And here we have another chapter. It probably feels like it's been a lot longer for most of you considering the last chapter I uploaded didn't register as an update despite posting and thus did not send out notifications. I should probably repeat that;
-IF YOU HAVE NOT VISITED THIS STORY AFTER MAY SEVENTH, 2017 THEN YOU HAVE MISSED AN UPDATE-
I suppose it's not an unpleasant surprise for those who haven't read the last chapter- almost no one, based on the lack of views- considering that they not only get two chapters, but that both chapters are larger than normal. Combined, they come to a word count approaching 15k.
And speaking of word count, the last chapter broke 350k words, which is far longer than I had ever planned on this story becoming.
Not much else to say. I'm certain there was something I wanted to mention- I think it had to do with a guest review- but it escapes me at the moment.
Thanks goes to ncpfan for looking over my work.
Enjoy the show.
Lazy he had been called, and those that did so weren't wrong, but let it not be said that Sarutobi Asuma half-assed anything. If he was going to have to do something then by the gods you knew he was going to do it right.
Even if he'd rather be doing just about anything other than sitting in the Hokage's office learning the position he was, apparently, going to fill someday soon.
More than once he had wondered if he could deny the position and how he would need to go about it.
Of course, there had only ever been four Kage of Konoha and all of them had wanted the positions. Only Uzushiogakure had been around longer and their Kage-equivalent had actually been the royal family of the Uzumaki clan, each one taking up the position as a sovereign would their rightful crown.
So not exactly a lot to go on for rejecting the offer to lead the village. Not that he didn't want to help the village, but he really didn't want the kind of responsibility- and stress- that came with the job. His stint in the Twelve Guardian Shinobi amongst the Daimyo and his Imperial Fire Court was plenty of politics to last him a lifetime, thank you.
He would much rather spend a few years training up a team and then retiring into a relaxfull position- by comparison- as the head of the Sarutobi Clan. He was acting clan head already, anyway, and the work for that wasn't too bad.
Remove from him the responsibilities and duties of a team leader and it would be a walk in the park.
He could hardly wait.
Or, rather, he hadn't been able to wait. Now that future seemed to draw further and further away with every paper he had to read over and every signature that found itself scrawled in fine ink he had no business ever using.
Still, if he was going to be doing this- even against his will- he was going to make sure he did everything to the absolute best of his abilities.
Already squads of ANBU combed the streets for traces of Orochimaru, reportedly encountered by Tokubetsu-Jounin Mitarashi Anko in the Forest of Death. Word that Uchiha Sasuke had made use of a strange seal during the preliminaries, one that gave off foul chakra, pointed to the Ten no Juin Mitarashi had been left with years ago, one she seemed to have managed to remove.
It provided some hope, though the fact remained that Orochimaru had no doubt been improving it and the two seals- that of Anko and of Sasuke- were unlikely to be identical. Still, knowing how she removed hers might allow insight to removing Sasuke's and that needed to be done soon.
Beyond Orochimaru- who seemed to be laying low- and the matter of Sasuke's curse seal, there was something else Asuma was going to need to expend a considerable amount of effort towards-
The Wolves.
His father had been less than forthcoming with information, only promising it after the inauguration- whenever that was, anyway- as he considered it too 'sensitive' to release otherwise.
Nevermind the fact that he was sitting here perusing ANBU reports and signing off on the acceptance of missions the rest of the world would be kept oblivious of.
Hiruzen, wise and powerful as he might have been, was getting old. Not just in age, but in soul. The first non-founder Hokage, he had lived for much of the village's life and had seen far too much as they carved and held their own piece of sanctuary from what had been, only decades before, a land ravaged by warring clans.
Asuma had no doubt that his father had been weary of his position back before his first retirement- and to this day he had never seen his father so happy as when he had been relieved of the burden of the village after many, many years of toiling under it- and when he took up the mantle once more he had already lost that drive he had possessed when he first took up the hat of Hokage.
He cared for the village, yes, and did his best for it, but he seemed to have trouble seeing the bigger picture now and separating his personal feelings from what should be done- what needed to be done- was just about impossible.
Personally, the former member of the Guardian Twelve had nothing against the Wolves themselves- in fact, the way things were going it seemed like the may be the equivalent of Root for his own duration of Kage. Disliked, but undoubtedly necessary- but he couldn't allow them such free reign within the village.
