Chapter 5: The steamboat
"Whoa, things sure move with time. I can't believe we'll be able to reach the beach in just 30 minutess..." Naruto scratches his head, looking at the steam boat in front of him. They used to travel by running across the sea, but now there's new creation called a steam boat. Things have really gotten a lot easier nowadays.
He tried going on a normal boat with Sakura, but this time the two are travelling on a real steam boat. It's probably not even going to shake, back then the little normal boat shaked so much it gave some of them sea-sickness.
"Ahh, just spare me..." Naruto mutters, hoping the steam boat isn't that bad.
Ino overhears him and leans her head on his shoulders, "Hahaha...don't worry Naruto-kun. It'll shake much less than that time before." She said with a smile.
Sakura is standing between the two and cocks her head to the side, "Is that you Ino?" she asked. Ino notices Sakura's memories retained and steps back a little, "Don't scare me like that Sakura...I didn't know you regained your memories already. You nearly shaved three years off my life now." she joked.
"Sakura didn't regain all her memories, but she's pretty solid now of when she first entered the academy." Naruto mentions, still looking uneasy at the steamboat. He then looks back at the girls staring at him uneasy. "Haha!" he laughs uncomfortably, "You don't really think I'm actually scared of the boat breaking, or shaking right?"
Ino shakes her head with a smile, "Of course not. My mistake. I see you changed a lot when we last saw you. After all. It's been six years since the Original twelve have reformed. You're not a kid anymore. Hahahaha." Ino laughs at her last statement.
"Sheesh...and here you are old enough to drink and live by yourself. I have no interest in smoking, but I could give drinking a try!" he mumbles, trying to lighten up that awkward mood.
Naruto then nudges Sakura to join in the conversation, "Well if Sakura has her dad's genes. She can drink like king, right Sakura?" Sakura immediately feels embarassed and hides her face like a kid, "I might only drink when it comes to business...but I'll never drink for pleasure."
Ino and Naruto stare at Sakura confusedly. She's acting a lot like Hinata, but it's probably because she has a mind of a seven year old. "I mean! I...It's hard doing business without alcohol...at least, that's what I heard." she tries to fix her mistake.
There's a slight pause, but then suddenly, "Hahaha!" Ino laughs with her eyes close, "That's exactly right. That's why I never miss a chance to practice!" Sakura felt a little relief that Ino stepped up for her, but then suddenly jolts upwards with her senses heigtened. "That's not right Ino-chan...you're still a minor. It will hurt your chance to grow up."
Sakura's memory isn't up to par just yet, but Ino's just taking advantage of her lack of memory to put up more jokes now, "C'mon Sakura-sempai. I think I grown enough already. In fact, it'll become a lot easier to find clothes if I shrink a little."
Naruto takes this chance to glance down at the two girls and notices that they both grown well. They're really women now. Naruto on the otherhand is still a little shorter than the average male. He's a lot shorter than the rest of the guys from the Original 12 group. He tried a lot of things to help him grow, but to his bad luck, none of it worked.
Even Kiba, the second shortest kid reached his peak much earlier than Naruto. Damn, Naruto would bet if they ever regrouped, they would joke 'Wow, look how big you've grown Naruto-kun' the thought just hurts him a little in the inside.
It's so embarassing. He wishes they'd give him a break.
It just so happened that today. Naruto, Ino and Sakura aren't the only ones going to the beach. The familiar figure of Lee appeared and he gives Naruto a thumbs up, "Wow Naruto-kun, look how big you've grown! You know what they say leave the boy for three days and he'll grow into a mountain!"
Tsunade is following behind Lee as they head off in the first steamboat. "I guess it runs in the blood, doesn't it? Minato wasn't that tall until he became a genin, maybe if you're lucky. You'll become taller when your growth spurt hits!"
Naruto glares at the both of them, a little agitated, "Nah, I'll grow at least ten more feet! A real man needs to be tough in the inside, not just the outside." Lee never meant to tease Naruto. He genuinely thought Naruto grew bigger than he originally was.
