So I finally decided to write something up for this presumably dead story. I mean what else would you think when you don't get an update for 2 years. In my defense, I always meant to write sooner if it wasn't for my laziness. If only my lateral collateral ligament would have been torn a lot sooner! Then I would have been bored to death with leave from work much earlier. It finally made me tap the keyboard for something other than writing a blog or playing FIFA.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Happy?
XXX
Review Shout Out
CreedRazorReaper: Nah, not Sasuke but her name does start with an S.
BacoBoyX9: Don't worry about Naruto being smart or not. He will be cool in his own way but he is going to be dense from time to time. It will also come with age. He is what? 8-9 years old right now. Even intelligent kids behave like kids. I have an IQ of over 130 but I know that I am stupid and dumb in oh so many situations that I have lost count of. And I am a 24 year old self-sufficient man. So yeah…
XXX
(Unknown Training Ground)
Well. Naruto never knew that he would be panting this much when he finally got the chance to kick some rear end. Sure, he knew that it would be difficult to finish this fight in five minutes, bordering on impossible even; but he didn't think that it would drag on for half an hour. His regular tryna-killing-each-other-with-anything/spars with Sasuke usually end very early. Usually with him receiving the short end of the stick. He attributes this improvement to Anko's crazy training and some of the neater fuinjutsu that he can try now, without accidently killing his sparring partner.
"You sure have gotten a lot slower since we fought the last time," said Naruto while wiping his brow as he locked his gaze on his enemy for the day. One way to get Sasuke to lose his focus – which is saying a lot – is to pepper him with useless trash talk. Luckily for Naruto, he had a knack for rubbing people the wrong way, "What happened? Did your mom stuff you with too many rice balls? Again. I thought I told you to limit your starch intake." He told his not-so-friendly sparring partner.
Said sparring partner also didn't particularly care for whatever Naruto had to say. That included his entire existence. So, finally getting fed up with that grating voice and trying to strangle him to no avail; Sasuke decided that it was time to call it quits and head to the Uchiha district. Maybe his brother would be back home and he will get to learn some new trick that will flatten the idiot, imbecile, obnoxious of a useless best friend a lot quicker. Not that he was his best friend. Well, he technically was by being the only kid his age that he was on tolerable terms with.
"That's it. I'm going home."
Standing with a haughty pose and a victorious air about him, Naruto decided to milk the situation. "Why? Doesz the wittle boy mish hisz Mommy?" Naruto jogged towards a steadily walking Sasuke with his baby talk and leaned his face to his side so he can wiggle his eyebrows at him.
"Just get out of my sight before I decide to wring your neck." Sasuke told him with his trademark huff.
"And here I thought we were going to braid each other's hair and stuff."
"Go, masturbate yourself!"
"Aa-a-a. That kind of attitude is unbecoming of a young ladyboy."
"What are you? Nine years old?"
"Duh."
"Don't you have to be somewhere else? A place where annoying people like you gather? Like a support group or something." Sasuke finally made a jab.
"Didn't I promise you that my whole day was yours to command my lord duck-butt?," Naruto gave a cute, mock courtesy after getting in front of the walking Sasuke, "After all, you were the one who arranged this whole thing involving a lot of singed trees - which by the way I hate to no end. Do you want me to cancel on our spars for the future? Huh? Huh?"
That got Sasuke to stop in his tracks. On one hand, it was nice to fight with a kid your age that wouldn't fold in the first few seconds of a spar. And he had to admit. Naruto was no longer the same blabbermouth that he used to be a couple years back. Well, he was still a blabbermouth but he now actually had something to back up that odious sound of his.
On the other hand, his voice is grating on the ears. He is a handful of IQ points away from being retarded. He is the definition of annoying. He is everything that he hates with passion bundled up into a single being. He is a moron. He is annoying. If it were up to the Uchiha, he wouldn't even talk to someone who can't even tell the difference between a body flicker and a substitution jutsu. And did he mention the annoying thing?
But…he was the only viable sparring partner inside his class. So, he decided to suck it up and ask nicely so he would leave.
"Naruto. We are done for today. We will reschedule for later and could you please stop hovering around my head like an idiot for a second?!" Sasuke finally seemed to snap; which concluded Naruto's good deed for the day.
