I don't own Naruto. If I did, he would be wearing purple, not orange.
A genin lazily wandered around the perimeter of the clearing. Children of various ages were running around. Sharp giggles and laughter sounded throughout the lazy summer air. Inao Togai was bored out of his mind. The chestnut-haired teen heaved a sigh as he swatted a few annoying insects away.
'Stupid D-ranks…I could be out guarding a caravan or hunting rogues, not babysitting a bunch of brats!' A look of annoyance crossed his face as he saw a group of the snot-nosed brats heading his way. With the still developing grace of the shinobi, and newly learned skill of tree-walking, he quickly climbed up to the lowest branch of a nearby tree, safely out of the reach of the orphans he was supposed to be watching.
'Mission only said we had to watch them and keep them safe, not entertain them.'
"Whoa! That's so awesome!" One of the young boys exclaimed. His eyes were wide at the feat that Togai had just done in front of them.
Togai snorted. It took so little to amuse kids. They would ooh and ahh over the smallest things.
"Thought I'd find you here, Togai-kun." A sudden voice nearly startled him out of the branches.
"Risa-Sensei! Don't do that!" He screeched, totally destroying the image of the cool shinobi he'd been trying to project. The female jounin giggled as he tried to gather himself.
"A shinobi should be aware of their surroundings at all times. I wasn't even masking my chakra signature. There's no reason you shouldn't have detected me." The slender brunette pointed out as she twisted a lock of hair around her fingers. Togai pouted.
"What are you doing up here? The mission parameters were to watch over the children during the outing, along with making sure they all made it back to the orphanage. Last I checked, the children couldn't climb so high in the trees. They don't even have wings to fly." She lightly chided.
Togai remained silent, evading his sensei's gaze.
"Inao Togai." She barked out. He flinched. A mad Hida Risa was not something he wanted to experience. Ever. Again.
"Yes, Sensei?" He warily responded.
"These kinds of missions are more than just babysitting a bunch of children. The goals of a mission are not always simply what are written on the mission scroll. Always look beneath what is obvious." She stated, reverting into lecture mode.
"What do you see down there?" She asked, nodding her head to the groups of children below them, playing.
"A bunch of brats." He answered.
"Wrong."
Togai's brow furrowed in confusion. Risa-sensei continued.
"I see the future of this village. On average, around fifty percent of these children will one day attend the shinobi academy. They are our future protectors and comrades. Now how do you suppose they end up there? The caretakers aren't shinobi, or at least, not active duty. They have no family to guide their decisions. So how do you think they decide they want to be shinobi and kunoichi?" She questioned.
Togai thought about it, while he watched one little girl sneak up on her friend, and tackle her in the tall grass.
"Their babysitters?" He muttered.
"In this case, yes. At least once a month, the Hokage sends out genin teams to interact with the children in the orphanages. We are the ambassadors of the shinobi world to them. We show them a few tricks and talk with them about the exciting lives we lead. Granted, we keep the more gory details to ourselves. Now, unless you've taken an interest in teaching the birds how to be shinobi, I suggest you find your way back down the tree." She recommended, read ordered, with a smile.
Togai stayed still. At least until he found himself falling from the branch. With a thud, he landed on his back. When the world stopped spinning, he saw the short-haired figure of his sensei, smiling down at him as she waved. 'Stupid sensei…'
With a groan, he raised himself on his elbows. He was about to sit up when he found a kunai pointed straight at his chest. Togai froze...before realizing that the weapon was being wielded by the ever ferocious figure of a six year old girl.
"It dropped out of your pouch when you fell." She squeaked, blushing as she held it out.
"Er…thank you…?" He trailed off, forgetting her name.
"Tai." She supplied.
"Thank you Tai-chan." He said, while storing the kunai into the pouch that had come open. He inspected it briefly; the magnetic closure must have torn off during the last mission. Togai glanced at where his sensei had been, remembering their chat.
"Hey, Tai-chan, I seem to have lost my kunai. Tell you what. If you help me pick them up, I'll show you how to throw them." He offered.
