The Tale of Devilish Fox - chapter 5
-DXD-
Naruto stood in front of the crowd, wearing the suit that was finally forced onto him by the combined effort of Grayfia and Hinata.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" He looked at his girlfriend, who was equally well-dressed. She chose a sleeveless, modest dress that yet did nothing to hide her figure.
"Yes, Naruto-Kun. I already told you. Besides, Ajuka-Sama warned me that it was a possibility when we first became devils." Hinata smiled. She gently placed her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "I had time to accept it was a possibility."
"I can still run. I'm pretty sure I figured a way home already." Naruto tried. He was still not convinced about the idea, but the alternative for Rias would be to go back to being engaged to Riser and he wasn't about to let that happen.
"That's great news!" Hinata actually considered it for a moment. They could just return to the Shinobi world and just stay there forever. But then she dismissed the notion just as fast. "But we can't just leave Rias in the paws of that… that…" She tried hard to figure out a fitting insult, but she came blank.
"I guess you're right. I just fear I'm no better than him. The whole multiple relationships thing, forcing Rias into a marriage she didn't choose…"
"You want to give her that choice though." Hinata protested. "And you'll respect her wishes." It was a statement. One that Hinata had total faith in. Naruto just wasn't sure if it was a compliment or a threat.
The pair waited a bit longer, avoiding any serious topics. Finally, Rias entered the room. Her dress was burgundy-colored, with white accents added. She looked stunning. There was also something different about her. She seemed… lighter. Not to say she lost weight, but the way she walked. Naruto might've been an idiot when it came to interpreting the signals, but Jiraya at least trained him to notice even the smallest change in a person. It could mean the difference between life and death during the fight.
Of course, the method of teaching was by whacking him with a stick at random times of the day until Naruto learned to notice the tells.
Now, Rias had more energy in her moves. She no longer tried to control the smallest gestures. The redhead made her way toward the podium with Akeno accompanying her.
"So… you're my new betrothed it would seem." She looked up and down at him and smiled. She squared her shoulders and hid both her hands behind her back, which served to further emphasize the size of her… assets.
Naruto gulped. "Uh… yeah." Behind him, Hinata squeaked.
"Ufufu. Evil Shinobi-san won Buchou's hand and is now gonna take his prize." Akeno grinned, seeing Naruto got further flustered.
"It's not like that!" Naruto whisper yelled. "I tried to stop them."
"Does that mean you wouldn't want to marry me?" Rias asked, dejected. "Am I not good enough for you?"
"N-no." The teen stuttered. "I mean… Well… Uh… Hina-chan? Help?" He begged his [Queen], who giggled.
"You're on your own, Naruto-Kun." She watched her [King] dig himself a hole.
"I… uh… It's…"
Lord Gremory stepped to the lectern and began a speech. Naruto was never as thankful for a save as then. He even tried to listen to his droning, but it was impossible. There was so much about unity and obligation that even someone like Danzo would start to gag.
"Naruto-Kun?" Rias whispered. "Thank you."
She gave him a peck on the cheek, earning whistles and applause from the audience. And a light glare from Hinata, although she didn't seem to be too angry. It was more of a token protest. Also, she had small blush on her cheeks. Naruto tried to remember if it was there all evening, but he couldn't recall.
-/\/-
Somewhere on the Shinobi continent, a toad appeared in a poof of smoke. It wandered into the nearest city and started to deliver flyers. Most people ignored it, but some would take them. If someone was willing to train a toad to do the advertisement, they might have something worth taking a look at. The same event happened in many towns all across the land. The toads would deliver some of the pamphlets and then vanish without anyone the wiser. Most people didn't even register that it was a toad that gave them the flyer in the first place.
It wasn't until a week later that the first client used the pamphlet and achieved proper results. It was already dark when the woman followed the instructions. At first, nothing happened. Then, a large orange array of symbols spread in front of her. From there, two people floated. They had bat-like wings, which was the first thing that became evident in the near-blinding light. After the woman's eyes adjusted to the light, she could get a better look at the newcomers. The girl wore a black kimono with lavender obi. Underneath it, she had a mesh armor bodysuit that covered her corpus and legs, going down to one-third of her shins. She also had a Byakugan, betraying some connection to the Hyuuga clan.
