A/N: Ohohoho, don't worry. I am not killing off this fic, I will continue it all the way until it ends which is I don't know when. Long pauses between chapters just means that I am spending time thinking and revising, which (hopefully) means the quality of each chapter will be better. Hope you guys won't mind the wait...since I do have another Naruto fic that I started before this that should be my priority.... But the next chapter's gonna be a long one...>.
A blonde head bobbed beneath a large wooden bookcase under the "Adult" section, in rhythm to the steady flipping of pages every few seconds or so.
After a few minutes, Genma slammed the book shut and, dangling it carelessly between two fingers, eyed the red-orange cover of the slender paperback copy of Icha Icha Paradise in his hands. "Che. I wonder what Kakashi sees in this book," he wondered aloud.
The book was a total bore, full of sappy romances and cliches and steamy love scenes, though it did contain some rather suggestive and explicit illustrations; in other words, soft porn. Not to Genma's taste at all, which came as a surprise to many of his friends and colleagues.
Genma didn't really care; his philosophy was "Why just look at candy when you can eat it?"
He put the book back onto the shelf and headed for the exit. People threw him disapproving looks as he emerged from the Adult section, but he ignored them and threw a cocky grin at a female in "Romance", who blushed while pretending to be insulted.
Ahh. Females. They're all the same. They all want me but they refuse to admit it.
Giving the cute girl a last playful wink, Genma stepped out of the bookstore and onto the streets.
On the streets, people milled about aimlessly, their idle uncertainty tainting the air with a sense of listlessness that irritated him to no end. What the hell were the village elders doing?
Sure, they lost their village leader and Genma missed the old Sarutobi gorilla as well, but enough was enough. The village had been attacked and everyone knew it, yet there was an affected peace in the air as everyone went about their daily lives under the pretense that nothing notable had ever happened.
It was as if there was some unanimous tacit conspiracy that he didn't know about.
Years of training as a Ninja had sharpened his senses, and he could read the emotions of a normal person as easily as a book. It was obvious to him that the villagers were all nervous. Every person he'd seen so far was worried or jittery in some way.
So why wasn't anything being done?
There should be military conferences, public warnings, civilian training, something, anything, to get the village prepared for an imminent invasion.
That the Hidden Village of Leaf would be invaded he had no doubt. Orochimaru's ambition was far to great to have lain low for so long just to interrupt a Chuunin Exam and leave. That the legendary crimminal had targeted the Hokage and killed Sarutobi only cemented that prediction.
Orochimaru had intended to take over the village that day, that much was clear. That he became seriously wounded and failed only meant that the invasion date was postponed...
The next invasion will be bigger. And better. And much, much more dangerous. If by that time we're not yet prepared, what happens then?
An invasion. There hadn't been one on Leaf since as far as he could remember; Konoha couldn't be taken over. It just couldn't. He would be there to stop it.
But despite his convictions of the strength of Fire Country ninjas, somewhere deep down in the depths of his mind, he was terrified.
His good spirit earlier vanished in an instant, and he refused to heed a nagging voice that kept bothering him from the back of his mind.
What if Orochimaru doesn't want to take over the village but....to utterly destroy it?
Shining in satirical innocence on the village, the bright sun jeered at him from the clear, cloudless blue sky.
A/N: I hate Baki.
The contents of IchaPara was inferred from an interview with Kishomoto-sama, I don't know what's really in the IchaIcha series, it's just my guess. Disagreements with my inference shall be ignored, unless you have solid evidence to the contrary. Genma's vulgarness and womanizer/player personality is also entirely based on my own inference from the manga. He seems like that type to me. XD Like Reno of the Turks from FFVII, though I don't like Reno but I do like Genma.
I will go cry over ep. 54.