Naruto: 15
Asuma: 35
Rookies: 13
Anko: 21
Three students stood in a clearing, one quiet, one fuming, and one pestering the quiet one. They were all gennin who were a part of Team Seven, the team under Hatake Kakashi. The Silver-haired ninja was the reason for the one student to fume.
The three had been there for a solid two hours now and were thoroughly irritated but they had somewhat expected the man to be ridiculously late to their meeting which he himself set the time for. The team had actually started doing their own things to try and pass the time which led to the current predicament.
A boy with dark hair and equally dark eyes glared at the female across from him, the female is the opposite of him in every way.
Where his hair was dark hers was bright yellow and vibrant. Where his eyes were a dark charcoal color hers were a bright azure blue. Where his shirt was a high-collar conservative dark blue, hers was a bright orange tank-top which was so loose it hung down a little ways below her collarbone. Where his shorts were a creamy white, hers were a dark black and only went to about mid-thigh. Where his skin color was a pale porcelain, hers was a nice tan which made the thirteen-year-old girl all the more attractive which combined with the three whiskers on each cheek; she was a true beauty.
Where his kunai holster was on his right leg, hers was on her left. Where he had bindings that wrapped to his upper shin, hers only went a bit above her ankle. Where his sandals were a bright blue, hers were a dark green.
Though the two gennin had two things in common.
Both trained as hard as possible.
And both had been trying to impress their older brother since they had learned to speak.
Which again led to the current predicament which was them comparing their brothers to see which is better.
"My brother's the Clan heir!" Sasuke pointed out petulantly while the blond in front of him scowled.
"My brother's the Clan Head!" Mito Namikaze's high pitched voice argued which made Sasuke's frown deepen. Technically Naruto wouldn't be the Clan head for another three years but Sasuke didn't need to know that.
"My brother was an ANBU captain!"
"Mine's the Hokage's guard!"
"My brother has the Sharingan!"
"My brother has Chakra Chains!"
"My brother was the fastest to become a gennin!"
"My brother was the fastest to become a chunnin!"
"My brother's a master of Genjutsu!" Mito didn't need to know Itachi wasn't yet a master.
"My brother's a master of Fuuinjutsu!" Nor did Sasuke need to know that Naruto was only on level four of the ten mastery levels.
At this point, Sakura was feeling a combination of left out and annoyed that she didn't have anyone to gloat about. "Uh, guys-" her plea would go unheard as the two continued comparing their brothers, taking a step closer with each comparison.
"My brother's amazing at Shurikenjutsu!" Sasuke hollered as he tried to win their little contest.
"My brother's amazing at Kenjutsu!" she cried as she took another step forward, practically touching noses with the Uchiha in front of her.
"My brother's made a jutsu!" Now they were touching noses when Sasuke stepped forward. Before Mito could even open her mouth another voice filled the clearing.
"My cute little gennin are performing an act of Icha Icha. Maybe they aren't so cute anymore?" Kakashi hopped down from a branch, his one visible eye crinkled up in mirth as he teased the two children. The two touching noses seemed to blink before they realized what the man had insinuated before darting apart with matching blushes.
"K-Kakashi no Baka!" the blonde cried as she hurled a kunai at him, an action that Sasuke reciprocated but the Jonnin merely caught the both of them and threw them back at the teens, catching and pocketing them after doing so.
"No training today, let us go get an action-packed D-rank mission!" the Jonnin exclaimed with amusement and mirth lacing his tone and with three consecutive groans, the group of four were in motion, all heading for the massive Hokage tower to get their mission.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, sifting through papers and organizing them for Iruka to take care of at his own mini-desk next to Hiruzen's own. The elderly man then leaned back and went to smoke some more but it seemed his pipe was empty. Before he could even really act on the matter a small cloth-bound sack was thrown his way, deftly caught as Hiruzen's lips turned upwards at the ends and he untied the sack to reveal the tobacco inside.
He started grabbing it and packing it into his pipe before retying the small sack and setting it in a drawer to his right. He then lit the pipe and took a deep whiff of the stuff before exhaling it with another smile. "Thank you Naruto-kun." the man said, gaining a thumbs-up from a figure on the couch. Due to his whole head and neck being covered, no distinct characteristics of the figure could be seen.
You could see that they wore a three-piece suit with the jacket part of the suit thrown over the figure's head. The long-sleeved button-up the figure wore was rolled up to the elbows showing off the tan skin he had but it was not quite as tan as Mito's own tan skin but it was close.
The waistcoat he wore matched the jacket in its black exterior but had a navy interior. The button-up he wore was a plain starch white with his tie being a matching black but was tucked into the waistcoat, hiding most of it from sight. The only defining characteristic of the figure was a long tattoo on his right arm.
It was a fox that seemed to be running up to his wrist from his elbow, the only difference between it and another fox was it had multiple tails; nine to be exact.
"So tell me Naruto-kun, how was your mission?" asked the kind old man as he took another puff from his pipe, turning a curious eye to the blonde ahead of him. Despite his face being covered, Hiruzen could feel the flat look Naruto sent him.
"Went pretty well, considering I had to spend three weeks in Kusa of all places." The sarcasm was rich in his voice. "I was damp just about the entire time and got about fifty mosquito bites a night, great fucking mission." The blonde was clearly not happy with the way his mission had gone.