"Glad to be of service. I assure you that the next time you won't even make it to 3 minutes, let alone 30."
"I wouldn't dream of it dobe," And Sasuke performed a substitution with a log to get away from the blonde menace without giving him the chance to tail him.
"I told you to never call me that you jerk!" Naruto's voice was just heard by the tree dwellers around him.
XXX
(Out and About)
What does a healthy nine year old do on his day off from ninja academy and being ditched by a friend? Of course, he would choose to go to a nice, quiet location to relax; and peek on naked women. It's not what it sounds like. At least, Naruto always had some sort of excuse for it ever since Jiraiya introduced him to the wonders of Konoha women taking a nice steamed bath in hot springs. After mastering his Sexy Jutsu a while back, he was fast running out of those.
"Okay. So this is just to expand my horizons and to experiment on some better forms for my Sexy Jutsu. This is in no way or shape for something dirty or anything like that." Naruto tried to convince himself for the umpteenth time.
Imagine his non-surprise when he ran into a white haired man giggling like Ino - if she got Sasuke to look at her hairstyle - in his usual peeking spot.
"Well, well, well. Look what the toad dragged in." Naruto folded his arms in front of him and waited for a response to his idle musings.
"Shut it kid," Jiraiya hissed, "You will blow my cover and we will lose this primo spot. Can't you see that I am hard at work," Jiraiya got his eyes off the binocular, looked Naruto's way and wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way, "Get it. Hard at work."
Naruto just stood there for two seconds with squinted eyes trying to pick up on Jiraiya's hint, "Oh," then he did a double take the second he realized what his flaky godfather was talking about "Ew. That's totally gross pervy sage."
"Remember the key to success. Always be thorough on your research. Isn't that exactly what you were coming to do here?" Jiraiya inquired with all the seriousness that his face could muster.
"Well mine is minus the fucking erection at least!"
"Perverted brat!"
"Super-Perverted hermit!"
"Now, now…I taught you better than to piggy bag on someone else's insult. I am hurt," Jiraiya said.
"But you…and I…and the girls...in the bath…" he finally gave up, "…yeah, yeah."
Naruto decided to change the subject. It was better than to argue with pervy sage. It was even worse than arguing with himself, or his clones specifically, which said a lot.
"So, you finally decide to show up after your latest six month absence. Did you run out of bathhouses to peek at?" Naruto asked with bit of mortification still on his face.
"You know me," Jiraiya finally got a little serious, "Well I had to give your father updates on the mission I have been on for the past few months, so I decided to give this one in person."
He continued, "This way, I also get to teach you something new and see where you stand with your training. Or if you have gotten any better."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Naruto couldn't help but be excited to show pervy sage his progress with fuinjutsu, among other things. Oh, and there was a probability that he was going to learn something cool this time, "Let's have a spar right now."
"Easy kid," Jiraiya waved his hands to try and get the energetic bundle of joy - yeah right! – to calm down. "I have to finish up my research here, report to Minato and then see what my former teammate is up to. We can spar later today. On second thought, maybe tomorrow," Jiraiya said with a pondering look on his face "Konoha was not built in a day you know."
"Actually, Iruka-sensei told us just recently on how the first Hokage built Konoha with his Wood release in just a day."
Now it was Jiraiya's turn to feel stupid. He had a reputation as a know-it-all to uphold after all. For a knucklehead, the kid sure could be annoyingly smart mouthed at times. At least the annoying bit was consistent. Jiraiya just had to sit this one out.
"I guess. The more you know huh!"
Naruto was still waiting on that sparring session, "So, are we going to fight or what?"
The kid could be a real pain sometimes. Still, Jiraiya put on his happy face or else he would continue to pester him, "Tell you what, you go get cleaned up cuz it looks like you walked out of a kiln. I will go finish up on my research and report; and then meet you at the usual spot at 0600. I guess Tsunade can wait for a little while."
"Awesome! See you then!" Naruto ran off to god knows where. Jiraiya heaved a sigh of relief and got back to the premiere viewing of the fine imagery that Konoha had to offer.
