Chapter Thirty: Ninja Monopoly
Nothing happened. And Guy-sensei got back too fast.
Well, actually, many things happened, but none of them were anything that didn't happen on the first day. They were scouting, fighting, fleeing, resting building. Eventually, they were told to leave because the mission was over.
The Forest of Death was over, and Itachi Uchiha had never come. That worried Tenten. But, they had gained a great deal of experience, and they were already working on one or two ideas for strategies.
They'd spent an entire month in that hellhole, traipsing around it and memorizing every part of it. At every point, they'd been pursued by the local wildlife. Often they had been scratched and injured. The three of them had learned to do earthworks on a moment's notice, setting up camp in minutes. Someone always had to be on guard, and they learned to sleep in short bursts.
The trees above held threats; the ground held threats.
And what was worse, Neji, Tenten, and Lee had never once run into a story. They hadn't encountered any foreign ninja. Nor had they run across some secret. The endless exploration that they had obsessed over had just gone and one. They'd found corpses here and there, and broken kunai, and also some armor.
Tenten had stored these to take back to the village.
"I must congratulate you on a job well done," said the Hokage. "No one has lasted that long in the Forest of Death for a long time."
"May I inquire as to why the mission was cut short?" asked Neji.
"I'll level with you," said Anko, lounging to one side. "The plan was for you guys to wash out after a couple of days and learn a valuable lesson. We never expected you to survive that long."
"Thus why we canceled the mission after a month," said the Hokage.
"Where is Itachi-sensei?" asked Tenten.
"Regrettably," said Sarutobi. "Itachi will not be returning for some time. His business has become a lengthy process. Might Guy will be taking charge instead. He is beyond that room."
"Of course," said Neji.
"You also might be interested to know that Naruto Uzumaki graduated from the academy. In fact, with high marks," said Sarutobi. "He will be on a team with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke. I gather your... conversations with him were useful."
"It wasn't planned that way," said Tenten nervously.
Naruto had graduated!
That meant that he was going to come into his own! Everybody would start fawning over him, and Tenten would be forgotten! And even if he wasn't, everybody in that class was a noble. Unless she could make sure she was more visible than him.
"Now," said Sarutobi. "what sort of mission would you like?"
"Tenten," said Rock Lee. "What are your thoughts?"
"I say," said Tenten. "That we focus on D-ranks."
"Isn't that a bit beneath our paygrade at this point?" asked Neji.
"Not necessarily," said Tenten. "When we do D-ranks and a good job, everybody likes you. I want a good reputation in the village. Hokage, what are the D-ranks which involve physical labor and are publically visible."
"I have a list here," said Sarutobi. "You can examine them if you like."
Tenten looked over it, scanning over them. "Can I keep this and borrow a pen?"
"Yes," said Sarutobi.
Tenten scratched markings over a variety of them. "The times for these projects, can they be rearranged for a schedule?"
"I suppose," said Sarutobi.
"We could do any one of these projects in an hour, with the exception of the ones with a wait time," said Tenten. "Neji, Lee, we're going to do all the D-ranks that involve public, physical activity. And we're going to do nothing but them for a month.
"Our goal is to get them done faster while performing an excellent service."
"Most people who do D-ranks don't put their all into it," said Lee. "But thanks to Guy-sensei's teachings, we put our all into it."
"Are you sure about this?" asked Sarutobi. "There isn't any glory in it."
"There's plenty of glory in serving the village," said Tenten. "Now, I'd like to sign a contract that we'll have a filled-out schedule of these each day. There's always plenty of D-ranks."
"I don't see what's wrong with that," said Sarutobi.
"Great," said Tenten. "Let's work one out."
"What if you cannot handle the schedule?" asked Sarutobi.
"Well," said Tenten. "In that case, we can just say that Guy-sensei will handle what we can't, and we don't get paid for it."
"That sounds reasonable," said Sarutobi.
And they did, picking the jobs they could do the best work at.
Thus began Tenten's plan to destroy Naruto Uzumaki and take over the Leaf Village. Neji, of course, had grasped the truth of it immediately. But Rock Lee tended to see the surface of things and miss their more subtle side. So it was that they went around, painting fences, fixing water pipes. That and plugging leaks and repairing things.
And they did it well.
They did it very, very well.
Nobody saw any sign of the recently graduated class. Several weeks passed, and they heard several conversations.
