Blonde-Haired Warrior, Pink-Haired Princess
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, To-LOVE-Ru, or any other series I plan to use in this story. They belong to their respective owners, and I am making no money from this whatsoever.
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Demon Speech"
"Technique/Jutsu"
"Peke Speech"
Chapter Three: Team Ups and Knock Downs
"Alright, alright, settle down." Iruka called out, trying to calm the constant chatter of the room's occupants, but he soon found his words falling on deaf ears. "I SAID SETTLE DOWN!" Using his patented Demonic Head Jutsu, Iruka finally managed to make the class settle down, and as such, told them to take their seats.
As the former students of his did this, he couldn't help but glance around the room, wondering which of these future ninja he would see again someday, possibly as the same rank as or higher than him. Glancing over the rooms occupants, he instantly noticed the strange absence of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy that he knew very well.
About two days after the whole Forbidden Scroll incident, and Iruka's decision to promote Naruto to Genin, with the blessing of the Hokage, Iruka had gone to try and visit the young blonde Genin, but he had strangely found his apartment empty. Going to the Hokage, Iruka learned that Naruto had been left an inheritance, which had included a new apartment, but the Sandaime had also told Iruka that Naruto had just left earlier that morning on a training trip with an old acquaintance of his.
'I hope Naruto gets here soon.' Iruka thought, before clearing his throat and once again drawing the group of young hopeful ninja's attention. "Alright, now before we begin the announcements of the new teams, I wanted to take the chance to say I'm proud of you students. I've been with you for several years, and I've seen your steady progress into some fine you ninja. But, once you leave this room with your sensei, I hope you understand that you represent the entire village of Konohagakure no Sato." At this point, Iruka pulled back to take a deep breath. "SO DON'T SCREW ANYTHING UP!"
"Still as good at yelling at people as ever, eh, Iruka?" A new voice commented from the doorway, and as the whole room turned to see who it was that spoke, they were instantly shocked by what they saw, which even caused some to fall out of their chairs.
It was Naruto Uzumaki, but the main problem that cause most to do a double take was the clothes he was wearing; namely because there was no orange at all. Instead, he now wore a pair of black cargo shorts with multiple pockets along the sides and back, with a fish net t-shirt. Over this was a sleeveless black shirt, and a black short staff tied to his back by a strap going over one shoulder, across his torso, and around his gut. Also, on both his arms were a pair of wrist bracers, both red in color, but with a strange white spiral on them, which matched the red one on Naruto's shirt.(1)
"Naruto?" Iruka asked, since he was having trouble believing the person before him was the same young blonde he had considered something like a younger brother to him.
"The one and only." Naruto responded, while smiling at Iruka's shocked face.
"Naruto-baka, only people who passed the test should be here, so get lost!" A new voice called out, this one belonging to a pink-haired, green-eyed girl, who was wearing red dress, dark-green shorts, and had her forehead protector on top of her head.
"So, Iruka, you managed to heal up completely?" Naruto asked, ignoring the question from the pinkette in the room, and instead deciding to speak to his old teacher.
"Yes, say what you will about a medic-nin, but I've learned to never disrespect their skills." Iruka responded, while noticing out of the corner of his eye the same pink-haired girl started turning red in anger.
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET LOST, NARUTO-BAKA!" The pink-haired girl screamed out, this time rising from her chair and shaking her fist at Naruto, her anger clearly showing on her cherry red face.
"Hm…oh, I'm sorry, Sakura, but I don't speak howler monkey." Naruto responded, while regarding the pink-haired girl with a bored look, further shocking the classroom's occupants, since everyone had known that Naruto had always had a crush on Sakura.
"What…what did you just call me?" Sakura questioned, still not sure if she, along with the rest of the class, had heard Naruto's words right.
"What did I say?" Naruto responded, idly wondering why the whole class was shell-shocked by his words.
"Alright, who are you, 'cause you sure as hell aren't Naruto?" One of the students, a rather feral boy in the back of the class yelled, while standing to his feet, pointing one of his clawed fingers at Naruto.
"And what makes you say that, Kiba?" Naruto replied, while leveling his gaze at the shaggy-haired boy, who flinched back slightly from the hardened gaze, only to respond to Naruto's comment.
"Because there's no way in hell that the Naruto we know would call Sakura anything besides 'Sakura-chan'!" Kiba yelled out, while Naruto sighed out loud.
