SHGS - Chapter Fourteen: Homework

Disclaimer: I do not own, or profit, from Naruto, Star Wars, and all associated media.

"Thoughts"

"Speech"

"Abnormal sentient thoughts"

"Abnormal sentient speech"

- Darklighter

Yugakure

It felt good to be back in Yugakure. After the thorny fight for Sora no Kuni – (which in the end had stretched deep into that planet's seasonal winter as the Vagaari colonists refused to starve and freeze to death quietly) – the whole unit needed rec time.

Just like the outbound flight the return journey had been cramped. That was why Aventis was now suspended from the ceiling of her hanger bay. The bay was open to the elements because the technicians needed the light to work, and they still had a certain instinctive disdain for the artificial lighting and power generators that had flooded their land.

Also the techs working on his War-Yacht came from the Cloud. This was not unusual for that nation had produced a veritable flood of technologists in recent years. Just like the Mech pilots who predominantly came from Konoha the people of the Cloud craved the sunlight and it streamed in to the work space along with a breeze that was cooling because of its intensity, but still warm as it sprayed across their faces.

They stood on an elevated platform. They were not his Techs. They belonged to the army corps as a whole, but they worked on the ship with a pleasing intensity. He supposed this was because his vessel was still the most advanced the planet had to offer – although it could not produce the kind of firepower several of the larger Dreadnoughts could. Working on his ship was a learning experience that would help these ambitious men, and they were the best the world had to offer.

So Naruto had no concerns centered on the Aventis' safety. She herself had been slightly hesitant at first, and she had persistently asked permission to deploy her weapons but he had refused her. Eventually she had settled down to the restructuring and by his estimation it seemed as if she could even be asleep.

He had watched as the tech's reformatted the hold carving in bays to house his pilot's Mechs and rejigged the space for maximum efficiency.

Now they had moved towards the tail end of his mottled orange and black lady. Upon his instructions they were taking out the dueling pit and reducing the vast forge into a small cubicle that was enough to serve his needs.

Of more importance were the soldiers he heard practicing mock war in the distance - his troops. Naruto's private hanger was on a hilltop overlooking the now polluted and gigantic hot spring that serviced the eastern quadrant of Yugakure's military residences.

The space they created in this fashion would be used to construct proper bunks for many of his soldiers, and in addition to the other modifications, including the creation of a general rec room, and the reduction of his own quarters and private living space the Aventis would eventually hold two barrack quarters. The Aventis was quickly becoming a vessel meant for a group, and not for his sole use.

You may wonder why he had decided to take out the dueling pit. But this was just his response to a simple truth. By this time Naruto had become hardened by true combat, and the only practice of worth was that against live opponents.

There was no longer any thrill to facing the holographic foes conjured by the dueling pit, for his blades had become accustomed to the feel and resistance of flesh as he powered through, and the weightless length of his Lightsaber had grown fond of the acrid stench of frayed ions that accompanied every cut. No matter how good it was emersion technology could never quite imitate life. He gained more practicing against his Shinobi for sure.

At least his troop would be reimbursed by the state for the valuable salvage. The chest of money he had liberated from Traya was not completely done for, but a Shinobi's salary in the modern era wasn't that much to write home about - they were soldiers now – not pricey assassins and he would not dip into what was left of the stash just to purchase new holographic opponents.

Naruto was not alone in the makeshift hanger. A couple of his Bolt Blades and Pyromancers were with him. Most Shinobi still did not trust pilots and techs. Some of them, such as these few, eased that distrust by learning as much as they could about the technical arts of the weird 'military' personnel. These armchair critics could drive working techs to the point of madness and stir in them the will to commit suicide. Others did not have the patience for this route.

He started to move. Things were well in hand within the docking space. The intense sound of his men at training came to his ears even though they were quite a distance away. Their camp was one of many within the lot dedicated for the Battalion. They were lucky to be as close to the training areas as they were.

The sounds he heard consisted of the Mech's with their Shinobi accomplices riding shotgun, or running besides being put through their paces. He did not know what the programs they faced consisted of at the moment but recently he found that he only had to join them in the group exercise in the fortnight leading up to a mission. And that was just because he himself had to get back into the mindset of fighting within a group.

