Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Guess who's back?
Chapter seven: Nine shades of wrath
It was an apartment building in a village somewhere outside the Land of Fire. It was there, in a third-floor apartment, where a man looked at himself in a full body mirror that stood on the floor as the last sunlight of the day came through the blinds, casting horizontal orange bars of light across the room; this twilight was the only light in the room. The only noises being made were the man sighing once as he looked at himself, and the whirring of the electronic fan on a nearby desk as its head moved back and forth slowly. Shifting his gaze slightly to the right, so he could see what was behind him by looking in the mirror, the man saw what he was contemplating.
An Oto ninja uniform.
It was a surprisingly detailed uniform, with a number of uniform decorations on it, which denoted the man who owned it as one of great rank and prestige. The full-head mask that was part of the uniform had holes that exposed the nose and mouth, in addition to the one that exposed the eyes, rather than just a hole for the eyes alone. There was also an officer's hat on the hook next to the hook on which the mask was (not all that neatly) hung.
This uniform represented all that the man was, all that he had left in life. It held all of his memories, all of his accomplishments, all of his pride. In the past, the man would wear this uniform as he served under the great and benevolent Lord Orochimaru. The man wore this very uniform when he and his fellows, under Lord Orochimaru's command, invaded the village of Konohagakure, alongside a number of Suna ninja, convinced into helping Oto. The man recalled with a smile that it was Lord Orochimaru the Brilliant who had done his special kind of magic to get the Suna ninja to do this.
…Then the man's smile melted into a frown when he recalled that the Oto-Suna invasion (of course the man was putting Oto before Suna, it was Oto who deserved top billing) of Konoha ended up failing when Lord Orochimaru the Mighty failed to kill that bastard old man, the Third Hokage, as the Hokage ended his own life in a way that put a halt Orochimaru's schemes. It was then that some Oto ninja became concerned with how their grand, proud nation was looking.
Even with Lord Orochimaru the Brave and Glorious succeeding in acquiring that young Uchiha boy for his plans, Oto eventually fell within two years after the failed attempt to bring Konoha to its knees. Oto had fallen, and it was the handiwork of Uchiha who had made it so. It was Uchiha who had defeated Lord Orochimaru the Undefeatable. It was Uchiha who had broken the spirit of the great and numerous Oto ninjas.
It was Uchiha who had taken from the man all that he had.
But soon, revenge will belong to the man. The man had heard that Uchiha had returned to Konoha in an attempt to 'earn redemption', effectively making himself into the attack dog of that whore woman, Tsunade the Not-as-cool-as-Orochimaru. The man had gathered enough of his old fellow Oto shinobi, his old comrades in arms, to attack that bastard hellhole Konoha. Even with as many men that he had gathered, the man knew that he wouldn't be able to take down or take over Konoha. But the man DID know that he and his fellows will take out a very good number of Konoha's people, both shinobi and citizens alike, as he and his fellows went out in a blaze of glory. A blaze so grand that the world will know of it, and remember it for all time.
A fitting end to a fitting legacy.
It was a fair enough day in the village of Konohagakure. Sasuke Uchiha, who had recently returned to Konoha in a quest for redemption, was making his way to the Hokage office building so that he could report to Lady Tsunade, the fifth and current Hokage, for his work for today. As he made his way, he ran into three of his friends, Ino Yamanaka, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka, along with Kiba's ninja dog Akamaru. When he came across them, Sasuke saw that Kiba was in an argument with Ino.
"Why the hell did you try to make Akamaru eat a radish?!" Kiba snapped at Ino.
"Well the only snacks you give him are meat-based," Ino remarked, hands on her waist.
"That's because Akamaru is a DOG, Ino," Kiba replied, "He's a frigg'en DOG!"
"Woof!" Akamaru barked before sniffing about at the air.
As Sasuke came close, Shino noticed him and said, "Oh, what's up, Sasuke?"
"Sasuke, please tell me that you agree with me that trying to feed a radish to a dog is a dumb idea," Kiba said when he turned to face his Uchiha friend.