The boy was perhaps much more interesting. He similarly wore a mesh armor bodysuit. Over it, he put a black kimono-style shirt with orange lining and loose black pants. On his right leg, there was a kunai pouch put over wrapped bandages. He also wore burnt-red haori with a black flame pattern on the bottom and the collar. More notable though, were his blond hair and three whisker marks on each cheek.
"U-Uzumaki Naruto?" She stumbled over her words, not believing what she saw. The teen went missing over two months ago.
"Hey, Hina-chan. It looks like it worked." The blond commented, looking around. They were clearly in some sort of office, but the architecture and some loose knickknacks all pointed to the Shinobi continent.
"Naruto-Kun, the client is waiting." The girl nudged him in the direction of the woman.
"Oh. Right. Hi. As you've seemed to already know, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'll be your devil for today. What's your wish?" He appeared to check his palm for something after he said it. Then he nodded to himself.
"Devil? You're a Nuke-nin of Konoha! How did you get into my office? How did you get those wings? What's going on here?"
"Who're you again?" Naruto had a bad feeling his luck turned against him in this situation. "Besides. I'm not a Nuke-nin anymore. Baa-chan finally sorted that mess."
"I'm Terumi Mei and I'm the Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure."
"Ah… that's… certainly unexpected…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. Hinata just resisted the urge to facepalm. Of course, their first potential contract was a foreign Kage. Why couldn't it be some merchant or at least Gaara?
"Hokage-Dono has explained the… troubles behind your exile."
"But she didn't tell you anything about devils, right?" Hinata guessed.
"I admit, my knowledge in that area is lacking."
"Through some unfortunate chain of events, Naruto-Kun and I were reincarnated as Devils."
"That is indeed interesting information."
Before the discussion could continue, the doors were forcibly kicked down and a man ran inside. He had bluish-gray hair combed into a mouse-up manner. He wore a blue kimono with a white finish.
"Mizukage!" He prepared to attack the intruders but hesitated when he noted the wings and the relaxed atmosphere. His stolen Byakugan had detected a strange burst of energy different from Chakra.
"Uh… this is a private meeting?" Naruto joked, trying to defuse the atmosphere.
"What are you two doing here? Who are you?" The energy was still in the air. The two seemed to generate it with every breath or move. It felt unnatural.
"Ao. Did I not tell you not to interrupt me?"
"Please forgive me, Mizukage-Sama. Their energy…"
Energy - energetic - young - they have youth that I don't - I'm old - I will never get married
"Ao. Get out before I kill you." Mei's otherwise relaxed presence became full of killing intent, which sent the older man running away. "Please forgive the interruption, Devils-san. You said you can fulfill my wish?"
"Well, yeah. That's what we're here for." He gestured to himself and Hinata.
"And what will it cost?" Mei was a gentle person, but she was also Mizukage and knew better than to assume anything would be free.
"That would depend on what you want." Deals with the Devils never had a set price. It was all dependent on who wanted it and what it was. Hinata helped to clarify by launching into a more in-depth explanation.
"I want to get married!" Mei proclaimed once the girl finished. She looked about ready to beg on her knees. "Please Devil-san! You're my last hope!"
"I… uh… well… you see…"
Hinata was torn between blushing furiously at the thought of being married to Naruto and glaring daggers at the hussy who was trying to seduce him. She already had to share with Rias, who at least was somewhat justified. It also helped that Hinata wasn't opposed to sharing Naruto with Rias even before the wedding mess. Mizukage on the other hand was just desperate and Hinata knew next to nothing about her.
"I'm already too old to get married and no one dares to even approach me…"
"So, just to clarify, you want to get married. You don't need to marry Naruto-Kun, right?" Hinata really hoped that their first contract might actually work, but there was a limit.
"I wouldn't be opposed to." Mei winked at the boy and gave him a saucy smile.
"Okay, let's get back to your wish." Naruto unconsciously shifted closer to Hinata. "What kind of man are you looking for?"
"He should be strong. And caring. And handsome. And he should be kind. And…" she kept listing qualities that Naruto's Shadow Clone noted down.
After the scroll ran out of space, Hinata finally took mercy on Naruto and stopped the Kage.
"Okay, I think we've got enough. Now, what is the problem with you getting married?" Beyond the impossible requirements, obviously.
"I'm old. Look at me." The woman lamented. "My skin is rough. My lips are small. My breasts are saggy. And my face has wrinkles."
Naruto tried to follow the list of imperfections, trying to spot any at all. He gulped when the talk about the chest came, but he swiftly moved to the face part. He didn't find anything wrong with her though.