Her eyes widened in awe.
"Really? Thanks, nii-san!" She exclaimed before going off into the long grass to search for more kunai.
"Remember to only pick them up by the loop for now." He yelled, while searching around on his own.
"Hai!" Tai yelled back.
Neither saw a blonde toddler snag a few before heading back into the brush.
O0o0o0O
Naruto carefully ran away from the clearing. Not far enough to get lost, but still enough that his activities wouldn't be discovered easily. With a little jimmying, he managed to squeeze past the rocks that separated his own little haven from the outside world. He didn't know exactly how the little clearing, naturally surrounded by large stones had formed, but he was thankful that no one had discovered it yet. Judging by the melted stone, and little bit of ash that could still be seen, he had a theory that it had happened during the attack, but he didn't actually know for sure. He had stumbled upon it during their monthly trips out to the surrounding woods for a picnic.
The trips had given him the perfect opportunity to create a clone and switch out with it, leaving him free to practice and train. Since they were always accompanied by a genin team, he would time it with one of the genin showing the kids a flashy jutsu to mask the release of chakra.
With one final tug, he pulled himself out of the narrow opening. He grabbed the tiny backpack that he had begun to carry around. After shifting aside the crayons, paper, and stuffed dog in the top, he found his latest prizes. The kunai he had so recently scavenged.
While stones may work for aim, there's nothing like solid steel in his hands. He had missed it over the last few months. With a rock, he scored an "X" on the rotting trunk that had fallen into his training area. As he got accustomed to throwing the knives again, he thought over the last few months.
Things had been going well. He had definitely gotten stronger, and faster now that he thought of it. 'I think being able to outrun four out of five preteens chasing after me before bath time is a good start. Won't be long before I have ANBU after me again.'
He had started to "read" with Yuuka. With the newly added skill that he was able to display, all sorts of things could be explained away with simple phrase: "I read about it." Same concept with the writing. While the coloring had helped, his fingers were still lacking in the fine motor skills to truly start the calligraphy process. Rough characters were another matter.
'One step at a time.' He sighed, missing the tree completely for the third time. Naruto felt the frustration bubble up in him, before he realized it. With a deep breath, he tried to rein it in, lest he unknowingly attract unwanted attention. It was bad enough that had to sneak around Yuuka, but having to avoid Kakashi-sensei nearly broke his heart.
He had discovered the grey-haired man as part of his guard a few months ago. He had been practicing sensing chakra when he caught his chakra signature in a nearby tree. The little blonde's first reaction had been to run over to him and hug him tight. Before he realized that he wasn't even supposed to be able to tell the ANBU were there.
After nearly an hour's worth of practice, he noticed the angle of the sun in the sky. Nearly time to go back. He carefully laid the majority of the kunai in a sheltered ledge. He packed one into his bag. Just in case.
He created a kage bunshin, and quickly dispelled it, to alert his clone that it was time to swap.
With one final check, he wriggled back out, and headed back to the group.
O0o0o0O
Hatake Kakashi, currently codenamed Inu, carefully kept watch over the small child that was his charge. While the summer heat was stifling in his armor, he wouldn't let it get to him.
'Think cool thoughts. Ice, Snow, Pools of water.' He tried to convince himself, to no avail. Then it dawned on him. Carefully, he focused his chakra to a trickle of what he could use and used the weakest wind jutsu he knew to surround himself with a breeze. He couldn't keep it up forever, but it would do for now. He closed his eye in relief, enjoying the brief respite. With that little annoyance taken care of he could do his duty more carefully.
He searched for that blonde mop of hair, saw him head into some brush after a ball that he had mistakenly kicked into it. Kakashi smiled at the boy playing. He glanced around at the surrounding area. He turned back to where Naruto was.
'Now that's odd. I could have sworn he just went in there. Did he kick it back in already? I guess he has some of Minato sensei's bad luck at times.' He chuckled. As the genin started rounding up the children, he got ready to leave, scouting out the area for potential hostiles. When all heads were accounted for, the group trudged back to the village, grimy and tired from a long, fun day trip outside the city proper. Kakashi stilled briefly when he felt a flare of chakra, but a quick scan of the area produced no signs of anyone in the area, so he returned to the group.
