A/N ok well ideas are mine, one note here at the start: I will NOT try to write out Bee's words in his Rap style. if you don't like that fine copy and paste what he says in my story re-write it in that style and send it to me. in short do the work I have no interest in doing, other than that don't complain.
Ok let's get this going.
Killer Bee, Jinchūriki of Gyūki the Eight-tails. Was sitting cross-legged and meditating, Yugito Nii who was the Jinchūriki of Matatabi was standing off to the side watching.
"What is going on?" a voice asked from behind her.
She turned and bowed, "Bee is still meditating, Raikage-sama."
The large man walked from the shadows, "I can see that, I asked what is going on? Have either of you figured something out?"
"No sir," Nii replied. "We have not figured out what that energy was or why…" here she stopped, hesitant to continue.
"What," her leader barked.
"Matatabi, she is happy." The Jonin replied, "She says that something good happened for the first time in…well, she says it has been centuries. She also says the world has changed and…suggests…you keep an open mind in the time to come."
She stopped talking as the Raikage seemed to grow angry.
"Changed how?" he asked in a growl.
"That, neither she nor I know. That is why Bee is meditating, he and Gyūki are trying to figure that out."
At that moment Bee opened his eyes and sighed.
"Well?" A asked looking at his brother.
Bee looked and saw his brother and stood.
"No answers," he replied. "Whatever it is…It is important and keeping itself a secret. All we do know is that…it is good, something changed for the better. And we should be ready for it,"
A growled, he did not like not knowing something that had affected both his brother and Yugito. He wanted to trust his brother in the statement that whatever happened was good, but not knowing what it was…had him on edge.
"I am sending out scouting teams to all the elemental nations. If it turns out to be anything but good, then I want to be ready for it before anyone else." A spoke, making his point as he turned and left the two Jinchūriki without waiting for a reply.
Gaara watched his sister after they had returned to the village and endured what could be called a royal ass chewing from his father. He smirked inside as he watched his father 'acting' strong and menacing during his rant. The three siblings were excused,
'Get that thing out of my sight,' were the words his father used as he motioned towards Gaara.
Kankurō had mentioned getting a few days' worth of sleep and quickly went to his room. Gaara who was following the plan and pretending to still be the insomniac psychopathic killer did not speak but did start walking around the KazaKage residence.
Which is how he found Temari training. She had not fooled anyone, even though she was very attentive AND interested in ending a war that Suna could not win. Both of her brothers knew that she was still very upset about her loss to the Nara boy. Her temper was shorter, her fists hit harder, it was clear she was very scorned from her loss.
Gaara watched her work through her standard Kata for hours, when he was sure everyone was asleep or at least well away from their location he moved.
Temari was panting as the sweat rolled off her when out of the corner of her eye she saw something she had never seen before. Gaara removed the Gourd from his back and placed it on the ground next to her battle fan.
Stepping into the training area next to her,
"I was beaten, one of the reasons is I did not move," he started "I realized I never move, I just stand there and let the sand do all the work. We should train together, in secret for now."
Temari just stared at her brother till he started to go through basic warm-ups. She snapped out of it and started working with him, correcting his flawed stance.
"You know Shika," Naruto started in a cheerful mood. "That, even though we will be trying to prevent Suna from losing too much in the Invasion. She will be looking to kick your butt, right?"
Shikamaru looked at his blonde friend as they slowly walked the road leading to their village.
"You think she would be that troublesome?" the Nara asked.
"Hell hath no fury," Chief spoke up. "Like a woman scorned."
"And did Shika scorn the hell out of her," Naruto finished with a laugh.
"Troublesome blondes," Shika mumbled.
"Hey, I resemble that remark," Naruto gave a mock whine.
"I know,"
Hinata gave a small giggle as she watched the two,
"And those 'Heavy' jokes did not help you." She smiled. "You should know better then to call a woman fat,"
"What jokes?" Shika asked. "And I did not call her fat, I said heavy. Muscle weighs more than fat."
Hinata giggled louder, "Well, regardless of what you meant, she heard you call her FAT."
Mai stepped up and looked at the Nara while nodding in agreement with Hinata.
"Is there any way to win with women?" the Nara asked.
"NO," Naruto and Chief replied while Mai just shook her head.
Shikamaru just slouched putting his hands in his pockets grumbling to himself.
