Early the next morning, sunlight streamed into the room through the window. Jiraiya woke up in a daze, and what he saw was a strange, but tidy and clean small apartment.
The memory of last night gradually faded away - being rejected in a conversation, being slapped, being drunk on the street... and then being found and helped by Naruto.
It seemed that he had caused trouble to that boy again... He rubbed his temples, feeling a little sorry, but then he excused himself. However, the girls here were still the same, with really hot tempers.
Immediately afterwards, he remembered the scene he had seen earlier - Naruto helped the child, but because of the villagers' rumors and prejudice, he was given a look of fear and disgust... That scene made Jiraiya's heart sink.
How should he evaluate the behavior of those villagers? madness? Stupid? Or pure malice? To inflict such heavy malice on an innocent child just because of some proven rumors? When he thought that Naruto might live in such an environment for a long time, an indescribable feeling of irritation rose in his heart.
At the same time, he couldn't help but worry that this continued rejection would leave hard-to-heal scars deep in Naruto's heart and affect his character...
He turned to look at the bedside. The floor had been neatly tidied. At this time, there was a slight sound of cooking coming from the small kitchen in the apartment.
Jiraiya got out of bed and looked at this simple room curiously. His eyes were almost attracted by the conspicuous object on the bedside table. A huge egg with strange green patterns?
This inch... I'm afraid only that guy Orochimaru's psychic snake can lay such a big egg, right? He was secretly speechless, full of curiosity about the origin of this egg.
Just as he was fascinated by the eggs, the door to the inner room was opened, and Naruto appeared carrying breakfast.
"Good morning, Mr. Jiraiya. Do you want breakfast?" Naruto had the same warm smile on his face without any haze, as if the unpleasantness of last night had never happened. He put down the tray in his hand and handed over a cup thoughtfully, "But before that, let's drink some of this. It will feel better."
Jiraiya took a sip from the cup and found that it was warm honey water, which just right relieved the dryness of his throat and the discomfort of a hangover.
Looking at Naruto's refreshing smile, Jiraiya also laughed, temporarily suppressing the worries in his heart. "Of course! After all, your cooking skills, even breakfast, I'm looking forward to it!"
He really looked forward to Naruto's craftsmanship. At the same time, he also made up his mind to talk about some things with Naruto.
Breakfast is a classic combination of Japanese style and Western style, a bowl of steaming miso soup, a few slices of toasted golden crispy bread, and a sandwich made of perfectly fried ham and tender eggs.
Jiraiya picked up a sandwich and took a big bite - his eyes lit up instantly! The charred aroma of the bread, the saltiness of the ham and the tenderness of the eggs perfectly blend together, simple yet extremely delicious. He began to enjoy the food and nodded repeatedly.
Halfway through the meal, Jiraiya finally thought of business. He put down the sandwich in his hand, his expression became more serious, looked at Naruto who was eating quietly, and spoke carefully before speaking.
"By the way Naruto, I noticed... your living environment in the current village does not seem to be friendly to the enemy."
Naruto was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and responded in a relaxed tone, "Living environment? I think it's not bad. Ninja's mission reward is quite..."
"I'm not talking about the material aspect."
Jiraiya interrupted him, looked directly into Naruto's eyes, and said in a lower voice, "... those are those very hurtful rumors about you. Aren't you... angry? Haven't you ever thought about rushing up and grabbing those people by their collars and beating them hard, or telling them loudly, 'I am not Demon Fox'?"
He looked at Naruto, trying to find the suppressed anger or grievance in those blue eyes.
However, Naruto just paused slightly, and then said in an almost casual tone. "Hmm... that kind of impulse, maybe I did have it a long time ago. But now, it really doesn't matter anymore."
"It's not shameful to express your unwillingness and anger." Jiraiya encouraged Yu. He was worried that Naruto was pretending to be strong.
"It's really okay, Mr. Jiraiya." A transparent smile appeared on Naruto's face. There was no bitterness in that smile, only relief and clarity.
"Because people can't just stare at the dark side of life all the time."
"Although Konoha it is true that many people hate me and reject me," he continued with a gentle tone, "For me, there are also too many people and things in this village that I cherish extremely and want to protect."
He counted them one by one, and his eyes became warm and bright. "Ramen who always treat me to food, Uncle Teuchi and Iruka-sensei who care about me, as well as Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Shikamaru, Choji, Ya, them... these are my very important companions and friends."
"And... there is someone here that I want to protect the most. I don't want her to get hurt in any way, and I don't want her to be homeless. I want to give her a stable place that she can call 'home'."
"So you see, my time and energy are actually very precious. I just want to use them all to protect these most important people and things in my small world. As for those discordant voices outside... just let them go. I don't care, and I don't have time to care."
Listening to Naruto's quiet words, Jiraiya slowly lowered his head and was silent for a moment. When he raised his head again, the carefree smile had returned to his face.
"Hmph, you kid..." He rubbed Naruto's golden hair vigorously, with a teasing tone, "I'm still young, but when it comes to Dahu, you know a lot about it, and you're quite good at preaching!"
Faced with this ridicule, Naruto just responded with a shy smile of "It's okay" and didn't say much.
However, Naruto knew in his heart that Jiraiya was not as relaxed as he showed at this moment. This clear perception came from the voice in his heart, the quick and deep Bonds prompt.
Jiraiya finished the last bite of food on the plate, wiped his mouth with satisfaction, and then stood up. "Okay, Naruto, I have something to do and I have to take the first step. You can finish your business in a while and wait for me at the same place. I'll be there soon."
After giving the instructions, Jiraiya went out and turned around, heading in the direction he had been avoiding intentionally or unintentionally these days - Hokage Building. He decided that it was time to have a good talk with old man Third Hokage about some matters.
(Thank you! Hermit's Mound The king of gifts from the boss! Thank you boss! The boss is generous!)
(The author is going to briefly describe the system lottery, skipping it in a few sentences)