Autumn Festival ~ A Naruto Fan-Fiction

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The hot shower felt good on his itchy skin, and even better on his sore ass,
but it did nothing for the ache in his heart. However, it was wonderfully convenient
for pretending that the moisture dripping down his cheeks had nothing to do with
tears.

By the time he left the bathroom, he felt wrung out and empty. He flopped
into his chair and pulled out the first of three bowls of take-out raman.

Jiraiya didn't look up from writing in his scroll.

Naruto ate in the comfortable silence. The steaming noodle and beef soup
felt like heaven on his tongue and nirvana to his empty stomach. By the time
he finished his third bowl, the world had moved somewhat back onto its proper
course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winter came and thick snow coated the entire town with white. Naruto continued
to use a clone to cut trees while he practiced the various exercises that Jiraiya
gave him. His chakra control improved, but he found it difficult to smile,
even at Jiraiya's drunken antics.

On his occasional trips into town, he was approached by several young ladies
and more than a few young men. Despite the slight interest his body sometimes
showed, he left them all with an apology and a wistful smile.

However, in the depths of the night his body made its hunger known through
dreams and fantasies of long silky black hair and moon-pale skin. After a particularly
long late-night shower, Naruto passed Jiraiya's futon mattress with the intent
to crawl into bed.

Jiraiya opened his eyes and looked up at him. He folded his arms behind his
neck. "You're taking a lot of awfully long showers, kid."

Naruto's face heated. He turned away and dropped onto his futon. He pulled
the covers up to his neck and folded his arms behind his neck to stare up at
the slanted ceiling. "Couldn't sleep."

Jiraiya snorted. "I could tell by all the moaning right before you got
up to take that last one."

Naruto winced. He hadn't realized that he was moaning out loud in his sleep.

Jiraiya took in a deep breath. "I've been meaning to ask you..."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it!"

Jiraiya sighed. "Sorry kid, but this is actually kind'a important."

Naruto took in a breath and braced himself for something he just knew was going
to be painfully embarrassing. "What?"

Jiraiya sat up and leaned over to collect his long-stemmed pipe from beside
him. Chakra flared and a small flame danced on Jiraiya's fingertip. He
lit the pipe with several strong puffs then blew out a stream of smoke. The
scent wasn't like that of Jiraiya's usual tobacco; it was sweeter, and thicker.
"I need to know, if your prince fucked you, or you fucked him." He
shook his hand to put out the flame.

Naruto closed his eyes and cringed. "Does that really matter?"

Jiraiya shifted to sit cross-legged and propped one elbow up on his knee to
take a puff from his pipe. "It tells me why you're having problems."

Naruto looked over at him. "Problems?"

Jiraiya drew on his pipe and blew out more smoke. "Look, I'm not going
to tease you about it, so just answer the question."

Naruto took a deep breath and felt his head go a little dizzy from the thick
smoke. "He...did me."

Jiraiya nodded. "That first time, did you cum in his hand, in his mouth,
or while he fucked you?"

Naruto writhed in embarrassment. He did not want to have this conversation
with his perverted porn-novelist master. "Is this gonna show up in one
of your books?"

Jiraiya snorted. "I wasn't planning on it. Do want me to write one like
that for you?"

Naruto threw an arm up over his eyes. "Gods, no!"

"So..." Jiraiya blew out another stream of smoke. "Did you
cum in his hand, in his mouth, or while he fucked you?"

Naruto dropped his arm. It had gotten almost too heavy to hold up. "While
he um...did me."

"Hmm..." Jiraiya tapped his pipe on the ashtray that never left
his side. "You've played with him more than just the once, I assume?"

Naruto's thoughts frayed at the edges. It felt like he was on the edge of sleep,
but he could make out what Jiraiya was saying clearly. Oddly, he didn't feel
quite so reluctant to answer him. He looked over at his master. "I met
him on the mountain before he left."

"I see." Jiraiya released another stream of the pungent smoke. "Was
he able to make you cum without touching your dick at all?"

Naruto frowned. "Yeah."

