Chapter Four
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Updates: Grammar check for this chapter and a little bit of a renovation to the end. The next chapter may come out soon if I don't have much school work this week. Wish me luck.
Summary/Details: Chapter one introduced several original characters. Most of them will be permanent. Chapter two ended the brief look into the training barrack and into some details about Naruto and Hinata's relationship. Chapter three and four are all about the three boys, Lion, Mouse and Badger, and the preparations for the Kyubi festival.
If you have any questions, please message me or review.
In his room on his bed, with the window behind him and the moon's light coating the night stand in a like a thin plastic Naruto watched as the eerie light reflected off of the mask and a few other things on the furniture. Some of those objects included a small shinobi knife, a sponge, a tube of paint, and a bottle of water.
He never thought he was going to wear a mask in his shinobi career, surprisingly. It never occurred to him that he may want to keep his identity a secret (at least to some extent). Unfortunately, very few people knew how to form a rasengan. Much less a rasengan infused with the wind element that it works so well with. In fact, those who witnessed his attack could probably narrow his identity down to just a few people in the village (and together with his blond hair), even straight down to him.
The mask, however, offered him the invaluable option of withholding most of his signature attacks and using others instead and, therefore, obscures the identity of him and his loved ones.
He never thought he would be wearing a mask. When he's asked why he doesn't have the mask painted to match his codename, he's never had anything to say. Ever since the Rookie Nine's generation came up to the Jonin benchmark, every other ANBU soldier started commissioning an artist in the village to draw the mask for them instead of just using the regular stencils that the older generation had grown accustomed to.
He just left his blank.
By the Hokage's orders, the artist is not allowed to ask questions about the shinobi's identity, and any meeting face-time would be conducted under the shinobi's terms, so long as they are reasonably set to fit the artist's schedule. The shinobi must have the proper seals and 'proofs' with the Hokage's hand-written signatures on them.
All of the shinobi in Bear's squad had commissioned an artist, except for the boys. Lion, Mouse and Badger each finger painted them themselves. Naruto knew; they were done here in his apartment. He still kept other various paint tubes in his dresser drawer. Beetle's mask was quite beautiful, actually. After seeing it, Naruto had no doubt in his mind that she had a taste in either drawing or painting herself, and perhaps shared some of her ideas with the artist who finalized her visions.
Tortoise made no mention of who painted the mask. He said quite bluntly that it was not important what his codename was or whether or not he had a say in the design of the paint on his face. The animal was not chosen by the shinobi after all, it was the Hokage who would have to be able to distinguish between all of the different ANBU personnel, and quite often he would ask them to make changes to the patterns on their masks so that he could more easily distinguish one from another.
As for the rest: Eagle paid someone in his family to do it for him, while Bear painted hers herself.
It took their captain a little under two hours to get it exactly how she wanted it.
They spent hours beforehand coming up with different ideas, using different materials, paints and creams and brushes.
They spent a long time here in his apartment, and also in one of the living rooms built into the Hyuga compound.
His chest bothered him when he remembered. With his commenting and her flawless artistic talent, he watched as her lovely hand and the paint brush, held like the stem of a flower in her delicate touch, quickly brought the mask to life. She would often look up while he watched, periodically looking into his eyes for his approval.
What could he say? Why have artists pour so much love and soul into something that will just get blood all over it? That talent and the time it took seemed like such a terrible thing to waste, but Naruto bit his tongue the entire time, watching hopelessly as she turned the lovely white mask into something much more than any canvas and a few dabs of paint.
He was clearly surprised, when the mask that she showed him had the snout of an animal that he had never seen. The vivid blues of the sky and purple strokes of silk-colored lavender painted the image of a bear; which, the only real recollection he had of 'bears' were the teddy bears in gift shops and convenient stores for last-minute buyers on girl's birthdays.
They were round and pudgy. This was not.
What he thought he saw, at first, was a ghost, perhaps a spirit. Its face was sleek and slender at the snout, but had a very wide curve for the cheeks that reminded him, due to his predicament at the time, of a woman's hips. The brows were slender as well. Slight, actually. The nose was small, almost cute, but not quite. And the eyes, the most predominant feature because of the negative technique she used, were white like Hyuga eyes. So white, one would light aflame just by being caught in its gaze.
Painting ANBU masks became an art form that night.
