A/N: Guess Who's Back everyone! :D
Sorry I haven't uploaded in ages but life's been busy etc and etc. Anywhoooo, this is my new story and hopefully the starting point to longer chapter stories! :D
WOO! .
Anyway, please read and let me know what you think :)
ciao for now! n.n
Naruto-sama!
Chapter 1: The Maid and The Hero
"Naruto-sama," a gentle voice called out to our favourite blonde ninja. "Naruto-sama," it tried again attempting to wake the young man.
"Naruto-sama!" it cried out a little more fiercely than before earning the reaction it was hoping for. The said boy had started shifting in his bed and his eyes slowly started to open. With them, his cerulean blue eyes met with hazel nut brown. He gazed upon a rather cute girl with light, long, brown, and wavy hair. She looked to be the same age as Naruto but wore typical civilian clothing with a frilly apron on top showing obvious signs that this person was a in fact a civilian and had never once received any form of formal ninja training.
"C'mon Naruto-sama, breakfast is ready and you're going to need your energy for today considering its your graduation test and all," the girl said nudging her master a little more to further wake him up.
Naruto's eyes started to flutter open and he soon realised what was happening. It happened every morning since he had met her.
"Good morning Miyuki-chan," he said as he rolled over "Just give me a few more minutes ok?" He then pulled the covers over himself again and attempted to go back to sleep. Miyuki gave a small pout before nudging the knuckle head again.
"Naruto-sama, you have to wake up! You have to have your breakfast, get ready and be in the classroom before the bell rings otherwise Iruka-sensei will scold you again," she said in a pleading way with a bit of frustration evident in her voice. Her master was indeed a stubborn young ninja. Naruto looked over his shoulder so that he could see Miyuki's face. She still held that determined look that said 'I am not moving from here until you get up.' Naruto sighed. Looks like his sleeping in would have to wait until after he became a Genin.
"Ok, Ok," he said as he slowly started getting up "I'm awake," he sighed. Miyuki gave him a warm smile.
"Good. I'll be in the kitchen making you some tea so be sure to get ready before your breakfast gets cold Naruto-sama," she told him. Naruto gave a nod as his response, which Miyuki took with a smile as she walked out from his room. Naruto sighed before he practically heaved his body out of bed. His seemingly endless amount of energy apparently doesn't kick in until later in the morning. So, Naruto, just like everyone else, was grumpy and irritable in them morning. Even more so due to the fact that it was a Monday. How he detested Mondays. Naruto hobbled towards the bathroom and walked into the shower turning it on and let the water cascade down on him. It was refreshing and exactly what he needed. He started feeling more awake and was finally ready to take on the day. He turned it off and plucked the towel from the towel rack and wrapped it around his waist. He walked back into his room and looked at the bed.
'Just like every other day,' he thought with a smile. On his bed was his clothes perfectly folded in a small neat pile.
'She's so thoughtful.'
He walked over to it and started getting dressed. Instead of the orange jumpsuit he had wanted to buy years ago, Miyuki had convinced him that it was unbecoming of a ninja to be a target and she refused to let her master be the largest target on a mission. So instead, she had taken it upon herself to do his wardrobe and attire shopping. Currently, folded in front of him was a black long sleeved top with the trademark orange swirl on the back of it, dark grey cargo pants with a number of a pockets on the legs. He put both pieces of clothing on, his black sandals, and the rest of his standard issue ninja equipment for an academy student. He walked out of his room and went into the dining/kitchen area where on the table there was a warm bowl of porridge and Miyuki pouring a cup of green tea.
"Breakfast, master," she said indicating to the bowl. Naruto sat down on the seat next to her.
"What's this?" he asked her looking rather hesitant and the mush in his bowl.
"Porridge, Naruto-sama. It's porridge. Teuchi-san from Ichiraku ramen recommended it after trying some from a travelling merchant. He had apparently bought the recipe from him, and Ayame-chan said that it cost Teauchi-san around the same price as you would pay if you ate twenty bowls of ramen," she said rather bubbly. She seemed nearly just as energetic as Naruto but with a much more calmer way of handling things. Naruto gave her a deadpanned look, which said 'I-eat-twenty-bowls-of-ramen-so-what-are-you-imply ing?'
Having been with him for so long Miyuki instantly knew what that look meant.
"Yes, I'm saying that the amount you eat is how much Teuchi-san paid for the recipe. However though, because you're the best customer at Ichiraku's you get a rather large discount when you eat so really when you eat twenty bowls you're only paying around fifteen," she told him in a matter of fact way. Naruto, realizing what she meant gave an audible "ohhh" before going back to looking at his porridge.
"It looks funny," he concluded. Miyuki giggled.
"Of course it does Naruto-sama," she said in a playful tone. Naruto sent her a glare which she accepted and brushed aside whilst she drunk her tea.
"How come it's not ramen?" Naruto asked her in almost a pleading voice.
"Because Naruto-sama," she started putting her cup down and looking at the young teen as if she were scolding a young child "Eating ramen for every single meal isn't healthy for you. We've been over this already Naruto-sama."
Naruto tried to argue back saying that it was a necessity and he had to always have ramen but Miyuki just scolded him and he finally gave up. Ever since he had met Miyuki and had practically forced her way into his life she had made sure to change some of his rather bad habits. And she had managed to do so. She fixed and changed a lot of his bad little quirks. However, his ramen addiction was just something she couldn't kill. Instead she attempted to rein it in which she still found challenging. She had come to realize that her master was rather stubborn, especially when it came to ramen. They had agreed that Tuesday and Friday were ramen nights and Naruto could only go out and get ramen for lunch twice a week. It broke Naruto's and Teuchi's heart that Naruto couldn't go out and eat ramen whenever he wanted but Ayame and Miyuki agreed it was for the best.
Naruto decided to finally take a spoonful of the mushy porridge and eat it. Naruto kept it in his mouth for a while before finally swallowing it.
"It's bland," Naruto said rather dejectedly. Miyuki passed him a small bottle of golden looking liquid.
"What's this?" he asked her inspecting the bottle.
