Chapter 3: Way Of The Corps
Despite running as fast as her legs can take her, Ayame doubted that she'll be able to escape her pursuers for very long. But at the very least, she'll be able to buy enough time to find help.
This was the danger of being in a village full of shinobis. While there were lots of decent, law abiding ones, there were also undesireable elements who've had similar training. These rogues often used their skills in their illegal activities and their victims were usually normal civilians.
Normal civilians like Ayame.
But she was familiar enough with the ways of the shinobi from her experience with customers frequenting their stand and knew that they were still essentially human with the same vulnerabilities as any other person. They were still prone to bouts of arrogance and more importantly, could still feel pain.
One of Ayame's stalkers found that out the hard way when the ramen waitress's foot met his balls while he and his friends were gloating at how easy a target she seemed when she was confronted by used the ensuing distraction her sudden, violent retaliation had caused to slip away.
But now, her luck was quickly running out and she could practically feel her pursuers closing in. Why the hell did she have to use the alleyways to escape instead of running down the street in plain view? They could easily capture her here and nobody would ever know. Turning at the next corner, Ayame finds herself at a deadend and before she could double back, her pursuers blocks her path.
"There you are you little bitch." One of the pursuers whom Ayame recognized as the one she kicked in the balls growled. She took the opportunity to study them a little closer and judging from the hiate on their forehead but their lack of vests, he and his two buddies were genins. The bottom rung in the order of shinobis which was probably one of the reasons why she was able to avoid capture thus far but still dangerous when they had numbers on their side. "You've got nowhere else to go so now. You're gonna pay for what you did and we're gonna have a little fun with you as compensation."
"That's right." Another one chimed in. "Don't worry though coz it won't be so bad. I mean, how many chicks can claim that they got to be with a real shinobi?"
"You don't act ANYTHING like real shinobis. You're just thugs and bullies." Ayame retorted.
"Hey hey hey! Is that any way to treat shinobis who bust their ass everyday to protect your worthless lives?" The third one asks. "The least you can do is be grateful for the opportunity to show us your thanks."
"If that's the case, then she's thanking the wrong people." Another voice cuts in. The punks had to jump away to avoid a salvo of green projectiles aimed at them. Ayame and her pursuers then looks up & sees a young blonde man enveloped in a green light hovering over them w/ his arms crossed. The youngster seemed to be dressed like a typical chunin except that he had on a green outfit under a black utility vest and came with a mask which covered his entire head except for his blonde hair and green eyes. In addition, he also wore black forearm guards and had white wrappings on his thighs and ankles. "I can't stand seeing guys like you. You pricks give shinobis a bad name and don't deserve to wear those hiate."
"Y-You freak! What the hell do you know? We're shinobi! We're the law here!" The apparent leader of the group stated, though a little shaken at seeing the floating teen in green. And as if to prove his point, he throws a brace of kunai at the intruder which, much to his shock, merely bounces off the green aura surrounding the intruder.
The green suited teen shakes his head at the futile attempt at harming him. "Idiot. Being a shinobi doesn't excuse you from the law. As a matter of fact, I heard that the punishment is even worse if you commited a crime AS a shinobi."
"It's your word against ours! Besides, who's gonna stop us? You and what army?" The leader retorted, confident that their superior number gave them the advantage.
The intruder simply gave them a flat look before raising his right hand which had a glowing ring on the middle finger. Moments later, two monstrous green figures appears between the 3 genins and Ayame. One was a scary looking bipedal warthog like creature and the other one was a humanoid whose body seemed made entirely out of metal.
"Boys, meet the drill sargeants of the Corps. Lantern Kilowog and Lantern Stel." The blonde said, gesturing towards the warthog and the metal man respectively. "They'll be instructing you what sort of behavior is acceptable or not."
"Howdy poozers." The warthog rumbled, cracking his rather large knuckles ominously. The metallic man did not acknowledge the introduction but slammed his fists together which created an audible clang.
"Have fun guys." The blonde said with a hidden grin as he surrounds Ayame in a green bubble & flies off with her, pointedly ignoring the screaming that began as the two behemoths started wailing on the trio of thugs.
