A/N: well I was searching for the reviews on my email and I looked into my fic reviews folder…but these reviews weren't there! Gasp! I was like freaking out…but then I found them, buried at the bottom of my general inbox….-.- not sure if you needed to know that…
REVIEWS:
Awsome Shadow: OC pairing…got it…thanks for giving a small description about her.
Silent-Spirit716: Umm…first off, those aren't entirely rare, but I guess. I dunno, sakura or ino with naruto is just….weird for me. But if enough ppl want it, I'll try it. Sasukexsakura might happen too if I get to sasuke…hehehe. Thanks though.
Silent-Spirit716 (again): Definitely no gay pairings. I hate those…especially in action/adv. Stories.
Sonic: well I updated. :D
Johnny: you want narutoxsakura? (clarify).
THANKS FOR THE FREAKINGLY AWESOME REVIEWS BUT MORE WOULD BE REALLY AWESOME.
Now….for the chapter.
Last chapter update:
"Well, I'd better be going," Naruto said, stepping aside. A small burst of wind appeared and sand with leaves mixed in began to cover him. "I'll be coming and going a lot, hopefully." The wind died down and the leaves and sand was blown away. Naruto had left once again.
'Leaves and sand, eh? He really is the #1 ninja for surprising people,' Neji smiled with approval. Naruto had passed his test with flying colors.
-----------------------------------------Chapter 4: Life of the Returned--------------------------------------
The village twinkled like the stars in the sky like a reflection in water. But slowly, lights began to turn off one by one. Every once in a while a light would turn back on. Naruto guessed that it was probably a kid who couldn't sleep or something. He smiled, watching over the great village of Konoha. It hadn't changed one bit. His feet dangled over the edge, right in front of the Yondaime's forehead. That had always been his favorite place to sit and today, well today it seemed to feel extra special.
His mind raced with memories: the graffiti on the monument, beating the shit out of Mizuki, getting Genin rank, getting stuck in Kakashi's now puerile traps during the survival exam, losing to Sasuke against the demon brothers on the way to the Wave Country, kicking Zabuza's ass before arriving, then kicking Gatou's ass at the bridge. Boy, he kicked a lot of people's asses didn't he? Naruto smiled approvingly. But then again, it never helped with the villagers. Well, he had gotten over that…right? He shook his head. He would not display that thought again. After all, the night was perfect. The moon was bright, the stars twinkled like the third's eyes used to, the sky was cloudless, the night was cool, and the wind was perfect. Nature treated him so well and it made him terribly glad. Finally, something respected him.
The leaves rustled behind the blond. "Neji told me you had returned," a voice said behind him, not surprising him.
"I'm not staying for long, 'baachan," Naruto replied, not even turning. "This village, however beautiful…I'm just not ready for it yet."
Naruto didn't hear a response, he didn't hear anything. The silence between the two, the peace, seemed to be enough to not need to continue. But Tsunade broke it.
"This village is beautiful…isn't it."
Naruto nodded, grinning broadly.
"Soon, it will need a stronger leader, stronger than even me…and definitely more hardworking." She paused. "I just hope you come back to see him."
Naruto knew who she was talking about, his grin slowly fading. "Yeah, I hope so too." His face shown sternly, just staring harshly at the village. Naruto didn't find it as likely as before. Hokage was for someone who the village would follow. They would never follow him, never. But if they wouldn't follow him, did not mean he couldn't be respected by the shinobis of Konoha. So there came a new goal, one that was most definitely attainable. "I would be happy to fight for such a leader."
The Godaime turned and looked at Naruto's back, an astonished look that held severity in it. Fight for this leader? He was supposed to become this leader.
"I was way too childish to believe that such an ignorant village would respect me," Naruto said, expression unchanged.
"Naruto that-"
He held up his hand and cut her off. "If not the villagers, I can still serve the shinobi right?" he turned around grinning wildly. "I can still fight for the academy students, the genin's, the chuunin's, and even the jounin's respect right?"
