:Hidden Spirits: Village Hunting Side Effect:
A Naruto Fan-fiction - Sequel from 'Hidden Spirits'
By: Climax
Disclaimer for ALL chapters: Do not and never own Naruto. Except this story plot, idea, and my own characters I create on this story.
Scroll 8: Vegetables and A Legal Way
Naruto was sitting on a white hospital bed. It was very easy to notice whether this was hospital or not since all hospital have a trademark color— white. He wore a light blue hospital pajamas. His head was covered with white bandages so were his wrists and arms. The curled to shoulder sleeves showed it. His eyes were focused to the bowl of fresh vegetables in front of him, arms folded on his chest. His face was showing resentfulness. But rather than focused eyes, it was a lot more matching if you said: 'glare the vegetables until they shriek and get away from you for the sake of peace'. Indeed it was.
A soft knock didn't get a success to remove his gaze. The door opened and revealed a pink haired girl. It was Sakura. She brought a basket of fruit in her arm. She said a good morning before sighed at the sight of a too focused Naruto.
"Stop it. The vegetables won't burn no matter how long you glare at it." She walked and took a sit at a round chair that was set beside Naruto's bed.
"That damn old pervert sent this" Naruto said as if he didn't hear Sakura. " 'Get better and eat these vegetables. You sure don't want to die by sickness, right?'" Naruto imitated Jiraiya's voice and tone before grumbled"Right. But vegetables are dooming my appetite and mood." Sakura found her self was sweat-dropping at Naruto's childish behavior.
"Well, idiot. You don't have to eat it raw. It may taste horrible if you consumed it raw, but I could cook it into a delicious soup if you ask me properly." She was merely wanted to improve her cooking ability since there had been no good reasons available lately to make her mother let her use the kitchen. Besides, if she wanted to be a good wife for Sasuke, she should practice her (rather terrible) cooking skill right?
Naruto was having his best to keep his expression steady and kept him self from blurting 'You? Cooking?' because he knew that he should save his neck for the chuunin exam. He let a nervous laugh and thank to her. Luckily a shinobi was taught to not let other people read your emotion so he was quite something in acting.
"I take that as a no. But you don't hate fruits, do you" Sakura received a shook from the blonde. She was peeling an apple when she noticed something.
"Hm? Where's Rhaera? I think he is at the same room as you…" she stared at the neat and empty bed near the window. Naruto snorted, he was chewing banana in his mouth while doing it.
"Oh, he. His injuries aren't critical so he is still not allowed to be discharged, but he is allowed to get out of bed. Geez… I saved his ass from the fall by being his landing bed and he is the one who get a good part" the blonde said with a resent tone. Really, to be stay in a hospital bed (that smelled antiseptics) until the chuunin exam was pissing him. He is an overactive shinobi that needs to move every single minute. To be stranded in this kind of place with no entertainment… was really pissing him.
"Be thankful that at least you are allowed to participate to the chuunin exam" Sakura said with a scolding, distinct voice.
Naruto lowered his head. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be thankful but I won't be satisfied…" he said in a doomed tone. He knew something that was a lot better than made Sakura angry.
Sakura decided to change the topic before blood appears. "So, were you serious when you said you don't remember anything that happened when you get out of the cave" Sakura asked curiously. She had been asking the blonde for three times already excluding this. When she and Kakashi found him and Rhaera they had been unconscious and lay on the soft grass near one of the cave exits.
Naruto sighed. "I told you many times Sakura-chan, yes I don't remember anything beside Rhaera fell on me and when I woke and found myself in this injured people's prison."
"Yeah, keep insulting hospitals until one day when you injured and I'm one of the doctors here I'll officially make myself put a poison to your food" she said to Naruto as she threw a look that promising seriousness and dead.
Naruto smirked. It was the playful smirk that he usually uses to tease or insult anybody. "I'll remember that."
Meanwhile, the green haired archer was sitting on a trunk of a tall tree. If he could see, he would stare to the blue sky. His bow and arrows were illegal in hospital so he was forced to play with a very soft rubber ball that won't hurt anybody no matter how hard it hit somebody. He had given up figuring how such a rubber could be this soft. But the softness of this ball made him didn't want to throw it. He decided to enjoy the softness by pressing it by his fingers.
Unlike Naruto who completely forgot, he still remembered the previous events. It was as clear as a tape recorder, especially the 'you should leave' part. It had been echoing in his head painfully.
"What does she mean" he grumbled his frustrated thought out loud.
"Paperworkpaperworkpaperworkpaperworkpaperworkpaperworkpaperworkpaperwork damn paperwork! Why the hell I must do paperwork? Aahh… I want to gamble at pachinko… it has been one month since the last time I date with it…" Tsunade moaned. Her voice could be heard by Shizune through the mountain of papers.
"Tsunade-sama, you can't do that! You have the obligation as Hokage! You cannot leave the paperwork even for an hour, because they'll grow into mountains! And you'll be more tired" said Shizune with a scolding tone.
Even the papers on her desk were resembled to a barricade that avoid she and anybody see to each other eyes, Shizune could feel the glare Tsunade was sending to her.
