AN: Sorry, the update's a day late. I did try finishing it yesterday but well...writer's block got me. So there. Hehe anyway, since no one opposed for the new OC's, here they are! And for those who made the suggestion you can PM me is you wan't to have some altercations with how I interpret them, i'll glady welcome those pointers.
To those who viewed, and put this story in their favorite and follow list- You guys rock!
A shout out to the reviewers: narutofan020 and Akayuki Novak.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or KHR -also pokemon and One Piece for being mentioned in this chapter-
Chapter 11: New Faces
"He's in."
"Direct squads eight and nine on B-Wing"
"Roger."
"How did he got in anyway?"
"Underground, he got in during the maintenance check."
"...Maintenance check? That's done once a month and how the heck did he hide from the summons anyway?"
"The Aburames recently reported that he had some bugs, literally, warn him of any incoming summons."
"I never heard of anyone in the Public World having that kind of skill, I thought only the nins in Allied Nation have those."
"Well, you thought wrong, it seems that the world have much more mystery that what we expect."
"Jiraiya, Orochimaru, enough chatting. What's the current status?" Tsunade snapped over the earpiece as the two rivals mouth off their speculations of their current infiltrator.
The said two, were in charge of pinpointing the location of the Arcobaleno using Jiraiya's Sage Mode and Orochimaru as their central command and impromptu tactician. The latter is a genius of his own right and is sometimes compared to the Naras and Hatakes, that is, if he was not spending much of his time in the laboratory and more on the 'field work'.
"Third corner corridor, he's using the vents." Jiraiya replied as he gave a continuous pulse of chakra.
"Tsk, why did we installed those things anyway?" Orochimaru complained as his mind whirled with ideas, squad nine and eight were composed of petite and flexible kunoichis, some of them can fit in the vents but direct contact against a gun wielding baby will never be a good idea. "We have seals...why do we have such a convenient way for an infiltrating baby."
"Shut up Oro. No one thought that we might have a baby infiltrator when we made the blue prints." Tsunade snapped in offense, since she was the one who gave that idea in the past, but nobody should know about that.
"Excuses." The pale man scoffed as he tapped rapidly at the runes, the mist before them revealed an image of the mansion's blueprint with two colored dots blinking before them, yellow one for the infiltrator and red one for their nins. Another screen clouded and showed squad eight and nine -dressed in their customized maid outfits- cleaning the corridor just a shy feet away from the Arcobaleno's location. "Does any of them have summons?"
Tsunade shook her head in negative. "They got three, but most of them are inconvenient right now."
"Damn...How many Aburame do we have?" Orochimaru asked as watched the yellow dot blurred away and stopped at a dead end. "Nevermind. Squad one, extend your area on the south staircase, expect a contact with the target, he's in a dead end." He ordered as he pressed his earpiece.
The three watched as the second screen of mist changed and showed the said staircase, three pairs of eyes were focused on the air vent on the upper right corner of the screen, where they knew that the infiltrator is hiding. At the edge of the video feed, they saw squad one -dressed in their mafiosi outfits- gather at the bottom.
The month long cat and mouse chase with their infiltrator brought untold amounts of tension in their base. All of their members were placed on high alert the moment Tsunade announced the uninvited guest, it didn't help when the knowledge that they have cameras watching them was also added. Mixing a mansion filled with paranoid nins and a camera is not a very good combination. Although the moment the summons manage to destroy all the devices gave the Familgia a breath of relief. However, the Arcobaleno escaped and successfully went in hiding.
Until now.
They made a plan when and if the Arcobaleno manage to infiltrate their base. Tsunade had expected the hitman to act a week ago, guns blazing and all, she didn't expect the baby to use their underground 'parking lot' to enter their base.
It was fortunate that most of their information were logged in scrolls and seals, kami knows how quick the infiltrator will be when the Arcobaleno manage to get hold of the mansion's blueprints via network. For now, they are relying on the fact that the hitman lacks the knowledge of their base and also on Jiraiya's skill.
Reborn peeked at the vents and watched as the mafiosi below scatter near the stairs. He was at lost at what to do, on the plus side he finally got into the blasted mansion and...what next? With no blueprints nor any available information to base upon his actions thanks to those trained animals that destroyed his cameras, what will he do? Went all out with his guns blazing?
He had contacted Nono a week ago and informed him of his situation, and the old man relayed to proceed with caution. The knowledge of an unknown and hidden Familgia alarmed the Vongola Boss and Reborn heard the subtle hope in the man's voice that maybe this was their killer. Reborn had other thoughts to think of, like the near hundred mysteries he gathered for the Mulinello, after all he didn't like not knowing, and said Familgia just hit his top list of puzzles to solve.
