Naruto grinned cheerfully up at Haku as the other boy tenderly pulled the senbon out of him, "I knew you were soft, but not this soft." he teased as he rested in the other boys arms.
"I could still drop you." Haku pointed out in a flat tone, but he didn't and continued carefully removing the senbon.
"Do it then." Naruto dared with a smirk, confident the pretty boy wouldn't do it.
Haku's eye twitched, he really didn't want to but having his bluff called so easily was trying his patience. He double checked to make sure no senbon would be jostled by the action, then he did exactly as requested and dropped the blonde he'd been holding.
"Wha-? Ouch!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised that the other boy had actually done that, "You really are sadistic..." he grumbled, wincing as he pulled himself into a sitting position.
Haku didn't get up from kneeling next to the blonde and smiled pleasantly, "Told you so." he agreed in a sing song tone.
Naruto grinned himself, "I guess that makes me a masochist then," he said, leaving his katana on the ground by his side to lift his right hand and brush some of Haku's hair aside to get a better look at his face, "so don't think you can scare me off so easily next time." he warned with a grin.
Haku blushed bright pink at those words, "Haku!" Zabuza called out as he and Kakashi approached with Maemi, leaving Tazuna to explain what had happened to the citizens of Nami no Kuni, "Stop fraternizing, we need to leave." he ordered.
"Aw man, I wanted to enshrine you two." Naruto pouted, attempting to wipe blood off his face but just smearing it around.
"Naruto-kun, do you even know what that word means?" Kakashi asked, sighing when he received a blank stare in response.
"It can mean to literally put something within a shrine," Maemi spoke up, "but it can also just mean to cherish as sacred." she pointed out calmly, getting used to the young blonde being absolutely clueless. The Muse was pretty much convinced that her orphan master had his education sabotaged at this point.
"Oh so I've just got to cherish them?" Naruto asked, "Wow, Slaanesh-kaasama gave me some really easy tasks!" he laughed happily.
Zabuza raised an eyebrow, "Cherish? Me? Are you sick in the brain?" he asked, crossing his arms. Haku still hadn't gotten up to move yet, the boy seemed hesitant.
"Slaanesh-kaasama told me to enshrine all that I find beautiful!" Naruto answered with a shameless grin, "I guess I've already been doing that." he added, struggling to get back to his feet.
"Don't strain yourself," Haku said suddenly, reaching out to help the blonde almost instinctively, "I may not have gone for truly mortal wounds, but I was still trying to cause a lot of pain so you'd back down." he explained, although clearly that had not worked.
"Haku," Zabuza said dangerously and the boy flinched, "we can't stick around. We may have no reason to fight these Konoha ninja anymore-" he started.
"Hah!" Naruto interrupted triumphantly, "So you do acknowledge me as a ninja now!" he pointed out as he grabbed his sword and pulled himself up, Kakashi leaning down to help the boy up as Haku stepped up next to Zabuza.
The nukenin scowled, "I already said, didn't I?" he questioned, "A shinobi is someone who crosses the boundaries of life and death. You definitely did that today." he pointed out, "So congratulations, you proved me wrong. I was convinced Konohagakure no Sato wasn't capable of producing real ninja any more." he praised.
"Naruto," Kakashi began, the lack of honorific catching attention, "are you alright?" he asked seriously, to his knowledge the boy hadn't technically been the one to kill Mizuki, so his first kill had been today, and multiple in a row too. From what he'd heard there were two kills he hadn't even been present for.
Naruto frowned, confused by the question, "Why wouldn't I be okay?" he asked and Zabuza chuckled darkly as Kakashi frowned in concern.
"Your sensei is worried because you just killed a bunch of people." Maemi explained bluntly for the sake of the oblivious blonde, "Konohagakure doesn't really like turning their shinobi into child soldiers like some villages still do, so he's worried about your mind." she added, deciding not to mention that the man was far too late to be worrying about that.
Naruto blinked owlishly and looked around at the carnage he'd caused, "Huh," he muttered, he almost said it was fine because they were working for Gato but he noticed the look of apprehension on Haku's face and remembered that he and Zabuza had worked for the man too, "I don't know." he answered honestly with a frown.
"How do you feel?" Kakashi asked, "Speak honestly, don't hold anything back." he clarified, it was odd to do it in front of Zabuza but he had good reason to be concerned.
Naruto considered that, "Tired, kind of dizzy, hungry, thirsty," the blonde listed off plainly before he paused, "I'm not good with words, that's all I know but I don't think that quite covers everything, y'know." he finished with a shrug.
Zabuza smirked under his mask, "Guess that freaky thing that follows you around was right to call you a Kijin then, brat." he praised and Kakashi glared at him, "Don't give me that look, we're shinobi." he responded to the glare with one of his own, "On that note, I suppose as soon as some Oinin talk to you guys I'll have to worry about Haku finally ending up with his own little bounty." he complained, "Kind of makes me want to get rid of witnesses..." he trailed off.