His unit consistently ranked amongst the high scores although they had not yet reached the lofty heights of some of the veteran first year units. Most days Naruto spent training time sparring with Zabuza and Haku.

When he went on recruitment runs Naruto rarely took Shinobi who relied on Jutsu for their powers, but these two were the exception. In fact they would argue that only the best could employ Jutsu within the mess of the fray and a part of him agreed.

But to his feeling modern war was too quick for endless flashings of hand signals – although there were many powerful techniques that were worth the tradeoff. As far as he was concerned Jutsu could be used for facing Force using opponents, or Mandalorians, for the versatility they gave Shinobi was undeniable, but they were not suited for the small wars Terra had been fighting for almost ten years now on her own behalf, and at the behest of others.

These wars were small by galactic standards, but there were a limited number of trained Shinobi and if they all died who would train their children? Furthermore these 'small' wars were often fought on a scale that could match any of the great wars of Terra's past. Those obscure moments when the world descended into madness and all of its Shinobi forgot that their best work was done in the darkness.

War against enemies using blasters, artillery, and airpower was nippy. The occasional flashy technique might save the day – many regular units were renowned for their reliance on large summons and Jutsu that needed thirty-five hand signs to activate - but his Traitors were known for their survivability. They had the lowest turnover in the whole army and this was an incredible statistic considering the fact that Asuma's battalion was almost always involved in the harshest engagements.

Naruto's musings had taken him far away from the hanger and the path down the hill was so easy and relaxing that he did not count the steps. The sound of his men at trained play was also fading into the background – not only the crash of Elemental techniques but also the stomps of Mechs.

"Leave papers have just come in," the voice sounded over the receding din clearly.

He turned to find that Karin had followed him although his ears had already marked her identity. The satchel that contained his unit's Overlord Array swung easily over her midriff and chest.

"Karin. It's about time. I was beginning to wonder if they wanted to send us out again. After Sora we may be in high demand," he said as she joined him. The faint path was wide enough for two.

Despite the loss of much of its fighting forces on Nar Shadaa Terra had continued to source out private contracts. If they had not this would have been a clear admission of weakness.

Sometimes particularly famed units were requested – to a higher cost of course. After what they had done to the Vagaari Naruto's unit would quickly become one of those.

"Actually there are already three requests for our unit, but I've told Asuma we can't handle the load. He said he'll farm the contracts out to other poor buggers,"

"Good. We all need the rest. Half of them are still waking up with terrors at night and after an engagement like that who could blame them? They don't say anything because they're hard but a couple weeks before we finally came home I started to notice them losing the edge. Hell even I was losing the edge," Naruto stated with some feeling.

"Why were we out there so long anyway? The battalion I mean," Karin asked as they walked. "The regulars got cycled out on resupply but even after Zabuza's Unit did its part they kept us there - through the winter."

"Probably because we're among the best, but – ironically – because we are also expendable. Apart from Asuma and his team the rest of us are Missing-nin, so no one who mattered cared that Osvaldus put us in unjustified danger just so that he could get rid of me," Naruto stated plainly.

Karin was one of the few people on Terra he trusted. That was probably the reason why he was so calm with her walking besides him. He had since poisoned her mind against the Zabrak warrior who was in charge of all the Missing-nin and she probably knew more of his plans than Naruto himself. In fact he had come to rely on her intelligence to an extent that it was disquieting.

"Not many know that he was out to get you in the first place," she said ruefully, "Sorry I couldn't preempt him. You know he will move again now,"

Her eyes seemed to constantly scan the surroundings and the growing throng. Naruto acknowledged her comment with a slight nod.

His unruly hair was allowed to express itself – though not beyond a suitable length. If you got close you would see the notches that ringed the edges of his Forehead Protector. Each one marked an engagement, and he already had one Protector encased in glass at his apartment at Ichiraku's.

He had finished his growing, and stood over six feet so much so that it was immediately obvious upon meeting him. Naruto had not bulked up like some Commando's did, and though he did not have the nimble and wiry physiques that those with a strong Wind Element did – Asuma was the exception not the rule – he had a hardened body that had been sculpted by two schools of mastery. Karin besides him didn't know it yet, but he was about to add a third.