Hiruzen chuckles sounded through the room, the figures annoyance was almost visible. "A shame that you couldn't have been back a week ago," The Hokage apparently wanted to rub salt in the wound. "Anko had been looking for you, something about 'Settling the Score'." The Hokage wore a smug smirk as the figure slowly sat up, the jacket falling to his lap as his features came to view.
Shaggy red hair came into view, dangling slightly over his amethyst eyes which were wide with shock. His face was similar to the Yondaime's own with his slender jaw and firm features but there was also evidence of his mother in his face with a slight roundness of his chin and cheeks, giving him a very attractive look as a result. There were three whiskers on each cheek which made him look similar to Mito. "I really hope this isn't one of those times that you discover your sense of twisted humor." the red-haired teen said, the corners of his lips threatening to twitch to a smile and you could tell something about him was happy.
"No my boy, she said that to me and told me to tell you that when you got back." Naruto grinned and seemed about ready to leave before the door to the office was opened, Kakashi stepping through before being followed by his trio of gennin.
"Good morning Naruto-kun!" the cyclops man greeted happily and before Naruto knew it a blonde blur had rocketed to him and latched onto him with a hug; forcing him even deeper into the couch he had been sitting in. With a sigh, he wrapped his arms around his predictable little sister.
"When did you get back!" she cried as she leaned back from the hug, simply sitting on his knees.
"I don't think right now is the best time Mito-chan." he scolded her lightly as she seemed to realize where she was and dipped her head in embarrassment. "But if you must know I got back a few hours ago, now go get your mission." he rubbed the top of her head affectionately. When she got up he sent a pleading look to Hiruzen and the man gave a small smile.
"You are dismissed for the day Naruto-kun, but I expect to see you in this office before me." The hidden message was heard by Naruto who gave a quick nod before he was grabbing his jacket and walking out of the office.
The Chunnin Uzumaki could be seen darting from roof to roof, fixing his shirt before throwing on his jacket and resuming his mad dash. The teen then stopped in front of a boulder before tapping it twice in two different locations at the same time. The rock then split in two and shifted to the sides, permitting Naruto access as he hopped down the dark hole with the boulder closing behind him.
He landed soundlessly against the smooth concrete before walking forward, passing numerous doors before turning the corner at the end of the hall and progressing down the path. He soon came to a door near the end of the hall with a picture of a scantily dressed woman on the front with the picture being pinned to the door with a kunai which was stabbed in the top right corner. He slid the door open to reveal a room that resembled an office.
It had a desk in the corner and four walls but that was where the similarities ended. It had a clothes rack which just held a long brown trench coat which had purple colored fabric on the inside. Before he could even really look at the rest of the room a kunai landed next to his face which drew his attention to the woman behind the desk.
She wore a skin-tight mesh top with a brown skirt which ended at her mid-thigh revealing the mesh leggings which went a little ways above her knees. She had nothing on her feet at the moment which was proven by the sandals and shin guards that sat under the brown trench coat.
Her purple hair was done in a spiky ponytail which shot upwards while the rest of her hair framed her face with her hair dangling down to her eyebrows, her headband peeking out from underneath the hair. Her pupiless chocolate eyes stared at Naruto with a multitude of emotions with only a few of them being identifiable.
She stood up from her chair while Naruto fingered the paper-thin line that was cut on his cheek by the woman in front of him. "It's really annoying when you get beat by a gaki and can't even get him back for it," she said as she walked up to him, her eyes staring up at him only slightly due to his height of 5'5 and her own of 5'4.
"Wouldn't know, never had the feeling." the red-haired teen had a grin on his face as he met her gaze steadily. The woman hummed as she nodded as if agreeing with him. She walked right up to him, to the point her nose was just about touching his own.
"It leaves me with all of these feelings and they just get all bottled up until I just explode, and we wouldn't want that would we?" the woman now had a small smile of her own which matched Naruto's.
"Yeah, sounds like you really need to release all of that." his eyes seemed to gain a hunger to them which Anko's own matched.
"I think I need a certain gaki to help release all of it." the woman's lusty tone had disappeared and there was a kunai in her hand, ready at Naruto's cheek to give him another cut with the only thing stopping it being Naruto's own hand at her wrist.
"Sounds like a job for a trusty chunnin who wants to help his superior." Both Naruto's and Anko's eyes held a challenging glint in them and soon the two were gone in a shunshin.
The two reappeared in training ground forty-four and before the leaves were even fully gone Naruto had leaped back and landed on a branch thicker than most trees a solid fifteen feet in the air. Anko tutted and cocked her hip to the side, arms crossed right under her very noticeable bust. "I don't have my trenchcoat or even shoes," she proved the fact by holding up a barefoot while also lifting her skirt, trying to get Naruto to take a peek but he left his eyes locked on her own.
"Mou, you're not going to take pity on a damsel in distress Na-ru-to-kun?" she pronounced each syllable with a cock of the head. Naruto couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips, catching the smirk on Anko's face as he did so.
"Both of us know you're not innocent in any sense of the matter Anko-chan~" he finished, dragging out the chan suffix to tease the Violette.