Kakashi tensed up, ready to defend Naruto if need be, "Who would put a bounty on Haku-chan!? He's a sweetheart!" the blonde snapped, not understanding at all and his shameless words causing the dark haired boy to blush again.
Zabuza stared incredulously at the blonde, "It'll happen eventually," he said bluntly, "all it takes is someone from Kiri reading your mission report even if you don't cooperate with any Oinin." he pointed out.
"Why?" Naruto asked innocently, staring the nukenin down fearlessly.
Zabuza was surprised by the question, "In Kirigakure no Sato those like Haku, who hold Kekkei Genkai, are feared and reviled. Furthermore he's the accomplice of a wanted nukenin like me." he explained, wondering why he was even bothering when Kakashi could explain it later.
"Well stop it." Naruto said bluntly, nodding his head as if that solved everything, "The nukenin thing, not the Kekkei Genkai, that ice was beautiful." he clarified.
Kakashi sighed, "It's not that simple, they can't just go back to Kirigakure." he began explaining, "Zabuza attempted to kill their Mizukage, the leader of their land."
"Konohamaru tries to kill Hokage-jiji all the time." Naruto shot back, surprising both Haku and Zabuza with that one. The nukenin wondered what was more surprising, the honorific the blonde had for the leader of his village or the fact that there was someone who got away with multiple attempts on his life.
"That's different," Kakashi responded with exasperation, "Konohamaru is a child, and the grandson of Hokage-sama he never actually tries to kill our village leader." he tried to explain.
Naruto frowned as he considered that, "Can't we just-" he began.
"Don't say it." Maemi warned, "Falsifying mission reports is treason." she pointed out, revealing what the blonde had been about to say. Kakashi's eye widened that the boy had been about to suggest doing that, Zabuza jolted in surprise as well.
Haku frowned, "It's okay, Naruto-kun," he tried to assure, "Zabuza-san and I have lived on the run for a long time. We'll be fine."
"No, I refuse, I don't like it!" Naruto snapped, stomping his foot for emphasis. If not for the blood and the sword he'd seem like a child throwing a tantrum, as it was he still did.
Zabuza frowned, "Brat, I attempted to kill the Mizukage in a coup to take over." he pointed out, "Why are you so invested in a couple of wanted criminals?" he asked.
"Haku-chan deserves better!" Naruto retorted, "I don't know why you tried to kill the Mizukage and I don't care!" he added.
Maemi sensed something else behind Zabuza's story, "The only difference between a rebellion and a revolution is whether or not you succeed." she pointed out calmly and the man flinched in surprise, confirming her suspicions.
"That's not your concern." Zabuza said dangerously.
"It is now!" Naruto disagreed, "It became my concern as soon as Haku-chan was nice to me!" he argued.
Zabuza cast an annoyed look at Haku, who had the decency to look guilty, "Don't push it-" the man tried to warn.
"Make me!" Naruto interrupted petulantly and Kakashi tensed up for a fight, "I-" he paused to consider what he was about to say, "I challenge you!" he decided, pointing at Zabuza.
Zabuza stared down at the boy and leveled his killing intent on the blonde, noticing Kakashi reaching for his hitai-ate, "Challenge me? You cut down some carrion feeders and think you're ready to fight a real predator?" he asked dangerously, not reaching for his weapon yet.
Naruto shivered under the weight of the killing intent but managed a grin, "Yeah, if I'm protecting something precious I can be as strong as I need to be." he said confidently and Haku's eyes widened, "Haku-chan might hate me for it but-"
"No!" Haku interrupted, stepping between the two, "Naruto-kun, I am happy with Zabuza-san!" he assured the blonde truthfully, "We will be fine, please just go home and look after yourselves." he pleaded desperately.
Naruto frowned, looking down with a pout before he met Haku's eyes, "Slaanesh-kaasama told me to enshrine all that I find beautiful," he repeated before turning his glare on Zabuza, "so you two better take care of each other! If you get Haku-chan killed I'll kill you myself!" he threatened.
Zabuza scoffed, but privately he was impressed with the blonde. The young genin hadn't backed down to his killing intent at all, and had the gall to threaten him, "We're leaving, maybe we'll see you in the future." the nukenin said, disappearing with a shunshin, Haku following after a moment of hesitation.
Kakashi waited until he was sure they were gone, then he sighed with relief and smacked Naruto on the back of the head, "Ow! What was that for!?" the blonde asked.
"You almost got yourself killed for an enemy shinobi!" Kakashi snapped angrily, surprising the genin since he was usually laid back.
Naruto wasn't backing down though, "Haku-chan isn't my enemy!" he insisted.