"It's called honey. The Aburames battle bee's have mated with wild bees and have been producing honey on a large scale and it has been shown that it can help with chakra circulation. Apparently it's a good topping for porridge," she told him in a cheerful way before opening up the villages daily paper.
Naruto looked at the bottle quizzically before shrugging and pouring the runny syrup on the blank canvas that was the porridge. He took another spoonful and agreed with himself that it tasted much better.
"Delicious!" he said earning a small smile from Miyuki. He then proceeded to finish the whole bowl and drink his tea in under two minutes.
"Thanks for that Miyuki-chan!" he exclaimed happily now that he had finally eaten something "that was awesome! You're an amazing cook!"
Miyuki blushed lightly. She was never good with compliment and her master seemed fit to give her one every five minutes when in the presence of her. Ever since Miyuki had come into Naruto's life, he had gotten to taste heaps of different kinds foods. Miyuki at first wasn't a very good cook but she refused to let her master eat ramen for every meal so she practiced and learned a lot of skills with cooking to be her specialty. He stood up with his empty bowl and cup in hand and walked over to the sink.
"Ok!" he said just below a yell "let's do these dishes!"
The moment that those words left his mouth, Miyuki was on her feet and fussing around our blonde headed ninja shouting things like "No! You can't!" or "Please let me do that Naruto-sama!"
Naruto looked down at the girl fussing around him. Thanks to Miyuki always cooking him good and healthy food he had grown quite a bit. He was in fact the second tallest person in his class, which he was rather happy about. She was talking much to fast for him to really understand. He smiled.
"What are you talking about Miyuki-chan? It's just dishes," he stated rather simply. "Besides, you're always doing so much for me, the least I can do is dishes."
"No! You musn't! What good am I if I can't even do your dishes for you Naruto-sama?" she practically screamed out. She was near hysteria. Naruto sighed. He put the dishes in the sink and wrapped his arms around her.
"Fine," he whispered "I'll let you do the dishes."
"Thank you, Naruto-sama," she whispered back into his chest. Naruto pulled away from her and smiled at her warmly which she gave a reassuring smile back.
"I'll meet you outside ok?" Naruto said as he made his way to the front door.
"Ok Naruto-sama! These dishes will be gone faster than you can run when you're being chased by the ANBU patrol after you've pulled a prank!" she exclaimed with a cheerful determination. Naruto chuckled lightly before walking out the front door and leaning on the side of the wall next to the door.
'Miyuki-chan is always so weird,' he thought to himself. 'Ever since that time she's been tagging along and always calling me Naruto-sama.'
Naruto then thought about the last few years with her and how much she's done for him. All the cleaning, helping him study, and just being there for him.
'She's really done a lot for me,' he thought somberly as he looked up towards the clouds. He was pulled out of his musings when Miyuki walked out. She was now dressed in her civilian clothing minus the apron she had on previously.
"Are you ready Naruto-sama?" she asked him with a smile.
"Yeah! Genin here I come!" he shouted as he started a leisurely jog towards the academy whilst Miyuki followed him at a much slower pace smiling whole-heartedly at her masters' actions. As Naruto ran, his wild blonde hair bounced with him. Because Miyuki made him get rid of the goggles that he had got when he was younger Naruto's hair grew without restraint and he eventually grew to enjoy his hair the way it was. It sort of looked like a shorter version of the fourths hair without the epic side-bangs that he saw in all the pictures. The two finally arrived at the academy and saw that heaps of people were all filing into the classes. Naruto saw a number of certain people and called out to them.
"Oi! Duckbutt! Over here!" he cried calling out to Sasuke who was standing with the others. Naruto saw him sigh but watched as Sasuke and the younger version of the Konoha nine ((it's not twelve yet so just roll with it)) walk towards him and Miyuki. Naruto smiled happily. The two had become fast friends and rivals after the first year at the academy. They had a massive sparring tournament that the teachers set up as the mid year exam and Naruto and Sasuke fought in the finals. Sasuke was an arrogant jerk and Naruto felt he needed to bring him down a peg or two. So after an intense fight, a good right hook to the face, and a rather inspirational speech, which everyone heard, Sasuke finally humbled down and accepted Naruto as a friend and rival. Even though Sasuke was still rather anti-social he had met a few friends. He liked a few of his classmates. All of his friends were all future heirs to their clan except for Sakura Haruno who was a civilian girl. Sasuke was also pretty close to Miyuki considering she barely leaves Naruto side as well as the Ichiraku's because Naruto usually drags them there after training. With the help of Naruto, Sasuke got to meet and learn from a whole bunch of different people and thanks to Naruto and everyone he met, he learnt a lot. Sure he wasn't a genius but he wasn't as dumb as he used to be. Academically he was about the sixth or seventh in the class, which wasn't too bad considering the geniuses he had in his class. However, practical wise, Naruto was on par with Sasuke. The two had a rivalry mimicking that of Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke had twenty-five wins, twenty-four losses, and three draws whilst Naruto had twenty-four wins, twenty-five, losses and three draws. Naruto had gotten close with all his friends and saw them almost as his own family now. They hung out, went to each others houses and trained together. Miyuki and Sasuke both said that it was Naruto's own doing that he got all his friends but Naruto was determined to let everyone know that it was only because of Miyuki that he finally got any friends. She had walked up to the kids playing on the park one day and had asked if her and Naruto could join. They were hesitant on letting Naruto join due to the fact that their parents said they should avoid him but after a few words from Miyuki they had completely agreed on letting Naruto play with them and after actually getting to know him they all quickly became close friends. Majority of his friends parents were accepting of Naruto as well, except for one. Unfortunately that was Sakura's parents. But she had said that her mother was slowly coming around.
"You're late dumbass," Sasuke stated with his signature smirk but soon got a smack to the arm by Sakura.
"Sasuke-kun don't be mean to Naruto-kun!" she said.
"Yeah, at least he doesn't look like a ducks ass!"
"K-K-Kiba-kun! Please don't use such language!"
"Shut up dog breath you're making Hinata upset! Are you ok Hinata?"
"Y-Yes I am. Thank you Ino-chan."
Naruto smiled at the little argument happening in front of him. He really cherished his friends. All their little quirks was something he grew fond of. Whether it be Sakura and Ino's bickering while Hinata trying to break them up, Shikamaru complaining about everything, Choji's eating habits, Kiba's eccentrics and even Shino's rather anti-social mannerisms.