"Did it ever occur to you that the Naruto you know wasn't the 'real' Naruto?" Naruto replied, while Kiba scoffed out loud. However, any comment that the feral looking boy could make was stopped by Iruka telling Kiba to sit down and for Naruto to take a seat.
"But Iruka-sensei, Naruto failed, and shouldn't be here." Another student, this one female with long pale blonde hair, light blue eyes, a purple skirt and shirt, with bandages wrapping around her legs and stomach, and purple and white elbow warmers, while a Konoha Hitai-ate acted as a belt.
"That's where you are wrong, Ino. Naruto actually passed the exam with the highest rating out of the entire class, but he was failed as an elaborate trap set up by Hokage-sama and myself to flush out a suspected traitor of Konoha. As such, he has every right to be here right now." Iruka responded, surprising everyone in the class, since they had honestly believed Naruto had failed the exam for the third time. Iruka, in his mind, couldn't help but smirk at the reactions of the class to his statement, which in truth was real, since using a Jounin Level Kinjutsu, and with such a high effect had technically given Naruto extra credit to pass the exam. "Now, if you would all please take your seats, we can begin the team announcements. For Team 1…"
At this, Naruto tuned out the announcement, instead opting to readjust one of his bracers, while idly reminding himself to thank the workers on Lala's ship for making this outfit at such a rapid pace.
"For Team 7, this team will consist of Naruto Uzumaki…" At this, Naruto's gaze turned back to Iruka, wanting to know who his teammates were, and who their sensei was. "Sakura Haruno…" Naruto let out a loud groan at this. "And Sasuke Uchiha."
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me; first I get stuck with the pink howler monkey, and then the prince of broodiness himself?" Naruto said out loud, while Iruka gave Naruto a glance to show he had the scarred teacher's condolences.
"The instructor of this team will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka finished the team announcement, while noticing that Naruto's expression had turned even more annoyed at that piece of information. "For Team 8, this team will consist of Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Inuzuka Kiba, and your instructor will be Kurenai Yuuhi."
"Woohoo, I get Hinata on my team!" Kiba yelled happily, while Hinata herself was giving short glances at Naruto, idly wondering what had changed him in the short month, while Shino merely nodded his head in acknowledgement of hearing the announcement.
"Team 9 is still in circulation, so Team 10 will consist of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akamichi. You're Jounin instructor will be Asuma Sarutobi." Iruka said, before rolling up the scroll with the information on it. "You have an hour break to have lunch, but be back here to meet you new teachers. Also, like I said, you now represent the village of Konoha, so be sure to train hard and do your best with your careers."
"Naruto-kun, I found you!" Another new voice called out, this one from the window. As the students turned to see who had said that, they only found a strangely pink blur dash from the window and into Naruto, causing the blonde to fall from his chair, the person following as well.
They were all shocked to see a lovely young woman, appearing to be around the same age as all of them, with long and vivid pink hair, even more than Sakura's, as she hugged Naruto tightly to her, not even caring that her impressive bust was smooshing into his chest.
"Naruto-kun, I thought you were gonna wait for me at Chuuko-Saru's office?" She said, while pulling herself away slightly to give him a cute pout that many of the students thought was very cute, while Naruto could only chuckle softly at her antics.
"I did wait for you, but when you weren't there, I had to leave or else I would have missed the team announcements." Naruto replied, while her pout stayed firmly in place. "Alright, I'm sorry I didn't wait for you. How about I make it up to you by taking you to get some Ichiraku's for lunch?"
Lala's happy squeal of delight greeted his ears as she happily hugged him, but instead of causing him to cover his ears in pain like Sakura's would have done, he couldn't help but mentally comment on how much cuter she seemed thanks to it. However, their moment together was interrupted by a voice in the classroom, namely Sakura deciding to open her mouth.
"Hey, who the hell are you and why are you hugging Naruto-baka?" Sakura yelled loudly, her high-pitched voice causing some of the classrooms occupants to cover their ears from the sound.
"Me…I'm Lala" Lala commented, causing Sakura to become even more infuriated by this, before Lala and Naruto separated from their hug and stood up, though Lala still kept Naruto's arm buried in her chest.
"WHY ARE YOU STILL HUGGING THAT BAKA?" Sakura screamed even louder, once again forcing most of the people in the area to grimace in pain while holding their ears again, though Naruto and Lala strangely enough weren't affected by it. If anyone in the class had known, they would have been surprised to know that special noise filtering devices were in place in Naruto's clothes thanks to Lala, while Peke could work in the same way for Lala. Essentially, this meant that any noise that could be dangerous would instantly be sensed, and stopped, while anything else would be able to pass through unobstructed.
