Shield Ninja

by Fluffball13

Naruto always wanted to be a hero. He just never expected he would become one due to a book hit him during his thief of the Forbidden Scroll. Together with Iruka, both have to survive this new world where everything is ruled by numbers and odd rules. Yet, it seemed ninja exist in this world and their mysterious master wants to assist them after they bolted from the summoning room.

11. Chapter 11

I watched the clock in my status magic tick down as we sat in the cell. I actually found my mind hurting from nothing going on. Was this how a prisoner's life was? Wasn't this just wasting a person's life?

After three hours, which thankfully Filo and Lial slept through, we finally had some people come up to the bars. A broad man in dark gray clothes and a black trench coat stood before others in lighter gray uniforms. They all had Konoha headbands, but the broad one wore it like a bandanna, making him stand out even more.

"Morino Ibiki," Iruka-sensei frowned as he looked at the broad man.

"Good to see you know me. However, seems you're on the wrong side this time, Umino-san." Ibiki chuckled with a smile. "Are you willing to give the information we need?"

"Gladly, but you'll probably think I'm on some kind of drug." Iruka-sensei sighed with slump shoulders. "It's crazier than that time we had those new Chunin at the missions desk and they screwed up by giving the wrong scrolls out."

"Seriously? That wild?" Ibiki flinched at Iruka-sensei words. I wondered what exactly happened. I have seen how Konoha ran on the paper pusher side since I was little since my guardian was the Old Man. It was amazing how easily things could screw up if not careful with the administration side, let alone out on the field.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," Iruka-sensei sighed as the door to the cell opened. "So you are taking Naruto and I to interrogation?"

"No. All seven of you," Ibiki nodded to the people behind him. "Took a little longer as we had to set up some rooms so we can understand the foreigners."

"Please don't treat them badly," I demanded with a scowl. "It is my fault this all happened. I take full responsibility for my actions." I bowed towards Ibiki and the others.

"Don't worry. With them, it's more getting statements than an interrogation." Ibiki said before looking at me. "Though, are you really Uzumaki Naruto? You look like you could be Umino-san's age."

"Again, a crazy, long story," I sighed before I shook Filo and Lial. "Come on. Wake up."

"Aah… I was having a good dream." Filo yawned and Lial blinked at me sleepily.

"You two behave and stay in your human forms. That's an order."

"Okay!" Both chirped. "Are we going to get something to eat?"

"You just ate three hours ago!"

"Hungry," Lial pouted with her Filolial sister.

"Hey, get the kids something to eat. They can eat it in the room." Ibiki told the ninja that took Filo and Lial.

I, sadly, got Ibiki and he escorted me to a white room with a mirrored glass on one side. A table was in the middle of the room with two chairs. One of the chairs clearly had seals on it even if I couldn't see them. I sensed them.

Sadly, I sat in this covered chair and I shuddered as an odd… spark crawled throughout my body.

"Now, let's start," I narrowed my eyes at the sick smirk on Ibiki. "And straight to the point. Why did you steal the Forbidden Scroll?"

"Mizuki told me if I could steal the Forbidden Scroll and learn a technique from it, I would be able to become a ninja." Ibiki raised an eyebrow at me. "I know, but I was too blinded with being frustrated and wanting to be a ninja so bad…" I clenched my fists and looked down. "If that blasted king hadn't summoned me, Iruka-sensei would have died with taking an attack meant for me."

"Summoned?" Ibiki asked as he glanced at my shield. "Is it related to that Shield that won't come off your body?"

"Yes. When I stole the scroll, I found a book… And it was a trap," I looked at Tate-chan. "Tate-chan chose me to be her wielder and Iruka-sensei and I ended up summoned to another world." And I told Ibiki everything that had happened. The other world, the Shadows, the other heroes, and so on.

Ibiki's response… was doubling over in laughter. "That's… sounds more like some kind of movie!"

"Hey, we warned ya that you wouldn't believe us," I sighed out. "Truth is, I barely can believe I'm back in Konoha. I thought I would never be able to return."

"Did you not want to return here?"