"Yeah, I am kind of having a difficult time imagining a dog eating a radish," Sasuke remarked, "I think that a dog would sooner eat the animal that would eat the radish, rather than the radish itself."
"Yahoo!" Kiba cheered as he pumped a fist into the air, "Team Inuzuka one, team Yamanaka zero!"
"Akamaru needs more variety in his diet, Kiba!" Ino said.
"One, Akamaru gets all the variety he needs in the special dog food I mix up for him," Kiba began to say to the Yamanaka chunnin, "Two, shut up."
"To be fair, I think that dog care should be left to the dog care professionals," Sasuke said to Ino.
As Ino's shoulders slumped in defeat, making Kiba laugh boisterously in the process, the four chunnin and one ninja dog heard a loud explosion from the next street over. When Akamaru turned to face the direction that the noise came from so he could bark in that direction, Sasuke exclaimed with wide-eyed shock, "What the hell was that?!"
"Hmm," Kiba said as he held a hand to his chin, "Either Konoha's being attacked by hostile ninjas, or the Akimichi clan is having Chili night right now."
"Their Chili night is on Thursdays," Shino pointed out, "Today is Tuesday."
"Hostile ninja attacking Konoha it is," Kiba declared.
"Let's go back up the other Konoha ninja that are bound to be there," Ino said as she ran on ahead.
"Oi Ino, wait up!" Kiba shouted as he ran to catch up to the Yamanaka chunnin, with Akamaru running after his master. Giving each other knowing looks, Sasuke and Shino ran after the rest of the group.
After Sasuke and Shino turned a few corners, they had eventually caught up to Ino, Kiba and Akamaru. When they did, they both stopped dead in their tracks, stunned by what they saw; no less than two-hundred Sound ninja in the streets, a few of them fighting Konoha ninja, but most of them were marching towards the Hokage office building. Leading the procession of marching sound ninja was one wearing an elaborately decorated sound ninja uniform, an officer's hat, and there were holes in his mask for his nose and mouth. He also had a cape and those shoulder pads that had little tassels hanging off of the edge. (1)
"Ah, now who do we have here!" the caped sound ninja proclaimed in amusement when he saw Sasuke and the other Konoha chunnin. Pointing at Sasuke, the caped sound ninja said, "If it isn't the traitor of the sound! You have a lot to answer for, Uchiha!"
"Oh what, are you sad that Sasuke gave Oto a big middle finger?" Kiba taunted, "Oh, and by the way, your cape and hat look frigg'en stupid."
"It is YOU who is the stupid one, foolish Konoha youth!" the caped sound ninja exclaimed, drawing a sword and pointing it at Kiba.
"Yeah, is that so?" Kiba replied in an amused, "Well, this 'foolish Konoha youth' is about to kick your ass!"
"ARF!" Akamaru barked angrily at the caped sound ninja.
"To battle, men!" the caped sound ninja commanded flamboyantly, "We shall-"
"Earth Style: Dark Swamp."
Feeling a sudden chill, as if he were being watched, the caped sound ninja looked around, stopping midsentence. Suddenly, he felt himself sink into the ground, and that sinking feeling was followed by hearing the panicked screams of his men. Turning his head so that he could see his men behind him, he saw that all of his men were struggling (and failing) to move their legs; a few were even trying to pull their legs up by grabbing their legs with their hands and yanking upwards with all the strength they had. Seeing his men act in such a manner, the caped sound ninja looked down.
To his shock, he saw the explanation for his sinking feeling; he was literally sinking in a swampy mire that wasn't there a few seconds before hand. Turning his gaze up somewhat, he saw that all of his men that were following him were also stuck in the mire. "What sorcery is this?!" the caped sound ninja proclaimed, seven parts confused and three parts panicked.
"…Yeah, how the hell did this swamp get here?" Sasuke asked as he and the others took a few steps back.
"…Oh no," Ino muttered in a wary tone as she stepped back a bit more, "He's here."