"Sakura, do you think you could stop screaming for five minutes?" Naruto asked her, though he was asking more for his friend's sake than himself, since some of the closer classroom occupants looked to be in severe pain from her screams.
"Naruto-baka, you keep your mouth shut! And you, tell us how you know this baka!" Sakura shouted, while getting first in Naruto's face, then in Lala's, but by now, the much bustier pinkette was sporting an angry look which was being directed at Sakura.
"You're being rather rude." Lala commented, which finally sent Sakura over the deep end, causing her to ball up her hand into a fist and throw it at Lala, intent on trying to smash the much curvier pinkette's face in. However, to Sakura's shock, her fist was stopped by Naruto himself, who managed to stop the punch with only his index finger.
"Listen, I get that you have severe anger issues, but keep them to yourself from now on." Naruto said, his voice, while calm, held an almost undetectable level of anger in it. His tone, along with the fact that he had not only stopped a punch from Sakura, but had also only done it with one finger, had surprised several of the students, since Naruto had always let her hit him in the past.
"Naruto-kun, I appreciate you watching out for me, but I can handle this one." Lala said an almost angel-like smile on her face, which was scaring some of the males by it.
Nodding his head, Naruto pushed lightly to back up Sakura's fist, while Sakura herself slowly felt her mind rebooting from the shock of Naruto of all people stopping her punch. As this happened, her mind registered the words from the bustier pinkette, and Sakura felt her anger grow once again, causing her to wind up and throw another punch, this one which Naruto wasn't going to stop.
Sakura's eyes widened, as did the eyes of several others in the room, when Lala not only caught Sakura's fist, but twisted the arm into a painful hold. As Sakura tried to unsuccessfully free her hand from Lala's grip, she was unprepared for the strong slap that Lala had sent her way. The open palm connected with Sakura's face, but instead of only causing her head to reel back, Sakura's entire body was launched by the force of the slap, sending her over the desks and straight into the wall behind Iruka's desk.
It was also at this point that another resident of the classroom, one that had very messy black hair, and dark black eyes, while a permanent scowl was plastered on his face moved. His gaze went from where Sakura had crashed into the wall and was slowly regaining her feet, to where Lala was standing, where the more developed pinkette was still standing with her arm raised. Now, by some people's opinions, this boy, Sasuke Uchiha, was actually a bright person, probably the brightest since any of the Hokage's (in the minds of his delusional fangirls, the civilian council, and his own warped fantasy), and so his mind slowly managed to piece together a thought about Lala.
'Hm, this pink-haired woman is strong, if she can send someone flying that distance with only a slap.' Sasuke thought, while eyeing Lala up and down, as if sizing her up, before his eyes hardened in determination and he licked his lips at his next thought. 'If she is a strong as that slap indicates, she'll be perfect to help me repopulate the Uchiha clan with my offspring.' And so with that thought in mind, Sasuke rose from his seat, and stalked back to where Lala was standing, now with her hand down, while Naruto nodded his head in appreciation of her work.
"You, who are you?" Sasuke all but demanded as he stood before Lala, staring at her face and idly noticing she was a beauty, before his eyes starting dropping lower toward her chest level. But, he soon found his view obstructed by another person stepping between him and Lala, which turned out to be none other than Naruto, whose expression was rather annoyed.
"I would appreciate it if you would stop ogling her, Uchiha." Naruto said coldly, while Sasuke scoffed at him.
"Get lost, loser, I have business with this woman, not you." Sasuke said, while he lifted his hand to push Naruto away, only for his hand to be blocked by Naruto's.
"If you have something to say about her, you can say it to me." Naruto responded, while his own glare easily outmatched the Uchiha's.
"And what is your connection to her?" Sasuke decided to ask, not really because he actually cared, but because he was hoping to use the 'loser's lack of a reason', as he thought it would be, to get him to back down.
"I'm his fiancé." Lala chirped happily, while once again latching on to Naruto's arm, and burying it in her generous chest. Her words instantly caused a single reaction, shock, to spread through the classroom, causing some to glare at the blonde for taking this young beauty away from them, while a single female in the class was glaring at the back of Lala's head.
"Fiancé? How in the hell did you get a fiancé, when your just some no-named, clan-less loser?" Sasuke pressed for information, now with this new development, he thought to go to the councils and have this either removed, or better yet, traded to himself.