(Naruto's apartment)
The green clad individual who saves Naruto enters the apartment by phasing through the wall. A flash of green light later, the individual is revealed to be Naruto.
After dropping off a grateful Ayame at Ichiraku's, the youngster does one last sweep of Konoha before returning home. As he relaxes in his battered couch, he studies the ring on his hand and thinks back to the circumstances why he decided to operate as a vigilante in his village.
(Flashback)
"Prepare to die old man!"
Naruto deftly catches a blunted and poorly thrown wooden shuriken aimed at the Sandaime. A few moments later, a young boy with a skullcap and a long scarf charges into the room with a wooden kunai then promptly trips over his scarf.
"Hey! Who tripped me?" The kid demanded who then notices Naruto who was standing right besides him. "You were the one who tripped me didn't you? Who are you anyways?"
Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "Kid, you tripped over your own scarf. Who wears something like that nowadays anyway? And the name's Uzumaki Naruto. Who are YOU?"
"Don't you know who I am? I'm the Sandaime Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru!" He boasted. "If you apologize to me now, I won't ask my grandpa to throw you in the dungeon!"
Naruto turns to the Hokage whom he was speaking to earlier with a look that was asking 'Is he serious?'. The Hokage simply nods to Naruto as if deferring to his judgement.
Naruto picks up Konohamaru by his scarf and stares at the kids' face before driving his knuckle upside his head and dropping him on his ass. "It doesn't matter if you're the grandson of the Hokage or even the daimyo himself. If you want MY respect, you gotta earn it. Ask the old man yourself if you want."
"How dare you lay your hands like that on the honorable grandson!" Another voice declared. Looking back, Naruto sees a scowling man wearing an all black outfit with dark, round glasses and a bandana which doubled as his hiate.
"It's perfectly alright Ebisu. Konohamaru was at fault here and a little discipline never hurt anyone." The Hokage assured him.
"Are you supposed to be his babysitter?" Naruto asks Ebisu.
"How rude." The man known as Ebisu sniffled. "I am Ebisu, the tokubetsu jonin assigned as the honorable grandson's personal tutor. I am tasked with educating and preparing him for the mantle of Hokage."
"Is that so? Well you're not doing a very good job if you ask me." Naruto said, ignoring the venomous look Ebisu was giving him as he turns to Konohamaru. "Hokage huh? Well that would make us rivals coz that's my goal too."
"But if you're aiming for the top spot then remember one thing. You gotta work hard for everything you want coz if you don't, nobody's gonna acknowledge or respect you. You don't reall think your grandpa got to where he is right now by being lazy, do you?" Naruto advised, giving him a foxy grin and ruffling his head before turning to leave. "Well, see you around kid."
Hiruzen had to chuckle at the thoughtful look in Konohamaru's eyes. Trust Naruto to make an impression on his grandson like that. Naruto always had a knack for saying the things that needed to be said irregardless of the consequences.
"Hmmpp... Does that ruffian really think he can become Hokage? Preposterous!" Ebisu scoffed, causing the Hokage to frown at the Tokubetsu Jonin. "You however, honorable grandson, have the pedigree. There's no need to go through so much effort for that. Just listen to what I say and you will be Hokage in no time at all."
"Errr... Ebisu, Konohamaru is not here anymore." The Hokage informs the man who looks around wildly and sees that his charge was indeed nowhere to be found. Ebisu quickly excuses himself and leaves to search for the youngster, leaving a chuckling Hokage behind.
(Meanwhile...)
Konohamaru wondered where that Naruto went. He had managed to follow the blonde up to the outskirts of town but lost him when he ducked into the woods.
Nobody ever talked to Konohamaru quite like the way Naruto did. He has always been treated with such respect and deference that it was beginning to annoy him.
But Naruto was different. He didn't really care what your station in life was and will treat you like he sees you. And if being a brat was your choice, then a knuckle upside the head was his take on an appropriate response for it.
It was a humbling experience and lit a fire under the young Sarutobi who wanted nothing more then Naruto's respect.
But as he continued to search for the elusive blonde, a large shadow blocks his path. Konohamaru looks up to see who the hell was blocking his way... And screams.