"What if you end up on opposing sides in another mission?" Kakashi pointed out, glaring down at the bloodied blonde. All of the jonin's anger came from his concern and worry for the blonde, "Will you give up on the mission for a friendship with someone from outside the village?" he questioned dangerously.
"Of course not!" Naruto snapped, "I won't need to, Haku-chan doesn't have the heart to kill me! I'll just keep him busy while my team completes the mission!" he decided with a huff.
Kakashi sighed, he could see there would be no getting through to the boy on this subject. Maemi sighed for a different reason, it seemed like no one had been converted.
"Praise Yorokobi-sama!"
Maemi stared at the celebrating citizens of Nami no Kuni in surprise, it seemed Inari had told them about the god of pleasure and joy Naruto preached. The Daemon grinned as she watched the people cheer for Naruto, the young shinobi who had killed the tyrant ruining their lives.
This trip had turned out far better than expected in the opinion of the Muse, but there was now a small issue, "-and ramen is the sacred dish!" Naruto insisted, center of attention happily as he preached to the fascinated people of Nami no Kuni.
Maemi jumped up on the shoulders of her master before he could do too much damage, "Naruto-sama!" she interrupted, "Just because Yokubo-hime loves you doesn't mean you get to decide what's sacred!" she scolded with a pout.
"Eh!? Ramen isn't sacred!?" Naruto asked, sounding horrified by the prospect, "B-but it's the perfect food!" he insisted. The crowd listened curiously, the Muse would have to handle this carefully.
"Enshrine all that you find beautiful, remember?" Maemi said with a grin, "Ramen is a very versatile food, but people like different things. Beauty is subjective at the end of the day, all that matters is everyone does what brings them pleasure!" she preached.
Kakashi narrowed his eye, starting to understand the danger behind such a figure being worshiped.
"What's that?" A child asked, pointing at Maemi.
"Maemi-chan is my Familiar!" Naruto answered cheerfully, the word confusing the locals.
"I am a Daemon, a Muse to be specific, an extension of the will of Yorokobi-sama." Maemi added, knowing the other words would also be unknown to them but at least they'd be able to pronounce them. She noticed most of the inhabitants of this land had a difficulty with the pronunciation of certain words.
Tsunami seemed to make a connection, "Tenshi!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands.
Maemi was ashamed for not thinking of that earlier, "Yes, Tsunami-chan! I'm not exactly the same but I'm the same type of being!" she beamed, "Thank you, I'm still new to this world, and filtered through Naruto-sama, I must thank you for your linguistic assistance!" she praised, the daughter of the bridge builder blushing at the attention as everyone turned to look at her. Naruto couldn't help but feel like he'd just been insulted, but didn't understand why or how.
"So, Uzumaki-san," An old woman spoke up, "really is the champion of a real god?" she asked, clearly stunned. Most of the villagers were already in awe of the young bloodied blonde, but they looked to the small grey Daemon for confirmation.
"Of course!" Maemi answered, clasping her hands together, "Naruto-sama is beloved by Kajo no Kami, for he is an excessively passionate young warrior who strives for perfection and chases his desires without hesitation!" she praised. Now everyone of Nami no Kuni was looking at Naruto with genuine awe, the blonde boy blushed under the attention and scratched his cheek nervously.
With that, Naruto was declared the hero of the land. Maemi helped by feeding details to people who asked, and soon enough there was the beginning of a small shrine to Slaanesh. There they praised the new god of pleasure, the patron saint Naruto, and the strange angel with two little horns.
Kakashi couldn't blame his team for being on guard when actual Oinin from Kirigakure showed up, "I believe our villagers aren't currently at odds, so as long as you aren't here to interfere with our mission we should have no reason to fight." the jonin said calmly, although he was on edge himself.
"Konoha shinobi," One of the Oinin said in a neutral tone, likely the leader and from his voice most likely a male, it was hard to tell since they were all dressed the same and wearing the same mask Haku had used, "we have reason to believe Zabuza Momochi was in the area." the man continued, "Any information you can provide would be appreciated." he finished politely.
Another of them spoke up, "From what we've gathered, he was hired by Gato, the recently deceased shipping magnate." they added, sounding like a female voice but the form hiding battle kimono made it hard to tell, "It is likely he was at odds with your group." she finished with a slight edge to her tone.
Kakashi considered how best to handle this, "Kakashi-sensei kicked his butt a week ago, but he got away." Naruto spoke up, surprising his team with that half truth, "Gato must have cut him loose because he tried to take us out with thugs, but they were no match for me!" the blonde bragged with a grin, "I got one of their swords and was all like 'take that you thugs' and they were all like 'ah oh no we are dying' and then I even killed Gato to protect Tazuna because that was our C rank mission!" he told the story while pantomiming parts of the fight, mostly just by swinging his sword around.