"It was something happened over 8 years ago, and it can't be undone by anyone, except the Hokage or Lala's father." Naruto responded, while he saw the gears were very slowly turning in Sasuke's head.
'Perfect, I'll have the councils bully the Hokage into giving up this agreement, or if that doesn't work, I'm sure they can get her father to back off.' Sasuke thought, while a dark smirk began forming in his face. "Well loser, I don't think that will be the case for long." Sasuke said darkly, while he restarted eyeing Lala, only for his gaze to once again be blocked by Naruto, who at this point had been fed up with Sasuke's attitude.
"Sasuke, I'm only gonna say this once, and I suggest you listen. Drop it." Naruto said, his tone momentarily chilling Sasuke, and the rest of the students, but it seemed that Sasuke didn't know when to quit.
"What if I don't? What if I decide to have the councils engage this woman to me?" Sasuke said, while smirking victoriously at Naruto, expecting the blonde's expression to change from anger to panic at the mention of the council. However, he was in for a shock when Naruto grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him into the air, surprising everyone at his show of strength.
"When I said drop it, Sasuke, I meant it, and if you think for even a second that the councils will matter in this, you're in for a very rude awakening." Naruto said, his voice eerily calm, while ignoring Sasuke's attempt to pry the blonde's hand off of his shirt.
"Unhand me, you peasant!" Sasuke demanded, only to be unceremoniously dropped on his ass by Naruto, who turned his back to Sasuke and began to walk off, his arm around Lala's shoulders, before the two of them left the room. 'I swear, he'll pay for embarrassing me.' Sasuke thought, as he stood up, and left as well, intent on heading to the council chambers and telling his own version of the events to the councilors.
(Ichiraku's Ramen Stand)
"Itadaki-masu!" Lala cried happily, chopsticks in her hand, and several bowls of ramen before her, while one was already in her other hand. Almost instantly, she began digging into her ramen at a pace that would be described by some as ravenous, while Naruto beside her did the same thing. After plowing through several bowls of ramen, Naruto set his chopsticks down for a moment, before he glanced over at Lala. The young pinkette had a happy expression her face, since the two of them had gone to Ichiraku's after their shopping excursion a month ago, and Lala had instantly fell in love with the food there. Teuchi and Ayame, the resident cooks, who were also father and daughter respectively, were not only happy that Naruto and Lala had been reunited, but also that they had another customer to enjoy their ramen.
"Enjoying the food, Lala-chan?" Naruto asked, as Lala picked up another bowl.
"Yes." She happily replied, before slurping down the contents of this bowl, and then drinking the broth. "I just can't get enough of this great ramen." She finished, as she made a grab for another bowl, while several people passing by were divided between glaring at Naruto, and staring in shock at Lala plowing through so much food.
"Glad you approve, young lady." Teuchi commented, while smiling down at Lala, partly because she was a good customer, but mostly because of the way Naruto was smiling at her, and how she seemed to bring out some kind of happiness from inside the blonde.
"Well, I guess this is one place we can count on for a good meal on a routine basis." Naruto commented, while Ayame came out from the back with a half-a-dozen bowls of ramen for Naruto and Lala a piece, which both happily dug into.
"And the two of us are glad to have some continuing customers." Ayame said cheerfully, since she was happy to see Naruto as relaxed as he was which seemed to be because of the lovely young pink-haired girl beside him.
It was also at that particular moment that an ANBU wearing a falcon mask appeared beside Naruto, whispered something in his ear, and after handing the blonde a scroll, disappeared. Naruto placed down his chopsticks and ramen bowl, and then picked up the scroll before unrolling it and reading its contents.
"Well, it seems the Civilian Council has something say to me. They're demanding my presence at a meeting to be held at 8 o'clock tonight." Naruto said idly, while he rewrapped the scroll and channeled some energy into his hand, effectively vaporizing the scroll.
"Oh, can I come too?" Lala asked, since she had finished her bowl of ramen and was staring curiously at Naruto, an expression that the two resident ramen chefs found very cute on her.
"I'm guessing they want to try and bully me to drop my relationship with you again." Naruto commented to her, while Lala's face took on a scowl, which Naruto thought made her look kind of cute as well. "So, I guess if you want to, you can come with me. But please don't let their words get to you too much, okay Lala-chan?" Naruto finished, while giving Lala a pleading look.
"But they…" Lala began, only to see Naruto's expression to her. "Alright, I'll be good." Lala said, while smiling at Naruto, which the blonde returned.