"G-G-Good morning Naruto-kun, Miyuki-chan," Hinata said with a small blush.
Naruto gave her a warm smile as did Miyuki.
"Still babysitting the dumbass huh Miyuki? Seriously, why don't you just become a ninja?" Sasuke asked her.
"Like I've told you Sasuke-kun," she started with a smile "I'm not very good at fighting,"
"And like I've said," Sasuke countered "become a medic-nin like Sakura is trying for. Imagine how much help you'll be to Naruto then. We all know how reckless he is in fights."
Everyone couldn't help but agree.
"He's right you know," Sakura stated "but he's not the only one. All of these idiots here will most likely end up getting hurt on the battlefield so its girls like you and me mending them back up," she said with a happy smile.
"Awww Sakura-chan! I'm not that bad! Am I that bad Miyuki? Tell me I'm not! Be honest!"
"Naruto-sama, I cannot tell you you're not reckless in a fight but be honest. So please make a choice," she said in what seemed like an annoyed voice but held some amusement in it which made everyone laugh.
"We best hurry," Shino said "The beetle that I left in the classroom has come back to me and said Mizuki-sensei has started placing the pieces of paper on the tables for the first part of the exam. Naruto gave a nod and turned to Miyuki.
"I'll be going now," he said with his usual goofy grin. Miyuki gave a warm smile in return.
"I'll be sure to have you're congratulatory lunch for when you make Genin," she said as if it were to be expected. Then she saw his pleading look.
"Yes, Naruto-sama, Ramen will be there," she said sighing a little. Naruto did a fist bump into the air.
"Yes! I am so pumped now! Let's go guys! Onwards to Genin and Ramen!" Naruto cried before sprinting towards the academy.
"Naruto you idiot! Wait up!" Sakura cried out "Sorry Miyuki but your stupid master ran off again."
Miyuki gave an understanding smile.
"It's ok," she said "I'll have cooked enough food for everyone so all of you please meet at training ground 32 for your graduation picnic," she said happily.
Everyone felt bad that Miyuki was doing so much for them but Miyuki insisted so they all agreed to be there.
"Excellent! I'll see you later today then!" she said happily "Oh and good luck!" she said before she turned around and started making her way towards the market place.
"Well we better go too. Naruto is probably in there already and I for one don't want him cheating off me so I'll be getting the seat furthest from him. No matter how troublesome it may be."
There was a pause. Suddenly everyone was sprinting towards the academy.
"Damnit forehead move! It's your turn to have Naruto cheat on you anyway!"
"Shut up Ino-pig! It's yours!"
"U-U-Uhm I don't think Naruto-kun even needs to cheat to pass," Hinata told them as they ran.
"Well then why are you running?" asked Sakura
"I-I want to be sitting near him."
"But not next to him?"
"N-No"
"Why?" asked Ino
"I-I'm afraid he'll…cheat."
Both girls laughed before finally entering the academy. In the end Sasuke was the one who ended up sitting next Naruto much to his dismay. However though, Naruto didn't even need to cheat. He knew everything on the written exam and was confident he had passed well. Even though he knew that some teachers were teaching him poorly or favouring students over him, thanks to Miyuki's and everyone else's help he had been able to learn everything he needed and more. The next exam was the practical Taijutsu exam, which was tested outside in the training field. Everyone was paired off through a lucky draw. Unfortunately for Naruto, Sasuke and everyone else, Sasuke and Naruto weren't paired up together for their final academy fight, which everyone was looking forward to. Instead, Naruto got Choji as his partner. Choji didn't want to fight a friend but Naruto told him that if Choji beat him he'd ask Miyuki to cook barbeque later, which caused the reaction he had wanted.
"You're on Naruto!" Choji shouted. Naruto smirked.
'Bingo.'
Choji ran in with his fist raised and attempted to knock Naruto out with one big punch. It would've worked too considering Choji's build but Naruto was too quick. He ducked under the punch, pivoted and turned to face Choji whose back was now facing Naruto.
"Over here Choji!" Naruto cried as a taunt. Choji turned around and swung again. Naruto blocked the incoming attack with his arm and sent a powerful sidekick to straight into Choji's stomach making him fall back on the ground. Iruka called it as Naruto's win. Naruto walked up to his grounded comrade and offered him a hand back to his feet which Choji accepted.
"Looks like I won't be getting that barbeque huh Naruto," Choji said a little down trodden. He smirked.
"Of course you will. She had planned on making it anyway." Choji looked surprised before a smile slowly made its way onto his face.
"You always know how to get me motivated Naruto," Choji said happily.
"Now if only I can find a way to get Shika motivated…" Naruto said letting his sentence drift off into the wind before the two boys started laughing as they came back to the rest of the group.
The final exam was the practical Ninjutsu exam, which was also held outside. Everyone did the academy three ninjutsu, which were the substitution, clone, and transformation jutsus. When it came to Naruto's turn he substituted with Sasuke who wasn't too thrilled, transformed into the fourth, which got him some gasps, and lastly, he used his shadow clones which everyone thought were just regular clones. The only people knew about his clones were him, the Hokage and Miyuki. Miyuki was watching Naruto get frustrated after practicing the clone jutsu one day and decided to go and ask the Hokage what Naruto was doing wrong. She knew her master was much too prideful to go ask questions himself so she thought she would do it. After asking the Hokage questions, it turned out that Naruto, having such a large chakra reserve was subconsciously putting far too much chakra into the jutsu and overpowering it to the point where it would look like a sick dog. So she had decided going into research to what could help her master. The most obvious place to look was the library but she was denied entry because of her civilian status. She was rather upset about that which the librarian noticed and after seeing her upset look; she had offered her a job at the library, which she happily accepted. It was good pay and made living expenses for her and her master a lot easier now they were getting two forms of income, one from the Hokage and Miyuki's new librarian job. It wasn't until a few days later after Miyuki had finally started working in the library did she come across a jutsu that she thought her master could definitely do. However, it was a forbidden jutsu that she would need prior acceptance from the Hokage before even mentioning it to Naruto. So after her shift she had walked to the Hokage's tower and asked if he would teach Naruto the shadow clone jutsu. The Hokage was hesitant but eventually agreed. The following night, Naruto was in the tower and after a few tries had produced four solid clones. To say Naruto was ecstatic would be an understatement. Miyuki was happy as well. She had never seen her master so happy before. She was so glad that her efforts paid off and she now even had a job because of it. Ever since then, whenever Naruto was asked to use the clone jutsu, he always used shadow clones. Just like he did then.