"I think I'll be leaving the unit for a while," he said simply.

"Why?" her enquiry was suspicious, and her eyes quested for his.

They were approaching the meat districts which separated the garrisons from the rest of the city. Of course it was called this because of the countless masses that were permanently fixed between the corridors into the city proper, and the Unit Encampments.

"Because I don't know when next we're gonna have time off, and we both know that the Unit could do without me for a while," he evaded.

"Hmm,"

Though it was the truth – he was well loved by his men but he also lacked a lot of remorse – he could understand why she was still doubtful.

"Anyway I'll still be around at Ichiraku's. I don't plan on leaving the city like the last time I kept my plans from you it's just that I need personal time," Naruto said.

She didn't speak for a moment but something of the sincerity within this statement caused her to relent. She had been amongst them through it all, and unlike that her sensory capabilities had been enhanced by the prototype Overlord arrays that were Terra's first forays into true virgin science. She had felt the violence whilst in his battle rage he often desensitized into an extremely menacing witness.

The Overlord devices were made out of Chakra metal yet housed processing chips, and as far as was possible every Unit that contained a capable Shinobi had one.

The links formed by the sensory-nins' chakras created excess storage space and significant processing speed for the natural capabilities of the Shinobi and Kunoichi, and the additional data they were fed by the miniscule drones that were linked to the mask and scoured the immediate battlefield. At rest they were housed within the frame itself.

"I heard a tidbit that you might like," she said and his ears seemed to perk up at the words.

"The Jedi are definitely coming, and they are going to be sending back the children that were kidnapped all that while ago. Although there is nothing on the whereabouts of the traitor Kakashi," she said. It was obvious that she was satisfied by his brief moment of perturb'nce, for she smiled slightly.

How long have you known this for sure? Naruto wanted to demand but he kept the impulse under control. It would soon be time for them to part, for he was approaching the warren of alleys that would work him through to the back way of Ichiraku's booming business.

"That's good intel," he flattered her instead. "I presume you got this off your contact in Osvaldus' circle?"

"I wouldn't tell you that now would I?" Karin said surprisingly prim. "It's time for you to turn off anyway, and since you're leaving the unit under my command I'll let the others know that they can go their merry ways,"

"Not totally merry," he commanded. He noted that they had indeed reached the warren. "I want a rotating guard on the Ship at all times. The Techs may be good and we work for our planet, but that doesn't mean we have to trust its leadership."

"No," she agreed – suddenly vehement. "Not while the ruling council bends its ear to Osvaldus' suggestions.

The next morning

C.T.G/Y (Combined Training Grounds/Youth)

Oddly it felt strangely like the Academy of his childhood. There were no fields with Kunai stumps or dust sparring circles to be found. But there were neat class room rows in the old style accompanied by three vast Holographic gymnasiums lurking behind.

There was also no fence or gate to speak of since the building was secured within the heart of Terran Military power. Anything that could punch through the shield generators that protected the city would do fine justice to concrete and barbed wire. However he wished there was a gate and fence. If anything so that the hordes of children and older stragglers wouldn't consume the school's immediate environs during every recess.

Although Naruto did not see much resemblance between the structures themselves he remembered watching from his lonely swing as his class and form mates ran about, and he observed the school yard action from a similar vantage now. Despite the bedlam one thing gave him pause above all else. It was the seething anger he felt in the Force in the area around the school.

He searched for a face of authority with all his Shinobic skill, yet there were none to be found at break time. The imps were let loose and they would only be called back from their lunches by the whine of the administrative building's Siren.

Naruto cursed his sense of timing as he began to stalk forward. Shinobi academies still functioned in the same manner as prison yards did during recess. Looking around his practiced eyes quickly picked out the various cliques that dominated.

Over there tucked in the western quadrant were the misfits and nerds - while those who had formed strong groups, but had middling skill strutted about the place. These were often fan boys or girls, and they paid homage to the 'geniuses' who maintained a perimeter of cool within their surroundings.