Looking to Ino upon hearing the worry in her tone, Sasuke said, "Are you alright, Ino?"
"This is the Dark Swamp technique that we're looking at, Sasuke," Shino said as the apprehension in his tone matched that of Ino's, "And given that it's been used to trap a vast number of hostile enemy ninja, then what should be following is-"
Shino didn't get to finish speaking, because at that moment he was cut off by someone shouting, "FIRE STYLE: MAJESTIC DESTROYER FLAME!" To the left of Sasuke and company, they all felt a great heat, accompanied by the roaring of a vast, powerful fire. The sound ninja also felt the heat, heard the flames, and they turned their heads in the direction that the heat and roaring came from.
What the sound ninja saw was an all-consuming inferno rushing towards them.
All of the sound ninja that were trapped in the Dark Swamp went wide-eyed with fear, with some of them even shouting the last noises they'd ever make. Even with certain death coming at him at full speed, the caped sound ninja refused to show fear. Right as the flames reached him and his men, the caped sound ninja shouted, "BANZAI!" (2) Sasuke, Shino, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru all watched as the flames reached into the skies of Konoha, its roaring drowning out all noise being made by the perishing sound ninja.
When the flames went up, the few sound ninjas that weren't caught in the Dark Swamp due to fighting a few random Konoha ninja, plus those random Konoha ninja themselves, all stopped what they were doing to gawk and stare as the flames continued to roar. Seeing the vast bulk of their fellows all perish all at once, the few remaining sound ninjas all fell to their knees, putting their hands behind their heads as they waited to be apprehended.
"…Holy crap," Kiba said quietly, too stunned by what he was seeing to express any sort of surprise, "He just napalmed the poor bastards."
"Wait, you know who's doing this?" Sasuke asked as he turned his head to face Kiba.
"Yeah, I know who's doing this," Kiba remarked as his current tone persisted, "Shino knows who's doing this, Ino knows who's doing this. Hell, Akamaru knows who's doing this, and he often has trouble recalling anyone who doesn't belong to the Inuzuka clan."
"Look, he's here!" one of the random Konoha shinobi exclaimed as if rejoicing, pointing in the direction the flames came from. Looking at the Konoha shinobi, Sasuke and company followed the direction he was pointing in. What they saw shocked them, Sasuke especially.
He was standing on top of a large water tank that was on the roof of a tall apartment building. The wind was blowing against his right, making his long haori coat flap in the wind. His very long, yellow-blonde spikey hair was waiving in the wind as well, mostly masking the right side of his face. He was dressed in the standard outfit of Konoha shinobi chunnin rank and up, the only exception being his long haori coat, which reached his knees; the bottom edge flared up with red flame patterns, and the rest of the coat was a familiar (to Sasuke) shade of orange.
Sasuke could not be mistaken. Those were those deep blue eyes. Those were those whisker-like markings on his face. "Holy crap…" Sasuke muttered, almost whispered, out of shock as he saw someone that he knew he'd run into after having returned to Konoha, "…Naruto." Instantly, and without warning, Naruto instantly vanished.
"I see you all helped somewhat," Naruto's voice said in an unamused monotone on ground level and within a few feet of Sasuke and company, making them look down and sub sequentially jump back in surprise when they saw Naruto standing a few feet in front of them.
"If the five of you have time to gawk and stare," Naruto continued in his monotone, "Then you have time to help the other Konoha shinobi keep the remaining sound ninja subdued until they can be hauled off to prison. I'm going over to the Hokage office building to let Lady Tsunade know that she's going to need to send some help with getting the remains of the slain sound ninja cleaned out of the streets and taken to the morgue." Before Sasuke or any of the others could get a word in, Naruto vanished again.
After Naruto was gone, Sasuke turned to face the others. "Is he…" Sasuke began slowly as he had trouble finding the words, "…Has he…What…what the hell happened to him?"
"He reported to Lady Tsunade," one of the random Konoha ninja called out, the same one who was seemingly rejoicing at Naruto's arrival, "Just like he said."