"Okay, well, I guess I better be heading back to the academy, the two hours is almost up." Naruto commented, while rising from his seat and dropping some money onto the counter. "Keep the change, Teuchi-oji-san." Naruto said, as he turned to leave, only to feel Lala practically attach herself to Naruto's arm again, while smiling at his confused expression.
"I'll go with you, Naruto-kun." Lala announced, while giving Naruto her best puppy expression. "Please?" Any thought of denying her that Naruto might have had would have vanished instantly, while the blonde nodded his head at her request. Squealing happily, Naruto and Lala left the ramen stand and began their return to the academy to await Naruto's new teacher.
(Later, Konoha Academy)
For three hours, Naruto, Lala, Sasuke and Sakura had sat in the classroom, while all the other teams had been picked up by their sensei's. So, after a while, Naruto had decided to do a little meditating, while Lala had happily chirped that she would too. Naruto couldn't help but mentally smirk at Lala's expression, which had a serene feel it.
'I'm still amazed that she picked up meditating as fast as she did.' Naruto thought, while remembering back to when they had started training on her ship, she had had a very difficult time sitting still and concentrating for too long. As a member of the Deviluke race, she always seemed to be abound with an endless supply of energy, so sitting in one place for any amount of time longer than a few minutes was a trial for her.
Snapping his eyes open at a new energy signature he felt coming toward the class room, Naruto stood from his spot, before placing a hand on Lala's shoulder, regaining her attention. Seeing Naruto standing up, Lala stood up as well, while dusting off her skirt from any of the dust it might have had. It was also at this point, the door slid open, showing the person behind it to have almost gravity defying silver hair, while a Konoha hitai-ate on his head was slanted down to cover his left eye and a blue face mask covered from his neck up to his nose. Garbing his body was the standard attire for a Jounin, blue pants, a long sleeve blue jacket, and the Jounin vest over top, with shinobi sandals on his feet.
"Hm, so you three are my students?" The new arrival casually said, before his gaze landed on the fourth occupant of the room. "Who's that added person?" He asked, while quickly identifying his three students, but wasn't able to identify the fourth person.
"She's not a student; she's a guest of mine." Naruto quickly answered.
"Oh." Kakashi said, seemingly taking the answer at face value. "Well, as for you three, my first impression is…you're boring." Two sets of tick marks suddenly materialized at this point, while the third person was eyeing the silver-haired man with an annoyed gaze. "So, meet me on the roof in five minutes." With that, Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke, while the room's four occupants followed his instructions.
(Rooftop)
"Alright, so to begin this little team meeting, I want each of you to give a small introduction." Kakashi said, as he stood before the group that was sitting on the steps, Sakura and Sasuke in the front, while Naruto and Lala sat in the back, as Lala, for once, didn't have Naruto's arm buried in her chest. "Names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future."
"Um, sensei, do you think you could show us how to do it?" Sakura asked, while raising her hand.
"Alright, my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes…well, I don't feel like saying. Hobbies are unimportant, and I don't have dreams for the future." Kakashi replied, his voice never once shifting from his bored tone.
'Either this guy is a master of mystery, or just a lazy ass.' Naruto thought, while Kakashi turned his gaze to Sakura.
"Since you seem to have a very inquisitive mind, you can go next bubblegum." Kakashi said while looking at Sakura, who bristled at the nickname, while Naruto half-glared at Kakashi for his slight insult to Lala.
"Alright, my name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are…" Sakura glanced at the Uchiha and gave of a slight giggle. "My dislikes are Naruto-baka, his baka fiancé, and Ino-pig." Sakura said, while glaring at two of the people in question. "My hobbies are…" Again, she glanced at Sasuke and giggled. "And my dreams for the future…" Once again, she glanced and giggled at Sasuke.
"Alright, dark and dreary, your turn." Kakashi said, while gesturing to Sasuke, who glared angrily at Kakashi's nickname for him.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I have few likes, and many dislikes. I don't have any hobbies outside of getting stronger, and my dreams for the future…to resurrect my clan and to kill a certain person." Sasuke said, though when he mentioned resurrecting his clan, he glanced smugly at Lala, who stuck her tongue out at him.
"And last we have you, blondie, so go ahead." Kakashi said as he gestured to Naruto.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are ramen, training to get more powerful, and spending time with my fiancé, Lala-chan." Naruto said this, while wrapping an arm around Lala's shoulder, while the pinkette in question practically melted into the embrace, causing Sasuke and Sakura to glare for different reasons. "My dislikes are arrogant and bigoted people. My hobbies are training and helping Lala-chan test her inventions. As for dreams for the future…outside of living happily with Lala-chan, I'm still not sure."