"Terumi-Sama! That's not true. I wish I looked as good as you." Hinata cheered the redhead.
"Yeah. Any woman would wish to look like you when they're twenty."
"I'm thirty-one." She revealed.
"Oh…" Given the Shinobis' life expectations, anyone older than forty-three was already considered past their prime. Thirty-one wasn't that bad, but it was also pushing it a bit.
"What!?" Hinata protested. "You don't look older than twenty-four."
"I wish. Everyone knows I'm already too old."
"Hm… we could de-age you?" Naruto offered.
"What?" Mei's eyes widened to almost comedic proportions.
"Really?" Hinata looked at her [King].
"Yeah. I mean Devils can alter their apparent age almost at will. I don't know why it shouldn't apply to others." Naruto pulled the device he received from Ajuka and put 'De-aging' into the system.
"Here!" He showed Hinata that it accepted it without trouble. "It says that the price for de-aging you would be… for you to teach Hinata one Jutsu for each year younger you'll become. And one in three must be at least A-rank." He showed her a screen as proof.
"Deal! I wanna be twenty. No! Eighteen!"
Eleven years? Thirteen? Naruto looked a bit conflicted.
"Uh… you would need to ask Baa-chan for her miracle genjutsu." Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to know just how big of a mess it would cause if it suddenly became known that the Mizukage was now eighteen.
"Deal. Ao!" She called. Immediately, the man came in rushing.
"What is it?"
"Why did you call him?" Naruto didn't expect that.
"I can't just leave for Konoha without any warning. The next Five Kage Summit is in ten days. Until then, at least Ao should know about the miracle. And I thought that he should see it or he won't believe me."
"So we have a deal?" Naruto asked, smiling. He extended his hand, which the Mizukage gently shook.
"Naruto… I'm still not sure if that's how those deals are supposed to work."
"Hina-chan. You worry too much." Naruto shrugged and summoned a magic circle. Ao and Mei watched in amazement as more and more circles spread from the original. The demonic script shifted and changed in front of their eyes. Finally, the spell formed to look somewhat more like a gate.
"I set it for eighteen. Now you just need to pass through it." The devil stepped aside, making sure to keep the spell running.
"Mizukage-Sama. Please don't do anything rash."
"You worry too much, Ao." She dismissed the man and stepped through. Once the spell washed over her, she transformed. Her body lost perhaps an inch in height and her curves became more prominent. Her hair became much more lush and vibrant. She now had a body that even Rias would be jealous of.
"What sorts of Jutsu is that?"
"Oh. No Jutsu. That was pure Devil power." Naruto chuckled. "Now you can work as the Mizukage and later when you appoint a successor, you'll still have some years to marry."
"Amazing… but… how?"
"A simple pact with the Devil." The blond gave him a cheeky grin. "Hinata'll come for the promised lessons later this week. We still need to go see Baa-chan."
With that, the two devils walked over to the window and jumped through. Mei and Ao ran over just in time to see the two devils fly away on their wings.
-/\/-
It took the duo a whole night to fly over the sea that separated Kirigakure from the solid land. The sun was already rising when they finally landed on the beach. Their wings ached so badly that Naruto was half-convinced they would fall off.
"Hina-chan! Why can't we just teleport there?" He begged.
"Because you didn't set up a teleportation array and you know it already." She giggled at the overly expressive visage of pain on his face. He was such an actor sometimes…
"But that means we have to walk all the way from here to there."
"Well, we could wait here. Maybe tonight someone else will summon us that is already closer… But we might also end up in the Yuki no Kuni. Then the flight will be even longer." She teased him. Immediately, Naruto stood up.
"Right. No sense wasting time." He marched forward, making Hinata stifle a light laugh. She caught up to him and the two entered the pleasant shade of the forests of Hi no Kuni.
They opted out of traveling through trees for several reasons. For once, they were somewhat tired after an all-night flight, so a calmer pace was in order. Then there were their clothes. Rias made them put on something that screams 'power and influence' for their first voyage into new territory. First impression matters. While Naruto's clothes were okay to travel in and he could always just take the overcoat off, Hinata's clothes weren't in any shape or form fit to jump across trees. Her kimono was adjusted to Hyuuga combat standards, but not to jump through treetops. Thus the duo found themselves walking through the colorful forest, quietly enjoying the trip. Somewhere along the road, Naruto absentmindedly grabbed Hinata's hand. She only blushed a little this time.