Jiraiya winced just a tiny bit, and his fingers clenched on his pipe. "When
you masturbate, are you stimulating...inside, to get off?"

Naruto couldn't stop his mouth from answering. "Yes."

Jiraiya dropped his head between his knees. "Crap."

Naruto flinched. "Is that...bad?"

Jiraiya lifted his head and sighed. "No, it's not bad. Masturbation is
one of things everyone does. It comes with having a healthy sex drive."
He drew on his pipe and blew out a stream of smoke then looked over at Naruto.
"He asked you to go with him, didn't he?"

Naruto pulled his covers up to his nose. His throat tightened making his voice
a little breathless. "I couldn't go. I'm going to be hokage."

Jiraiya sighed and spoke in a low whisper. "For once I'm glad you have
a once-track mind."

Naruto looked over at him. "What?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Never mind..." He turned sideways to
lean over Naruto and captured his gaze. "I need you to remember something
really, really important, okay?"

Naruto sucked on his bottom lip. "Okay."

Jiraiya smiled. "Sex is a skill just like any other. Just because someone
can make you cum, does not mean they love you; only that they want you
to like being fucked by them."

Naruto's eyes widened and his heart lurched in his chest. "You don't think...?"

Jiraiya shrugged slightly. "For what it's worth, I think your little prince
actually cared for you." He lifted his finger warningly. "But that
doesn't change the fact that he deliberately trained your body to need something
up your ass to get off, preferably his dick."

The warm burn of anger made Naruto's jaw clench and his eyes narrow. He'd been
manipulated? Suddenly, the image of Aoba's face and the tear that escaped
his eye before he rode away filled Naruto's mind. His anger faded. "He
wanted me to be with him that much?"

Jiraiya sat up and put out his pipe. "As I said before, I think he actually
had feelings for you; enough to make you want him." He turned to
face Naruto. "Just be aware that what he did was a manipulation technique,
and it's a common one. Courtesan ninja, both male and female specialize in using
sex to make people want to give up their secrets, but civilians do it too."

Naruto frowned. "Civilians...?"

"Oh yeah, but their motives are usually simpler." Jiraiya laid back
down on his futon and pulled up the blanket. "Civilians tend to use sexual
manipulation merely to make you want to spread your legs anytime they want a
piece of ass." He turned to look at Naruto. "Your prince was a civilian
too, remember?"

Naruto looked back up at the ceiling. "I remember." How could he
forget?

Jiraiya folded his arms behind his head. "All I'm really saying kid, is
don't fall in love with the next hard dick that flips your switch, okay?"
He looked over at Naruto and smiled. "Make sure they actually care for
you first."

"Great..." Naruto rolled his eyes. "How the heck am I supposed
to know that?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Easy. Love is when the other person's happiness
comes first. To the point that they'll give them up rather than make the one
they love unhappy."

Naruto's eyes opened wide. He'd given Aoba up because being together would
have put Aoba in danger, and Aoba had given him up because it was what Naruto
wanted. If Jiraiya was right, then... Aoba actually...loved me?

And he had loved Aoba right back.

Pain, large, raw, and overwhelming bloomed in his chest. He sucked in a deep
breath and closed his eyes tight, but couldn't quite stop the tears from leaking
out. He flipped over onto his stomach to shove his face in the pillow and took
deep gasping breaths to keep back the sobs that wanted to burst free.

~ * * * ~

Spring arrived with dripping ice, snow-melt choked rivers, and flash floods.
The cherry and sakura trees on the lower slopes began to bloom. Naruto eyed
the pale pink blooms with a strange longing.

Late one afternoon, he arrived at the inn to find Jiraiya seated in his usual
place at the table reading his paper with a large brown paper-wrapped bundle
in front of him, on Naruto's side of the table.

The white-haired toad sage looked up with a smile and patted the bundle on
the table. "Here's your new outfit for tomorrow."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Tomorrow?"

Jiraiya nodded. "The passes are clear. It's time to go."

Naruto felt a hard kick in his heart and blinked at the sudden burning in his
eyes. "Oh."

Jiraiya leaned back in his chair and lit his long, silver stemmed pipe. "I
thought a trip home would do us both some good."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Home? You mean...Konoha?"