"No. I wanted to come back." I said with my head down. "I will take any punishment. Just allow Iruka-sensei his livelihood back." Not that imprisonment will stop the Waves from summoning my party and me back into that world. The timer proved that much to me.

"I can't make any promises," Ibiki said as the door opened. Oh! It's the fox masked ninja from before. He was holding a steaming bowl of-

"Ramen!" I jumped up and drooled at the sight of my beloved dish. I was still working on making ramen in the other world after my noodle supply ran out.

"Heel, boy," I pouted at the fox masked ninja place the bowl before me. "Thought I get you a treat for surrendering peacefully. It's Ramen Ichiraku's if you are wondering."

"If this is my last meal, I am content." I sighed as I pulled my appraisal skills out. "Good. It's not poisoned. I can enjoy it without any funny flavors." Filo got poisoned meat once and I cooked it without checking my appraisal skill. Thank goodness for my antidotes and poison resistance.

"How can you tell?" The fox masked ninja asked out of curiosity.

"Tate-chan gives me skills and such depending on what I feed her. They range from combat to useful non-combat things." I snapped the chopsticks apart. "Thanks for-Huh?" I looked at the fox masked ninja. Both his HP and mana was really low. "You used up a lot of your chakra?"

"Yes. I can't use the Flying Thunder God jutsu easily. It takes a lot out of me and I had two huge loads to move."

"Sorry," The cuffs blocked my chakra, but I felt my mana still moved freely… Wouldn't that mean… "I am the Shield Hero and I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and heal them, Faust Heal." I targeted the fox masked ninja.

"What the?" He glowed as Ibiki jumped to his feet and slammed my head into the table. A clanging sound came from my defense protecting me.

"What did you just do?" Waah! The look on Ibiki's face sent fear down my spine. "Tell me or else."

"I cast healing magic on him," I answered with a squeak in my voice. Wow. I almost sounded like my age due to it. "His health power is low due to his chakra usage."

"Health power?" Ibiki let go of my head and let out a sigh of relief. "How do you feel, Kakashi?"

"Actually, a bit better," Kakashi, the fox masked ninja, looked at his hands and flexed them. "It feels like some of my energy has returned though still fatigued."

"How did you use that jutsu with your chakra sealed at the moment?" Ibiki narrowed his eyes at me.

"Because it's not a jutsu. It's magic. It uses mana instead of the combination of health power and mana like chakra." I shrugged, "I can sense my chakra is sealed, but my mana is still free."

"So… You can attack?" Ibiki and Kakashi tensed up.

"My affinities are Healing and Support. Even the little Wind magic I've learned is pitiful for an attack." I sheepishly laughed at the serious expression on Ibiki.

"Is this something you learned from this so-called other world?"

"Yes." I nodded and took my chopsticks. "Thanks for the meal." I dug in, fearful of it ending up everywhere if I don't eat it now.

Oooh… Heavenly ramen… How I missed you!

"Other… world?"

"Yeah. That's his story… And he's not showing any signs of lying."

"But then, how did the Flying Thunder God Jutsu work, in that case?"

"Hey, answer this for me." Ibiki focused back on me. "What did you do to your coat till now?"

"My coat?" I cocked my head as I slurped up some noodles. I chewed and swallowed. "It was sealed in a storage scroll till I… That's how you found us?!" I stood up as it all clicked in my head. "Is there a seal on my coat?"

"Yes. It was put there in case someone kidnapped you due to your connection to the Hokage." Kakashi explained.

"And that I am the human form of the Nine-tailed Fox." That got wide eyes from Ibiki.

"Okay, who told you that?" Ibiki said with a firm frown. "Umino-san?"

"Mizuki shouted it out that I was the fox when he… threw a huge shuriken at me. I connected the dots on my own."

"Kakashi. Go arrest that Mizuki fellow." My eyes widened. "He broke the decree. Tell him he is needed for some questions and leads him where no one can see him." Kakashi left the room with a nod.

"The decree?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "What decree?"

"Guess no point in hiding it from you since you know." Ibiki groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "A decree was made so that the younger generations would hopefully accept you. That decree was to keep your status as the Nine-Tailed Fox's container a secret from your peers and you… Well, until you were ready to learn of your important job."