The Oinin all stared at Naruto for a moment before turning to Kakashi, "Well, he's not wrong." the jonin confirmed with a shrug. There was a tense moment before one of the Oinin nodded and the small group disappeared.
Sasuke and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, neither had expected their blonde teammate to be so good at deception. Sasuke was the one to realize Naruto was always like that, acting like a goof, and he wondered just how little he really knew about his teammate.
Soon after that day, the bridge was finally completed and team seven were set to go home. The locals came to see off their new hero, the blonde looking very proud of himself with his new katana sheathed and strapped to his back.
"Thank you, Naruto Uzumaki, you brought courage, faith, and hope back to our land." Tazuna said gratefully, giving a bow of respect to the surprised young genin.
"Hope is a false god!" Maemi snapped before she could stop herself and everyone turned on her in surprise, Kakashi raising an eyebrow at the little Daemon, "Ahem, I mean, uh," she struggled to think of the correct words.
"Hope is too easily crushed," Naruto picked up with a sad smile, "it was because hope is so fragile that Gato was able to cause so much despair." he preached, "You guys shouldn't trust the false promises of hope, or give into despair. Just be happy!" he finished with a grin.
Maemi suppressed a sigh of relief, surprised at how quickly Naruto was growing into his role as a champion, "Exactly," she agreed, "let all lands set aside their wrath and despair, and abandon the false promises of hope, for Yorokobi-sama is the joy of now and the vindication of life!" she preached with a wide grin and the people cheered.
As they left Maemi smiled as she heard them naming the bridge; Yokubo Ohashi. Named for their new guardian deity.
Hiruzen looked up from the mission report, the genin had already gone home, "I can't fault you for letting Zabuza Momochi get away in a situation like that, but you understand the implications of what Naruto-kun did on the bridge, don't you?" he asked, steeping his hands in front of his face.
Kakashi nodded, "I'm worried about his mental state more than anything, but after what happened-" he trailed off, his eye narrowing.
"Gato was a powerful man," Hiruzan interrupted, "without proof of his crimes Naruto-kun will likely be branded a dangerous murderer." the Hokage pointed out calmly, "Even with the people of Nami no Kuni singing his praises, the kind of people who would put out a bounty on the one who killed their best money maker aren't going to care about the opinions of a fishing village." he explained.
"I am aware, Hokage-sama." Kakashi answered with equal calm, "However, Gato stood in the way of our mission, he likely would have lived if he'd simply sent his thugs alone. His death is the direct result of himself going to oversee the battle personally." he explained, "If not Naruto-kun, then someone else would have killed him."
"Perhaps that would have been better, if it had been the result of an armed revolt then there would be less headache." Hiruzen sighed sadly, "Even that nukenin killing Gato would have been better, as it is this will reflect poorly on us."
"Hokage-sama... are you suggesting-?" Kakashi almost didn't dare ask.
"I am suggesting nothing, Hatake-san." Hiruzen interrupted sternly, "Merely stating facts." he added with a sigh before looking back to the report, "Tell me more about this new cult." he ordered.
"They worship the same god Naruto has been preaching since the night he performed that Kuchiyose no Jutsu the first time, they've built a shrine in honor of this Kajo no Kami, who as I've come to understand is a deity with many names." Kakashi explained, "Yorokobi-sama, Yokubo-hime, and that name I'm not even going to try pronouncing. They've put that symbol up too, with the assistance of Maemi." he continued, "Let me think; holy number is six, patron of the arts, and domain over pleasure and excess." he finished.
Hiruzen frowned, "Like many cults, this seems benign on the surface." he considered it for a moment, "However," he continued, narrowing his eyes, "thinking about it beyond the simplistic ideals I can't help but feel something sinister about it."
Kakashi looked down, he had to agree with the instincts of his Hokage on this. The problem now was that Naruto was inexplicably linked to this deity now, neither of them wanted to hurt the boy, but the young genin was quite fine with pain and took almost too well to being a shinobi now that he had devoted himself.
"What of these strange jutsu?" Hiruzen continued, "The ones Maemi mentioned." he clarified.
"Well, I only saw the one, but it was strange." Kakashi began, wondering how to answer, "Tatakainouta... I don't think it was using chakra. Functionally, it has some similarities to the Sharingan in that it has predictive capabilities, but that's where the similarities end. Further, it's predictive ability isn't based on visual acuity, but a song that no one but Naruto-kun can hear, at least according to Maemi." he explained, "As for the other one, I didn't see it get used or hear its name. I saw two victims of the jutsu though, as near as I can tell it's at least an A rank ninjutsu, possible even S rank."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "Describe the injuries to me." he demanded.
