Chapter 6
For Uchiha Sasuke, most of his life had been spent training in anticipation of the coming of a certain day. The day when his brother would die by his hands. The day when the spirits of his family could rest in peace and his demons would no longer torment him.
Fortunately or unfortunately, his dreams of vengeance would never come, for Itachi had been killed 3 years ago. His preserved head had suddenly arrived at the village and presented to him. The rest of Itachi had been disposed of.
He had been enraged at first, the satisfaction of ending Itachi's life was supposed to have been his, and now someone had stolen that from him. He had sacrificed so much had worked so hard for the chance. Itachi had destroyed his family; he had given his childhood for his quest. Had it all been for naught?
It had taken him some time, but eventually he had learned to accept the fact that Itachi was dead. He had given much, yes. But, he had the rest of his life ahead of him, freed from the burdens of his past. It was time to move on, and so he did. He had personally destroyed Itachi's head. His eyes would have been a asset for the village, but he had destroyed that too. It would finally lay his troubled spirit to rest.
He was content. Vengeance no longer ruled over his life. His village, his comrades, and the resurrection of his clan was now his reason for living. His life had changed, for the better. But, there were times when he sometimes wondered on what things would have been like had Itachi still lived. Would he be stronger than he was now? If he had continued to try and avenge his family. Would he still have his friends? Would he be happy?
Perhaps he would never really know. Many things had changed over the years. A lot of things indeed.
His encounter with Naruto the previous evening had brought a lot of old memories back to the surface. Memories from a chapter of his life that he thought he had lain to rest. It wasn't exactly that a lot of things had been said, Naruto had been uncharacteristically subdued it seemed. It was just Naruto, though he had known him only for only a little while, had been a big part of his past, the past that he thought he had closed. He had never managed to square things out him before he suddenly disappeared. Admittedly at that certain time, he didn't particularly care what happened. He had been focused on other matters.
The encounter the night before had been brief and a bit awkward. They were not exactly friends, but he had to admit that there was something between them. He was someone who understood the pain of his childhood. More importantly he was a comrade-in-arms. A part of the brotherhood that soldiers forge in the battlefield facing life and death situations. Battling against opponents that were more often than not, stronger than them. A brotherhood that had been tempered when blood had been spilt to protect. To protect that special person. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto. Team 7.
******************
Naruto had never before realized how much dust a room can catch in a span of four years. When Naruto had arrived on his old apartment earlier in the morning, the place was covered in dust. He had spent most of his morning cleaning the place out; his endeavor was made longer due to the fact that when he had left, he had left thinking he would only be gone for a few weeks at most. His things had been left uncovered, and as a result, all of them had accumulated a lot of dust and had to be taken out for cleaning. A lot of his other possessions were in need of replacement as well, the result of four years of neglect. Most of his possessions could be replaced at a later time... other things, like his bed, needed to be replaced as soon as possible. He planned in getting them sometime this afternoon--after his meeting with the Hokage.
Jiraiya had told him that he would be resuming his duties to the village soon. He had expected that. Konoha was after all, a village of Ninja's. Missions for its many clients was the lifeblood of the village. It was through these missions that made the shinobi village prospered the same village which had supported and had kept him fed for the past few years. He needed to start earning his keep once again. A useless ninja was a liability after all. Just what he would be doing, he wasn't sure yet, but he would probably find out later.
Not that he needed to needed the village to pay for his needs. He had been drawing the pay of a genin for the first year of his journey, and after that the pay of a jounin. Again not that he needed it, for though he was an orphan, he had never found himself in need of funds. His apartment, though unremarkable and sparsely furnished, was but a small portion of the assets that had under his name. A large tract of land located away from Konoha, but somewhere in the fire country, another house located somewhere in the fringes of the village, some trinkets that he presumed were heirlooms of his family and a extravagant sum had been left to him. Possessions that he suspected once belonged to his family. He never knew who his family was... not even their names, but he knew they had been a part of the village elite. The third Hokage had implied that much.
The family name Uzumaki was a fabrication. A falsehood that needed to be done to protect. To protect what exactly, he didn't know. It was either to protect him, the sole surviving scion of the clan. Or to protect the rest of the clan, lest they be tainted with having him— the vessel of the demon fox, as one of them.
Family was the one thing that he had always wanted as a child. His first family, his biological family, was dead. As far as he was concerned, the clan died when his parents died. His second family, his former acquaintances—he was a stranger to them now, with the exception of a few. It seemed to him, that family would be one of those things that would always be denied to him, but he still hoped.
Someday.
******************
On a structure located on the center of the village, a woman ponders on a problem. A problem that goes by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. Jiraiya's revelations last night had unnerved her. Naruto was someone special, watching him doggedly trying to learn the rasengan had proven that. Seeing him actually learn the technique despite his limitations at that time had further reinforced that belief. Having the strength to wrest back control from the kyuubi had proven things beyond doubt.
No. Kyuubi taking control would not be a problem...
"So... what does you asking a favor have to do with this?" Tsunade asked his companion who was refilling his cup.