"He just single-handedly saved Konoha from an invasion of the remnants of the Sound ninja!"
"Uhh, what about me, Sasuke and the dudes here?" Kiba asked as he gestured to himself and his friends. Gesturing to the random Konoha ninja, Kiba continued, "What about you guys?"
"You kids didn't do anything," the random Konoha ninja said, "And all my fellows and I did was keep a few stragglers busy. It was Naruto who did all of the heavy work!"
"He really is Konoha's greatest hero, isn't he?" another random Konoha ninja said.
"I hear talk that Lady Tsunade had picked Naruto to take over for her as Hokage when she steps down," one of the kunoichi among the random Konoha ninja stated.
"Why can't we just turn Naruto loose on Kumo already?" a fourth Konoha ninja (this one male) asked rhetorically, "That will save everyone trouble in the long run!"
Whispering into Sasuke's right ear, Shino said, "Yeah, that all basically summarizes the opinion that most everyone in Konoha has for Naruto."
"Well," Sasuke whispered back to the Aburame chunnin, "At least the village likes him now."
Over at the Hokage office building a few minutes later, Sasuke was reporting to Lady Tsunade; Sasuke's friends who were with him when the sound ninjas were slaughtered had accompanied the last Uchiha to Tsunade's office. "So, you were present when the sound ninjas were taken down," Tsunade said to the last Uchiha.
"Yes, I was," Sasuke replied, "Shino, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru were there as well, so they can verify."
Shifting around in her seat, Tsunade remarked, "You know Sasuke, the job that I had lined up for you today was to investigate rumors that the remnants of the sound ninja were planning an attack of some kind on Konoha."
"But the incident earlier changed everything?" Kiba asked in a somewhat unsure tone.
Picking up a single-page file on her desk, Tsunade remarked, "Of the two-hundred and twenty-four sound ninja who were involved in the attack that occurred, seventeen were defeated by Konoha shinobi and brought in alive for questioning. The remaining two-hundred and seven sound ninja were all killed."
"By Naruto," Ino added.
Nodding once in acknowledgement, Tsunade replied with a grim expression, "Naruto certainly seems to have changed, hasn't he?"
"I distinctly remember hearing him refer to you as 'Lady Tsunade', rather than 'Granny Tsunade', which he had been known to do for the longest time," Shino stated, "That shows that Naruto's become far less playful than what he used to be."
"The dude seriously has to take a chill pill," Kiba swore, "He damn near scares the living piss out of me!"
"What really confused me is why Naruto is behaving in such a manner," Ino remarked, "I mean, look at what he's got right now. He's one of the finest jonin-ranked shinobi in Konoha, and the villagers all respect him as a hero. There's even talk that Naruto is going to be made Hokage! That has always been his dream, hasn't it?"
Sighing, Tsunade said, "All of what you said just now is true, Ino. It's true that Naruto's life is finally turning up pretty damn well for him."
"Then why would-" Ino continued, only for Tsunade to cut the Yamanaka chunnin off.
"Emphasis on FINALLY," Tsunade continued, "There's no denying the fact that prior to this, Naruto's life was FAR less than ideal." Looking to Sasuke and the others, Tsunade said, "And there's no denying that some of Naruto's classmates, even some in his graduating class, have contributed somewhat to that life Naruto had." As Sasuke and company looked somewhat guilt-ridden, Tsunade added, "But then again, the village as a whole has more responsibility in this regard. Thankfully Naruto won't do to the village and the villagers what he did to all of those sound ninjas from about a half hour previous or so."
"Do you think…" Ino began, "…Do you think that all of the suffering he's gone through…all of the hell he's been given, that it's…that it's all finally catching up to him?"
"Seems like it, sadly enough," Tsunade remarked somberly, "It makes me wish that the request that the late Lord Fourth had regarding Naruto was honored from the start. Maybe then Naruto's life wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad as it was." Looking directly as Sasuke, Tsunade said, "Given that the issue regarding the sound ninja has been resolved, I don't have anything for you today, so you're dismissed."
