Okay, just to warn you all this story is not a songfic although it does use songs in it due to the characters' backgrounds/talents. However, none of the songs are mine because, let's face it, I'm just not that talented. I used them because sometime songs can really set the mood to a story. This chapter does not have any emotinally integral ones but it does give you a little taste of what's to come in terms of songs. I hope you like it!!!
"Pork Ramen please!" Naruto raised his chopsticks in anticipation and Ayame smiled at him.
"Coming right up!" Teuchi announced as he dunked the noodles and Naruto's feet unconsciously began to fidget as the smell of the broth entered his nose.
"This place looks good," an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind him. Naruto turned to the side as three new teenagers sat themselves next to him. He raised his eyebrows approvingly at the two girls in the group.
The one closest to him had shiny black hair which swept right above her elbows. Her straight bangs fell heavily over her rich amethyst eyes and framed her pretty face quite well. She glanced around the restaurant with an open and honest curiousity. Her gaze landed on Naruto who raised his chopsticks in greeting.
"If you're looking for good food, you definitely came to the best place in all of Konoha," he smiled assuredly.
"So, you're from around here?" She asked and he pointed to his forehead protector.
"Yup, I'm one of Konoha's best ninjas!" He smiled.
"We're ninjas from Hikage Village," she pointed to her own protector wrapped around her waist.
"Hikage Village," Naruto tapped his lips with his chopsticks. "I've never heard of it."
"It's a really small village in the Country of Darkness," she shrugged. "I'm Rin Tomoe by the way."
"Naruto Uzumaki," he smiled back and leaned over to glance at her two friends. "And they are?"
"I'm Rei Mizuno," the second girl smiled politely and Naruto waved giddily. She was even prettier than Rin. Her long silver hair came all the way down to her knees and her light blue eyes shone brightly against her fair skin. She extended her milky hand towards him and Naruto took it carefully, she was so tall and elegant he was afraid of marring her somehow. But she squeezed his hand with a firm reassurance of her own stability and his own worthiness.
"Toya Gyouan," the boy raised his chopsticks to Naruto. He, just like his teammates, was very good looking. He had black hair which swept over his forehead protector and stuck out at all sides and flipped out slightly at his ears. However, his messy hair didn't quite suit his serious face. His bright green eyes didn't match his expression either but he kept them relaxed and introverted. But what really caught Naruto's attention was the katana and wakizashi at his waist. The sheaths were simple shiny black but the hilts of the weapons had matching inlaid designs of stars and moons. Also hanging from the sheaths were four netsukes: a hanya mask, a ryusa netsuke with sakura flowers, a dragon, and a dog.
"Any recommendations?" Rin asked and Naruto looked away from the weapons quickly.
"Huh?" He asked slightly confused.
"The ramen, what's good?" She clarified.
"Oh! Well my favorite is Pork, but everything is really good!" Naruto assured.
"I knew this place was going to be good!" Rin was triumphant.
"It was just the first place you saw when your stomach started growling," Toya said dryly.
"Whatever, it was intuition," she defended and he rolled his eyes.
"Do you know what you would like yet?" Ayame asked the three Hikage ninja.
"I think we'll all try the pork ramen," Rei smiled politely.
"Coming right up!" Teuchi called as he dunked three more sets of noodles in.
"So Naruto, you're a Konoha ninja eh?" Rin raised an eyebrow.
"Lived here my whole life," he nodded.
"Then you must know what there is to do around here for fun," she smiled.
"Definitely! I'll show you all the cool places!" He assured.
"Hey, hey. I'm not late for the party, am I?" Kakashi asked when he popped his head into Tsunade's office. "I was on my way here when I saw a group of school children who had lost their chaperone. Naturally I stayed to reunite them with their pretty teacher. Needless to say, she was very happy and wanted to reward me-"
"I wouldn't call this a party, Kakashi," Tsunade corrected as he joined the other jounin in the office. Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Shizune, and Anko were already there.
"Alright, alright. I can see it's a little more serious than that if all the remaining jounin in Konoha are here." He looked around the office.
"It's fairly serious," Tsunade nodded. "However, if you insist on calling it a party, we are still expecting a few more important guests.
"Hey, Sakura!" Ino waved down the girl. Sakura smiled back in greeting and walked up to her along with Shikamaru and Temari.
"Hey Ino," Sakura and looked over at Temari and Shikamaru. "Temari, what brings you back to Konoha?"
"Business as usual," she shrugged. "I heard you just came back from a mission."
"Yeah, but nothing exciting." Sakura dismissed but then looked devilishly at Ino. "Athough I hoped in the time I was gone you mastered that medical jutsu you were working on Ino."
"I'm getting close!" Ino's face began to turn red.
"Close, eh? Well I guess you'll just never catch up to me now. Not that I expected you to."
"What did you say?!" Ino demanded and Shikamaru sighed.
"Troublesome women," he muttered.
"We're not all like that," Temari argued.
"I haven't seen proof of that," he muttered again but his snide comments were cut off when Naruto ran straight into him.
"Sorry!" He yelled before running off.
"Naruto? Where are you off to?" Sakura called after him.
"I'm meeting some new friends, and I'm late!" He responded and continued to run. "We're going to the karaoke bar! You should come!"