"Shizune. What the heck is that thing in your arms" Amazingly, Tsunade has an x-ray vision that nearly matched the Hyuugas' Byakugan that let her see what the thing was. I mean, were.
"These are lists of this year's chuunin exam participators." Shizune said as she shifted her hold at the stack of papers.
"And what kind of business they have with paperw— me" her glare was screaming: 'enough paperwork!'.
Shizune shook her head. "Don't worry, Tsunade-sama. I bring them here because I think that these lists are far more interesting than those mission reports. And because I won't let you gamble, I bring these as an entertainment for you."
"Good timing. Bring those to me." She took them from Shizune once they were within her arms reach. She began to flip the pages a little eagerly. She skimmed the pages until she found a similar face with its data beside its photo.
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Age: 15
Village: Konoha
Team number: 7
Jounin Teacher: Hatake Kakashi
Teammates: Haruno Sakura, Rhaera
Description: a loud mouthed, well-known as troublemaker blonde in Konoha. This blue eyed ninja has failed three times at his academy graduation exam. But he showed marvelous improvement after he was graduated and took a part in his first chuunin exam. He failed at the exam but managed to reach the final part of the exam. After that he went traveling for almost three years. Because of his absent for a long time, his ability for ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu are remain unknown when this report is written.
Tsunade curled her lips a bit. So, even the other ninjas were agreed that Naruto was a very talented and full of surprise ninja but unfortunately a troublemaker. She looked at the pentagon shaped diagram. It wasn't filled by high or low triangles, just a blank pentagon with a big question mark on it. Just like Gaara of The Sand's before he participate his first chuunin exam. Then she noticed some pieces of paper that stuck out from the file.
"What's this" she took the papers and read one of them. Then she frowned. "These are participants' data like in this file, right? Why are these things separated from the file" she asked Shizune.
"Well, those ones have a little problem" Shizune explained rather nervously. She didn't want Tsunade to have another stress.
The kunoichi of the Legendary Three felt that this problem was no little. Usually, a shinobi that wasn't allowed to participate was an illegal shinobi or a missing nin. "Tell me, Shizune."
"Well, as you see, we saw no problem for the two shinobis of that team, but the last one… he isn't even a shinobi."
"Then don't let them participate to the exam! The basic requirement to participate to this exam is a full team of three genin level shinobi! What's so hard about ditching them"
"Uhm… we could easily ditch them like a… you can say trash, but this trash isn't an easily recyclable trash. It'll give a trouble sooner or later…" Shizune wondered why she could even stand at the tired and murderous glare Tsunade accidentally gave to her.
"And why is that"
"Because the troubled one is—"
A soft knock interrupted Shizune. Tsunade gave a nod as the knock continued.
"Come in" Shizune's voice came to permit the guest(s).
The door opened, revealing two adult men and one teenage boy. Tsunade immediately figured one of the men was the one in the separated paper. So these people were the rest of his team. Then she realized why Shizune called this matter was an easily recyclable trash when she saw the youngest of the three's face.
"You…"
"Good afternoon, Godaime no Hokage-sama. It's a pleasure to meet a beautiful lady like you" the young, red-haired teenager greeted her.
"Kinjiya Hayame, I see. Why very rich young lord like you come to this village? I can't see any reason that is good enough for you to endanger yourself" Tsunade replied bitterly.
Hayame grinned. "Well, as you see, I come here— and yeah, to endanger myself. It was so boring in the manor and I think I need 'some exercise'." Tsunade stared at the young teenage in front of her. Was this boy was so talented or so stupid?
"Do you know that chuunin exam has nothing that contains 'exercise' or something that will match your category" she asked just to be sure if this boy was an idiot or not.
"I know that. Chuunin exam is one of the most dangerous exams that ever held. This exam was firstly held at the Sunagakure (Sand Village) nearly fifty years before the first ninja world war. The exam is the greatest donor of genin victim. And it's said that—"
"Stopped it. I know that when I was much younger than you" Tsunade interrupted Hayame's useless rambling.
"Yes, ma'am. By the way, I come to your office to straighten a 'thing'" Hayame grinned as he noticed that Tsunade understood what he was meaning.
"Yeah, you can't buy a genin status, even with those moneys of yours." Tsunade's eyes loudly screamed: 'I'm not going to let you bribe me' and Hayame understood that.
"Well, that is expected from a stern lady like you. I figured I have been a good house-loving-rather-spoiled-boy but I'm honorable going-to-be man that won't buy such a high respected, warrior like status. So I decided to ask you for help."
"And what I can do to let you enter the exam legally without one or more illegal way" the Godaime asked as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion and a bit of wonder.
"Simple. Get a jounin or chuunin to test my skill. I'll suggest combat test will be the best. A combat always explain almost everything that a fighter has, correct"
Tsunade sighed. This clever young lord had checked a good point. Well, if only academy graduation's process was as simple as he said… "Fine. But don't hold a grudge against me if I get a very strong shinobi that may fail your instant test. And when you passed the test and chuunin exam, don't be a missing nin, please."