It was already past noon when Naruto suddenly paused.
"What's going on, Naruto-Kun?" Hinata activated her byakugan just in case, fearing a potential ambush.
"I'm an idiot. We've been walking all this time when I can just do like Ero-Sennin and do this" He quickly blitzed through the hand seals and bit his thumb. Before Hinata could do anything to stop him, he slammed his palm into the ground.
In an enormous burst of smoke, a toad appeared. The two devil shinobi found themself standing on top of its head.
"Huh… I could've sworn I summoned Kichi…" Naruto sheepishly scratched his head.
"Yo." The toad spoke.
"Kichi? You've grown… a lot."
"Duh. You didn't honestly expect me to remain child-sized, right?"
"Well, no. But just three months ago you were only slightly taller than me."
"I finally hit my grow sprout." The toad proudly proclaimed.
"Uh… That's great, Kichi-san." Hinata awkwardly patted his head. "But we were… Um… trying to remain incognito. Naruto-Kun had hoped you wouldn't mind helping us get to Konoha a little faster."
"Ah. Tough luck then. Should've called one of the bull toads. Those guys are small but strong as two horses." Gamakichi shrugged. "Well, since I'm already here, might as well give you a lift. It's been a while since I could've stretched my legs."
"Great!" With Naruto's proclamation, the toad started to leap away in the general direction of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
"It also seems you're finally back in the right world, eh?" Kichi began.
"Yeah. The flyers were an even bigger success than I hoped. I already got my first contract."
"Nice. The boys said they enjoyed the work. As long as you keep up with chocolate supply, they'll be happy to do the work."
"Perfect. I'm gonna need to order several crates of those things." Naruto referred to the chocolate bars that he paid to the toads that delivered his flyers. They were mostly young frogs, much like Gamakichi was when Naruto first summoned him, maybe a bit older.
"You mean I am going to order more?" Hinata joked. Naruto was still learning how to fill the various forms. Hinata's training as [Queen] covered such things much earlier.
"Well, maybe. I should still learn how to do it myself. You shouldn't be doing all the work." Naruto shrugged and turned back to Kichi. "How's Boss Toad?"
"Pop's great. He's preparing to retire and I'll be taking over in a year or two."
-/\/-
The small talk and catching up continued for most of the trip. Even with the toad's help, it was already dark when the group entered the more familiar territory near the village.
"I think that's far enough." Hinata offered. "We don't want to attract too much attention from the village."
"You've got it, girl." Gamakichi lowered his head to allow the duo to get off.
"Thanks, Kichi. See you around."
"I might summon you later this week, eh? Pops promised to take me to one of his Koi Koi nights and I'm sure you could come too."
"Nice. Just give me some notice before you pull me there! It might be awkward if I vanish in the middle of something important!" Naruto called.
He and Hinata stretched for a moment. At some point during the travel, they decided to sit down and not strain their legs too much, but now they were feeling stiff; Naruto moreso than Hinata, who had some natural flexibility to her. That done, they tested their wings and prepared to fly toward Konoha. They would enter at a high altitude under the cover of the night and go to Hokage Tower, where Tsunade would be waiting for them probably. Or where they would wait for her.
As they flew, the shinobi could enjoy the view of the village. It was slowly rebuilding after Pein's invasion. It already looked close to the early pictures they've seen in history lessons. If they kept the pace, the village would be back in no time. The night lights illuminated the streets where people wandered. Konoha was rising from the ashes like a phoenix.
The two happily flew right through the open window of the Hokage tower. Naruto had enough experience avoiding patrols that no one so much as thought about them. It seemed that the barrier around Konoha was still not up though, which was somewhat worrying.
Tsunade wasn't here yet. Hinata had to physically restrain Naruto from taking the chance to sit at the Hokage's desk. That chair was so inviting though. The joke on them was that Tsunade walked in to see the two shinobi roll on the ground wrestling.
"Maybe I should… come in later?" She offered, amused.
Both teens immediately leaped on their feet, blushing a ton and then some.
"No. We weren't doing anything. I swear." Hinata meeped, blushing red at the implication.
"Right." Tsunade was having entirely too much fun with this. "Well, if we're done with that… Come here, gaki." She pulled Naruto into a bone-crushing hug.
"Agh! I… can't… breathe!" The boy wasn't able to react in time and save himself.