"Excellent Naruto!" Iruka cried out. "Well done! You pass with flying colours. Please pick your headband and join your classmates back inside until the final exam is over. Naruto gave a nod and picked the headband with black fabric before walking back inside the building and entering his classroom. He saw that he was the last of his group to enter the classroom.
"You took you're time idiot," Sasuke called out in his usual monotone voice from where he sat to Naruto who was standing at the door.
"And you're still looking gay. Glad we got that figured out," Naruto retorted making Kiba fall off his seat in laughter. Naruto made his way back to his seat next to Sasuke.
"C-Congrats Naruto-kun," Hinata said in the seat behind him. Naruto gave her a warm smile.
"You too."
Naruto then decided it was finally time to put his headband on like the rest of his classmates and decided to just relax until Iruka came back into the room. It was a good ten minutes or so before Iruka finally did come back into the class with his clipboard. Naruto had nearly fallen asleep but Sasuke and Hinata had kept him awake.
"Congratulations!" Iruka started crying out to his newly graduated academy students. "As of today all of you in this room are fully fledged ninja! Remember, out there on the battlefield is nothing like what you learnt in the academy. The battles are real, the danger is real, and everything you face out there is real. Be careful, take care of your teammates, and do your village and sensei proud!"
All the new Genin gave a loud cheer. Once the noise died down Iruka spoke again.
"Be back here after lunch for team placements and meeting of your new Jounin captain. Good luck!" and with that Iruka walked out of the classroom that was soon followed by the new Genin filing out of the classroom as well.
As Naruto and his friends left the classroom in one big group, the happy and proud parents of the future clan heirs welcomed them all. Hugs, and big smiles gave a warm feeling over them. Naruto of course didn't have any parents to feel proud of him. However, he saw the one person that was closest to him at the moment giving him a very big smile and what seemed to be a small tear in her eye.
"Congratulations Naruto-sama," she said rather softly. Naruto beamed at her as he broke off from the group with Sasuke in tow.
"Thank you Miyuki-chan!" he shouted as he gave her a big hug causing her to blush lightly. Naruto pulled away from Miyuki then looked at Sasuke.
"You headed home Mr. Rookie of the year?"
Sasuke scoffed.
"Please, you know that title means nothing to me. If you had actually studied harder you probably would've gotten it."
"Congratulations Rookie of the year-kun," Miyuki said with a teasing smirk that got Sasuke to sigh.
"Not you too…"
Naruto laughed loudly. Naruto then heard Ino cry out towards him from across the yard.
"Naruto, the rest of us will meet you at the training ground later ok! We just want to get cleaned up a little bit!"
"Yeah that's fine!"
Naruto watched the group leave with their parents before looking back to Miyuki and Sasuke.
"So what should we do now?" Sasuke asked.
"Well I have already set everything up for our afternoon lunch today Naruto-sama so there is no more work that needs to be done."
"Awesome Miyuki-chan! You're always so good at these things!" he said to her making her blush again. Naruto then perked up.
"Oh yeah! I just forgot! I gotta go pick something up!" Naruto said as he just remembered what he had needed to do.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
"Never mind, I'll see you guys later ok!" he said to them as he ran off down the road. Before the other two knew it he the blonde bundle of energy had already gone.
"So what now?" Sasuke asked looking at Miyuki.
"Shall we head off to the training grounds?" She offered.
"I guess," Sasuke replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Miyuki gave a nod of acceptance and walked off with Sasuke next to her.
Naruto had run off to a little run down shop near the eastern gate of the village. He had purchased something there just for today and he was going to pick it up. As he entered the shop, Naruto shouted out,
"Old man! Are you here?"
A rustling noise then a crash came from behind the shabby looking counter in the shabby looking shop. A short man with dirty clothes and rather darky spiky hair stood up from behind the counter and said "Oh Naruto-chan, it's you. Have you come to pick up your order?" he asked in a small croaky voice. Naruto gave an affirmative nod. The man smiled showing his yellowing teeth.
"It's just in the back. Let me go get it. Feel free to look around while you wait."
Naruto gave another nod started walking around the shop inspecting the items on the broken down shelves. Naruto saw all sorts of different ninja tools, sealing papers, and books. Naruto had been inspecting a few things on the shelves when he came across three really interesting things. One was a box that had a calligraphy set and a beginners guide to fuinjutsu. Naruto had took a small interest in it when learning about it in the academy and reading about other fighting styles whenever he waited in the library for Miyuki to finish her shift. However, he had never gotten around to actually try learning about it. He took it off the shelf and looked at the next item. This one was also a book. It was titled 'The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja" by Jiriya of the Sanin. Naruto knew he was the writer of those little orange books he saw on the Hokage's desk and was hesitant on taking it but when he looked at the inscription at the front that said "To my number one student and faithful friend, Minato Namikaze, I present you this book in hopes you too will pass down your will of fire."
Minato Namikaze was a name he knew all too well considering his idol was the Fourth Hokage. So he took that off the shelf too. Naruto continued walking around the shop until he got to the weapons rack. There he saw what looked to be some sort of twin gauntlet. He inspected it, running his hand over the fine steel. He picked one up and looked underneath it. There he saw a retractable blade.
'That's pretty cool,' he thought to himself. Suddenly he got a really good idea. A large smile graced his face. He brought all three items to the counter just as the old man had come hobbling back with a small box wrapped up in plain wrapping paper.
"Here you go," the old man croaked out. He then noticed the three new items that were spread out on the bench top. However one really came to his attention.
"The hidden blades hmm? I haven't seen them in use for a very long time. However they should be in good condition. But, you don't seem like the type for silent and deadly things like those," the man said giving Naruto an interrogating look. Naruto gave a nod.