"To be Konoha's weapon, huh?" I slumped my shoulders. I constantly pondered why Konoha kept me alive even after all the things my past self did. It was only logical to think Konoha wanted me as a weapon.

"Though a Jinchuriki is powerful, your case wasn't to make you a weapon," Ibiki looked at me oddly. "You were made a last minute host of the Fox to save the village. Hence the Third Hokage made the decree to try and give you some normalcy… Sadly, people can't get it through their thick skulls that you are a little boy who had been made a cage to save us all and the kids' follow the adult's example."

"What?" I blinked in confusion. "Jinchuriki? Host? Ain't I the Nine-Tailed Fox in a… humanoid form?"

"How'd you get that idea?" Ibiki laughed. "No. You are a flesh and blood human, kid. You just have a giant fox sealed in your body… Just like something stored into a storage scroll… The only way to seal the fox was with a living, breathing scroll, that is."

I stood up enraged and slammed my cuffed hands on the table. "The hell? How am I human when I have grown with my levels?!" I narrowed my eyes at the shocked man. "I can't be human! All I've seen points to being the Nine-tailed Fox!"

"Grown with your levels?" Ibiki asked in confusion before his eyes widen. He turned to the mirrored glass. "Is Jiraiya-sama there? Get him in here this instant."

"Jiraiya-sama?" I asked in confusion.

"One of Konoha's foremost seal masters," Ibiki said when the door burst opened.

"I'm not just Konoha's foremost seal master!" A man with long white hair and flashy clothes held his hand out in a pose. "I am the holiest hermit sage of the Mount Myoboku Toads, otherwise known as Jiraiya the Toad Sage! Pleased to meet ya!" The man grinned at me.

"What?" Ibiki and I stared at the man in silence. "You know, I might start taking that title of Savior of the Heavenly Beasts more seriously." I gave a meek expression at the man before me. How… was being a toad sage a good thing? At least the title the people gave me wasn't the Filolial Sage… Well, Dragon Sage did some kind of cool.

"Alright, kid. Take off your armor and shirts." Jiraiya eyed Ibiki and the large ninja unlocked my cuffs. "We need to check the Fourth's seal."

"Fine." I took off my armor and placed it on the table. My shirts followed and my face went beet red when this Jiraiya was on my chest faster than Filo and Lial to meat. "The hell! Pervert!"

"What the hell is this?" The playful tone was gone. The man's face was completely serious and angry? Why would he be-

Oh.

"It's a monster crest," I answered. "A magic seal."

"For what?"

"Monster training." Oh, wait. Otherworld. "Sorry, training animals."

Both men went dead quiet at me. I squirmed under their dead stares.

"You mean… A slavery seal?" Jiraiya recovered first.

"Yes, but those didn't work on me. I had to get a mon-animal crest for it to work." I still flinched at the price tag. "Iruka-sensei is the master for my crest."

"So, you have to obey him?" Ibiki narrowed his eyes at me.

"No. We only have it set to punish if I lie to him or attack him. The same for the slave crest on his chest to me."

"Wait… You have a slavery seal on Umino?" Ibiki looked at me sternly.

"Yes. Don't tell me slavery is illegal here." If it costs 500 silver just remove three slave crests… Add in Filo, Lial, and me… "I'm gonna go broke with crest removal." My eyes teared up in horror.

"No. Slavery is legal under strict rules." I let out a sigh of relief. I needed to read up on those rules to stay on the right side of it till we get where we don't need them anymore. "However, why did you do that?"

"So we can tell if someone is impersonating one of us," Jiraiya and Ibiki's eyes widen. "Ninja-Shadows as they call themselves-exist in that world. And they clearly outrank Iruka-sensei and me in skill and power."

"So you used a seal where neither of you could betray the other?" I nodded, "Well, I'll be… I never thought of using such seals in a smart way." Jiraiya mumbled to himself.

"That and demi-humans are prosecuted in Melromarc and since I look like a demi-human due to my whisker marks, it helps avoid problems."

"Demi… humans?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at me.

"Raphtalia and Matthew are demi-human." I motioned atop my head animal ears with my hands.