Hayame grinned. "Shall not. I don't like making enemies."
"You may leave."
Hayame smiled and nodded politely to her before leave with his other teammates. Shizune, who had been silent through the conversation, quickly spilled her thought excitedly.
"Tsunade-sama, this is a good opportunity, right? If a rich lord like him joins force with us—"
"It's not 'join force', Shizune. That boy is simply participates the exam for the sake of 'fun'. Someone like him won't be stupid enough to hurt himself" the Godaime said bitterly as Shizune's head fell from disappointment.
"So, who is the one that you'll send" the younger of the two asked.
"Gai will be enough for him."
"Huh? Won't it be too hard for Kinjiya-san"
"I want to watch him suffer. Either with Gai's scary self or his disappointment for cannot enter the exam" Tsunade smirked evily.
Shizune silenced for a moment.
"You are cruel."
The next day…
Tsunade was doing her paperwork when Gai, without warning, barged into her office, cheeks were wet because of tears.
"What-what is it, Gai" no need to tell that Tsunade was stuttering in surprise. She rarely encountered a crying Gai that slumped his head on her desk, sobbing. Well, except when it was something about his teacher-student relationship with Lee.
"That young man of Kinjiya" Gai managed to tell her between his sobs.
"Why? He defeated you" Tsunade inwardly hoped that her expectation was wrong.
Gai shook his head. A famous body language of 'no'.
"Then why"
For the first time since the bobbed-haired teacher barged in, he lifted his face to reveal his face. Surprisingly, his expression was a mix of happy and touched. That made Tsunade wondered if Hayame was a taijutsu only user that was similar like this man over here.
"He—! He praised me" he yelled with a more than happy voice. "He truly praised me! He is the second one after Lee! He said my taijutsu technique is cool! And my look — he said it's unique and artistic" Tsunade was about to ask about the test when he told her before she could. "And because of that, I decided that he passed the test before I could injure my second fan"
"Bootlicker." The angry hiss that was hissed from Tsunade's lips was clearly directed to Hayame. Luckily, Gai didn't hear her insulting his second fan or… I left that to your mind for imagine.
"Uhm… Gai, what did he say to you" Shizune asked.
"He said, 'Well, Mr. Gai, my first impression about you is that I have never met such a unique guy like you' that means he was amazed my rare looks and personality! And he said, 'You are very good at using your muscles than your brain, Gai' that means he praised my great taijutsu skill! I'm sooooo tooouuuccchhheeeeddd" Tsunade and Shizune wondered where the spotlight came from.
Shizune smiled nervously "Uuhh… I think—"
"I'm gonna tell this to my beloved student, Lee! See you later, Hokage-sama! Thank you so much for introduced me to such a nice boy" after that, he stormed out of the room.
"Sometimes, he just like a tornado" commented Tsunade slowly. Yup, come suddenly and cause as much disaster as possible but the next minute it left as if it's never been there. "And rather than tell, I choose to call it 'brag'. But I think Lee won't mind it."
Shizune nodded. "But I think that the meaning of 'I have never met such a unique guy like you' is the polite version of 'you are the weirdest person I've ever met' and the meaning of 'You are very good at using your muscles than your brain' is the longer version of 'you are a brainless man'." Shizune told Tsunade her thought.
Tsunade eyed her. "Don't say that in front of him. It'll cause a fatal mental break."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama. I'll remember it forever."
Tsunade sighed as she sank to her chair. "I should have send Kakashi. At least he isn't a sensitive person in praise…"
"Yeah, but if he discovered that the copy ninja will dedicate his life for the sake of the newest book of 'Icha Icha' series— Icha Icha Tactics, well you know how rich Kinjiya-san is. One book shouldn't be a problem for him."
"But I think Kakashi isn't a person that is easily bribed like that…"
A soft, lazy knock prevented Shizune to say whatever she wanted to say… again.
"Come in" she again permitted whoever has the business with the Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, are you calling me" asked a boy with a lazy tone.
"Ah, I almost forgot that you'll come here. So, how's your task? Do you find something good" asked Tsunade.
The boy nodded his head. "It's quite a nuisance to do it. But finally I managed to find something."
"And what's that" she asked eagerly. She really was bored with the same thing over and over. So she decided to have some change.
The boy threw a scroll from his pocket and the scroll fell directly on Tsunade's desk. It seemed that recently this desk was the dead things favorite landing place. "I wrote all of it in that scroll. It seemed that my laziness decreased a bit when I wrote that." He stopped to yawn. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take a long nap. I had been receiving no sleep in three days when I wrote that. I must save my energy by the way…"
Before the boy could exit the room, Tsunade called him. "Remember! Don't be late"
"Roger."
Tsunade opened the scroll once the door closed. Her eyes skimmed it for a moment before a satisfied smile crept to her lips. "Brilliant, Shikamaru."
Ended on: February 7th 2005
A/N: Be sure you'll read the next and review this chap. I won't beg you anymore. I lost the hope of getting many reviews from you. But I won't stop reminding you.