"You're right. It's not for me. So how much for the lot old man?" he asked him. The man thought about it for a moment ((A/N: 1 ryou = 1 dollar just to make things easier for me in this story))
"Let's see, for the book, the sealing set and the blades…hmm…I'll give it to you for one hundred and twenty-five. Plus the extra fifty you owe me for the package, it comes to a total of one hundred and seventy-five."
Naruto gave another nod with a smile on his face. He had been saving up for a long time and he got paid now-and-then for playing the 'suspect' in the Chuunin and recently promoted Jounin's 'capture the nin' exercise. Naruto took out his money from his little frog wallet and placed it on the counter.
"That should be enough," Naruto said with a little bit of uncertainty. Maths was never his strong suit. The old man counted the money and smiled.
"Just the right amount," he said with a toothy smile.
"Awesome! Thank's a ton!"
"Would you like them in a bag?"
"Yes please!" Naruto said as the old man started placing the items into a brown paper bag.
"Here you go," he said as he handed the bag to Naruto.
"Thanks! I'll probably be back again sometime!" and with that Naruto bolted out the door. The old man smiled and just went back to cleaning his store.
It had been about twenty minutes since Naruto had left Sasuke and Miyuki. The both of them had already entered the training grounds and it wasn't long until everyone else started filing in as well. The first question that was asked when they had all arrived was 'where was Naruto?' Sasuke and Miyuki could only shrug their shoulders because no one knew. Everyone thought this was odd because those two were always the ones that knew where he was.
"I hope he's ok," Sakura said.
"C'mon we all know if anyone can handle themselves it's him. There's a reason we named him the leader of our little gang," Ino responded as she sat down looking at a flower.
"I-I-Ino-chan is r-r-right Sakura-chan. N-Naruto-kun w-wil be fine."
"I guess so. He's just so reckless."
Kiba and Akamaru had arrived late and just entered the grounds.
"Yo! Where's leader-san?" he said strolling in towards the group.
"Naruto-san is not here yet." Shino said in that weird way Shino speaks.
"You know, I still can't believe Naruto managed to get us all in this one big group," Ino said incredulously as she stood up. "I mean, who would've thought such a knucklehead could get even Sasuke Uchiha to talk to us like peers. Even after what happened with him," Sasuke sent her a glare.
"No offence Sasuke."
"I wasn't that bad," Sasuke nearly pouted.
"And the third isn't old," Ino said sarcastically.
"It can't be helped," Shikamaru stated from his lying down position looking up at the clouds. "Naruto just has that effect on us. And probably on everyone else that he'll soon meet. You just want to like the guy no matter how annoying he can be. Plus, out of all of us, I honestly don't think there'd be anyone more suited to run this village. If someone besides him were to become Hokage…it'd just be too troublesome."
Everyone was a little stunned. After everything their group had been through they had grown accustomed to accepting what Shikamaru had said to be completely true and accurate so to hear something as loyal as what Shikamaru had said was rather stunning.
"Besides, don't you remember the first time he all invited us to this training ground?"
Choji chuckled. Everyone thought back to when Naruto first invited them to the training ground.
Flash Back no Jutsu!
"Jeez Shikamaru why did you even bring us to this stupid training ground?" asked Ino.
"Naruto asked me to bring you, Sakura and Choji here with me," he said.
The group then saw a few other people walk in. It was Kiba and Akamaru accompanied by Shino and Hinata following them as well.
"So I dragged my two targets and I see you got yours," Kiba said.
"U-Uhm, d-do you think we'll be waiting l-long f-for Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered out.
"Yes. It is nearly sunset and I should be going home soon."
"S-Shino-san is r-right. I snuck away from my house just to come b-because K-Kiba-san insisted."
"He better be quick" Sasuke said as he walked in "Plus we have more academy lessons tomorrow. I'm gunna beat that little knuckle head into ground after his win from yesterday."
"Look, relax, he's coming now" Kiba said. As spoken true, Naruto, followed by Miyuki was running towards them.
"Hey guys!" he cried out. He was met with a number of different responses. He ignored the negative ones.
"Ok, so I know we're all buddies and stuff now," Sasuke scoffed cutting him off.
"Speak for yourself. I still hate you." Sasuke said sending him a glare, which Naruto returned in kind.
"Well everyone except for Sasuke."
Another scoff.
"Anyway, I was thinking because I'm going to be Hokage someday, you guys are going to have to be awesome ninja as well because all of you are heir to your clans.
"I-Im not," Sakura said.
"But you're awesome Sakura-chan so it doesn't matter!" he said excitedly causing her to blush and annoy Hinata and Miyuki a little. Naruto didn't want to leave Sakura out because they were such good friends now so he included her in his little project as well.
"I already know I'm going to be an amazing ninja Naruto. I don't need some wannabe Hokage dropout telling me that. I'm leaving," Sasuke said as he was slowly turned around.
"Sasuke," Naruto said in an unusually calm tone.
"What?" he asked.
"Please…just listen."
Naruto's voice was so calm and solemn that it was almost unnatural. Yet, it still held so much authority he couldn't say no. However his Uchiha pride prevented him from accepting defeat gracefully.
"Fine." He said with a grunt as he turned back around. Naruto smiled.
"What I'm trying to say," Naruto tried again "is that as the kids, we're the future of this village! One day I'll become the Hokage and lead this village!" Naruto then paused for a moment.
"No," he said slowly "I won't lead this village."
Ino looked at him as if he was stupid.
"Didn't you just say you'd be Hokage like you always do? Then that means you WILL lead the village. Are you so stupid you don't even know what Hokage do anymore," she said with a smirk. Naruto paid her teasing no mind.
"No. What I mean is, I won't be leading the village by myself. I'll have all of you there with me…." Naruto said letting the end of his sentence go quiet. He sighed. "This is what I'm trying to say," Suddenly Naruto did something none of them ever expected to see. If there was one thing everyone knew about Naruto it was the fact that he was as prideful as Sasuke Uchiha. But yet there he was, bowing down so low that his body made an almost perfect right angle.
"Please help me become Hokage!" he shouted. He looked up at the stunned faces of the group.