O0o0o0O
Clone Naruto paused briefly in his play as an influx of info came. Thankfully he had been waiting for the ball to come his way, so he quickly kicked it into the bush where he could swap out with his creator. He waited out for a few seconds before he heard Naruto prime coming in from the other side. The real Naruto grabbed the ball from his clone and headed out of the bush. The clone waited till the rest of the group had left and then dispelled.
When Naruto got back to the orphanage, he quickly headed to his room. He needed to find a place for his kunai before someone took it away from him. Carefully, he felt around under his crib. He felt a small ledge upon which the mattress rested. Hearing footsteps he slipped it under there, safely within reach, should the need ever arise.
A few seconds later, his favorite nurse entered in. Seeing the towel in hand, he felt a grin spread across his face as he took off.
"Uzumaki Naruto get back here!" She yelled after him.
Twenty-three minutes later, a twelve year old boy held him by the back of his shirt, presenting him to an impatient Yuuka.
"He he…Hi, Baba." He waved.
With his wide grin, Naruto tried to wriggle out of trouble, but that idea was quickly dispelled as she hauled him up to the bathroom and dumped him in the bathtub.
"I swear Naruto. How do you get so dirty?" She mumbled, exasperatedly as she scrubbed him raw. Naruto winced as she hit a tender spot.
Sensing the discomfort, Yuuka stopped, and took a rag, wiping away the layers of dirt. Underneath was the start of a bruise. A rather large bruise.
"Naruto. Did something happen this afternoon?" She quietly questioned him.
Naruto's mind raced, trying to find an explanation that he hadn't used in a while.
"Nope." He said, in a feeble attempt.
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" She spoke softly, lifting his chin to look straight at him.
"Hai, Baba." Naruto answered, looking away, not able to face those caring brown eyes with a bold-faced lie.
"Then what happened?" She pressed on. Naruto stared at the bubbles below, batting them around with his hands.
"Naruto-chan?"
"I fell." He finally answered.
"You fell? What happened?" She asked. To get a bruise like that it had to be more than a simple fall.
"I tried climbing the trees like the nii-sans." He muttered.
"Of course..." She muttered. The genin had been demonstrating climbing trees at one point, so of course he had tried to copy them.
"Naruto. I know that you're growing up fast, but there are some things that you're not ready for yet. Please ask before trying anything like that again. Okay?" She gently scolded.
"Hai, Baba." He nodded.
"Now hold, while I fix this." She smiled warmly. A minute application of chakra later, and the bruise was already starting to fade.
After the bath was taken, and everyone was settling in for the night, Yuuka was sitting in the rocking chair in Naruto's little room. The little blonde was sitting in her lap, reading along as she was pointing out the words of the book. A gift from his godfather at his last visit. Naruto drifted off to the tale that had given him his name.
0o0o0o0
Tora sat at his desk, once again fighting the unwinnable fight of all administrators. Details upon thousands of details lay scattered in the separate leaves of paper. It was easy to glance over them and file them away, never to see the light of day again. Oh how many times he was tempted. No, the role entrusted to him demanded that he focus. The smallest detail could lead to the largest of disasters.
It had been almost two years since the attack, and not long after that, tensions had risen between Konoha and Kumo, putting a strain on the shinobi forces as a whole, but more specifically on his own division.
The threat of war had called for upping the number of patrols along the border, as well as inside the village. And yet, as the patrols increased, so did reports, which added to the strain of sifting through the chaff to find the kernels of info that could be pieced together to form a whole. A never-ending cycle. Tora had just finished the stack of the newest intel received from the border. The Kumo nin seemed to be withdrawing, following the agreed upon concessions that were about to be signed upon in the treaty. All signs pointed to acts of good faith, something sorely lacking in the past.