But back to his situation right now. Dead end and four mafiosi below.
He wanted to stay to his plan of being discreet and hidden, despite the lack of any security surveillance in the mansion, the near similarity of the interior of the base with the casino's made his guts scream on high alert. His fingers idly curled his sideburn, a habit he made when he lack his daily caffeine, as he plan of his next course of actions. The base was huge and gave more open space than he like and it lacks large displays like vases that he can hide from.
Reborn could wait, he spent the whole month hiding from the scouts in the forest and the trained animals that nearly caught him, it won't hurt anyone if he wait for another day in vents right?
No, of course not.
His patience reached the snapping point, another week spending in this island and his sanity will be gone. Politics be damned, he's a Hitman not a spy.
Reborn fully knew that he's lacking some sense in his actions and he's blaming the lack of caffeine for this.
He readied his gun and was about to shoot the corners of the vents, and suddenly froze when the mafiosi below snapped their attention directly at him. Not a second later Reborn found himself dodging thrown projectiles.
'Kunai?'
He though as he saw the glimpse of the sharp weapons, aside from that, how did they know that he was there? He swiftly ran back to the corner and opened another vent with four quick shots and burst out into the open corridor, he saw a pair of mafiosi with their guns in his direction and true to his title he fired two shots at their shoulders even before they shot theirs.
He followed up his attack with a viscous kick on their temples, enough to knock them out. Reborn made made a short scan in their ears and saw the earpieces. With a quick grab he pulled out the device and placed his ear against it.
'Damn it, he got one! Shut the communication!"
"Get Yamanaka here-"
Reborn spared a moment of confusion as he stared at the now deactivated device, he made a quick scan on his area and saw no cameras. How did they saw him? And what does it have to do with Yamanaka? However, his befuddlement was cut short when his ears heard the quiet footfalls of incoming mafiosi. He hid at the only available display in the corridor, a desk. Not a good hiding place but it would do for now.
He waited with a bated breath, but suddenly paused in his tracks as he saw who appeared in his sight.
'Maids?'
They wore the traditional 'maid' outfit but as he observed more closely he saw many differences. For one their knee length dress now have a cut at the sides showing a gun holster at the right and small pack on the left thighs -supposedly for ammo-. Their buttons were opened revealing cleavages under a fishnet shirt, and the ammo filled strap just above the chest. He was admittedly, distracted at the show of skin. Fortunately, his instincts saved him from a bullet, and cursed at the slight misjudgment. He was, foremost, a man and no one would berate him if he was appreciating the curves of women.
As a gentleman at heart he made some alterations in his line of work, men can be shot and women and children, will be knocked out with the least traumatizing wounds. His past dealings rarely had any women and child to kill off. However, facing not only one but eight women out for his blood was a situation worthy of a time to think.
Reborn peeked and saw that the maids were meters away from him, no close combat then. He kicked the table and hid as a round of shots were fired. He glanced at the other end of the corridor and saw the only opening, the problem is, he already went that route. He waited for the reloading and his patience is rewarded when silence permeated in the air. Reborn risked a glance and saw the mafiosi that were knocked out were already gone, along with two maids. That leaves him to six females to knock out, hopefully.
He used the brief reload as an opening and in no time he was engaging a rather young maid in close combat. He did expect a small fight against them, but what he was not expecting was a flash on silver coming right at his abdomen. With a flourish of acrobatics he dodged the tanto and moved a distance away for a short observation. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the customized knives and tantos held in a ready stance by the six females.
'Where did they hide that?'
Two female attacked, their weapons held at varying degrees, he easily dodged them using his small stature as an advantage. Reborn saw the looks of ire directed at him and gave a smirk. He holstered his gun and held out his hand, Leon quickly shifted into a tonfa just in time to bock a combined assault from two knives. He slid the sharp weapons away from his body and jumped high, intending for a kick at the two female's temple. He suddenly found himself blocking again as another two maids covered the first two.
The last pair of females had their guns already trained at his body and Reborn quickly shifted his weight and jumped away from the bullets. He smirked as the blunt bullets passed harmlessly and he used the heads of the females as a platform to jump higher. With enough leverage, he pulled out his gun and shot seven successive bullets.
"Sorry."
Two bullets entered the barrel of the guns, making a short explosion, one hit a shoulder, another three hit the handle of the tanto wielding maids and the last one was surprisingly dodged. Four wounded and hopefully out of the fight.