"I need you to take Naruto under you wing."
"Why is that?" she asks speculatively, "Its not like there's a lot of things that I could teach him that you haven't—"
"It isn't that Tsunade," he interjects. "This isn't about jutsu's, or about being a ninja...." He trails off, before continuing, "It's about finding his place within the village. I want him to be happy... or at least content. His father would too..."
"He would, wouldn't he?"
"Also, from the last encounter we had when kyuubi took over, it was his ties with the people in the village that took him back. Strengthening those ties would help him as well."
"Hmm..," she murmurs, "I see."
Naruto it seemed never had that many people to which he was able to confide in, that number of people had decreased further after his long absence. Iruka, Jiraiya, Shizune, and herself were among those that were left. Having him under the Hokage's wing would send a clear message to the village.
Jiraiya had suggested re-integrating Naruto back into the ranks of the leaf. Not only to give him a chance to learn new things and get experience, but also as a way to gain the other ninja's trust.
She was certain that he would have a bit of difficulty with the older ninja's at first. Prejudices are hard to break, but she was confident that in time, Naruto would win them over, like he did many of those with whom he has crossed paths with.
Besides, she had her own designs on the lad. She didn't really want to be Hokage, she didn't feel that she was the right person for the job. Her approach to things, like her approach to most of the things in her life had always been the direct approach. Brute strength to overcome obstacles. The Hokage needed more than that... diplomacy and compromise had never been her thing. There were no possible successors to the office amongst the villagers yet, but perhaps in a few years, Naruto can take over. And she can finally rest, and return to gambling.
Still Finding things for Naruto to do in the village would be something that she needed to think about, among other things.
'Whats this?' she thinks to herself, as she looks at the list of things she needed to take care of for the day.
"Interesting..."
******************
"Understood" he replies.
He was at the administrative building having finished getting his current work assignment from the Hokage. He was on a lone chair situated in the middle of a large room; in front of him was a large table with the Hokage sitting at the center of the table. She was flanked by 2 shinobi's on each side. Doubtless administrator-nins who had administrative duties, tasked with updating the records.
This was his final stop before the end of his day here in the building. Earlier, he had to update his records and do 4 years worth of paperwork. Luckily, his lack of official missions for the village meant that there wasn't a lot of paperwork that needed to be done. After that he had rushed to see the Hokage to receive his duty assignment.
He wasn't quite sure what to make of his duties. On one hand, he would be joining the ANBU, which was a good thing. On the other hand, his other duties outside of the ANBU, he wasn't too sure about.
Fighting under a mask, cloaked in anonymity had a certain appeal, and was thus a good thing. ANBU types generally created their opinions on you based on how you perform your duties in the battlefield. It was either they trusted that you were competent, competent enough that they were comfortable placing their lives on your actions, of you aren't. He knew that he had come a long way since his first battle on the way to the wave country. The Naruto that sat in front of the hokage was a far cry from the Naruto that froze in his first battle experience with the chunnin duo from the hidden mist. As far skills were concerned, he was confident that he would get the job done. The spare time was a bonus as well.
ANBU teams alternate, their readiness follow a certain cycle. A certain number of teams are active at any given time, while other teams rest, recuperate, train, or based on their readiness; attend to their other village duties. Kakashi had been on and off ANBU teams before he was pulled out indefinitely to guide team 7 a few years back. In Naruto's case, his ability to be able to take down almost any ninja, had earned him the duties of a hunter-nin—A ANBU ninja who specialized in assassinating other ninja and disposing of the body to protect the secrets it might possess. A hunter- nin worked alone or as part of a group. In his case... he would be the body disposal specialist of ANBU team J once a week. He was ready enough now; Jiraiya had been very thorough in his teaching. The specialized nature of a hunter-nin and an ANBU ninja virtually ensured a lot of time that could be devoted to training. When ANBU teams are active, they aren't required to meet every day, though training together is encouraged to promote teamwork. Being the active team just meant that they had to be ready to receive duties at any time.
He was looking forward to being a part of the ANBU; his other duties outside of the special group though... bothered him. The paper pushers at the administrative offices had given him the task of protecting the Hokage in addition to his duties at the ANBU. Itachi and Orochimaru had been the last of the S-Class missing nin's from the leaf. Itachi was already dead, and the leaf didn't have any plans of disposing of Orochimaru just yet. Sending a hunter-nin for assassinations of most non-ninja's was overkill, so the lack of jobs to do had prompted his other duty.
What bothered him about the assignment wasn't the difficulties that were involved, these wasn't much. Tsunade was freakishly strong and was very skilled... she could take care of herself. Also, the threat to her inside the village was very small, no problems in that area. It wasn't the person that he was going to be guarding either. Since he had met Tsunade, he had always been a bit fond of the young looking Hokage of the leaf. No, what irked him was the fact that he was expected to follow the Hokage around the village during her rounds, and Iruka had mentioned that she made a lot of those. Tsunade it seemed, was well loved by the village, she spent as much time as possible outside the office and was often seen going around the village checking on how things were, or around the company of Shizune and her pet pig, who was teaching the villages medical nin's. The thing that bothered him was the thought of being in contact with the villagers.