With a sigh, he set aside the last of the stack. A few strokes of the pen and his summative report was written for the hokage. He pulled the next stack of folders to him. He glanced to the door and satisfied that it was closed, he settled his feet on the edge of his desk. Might as well let his body relax, even if his mind wouldn't.
As he quickly read through the reports, his brow began to crinkle in slight confusion. He moved to the cabinet, and pulled out another folder. A quick glance did nothing to relieve his mood. Throwing the tan folder on his desk, he reached for the next one. The graying commander took each folder and laid it out on his desk. Three pictures looked up at him from the front of each file, each of the same individual a few months apart.
"Why that little brat…" Tora muttered, while a grin spread across his face. Seems like the boy inherited more than just looks.
0o0o0o0
"ANBU!"
Hearing the cry, Inu was instantly alert, looking for the danger. He zeroed in on where it came from, transporting himself there in an instant. There he found a distraught Isoda Yuuka, standing in an empty bedroom, blankets at her feet.
"Where is he?" He snapped.
"I came to check up on him, and he wasn't here. I checked the rest of the house, and he's no where to be found. I'm beginning to think someone took him. So help me Kami, if they think they can get away with-" She started growling.
"I'm sure he's still in the area. Bear, Owl." He quietly called. Two of his squad appeared standing next to him. "Scout out the area, he can't be far. Report once you've found him."
The ANBU had checked out the area before she brought him home with her, for however infrequent the visits, just in case someone took advantage of the impromptu sleepovers Naruto would sometimes have at his Baba's house. There weren't any extreme dangers in the area.
Inu took a tour of the room. The door hadn't been locked against interruptions. The heavy winter blankets lay were Isoda-san had tossed them. He couldn't see any signs of disturbance that would indicate foul play. He inspected the window. No tool marks, pushed open from the inside. He looked down, the lace covering on the bedside tabled had been mussed. Inu leaned over the frame of the window. There in the ground were a set of child sized footprints, barely there, but still visible to his trained eye.
"That little rat…Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He intoned, as his hands flew through seals. A small brown pug appeared. Inu grabbed a tiny shirt off the floor where it had landed. The pug yanked his head back to prevent getting smacked with the shirt in his face.
"Find him." His master ordered, exasperatedly. A few sniffs later and the pug was ready to go. He circled around the room a few times, jumped up onto the mattress, scrambled onto the table and out the window.
"I'll find him, Isoda-san. Don't worry." He reassured her, in as friendly a tone as an ANBU was allowed.
"You better." She glared at him as he followed his summon.
0o0o0o0
Kakashi followed Pakkun as he raced down the scent of his little rascal of a charge. Down the street, left down an alley, left down another side lane. Under a few stacked boards…
While tracking after his nin-ken, the silver haired teen tried to fathom what could possibly motivate a two year old to run out into the streets, through his window of all things! Best to find the kid first, and then question the hell out of him later. Once Naruto was found safe and sound, of course.
At the end of an alley, Pakkun paused, turned to him, and nodded his head in the direction of the small bundle moving away from him around the corner 'Gotcha.'
Kakashi quickly stepped behind the toddler, and swung him up into his arms.
"Nooo. Let me down! The bad man's got her!" The little blonde shrieked. At the sound, a dark figure bolted away from the shadows as the masked nin caught him lurking there. Kakashi dropped the child.
"Stay. Here. Or else." Kakashi hastily threatened. Without even looking to see if his orders were being obeyed, he let a shrill whistle go, calling his pack-mate to him. Pakkun appeared in a shadowy blur, they were off, tracking their new quarry.
Naruto watched them as they sped off, and then at a slower pace, due to much shorter legs, ran off in the same direction. At a few intersections, he paused to reorient himself, searching for that release of chakra. He peeked around one final corner and found the two shinobi battling it out fiercely with taijutsu. Slowly, as to avoid attracting more unwanted attention, he crept towards the bundle that had been tossed aside at one point in the chase. The little blonde dragged it towards a darkened corner.