XXX
(Yamanaka Household)
She really didn't understand why she had to get up before noon on a Sunday when she could just have easily been enjoying her beauty sleep. Like, come on. Didn't her mother know about how much being the best looking girl in the class meant to her? She knew that boys were not really in the picture right now, with her being only nine years old and all, but still. She would be damned if Sasuke noticed some other harlot before she even got the chance to date him.
"This day is sucking so much. A leech has nothing on it"
Those were the vocal thoughts swirling inside the head of one Ino Yamanaka while she stirred her bowl of cereal in the kitchen. It was still before 11 in the morning and she was in her coveted purple pajamas. She liked to stay in that particular attire for as long as her mother would let her because she expected proper wardrobe once a person was up and about. Sitting across from her reading the latest issue of Konoha Daily, Ino's mother sipped some of her ice tea while chastising her daughter.
"And why is that my dearest daughter?" She asked her only girl while dividing her attention from the paper.
"Because…" Ino drawled a little and finally seemed to reach an answer"…I have nothing to do today, Dad is not home and even the shop isn't going to open for the next three hours."
"Well, it is up to our own discretion when we open our own business. Besides, it is a day to relax from the hectic daily lives. So, even the couple of hours we open in the afternoon are our favor towards the rest of Konoha." Ino's mother said smoothly while flipping over a piece of paper.
Ino took a tentative bite of her cereal and chimed in with her own two cents, "What favor would that be? It's not like someone is going to die from not sniffing a daisy if you don't open." She knew that she had gotten her mother with that one.
However, a woman of her stature wasn't going to back down. Besides, being a mother had the advantage of…"Don't you talk back to your mother like that, you hear?"…playing the mother card. But she wasn't done yet, "I swear that Naruto is rubbing off on you in a sour way. We thought it would have been nice for you to have befriended the Hokage's son. Who knew that he would turn out to be such a hoodlum? And finish up that cereal of yours. I don't want to hear about your new insane diet plans. You are going to become a kunoichi and that kind of behavior is appalling."
After hearing her mother chew her out in the most articulate of ways, Ino's mouth closed up and opened several times but she wasn't able to find a response. In the end she went ahead and finished her breakfast at her own pace.
"And for the love of God, change your pajamas; unless you are going upstairs to take a nap I don't see why you need to wear them."
"Yes, mama. I will go and change." Ino said a little dejectedly and careened towards her room in a robot-esque manner.
Upon entering her room, she was met with a flashing fox-like grin from the corner of her bed which elicited a shriek from her.
"What happened Ino?!" came her mother's loud voice in concern.
"Nothing mom, just a cockroach is all!"
"Okay, honey. Just come down dressed before 2, I need your help setting up the shop today!"
"Okay mom!" After dealing with her mother, Ino glared with all her might towards the blonde boy who was innocently whistling while looking anywhere in the room but her.
"What the hell Naruto? My mom is already upset with you and you had to make me scream like that." Ino huffed while moving to the dressing table to fix her hair.
"Sorry about that Ino. I knocked on your window and when no answer came I figured you would be downstairs. So, I just let myself in." Naruto looked "sincerely" apologetic.
Ino moved to her cupboard to find what she was going to wear that day, "Why did you have to make my mother mad? You know how serious she is, yet you had to go and prank her flower shop. What on earth were you thinking? My mother has been giving me a tough time ever since. You are not the one who has to deal with her constant nagging all day," She picked a purple top and white shorts just for the hell of it and proceeded to move to the bathroom to change.
Naruto followed her to the door and started talking to her from the outside, "I did say I was sorry. But you know Ino why I had to do that. Your mother needs to lighten up a little."
"But still, you didn't need to put orange dye in our flower freshener," remembering that prompted a snicker from Ino, "Even though I have to admit that using delaying agent was ingenious. Mom's face was so hilarious when customers turned up to return their orange roses." Naruto heard Ino laugh from inside.
"It was, wasn't it? So, what are we doing today?"
"You tell me," Ino unlocked the bathroom door and came out with the blow dryer.
"Well I thought we could go have lunch at Ichiraku's. You, me, Sakura, Choji and if possible, Shikamaru." Naruto watched Ino blow dry her hair.