They walked the rest of the way in almost complete silence, Naruto would regularly break the silence when trying to get Hinata to laugh. He really loved that sound and would try to get her to make it any time he could.
Realizing this Hinata started playing a game, resisting her urge to laugh at the blonde. Making him have to work harder for the laugh.
They were walking calmly as they approached the gates to the village, Chief quickly check them in when he realized Naruto was silent. He looked and found the blonde and the Nara staring at something. Following their eyes, he found Choji, Shino, and Kiba.
They were sitting at a table outside a small eatery and looked to be chatting, Chief also noticed that Asuma and Kurenai were there, looking to be on a date.
"Hey guys," Naruto called with a wave and a goofy smile.
The three boys quickly stood and after Shino paid for their meal that they quickly took with them, the three fell into step with the blonde.
Unnoticed by any of the civilians the two team Jonins' also slipped away and followed the kids. Walking a short way down the kids quickly and quietly slipped into an alley followed by the adults, Chief smiled as he watched Naruto prove again what he had realized that first day watching him outrun the Shinobi of the village.
"Ok, what happened?" Naruto turned to his three friends.
"The Hokage has sent Team 7 out on a C-Rank mission, two days ago," Shino replied.
"To even out the team he requested Ino go with them." Choji continued.
"Why Ino?" Hinata asked.
Asuma spoke up, "Team Nine was away on their own mission, so the Hokage could not send Neji."
The group looked at the smoking man waiting.
"Neji has proven to get along with the Uchiha more than anyone, but with him away. Hokage sent Ino cause she gets along with Sakura, and those two girls are always training together and have good teamwork."
Shikamaru was watching Chief who had not spoken, he had also not made a move or showed any emotion.
"We need to make our report to the Hokage," Chief spoke up after a moment. "Where will we meet after?" and he looked at Naruto.
The blonde thought for a second,
"Shino get everyone you can find and meet at…the warehouse should be big enough."
Shino nodded as Chief led his part of the group out and headed for the tower.
"So, you have returned in good health." The Hokage spoke as he sat in his chair.
Chief had walked in and stood at attention before the desk, Naruto, Hinata, and Shika joined him. Mai stood back by the wall watching.
"Training went smoothly, only a minor problem," Chief replied calmly.
"Oh, and what is that?" the old man asked brows raising up a little.
"Seems the young Nara has found himself as the target of a scorned Kunoichi." Chief smiled. "It is clear that he now has a date for the Chunin exams."
The Hokage smiled and looked at the blushing Nara.
"Did you fix the seal?" The Hokage asked as his eyes returned to the Chief.
"No," Chief and Naruto replied.
That brought the old man to attention,
"It was a perfect seal," Chief started.
"Yes, a well placed and perfectly made…" Naruto continued.
Hiruzen was starting to sweat, this whole plan was based on the hope that young Gaara was only insane due to a bad seal. If the boy was truly psychotic.
"Standard storage seal," Naruto finished. He had paused just enough to watch the Hokage start to worry.
"A…what?" the old man whispered.
"A standard, basic, simple storage seal," Naruto replied. "Ones you use to store tools and gear. The kind that has no place storing living thing much less a freaking Biju."
Naruto again was getting worked up.
"It was an insult to sealers," Shikamaru spoke up as Hinata placed a hand on Naruto's arm to calm him.
"We did, however, manage to place Minato's seal," Chief spoke up. "On young Gaara and it was easy to see a massive difference in the boy."
The Hokage sighed in relief…before he realized that he was sweating and standing up.
"Funny, give an old man a heart attack," he said as he sat back down. "Give me the full report."
After the report was given the Hokage sat back in his chair and looked at the kids, proud was not a strong enough word to describe how he felt about them.
"You three did extremely well, I wish we could announce the results to the whole village. But that would damage the results of the 'Training Mission' but know that I am very proud of your growth."
Here he stopped and looked at Naruto,
"Mastering several B and A rank Jutsu's and learning how to combine them, that is a skill few have. I cannot wait till the time we show this village just what you are. And just how stupid they have been."
"Thanks, Jiji," Naruto replied, and his eyes flashed to the Chief.
"Anything else?" Chief asked.
The Hokage looked at the man, "Lesson learned."
"This is twice now…next time we go to the woods." Chief replied and turned to leave the office.