"So those weren't some kind of fashion statement?" Ibiki asked with a serious face.

"No. Raphtalia is a raccoon-type and Matthew is a rabbit type," I sighed out. "They are my slaves, though I hope Konoha can take them in once… my job of Shield Hero is over." I bowed. "They are both strong fighters and will make an excellent ninja."

"Let's put that aside for now," Jiraiya pointed to my stomach." Focus your chakra."

"Fine." I put my hands together and gathered up chakra. My brow twitched as I felt Jiraiya stared at my stomach. "Is there a problem?"

"No… In fact, it's been reinforced somehow." Jiraiya said with surprised and I looked down at him. "Some of the age damage has been practically repaired."

"That's probably due to Tate-chan." I guessed. "I can't use any weapons except her and she sees my old powers outside healing as a weapon."

"Wait… What?"

"Kunai?" I held out my hand. Both looked at me skeptically. "I'm not even going to enclose my hand."

"Okay." Ibiki sighed and pulled out a kunai and put it in my hand. I thought of how to use it against the two men before me.

Yep. It was enough for the sparks to fly and I dropped the knife. I ignored the warning that popped up and shook the numbness from my hand.

"Well, I'll be," Jiraiya grabbed Tate-chan and looked over her. "What's up with this shield?" Huh? His eyes turned to gold for a second. "I can sense great power in its gem, but it's… nothing I've ever felt before."

"It's a Legendary Weapon." I sighed, "She has a manual in my status magic, but I haven't found much on them." All I had to go by was legends which barely had any information at all. Maybe I should try to find a library to see if they had more info.

"Hmm.." Ibiki picked up the cuffs. "Put your clothes and armor back on. I have gotten what I needed."

"Sure. I expect my punishment soon enough." I sighed as I got my clothes and armor back on. I held out my wrists to be cuffed, but Jiraiya stopped Ibiki.

"What's this about punishment?" Jiraiya had a stern look in eyes.

"Don't you know?" I blinked, "I'm a B-ranked missing-nin."

"Wait, how did you know that?" Ibiki narrowed his eyes at me. I held up Tate-chan and transformed her into the Crystal Ball Shield. "What the?"

"Crystal Ball Jutsu," I said as I focused chakra into the crystal ball. I focused on Matthew's signature and we saw Matthew in another white room.

"How dare you, slandering my Master like that!?" Oh, boy. Matthew was mad. Thank goodness he was tied to the chair.

"He is an incompetent child. Why are you defending that thief?" The ninja in the room scoffed.

"First they labeled him a murderer and now a thief?" Matthew scowled at the ninja. "When will you people stop it with this madness!"

"A murderer?" The ninja clicked his tongue. "I guess you can say that without knowing what that boy really-" Ibiki broke my concentration by putting his hand on the crystal ball.

"Excuse me. I have a… subordinate to deal with." Ibiki left the room, leaving Jiraiya and me behind.

"Come on. You're coming with me." Jiraiya grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the room.

---

"Sensei, what the hell is the meaning of this?!" Jiraiya dragged me all the way to the Old Man's office. The Old Man looked at us in shock before he recognized me.

"Naruto? Is that you?" The Old Man dropped his pipe in shock.

"Yeah, Old Man. Sorry for up and disappearing on you… And sorry for stealing the Forbidden Scroll." I bowed as I apologized. "No amount of apologizing can make up for my foolishness."

"I've just gotten the report in from my ANBU and the Forbidden Scroll back… But, you really have aged." The Old Man Hokage said with shock.

"Why was he put as a B-rank missing-nin?" Jiraiya snarled, "The boy… Man isn't even a ninja last I checked."

"He stole the Forbidden Scroll and disappeared for two months." The Old Man sighed and recovered his pipe from the floor. "I had to make a call. At least marking him B-rank meant I could choose who hunted him down."

"He's still an academy student! One tricked by his own teacher, might I add!"

"Umino-san?"

"No. Some Mizuki guy," The Old Man's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "But, I'm still going to beat that Umino guy for putting slave seals on Naruto and himself without thinking about the Nine-tailed Fox's seal."

