Chapter 2
"The Plan"
"What do you mean, a student?" A lazy voice asked through the phone. "You want me to come over to help you manipulate Naruto into taking on a student? Do you have any idea how stupid and random all of this is? Why in the world would you want to do that? Doesn't Naruto run your orphanage by the way? Where in the world is he gonna find the time to train someone if by some miracle, you succeed? Oh and if he does, be sure to let me know where he does find the time because I am quite interested in the idea of spending time in a hyperbolic time chamber as well."
"Well..." Asuma had to admit that he never really thought his strategies through. Maybe that was why he always lost to his old student in Shogi despite having decades of experience over him. Not to mention it was said student he was talking to.
"Again, you never really think these things through, sensei." The phone said, as if reading his mind.
"Oh come on now, Shikamaru. You know this is a good idea! Naruto needs to lighten up now and then. Taking a student might actually make the world a better place."
He heard an incredulous snort from the other end, "I knew you were a romantic sensei, but I never thought you could do so for anyone other than Kurenai-sama." The older man rolled his eyes.
"Fact of the matter is, sensei, you can't just manipulate Naruto into taking a student. First of all, things like this just aren't done on a whim. She might not have the strength to deal with Naruto's...training. You remember what he did to Hanabi all those years ago, didn't you?"
Asuma coughed a bit, embarrassed that he didn't even think of that. But his determination was unwavering. "Well, she turned about pretty well, don't you think?"
"She never completed his training, sensei. Five years in, Naruto deemed her unworthy and told her to return back home to her Dad. She went in shame. The girl was very snappish for a few months if I remember correctly."
"...It wasn't that bad was it? I mean, sure, he can be something of a taskmaster-"
"Slave-driver." Shikamaru corrected.
"- BUT he trains great fighters."
"I'm not saying he doesn't train great fighters. All I'm saying is that, despite the fact that most of his students were trained at a very young age by their clans, all of them never measured up to Naruto's expectations; and thus, they never completed his training. Not a single one. And you think some random school girl, an eight year old by the way, could do so? Come on sensei, even Ino can draw that realization."
"She's interesting..." Was Asuma's mumbled excuse. He wasn't exactly wrong either. The wily veteran felt that the girl had something that was very rare to find in their line of profession. "She has something that the others didn't have..."
"..." Asuma could hear his student's brain crinkling. "Right. Romantic, I almost forgot."
"I'm not being whimsical! I'm being very, very serious about this. She's interesting!"
"You've known her for a day. No wait. From what you told me, you've actually known her for maybe a few minutes! How do you know that?"
"A great man just knows."
"You are very troublesome. And meddlesome"
"So are you coming over or not?" Asuma said in a whining tone, ignoring his student's barb. He sounded very much like a child that didn't want to be denied a toy. It was a bit embarrassing for Shikamaru to hear.
"...Fine. But I'm not doing what you want me to! It'll only be a leisurely visit to my dear, senile sensei. I'll be sure to let Temari know too. Heaven knows what she'll do to me if I left without letting her know." And with that, he hung up abruptly. Asuma looked out his window to the sky and mentally added in another victory to his seasoned record. His win column continued to grow even to this day.
Yep. His late father, wife and even his child often told him his meddlesome ways would never truly go away. They were right.
Asuma Sarutobi would always be meddlesome. Weren't all great men?
Elsewhere
Honoka was on her way to the orphanage again to spend some time with Konohamaru. But despite those cheerful thoughts, more depressing things kept coming up in her mind. The rejection that Naruto had easily given her shook Honoka's confidence in asking him again. The guy was nice but he seemed very adamant about not taking students for some reason.
Maybe there was something she could do to earn his recognition? But what exactly could she do? While she very athletic for her age, Honoka wouldn't say that she was some sort of super-human by any means.
No, she had to earn his confidence in other ways. It was then when a great idea struck her.
"Maybe...maybe if I just help around the orphanage, he might soften up to me!" Nodding at the brilliance of her plan, the eight year old girl skipped off to the large building.
As she got there and opened the front door, she was met with the same old guy again. "Hi! Asuma-san right?"
"Hello Honoka-chan." He greeted kindly. "Here to see Kono? I think he's in the backyard."
"Oh great! Actually...I was wondering if I could ask you for something." The man tilted his head at her sudden shyness.
"Sure. What's up?"
"I was wondering...if I could help out around here sometime? You know like volunteer work and all that..." It was quite clear to the older man that Honoka had ulterior motives.
He did not mind them at all.
"Sure, I guess. I'll be sure to let you know if we need help. Come on, I'll show you around and then bring you to Kono."
And so he did. There were a total of four floors and the stairs were situated right in the middle of the floors. On each floor, there were about ten moderate sized rooms for each kid. Doing her math right, Honoka estimated that about thirty or so kids could stay here. Asuma had told her that they only had about fifteen at the moment so most of the rooms were free for her to use.
"Still, fifteen is a handful. They are hard to settle down." He admitted. Honoka understood it somewhat.
