Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Naruto Series. I just wish I did.
Chapter 2: Discussions
Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes, only to shut them again when they were hit by the blinding sunlight coming in through the window on the wall next to him.
"Urgh," he groaned again and rubbed his head, "what happened?"
It was then that the events from the battle came back to him. Witnessing Sasuke taking the attack meant for him, meeting the fox who had turned into a dragon due to his bloodline, unlocking said bloodline and then coming too, again to find that Haku-
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he bolted straight up on the bed. 'Haku!' he thought to himself in desperation.
He didn't know what had happened to the girl after he blacked out; for all he knew Kakashi had decided that she was a threat that had to be dealt with for the sake of the mission's success.
He didn't know exactly what was causing it, but something was telling him to find the girl and protect her. It was enough motivation for Naruto to throw back the blankets covering him and leap out of the bed to search for her.
That is, if a hand hadn't suddenly gripped his shoulder.
A vicious snarl escaping his lips, Naruto raised his hand and brought it down in a slash as he spun around to face the one who dared to stop him.
"Whoa! Easy there Naruto!" Kakashi yelled in surprise as he stopped his students' attack by grabbing his wrist before it could take his head off. His uncovered eye widened in surprise when he saw that Naruto's fingernails had sharpened into claws that gleamed in the early morning sunlight streaming through the window. Had he not stopped the attack when he did, Kakashi had little doubt in his mind that it would have severed his head from his body.
Coming back to his senses; Naruto's eyes widened once more when he saw who he had just tried to attack. "K-Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yo." Kakashi eye smiled at his student despite the recent events and released his grip on him. However, his mind was processing the event at an insane speed as he watched Naruto lower his hand and step back from him. One thing was certain to the gray-haired ninja; Naruto was different.
"Are you alright?" he asked after a moment. The slightest amount of concern lacing his voice.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah," then he remembered the reason he was getting out of bed. "Where's Haku? How is she? Is she hurt?" he asked rapidly, barely taking a breath between the questions, looking around as his instinct to protect once more grew out of nowhere.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "in reverse order: No Haku is not hurt. The same answer applies to the second since it is the same question, and she's over there." he told his student, holding up three fingers and taking one down with each answer until the last and instead pointed in the direction Naruto's back was facing.
Naruto turned and immediately his heart rate calmed when he spotted Haku in a bed opposite his. Her face was calm with the bliss of sleep and she looked as Kakashi had said. Unhurt. However, as his eyes trailed over Haku's face, Naruto noticed a square piece of paper in the center of her forehead. It was small, and covered in a variety of different symbols reminiscent of scribbles and Kanji, the largest of these kanji however was one that sat directly in the center of the paper.
Naruto's eyes darkened when he realized what the paper was.
"Kakashi-sensei," he growled as his anger reignited. Kakashi was taken aback by the amount of Killing Intent being released from his student. It was comparable to that of an amateur Jonin, and was intense enough that it was beginning to make the older of the duo sweat. "There had better be a very good reason as to why she has a sealing tag designed to force sleep placed on her."
Again Kakashi was taken by surprise when Naruto turned his head towards him. It wasn't the glare so much as it was Naruto's eyes that startled him. They had turned the same slitted gold as they had during the bridge battle!
However, as startled as he was about his student's eyes, Kakashi was far more startled to realize Naruto had recognized what the seal was designed for. "H... How did you know what that seal does?" Kakashi knew his student was half Uzumaki, but until then he had not shown any signs of understanding seals.
Naruto snorted. "Please." he said, startling his teacher with the amount of venom in his voice. "There is so much that you and that village don't know about me. I can count the number of people who know my true abilities on one hand and still have fingers left over. And even then only old man Sarutobi really knows what I can do."
Surprise was quickly beginning to become a part of Kakashi's hidden expression. And even then to say he was surprised would be the understatement of all understatements as he realized Naruto had taken a ninja's number one rule to heart. 'Deception is everything.'
Not only had he done this, but he had even managed to fool every shinobi and kunoichi Konoha had to offer; and they were some of the best among the five nations! Kakashi had a feeling not even the ANBU corps knew as much as he was learning about his student right now.
"N...Naruto?" he asked, his voice betrayed his uncertainty. "What happened to you?"
Naruto's glare, if it was possible, worsened and he turned to fully face his sensei. "Konoha happened." he hissed. "For thirteen years I've had to put up with those fuck turds who call themselves human. They've beaten me, kicked me, stabbed, burned and starved me. They fucking hunted me Kakashi!" a black haze suddenly manifested itself around the red streaked blonde.