"New friends?" Sakura wondered.
"I love karaoke!" Ino clasped her hands. "We should go!"
"I'm up for it," Sakura agreed and the two looked at Shikamaru and Temari.
"I don't sing or dance," Shikamaru said flatly.
"I didn't expect you to come," Ino dismissed and turned towards Temari. "What about you?"
"I think I'll take a rain check," Temari shook her head. "I still have some work to do."
"Your loss," Ino said and started to head in the direction of the karaoke bar.
"Come by if you finish with your work early!" Sakura said before heading off with Ino.
"And then Naruto farted right in Kiba's face," Ino said sticking out her tongue.
"That's the most unique strategy I've ever heard of," Rin laughed. "You get points for creativity if nothing else."
"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Naruto defended. "Besides why don't you tell any stories of how I saved the day with some cool moves and amazing jutsu?!"
"Because those stories don't exist," Sakura said flatly and Naruto's face fell.
"Oh yeah? What about the time I defeated Neji or Gaara?" He asked.
"You mean that time you summoned that huge frog to do all the fighting for you?" Sakura asked and his shoulders slouched.
"He didn't do all the work," Naruto muttered.
"Hey, Sakura," Ino whispered. "Don't you think Toya's really cute?"
"Totally cute!" Sakura agreed.
"Yeah, but you're probably not his type," Ino shrugged. "He'd probably like a girl with a normal, petite forehead."
"What was that, pig?" Sakura glared.
"I love you!" The slightly drunk singer yelled loudly into the microphone.
"Could he be anymore tone deaf?" Toya winced.
"Yeah, if you have so much to say why don't you go up there and show us how it's done?" Rin asked.
"I only said one thing!" He protested.
"Oh come on, go up there and sing Toya!" Rei agreed and he shook his head.
"No freaking way," he crossed his arms.
"Either you go up there and sing or I'll start telling some of your more famous fight stories," Rin said bluntly and he stood up.
"I hate you," he said before walking towards the stage.
"You don't mean that," Rin shook her head.
"I hope your first born child dies!" He called back as he grabbed the microphone. Turning towards the DJ he signaled for his attention. The DJ put on the next song and Toya licked his lips and began to sing. His voice was smooth like velvet and his normal serious and reposed demeanor melted away into charming and passionate aura which captivated every female in the entire bar.
We got the afternoon
You got this room for two
One thing I've left to do
Discover me discovering you
One mile to every inch
Your skin like porcelain
One pair of candy lips
And your bubble gum tongue
And if you want love
We'll make it
Swimming a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break em'
This is bound to be wild
Your body is wonderland
Your body is wonder
I'll lose my head
Your body is wonderland
Something bout' the way your hair falls in your face
I love the shape you take while crawling towards the pillowcase
You tell me where to go, though I might leave to find it
I'll never let your head hit the bed without my hand behind it
Want love?
We'll make it
Swimming a deep sea
Of blankets
"He is so hot!" Ino squealed and Sakura nodded her head vehemently.
"He's not that great," Naruto muttered. But before he could say one more word Toya had pulled him up on stage. "What? What are you doing?!"
"If I have to do this, so you you," Toya insisted and shoved a mic in Naruto's hand. "Just follow the words on the screen!"
Naruto looked nervously into the screen and began to sing the lines.
Your body is wonderland
Your body is wonder I'll lose my head
Your body is wonderland
"Wow, he's really bad," Ino winced at Naruto's voice.
"Oh come on, at least he's trying," Rin defended and stood up clapping. "Yeah Naruto!"
"You're awesome Naruto!" Rei joined in and his face lit up at their cheers. Toya came up beside him and began to sing along with him, helping him find the right notes.
I'm never speaking up again
I'll lose my head
Damn baby
You frustrate me
I know you're mine, all mine, all mine
But you look so good it hurts sometimes
"Who knew being a ninja involved this much paperwork," Shikamaru muttered as he and Temari walked along the streets of Konoha.
"Tell me about it," Temari agreed. "If this is what it's like to be a jounin, I'd rather go back to being a chuunin."
"Hmm, I'd prefer being a genin. Although I'd still have to go on missions," Shikamaru thought and Temari rolled her eyes.
"Jeez, what kind of ninja are you?" She asked and he shrugged but stopped suddenly with his eyes open. Temari looked back at him in confusion. "What? What is it?"
"Is that, Naruto?" Shikamaru pointed to the window of the Karaoke bar. Sure enough, Naruto was singing his heart out with another boy on stage. "I need a picture of this."
"What the hell are those ninja doing here?" Temari's eyes glowed with anger as she saw the new kids with Naruto.
Tsunade stared off into space as she blew the bangs out of her face, "If they were going to be this late I would have schedualed the meeting for later in the day."
As soon as the words left her mouth the door cracked open. The other bored jounin in the room immediately straightened as three new ninja entered the room. An older man in his fifties led the group. He was clad in a Kage's garb with the long white robe and pointed hat with the kanji for Darkness on the front. Behind him were two younger ninjas in their late twenties or early thirties.