He had never been one for politics before, but just the thought that one would have to juggle clan politics, village law, the will of Hi no Kuni's Imperial Fire Court, and the pack mentality of a hidden force that sat in the shadows of Konoha's great tree was giving him a major headache.
It was, quite simply, an impossible task, the only way to even remotely succeed at it was to have them all arranged in a matter that maintained a balance between them all, allowing for proper negotiation and compromise whenever one faction wished for something.
That would be hard enough, but he had another problem there that would be easily fixed.
He knew, quite well, the Fire Court.
He was familiar enough with the clan politics of Konoha from his time as acting head of the Sarutobi clan.
Preparations for the mantle off Hokage was providing him ample experience with the village's laws.
He was fairly confident he would not have too many issues keeping those three facets satisfied.
But he knew next to nothing about the Wolves.
That would have to change.
Anyone of the Yamanaka clan would be far too obvious, but they were not his only option.
Now he just had to wonder how he could get them to cooperate.
A deep breath of the warm, moist air brought back memories. Many, many memories.
Most of which ended with him in pain and trudging to the hospital.
Those, in turn, usually became painful hospital visits back when Tsunade worked there. With the amount of experience she had in the area, she could immediately tell when injuries were from women who had been less than pleased being spied on in the hotsprings.
He usually left in more pain then he arrived, but at least she would dress the wounds and, more often then he cared to admit, set the bones broken by irate Kunoichi.
It really was a wonder he had never been castrated.
Still, even the thought that the very same luck that had thus far kept him from experiencing was likely to eventually run out, it had never kept Konoha's Gallant Jiraiya away from the hotsprings or the beauties that relaxed within.
Foreign or domestic, if there was a hotspring Jiraiya had probably both been there and kicked out of it.
Sometimes by management, more often than not by a mob of displeased women.
Ah, good times.
Despite the bad endings to otherwise happy memories, there was no hotspring like Konoha's hotspring. While it wasn't the biggest or the least likely to get him caught or horribly injured- in fact, most of his hotspring related injuries were from this very location- it was special because it was Konoha's.
It was home.
And home was somewhere he had not been in many, many years. Truth be told, it had been well over a decade since he had last stepped foot here and almost as long that he had done his very best to cut himself off completely from the going-ons of the village.
He could be reached in an emergency, of course, but even as nomadic his personality was staying away from home was difficult for him. A few months gone here, a few there, that was fine by him, but like a great tree his roots never left, regardless of how far his leaves might be carried in the wind.
And speaking of being carried by the wind, there had been the strangest reports of Kushina being seen traveling the continent with her daughter in tow. Oddly enough, not a single report from any of his sources mentioned the presence of her son. He had attempted to track them down, when the opportunity permitted, but he was usually called away to take care of something in his network before he could catch up and by the time he was done he had to start all over again. He really did want to know what was going on but his duty took priority.
Konoha needed him out in the field, doing what he did best, and that meant much more time away than he would have liked. Time that would have been even harder if he returned. So, buckling down into his work, he had managed to focus completely on the rest of the world for years now, confident that he would be informed of any major happenings- like a civil war- while he was away. The fact that Konoha didn't need info on Konoha, too, helped.
But by the gods, was it good to be back.
Traveling as Jiraiya was one thing, but most of his time was spent trying to keep a low profile- another reason to avoid being seen coming and going from Konoha- so he could watch the moments of potential threats without warning them that the world was indeed aware of them.
Akatsuki was one such example and, as of recently, so were the Wolves.
Information on Hi no Kuni as a whole was the closest to Konoha news he would collect and he would fully admit to be completely taken off guard at word that the very group that had started to catch his eye had managed to become a noble house in the Imperial Fire Court.
It was unexpected, to say the least.
At the same time, though, it had allowed him to relax slightly. Allied with Hi no Kuni as they were- and doing as well as they seemed to be- the chances of them holding any ill-will towards the village were pretty slim. For now at least.
That wasn't to say he had simply accepted them and focused completely on the rest of the world, but they certainly weren't a priority. The fact that they had rooted out Gato from Wave completely- even if they needed to work with him first to ensure they were completely successful- and the port town was starting to flourish under their protection were only points in their favor.
