AUTHOR'S HEARTFELT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I would just like to give my million thanks to Blitz Magnus and Aikuchi Shikaku, who, helped me make this fanfiction possible. Thank you so much! I wish I could repay you for your kindness someday.
UPDATES! I'm still writing Chapter 73, hehe. I'm taking it slow nowadays since I'm way ahead of you. I did this deliberately to make way for my other fics… to plot 'em and make 'em.
PLUG
IN: FILIPINO READERS, LISTEN UP! I just want to
promote my very first fic written in the Filipino Language
entitled "Mga Kasabihan Nga Naman". It's a comedic fic,
so based on the title, yes, it has something to do with our lists
after lists of Pinoy Superstitions… taken literally or either
experimented. This is a wacky fic, so I hope you'll read it. It
also has a bit of romance: NejiTen, SasuSaku, ShikaIno and NaruHina.
So that's that… Sana mabasa nyo at maraming salamat sa mga
susuporta at sumusuporta!
(From the last chapter…)
"I'm sorry but I cannot take the week off, Hokage-sama." Neji bowed with respect, "And so can't my wife."
"If you do not follow my orders, I'll strip you off of your ninja rights." Tsunade tried to regain her composure, however unsuccessful.
"I'm afraid you can't do that-"
"Hyuga Neji, together with Hyuga Tenten and Jiraiya, all of you are not ninjas of Konoha any more."
(Chapter 53 – The Decision)
"What the hell!" Jiraiya stood up and pounded his hands on Tsunade's messy table, "I know that anything can and will happen at the snap of your fingers, HOWEVER, you cannot, and I say, CANNOT do that!"
"I just did, so get over it." Tsunade grabbed a book and began reading, "So shut up and get out of my office, Jiraiya. That goes the same for you, Hyuga."
Neji reasoned out, "I disagree with what you just did, Hokage-sa-"
Then, a book went flying towards him, although he was agile enough to evade the speeding book. And the book hit the wall, damaging the concrete on impact, staying stuck on the wall, with smokes of dust surrounding it. It was only then that Neji realized that the Hokage was serious about disturbing her peace, and that she was frustrated. And when the book fell on the floor with a loud 'thump', again being surrounded by a smoke of dust, Neji bowed hesitantly and excused himself and got out of the office to meet his crying wife just near the door.
"Jiraiya, get out." Tsunade eyed her teammate with deadly glares, "Get out before I harm you. I'm trying my best to control my anger, so get out."
Jiraiya turned on his heel, and with the fading 'thock-thock' sounds of his sandals, he got out of the office, leaving a frustrated Tsunade.
"I'm sorry…" Tenten hugged her husband tightly, "I'm so sorry… We're not ninjas anymore because of my foolishness… Neji, I'm so sorry…"
Of course Neji was also angry that he wasn't a ninja anymore but the fact that his wife was sorry about it, he seemed like he wanted to cry about what just happened, but he can't so he just hugged his sorrowed wife tighter, closing his eyes and sighed, "That's okay. She might take it back."
"And she will." Jiraiya was walking down the hall and stopped, only to turn to them, "I have a plan. Come with me."
A few minutes later… In the Uzumaki household…
"Neh neh, Hinata-chan, what name should we give our baby?" Naruto asked as he placed a glass of orange juice on the glass table in the living room, just in front of his pregnant wife, Hinata.
"I… uh… uhm… I've n-not decided on t-that yet, Naruto-kun." Hinata sweatdropped, "We don't know if the ch-child is a boy or if it's a girl! B-Besides, I'm only a few m-months pregnant so, there's still no telling of the child's g-gender."
Then a knock was heard on the door.
"I wonder who that could be." Hinata was about to stand up when Naruto ran to get the door.
"I'll get it!"
"Hello!" Naruto opened the door with a sheepish grin.
"Hello Naruto, may we come in?" it was Jiraiya, with Neji and Tenten.
"Eeek! It's the perverted hermit!" Naruto's eyes went round as platters and began pointing his index finger at Jiraiya again and again.
"Oh! Jiraiya-san? Neji-niisan? Tenten-chan? Please come in." Hinata greeted.
"Thanks Hinata." Jiraiya smiled, "Hey Naruto, you should learn from your wife sometimes. A slight hospitality goes a long way!"
The blushing Hinata twiddled her fingers, and Naruto had himself dumbfounded, wearing a straight face.
The three sat on a sofa in the living room, and Naruto sat on a sofa across them.
"I'll just make some tea and prepare some cookies for all of us." Hinata bowed at her guests and went to the kitchen.