"Stop complaining! You were gone for three months. Do you have the slightest idea how painful it was to not know where you are?" She finally let him go when she noticed he was becoming somewhat purple.
"I sent you letters regularly… mostly." There were some… incidents along the way. Like when he gave the messenger toad his homework instead and packed the report into his backpack. That was fun to explain at school.
"This is different." She took her seat behind the desk and pulled out a bottle of Sake. "This calls for a toast!"
"We still technically aren't allowed to drink." Hinata tried to point out, but Tsunade only laughed.
"Who said I would even be willing to share?" She took a swing from the bottle and smiled. "Now, I think you should hear the good news directly from me since you're here." She paused, looking between the two shinobi. "Naruto's been pardoned. He's once again welcomed in Konoha."
"It's amazing" Hinata hugged her boyfriend, who this time at least didn't have to fight for his life.
"Yeah! That's amazing Baa-chan! How did you get the Daymio to agree? You didn't explain that in the last letter."
"I simply reminded that accursed man-child that if he doesn't get his head out of his seat, you might simply decide to move on. I might've insinuated that you were planning to permanently leave the continent as a whole. That finally made him sweat." She groaned and took another sip of her sake. "That fool actually believed Danzo's speech about Konoha being safer without you. He thought he was being smart by making you go on a mission without an actual mission being issued. Can you believe that crap?"
"So I can really come back? Permanently?"
"If you really want, we will be more than happy to have you." Tsunade smiled.
Hinata shyly raised her hand. "Ano… maybe we should… think on this a bit?" She didn't want to bring the celebratory atmosphere down, but there were things that had to be said.
"Huh? What d'you mean?"
"Well… what about your obligations to Rias-chan? We've already decided that you won't stand her up."
"I never go back on my word!" Naruto protested. "We will figure something out. Maybe she can move here?"
"While I have no problem with you," Tsunade interrupted before Naruto got too set in one idea. He was almost impossible to convince then. "I would appreciate it if you didn't invite foreign devils near Konoha."
"But why? And what about our friends? I told Rias she could come and visit. Besides, she's my fiancee so she will…"
Tsunade got up from her seat so fast that the desk (and more importantly her sake) almost tripped. He lifted Naruto by his scruff and moved him closer to her eyes.
"I swear, if you're following that pervert's footstep now, I'm gonna rework your face until even your ancestors will be unable to tell you apart from a particularly ugly fish."
"Hey! It's not like that!" Naruto protested, trying to save his precious face.
"Tsunade-Sama, Naruto-Kun didn't do anything wrong." Hinata came to his rescue.
Reluctantly, the Hokage put him down. "Talk."
"Okay, so Rias-chan was supposed to marry that total douchebag. Like 'I dislike you so I'll kill you' guy. I might've sort off offended him." Seeing a pulsing vein on Tsunade's forehead, he quickly added. "He talked bad about Rias-chan. And she was totally uncomfortable. So anyway, we kind of threatened each other. So I challenged him to a rating game. It's how the devils resolve their differences, so I was told."
"Hokage-Sama, I was the one who decided to help Rias-chan that way and offered a wager. If Naruto won, Riser would break the engagement and if Naruto lost, I would… um… join Riser."
"Hyuuga Hinata!" Tsunade glared at the girl. "That bet was extremely foolish and I'm the one saying it." Her love for gambling was a well-established fact.
"I know." Hinata bowed her head in shame. "But… I couldn't just watch Rias-chan be signed off to that… that… Ugh!" She still had no words for Riser, which was rather telling to the Hokage.
"Yeah. Riser was a total slimebag." Naruto solemnly nodded. "But we kicked his ass. Right, Hina-chan?"
"Y-yes." She blushed at the compliment.
"Okay, but how does this equal to you getting freaking engaged."
"Well… in the original version I was supposed to be already married." Naruto decided to correct her, but judging by the glare it wasn't the right thing to say. He quickly continued before he accidentally killed the Hokage with an aneurysm. "No one believed I would win, but to avoid… I guess someone else trying to break the engagement too, they pushed the wedding to the day of the game. Apparently, the game was the prelude." And wasn't it fun to learn that you getting beaten was supposed to be the main attraction at the wedding of the sleazbag doing the beating? Good thing Naruto was better than they gave him credit for. "Also, somewhere in the chain of communication the bet somehow turned into 'the winner gets Rias'." He wilted under Tsunade's glare. "It's not my fault! I swear."