Now he spotted the source of the seething hate. Just like it had been in his day the utter reject occupied the part of the training ground that nobody wanted. Naruto remembered the kinds of spots that had been discarded for his use and this one was similar – out of sight and out of mind.

Naturally the children had stopped to take note of the interloper in their midst although they did not seem to recognize him. Perhaps his fame rested on his blond locks more than he realized, for his dyed brown disguise hid him well, but he had not abandoned the mottled red bronze and grey 'Rec Uniform,' of the NCO corps.

Not one child spoke to him as he made his way through but a tense hush settled over them all as he approached the reject.

Even the black haired castoff evidenced surprise at Naruto's approach. He was gangly but not very tall, and was already evidencing signs of slight stubble although he was what? Two years Naruto's junior? (True age)

From the sullen way he had been munching his cheap purchased lunch it seemed as if he had grown used to being the butt of all jokes and most ostracized out of all the city's students. The boy's eyes were sharp and Naruto belatedly realized that this was what had drawn him to the youth in the first place. The boy was positively hungry for power and his anger had hung like a shroud over the whole playground.

"Hi," he said as his shadow came to loom over the teenager.

As he had expected the young man made him wait for an answer. Gradually the attention of the other kids faded away as the geniuses began to preen in earnest in an attempt to re-establish the hierarchy.

Naruto caught a glimpse of one elite student stalking towards them. She was probably the number one in the graduating set - that or the one that had concealed her actual skill to the most adept degree. As it was she was very interested in what an NCO would want with the number one scrap in the academy.

"What?" the boy's response was coarse. He had risen from his seated position and looked tense like he was ready to bolt or fight.

"You want to go somewhere more private? I would like to speak to you," Naruto probed.

"No I don't think so. You're from Konoha aren't you? I don't see a name tag… Y'all decided to knock me off finally? Like old man Hokage?" the boy began to inch away.

Naruto was still often surprised by how adept his people were at picking each other out by word forms, and his distinctive and obtrusive habit of saying Dettebayo often marked him plain.

"Yeah I'm from Konoha, but I don't quite understand why you think I want to 'Knock you off,' I just wanted to speak to you for a little while,"

Although the boy seemed to want to ease up it wasn't so easy for him to climb down from a position he had claimed. Being a reject was lonely but Naruto knew that it could also become a way of life, and now that he was older he realized that he had rejected his own share of people who had tried to reach out to him.

Like the two whose names he could never remember – the teacher that had seemed to like him and the shy black haired girl who had once been in his class - for rejects the only way to survive the social suicide imposed upon them was to become hardened to the external world. To this brown haired youth Naruto was of the external world.

"Listen kid. I'm not going to eat you. I think you and I could help each other out."

"Oh yeah? In what way? You still haven't told me who you are," the nin in training said.

"Let's ease to the side and I'll tell you," Naruto replied. He tried to pitch his voice as he had heard Haku do on the occasions where his and Zabuza's unit happened to have free time at the same moment. The androgynous missing nin's was honey syrup.

The student considered this for a while.

"At the very least it's better than being here," Naruto pushed, "and think of how jealous all the other students will feel watching us walk together,"

They were in an open spot so the creeping girl had no choice but to awkwardly stop. She was not alone though for the attention of the school yard invariably centered on the NCO. This being had been to the stars, and those of them with savvy could tell that he was a veteran.

"Alright," the boy said hesitantly. Despite his general anger which was still flowing freely in the Force Naruto caught a hint of… innocence? He definitely perceived a tingle of intrigue.

"Good," he said – allowing the boy to catch the barest flash of his wide Cheshire grin. "Let's walk right back through the mob. They'll never know what hit'em."

Yugakure

"So let me get this straight," Konohamaru drawled. "You're a fully trained soldier who has been in some of the toughest engagements the contracts board has to offer and you want me to teach you how to use Jutsu. Does that about sum it up?"

"Yes," Naruto responded with a slight and rueful grin. Put that way it did seem ridiculous but some strange intuition he couldn't quite fathom yet was telling him that things were progressing on their ordained and right course.