Jiraiya puffed on the pipe, but watched Naruto from the corner of his eye.
"Ready to see your friends again?"

Naruto felt his mouth widen into a grin he hadn't worn in a long time. "Yeah,
I'd like that."

Jiraiya waved his hands at the package. "Had that made for our trip home."

Naruto tore open the paper to see orange glaring out at him. He sucked in a
short breath and enthusiastically ripped the package the rest of the way open.
A padded jacket of subdued orange with black shoulders and sleeves marked with
red spirals fell into his hands. Beneath it was a pair of matching calf-length
pants and a couple of black t-shirts marked with red Uzamaki spirals. Naruto
hugged the orange outfit to his chest and grinned at Jiraiya. "It's perfect."

Jiraiya smiled and pointed his long pipe at Naruto. "You know you're gonna
have to train harder on stealth with that glow in the dark ensemble."

Naruto nodded with enthusiasm. "I'm on it master!"

"Good!" Jiraiya rose from his chair. "There's rice in the cooker
for dinner after you take a shower. Get some sleep, we leave early tomorrow."
He walked to the door and pulled on his ankle sandals.

Naruto eyed his master. "Where are you going?"

Jiraiya pulled his telescope from his workpants pocket and waved it in Naruto's
direction. "Oh, out to the public bath house for a little Icha Icha
research." He turned to grin at his apprentice. "Don't bother waiting
up for me!"

Naruto scowled at his master. "Damn it, you...you ero-sennin
pervert!"

Jiraiya laughed and ducked out the door.

~ * * * ~

The next morning at the crack of dawn, Naruto closed the door to their room
and followed Jiraiya out of the inn and onto the silent misty streets. Once
they reached the forest proper, they bounced at high speed from tree branch
to tree branch on chakra-infused feet, then from crag to crag up the mountain.
They reached the chilly wind-swept pass at the top of the mountain just as the
sun reached high noon.

Naruto turned to take one last look at the town of Flute, wondering if he'd
ever see it again.

Behind him, Jiraiya shouted and slapped the ground with both hands. Power flared.

Naruto turned and blinked.

Crouched in the middle of the pass was a deep green toad with bright orange
markings that was roughly the size of a medium-sized elephant. He carried a
long sword in his bright blue sash marking him as a ninja toad. Strapped to
his back was a bright yellow box-like saddle contraption with two seats, one
before and one behind. It looked a lot like something that belonged on a carnival
ride. The toad eyed Jiraiya. "Where to?"

Jiraiya waved toward Naruto. "Up to giving us a lift to Konoha, Master
Godo?"

The toad looked over at Naruto and nodded. "Sure, I can do that."

"Great!" Jiraiya pulled himself up into the forward seat of the box-saddle.
He turned to look over at Naruto. "Ready to go home?"

Naruto nodded and climbed into the seat behind Jiraiya.

Master Godo rose up on his webbed feet. "Fasten your seatbelts boys. This
is going to be a very bumpy ride!"

Naruto looked down and sure enough, there really were seatbelts. He clicked
his around his hips. "I'm good."

Jiraiya waved his hand. "Ready when you are, Godo!"

"Here we go...!" Master Godo bellowed out a deep croak and lunged
high and far in a leap that carried them fully halfway down the other side of
the mountain. He leaped again toward the distant forest below. Chakra
power flared around the toad's webbed feet. The toad landed on the very tops
of the trees without even bending them and launched himself again, and again.
Lakes passed under his feet with barely a ripple. The wind of their passing
whipped Jiraiya's white hair behind him.

Gripping the sides of the saddle box, Naruto turned all the way around and
watched Sleeping Troll Mountain retreat into the misty distance. When the mountain
completely disappeared from view, he turned back around and looked forward.

He wasn't sure how long this trip was going to take. Master Godo didn't leap
quite as far as the monstrous grandfather toad, Gambunta, but they were seriously
sizeable leaps just the same. Sooner or later, the forest of Konoha would appear
before him and he didn't want to miss his first glimpse of it.

~ End ~