He slowly unwound the cloth to reveal the unconscious form of Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto gently unwrapped the rest, careful of possible injuries. Finding no bleeding wounds, he grabbed the blanket, and, laying her in his lap, wrapped it around the both of them to ward off the winter chill until their pursuers caught up with them. The blanket was warm. Adrenaline from his nighttime "stroll" began to wear off. The steady breathing of the warm body next to him lulled him into slumber.
0o0o0o0
"-d me to the district. I attempted to apprehend him when he started exclaiming about a 'bad man'. Moments later, an unknown fled the scene. I pursued, with the assistance of my ninken, to where I tracked him down several blocks away. After a brief fight, I was able to pin him down until reinforcements came to take him to a holding cell." A familiar voice reported.
Naruto fought off the grogginess that was surrounding him. He realized he was in the Hokage's office. The same blanket that had been wrapped around Hinata was still surrounding him as he huddled into the couch. Voices could be heard, muffled through the thick cover. His first instinct was to move the blanket, but no, that would alert them to his listening, if they didn't know already. Better to just stay quiet.
"And the children?"
"Both were found huddled together not far from the site of the altercation. The Hyuuga daughter was returned to her home. She appears to have sustained a slight concussion, but there were no lasting damages. Naruto was unharmed." The masked teen informed his hokage.
A weary quiet filled the room.
"I congratulate you on a successful capture, Inu-kun, even if it was not your primary charge." The Sandaime's gruff voice stated. "Next time, I would appreciate it, if you wouldn't leave the child you're supposed to be guarding all alone in the middle of the street." Naruto could almost hear Kakashi flinch.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." The teen replied, thoroughly chastised.
"Returning to the matter at hand, did you ever discover the reason why Naruto-kun had left his lodgings?" The elder man questioned.
"No, Hokage-sama. He has been asleep ever since I found him with the Hyuuga heir." Kakashi replied.
"What I'm more interested in is how a two year old boy manages to give the slip to a whole squad of ANBU." A new voice interjected. It was rather rough to the ear, as if more used to yelling orders than quietly conversing. Naruto was once again tempted to take a peek at the newcomer. He had never met this person before. That he knew, either in his old past or his current life.
"As am I, Commander." Sarutobi added wryly. Tension filled the room.
Kakashi felt a blush creep under the cool porcelain mask.
"Well, I- He-" Kakashi stuttered.
"I'm sure you would have delivered a very fine piece of bull, but I think it would be best to let the little eavesdropper tell his own story." The man once again interrupted.
Naruto felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, as if being targeted by unseen enemies. Slowly, he reached up to grasp the edge of the blanket covering him. He pulled it down to find three sets of eyes, one of which was hidden behind a mask, pinning him to where he lay.
"He he…hi, Ojii-san…" He gave a faint smile, and a feeble wave.
"Naruto…How long have you been awake?" Sarutobi asked him pointedly.
"Not that long." Naruto answered.
"It's rude to listen in while others are talking. You know that, right?" Sarutobi scolded him.
Naruto nodded, as he dropped his head, ashamed at being reprimanded by his grandfather figure.
"Naruto-kun, how did you get out of the apartment?" The owner of the new voice questioned him. The muscled man wore a uniform similar to the ANBU standard, but altered in places to hold more scrolls and specialized tools. A tiny single black star rested near the collar.
"Who're you?" The blonde asked, blunt as ever.
"Naruto, manners." Hiruzen warned, as the elder ANBU chuckled.
"I like him already. I'm a shinobi, young one, but you can call me Tora for now." The now named Tora gave him a sincere smile as he bent down to offer Naruto a hand in greeting. Warily, Naruto took the hand and shook it, before quickly withdrawing it from the callused palm.
"Now why don't you tell us how you got past your babysitters." He asked again.
Naruto started to panic. 'Ohnoohnoohno Now what do I do?' His thoughts raced around his head, trying to figure out a way around this sticky situation.
"Um..I…I…" He started, resembling a recent acquaintance.
"Yes?" Sarutobi prompted. Naruto fought the urge to squirm under the gaze of two of the most powerful shinobi in the village, along with his future sensei.
'Half truths. It's always easier to lie when it's not all a lie. Didn't Jiraiya say something like that once?'
