Naruto: A Stranger's Promise Chapter 12 Welcome Back
Author's Note: Ahh, finally. A chapter that catches up with the actual show. So, this chapter is a little bit slow due to the fact that I needed to reconnect the storyline with the storyline that will start the Chunin exams. So apologies if this chapter is a little dull compared to last week's chapter.
:End of Author's Note
"So, what do you plan to do?" Olivia asked Daremo as he sat in the chair opposite to her. "I have no choice, I must leave." Daremo answered her. "The sooner the better." Night had fallen and so Aleana and Orion were asleep, the sound of silence had swept the streets and it seemed like Olivia and Daremo were the only people talking in the entire continent. "But you just got back a couple of weeks ago, the children have only had myself and each other all these years. Do you really want to leave them?"
Daremo answered Olivia immediately. "Of course I don't want to. But I have to."
"Why? You don't have to go halfway across the world, there are other ways. I'd say that you don't even have to restore the land. People are living fine without every blade of grass being the way they used to be." Olivia desperately didn't want Daremo to leave, but she was fighting a losing battle. "Maybe they are, for now, but it won't be long until people start fighting again and then this land truly will become a graveyard. I need to make sure that the four lands never fight and hurt the people of the fifth land ever again. Aleana and Orion are the last of our people, they need to future to grasp and they can't grasp that future if they're constantly in danger of the land of darkness using the land of unity as a battleground to fight the land of life or if the land of strength decides to fight the land of mentality. If I could protect the children forever, then I would. But they need a peaceful land to stand on, because neither of us will be here forever and one day, they'll have their own children to look after. With the prosperity of this land, we could finally bring peace to the continent." Daremo finished and stood up, then Olivia stood up and they hugged each other. "Goodbye, my little sister." Daremo said softly.
"Stay safe Kalron and don't you dare get hurt so far away from home." Olivia was the first to break away. She went and stood by the door of the children's bedroom, her bedroom adjacent to theirs. The house was small and it wasn't for the quality of wood and building expertise, it would be a shack. But as it was, it was a comfortable home. Perfect for a quiet family. "I'll let Dartis and Rael know that they've been reassigned to look after you whilst I'm gone. Stay safe Olivia and keep a safe distance from the council, above all else, your secret identity is what keeps you and the children from their grasp." Daremo then left, shutting the door behind him.
Standing at the foot of the beach, Daremo, Rael and Dartis stared out across the ocean. "I'm sorry that I've had to bother you two again. But it seems like the man who leant me his boat to cross the ocean last time has moved on."
"Don't mention it." Rael told Daremo, holding a small rowing boat underneath his arm with ease. "It was brief, but you were only here for a quick check-up and report anyway." Dartis said, looking a bit weary. Daremo nodded and Rael set the boat down on the ground. The former then gave a wave to his two companions and got inside. Then Daremo used his chakra to manipulate the sand into a small slope that pushed him off into the sea. A few seconds later, the water churned and Daremo's boat shot off like a jet.
Naruto's muscles had finally stopped aching and it looked like Anko's training was finally becoming less difficult, no doubt the same could be said of Fu. But Fu wasn't always around after training and it had been a while since Naruto had talked to her. Naruto assumed that she was missing Daremo, since she had come from a different country, Daremo was the only adult she fully trusted. Naruto always had Iruka to talk to about his problems, but Fu had only ever had Daremo to look to for advice. Naruto let out a sigh as he leant back on the stone bench he was sitting on. Naruto wanted to help her, but he didn't have a clue what was bothering her and wasn't even sure if he could help her. Suddenly, a light bulb clicked inside of Naruto. If he didn't know what Fu's problem was, he should just go and ask her. After that, the rather slow and somewhat dim-witted Naruto left to find Fu. Only to be crushed to the ground with a yelp by a small weight hitting his back. "Naruto!" Fu shouted on top of him. Naruto stood up, Fu grabbing hold of his shoulders so that she wouldn't fall off, then he asked. "What? Did you try and prank Anko or the Hokage or something?" Fu jumped off of Naruto's back and darted out in front of him. "No! No! It's not that! Daremo's back." Fu shouted this at Naruto, who kept quiet until realisation dawned on his face. "Alright!" He shouted. "Let's go and get him! Dattlebayo!" Naruto pulled a grin and they both started to run towards the village gate.
