A/N: I would like to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.
The miso ramen smells really good!
Naruto took in several deep breaths and tried to keep her expression completely blank as her eyes fixated on the bowl of miso ramen sitting right in front of her. Her throat was as dry as a desert, ready to be quench by the amazing scent that was her ramen. She exhaled. If it was not for the fact Reborn told her that Tsuna's father wanted to make a proposition for her, she would gobble this ramen down like there was no tomorrow.
She balled her hands into a fist and flickered her blue eyes to Tsuna's father. Sawada Iemitsu was the name that he used to introduce himself to her and Naruto had to wonder if she should speak formally or informally to the man. Formally meant respect and showed politeness to the man but should she be polite to him? He did abandon his family for two years but he probably had a high position in the Mafia.
It would be foolish of her to make an enemy out of him when she could use him to her advantage.
"Reborn has talked about you a lot in his reports," Iemitsu commented. His brown eyes were smaller than Tsuna now that Naruto noticed it. Another thing to add to the list of things that he doesn't share with his father. She curled her lips into a small frown and darted her eyes to the other customers in the restaurant. All of them did not seem to have their eyes focused on them and maybe it was not weird for an adult man to talk business with her.
Then again they might believe they were father and daughter because of the single fact they had blond hair. It is really weird how Sawada looks more like my Dad then me. She shook her head and looked back at the blond-haired man sitting across her. This was not the time for her to wonder about the connection between her father and Tsuna. Right now, she had to focus on the task at hand.
"I hope it is all good things," Naruto said with a wide smile plastered on her face. She needed to keep her tone calm and professional. Irritation should not leak out of her tone even if she had her suspicions over what the toddler could have written about her. There was no way for the man not to know about her charging his son ridiculously high prices.
Iemitsu offered her a smile as his brown eyes inspected her. No words came out of his mouth and the blonde took in several deep breaths to calm down her racing heart. For someone who probably knew she had been milking his son out of a lot of money, he was not looking at her with either anger or any emotion really. His eyes were just blank.
"You have been milking money out of my son when he is being naïve, haven't you?" He mused. Was it a question? Or was it an observation? She could not really tell. If it was a question then she should deny it, but if it was an observation then there was a need to defend herself. She stirred her ramen and flickered her eyes to the servers.
They offered her a smile and the blonde looked away. Will he ask me to return all of the money that I took from Sawada? Naruto frowned and stared at the older male before her. There was a possibility he would do it. A father probably would not be pleased to know that his son's money had been given to someone else.
"I'm not going to return back the money," Naruto informed him. Brown eyes did not widen at her words and the blue-eyed girl took a sip of her soda. She relaxed her shoulders, took a deep breath and locked eyes with the male before her. "Your son gave the money to me willingly and I also earned it."
The man's lips twitched as if he found her words to be amusing and she bristled. There was nothing about her words that was amusing. When his son needed help with a couple of questions from their homework, she had to tutor him and a normal tutor got paid. When he wanted information then it was only fair that she received something in return.
So it was fair for her to say she earned that money.
"I came here to make a proposition," Iemitsu reminded her. Naruto stirred her ramen and raised a single eyebrow at her classmate's father. Did he have to remind her? This was not something she could forget. A proposition from the Mafia was, after all, a big deal. She picked up some noodles and gobbled the ramen. "I'm not here to ask you to return the money."
The blonde bobbed her head, put down the chopsticks, and leaned her body forward. Her blue eyes fixated on the calm brown-eyes of the man sitting right across her. What could he ask of her? Work for Tsuna? Reborn must have told him that she was not the type to take orders from someone like her. Protect him? That would only annoy her.
"Reborn told me," Naruto finally said. "What do you want from me?"
Iemitsu stared long and hard at her, brown eyes flickering from her long golden hair to her round blue eyes before landing on top of her whiskered cheeks. What was going through his mind? Was her whiskered cheeks really all that strange because he kept staring at it? She rubbed the back of her neck and exhaled.