'Ha, that blonde loser won't be so happy when the councils take that woman and make her marry me.' Sasuke thought smugly, while smirking at the plan the councils had agreed to.
'That pink-haired slut, she's trying to woo Sasuke-kun by using Naruto-baka.' Sakura thought angrily, not even realizing the mental comment she had made.
"Alright, now that that's out of the way-" Kakashi began, only to be interrupted by Sakura.
"Hey, what about her?" Sakura screeched, while pointing at Lala. "She's here as well, so she should say something." Sakura continued, while mentally planning to use anything she could to have her mother, a council member, order the much curvier pinkette removed from the village.
"Lala-chan is not a member of this team or even a ninja of Konoha, so as such, she doesn't need to give an introduction." Naruto quickly interjected, causing Sakura to bristle once again as she stood to her feet.
"Naruto-baka, I wasn't talking to you, so butt out!" Sakura screamed, while throwing a punch at Naruto's head, only for Lala to catch the punch like earlier, and shoved Sakura away, effectively launching her across the roof.
"And why did you attack one of my students?" Kakashi asked, his bored gaze drilling into Lala, who turned her attention to Kakashi and smiled at him, her serene expression confusing the silver-haired Jounin for some reason.
"I didn't actually attack her; I just gave her a little push in the right direction to go home in." Lala responded, causing Naruto to put a hand to his mouth to hide his chuckles, while Kakashi sweat dropped at her.
"Be that as it may, I can't simply let you walk away from hurting one of my students." Kakashi said, while reaching out to grab Lala and take her before the councils. Kakashi, despite what many may think, actually believed in the councils more than the Hokage, and as such, was more inclined to follow their orders. And as it stood, one of them was a subtle order to him to try and bring this girl before them to have her questioned, and if need be, re-educated to follow their orders. However, Kakashi's hand was stopped before reaching Lala by Naruto, who had grabbed the silver-haired Jounin's hand and held it in a powerful grip. "I suggest you let go of my hand, Genin." Kakashi said, his one visible eye narrowed, while his voice had shifted to a commanding tone.
"And I suggest you think before you act sensei." Naruto said, the last word being said with so much sarcasm, a deaf man could have picked it up. "Sakura attacked Lala-chan first, so by technicality, it's called self-defense, and since Lala-chan isn't a shinobi, Sakura would actually be the one in the wrong for attacking a civilian."
Several moments of silence went by, while Kakashi took into account the situation, and was thinking of ways to switch it to his benefit. But, Kakashi knew the young blonde currently gripping his arm was in the favor of the Hokage, and Naruto was also right about the situation between Sakura and Lala. As it stood, if Kakashi tried to take Lala in, there was a very good chance that Sakura would be the one to be punished, while Lala would walk away from it.
"Fine, but don't let it happen again." Kakashi conceded, at which Naruto let go of his wrist, while Sakura had managed to pull herself out of the newly made imprint in the wall and retake her seat, glaring at Lala the whole time. "Now, since we've had the introductions, we need to discuss your Genin test."
"Eh, but Kakashi-sensei, we already took our test in the academy." Sakura whined, getting a scoff from Naruto.
"Sakura, that little quiz they gave us was only to see if we had the qualities to even be Genin." Naruto said, while glancing at her with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Correct." Kakashi said, cutting off any comment Sakura may have had. "After the teams are assigned, each Jounin sensei gives the real Genin test. And this one has a 66% failure rate." At these words, Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, while Naruto's narrowed in suspicion. "So, now that you know this, I want you to meet me at training ground 7 at 6 AM tomorrow. Oh, and don't eat anything, unless you want to puke it back up."
And with that, Kakashi vanished in another poof of smoke, leaving behind his Genin team. Shrugging, Naruto stood to leave, while Lala re-glued herself to his arm, before the two of them left the roof, knowing there was still a council meeting to deal with.
(Council Chambers, 8PM)
"YOU ARE LATE!" A loud voice shouted, the source of being an elderly man with a pair of glasses, with a graying beard and hair being a more distinguishing feature, while he wore regal white robes.
"No, I'm on time. The message said at 8PM." Naruto responded, while Lala stayed by his side, causing some of the council members to stare at her with curious expressions.
