I decided to change the name of this story. I know it's 'unprofessional' of me to this so late in the story, but I've never been good with names, and I decided that this one was simpler. It's just a small change anyways. I've also changed the summary, it now better reflects the theme of this story, ecspecially as we get closer and closer to the climax of Part 1. Yes, this is going to be more than one part, maybe even more than two.
Anyways, this chapter is short, and not a lot happens, but I had a mild case of writers block. I wanted to do much more with this chapter, but once I overcame my block and got the second half written, I just decided to post it.
As always, thanks to those of you who have reviewed, or added this story to their alerts, favorites, or c2's. Without you guys, I would have stopped writing this a long time ago. Also, as of yesterday, this fic is six months old. Half a year. I'm sorry that I can't update as fast as I did when I started all those months ago back in the summer, but this is a particularly hard part of the story to write, and I've got other things going on. Thank you for your paitence.
Naruto sat in the lobby of their hotel, leaning forward with rapt attention as Konohamaru and his team regaled him with the story of how they dominated the first exam. Of course, the story was greatly exaggerated-even Naruto could tell-but the blond still indulged the children by 'ohhing' and 'ahhing' and cheering at the right parts.
"And then, and then!" Stuttered Konohamaru as he continued on with his story, "This Mist bastard showed up out of nowhere and was all like, 'I'm gonna kick your ass!', but we weren't scared!"
"Not at all!" Moegi chimed in.
"And then we really kicked his ass!" Konohamaru continued, "I'm pretty sure he was crying after we were done with him."
Naruto leaned back with a satisfied smile on his face and crossed his arms behind his head, "Yep! I knew you guys would win. I'm the one who taught you, after all."
"Hem hem!" Someone loudly cleared their throat behind the blond, "I do believe some of the praise should go to me, as I am their teacher."
Naruto turned his head and saw Ebisu standing behind him with his arms folded across his chest.
"Pssh, whatever, Closet-Pervert." Naruto said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Ebisu nearly choked at the use of his hated nickname, but managed to recover. "Ahem…Forgive me, Naruto, but I must take my students up to their rooms. They're going to need a full nights sleep if they want to pass the next exam."
The three kids looked to Naruto, waiting for what he had to say on the matter. He merely gave them a small smile and waved them off. "You heard the pervert. Go get some sleep. If you don't pass the next exam, I'm going to kick your ass!"
The three genin hurriedly ran off, knowing that a threat from Naruto usually wasn't an empty one. Ebisu walked off too, trailing behind his hurried students at a much slower pace.
Naruto was alone at his place in the lobby for just a few minutes before Kakashi wandered by carrying a steaming cup of tea.
"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, what's up?"
"Hmm?" Kakashi hummed before turning to Naruto, "Oh…Naruto, you're still up? It's getting kind of late."
Naruto shrugged as Kakashi came and sat next to him, "I had such a boring day guarding the Hokage that I'm all restless and can't get any sleep."
"Ah, I'm sure you're also excited for Konohamaru and his friends."
"Yeah," Naruto said with a nod, "But I knew they were going to win anyways."
"So you're that confident in your teaching ability?" Kakashi asked, still holding the full tea cup. Naruto was starting to wonder how the Jounin was planning on drinking it.
"Um…not really. Sure, I taught them some things and helped them get stronger, but I knew they would win because they're strong kids and they've got guts. No matter how hard I kicked their asses in training they still got up and were ready for more."
"I understand," Kakashi spoke, "I used to get that feeling from you guys back in the day. …Back when you were all so cute. It seems you're learning what it means to be a sensei."
Naruto shook his head, "I'm not their sensei, that title belongs to that Closet-Pervert."
"Nah," Kakashi said with a shake of his head, ignoring the strange nickname, "Ebisu never should have become a team leader. Sure, he's a great teacher, but he's been teaching so long that it's been a while since he's actually taken a mission. Those kids need someone with more battle experience, like you."
Naruto secretly swelled with pride at the compliment, but tried not to show it. "So what was it you were talking to the old lady about earlier, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hmm? Oh, that. It seems that we've found the one who killed the Tsuchikage."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but we weren't able to get much information out of him." Kakashi continued on in a slightly disappointed tone, "But he did tell us where the others who attacked the pre-exam ball are." Kakashi turned to look as someone approached, "Oh! Kazekage-sama, you're not sleeping either?"
"No formalities are needed," Gaara spoke as he took a seat with the two Konoha ninja. "Even these days without the Shukaku I can't seem to get very much sleep."
Kakashi looked taken aback by the casual mention of the demon, but Naruto obviously didn't care, "Ha, that sucks for you. I'm glad my demon doesn't keep me up at night."
Kakashi nearly choked, a strange occurrence since he had yet to take a sip of his tea. "Naruto! You know you're not supposed to talk about that."
Naruto sheepishly scratched his head, "…Oh yeah. Well…it's not like anyone heard me, the only other people in the lobby are Shikamaru and Temari." Indeed, Temari and Shikamaru were the only other ones in the lobby. They sat well on the other side of the room, once again locked in an epic chess match.
"Geez," Naruto muttered, "Every time I see the two of them they're playing that stupid game."