(With Naruto)
Naruto was about to start his daily training session in the woods when a scream breaks the silence. Somehow, the blonde identified the scream as one belonging to Konohamaru.
Rushing towards the source of the disturbance, he arrives and sees a much larger then normal grizzly bear stalking a cowering Konohamaru.
"Konohamaru!" Naruto called out as he rushes towards the bear with his hands already forming in a familiar, cross pattern. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" The bear turns around, faces the five Narutos rushing towards him and with a massive swipe of one of it's monstrous paws, dispells them with one blow.
"What the hell...?" Naruto mutters, wondering how the bear could be so strong. He gets his answer a moment later when it turns it's full attention on him though he had no way of knowing it. The bear had an Iwa hiate tied to it's left arm which indicated that he was some sort of summon. "And why does that thing have an Iwa hiate on it's arm?"
Instead of providing an answer, it moves with deceptive speed and knocks Naruto away towards the bushes.
"Oww! Dammit. It's too strong." Naruto gripes as he rubs the back of his head and checks his bruised body for any injury. A war cry told Naruto that somebody else was trying their luck against the summoned bear. But a body sent crashing nearby which reveals an unconscious Ebisu indicated that he too failed in the attempt.
"What now? If this guy who's supposed to be a tokubetsu jonin can't take on this thing, what the hell can I do?" Naruto wonders in panic as the bear continued stalking Konohamaru before remembering his new ring. He fishes it out of a pocket and studies it for a moment before slipping it on. "Guess I have no choice. One little detail before I do this though..."
(With Konohamaru)
This was it. Konohamaru was sure that he was going to die.
The bear which loomed over him had already beaten back both Naruto and Ebisu and was now advancing towards him. It's open, drooling mouth an indication of what it's intentions were.
But before it could do anything, a green blur rockets out of the bushes with a wild cry and bodily tackles the bear. Konohamaru uses the opportunity to scamper away and hide himself while watching the battle.
The bear easily throws off the attacker which Konohamaru saw as a blonde haired masked man who wore the typical konoha shinobi uniform whose color schemes are reversed.
The masked man quickly gets back up to his feet and, much to Konohamaru's surprise, avoids the bear's attack by floating up into the air encased in a green bubble. The boy was further surprised when a virtual arsenal of green weapons appears around the floating man pointed at the bear.
"Stupid bear. Don't make me hurt you." The man said, launching one of the weapons at the ground in front of it to try and scare it away. But the rabid summoned bear either didn't understand what he said or simply didn't care and stood on it's hind legs roaring angrily before charging at the floating man.
The man sighs in resignation. "If you're gonna be that way, then I'm afraid I have no choice but to put you down so that you can't hurt anyone else." And with that, he launches the weapons at the bear. But instead of dropping down and dying, the impaled summoned bear dispells and disappears in a puff of smoke.
"What the hell was that thing anyways?" The green/black suited savior wonders loudly before looking over to where Konohamaru was. "Oi! You there! It's safe to come out."
Konohamaru warily comes out as the strange man somehow uses a green beam from his ring to retrieve the unconscious Ebisu and places him besides Konohamaru.
"Ring. Scan for injuries." The man instructed. Both the Hokage's grandson and his instructor are momentarily bathed in a green light from the ring before a voice responded. "Minimal cerebral damage detected on larger organic lifeform. No damage detected on smaller organic lifeform."
The man nods his satisfaction before looking at Konohamaru. "Your friend here will just be just be suffering from one hell of a headache when he wakes up. Stay with him till help arrives." He instructed as he starts to leave.
"W-Wait!" Konohamaru calls out. "I still have a friend named Naruto who got hurt protecting me out there. Can you please find him?"
The man pauses momentarily before answering. "Yeah I saw him. Don't worry coz he's tougher then he looks and should be here in a bit."
"When can I see you again?" Konohamaru asks. "I don't even know your name."
"Don't worry kid. You'll be seeing more of me around." The man said as he rose up into the air. "As for who I am. You can call me the Green Lantern."