"What?" The Old Man's eyes narrowed dangerously thin.

"It was my idea." Both looked at me with shock. "I refused to let him get a slave crest on himself without me doing the same. It wasn't fair." I looked down with a bit of guilt.

"Naruto… Just what happened to you?" The Old Man looked at me with sad eyes.

"A lot of stuff… And it's sadly not over." I looked at Tate-chan. "I will accept my punishment for stealing the Forbidden Scroll, but I'm on a time limit. I will be summoned back to the world I was on in a month to face what I can only describe as an invasion of monsters."

"What? This other world nonsense you were talking about?" Jiraiya looked at me with pity. "I don't know what you been through to think something like that is real, but you gotta face reality."

"I am. I've already fought the Wave once." I clenched my fist by remembering the heroes and knights. "I don't think we will be as lucky the second time. I have to prepare my party and myself for the next one."

"And… does that mean you are giving up your chances of becoming a ninja?" Jiraiya looked at the Old Man in shock. "I still have to do an investigation, but since you surrendered yourselves peacefully and returned the scroll, I will lift missing-nin status… But, if you leave Konoha-"

"I don't have a choice. Tate-chan will automatically transport my party and me to the location of the Wave when the Dragon's Hourglass hits zero." I sighed as I felt heavy and my throat dry. "King Melromarc decided my ninja career's fate when he summoned me as one of the four heroes. I just ask that you allow Iruka-sensei the chance to resume his career as a ninja. He got dragged into this because of me."

"Naruto, are you sure of this?" The Old Man asked me with a heavy frown.

"I have a countdown indicator in the corner of my vision that constantly reminds me." Both looked at me in shock. "I have no choice but to be the Shield Hero." And admitting it torn my heart to shreds.

How long would my job of Shield Hero last? Months? Years? How could I ever return to the academy if I have to constantly train and be whisked off to another world? I wouldn't be surprised if the Old Man banished me right here and now.

"Nonsense," Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "You can ignore the nonsense put into your head. In fact, let me check you for a genjutsu."

"It's not a genjutsu," Really. Iruka-sensei already tried everything to dispel the status magic, partly out of paranoia.

"Naruto, you said you were summoned, correct?"

"You actually believe his far-fetched story?" Jiraiya looked at the Old Man as if he has grown another head.

"Just answer the question, Naruto."

"Yes. With some kind of weird seal that was on the ground." I sighed as a light of understanding came into the Hokage's eyes. "Iruka-sensei and I bolted from our summoners and hence don't have support from the kingdom like the other heroes."

"Then you should be able to cancel the contract." Both Jiraiya and I went widened eyed.

"Cancel… the contract?" I looked at Tate-chan and opened the help menu. "Can I do that, Tate-chan?" A screen popped up before me.

Legendary Contract Agreement

The Legendary Weapons choose their wielders and give them abilities in return for using just the Legendary Weapon. Once bound, the Legendary Weapon does not leave the user's side and cannot choose a new owner unless special conditions are met or the user is dead.

"I…can't break the contract," So… If they needed a new Shield Hero, they have to kill me. "That must be why the knights flung a fire spell at us during the Wave." Since the King couldn't control me as he wanted, he wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible… Well, without giving any more reasons for other countries to invade, that is.

"Then it is akin to someone performing the Summoning Technique with enough chakra to be teleported to their summoning affinity." I stared at the Old Man. That smirk on his face was not a good thing. "Though this is the first time I met someone who was summoned like a summoning, it's not unheard of."

"Wait. People have been to other worlds like me?" Now that was a shocker.

"Not to another world, but summonings work in mysterious ways. How they get a summoner is as numerous as the stars in the night sky." The Old Man nodded and looked me in the eyes. "Naruto, do you hate Konoha?"

"No." I looked down. "More, Konoha has the right to hate me." Whereas the other world doesn't. Religion and politics my ass. "I've done a great deal of damage to the people here. Both as the Fox and the prankster Naruto. I have no right to hate anyone here."

… Okay. Maybe Uchiha Sasuke, but even he was better than that Bitch Princess and her father. Definitely Mizuki, that lying bastard ruined Iruka-sensei and my life…

Oh, can't forget my neighbor below me in my apartment complex. Though, only hated him due to his horrible singing at the worst times at night. Damn bastard made me late to the academy so many times I lost count.