"I am done! I have reached my breaking point! I WILL NOT put up with them any longer. If they try to beat me, I'll break every bone in their bodies. If they try to kick me I'll shove my foot through their skulls. If they try to burn me then I'll melt the skin from their bones! If they try another one of their hunts, I will be the one hunting THEM!"
Naruto's body was shaking with his repressed rage, and Kakashi was tempted to run as he felt it threatening to break free. But he restrained himself as he placed a hand on his student's shoulder. The chakra haze burned at it, but Kakashi had a large pain tolerance due to his years as a shinobi.
"Calm yourself, Naruto." he ordered sharply. It was rare for him to take such a tone with his students. But with who he was dealing with, and everything he was learning about him today; Kakashi was taking no chances. "I was asking about your eyes." he clarified, tightening his hold as the chakra continued to burn at his hand.
For a moment Naruto did nothing as he continued to shake. But then his chest heaved with a deep breath, and the chakra immediately receded and the Jonin withdrew his hand, noticing that his glove had been completely eaten through in some areas and his skin was an angry red in the places it had.
Naruto again snorted and turned back to Haku. "As much as you may need to know this, sensei," he bit out, "those two listening outside the door do not."
Instantly there was a series of thumps and a shriek the two recognized as Sakura's from outside the door. In a second Kakashi was at the door and wrenching it open.
Outside he found both of his other students in a crumpled pile on the floor. Obviously they had smashed into each other as they tried to retreat. "OUT!" the Jonin barked. His lone eye was giving them a glare that dared them to protest.
"But-" Sasuke tried, but was interrupted. "I said OUT!" Kakashi ordered in a shout, this time he channeled his own killing intent. The two genin paled dramatically and scrambled over each other in their efforts to retreat.
Seeing they were gone, Kakashi slammed the door. He hated eavesdroppers. With everything going on the last few days he was beginning to wonder why he had even signed up to be a teacher in the first place.
He shook his head; he could regret his actions later.
"Now that that's taken care of," he sighed, turning back to his arguably favorite student. "Please tell me what happened, Naruto. I should at least know that much so I can include it in my mission report."
"Sit down, Sensei," Naruto said, walking up and leaning against the nearest wall. He sighed, "This is going to be a long story."
"I'm all ears." Kakashi stated lightly, doing as suggested and sitting down on the bed Naruto had previously vacated.
Naruto sighed again. "It's like this…."
-Two hours later-
"…I don't know how it happened, but it turned him; that's all I know." Naruto finished his story with a breath. Truth be told, he still couldn't believe that the nine tails had been turned into a dragon by his bloodline. How it was even possible was lost to him as bloodlines were only supposed to affect the user. Nothing else. But given the nature of the seal used to hold Tsudzurao and who made it (1), Naruto supposed it was possible.
A few feet away and still sitting in the same spot he had been when the explanation began, Kakashi's mind was a whirlwind of activity. The fact that his formerly and still somewhat blonde student had managed to unlock a bloodline that was as old as the elemental nations themselves was surprising yes, but not overly so considering Kakashi knew who his parents were and the clan he was descended from. Kushina had speculated Naruto would be able to when she was pregnant with him, but the possibility had been slim since her child would not have been a full Uzumaki, and she herself had not been gifted with the bloodline. Kakashi was more proud than he was surprised at the fact. To him it was as if the fates were starting to make amends for giving Naruto such a messed-up life as they had.
Instead though, it was the fact that the Kyuubi had been transformed by this bloodline that surprised the man. It was something that should not have been possible, and as far as Kakashi knew, nothing like this had ever happened before, but his thoughts followed Naruto's on that, the seal used to seal the Kyuubi was a heavily guarded secret, the only people who knew of its complete workings were the Hokage, and Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin. Not even Kakashi as the Fourth's only living student was privileged to know how the Shiki Fuinn worked other than the basics. To say the least, the Kyuubi turning into a dragon was not exactly what he had expected the seal to cause.
Despite his surprise over the fact, Kakashi had no good feelings about it offering to help Naruto. It was a demon. One that had very nearly destroyed the village for crying out loud. How could he be sure it was trustworthy?
"Are you sure you can trust it?" he asked in a low voice. His eye wavered on the area where the seal was.
"Let me speak to him, Naruto." Tsudzurao spoke in the blonde's mind. "Just lessen your hold on your mind for a moment and I can speak through you."