Naruto took a breath and then stood up from his bed after painting his mask once again. The cut just above the eyes from the weapon that hit it was hard to cover up, but he managed fairly well with a little bit of clay from the ground outside and some glue. With some sand paper, he'd patch it all up later and it would look a little better after some more paint. He apparently failed to realize the hypocrisy in the feelings that he had between designing one's own symbol for the ANBU animal and keeping his mask clean and white.
After setting the mask down, he flicked on the light at his night stand and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. The moon was probably already fading again, because it was getting darker. He moved to the other side of the room by a wooden chair, and then sat down on his knees with his back facing it. Taking a breath, he placed his palms down on the floor and started to walk himself forward as he set his toes up on the chair, straightened his back and pumped out the first pushup.
It was time to wake up anyways. He had plenty of stuff to do today, so he'd just have to do his morning workout a little earlier.
After the standard body weight resistance exercises, he stood up to leave the apartment. Locking the door behind him, he stepped out into the cool morning air in Konoha and started running. Often times he'd meet Lee out here for a quick run, but today he planned on avoiding him if he could. Working out with Rock Lee was like trying to swim up a waterfall. Naruto was pretty sure he could eventually do that with chakra though, so he wasn't even sure if that would be an adequate metaphor since he felt that he would never be able to keep up physically with the 'beautiful green beast' or whatever he called himself.
An hour and a half later, at about four thirty, Naruto made it through the main road outside of the Hokage's office and was now moving away from the monument toward Central, a long, wide stretch of road that cut diagonally and curved around again until it broke up into seven separate roads that went everywhere from the training grounds to a pair of hot springs and what is left of the Forest of Death. And really, Konoha was conceptually built much like a spider web, or (more likely) like a ball-shaped crack in a window pane; all roads came from one point, although some wrapped around that point. The Hokage's tower was the point at which the brunt of the force from the thrown ball was centered, while the mountain behind it was the wood paneling to the window.
Jogging swiftly though Central and cutting down the sub market district where Ichiraku was, Naruto could see further down the way that preparations for the Kyubi festival were already underway. He didn't realize how much preparation went into festivals like these; he had never gone, at least not to one in Konoha.
The Kyubi, though it was sealed away into Naruto's belly still preyed on people's minds to this day. The veterans of that war, a war lasting a hundred years in a single night, against the most terrible force to ever have hit Konoha in their lifetimes.
Fight after fight after fight, and Naruto was still no where closer to changing people's perspectives. They called him a hero for a day when he defeated Pein. Perhaps that lasted a few months, Naruto didn't know. After spending some time trying to find the eight-tails, and then training in a strange room where he contained the power of the Kyubi, there was a skirmish outside of Hidden Grass and the Hokage called to him for help. He spent an entire year there, wasting away his childhood for a small fight that escalated into an insidious war. Thankfully, the war was shorter than others had been. It's been four months since returning home then, two months since the defense against the enchanted samurai, and two days since taking back the training base at the outskirts of the village's territory.
How old is he now? Eighteen? No, nineteen today.
Today is his birthday, and even though he has been busy, he never forgot it.
After a good morning run and another stop at his apartment to get some breakfast and a change of clothes, he made his way through the gardens where parties after the ceremonies would be held.
It was only seven thirty, but people were already hustling about, preparing for the evening's events with a prayer to ask for Kami-sama's blessings on their festivities. Naruto stood in the background, watching as no less than forty people gathered underneath an ancient tree that had managed to survive Pein's terrible attack several years ago. There were several rumors surrounding that tree. Some say that there are spiritual powers protecting it, while others claim that a shinobi gave his life to nullify the blast that swept through the entire village in order to protect that tree. There were a few places similar to the tree around Konoha. Some so close to the vanishing point, that point which people claimed Pein's attack first spread from, that it was most certainly supernatural that these things survived.
One of those was a body of water, a lovely koi pond that had a legend tacked onto it years before Naruto was even born. It was a man-made pond that used to belong to a young widow who lost her husband to the Third Great Shinobi War. Naruto didn't know much else than that. The woman's rickety old house was blasted down by the attack, but apparently she had left or passed recently. The pond was still there, and there are still koi fish in that pond.
One place, however, was not so lucky.