Did it even matter? Her whiskered cheeks only symbolized the fact she was the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. Naruto thinned her lips and looked at the blond man sitting across her. His eyes looked down at his own bowl of ramen before looking back at her. What was taking him so long to inform her of his proposition? Naruto stirred her ramen again.
"I want you to join CEDEF," Iemitsu finally said. Naruto blinked and tilted her head as brown eyes fixated on her. "And I want you to protect Lambo-kun during the time that my disciple stays here."
She raised a single eyebrow at those words. What is CEDEF? And why does Lambo need protecting? The blonde picked up her soda and took a sip of her drink at her classmate's father. It was hard for her to figure out what CEDEF was but the desire to protect Lambo told her that the boy was not at all safe. She poked her tongue against her cheeks.
During his disciple stay here. Those words echoed in her ears and the blonde looked down at her hissing bowl of ramen. What was the little boy going to get involved with? He was five but a five-year-old could become a target for a couple of groups. But what would people want from a kid like Lambo? His 10-year Bazooka? Yes, it could be a possibility.
"What is CEDEF?" Naruto asked. She picked up a chopstick full of ramen and kept her eyes focused on the silent man sitting right in front of her. She curled her lips into a very thin line. "And who will be after Lambo? Also you are really terrible when it comes to negotiation because I see only benefits for you, Tsuna and your organization? What do I gain from all of this?"
Iemitsu stared at her for a good couple of seconds, looking at her like he didn't know what to think of her. I'm not the type to immediately agree to something that I don't know. She was not the same little girl who longed to get the acceptance from the people around her. She would not agree to anything without seeing any benefit for her, her subordinates and her long-term future.
She stroke her chin and locked eyes with him, waiting for him to say something. She could walk away with nothing and not care. Whatever he wanted from her then he had to offer something that could tempt her. Power. Money. Security. Any of those three things would tempt her to taking in the offer that he had for her.
"CEDEF is a secret intelligence organization that is independent from the Vongola Familigia but we are still apart from it," Iemitsu answered. The blonde hummed and nodded as those brown eyes continued to observe her. "We aren't under the control of the Vongola Familigia, but in times of trouble we will act as second-in-command to the Vongola Familigia."
So does that mean you hold the most power after the boss? She rubbed her jaw and eyed the man very carefully. If he was not under the direct control of the boss of the Vongola Familigia then it meant the man did not have to answer to the boss. That suited her in a way. She would have power and not have to be forced to accept every order from Tsuna.
But even if it suits me, it is not something that I created. Naruto curled her lips into a thin line and took a sip of her drink. Making a legacy for herself had been something she dreamt as a little girl. Her desire to become Hokage had been due to the cruel reality that Mizuki taught her. If a person had no power then they had no voice and that was what she wanted.
She needed to think carefully about that position.
"And what about Lambo?" Naruto asked. She put down her drink and kept her eyes completely blank as her eyes returned its attention back on the blond-haired man sitting across her. While he explains, I will think over what he wants from me. She exhaled. "Why does a five-year-old hitman need protection when he isn't apart of the Vongola Familgia?"
The blond-haired man did not flinch at her cold tone and Naruto tilted her head. He really is different from Tsuna. The knowledge made her pause. Well it was to be expected since Iemitsu must have not been apart of her classmate's life. Just like how she was nothing like her mother or her father, the blonde should not expect the man to be like his son.
Naruto thinned her lips and shook her head. He might be a good boss but being a good boss doesn't mean you have to be a good parent. She would like to claim her parents had been terrible but it would be unfair. They never raised her so she could not blame her personality on them. Maybe the lack of presence but that was it.
Iemitsu stared at her for a good couple of seconds before pulling out a box from his pants pocket. Naruto leaned her body forward, pushing the bowl of ramen to the side as the man opened the box. Only two rings sat in the box. Well I wouldn't call them rings…they don't look exactly like rings. It did look weird with its pattern, but she could make out a little incomplete image of a lightning in one ring.