"Tsk." Reborn clicked his tongue as he heard another batch of footsteps echoed. He pulled out a smoke bomb and quickly threw it to the ground the moment he landed.
The sound of curses was delightful in his ear as he wove his way out of the corridor and passed the females. He swiftly shot two shots at the incoming backup, which was fortunate enough to distract them. He ran to the corner and arrived at the staircase.
No guards...
He spread his senses and confirmed that no one is in the vicinity. He slowly made his way upstairs and was greeted by an empty corridor again. It was a trap he knew it, another glance around the area and he saw the vents.
"He's back in the vents, second floor still in Wing-B." Jiraiya muttered as watched the maids and their back-up regroup.
"Should we send out a squad?" Yamanaka Inoka asked, her hand still held steady at the base of Orochimaru's head.
"No" Tsunade intervened. "Leave him alone for now, update me where his location is." She added as she stood up from her seat.
"Where are you going?" Orochimaru asked as he watched the blonde walked towards the door.
"Something that Naruto would do." The bond replied as she exited the room with a smirk on her lips.
"...She's going to confront the Arcobaleno...isn't she?" Jiraiya said after he sank the words into his mind.
"Knowing your godson...she might as well do that..." Orochimaru muttered as he slapped a hand on his face.
A week had passed since his first class in the Hachiken dojo and Tsuna can still feel the ache in his muscles. It didn't help that Ryohei told him to not forget his morning jogs, he also have his part time job in Takesushi if the group didn't have any assignment or tests to study up for. Their preliminary tests is just around the corner, and the teachers thought that it was fitting to give them a workload of lessons and reviews. To sum it up, Tsuna was drained, mentally and physically.
So it wasn't surprising that by the time Saturday morning came, he overslept.
What did surprised him was that Nana didn't wake him up. Thus, Tsuna woke up at the screeching of his alarm, and joined in chorus when he saw the red blaring numbers that showed that it was past ten in the morning. His Karate class is well into their endurance training, Tsuna was conflicted whether it was a blessing or a curse.
He snapped out of his thought and quickly did his morning routine. In record time of ten minutes Tsuna was ready to go out and was about to shout his goodbye when he noticed that his mother was not at home. He made a beeline to the kitchen and saw a small note on the fridge.
'Tsu-kun,
I heard that there's a sale on market today, so I might spend the whole day in there. Lock up the house when you go out. Don't forget to eat your breakfast, there are some leftovers in the fridge and be careful.
Love, Mom.'
Tsuna gave sa mall smile and quickly pocketed the note, he grabbed the keys conveniently placed of the counter along with an apple and walked out of the house using the backdoor. He nearly bit half of his fruit when he saw that it's quarter until eleven. With a speed that was worthy of being chased by dogs, Tsuna ran until he reached the bridge.
The brunet was so focused on his tardiness that he didn't see a car coming at him in his right side.
Fortunately, he stopped as feeling at the back of his mind went wild, forcing him to falter in his steps just in time to hear the screech of tires and the not so gentle nudge of the bumper on his knees. He could hear the beating of his heart as he stared in aghast at the near fatal accident he might have gone into.
"-ey, Hey! Kid! Are you alright!?"
Tsuna snapped out of his daze and placed a hand on his raging heart, he knew he was in shock and he just need to calm down...breath in...and out...in...and out. The brunet continued to do this for a few seconds, ignoring the shakes on his shoulder.
"I-I'm alright...I'm alright..." He replied but more to reassure himself, he shakily sat up from the ground -did he fell down?- he glanced at the driver and saw the neat appearance of the man. "I'm s-s-so sor-ry!" He outright screeched as he bowed, surprising the man.
"Oh, no no no. I'm the one who needs to apologize." The man said as he patted the brunet on his shoulder, seemingly checking for any injuries. "You're not hurt are you?" He asked in concern and fright.
"No...y-you stopped j-just in time." Tsuna replied as he took pity at the driver since the man was just a beat away from a heart attack.
"Thank Kami." The driver commented with a relieved sigh.
"Faust, you didn't kill him right?" A voice asked gathering the attention of Tsuna who directed his gaze at the owner.
He blinked as he saw the owner of the voice and recognize the teen as one of the students in the white belt group, the blue hair and the uniquely colored eyes were dead give away. The teen gave that familiar feeling and the name was just at the tip of his tongue.
"Hm? Oh you're the new guy." The teen asked as the car window lowered.
The rather off handed tone of the teen was a bit insulting, here they were, almost in an accident and the blue haired teen was talking as if the topic was just the weather. Tsuna just nodded at the question, too preoccupied at his unfortunate day.