"We rescheduled the meeting to 7PM and a messenger was sent to your apartment." The same old man replied.
"Then that explains it, I vacated that place and moved to somewhere else. Not that it matters, since I was out training for the past few hours." Naruto responded, while the old man bristled in anger.
"Well, now that you are here, we can't get this meeting underway." An old woman, whose gray hair was done into two tight buns, while her robes were just as pristine as the equally old man's, said out loud.
"No, we can't." Naruto interrupted. "Since I'm classified as a ninja of Konoha, the Hokage must be present to any meeting involving one of his shinobi. Also, since I've been the ward of the Hokage since my infancy, the Sandaime is technically my guardian."
"That doesn't matter, since this meeting is partially about stripping you of your ninja title." Another councilor, this one a rotund man who was in charge of part of the market distract, called out.
Any comment from either Naruto or another councilor was stopped when the doors opened and in walked the Sandaime Hokage.
"Does anyone mind explaining why one of my shinobi is here for a meeting, but I was not informed." Sarutobi questioned, while glaring at the three older members of the council.
"Ah, Sarutobi…we've been expecting you." Another elderly man, this one with bandages wrapping the right side of his face, and a large X-shaped scar on his chin, said, while a slight accumulation of sweat began forming on his forehead.
"I'm sure you were." Sarutobi replied, his tone laced heavily with sarcasm. "But, it's also my understanding; from the bit I heard before walking through the door, that you are trying to remove Naruto from the ninja program."
"Sarutobi, you must understand. That…thing could very well be dangerous to our shinobi, what with his affliction. As such, it's only right that he not be permitted to join the shinobi program." Another councilor said, this one a rather unattractive pink-haired woman, though with her flat chest, she could just as easily pass for a man.
"But, since the Shinobi of this village fall under my jurisdiction, you have no say in trying to expel someone from it. Also, Naruto more than earned his position by not only learning a Jounin-level technique, but also by soundly defeating Mizuki, a Chuunin level traitor." Sarutobi responded.
"Even still, this matter is still up for debate, and as such, we must vote for the outcome." The first elderly man from before said, while mentally smirking since a little less than half the Shinobi Council and the entire Civilian Council would back up his vote.
"True Homura, but as it stands, only the Shinobi Council and Clan Heads can vote on this matter, since it is a ninja related situation." Sarutobi shot back, while feeling a sense of pride rise up at the angered expressions on the faces of the Civilian Councilors and the Advisors. "So, if you feel that Naruto should be removed from the Shinobi program, raise your hands."
At this, 5 of the 11 members of the Shinobi Council raised their hands, while only one Clan Head, the Head of the Inuzuka Clan, joined it, totaling the number to 6.
"And all those for allowing Naruto to stay in the Shinobi program?" At this, the remaining 6 members of the Shinobi Council, as well as the remaining Clan Heads, the Akamichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame, and Hyuuga heads, which totaled to 11. "Well, I think we have our decision."
"I'm against this completely! That brat shouldn't even be breathing right now!" Yet another person, this one being a woman with shaggy black hair, slit eyes, tattoos on her cheeks and claws on her hands, cried out while slamming her fist into the table.
"In your own opinion, Tsume-san, but the vote has already spoken, and you should just leave it be." The Head of Hyuuga Clan, Hiashi said, while standing up and facing Tsume, his expression showing hardened concentration, which was only amplified by his pure white eyes.
"Now, since we have reached a settlement on this, I think that will conclude this meeting." Sarutobi said, only to be stopped again.
"Not quite, Sarutobi." The same scarred man from before said, while standing up and directing his gaze to Lala. "We still have to discuss this girl here, and what will be done with her."
"Watch your words, Danzo Shimura, or you may not live to regret them." Naruto said harshly, while putting himself between Danzo and Lala.
"Know your place, you brat. This girl is not a citizen of Konoha, and as such, the Civilian Council has every right to decide on what will happen with her." Danzo responded, while knowing his agenda would be enforced by the mindless masses on the Civilian Council.
"She should be removed from the demon brat's marriage agreement and married to Sasuke-sama!" The same pink-haired, man looking woman, from before shouted out, instantly gaining a wave of agreement from many of the Councilors, though almost all of them were civilian, while the Inuzuka head, as well as the advisors were agreeing too.
