From One Generation to Another

The Art of Persuasion

"If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect."

- Benjamin Franklin

"Hokage-sama, come now, why would I hide anything from you?"

Sarutobi could only twitch his eye in response. Did this shinobi think him a fool?

Frowning around his pipe, the Sandaime cleared his throat. "Do you honestly believe that I have not noticed the increase in activity amongst all the shinobi despite the decrease in missions? All the hustle-and-bustle around the village? Please, do not think this old man to have failure in eyesight just yet."

The shinobi before him, starting to sweat bullets, frantically waved his hands in front of him. "N-no Hokage-sama! Of course we would never think such a thing! I-I mean, you're the Third! We'd never think of you as not being on top of your game! How could you think that we'd think such a thing?! N-no, no one is thinking such ridiculous thoughts, Lord Hokage!"

Sandaime leaned back while chewing thoughtfully on the end of the pipe. Inhaling, only to then exhale a cloud of smoke, he then took his pipe out and stared straight at the nervous man in front of him, looking for the world like the calm, collected leader that he was. "You still have yet to address my question."

Looking anxiously worried and confused now, the shinobi gulped before asking, "Ah, and, um, what question would that be exactly that I am supposed to answer?"

Leaning forward on his desk to intimidate him further, Sarutobi said sternly, "What. Is. Everyone. So. Worked. Up. About?"

Realization dawning in on him, the shinobi exclaimed, "Ah, yes! Th-that question! Well, umm, I dare say, I haven't noticed any extra, ah what was the word? Ah yes! 'Hutsle-and-bustle' about these da-"

He cut himself off as sharply as his Hokage's gaze turned. Sarutobi did not like being lied to. Nor did he like surprises which he was fairly certain these secret plans would lead up to.

Giving a nerve-wracked smile, the man squeaked out a "Maybe they all have more errands to run than usual, what with the festival coming up?"

Sandaime scowled firmly before barking out a "you are dismissed" to the man before him who looked ready to pass out with panic. Watching the shinobi disappear in a cloud of smoke, the Hokage replaced his pipe in his mouth and inhaled again, now frowning thoughtfully. That man was a terrible liar but he was becoming far too aggravated with him to continue his questioning.

Swiveling his chair around, he cast his gaze out the window, staring down at the mass of villagers who were crowding the streets. Streamers of the village's colors were being put up while the sounds of hammering together booths resounded through the mob. Everyone was obviously in a hurry of some sort, though looking up, he deduced that they were probably eager to finish the day's tasks before the storm clouds released their burden on the village. All members of Konoha were delighting in the preparations for the October festival… the festival that celebrated the Kyuubi's defeat and the village's triumph, as well as the loss of their beloved Yondaime's life. But all this hubbub was not what occupied the Third Hokage's thoughts.

While what the shinobi said earlier was true, that the ninja and other citizens were busy with the festival's arrangements, he was not telling the entire truth. For five years now they had celebrated the epic defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He was well aware of all the duties that the village had to do to make sure that the festival was a success. However, this year his subordinates seemed to be a bit more occupied with another matter. What that other matter was, he had not a single clue to go by other than the fact that no one seemed keen on revealing it to him. And he really wanted to know just what the hell was going on, dammit.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. Oh yes. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Smirking quite evilly now, he started to chuckle as he exhaled another puff of smoke.

Oh yes. He would know what they were all planning before the day was done. He would know. All he needed now was some ramen.

"Honey, could you get that?"

Looking up from his son, the man turned around to stare at his wife who was over the stove.

"Pardon?"

"I said, could you get that? Someone knocked on the door," the woman responded as she continued her stirring of the contents in the pot that was slowly heating on the stove. Pausing a moment, she decided to add in some more salt as her husband got up and placed their baby boy in his playpen.

Walking towards the door, the man said to the woman, "Sorry, dear. I hadn't heard the knock. This darn rain is too heavy to hear anything!"

Reaching the door, he turned the knob and swung it open. What met his gaze was something that he was not expecting.

Nothing. All he could see was the rain mercilessly pounding on any uncovered surface. That and the darkness of night.