Kakashi sighed, "Two samurai, likely ronin, in service to Gato, were injured by it and bled out outside of the home of Tazuna and his family. They were sliced up by some kind of chakra attack, the cuts were deep enough to be mortal wounds, but not instantly fatal. They were likely in agony until the moment they passed away since the jutsu was used on them." he explained, keeping his voice measured only due to his years of experience, "I believe this to be the work of the jutsu Maemi promised to teach him, while the other was some sort of blessing more akin to a Kekkei Genkai." he finished.
"Continue to watch over him, Kakashi," Hiruzen said in a tired voice, "please, guide him." he said, what should have been an order sounding far more pleading than it should. Kakashi couldn't blame the man, but truthfully the jonin wasn't certain what he should do either.
There was one good thing though, Naruto had completely forgotten about the kabuki war paint.
Sasuke watched his blonde teammate while they waited for Kakashi, their jonin sensei never seemed to be on time. He'd noticed the blonde had changed, everyone had noticed it so he would have to be blind not to notice. The purple eyed genin had taken to wearing a shorter sleeved orange jacket of similar design to his old one, but unzipped to show off his mesh undershirt so people could see he was wearing armor more, he still had the dark purple pants though. He had also apparently bought gloves with metal plates on the back, like Kakashi's.
Naruto was different since graduation, ever since becoming a genin he spent far more time training than playing pranks. Even now while waiting for Kakashi the blonde was doing push ups, sometimes it was sit ups, usually it was some kind of exercise. Fairly often the boy even practiced his chakra control, but it was all very basic and fundamental.
What was strange wasn't the training, it was the small, grey skinned, horned creature that had been with Naruto since he graduated encouraging the training. It called itself a Daemon, a Muse, a Familiar, and was strangely devoted to helping Naruto. Sasuke thought it was creepy, it looked almost like a little girl, but wrong, uncanny in too many ways.
For one, Maemi had the proportions of a nubile adult, also she never blinked. The solid black eyes didn't even seem to have eyelids, and the lips were too thin, the mouth too wide, there was no nose, and the hair was too perfect. Despite this it acted humanoid, but there were subtle tells that gave it away. In Nami no Kuni the people, inspired by Naruto who had saved their land, had called the creature a Tenshi, but it seemed far more like an Oni to Sasuke.
The other thing was what happened in Nami no Kuni, they'd all seen it. Naruto had easily cut down multiple opponents, remembering it Sasuke was confident he could have done the same thing. The issue was that Naruto had done it while filled with senbon, he'd even protected the enemy who caused those injuries with the insistence that they hadn't been fighting him seriously.
The worst part was that Naruto had been absolutely right, Haku had completely outclassed Sasuke with the Makyo Hyosho and if he'd had the intent to kill then Sasuke would have died. This fact kept Sasuke awake at night lately, he hated how weak he'd been.
Also Naruto had completely recovered from being put in a near death state, according to Maemi it was because of this new god Naruto had found. Sasuke had never heard of this god, and one of the names was a word he couldn't even pronounce but every time he heard it a chill went down his spine.
The Uchiha remembered the other thing too, a song that let Naruto avoid attacks somehow. He'd considered testing that, but the idea of throwing a shuriken at his own teammate out of nowhere was ridiculous. He might think the blonde was annoying, arrogant, and annoying, but he wasn't going to go attacking him unprovoked.
Sasuke was broken out of his thoughts as Kakashi finally arrived, "Good morning my adorable students!" the jonin greeted cheerfully, "And Maemi-tan." he added.
"It's an hour past noon!" Sakura snapped angrily.
"It sure is." Kakashi agreed happily with a nod, "I hope you guys are ready for more D ranks!" he added cheerfully. Sakura seemed oddly relieved by that prospect.
"Naruto-kun, are you alright!?" Iruka finally caught up with team seven, and surprised a few of them with his immediate concern for the blonde. He seemed like a worried parent to Sakura, and the girl remembered Naruto didn't even have parents.
After what she'd heard back in Nami no Kuni she'd been paying a bit more attention to the blonde, and realized she didn't know anything about him. Sakura felt a bit bad about this, originally she'd thought Naruto was lucky not to be henpecked by strict parents but made the mistake of saying such a thing to Sasuke which angered him. Then Maemi had said how hard his childhood had really been and the kunoichi felt even worse, but it was easy to forget with how cheerful the blonde was.
"I'm awesome!" Naruto bragged with a grin, not really answering the question, "Wait, actually, no," he continued more seriously and the chunin who had taught them in the academy looked worried, "I'm hungry, treat me to ramen, Iruka-sensei? Please?" he pleaded, clinging to the man suddenly in a manner similar to how Maemi usually clung to him.
Iruka sighed with relief, "Tell you what, I heard your first C rank was way worse than most, so I'll treat your whole team." he promised, not wanting to leave the other two genin out of it.
"Aw," Naruto pouted, "I wanted Iruka-sensei to myself." he added before perking up, "Oh, actually this is fine!" he decided, his mood flipping fast enough to make Sakura's head spin.
