It had been a while since the attack on Konoha. The Third had been laid to rest and the new kage was about to be officially welcomed. In a small narrow street, not known for any discernable differences from the other streets so that one would call it special, a dark-haired genin steps out from a modest home. Sounds of a nagging woman inside cause the young boy to almost visibly sag in relief from leaving the building, as he looked up at the sky to stare at the cotton-like clouds above.
He had a prepetual half-asleep look to his expression, his half-lidded eyes a dull brown, his mouth pulled to a slight frown. He pushed his tanned hands into his pockets before starting down the sidewalk, his pace slow, his body slouched over, his head held out as if it weighed too much.
He glanced half-heartedly at the busy movements of villagers repairing buildings that had been wreaked in the battle, carrying logs to patch up minor holes, or tearing down whole walls to put up new ones.
The shinobi felt no urge to help them, not quite being in a mood to go about picking up heavy objects. He had had enough of straining himself ever since sound's invasion. The others seemed to be almost happy it had happened, especially a particular yellow-haired shinobi who had run about the other day to brag about himself.
"Can you believe it? I beat him! I beat that freak with the gourd!"
He visibly cringed at the thought, his ever-present grimace becoming more exagerrated. He disliked hanging about with the fellow, always jumping about and causing a ruckus. He almost disliked him as much as Kiba, the Inuzuka's arrogant grin making him want to bash his teeth in...if he weren't so lazy.
"Ohayo!" came a loud shout a few metres behind him and he tried turning away and pretending not to have heard. A strong hand came down on his shoulder, causing him to lose balance as he walked for a moment till he pushed the hand off his shoulder and stared at the newcomer.
It was the aforementioned shinobi, with his ridiculously yellow spiked hair and unusually blue eyes. He was wearing casual clothes that morning, his trademark orange pants with a plain white t shirt. His prized head protector was also mysteriously absent, but not caring to think about it more, turned away from the Uzumaki and continued at his slow pace, not saying anything to the Kyuubi container.
To his horror the blond nin didn't leave, instead walked along beside him, humming some annoyingly tuneless song. Irritation caused an eyebrow to twitched slightly.
"Naruto, don't you have something else to do? Someone else to bug?" he mumbled.
Naruto looked at him with wide eyes, then to the sky a moment as a finger went to scratch a hairless chin.
"Anything to ...do?...Not really...Eh, why don't you come with me to Ichiraku Ramen later?" he asked happily, almost skipping.
The sight of the genin skipping almost made him want to shrink someplace in embarrasment, but kept his emotions in control. They continued on in silence till they passed another building. A few metres ahead, a familiar rounded young man came out the door, holding a bag of chips, a backpack on probably filled with candies and other various junkfood.
He raised a hand in greeting when the other boy turned around, his mouth full of potato chip.
"Oiy Chouji," he said casually.
The second boy came along to join them both, and he felt somewhat better. The rotund shinobi was by far much more tolerable company than the Uzumaki beside him. Chouji spoke only when he needed to, even if it mostly consisted of the words, "One more please."
Naruto grinned widely and greeted Chouji as well.
"Hey Chouji, want to come to Ichiraku Ramen with me later?"
The Akimichi brightened instantly, the promise of food almost making the nin glow in happiness. They continued talking, Naruto about ramen and Chouji about Korean BBQ as he continued on, trying his best to ignore them both.
..Damn you Chouji...
The trio continued down the street, the Uzumaki and Akimichi having grown quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Whether it be becoming kage or eating 25 lbs of BBQ, he didn't care, enjoying the silence that fell. Of course, it didn't last long, as another blond stepped onto the sidewalk.
...Are the gods against me?...
It was Ino, her short hair tied up on her head. He had to smirk at the hairdo, remembering when she had cut it off.
...Really though, doing it after Sakura did made the whole act like a pathetic cry of attention than anything else...
He never told the fiesty girl this, knowing the act would be suicide. She smiled in greeting as she spotted the three of them heading toward her and they stopped a moment outside her door.
"Ino, are you heading where we are too?" asked Naruto, always the first to open his mouth.
Ino nodded and smiled, then frowned at Naruto's attire.
"Naruto! Why are you dressed like that? This is a special event!" she chastised him, her blue eyes flashing.
She was dressed in a semi-formal navy dress that came to her knees. Her upper legs were covered in white shorts, but all in all, even though her clothing was plain, it suited her. She then turned to him and Chouji.
"And you guys! What're you doing in those?" She referred to the clothing that they often wore. Chouji made a munching noise in respond and he translated.