She huffed. "I sure hope so. I refuse to let another super-pervert grow under my watch."
"If I may…" Hinata decided to budge in since Naruto's way of telling the story was rather convoluted. With a nod from Tsunade, she started. "Devil society is like a noble court. The Gremory family is related to… one of the Daimyo of the Underworld. Breaking off the wedding after Naruto won Rias' hand in combat would not only be a grave insult, it would make his already shaky position that much weaker." Hinata paused to catch a breath. "If Naruto broke the deal entirely, nothing would stop them from finding someone else to marry Rias. Maybe even Riser again." She blushed, remembering the last detail. "Ano… There is also that… Devil society is… polygamic, so Naruto didn't really have good arguments to even try to negotiate much."
"I see…" Hearing the entire story, Tsunade was no longer angry. She was no stranger to courtly politics and this was quite a common situation if she was being fair. "Okay, gaki. You get a break since I know you and you can't stop yourself from saving damsels in distress."
"Does it mean Rias-chan can come here?"
"I have no problem with one or two devils coming on a tour, but opening a stable connection and inviting large groups is just begging for trouble. Especially now when the five great villages are so tense."
"Mizukage mentioned something about a Kage summit coming soon…" Naruto mused.
"When the Kami did you manage to speak with Mizukage?" Tsunade almost spilled her sake. Luckily, the precious drink was saved.
"That reminds me. Baa-chan, would you please teach Terumi-chan your super-henge?"
"Naruto!" Hinata lightly smacked the back of his head. "You can't talk about Mizukage like that."
"After today she's our age. What else should I call her."
"Okay, before you brats melt my brain, maybe explain it to me from the beginning." The Hokage requested, feeling the headache coming.
After hearing the story, she indeed had a big headache.
"I'm not even gonna question anything about this…" She sighed. "I got just one request." Naruto and Hinata looked at the older woman impatiently. "Make me young too!" She was seconds away from kneeling in front of the duo.
Naruto really couldn't understand women. Or people in general. Why was every powerful man a pervert and powerful woman obsessed with youth? Wait, Bushier Brow Sensei was obsessed with youth and he was powerful… Time to end this line of thought.
"I… uh…" While Naruto's brain was desperately trying to abandon that particular train of thought, Hinata was quicker on the uptake.
"We can make the deal."
"Great! Where do I sign?" Tsunade was jumping into it head-first.
Naruto finally rebooted. He pulled out the device and entered revitalizing. "How young do you want to be?"
"Put me in at my sweet twenty-five. No. Twenty! I want to be eighteen!" Tsunade spoke in a dreamy voice, slightly unnerving both of the devils in the room.
"Maybe… let's start with something simple. Getting you back physically to how your henge looks." Naruto offered.
"That'll be good enough." She grinned. "I will show that vain cow what a real woman looks like." She muttered, seemingly forgetting that devils had enhanced senses.
"Okay… so thirty years off will cost you… A blanket permit to recruit any Konoha shinobi I want into my peerage. And the free run of the scroll of Seals."
"What?!" The woman screeched. "That's an outrage."
Naruto simply showed her the device screen as the proof of concept. "I'm not the one who makes the rules."
Tsunade grumbled, but went to the back of her office and pulled the scroll from its hiding spot.
"And about that recruitment, I can simply permanently reassign them to your team once you actually reincarnate them."
"Great." He focused on recreating what he did the night before. "Gate of Eternal Youth!" He declared as the glowing rings with a combination of Shinobi seals and Demonic script formed. "Step through it."
And so Tsunade found herself once more no older than twenty-five. Her bones returned to their previous strength and her skin was now smooth and almost unblemished.
"I've gotta go train some! See you later!" Naruto was about to leave with the scroll, but Tsunade grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Not so fast. You and Hinata-san are leaving with me the day after tomorrow. You'll be my guards for the Five Kage Summit."
"Just two guards?" Naruto scratched his head. "Seems risky."
"It's tradition. This time, the Daymios are also meeting at the same time as the Kage, so we will still have a large group of shinobi to protect the meeting place as a whole. Besides, did you just call me weak?" Tsunade cocked an eyebrow.
"Wah!" Naruto used his wings and the momentary distraction to fly out of the window. The Hokage just waved her fist threateningly after him, but once he was out of sight she started to laugh.
-/\/-