"..."
There were silence as the three lapsed into an awkward situation, the man, Faust, was fidgeting in his place, glancing back and forth at the two teens. Tsuna was just staring at the the teen who pulled out his headphones and began to nonchalantly bob his head at the unheard rhythm. Minutes passed and Faust joined Tsuna looking at the blue haired teen.
"...Well? Come inside we're already late as it is." The teen said after he noticed that they are still staring at him, he opened the door and wave the brunet inside.
"J-just that?" Tsuna spluttered.
"Why not? You're not hurt, apologies were thrown, I'm late and you're late." The teen retorted with a shrug. "What better way to make Faust apologize other than giving you a free ride to the dojo?"
"Point." Tsuna replied as he hurriedly entered the car, his bashfulness at the situation was thrown out of the wind as he remembered that he's already two hours late. The thought of hitching a ride with a familiar stranger was a risk he's willing to take for now.
"Faust, do be careful on the way." The teen said as he shifted his headphones back.
Now that Tsuna got a full view of his classmate, he saw that the unnamed teen was wearing a black cargo shorts and a baggy white shirt over a black long sleeved shirt and his red sneakers matched the color of his headphones, all in all, the teen's attire was as casual as it can get.
"Hai, Kuria-san"
'Kuria...Kuria...wait-'
"Y-you're Kuria Voile?" Tsuna exclaimed and laughed nervously as he saw the blue haired teen's eyebrow twitch...he might have butchered the last name.
"It's pronounce as...ugh nevermind. And?" the now name Kuria asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry." Tsuna said sheepishly. "You're the star player for the soccer team right?"
"Uhuh, what about it?" He asked.
"Nothing...it's just- you look...familiar..." Tsuna trailed off, maybe he should stop blurting his thoughts out, any more and he'll suffocate at the silence that followed it.
The awkwardness returned again, Tsuna spared a glance at the soccer player and saw him listening to his headphone. They were still a few minutes away from the dojo and the brunet opted to copy the blue haired teen and pulled out his earphone, minutes later only Faust joined the self silent treatment and hummed his favorite tune.
"Why...did...-hah- I...even...joined...ugh- this class."
Tsuna glanced at Kuria, who was complaining through his teeth. The moment they arrived in the dojo they were immediately greeted by an impatient Naruto and a snickering Konohamaru. The former proceeded to drag them into the closet to change and began rant off about tardiness and such, he continued his sermon even after they finish their warm up and their laps.
They were now in their tenth sets of push-ups -twice the regular amount- and the blond was still muttering some unhealthy amount of curses. Tsuna was just hoping that they wouldn't get pranked for this.
"Self-defense, and your father made you join." Naruto answered as he nodded at Tsuna to start his curl ups.
"I know...but I just want to...complain." Kuria retorted as he mustered the last three push-ups.
"Curl ups, five sets, 'ttebayo." Naruto announced as he started doing his own Katas.
"You know." Naruto started as gave a smirk at the two white belt students. "We're going to skip lunch because of your tardiness." He continued as he punched the air in swift fluid strikes. "Any other day and I might have let this slip, but since I'm gonna be late for a meeting, you're going to treat me ramen next week."
Tsuna groaned in misery, prompting his partner in tardiness to ask him in silence. "He's a glutton for that meal." The brunet answered already feeling the lightness in his wallet.
Kuria just shrug, already resigning to his fate. He wasn't complaining to any of that since it was fair, more than a month in this crazy dojo and he already heard the ridiculous bets and deals that were made inside the structure. Treating his blond instructor ramen was the most sane thing he heard so far.
"Who're you meeting anyway?" Tsuna asked as he took a breather.
"The guys back in the unit." Naruto replied as he shifted his center to perform a backflip.
"Cool." Kuria complimented, maybe he could do that in the game sometime in the future.
"Don't think about it buster." Naruto reprimanded. "Achieve a yellow belt and maybe I could show you some tricks with the ball."
"Nice bribe." Kuria scoffed.
"He's not joking though." Tsuna inserted as he started on his last set. "He scored 7-0 on our soccer game a month ago." He added as he remembered the most ridiculous soccer game he joined so far.
"...I'll think about it." Kuria muttered as he took a rest on his fourth set, after all he did saw a glimpse of that game.
"Where is that blond?" Anko grumbled as she ate her dango. They were supposed to start the meeting an hour ago, however their future boss seemed it fit to be late.
"Naruto-kun said that he might be late, two of his students were tardy and he can't skip their training." Hinata said as she read the message on her phone.