That headstone that had the names of all of the great and selfless shinobi that died protecting their family, friends and their village in battle was gone. There wasn't even a small shard of it left. Just the empty ground that now sits in its place. Naruto was certain that the explosion is not what caused it to vanish. The cause was perhaps some sort of vandalism, although he didn't know a soul who could actually lift that heavy rock... perhaps the Raikage could, even with just one arm left.
It was one of the reasons why Naruto hadn't seen Kakashi in a long time. The man withdrew and Naruto could only guess that it had to do with the disappearance of the stone. Perhaps he feared the inevitable: that he may one day forget that friend from so long ago.
Naruto sometimes forgot about Iruka, even though he was still alive. Their relationship had soured because of various misunderstandings and Naruto now rarely made an effort to go and see his once favorite sensei.
That was the whole story, though. Naruto just wasn't maintaining the relationships with his most precious people like he used to. Instead, most of his effort went into those three boys and his captain.
"Hyuuga-taichou," he'd say, "Come, train with me."
"There is no need to train with one another anymore." She'd say. "We know each other, in and out."
She may as well have torn his heart out through his throat.
"It's pointless."
Naruto grumbled as he waited for the front door to the orphanage to open up. He'd promised the boys that they'd get some new hair-cuts and sandals for their feet so that they looked good for their dates with some of the other girls at the orphanage. He also said they would go eat lunch together afterward. He wasn't sure why he did it. It was probably Iruka rubbing off on him, and since Konohamaru had grown up so fast, reaching jonin at his young age with great control over the rasengan, he wasn't around for him and Naruto to hang out anymore.
Suddenly, the door burst open and slammed Naruto in the face, right on the nose. He took a step back and groaned in pain, his eyes looking inside and his brows furrowed as a clear sign of agitation on his face.
"Hiya, Naruto-san! Let's move, let's move, let's move!" yelled Mouse, waving his arm frantically as he ran past his surrogate-father. Right behind him was Lion, who was quick to turn Naruto around while Badger slammed the door behind him as he ran hoping to get away from the terror inside.
Naruto tilted his head to the side and barely captured a glimpse of the old lady running outside covered in paint, glitter and uncooked macaroni. She picked up a potted plant from outside and hurled it at the boys, yelling that she would devour them and grind their bones to make her bread and other nonsense. Bleeding from his nose, Naruto could care less. He tilted his head back as they dragged him away, a groan escaping his lips as he felt a harsh headache burn the sides of his head.
"So you killed them." A clan elder for the Hyuga muttered. Lying before him and, Danzo's only son, Iejuzo, the new head ANBU's 'Ne', or root, were the bodies of two ninja with cloud headbands.
"You can see that quite clearly for yourself without having to ask me." Hinata said, indifferently in her soft voice.
"The rules in any village state that on shinobi's property, an intruder forfeits his life to the will and the strength of the owner. To break in so carelessly into the Hyuga's main branch and try and assassinate the clan head. I do not pity them." Iejuzo muttered bluntly. There was a look on his face of curiosity as his eyes roamed the corpses on the lovely hand-made rug that was covered in blood and vomit. "Though… I am curious: just what does that lovely fist do to draw so much blood without any physical trauma?" Iejuzo looked up from the body to gaze into Hinata's eyes. "The gentle fist usually doesn't produce these results."
Hinata was wearing her less formal, five layer kimono, which for a non-Hyuga could probably pass off as a wedding kimono. She stepped over to a large oak desk and her fingers hovered over a grouping of scrolls on the table until she pulled one up that required her attention as the head of the clan. She took her seat for a moment while the elder stepped in beside her to lay out her brush and ink on her left side.
"Kumaro," she began as he twisted the cap off of the ink bottle and pushed it forward ever so slightly, "has Neji returned yet from his mission to Otogakure no Sato?"
"Erm... Iie. Unfortunately, he and his former sensei are still out of the village. There has been no word from him since then."
Hinata nodded, not even looking up as her elder spoke to her. Iejuzo couldn't help but wonder, just what was going on inside of that mysterious mind.
Seeing that Iejuzo's inquiry was left unanswered, the elder spoke with determination in his voice as to his opinion on the matter, "This is the second time that the Lightning country has dared to attack the Hyuga, and the second time that Hyuga-dono's life has been at jeopardy. In her own home, no less! There is no forgiving this... we must not let this end lightly."
"I do not care." Hinata said, scowling. "Contact the Hokage. Send the bodies back to Kumo with no message. That's message enough."