"Hey, those two were definitely worth the wait," Anko whispered to Kurenai who nodded approvingly at the two younger ninjas. The one to the left of the Kage had silver hair with boyish bangs which accented his friendly and handsome face. His warm brown eyes peeked out from the bangs and looked around the room anxiously. Next to him was a far more serious looking ninja but no less handsome. He had shorter spiky black hair which fell around his head haphazardly and midnight blue eyes which swept over the room indifferently. His harder features contrasted sharply against the other ninja's softer, more boyish face. Although the lighter haired ninja was nowhere near short, this one towered over him with his height. While the silver haired ninja stood near the Kage the darker one leaned against the wall near the door.
"They're not that great," Asuma frowned and Kakashi nodded in agreement.
"Ankokukage," Tsunade stood up and held her hand out. "It's good to finally meet you."
"Likewise, Tsunade." He answered ignoring her hand. Tsunade frowned and let her arm drop to her side. "You have a quaint little village here. I was afraid it would have suffered more serious damage after the death of the third."
"Thanks," she said flatly as her hands formed fists at her side.
"It's nice to see a female ninja take such responsibility," he added and her fists tightened. "Well, I can see you're very busy and I'll get right to the point. I come here with the proposal of a treaty."
"Treaty?" Tsunade asked. "Why?"
"Lately, Akatsuki has been seen in the Country of Darkness. I know you have had trouble with them as well. So I feel it's in the best interests of your Village to consider a truce with Hikage village." He explained.
"Akatsuki?" Kakashi spoke up. "Why would they be in the Country of Darkness?"
"Listen, I didn't come here for a question and answer session," the Ankokukage glared at Kakashi. Looking back at Tsunade he nodded. "I need to get back to Hikage as soon as possible due to urgent matters. I hope you realize the benefits this treaty can have for your village."
"We can stay and answer any questions," the silver haired ninja offered.
"Do as you wish," the Ankokukage said and left as rudely as he came. The ninja looked after him in surprise and looked back at Tsunade apologetically. "I'm really sorry about that, I'm sure he didn't mean-"
"It's fine," Tsunade eased into her chair letting her anger dissolve into his well meaning warm brown eyes. "I understand what it's like to have something like Akatsuki hanging over you. He must be under a lot of stress-"
"No," the darker-haired ninja interrupted. "He's just a jerk."
"Encore!" Rin yelled clapping enthusiastically as Naruto beamed on stage. Toya clapped him on the back.
"You didn't do too badly," he congratulated.
"Hey, you were pretty good yourself Toya," Naruto smiled back.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled as he and Temari pushed through the crowd which had gathered around the karaoke stage. He reached up and pulled the blond ninja off stage.
"Hey, hey! What's the big idea?!" Naruto demanded as Sakura and Ino came up behind Shikamaru and Temari.
"Shikamaru, what's going on?" Ino asked. Rin and Rei came up shortly and Toya hopped off of stage.
"What are they doing here?" Temari demanded as she pointed at the Hikage ninja.
"What are you talking about? They're our friends," Naruto shrugged.
"No Hikage ninja is a friend," Temari scowled and Rin glanced at her forehead protector with the Sand insignia on it.
"Listen, we're not here for any trouble," Rin held her hands up in a gesture of good will.
"Yeah, whatever," Temari snapped. "We all need to get out of here, now."
"Come on," Shikamaru nodded and followed Temari out. Ino and Sakura looked back at the Hikage ninja before following their friends out leaving Naruto alone with them. He turned to face them and Rei waved her hand in dismissal.
"Don't worry about it," she said. "We'll see you later Naruto."
"Are you sure?" He asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, we have to work on your singing," Rin assured.
"Yeah," Naruto forced a weak smile before heading out. He met up with the others outside and faced Temari angrily. "What the hell was that?"
"Those were Hikage ninja," Temari said.
"Yeah, I know. And they were my friends," Naruto's fists tightened.
"Well they're no friends of mine!" Temari shouted angrily.
"And why is that?" He asked.
"Because they're ruthless and sadistic ninja who do anything to win!"
"Temari," Sakura spoke up. "They didn't seem anything like that. How can you be so sure that they're like that? Have you met them before?"
"ALL Hikage ninja are ruthless!" She assured.
"How can you be so sure?" Naruto demanded.
"Because the Sand Village has experienced their ruthless tactics before. The feudal lord of the Country of Darkness had an economic dispute with the feudal lord of the Country of Wind. So the Sand Village and Hikage Village went to war. During that war Hikage Village used horrifying jutsus and forbidden techniques. They were completely brutal. But they weren't strong enough to defeat us Sand Ninja. After losing the war, their forces were horribly weak and they've been struggling ever since to survive. They took whatever mission was offered, no matter how seedy or immoral it was. They were even associated with Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes," Temari nodded. "It's said before he defected from Konoha he performed secret experiments to create stronger ninjas for Hikage village. They say one of their strongest ninjas, Bakemono, was one of his creations."
"Bakemono? Monster?" Sakura questioned.
"They say his jutsus are the most horrifying ever seen. He's even worse than the demons which inhabit Hikage forest."
"Demons?" Ino blanched. "There are demons?"