"Why not pass them to Bee?" Anko retorted as she ate another stick of the sweet pastry.
"Are you sure about that yo?" Bee intervened with a swift rapping actions. "My training is tough and just not for show."
"Yeah!" Konohamaru piped beside him. "I'll be dead twice over if I didn't have Son-jiji with me."
"You're vocabulary's getting better Kono." Hinata commented.
"Son-jiji helped." The youngest member replied with a smile.
A loud snap alerted all of the holders' attention and seven sets of eyes dropped their gazes to the silver head at the head of the table.
"He's here." Kakashi announced and as if in cue, a puff of smoke erupted at his right revealing a sheepish Naruto.
"Sorry. I left a clone back in the dojo, they're finishing up the cool down." He excused as he dropped to the seat at his brother's right.
"Maa, let's start then." Inu spoke as he activated the seals all throughout the unit, all of the members sat straight in attention as they change their demeanor into a more serious manner.
"Tsunade-sama sent us a message." The masked teen started as he nicked his finger with a kunai and dragged the wounded appendage to the seal on his wrist. "We had an expected infiltrator back in the base." He drawled as a puff of smoke came out of the seal along with nine identical scrolls, he ignored the alarmed look of his comrades as he silently passed the report around.
"As you can see, the Sun Arcobaleno was reported to be the one who infiltrated the Spiral Casino, that was last month, he was sighted by the summons back in our main base. Currently the pursuit for the hitman is still on going." The silver haired teen added as he waited for the rest of the team to finish reading the report.
"...I can't believe someone upped the pervert..." Anko muttered with a shake of her head. "...of course he's drunk..."
"Would this affect our mission?" Gaara asked, along with Haku who agreed at the question with a nod.
"It depends on the outcome in our base." The Hatake answered as he combed his fingers through his hair, he nodded at Itachi who began to explain.
"There are many possible results in this situation. One of the most possible outcome is a war between Vongola and our Familgia, one of the factors in this is the infiltration of the Sun Arcobaleno, a freelance hitman for hire whose loyalty lies on the Vongola. This prove to be the worst outcome since there's a hundred percent chance that we might postpone the search...for the next generation." Itachi expounded and watched as the last detail froze half of their members in their seats.
"Wh-what do you mean, next generation dattebayo?" Naruto asked in a mixture of shock, anger and disbelief.
"It was a deal made by the First Boss with your granduncle." Kakashi said as squeezed the blond's shoulder in reassurance. "If we start any kind of war, either in the Underground or the Public world, we are to cease our actions and erase our existence or in other words, cut all of out connections and turn back to the Allied Nations."
"And let our successors start all over again?" The blond asked in misery.
"Maa, that's just one of the possibilities." The masked teen said as he ruffled the hair of the younger teen.
"The other possibility, is mainly filled with politics." Itachi continued. "If Tsunade-sama can negotiate our way out of this mess, we could-"
A beep immediately caught the attention of the group and directed their eyes at the oddly large snow globe displayed near the dining table, which was now blaring a deep red glow.
"What is it?" Kakashi asked as he hovered near Hinata along with the others as they watched the Hyuuga tap the seals at the base of the globe.
"It's a visual message." Hinata answered as she carefully placed the globe at the center of the table.
Nine pairs of eyes watch in suspense at the 'snow' inside the globe swirl around in a vortex. Seconds later an image of a certain blond Kage appeared with a cheery smile.
"Oh, come on." Naruto groaned along with Anko, as he tapped the seal at the base. The image froze and the blond spared a glance at his team mates.
"I thought it was from Tsunade-sama." Anko sighed as she eased out the tension from her shoulders.
"I thought so too, but it was never true." Bee agreed as he sank down on his seat.
"Sorry, guys. Eto...Kaka-nii?" Naruto asked with rarely shown shyness.
"Did you finished reading the report?" Kakashi asked, glancing away as the blue eyes began to enlarge.
"Un, Kurama finished reading it for me." Naruto asked, forcing his ultimate 'jutsu'.
"That's not what I meant..." Kakashi faltered as he saw those dreaded eyes again. "Gah- you stupid..." The masked teen sighed mournfully. "Alright, I'll brief you later you lazy sloth."
"Yosh!" Naruto pumped a fist in the air and hugged his silver haired brother. "Thanks Kaka-nii!"
Kakashi ruffled the blond lock into disarray and watched the younger teen skipped happily out of the dining room. He turned around and was about the resume the meeting when he saw the devious looks from his team, even the stoic Gaara rose an imaginary eyebrow at the short display.