Cocking an eyebrow, he looked right and left. He couldn't see anyone –

"Hello."

Startled, his eyes immediately looked down where they then met two big blue eyes that were staring up at him. Blue eyes hidden in a giant orange rain coat.

Instantly recognizing the mass of orange, the man smiled kindly down at the young boy. "Why, hello Naruto."

Before he got a chance to invite the boy in, his wife came out after hearing the boy's name. "Oh, Naru-chan! What in the world are you doing out here in the freezing rain? Come in, come in!"

At once, the young mother ushered the boy into the house and helped him out of the drenched rain coat. She then set him down on a chair and helped him to remove his wet rubber boots. After placing the clothes on the radiator to dry and warm, she turned to the little blonde as her husband picked up their son, who had become distressed at not being the center of attention.

"So, Naru-chan, what on earth brings you here?" Moving towards her cooking to turn off the stove, she continued. "I mean, it's not like we don't enjoy having you here, but surely you must have had a reason for coming if you had to walk through that downpour out there?"

Shaking his head to get the water out of his hair, Naruto turned to her and smiled widely. "Yup. Sandaime-jiji asked me to come here tonight. He said he wanted ta talk ta me."

Joggling his son in his arms, the man looked at the boy over his son's shoulder. "Well, if he asked to speak with you, then you can go on in and talk with him. Dad's in his study, just down the hall and the last door to the left."

Bowing politely at him, Naruto thanked him before walking down the hallway. Reaching the last door, Naruto paused a moment before knocking. He wasn't nervous, per se, since he was on very friendly terms with Old Man Hokage and all… but he couldn't deny that he was a little intimidated by being in the old man's house for "business" and all.

After hearing an affirmative reply to his knocking, Naruto had to stand on the very tips of his toes to reach the handle. Why were adults so tall?! The handles were too high for kids to reach easily. Sheesh, it was almost as if they didn't want kids to be able to reach them!

Entering the study, Naruto noticed the dimness of the lights. In fact, the only light that was actually on was the little lamp on the desk and – hey, where was Old Man Hokage anyway? Walking further into the room, the little blonde looked around at all the shelves filled to the brim with books and scrolls of all shapes and sizes. Cool, the little blonde thought.

Reaching the front of the desk, he noticed the chair behind it. Why was it facing backwards?

Though he would deny it until the day he died, the fact is that Naruto did scream like a little girl when Sarutobi suddenly spun the chair around with a creepy smile and a "Hello, Naruto."

Trying to get his breathing (and heartbeat) back to normal, Naruto screamed at the old man. "What the hell was that for, yah crazy old geezer?!"

Trying to stop his chucking (and failing), Sarutobi merely said, "Oh, no reason other than for my own amusement."

Growling in fury, Naruto sharply said, "Well I didn't come here ta be made fun of! I'm goin' home" and with that, he turned on his heel and started stomping to the door.

Sandaime, realizing that he was about to miss his chance, called out to the fuming blonde. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I'm really, truly sorry, Naruto. Forgive me?"

Stopping short of the door, Naruto paused. After a moment, he turned around again and glared angrily at the Hokage before closing his eyes with a "humph" and stalking back to the desk to pull himself into the chair that was in front of it.

Sandaime sighed in relief. Though the boy was mad at him, he was still here. Good. Clearing his throat, he folded his hands together as he leaned forward on the desk. Staring straight at the five-year-old before him, he started.

"Now, Naruto, there was a reason I wanted you to come here. A very important reason." Noticing the boy's interest peeking, he continued. "There seems to be a lot of extra activity in the village recently. And no-" he cut off the boy's response as soon as he noticed the blonde's mouth open, "it's not because of the festival. It's quite obvious that everyone seems to be busier now than in years past and it's also obvious that whatever these plans are about, they do not want me to find out about them. So, I'm guessing that they have something to do with me. Am I right in thinking so?"

Naruto looked blankly at him for about a minute. Only after he raised an eyebrow at the boy in front of him did Naruto look confused and looked around before pointing to himself and asking "Who, me?"