Anko let out a pitiful sigh and reached her hand into her hair, pulling out the hair tie which kept her hair in the spiky ponytail she always had it in. She shook her head as her shoulder-length hair came free in clumps, dangling down and giving her a borderline exotic look. "Well? You have the advantage, why don't you start us off?" asked the woman but Naruto didn't budge from his branch, only slipping his right hand into the ram hand sign.
"You won't?" She seemed scandalized before shrugging as she flicked a kunai out of nowhere and had it reappear in her right hand. "Ladies first I guess." she gave one final shrug before blasting off in a blur of motion and Naruto followed the action by flying back, both hands forming the ram hand sign as he slapped them together. A whisper carried through the forest, only barely heard by Anko.
"Kirigakure no jutsu." An all-encompassing mist rolled into the clearing and before Naruto even landed from his jump the mist had fully filled the clearing and Anko could now barely see the branch she landed on.
Anko sighed as she let her arms dangle at her sides. "You become so predictable in these spars Naru-chan!" she called as she went through a small series of her own hand signs before slapping both hands on the floor, her kunai nicking her thumb as she did so.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A bed of close to fifty rattlesnakes appeared at her feet. With a silent order, they all fanned out with their enhanced senses in search of the red-haired teen. Anko hastily brought up a kunai just in time to deflect the one that flew at her from the smoke, this was new.
She pivoted on her heel and blocked another one and then another from the opposite direction. She was forced to dodge as three came at her from multiple angles and barely avoided one nicking her arm. She narrowed her eyes, not understanding how nor why he was doing this. "Must have picked up quite a bit of speed to be able to hit me like that from all of those angles Na-" she was cut off by her own gasp of pain as a blade nicked the back of her thigh.
Anko had been hurt by Naruto before in spars but never to this extent, especially when they had last sparred only four weeks ago. She couldn't let Naruto know he had gotten a superior advantage over her,
That would all go to his head.
"Did Naruto-kun pick up some new tricks over his mission?" asked the woman to the unanswering mist, not expecting anything from the serious Uzumaki combatant. So she had not expected the rather violent and obscene response she did get.
All of the mist seemed to go away, not dissipate but it moved away in a direction behind her. Just as almost all of the mist disappeared she turned to see Naruto finishing three fast-paced hand signs and clapping into the Ryu sign.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!" the boy cried as the massive amount of water he'd been collecting became a dragon a little taller than Naruto himself. It dove forward before lapping around Naruto several times and then Naruto turned his two joined hands towards her and the dragon flew for the Tokubetsu Jonnin.
Anko blanched before she kawarimi'd with a nearby log and got out of the way just in time for the dragon to hit the floor, leaving a massive puddle filled with splinters.
Naruto panted as he rested his hands on his sides. When you make a massive water-based jutsu with sheer chakra that is severely draining, and he then tried to make a massive water dragon from said water-based jutsu and thus his exhaustion showed through. He scowled as he felt the exhaustion slowly ebb away, scowling at the open 'tattoo' on his arm.
A loud wolf whistle drew his attention from the subject and he came to the sight of Anko walking up to him, arms behind her head and simultaneously making her sizable bust jut out. "Ya know... a spar's a spar... right?" she asked as she got close to him, replacing her hands from their position from behind her head to her sides. At Naruto's one raised brow she almost face-palmed.
"Most people don't really toss around B-ranked jutsu like it's nothing in the middle of a friendly spar... unless," she seemed to inspect something on his face before gasping. She leaned back with her hands over her heart. "Y-You don't consider Anko-chan a friend?" She even made her lip quiver and her eyes tear up; the skills of an interrogation specialist knew no bounds.
Naruto knew she wasn't being serious but the sheer innocence and seemingly true sadness in her eyes hit him where he's soft. "I wish she was a bit more," he mumbled, thinking she wouldn't hear but when her innocent act went away only to be replaced by a sultry smile Naruto's internal panic alarms went off.
"Oh? And what is it you wish I was hm?" She leaned forward until she was practically in a formal bow. Naruto had actually been about to answer when she grabbed her breasts. "Do you wish you had my body up against yours hm?" Anko seemed to have an ability to both be arousing and a turn-off at the same time.
"Tch," Naruto spun on his heel and started walking out of the training ground, raising his hand to catch his jacket thrown at him without stopping stride. The puff of smoke in the tree confirmed the Kage Bunshin had been there to toss the jacket.
Anko was surprised by the complete one-eighty in behavior and bit the inside of her cheek slightly before leaping forward and falling in-step with him, watching as he fell through the practiced movements of putting back on his jacket.
Naruto noticed Anko out of the corner of his eyes but was too annoyed with her at the moment to care. He continued to unroll his shirt's sleeves before buttoning them at the ends but before he could even get to the second sleeve's buttons Anko's staring got to him. "What?"
The word was more growled then said but in his defense, it was mainly because he was holding his jacket by the collar with his teeth. Also because he was pretty irritated with her so a little bit of anger seeped through in his statement.
Anko also must have noticed the tone of voice and the slight wince of her eyelids made him realize that. He wanted to apologize but he was too stubborn so he just focused on finishing the buttons on his left sleeve.