Although he was reluctant to do so, Naruto complied and lessened his grip on his own mind and shortly felt as if he was a passenger inside his own body.
Kakashi's eye widened drastically as the black haze returned to Naruto and the boy's eyes changed to gold with slitted pupils. These weren't the eyes of Naruto's new bloodline however, they radiated more power than they could have. No, these were the eyes of the Kyuubi. Before he could react however Naruto, or at least Naruto's body, spoke. "Greetings, Sharingan Kakashi."
"K-Kyuubi." Kakashi stuttered out, sweating as he realized the nine-tails had taken control of his student's body.
Tsudzurao smirked. "You got it, though that is no longer my name." he said. "However, I only want to speak with you. I have no intention of harming you or the gaki (Hey!) you have my word on that, there will be no need for your weapons."
Kakashi gulped. Despite the being's word he still did not truly believe him. The fact that Kyuubi had seen his hand going for his weapons pouch unnerved him more than he already was. "Then what do y-you want?" he asked. Naruto's body smirked again and raised a hand in a placating, if somewhat mocking, way. "Oh, you know," he said, "I just want some access to the boy's senses and help him train with his new bloodline since I was around when it first was. I may even have him sign a summoning contract or two while I'm at it. (…huh?) It's not like I want to dominate the world or anything. That's more of Shukaku's area, that guy's insane anyway."
If Kakashi wasn't confused before, he was now. "Huh?" he could even try to wrap his head around what was going on. He couldn't tell what the fox turned dragon meant by that last one.
Tsudzurao chuckled, "I'm not joking, human. Well…mostly not. I'm serious about helping the kid out. Without his mother around to help him train in it I'm really the only one in Konoha who can give him some direction on how to train in his bloodline. However, and speaking of which," Tsudzurao's gaze suddenly turned into a glare. "I expect both you and the Hokage to give him his inheritance, including THOSE jutsu. In my world you would have been gutted and hung by your entrails for keeping such knowledge from him. We demons may not be looked at highly by you humans but we care for our young and we do not hold grudges against them for something a parent has done. Besides, Naruto only wants to know who his parents are, he doesn't care what they were, or if they were rich or famous. He just wants to know their names and believe me, he is ready to handle the knowledge." The demon informed, glaring at the man in front of him as Kakashi's head slumped.
"Kyuubi-sama," Kakashi muttered under his breath, his voice was weak. Be it from the strain of the glare or from the being's demands he didn't know. But he wanted to explain.
"I already know." Tsudzurao stated. "I personally don't hold it against you since your intentions in doing so were noble, but I don't like secrets being withheld from my host." The chakra around him seemed to flicker. "Damn! I thought I had a few more minutes yet." He muttered to himself before turning back to Kakashi. "Tell your Hokage about this meeting, and inform him that I will not do anything to harm Naruto, the team, or the village unless otherwise provoked. Understand?"
Kakashi nodded as the chakra around Naruto's body vanished and his eyes returned to their normal azure.
"Huh?" the genin grunted, staggering as his mind resumed control of his body. "What the hell?" he muttered. "What was that last part, Tsudzurao? You cut my connection to the conversation!"
"Don't worry about it yet, Hatchling. It was something private I had to inform your sensei of and it is not my place to tell you."
"Fine."
"Now," Naruto muttered, turning his back once more on his sensei. "I'm going to wake Haku-chan up."
"Wait, Naruto." Kakashi stopped him again with his hand on his shoulder, this time no chakra lashed out at him, but Naruto still turned and glared at the silver haired man.
"What?" he hissed.
Kakashi gulped. That glare reminded him too much of Kushina for his comfort level.
"Don't get me wrong, you can wake her up. But don't you think that she'd be more comfortable if she woke up and you were fully dressed?"
"huh?" Naruto's head quirked to the side in confusion before Kakashi pointed at his body. Looking down, Naruto's cheeks erupted in crimson once he saw he was dressed in nothing more than a pair of boxers. Said boxers did nothing to hide the fact that the red streaked blonde was well endowed. Very much so.
Through the closed door and in the lower levels of the house the other residents heard Naruto's scream.
"Why didn't you tell me I was practically naked in the first place!?"
Two days later
"Are you sure you have to go, Ni-san?" the sad form of Inari asked, looking up to the significantly taller Naruto.