Much to the elder's disdain, Ne's leader quickly spoke up with a grin on his face."That is a brilliant idea, Hyuga-sama. Quite daring, really! However!" Iejuzo had a little too much emotion written on his face to be related to Danzo. There was a conniving grin that spread onto his lips as he thought of the possibilities for the two bodies before them. "We should send the man with 'no animal'."
"Why should we send him, rather than one of our own?" The elder asked, brows furrowed with a look of distrust on his face. Quite honestly, Iejuzo was not 'one of their own'.
"Why would we send anyone in the first place," Kumaro added once more with a scowl.
"Because he is competent. I trust him with any order that is given to him, and not only does he perform his duties to the 'T', he also has the reputation as one who goes beyond what is necessary for the success of the mission. He would not only deliver the bodies, but perhaps we could convince him to also steal away a calf or so, so that we may nourish and use it to our advantage. Imagine having one of their kekkai genkai: here, in Konoha? Amazing possibilities... and you, Hyuga-sama," he said enthusiastically while turning to look back at the beautiful clan leader; "would be the only-"
"You are overstepping your bounds, Iejuzo." The old man said correctly. "You are only welcome here for business concerning Hyuga-dono's position as an ANBU captain. But otherwise, you hold no authority or power."
Iejuzo's smile never left his face. It unnerved the elder to a great extent.
"Are you proposing to tell Hyuga-dono what missions she, as the head of our clan, should sponsor before the Hokage and the council? And how the mission should be carried out?" the elder said before his master, obviously driven by unchecked emotion; "Who do you think you are?"
"I am merely a messenger," he claimed, bowing his head just slightly; "You claim that I am trying to influence the leader of your clan. Well… quite honestly, I am. Hyuga-sama, for the well-being and the prosperity of the village I would gladly give an arm, an eye or a tongue, but for you I would lay down my life. I would not propose anything at all that would come to harm you or taint your reputation or your clan's."
Hinata, seemingly unaware of the conversation before her, continued making revisions to certain documents and signing and dating others. She slowly ripped some of those apart and set them in the tray of a small metal device sitting on her desk and lit them on fire by turning it on. Once the fire was lit the documents in the tray were disposed of, she stood back up and turned to walk away from her desk while Kumaro moved to put away the ink, brush and leftover documents on top of her desk into another tray in a neat fashion, and shut off the device.
"As I was saying," he tried again, "Hyuga-sama: you would be the only one who received credit for the abduction. It would be a great deed for the village."
"Enough." Hinata's chakra always filled the Hyuga mansion as a warning to all intruders, but right now it seemed to completely vanish, which made both Iejuzo and the elder flinch. "You say that you would not propose anything that would tarnish my reputation or my clan's reputation, but what you are implying is that I should risk casting Konoha into war with Kumo to try and abduct a child with one of their blood limits. You are asking me to stomp on their feet because they pulled on my hair."
"On the contrary, I am telling you that you could chop off their thumbs because they pulled a strand out." He said, in a corrective tone. Suddenly his presence became overbearing to Kumaro, and the elder took a step back from him as he eyed the younger man curiously.
Hinata pulled back one of the sliding paper doors and stepped outside into the garden.
Iejuzo was absolutely stunned, for Hinata was brilliant and magnificient; a goddess among women, a star among floating debris in space. He looked at her longingly. He let his eyes roam her body. Even from afar he felt like he could just barely reach out and touch. She made the idea of being the kimono that she wore exhilarating. He wished that for just a second he could be the perfume inside of the jar that she sprayed onto her body every day, then he would be spread all over her while he slowly seeped into her skin. He did all he could to keep from biting his lip as he waited for her to remember that they were there... no! Only him, waiting on her, when suddenly she spoke out.
"I grow tired. You may leave." And with that, he was forgotten. He was angry. No, he was furious. He let the smallest frown corrupt the ends of his mouth, but he muttered a 'hai' and stepped away, heading for the front door of the complex. The elder had not missed the longing look or the disappointment and the fury afterward.
In silence, the Elder began to close the sliding door shut, when she said, "Have Hanabi come see me after she has completed her training together with her friend."
"Of course, Hyuga-dono." He said, bowing his head to her even though her back was turned. He was going to shut the door again when she spoke once more.
"Also, please fetch me Uzumaki-san by two pm... I have ANBU matters to discuss with him."