"And in exchange I promise to help all of you achieve your goals and dreams as well."
Naruto's eyes were pleading. Naruto felt uncertain about how they would answer. He looked back to the sentinel looking Miyuki who stood beside him giving him an encouraging smile. Naruto couldn't help but feel a little less worried. Finally one of them spoke.
"I'll follow your lead Hokage-sama!" Kiba shouted with a giant smirk on his face and an approving bark from Akamaru. Naruto slowly started smiling. He then heard a sigh.
"Ok, ok," Shikamaru said raising his hand. "I'll follow you as well Hokage-sama. Someone has to make sure you don't do something stupid. But I guess Miyuki could do that as well," he said indicating to her causing her to smile. Soon he was getting support from everyone.
"You have the Yamanaka's support!" Ino said with a fist pump.
"Mine too!" cried Sakura high-fiving her best friend.
"A-As you do m-m-mine Naruto-k-kun," Hinata stuttered.
"We've been buddies for a while Naruto," Choji said in between crunches "So of course you have my support." Naruto beamed. Shino gave a nod, which Naruto accepted. Suddenly all eyes fell on Sasuke. He was yet to say anything. His head was hung low, obvious sign he was thinking.
"My goal is something I WILL do myself," Naruto's expression turned into a frown. "I WILL kill THAT man and avenge my clan!" Naruto was slowly loosing hope on Sasuke.
"However," Sasuke began as he raised his head and slowly started scratching his cheek in minor embarrassment "I suppose I'd feel a little safer if I had the Hokage by my side. I'm no fool. I know there is strength in numbers and besides, I still have to REVIVE my clan and that needs me alive to do so. So I guess what I'm trying to say is…I support you as well Naruto."
If Naruto's smile could grow any larger, it would've broke his face apart. Everyone else held giant smiles of their own as well. Well, except for Sasuke and Shino. Sasuke held his usual smirk and no one could ever see Shino's mouth so they weren't sure.
"I promise that you won't regret this!" Naruto shouted finally back up in a proper standing position.
"I better not," Sasuke said as he started leaving "Train hard…Hokage-sama."
Flash Back no Jutsu: Kai!
"How could I not?" Sasuke said with a large grin. That was the first time he had ever felt apart of a group.
"Exactly. Even back then Miyuki stood next to him as the perfect secretary," said Shikamaru whilst Miyuki blushed lightly.
"I-I'm only a servant to Naruto-sama."
"Please! We all know how much that idiot means to you and how much you mean to him. He'd still be the annoying little blonde we knew him as before he met you. You really have helped him grow to become someone better and someone we're willing to follow."
"Y-Yeah, I-I-I wish I-I was a-as g-good a-at looking o-out for N-Naruto-kun as you M-Miyuki-chan."
"It's my job to look after him though. I'm Naruto-sama's maid or servant. The title doesn't matter to me. What does matter is my ability to serve my master and cater for all his needs."
Shikamaru sighed.
"You're so troublesome. You know he doesn't really see you as his servant. He just thinks you're incredibly kind. We all know Naruto isn't the type of person who would willingly take a servant. I mean, after three years of knowing you, not once has he given you a direct order."
Miyuki was speechless for a moment. Once again the Nara genius was right. Naruto had never actually given her an order. He hinted things and asked for things (usually ramen) but never gave her a proper order.
"That…is true," she told them all honestly. "I-I must not be good enough for my master," she began with her head hung low.
"Oh no…" Sasuke whispered to Sakura.
"Yeah…" Sakura whispered back.
"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.
'Here she goes…' everyone else thought.
"I-I s-should just die. There's no point in living if I can't serve my master!" She began hysterically with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I'll be just like a broken tool! I don't want to be alone again!"
Ino hated to see Miyuki become the way she was becoming. Everyone knew that Miyuki was pretty much Naruto's shadow the way she was always with him. However, what people didn't know (except for the people currently with her) was she was very passionate about being Naruto's servant and also very attached to her master. She would throw fits if she thought that she wasn't serving him to the best of her ability or when someone else tries to do a job that she would do for her master.
"Calm down Miyuki it's fine," she said trying to calm down the hysterical girl "you're incredibly useful to Naruto."
"Am I?" she asked almost pleading. "Am I really Ino?"
"Definitely."
Miyuki looked at the other faces of her friends whilst Ino wrapped her arms around her in a comforting way to calm her down. Everyone gave Miyuki a nod to say 'Ino's right.' Miyuki smiled back.
"Thank you," she whispered to everyone.
Once Miyuki had finally calmed down she had apologized for her behavior, which everyone simply said there was nothing to be sorry for. They were all used to it by now anyway considering it happened often.
"Anyway Miyuki," Sakura started trying to lighten the mood "Mind telling us how you met Naruto-kun again?"
Miyuki smiled at Sakura.
"I'm sure I've told you this story before Sakura-chan."
"You have. It's just one I can never seem to get tired of."
"I agree." Shino stated causing everyone to snap their heads towards him.
"It is a story that I too enjoy listening to over and over again."
Everyone looked back to Miyuki who sighed.
"I suppose I could tell you all again."
Everyone beamed. Kiba then sat down cross-legged on the floor with Akamaru on his head.
"Let's start the story!"
Everyone copied Kiba and even though they had literally just graduated the academy, it looked as if they were back in their classroom listening to Iruka give a lecture.
"Ok kiddies," Miyuki started with a teasing smirk as she sat down on a rock in front of them. "This is the story of my hero, my savior, my life, and my master. This…is the story of how I met Naruto-sama,"
Flash Back no Jutsu!
A smaller Naruto could be seen running through a forest with a laugh.
"They'll never catch me!" he shouted. As he ran he started hearing sobbing noises. He came to an abrupt stop to see if he could pin point where it was coming from.
"Who's crying," he asked himself looking around in between the trees. He then caught a glimpse of long brown hair and started walking towards it.
"Hey! Are you there?" he asked. He didn't get a response but the sobbing noises were getting louder.
Naruto rounded behind a tree and found a little girl curled up in a ball leaning against a tree crying. Naruto was rather unsure of what to do in the situation he was in. It had been a long time since he had cried and he certainly had no experience dealing with other people when they were crying.