"Good luck with that. Choji is helping out at his dad's restaurant today and Shika will only come if we pay for it, so forget it. We can go get Sakura. She gets up early, so she might be hungry." Ino said after she was done with her hair. Both blondes stood in front of each other, facing for the first time after Naruto came in and startled her.
"And you?" Naruto inquired.
"I just had breakfast, I am not hungry. But I don't have anything to do for a couple of hours so I can come with."
"Any chance we can go out through the window," Naruto said while gesturing downstairs, "Your mother might squash me like a flower bug otherwise."
"Yeah, sure. She was mad at me anyways. This will be easier."
Both ninjas in training got out of Ino's room and headed towards Sakura's room.
XXX
"This is nice. I was wondering what to do today," the pink haired girl out of the group of three mused, "I was about to hit the chemistry book when you guys came." Naruto, Ino and Sakura got inside the Ichiraku's ramen stand. Luckily, they were able to get three seats as it was yet to hit rush hour.
"Well the only chemistry I need is oxygen and H2O. Rest can go bite me." Naruto told both Sakura and Ino while they were sitting. Just in time before a beautiful brown-haired teenage girl in a waitress uniform came up to them.
"Hi, Ayame-neechan! Three special combos for me." Naruto told the pretty girl at the counter with all the enthusiasm in the world. Said girl greeted everyone with a polite smile.
"If it isn't our favorite customer? Oh and he brought two dates. How wonderful," Naruto and Sakura went beet red immediately and Ino choked on her own spit from the surprise declaration. After recovering from it quickly, she leapt at her defense.
"Who would date this loser Ayame-neechan? I am just here because there was nothing fun to do and you are pleasant company; Sakura too." Ino looked at Sakura, "Right Sakura?"
"Yes, yes… of course. We are just here to eat," the pink haired girl suddenly snapped out of her gaze that held Naruto, "I will have a small bowl of miso ramen, please." Ayame started to laugh when she saw the uncomfortable faces of the kids four, five years younger than her.
"Settle down girls, I was just yanking your chain. And what will you have Ino?" Ayame asked as she penned down Naruto's and Sakura's orders.
"Nothing for me neechan, I just had breakfast. I will just get two or three bites from one of Naruto's bowls."
The said blonde's face immediately contorted into mortification, over my dead body.
"And why would I do that you purple wearing freak?" Naruto got in Ino's face while trying to be defensive of his soon-to-arrive delicious ramen.
"What are you? A pit? That's three bowls of large combo ramen. You can't even spare a little?" Ino asked incredulously.
"Why would I? I need all the energy I can have. I do not sit at home all day dressing my hair, polishing my nails and pining for Sasuke. I train." Ino's eyes widened at the mention of Sasuke.
"You don't utter his name moron? He is better than you in every way." Sakura knew that if she didn't stop this soon, the ramen owner would kick them out for sure.
"Ino! stop fighting with Naruto. Order a small bowl please if you want to try some. You know better than anyone that Naruto doesn't share his ramen with anyone." Sakura said with conviction, chastising her best friend all the way.
"B-but, why are you taking his side?" Ino said looking back and forth from the triumphant look on her fellow blonde's face and Sakura's.
Sakura blushed a tad and replied, "I am not taking any sides. You always fight about this, so it is pointless."
"HAAH…you tell her Sakura." Naruto exclaimed while making faces at Ino on her left side, which left unnoticed by Sakura on his right.
"Fine! One small beef ramen please. In fact, make it extra small." Ino pleaded with the Ichiraku girl.
Quite used to their antics by now, Ayame just flashed a brilliant smile, gave the orders to her dad in the kitchen and turned her attention to a civilian who walked into the establishment.
"Naruto you can have my leftovers if you want more…uh…energy. I eat little anyway." Sakura said with a blushing face that she managed to hide by looking down. Ino rolled her eyes at her best friend's secret affection.
"Come on Sakura, can you be more obvious?" Ino said sarcastically.
Sakura's alarm at Ino's words was for nothing as Naruto was happily oblivious with the excitement from his upcoming session with Jiraiya and the smell of ramen.
Naruto heard Ino though, "Heh, what are you talking about Ino?" Naruto voiced. Sakura gave Ino a pointed look which basically said, "Don't you dare tell him here of all places Yamanaka!"
