Chapter 16

2 years later

5 limbs shout of from the ground aiming towards Akira.

"Good, now press the attack!" She said, while jumping in the air to dodge the roots.

"Earth Release: Mud Moat!" Homura's plan was to entrap Akira in the murky mud to go in for the attack.

"Water style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!" Akira quickly responded, effectively getting rid of the mud.

"Earth Style: Rock Wall!" Homura quickly set up a wall tall enough to block the water.

"Your cornering your self! Try to counter the water with your wood release. It's more versatile." Akira said, while waiting for the water to dissipate.

But that was not Homura's intention at all.

"You fell for my trap!" Homura said, while pointing a kunai at Akira's back.

"You really think that I would not see you make a wood clone." That Akira puffed into smoke.

Akira then followed up with, "Let's see who has the advantage. I used one jutsu, while you used 3. So I have more chakra. Every bit of chakra you conserve helps. Especially when we are doing a jutsu only battle." At this point, they stopped fighting. Homura was curious about ninja battles, as the anime never really went into to much detail.

"In a battle, which is the best to use? Hand to hand combat or Jutsus?" Homura asked.

"Hand to hand will help you last longer, but Jutsus are more destructive. It just depends on the situation. If you were on a reconnaissance mission, or a mission where anonymity is key, and to hand combat would be ideal. However, if you were in a huge battle feild, or your trying to take out your opponent, then Jutsus are the best. It just depends."

"Yeah that makes a lot of sense. For me, Jutsus would be more effective because I have more chakra. Is that correct?"

"Not always. You have to remember, Jutsus are not going to solve all your problems. It is best to be good in both aspects. If one was good in taijutsu, but was terrible with ninjutsu, then that person is weak in long range combat. But if it were the opposite, then that person would be terrible with hand to hand combat. That is why, there are so few Jonin. It is very hard to be good in all aspects."

Akira ranted for another 10 minutes. "So yeah, that's why being an all around ninja is best."

Homura had a look of boredom on his face. "Yeah I get it mom let's go rest for a while."

"Agreed."

"Wood style: Four pillar home technique"

A large sized house appeared. It looked modest, and had an antique feel to it. The wood was fresh, with a slight maple smell. This was, in Homura's opinion, the coolest part about wood release. He could create anything that came to his imagination. Of course, it's not as simple as that, but Homura liked to think of it like that.

"It always amazes me every time you do that. Imagine how much money we would make in real estate." Akira said, with a greedy look on her face.

"Mom, be serious. Think about it logically. We would hyper inflate the housing market and make houses on average, less valuable."

"Who cares. Everyone would get a house." Akira retorted.

They got settled down. Akira started to make dinner and Homura started to day dream. 'I wonder how Naruto is doing right about now.'

*With Naruto*

"You damn brat! I told you not to come into my store. Your going to negatively impact my business!"

"But I'm hungry." Naruto said, with a look of desperation.

"Sorry kid. Now get. Don't come back!"

"Please sir. I'm begging you!" Naruto started to cry. He already ran out of his monthly allowance that the village gave him.

"I don't take kindly to your kind round here. When I say get, your supposed to be gone!" The old shop owner kicked Naruto in the chest. Naruto rolled on the ground for 3 feet.

He slowly got back up. "Stop! Stop it! It hurts!" Naruto said loudly while crying. The shop owner went back into his store. Not a single person batted an eye at that, except for one old man.

"Here kid, eat." He said, while offering a peace of bread to Naruto.

"Your just going to kick me like the other person. Your all the same!" Naruto said, while sobbing. The old man looked at Naruto with pity, while reminiscing about something that happened in his past.

"I'll leave this bread with you." He said. "Come back tomorrow of you want more."

The next day...

An old man was sitting on a bench and was looking at the people walking by. This activity, he found, was best for relaxation, and helped him understand the intricacies of every day life. Human nature, to him, was a malleable thing, that is influenced by the people around them and the people they look up too.

He was waiting for a certain someone, whom circumstances reminded him of his very own past.

An hour passed by, and there was no sign of Naruto. However, this did not discourage the old man, and he sat on that bench with happiness.

Finally, after all that waiting, he heard a voice. "Hey old man. Thanks for the bread."

The old man didn't immediately respond. Instead, he gestured Naruto to sit next to him.

Naruto hopped up on the bench, and was confused as to what the old man wanted.

"Human nature, as people liked to call it, is what it 'means' to be human. How would you describe human nature?"

"Old man, I don't care about the human nature thing, I just want more bread!" Naruto said.

"We'll wait one second, young one. Let me finish my story first."

Naruto reluctantly agreed to the old man's request. He just wanted food.

"The meaning of that word, changed over time. At one point in time, I despised that word so desperately, that I would do anything to change it. But I had a realization one day. That humans are naturally imperfect, and that is what human nature really means. One must come to realize that the only way to change it is by accepting it."

"It all started back during the first ninja war, when I was just a little boy. My dad, who was drafted to become part of the genin corps, always said that human greed will always exist. And wars were a by product of that. At the time, I didn't truly understand what that meant, but as I got older, I understood. When my dad died, about 2 years after the war, my mom fell into a terrible depression."

The old man told his story for over 2 hours. Naruto did not mention a single word while he was speaking. Halfway through, Naruto started crying. He felt as if the whole world was unfair.

At the end of the old mans story, he said, "The moral of the story is not to feel resentment, or anger, but to feel sympathy. You should feel empathetic for those people, because we truly don't know what they go through."

"What that old man did yesterday was truly despicable. But if you learnt what that man was going through, then you would realize why he did those actions. That doesn't make him any less responsible, it just grants you a better understanding of what he went through."

Naruto, from that day forwards, matured just a bit. Although still childish, his trajectory for his future was drastically altered thanks to that random, old man.