"U-Uh a-are you ok?" he asked her as he squatted down so that he was at her level. He was met with more sobs.
"How come your alone?" he asked looking around wondering why no one was there with her, still more crying.
"Where are you parents?"
The crying stopped for a moment.
"Dead." The girl said before she went back to weeping.
Naruto was a little stunned.
"O-Ok," he said a little taken aback " m-maybe we should get you to the Hokage" Naruto suggested.
"Oooh Miyuki-chan!" came a sing-song voice from the distance that held a certain amount of sinister.
Naruto noticed that the girl started shaking and instantly grabbed his hand.
"B-Bad m-man has c-come t-to h-hurt me." She stuttered.
Naruto looked around and saw a man slowly stepping over some branches in the distance. Naruto watched as the little bit of light that was in the forest reflect off something metallic in the mans hands.
'A weapon,' Naruto instantly concluded. Naruto then pieced two and two together. His head snapped back to the little girl clinging onto his arm.
"Was he the reason for your parents death?"
The girl gave a nod.
Naruto looked back towards where the man was. He had already noticed them and was making his way towards where the two were.
"There you are Miyuki-chan! It's such a shame you're not of age yet, I would've enjoyed playing with my dear niece. But no matter, I'm sure selling you off to the highest bidder will be more than enough to satisfy me," he said in a sickly sweet tone.
Naruto suddenly go on edge. His instincts were telling him that they were in danger and that no matter what he couldn't let the girl get hurt. He knew it was too late to get her to hide and that even though he knew his way around the forest, it would be hard to be stealthy with someone else.
"Look," he said grabbing the girl by the shoulders and making her look into his cerulean blue eyes. "Don't worry ok. I won't let him hurt you." He told her with a smile on his face.
"It's my promise to you. And I never break a promise."
The girl gave another nod.
"But I need you to promise me not to move from here unless I tell you to run. If I do tell you to run then I need you to run as fast as you possibly can out of the forest and no matter what happens to me you need to get out ok?"
The girl paused for a moment.
"Your name," she whispered.
"Naruto Uzumaki. Future Hokage of the Leaf Village," he told her rather proudly.
"Miyuki." It sounded as if she was about to say her last name but something made her stop.
"Nice to meet you Miyuki,"
"You too Naruto…sama."
Naruto tilted his head in confusion before shaking it off after hearing the man getting closer.
"Remember our promise," he said as he got up.
"I will. Please come back safe."
"Of course I will! I'll be Hokage someday!" and with that Naruto made a dash to the man. The man wasn't incredibly tall but still rather large for Naruto. If they were standing side by side then Naruto would be about his stomach height. Due to this disadvantage height Naruto decided to have his opening attack a spear tackle. He had caught the man by surprise because he had just landed from climbing over a branch. Naruto had pinned the man on the ground and kick the kicked the knife away.
"Take this you bastard!" he shouted as he punched the man in the eye making his head rock to the side. The man turned his head and looked at him before spitting in Naruto's face making the boy recoil back attempting to get the mans saliva off of his face. Using that chance the man sent his now free hand into the boys stomach making Naruto double over. The man reversed the pin and started pounding the young mans face in with his fists.
"You little brat! I'll kill you!" the man shouted.
He got off Naruto to find his knife. Naruto was bloody and beaten but was still functioning properly. He was hurting and he could see red all over but he wasn't about to quit. Naruto found a very large and pointy stick that was next to him and whilst the man had his back turned Naruto got up from his lying down position and stuck the branch into the mans leg. A very large yell of pain could be heard echoing throughout the forest.
"You little shit! I'll gut you for this!" he shouted as he attempted to swing the knife at Naruto. Naruto jumped back and sent a fist at the injured mans face making him fall back. Naruto looked at the fallen man as he kicked the knife away for a second time. He picked it up and then plunged the knife straight into his attackers body. At first it was only meant to be a single stab but before Naruto knew it, he had stabbed the now dead body another seven times. The adrenaline had finally run out and he slowly got off the dead man and started making his way back towards Miyuki with the knife still in his hand. He was bloody from not just his blood but his victims as well. Once he neared the girl, he dropped the knife and let it crash down onto the earth where it lay unmoving and as lifeless as the corpse a few meters from where he stood.
"N-Naruto," Miyuki started as he came closer towards him. She was no longer a stranger to death so watching yet another person die before her eyes wasn't as bad as it was before but it was still traumatic nonetheless. Naruto didn't respond to his name being called. Instead, he just picked up the girl bridal style and carried her out of the forest and into the village. As they walked Miyuki tried to clean some of the blood off of his face whilst stuttering things like "N-Naruto-sama, y-you're dirty, we need to get you c-cleaned," or "R-Red j-just isn't your colour," as a way to deal with the events of the day. Naruto didn't respond.
When they entered the gates, Naruto was getting yelled at as to why he was carrying a girl and the reason for him being covered in blood. Yet again he paid the civilians no mind. However, when a civilian woman attempted to get near the two, Naruto sent a look that promised death. He was in no gaming mood and the aura he gave was something similar to that of a king ready to give out a punishment to traitors. No one came close after Naruto sent them his glare. With the civilians out of his way, Naruto carried on to his designated location, the Hokage tower.
Once he arrived in the Hokages office, to say Hiruzen was surprised would be like saying Naruto preferred vegetables over ramen.
"What happened with you Naruto? And who's the girl?" Hiruzen asked stressing over the boy and his new companion. Naruto didn't say anything. Instead, he pointed to Miyuki. Hiruzen looked towards the girl. She had looked at Naruto questioningly before nodding. She understood what he had wanted her to do.
"Excuse me Hokage-sama, Naruto-sama has just experienced something horrible." She said in a monotonous voice that would make Itachi Uchiha himself jealous.
"Naruto-sama?" Hiruzen inquired. She gave a nod which he accepted but gave her a look that said I-want-answers-later. He sighed.
"Tell me what happened," and with that Miyuki proceeded to tell her story and when Naruto came into the picture. Once she was finally done he exhaled rather loudly.
"I see," he said taking a drag on his pipe. He looked towards the red stained boy who was looking down at his feet.