"Surrounding Hikage Village is a forest inhabited by demons on one side and on the other are rough mountains. It's their greatest defense. However, the war was fought in the Country of Wind. They were at the disadvantage because of the unfamiliar terrain of the desert. But that doesn't mean we didn't suffer horrendous losses at their hands!"
"But that war happened years ago," Shikamaru argued. "The ninja we just saw weren't even born yet."
"That doesn't mean that they don't know those forbidden jutsus or take on sleazy missions. Are you really willing to trust ninja who are associated with Orochimaru?"
"They can't be," Naruto muttered as the former Konoha jounin's maniacal smile flashed through his head. His fists tightened. "No, they can't be."
"Please, Hokage-sama," the lighter-haired ninja. "Allow us to answer any questions you may have."
"Are you single and if so what's your names?" Anko piped up and Tsunade glared.
"I believe I'll be asking the questions, Anko," she glared. "But now that you mention it, I haven't caught either of your names."
"Excuse me for not introducing myself, Hokage-sama," he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm a Hikage jounin and my name is Kenji Chiba."
"Ryo Yue, Hikage jounin," the darker haired ninja added.
"Cute names," Anko smiled devilishly.
"Well Yue, Chiba," Tsunade looked at them and clasped her hands under her chin leaning back in her chair. "I've never been one for delicacy. So my questions will be blunt. Is Hikage village associated with Orochimaru?"
"No," Yue said and stopped. Chiba looked back at him at annoyance.
"Orochimaru was a mistake. Everyone in Hikage knows this. And as you know he didn't exactly leave our village on friendly terms. He's as much an enemy of ours as he is of yours," Chiba elaborated.
"That'll do," Tsunade held up her hand. "My second question is, why Konoha? Why not another village?"
"Well, as you know we're not exactly on the best terms with the Village of Sand. And we seem to have the same problem with Akatsuki you do," Chiba said.
"What do you mean by that?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"We too, have a tailed demon. This is why we believe Akatsuki is in the Country of Darkness." Chiba informed.
"One of the tailed demons is in Hikage forest?" Tsunade's eyes widened and Chiba shook his head.
"Not anymore, it was sealed in one of our genin," Chiba explained.
"Genin? I thought you didn't have any genin."
"We don't have a lot, only three. Just like how we only have three jounin. We have twenty-three chuunin but that's it. Our forces are weak. Which is why we need your help protecting the Houkou and its carrier," Chiba held his hands out.
"Three jounin?" Kakashi spoke up. "There are two of you here, who's the other?"
"Surely you don't mean Bakemono is a jounin in your village?" Tsunade stood up with her hands planted firmly on her desk. "I thought that was just a rumor!"
"Why wouldn't I be a jounin?" A voice sounded from behind Tsunade. She jumped at the sight of the masked being which had appeared out of nowhere next to her. He was clad head to toe in black with heavy black boots and bandages wrapped around his forearms and calves. Despite his indistinct attire there was one very noticeable thing about him. He wore a white hanya mask with red markings, fangs, and slanted black eyes. Etched on the forehead was the Hikage insignia. It completely covered his face and the fabric of his shirt extended up over his neck and head. All together not one inch of his body was exposed. He leaned casually against the window with his elbows propped up on the sill and his legs crossed at the ankles. Despite his casual stance and his short height, he was by far the most intimidating presence in the room.
"Who the hell are you?" Tsunade demanded from the floor as the other Konoha jounin fell into defensive stances.
"That's the monster of the Hikage Village, Bakemono!" Asuma nearly dropped the cigarette out of his mouth.
"You weren't scared of me, were you?" Bakemono asked as Shizune helped Tsunade up.
"Of course not!" She glared at him. "I just have trouble trusting ninjas who refuse to show their face."
"Oh yeah?" He asked disappearing in a cloud of smoke. He popped up next to Kakashi and jutted a thumb at the other jounin. "What about him?"
Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha as he contemplated the Hikage ninja from the previous night. "They couldn't be associated with Orochimaru. They just couldn't be."
"Hey, Naruto!" A voice called and Naruto looked up.
"Iruka-sensei?" He blinked up at his former teacher.
"What's wrong? You look a little distracted."
"Iruka-sensei, what do you know about Hikage Village?"
"Hikage? How do you know about the treaty?"
"Huh? What treaty?" Naruto's brow wrinkled and Iruka flinched. "Iruka-sensei! What treaty?!"
"Ugh, now I have to tell you," he sighed. "Hikage Village is currently approaching Konoha about entering a treaty. But you're not supposed to know about it, so don't tell anyone I told you!"
"Oh, so that's why the Hikage ninja were here," Naruto realized. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, is it true they were associated with Orochimaru?"
"That was a long time ago Naruto, before we even knew his real intentions. Hikage Village has since been cleared of all association with him."
"I knew it! Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled before running off.
"Hey, wait!" Iruka yelled after him. "Why are you asking about Hikage village?!"
"Good morning Sakura," Kakashi waved absently at the chuunin as she passed him on the street.
"Kakashi-sensei, good morning," Sakura greeted as she walked over to the bench he was seated at. "What are doing up so-oh."
She frowned at the book in his hands, Of course. He's reading that stupid book again. But on second thought.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," she called his attention from Makeout Tactics. "Why are there Hikage ninja in the village?"