"Why do you dress like that?" she asked, her voice unnaturally quiet for her character and Naruto's mood seemed to flatten out at the question. He didn't exactly get angry with the question nor happy, more of a deep regret and some other emotion.
"I got my first pair as a gift and it grew on me."
No other words came out of his mouth and other than the ruffling of clothing, there was no noise to break the tense silence. Just as Naruto finished shucking on his jacket and buttoning up the sleeves of it, a Kage Bunshin of him with the sleeves rolled up appeared in front of them with its arms full.
It handed off Anko's trenchcoat, kunai holster, and shin guards and sandals to the woman then dispelled before she could even respond. Naruto didn't seem surprised at all that a clone of his had brought Anko's stuff from her office.
"When?" The woman caught up to him again as she put on her trench coat but did not put on her sandals due to her feets' muddy state.
"Where, Why, What, all of these are good questions Anko." His tone was slightly teasing but it wasn't even near the kindness and familiarity of earlier. Anko scowled as they reached the forest fence, Naruto opening the gate like a gentleman and she stepped through, yet again scowling. "Stop Anko." his voice stopped her and as she turned around he shut the fence and had a half ram sign held.
He grabbed her by the shin and held her foot up a little way in front of his mouth. If it weren't for her incredible balance Anko would have fallen from the abrupt movement. Before she could question him a stream of compacted water shot out of his mouth and he sprayed down her whole foot, cleaning the ankle shin and foot before stopping the stream. He stared at her expectantly before rolling his eyes and grabbing her sandal out of her hand and slipping it onto her foot before setting down the sandaled foot and repeating the motion with the opposite foot.
He left her to put on her own sandal which she did with a small frown before also strapping on her shin guards, the only thing missing from her outfit was her hair tie and kunai holster. One of which she held and the other was in her trench coat pocket.
"If they're such good questions answer all of them," she demanded as Naruto breathed out of his nose. He turned and made a continuing gesture with his hand before using his water manipulation to simply flick the mud off of his shoes and pants, a much cleaner and easier method than he gave Anko. "When did you send that clone to get my clothes? Why are you so nice to me? What did you mean when you said you wished I was more?"
Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily.
"C'mon."
Naruto had his hands stuffed in his pockets as he stared at the memorial stone in front of him with Anko awkwardly standing next to him. "You know anyone on here Anko?" his voice had an unfamiliar tone to it, something Anko noted but didn't ask him about it.
"Nope." She saw her opportunity to lighten the mood. "Not too many get close to the Snake bitch ne?" Her only reward for the attempted humor was a light puff of air from Naruto's nostrils before he nodded along with her. "How about you?" asked the woman and she instantly regretted it.
Naruto held up four fingers. He then pointed out two of them.
Kushina Uzumaki
Minato Namikaze
Anko bit her lip slightly disappointed with herself for broaching such a subject. Despite this...
"What about the other two?"
As if some unspoken command was said an ANBU jumped out of nowhere and landed right in front of the stone. He did a few hand signs too quick for them to follow before a light glow appeared over his finger and he started writing out a new name at the end of the list.
Both Anko and Naruto just watched him do it in silence for the next few moments, neither really saying anything. The ANBU then added another name right under it before he gave Naruto a single nod and was gone in a smokeless shunshin. Naruto pointed the two remaining fingers at the two new names on the stone.
Shina Inuzuka
Ryo Uchiha
Anko was silent as the implications hit her, Naruto had just gotten back from a mission he had led for three weeks. A dry sound came out of Naruto's throat, more of a cough than a laugh. "You know what fucking sucks about losing an Uchiha on a mission Anko?" She didn't reply, knowing it was rhetorical. "You gotta either cut out their eyes or take their whole body back with you, the whole clan secrets bullshit. Them and their legendary fucking eyes.
"Sucks not being able to take back my best friends whole body." The teen stood with another drawn-out sigh, one last tap on the Uchiha name before standing to his full height. "I sent a clone to get you your clothes when I saw you being an idiot and made a clone to get the clothes when we were in the mist. I'm nice to you because I care about you Anko, you should know that. And you definitely know what I meant when I said I wish you were more, I don't believe for a second that you actually think I don't like you."
He turned around, he didn't look sad or angry just extremely tired; a very different image from the sad and nervous Anko. "Now, I am going to return my teammate's eyes to Fugaku then go home and give my little sister the watered down version of my awesome four week-long mission." With those words he spun on his heel, sticking his hands back in his pockets as he walked away from the woman.
Anko watched him go for another ten seconds before disappearing in a shunshin, mind clouded with emotions and thought; a very bad thing for the man she would be interrogating.
Naruto whistled Rocky Road to Dublin as he walked down the streets of the Market district, dipping his head to those who showed respect to the son of the Yondaime and not giving a second thought to those who hated him for what he contained. He soon cleared out of the market district and started into the Clan District with about half of a song to whistle. He walked past the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Akamichi, Aburame, Yamanaka, and his own before coming to a stop in front of the Uchiha compound.
The two guards stopped him, their fully mature Sharingan eyes visible in the dusky sky giving the two very unintimidating men a somewhat intimidating look. "What brings you here Nam- Uzumaki-san?" It seemed the man caught himself from calling the boy by the last name he does not have as his active surname.