"Yes, but-"
"As long as I still have an excuse to become the strongest ninja of all time, I won't complain. After all, I can still become stronger than the hokage." He turned back around and repeated his thought. "Stronger than the hokage…its not unheard of, but it's most definitely rare."
"Yes, it is," Tsunade replied softly, like a mother supporting her child.
"…Thanks…'baachan," Naruto said.
Tsunade was taken back. "Your…welcome, kid."
The rest of the night was spent in silence, as the two stared out upon the village of Konoha, watching as every light turned out, and the village went black.
BREAK
"Tsunade-sama." A small shake. "Tsunade-sama!" another small shake. "TSUNADE-SAMA!" Tsunade was lifted off the ground and, held by the shoulders, being shaken back and forth like a doll.
"WHAT!" Tsunade replied, furious by the rude wakeup call. The person who grabbed her let go quickly and retreated, scared to see the hokage so angry.
"I…I just wanted to know wh…why you were sleeping up here." Shizune replied, trembling from Tsunade's murderous aura. The Fifth immediately calmed down, recalling what made her sleep out her in the first place.
It was Naruto.
Seeing that her leader had calmed down somewhat, Shizune approached her cautiously. "We've been looking for you for a while. It's already eleven in the morning!"
"ELEVEN?" Tsunade jumped in shock. "THAT LATE? WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER?"
"We couldn't find you." Shizune answered flatly.
Tsunade followed suit, sitting down to restore the peace of the conversation. When had the boy left? All she remember was sitting down to be more comfortable and then nothing, like she had slept sitting.
The Sannin marveled at her ability to sleep sitting, slowly digressing farther and farther away from the more serious issues. Suddenly, she snapped back into reality and quickly reviewed all that had been said last night. Having recalled the conversation, she relaxed somewhat. Naruto wasn't a top priority right now. After all, he'd be back. She sat there, where Naruto sat the night before, and smiled dreamily at the horizon.
"TSUNADE-SAMA!" Tsunade jumped up. "GO BACK TO YOUR OFFICE AND FINISH YOUR PAPERWORK. STOP SLACKING OFF!"
A little bit intimidated by Shizune's sudden outburst, she followed without complaint, hopping down form the monument to her office building. 'Here we go again,' she thought. 'Back to mounds of paperwork.'
BREAK
An orange figure moved gracefully among the rooftops. The sun had just begun to rise as the boy hurried to leave before the people would actually wake up. The young man never actually stopped at a roof to jump off to the next. His movement was graceful and smooth. It seemed as if he ran from roof to roof and even through the air in between. As he neared the walls, Naruto began to quicken. He hid his presence and, reaching the last roof, he did a flip onto his hands. Using the momentum, his hands pushed off of the cement roof, skyrocketing him through the air and over the wall gracefully. His landing was phenomenal, thumping on a branch in the middle of the forest and continuing one without taking a break.
Almost at once his mind began to open up. Thoughts poured into his mind…like where he should go next. A place entered his mind. He would surprise a good friend of his, one whom he had met after he began his journey. The way Naruto had remembered it, Hanma didn't look special at all. He stood at the same height as most others in the thirties and his weight seemed to be average too, if not a bit heavier with muscle. His hair was long, straight, and blue like the sea. It was combed to the side and his bangs covered his right eye. His face showed signs of aging with small, almost inconspicuous wrinkles scattered throughout his face. His hands were bigger than the average person's and calloused from continuously hammering on metal. Normally, his attire consisted of a dark, forest green sweatshirt and brown pants along with a heavy duty brown apron for when he hammered and black boots.