The backyard was a lot bigger than she originally anticipated. Apparently, when Naruto had taken over, he had bought most of the land that was set behind the orphanage and had turned it into a clear, grassy plain for the children to use. However, at the end of the plain was a forest with numerous tracking marks.
"Since we bought the land, we also provide some lodgings for some hikers, if possible of course. The children come first. People don't really hike that much so it isn't a huge part of our income." Asuma pointed to the large mountain range. "We bought all of that."
"...That doesn't look cheap." Honoka stated bluntly, eliciting a small chuckle from Asuma.
"Yep. Don't let Naruto's pedestrian clothing fool you. He's not exactly middle-class."
Honoka wanted to question why he was working at an orphanage if that was the case but found the question to be really trivial. Obviously, the blond had a good heart behind his stern visage. Like a strict but well meaning teacher. Even a young girl like her could see that much.
As they were continuing, the two met with one of the other few employees of the orphanage. The person was a very feminine looking person with long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes plus a slender frame.
"Haku." Asuma acknowledged, before pointing to Honoka. "This is Honoka. She wants to volunteer here."
"My, so young? How admirable." Haku's voice was very soft and warm. "It's nice to meet you Honoka-chan. My name is Yuki Haku and I'm Naruto-sensei's assistant."
"Sensei? I thought he didn't take students?" Honoka asked as she scratched her head. Had she been lied to?
"I only study under him as a caretaker and business-man. He is very strict on budgeting and will not rest until I am competent." The older teen admitted. "I used to be an orphan here as well. Naruto-sensei has always been very kind to the children. He's my role model of sorts."
"Wow...I see. It's nice to meet you Ms. Haku!" She bowed, missing the chortles from Asuma and gigantic blush that rose from Haku's cheeks.
"E-er yes, and you too. By the way, I'm a boy."
Silence.
That was broken by Asuma's raging laughter after Honoka's reply of, "WHAT!? NO WAY, BUT YOU'RE SO CUTE!"
Asuma let out a full belly laugh. Haku was sputtering shyly.
"It sure is lively down here." A voice spoke from behind them. Turning around, Honoka was once again, met with Uzumaki Naruto.
"Here to see Kono, Honoka-san? I believe that he's somewhere in the backyard. If I remember correctly, he usually hangs near the slide." The blond pointed to the far right of the field where there was a small playground next to the plain.
"Right! I also asked Asuma-san if I could volunteer here now and then and he said yes!"
The tall man's sea blue eyes landed on his old friend and boss, "Is that right?" Asuma looked a bit bashful and gave him a wide smile. Naruto merely rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"Well, if he is alright with it then I suppose I could give you a few tasks here and there. Do your guardians know of this?"
Honoka shook her head, "No. But I'm sure they will be fine with it. They know I'm responsible."
Naruto regarded her for a millisecond before nodding. "Very well. I don't have anything for you at the moment. Feel free to go play with Kono." And with that, he turned back and headed up the stairs where his office most likely was.
"He seems busy very often." Honoka observed innocently.
"Indeed/Not really." Haku and Asuma stated respectively, before glancing at one another.
"Oh please, meditating in his room for hours during the day does not count as being busy."
"He does not meditate for hours as in plural, Asuma-san. Naruto-sensei is up to his neck in paperwork everyday. He has many responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and meeting with potential parents! Not to mention he IS something of an entrepreneur. He works with some of the local charities on his free time as well."
"Yeah...right, of course." The older man replied dismissively, as if such things didn't concern him, making Haku's eye twitch in annoyance.
"Anyway...I should probably check up on Konohamaru-kun and the others. Come, Honoka-san." Haku said, and the eight year old nodded to the older teens suggestion.
"Alright. Have fun kids." Asuma said and made off to wherever he usually went.
Later that Evening
Naruto sat cross-legged in the middle of his quarters on the top floor. His eyes were closed and his breathing was soft, almost silent even to the best ear, taking only enough to be in tune with his surroundings. The room he was in was very neat and clean, there wasn't a speck of dust laying anywhere. There was a book filled shelf to his far left and a work desk and cabinet to his far right. In the middle on the far wall, there set was something of a small shrine and smell of faintly lit incense covered most of the room. The focal point of it all was a picture of Naruto and another woman with long, dark blue hair and pupil-less white eyes. In her arm was a child that looked exactly like the woman.
Knock. Knock.
Sighing, Naruto stood up, opened his eyes, and turned to sit at his modest sized work desk. "Come in."
"Naruto-sensei. Honoka-san has left. I thought that I should just let you know."
"Thanks." He nodded to the younger man. "Good job today Haku. You can take the rest of the day off."
"Thank you, Naruto-sensei." He bowed lightly. However, before Haku left, Naruto stopped him.
"Wait."
"Yes, sensei?"
Naruto gave him a calculating look. "Did Honoka-san...mention anything about wanting to study martial arts?"