He sighed quietly as he thought of that little fact. The ninja sitting to the left of Tsunade was winding down on the specifics of his ANBU assignment; he tuned him out, knowing that those same specifics would be given to him in writing anyway. He was brought back into attention as Tsunade spoke to him.
"By the way Naruto," Tsunade says. "The second stage of the chunnin exam is in 3 days... I want you to be the examiner."
He stared at Tsunade for a moment, somewhat incredulous, before responding, not quite sure that he heard the Hokage correctly. "I beg your pardon Hokage-sama?"
******************
Hyuga Hinata peeked at her companion who was currently walking beside her. She had been released from the hospital yesterday; her lack of any real injuries from the battle in the forest didn't require her to stay at the hospital any longer than she already had. Her team was currently on sojourn for a little while, a sort of reward for the completion of their last mission. That and the fact that there weren't any missions that needed to be done at the moment. She was on her way to the preferred watering hole. One of the many that catered to the ninja's of the village. She had plans to meet with her former mentor, Yuuhi Kurenai. Beside her was Sakura.
Kurenai had long ago ceased to be her sensei, but over time the student- teacher relationship that they had turned into a friendship. Despite being assigned to different units and duties now, she still managed to meet with Kurenai regularly. Other then Sakura, Kurenai was one of the people whom she often turned to for advice, especially when she needed a more mature viewpoint. She did this so often, that Sakura, who usually went with her to these meetings, had begun to view Kurenai in a manner similar to the way she did.
Sakura usually looked forward to these meetings. Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko—who was usually there as well, was a treasure trove of knowledge and experience when it came to ninja's of the opposite sex. A topic where Sakura, and to a lesser degree Hinata, was very interested in. Their adult and oftentimes strange conversations were something that almost always managed to pull them out of their funks. Hinata hoped that it would.
The place was one of the tea houses near the center of the village, the said tea house was a place where most male ninja's neglect to visit. Most of them preferred places like the Ichiraku, where the former team 7 liked to meet, or the barbecue place, where the former team 8 preferred. Their absence was quite noticeable, and unexpected. In fact the liked to meet here for that very reason, that and the fact that they had a nice selection of tea—which Sakura liked, and that their pastries were very good—which Anko adored.
The latter was already at their usual table, munching on a large plate laden with tea cakes. Hinata saw her glace at them when they entered. She waved before focusing her attention back to the tea cakes.
"Ohaiyo, Anko-san" she greeted the woman, bowing a bit before taking her seat. Beside her, Sakura offered a bow as well.
"Hinata, Sakura! Glad to see your both ok," she says before pausing to shove another cake into her mouth.
"I heard you had a run in with some ninja's on your last mission, "another pause, and a sip of tea. "What happened there?"
She glanced at Sakura, who was unusually quiet, before turning back to face Anko. She was just about to respond to the question, when the door chime sounded, signaling the arrival of another customer to the shop.
Kurenai breezed through the door, wearing a scowl on her face, before zeroing to their table. All the while muttering about aged perverts and stupid young boys.
"What's up?" Anko queried a still very visibly aggravated Kurenai. "Its not Gai again is it?"
"NO! It's that pervert Kakashi and his stupid perverted books. Parading it around, has he got no shame! Arrrrgh!" she half screamed out in anger before taking deep breaths to calm herself.
Sakura was looking Kurenai a bit warily, not affected by Kakashi's actions at all. She was used to it. Hinata, who never bothered to find out about the little book that Kakashi always carried with him, remained silent, hoping that her teacher would calm down a little first before asking for her to elaborate.
Anko seemingly unconcerned about Kurenai's state asked, "What are you talking about?" Kurenai was still breathing raggedly, in the background she could hear the shops bell ringing, announcing the arrival of yet another customer but she ignored that for the moment, more concerned on uncovering the reason for Kurenai's distress.
Kurenai took a few more breaths and half a cup of tea before she replied. "Its nothing, Kakashi's just being a pervert, that's all," She replied flippantly. "He's managed to acquire a new volume of the dumb book that he likes to carry around, Icha Icha paradise. He's been quoting passages from the stupid thing the whole day."
Across the table, Sakura nodded in understanding. She was well acquainted with Kakashi's strange habits. Kakashi had been toting that book around with him for as long as she could remember. She could recall Kiba—who had acquired a preference for the books, lamenting the lack of recent volumes. It seemed that the author was back. "Kiba would probably be happy to know "she thought.
Beside Sakura, Anko was more confused that ever. Unlike Kurenai and Sakura, she hardly ever had encounters with the infamous Kakashi. Anko rarely associated with the other shinobi in the village, and the shinobi that she did associate with never mentioned anything like that. As it was now, Anko couldn't make sense on what Kurenai was saying.
"Icha Icha Paradise?" she asked, "What's so special about that book?"
The question was directed at Kurenai, but it was a voice behind her that answered. "It's a book based on the travels of a legendary pervert."