"Yes, Hyuga-dono."
Hinata looked up from the center of the large garden in the center of the Hyuga, main branch estate.
In her mind floated the images of eyes the stark shade of blue that was sometimes visible in stones of particular amber.
It was lovely.
The sun was bright, the wind was cool.
While sitting in a salon waiting for the boys' haircuts, Naruto was busy being teased and hit on by a hair stylist with a box of tissue in her lap.
"You didn't get this walking into something, did you?" She asked with a hint of playfulness in her voice as she dabbed at his nose.
He gave her a look, but slowly shook his head. "I got this because something walked into me."
She laughed, shaking her head. "You're so funny, Naruto-kun."
"He's also single!" The mouse said aloud.
Naruto flinched when he heard it and in doing so caused more pain as she was the one holding onto his nose to try and stop the bleeding. Though she was directly beside him, he dared not look in the eyes of the hungry predator whose body was coiled up, ready to pounce on him at any moment.
"I just so happen to know a single girl who's looking for a good time." She said slyly.
Hesitantly, Naruto let out a slight chuckle, "Really?" His tone of voice made it sound like he didn't believe her.
She grinned cutely, but Naruto was not caught unawares. That grin was still predatory and he was certain that behind those pretty lips were long, venomous fangs that ached to sink into his throat.
"How about taking her to the Kyubi festival tonight? I'm sure she'd be delighted."
This girl is crazy... she's talking about herself like she isn't even here.
"Uh, I'm sorry, but I wasn't planning on taking a date tonight. I think you're real cute, but I just wanted to spend my time at the games with the boys." He nodded to the triplets who had mixed expressions with the same chubby cheeks.
"Oh, don't be silly! I already have a boyfriend that I really like, but Nobume over there has been looking for a..." she leaned in to whisper this part, "big, strong man to…you know."
Naruto barely looked up to the girl she was pointing to when he noticed that they were a bright yellow, or perhaps gold. Their eyes met and locked.
Lion looked up curiously to the girl who still had a grip on his hair, though she seemed to have forgotten that he was there.
That's the same girl who...
Their pupils flirted with one another and for a brief second they shared a thought.
... I saw when I was visiting at the orphanage.
They gulped, both thinking of their encounter at the orphanage before Nobume realized what the other girl was probably relaying to the blond.
"Aii! Don't be telling people stuff like that! Thanks to you, I have a ton of weird people coming in and constantly asking me out. It's embarrassing in front of all of the customers!"
"Psh! Like you don't like the extra attention." The hair stylist said, then she shrugged and leaned in again to whisper into Naruto's ear. "Just lay her already. She needs it."
Nobume huffed and threw her scissors and comb at the floor, leaving a lion waiting in his seat with a jagged mane around his head as she stomped out of the shop through the back door. Naruto sat in his chair oblivious to the tiny trickling of blood that painted his upper lip as he mauled over what to do next. He didn't feel quite right being the cause of the girl's embarrassment, although one could say that this other girl was pretty rude and terribly frank about her friend's sex life, so maybe he had no fault in the event. In their chairs the boys were looking at him expectantly. Their eyes were widened just slightly, pupils dilated, and they were already studying his reaction to the situation and taking notes. In their heads, they are forming complex thoughts and assumptions about their surrogate father's interactions with women and how he dealt with uncomfortable circumstances. They didn't even really care about their hair cuts. They probably wouldn't until they were older.
He sighed, steeling himself as he stood up onto his feet. He swore that the boys were cheering him on with their eyes. His actions today would curve their actions in the future, and he had to be a good role model if he expected them to treat women with kindness and respect like Tsunade often reminded him during many of her drunken stupors.
He turned to look at the hair-stylist and shook his head. "Ma'am, I don't think it is right to make assumptions for anyone else. And I don't just mean assumptions about me or people you don't know. I wonder what interest is it of yours what someone else does with their time or of their love life?"
The girl frowned, but she had a brow raised.
"Now... she, Nobume, was cutting my little brother's hair. I assume you'll step in her place to take care of that?" He then turned to look at the mangy looking, chopped up top on the young boy's head. He always did have a ton of hair. His codename as 'lion' was not random, although he was often called 'little-lion' around the ANBU barracks and mission briefing rooms, and Tsunade always went out of the way to call him 'Shishi-chan'.