"You got owned" Surprisingly, it was Konohamaru who announced that.
Those three short words prompted a short bout of laugh from the more 'uncontrolled' members.
"Maa, I know that most of you also fell for that look back when he was still younger." Kakashi said with a smirk as the silence returned. "I remember seeing Anko-"
"Hey! I thought you'll-" Anko cut off as she raised her dango sticks threateningly.
"Naruto also told me about Itachi's-" Kakashi stop his tease when he idly snatched the kunai out of the air, promptly thrown by said Uchiha.
"Not. A. Word." Itachi and Anko chorused as they glared at the masked grin of the Hatake.
"Maa, Let's just leave it to 'we're all whipped', ne?" The masked teen said with a slight tilt in his head, seeing the begrudging nods of his blackmail victims, he lobbed the kunai back at it's owner, who easily caught it. As if a switch was clicked, Kakashi's demeanor changed and Inu came out.
"Now, where did we left?"
Naruto gave a short laugh as he closed his hole ridden door and gently dropped himself on the soft cushions of his bed. He made a not so discreet glance at his surroundings and turned his attention back at the large snow globe on his hand.
He tapped the seal and watched as the image of his father unfroze.
'Naru-chaan! I miss you so much!'
The blond watched with a fond smile as his father hugged the device. Sometimes he wonder if his dad is bipolar, his mannerisms were as different as night and day when in comes to different matters.
'So, how's the mission?' Minato asked with a smile as he leaned back on his chair. 'I got the letters you sent me and the pictures of the technologies in the Public world. I shared them with the Uzumakis and they're pretty much hung up about the 'video games', even Karin was muttering about 'Pokemon' or something like that.' The shrugged and his eyes shifted away from the globe.
"Oh, and guess who made an impromptu visit here in Toubiyon?"
Naruto's eyebrow raised in confusion and promptly lit up as he saw the familiar silver hair tied in a high pony tail. "Silver-san!"
'Yo.' Tsukuru greeted with an eye-smile, he was wearing casual clothes and his mask was gone, the blond was astounded to see that Sakumo and his favorite ANBU did have the same face.
'Well, since I caught Manato-kun here making a visual message, might as well share the news.' The ANBU said as he unceremoniously sat at the desk of the Kage.
'After more than a century of undercover and information gathering work in the Public World, the last two Kages finally agreed in creating the Science and Technology Division of the Allied Nations.' Tsukuru stated with an accomplished smile. 'If you must know, that proposition had taken three years to approve.'
"Who's the commander?" Naruto asked, but reminded himself that it was only a message.
'Let me guess, you got transferred?' His dad asked with a knowing smile.
'Yes, I already got my successor prepped up years ago, although I didn't expect that my proposal will take this long to be approved.' Tsukuru muttered in ire. 'Now that I have the approval, I can now start with all the projects that's gathering dust in my office.'
"What projects?" Naruto asked in chorus with his father.
'Hm, nothing much.' Tsukuru replied with a idle wave. 'Just recreating and customizing of the machineries in the Public World.'
'Like?' Minato asked with a raised eyebrow.
'Well, for one, the car.' The silver haired man said while tapping his chin in thought. 'We all- erm- some of us know that they use non-renewable fuel, but replace it with, let's say, seals then we can have a much more eco-friendly vehicles. Of course there are other customization that I thought of and will be revealed at much later date.'
Tsukuru abruptly stood up, surprising the blond Kage, on the desk. 'Which, reminds me of this impromptu visit.' He loudly announced as he unsealed a scroll and handed it to the blond. 'Please take your time.'
'Now, back to my message Naruto-kun.' Tsukuru said as he shifted closer to the globe while his father read the scroll. 'I got your letter last week, I'm proud to say that you got the top place in tardiness.'
"Yes!" Naruto interjected.
'Anyway, I'm sure you're doing okay in there, after all you got your future minions looking out for you.' Tsukuru said with a chuckle. 'Oh, and please remind my nephew that he needs to send his letter twice a week not once a month. I heard my brother complaining about the novel like letters he got containing a month worth of information his son sent him. I was fortunate enough to get the one page letters, though.'
'And I do hope that you're causing trouble for my uptight nephew. Seriously,' He sighed exasperatedly. 'Despite his lazy appearance, that kid has more tension than cable wires, he needs a laugh now and then.'
"Don't worry Silver-san, he's not so uptight right now, dattebayo." Naruto replied with a smile.
'Tsukuru.' Minato called catching the attention of the ANBU. 'I suggest recruiting from the Uzumakis if you're looking for seal experts, although I can't spare any nins for the metal works.' He said as he handed back the scroll.
