Chance for a Prophecy

Chapter 30 - Late Bloomers

Disclaimer: Naruto and every character of the Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and companies, I don't know.

Applause goes for my precious beta readers: ImaginationJunkie1412, Duesal10 and Minatochan2

Original upload date: 14th of April 2014

Last update:

Chance for a Prophecy

Chapter 30. – Late bloomers

A battle of wills took place inside the Hokage's office, two fighters the only ones present. The defiant individuals had been trying to force submission on the other. They were completely uncompromising, which only made their situation worse.

Naruto stubbornly refused to let go, staring into Jiraiya's narrowed eyes, his azure pools hardened with obstinacy and another emotion the sage couldn't define. The soundless fight ended with the older's defeat, throwing his arms high into the air with a frustrated snort. "Why the hell are you protecting that guy?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, repeating the verb with a hushed tone. "Protecting?" His face twisted into a scandalized grimace like the whole idea was turning his stomach upside down. "I'm not protecting him!"

"Yes, you are!" Jiraiya snapped, clenching his hands into fists, but he received no real answer, only narrowed eyes with a hard edge. The sage let out a sigh in the hope that it would ease away some of his frustration. Well, it didn't. So he tried another tactic. "Look, Naruto. We have to know every single detail about that night, and that includes his identity. You know who he is. Just tell me, and I promise I won't tell anyone else. "

"And what if I don't want you to know?" Naruto's voice was cold, but his pleading eyes told a different tale in Jiraiya's head.

Don't ask because I don't want to hurt you.

The sage shook off the echoing voice in his mind and sunk deep into the sofa beside the wall, burying his face into one of his his hands.

"I know you're trying to keep us safe, but it'll do no good. I don't care if a ghost or even Kakashi is lurking behind that mask, but we have to know. Your family's life is on the line, and you still don't understand the seriousness of this. It's as if you don't want to change it." Jiraiya glanced between his fingers at the tensed teen, his eyes widening for a fraction and visible dread rushing over his face.

"You—you don't want to save them," the sage breathed in horror, not really sure of the emotion that had flashed through Naruto's face a second ago.

"You think I'm just going to stand to the side after all of this shit and watch as he does it again?" Naruto whispered with total disbelief. Fury rose in his gut, nearly obliterating his rational mind before it miraculously settled down. With a snort, he released the tension, and he folded his arms in front of his chest, turning away from his godfather with an unreadable expression. "Don't try to manipulate my emotions for another slip, you pervert! It worked once, but it won't work again!"

Before the situation could escalate into another battle, this time with real weapons, another person flashed into the office and raised an eyebrow at the scene. His son was silently sulking, and his sensei looked disappointed beyond words.

Minato shook his head with an exasperated sigh. "Do I even want to know?"

Naruto let out another snort and squeezed his arms around himself. Minato shook his head once more, this time his voice serious without the previous cheeky tone. "Come, Naruto. She's waiting for us."