Since the day of the bridge battle and Gato's subsequent death the child's attitude had taken a major turn for the better. Where a brooding brat had been, was once more a bright and happy child. A child that looked up to the red and blonde haired young man in front of him. Also with Gato's death, the villagers of wave were no longer living in fear of their families being killed should they help and had managed to complete the bridge at a faster rate than they would have otherwise. Naruto's mass spamming of Shadow Clones also cut down the build time, but that wasn't something that really mattered now.
Naruto grinned down at Inari, internally celebrating that he could do so since his bloodline had put his body where it should be for his fourteen years. "Don't worry, brat." He said, placing a hand on the boy's head. Inari huffed as his hair was ruffled, but a smile tugged the corners of his lips at Naruto's teasing. "Wave's safe enough for me to leave now." Naruto continued playfully, "but if ever there comes a day you guys need me again don't fret because Konoha's dragon will come. I promise." He said, this time to the surrounding crowd. Holding up his thumb in a "nice guy" pose as the rising sun pinged off his white teeth, his k9s now more pointed than they ever had been.
A few feet away Kakashi sweat dropped at the site, 'I hope to Kami Naruto never runs across Guy, especially if he's ever in one of his training regimens. I don't think the village will be able to hold itself up if that happens.`` He thought. Mentally, Kakashi swore to himself that he would keep Naruto away from Might Guy at all costs while at the same time picturing Naruto in a skin tight spandex suit with orange leg warmers. The gray haired Jonin shivered.
The possibility was frightening.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the horrifying image Kakashi returned his attention to his favorite student and smiled softly. Naruto's sudden change was surprising, but it wasn't an unwelcome one in Kakashi's opinion. Gone was the loud and obnoxious brat that declared his ambitions of being hokage every other minute and in his place was a calm, cool and collected young man who, although somewhat withdrawn, was far more mature than his alter ego had been.
Beside and slightly behind him, stood the last two members of team seven, each of them glaring daggers at the blonde. Sasuke because no matter how much he had demanded and annoyed him, Naruto would not give away the secret to that black chakra he'd used, or his new bloodline. To top it off for the Uchiha, Kakashi was backing the Dobe up! Something that was supposedly a 'clan secret'.
As for Sakura, well she didn't like Naruto on principle. To her this new bloodline of his was a lie and it solidified her dislike of her teammate for even coming up with the idea.
Meanwhile, her head bowed and hands folded in front of her, Haku stood behind Kakashi, her eyes rimmed in red and her attitude somber. She had not taken Zabuza's death well and looked as if she just wanted to shrink into herself and vanish.
As Naruto turned back to his team and they made to depart from the Land of Waves he and Kakashi had one thought.
'The village is in for a nasty shock when we get back…. I wonder what Hokage-sama/jiji will say/do?'
'With said Hokage in said village a day and a half later'
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back in his chair as he watched the village of Konoha through the window of his office. 'Ignorant fools,' he thought, sighing sadly as he watched the people go about their business.
Now, you may wonder why he, the leader of the village and protector of those same people would think this? The answer was as simple as it was crazy. The young man named Naruto Uzumaki.
For the last fourteen years since the boy had been born he had lived in regret. He felt that, maybe, had he tried harder, been more firm in his actions about the boy, then Naruto would have had a much better life. A life without the beatings, without the hate. A life with friends and maybe even a family. Hiruzen sighed. 'I was too soft.' He thought, the truth of the matter on his shoulders like a ton of bricks.
The night of Naruto's birth and the subsequent release of the Kyuubi and the death of Hiruzen's successor, he had already been retired for a year and a half, living in relative comfort and a part time advisor to the young Minato on the odd occasion. It wasn't a very long retirement, but it had been plenty to dull Hiruzen's political senses enough that when he'd retaken his hat that he'd been too slow to stop the civilians from taking more power from the shinobi counsel and telling the public of the, at the time, newborn Jinchuriki.
For the last fourteen years Hiruzen had been wrestling with the civilians, trying to gain back the power he'd lost and prevent them from taking more. So far it had been a virtual standstill. 'at least they haven't taken anymore.' It was a very small comfort to the old man, but at least he knew his efforts weren't entirely useless.
But with Naruto? The Hokage sighed. He'd failed Naruto in almost every way possible. He'd been unable to stop the civilians from finding out his status as a Jinchuriki, unable to stop their abuse of him and unable to stop their attempts on his life. Hiruzen's knuckles popped as his clenched his hands, remembering that Naruto had only been three hours old when the first assassination attempt had taken place.