"Yeah," Gaara agreed. He cautiously looked around the room to make sure no one else was around and then looked back to Temari to make sure she stayed well out of ear shot. He leaned forward with a mischievous grin, "Kankurou and I have a bet going on when they'll just throw the chess board away and start making-out."
Both Kakashi and Naruto gaped at the uncharacteristic behavior of the Kazekage. In a flash, the mischievous grin fell off his face and he leaned back in his chair, his face going back to it's normally blank expression.
Kakashi stared at the Kazekage with his one visible eyebrow raised, he turned and looked over to Temari and Shikamaru on the other side of the room. He turned back to the Kazekage. "Before the third exam." The jounin blurted.
If Gaara had eyebrows, he would have raised them in surprise. "What?,!"
"I'll put down five Ryu that says they'll be kissing before the end of the third exam." Kakashi explained, no doubt hiding a mischievous smile under his mask.
"I say it'll happen on the way back, after the exams." Naruto added, "I'll put down five Ryu on that."
Gaara stared at the two Konoha nin in surprise for a few seconds before allowing a ghost of a smile to light up his face, "All right, place your bets on the table."
!-!-!-!-!
Over on the other side of the lobby, Temari and Shikamaru were deeply engrossed in their chess game.
A round of rambunctious laughter sounded from Naruto on the other side of the room.
The two players remained totally oblivious.
!-!-!-!-!
The Raikage's tower was a symbol of power and strength for the Lightening Country. It was finely crafted and the most well maintained building in all of Hidden Could village. Yet under this beautiful, regal administrative building lay a world that not many were able to see, and those who did see it were far from lucky.
Twisting stone corridors barely lit by lamps lined on the wall. There were multiple passage ways, some of which lead to dead-ends, others lead to interrogation rooms and prisoner holding. This was the home of the Hidden Cloud's ANBU, arguably the most powerful and efficient ANBU in the ninja world, and standing right in the middle of the ANBU's home was Tsunade, fifth Hokage of Hidden Leaf and the first friendly Leaf ninja to step foot in the headquarters in nearly ten years. Next to her stood the Tsuchikage.
It was an intense silence that blanketed the halls of the ANBU HQ, which was only made worse by the eeriness of the location. Luckily, the two Kage's were saved from the awkward silence by the opening of a nearby door. Out of the door stepped the Raikage, followed by a Hidden Cloud ninja decked out in his ANBU garb.
The ANBU stepped forward, bowing to each foreign Kage respectfully, "Tsuchikage-sama, Hokage-sama, I regret to inform you that even our best interrogation specialist have yet to crack him. He seems to have triggered a defense mechanism, probably taught to him by the rebel faction."
The Tsuchikage stepped forward angrily, "So is he the one or not!,?" He demanded, "WAS HE THE ONE WHO KILLED MY FATHER?,!,?"
"We…don't know, Tsuchikage-sama," The ANBU answered, "Although Kurenai-san reported that he confessed, we have yet to get an official confession off of him."
"THEN TRY HARDER!"
The ANBU stood strong in front of the powerful leader, "We have tried all that is available to us." He answered. "There is nothing else for us to do."
Tsunade looked up and met the eyes of the Raikage, who had remained silent. The Raikage meet her gaze with a questioning one of his own, arching one of his regal, blond eyebrows.
"I know a man who could help." Tsunade spoke.
"Forgive me, Hokage-sama," The ANBU addressed her respectfully, but with a hint of disdain, "But Cloud Village's ANBU are ranked as the best, who else could possibly help?"
"Do not concern yourself with it, Hotaru." The Raikage spoke up, placing his hand on the ANBU's shoulder, "…These are just the strange times we live in."
The ANBU seemed shocked, "What do you mean, sir?"
The Raikage seemed to ignore Hotaru's question, keeping his gaze on Tsunade, "…It is strange times indeed when Morino Ibiki will walk these halls, not as an enemy, but as an ally."
!-!-!-!-!
A day and a half later, back in Konoha, Ibiki sat alone in his office, boredly going through some paperwork. He let the paper fall to his desk with a apathetic sigh. Seems like all there is these days is paperwork…
The doors to his office suddenly exploded open and Ibiki quickly stood up, reaching under his desk for a hidden kunai. He settled down as he realized that it was just his assistant Joshu. She was a plain looking woman, in a Chuunin vest with short black hair and round glasses perched on her face. She was quite a plain looking girl, so Ibiki was quite surprised when she approached him about apprenticing under him. His shock quickly turned to awe as he saw what a natural talent she had for the job. It really brought a look of pride to his scarred, disfigured face.
"What is it, Joshu?" Ibiki questioned, going back to his paper work.
His apprentice spoke in a relatively calm voice, despite her urgency in nearly knocking his door off its hinges. "A letter from the Hokage. She's ordering you down to Hidden Cloud, where you are to interrogate a man suspected of killing the Tsuchikage."
Ibiki looked up from his paperwork in interest, "The Tsuchikage has been killed?"
"Apparently."
"And she wants me to interrogate suspect?"
"Indeed, you are also allowed to bring a team of ANBU with you, for protection on the journey."
Ibibki's scarred face twisted into a sadistic smile, "Well let's get going then."