Naruto and Shika stared at the Chief then at the Hokage…this meeting did not end as they had thought. Hinata had to take each by the arm and after a small bow to the old man led them from the office.
Naruto walked in silence as he stared at the Chief, that meeting did not end as he expected. Shika led them through the village to an old run-down warehouse. Quietly the group entered and found most of the group waiting to include the mothers.
Naruto realized not everyone was there yet, so he turned to Choji,
"So, while we wait. What have you guys been doing?"
"Well Sakura mostly trained with Ino and me," the Akimichi started. "Seems Sasuke was in fact punished by Dog and the ANBU.
The large boy turned to Hinata, "The ANBU seem to have taken a liking to you as well as Naruto. Looks like walking that stone wall REALLY impressed them."
Hinata smiled and blushed some, since the first time she walked the wall she had noticed how many ANBU had been giving her nods and other signs of respect.
"And Team 8 has been working with Yakumo and Team 9," Kiba continued. "Gai-sensei is a much better teacher then I first thought."
"Agreed," Shino spoke up. "Though I do question his sanity, I no longer question his knowledge or his ability to train others."
"Yakumo?" Naruto started. "That is the Kurama girl that had that lesser demon in her right?"
The Blonde looked around hoping to spot her.
"She is with Team 9 now, we still have yet to bring them into our group," Shino answered the question. "Though Gai has requested…everyday…repeatedly, that we do."
"I will run it by Chief, I trust Lee and TenTen, it is Neji I question," Naruto replied. "Though I do admit…he has improved."
"Hey, you said she was training with you, has she run any D-Rank missions?" Naruto asked the boys who quickly nodded. "Has she met Tora?"
"Day before yesterday," Shino replied. "She was not happy."
"Course," Choji took up. "She has not yet been told the secret of Tora."
"True," Kiba nodded. "Figured we give her a chance to learn it on her own."
Just then Yugao and Hayate slipped in the door. Anko who was sitting on Kurenai's lap resting her head on the red-eyed woman's shoulder, looked up and smiled.
"Bout time," she grinned. "Was it worth keeping us waiting?"
"Always worth it," the purple haired woman replied as she sat with her boyfriend and waited.
Naruto did not keep anyone in suspense, he turned and glared at the Chief.
"What the hell Chief, Jiji did the opposite that you told him and sent Sasuke off on a C-Rank. And you didn't do or say anything…you're not even acting upset. What the hell?"
Chief, who had moved to the front of the room when he first arrived, was sitting on a table that was pressed against the wall. He sat with one foot up on the table while the other hanged down.
He lifted his head and looked around the room, and noticed everyone was watching him waiting to his reply. Almost everyone, in the back corner, stood Mai, Kyoko, Tank, and Gai. And they alone seemed to understand.
"What is he?" Chief asked catching everyone. "What is Hiruzen?
At first, no one spoke then Shino and Shibi looked at each other,
"The Sandaime Hokage," Shibi spoke up.
"That is correct," Chief nodded as he finally got up off the table.
"He is the Hokage, he is the boss. He orders we obey, this is his village…regardless of what the civilians think. This is a Shinobi village and he is the head Shinobi, and we…"
Here Chief stopped and motioned to everyone including himself. "Serve him."
Everyone thought on those words…even Naruto.
"Through the shedding of blood, sweat, and tears and Copious amounts of all three. I have earned the right to look him in the eye, Criticizes his actions. Offer him advice and suggestions, and when he really screws up…take him out to the woods and just beat the crap out of him."
Naruto smirked.
"Don't laugh boy, I have done that last thing with all four Hokage"
That sobered Naruto up quickly,
"But none of that," Chief continued. "None of it changes the fact that he…is…the…boss."
"You have been bull rushing everything," the blonde started. "Why?"
"To remind him that he is the Hokage," Chief answered. "He got weak in my absence and as glad as he was to have me back helping him. He started to get reliant on me, he was letting me do his job for him."
"So, you banned any of us, especially Sasuke from doing C-Ranks to help remind him that he was Hokage?" Kiba asked as he worked it through. Tsume was smiling behind him seeing her son working out the situation.
"I did have more than one reason to do that. This was one of them, yes, another was I wanted you all to have time to grow more.
"You refuse the Hat," Shino started.