"So you've seen some of them, eh? Konoha is having some negotiations with Hikage right now. There are three jounin and three genin from the village here," he explained.
"Jounin too?" Sakura thought aloud. "What are the jounin like?"
"They're all fairly famous in their own right." Kakashi closed his book and tucked it away. "There's Kenji Chiba from the Chiba clan, one of the three great clans of Hikage. He is in fact destined to become the next Ankokukage. Then there is Ryo Yue who is the last member of the founding clan of the Country of Darkness and is also a member of one of the great clans of Hikage. However, I find the last jounin, Bakemono to be the most interesting."
"Bakemono? The one Orochimaru created?" Sakura's eyes widened and Kakashi smiled with his eyes.
"Little escapes you Sakura." He noted. "Yes, the same Bakemono which Orochimaru created when he was in contract with Hikage. But, Hikage has nothing to do with Orochimaru right now and Bakemono holds no allegiance to him. However, Bakemono is not someone to be taken lightly. According to the Bingo Book, he has brutally murdered every opponent he has ever faced. He was trained among the demons of Hikage forest and has summoning contracts with some of them. He even bases his jutsus off of demon techniques. We'll have to keep an eye on him."
"Right," Sakura nodded. "Can do Kakashi-sensei. But…"
"Hmm?"
"Do you know anything about the Hikage ninja Toya? He's really cute!" She squealed and Kakashi sighed.
"Rin! Toya!" The two paused at the sound of Naruto's voice as he came running up to them on the streets of Konoha.
"Hey, Naruto," Rin smiled in greeting. "I said we'd meet again."
"Heh, heh, guess you were right," he smiled. "Listen, I just came to apologize for last night-"
"She was a Sand ninja wasn't she?" Toya interrupted and Naruto nodded.
"That war was bad on both sides. But we had nothing to do with it. We weren't even born yet," Rin explained.
"I believe you," Naruto said and she smiled. "So, what are you guys up to anyway?"
"We're meeting our sensei, Ke, for barbeque, his treat," Toya explained.
"You should come," Rin invited.
"Awesome! I'm starving," Naruto immediately lit up.
"Pretty," Rei smiled at the necklace in the jewelry shop window. She passed a hand over her now bare forehead as she noticed the absence in the reflection in the window. They had decided last night it would be a good idea to remove their forehead protectors to avoid attention. And frankly, she didn't mind. However, in her distraction she failed to look where she was going.
"Hey, watch where you're…" Neji trailed off as he looked at the girl he had just run into. She was beautiful. Her long silver hair was spread around her lithe form on the ground as she blinked at him with piercing ice blue eyes. He immediately stood up and held out a hand. "Sorry, that was my fault."
"No really," she shook her head taking his hand and standing up. "I wasn't looking where I was going. It was my fault."
She glanced at him and felt her cheeks warm. He had light lavender eyes with an intense gaze and his dark hair contrasted nicely against his fair skin and framed his handsome features nicely. But her vision was interrupted by a pretty girl with pigtails gathered into buns onto her head.
"Hey, I've never seen you around here. Are you new?" Tenten asked.
"Oh, I'm just visiting Konoha," Rei explained.
"Ah, I see," Tenten nodded and looked back at Neji. A small smirk crept into her face as she noticed a slight blush in her teammate's snow white skin. "Well I'm Tenten. And this is Neji Hyuuga. He's a member of the great Hyuuga clan of Konoha, the carriers of the famous and powerful Byakugan. He's also a jounin, you know, the highest rank of ninja below Hokage. He's very familiar with Konoha and I'm sure he'd be happy to show you around."
"What? What are you saying?" Neji began but by then Tenten had already ran halfway down the street.
"See you later!" She called waving and disappeared around the corner. Neji glared after her and wished his Byakugan could set fire to things before he turned back to Rei. When his lavender eyes met her blue ones his anger melted into a slight blush again.
"So, where's our first stop?" She smiled at him.
"How do you get yourself into these situations Naruto?" Kakashi sighed as he watched Naruto enter the Barbeque restaurant with the two Hikage genin. "Out of the hundreds of people in Konoha you decide to go to lunch with two Hikage ninjas. I wonder if one of them is the carrier of the tailed demon."
"You could just ask them yourself," Bakemono suggested as he appeared behind Kakashi. Kakashi nearly fell off the roof and glared back at the Hikage jounin.
"I can't take much more of this," he muttered.
"Hey, who's our guest?" Bakemono asked as he joined Rin, Toya, and Naruto in the restaurant.
"This is Naruto, he's a Konoha ninja we met yesterday," Rin introduced.
"Hey, what's up with the mask?" Naruto pointed to the white disguise.
"What's up with your face?" Bakemono countered and Naruto frowned.
"Huh? Nothing, why? Is there something on it?" He grabbed his cup of water and tried inspecting his reflection.
"Where's Rei?" Bakemono asked seemingly oblivious to the number of stares from the other diners.
"I don't know, we haven't seen her since this morning," Toya shrugged.
"Yeah, she left to explore Konoha," Rin said.
"Sorry!" Rei apologized as she ran up to the table and sat herself down. She looked across the table and smiled at Naruto. "Naruto! I'm glad to see you again!"