"Sure, whatever you say. I'll take care of his hair." She stood up with a lazy sigh and pretended to sulk over to the little-lion. She kicked aside the other girl's comb and scissors that were on the floor and pulled some other ones out of the drawer. Naruto followed her and quickly gave some instructions on how he wanted the boy's hair to be cut, much to the lion's dismay. They had a brief discussion until Naruto looked at him through the mirror and for a moment the boy shut up, then quickly muttered a 'whatever' and 'fine' as he waited for the woman to butcher his long locks.
Naruto, idly watching as the odd hairdresser took care of the boy's hair, he turned to look at the other boys and wondered why the other two ladies in the room were so quiet. He looked back toward the door that led outside and saw that it was cracked open. He walked toward the door and, on the way, picked up the scissors and comb and set them down on the edge of the sink just next to the door as he passed through it.
Each of the hairdressers gave one another a look while they were cutting hair and all three of them flinched when they realized they made a mistake on all three boys at the same time. "Er... young-man, how would you like a shaved head?"
Outside, Naruto saw that Nobume was not immediately visable. He looked around once while he kept his hand in between the door and the frame so that he could go back inside.
He had no idea why he was doing this; he may have had some sort of odd moment or spark with that girl while at the orphanage and again here in the salon, but he was still having his own dilemma with his captain. What did she really mean to him? Why did Hinata push him away all of the time?
Just as he pushed the door to go back inside, he heard a sigh. Just beyond a trashcan outside, he was able to see the toes of her tennis shoes. She slowly shifted her legs back and forth, apparently trying to get comfortable. Maybe she was waiting for them to leave? He stroked his chin and just looked at the toes of her shoes for a while, considering what he could do. He wasn't exactly the most talkative person, not anymore anyways, nor could he easily or eloquently articulate himself and his feelings; there was evidence enough of that in his relationship with Hinata. So he didn't know what to do about this girl and, oddly enough, his infatuation of her.
He eventually walked toward her, then past her, and came to rest his back up against the wall beside her. "I have friends just like her, you know."
She laughed. It was a sweet but guarded laugh. She began wiping her eyes. "Really?"
" 'fraid so. One of them tells me it's troublesome for him to see me without a woman; says that I should suffer just as much as he does." As he said this he remembered Shikamaru and his blonde girlfriend.
Again, she laughed. This time with a long sigh at the end.
"Illa is always complaining that she doesn't like seeing me alone. I tell her that I don't want to look for anyone right now and that I'm happy just being together with my little sister..." He barely saw the small contemplative gesture as she thought momentarily about what she was about to say, "My family's finally going to adopt her. I've been going to see her for the past two years now. I'm so..."
"Happy?" He offered.
She nodded, "... and relieved."
"Oh?"
"I didn't think they understood just how serious I was about how much I love this girl. She is truly my little sister, and I cherish her with all my heart. She's such a sweet girl. I know she'll become whatever she wants to be as she grows older."
"She's a very lucky child to have someone who's kind and devoted to her the way you are."
Nobume's eyebrows raised and she stroked at her dark skin with her manicured, but unpainted fingernails. Even with the darker tone of her skin, he was able to tell that she was blushing, but the aversion of her eyes from his made it even easier to make it out. "That's nice of you to say..."
"I mean it."
Her hand slowly moved up from her arm and she clutched her shoulder. "You believe everything I said about her was true?"
Naruto was silent for a moment and nodded. "You may have me fooled but... I think that you sound and look very sincere."
She looked up at him and saw he had a foxy grin on his face as he gazed at the Hokage monument from where they were with his eyes squinted nearly shut. "From one older sibling to another," he said, "It's hard not to get attached, isn't it?" He thought of the three boys, all of their differences and their potential. He knew they would surpass him one day. He just had to make certain that they were still alive for that day to pass, and then he could stop working and retire to a life of fishing and smoking from a pipe.
She smiled, Naruto's grin deepened, and then she nodded.
When they walked back into the salon together, they stopped and Naruto's jaw dropped while Nobume covered her lips with her fingertips. Two of the boys were mumbling that they didn't like waiting so long, while Lion was standing directly in front of him, poking him in the chest as he growled. "You left us alone and look what they did to my hair!"
"What... hair?" Naruto muttered, his mouth hanging back agape.
"That'll be 1,200 Ryu*, tips included of course!"