"I don't know how much I can help you there," the boy shrugged, "I'm not only bottom because of politics. Unlike my uncle I'm not that good with Elemental Techniques," there was a cup of refreshing herbal tea set before him and he stirred his Ice-sugar stick. There was a sticky sweet smell as the stuff began to dissolve and mix together with the tea.

They had located a quiet café a short way from the school. This was after Naruto had assured the boy that he would be returning with him when the gymnasium resumed sessions.

"Don't worry about that," Naruto said. There was no swill set before him although he had paid for the student's fare beforehand.

"Tell me about your Grandfather?"

"Granddad? I just about remember running about in his office you know? I was what… eight? I was eight when you introduced us to the universe Uzumaki Naruto.'

"What?" a slight hint of surprise caused Naruto to wipe at his mouth with a handy table napkin although he had no drink. His voice did not quaver though, and he retained the bulk of his poise.

"What you thought we didn't know?" Konohamaru looked as if he would laugh but bitterness still tinged his accusing posture.

"Listen," he sipped his drink before continuing, "We're out there in the gym training to be Shinobi. I may not be much good at it presently, but we all picked you out. A little brown dye won't hide you when you're story is splattered on Terra TV1," Konohamaru chuckled, "I guess the age of the Shinobi is dead, so don't ask me about my grandfather. You can read about him yourself and make up your own damn mind."

You could tell that Konohamaru thought he had gone too far although Naruto remained calm. You could tell because he had not been able to hold back the escalation in his previous verbiage and had only pulled short of outright insulting the non-commissioned officer. The brash young one made another move.

"I should get going," he said, standing up, "no need to see me back."

"Steady soldier," although Naruto barked the command in the Force his voice was silk. "You just spoke to me as if you were one of my Traitors. Would you match wills with the Scourging blade of the Zeison Sha?"

Konohamaru stood rooted. Since weapons were not allowed in the city Naruto was unarmed, but he knew about the three blades the warrior before him wielded. Although he did not know which legend pertained to the Zeison Sha.

"I'm not one of your traitors and I don't have what you want," Konohamaru said. He thought about walking out but decided to hedge his bets, "Could I leave sir?"

Naruto stood up. He drank what was left of Konohamaru's abandoned drink but not before melting the Ice-sugar Stick with a blast of something.

"Follow me. I will change both of your facts," he said.

Jedi Enclave, Corellia

She was ready and she was primed. Not that she had learned all there was to learn. Far from it, but the time for teaching was over. She was compelled now to face the universe, for during her training they had both fondled the growing palls over the Force.

They were distinct bodies and thoroughly evil. The unmasked presence of her home world competed with something else.

Something that was older in malice – something that lived off of hatred just as a great oak would live off the sun something indescribable.

The order hurried in its own way. Even now Hinata strode besides Pav and they shared small smiles. Each had been lost to her own thoughts but they were united in purpose. She had taken to dropping Qeral's full name and title at the woman's gentle insistence. They did say that people from Corellia could be quite forthright, and it was bad enough that they had to contend with the necessary but somber rituals necessary for her to learn this last gift her Mistress had to give.

"I was never much good with the meditation, but I studied under the old keeper of this particular lore for so long that it seemed I have mastered the teaching of it," Pav said primly. The young woman besides her did not know it, but she walked with the poise of one who had to potential to control legions.

"There could never have been a better teacher for me," Hinata said, "I just hope I can do your teachings justice," now in the distance was the small shuttle that would take them to the Coruscanti Enclave's Flag ship in orbit. Typically there was a whine that reached her ears, and if it had been a windy day their clothes would have begun to flap.

"You still need to be more assertive," Mistress Pav lectured, "That's what is holding you back from true mastery.

Hinata caught herself about to petulantly ask her Mistress what it was that had held her back from true mastery but she held her tongue – slightly horrified. That would have been assertive enough but at the end of the day Qeral was trying to help, and Hinata knew what was truly bothering her.

They were going back to Konoha. She was going back to Konoha – alongside Sakura and Sasuke. Those two were already aboard the Flagship that would take them back, and she had not yet digested the most astounding part.