Admittedly, that's probably part of what got them favor with the Daimyo, too.
In that sense, he supposed he technically was trusting them a bit more than other potential threats because they had taken over a country. The Daimyo's favor was his initial reason, but that was just the result of the initial action.
He may have found time to frown at that thought if someone hadn't rudely interrupted him with their shout of "Pervert!".
Ah, just like old times.
The letter was crisp and clean, being of much higher quality than she was used to seeing. Ink that glistened even when undoubtedly dry penned with the elegant curves of a well-practiced wrist across the heavy paper, as if giving the letter itself more weight would somehow increase the impact of its contents.
'Well,' Shizune idly mused. 'They weren't wrong.'
Perhaps not in all cases would this be effective, but the heavy paper she now held made the writing seem far more real. She would be far less inclined to believe these written words if the letter had seemed more common, she would admit.
Of course, even with the careful attention to such a detail it was hard to believe this was actually happening. It wasn't even anything spectacular, just someone writing to inform her of their interest in her medical skills.
Not in the usual manner, which would be asking her – or, more specifically, her master- to make a housecall to treat some injured friend of family member, rather- as made abundantly clear in the letter- they sought to employ her.
The last time a request had reached her on similar paper it had come from a small family of nobles whose heir had fallen gravely ill. In this case, too, was the requester of a noble house, but instead of one injury they wished to offer her a permanent job as part of the household.
Were she to accept she would become part of this noble house, the official medic for the head- or so the letter claimed- and that was not something to be dismissed lightly.
Were her master's well-being not a concern she may have been tempted to take up the offer, but there was one more important part holding her back-
Her would-be employer was the House of Wolves of the Imperial Fire Court of Hi no Kuni.
She was, understandably, rather hesitant to accept a place amongst them.
Luckily, they seemed to anticipate that. The main offer was for her to join them fully, but they had also claimed a willingness to negotiate other arrangements for her services. One such suggestion was eight months of training some of their most promising medical personnel to bring them up to a higher standard- which, undoubtedly, she'd have been asked to do anyway as part of the house- which actually didn't sound too bad.
The promised pay looked good- to say nothing of the bonuses they would give her based on how well she was able to train their medics or the fact that all her expenses would be covered by them for the duration- and it would let her get a good feel for Hi no Kuni's newest noble house before she committed to anything further.
Unfortunately, she still had a master to take care of and, even if she didn't, her apprenticeship would not allow her to teach others until its conclusion.
For both of those, it looked like she was going to be needing to have a talk with Tsunade.
A sigh left Shizune's lips as she dropped the letter onto the table and rested her head against her hand. At long last, she had an opportunity for something new and exciting, but with her luck she'd be stuck here, bored out of her mind, as she had been since soon after their return to Konoha.
At least when Tsunade was drinking herself into a constant stupor to avoid memories and responsibilities Shizune had things to keep her busy. Running from debt collectors, making sure Tsunade ate something every so often, and keeping collateral damage to the minimum weren't fun, but it at least gave her a purpose. These days Tsunade just sat out in the garden sipping tea and occasionally crying.
It was an improvement to her previous habits, certainly, but she still wasn't doing anything to make up for the mistakes she had made and, unlike some, she still had the opportunity to do so here in Konoha. Neglecting to do so was pathetic and their return to Konoha had become a joke. Shizune may have felt pity for her master and the obvious distress she felt if she actually made an effort to correct it, but for now she couldn't even bring herself to do so.
Not for the first time she found herself regretting becoming apprenticed to the Sennin.
The Wolves, unsurprisingly, were always at the forefront of his mind. More specifically, he was always thinking about their future. An important part of that future required there to be Wolves which, naturally, meant they had to be bringing more into the pack .
Training orphaned children, much like Danzou had done, was a preferred method, allowing them to gain the proper skills and grow used to the pack mentality of his forces, but it was not an immediate answer.
At the moment, Naruto simply didn't have the years it would take to train the second generation of Wolves.
That meant he needed to bring people into the fold, allowing his pack to grow strong enough to wait those years it would take to bring the newest Wolves up to the proper standard. He would not- could not- make use of them until he was sure they could defend themselves just as well of his other operatives.