'No worries, I already got a message from Poryadok and Rayo, they have some clan specializers willing to join my division.' Tsukuru informed as he resealed the scroll.
'Hmm.' Minato hummed as he began to write in a small scroll. '...Here, just give this to Uzumaki Nagato.'
'Thank you.' Tsukuru hummed as he pocketed the scroll. 'Well, until next time Naruto-kun, ja.' With a flippant salute and a puff of smoke Tsukuru exited the building.
'Well, that was eventful.' His father commented as he turned his attention back to the globe. 'I also have some news to you son.' Minato said with a winning grin.
'I got the letter for your school's open house yesterday.'
"Open house? Oh, that- wait I didn't plan to send him that one, dattebayo!" Naruto panicked, he was pretty sure that he'll be denied again and decided not to mention that in his letter to save anymore heartbreaks.
'Although I was confused why Kurama was the one who sent this and not you.' Minato added as he scratch his head.
"Furball!"
"I'm doing you a favor kit."
"You can't be sure he's coming, Kami, dad's The Kage-"
'And I'm ecstatic to say that I got myself a day off!' Minato announced with cheer.
"...YOU WHAT?" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, ignoring the scoff from his partner.
'Karin finally let me sub myself with a clone.' His father said with a smug grin. 'Your cousin is pretty stingy with clones for being the pencil pusher substitute, but after I gave her your letter, she finally cave in!' Minato continued his rant in exuberance.
'That's Wednesday next week right?' His father asked, grinning like a child on a birthday. 'I finally got the chance to see you in school! So see you then, I'm bringing Ichiraku Ramen for the visit.'
Naruto was still frozen as he stared at dissipating image of his father in the swirling snow globe in his hands, even the mention of his favorite meal did not match to the joy of knowing that his father, his dad, was going to visit him! It was too long since their last meeting, after his transfer to the Mulinello base his father, seldomly had the time to visit him despite having a Hiraishin seal in the structure. But now, his father demanded a day off just for him, and only for him, that single notion made him...happy.
"Kurama?" Naruto softly called out as he looked up at his ceiling a smile brimming of joy was placed of his lips.
"What is it?"
"Thank you."
"Hana-chan! Hurry up! The line's getting too long." A blonde teenager hollered out at a taller girl with long black wavy locks.
"Kyoko, no matter how fast we walk there, the shop will always have a long line." The raven, Hana, replied but still made an effort to quicken her steps.
"Mou, I hope that we can order even a slice of cake in the Sweet Swirls." Kyoko pouted as she took hold of her friend's hand and began to gently pull the taller girl to their destination.
"I can't believe that there are still this much customer even after a month had passed since it's grand opening." Hana commented at their arrival at the Sweet Swirls and saw the rather long line forming at the entrance.
Kyoko did not waste any time and quickly joined the waiting customers, they manage to get behind an older black haired teen reading a manga before a group of highschool students took the place. The blonde might be famed for her gentle countenance in school but when it comes to her monthly intake of sweets, Kyoko have no reservations for mercy.
"Two, four, six...eight...twelve..." Kyoko murmured as she counted off the people before them. "Twelve! Hana-chan we got in!" She giggled as she peeked at the entrance of the shop, where she saw a very curvaceous violet haired woman greeting each customer with smile.
Kyoko knew that she was the manager of the building since her attire was more formal than the others. Managers rarely do the more menial tasks, but seeing the large amount of customers just within an hour of their opening, it was an understandable course of action to help the workers.
The blonde hummed as they stepped closer to the building, she wished she could have brought her pocket book to pass the time, but she forgot it due to her haste. Kyoko glance at Hana who was occupying herself observing the passersby, which was far more interesting that waiting for the line to move if Hana's raised eyebrows indicates anything. Opting to join her friend, Kyoko watched the people passing her until a gravity defying hair caught her interest.
She tipped on her toes and saw that it was indeed Tsuna along with their new classmate Naruto, and a blue haired teen with headphones eating a lollipop. While she might call their relationship as acquaintances, Tsuna was one of the few boys in class that Hana did not call monkey, she also knew that her brother was the brunet's trainer, so it wouldn't be odd not to call him out, right?
Her decision was just on the tip of her tongue when Naruto called them out.
"Hey, that's our classmate, 'ttebayo?" Naruto called out loudly as he pointed at their direction.
"Oh, great it's the prankster." Hana muttered with an eye roll, the fact that there were no monkey in the blond's name was a sign that the new student was in Hana's good book.