"Your two genin have caused me a bit of trouble." Anko declared into Daremo's face, who, rather tired and hungry, just pointed at himself. "My two?" He asked.
"Yeah your two. They knocked down a lot of trees in one of the training grounds and now I've had to repair the damage as well as teach them." Daremo wasn't really sure of what Anko expected him to do about this. He wasn't even sure as to why the training ground was so important, before he left it seemed like there were to many of them. In fact, there were probably to many trees to begin with. "Did they learn anything?" Daremo asked. Anko grinned in pride as she answered his question.
"I made the little genin physically stronger. As well as getting their chakra control to a point where they can both walk up trees." Again with the trees, Daremo thought to himself. "Hey! Daremo!" Someone shouted all of a sudden and Daremo looked around to spot Naruto and Fu running towards him. At this point, Anko tried to sneak off; but Daremo was quicker and held her in place by her trench coat collar. She turned round and fixed him a threatening stare, but Daremo pretended not to notice as the two genin caught up to him.
"Eh? Why are we eating here?" Naruto stood in the middle of the road and stared wide eyed at the dumpling store. "I thought it would make a nice change." Daremo said. 'And on top of that, Anko would probably try to sneak off if I brought her to a ramen store.' Daremo thought to himself as he watched Anko already making her way inside with a large grin. Fu was also quick to enter, but she had to come back to drag Naruto inside.
"Hey, Daremo, where were you all this time?" She asked Daremo after sitting down with Naruto. "I was actually in my home country." Daremo replied, whilst Anko started wolfing down dango next to him. "Home country? Which land is it?" Naruto asked these questions with a child-like curiosity. "It's in a far away land across an entire ocean. Most of my time away was spent simply in travelling." As soon as Daremo answered, Fu's eyes lit up. "What kind of a place is it? Do they have ninjas there? Or are they all civilians like you? What-" Daremo put a hand up to interrupt Fu before answering. "If you really want to know, I'll have to show you both what kind of a place I was born and grew up in." 'Although, that will be years away yet.' Daremo thought. "In any case, it's good that you're back. These two will no doubt want you to watch them in the chunin exams." Anko suddenly spoke up from behind Daremo and what she said puzzled him greatly. Looking at Fu and Naruto's faces of shocked awe, Anko had apparently said something of great importance. "So, that's why we haven't taken any mission?" Fu asked, her eyes ablaze.
"That's right. This whole time you've been preparing for a chance to become the next level of ninja." Anko had answered in an instant and the two ninjas jumped for joy in response. "Alright! It's time to show that I'll be the one to become the next hokage!" Naruto shouted. Daremo sighed, 'he's still going on about that. Well it's something to shoot for, but honestly, that boy's set for bigger.' Fu quieted down as she realized something. "Hey Daremo, before you check in with the hokage, do you mind if I show you something I've been practicing." Naruto was a little surprised by this, he had known that she had spent time alone. But wasn't aware of the fact that she had been practicing the whole time. Daremo nodded. "Sure, Anko are you coming? She's your student." Anko nodded in mid bite and then ordered another dango with hand signals.
Fu breathed out a mass of fine powder that covered the smaller training ground (decorated with three wooden posts). "I produce a lot more powder than the last time you saw me use this jutsu." She said with a grin. Anko looked at Daremo and he nodded in response, notifying that he had noticed it to. After a few seconds pause, Daremo stepped into the field of powder. "Hey, wait, what are you doing?" Fu asked. She stiffened, expecting him to be blinded, but he just stood there silently. The powder was making his eyes irritated and visually haze, but they didn't have the same blinding potency that they did before. Clearly, Fu had learnt how to manipulate her chakra to produce more, but didn't have the control to keep the same chakra potency in the volume of powder. "The powder isn't as potent as it was before." Daremo said without moving and Fu jumped a little, showing a little dismay on her face. "But you just need to practice chakra control and manipulation, that's all. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you envelope a whole town in powder in a few years time." Fu perked up a little, feeling a little better that she hadn't completely failed. But she jumped again when Naruto sneezed next to her. "Can we go now?" He asked in a nasal voice. "My nose is getting itchy."