"I have business with the clan head of the Uchiha regarding the death of a clan member on a mission I was the leader of," he told them the practiced line in regards to a meeting like this. Both members stiffened at the mention of a clan member death before they exchanged a brief glance.
"I will escort you there." Naruto barely resisted rolling his eyes, he'd been in the Uchiha compound enough times to know the taste of the road. He nonetheless let the guard lead him down the cobbled path before coming to a stop at the Clan Head's house. The Uchiha walked up and knocked on the paper door before taking a counted three steps back, something Naruto noticed but didn't ask about. He watched as a shadow appeared over the door, a very specific shadow.
Itachi Uchiha.
The slightly older teen opened the door and caught Naruto's eye. "Ah Naruto-kun a pleasure," He turned to the Uchiha guard who seemed like he was going to say something but was quickly cut off. "You are excused." the teen's voice was stiff as he dismissed his clansmen and the Uchiha walked off without a word. "Do come inside Naruto-kun, Kaa-san has made Teriyaki." Itachi opened the door the rest of the way.
Naruto couldn't stop the smile that crept over his face, Itachi was much too kind. "As much as I appreciate the offer Itachi this is not a social visit," the teen's brow raised and Naruto stepped up the steps and onto the porch before taking a vial from his jacket pocket and showing it to Itachi.
"Ah." Itachi's voice got rather quiet when he saw the red eyes in the vial which were soon hidden again. "I am sorry for your loss Naruto-kun," the teen patted Naruto's shoulder before stepping to the side as Naruto stepped into the house. "I will get my father." Itachi slid the front door shut and padded down the hall while Naruto took off his shoes at the door, leaving him in his socks as he decided to simply stand in front of the door.
"What're you doing here?" A rather young voice broke Naruto's momentary peace and he turned to see Itachi's little brother and Mito's teammate, Sasuke.
"Meeting with your father." the reply was soft as Naruto leaned against the wall to his right, positioning himself so he could lean against it comfortably while facing Sasuke.
"Why?" the voice seemed to be cautious and scared as if Naruto was a foreign diplomat with the potential to be an assassin.
"Things you are not old enough to understand Sasuke." The gruff voice of Fugaku Uchiha made Naruto stand upright and look up at the man. Sasuke's blunt dismissal made the thirteen-year-old pout before padding down the hall to what seemed to be the kitchen.
Minutes later the two were seated on pillows, Fugaku's traditional form of sitting on his shins as opposed to Naruto's own crossed leg seating. The only thing on Fugaku's desk was the single vial laying on its side, showing off the three tomoe red of the Sharingan to both of them. "Why was his whole body not retrieved?" Fugaku's tone was neutral and curious but Naruto's pent-up frustration and anger were getting to him.
"I thought all you cared about was the eyes." Naruto couldn't have said that with any more venom than he just did. Fugaku's back straightened and a scowl made its way on his face.
"You have a good head on your shoulders Uzumaki, do not let your emotions change that." Fugaku's tone was sharp but it did the job and it made Naruto lean his head back and let it dangle back. "Perhaps some tea will help you clear your head." Fugaku's offer hit Naruto and he allowed himself a moment of relaxation. He then remembered where he was and was not in a casual meeting, this was clan business.
He sat back into position and exhaled lightly before shaking his head. "No, that will not be needed Fugaku-san. Thank you for the offer but there are more important things to discuss than tea." Fugaku seemed pleased by the answer and gave a nod to continue as Naruto stared at the vial.
"I did not retrieve the whole body because it would slow us down too much and we could not afford being caught. My squadmate took the eyes from him when we stopped briefly." Naruto's answer was crisp and to the point.
Fugaku nodded as he took the vial and examined the eyes inside of it and sighed before taking a case from a drawer in his desk and placing the vial inside of a fitted foam space before shutting the case and putting it back in his desk.
"How did Ryo die?" asked the man, sadness in his tone despite the seriousness of the meeting.
"A surprise attack, he was dead instantly." Naruto could practically taste the guilt in his own voice but it was true if he hadn't made the decision to camp in the middle of neutral territory than they wouldn't have gotten attacked by Iwa nin and they could have had a chance to fight back. The fact that he had lied to Fugaku over something so trivial didn't occur to him as he stared at the drawer where the eyes had disappeared.
"Would you like to stay for dinner, Mikoto would enjoy having you I'm sure." That much was probably true, Mikoto had doted on him for most of his child life as if she thought she owed it to him. Naruto shook his head again as he stood up and gave the Clan Head a practiced smile.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that Mito is rather curious and is just dying to ask me countless questions so I must decline. Tell Mikoto-oba I said hi though." With one last dip of his head, Naruto was walking out of the office and was right in front of the front door before he was stopped.
"Naruto Uzumaki you better not be trying to get away without even saying hello." the usually sweet voice of Mikoto Uchiha made a wave of dread fly over as Naruto as he sheepishly chuckled and turned around, coming to the sight of the Uchiha housewife standing in the hall with her hands on her hips and an expectant look in her eyes with a sliver of challenge to them.
He padded over like a scolded child and gave the woman a deep hug, something the woman eagerly returned. "That's better." He could practically hear the smile in her voice. He separated from the hug as the woman gave him a smile before it quickly turned to concern. "Naru you look like you're about to fall over! Why don't you stay for some dinner?" The woman raised her hand for the side of his head but he caught the hand in a soft hold and gave the woman an equally soft yet tired smile.