"It's just some ceremony," he said lazily, crossing his arms, his lidded eyes managing to drop further as he tilted his head slightly.
Ino seemed to want to send another outburst when she gave a big breath and then shrugged, feigning indifference when the small vein on her forehead said otherwise. She then joined their group, walking along beside him as Naruto and Chouji stepped ahead, their pace quicker. They continued on this way, the pair ahead steadily pulling away as they were caught in their own conversations of culinary arts. He had to give a small "Heh" in amusement, realizing how much they resembled each other, when Ino turned her head at the sound.
"What's wrong now? You catching a cold?" she asked, her face turned forward but her blue irises turned to him. He shrugged, not really in the mood to answer trivial questions.
She "hmph"ed soflty and they continued a few more steps when she tried making conversation again.
...Why do women talk so much?...
"Don't you think this is exciting? I heard the new kage is really Tsunade herself," she gushed. He pulled his mouth into a wider frown when he shrugged again.
"Doesn't really matter does it? Although I wonder why it had to be a wo..." he paused then, knowing better.
"Why they had to hold this thing today. Shouldn't they at least wait till the village is totally repaired?"
Ino didn't seem to hear his earlier mistake and she shook her head in disagreement.
"I think it's the best time," she said, nodding slightly to herself.
She said nothing more, which annoyed him slightly, and went to the trouble of asking, "Why?"
"Because," she said, "Bringing at least the knowledge that our village is in good hands will bring up the peoples' spirits. Make them hopeful."
He said nothing, not really agreeing, but then ventured a more risky question.
"Why do you think they chose Tsunade? They could have gotten Jiraiya.."
Ino turned a face of disbelief toward him.
"You can't seriously think that?" she asked.
Well, better than a woman...
He remained quiet and Ino sighed. Then he decided to rephrase his question.
"Why would they chose her when they found him first."
Ino raised an eyebrow and he squinted his eyes slightly in anticipation for a painful smack. Amazingly, none came.
"Because having Jiraiya-sama as Hokage would be like having Naruto as kage," she said matter-of-factly.
He made a confused face at her comment and she turned to him, giving him a devious smirk. He chuckled then, having a pretty good idea of how it would be like, if Naruto was kage, and still acted as he was now.
"Hey you guys! Come on or your seats'll be taken!" yelled a loud voice. It was Naruto.
He noticed they had made it all the way to the tournament arena. The area was fixed up, and looked better than before. Walking into the audience area, he gazed at the arena below. It had a stage set up at the center, and groups of jounin stood in rows. He spotted Asuma, a cigarette in his mouth when Kurenai swiped it from his lips and crushed in on the ground with his foot. Kakashi stood nearby, the side of his body in view so his head protector blocked his face. Gai stood beside him, stars glinting from his grin. He even spotted his own father in the mix, laughing with Ino's and Chouji's fathers.
"Hey!"
The voice of Naruto caught his attention again and he looked up a few rows to see some free seats. All the leaf genins were there already. Kiba sat near Naruto and Chouji as Akamaru threatened to nip at the blond. Beside the Inuzuka sat the shy Hinata, she softly giggled as she watched the dog paw at Naruto, the blond over-reacting and yelling at the canine. Next sat Shino, his expression hidden when they met gazes. The Aburame nodded slightly. Next was Neji, Rock Lee and Tenten. Lee was still in bandages and casts but Tenten's excited chatter seemed to cheer him up. Neji remained relatively calm, but a content look rested on his features. Beside Tenten sat a silent Sasuke. Sakura sat beside him and she spoke calmly to him. It seemed not to bother the Uchiha, even seemed to relax him.
A hand on his shoulder brought him back to his senses and he turned to Ino. She was smiling.
"See? It's something we all really need," she said quietly and nodded to him to follow her to the few remaining empty seats.
He thought about her comment a moment. Turning back to the stage below, the jounins straightened up, as music signalled the arrival of the new kage. He scanned the crowd, seeing the happy faces, the faces of families who had just lost loved ones, whether in battle or in the crossfire. They cheered as a curvy tan-haired woman made her way into the staduim, and he had to pause slightly in awe of the reactions of all the people.
...Happy. They've just lost loved ones and yet are so happy...
For a moment, while his face was turned away from the others, his eyes scrunched slightly as he let the corners of his mouth widen to a smile.
"OIY! Shikamaru, you're in the way. Sit down!" yelled Naruto.
His smile disappeared immediately. Pulling his trademark frown on his face, and slouching he raised an arm in a wave of surrender. He turned and headed to the others just as the sannin stood on the stage to start her speech.
"'Kay, okay...Geez...You're so troublesome.."