The cubs were precious and were to be protected until they were ready to take upon themselves the responsibilities of the pack.
Already his operatives were scouring the elemental nations for potential Wolves and gathering them together to be trained. Not in Nami no Kuni, of course, there was too much focus there at the moment, but his godmother had been more than happy to offer him an old lab she didn't make much use of as of late. It was a bit dated but his Wolves would have it transformed into a proper den soon enough.
Their future was being created, but they needed to stay around until it was achieved. For both that coming future and the method of maintaining their forces until they had successfully reached it there was a critical piece missing.
Or, rather, had been missing.
Purple eyes swept across his desk to land on the crisp white paper that held the solution he had been working on.
It hadn't been that hard for him but he hadn't exactly done most of the work.
Sealing, in all its glorious complexity, still escaped him completely. He was, however, starting to see the true scope of the potential his Father's seal possessed.
With but a thought a common storage seal- one of the few he was able to find instructions for creating- became the modified seal his Wolves wore. Another storage seal was placed beside it and he willed a seal that would create seals from wet ink. His seal was happy to comply. One last step had been needed, combining the desired seal with the new applicator, and the problem of inducting new members into the pack was solved.
All it would take was giving the seal to Sai or to some of the High-Captains and they would be able to apply it to any of those that were to become Wolves.
He would still need to meet with them to provide this newest seal but after that he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
Lightly he traced his creation, marveling at how easy the seal on his arm made things. The scary thing was he didn't even need to take those extra steps to create this. His father's legacy would have been able to change the starting seal straight to the applicator he had now. It was his own limitations, rather than the seal's, that stopped him from doing so.
By separating each part he could more properly focus on what he wanted the seals to do, avoiding errors that might cause issues later. Now, however, he had created a unique seal to serve a singular purpose. He had absolutely no doubts that were he to use the single-seal method he would achieve the desired results.
In the end, a problem that had needed to be addressed for weeks had been taken care of in just over twenty minutes. He really should have gone about this much sooner, especially considering the time he had on the trip to Hi no Kuni's capital, and it really was a shame he hadn't made proper use of his father's gift before now.
Changing the seal of the Wolves, changing the seal of Hinata, and removing the seal from Anko was all he had really done with it, and that was a terrible waste of such a marvelous recourse.
Thoughts of his uses for it, of course, reminded him of several things he still needed to use it for. The Wolf issue was solved, but he needed to get Hinata a seal to disable the Caged Bird seal of the Hyuuga as soon as he could. Nothing would have the cult of Hinata no Mikoto crumbling like their goddess not being able to do the very thing they believed her a goddess- or at least a personification of fate- for having done.
Once that was done, he still needed to look into Orochimaru's Ten no Juin like the one Anko had once borne. Orochimaru had already done an amazing job on them and he could only wonder what improvements would be possible with his own seal. The thought of all his Wolves possessing a backup chakra system was certainly a pleasant one.
And that brought him to his next train of thought- Anko.
He would admit to having become rather fond of the woman and his Wolves had also taken a liking to the Tokubetsu Jounin. She was an obvious candidate for becoming one of them and he was much inclined to make her the first official addition to the Wolves.
Considering he wanted it, it obviously couldn't be that simple.
She had already shown a dislike for seals and he wasn't certain if that was because the one who placed it on her had abandoned her and the village or perhaps just because Orochimaru had quite likely branded her with it without consent, but either way it lowered the likelihood of her accepting his own seal which was absolutely required for all members without exception.
Beyond that was the fact that he was working with Orochimaru.
Yeah, that was quite a bit bigger. She could continue as she was without the seal, but Orochimaru would affect her Wolf or no. He would have to make sure she was devoted enough to him to overlook her hatred for his godmother, otherwise he was going to have to cut her off from his Wolves and their work.
There was too much going on for him to overlook the security risk she could pose if she wasn't one hundred percent on their side.
And that is, of course, why the woman he had been thinking of was being escorted into his room now, her cheerful grin ready to meet her favorite Genin.
In all honesty, he really did hope she'd stay with him.
At Mei's insistence he had been perfectly transparent- or, at least, as transparent as he could afford to be considering one of his eyes was actually a Byakugan stolen from one of the clans that called this village home- to the guards at the front gate about the nature of his visit.