"I'll be fine Miko-ba, not much left in the day other than getting some dinner for me'n'Mito. I'll hit the hay right after and then I'll be perfectly fine." he rubbed the hand with his thumb before letting go of the hand. "Ja ne!" he called over his shoulder as he stepped out the door, sliding it back into place.
He restarted his whistling song as he stepped out of the compound and started back down the street to the market district. The night sky had fully taken over while he was indoors and now lanterns gave light to the cobbled roads of Konoha and led the way for him as he made his way to the one stand that would forever feed the Uzumaki household,
Ichiraku's.
He dipped under the curtains of the ramen stand as his tune dwindled to nothing, sliding into a stool at the booth and leaning his head on his hand as he did so. He propped up his elbows on the table stand and let his head lean in his hands, the familiarity of the homely Ichiraku ramen stand washing over him as he let himself have a momentary bout of relaxation.
It seemed nothing was meant to last forever for Naruto.
"Naruto my boy, when'd you get in?" With the exclamation of Teuchi that would mean Ayame would not be far behind, meaning his peace was over. He shifted and sat up straight, leaning forward on his forearms against the table as he smiled at the ramen maker.
"Not more than a minute ago Teuchi-san." He'd never been one for giving everyone he knew an affectionate suffix as opposed to his sister. Naruto looked up at the kind face of Teuchi and couldn't stop a kind smile of his own crawling over his face.
Ayame literally slid into view and was soon in the same position as him from across the counter and she gave him a sweet smile that was reserved for him and his sister. "Whaddya want Naru-kun?" asked the bubbly brunette and Naruto sat up straight with a few rapid blinks as he remembered what he'd come for.
"Just give me four bowls of Miso in some to-go bags and that'll do it." He gave the girl a closed eye-smile which was more out of tiredness than anything. The girl saw her chance and leaned forwards before giving him a kiss on the cheek and darting back before he could truly reply. Naruto was shocked for the first few moments then just let out a few chuckles and starting whistling again to try and keep himself active.
Ayame returned after giving her father the order and leaned against the counter, smiling at him with a slight blush still staining her cheeks at what she'd done but didn't let it phase her. "So, when'd you get back?" she asked as Naruto peered one eye up at the clock only to blink after looking at it.
"Apparently fifteen hours ago." his answer surprised both him and her since it had felt like he'd gotten back less than a few hours ago; it seemed when you had a lot to do time flew. Ayame jerked slightly from the duration but shrugged it off.
"How was the mission?" If you'd asked him fifteen hours ago he would have given you a sarcastic smile and said that it had been long. If you'd asked him five hours ago he would have said it had been a mission. But now...
"Terrible."
Ayame seemed surprised by the blunt one-word summary of the mission he was on for weeks. She just chalked it up to him being annoyed at the length of the mission. Teuchi came to the counter with a paper bag with ramen bowls in them and Naruto gave the man a kind smile before reaching into a pocket on the interior of his jacket and took out his black leather wallet before taking out a fat wad of Ryo that was more than enough to pay for the ramen.
Before the two could even argue about the cost the teen had already left with ramen in-hand, whistling a tune all-the-while.
Naruto was forced to stop his tune as he came to the entrance of his clan compound, seeing a certain Inuzuka yelling up at his house. He gave another sigh before making a weak Kage Bunshin and handing it the ramen, noticing it looked just as tired as him before walking in front of the clone as it trailed behind him.
"C'mon Mito, let's go get some ramen-" Kiba's shout was cut off by a hand clamping down on his neck, somehow not hitting Akamaru. Kiba turned to round on whoever did it but blanched in fear at the tired deadly gaze of Naruto.
"Mutt... Go back to your compound and leave my sister the fuck alone." In all reality, he probably didn't have the energy to take care of a full energy Inuzuka at the moment but Kiba didn't need to know that.
"Oi-"
"Mutt," Naruto growled out the word as if it was a virus. "Go."
Kiba wisely realized who the Alpha of the situation was and stalked off for his home, irritation, and annoyance radiating off of him. Naruto walked through the gate his clone just walked through and made his way up to the compound front door, stepping through it and taking off his shoes and jacket at the front door, carrying the latter as he did so.
He and Mito only used about a tenth of the whole compound because they didn't need the rest but he still cherished the whole compound. His clone had already dispelled after setting down the food on the coffee table so he wasn't surprised when he walked into the sitting room to see Mito already halfway through her first bowl.
"Hey," he greeted as he threw his jacket, the article of clothing landing on his sitting chair but he went to the couch instead. He fell on the soft cushions of the couch with a sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We had a dog problem I had to get rid of." the teen said and heard her instantly stop slurping.
"You didn't like... kill him did you?" The silence that greeted the statement only made her panic even more "Did you!?" her panicked voice gained volume as scenarios kept running through her head. Naruto couldn't take it and let out a string of chuckles at the true panic in her voice.
He sat up and took a bowl out of the bag, lazily snapping the chopsticks as he started eating.
"You're a jerk ya know?" His little sister really was too gullible. The two then ate in comfortable silence for the next few minutes before Mito's curiosity got the better of her.