The tables' occupants turned to look at the newcomer; it was Shizune, wearing a neutral expression on her face. Behind her was an amused looking Naruto.
"You mean it's a true story?" asked a horrified looking Sakura. Shizune nodded. Sakura had read some passages from Kiba's copies, a lot of them were very risqué. Especially to someone as unaware to the realities on sex, like Sakura. Sakura may have had some fantasies with Sasuke, but none of them were anything like the situations that the "hero" of the book, seems to constantly find himself in.
Across Sakura, Kurenai had a pallid look on her face. Kurenai, though she was considerably a lot older than Sakura, was as ignorant as Sakura when it came to sex. Romance and intrigue in the village she was knowledgeable about, the things had been snickering about all day though, was out of her league. Kurenai suddenly remembered some snippets from Kakashi's earlier reading. In a somewhat shaky voice she asked Shizune, "The- Then the story where the hero comes across a ninja who uses the sharingan to control women... is true?"
Shizune looks at Kurenai for a moment; she understood why she was scared. The sharingan was powerful, but it was hard to explicate fact from fiction when it came to what it can and could not do. She looks at Naruto for confirmation.
Naruto understood her look, and answered.
"Well..." he hesitantly began, "control isn't really the right term for it..." he paused, trying to recall just what happened to the woman that they met when they encountered Itachi. "It's more like it lowers the mental barriers, making someone more susceptible... "He trailed off, taking note of the fear that was beginning to show on the women's faces. 'Probably thinking of Kakashi or Sasuke' he erroneously thought to himself. "It wasn't Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke whom the book way referring to anyway," he added. "It was Itachi; he had a girl use her charms to distract Jiraiya for a while to get him out of the picture for a while. Most of the things in the book are exaggerated anyway." He concluded, his face darkening at part when he mentioned Itachi.
Shizune just watches Naruto as he finishes. 'He's probably confused on why their acting that way, probably doesn't even realize how different the girls on the village are'', referring to the puzzled look on his face as he looked at the ladies on the table. For someone like Naruto who had reached puberty outside the village and been in close company with the womanizing Jiraiya, things like "that" must be normal.
Shizune had grown up in the village, but she had spent a good part of her adult life living outside it. The practices of the people outside the village was more than a little overwhelming to her at first, most female shinobi rarely ventured outside the village to experience their culture. When they did, they usually stayed for only a short period of time and had their companions usually acted as a sort of unintentional barrier. As a effect, most of the women were ignorant to some of the practices that the world outside of the village termed as "reality". They were relatively very sheltered, and found most of these practices "disturbing". Some of the males of the village on the other hand, found these practices very fascinating. It was this fascination that made the Icha Icha Paradise series very popular in the village.
Despite this fascination though, men of the village lead simple personal lives. Ninja's met, courted, married, and then raise a family. Couples usually pair off for life and generally stay harmonious until they are well into their old age. Perhaps it is the fact that death could come to them at any time discourages them from wasting time fighting, preferring instead to live their daily lives as fully as possible.
The women at the table retreated to their own thoughts for a moment, before Naruto brought them out of it. 'Business before pleasure' he thought wryly.
"Ano... Gomen for interrupting. Anko-san, could I have talk to you for a moment?"
A/N:
Finally an update after so long. Almost 6 months since the last one.
Some notes:
Someone mentioned the fact that Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Kiba, and Shino are chunnins at the start of the fic, while in cannon, they never made it. I started laying the groundwork of the story before the chapter where they results of the chunnin exam was made known. Naruto was still technically a genin when he left, hence the reason why I mentioned that he was receiving the pay of a genin for his first year on the road. As far as the story is concerned, All of the participants of the final round made chunnin, the rest of the team made it the next time around (The former team 8 is excluded in this... I admit I havnt really thought what happened to them at the time). I was tempted to insert something that would reconcile the story to cannon a bit, but decided against it. I still believe that as far as the leaf contestants are concerned, Shino, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru and Naruto should have made it. From a practical standpoint, the loss of a large number of ninja's after the last attack should have made for a lot of vacancies. Finding replacements that are capable should have been one of the priorities of the village. Promoting only one ninja to fill the void is impractical, especially when you consider how competent the young ninja's are. In the military, vacant positions are filled as soon as possible, sometimes to the point of circumventing normal protocol. It's called a battlefield promotion.
Regarding the lateness of the updates, I apologize. I had given up on the story for a while, leaving the first part of the chapter unfinished. It was hard to find the motivation to finish the chapter until the start of the year. The reviews and mail that I received asking on the status of the fic really helped get the story started again.
I have the first few scenes of the next chapter written already, so it probably wouldn't mean that you would have to wait another 6 months for the next update.
I'm finding it a bit hard to stop myself from having to insert certain things here and there. The beginning was really weak as far as far as the plot was concerned, I found that the story was just floating along, making the temptation to insert certain things here and there very strong. Elements which would probably have resulted in the story never being finished.