"You know… Naruto, you are not the Fox. You are its prison." The Old Man huffed out a puff of smoke. "The Fourth Hokage couldn't seal the fox into an inanimate object. He needed a living host that could withstand the Fox's chakra."

"Then why the hell have I grown up?!" I couldn't understand it. "Human's in the other world don't grow up with their levels. Non-humans do. Monsters do. How can I be human?"

"You are." The Old Man pulled out a folder from his desk and placed it on his desk. "Take a look."

"Huh?" I opened it up… And found it was all sorts of medical reports. X-rays, blood tests, and so on… All from one person: Uzumaki Naruto… Me.

"In the first years of your life, people were dead set you were the fox in human form." The Old Man said as I looked up from the records. "Your fear of needles probably came from all the tests we constantly did on you to prove you were human. That the seal simply filters the Fox's chakra and slowly makes it your own and you stayed human.

"Filter…" My eyes widen. The feedback loop between my chakra, HP, and mana. It made sense now. If my chakra was being constantly replenished by the seal, of course, my HP and mana would always recover quickly as well!

Yet… Yet, if this was true and I… I wasn't the Fox.

"What am I?" I looked back at the medical records and skimmed them. The little bits I could understand from the medical mumbo jumbo was the tests said I was human. So, why did the other world see me as not one? If the logic of a storage scroll applied to me, then the system shouldn't see me as the Fox. My appraisal skills proved that much to me as I couldn't just see what has stored inside from appraisal.

Well, outside that, my worries about growing bigger have been relieved. I let out a sigh and put the folder back on the desk. We already had two gluttons in the party. I didn't need to make up as a third one due to growth.

"Thank you, Old Man," I said with a smile. "So the voice I sometimes hear… It's the Fox, not me?"

"You hear it?" That got both men's attention.

"Yeah. Most of the time it jabs at my choices." I scratched the back of my head. Guess I owed the Fox an apology for thinking it was me?

"Is the seal-"

"No, it's better than expected," Jiraiya sighed. "When have you heard its voice?"

"When I felt my old… Sorry, the Fox's chakra." I touched my stomach.

"Guess we will have to be careful when it comes to you using the Fox's chakra." I touched my stomach.

"I can only use the Fox's chakra to heal," I explained as I held up Tate-chan. "This shield is a jealous bugger. She won't let me hold any weapons."

"Maybe one of Konoha's enemies did this to make the… man useless." Jiraiya said as the Old Man motioned me over to him. "It's the only explanation I can think of."

"I don't think so." The Old Man looked over my shield. "There's something special about this shield."

"Yeah, but to make it so the person who wields it is unable to use other weapons... Isn't that more a curse?" Jiraiya said as a knock at the door stopped the conversation.

I gulped as Ibiki walked into the room with a pissed off expression. When his eyes landed on me, I tried my best at a poker face. Yet, to my relief, he just shook his head and walked forward to stand in front of the Hokage.

"So, Morino-san, how did the interrogations go for Umino-san and Naruto?"

"Both still are loyal to Konoha and didn't lie about their accounts of what happened." Ibiki slumped his shoulders and let out a big sigh. "That said, the damage done to two of our "integrations" interrogation rooms will take time to repair."

"You mean they-

"Two non-Konoha civilians brought in with Umino and Uzumaki," Ibiki snorted. "I already have the punishment ready for my two subordinates who underestimated those two and went against my orders on just getting statements from the others with Umino and Naruto."

"Who's the other one?" I asked as I knew he was talking about was Matthew. Wait! Wait! "Sorry for the damage! I will scold them-"

"Oh, no. They aren't at fault." Ibiki let out a chuckle. "My subordinates were the ones to infuriate them to the point they went hostile… Especially that elderly lady. She practically charcoaled the room."

"What the hell did that guy do to get Aunt to do that?!" I recoiled in shock. "She's the sweetest lady I know!" Quite literally as I barely knew any old ladies like Aunt.