He desired to speak with the Wolves on behalf of the Bloodline faction of the Kiri civil war.
The looks he was shot by the Shinobi on duty Aō would almost swear were pitying. Nevertheless the Wolves were soon made known of his desire to meet him and he was soon finding himself in the presence of a Wolf operative who escorted him through the village and intro the seedier section, the kind of place he had not visited in many, many years.
A short, red building was there to meet them, standing out in how strangely plain it remained within this section of the village. There were no windows from which poured flashing lights of exotic colors, no open doors inviting patrons to enter. Two heavy black doors stared out at whoever might dare approach and as they drew near the doors opened to a pair of Wolves who proceeded to stand guard.
They didn't move as he and his escort passed and it wasn't until they were nearly to the next door- oddly, the only thing he could see within the building. Privacy was evidently a very important thing to the Wolves. He'd have to remember that.- that the first set closed, shutting with a strangely soft click just as the next set began to open.
He tried to ignore the guards standing in each corner beneath the glowing torches as he was lead down the large staircase-again, the only thing in here aside from the guards and the torches- into the building proper.
He briefly wondered if underground bases were simply all the rage for secret- or not so secret, perhaps- originations. He could certainly remember a good number of their own bases being bunkers that also dug deep both to keep out of sight and give attackers less ways to infiltrate.
Of course, it also tended to mean no way out if things went wrong.
Unfortunately, things tended to go wrong when it came to the Bloodline resistance.
As much as he wanted as little to do with as possible with the man, Zabuza was onto something. There was no reason to have so many people in on the leading of the rebellion and at least one of them had to be a spy.
He personally believed five but Zabuza was more inclined to say seven. Chōjūrō, naïve young man that he was, only said three because the two older Shinobi wouldn't let him bet one.
The fact that Chōjūrō probably didn't want to be part of it in the first place was entirely inconsequential.
Well, until Mei hears about it, at least. She was strangely protective of the boy, probably because she enjoyed how often he flushed around her. He had no doubt it helped keep her spirits up. The fact that he was to be the first of an entirely new generation of Swordsman of the Mist was also pretty big, but it probably lost to boosting Mei's mood regularly.
That said, were anyone to actually ask him he would always claim it was because of Chōjūrō's status, and perhaps add something about being one of the youth they were trying to make future for. There was no way in hell he wanted to be on Mei's bad side.
Ever.
She'd threatened to melt balls off before but it never really meant much until you saw her actually do it to someone.
He hadn't been able to sleep facing the door for weeks.
Luckily, Zabuza hadn't fared any better.
She peered curiously at the young man behind the desk, watching as he poured over stacks of papers that completely filled the desk. Stacked together, one could probably clear about half of the space he was using but it was obvious the manner he went about it had something to do with organization, a skill Anko herself had never really possessed.
Purple eyes had only briefly glanced up at her upon her entry before returning to work, only taking the time to put away a single sheet of parchment into one of his desk drawers. Either it was something he didn't want to risk losing or something he simply didn't want her to see. Quite possibly both.
She was unperturbed by that, really. Working in the T&I department of Konoha had her intimately familiar with matters of sensitive information and how protected some of it could be. Knowing, too, that he worked closely with the Wolves- and was rather high up the hierarchy based on how they treated him- meant it was probably something to do with the shadowy organization.
If they had trusted him with important information of a sensitive nature she couldn't blame him for making sure it stayed away from curious eyes that didn't have the proper clearance to view it.
Or, whatever equivalent they had for the release of such information. She didn't suspect they were formal enough for set clearances and they struck her as more of a need-to-know kind of operation but she really wouldn't be able to say considering she wasn't at all part of the group.
With a final shuffling of papers that brought her from her thoughts, Naruto set about partially clearing his desk, handing folders of completed work to a Wolf that had stood patiently by his side for that very purpose. The wolf gave a quick bow, folders held tightly to their chest, before leaving the room.
The click of the door left just the two of them- and two Wolf guards- within the room. For a moment the young man before her relaxed further into his chair, breathing a sigh of relief at having completed some of his work, but he soon resumed proper posture within his chair. Fingers became intertwined between his hands and found themselves supporting his chin as he took a brief pause to look her over.
