Another bright day illuminated the Hidden Leaf Village, and at the gates of Konoha there was more activity than usual. Damon, together with Jiraiya, was saying goodbye to the few friends he had left. Tsunade was there as well and did not miss the event, since she had grown very fond of the little blond.
"Take care, kid. I'll be waiting to see you in that seat," Tsunade said with a smile while pointing her thumb toward the Hokage Tower behind her.
Damon gave a nervous smile and rubbed the back of his neck. Everyone thought it was because he was embarrassed that the current Hokage trusted one hundred percent that Naruto would become Hokage in the future, but that was not the case. He now had a much more ambitious goal in his hands, and trying to become Hokage would only slow him down.
Along with the memories of the hellish paperwork he had to deal with as Hashirama... no, he did not want to go through that torture again. But he said nothing. He also did not want to receive a beating from Tsunade. After all, she was here because of a bet with him, and if he told her he was backing out of it... well, let's just say that would not end well for the blond.
A pink-haired girl stepped forward confidently.
"Naruto, I'll become stronger too so I can bring Sasuke-kun back," she said in her shrill voice.
The girl caught everyone's attention, some of his friends smiling, but Damon's reaction surprised them all. He let out a long sigh.
"Sakura, it's fine if you want to become stronger, but your reason for doing it is a waste of time."
"But—" she tried to defend herself.
"He already made his choice, a path guided by hatred." Damon started pulling aside part of his bright orange jacket to reveal the large wound in his chest. "And this is what awaits you if you try to stop him... and you don't have an enormous fox sealed inside you to save your ass... do you?"
"But Naruto, he's—"
Damon clicked his tongue. He had thought saying that would be enough. The smartest girl in the academy, yet unable to understand that she would end up dead if she kept chasing after the crying emo.
"Sakura, we're not in one of those cheesy stories where the hero saves the princess trapped and kidnapped by a giant monster and they fall in love and live happily ever after. Get your feet on the ground. Outside the village walls, when the world interferes, human life is a business and you work for that business."
Sakura could not stop a tear from slipping out because of Damon's words, but he did not stop there.
"If they send you to kill someone, you do it. If they send you to save someone, you do it. Outside, there are things that in your worst nightmares you could never imagine," Damon said, pointing toward the ground just outside the village gate.
"Monsters in human form with almost eternal hatred that leads to wars for entire lives and cities, and Sasuke is one of them... and that is not even the worst thing you can find out there. Grow strong enough to travel around the Land of Fire and see what happens outside Konoha. Wave Country and Nami no Kuni were only the tip of the iceberg... focus on continuing to be a kunoichi and maybe then you'll understand what I mean."
Everyone stood there with their mouths hanging open, and Jiraiya straightened proudly at his student. Damon had shown a maturity beyond his years, but the most surprised was Tsunade. She knew what the blond meant, since in her youth she had to deal with many of those "bandits." Could a person really change that much in only one week? Something had happened to the blond, and she intended to find out what.
"Look, I know what I promised you, but I failed the mission. I almost died with a Chidori through my chest. My promises are one of the few things that help me keep moving forward, but if I bring Sasuke back, then what? Will he be punished by the Hokage or not? The civilian council worships him, and his punishment would be minimal. He would have the same freedom, and the moment he had the chance... he would run away again, and you would chase after him once more. I have more important things to do than keep chasing an Uchiha fool for the rest of my life."
After saying that, Damon gave a farewell smile to everyone present, who were still a little shaken by the blond's words. He looked at Jiraiya, who was also staring at him, and nodded to signal that it was time to go.
After nearly half an hour of walking, since the blond could not run yet by Tsunade's orders because she was still worried about his wound, Damon was enjoying the nature and the vegetation around him. Having seen so much time pass, he still never got tired of beauty and enjoyed it, since being outdoors always brought him peace. He assumed it was because of his affinity with nature, since he had felt this same sensation ever since he received it. But Jiraiya broke the comfortable silence.
"Don't you think you were too harsh on the pink-haired girl?"
Damon stopped looking around and turned to Jiraiya to answer him.
"I can't always be the good guy in the story," he said with a shrug. "A dose of reality might help her open her eyes."
Jiraiya, still holding his notebook, stopped writing to focus on the conversation.
"No, you were right, but there are ways to say it."
Damon sighed.
"If I don't tell her like that, how do you expect her to stop chasing after her amazing Sasuke-kun?" he said, imitating Sakura's voice when he mentioned the Uchiha.
Jiraiya opened his mouth, then closed it again, repeating that for a while as if he wanted to say something.
"Fine, fine... you win," he muttered in defeat.
Jiraiya returned to his notebook while letting out perverted chuckles, which caused a drop of sweat to appear on Damon's neck. They continued walking, but Damon could not stop noticing his current outfit. He could not deny the orange was cool, but it looked like a target with legs, especially for a shinobi.
How did I manage to escape the ANBU when I was little wearing something like this? Damon thought to himself. It's like I was screaming my position at the top of my lungs.
He liked orange, yes, but he would have to change it.
"Ero-sennin."
"Hmm?" A frown appeared on Jiraiya's face at the nickname, but he stopped writing to look at his student.
Damon grabbed his completely orange jacket.
"Could we go to a ninja shop first thing? I need to get rid of this."
Anime-style tears formed on Jiraiya's face.
"I thought you'd never ask. My eyes were starting to hurt just from looking at you."
One of Damon's eyebrows twitched.
"The feeling is mutual." He crossed his arms and looked to the side. "Orange isn't that bad," he muttered, though Jiraiya still heard him.
"If you say so."
"The fact that you have a published book with the same color on the cover makes you look like a hypocrite," Damon accused with a victorious smile.
"I gave it the worst color I could find to prove that even so, it is still an incredible book!" Jiraiya grabbed the book titled Icha Icha, held it up for all to see, and began kissing the cover.
Damon knew that book. Susanoo would never stop talking about it and had tried many times to make Damon read it, of course at the cost of Damon's own life. Amaterasu had forbidden him from getting within five meters of that book, and knowing her, if he disobeyed, things would end very badly for him. But curiosity had always gotten the better of him in every stage of his life... he could not fight it. It was a lost battle.
He noticed that Jiraiya was still hugging that book, but he also saw another one sticking out of his pocket.
Why would he have more than one copy of the same book?
He did not think much about it. He simply took it without Jiraiya noticing and started reading a little.
After ten minutes of reading while continuing to walk, Damon came to a sudden stop and looked up at Jiraiya.
"You're sick in the head," Damon said, glancing back at the book. "But I get it. It's complete trash, but I can see the appeal."
He said it out loud and loud enough to be heard, but Jiraiya was still wrapped up in his own happiness over the book and had not realized Damon had been reading it.
When Jiraiya finally turned to look at Damon, who stood there quietly with an orange book in one hand, a victorious smile immediately spread across his face. It did not take him long to walk over to Damon and drape an arm over his shoulder.
"I knew you would understand my art. Welcome to the world of pleasure."
"Or the world of pain if she catches me holding this," Damon replied.
"Relax, Tsunade is far away. She'll never find out. It'll be our little secret."
I wasn't talking about her. Damon though to himself
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Naruto arc is officially done. This one was long as hell fr 😂 If y'all want a bonus chapter, drop 25 stones. holy fck my head hurts