The other ring had no image that reflect but it did have a name.
"There are seven rings in total," Iemitsu explained to her. Naruto nodded and held her hand out as Iemitsu dropped the ring with the lightning image onto her hand. "Other than the ring that my son will inherit, the other six rings symbolize the people that Reborn and me believe are worthy of protecting the next boss. It symbolizes that they are core members of the Familigia. Lambo has been chosen to be a bearer of this ring."
That is a huge gamble. This was the first thing that came to Naruto's mind as she inspected the ring in her hand. Lambo was five. Not really the age that most civilians would hand such a huge responsibility to a child. But it also showed trust in the boy that Tsuna pleaded for her to take care of when he had homework to do.
Naruto curled her lips into a very thin line and eyed the man. If Tsuna knew of what his father had done, he was going to protest. He is only a kid! That was what she could picture the boy saying to his father and Reborn once he found out. But Tsuna thought like a civilian while she remembered the training that she underwent when she had been six.
"Why are you giving him a dangerous ring?" Naruto asked. "Your son isn't going to be pleased once he finds out that his old man is giving a huge responsibility to a toddler. Some people would say that you are insane."
Iemitsu inspected her like he was trying to figure out if she held the same beliefs as Tsuna and the idea made her snort. If the brown-haired boy knew of the training she put Lambo through then he was going to scream at her. Haru yelled at me when she saw what I put Lambo through. She rolled her eyes at the memory. Just because he was five, did not mean she had to baby him.
But I will have to increase his training and maybe see if any members of Team 10 have some knowledge on lightning chakra nature. She rubbed her chin and inspected the ring carefully. It would be impossible for her to train him to use lightning nature when it came to chakra but Lambo did seem fine whenever he got attacked by electricity.
That was something she noticed whenever Reborn tossed the toddler to the telephone line.
"Because I believe he is the best possible person for the duty," Iemitsu answered. His brown eyes locked onto her and Naruto only raised a single eyebrow at him. She knew Lambo had potential but not everyone thought like she did. "When Lambo gets older, I believe he will become an amazing guardian for Tsuna but he needs to survive until then."
You think that group will attack the guardians. Naruto closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That was something she could picture happening to Tsuna and his friends. That would be something she would do. If she wanted to consolidate her power and the power of her loyal subordinates then murder the competition.
Tsuna and his friends would give mercy but the Mafia was not a kind place. If there is a possible heir then they are definitely going to kill him and his friends. She grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck. But it was strange. If there was a possible heir then why choose Tsuna? Why not someone who actually knew how to do the job? Something was not adding up.
"I will have to decline the offer for CEDEF since it might conflict with my own interests," Naruto said. The brown-eyed male accepted her answer, not looking too surprised by her rejection of the offer, and the blonde exhaled. "But if you wish for me to protect Lambo then I want something in return."
Iemitsu raised a single eyebrow at her. His brown eyes flashed with curiosity as if he wanted to know what could be of great interest. Money would be a great idea but this man had influence. Influence that she could use to her own advantage. Her love for money was one thing but her desire to secure her plans was another thing entirely.
She would have to pray that the man would see the benefit of supporting this wish.
"And what do you want, Naruto?"
Naruto offered him a small smile.
"You will support the organization that I plan to make," she answered with a cheerful tone. "The organization is going to be completely independent from the Vongola Familigia as a whole but I will give your son the information that he desires…for the right price. It is going to be a spy network after all."
The man stared at her for a good couple of seconds, looking very considerate to her words. Was he going to accept her desire? Was Lambo going to be so important that he would accept it? She hoped so. Besides it was not like there was such thing as too many spies. Besides, she doubt that the spies that the Vongola Familigia had, could compare to her.