'Monsters.' He thought, reigning in his anger. 'even our most hardened and emotionless shinobi know the child is but the scroll for the kunai.' Really. What was so bloody difficult for the civilians to realize about that? They claimed to love the Fourth, but they doubted his ability with seals when it was one of the things he was known for? It surprised the old man at how fickle civilians with nothing but a very basic knowledge of seals could be. But even then, the knowledge should have been enough for them to see that Naruto was not the Kyuubi.
It should have been enough for the boy to not have gone through the hell of a childhood he had!
A lone tear escaped the Hokage's eyes as he remembered another incident, the worst one.
Naruto had wound up in the hospital for a week. Numerous broken bones, burns all over his body; some had even gone completely through the skin and into muscle, and severe blood loss. Somehow the Kyuubi's chakra had been slowed down to a point where it healed Naruto's wounds at a much slower rate than it had in previous times. Other times Naruto had only required a night or two's stay at the hospital before being able to leave. But this time it had required a full week for him to heal, even though it was still much faster than it would have been for someone else.
To this day Hiruzen still had no idea how the boy's attackers had managed to slow the flow of Kyuubi's chakra enough to stall Naruto's healing so much. Over time it had picked up to what it once had been, but Hiruzen still wondered.
Despite this though, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at the thought of the boy. Naruto had grown into the type of person that was quickly becoming a rarity in the shinobi world. A true shinobi. That mask he had crafted around himself and his abilities was an ingenious use of the shinobi's only true rule.
Hiruzen smirked. Although it was true that he wasn't exactly happy with the way Naruto had been brought up; it was what molded the young man into what he was today. Naruto was anything but the dead last that he had led others to believe and if it hadn't been for those damned civilians Hiruzen would have promoted Naruto to Genin long before he had been. Though if the aged Kage was honest with himself Naruto was much more skilled than a genin. At the worst, Hiruzen would say he was borderline chunin.
It had been almost a year since the last time Hiruzen had managed to make enough time to ask Naruto for a demonstration of his skills. In all reality, Naruto could have surpassed that assessment months ago. Especially now that he knew the shadow clone jutsu. The only thing limiting that jutsu was the user's chakra levels, and Naruto had that stuff to spare. Enough that making a few dozens or even hundreds of the things seemed like nothing to him.
Though given who his mother was, Hiruzen wasn't surprised at the boy's chakra reserves, even without the Kyuubi's own feeding them, they were, in a word, gigantic.
Truth be told, Hiruzen's own - "Excuse me, Hokage-sama?" said Hokage's inner thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on his office door rang across them, followed quickly by his secretary's voice.
"Yes?" the aged man called, turning away from the window. "Pardon the interruption, but Team seven plus one, has just returned from their mission and is requesting an audience."
'Plus one?' the Kage wondered as an eyebrow rose on his aged forehead before giving the okay for them to be let in. Kakashi entered first, his posture relaxed but his usual orange book nowhere to be seen, causing Hiruzen further interest. Usually the cycloptic Jonin would have had his nose buried in it, even in meetings with the village leader. The fact that it wasn't, told the Hokage something serious was up.
Up next there was Sasuke and Sakura, nothing unusual seemed to be wrong with them other than them being annoyed at something.
Then came Naruto, trailed by a girl with long dark hair and a blue kimono who had her head bowed and looked as if she wanted to disappear. It wasn't the girl that got Hiruzen's attention though; instead it was Naruto.
The boy had grown at least two feet in height and his body had gained some significant muscle mass than the last time Hiruzen had seen him. The most surprising thing about him to the Hokage though was the fact that the boy's eyes now had vertically slitted pupils and his whisker marks were much less pronounced than they had been when he had left for the mission. Had it not been for the boys eyes and his whiskers still being slightly visible, Hiruzen could have sworn he was seeing the fourth's reincarnation walking into his office.
Not letting his surprise show any more than a raised eyebrow Hiruzen rose to his feet and greeted the team. "Welcome back Team Seven. I presume the mission was a success?" he asked, directing his attention to Kakashi.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke to affirm his leader. "However, there were some unforeseen circumstances that you must be made aware of and of a discovery regarding one of my Genin."
The Hokage nodded for Kakashi to continue. If he was right, then the 'discovery' Kakashi mentioned had something to do with Naruto's new look.
The debriefing that followed was something Hiruzen was not expecting to hear from one of his most seasoned and prized Jonin.
Twenty minutes later
Naruto smirked at the Hokage's stunned expression, even though the briefing had ended just a few seconds prior Hiruzen's face was almost something to laugh at. Almost being the keyword as he was no longer hiding his true personality.