"Yet it is clear you have what it takes to perform the duty." Shikamaru finished.
"He asks me to take the hat, regularly," Chief replied as he started to walk around. "We all know all I have to do is ask for it and he would have it on my head in a second. He also knows I can never take the hat," Chief replied, and everyone looked at him.
He sighed, "My position as Chief Instructor comes with a lot of benefit's, the first being I only answer to the Hokage regardless of any other Shinobi's rank. But to take this position, this duty has one restriction, A blood oath, and seal.
Here he opened his coat, vest, and shirt. The first things anyone noticed was that his skin looked to be covered in scars. Next, they noticed a seal that looked to have been carved into his chest right where his heart would be.
Quickly he redressed, "I can never be Hokage."
The group stared at him, all but those standing in the back were shocked.
"That also means that if Naruto still wants to be Hokage," Chief said.
"I don't WANT to be," Naruto interrupted. "I WILL be."
"That means he can not be my future replacement,"
There was a silence in the room…before.
"Damn it," Kiba cursed and put a small wad of bills in Shino's hand. This act was followed by half the room repeating the action…Shino was making a fortune. Even his father handed the boy a roll of money.
"I told you guys to stop gambling with Shino," Shikamaru spoke up.
"Yeah, Shino seems to have my luck…or something close to it." Naruto replied then looked at the Chief.
"Did someone force you to take that seal?" the Blonde asked.
Chief shook his head, "No I agreed, one-hundred and ten percent, to take the seal."
"How do you agree one-hundred and ten percent?" Tsubaki asked from her place in the room.
"He carved the seal into himself," Naruto answered as he stared the Chief in the eye.
The Chief nodded. "Hashirama called me the 'Shadows Shadow' Tobi…Tobirama knew what I was as he was there when Mito had me perform the sealing ritual, and that was why he wanted me to train the ANBU, he is the one to name me Chief."
The group watched him as he spoke.
"I did a lot of training with Hiruzen long before he learned my true role in the village. I wish I had a picture of his face when he was told."
Naruto smiled as he transformed into the Hokage, with his jaw dropped about a foot, Eyes large and white and his pipe hanging from his lip.
Chuckling the Chief smiled. "Drop about forty years and that is about right."
"How did my dad take it?" Naruto asked after ending the transformation.
"I don't know how but that boy figured it out…so when I told him he took it with grace and dignity. Did not change the fact he whined like a baby the first time I made him a training dummy after he took the hat. Some reason he thought getting the hat meant he was immune from it, he did have moments of stupidity."
A laugh moved around the room at the image of Minato 'ordering' the chief to stop and the subsequent beating that came after. The Joy was again removed from the room with a question.
"What do we do about Sasuke?"
"Kakashi told him about the Chunin exam and made it clear that will be the only chance he has to fight you. He also made it clear what the Uchiha has to do to be able to get into the exam."
Naruto sighed, "What do you want me to do?"
"The plan has not changed, part three of the exam is a one on one tournament, that is when you show the village and basically the elemental nations that the Whirlpool has returned. And if you face the Uchiha…don't…hold…back."
Naruto nodded then the room froze as Chief did something they had never seen before…he yawned.
"Is it time for sleep Chief?"
The man looked old and tired, more so then most in the room had ever seen before. Nodding he gave a smile.
"I will be out for about eight hours…try not to cause to much hell."
"No promises." the blonde replied.
Hiruzen stopped watching his orb as the meeting ended and everyone left, he sat back in his chair.
'He told them he would take me out to the woods, he would not threaten my life with witnesses.' Thought Hiruzen, but he knew better. Shadow's shadow, Chief was the one that watched the Hokage and protected him. not only from outside threats but from himself as well.
And if the Hokage became too corrupt or incompetent, the shadow removed him. The plan was for quick and quiet, it is better for the village to hear that he had died peacefully in his sleep than at the hands of an attacker, they would be able to recover from that quickly.
But Chief plays with his food. The people would know only that he had died peacefully in his sleep. Hiruzen knew that if Chief was forced to take that final action, it meant that in the Chief's eyes Hiruzen had betrayed him.
He would NOT let the old man off easy.
'Any man willing to kill his own children would have no trouble taking out a Kage, even the one from his village.' Was the Hokage's final thought on that matter as he returned to work before him.