He grins widely at Naruto, "Exactly! Naruto-kun knows how it works! Real men win or lose depending on their will. Don't ever forget to train and dicipline yourself. When you do that, all you have to do in a fight is wait patiently for the opponent to make a mistake and then..." he punches the wind making a sharp sounding fist, "...strike them down! Never once have I thought I would become the private escort of the Hokage. The youngest Shinobi to ever reach such a level with mere strength. Now that I think of it, if I ever gone easy on myself, which I doubt since I was following the footsteps of the great Maito Gai, I would've never reach the place I am today. "
Naruto leans over to Sakura who's looking confusedly at Lee, "This strong, young man is Rock-Lee. He is the private escort for Tsunade-sama and part of the original 12. He used to be in love with you." Sakura hides her blush when he said it and Naruto smiles devilishly.
"Lee's nice to children, truly has a kind a heart, sociable almost all the time and even the best taijutsu fighter in all of Konoha. To simply put it, he's an awesome guy and a great friend."
Tsunade slaps Lee's shoulders, pushing him forcefully on the boat so they can visit the Hidden village of the cloud, "If only you can shut your mouth about your accomplishment every once in while. You'll be the most perfect escort there is. That's enough for now Lee, let Naruto continue on his work. I'm sure Sakura is getting tired of it." She then looks over to Sakura. "Right?"
Sakura doesn't notice that all the attention is directed at her, but when she did. She quickly sheilded herself behind Naruto, looking over his shoulder every once in a while. "I don't have a problem with it...Nothing wrong with telling what you did. I think it's a little cool that he's done so much for Konoha. I don't have anything like that at all." she shyly said, in her mind she probably doesn't know who's Lee or Tsunade just yet. She probably doesn't know what she did for Konoha, because she contributed a lot as well.
Tsunade's rush to leave disappears quickly and she folds her arms across her chest with a smile, "Oh really? I imagine a girl with your skills would be wanted throughout the ninja world. I can't believe you have nothing to brag about."
Sakura wasn't prepared for this surprising compliment that she pulls Naruto shirt over her head, hiding her face with the bare skin of his back, "Y-y-you're joking right!" the muffle sound escapes from inside Naruto shirt. "Of course I didn't do anything like Lee...In fact, I rather I didn't do anything because I probably would've messed up."
Tsunade laughs almost as childish as Sakura, "Ah, so you do have stories to tell. You must tell your sensei later on! After all, nothing like that ever happens to Lee." she giggles as Lee looks at her with a grumpy look.
Naruto leans over to Sakura to explain who she is, "This is Tsunade. She's your mentor and basically thought you everything you know...or did know. She mostly jokes all the time, and just like Ino, she prey's on the weak. Hinata would almost always become an easy target, but this time it's you since...well you're acting a lot like her. She was my teacher's team partner a long time ago. The two of them would always tease me when they get a chance. Don't take it too seriously. Well...I guess the last thirty seconds is a bad impression of a Hokage, so I won't mention what a Hokage is just yet, but I'll tell you that she can be serious when she needs to be."
Naruto told her everything she needs to know as Tsunade and Lee begin to board the first steamboat. The three wave goodbye the two leaving and the fourth member comes along to join the three.
"Have any of you seen Sasuke...I couldn't find him." Neji said, holding a towel over his shoulders. Naruto looks behind him and raises his brows slightly, "Sasuke...? I think he left to the bathroom a little while ago. Is he not back yet?"
"Maybe the poor bastard dropped dead and I can finally be free from being his slave." Ino mumbles, jokingly and frightening at the same time. Neji folds his arms across his chest, "Maybe you should'nt have made that bet a long time ago then. Still...this isn't the first time he's taken so long to the bathroom."
The last time he did. He ditched everyone and left to do his own thing.
Sakura smiles at the thought of Sasuke and nods her head, "Yea, he's always been like that." Naruto almost forgot that during this memory age of Sakura. She's deeply in love with him, if only she knew that he ditched the whole village of Konoha.
"Does he really need to take a kunai knife with him everytime he takes a dump? Oh I wonder what he's doing with those..." Naruto joked, but it was true. Sasuke's really precautious of assassins. He is the only bloodline of the Sharingan, having him dead would make a lot of other families at ease.
In the end, Sasuke finally showed up and the three went on their beach trip on the steamboat.