Naruto blinked and absentmindedly reached for his wallet. Then he realized something, "Is that a Mohawk?" He cried out, pointing at Badger.
They all looked at Badger, who seemed to be cool and indifferent to their long stares. "I think it adds character." One of the hairdressers offered.
"It actually looks pretty wicked," Nobume piped in, grinning with her tongue stuck out just a bit.
Naruto looked exasperated and slowly shook his head. "Yeah, I guess it's cool. I always wanted to get one myself, actually, but... that lady's gonna kill me."
Much to Naruto's displeasure, Nobume nodded slowly. So now he was sure of it!
Mouse suddenly squeaked, the only one left with a normal short cut. His arms were waiving frantically in the air, "Oh, miss! Where's that girl that you visit at the orphanage? Badge here has been trying to ask her out for the festival for weeks now!"
"Mouse!" Badge's cool demeanor faltered when he heard that.
Nobume giggled and nodded, "Actually, that's good." Now shaking her head with an expression on her face that made it look like whatever she was thinking about was pretty funny. When she finally spoke again, she started by looking at each of the kids briefly, but ultimately her vibrant, golden eyes fell in line with Naruto's long gaze. "She's said that above anything else, what she wants to become most is a bona-fide kunoichi. I think that she would really take a liking to you if you actually told her that you are a shinobi."
Naruto blinked as he set the money down on the counter and eyed Badger curiously. "You didn't tell her that you are part of er... well, I guess that makes sense, but you could say that you are a Chuunin. That's pretty impressive by itself for your age."
Badger kept quiet and nodded slowly.
"Are we going now or what?" Mouse complained.
"Aww, don't you like being here with us?" Illa purred as she bent over and pinched his cheek until he squeaked 'ah!'
"I do!" Lion grinned, eyeing her cleavage. Naruto swiftly bopped him on the top of the head and pointed at the door.
"Sorry," he said, embarrassed.
"Move it."
Used to following his commands, all three boys walked over to the door, but two of them didn't try and hide that they were sulking.
Naruto waved good bye to the others, then turned to look at Nobume. She smiled shyly at him, which he thought was cute.
"Come with us to the festival tonight?" Naruto offered.
"S-sure." She said, barely above a whisper.
"Great. For tonight, I think we should go just as friends. Maybe after, we might change our minds then, hm?" He asked, giving her the space that she wanted when she said that she didn't want to start dating immediately just because her friend had singled her out. "I'm sure the boys can't wait to meet your sister. They'll have their own play-dates for the evening too, good friends I guess from the orphanage."
"Oi! They're not play-dates! They're our girlfriends for the night."
All of the adults shared a laugh.
Nobume grinned nodded enthusiastically, saying; "I can't wait."
They worked out the details of where they would meet up and at what time, and for a while Naruto tried to push Hinata into the back of his mind. He walked out with a happy grin as he walked a few feet behind the boys, watching them as they jumped back and forth, waving their arms and yelling as they tried to re-enact some of the missions that they had been on, or talked about what they were going to tell the girls while at the festival. It was funny. He remembered when he was that age that he acted the same way. He was much louder though, and he wore bright orange and played pranks and tried to get everyone's attention all of the time that he became known as a nuisance rather than just what he was: a kid. He walked with them into a summer kimono shop, which was bustling with activity due to the festival. There were people of all sorts, colors and words that walked through. He noticed a couple that seemed to be from one of the other continents, due to the odd clothing that they wore as they shopped for something for the festival. There were several people all over Konoha today, their hitai-ate's worn in various fashions on their person and their kunai pouches missing. As an active ANBU shinobi, he was always on duty. If anything suspicious came up, he was to drop what he was doing and investigate it immediately. Just knowing that made him tense. It was tense to have all of these guests for only today.
He sat on a chair while he watched the boys run through ailes, searching for a 'manly' kimono. Naruto couldn't help but smile when Lion explained that they were looking so hard because they wanted to look great. He didn't even have to teach them anything sometimes, the three of them were adults in children's bodies, and often they made the right decisions. Only once in a while does he have to intervene to let them know that their actions are unacceptable or that they could have done things a better way.
Badger was already wearing a black kimono with an ogre picture motif pattern. Mouse wore a dark blue kimono with a blue leaf pattern that was only a shade or two lighter, giving it an interesting look. The white sash complimented it well.
