A/N: Finally, an update! And the next one won't take two whole years, because I have an idea!!!!! Many thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Disclaimer: Do you think I own Naruto or A Series of Unfortunate Events? Thought not.
Sakura lead the way, trudging into the house with Sunny cradled safely in her arms, while the elder Baudelaires scurried behind, heads whipping in every direction, trying to get a feel of their new home and its surroundings. Masanori jumped on Naruto's back, insisting that "Didn't you say you wanted to train?" Kakashi lagged behind, chuckling softly to himself at the poor fortune of his blonde teammate.
Inside the house, Klaus took the opportunity to ask Sakura about a few things that had been troubling him since their arrival in Konoha.
"Erm, Sakura?" Klaus said nervously, waiting until he was sure he had his new sister's attention. "Why were you allowed to drive so young? And what was Naruto talking about when he said 'training?' Are you guys in some sort of military force?"
Sakura began to giggle after hearing this, a look of understanding gracing her face.
"Kind of. Well, you see, Konoha isn't your average town. We're what's called a shinobi village- a village of ninjas. People who aren't ninjas- civilians- live in the village as well, but the fact that we have such a large shinobi population and our own training academy, as well as a few other factors, lead to us being a shinobi village." She paused, allowing Klaus- as well as Violet and Sunny, who had also been listening, time to absorb this shocking new bit of information. "Do you understand?"
"Kind of," Violet replied, after getting over the initial shock of living with a bunch of ninjas, "but that still doesn't explain why you can drive at such a young age."
"Ah, I was getting to that. You see, if a child wants to be a ninja, or their parents do, they're sent to the Ninja Academy. After a few years there, they can take a test. Those who pass the test become genin- first- level ninjas. Those who fail continue in the Academy until they pass a test. After graduation, genin are put into 3- man cells, and have a more advanced 'leader' of the group. They are usually assigned easy missions, like getting cats out of trees and babysitting. Once a genin passes a special test called the Chuunin Exams, they become chuunin- second level ninjas. They can be assigned harder missions. The next level, jounin, are, as you can probably guess, assigned even more difficult and dangerous missions. They're often the leaders of the genin's teams. There's another group, ANBU, but you don't have to worry about them. Pretty much, for things like driving, age restrictions don't matter for chuunin level ninja and above. If we can be trusted to handle essentially being our country's militia, why can't we be trusted to drive?"
While the Baudelaires took a few minutes to grasp this new information, Sakura noticed that Klaus seemed to want to say something, but was struggling with something.
"Klaus? Are you okay?" Sakura inquired.
"Yeah, I guess. It's just… Well- is there a way for us to become ninjas? It's just that, well, we've kind of had a bit of trouble with this guy, and I was thinking that it would be nice if we could defend ourselves," Klaus replied, sounding unsure of himself. Violet seemed relieved, as if she had wanted to ask the same thing, but had been too unsure of herself.
"Of course! There are two options for you, so listen closely: we could either enroll you in the Ninja Academy and have you learn at the regular rate, with kids younger than you, or we could get you a few tutors- me and my team, for example- to help you learn at an accelerated rate. If you go with the tutors, we can specialize what you're taught to work with your strengths and weaknesses. If Sunny wants to be a nin when she's older, we can just enroll her in the academy so she'll be with kids her age. By the way, nin is just short for ninja."
Violet and Klaus thought about it for a few minutes then came to an agreement.
"Getting tutored is probably our best bet."
"Good! You guys might want to tag along the next time Naruto, Kakashi and I train. Then you can get a feel of what you'll be able to do. But first, tell me a bit about this guy you mentioned earlier? The one you said has been giving you trouble?"
The Baudelaires seemed to get very uneasy. After a while, Violet opened up.
"When our parents first died, we were sent to live with a man named Count Olaf. He was awful to us; he made us do backbreaking chores, treated us like dirt, and never seemed to care about what we needed. He gave us one bed between the three of us! We found out after a while that he was after our fortune- you've heard of that, right?" Sakura nodded, then motioned for Violet to continue. "He actually tried to marry me to get the money! He was found out and didn't succeed, but he escaped. Count Olaf putting on a disguise fooled our other two previous guardians. He killed them both and he's still at large."
Violet finished, looking up at Klaus. They seemed to be having a silent, mental conversation. There was a heavy silence in the room, which was suddenly broken by Naruto bursting in the door with Masanori on his back. Naruto appeared to be livid, while Masanori was cackling.
"Come on, faster! This is what you come back like after being away training for 2 ½ years?" With an enraged look on his face, Naruto dumped Masa on the floor, and walked over to where Sakura and the Baudelaires were talking.
"So, what's up?"
"Long story short, my new siblings are going to be training to become shinobi with us. I was thinking that you, Kakashi and I could tutor them at an accelerated pace so that they can take their examinations in the next year or so."
" Sounds cool. So, what do you guys like to do?" Naruto inquired of the Baudelaires. Violet's eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to talk about something she enjoyed, and Klaus cracked a smile. Sunny even began to giggle.
"I love to invent things," Violet began. "If I want to think of an invention, I tie my hair back with a ribbon. It keeps it from getting in my way."
"I love to read. No matter what it's about, as long as I have a book, I'm usually very happy," said Klaus.
"Licha!' Sunny exclaimed. "She likes to bite things," Violet translated.
Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. An older couple walked inside. The man was tall, with light brown hair, honey colored eyes, and a warm smile on his face. The woman was almost a mirror image of Sakura, with rose- hues locks and pale jade eyes. The differences were much more subtle; laugh lines next to her eyes, barely graying hair, and other signs of aging. They were obviously related to Sakura and Masanori.
"Hello! You must be the Baudelaires. I am Haruno Akemi, and this is my husband Yoshiaki," the woman, Akemi, introduced. "You're Violet, Klaus and Sunny, correct?" she asked, pointing to each of them in turn. The Baudelaires nodded silence. After a few moments, Klaus broke the stillness.
"I understand that you're our guardians now, so… what should we call you? We've called most of our previous guardians 'aunt' and 'uncle.' Would that be alright?"
"Of course. Whatever makes you comfortable." Answered Yoshiaki.
Sakura, realizing that left alone, their situation would lead to naught but awkward silence, spoke up.
"Why don't Naruto and I take Violet, Klaus and Sunny out for Ramen so we can show them around town and start getting them accustomed to the culture?"
"Alright, but be back before late." With that, they left the house, Naruto and Sakura in the lead, the Baudelaires following behind, trying not to get lost. As the Baudelaires thought back on the day they had, they thought that this time, if Count Olaf found them once more, they would be prepared. They weren't just going to sit by and watch Olaf destroy any chance they had at a family. This time, they were fighting back.
A/N: REVIEW!!! And Supreme Tempest, your idea will be used in the next chapter, I just felt like I needed to get in a little more background info. Thank you so much for pulling me out of writer's block!