"Umm, okay," Sasuke replied in a mildly unsure tone, nodding his head respectfully to the Hokage. After he was dismissed, Sasuke took his leave, with Shino and the others following him. As they all made their way down the stairs to the first floor of the Hokage office building, Sasuke asked, "How long has Naruto been like this?"
"Sometime shortly after he was promoted to jonin roughly six months ago," Ino replied, "To make matters worse, the only ones who are seeing what's really happening with Naruto are the four of us, plus all of our friends, plus a few adults such as Lady Tsunade, miss Shizune and some of our parents. As far as the rest of the village knows or has seen, Naruto is a great, invincible hero."
"Naruto was applauded by the twenty-plus witnesses who saw the incident that Karui was involved in, because of what Naruto did to Karui in retaliation for said incident," Shino remarked.
"He-Naruto was-they applauded him for that?!" Sasuke remarked, eyes wide with shock and surprise.
"Keep in mind that Kumo is giving the rest of the ninja world cause for worry at the moment," Shino pointed out.
"And to think," Ino remarked, "Choji, his folks, even Karui, don't hold anything against Naruto." Surprised by what he heard Ino said, Sasuke turned to regard her as she went on saying, "They all know full well that there's something wrong with Naruto. They, like everyone else we know, are just worried about him."
As Sasuke and the other walked out the front doors of the Hokage office building, they bumped into Sakura Haruno, their friend and one the assistants to Lady Tsunade. With Sakura at the time was another girl; she had long brunette hair, wore a lavender-and-cream hooded sweater-jacket, tan pants that reached half way down her shins, and a pair of shinobi sandals. She wore her Konoha ninja headband around her neck, rather than over her forehead like most other Konoha shinobi, Sasuke included. (3)
Sasuke did not recognize this girl that was with Sakura, but luckily for him, Ino saved him the trouble. "Oh, hey Sakura, hey Hinata," Ino greeted in a happy casual tone as the girls came forward, "Are we still on for-"
Ino stopped midsentence, and everyone else was rendered speechless as well, when Hinata approached Sasuke and struck him across the face with a powerful slap across the left side of his face. The slap struck Sasuke hard enough to make his head turn to his right, although the shock of being slapped out of the blue may have had a hand in the effectiveness of the slap. Before anyone could say anything, Hinata screamed, "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, SASUKE!"
"Umm…are you okay, Hinata?" Kiba asked in a concerned tone that sounded mildly unsure; Akamaru was whimpering in fright as he cowered, his tail tucked between his hind legs, as he slowly backed up away from the upset Hyuga.
Ignoring her teammate and said teammate's dog, Hinata simply continued screaming at Sasuke. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT NARUTO IS SUFFERING!" Hinata screamed, "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT HE PUSHED HIMSELF HALF TO DEATH MORE THAN ONCE! DO YOU KNOW ALL THAT NARUTO DID, JUST TO TRY AND BRING YOU BACK TO KONOHA?! HOW COULD YOU MAKE HIM GO THROUGH ALL OF THAT?! WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU?!"
After the shouting fit, Hinata hung her head and started crying, her shoulders shaking with each sob. "And now here you go…" Hinata said quietly, "…Just walking back into Konoha, doing all that you have been doing, and making all of the effort that Naruto went through for your sake completely pointless…"
"…Now I remember who you are," Sasuke remarked, making Hinata look up at Sasuke to glare at him; her face was red and her cheeks streaked with tears.
"Umm, Sasuke," Kiba began, "With all due respect, dude, I don't think what you just said was the best choice of words in the world right now…"
"I'm going to have to side with Kiba on this one, Sasuke," Sakura remarked.
"Sorry, but I had trouble remembering who she was exactly," Sasuke replied to everyone as a whole, "But now I remember clearly." Looking more directly at Hinata, Sasuke said, "You're that girl from the academy who actually liked Naruto, aren't you?"