They were to be the Jedi's Ambassadors - the three of them from Konoha who had been 'kidnapped' oh so many years ago.

Of course there were to be other Jedi in the delegation. Other Jedi, some career diplomats, and a Fleet that represented the last two pillars of the Core – Corellia and Coruscant, for though the Chiss reigned supreme in the Unknown Regions their henchmen – her people – had begun to take missions that affected the dealings of the refined bureaucrats and bloated plutocrats dwelling in those ancient and civilized systems.

"We'll see how I do with being assertive when we get to my planet," Hinata said, "My people have become known for the trait so maybe some of it will rub off," she said.

Pav grinned. Although there was still the other dark blot on the Force to attend to the Order would never be caught unprepared again and she believed that the proactive method was the true spirit of Luker Skywalker.

However some on the Council were aged and at times could be deliberate in their approach to crises. Now that their voices had been temporarily hushed she did not think the Order was acting wrongly in this instance, and it was good that her former apprentice seemed determined and did not doubt her loyalties despite the aggressive course the Jedi were pursuing.

Unchecked the Shinobi could easily begin to cause intergalactic friction with the Mandalorians and Bounty Hunting Guilds. This was only natural, for these other groups already carried out the functions that Hinata's people executed so archaically and ruthlessly. When it came down to it there was serious money involved and millennia of prestige - on both sides.

"You'll do just fine," Qeral said as they reached the opening intake hatches, "Looking through the wider scope this is what you have been training to do for the last years. Heading off trouble before it begins, for that is half the battle for the Jedi Mistress," she said.

"Jedi Knight you mean," Hinata said startled. She did not know if there had ever been a Mistress as young as she was.

"A Jedi Knight in title, but a Jedi Mistress all the same," Mistress Pav Qeral said. Looking at the somewhat diminutive women as they took off for the stars in that instant one might have actually thought that Hinata glowed in that instant, for her teacher's praise meant all the worlds to her.

C.T.G/Y (Combined Training Grounds/Youth) Admin Block

Chief Trainee Coordinator Iruka's Office

Of course Iruka knew who it was – by now Naruto's childhood story was well told and he became one of those people that everybody, retrospectively, wants to claim to have met or influenced. Indeed a celebrity.

The commissioned C.T.C did not realize it until the instant they walked in – Naruto in the comfortable but combat worthy mottled rec uniform of the allied forces – and gangly Konohamaru trailing sullenly behind.

Iruka cleared his throat. At times like this his seated position gave away the advantage to tall and intimidating visitors.

"Good day. How can I help you?" he said.

"Good day sir," Naruto growled. There was a blaze of recognition in those cerulean pools but they quickly clouded over dull aqua.

He hadn't expected his former student to pick him out. The boy had been young and by all accounts had been through a lot. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Welcome. Please take a seat,"

"I think I'll stand Iruka Sensei," Konohamaru said. Iruka had never been able to see eye to eye with that one. Not after what had happened with his grandfather.

From Naruto's stance it was clear that he was siding with the boy and an unjust flame sprang up within Iruka.

What did these two think he – a bloody Chuunin – could do when Kage level Shinobi and extraterrestrial beings stomped about?

"What do you want then?" he sank into the figure they both knew very well – the figure that had stilled them in the classroom and still retained some small effect now.

"You should be in the gymnasium Konohamaru… and you… I don't know why you're here but it seems like everything is working out for you in the end," Iruka paused, "I'm glad," he said slightly softer – then standing up and coming round to meet them, "I'm glad but I can't have you bringing disruption to the academies workings. Things here are different than what you experienced back Konoha, and I don't know what Konohamaru has been telling you, but he hasn't been doing that well. Surely you can empathize with that?

"So you know who I am then?" a measure of respect had entered Naruto's presence from the moment Iruka stood up from his desk. Now the oppressive cast of the room blanketed as it had been by charged and concealed emotions cleared.

"Yes," Iruka said simply, "I know you Uzumaki."

"Good," Naruto's motion was swift. It wasn't violent, but it was as if there was no transition between standing still and beginning to pace in a defined space. His thighs jacked like hydraulic machines yet still retained the spring of human muscle and the lithe slow grace of a trained… Something more than a Shinobi.