"Man, this sucks," said Naruto. "How many times have we had to chase this stupid cat!"
"You said it," said Sasuke.
"Yeah, this is lame," said Sakura.
"Cut the chatter, kids," said Kakashi. "Remember that this is an important step in your training."
Meanwhile, Neji and Tenten painted a fence white while Lee fixed a street lamp. Taking their pay, they thanked the civilians for the chance to serve the village. Then they headed off to repair a broken wagon.
"How many times have we had to babysit some kid we don't even know now?" asked Ino.
"You can't rest at all with them shouting," said Shikamaru.
"Yeah, and there's nothing to warrant getting barbeque for," said Choji.
"We're on the clock, kids," said Asuma." Grin and bear it."
Finishing the repairs, Tenten checked several times to make sure she'd done everything. While Neji double-checked things, Lee shook the civilian leader's hand. Then they thanked him for his business. Then they shot off to a completely different location. In a field, they worked to repair a failing dike. At the same time, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino walked on.
"Alright," said Kiba. "Another tracking mission. We lucked out on the specialty."
"Don't get too excited yet," said Shino.
"I'm just glad we're active," said Hinata.
"Don't worry," said Kurenai. "We'll get something more important once you are able to handle it. Just be good sports about it."
"You know they're talking to us, don't you?" asked Neji.
"Of course they are," said Tenten. "Pay no attention to those hypocrites Neji. You cannot change the world without getting your hands dirty."
They did this for two weeks.
Every single day, they'd have each squad walk past them. Each with increasing pointed commentary. The same commentary, really. D-ranks were but a step to greater things. And every single day,
"Good job, students," said Guy-sensei. "Another day, another triumph of hard work."
"Thank you, Guy-sensei," said Tenten, smiling. "We only got this far because of your lessons. You're as much our sensei as Itachi."
"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Tenten," said Lee.
"It is true," said Neji. "Thank you."
"Now," said Guy-sensei more seriously. "How are you using this to attack Naruto Uzumaki?"
Tenten blinked. "Oh, so you know about that."
"Tenten, I know a thing or two about stealth and youth," said Guy-sensei. "You've been holding a grudge against Naruto for a long time now. He's the only person you refuse to be friends with."
"Alright, guilty as charged," said Tenten. "Lee, can you figure it out."
"I was not aware we were fulfilling a vendetta," said Lee. "But, let me see.
"We are doing as many visible jobs that require manual labor for D-ranks. And we have not seen any of our friends doing D-ranks. So we are doing them all. That means Naruto, Ino, and the others are doing the non-public D-ranks."
"Babysitting," said Tenten. "Chasing cats, fieldwork in distant places. More exciting but less visible. So we are seen helping people and doing good work while they are seen whining about D-ranks.
"That means they aren't getting any-"
"-credibility," said Sasuke.
Tenten whirled around with her knife, and they clashed kunai. Springing over him as his eyes flashed, she brought her blade around. His own kunai clashed with hers before spinning away from a blow from Neji. Now Lee was behind him and swung a punch that neared his face. Sasuke's eyes widened.
Then he leaped. "Alright, so you guys are good.
"Fine.
"You don't have a chance with this."
Tenten sheathed her kunai. "And what exactly do we not have a chance with?"
"This become Hokage thing or power play or whatever," said Sasuke. "Naruto has been undergoing a lot of private training. Me too, obviously, but Naruto doesn't have any clan.
"The Hokage has his eye on him as Hokage. I guess his council thinks he'll be easy to control, but I plan to take the job myself."
"What about Itachi-sensei?" asked Tenten.
"I'm pretty sure my brother is just a stopgap," said Sasuke. "He's a bit too impersonal to keep in the position. Plus, he's smart, and Homura and Koharu don't want smart.
"They want someone they can pull the strings on. You're from out of town or a Hyuga of the Branch Clan. No way are they ever gonna let someone with strong opinions in."
"Guy-sensei, we're scheming," said Tenten. "Could you give us some privacy?"
"Of course," said Guy-sensei.
And he darted away.
"You trust him?" asked Sasuke.
"If we can't," said Tenten. "Then we can't do anything anyway.
"Plus, Guy-sensei doesn't go back on his word."
"What do you want?" asked Neji.
"I don't know what you're trying to do with this maneuver, but it won't last," said Sasuke. "The village pays for its security with conservative values.
