a shinobi and were actually coming in terms with the fact that he was actually Minato's son.

"Things have changed for you, Naruto. You no longer have to worry about someone attacking you or the villagers throwing things at your house. Your mother can smile walking around the streets and no one will throw straight glares at you," Jiraiya tried to reason with Naruto.

For sure, even if the villagers were changing, Naruto was not. The blond still looked at them with contempt, or just indifference. Perhaps the right term was the latter. He could not go as far as to say that Naruto hated the villagers of this village, he didn't like them, yes, and saw them as low life creatures who didn't deserve to be humans, but he didn't despise them.

It was almost as if the actions they took were expected of them. You expect evil to try to ruin your life. Naruto expected the villagers to act in the way that they had been because he believed it was their nature. Snakes would bite and spit out venom; dogs would bark and try to take a bite – it appeared to be the theme when Naruto dealt with the villagers.

"I have never said that things were the same, Jiraiya," Naruto responded in a calm but firm tone.

Things have changed, he was willing to admit that. He had confessed it to his mother and everyone who knew him. He was feeling slightly alive and somewhat happy. There was no longer a load on his shoulders; the heavy yoke that he had been carrying was removed from his shoulders.

He was free.

Things had changed, Konoha was changing, but he was not. Naruto would always be Naruto. Yes, he would eventually have to adapt to his surrounding to accommodate it, but his objectives hadn't changed that much. Things around the village were just changing, but this was still the Hidden Leaf. Nothing would last forever.

A single thing that proves to be suspicious, everything would be forgotten and they would return the wounds of the past.

"Then why do want to leave Konoha?"

"I thought I explained that clearly for you to understand. You are not a simple man who fails to grasp complex terms... why do you look so baffled by a simple statement?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I just want to know why? I can't understand the reasoning and the timing of your thoughts."

"You don't have to understand it really," Naruto said with a wave of his hand. "But it makes things easy for me if you do understand it. Still, it is making me feel slightly annoyed that you cannot seem to understand why I need my time away from the village to train. Simple things you must understand, Jiraiya."

The Sannin didn't like the way Naruto was talking to him. Perhaps he just didn't want to think of the reason, he just wanted Naruto to explain. The blond's tone had a hint of impatience in it. It was for the first time that he got the feeling from the blond. Naruto was good at masking his emotions. Was he just that annoyed?

"I understand you want to get strong, bu-"

"If you're going to ask me, why I wish to get strong, you can stop Jiraiya. I honestly do not have the patience to answer 'rhetoric' questions..." Naruto cut off the Sannin in a hardened tone. "Have you heard about the Akatsuki?"