"You are an interesting girl, aren't you?" Iemitsu asked with a laugh. "Alright but that organization will be independent from the main Familigia but it has to be apart of the Vongola Familigia in the same way as CEDEF."
Well as long as it is my baby then I don't really care. She hummed and bobbed her head before handing the ring back to Iemitsu. The man placed the ring back into the box and placed it back into his pocket. Naruto looked down at her bowl of ramen before flickering her eyes back onto her bright blond hair and her blue eyes.
He tilted his head at her.
"Naruto, can you tell me who your parents are?" Iemitsu asked.
The blonde blinked and took a deep breath, steadying her trembling arms. There was nothing wrong for her to tell him about her parents. It was not like the man would know who they were. Her mother was Uzumaki Kushina and a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Her father was Namikaze Minato and his heritage was nothing important.
There was no cons for her not to tell him.
"My mother was Uzumaki Kushina and my father was Namikaze Minato."
That was the end of their conversation.
"What did this herbivore do?"
Naruto kept her eyes fixated on the members of the Disciplinary Committee, who kept their expression straight as they picked up the various chopped off body parts of her victim. It was probably one of her more violent killings but the man had been deserving of the crime. It is a good thing I'm wearing a mask. The amount of blood decorating her mask was a mess.
She glanced at Hibari. His grey eyes gleamed with interest as it fixated on the chopped arms and legs lying to their left before flickering his eyes back on her. What did this man do for you to slice him into a hundred of pieces? And why aren't you answering me? That was what she understood from the way his eyes fixated on her.
"He tried to rape and snatch a little girl from her home," Naruto answered with a sigh. She lifted the mask slightly from her head and the blonde allowed herself to feel the cool autumn wind against her chin. Why must masks feel so stuffy? It always felt like she was going to suffocate when she wore this fox mask.
Hibari bobbed his head as his subordinates placed the chopped arm into the plastic bags. I'm guessing they are going to burn those body parts. That would be the only reasonable explanation if you asked her. A sigh escaped from her lips as her eyes flickered to the take away food that she brought for her youngest informant.
Her heart almost ached at the fact she had to give him a takeaway food but there had been no time for her to make food for him. That conversation with Iemitsu ran longer than she intended. I have a feeling Ero-Sennin is going to interrogate me when I get back home tomorrow especially when I bring Lambo back with me. The thought brought a frown on her lips.
"Little Fox, do you know what this ring is?" Hibari asked. The whiskered girl blinked and swirled her head to the side to look at her partner. The black-haired boy held out a misshapen ring up for her to see in the streetlight. Blue eyes widened. That incomplete shape reminded her of the ring that Iemitsu had shown her.
They chose Hibari. It almost made her mind numb and Naruto exhaled. Why would they pick Hibari? He did not like crowds and this was almost the symbolism of crowding for him. Her lips curled into a frown behind her mask and the blonde rubbed the back of her neck. There was a reasonable explanation but she could not ask Reborn about it.
Reborn would figure something out if he knew she was deeply interested to know why her ally was chosen for a role. I don't want another big blowout like Kusakabe. Reborn would not be a problem but he might inform Tsuna and that boy did have a habit of overreacting. She inhaled and shook her head.
This would not be the time for him to wonder about how her romantic relationship with Hibari worked. He has to focus on staying alive. The blonde thinned her lips and shook her head. Of course she might be wrong and Reborn would not try to use her relationship as a way to help Tsuna calm down. She exhaled and rubbed the back of her neck.
It was time for her to go back to talking business with Hibari.
"I do know," Naruto answered. The whiskered girl curled her lips into a playful smile and she tilted her head to the black-haired boy. Her blue eyes focused on the burning eyes of her partner. "And since you helped me with cleaning up this mess then I will tell you everything you want to know, Hibari but how did you get this ring?"
Hibari inspected the ring before flickering his eyes to the members of the Disciplinary Committee. The males gawked at the both of them, leaning closer to each other as if they were asking each other what was going on between them. No, they must be asking this question. The blonde knew it from the way their eyes sharpened with suspicion.