There was something about his eyes that seemed to see right through you and they were obviously too old to belong to a Genin who hadn't even graduated a year ago. By village standards he still should have been doing D-rank missions with the occasional two or three day C-rank once or twice a month. The rest of his time was expected to be spent training with his team and developing the bonds that would allow them to work together better in the field.
Of course, Naruto had never been standard in any way.
Still, there was something about his stare that made her feel uneasy. Not normally, no, she quite liked his eyes and the maturity he possessed- it was a nice contrast to her own nature- but there was something in his gaze she couldn't put her finger on today, almost as if he was trying to judge her worth for a decision he was making. Considering she knew nothing about any decision he may or may not have to make she didn't know how she would want to be judged.
After a few seconds- which felt much, much longer to the Tokubetsu Jounin- his voice- possessing the same feel of authority it always did- broke the temporary silence.
"Thank you for coming Anko." He began. "There was something I'd like to speak with you about."
"No problem, boss." She grinned back at him. From the stiffening of the two guards and the spark of curiosity she was able to identify in his eyes for the barest of instances they hadn't really taken it as the joke she had intended. Her attempt to lighten up the atmosphere had, evidently, failed spectacularly and she remained feeling as if she had been called into someone's office for misbehavior. Maybe 'Sensei' would have gone over better, because this was really reminding her of the many times she had been called in to a teacher's office during her academy days and again when she was summoned by her superiors as a Chuunin after that bastard had left her.
She didn't get called in as much ever since she became a Tokubetsu Jounin, but she always dreaded when she did. Ibiki had always been a hard-ass.
Her words, however, did at least seem to give Naruto pause as he thought of the best way to continue.
"You know, of course, that I am heavily involved with the Wolves." His guards snickered quietly at the understatement. "Which is why I needed to speak with you about someone from your past."
She rose a brow, not knowing, exactly, who he was speaking of yet. The first person she thought of- the same person who was pretty much synonymous with her past- she hoped she could dismiss completely from being a possibility. She didn't seem to be that lucky.
"As I understand it, you and your former…teacher…did not separate on the best of terms." That earned him a snort from her. He had, at least, refrained from calling that bastard her master, but already she wasn't really liking where this was going.
Ignoring her snort, he continued on.
"The Snake-Sennin has recently approached the Wolves about working with them in Wave and, no doubt, across the continent in the future." A grave heaviness entered his eyes as he posed the actual question. "Will you be able to work with the Wolves knowing that they will, in turn, be working alongside the likes of Orochimaru? Would you be able to work alongside their allies, those loyal to Orochimaru, possibly including the Sannin themself?"
"Work with that bastard?" Her words were practically hissed. "Never!" That man had ruined her life, and he had the gall to ask if she would be able to work with the Wolves should they ally with him?
Some small part of her remembered that the Wolves served as Naruto's protection both in day to day affairs and even on most missions they went on, but that hardly seemed important at the moment.
"Ah, I see." His words were calm, understanding, even, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow disappointed in her. The guards, relaxing casually against the walls, were standing at attention as soon as Naruto had spoken, their eyes fixed firmly upon her.
There was something about this whole situation that seemed to escape her at the moment, just out of reach, but the reactions of the three others in the room with her made her feel uneasy.
"Thank you for your time Anko, please pass on my regards to Kurenai when next to see her." It was quite plainly a dismissal and she found a Wolf by her arm to escort her out a mere second after the worlds had left his lips. This was not at all what she had become used to with the Wolves or her favorite Genin.
He didn't spare her another glance as he began on what work remained on his table, but she still felt as though she had been judged-
Judged and found wanting.
"Kin?"
"Yeah?"
"Did I just see Mitarashi Anko getting escorted out of the apartment?" Being Orochimaru's former apprentice, Anko was one of the few outsiders those of Otogakure were briefed upon during their training. Considering the fact that she carried a massive grudge against Orochimaru, however, that was to be expected.
"Purple hair like a pineapple and wearing only half the amount of cloth it would take to be considered dressed decently? It's likely."
"Huh." He knew she was part of Konoha, of course, they all did, really, but he still hadn't expected her to run into her quite so much. As the second examiner was odd enough, but now she was being seen in the very place Orochimaru had left them for their month stay between the second and third exam?