"Not possible." Sarutobi interrupted, his KI instantly stopping the chattering of the rooms occupants, while simultaneously drawing their attention to him. "Naruto and Lala are betrothed to each other, thanks to an ancient ritual of Lala's people, since they were 8 years old. To even think of trying to remove the marriage agreement would have serious repercussions, and I'm not about to let you fools and your arrogance do something as stupid as what you are planning."
"And what possibly could these serious repercussions be?" Homura commented smugly.
"That would be my Papa." Lala said, speaking for the first time since arriving at the chamber.
"Oh, your Papa, we're so scared." The elderly lady commented, getting a chorus of laughs from many of councilors.
"You should be, Koharu." Sarutobi said grimly, causing many of the occupants to look at him in surprise. "I met Lala-dono's father 8 years ago when she and Naruto became engaged, and I'll be the first to say, he could very well wipe out this entire village, and all its people, by himself."
"And that's not even mentioning out empire's army." Lala decided to add, further increasing the fearful expression on the councilor's faces. "The advance army of the Deviluke Empire easily outnumbers the entire population of this whole continent by itself, not to mention the four other military branches."
"You…you actually are expecting us to believe your father has an army outclassing our villages?" Danzo questioned, though his voice relayed what a hard time he was having believing her.
"Believe what you want." Naruto said harshly, instantly drawing the attention of all the rooms occupants to himself, as he took several steps forward, placing himself in the center of the room. "But, just know that if any of you try the same stunt you pulled 8 years ago after Lala-chan left here, I'll finish what I started, and destroy you all."
"How dare you, you filthy little brat. We could have you arrested for trying to interfere with Council business." Koharu said harshly, which caused Naruto to smirk at her.
"Again, you are wrong at that point, Koharu." Once again, Sarutobi said, drawing the old woman's attention to him.
"And what does that mean?" Homura asked, though his face began to pale at the smirk on Sarutobi's face, as he pulled out a scroll from his robes.
"This…is an official letter from the Fire Daimyo." Sarutobi began, while some were wondering what the Daimyo could want, and what it had to do with this matter right now. "You see, when the marriage agreement between Naruto and Lala-dono happened 8 years ago, I received an official notice from our Daimyo, informing me of his awareness of this matter." Many shocked faces appeared on the councilors, but Sarutobi wasn't done yet. "Also, he had just recently sent me another notice, this one pertaining to a new connection Lala-dono has with him, which was only recently finalized."
"And what is this connection?" Danzo asked, though he felt his stomach sinking at this.
"An alliance was formed between the Fire Daimyo and the Deviluke Empire through a third party. As such, Lala-dono, and to an extent Naruto-kun, falls under the direct protection of the Fire Daimyo, and as such, any and all decisions and matters involving either of them must be submitted to the Daimyo, no matter their significance."
"But…but that's ridiculous!" Homura shouted, his anger clearly shown at being outdone and Lala now being effectively out of their reach.
"Well, if there is nothing else you ancient pencil pushers want from either of us." Naruto said, before turning back to the doorway, and leaving with Lala by his side.
And, I'll end it there.
So, what did you guys think? I know, I know, having Naruto change like that over the month was a little out there, but then again, with the Time Dilation chamber, he had a lot more time, around 6 times what was originally there, so essentially, he had half a year to do some heavy rethinking on his life, including his would be crush on Sakura.
Also, that's one thing I'd like to point out. Naruto only latched onto Sakura after his memories were sealed because Sakura looked "SOMEWHAT" like Lala. So, now that that is out of the way.
Notes
(1) This spiral symbol is Lala's trademark symbol, the spiral with four points on it. Essentially look for any of Lala's inventions and you'll see it.
Also, yes, this will have Kakashi bashing, Sakura bashing, and Sasuke bashing. Kakashi just makes himself out to be an arrogant biased ass, so I can't help but write him like it. Sakura, all she was good for in the first part was a big ass target. She may have gotten better in Shippuden, but that was only to get back Sasuke. And as for Sasuke himself, I don't have him portrayed in a good way in this story, or any of the five others I'm working on.
Oh, and before I forget, I know I had Naruto make something more like an American style breakfast, but that was all I could think of, so bear with it. I'm not too good at cooking personally: I could burn instant mac and cheese, so I wrote what I thought would be best.
Closing in on the last, a small cookie to anyone who can guess where Naruto's transformation originated from. I'm not talking about the Kyuubi, but can anyone see what it would be modeled after?
And, before I forget, like most authors out there, I have my times of inspiration, but I also have my times of writers block, so don't expect an update like this too often, but I'll do what I can.
Last but not least, Read and Review.