"Nothing, nothing," quickly changing the subject, Ino asked Naruto, "Why do you seem so excited? Well, more excited than usual."
"Pervy sage is training me in the afternoon," Sakura's ears perked up at Naruto's nickname for his godfather, at least he recognizes his teacher's bad behavior. He is a good boy. Ino however, was not pleased to hear that.
"Who allowed that pervert back in the village? And after that stunt he pulled when me and mom were at the hot-springs. He is a pervert and a pedo!" Ino said exasperatedly.
"Yeah…I got nothing," was Naruto's intelligent reply. The defense came from the unlikely source in Sakura.
"Ino, he is one of the legendary sannin. He is the most important ninja in the village barring Hokage. So, we should not disrespect him and his methods…however distasteful they maybe."
"I guess you are right," she then pointed towards Naruto as their orders arrived in front of them, "You. Stay away from that man as much as you can. He is corrupting you. I don't want one of my best friends to be a pervert. It would put a damper in my style in the future."
Naruto just shrugged and dived into his first bowl at a brisk pace. All the while Sakura and Ino took sparse bites and continued to chat away.
XXX
(Hokage Tower)
It was quite easy to figure out for anyone that watched him that Minato Namikaze had a lot on his plate. Whoever thought that being the leader of a ninja village with a military strength of over 15,000 would be easy; was definitely a real fool. Simply put, there was no rest for the weary. Now he knew why Sarutobi used to smoke that much on the job. You needed to have some sort of outlet to deal with the constant load of crap that hurled your way.
On top of that, his son was steadily pulling away. He had started seeing him a lot less ever since he joined the academy. He was either training with that Mitarashi girl that used to be Orochimaru's side project or he was hanging out with his friends. It felt like Naruto has gotten the hint that Minato had little energy to deal with him after he pulled his daily Hokage shift. He had to deal with the civilian council in the morning, hand out all the important missions that required the Hokage's once over. After that there were often a slew of meetings with the interrogation department, cryptology, energy resource development, the jonin commander and the ANBU commander to name a few. So he usually had enough left in the tank to just drag his ass back home and become one with the opulent amount of pillows.
All of the above was just the tip of the iceberg with many important people seeking him with clan issues, debacles and other urgent matters. This time however, Minato found himself in company of the most important person of them all – depending on of course which elemental country you were from. He had the "honor" of entertaining none other than Daimyo of the Land of fire today who was in the most unpleasant of moods.
"You have such a lovely little setup going for you here Minato. I remember Hiruzen's taste to be a lot more retro and artistic. I guess every new generation brings its own colors." Said daimyo spoke with the most eloquent of speech which was laced with its own under tone of criticism. The only hint that he was of sour temper was in the ferocity of his hands swinging his fan onto the royal face. That was the daimyo's give away.
"Why thank you daimyo-sama. It is only because of your continuous generosity that Konoha has bounced back from its previously fragile state."
"Yes, the Kyuubi incident was the most tragic indeed. It was the Fire Court's responsibility as much to contribute to its own militia. Indeed they are calling it a symbiotic relation now-a-days." Daimyo said with a giggle-ish laugh, although the fanning remained profuse still.
"Again, no amount of thanks could be enough." Minato offered with the word 'uncomfortable' practically etched on his face. Fighting S-rank criminals was his forte after all, not these stuffy meetings.
"You do know what I have come to discuss, don't you? There are some bad weeds that must be purged from this beautiful garden that the first Hokage built." Ah, that.
So, the word about the Uchiha revolt has finally reached the Fire Court. He knew this day would eventually come. He would just have preferred if it didn't come for a while. He had been able to calm things down on both fronts just because of his sheer reputation among the Uchiha clan. But despite his best efforts, greed, jealousy, envy and seeds of insurmountable doubts have been planted in the historic clans. He has been warding off the council and Danzo about taking care of the "weed" as the Daimyo put it for the better part of a year. He didn't know he could hold on much longer.
"I need more time Daimyo-sama. I know that I can put some sense into the Uchiha clan's head. Nobody will survive the ramifications from the coup. This village will be turned to ashes."