"Hey Rei!" Naruto smiled back.
"Is that Naruto?" Asuma squinted across the restaurant. Choji looked over.
"Yeah, that's him," he confirmed.
"And he's with the Hikage ninjas we met yesterday," Ino noted.
"And he's having lunch with Bakemono," Asuma blanched.
"Bakemono? The demon jounin?" Shikamaru asked. "Jeez, Naruto. You really are an idiot."
"Hikage Village is not to be trusted," Utatane tightened her wrinkled fist. "They entered into negotiations with Orochimaru. They enlisted him to perform forbidden experiments!"
"But they were desperate at the time," Tsunade intertwined her fingers under her nose. "They didn't even have a sixth of their original numbers left. And at that time we didn't even know Orochimaru's true motives. And in the end he betrayed them making him their enemy as well.
"Besides," she added. "They're extremely weak right now making them an unlikely enemy to us. They're not stupid enough to take us on. And if they have one of the tailed demons-"
"All the more reason not to ally ourselves with them," Mitokado interrupted. "We cannot side with demons. And Hikage is surrounded by them!"
"If we don't protect Hikage and their tailed demon Akatsuki is sure to capture it. Can we really risk them getting one more demon?" She looked around at the elder advisers and they were silent. "I think it is in Konoha's best interests to sign this treaty. Although I'd rather not deal with the Ankokukage again."
"I wouldn't mind dealing with Yue or Chiba," Shizune said under her breath and Tsunade smiled.
"They were awfully cute, weren't they?" She smiled and she and her student shared a giggle as the elders groaned.
"It's so different here," Chiba gazed out over Konoha from the rooftops. Yue leaned on the railing beside him and stared with a slightly bored expression over the village. "It's so, so…"
"Clean?" Bakemono offered from where he sat on the other side of Chiba facing away from the village. Chiba laughed.
"Yeah, I guess," he smiled. "And friendly. The people are all over the streets. There are so many of them, just like how Hikage used to be."
"What? Hikage had this many people?" Bakemono kicked off the railing and faced the village, unable to believe their dingy, depressing village could ever resemble the clean and bright Konoha.
"Nah," Yue corrected. "Hikage was never as large as Konoha. It could never grow very big because of the demon forest. Too many people equals too much chakra which would attract far too many demons. Before the war with the Sand village Hikage had a much larger population and it was much happier. But after the war our numbers dwindled, the Ankokukage was replaced-"
"With an incompetent pompous son of a bitch," Bakemono finished his sentence.
"Not exactly the words Yue had in mind, I'm sure." Chiba frowned.
"No, Ke summed it up pretty nicely actually," Yue shrugged and Chiba rolled his eyes. "When I was really young, Hikage wasn't that bad of a place to be."
"Hikage could be that again. Hikage could become like Konoha, you know?" Bakemono leaned out over the village. "With the right leader."
He placed a hand on Chiba's shoulder and Chiba looked solemnly at the ground.
"Yeah, maybe," Chiba said softly.
"Do we have to have the narcissistic mountain with Chiba's face on it?" Yue asked motioning towards Konoha's trademark.
"Good point," Bakemono nodded. "I don't know if I can look at your over sized head every day."
"Hey, my face is better that a mask with fangs," Chiba flicked the enamel red fangs on Bakemono's mask.
"Hey now, remember that the mask is far better than Ke's actual face." Yue smiled and Bakemono reached over to hit him but Chiba blocked it. The two of them jumped back and fell into defensive stances. Bakemono stood up on the railing with his arms crossed over his.
"What is this, two against one?" He asked.
"Who said life was fair?" Yue shrugged.
"Well, allow me to even the odds," Bakemono began to form seals for a summoning.
"Oh crap," Chiba muttered as Bakemono's hand landed on the concrete of the roof and the seal shot out. It glowed and a lizard with three inch fangs and even longer claws emerged.
"Hey, that's not fair," Yue pointed at the lizard demon who was currently snapping its jaws at him.
"Who said life was fair, Yue?" Bakemono cocked his head and the demon opened its jaws wide emitting a loud belch. Yue and Chiba threw their arms in front of their faces in order to shield themselves from its breath and their faces twisted in pain.
"Aw, gross!" Chiba plugged his nose as Bakemono cackled wildly.
"That is disgusting!" Yue jumped over the demon and tried to land a punch on Bakemono. But he dodged it and jumped off the roof.
"He's gonna pay for that!" Yue proclaimed before jumping after him. Chiba quickly followed.
Ke ran along the rooftops trying his best to be spotted not only by Chiba and Yue but by the villagers as well. The last thing he needed was to cause a mass panic because someone saw a monster running around Konoha. However, the rooftops were also where his teammates were going to be searching for him. It was actually must safer for him to try and hide in some of the empty streets of Konoha. He paused and looked down into the crowded market.
"Oh yeah," Ke surveyed the crowds. "I'll fit right in among all those humans."
He looked around for less crowded areas and spotted an empty street. "Bingo."
Ke jumped down into the street and hugged the wall tight, remaining in the shadows as he made his way to the corner to scope out the situation. He sniffed the air and smelled two, no, three humans. And there were two more coming…two more…
"Oh come on," Ke muttered and took off down the alley. Chiba and Yue quickly came down the alley after him.