When Naruto had arrived at the Steel Country, only about a month after he had left Konoha, Hanma seemed hesitant about hiring Naruto, a rookie ronin. But his disparity soon overwhelmed his doubts as he really needed his mission completed soon. The sooner it was completed, the more money he would be paid. So Hanma gave him his mission, to infiltrate a campsite of a ninja band and steal a scroll. Naruto, being the loud obnoxious ninja he was, ended up alerting every single shinobi in the band and had to fight each one of them.
Long story short, Naruto forgot more than half of the end of the battle due to the Kyuubi. Hanma, uncertain of his hired shinobi's ability, had went with him and witnessed it all. At that point, Hanma had revealed a secret of his own, that he too had a bijuu sealed inside of him. The two hit it off immediately, discussing their lives and hardships. Their individual bijuus also entered conversations. Hanma discovered Naruto's ability to tap into the Kyuubi's power and suggested that as payment for the mission, he would make a weapon in which it could access Kyuubi's chakra immediately. Naruto agreed customizing the weapon to his own specification. And, so, his sword was made.
Now, three years later, Naruto wanted to return and see his old friend. Maybe he would have a new mission for the more experienced ronin. Naruto smiled at the fact that he may be able to get other special weapons. It would take four days to get there and Naruto just couldn't wait, hoping for the time to just fly by as he traveled at his high speed.
BREAK
And so it did. In no time, Naruto stood at the front gates of the Steel Country's Steel Village. Well, technically they weren't actually gates. But that didn't bother Naruto. He collected chakra into his feet and walked up the wall until he was at the height of the trees. Then he jumped off in a flip, landing on the tree. While the tree was rebounding from the force, Naruto used the moment and jumped up above the walls right behind two patrolling guards. Showing off to no one in particular, Naruto landed on his hands and did a series of flips to slow him down.
A large inhale followed by a similar large exhale relaxed the young shinobi as he stretched a little, loosening his muscles which had gotten used to jumping and running nonstop. He paused and sniffed the air. It smelled familiarly like the stench of smoke, the smoke from furnaces of the many blacksmiths in town, one of which would be Hanma.
Naruto smiled evilly, knowing exactly where the man's blacksmith was located. He jumped down the back of the building and snuck through the alleyways. He slowed at on particular building and began inching across the wall.
He peeked his head over the short wall to see a man in his late thirties pounding away at a piece of steel. Each hit was separated by even margins. The man's form revealed his skill and made it known that he held this occupation for quite a while. His movement was graceful and swift yet full of power. Each hit was measured out and different in strength, however miniscule the difference was. Behind him his previous works hung dangling from the ceiling for passing by customers to observe, or in his case, stare at. The weapons gleamed as if made from silver. And the normal kitchen knives seemed to be not less important, made with the same care as the swords. Everything seemed to be full of brilliance. The tips ended at a single, hard-to-see point. The handles were masterfully crafted with designs so detailed that some were even smaller than visible at first sight. Naruto always enjoyed watching those masterpieces hand there like a trophy case.
BREAK
Hanma wiped the sweat from his forehead with his forearm and continued with his pounding. Every detail in every strike had to be precise. Having begun his blacksmith training at 6, Hanma was used to the whole setting. He could still remember the day he had asked for the training. He remembered the days when he would stand behind a corner watching the blacksmith work admiringly before his idol would disappear into his house. One fateful day, Hanma had gathered the courage to approach the blacksmith who, after being asked to teach, replied with a smile and a comforting twinkle in his eyes. Hanme would never forget that face. He saw it everyday in himself when he pounded at disfigured metal.
Suddenly, Hanma sensed a presence behind him. Smoothly, he stole a peek behind him, seeing a familiar blond face. Hanma smiled and, as he pounded with his left hand, furtively reached into a back pouch. He clamped his fingers on steel wrapped in thing cloth. Pulling it out, the man continued his work. On the third hit, he dropped the mallet and turned, flinging his wrist. The kunai became airborne, moving slightly slower than a bullet. The blond seemed to snap out of a trance and spun before disappearing. Hanma looked around confused, but then froze. His whole body grew stiff as he felt the presence behind him. Cold steel was pressed against his neck.
