Son of The Emperor

Chapter 21

1 Hour Later:

Naruto sat at the dinner table with his father at his side. Across from them was Cooler and Hail and at the end of the table was Cold. Frieza was sipping on wine while eating his food as Cold finished his glass, "My, my, this must be the first time we've sat down as a family since you two started your armies," Cold said, setting his glass down

"Yes, and so far, my dear little brother hasn't made any insults. Truly it must be the dinner of dinner's," Cooler commented, breaking open a crab leg

"Oh please, the only reason why I haven't said anything is that I haven't thought of anything," Freiza replied, swallowing an oyster shot

"Oh? So what you're saying is that your too dumb to think of an insult?"

"Brother, if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open, there wouldn't be enough of your brain to be spread across a small water-biscuit," Frieza quipped

"And there it is!" Cooler shouted

"And here we go," Cold sighed, rolling his eyes

"Well I'm sorry, but the truth hurts, doesn't it?" Freiza said, picking up his glass

"The truth? Hardly, if anything, the hard truth is that we had to buy you a second booster seat when you were 10," Cooler replied to his brother, making the latter choke on his wine. Naruto and Hail suddenly got the urge to move their chairs as Frieza spat his wine onto the floor, "I thought we agreed to never talk about that!" Freiza screamed

"Well I guess that agreement ended," Cooler answered

"CHILDREN!" Cold snapped, standing up. A shockwave shook the entire room as Freiza and his brother looked at their father. Naruto and Hail looked at their grandfather as he sat back down, "Sit down and shut-up. You're supposed to be role-models of who Hail and Byte are supposed to grow up to be, not become man-children!" Cold shouted, making both Freiza and Cooler grit their teeth. They both sat down as Cold nodded, "Good. Now... how's your food? Byte? Hail?"

"I-It's great, grandpa. Thank-you," Hail spoke with a nervous smile

"That's wonderful... and you, Byte?"

"I, uhh... I dunno what to say," Naruto answered, looking at his plate of untouched food. It had a honey-wheat roll, two crab claws, a lobster tail, a 6 oz. steak, spicy tomato and shrimp soup, and a glass of water, "You don't know what to say? Let me guess, you've never seen food like this?" Cold questioned

"Actually, I've never seen this much food before. It must've cost a fortune. Just this honey-roll must've cost an entire week's allowance," Naruto replied. This made Cold raise an eye-brow, "Actually, it cost 50 zeni... for nearly 5 dozen of them," Cold said, slowly, squinting at both his grandson and youngest son," tell me, Byte. What did you eat when you were... on that planet?"

"Not much, actually," Naruto gave a sad smile, "everything was too expensive, even if I got a week's worth of money. Jiji that it would be enough for clothes and food, but I guess he was wrong. Everything was so expensive and because of that, I'd always go down to this one place run by old-man Teuchi and Ayame. Giving me coupons and deals all the time. So, I guess I mostly ate ramen all the time... unless Jiji forced vegetables down my throat,"

"I see," Cold said, turning to Hail. Cold coughed as he asked: "and Hail? How about you? How was life away from us?"

"Oh, well, I guess is was chaotic," Hail answered

"I had a family, mostly sisters. I would be considered the middle child of the family... but, we had a falling out. That's when Salza found me,"

"Salza and his crew found Hail sleeping on a bench," Cooler crossed his arms, "he was in a horrible state. Unwashed and on the verge of starvation. I actually gave them a raise for what they did,"

"Hold on, you pay your soldiers?" Freiza asked

"Tch, gotta make sure they're loyal somehow,"

"Question?" Naruto spoke out

"Yes?"

"What kind of bench was it?" Naruto asked his cousin

"It was just a bench. Why?" Hail asked

"Well, I'm just asking. Was it metal? Wood? Cement? Or a combination of the two? Because from personal experience, wooden benches are the best to sleep on," Naruto answered. Everyone looked at him with wide-eyes, staring at him. Naruto looked back as he realized what he just said, "Oh, would you look at that. Y-You know what, I-I'll just go eat in my room," Naruto stood up, carrying his plate in both his hands, "thank-you for the food," he stated before quickly running away.

10 Minutes Later:

Naruto was slowly eating his soup as he was watching TV, "Up next, BeetleBorgs and later, One Punch Man! Stay Tuned!" the voice on the TV said as there was a knock. Naruto looked at the door as he said: "Come in," and the door opened up to reveal Hail, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, no reason. Just wanted to check up on my cousin," Hail said, walking through the door and closing it behind him. Hail stood a few feet away from Naruto as the ladder stared at him, "Well?"

"Hm?"

"Isn't this the part where you asked what's going on?" Naruto asked, knowing how things like these go

"Oh yeah... so, what was that about? Asking about the bench?" Hail asked, stepping closer. Naruto took a deep breath as he looked at his cousin and said: "I grew up an orphan. I was also cursed to carry with me a demon and for it, the people of my village didn't like me. Raising up prices. Forcing me to sleep on the streets. Giving me rotten food. It was hell,"

"Huh, and I thought I had it rough," Hail said, looking away from Naruto. Hail then placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and said: "Thanks for telling me,"

"No problem," Naruto replied, "so what was it like being a middle child?"

"Oh, you mean having almost no say in anything? Well, let me tell ya," Hail started, sitting down on Naruto's bed.

[Hope you all enjoyed and sorry it took so long to update and sorry for the quality]