"Come back here!" Yue yelled.
"We just want to talk!" Chiba assured.
"Yeah! Like that'll work!" Ke yelled back and turned a corner quickly. He skidded across the road and had to use his hands to keep himself from slamming into the wall from his momentum. He clawed at the ground and flung himself down the alley. Chiba and Yue were close behind him and took the corner in a similar fashion. However, Chiba couldn't handle his momentum and smacked straight into Yue. The two rolled on the ground and struck the wall hard. Yue looked up and saw Ke running towards the three Konoha genin.
"That jutsu is completely useless," Moegi disputed. "No real ninja would fall for it!"
"Why not?!" Konohamaru challenged. "My grandfather fell for it all the time! Besides, boss taught me the basics for this technique and he can't be wrong!"
"Actually," Udon interrupted. "He's been wrong on several occasions."
"Someone stop him!" Chiba yelled desperately towards the genin.
"I'll show you how effective my new jutsu is!" Konohamaru said defiantly. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"
A shadow clone of Konohamaru appeared and the two formed hand signs in sync. "Sexy jutsu: Double Girls Knockout!"
The two clones transformed into two extremely sexy girls in an extremely sexy pose. However, Ke merely jumped over the two and continued down the alley.
"That didn't seem to work too well," Udon watched Ke run off. The girls disappeared into the smoke and Konohamaru jumped out.
"See?" Moegi smirked. "I told you it was a stupid jutsu."
"It's worked before!" Konohamaru protested. "Besides, that's Bakemono! The monster of Hikage! Of course he's going to be immune to most human weaknesses!"
"No," Moegi shook her head. "That jutsu won't work on anyone! And to make matters worse, you performed it in front of all three Hikage jounin! Now they think Konoha ninja are a bunch of immature kids!"
"Oh who cares what they think of us?!" Konohamaru threw his hands up in frustration.
"How can you say that?!" Moegi demanded and looked shyly at Yue and Chiba who were dusting themselved off, a slight pink tinge coming to her cheeks. "Of course it matters what they think about us."
She gave a small wave to the two handsome jounin and Konohamaru's eyes narrowed. "Oh I see how it is." Konohamaru created another shadow clone. "Sexy jutsu: Double Guys Knockout!"
Konohamaru and his clone transformed into a naked Yue and Chiba in an even more suggestive pose than his other technique. Their eyes turned slowly and smouldered at Moegi who was quickly turned to a red, drooling, stunned mess.
"What the hell?!" The real Yue demanded when he saw Konohamaru's technique.
"Can he do that?!" Chiba's own face was tinged red.
"Oh my god!" Ke cackled maniacally from behind them all. "That's the best damn jutsu I've ever seen! You should be the next Hokage!"
"Really?!" Konohamaru dispelled the jutsu and turned towards Ke with excitement in his eyes. "Do you really mean it?!"
"Hell yes!" Ke insisted. "In fact, can you teach me that technique?"
"Shut up!" Yue yelled as he appeared behind Ke.
"Idiot!" Chiba agreed as the two of them tackled Ke to the ground.
"Oh come on! That was hilarious!" Ke insisted as he struggled underneath the weight of his two teammates.
"You only say that because you weren't part of that technique!" Yue gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep Ke pinned down.
"Yeah!" Chiba agreed. "How would you like it if you were about to makeout with Yue?!"
"Hey! I wasn't too thrilled that I was about to makeout with you either!" Yue shot back.
"Well, this has been fun and all but I must be going," Ke waved before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The two jounin were left pinning a lizard demon to the ground. Its tongue snaked out and tickled Yue's cheek.
"Disgusting!" Yue yelled and jumped up from the ground with Chiba and the lizard scampered away.
"Well at least someone wants to kiss you," Chiba offered and Yue glared at him.
Kakashi settled into his seat and pulled out Makeout Tactics. Ah, finally. Time to read.
"I don't see him anywhere around here," a familiar voice sounded and Kakashi looked up to see Chiba and Yue searching the streets. Kakashi held up a hand in greeting.
"Hey," he said as the two Hikage jounin walked over to him. "What's going on?"
"Just playing tag," Yue shrugged and tapped his book. "You like that stuff?"
"It's interesting," Chiba defended and Yue looked at him incredulously. "It is!"
"I saw your students earlier," Kakashi changed the subject. "They were having lunch with one of my students."
"Oh, the Hikage genin aren't our students," Chiba corrected and Kakashi stumbled.
"Don't tell me they're Bakemono's?" Kakashi's tone was more incredulous than Yue's.
"I wish you wouldn't call him that," Chiba frowned. "We call him Ke. He's an excellent jounin. The very best in all of Hikage. And he's an even better teacher. Those kids are lucky to have him as their teacher."
"Well then, I guess I need to apologize," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "I just wish he wouldn't sneak up on me all the time."
"Then you should use your Sharingan more often," Ke said as he appeared behind Kakashi again who nearly fell over.
"Come on," Yue patted him on the back, "I'll buy you a drink."
"And that's the third training ground down there," Naruto pointed down the street as he and the Hikage genin walked through Konoha.