"I- I knew where they were, so I just kinda…went around them." He explained. Tora's eyebrow arched.
"You knew where they were posted? How?" The war veteran inquired.
"I just…did."Naruto explained, trying to get away being as vague as possible.
"Did you see something? Or maybe hear it?" Sarutobi supplied.
"I just felt that kind of warm feeling you get when you stand next to somebody, only it wasn't right next to me." Naruto admitted. At least sensing chakra couldn't get him thrown into the mad house, right?
"Sensor?" Tora shot to Sarutobi. He pondered it for a moment before he sat back in his chair, a little surprised at the turn of events.
"It's possible, I suppose. Never knew either to have it though." He muttered.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but that's not entirely true. Sensei was able to detect chakra presences in the vicinity by touching the ground. Perhaps Naruto inherited it to a greater degree?" Kakashi interjected.
Naruto's eyes shot wide open. 'Dad could sense chakra? That's so cool!'
"We got the 'how' but that still doesn't answer the why." Tora turned back to Naruto. "Why did you follow the 'bad man' as you called him."
"I could tell that someone was really scared, so I looked out, and I saw the man carrying the blankets. I had to help so I just went out the window after him." He said.
"Naruto. What you did was very dangerous. You could have been hurt." Sarutobi once against scolded him. "But it was also very brave. I don't want you to do anything like it ever again, at least until after you've grown up. Understand?" Sarutobi caught him with a piercing gaze that made Naruto want to do nothing more than to agree with him fully. He nodded his assent.
"Good. Now I want you to go with Inu here. There's someone who's been worried sick about you." Sarutobi ordered. Naruto hopped off the couch, eager to get away. The silver-haired ANBU hoisted him up into his arms. Before they left, Naruto heard the barest whisper in his ear.
"If you ever run away like that again, I swear I will make what Isoda-san has waiting for you look like a picnic."
Naruto gulped, before disappearing in a shunshin with his future sensei.
0o0o0o0
As soon as the duo disappeared in a puff of smoke, a deep belly laugh began to fill the room.
Sarutobi looked on as his comrade appeared to have cracked right in front of his eyes.
"I fail to see the humor in this situation. Are you well, Ryo?" He asked, worried about his subordinate, who now had a few a faint tears gathering at the corner of his eyes.
"Right as rain, sir." He choked out as the laughs died down.
"Then what, pray tell, is so funny?" The bewildered older man inquired.
"The little brat. He's been pulling the wool over our eyes for the last few months." The ANBU commander revealed.
"I assume you mean Naruto. I would ask that you refrain from calling him such." Sarutobi frowned.
"Aye, him." Ryo waved him off. "Tell me, what do you notice about the kid?"
A puzzled look flitted across his face.
"What do you mean?" He prompted.
"I mean, what do know about him? How he acts, his likes, dislikes. Anything out of the ordinary." The ANBU asked, moving to brace himself against the Hokage's desk.
"Well, Naruto's an exceptionally bright boy, but still a two year old child nonetheless. He gets in trouble on more than the rare occasion. He laughs. He plays. Why? Do think there's something…else going on?" Hiruzen was worried. He had been monitoring the seal, along with his student, but perhaps there was something he had missed?
"I'm not sure if there is…outside influence yet, but let's just say that he's well on his way to becoming a shinobi." Ryo alluded.
"Oh?"
"As you know, there have been ANBU guards assigned to him, essentially since he was born. The most interesting fact is something that was just tentatively confirmed, pending further testing. The boy has a gift for sensing chakra. That explains a number of strange occurrences that have been happening. Tonight was the first major event, but according to a number of my men, there have been times when the boy will turn and look at them, and smile." Tora explained.
"The manifestation of the chakra sensing." Sarutobi added.
"Exactly. The other points aren't as obvious, I suppose, but it is my theory that the child has been trying to train himself."
The Sandaime's eyes flew open in shock.
"Train himself? How would he even know where to start?"