"Right now, it's just kids playing ninja. The second you start to go anywhere with it, they'll just change the rules so you lose."
"Let's say you're right," said Tenten. "What do you propose?"
"Cash in now," said Sasuke. "My bet is that they're about to complain to the Hokage about it. And that contract he's been showing us is about to get revoked.
"You can still use it as a bargaining chip.
"My team and the others recently looked over some of the defenses, and they're not in great shape. Things are starting to fall apart. Now, I can't propose anything because it'll be an Uchiha coup in the making if I do. Everybody has been paranoid about us so far.
"If Naruto tries it, they'll laugh him off. Sakura can't do it because she's nobody. But you might just have the credibility to pull it off. We've already networked with some of the other kids, and they're waiting by the Hokage office.
"You propose that we be given D-ranks that help with repairing military stuff. Then we come in and suggest the same."
"So we're frontmen," surmised Neji.
"Yes," said Sasuke. "Whoever he picks should tell you who his favorite is."
"Alright," said Tenten. "We've seen those ourselves, so sure."
"Good," said Sasuke. "You'd better head out now."
Tenten nodded. "Guy-sensei, we're done!"
Sasuke disappeared, and Guy-sensei returned. "So, what is our plan for world conquest today, students?"
"We're playing frontman," said Lee.
"Neji," said Tenten. "Check to see if anyone is watching as we run."
Neji did so. "No."
"Alright," said Tenten. "What do you think this is?"
"Well," said Neji. "If we suggest the idea and it is given to someone else, we become permenant subordinates to them. We have not been networking with our classes.
"However, I believe that either they are trying to destroy us. Or they are using us as a tool. Or both."
"I think that Guy-sensei should make the recommendation," said Rock Lee.
Everyone looked at him.
"Hmm, that's actually a really good idea," said Tenten.
"Yes," said Neji. "Guy-sensei is the adult in the room. So, it makes sense for him to be in charge. This is a real mission. Even if the adults have been letting us 'play ninja.'" They stepped over the rooftops, and Tenten looked to him. He really looked hot with his brown hair flowing behind him like that.
"Hmm," said Guy-sensei. "So I am the one most qualified by virtue of the fact that I am the least youthful."
"Nonsense Guy-sensei," said Lee. "You are youthful in spirit."
"I suppose you have to define what you mean by 'youth.'" muttered Neji.
"Look, let's just make the offer," said Tenten.
"Hmm," said Neji. "Why would Sasuke work with Naruto? I thought they despised eachother?"
"Maybe they patched things up; I don't care," said Tenten.
"Sasuke and Naruto are about as likely to patch things up as hell freeze over," said Neji.
"This could be a way to sabotage Naruto," said Lee. "He has become very social of late and made a lot of friends while Sasuke does not.
"It may be that he is hoping Naruto will be chosen and discredit himself with a command he did not earn. He seems to share Tenten's view of him."
"So, all the more reason to just let the adults handle it," said Tenten.
"Indeed, students," said Guy-sensei. "Now, you will lead into the Hokage office. And once we are inside, I shall take the head."
Arriving, they saw a number of people going about their business. There seemed to be quite a crowd around them now, and not all could be ninja. Landing, Guy-sensei stepped down. "Good day, everyone.
"My students are about to making a proposal to the Hokage if you don't mind."
They let them on.
This was so obviously a trap. Well, there was nothing to do but spring it. Scaling the steps, they walked to the office. Entering into it they moved into the room. Entering into it, they found the Hokage waiting. There were also Homura and Koharu, and was that Danzo? And Fugaku. Who wasn't here? Mikoto as well and others. "I believe you have a proposition for us, Tenten?"
Secret test of character got it.
"Actually, Hokage," said Tenten. "It was Sasuke's idea. You see, my team and I have been really trying to get revenge on Naruto. You see, we did some reading, and I felt like he had been given everything I wanted to build.
"And he was also naturally way more talented. I didn't mean to become his first friend, and the fact that he was getting strong so fast irritated me. Sasuke came to me and came up with an idea for how we could work together to help improve the villages defenses.
"It really sounded like a cool idea, but he felt the need to dress it up with all these gambits and stuff. I came to realize that wasn't what a ninja was supposed to be. We should be focusing on making the Village a great place for everyone.