"I see." The Hokage muttered after several long moments of silence. "Kakashi," he spoke, calling his Jonin to attention.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke and Sakura were somewhat shocked at how serious their sensei was being at the time as they had never seen him as such.
"You will escort Team Seven minus Naruto here to their homes. What they have learned over the course of this debriefing is an A-Class secret until it is deemed otherwise by myself or Naruto, make sure they do not reveal this information to anyone. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir." Kakashi responded, snapping his leader a solute and moving to take the other two members of the team to their homes. Sasuke however, was having none of this. In his mind Naruto was receiving special attention from the leader of the village instead of him for being the last 'loyal' male Uchiha. "Now wait just a minute!" he exclaimed, his temper finally having boiled over.
Instantly he was blasted with an intense amount of Killing intent. Not just from his sensei but from said leader himself. The amount coming from Kakashi was nothing compared to what was coming from the Hokage, and outclassed that of what he had felt from Zabuza during their first confrontation. It was enough to freeze the male in his tracks.
"Is there a problem, Genin?" Hiruzen asked, adding the emphasis on the word and adding a blast of extra intent to remind said Genin of his position.
Sasuke swallowed. "N…No, Hokage-sama." He stuttered, turning pale and allowing Kakashi to lead him and Sakura out of the office.
Once the door had shut and the security seals set for privacy between the three remaining in the office Hiruzen turned back to his surrogate grandson and the girl with him.
"So," he began, folding his hands under his chin. This was both a good and bad thing for the village, good in the fact that it had gained (regained?) a lost bloodline and bad because it would cause certain secrets that had been kept secret for the village's and Naruto's protection. "what are you not telling me?"
Naruto smirked and sat down in the chair opposite the desk. "Jiji, meet Haku." He said, motioning his head to the girl behind him. The hokage eyed the girl behind his surrogate grandson as she seemed to come to life for the first time since entering his office. The girl lifted her head to meet the man's eyes, revealing her own to be a chocolate brown and rimmed in red, as if she had silently been crying the entire time. She bowed just as quickly in respect.
"Hokage-sama." She spoke in a voice that was just barely a whisper. "My name is Haku, and I humbly ask for asylum within Konoha so that I may better serve Naruto-sama."
Hiruzen's head jerked back to Naruto in surprise. The red streaked blonde was burying his shaking head into his hands to hide his face.
"She thinks she has to be my servant since I spared her life instead of taking it in Wave." Naruto explained to the man's unasked question. "Believe me, I don't want her to be, but she won't accept it any other way."
Hiruzen nodded to the explanation. He'd seen stranger cases in his long life, but hoped the girl would eventually see herself as something more than just a servant. "I see." he said, propping his elbows on his desk and tapping his fingertips together in front of his face. "And would you like to join us as a shinobi?" he asked. The girl looked up with a sharp intake of air, her eyes darted from Naruto to the aged kage and back again.
Naruto sighed and inclined his head. "I won't make this decision for you, Haku." he told her. "It's your life, I'm not going to force anything on you should you not want to do something."
"I….I would like to join as a shinobi," Haku said, nodding to the one she thought of as a master, "however, my skills have always been better suited for healing rather than fighting-"
She was interrupted by a snort from the black streaked blonde. "Please, Haku. those needles of yours hurt like hell, and I could barely see you moving before I got the Ryogan." Naruto smirked as he saw the girl's face turn pink as she turned her head away from him.
Hiruzen chuckled at the two's interaction, he could see the girl was still in mourning of Zabuza, but he could tell Naruto was helping to ease the pain of losing someone she thought of as precious. "Be that as it may, Naruto." he said to Uzumaki. "There are several courses in the hospital, Haku may undergo if she wishes to enroll as a medical Kunoichi, which is something the village has a severe lack of at the moment."
Naruto nodded with the ghost of a smile on his face as he relented to the aged leader of the leaf. He had no issues with Haku becoming a mednin, he just enjoyed teasing her.
"Is that agreeable, Haku-san?" Hiruzen asked kindly to the ice user.
Haku nodded, a small smile on her face for the first time in days. "It is, hokage-sama. I am much happier healing than I am fighting."
"Very well then." the hokage said and dug a flier out of a pile on the desk before offering it to the girl to take. "Report to the front desk of the hospital in two days time and give this flier. The attendant there shall escort you to the correct doctor to begin your training." he instructed.
Haku nodded and took the offered flier before retaking her spot behind Naruto.
"Now, how about we discuss the other thing you aren't telling me?"
…
CUT!