Chapter 12: A New Inventory
Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto
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Naruto nodded to the Hokage before shivering in his hospital gown. He glared at the window which was open with winds sweeping in through it.
"Is there anyway I can get some clothes?" asked Naruto while still shivering.
"Of course, Naruto, just pay a trip to Fukumi's All Purpose Shop. It's right next to Ichiraku's Ramen. Surprisingly, it was one of the few shops that remained intact after the battle..." started Sarutobi but stopped when he saw that Naruto had left.
Eventually, Naruto found a small, brown, shop fixated between Ichiraku's and a destroyed building that looked like a bank. Upon entry, Naruto noticed a few dusty old clothes and a rack full of old newspapers. In the corner stood a desk and behind it stood a short, stout, man.
"What's a kid like you doing here?" questioned the short man named Fukumi.
"Oh, um, the Old Man Hokage sent me to get some clothes. You see, my only set was destroyed."
"Say no more, boy, if Sarutobi told you to come here, then I'll give you the clothes, free of price, but don't expect anymore favors like this to come in," declared Fukumi, his unusually loud voice echoing through the shop.
"What exactly do you have to offer besides all of this junk?" an inquisitive Naruto questioned.
"Heh, kid, be patient. Just follow me. I keep the goods in a safe place. That's why the sound and sand didn't tear this place apart. There was no point! Because they didn't see anything"
"I'm patient! It's just really cold in this damn hospital gown!" retorted Naruto while following Fukumi.
Fukumi pressed his right hand against the back wall, flooding it with a light blue chakra, thus opening a passageway. He led Naruto down a tunnel and they came upon a room that seemed to go on for miles, filled with ninja armor and equipment.
"Impressive, right, kid?" asked Fukumi while looking at his collection.
"Awesome! This place has everything. I want this and that..." spoke Naruto while browsing the collection.
"This is all armor. If you want weapons, check in with my granddaughter back there. She knows the entire weapon selection by heart," called out Fukumi before stepping out to smoke.
After browsing through the entire armor selection, Naruto started towards the abundant supply of weapons. Before he touched anything, someone yelled from behind, wondering who it was.
"Hey! Who are you?" asked what looked like a kunoichi with her hair in buns.
"I'm down here on Hokage orders! I needed new clothes and equipment. Fukumi let me down here. Are you the weapon person he mentioned?"
"Yeah, I keep track of gramps' weapons for him. I didn't know you were down here on Hokage's order. I guess that's my fault for jumping out and scaring you like that. You're that Naruto person from the exams, right?"
"Yep, that's me. I think I remember you too, Tenten is your name, right?" asked Naruto while poking sharp weapons.
"Bingo, that my name. Anyway, are you looking for anything special?"
"Well, I think I'll check out the clothes again but for now I want to look at the weapons. I want to get something that's good with chakra," dilatorily declared Naruto.
"There is one weapon I think that fits your description. I'll go get gramps," quickly inserted Tenten before running after Fukumi.
Moments later, Fukumi walked back in with his granddaughter and they approached a black box against the wall. Fukumi took out a key and slipped it into the lock. He spit out the cigarette but in his mouth before lifting up the trunk top. Inside of the box, lay an elongated sword with a green and black hilt with the kanji for wind on it and a sort of long blade with designs carved into it.
"Kid, this blade is legendary. It is said to have belonged to the ancient shinobi who discovered the wind country all those years ago. He supposedly lost in a battle to an evil demon. His sword was discovered by an ancestor of mine and Tenten's family and it's been passed down generation by generation," input Fukumi while holding the fine crafted blade.
"Wow, I wish I had that," marveled Naruto while looking at the blade.
"Even if I gave it to you, it wouldn't work. Apparently, it only worked for that certain ancient shinobi. Here, try holding it," stated Fukumi before handing Naruto the blade.
Naruto held it carefully in both hands before grasping the hilt firmly in one hand. Suddenly, wind began circulating around the blade, whistling as it swerved around in circles, but it went away when Naruto quickly handed it back to Fukumi. Both Fukumi and Tenten stared wide eyed at the spectacle that Naruto just put on,
"It's supposed to do that, right?" a surprised Naruto said while pointing at the blade in Fukumi's rough looking hands.
"N-no I don't think so. It certainly hasn't happened yet as long as it's been in my possession," responded the still thunderstruck Fukumi.
"Then what's going on?" asked Naruto, a great look of disbelief of what just happened plastered all over his face.
"I think you must be some kind of chosen wielder or something along those lines," input Tenten who had been mysteriously quiet this entire time.
"I think she may be right, kid, maybe you should take this sword off of our family's hands. Hell knows what other things we can do with it."
"A-are you actually giving me the sword?" cross-examined Naruto.
"Well, in some cases, yes, but I'm going to put you through some hard labor in here when you don't have missions. It'll be your way of payback," stated Fukumi, Tenten nodding to him.
"Aw man, well, I guess I'll do it," sadly declared Naruto, his head hung low.
For the next hour, Naruto picked out clothes. They consisted of just casual fashions to wear around the village, and just one being his mission uniform. The uniform was comprised of a pair of tight, black and orange pants, a pair of black sandals, a fish net shirt, and an orange and blue, hooded jacket. Fukumi even volunteered to make Naruto a genuine leaf headband, which was gladly accepted. Before leaving with all of his items, Naruto bowed in thanks to Tenten and Fukumi and then, he exited through the tunnel and exited through the shop front. Stunned villagers watched Naruto carry all of his items out of the shop because, to their common knowledge, Fukumi's was just a shop full of old newspapers and clothes full of moth balls. At long last, Naruto reached his team's hotel and retreated to his room in the suite that his team had.
"Whew, at least I got that out of the way. Now all that's left is to sleep until tomorrow, the mission day," declared Naruto out loud to himself before falling asleep on his futon.
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Sakura walked silently through an area full of houses before approaching one that stands higher than most of the others. She took one last glance at the moon beginning to come out and opened the door to her home, closing it shortly after. Inside, she was immediately greeted by her mother and her father soon afterwards. Right before Sakura retreated to her room upstairs, Suki held up a scroll and called back Sakura.
"Sakura, honey, you have a new mission assigned from the Hokage. I saw that your teammates are going to be Hyuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto. You like that Uzumaki boy, right?"
"Mother! I do not like him!" exclaimed Sakura.
"Yeah right," inserted Sakura's inner persona.
'Don't talk, please, I'm not in the mood to hear your voice right now,' mentally scolded Sakura.
"But I have your voice, so you don't want to hear your own voice? Gasp!"
'Shut the hell up!' mentally retorted the ticked off Sakura before blocking her inner self out.
"Whatever you say honey," said Sakura's mom while handing Sakura her mission scroll.
Eventually, Sakura made it to her room and she immediately sat on the floor and opened her scroll. She skipped to the mission description and began reading it. Soon after starting, she finished and went into a trance of thought dealing with her mission.
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"Neji, a mission scroll has just been sent to you from the Hokage. It seems to be very important," stated Hiashi Hyuga before tossing the scroll to Neji and walking away.
"I'll look over it eventually," said Neji quietly before returning to his meditative state.
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End of Chapter 12