"That is why I believe that the weed should be plucked out otherwise it will indeed eat the whole tree and leave nothing in its wake with its own demise in waiting," The Daimyo has made up his mind and that is what Minato had feared. As long as he had the backing of the Daimyo, he could have staved off the requests of the village elders to prevent the genocide of an entire race of people. With Danzo, Koharu and Homura, all backing the purge and Daimyo being ready to push it through; it felt that the final nail had been hammered in the Uchiha clan's coffin.
"It would be nigh impossible to take all of them out and not withstand any significant damage. Our best bet is an inside job."
"Who do you have in mind boy?"
"Itachi Uchiha." As much as it pained Minato to utter those two words. It was true. He knew that his son was close friends with his brother. Itachi had even helped his son with things on occasion. For him to ask his most trusted ANBU captain to do this was despicable in itself; without counting the fact that he would be ordered to kill his entire family.
"Could he carry out the Job? He is just 14 years old. How can a 14 year old boy purge an entire race filled with monsters?"
"He is the only one who can do a swift job. Although he is a kind boy who loves Konoha with a passion and a will of fire never seen before, his monstrosity and ruthlessness in battle is the fury that Uchiha cannot escape. If he wasn't in a village full of S-class shinobi like Jiraiya, Nagato, Tsunade and me, he would have made a Kage two years ago. That in itself speaks volumes of his strength as a shinobi and a leader. He is the only one with the mental fortitude to deal with it."
Daimyo dropped the smile from his face for the first time since he came in the room, "I will trust your words this time boy. I don't need to remind you of the Kumo incident and how you handled it. To have ended up with a Kumo shinobi in our midst can be a double edged sword in so many ways. I will not be disappointed this time."
Minato had by now grown accustomed to daimyo's veiled and not-so-veiled insults. He had known for quite some time that the lord of the land of the fire wanted someone a little more experienced at the helm; that someone being Jiraiya, specifically. For one reason or another, the daimyo had a stark liking for his perverted master and he rejecting the position that the fire daimyo recommended really rubbed the proud man the wrong way.
"You won't be. If not my own, trust in Danzo's judgment. He is the one who convinced the boy in the first place." Minato didn't like delegating these sensitive matters. But he had to have Danzo on his side if was to remain a successful Hokage. That man had serious clout with village elders, daimyo and impeccable resources. It was like taking one for the team for the better use of words.
The daimyo got up with a mighty laugh as if the whole intense talk never took in the first place, "Then I shall take my leave after taking a splendid tour that I hope you have planned out for me." Daimyo left his office to join his convoy. Leaving an even more stressed out Minato in his wake.
XXX
(Later that evening)
It seemed that the sun was on the cusp of disappearing into the foliage of trees surrounding the training ground near the waterfall. It wasn't as much as a training ground but a patch of clearing that was near the river bank. Naruto arrived there half an hour earlier than planned as the excitement finally got the better of him. Finally, he was going to show Pervy Sage how different he has become in the battlefield during this past year.
Becoming an expert in fuinjutsu and the hellish training with Anko has given him the clarity that he lacked before. He didn't want to sound an arrogant jerk or anything but at this point, none of the students, including Sasuke, was a match for him. The only person that he went all out on was Anko and even she was beginning to have a hard time dealing with him.
Sasuke was his best friend and he knew that that duck-face had ego the size of the Hokage Monument. That's why he made a habit of never showing any of his more powerful or lethal techniques to him that he had developed over the past year. As far as Sasuke knew, Naruto was just rudimentary in fuinjutsu, good in taijutsu and had a better head for sparring. Their friendship will blow apart if he scathed the Uchiha Pride so he mostly usually fought with basic techniques and taijutsu. Which meant getting his ass kicked from time to time because Sasuke was grudgingly better at hand-to-hand than him.
With Jiraiya though, he didn't need to practice any restraint because he knew that he would have to go all out if he wanted to even put a decent bruise on the guy.
Guess it was time to put his money where his mouth is.
XXX
That's it for this chapter. I just don't want to write anymore for this particular chapter but the next chapter is looking to be a bit longer, and it will be out very soon. Like within a week. Shocking? I know. Uchiha Massacre arc is coming and Naruto is going to have an anchor role in it. Yes, Naruto.
Anyways life beckons, Bullc6 Out