"So I think that we should create new D-ranks based on helping to fix parts of the defenses. And I think that Guy-sensei should be in charge of it."
"After all," said Neji. "He is more or less the avatar of the hard work movement."
Silence.
The Hokage laughed. "Well done, you four. You four."
"I told you they were smarter than they looked," said Mikoto.
"Send them in," said Sarutobi.
At that moment, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura walked in, looking shaken. Kakashi was at the rear. "Sorry it took us some time; there was a crowd in front of this location. We're not sure why."
"Crowd?" asked Sarutobi.
"I thought they were with you," said Tenten.
"I didn't call them up," said Naruto. "I'm not popular like you."
"Well, it can't be Neji or Lee," said Sakura. "No offense."
"None taken," said Neji.
"Do not mention it," said Lee.
Then Kurenai entered, brown hair falling around her and red eyes blinking. Her long legs shifted as she walked in. "Hokage, why is there a crowd out there?"
"Yes," said Hinata. "We were surprised."
"Well, nobody here called it up," said Danzo. "My men have been watching for some time. They appeared to arrive in a herd movement, after becoming aware of the Konoha 12."
"Well, whoever they are," said Kiba. "They say they're here to vote."
"Vote?" asked Naruto. "Vote about what?"
"Don't you know?" asked Kiba. "The mission we were all set up.
"I mean the prank."
"Yeah, I know about that," said Naruto. "But they have nothing to do with that. They don't even know anyone here. What's it to them?"
"I could probably explain it," said Sakura. "But I don't want to do it again."
Danzo looked up. "Why don't you explain it to me, and I'll give you my thoughts?"
Sakura nodded and walked over to begin speaking with him in private. Shino opened the door, and into the room came Team Asuma. Ino walked through, brushing her hair back. "Ugh, I can't believe we had to push through the crowd.
"How did you get those people out there, Tenten?"
"This is such a drag," said Shikamaru.
"Yep," said Choji. "We've been at this all day too."
"Can you explain your plan," said Neji.
"Basically," said Ino. "The plan was to get you to recommend the project Sasuke came up with. Then when you put it forward, we'd all come out and declare for Naruto as team leader, or Sasuke if Naruto was bugging us."
"The whole idea was to pay you back for stealing all the D-ranks," said Shikamaru. "Although I admit, it was pretty clever."
"Why did you allow this, Hokage?" asked Ino.
"I didn't see the harm in it," said Sarutobi. "And I admit, I get rather tired of people complaining about D-ranks. I thought I might let Tenten have a week or two of triumph and force everyone to realize just how good they had it."
"We have to hear complaints about them every day," said Iruka. "Every. Single. Day."
"You think that's bad," said Homura. "You've only been doing it for a few years."
"Yes, but I trained most of these kids," said Iruka. "So I know exactly what brought them to this point. And I don't have time to play mentor to all of them."
"I always knew the academy had gone to pieces after Neji died," said Danzo. "Now I'm sure of it. This kind of entitled behavior is unprofessional."
"Neji?" asked Ino.
"My namesake," said Neji. "He was one of the great scouts of his era. He survived multiple engagements with Madara and Hashirama.
"And he more or less founded the academy."
"Listen," said Tenten. "Mr. Danzo, about the whole uh... accidentally derailing everything..."
"Let us assume that it was an unfortunate misunderstanding. One long since set right and pass it over," said Sarutobi. "Best not to dwell on it, not healthy for anyone. Iruka, I'd like you to tell me more about the academy in private. For now, I believe we should let our... friends in."
And that was how the rush began.
Person after person, all ninja in uniform came in. "Hokage, I have not had a job in two weeks because of Tenten. So I want Naruto to have the position instead."
"My daughter has been cut out of her D-ranks three times in favor of Team 9. So give the position to Naruto instead."
"I don't care who runs this as long as it's not Tenten," said another.
"We haven't had any-"
"She did poor work and then refused to do it again after she botched it!"
"I repaired your roof!" said Tenten. "Who are you to talk?
"And you, Neji, fixed your plumbing and did it for a much lower price! And Lee went through your garden. You've been employing us this whole time. And you, I redid the paint twice just because you asked! I didn't charge you a cent more!" More came in. "And you, you skimped me twice and only gave me my money when I asked a third time. And you acted like it was some sort of favor.
"And you, I've cleaned the streets in front of your house hundreds of times. You never once complained, and I don't see any of your neighbors here.