I have this tendency to rant... so sorry about this. =)
For Uchiha Sasuke, most of his life had been spent training in anticipation of the coming of a certain day. The day when his brother would die by his hands. The day when the spirits of his family could rest in peace and his demons would no longer torment him.
Fortunately or unfortunately, his dreams of vengeance would never come, for Itachi had been killed 3 years ago. His preserved head had suddenly arrived at the village and presented to him. The rest of Itachi had been disposed of.
He had been enraged at first, the satisfaction of ending Itachi's life was supposed to have been his, and now someone had stolen that from him. He had sacrificed so much had worked so hard for the chance. Itachi had destroyed his family; he had given his childhood for his quest. Had it all been for naught?
It had taken him some time, but eventually he had learned to accept the fact that Itachi was dead. He had given much, yes. But, he had the rest of his life ahead of him, freed from the burdens of his past. It was time to move on, and so he did. He had personally destroyed Itachi's head. His eyes would have been a asset for the village, but he had destroyed that too. It would finally lay his troubled spirit to rest.
He was content. Vengeance no longer ruled over his life. His village, his comrades, and the resurrection of his clan was now his reason for living. His life had changed, for the better. But, there were times when he sometimes wondered on what things would have been like had Itachi still lived. Would he be stronger than he was now? If he had continued to try and avenge his family. Would he still have his friends? Would he be happy?
Perhaps he would never really know. Many things had changed over the years. A lot of things indeed.
His encounter with Naruto the previous evening had brought a lot of old memories back to the surface. Memories from a chapter of his life that he thought he had lain to rest. It wasn't exactly that a lot of things had been said, Naruto had been uncharacteristically subdued it seemed. It was just Naruto, though he had known him only for only a little while, had been a big part of his past, the past that he thought he had closed. He had never managed to square things out him before he suddenly disappeared. Admittedly at that certain time, he didn't particularly care what happened. He had been focused on other matters.
The encounter the night before had been brief and a bit awkward. They were not exactly friends, but he had to admit that there was something between them. He was someone who understood the pain of his childhood. More importantly he was a comrade-in-arms. A part of the brotherhood that soldiers forge in the battlefield facing life and death situations. Battling against opponents that were more often than not, stronger than them. A brotherhood that had been tempered when blood had been spilt to protect. To protect that special person. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto. Team 7.
******************
Naruto had never before realized how much dust a room can catch in a span of four years. When Naruto had arrived on his old apartment earlier in the morning, the place was covered in dust. He had spent most of his morning cleaning the place out; his endeavor was made longer due to the fact that when he had left, he had left thinking he would only be gone for a few weeks at most. His things had been left uncovered, and as a result, all of them had accumulated a lot of dust and had to be taken out for cleaning. A lot of his other possessions were in need of replacement as well, the result of four years of neglect. Most of his possessions could be replaced at a later time... other things, like his bed, needed to be replaced as soon as possible. He planned in getting them sometime this afternoon--after his meeting with the Hokage.
Jiraiya had told him that he would be resuming his duties to the village soon. He had expected that. Konoha was after all, a village of Ninja's. Missions for its many clients was the lifeblood of the village. It was through these missions that made the shinobi village prospered the same village which had supported and had kept him fed for the past few years. He needed to start earning his keep once again. A useless ninja was a liability after all. Just what he would be doing, he wasn't sure yet, but he would probably find out later.
Not that he needed to needed the village to pay for his needs. He had been drawing the pay of a genin for the first year of his journey, and after that the pay of a jounin. Again not that he needed it, for though he was an orphan, he had never found himself in need of funds. His apartment, though unremarkable and sparsely furnished, was but a small portion of the assets that had under his name. A large tract of land located away from Konoha, but somewhere in the fire country, another house located somewhere in the fringes of the village, some trinkets that he presumed were heirlooms of his family and a extravagant sum had been left to him. Possessions that he suspected once belonged to his family. He never knew who his family was... not even their names, but he knew they had been a part of the village elite. The third Hokage had implied that much.
The family name Uzumaki was a fabrication. A falsehood that needed to be done to protect. To protect what exactly, he didn't know. It was either to protect him, the sole surviving scion of the clan. Or to protect the rest of the clan, lest they be tainted with having him— the vessel of the demon fox, as one of them.
Family was the one thing that he had always wanted as a child. His first family, his biological family, was dead. As far as he was concerned, the clan died when his parents died. His second family, his former acquaintances—he was a stranger to them now, with the exception of a few. It seemed to him, that family would be one of those things that would always be denied to him, but he still hoped.
Someday.
******************
On a structure located on the center of the village, a woman ponders on a problem. A problem that goes by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. Jiraiya's revelations last night had unnerved her. Naruto was someone special, watching him doggedly trying to learn the rasengan had proven that. Seeing him actually learn the technique despite his limitations at that time had further reinforced that belief. Having the strength to wrest back control from the kyuubi had proven things beyond doubt.
No. Kyuubi taking control would not be a problem...
"So... what does you asking a favor have to do with this?" Tsunade asked his companion who was refilling his cup.