Kakashi chuckled, "Alright, you kids have fun catching up with your old sensei, your new sensei has other things to take care of." he said, turning to leave.
"Not interested." Sasuke said bluntly, turning to leave himself.
Sakura looked longingly after the Uchiha, "Um, sorry Iruka-sensei, I think I'll have dinner at home." she excused herself, almost saying with her parents but holding herself back with only a slight glance at Naruto.
Iruka lead the remaining genin to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto's favorite ramen stand. The chunin was pretty sure that was because the chefs there didn't ostracize him quite as much, Iruka was grateful to them for that. The ramen was pretty good too, in his humble opinion.
"Teuchi-jiji!" Naruto greeted, "I'm a hero!" he bragged cheerfully.
The old chef raised an eyebrow at that, "A hero, eh?" he asked, "Did you save a kitten from a tree?" he asked with teasing laugh. Maemi remembered Tora, the cat belonging to the Daimyo's wife.
"Yes!" Naruto agreed cheerfully, "Wait, that's not why I'm a hero though..." he said, blinking in confusion, "I saved Nami no Kuni from this really bad guy named Gato!" he clarified, "What kind of ramen do you recommend for champions who save the land from tyranny?" he added with a wide grin.
Teuchi looked taken aback for a moment, "Wait," he said, suddenly serious, "you don't mean the recently deceased and formerly richest man in the world, Gato of Gato Shipping and Transport, that Gato?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah yeah!" Naruto confirmed, bouncing in his seat with excitement, "His whole organization was a front for some really messed up stuff, but I killed him!" the blonde exclaimed proudly, eager to tell his story, "He had an entire army of rogue shinobi, but they were no match for me!" he bragged.
"I was worried about this..." Iruka said sadly, "Oh, uh, sorry to talk about such business in your ramen stand, Teuchi-san, could I get a miso ramen?" he requested politely.
"Pork ramen for me!" Naruto insisted eagerly, eyes lighting up at the prospect of food as he seemed to forget he'd been asking for a recommendation.
Maemi noticed the attention of the chefs was now on her, "I don't really need to eat, Naruto-sama's chakra sustains me." she revealed, "As long as he's well fed I'm well fed." she added with a shrug.
"Alright, an extra helping for Naruto-kun since he's eating for two and a hero." Ayame said with a nod and a smile, she was a bit worried about this business with Gato but the blonde genin seemed fine at least.
While the food was being prepared Iruka turned to face the blonde genin, "Naruto-kun," he began, pausing as he wondered how to word what he wanted to say with a perturbed look on his scarred face, "I heard your C rank went poorly. If there's anything you want to talk about-" he began.
"My C rank mission went great!" Naruto disagreed happily, "I got hurt a bunch, but Sakura-chan said I might be a masochist, Maemi-chan says that's someone who enjoys pain, and I guess I don't mind it." he rambled, startling both the chunin and the ramen chefs, "Plus I got to be a hero! I saved Nami no Kuni from Gato and his thugs, and I got this cool new sword, and I got to meet this really beautiful boy, he was even prettier than Sakura-chan! Can you believe that! I didn't know boys could be so cute! Oh and they put up a shrine to Slaanesh-kaasama too!" the blonde rambled on and the three listeners tried valiantly to keep up.
"Uh, Naruto-kun," Iruka interrupted, embarrassed on behalf of the shameless blonde, "a masochist is someone who takes pleasure from pain." he clarified, not wanting the boy to start calling himself a masochist openly.
"So?" Naruto asked, confused, "No pain no gain, right, Iruka-sensei?" he added with a laugh, "Oh yeah, that really pretty boy was called a sadist too I think," he added and the chunin thought he was going to have a heart attack, "we had to fight at one point but his heart wasn't really in it. Haku-chan, that was his name, totally could have killed me if he wasn't such a softy." the blonde added wistfully, "Oh and I learned some cool new jutsu! One is this really cool chakra whip, and Kakashi-sensei taught us to climb trees using just chakra which seems like a jutsu to me. Oh! Oh! And I can hear this really neat song when I fight now called Tatakainouta."
Iruka struggled to keep up with the rapid fire information Naruto was spitting out, "Cool chakra whip?" he asked, he'd heard some of the mission report, he'd heard about the song, which was curious, but not the whip.
"Shifuku no Kurushimi!" Naruto clarified with a grin, the words startling the listeners, "Maemi-chan taught me, it's a Hijutsu only those marked by Slaanesh-kaasama can use!" he explained as his bowl of ramen was placed in front of him, "Itadakimasu." the blonde said quickly before eagerly digging in.