"Hey Naruto, do you know Neji Hyuuga?" Rei asked and Naruto paused.
"Neji?" He turned towards her. "Yeah, I beat him way back in my chuunin exam."
"You beat him in the chuunn exam?" Rei cocked her head. "That's odd because he's a jounin now and you're still a genin."
Naruto's face fell as he was reminded of his inferior status.
"Who's Neji?" Rin asked and Rei's face warmed.
"Oh, he's just this guy who showed me around the village this morning," she smiled.
"Hey, what brings you all to Konoha anyway?" Naruto asked.
"Ke-sensei had a mission here and brought us along. We don't really get out of the Country of Darkness much," Rin explained.
"Don't you leave on missions?" Naruto asked.
"We don't get a lot of missions," Rin shrugged. "So anytime we get an excuse to leave we take it."
"Hikage's not exactly the greatest place to live either," Toya added. "It's nice to get out."
"Why don't you like it?" Naruto asked.
"It's a pretty poor village, partially because we don't get any missions to fund it. But it's okay because we don't even live in the village. We live in the forest around it," Rei said.
"You, you live in the forest?" Naruto pointed a shaky finger at them. "The forest full of demons?!"
"They're not that bad when you get used to them," Rin dismissed.
"Well of course you're comfortable with the demons," Toya said and Rin shoved him.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.
"What? You mean you don't know?" Rin blinked at him in surprise when he shook his head. She laughed and pointed to herself proudly, "I'm the five-tailed dog demon."
"Ah, so it's her with the Houkou," Kakashi swirled his drink around as he and the Hikage jounin enjoyed a few drinks in the bar. "I won't lie; at first I was sure Ke was the carrier."
"I'm enough of a freak already. I don't need a demon inside of me too," Ke leaned back and they laughed.
"You, you're the five tailed dog demon?" Naruto pointed at her.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "I'm surprised you couldn't tell. I smelled the Kyuubi in you the moment I met you."
"You knew I had the fox demon?" Naruto's expression softened. "And you're okay with it?"
"Why wouldn't we be?" Rei cocked her head and Naruto smiled.
"And apparently to Hikage Chuunin, 'stay right here and don't move' means accidentally set off explosives to blow the dam and flood the entire village," Ke shrugged as Chiba and Kakashi laughed. Yue briefly smiled before taking a sip of his drink. Ke glanced at the clock in the corner and stood up. "I think it's about time for my students to be getting back. I should go and meet them. I'll see you all later."
"Bye Ke," Chiba smiled and Yue held up drink while Kakashi waved. Chiba stood up as well, "Nature calls."
"Well," Kakashi leaned in towards Yue who raised an eyebrow. "Now that we're alone, I can ask you seriously. Can Bakemono be trusted?"
"Kakashi," Yue put his drink down and looked the Konoha jounin in the eye. "I have and always will trust Ke with my life. And I assure you that you can do the same."
Kakashi nodded.
"Ah!" Hinata ducked Neji's palm as it came flying at her face. She threw her forearm against his oncoming kick and sent a hand towards his face. He blocked her attack with his arm and slid his forearm against hers, wrapping his hand around her arm and throwing her over his shoulder. She flipped and recovered nicely, landing on her feet. She reaffirmed her fighting stance and looked towards him with her Byakugan activated. However, Neji wasn't even looking at her. She followed his gaze past her to the silver haired girl standing in the entrance to the courtyard.
"Hi Neji," she smiled at him and he opened his mouth to talk but could only manage a stutter. Hinata couldn't help but smile, this was possibly the weakest she had ever seen her cousin. It was awfully cute.
"I was just coming to say goodbye," she stepped into the courtyard. "We're leaving now but the treaty between our Villages has been signed. So, hopefully I'll be able to visit again."
"Yeah," he had found his voice. "I hope we can go out again, er, I mean."
Neji stuttered and Hinata stifled a giggle.
"Not that we went out," he continued. "I just hope we can see each other again."
"Yeah," Rei looked down at the ground in embarrassment. Biting her lip she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed gently. "Goodbye Neji."
She ran off without looking back so she missed his blush.
"Rei's late," Naruto noted as he, the Hikage ninja, Tsunade, and Shizune waited at the Konoha's gates.
"There she is," Rin pointed at her fellow genin as she ran up to the gate.
"Sorry!" She apologized and smiled at Naruto. "Naruto! You came to ssay goodbye!"
"Yeah, I figured you guys should get the royal send off," he shrugged and Tsunade stepped forward.
"Well, I guess this is the end of your visit to Konoha," she said towards the Hikage jounin and extended her hand. She shook Yue and Chiba's firmly but was more hesitant with Ke.
"Don't worry Hokage-sama, I don't bite," Ke assured taking her hand. "Until I know you better."
"Heh, heh, you're a funny one," Tsunade laughed nervously.
Kakashi watched the Hikage ninjas leave Konoha as he read Makeout Tactics from his hidden position in the trees outside Konoha. I wonder if they'll be back.
He rested comfortably in the tree until Ke turned around and waved, directly at him. He laughed and waved back, He's good.
I hope you liked the first chapter! Please, please, please review!!!