"You know who I was, and you know who I am now. The nets have seen to that. What you can't see is that Konohamaru right now… is me, and I am going to take him out of this place. Either the way I was taken off this planet in the first place – Kami knows it did me some good – or with your permission. Whichever way it is we will be leaving shortly," Naruto said. He stopped pacing to look at Iruka. He just waited.

It took a moment for Iruka to digest this, but he was not Terra's only C.T.C officer for nothing.

"I don't know if you can do that…" he began, "First off you're just an NCO – no offence – and it would take a lieutenant to do what you're asking. It's been done before you know. There are quite a few promising students attached to the lines at NCO level. That is why we kept the genius system," Iruka warmed to the subject, "I have no doubt you noticed it on your way in," he said.

"It was just like in the old days," Naruto murmured, "No supervision and hierarchy based on knowing who could beat you to a pulp if you got on their nerves."

"You realize that it's necessary?" Iruka asked. He had idly wandered back to his desk during the conversation, and Konohamaru was also seated still trapped as he was in the perfidy of youth.

Iruka steeped his fingers together and glared at the boy. "And that brings me to my second point. Even if I wanted to release this one to you his performances don't merit it. There will be uproar. His performances haven't merited it since…"

"Since what?" Konohamaru demanded. He had been meek and sheepish at the start of Iruka's lectur'ly put down but he got fired now. He was still hot over what had happened to his grandfather.

"This is what I'm talking about," for once in his life Naruto played the placating role. He would never have been able to do so if he had remained with Traya and not returned to the side of his own people.

"Konohamaru needs to be separated from all of this if he is to thrive," he said, "And we all know that Konohamaru has it in him to be the Third's equal," he paused to look at the boy. The youth bristled but the spines were formed of pride and not anger – just a brief flash.

Iruka remained steady. When all was said and done this man had spanned tens of worlds while he remained on planet doing an expanded version of what he had always done. The only difference in his life these days were the occasional leave breaks he used to go to the orbital casino and spend a few nights in the lunar hotel. He was one of a lucky few and it was through the grace of many discounts that officers in the military were able to entertain themselves in this manner.

"Don't worry about my being a lieutenant," Naruto said, "An announcement is going to be made within the week. You'll just have to take my word on that one," he said.

Iruka nodded slowly. He tried his best not to eye the warrior with suspicion. The boy he had known had been prone to all sorts of tricks.

"Just do the paperwork for it and Konohamaru will be ok. He has already agreed to be my attaché. Haven't you?"

"Yes," It was barely more than a whisper, but Iruka could tell that for once this was something that the boy might take seriously.

"I'll take care of him," Naruto said. Not much softer, but softer.

Iruka exhaled. The words came out with his breath but instead of shaming acquiescence he felt sweet relief.

"Alright," he said.

No more words were needed. Naruto hesitated as if he would say something more but maybe for this he couldn't find the words. Konohamaru had gotten up at some point and was now standing in the general vicinity of Naruto's perimeter. Already Iruka's keen eyes were picking out the boundaries that were breaking down between the two. It was what had convinced him in the first place.

These two wanted to be teacher and student. Konohamaru didn't know it but he wanted to be close to his new master. Close enough to protect him from unseen dangers. And as for Naruto… Naruto didn't know it but Naruto…

Iruka smiled…

They were almost out of his office. The plush space was meant to be inviting to the senses of civilian parents fretting over the new children who had been taken into the academy or had been temporarily ejected due to injury. It was completely alien to what he had been trained to do as a Shinobi. For Kami's sake he remembered the battle against the Nine Tails. He had been there.

"Hey Iruka," Naruto called back over his shoulder. They were more or less gone but the man paused and there lurked a hint of that old grin.

"I know you cared. I didn't realize it before I walked in here. In fact I didn't even know that you would be here, but now I know. Just looking at your face says it all…"

Iruka smiled and felt a slight blush beginning to dimple his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. War had really made his old student seem older, but there was still a remnant of boyish charm.

"One day Konohamaru will be back to say the same," Naruto promised, and then… and then they were gone.