(Flashback Ends)
After that, Naruto had landed somewhere nearby and stumbled back into the clearing pretending to be hurt and helped Konohamaru carry Ebisu back to town. And all the while, Konohamaru was raving about the Green Lantern guy who saved them from the bear.
After dropping off Ebisu at the Hospital and taking Konohamaru home, Naruto reported the incident to the Hokage who informed him that the bear was a summoned creature and that it was amazing how he managed to defeat such a powerful creature.
Realizing that there were also many dangers within his own village that even the shinobi force are not able to address, Naruto also informs the Hokage that he will be using his powers to help those in need under a disguise which, at first, the old leader is reluctant to agree. But after explaining that he will not be undermining the authority of the shinobi force, Sarutobi agrees so long as it does not interfere with his regular duty.
This was the beginning of his long and arduous journey as a hero. Apart from his regular training as a shinobi, he also taught himself how to better use his ring and learned how to fight with and without it.
At first, it was difficult trying to balance his career as a shinobi by day and a hero/vigilante at night. So much so that the Hokage had noticed and ordered him to cut back on his nocturnal activities. But his hard work eventually paid off and the villagers started talking favorably about the mysterious Green Lantern who patrolled their village at night and kept it safe.
But there were also elements who didn't appreciate what he did such as a portion of the shinobi populace. They thought Green Lantern was just some hotshot glory hound looking for attention which hurt him. All he wanted to do was help out and this is how they repay him?
"What's important is the village is kept safe. Nothing else matters." Naruto said, looking at his ring before going to bed.
Tomorrow is going to be another day.
(The Next Day)
"Good work Team Seven." The Hokage said watching Madame Shinji squeeze her runaway cat Tora like a plushie with a sweatdrop. Though this time, the cat seemed oddly subdued, even scared. "This is a new record for catching Tora."
"Aww…. It was nothing Jiisan. I don't think you'll be having problems with her for a while." Naruto said with a wide grin. He didn't bother telling the Hokage that he might have used the power of his ring to conjure up an entire pack of green rabid hunting dogs to chase the terrified cat all around town and into the waiting arms of Sakura.
"Uh huh…. I see." Truth be told, Sarutobi didn't really want to know how the blonde did it. But so long as it kept the blasted feline out of trouble for a while, he was willing to overlook certain things. "Now then…. What would you like your next job to be? Painting a fence? Doing groceries? Walking the dogs?"
"What? With all due respect Jiisan but what we've been doing these past few months are nothing more than chores." Give us something where we can actually use what we learned in the Academy!" Even though they were appalled by how Naruto was practically demanding a higher class job, Naruto's teammates knew he was right. These jobs were certainly nothing more then chores and were a terrible waste of their skills.
"Naruto! These missions are important as well! These missions help improve your teamwork and strengthen the bonds in the team." Iruka, who had been assigned that day as the Hokage's assistant, reprimanded his former student. But before he could say anything else, the Hokage stops him.
"It's alright Iruka. They do have a point there. These missions tend to get boring after a while." The Hokage said before looking at Kakashi., "Do you believe they're ready for a higher class job?" He asks Team Seven's jonin sensei.
"They've improved quite a bit these past few months. It'll be alright." Kakashi stated.
"Very well then. I have just the mission for you." The Hokage said, tossing a scroll at Kakashi. "A C class escort mission."
"Yatta! Finally a higher class mission!" Naruto cheers.
"And your client will be…. This man." The Hokage said, gesturing towards the door. An obviously drunk old man staggers into the room, looks at Team Seven, and takes a swig out of le he carried.
"Are these supposed to be the guys who'll protect me?" They're just little kids! Especially that stupid looking blonde kid. He doesn't look like he'll last a day." The old man griped.
Before Naruto could snap back a response, Kakashi beats him to it. "Don't worry sir. They may not look like it but they're quite capable in their own right. And if anything becomes too much for them to handle, you've got me, a jonin, to take care of the problem.
"Hmpp…. Fine." The old drunk relented. "I'm the famous super bridge builder Tazuna. And I expect you to protect me with your lives till I get home t Wave Country."
One thing ran through the minds of each and every member of Team Seven.
What have they gotten themselves into?
Author's Notes: Chappie's done. As usual, R&R pls.