It was Haku's turn to be deep in thought for a moment. "N- Actually, she did mention that you didn't take students. I wonder how she knew that..." The dark-haired teen admitted, before widening his eyes at his current teacher. "Did she...?"
"M'nn." The blond confirmed with a soft grunt and scratched his chin in thought. "I rejected her. At least for the moment."
"Are you...considering it?" Haku surprised himself with the question. Never had he seen Naruto consider something so small, and so trivial as this important enough to start a conversation about it. Taking a student was just a matter of saying yes or no. Well, that was what Haku thought at least.
His own father adopted father, Momochi Zabuza, took Haku in as his own student after witnessing him win a race between his fellow orphans. Since then, he had been his disciple in martial arts. If he had never met Zabuza, Haku would have long asked Naruto to teach him the ways of his martial arts.
But Haku was not unfamiliar with Uzumaki Naruto at the present time. When he was a child, he definitely was ignorant of the blond man's reputation, but being the son of Momochi Zabuza made visits to the underworld of martial arts very frequent.
Naruto was without a doubt infamous in many circles.
How he managed that and found a way to live peacefully as a caretaker of an orphanage, Haku had no clue. Even today, his boss was an enigma when it came to his past.
"Maybe. She certainly is spirited, I've noticed." Naruto admitted. He wasn't one to sugarcoat anything. The only reason he said no the first time was because of his own duties as the caretaker. Otherwise, he would most likely have leaned towards saying yes.
In the deepest part of his being, Naruto was a teacher, like his role model before him. He loved passing on his own knowledge to the next generation. He felt that it was his duty as an adult to do so.
To not pass down knowledge was completely unthinkable to him. The world wouldn't be where it was now if people just kept secrets to themselves, now would it?
"I am...surprised, sensei. I would have never thought that you would consider taking on another student."
"I have been thinking about it often. Honestly, I was originally going to wait to see how Kono developed later in his years to see if he wanted to take up my martial arts." Naruto shrugged, "But...that girl, there's something interesting about her. Do you not feel the winds change ever so slightly once she shows her determination? I feel as if fate has intervened recently."
No. Haku didn't have a clue about what he was talking about it. He nodded nonetheless, allowing his boss to go on about his spiritual thoughts or what not.
"My ramen also tasted better at the thought of having a student today. I don't know. I thought that it was an omen perhaps...My ramen hadn't tasted that good in many years."
Now that was just random, Haku thought bemused.
"I am still undecided. For the moment, I will just watch the girl. I wonder when she is going to ask me again...After all, she did not volunteer to give a hand around here out of the kindness of her own heart, but to saté her ambition of becoming strong." The older man continued, mostly talking to himself. He didn't really have a problem with Honoka's subterfuge. It amused him if anything. "Motivation. I want to know her motivation...True strength can only come from the size of their conviction after all."
"Your other students weren't properly motivated?" Haku probed carefully.
"Oh, they were certainly motivated but for reasons I found most...undesirable. They wished to learn my art to kill others. You know the business, don't you Haku?"
The teen nodded. Although his father never made him take up mercenary work like many in their social circle, it was still a viable option. Haku was a pacifist for the moment. "Of course."
"I have long cut my ties with...them. The old clans would send their children to be trained by me but none of them could ever reach a summit that stood anything close to that of a true Master. No. The desire to merely kill for money or uphold their family pride...is not enough to gain my recognition."
Haku watched Naruto go on in silence.
"My martial arts have been used to kill enough people to last a life time. Perhaps it is time...for a change."
Naruto turned around, placed both hands behind his back, and stared at the distant plains through his moderate sized window. Noticing the obvious dismissal, Haku left the room in silence, but not before giving him a small bow.
He couldn't help but feel inspired by his words. Perhaps he would keep a closer eye on Honoka the next time they met.
END
I hope you enjoyed. I'm not really trying rush anything but I did want to show Naruto's spiritual side in the last scene. Like I said, he's like Iruka, that was the way I wanted to paint him in the first chapter. Except he's a bit more hot-headed. He doesn't actually believe in fate, he merely used it as an expression.
Also, I'm gonna let you all know. There is no way am I having Naruto train Kenichi [to the reviewers who suggested the idea]. He doesn't need anymore Masters and the idea is just too silly to even comprehend.
To the guy that caught my small hint at the last AN, yes, you are partially correct. Naruto's style is composed of a few martial arts. A real master never truly sticks to one style because through out their lives, they either branch out a bit to increase their capacity or create their own original techniques. Honoka will be learning Naruto's own, personal martial art.
BY THE WAY, apparently, I kept switching up Haku's 'he's' with 'she's'. I fixed them I hope. If you catch one, let me know in the reviews. This is my problem after swimming through femHaku stories the other day. So I blame you femHaku writers. Just kidding. I love femHaku stories. I can't guarantee I won't make this mistake again so just let me know any grammar mistakes and I'll take care of it. Thanks.
Ages:
Haku: 17
Have a nice day.