Rolling his eyes, Sandaime dryly replied, "Well, is there anyone else in the room?"

Naruto puffed his cheeks out in frustration. He did not like it when people poked fun at him with sarcasm. "Well why the hell – "

"Language, Naruto."

"Japanese. Anyway," he continued, ignoring the old man slapping a hand to his own face at his response, "as I was saying, what the hell makes you think that I'd know what the people are up ta?"

Taking his hand away from his face and resting it on his chin, the Third smirked. "Because, I know about your little hobby of sneaking about in the shadows, observing people. You hear everything. You know more about the villagers than they probably know about their own neighbors. Do you deny such claims?"

Pouting at having his pastime exploited like this, the blonde grumbled something that vaguely sounded like "yah, yah geezer."

Deciding to ignore the geezer remark, Sarutobi continued. "So, because you like to listen in on people's conversations, I am assuming that you'd have heard something about these plans, seeing as how the entire village seems to be on it. So, tell me Naruto, what are they planning?"

Sandaime had expected that Naruto would immediately tell him. After all, what reason would the blonde have for defending the villagers' secret when they were always opposing each other? So it was safe to say that he was rather shocked when Naruto crossed his arms in front of his puffed out chest and declared, quite firmly, "I'm not gonna tell you nuttin."

Blinking a few times to wear off the surprise, the grandfather narrowed his eyes at the youth before him. "Why?"

Glaring just as hard back, Naruto replied, "'Cause I don't wanna."

Cursing this new generation's audacity to their elders, the Third straightened his back in his chair. Time to pull out the heavy jutsus.

Giving off a façade of being nonchalant, the Third Hokage asked, "So, you're not going to tell me?"

"Nope, no way, no how," Naruto said as he shook his head furiously.

Sarutobi pretended to examine his nails as he asked, "Oh really?"

"Yup."

With an exasperated and overly exaggerated sigh, Sarutobi leaned back in his chair. "Well, now, who am I gonna get to give all this ramen to?"

Sandaime tried to contain a smirk as little ears perked up at the "r" word. He could see the sudden tension in the blonde's body even if the young boy refused to look him in the eyes.

Reaching in his open bottom drawer, Sandaime removed a steaming hot bowl of ramen and placed it in the center of the desk. After a minute of tense silence, he subtly scootched it forward a few inches.

He sighed again. "I was planning on giving this to you, but, if you're just going to remain uncooperative, I guess I'll just have to eat this entire bowl by myself."

He could feel the atmosphere in the room get ten times thicker.

Desperately trying not to smile at Naruto's strained body, he opened his top drawer and took out a slip with chopsticks. Sliding the wooden sticks out, he fiddled with them.

"Ah, oh well. But, you know, this ramen does look absolutely –" he snapped the chopsticks in half, causing Naruto to jump "- and mouthwateringly –" he placed the chopsticks in the bowl and pulled the bowl closer to himself "- delicious. But, if certain little boys don't want any…" He paused as he took a deep sniff of the aromatic steam coming from the ramen. "Well, this ramen does have to be eaten. After all, it'll be a waste if no one had some of these golden noodles from this perfectly seasoned, hot, steaming broth."

He could see that Naruto was a second away from jumping the bowl in front of him but the stubborn blonde still remained silent.

Sighing as if resigned to his fate, Sarutobi raised the chopsticks, heavy with a clump of dangling noodles, and they were only an inch away from his moth now and –

"The village is plannin' a whole celebration for yah ta honor yar fifth year in office since yar reinstatementing-thingy and their plannin' ta surprise yah witit next Tuesday when yar suppose ta go ta a meetin' wit all of da clan heads!" Before catching his breath after saying that all in one breath, Naruto reached across the table, stole the chopsticks and bowl, and immediately started to down it all.

Sarutobi smirked in success, ignoring the blonde devouring noodles like a ramen-eating fiend in front of him. He knew he could get it out of the boy, one way or another. All he needed was the right method of persuasion.

Now all he had left to deal with was the village and their little surprise party… and cleaning up the broth-and-noodle-covered desk.