She could not blame them completely since he was talking more than usual. But this ring must be really interesting to him. The blonde tucked a strand of her disguised hair against her ear and darted her eyes at the members of the Disciplinary Committee. They looked away from her, cheeks burning a bright shade of red as if embarrassed for gawking at them.
"I found it in my office with my name attached to it," Hibari informed her. Naruto bobbed her head and stroke her chin before taking a seat on the floor. So I'm guessing Reborn is the one that put there. That was not unsurprising when she knew of his habits of watching people. So if he placed the ring then it meant he chose the boy for Tsuna.
That made sense since it would be weird for Iemitsu to come in when there were members of Disciplinary Committee patrolling over there. She nodded her head and looked up at the night sky before looking back at her partner. Now that she figured out who the culprit was, how did she explain the whole thing to him.
It was not even her job to explain this to him.
"That ring symbolizes the fact you are going to protect the next boss of the Vongola Familigia," Naruto finally answered. His grey eyes showed no emotions instead his eyes inspected her. His eyes burned into her, looking at her bright blue eyes like he wanted more than just information. She cleared her throat. "There are five other rings besides the boss ring and they have the same duty."
Hibari raised a single eyebrow at this piece of information and looked down at the incomplete ring in his hands. That is boring. That was his eyes screamed at her and Naruto paused. Should she convince him to keep the ring? Technically she gained no benefit from telling him to keep the ring but there were no clear disadvantage for either of them.
There was a benefit for Hibari and that was something she needed to consider. I don't think I can forgive myself if he does not think of the benefits for himself. Naruto sighed and relaxed her shoulders as her blue eyes focused on the other members of the Disciplinary Committee. The males offered the two of them a small bow before dashing out of the area.
"You can have the ring," Hibari declared, tossing the ring at her. Naruto grabbed the ring and inspected the gaudy ring for a second before shaking her head at him. If it had been some other girl, they probably would have been upset with what happened. But she did not like such rings and it was not like they gifted the ring to her.
Naruto shook her head and grabbed Hibari's hand. Grey eyes sharpened and the blonde dropped the ring onto the palm of his hand. Tingles danced through her arms and the blue-eyed girl took in a deep breath to calm down her racing heart. His eyebrows arched as if to ask her for the reason of her returning the ring back to him.
"If you give me the ring then you won't be able to fight some very strong opponents," Naruto muttered to him as she brought her finger up to his head. She tilted his head downwards and removed the mask from her face. As long as there were no one here then it was fine for her to remove the mask. "I know how much you love fighting and these people will want this ring. These people will destroy this town."
Hibari hummed and his eyes gleamed with both interest and anger. He was always a contradiction if you asked her. A delinquent but someone who desired to protect this town. Calm-headed when needed but he could be so hot-headed as proven by his desire to toss away the ring. Her whole body shivered and grey eyes looked at her.
Right.
She needed to focus on the job.
"And what else does the Little Fox know?" Hibari muttered as he lowered his head at her. His breath tickled her whole face and the blue-eyed girl gulped down a lump. Why must he become like this when there was no one looking? Her whole body always shivered and her heart always raced against her chest.
She wished she could play the game even more but that was all she knew. I wish I had more information so we can continue this game. The blonde kept her expression completely blank. She was not going to allow him to know she was disappointed about the lack of information that she could give him. The blonde sighed and moved away from him.
"I told you everything that you want to know."
But she was going to find out even more information since they now had Hibari involved with their mess.
"What are you doing in the attic, Iemitsu?"
Iemitsu did not look away from the first version of the family tree that his father had ever shown him. He could practically feel Reborn staring daggers at him but the blond-haired man did not look at him. Why would he? Uzumaki Naruto interested him with the way her appearance was slightly similar to his own son.