Unless their host was playing both sides Dosu couldn't imagine what he'd be doing having that woman over when he was both allied with Orochimaru and hosting three of her Shinobi. Anko's hate of the Snake-Sennin was well known and keeping the two of them in close proximity was just asking for trouble.
Then again, maybe that's why she had just been escorted out.
Shrugging the thought away for now, he continued on his way as he resumed his search for the kitchens. He was used to rations well enough that food wasn't much of a concern but he'd kill for a nice cup of tea after that damn exam. Zaku was, unsurprisingly, crashed out on the bed he had been provided and hadn't even bothered to change his clothes or wash up first. Kin, as usual, was simply trailing behind him.
She really was his favorite minion.
Though that wasn't saying much considering he only had two and the other was Zaku. Even that fat Konoha Gennin who had his ass handed to him by the Konoha girl with the chakra chains probably would have made a better minion than the moronic hothead he had been teamed up with.
Having Kin as his other teammate almost made up for it, but not quite.
Following the hallways back towards the front of the apartment- the setup here was really strange, almost as if it was a combination of apartments that had never been intended to be combined- where he thought he had caught a glimpse of kitchen appliances he managed to locate the desired room.
A single Wolf leaned against the far wall next to the kitchen window and their head tilted only slightly to watch them as they entered. Dosu took the fact that they did nothing to deter him from entering as indication that they were, at least, not forbidden from entering the room. Whether or not their host wanted them here was an entirely different matter but at least the guards hadn't been instructed to stop them.
Which was good, because Dosu really wanted his tea, almost as much as he wanted a nap. Both of those were only desired slightly above smacking Zaku for his earlier behavior.
Maybe, if they were really lucky, their host would become as fed up with the Genin as his teammates were. It would be nice to see someone put the arrogant snotrag in his place, especially because Orochimaru had been polite enough not to do it in someone else's domain.
If her eyes had been anything to go by, that was really the only thing that had kept her from lashing out at the boy who had shown such disrespect as to begin dozing in a chair he hadn't even been invited to take when he knew very well his master was arranging their stay in the next room.
The scary part is that Dosu heavily suspected she was more upset that their host had been disrespected than the fact that he had not been at attention to show her the proper respect.
He still couldn't get over the fact that their host was probably younger than them and yet Orochimaru was so obviously concerned with keeping in his favor.
With that considered, however, they had been a pretty decent host so far. It wasn't saying much, seeing as they had yet to spend a full day in his home, but that was actually an improvement from what he had heard of others who had his master's favor.
Dragged away for experimentation five minutes after arriving? No, thank you, he was just fine being shown his room- which he, unfortunately, would be sharing with Zaku- and then being left to his own devices.
Well, he said that, but it really meant he was shown to his rooms and then completely ignored.
Either way was fine with him.
Digging through the cabinets he managed to find some tea and a teapot was already cleaned and waiting on counter to be used. Obviously, it saw quite a bit of use for them not to bother storing it in one of the cabinets.
Such frequent use didn't seem to indicate a connoisseur of tea so much as it did someone who regularly had many people- or perhaps just Wolves- over, if the generic store-brand tea was anything to go by. At least the leaves were in a small plastic pouch with a seal of Hi no Kuni- which wasn't exactly known for producing tea, which meant it was likely some local family business that managed to stay around on the merit of convenience- rather than in a can that read something along the lines of 'Made With Real Tea-Country Tea Leaves!'.
He had only made that particular mistake once.
Never again.
Never.
Again.
Grateful for small mercies- like actual tea leaves even if they weren't the best- Dosu busied himself with preparing the pot. Kin, meanwhile, made herself comfortable at the small table. It didn't look like any more than four people could sit around it and even then it might be a bit cramped. Rather odd, he idly noticed, considering how many people must go through this building daily.
Perhaps he had formal dining room of some sort further into the home, though why that would be in the back opposed to having the personal kitchen and dining area sequestered away privately he wasn't going to even ponder.
As soon as he deemed the tea ready he claimed a couple of cups from the cabinet before pausing and turning to the guard who hadn't moved anything more than his head since their arrival.