"Naruto, are you ok?" he asked. No response.
"Naruto?" he tried again. Naruto's head slowly began to rise and when Hiruzen's eyes met with Naruto's he gasped a little. Gone were the wild untamable eyes he once held and in its stead were the depths of the sea calling you into the endless abyss.
"Am I a monster Ji-ji" Naruto asked quietly. Hiruzen needed a moment to register what the 10 year old had asked.
"No Naruto, what makes you say that?"
Naruto looked down at his hands.
"My hands are so red ji-chan. I'm sure this is what a monsters hands must look like."
Everyone in the room was silent for a moment.
"Naruto, do you know what you did?"
He gave a nod.
"Killed someone."
"You did but do you know why?"
Naruto thought about it for a moment before looking at Miyuki.
"Because I didn't want him to hurt her." Hiruzen smiled.
"Exactly. And do you know what people call other people when they protect them Naruto?"
Naruto shook his head slowly showing the old man that he didn't know.
Hiruzen kneeled down on one knee and smiled at the blonde.
"They call them a hero."
Naruto's eyes grew larger in surprise and the life he lost in them before was slowly sinking back in.
"I'Im a h-hero?" Naruto asked just above a whisper. Hiruzen gave Naruto a bright smile.
"Yes you are Naruto. I mean, just look at Miyuki. She's even calling you Naruto-sama now."
Naruto looked back to Miyuki who gave him a gentle smile. Hiruzen, seeing this opportunity to really drive the will of fire into the boy decided to take it.
"Naruto," Hiruzen started once again "Could you tell me why you want to be Hokage again?"
Naruto nodded.
"It's so then everyone will acknowledge me."
"Naruto do you know what the job of Hokage means?" Hiruzen asked with his smile never leaving his face. The young man nodded again.
"Yeah, it means you get to fight all the bad guys and tell people what to do right?" Naruto asked a little unsure of his answer. The old hokage chuckled.
"That's not exactly the case Naruto. Would you like to know what being Hokage really means?"
Naruto nodded.
"It means protecting the whole village and everyone in it from everything and everyone who wants to hurt it. Just like how you protected Miyuki today," realization dawned on Naruto.
"And the final job of the Hokage, Naruto, is to make this wonderful village even greater. Do you think you can protect everyone in this village and make them better," he asked turning his back on the two children as he looked out the window.
Naruto thought on it for moment.
'Why would I protect people who don't like me?' he thought 'They never did anything for me.'
His thoughts then went to the Ichiraku's the ANBU who looked after him when he was a kid and the Hokage himself.
'I guess I do have people I want to protect…and I can't just let bad things happen to people just because I don't like them.'
Naruto looked back at the old man with a fire in his eyes that was stronger than he had before.
"You bet I can old man! I'll still take that hat from you and show you that I can make this village even greater than you did!"
Hiruzen looked back at them.
"You won't be able to do it on your own Naruto. You're going to need followers," he smirked "and I believe you have your first one standing right next to you," he said indicating to the girl.
"So what do you say Miyuki-chan? Will you be Naruto's first follower?"
She gave a firm nod.
"Yes Hokage-sama. I hereby give myself to Naruto-sama to see his dream of becoming Hokage and making the village a better place come true. No matter what the price or cost, I will see Naruto-sama's dream come true."
Hiruzen was a little taken aback. Such loyalty coming from a little girl was surprising.
"Now Miyuki-chan, you don't need to go to that extent. I think just being there for Naruto will be more than enough."
"I'm afraid that is not possible Hokage-sama. Naruto-sama saved my life. So mine is now his. I devot myself wholly to Naruto-sama. He is my master now."
The third Hokage sighed.
"Fine." He said, "Take your master home and get him cleaned up. Naruto, Miyuki is in your care now."
Both gave a firm nod before they left with Naruto pretty much dragging Miyuki out of the office. However, just as they were leaving Miyuki heard a small conversation in the office she was just in.
"The seed of the next great tree has been planted," the old man said blowing out smoke from his pipe.
"And it seems the roots of the next tree will be strong as well," came another voice from the shadows.
"Indeed," the third Hokage agreed.
Flash Back no Jutsu: Kai!
"I will never get tired of hearing that story," Sakura said.
"No matter how dark it is, it really gives us a better look into our mysterious blonde comrade," Shino stated. Ino nodded in agreement.
"Who would've thought that he would've killed someone at such a young age."
"At least he did it to protect someone," Sasuke said in disgust.
"C'mon Sasuke-kun, don't be like that, we'll get him. We all promised that we'd help you get him," Sakura said. The ravenette sighed.
"I know."
"What's taking that knucklehead so long?" Kiba asked.
"Who knows, it's honestly too troublesome to try and figure out what he's doing. Besides, he's the sort of person who can't be found if he doesn't want us to find him."
"M-M-Miyuki-c-chan s-some how c-can always find h-him," Hinata stuttered.
"Maybe we should send her to get him," Kiba said as he slowly stood up to stretch his legs.
"There is no need," Miyuki told them all. "My master is here now."
As if one cue there was a loud "Hey guys!" coming from the gate of the training grounds.
"Do you have like a Naruto detector Miyuki?" Ino asked. "Seriously, how do you do that?"
Miyuki merely shrugged as she watched her master get closer and closer to the group.
"Where were you?" Sasuke asked, "and what's that?" he asked as well pointing at the bag Naruto held in his arms.
"Oh these? They're just a little something for after lunch," he told them all.
"Is everyone here?" the blonde ninja asked.
"Yep, you were the only one we were waiting for," Ino said.
"Awesome! Let's eat!" Naruto shouted as he fist bumped and made his way to where the food was sitting.
"You coming or what?" Naruto asked as he looked back to the rest of the group.
Everyone just looked at him for a moment, all-relishing in their thoughts on their blond headed leader. It was Miyuki who spoke first.
"Coming Naruto-sama," she said as she made her way towards him. Soon everyone began to follow. If an on-looker were watching the scene it would've looked like a king walking towards the horizon with his council. The funny thing is though, that's exactly what it will become.
"A ninja must see through deception."
~~ Kakashi Hatake ~~
R & R please n.n