"You were trying to hit me?" A cold tone came from the man.
Hanma just smirked. "With your loud mouth, no man would try and hit you."
The kunai went away, but the man remained. "Urusai," he replied, Hitting the blacksmith to warn him.
Hanma just laughed. "Though you have grown, your comebacks are still as lame as ever, Uzumaki Naruto….or maybe I should call you, Kyuubi no Kitsune."
"Mibikou no Ookami," Naruto replied. Hanma turned and embrace with his friend.
"How's the katana?" Hanma asked.
"The Katana no Kitsune is the new name," Naruto beamed, holding up his katana to show. Hanma unsheathed the sword and observed it.
"Ehh…the condition is still pretty good, just some minor adjustments here and there." Hanma replied as his eyes went from the tip to the shaft and back.
"Anyway, you got any new missions for me?" Hanma stopped and stared at the blond.
"Do you think I'm a man who requires shinobi assistant constantly?"
"No, but…"Naruto's face grew hopeful. "I was kinda hoping you would give me a chance to earn more special gear."
Hanma sighed. "Maybe."
Naruto pumped his fist and waited as Hanma finished his speculation of the sword.
"I'll make the repairs right now. Go ahead and make yourself a bed." Hanma said as he took the red/burnt orange sheath and turned back to his anvil.
Naruto shrugged and replied. "Try not to be too long with it." And he entered the small dwelling with his other belongings.
BREAK
The crickets chirped loudly at night. But it wasn't only one. Many chirped. The noise was ongoing and had no apparent rhythm. Yet they still chirped. Hanma finished his work early and brought his unsold creations inside to a rack in the family room. Naruto leaned against the opposite wall and watched the different weapons and knives just dangle at the other end of the room. As Hanma hung his last item, a kitchen knife, he spoke.
"I have another mission." Hanma managed to tie the last knife on there and turned toward Naruto. Naruto didn't move, didn't change emotion. He stayed still, his eyes still on the rows of metal.
"I will be shipping weapons to the Wind Country, more specifically the Sunakagure (spelling?) in a week. The Kazekage himself has also asked to be made a weapon."
'Gaara,' Naruto thought. 'What would he want with a weapon?'
"I will go to ship the weapons and stay there to make the Kazekage his unique, custom-made weapon." Hanma turned toward Naruto and pointed. "You will guard my cart of tools and weapons as will as me."
"Guarding you against the Akatsuki I presume?" Naruto asked, finally turning to face the blacksmith.
"From recent rumors around the village, the Akatsuki are quite dangerous." Hanma nodded in reply.
With momentum, Naruto pushed his back off of the wall. "Will it be wise to guard one jinchuuki (I know I spelled this one wrong) with another?"
Hanma just smiled. "That's why I'm hiring you. Because I assume you've improved over the years."
Naruto just smiled.
"Is that dream of becoming Hokage still burning in you?"
Naruto chuckled, the use of 'burning' reminding him of Maito Gai. "It's still alive, but the flames have receded a little."
"I see," Hanma replied. "Well, will you accept my mission?"
Naruto subconsciously hesitated, taking a deep breath, and walked forward to stand 2 feet from Hanma. After ten long seconds of staring into his possible client's face, he finally extended his hand. "Deal."
A/N: sorry for the long update. I'm just…I don't know. I see other ppl giving super short updates and it makes me feel bad so I'll try to make mine shorter. TRY being the operative word. Just try to bear with it. I'm sorry.
The vote for pairings is still open. If you want an OC pairing, try to give me a brief description of what kind of personality, background, etc. they've had. THANKS!
Well, I hope you liked this chap. If the story is still confusing, ask. I'll try to answer it for you in the next update. PLEASE GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM TOO. ALL REVIEWS ARE WELCOME (constructive criticism more than regular criticism). R&R