"I need you to take Naruto under you wing."
"Why is that?" she asks speculatively, "Its not like there's a lot of things that I could teach him that you haven't—"
"It isn't that Tsunade," he interjects. "This isn't about jutsu's, or about being a ninja...." He trails off, before continuing, "It's about finding his place within the village. I want him to be happy... or at least content. His father would too..."
"He would, wouldn't he?"
"Also, from the last encounter we had when kyuubi took over, it was his ties with the people in the village that took him back. Strengthening those ties would help him as well."
"Hmm..," she murmurs, "I see."
Naruto it seemed never had that many people to which he was able to confide in, that number of people had decreased further after his long absence. Iruka, Jiraiya, Shizune, and herself were among those that were left. Having him under the Hokage's wing would send a clear message to the village.
Jiraiya had suggested re-integrating Naruto back into the ranks of the leaf. Not only to give him a chance to learn new things and get experience, but also as a way to gain the other ninja's trust.
She was certain that he would have a bit of difficulty with the older ninja's at first. Prejudices are hard to break, but she was confident that in time, Naruto would win them over, like he did many of those with whom he has crossed paths with.
Besides, she had her own designs on the lad. She didn't really want to be Hokage, she didn't feel that she was the right person for the job. Her approach to things, like her approach to most of the things in her life had always been the direct approach. Brute strength to overcome obstacles. The Hokage needed more than that... diplomacy and compromise had never been her thing. There were no possible successors to the office amongst the villagers yet, but perhaps in a few years, Naruto can take over. And she can finally rest, and return to gambling.
Still Finding things for Naruto to do in the village would be something that she needed to think about, among other things.
'Whats this?' she thinks to herself, as she looks at the list of things she needed to take care of for the day.
"Interesting..."
******************
"Understood" he replies.
He was at the administrative building having finished getting his current work assignment from the Hokage. He was on a lone chair situated in the middle of a large room; in front of him was a large table with the Hokage sitting at the center of the table. She was flanked by 2 shinobi's on each side. Doubtless administrator-nins who had administrative duties, tasked with updating the records.
This was his final stop before the end of his day here in the building. Earlier, he had to update his records and do 4 years worth of paperwork. Luckily, his lack of official missions for the village meant that there wasn't a lot of paperwork that needed to be done. After that he had rushed to see the Hokage to receive his duty assignment.
He wasn't quite sure what to make of his duties. On one hand, he would be joining the ANBU, which was a good thing. On the other hand, his other duties outside of the ANBU, he wasn't too sure about.
Fighting under a mask, cloaked in anonymity had a certain appeal, and was thus a good thing. ANBU types generally created their opinions on you based on how you perform your duties in the battlefield. It was either they trusted that you were competent, competent enough that they were comfortable placing their lives on your actions, of you aren't. He knew that he had come a long way since his first battle on the way to the wave country. The Naruto that sat in front of the hokage was a far cry from the Naruto that froze in his first battle experience with the chunnin duo from the hidden mist. As far skills were concerned, he was confident that he would get the job done. The spare time was a bonus as well.
ANBU teams alternate, their readiness follow a certain cycle. A certain number of teams are active at any given time, while other teams rest, recuperate, train, or based on their readiness; attend to their other village duties. Kakashi had been on and off ANBU teams before he was pulled out indefinitely to guide team 7 a few years back. In Naruto's case, his ability to be able to take down almost any ninja, had earned him the duties of a hunter-nin—A ANBU ninja who specialized in assassinating other ninja and disposing of the body to protect the secrets it might possess. A hunter- nin worked alone or as part of a group. In his case... he would be the body disposal specialist of ANBU team J once a week. He was ready enough now; Jiraiya had been very thorough in his teaching. The specialized nature of a hunter-nin and an ANBU ninja virtually ensured a lot of time that could be devoted to training. When ANBU teams are active, they aren't required to meet every day, though training together is encouraged to promote teamwork. Being the active team just meant that they had to be ready to receive duties at any time.
He was looking forward to being a part of the ANBU; his other duties outside of the special group though... bothered him. The paper pushers at the administrative offices had given him the task of protecting the Hokage in addition to his duties at the ANBU. Itachi and Orochimaru had been the last of the S-Class missing nin's from the leaf. Itachi was already dead, and the leaf didn't have any plans of disposing of Orochimaru just yet. Sending a hunter-nin for assassinations of most non-ninja's was overkill, so the lack of jobs to do had prompted his other duty.
What bothered him about the assignment wasn't the difficulties that were involved, these wasn't much. Tsunade was freakishly strong and was very skilled... she could take care of herself. Also, the threat to her inside the village was very small, no problems in that area. It wasn't the person that he was going to be guarding either. Since he had met Tsunade, he had always been a bit fond of the young looking Hokage of the leaf. No, what irked him was the fact that he was expected to follow the Hokage around the village during her rounds, and Iruka had mentioned that she made a lot of those. Tsunade it seemed, was well loved by the village, she spent as much time as possible outside the office and was often seen going around the village checking on how things were, or around the company of Shizune and her pet pig, who was teaching the villages medical nin's. The thing that bothered him was the thought of being in contact with the villagers.