Her glare relenting, Hinata hung her head again before she said, "…Yes…"
Sighing, Sasuke replied, "You got a point. I've been a rather ungrateful friend towards Naruto. I have more to make for that I realized, it seems."
"Sasuke," Sakura began, "You were there when Naruto killed all of those sound ninjas who tried attacking Konoha earlier, right?"
After the last Uchiha nodded in the affirmative, Sakura continued, "Then you saw the air of aggression that Naruto was giving off, the lack of humor that he's been known to have, the-"
"Suffering that he's going through," Hinata said when she interrupted Sakura.
"…Yes, the suffering too," Sakura remarked, relenting to the point that Hinata was trying to get across, "Suffering that you've had as much of a hand in making Naruto go through as most everyone else." (4)
"You…you are going to help," Ino began, "Right?"
"Well…" Sasuke began, "…Naruto is going to be the Hokage someday. It's wouldn't do Konoha good if its newest leader came into the job with some emotional baggage."
"So, you'll help?" Sakura asked.
"I've been meaning to talk to Naruto ever since I came back to Konoha in the first place, so this will kill two birds with one stone," Sasuke replied.
"I have a pretty good idea on where Naruto may be right now," Kiba said, getting everyone to turn and face him, "Just let me lead the way."
"Alright, let's go," Sasuke agreed, letting Kiba and Akamaru lead him, Shino and Ino to go find Naruto. After Sasuke and company were gone, Sakura and Hinata continued looking in the direction they saw Sasuke and his team go off in.
"Do…do you think Sasuke and the others will succeed in reaching Naruto?" Hinata asked.
"They have to, Hinata," Sakura replied quietly as she continued to look in the direction she was looking in, "They…they just have to."
In a wooded area, somewhere in Konoha, Naruto was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed. He seemed to be fuming, what with his eyes closed and a serious look on his face. But that was not necessarily the case; as a matter of fact, Naruto was actually having a conversation with Kurama, AKA the Kyubi, AKA the nine-tailed demon fox, who was sealed within Naruto. For the longest time, Naruto was at odds with the demon sealed within his body. But that was then. Starting sometime during the fourth great ninja war two years ago, Naruto and Kurama had reached an understanding; now, demon and host were good friends with each other.
"…Seriously, Naruto," Kurama spoke to his host from within the seal, "That old man in the robe. The one who always has his hood up, and you never see more than the bottom half of his face. I don't trust that man. He reeks of treachery."
"And yet he raises many valid points," Naruto replied. Sighing, Kurama sat back within the realm of the seal.
"That man is clearly trying to stoke your anger," the nine-tails remarked, "For what reason, I do not know. But know this, my friend; do not listen to all that is said by that mysterious old man."
"Ah, if it isn't Naruto," a voice called out, sounding old and raspy. Snapping Naruto out of his trance-like state and back to reality, Naruto turned to face his right as he regarded the individual that had approached him; it was an old man, wearing a dark gray hooded robe. The hood was large, and it hung over the man's face, exposing only the lower half of the man's face. The sleeves of the robe were long enough so that they stretched halfway over the man's hands. The end of the man's robe draped over the top of the man's feet, barely showing that the man wore a pair of shinobi sandals.
"Hail the conquering hero," the old man greeted as he held up his right hand in a greeting gesture.
Merely eyeing the mysterious old man, Naruto remarked, "You know, I still have no idea who you are. What's your name, old man?"
"Everything shall be revealed in good time, my boy," the old man replied, "I just wished to check up on you. I heard talk that you had performed yet another great feat that showcased your heroism."
Turning his head so that he faced forward, Naruto replied, "…I helped to prevent the remnants of the sound ninja from attacking Konoha."
"You are too modest, my boy," the mysterious old man replied with a playful chuckle, "From what I had heard, you practically stopped the attack single-handedly."
"I only did what any Konoha shinobi would do," Naruto remarked in a matter-of-factly tone, "I defended the village from an invading, hostile force."
"While adding yet another great tale to your legend," the mysterious old man said.