The two females watched as the three boys walked towards them with Naruto in lead. Kyoko saw that Tsuna looked constipated, while the blue haired teen was still lost in his music.
"Yo, what's up." Naaruto greeted as he stood beside them.
"The sky." Hana replied sarcastically, getting a few stiff chuckles from the people who overheard it.
"Funny." Naruto deadpanned while crossing his arms.
"Mou, Hana-chan stop being mean." Kyoko chided with a giggle. "We're hoping to get a slice of the Sweet Swirls' cake." She explained as she pointed at the shop.
"That...oh, that." Naruto said, glancing at the familiar dango addict girl inside the shop. "Well, I'll pass this one, Tsuna. Kuria and you could use some sugar right now, I'll be going now, got a meeting!" The blond said hurriedly as he ran away in a flash of orange.
"That's...odd." Kyoko commented.
"He's been like that earlier in class." The blue haired teen started gaining questioning looks from the females.
"Class? It's Saturday." Hana informed with raised eyebrow.
"We- we have Karate class on Saturdays and Naruto's the co-instructor there." Tsuna answered and hid a blush at the surprised looks directed at him by the females.
"And what does a soccer monkey benefit from a Martial Art?" Hana said, changing the topic and saw the sigh the brunet heaved out.
"Monkey? I have a name you know it's-"
"Kuria Viole, I know. But I prefer monkey." Hana retorted.
"You-" Kuria fully shoved off his headphones and glared at the raven haired girl. "I don't know whether I'm happy that someone finally got my name right, or not, because it's you."
"C-calm down y-you two." Tsuna appeased as he copied Takeshi's calm down gesture.
Unfortunately or fortunately, they were interrupted by an annoyed shout at the people lined at the back.
"Oi, the five of you get moving already! The line's already been halved!"
"Five?" Tsuna said in confusion.
"Halved?" Kyoko said in alarm as she saw that the line had indeed moved and only four customers left were lined at the counter. She was about to shove the group closer to the cashier when she noticed a problem.
The problem is, the black haired youth before them was not moving.
"Umm, excuse me." Tsuna slowly said as he suddenly found himself being the appointed person to ask the raven. However the older teen did not seem to notice him and continued to read his manga.
'Uwah, how cold.'
"Onii-san, the line's already moved...eto...could please step forward?" Tsuna tried again and still no response.
Tsuna cut the urge to scratch his head in frustration as made a once over at the raven's appearance. The teen was about 5'10" in height and sporting a black and white checkered hoodie over a plain black shirt, his dark blue pants paired with white sneakers, he was also wearing a blue tear shaped crystal pendant. His dark brown eyes was still glued at the manga he was reading.
"...One Piece..." Tsuna softly muttered as he read the title of the book.
Surprisingly, that took the attention of the taller teen who seem to have recently landed back on earth.
"Hm?"
Tsuna winced at the tone of the voice, it was as if the teen did not spoke for a long while.
"Eto- ah, the line had already moved...so if you could please..-um step forward?" Tsuna ask unsurely.
"Line?" The teen asked his voice was hitched and frail.
"Y-yeah, for the Sweet Swirls?" Tsuna said as he gestured at the shop aa few feet away.
"Hm, oh sorry..." The raven cleared his throat. "I stopped strolling after I got on a really good part and it seems that I stopped at the line." He added with a near monotonic tone.
"Oh." Tsuna could only comment.
"Sorry for the inconvenience." The teen said as he stepped aside.
"Tsu-kun, were going ahead, ne." Kyoko said as she speed walk pass him.
"We'll reserve you a seat!" Kuria added as he followed the blond excitedly.
"Great, another person with sweet tooth." Hana muttered as she followed the two with a more sedated pace.
"One Piece, eh." Tsuna commented as he took another glance at the manga, remembering his own volume back at home. "Enies Lobby?"
"...right." The raven replied his eyes glued back at the pages again.
"Ah, no wonder you stopped, that's a really good arc." Tsuna commented not finding it uncomfortable having a near one sided dialogue. "It's the part where Robin was officially accepted right?"
The raven dropped his gave back at him and his eyes held a peculiar glint that Tsuna took notice of.
"Yes."
"Hm, well happy reading then." Tsuna said with a smile and was about to turn around when the raven spoke again.
"Reino File...that's... my name." The raven introduced.
"Ah, Sawada Tsunayoshi, nice meeting you Reino-san." Tsuna bowed and left.
"...Tsunayoshi...you just made me curious..."
AN: What do you think? For reference please see the AN on the first chapters, and for more information of the OC's just go to my account~
Advance Happy New Year! ja~