"So did you learn anything new on your mission? Did you kick ass-"
"Language." Mito rolled her eyes at the word but she continued on.
"Did you like get to flash some powerful jutsu and beat them with it?" Naruto sighed heavily while rolling his eyes.
"You know I don't use jutsu like that Mito-chan," Excusing his sparring match with Anko today, of course, that was the first time he'd used the jutsu and it was more of a trial run than anything.
The blonde seemed only put out for a moment before her vigor returned. "Did you kick butt though?" Naruto's sigh was the only reply to her statement as a grin split her features. "You did!" she practically squealed before almost slamming down the ramen bowl on the wooden table and was next to Naruto in half a heartbeat, slamming into him with the force of a missile despite him not even budging. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell-" Two fingers stopped her repeating message before she stopped with a mild blush at Naruto's slightly annoyed gaze.
"Sorry Aniki," she mumbled before Naruto sighed lightly and shifted over and pulled her up onto the couch next to him, the girl burrowing into his side as he told her the mild version of his worst mission to-date. He told her how he kicked the enemy shinobi butt and how he successfully finished the mission while hiding from her the fact that one of his two remaining teammates had died in the mission.
The only reason he didn't get around to telling her about fighting a group of bandits on the return trip was that a soft snoring had stopped him dead.
He glanced down and saw his innocent little sister asleep at his side, having fallen asleep somewhere along the line of his story. He gave a tired smile and a shake of the head before shifting awkwardly and picked her up bridal-style before carrying her to her room, sliding open the door with his foot. He laid the girl on the bed before taking off her sandals and covering her with her blanket, making sure she was snug before giving her a final pat on the head and walking out of the room, silently shutting the door despite his sister being the heaviest sleeper he knew.
He took one wanting glance at his room door before shaking his head lightly, the day isn't over after all.
Naruto rapped on the door of the humble two-story house in the shinobi district. As he saw lights come on in a trail leading to the door he realized it was close to eleven p.m, a time of sleep and not for sadness but she deserved to know. A black-haired teen a little older than Naruto himself opened the door, rubbing one eye as she did so until she caught sight of Naruto that is.
"N-Naru? What time is it? Never mind that, why do you look like shit?" The ravenette had a slim shinobi build and was a few inches smaller than Naruto himself which seemed to fit her. She was very attractive and had a somewhat pale complexion, similar to porcelain.
"Ah, just got back from a long mission and I'm still sorting through everything," he gave the woman a tired smile which didn't nearly reach his eyes as he rubbed his cheek, feeling the bit of stubble building up after weeks without shaving. "Can I come in?"
The question seemed to throw the girl off before she gave a yawn and a nod as she stepped to the side, allowing Naruto to step through the door and take off his shoes before the two started walking down the hall. "You know my boyfriend might start having some weird thoughts if I have men coming into my house in the middle of the night." It was at that moment that Naruto felt the second chakra signature sleeping upstairs.
"Right, that guy." Naruto was fiercely protective of his teammate and as such he had not thought anyone was suited for her and no man was worthy of her. It had been a week-long mission to try and deter the guy from his teammate but the man had stayed very persistent. "Well, I hope I won't be making this kind of call to you again any time soon." The ravenette turned her head with a raised brow but let it go for the moment.
"Want some coffee?" she asked but it seemed asked out of mere politeness than anything.
"No thanks, I'm not staying long. Just came to talk and then I'm heading over to sensei's right after so can't really stay too long." With those words the teen walked past her and plopped down on the couch, patting the seat next to him.
"Jeez you're freaking me out, who died?" the last part was said jokingly but when he didn't even react to it slightly she narrowed her eyes at him, sitting down lightly with the gears in her head turning audibly. Mere moments later before Naruto could even say anything the teen's eyes widened as they stared at Naruto. "Tell me Ryo's okay." her words came out barely louder than a breath as her scared and frightened gaze stared almost through Naruto.
"Sorry." Before the word was even over the girl was trembling, not wanting to believe her teammate was dead as her mind and body fought the news. Naruto leaned forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling the girl's head into his shoulder. "Shh," He had hushed her even before she had started crying and Naruto really wished he didn't have to hear such a sad and heart-breaking noise.
"H-How-"
"Kunai to the heart, it was painless." Naruto didn't exactly know why he lied to her but felt it would help her grieve thinking his pain was over almost instantly as opposed to the truth. The girl's sobs didn't stop nor did they slow, if anything they seemed to grow as the teen kept rubbing circles on her back while he tried to calm her down.
"Sorry, Mia."
An hour later accompanied by crying and talking he was knocking at yet another door, this one a massive one. The house was more a mansion than anything being at least three stories with ten thousand square feet in width alone. A butler opened the door, seeming surprised at the face of the Namikaze and Uzumaki heir but replaced the surprise with a smile almost instantly. "Ah, Uzumaki-kun. It is rather late, what is it you would be here for at this hour?" the teen gave the kind old man a smile which had been getting weaker and weaker as the day went on.
"I came to have a talk with sensei, any chance he's here?" The butler gave a nod and opened the door a little wider, allowing Naruto entrance before shutting it. Naruto started taking in the interior of the Sarutobi house as the butler started walking past him.