The Door to the Hokage's office burst open and Naruto and Konohamaru came flying out of it running for all their worth. Down the stairs, past the guards and out the window of the second floor. Hitting the ground at a run,
"I never wanna see something like that…ever…again," Konohamaru cried out as they ran.
"I warned you to cover your eyes," Naruto replied.
"So, have we won this round?" the younger boy asked.
Just then they heard a crash behind them. They both stopped and looked back, they saw a single female ANBU, Naruto noticed a red trail of blood coming out of the nostril of the mask.
"SHIT…RUN!" Naruto screamed as both boys took off at high speed.
"What the hell is Neko doing here…she never has Hokage Guard duty," the younger asked.
"Chief set me up," Naruto replied. "AGAIN!"
Neko was hot and running full board, as she closed Naruto could swear he heard her growling.
"First point," Naruto called.
Konohamaru took from his pocket a round ball and tossed it, as it hit the ground in front of them it burst into a massive cloud of smoke. Konohamaru went right into an alley as Naruto went left.
Neko had to pause for a second to spot the blonde and in that time Boar and Crow reached her.
"What happened?" Crow asked.
Neko growled, "You two go after the younger one…Naruto is mine."
Never hearing the woman growl like that, the two ANBU just nodded and obeyed.
Naruto went into the alley between two apartment buildings. He left the ground and started jumping from the walls of building A and B, back and forth hoping to gain some room from the pissed off Neko.
It did not work, and she was matching him move for move closing fast, reaching a top floor window of building A Naruto leaped again. This time he found an open window in B and went through.
He rolled and flipped in flight to avoid breaking any of the apartment owner's belongings. (A rule Chief had started to enforce.) Naruto smiled as his luck held and just at that moment one of the apartments residents came in through the front door opening it for him.
Naruto flew through the open door and landed on the wall opposite the door and started running.
Neko never missed a beat as she followed, and proved to have more grace in her flight, as she also did not damage anything and moved faster then the blonde did through the apartment. Thus, gaining a couple steps on the blonde.
Naruto grinned again even as he heard Neko it the wall behind him. He ran down the wall of the hallway, and at the end, he found a window that was open. He dived through and landed on another building, holding it with his hands and feet he started sprinting up.
Neko was two seconds behind him as she easily followed him up the wall. As he reached the top of building C, Naruto jumped into a backflip and landed back on building B and using gravity ran down the wall much faster and causing Neko to pause and watch before following.
But Naruto had gained a few steps and opened his lead.
He hit the street and started running down it, but this time other ANBU, Jonin, and Chunin had entered the chase. Many hoping to finally catch the brat and regain some of their dignity, those would be the Jonin and Chunin.
The ANBU and Elite Jonin, especially the ones that had either learned about Naruto or trained with him, just wanted the bragging rights of catching the uncatchable kid.
The street he was on ended at a T intersection, so he could go left, right or straight and up another building. A flicker of light to his right caught his attention as he entered the intersection.
"SHIT," he cried as he dropped down and slid on his knees as he leaned back till his hair brushed the street.
As an eight-foot-long python came flying towards him forcing him to 'Limbo' under its long body. The snake was so close Naruto could see individual scales.
The snake missed him and went sailing to the blondes left where it collided with a Chunin who quickly found himself wrapped in the snake's embrace.
Naruto did not have time to worry about the Chunin, Neko was closing fast. And worse…Anko had joined the chase.
"We're coming for you," Came the voice of the sadistic snake woman.
A/N ok even though I do have the rest of the chase written. I will be putting it in the next chapter as it is really long and 4400 is a good stopping point now.
R/K
1: ok does that answer the question about Naruto taking Chief's place?
2: who does not get why Hokage sent team 7?
3: thoughts on the sand sibs, or Bee and Nii?
4: if you got confused with A, B, and C...naruto started jumping between the first two buildings A and B. he ended that by jumping from A into B and after running through an apartment and hallway jumped out a window to land on the wall of building C. then ran Up C and did a long arcing backflip back to B and then down to the street...looks cool in my head. though just cause I can see it doesn't mean anyone else can. might be one of those things that needs an illustrator.
5: WHAT THE HELL DID NARUTO DO TO PISS OFF YUGAO? and why does Konohamaru never want to see it again?
6: gimme 5 more days and we will be in the land of waves (five days my time that is) till them. food, please.