Raising both the teapot and one eyebrow- bandaged as it might be- in a silent question he received an equally silent response with the shaking of the Wolve's head in the negative. Giving a shrug, he brought the cups and the teapot to the table before pouring both for himself and his favorite minion.
As both he and his teammate sat drinking tea in a stranger's home, one they had been instructed to stay with by Orochimaru herself, he tried not to think about how strange this felt. It was such a simple thing they were doing, so basic, so common, that he couldn't help but feel there was something wrong with the situation.
Perhaps that was a sign that it was time for a vacation.
Pondering the options he had- not many, unfortunately, considering his meager savings- he nearly missed the fact that they were joined in the kitchen by a fourth person. He was immediately glad that he had caught their arrival as it turned out to be none other than their host himself. Both he and Kin rose to stand but were quickly waved off in a manner that was somewhere between lazy and distracted in a way that made Dosu suspect their host might not have even registered that he had done so.
He had to wonder how many times you had to stop people from rising at your approach that it became second nature to stop them before they could.
Their host- he really should start calling them 'Naruto', at least in his head- opened one of the cabinets and was, moments later, sitting at the table between he and Kin. Dosu couldn't help but notice how the guard moved immediately to stand in front of the window his own master was facing instead of beside it where he had remained for the past several minutes.
He supposed the theory was any attack aimed at their host would first hit the Wolf. Dosu had the feeling the Guard would actually prefer Naruto to be kept in a room without windows, but would make due until they could convince the red-haired young man to relocate to such a location.
Naruto poured himself a cup of tea, one brow rising as he watched the liquid enter his cup. Stopping short, he gave it a sniff, both eyes narrowing in suspicion. Dosu momentarily feared their host suspected some sort of poison. It would be just his luck to find himself with someone Orochimaru likes that isn't a psycho only for them to end up being horribly paranoid and prone to bouts of violence when they felt threatened.
That theory was quickly dashed when Naruto proceeded to take a small sip. From the look of disgust that crossed his face he wasn't impressed. Their host grabbed his own cup and the entire pot before moving back into the kitchen proper. Without prompting the Wolf left his position blocking the window to confiscate the cups of both he and his favorite minion.
He ignored Kin's confused look in favor of turning in his seat to observe their host and the Wolf at work. The masked operative set about dumping out the tea Dosu had just made and carefully washed the teapot followed quickly by the cups. No sooner than the teapot was finished did Naruto begin preparing tea himself.
Dosu had spoken too soon earlier- now things were getting strange.
Their host, one they had been foisted upon by Orochimaru herself, was, well, hosting. It should speak rather poorly for the others who Orochimaru had chosen to leave subordinates with, but considering that such was normal to Shinobi of Otogakure it only ended up speaking well about Orochimaru's favored.
Not only that, whatever Dosu had managed to prepare was obviously not around for guests for even now their host withdrew leaves from a dark red tin to make his own tea. It was only the fact that the tea had been taken from them that made Dosu suspect the tea he made wasn't good enough for any of them instead of just their host. If Naruto had just needed a better cup he had the feeling they would have been left with the tea they had poured and Naruto would have made some more for himself.
Even if he was reading it wrong, it looked like there was better tea in the household and he and Kin just might be permitted to have some. He had been fully prepared to accept his own lackluster brew as the best he was going to get, so this was shaping up to be a rather pleasant surprise.
Something equally true for both the tea and their host who was preparing it. If this was how things were around here regularly than he would be happy to take care of anything Orochimaru needed done in Konoha so he could stay here with what was obviously the most pleasant of her allies.
It wasn't long before their host had finished their task and returned to the table, their guard taking up his spot before the window once more. Three cups were poured, first to Kin, then to him, and finally to the guard before their host poured his own cup. Despite having served the other three first, none of them moved to take a sip until after Naruto had.
As Naruto relaxed into his own chair, Dosu took a sip from his cup and immediately noticed the difference in quality. Oh, yes, this was much better. If things continued like this, he suspected he was going to enjoy his stay here. If Kin's pleasantly surprised expression was anything to go by, his favorite minion would be too.
For the first time since he had become a Shinobi of Otogakure under Orochimaru of the Sannin Dosu found himself pleased by his orders.
He might not be able to afford a vacation, but this would do.
See you all next time.