Iruka was a moment behind the blonde in saying his own thanks for the food and joining in on digging in, the name of the jutsu Naruto spoke of concerning him greatly. Despite his concerns about the mental state of the young genin, Naruto seemed perfectly happy and fine. Considering how his mission had gone that was a concern in itself.
"Naruto-kun," Iruka began again after getting halfway through his bowl, "have your preferences changed?" he asked, noticing the look of confusion he received from the blonde he decided to elaborate, "It's just that you used to have a crush on Sakura-chan, but lately you seem very interested in, uh, men." he continued, embarrassed to be having this discussion since he was one of the men Naruto had called beautiful, "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" he hastily added.
Naruto frowned in confusion, thinking about his answer with a surprisingly serious expression for a moment, "I like beautiful things!" he decided with a grin, "Like Haku-chan, or Sakura-chan, or Iruka-sensei, or that jerk Sasuke, but mostly Slaanesh-kaasama!" he rambled, "Especially Slaanesh-kaasama! She's the most beautiful of all!" he exclaimed fondly before returning to his ramen.
Iruka was pretty sure Naruto hadn't understood the question entirely, but dropped the subject. He assumed the young genin simply didn't understand, and decided to let the boy remain innocent for now.
"Naruto-sama," Maemi spoke up with no such ideas of innocence, "he means if you want to do stuff like kiss boys." she clarified bluntly.
Naruto looked surprised by that, "Oh, well sure, Haku-chan's lips looked really soft." he said with a nod as Iruka choked on his ramen, "Iruka-sensei!? Are you okay?" he asked with concern as the man spluttered and beat his chest a bit to help the food get down the right pipe, "Do you want a kiss too?" he added, nearly killing the poor chunin with his question.
"No!" Iruka said quickly, "I'm fine, I'm fine..." he gasped, "Just don't say stuff like that, you should only kiss people you truly love and cherish." he tried to explain.
Naruto frowned, "But... I love and cherish lots of people." he pointed out.
"He means like someone you'd date, like Sakura-chan." Ayame pointed out helpfully.
"Isn't this a date?" Naruto asked with a surprisingly innocent tone for the question, "Iruka-sensei is buying me dinner." he pointed out, which was a truth no one could deny.
Teuchi couldn't help but feel bad for Iruka, the clueless blonde was going to give his old sensei a heart attack if he kept talking like that. Maemi was just amused by the whole thing, silently enjoying the anguish the chunin was going through.
"Naruto, spar with me." Sasuke demanded one day after Kakashi had them run through formations and teamwork drills, again. The Uchiha wondered if the man intended to teach them anything else at all, then again he hadn't asked since he had plenty of Uchiha clan jutsu to practice in his own time.
"Alright, if I win you have to buy me dinner!" Naruto insisted eagerly, suddenly bouncing in place. Normally Sasuke would attribute it to the blonde being full of energy but after their first C rank mission he noted more carefully that the blonde was shifting between stances that required one to be light on their feet and shifting to show only his side profile.
Sakura looked surprised as she watched her two teammates interact, Kakashi was already gone for the day, "Wouldn't you rather have dinner with me, Sasuke-kun?" she asked bashfully.
"I don't want to have dinner with either of you." Sasuke said bluntly and the pink haired kunoichi slumped in defeat, "I won't lose anyway." he bragged, taking his own fighting stance.
Maemi frowned, wondering what had the Uchiha so interested, "You guys should keep it taijutsu only." she suggested, "No point pulling out blades and dangerous ninjutsu for a spar, and taijutsu is the basis for most fights anyway." she reasoned and the two genin nodded in silent agreement, one grinning eagerly as he tossed his sheathed blades to the Daemon and the other looking determined.
Naruto suddenly stopped hopping in place and lowered his stance as he raised his guard with a confident smirk, he listened intently, eager to hear that beautiful song he'd heard only once before. Sasuke was certain that before the C rank mission he'd never lose to the blonde, but ever since Maemi started helping him the other genin had become genuinely dangerous.
Suddenly the blonde genin leaped at Sasuke, landing with his left foot forward and swinging his right leg without twisting his body in an odd kick the Uchiha didn't recognize. It seemed like a feint so Sasuke stepped back to see how the blonde would follow up, Naruto put his right foot down to quickly step forth and thrust his left foot forward in a front kick that the Uchiha bunted with his left knee.
Sasuke's eyes widened at the force behind the kick, noting that it actually would have hurt if he'd tried to block with his arms. He followed up by twisting his own body to try delivering a round kick to Naruto's side with his own left leg, but the blonde stepped into it to drive his right elbow into Sasuke's left shin as his left arm shot out in a quick jab that impacted against the Uchiha's guard as the dark haired of the two genin stepped back in surprise.
Naruto grinned wider, he could hear it again as his heart raced, the rhythm of his heart acting as a drum beat for the song he hadn't heard in so long. It sounded even better now that he was fighting Sasuke for some reason, he kept on the offensive by leaping at his teammate to deliver a side kick as he landed.