He sighed quietly as he thought of that little fact. The ninja sitting to the left of Tsunade was winding down on the specifics of his ANBU assignment; he tuned him out, knowing that those same specifics would be given to him in writing anyway. He was brought back into attention as Tsunade spoke to him.
"By the way Naruto," Tsunade says. "The second stage of the chunnin exam is in 3 days... I want you to be the examiner."
He stared at Tsunade for a moment, somewhat incredulous, before responding, not quite sure that he heard the Hokage correctly. "I beg your pardon Hokage-sama?"
******************
Hyuga Hinata peeked at her companion who was currently walking beside her. She had been released from the hospital yesterday; her lack of any real injuries from the battle in the forest didn't require her to stay at the hospital any longer than she already had. Her team was currently on sojourn for a little while, a sort of reward for the completion of their last mission. That and the fact that there weren't any missions that needed to be done at the moment. She was on her way to the preferred watering hole. One of the many that catered to the ninja's of the village. She had plans to meet with her former mentor, Yuuhi Kurenai. Beside her was Sakura.
Kurenai had long ago ceased to be her sensei, but over time the student- teacher relationship that they had turned into a friendship. Despite being assigned to different units and duties now, she still managed to meet with Kurenai regularly. Other then Sakura, Kurenai was one of the people whom she often turned to for advice, especially when she needed a more mature viewpoint. She did this so often, that Sakura, who usually went with her to these meetings, had begun to view Kurenai in a manner similar to the way she did.
Sakura usually looked forward to these meetings. Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko—who was usually there as well, was a treasure trove of knowledge and experience when it came to ninja's of the opposite sex. A topic where Sakura, and to a lesser degree Hinata, was very interested in. Their adult and oftentimes strange conversations were something that almost always managed to pull them out of their funks. Hinata hoped that it would.
The place was one of the tea houses near the center of the village, the said tea house was a place where most male ninja's neglect to visit. Most of them preferred places like the Ichiraku, where the former team 7 liked to meet, or the barbecue place, where the former team 8 preferred. Their absence was quite noticeable, and unexpected. In fact the liked to meet here for that very reason, that and the fact that they had a nice selection of tea—which Sakura liked, and that their pastries were very good—which Anko adored.
The latter was already at their usual table, munching on a large plate laden with tea cakes. Hinata saw her glace at them when they entered. She waved before focusing her attention back to the tea cakes.
"Ohaiyo, Anko-san" she greeted the woman, bowing a bit before taking her seat. Beside her, Sakura offered a bow as well.
"Hinata, Sakura! Glad to see your both ok," she says before pausing to shove another cake into her mouth.
"I heard you had a run in with some ninja's on your last mission, "another pause, and a sip of tea. "What happened there?"
She glanced at Sakura, who was unusually quiet, before turning back to face Anko. She was just about to respond to the question, when the door chime sounded, signaling the arrival of another customer to the shop.
Kurenai breezed through the door, wearing a scowl on her face, before zeroing to their table. All the while muttering about aged perverts and stupid young boys.
"What's up?" Anko queried a still very visibly aggravated Kurenai. "Its not Gai again is it?"
"NO! It's that pervert Kakashi and his stupid perverted books. Parading it around, has he got no shame! Arrrrgh!" she half screamed out in anger before taking deep breaths to calm herself.
Sakura was looking Kurenai a bit warily, not affected by Kakashi's actions at all. She was used to it. Hinata, who never bothered to find out about the little book that Kakashi always carried with him, remained silent, hoping that her teacher would calm down a little first before asking for her to elaborate.
Anko seemingly unconcerned about Kurenai's state asked, "What are you talking about?" Kurenai was still breathing raggedly, in the background she could hear the shops bell ringing, announcing the arrival of yet another customer but she ignored that for the moment, more concerned on uncovering the reason for Kurenai's distress.
Kurenai took a few more breaths and half a cup of tea before she replied. "Its nothing, Kakashi's just being a pervert, that's all," She replied flippantly. "He's managed to acquire a new volume of the dumb book that he likes to carry around, Icha Icha paradise. He's been quoting passages from the stupid thing the whole day."
Across the table, Sakura nodded in understanding. She was well acquainted with Kakashi's strange habits. Kakashi had been toting that book around with him for as long as she could remember. She could recall Kiba—who had acquired a preference for the books, lamenting the lack of recent volumes. It seemed that the author was back. "Kiba would probably be happy to know "she thought.
Beside Sakura, Anko was more confused that ever. Unlike Kurenai and Sakura, she hardly ever had encounters with the infamous Kakashi. Anko rarely associated with the other shinobi in the village, and the shinobi that she did associate with never mentioned anything like that. As it was now, Anko couldn't make sense on what Kurenai was saying.
"Icha Icha Paradise?" she asked, "What's so special about that book?"
The question was directed at Kurenai, but it was a voice behind her that answered. "It's a book based on the travels of a legendary pervert."