"I shall go wake Master Asuma, (1) please make yourself comfortable while I do so." The kind old man was gone with those words as Naruto mosied on down to the lounge and gave a slightly dry laugh at the portrait of the Sarutobi family hung over the fireplace, Hiruzen standing behind his two sons and both looked upset at the time but the elder Sarutobi seemed to not care if the big smile on his face meant anything.
Below it on a shelf was two smaller pictures, one of Hiruzen and the three Sannin with Orochimaru facing away from the others but keeping his eyes on the camera while both Jiraiya and Tsunade gave the camera small smiles with Hiruzen giving his own. Looking at the picture, Naruto realized how much Asuma looked like his father.
He turned his vision to the left of the picture, to one of his own team. Asuma stood behind the three with his usual cigarette in his mouth yet it was unlit despite the point of a cigarette. He had a proud smirk on his face similar to the one his own father had on in his picture. Naruto, Mia, and Ryo stood in front of him and all three had cigarettes in their own mouths. Naruto was in the middle since he was the smallest and youngest and his red hair at the time had been a lot shorter and had been somewhat similar to Asuma's own.
The boy on Naruto's right had short black hair and was left unruly with it hanging similar to Naruto's current hair and his Sharingan had also been active in the photo with the two tomoe in each eye staring at the camera haunting it with the legendary gaze. He was a good foot taller than Naruto and had a big grin on his face as he held one of Asuma's trench knives reversed in his right hand.
The girl on his left was also taller than him but not as much as the boy and was a few inches smaller than the boy on his right. She had long black hair which was tied up in a pony-tail which reached her shoulders and was wielding the other trench knife in her left hand in a reversed grip and a small smile on her lips as the group of four took their picture.
The heavy feet of the Jonnin walking down the stairs behind him told the teen of Asuma's arrival but he didn't turn to regard the man he just kept staring at Ryo's smiling face. "I still think you sent us to the exams too early." He even heard the questioning hum in the back of the man's throat as he stopped his walking, stopping by the couch as he stared at Naruto's back.
"You three were ready, Ryo won after all didn't he?" The teen staring at the photo gave a disinterested nod, clearly, there were other things going through his head. "What're you doing here this late anyway kid?" It was nearly midnight so it was a reasonable question but the teen didn't want to answer the question just yet.
"This late? Old age catching up to you Sensei?" the scoff was audible and the slight creak of the floorboards told Naruto how the man was shifting to lean on his side; probably crossing his arms.
"Not even near, could still give your ass a whooping any day of the year kid." Naruto snorted out some air softly as he gave a few more nods. "Why are you here at midnight anyway? Don't you have to protect dad in the morning?" The man's question had merit yet again but Naruto didn't focus on the question.
"I've always loved that nickname, 'Kid'. It made me feel like I belonged, I really loved when Ryo called me it." The choke in Naruto's voice was slight but noticeable and Asuma had definitely heard it.
"Kid?" The man's tone had gained a more caring and cautious tone to it as he took some slow steps, gradually getting closer to the teen.
"I don't know what to do sensei." Naruto now had a few tears trailing down his face, a fact the photo's glass reflected as Naruto stared at himself.
"I failed."
Naruto heard the sharp intake of breath Asuma took but he didn't pay attention to him as he just kept staring at himself and Ryo. "I promised Mia I'd protect him, I said I'd take care of him. I-I told him it would all be alright and that he'd be fine." Naruto's previous tiredness had gone and now it had been replaced by all of the overwhelming emotions of the past two weeks.
"What's wrong kid?" Asuma asked as he came up behind the teen and laid a hand on his shoulder, staring at the tears on Naruto's face as he tried to figure out what to do.
"H-He kept telling me how he had th-things to do and that he needed to tell Mia how he felt and he just kept repeating how he loved her and how he needed to tell her how he felt and-" He was swiftly pulled into strong arms as Asuma rubbed the boy's head in an attempt to calm him.
"What's wrong kid? What's wrong?" the man whispered in Naruto's ear as he hugged him.
"He'd dead sensei!" the boy cried into his chest as he sobbed, dampening the man's pajamas. "Ryo's dead." the second word came out as a pitiful sob as the teen burst out crying, sadness and grief overwhelming him as he let out his emotions for the first time in thirteen years.
Asuma seemed to take the news unphased but on the inside, it changed him more than Naruto knew. Asuma held the boy for the next few minutes before the emotions seemed to catch up to the teen and he went limp in the man's arms, mind shutting down as he spoke his last words of the night.
"I'm Tired Asuma-sensei."
So the way I'm doing this is yes, the Uchiha massacre did not happen, yes Naruto is an older brother and Mito takes over the role of the orange-wearing idiot. I actually have a plan for this story as opposed to my others where I kinda follow the flow as my fingers type for me so this'll be an interesting change of pace.
So the way the timeline for this is that Asuma was the sensei for Naruto's team and is now not teaching the Ino-Shika-Cho. Asuma took on the team before sending them to the Chunnin Exams four months later where Ryo won the Exams and both him and Naruto were promoted while Mia wasn't. Naruto has remained a chunnin all of these years for reasons that will be revealed later.
A lot of mysteries so far and they'll be explained with time...