Sakura watched in surprise, hardly able to believe Naruto had Sasuke on the defensive. Naruto had never actually been the worst in taijutsu in class, technically speaking that was the only thing he ever seemed any good at but he only ever won spars against those physically weaker than himself who didn't have the skill to make up for the difference in strength.
Watching him now the blonde seemed completely different, his style of fighting had changed completely to focus almost entirely on kicks that required balance and grace the Haruno girl had never seen from her blonde teammate. She wasn't blind, but she had no idea what to make of the changes that had happened to Naruto. The kunoichi risked a glance to Maemi, the small Daemon who followed the blonde wherever he went.
Everything had changed after graduation, or maybe during, sometime before the official graduation ceremony. Naruto's eyes were purple, he became even more of a shameless show off. Sakura wondered if that was such a bad thing though, she noticed that the blonde was happy. But seeing Sasuke struggle to fight Naruto in taijutsu seemed wrong, the dark haired boy she had a crush on was always the best, he was the top of the class and never lost in taijutsu, he scored top marks.
Sakura had been good in the academy herself, she'd always been ahead of the curve and got perfect scores in the theoretical exams. Until their first C rank mission the girl was convinced that Naruto was the worst ninja on the team, bottom of their class and a buffoon more interested in playing pranks than training.
Watching Naruto deliver a series of kicks with his right leg without his right foot touching the ground as he hopped towards his backing up opponent on his left leg the kunoichi was far less certain, Sasuke was completely on the defense and when he tried to sweep the left leg of the blonde Naruto had jumped up over it.
Sakura watched in surprise as Naruto flipped forward to deliver an axe kick that Sasuke narrowly avoided before the Uchiha suddenly stood and spun to deliver his left elbow into the back of Naruto's kidney, prompting a cry of surprised pain from the purple eyed genin. Sasuke followed up with a back hand from his left hand and a right hook, the blonde barely blocking both before a round kick from Sasuke's right leg caused their shins to impact as Naruto attempted to bunt the kick he had no way of seeing coming with his own right leg.
Naruto quickly following up with a sudden high side kick with the same right leg at Sasuke's face, catching the Uchiha off guard and causing the dark haired genin to stumble back. Naruto followed up by stepping to his dark haired teammate on the same right leg and twisting to deliver a round kick with his left leg, his shin impacting hard against Sasuke's guard as the Uchiha tried to catch his balanced before he pulled the leg back and thrust it back out again in a swift side kick.
Maemi smirked as she watched, the fighting style she'd been teaching Naruto wasn't found in this world to her knowledge so it would catch people off guard. By focusing on kicks it gave him increased range and power, but more importantly left his hands free to hold weapons or use hand seals.
Sasuke hit the ground shoulders first and rolled back away from Naruto, coming up in a crouch in time to catch a low right side kick against his forearms with a grunt of pain and a wince. The Uchiha scowled and grabbed the blonde by the ankle of the offending leg, pulling the blonde off balance and tackling him to the ground to send the two rolling across the ground.
Sasuke didn't let up and started delivering vicious punches, eyes wild as he struggled to keep the alarmingly powerful blonde pinned beneath him. Each punch hammered hard against Naruto's guard as the Uzumaki attempted to throw Sasuke off by bucking his hips, mostly just causing the two to roll around in the dirt throwing punches into each others guard wearing completely opposite expressions.
Sasuke looked furious to have so much difficulty while Naruto looked ecstatic to be fighting his teammate, Sakura frowning in concern as she watched from the sidelines.
"That's enough." Kakashi's stern voice put a stop to the match as the jonin appeared suddenly, pulling the two genin apart.
"Aw, but sensei, I was just about to win!" Naruto insisted, pouting at the interruption.
Sasuke panted, "In your dreams." he shot back, "I had you at the end." he pointed out.
Kakashi frowned in concern under his mask, "A sparring match between allies is all well and good, but you two started to take that a bit too far." he lectured.
"I need to get better at ground fighting though!" Naruto argued, struggling against Kakashi's grip.
"It's not like we were using weapons, or ninjutsu or genjutsu." Sasuke pointed out, calming down now that the match was over and crossing his arms.
Kakashi sighed, "No more intense sparring without the supervision of an older and more experienced ninja, what if poor Sakura-chan had to carry both of you to the hospital because you hurt each other?" he reasoned in the same lecturing tone as he put them down, "Now make the seal of reconciliation." he ordered, neither genin moved to do so, "Now." he added more sternly and the two grudgingly linked the first two fingers of each hand together.
"Kakashi-sensei, buy me dinner since you interrupted!" Naruto demanded as soon as that was done. Kakashi just sighed, lamenting that the blonde was probably going to get a reputation for trying to date his sensei from what he'd heard.