Lion couldn't decide on his, so Naruto stood up and took one that the young man hadn't noticed. It was a brown one with a tan sash and a darker coat. Lion looked up at him and Naruto smiled. "Try this one on."
Naruto started walking around, looking for one for himself, although he already had one at home. It took an hour to get all three boys fitted, paid for and bagged, and Naruto decided to just go with what he had at home. While he waited, he had some sandals custom made for him on the spot by a happy old man who offered him a puff from his tobacco pipe. The kids were looking at him, and he thought that he should probably give them a few more lessons in the art of subtlety, so he knew that he would have to turn the old man down.
"No, thank you sir."
"Your loss, young man." He grinned, shrinking his beard up against his chin.
Naruto nodded and waited patiently while the man measured his feet and got to work, sanding down blocks of wood that were sawn only large enough to fit certain foot sizes. He had several other scraps stacked in the back of his shop, and faced the Kimono shop that was across from them. The three boys eyed the sandals with surprise and curiosity. The first thing that caught their attention was that the sandals were wooden, but very smooth. The old man used different methods of refining the wood to make sure that it was as comfortable as possible for the wearer, and his experience showed in the mastery he had over his trade.
The thong was added to the end product after the teeth were put in and the first sandal was assembled. Naruto waited patiently for the second while he inspected the first that he had in his hands. He then handed it over to the boys so that they could look over it.
"Wow! This would be so awesome!"
Naruto laughed. "Don't even think about it. That old lady would cut my throat if I gave you guys these things and you ran around the wooden floors in the orphanage, going 'clack-clack-clack' all day."
Mouse chuckled, but Lion scowled. "That lady always ruins everything."
Naruto, and even the old man, laughed.
"Actually, son, if you are looking for children's feet wear, you can head around the block and there is a beautiful woman there who sells various goods from other countries. They're fairly priced, and most of the wear is formal if you're interested.
"Thanks, I'll remember that. How much do I owe you?" He had spent quite a bit today, but he did say that he would get them sandals as well. He may as well splurge a bit and get them something nice that they can wear with other things than simply a kimono.
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The three of them left the market district with smiles and waves to the old man with their kimonos wrapped up in neatly-folded bundles in bags that Naruto carried while he allowed the three boys to try walking on his new sandals for a while. He chuckled when he realized that they were scared they were going to fall even though the pair was made well and spaced out enough so they would be fairly easy to walk around in.
They stopped by the woman's shop and found that she sold wares far more diverse than just foreign footwear. She was apparently an import trader who brought in many oddities of the rest of the world and fetched a price for them here in Konoha. The woman was older than any of the boys had expected, and Mouse was the first to question the old man's tastes.
"I thought that he said that she was beautiful?" He asked, looking up at Naruto with a confused look on his face.
Naruto nodded slowly, trying to word what he was going to say correctly, "Beauty is often wildly unsimilar amongst different people. What I mean is, what may be 'beautiful' or attractive to you may not be the least bit attractive to someone else. In the old man's case, it was the other way around for him."
The three boys gladly tried on different shoes by then, and when they paid and left, they were admiring them as they walked.
"Look at the color of mine! They're blue!"
"Awesome, but look! The toe on mine is pointy and curled! Ha ha!"
"I can't wait to wear them tonight!"
When Naruto dropped them off at the orphanage again, he told them to prepare themselves while he took their bank notes to go withdraw a sum of money that he had them write down then and there, although the boys would have trusted him anyways to only withdraw enough for the festival and nothing extra for himself.
He walked back home, thinking about the festival, the boys and that girl Nobume. She was pretty, sure. He wondered what it was that interested him about her. Perhaps it was just infatuation, or lust. She was certainly exotic. Not many women in Konoha had skin tone as deep as hers. He walked over to his closet and opened the door to take out the large kimono hanging in the center on a separate rack from the rest of his clothing that was hung out in front, back to back.
He told the boys he would be back in two hours. He had plenty of time, so he decided to shower before he put on his kimono and new geta.
After the shower, he stood in front of the mirror and took a good look at himself. In his eyes, he wondered where he could find that fire again. That flame that he lost long ago when he was younger and dumber and less powerful. What had snuffed out those embers that kept it lit? Were they truly gone?
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Author's note: I've made changes since September 1, 2010. Thank you for reading, and please review if you like my story :)