Nana almost believed I had an affair because of her. He grimaced at the thought. The distance made from his work had been difficult for Nana but he would never cheat on his wife. Iemitsu thought she had been ridiculous but when he met Uzumaki Naruto, then he understood what the big deal had been. There was a similarity between Tsuna and the girl but that was it.
"There is a huge possibility that the Uzumaki Naruto is also a descendant of the Primo," Iemitsu called out to Reborn. The books in the attic shuffled back and light footsteps tiptoed behind him. He flickered his brown eyes to the toddler, who loomed over his shoulders, and looked down at the family tree lineage.
The line coming down from the Primo and his wife split into two lines. One line to signify Sawada Yoshimune while the other line signified Sawada Emiyo. Everyone in the Mafia knew of his ancestor and his sons since they always had to serve the Mafia in some way. But no one knew what happened to Sawada Emiyo after she got married to a foreign merchant.
It was a mystery in the eyes of the Vongola Familigia. I remembered my grandfather saying how she just disappeared after Primo approved of her marriage to her foreign husband. Iemitsu fixated his eyes on the married line between Sawada Emiyo and Namikaze Fuyuhiro. He did not fully understand how the man was considered foreign with that last name.
"You think she is a descendant through Primo's daughter," Reborn commented. The toddler placed his finger on the line connecting Sawada Emiyo and her husband. Iemitsu nodded and rubbed his chin. If she had never told him about her father's last name then he would have never dug through the journals and family trees. "But her last name is Uzumaki, not Namikaze and even then it is hard to prove your theory is right."
Iemitsu bobbed his head and considered the facts he currently had. Her appearance could be no coincidence and her father had the last name of Namikaze. The same last name as Emiyo's foreign husband and it might not be pure chance. But the girl is an orphan as Reborn had stated in his report on her relationship with Tsuna. He exhaled and put down the piece of paper.
"Naruto informed me that her father was called Namikaze Minato," he pointed out. Reborn blinked and nodded while the blond-haired man picked up one of the journals that his ancestor left behind. Iemitsu thinned his lips. "Her appearance is also a little bit similar to Tsuna and Nana almost believed the girl was a result of an affair that I never had…if she did not have faith in me."
Reborn nodded and eyed him as if he was trying to figure out where he was going with this. The Ninth would be interested to know that there was another possible candidate for the candidacy. He thinned his lips. But to know after this long was risky if you asked him. The Varia was already trying to revolt by putting Xanxus in power.
Xanxus knew he could not be put in power especially with his heritage and the coup d'état that he tried to stage eight years ago. Iemitsu grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. The Ninth had been acting strange when he began suggesting putting Xanxus in power. His senses told him that something was wrong but he could not accuse without proof.
He might be wrong too.
"Do you want to change the candidacy if she is a possible candidate?" Reborn asked.
Iemitsu took a deep breath and eyed the Sun Arcobaleno for a good couple of seconds. As a father, he would rather hand this bloodied job to another child but as the leader of CEDEF…he could not do it. Uzumaki Naruto was good. From what he saw with the girl, she had the confidence of the boss but what she had to offer was greater.
There was only so much that the CEDEF could do and what the girl offered to do was cover the areas that they were weak at. Iemitsu nodded his head and looked up at the ceiling. He could only assess the danger levels with infiltration, but to actively keep an eye on the enemies were things that no one in CEDEF could do.
"Tsuna is very capable of taking over," Iemitsu finally answered. He locked eyes with Reborn and took in a deep breath before looking out to the single window in the attic. "I'm not going to change my mind because there is a possible candidate especially now that Xanxus is out of his cradle."
Nothing coming out of his mouth were lies but he needed to have another bottle of sake to handle the stress of this job.
A/N: So Naruto and Iemitsu has met and Naruto convinces Hibari to keep the cloud ring.
Question 1: What do you think of the talk between Naruto and Iemitsu?
Question 2: What do you think of Iemitsu P.O.V?
Please tell me of your thoughts about this chapter.