"My subordinates told her magic was fake and told her to stop lying to keep it simple." Ibiki let out a weak laugh.

"He insulted her livelihood," I smacked my forehead. "Aunt is a magic shop owner. She was with us to help us find a gemstone we needed to make the magic thread."

"The other one pissed off the rabbit man and got cut up to ribbons by water… magic." Ibiki said with a serious tone. "The medic-nin confirmed your words, Uzumaki. Your slaves are not human."

"Not human?" The Old Man raised an eyebrow at Ibiki. "What do you mean?

"They are… part animal." Ibiki said and pulled a scroll from his coat. "Here is the report… And I can safely say Umino and Uzumaki are speaking the truth as we checked with maps with the non-Konoha civilians. Uzumaki is this legendary hero summoned to a country called Melromarc and that country is in a world under threat of being destroyed."

"But how? What I heard would better fit a fiction book!" Jiraiya scoffed.

"All of their accounts match up, and the Hyuuga on my team confirmed this… magic thing wasn't chakra or jutsu. We checked the carriages brought and found various medicines, herbs, and materials from creatures not from any of our known sources."

"Hey! You better have returned all my merchandise!" I hissed out in fury. "If I find one thing missing from my stock, I'll charge you for it!"

"Hm? Your stock?" The Old Man raised an eyebrow and looked up from the scroll he was reading.

"Yes. I've been working as a peddler these past two weeks to earn money. I just paid off a debt I owed." Every time I say that I feel so much pride. "Our focus now is to build war funds for the gear we need and the eventual class-up my party needs before the next Wave."

"What do you sell?"

"Sensei, be serious!" Jiraiya gritted his teeth at the Old Man.

"Mainly medicine and materials from monsters. I also can craft accessories and gemstones and sell those, too." I blinked at the Old Man. "Why do you ask, Old Man?"

"Medicine, huh?" Oh boy, I see that twinkle in his eyes. "And you can use this magic Ibiki spoke of?"

"Yes. My affinities are only Healing, Support, and a little wind." I felt ready to run away. Old Man had that kind of scheming smile that never meant anything good.

"I see." The Old Man said as he pulled out a kunai.

"Old Man!" I rushed over when he sliced his arm from his wrist straight up to his elbow. "Are you an idiot?! I am the Shield Hero and I order thee. Decipher the law of nature and heal them! Faust Heal!" The Old Man glowed green and grunted as the slash knitted back together. "Are you trying to kill yourself?! You want to bleed to death?"

"Lord Hokage…" Ibiki and Jiraiya were wide-eyed.

"I trusted you, Naruto." The Old Man flexed his hand before he put it on my shoulder. "My boy, to seal such a wound so quickly. Congrats."

"Con…grats?" I asked with a cocked head.

"You both witnessed his abilities," The Old Man smirked as I reached into his drawer. "Uzumaki Naruto, not only have you stolen the Forbidden Scroll from me, but you saved me from a lethal wound. I say letting such talent go to waste in prison would be heresy."

"W-What-" My words stopped in my throat. The Old Man put a Konoha headband before me. The metal gleamed in the light.

"Uzumaki Naruto, as the Third Hokage, I hereby field promote you to rank of Genin. To the Medic Corps, of course, as you clearly have grown into a fine medic-nin these past two months."

I stood there, silent as I looked between the headband and the Old Man.

Was… Was the Old Man really…?

My dream…

A tear fell down my cheek and I went to one knee.

I'm greedy. A greedy bastard, but-

"I accept on two conditions." I could tell all three were shocked by my words. "Make my slaves Matthew and Raphtalia ninja and… can I have a grave put into Konoha's Cemetery?"

"A grave?" Ibiki asked before his eyes widened, "For that Kaus guy?"

"He gave his life to protect me. I want to at least give him a final resting place here." I bowed my head deeper, to the point my forehead almost reached the floor. "I want to fulfill my promise to them of giving them a new life here in Konoha."

"The first one I will have to see about," The Old Man said, but I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw the gentle smile of the Old Man. "But I can for sure help you in the burial of your friend."

"Old Man," My voice cracked out of my throat and I managed to knock the Old Man off his feet with a hug.