The tables' occupants turned to look at the newcomer; it was Shizune, wearing a neutral expression on her face. Behind her was an amused looking Naruto.
"You mean it's a true story?" asked a horrified looking Sakura. Shizune nodded. Sakura had read some passages from Kiba's copies, a lot of them were very risqué. Especially to someone as unaware to the realities on sex, like Sakura. Sakura may have had some fantasies with Sasuke, but none of them were anything like the situations that the "hero" of the book, seems to constantly find himself in.
Across Sakura, Kurenai had a pallid look on her face. Kurenai, though she was considerably a lot older than Sakura, was as ignorant as Sakura when it came to sex. Romance and intrigue in the village she was knowledgeable about, the things had been snickering about all day though, was out of her league. Kurenai suddenly remembered some snippets from Kakashi's earlier reading. In a somewhat shaky voice she asked Shizune, "The- Then the story where the hero comes across a ninja who uses the sharingan to control women... is true?"
Shizune looks at Kurenai for a moment; she understood why she was scared. The sharingan was powerful, but it was hard to explicate fact from fiction when it came to what it can and could not do. She looks at Naruto for confirmation.
Naruto understood her look, and answered.
"Well..." he hesitantly began, "control isn't really the right term for it..." he paused, trying to recall just what happened to the woman that they met when they encountered Itachi. "It's more like it lowers the mental barriers, making someone more susceptible... "He trailed off, taking note of the fear that was beginning to show on the women's faces. 'Probably thinking of Kakashi or Sasuke' he erroneously thought to himself. "It wasn't Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke whom the book way referring to anyway," he added. "It was Itachi; he had a girl use her charms to distract Jiraiya for a while to get him out of the picture for a while. Most of the things in the book are exaggerated anyway." He concluded, his face darkening at part when he mentioned Itachi.
Shizune just watches Naruto as he finishes. 'He's probably confused on why their acting that way, probably doesn't even realize how different the girls on the village are'', referring to the puzzled look on his face as he looked at the ladies on the table. For someone like Naruto who had reached puberty outside the village and been in close company with the womanizing Jiraiya, things like "that" must be normal.
Shizune had grown up in the village, but she had spent a good part of her adult life living outside it. The practices of the people outside the village was more than a little overwhelming to her at first, most female shinobi rarely ventured outside the village to experience their culture. When they did, they usually stayed for only a short period of time and had their companions usually acted as a sort of unintentional barrier. As a effect, most of the women were ignorant to some of the practices that the world outside of the village termed as "reality". They were relatively very sheltered, and found most of these practices "disturbing". Some of the males of the village on the other hand, found these practices very fascinating. It was this fascination that made the Icha Icha Paradise series very popular in the village.
Despite this fascination though, men of the village lead simple personal lives. Ninja's met, courted, married, and then raise a family. Couples usually pair off for life and generally stay harmonious until they are well into their old age. Perhaps it is the fact that death could come to them at any time discourages them from wasting time fighting, preferring instead to live their daily lives as fully as possible.
The women at the table retreated to their own thoughts for a moment, before Naruto brought them out of it. 'Business before pleasure' he thought wryly.
"Ano... Gomen for interrupting. Anko-san, could I have talk to you for a moment?"
A/N:
Finally an update after so long. Almost 6 months since the last one.
Some notes:
Someone mentioned the fact that Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Kiba, and Shino are chunnins at the start of the fic, while in cannon, they never made it. I started laying the groundwork of the story before the chapter where they results of the chunnin exam was made known. Naruto was still technically a genin when he left, hence the reason why I mentioned that he was receiving the pay of a genin for his first year on the road. As far as the story is concerned, All of the participants of the final round made chunnin, the rest of the team made it the next time around (The former team 8 is excluded in this... I admit I havnt really thought what happened to them at the time). I was tempted to insert something that would reconcile the story to cannon a bit, but decided against it. I still believe that as far as the leaf contestants are concerned, Shino, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru and Naruto should have made it. From a practical standpoint, the loss of a large number of ninja's after the last attack should have made for a lot of vacancies. Finding replacements that are capable should have been one of the priorities of the village. Promoting only one ninja to fill the void is impractical, especially when you consider how competent the young ninja's are. In the military, vacant positions are filled as soon as possible, sometimes to the point of circumventing normal protocol. It's called a battlefield promotion.
Regarding the lateness of the updates, I apologize. I had given up on the story for a while, leaving the first part of the chapter unfinished. It was hard to find the motivation to finish the chapter until the start of the year. The reviews and mail that I received asking on the status of the fic really helped get the story started again.
I have the first few scenes of the next chapter written already, so it probably wouldn't mean that you would have to wait another 6 months for the next update.
I'm finding it a bit hard to stop myself from having to insert certain things here and there. The beginning was really weak as far as far as the plot was concerned, I found that the story was just floating along, making the temptation to insert certain things here and there very strong. Elements which would probably have resulted in the story never being finished.
I have this tendency to rant... so sorry about this. =)