"What are you even doing here? Why do you care who does the D-ranks if you aren't even cleaning your own streets?
"And what about you?
"Why are you making these complaints now like some kind of cowardly lynch mob? You should have come at me with torches and pitchforks; I might have respected that."
"You guys are..." Naruto halted. "You guys are most of the people who have been making me miserable all these years."
"Um..." one of them halted. "Well, there were many people who didn't understand-"
"No, you are," said Naruto. "I remember all of you.
"I remember because you were the people I used to pull pranks on before Iruka-sensei and all the others got me to stop. I made target lists back in the day as a game.
"What are you doing here?"
"It's quite obvious what they're doing here," said Kurenai. "These people have been consistently going after Naruto. At the same time, they made use of Tenten's services just as everyone else did.
"However, as Naruto became untouchable. They longer had anyone to project their self-loathing onto. At the same time, Tenten continued to work for them professionally. This aroused jealousy and rage. But it was the fear that proved to be the deciding factor.
"Some perceived it that Tenten was about to be targetted by a coalition.
"Of course, it was nothing but a childish game, but they panicked and took the opportunity to seek revenge. My guess is that they were hoping to mob the blame off as Tenten as a sort of second pariah for the village."
"Why would they hate me?" asked Tenten.
"Because you are kind of like what they should be," said Naruto. "You hate me on a personal level. I don't know exactly why, but, well. But you've never actually been cruel to anyone except in extreme situations."
"You're also professional," said Kakashi.
"And you really got one over on us," said Kurenai.
"Plus, you survived the Forest of Death for a month," said Kiba.
"You held the village hostage with D-ranks," said Shino. "Most impressive."
Tenten looked around, finding herself touched and amazed. She'd never been popular like this before. "I... I..."
"Hokage," began one of the people in the crowd.
"You fail!" said Iruka as he stood. "Get out of here and stop wasting the Hokage's time! You have no authority over him, and your orders mean nothing! Out!" And he drove them out himself before shutting the door. "I recommend disciplinary action."
"Duly noted," said Sarutobi. "Now then, Tenten, Naruto, I think this feud has been gone on long enough. I do not expect you to be friends, but let's not have any infighting."
Tenten moved forward and met Naruto. For a moment, they hesitated. Then Tenten offered a hand, and Naruto took it. Tenten sighed. "I'm sorry for being such a jerk. The reasons I disliked were not your fault."
"Well, not all of them," said Naruto. "Okay, so, is this mission still on?"
"Wait a minute," said Kiba. "I want to know how Tenten took the village?"
"Haven't you been paying attention?" asked Ino.
"We've been out of the village," said Kiba.
"And I'd like to hear it plain and clear," said Ino.
"Sakura, if you would," said Danzo.
Sakura came forward and stood tall. "Alright, I'm tired of explaining this. So here goes:
"Tenten did not take control of the village by working hard or even by working smarter. She took control by exploiting a major flaw in the mission economy.
"D-ranks were created as a stopgap by the Hokage in order to maintain village income in times of peace. They prolonged the periods of peace longer than anything Hashirama or Tobirama managed. This is one of the reasons he inherited the title 'God of the Shinobi.'
"Hashirama might have been more powerful. But Sarutobi Hiruzen is the one everyone thinks of as Hokage."
"Mostly by virtue of longevity, I'm afraid," laughed Sarutobi. "My own skills now pale in comparison to theirs."
"The problem was that D-ranks are inglorious. Nobody wants to do them, and anyone who spends their life training for battle isn't going to keep doing it. All of this leads up to the obvious;
"Everybody does D-ranks as long as they have to, then ditches them for higher missions.
"Someone of Team Guy's experience might do them now and then, but they ought to phase them out. Tenten, however, decided to corner the market.
"Effectively, she figured out which skills her team could do quickly. Then she took control of them and did them all. Nobody has done anything like this, so it took everyone off-guard."
"The good news," said Mikoto. "Is that now we know the weakness and can address it.
"No harm done."
"Thank you, Lady Mikoto," said Tenten, blushing.
"Now then," said Sarutobi. "I believe you have some repairs to do under Might Guy."
This was going to be good.
So why was everyone else sighing like that?
Even so, Tenten had to admit. This was the first time she'd ever felt at home in a place. And looking to Danzo, she realized he felt the same.