"Monkey see, monkey do?" Ryo suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "We send genin teams to expose the orphans to the shinobi lifestyle, so it's possible that he's just trying to emulate what he sees the genin doing. I have on record at least one admission of that to his caretaker."
"I can't imagine Isoda-san is too pleased at having her conversations listened in on." Sarutobi said, one side of his lips tweaking up into a smile, imagining her reaction.
"It's for Naruto's protection, I assure you." The ANBU promised.
"As you say, but if she ever does find out, you are on your own." The hokage continued. "But, back to the topic on hand?"
"Yes, well, there are other reasons as to why I believe he is attempting training on his own. As you would know, children do like to be chased, but he seems to turn it into an art form, trying to evade capture as long as possible. I don't think he's ever used the same route twice, at least when I've checked up on him. The poor academy students don't know what to do with him anymore." Ryo chuckled.
"Circumstantial evidence. You forget who his mother was. It's more than likely the prankster showing true." He dismissed it with a wave of a hand.
"Possible, true. The fact remains that planning such evasions does take a certain amount of planning, as well as the physical stamina to put them into action. We can hem and haw about the details for as long as we want, but the fact is that it is possible that he's working out how to do these things on his own." The cat masked ANBU asserted.
"What do you want me to do about it? He's too young to enroll into the academy." Sarutobi frowned.
"Why not some private training? Just to ensure he doesn't hurt himself, or others? You can't deny that he has the potential to be an excellent shinobi. It would be a shame to have it stifled because of lack of support." Ryo suggested.
The old man tapped a rhythm against he desk as he pondered the suggestion. It could work, if it were handled appropriately.
"If I were to agree to this…proposal, who would you suggest as a sensei?"
"We would need someone who is open-minded at the very least. That he shows such potential at an early age is more than surprising, even without considering his burden. Discretion would be a must, as if certain factions caught wind of this, there would be no telling what uproar it could cause."
Sarutobi nodded in agreement.
A mischievous grin spread across Ryo's face as an idea dawned on him.
"Child prodigies are not like the average child, by definition. Perhaps…birds of a feather? Or should I say dog?" The commander proposed.
"You think he's ready to teach?"
"He's been a fine shinobi, one of the best. Who better to teach the next prodigy?"
"He may be one of the best, but he's still a teenager." Sarutobi argued.
"I'm not asking that he be reassigned as a jounin-sensei. The kid just needs a little guidance. Look, I'm sure he would jump at the chance to get to spend time with him. It's not like he's a complete stranger, which is always a plus when dealing with children." The grizzled man reasoned.
The old hokage rose from his chair as he moved to look over the slumbering village. Lights could still be seen aplenty, especially illuminating the Hyuuga compound in the distance. Individual fireflies of light moved about in the dark streets. Sarutobi understood the reasoning behind what Ryo was asking of him, but was he willing to start the child down such a dark path?
'Would that you were here to guide him.' Sarutobi wished as his eyes trailed to where he knew his successor's face was carved.
It could be beneficial to the village if he were to be trained to his potential. And even if he decided to not become a shinobi, his circumstances demanded that he be able to defend himself…
"Very well." Sarutobi sighed, as he rubbed a hand over his tired face. "If you can spare Kakashi-kun for short stretches, he can be allowed to start training the boy. But only if you can get his unofficial guardian to agree to it." He added, grinning slyly.
"You're on." Ryo replied, accepting the challenge, before slipping his mask on and exiting the room.
A/N: Ever just have a character that runs away on you? Yeah, I feel like that now...
Anywho, I heard back from many of you (thanks!) about the pace of the story. Yes, I know it's slow, but it's starting to pick up.
Thanks to le diosa who has been an excellent conversation partner over the last few days, as well as to everyone who left good detailed feedback. I know there are parts that maybe not everyone agrees with, but it's good experience trying to figure out why exactly I wanted them that way.
But perhaps this week it might be interesting to see what you all think about what happened, because I will admit being on cold meds for about 75% of this chapter's writing time...
Hugs to Tora-Hime-Melody for being my rubber wall ;)
Have a good night everyone!
Adios,
Soprano~in~Waiting