"What brings the three of you here?" Naruto crossed his arms on his chest.
"We're going to do a high-risk secret mission and we're planning to take you with us." Jiraiya said in a hush-hush tone.
"What does Tsunade-baachan want us to do?" Naruto asked.
"Actually, this mission we're having is not authorized by Tsunade." Jiraiya added.
"What!" Naruto half-yelled in shock, "What do you mean not authorized by Tsunade-baachan? It has to be authorized by the Hokage or else we'll get punished!"
Hinata arrived in the living room with a tea set and a plate of chocolate-chip cookies. She served a cup of tea to each and also for herself. She then sat next to her husband and took a sip of tea, and so did Naruto.
"We have not been authorized because we've been stripped off of our ninja rights and privileges. It means that we're not ninjas anymore." Neji simplified.
As soon as he had said that, Hinata choked as she swallowed tea and Naruto sprayed the tea from his mouth onto Jiraiya's face.
Naruto choked a bit as Hinata took some tissue paper and wiped his mouth. She stood up and approached the towel shelves just near the bathroom and handed a towel to Jiraiya.
"What do you mean by that!" Naruto exclaimed, "Hey you, perverted hermit, aren't you a sanin? And you, Neji, Tenten… you graduated as genins a year before Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme and I graduated! So ever since you're a genin, you're already a ninja! It's only if you're a missing nin will you be stripped off the ninja level!"
"I said something wrong at a wrong time to Hokage-sama. I tried to convince her to do it, but she just got angry at us and stripped us off of the ninja level because of my foolishness." Tenten spoke, again with beads of tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh my…" Hinata commented, "That's not right!"
"Actually, Tenten only wanted to help Tsunade in finding out the ingredient to mix with the cure for Sakura. Tsunade, in all her pride, rejected her friendly suggestion and made us all go out of her office. However, I don't back down that easily. That's why we're planning to take you on our mission to Sunagakure." Jiraiya said as soon as he finished wiping his face.
Hinata had a shocked look on her face and replaced it with a worried look. She didn't want Naruto to go. She didn't like to worry and put him in danger if Tsunade finds out what was going on. It was a dangerous task.
Naruto looked at his wife and said, "I'd rather be here than make Hinata-chan worry. Wait, I know a person who can help you! Hang on a minute, I'll just call him."
Naruto stood up and went to the phone table near the TV set and dialed a number.
"Hello?" the person from the other line greeted.
"Hello? Yamato-taichou! How are you? Good thing it's your time off! I'm just gonna ask you something." Naruto bubbly replied.
"What! Yamato? Yamato, as in the Yamato, one of the platoon leaders in the elite Anbu squads?" Neji commented, "Naruto! He's busy! Put the phone down now!" (A/N: Neji is Tsunade's spokesperson to the Anbus, remember? It was mentioned in the first chapters of Homebound!)
"Neh neh, Yamato-taichou, could you come with us on a mission?" Naruto pleaded.
"Hey, I'm busy. You know it's tough to be elite Anbu… go ask Sai." Yamato replied, "He's at his house. Hurry and call him, it's his time off, however, he'll return to his duty in just a few minutes."
"Okay!" the blonde responded, somehow disappointed at his reply.
Then, both hung up and Naruto dialed another number.
"What?" it was rather an unfriendly greeting from the other line.
Naruto greeted, "Hey Sai! I was wondering if you could come with Jiraiya, Neji and Tenten on a mission-"
"I'm not interested." Sai hung up.
TBC…
---
--- --- --- ---
Naruto
completely decides not to go, and that it was a bad idea to come with
Jiraiya, Neji and Tenten on the mission, when his baby's life was
at stake. So the 3 goes to Sai's place without Naruto and Yamato
tells them both good news and bad news. However, when they told them
of what they were planning to do, Yamato seemed to be against it. Is
he friend or foe?
Check it out on Homebound, Chapter 54: Plotting Plans
"Since
I am an elite Anbu and knowing that you're going to be in an
unauthorized secret mission, with a team consisting of one licensed
Anbu and 3 nins whose licenses are on hold, I cannot allow you to do
that."
-Yamato
A/N: Ooh… looks like it was a bad idea to bring in Yamato in the conversation. But is there a reason behind his stern motives? Or is he just the manipulative and authoritative type of person who is more of Tsunade's ally to bring Jiraiya, Neji and Tenten down? Hmmm…
The song Headstrong by Trapt is still available! This song will be used in Chapter 56.
Well, before you think of that and lose your brains, drop by a review! It won't hurt a bit you know. XD
+Releina Artemis+