"I couldn't go anywhere in Konoha today without someone spotting me and pointing me out, just to practically sing my name in praise," Naruto remarked with a neutral expression while he sounded seven parts annoyed, three parts disgusted.
"…Have you not yet realized it, my boy?" the mysterious old man asked, "How the village, and the villagers, are just starting to treat you with respect? Treat you the way that you should have been treated from the get-go? They only praise you now because you are the strongest ninja in Konoha, if not the world. They know you are one with the nine-tails sealed deep within you. The masses of the village only respect you because they all fear you."
Turning to regard the mysterious old man, Naruto asked, "And you don't?"
"I do not make myself out to be an exception to the rule," the mysterious old man replied, "Unless one considers the fact that I have at least acknowledged that fear."
"…Hmm," Naruto remarked, "The first step to dealing with a problem is to admit that you have a problem."
"And dealt with my problem I have," the mysterious old man agreed, "And now all I wish to do with what little time I have left is to make up for my fear, my doubting you, my boy."
"And how, pray tell, do you intend to do that, old man?" Naruto asked, regarding the mysterious old man with a curious look.
"All in good time, my boy," the mysterious old man replied with a soft chuckle, "Now then, if I recall correctly, you have a dinner party to which you were invited?"
"…Some wealthy noble living in the Land of Fire wants me to have dinner with him tonight," Naruto replied, "I'm not sure why, though. Maybe it has to do with my efforts during the war."
"Feh," the mysterious old man replied in a sneer, "The buffoon obviously thinks he can bribe his way into your favor, my boy. Are you absolutely required to go to this dinner party?"
"…Not really," Naruto answered, "I mean, I know that I can avoid going to the dinner party if I make up an excuse."
"Then make up an excuse you should," the mysterious old man advised, "It will be a show that one cannot bribe his way to favor, to power."
"I don't know," Naruto replied in an unsure tone, "I mean, the dinner party is being held in a place in the Land of Fire that my fiancé had said she always wanted to go to, and she also expressed an interest in trying the local cuisine in that area…"
"You would let someone else call the shots, to dictate your path?" the mysterious old man asked.
Turning his head to glare at the mysterious old man, Naruto replied in a stern tone, "Well old man, given that my fiancé had pretty much let everyone else in her life just walk all over her, I figured that it's about high time that she got to try the things that she wanted to try, visited the places that she wanted to go to, see what it's like to call some shots."
"Heh, apologizes," the mysterious old man said, "Never let it be said that you don't know how to treat a woman properly, my boy."
"Feh," Naruto scoffed as he turned to face forward again, "About damn time you said something that didn't piss me off somewhat." Standing up straight, Naruto let his arms down as he said, "Now if you'll excuse me old man, I've got a dinner party to go get ready for."
"Of course, my boy," said the mysterious old man, waiving slowly and weakly as Naruto walked away. When Naruto was out of sight, the mysterious old man reached within his robe and pulled out a small, crystal-like sphere. (5) It was a red, murky color, and it glowed with energy.
Looking back up to face the direction in which Naruto walked off in, the mysterious old man said softly, "Of course."
TO BE CONTINUED…
END, GUESS WHO'S BACK CHAPTER SEVEN
Author's notes:
(1) Just for kicks.
(2) I wanted to base a bad guy after one of the campy villains from the older Sentai and rider shows, right down to the way they went out with a bang (although I don't recall one ever shouting 'banzai' as he was blown up).
(3) After he became an official shinobi of Konoha again, Sasuke was given a new Konoha ninja headband, which he wore in the same fashion as he wore his old one.
(4) Although they are few and far between, there are some people who did absolutely nothing to contribute to all of the hell that Naruto went through as he grew up.
(5) Roughly half the size of a standard baseball.
I honestly did not expect this chapter to go on for as long as it did. It wasn't until I reached the part where Hinata slapped Sasuke across the face that I realized I was going to have to break this one up into at least two parts. I certainly have my work cut out for me this time. But never let it be said that I was never up for the challenge…