I do not Own Naruto
Chapter 5:
x-x
Five thirty arrived too quickly for Naruto's liking and he was roused from his sleep by the constant ringing of his alarm clock. Lashing out with his hand toward the nightstand, he smacked the top of the empty stand and the pain reminded him of what he had done the night before. To keep him from destroying his alarm clock, or just putting on the snooze, he had left it in the kitchen so he would have to get up from bed and go shut it off.
Nearly falling out of bed, he walked haphazardly down the hall and into the kitchen where he pushed the button on the clock to stop it's incessant noise. 'Ungodly hour,' he repeated in his head and went to the bathroom before getting on some clothes and looking through the fridge for breakfast. If the big green guy with the creepy large eyebrows was coming at six, then he needed at least some time to get ready.
With breakfast eaten and haven gotten dressed, Naruto glanced at the clock and realized that he still had about ten minutes left. Leaving the kitchen, he went to his bedroom as he thought of something that he hadn't realized when he woke up. Where was the mask?
'I don't remember taking it off or seeing it when I got up.' he thought as he passed the bathroom and entered his bedroom. He hadn't exactly been very coherent when he first woke up and hadn't even noticed that it wasn't on his face any longer.
Looking through his disheveled sheets, he began to panic until he lifted up his pillow and spotted the mask. Sighing in relief, Naruto sat on his bed and looked at the white object. After putting it on the previous day, he knew that the experience he had at the temple must have been just a dream. Aside from an initial discomfort, there was no pain when he put the mask and instead it seemed to be some kind of tool that could help him. The effects were only relegated to when he was wearing the mask and he still wasn't sure if what he noticed was all that the mask could provide.
'Why would someone leave such a cool mask in that rundown temple?' he wondered and wanted to know who had used the temple before he found it. Running his hands over the smooth and detailed surface, he decided that he would keep the item and perhaps experiment with it. The only problem was that it was difficult to carry around the village. People spotted his presence wherever he went so he really needed something to keep the mask in, if wanted to take it outside his apartment.
Looking for his clock to check the time, Naruto realized that he had left it in the kitchen. Hiding the mask back underneath his pillow, he walked back down the hallway and looked to his kitchen table. No sooner had his clocked changed from 5:59 to 6:00 than there was a knock on his front door.
Naruto jumped slightly and then settled down when he realized who was likely at his door. Unlocking the lock on the door nob, he opened the door just enough to look out through the crack and came face to face with a grinning green man that he had been expecting.
'It's too early in the morning to deal with those eyebrows,' thought Naruto as he stepped through the door and locked it behind him.
x-x
Anko remained motionless for a few seconds and maintained her breathing as if she was still asleep. Realizing that she was in her room and it was just her alarm clock going off that she had set, she went to smack it so she could get some more sleep when she realized that she had something vitally important going on that morning.
"PAYDAY!" she yelled as she sat up and regretted the fast movement as she felt the aftereffects of her indulgence the previous night. Though it was important to drink alongside her friend so Kurenai wouldn't get suspicious, Anko was now realizing that perhaps she went a little bit too far. Moving to her bathroom for some aspirin, she nearly tripped over a large pile of clothing that didn't belong to her.
"Who the hell put that there..." she started and then remembered, "...oh right...it was me."
Getting to the bathroom mirror, she opened the cabinet and fetched some pills to help with the headache. Once she was finished in the bathroom, Anko moved to get dressed and then get something to eat. She needed to be at the Hokage tower before seven for the meeting.
'I'll need to find a way to make it up to Kurenai later. Hopefully she will sleep through the whole meeting but just in case, I took extra precautions. Perhaps I'll buy her something nice with all the money coming my way,' she thought and began laughing as she put on her trench coat and headed for the kitchen.
x-x
Bathed in the rising sun, a drowsy Naruto and very bushy-eyed, and bushy-browed, Gai walked through the silent village. Naruto didn't know exactly where they were headed but hoped that their 'race' wouldn't take very long as he really wanted to go back to sleep. Glancing to the buildings on either side of them, Naruto noted that not a single business was open yet and the streets were completely empty.
'It's kinda nice,' he idly thought at the stark difference between the current village and the one that he normally went through, which was full of dirty looks his way. The silence however was interrupted by the person he was walking with, "YOSH! This brisk morning air and rising sun are perfect for early morning training."
"Training?" Naruto questioned out loud and turned to the green man, asking, "I thought this was a race?"
Gai merely chuckled before lowering his head slightly and with a wry smile exclaimed, "You are probably too young to know this yet but for a ninja, training the body is essential. Training can also come in many forms and can be any physical activity as long as it pushes us to the limit. Only then can we become stronger and retain our fires of youth."
'It's just gonna be a quick race, right?' Naruto wondered to himself because the man had never answered his question. He was also a little worried at how much the man was getting excited about it.
The pair continued walking until they reached one of the training grounds near the village wall. It was at that point that Gai stopped and it took Naruto a few extra steps before noting that they had arrived. Looking around the area, Naruto was confused about where it was that they were going to be running. He did however see a worn dirt trail that bisected the training ground through the trees and off to parts unknown.
Striking a pose and pointing to the sky before speaking. "YOSH! This training ground will be perfect for the starting and finishing point. I have been using it for quite a number of years and have forged a 'Track of Youth' that we will be using," said Gai, confirming that the dirt trail was indeed what they would be running along.
'This doesn't seem too hard,' Naruto mentally commented as he remembered the previous time they had 'raced' and that he had been faster than the green clad shinobi who had been running on his hands.
Getting into a handstand, Gai balanced himself and when he was ready, continued talking, "This shall be the first official competition between us and shall consist of ten laps around the village. First person to make it back to this training ground after ten complete laps, wins."
Naruto nodded in affirmation but then registered what the man had said, 'Ten laps around the village! I thought we were following this trail?' But before he could voice these concerns, Gai began, "Ready!" which was soon followed by, "Set." Realizing that they were about to begin, Naruto pushed aside the concerns and readied himself on an invisible starting line, side by side with Gai.
"GO!" yelled Gai and both contestants took off down the dirt trail and through the woods.
x-x
Arriving fifteen minutes early for the meeting, Anko plopped herself into one of the benches outside of the Hokage's office. Looking around and finding no sign of Kurenai, she gave a sad smile at the thought of her friend missing the meeting. It meant nothing but good things for her complaint but during her walk to the tower, she started having second thoughts about tricking Kurenai like that.
'Stupid conscience,' Anko thought and took out a kunai to remove the dirt from beneath her finger nails while she waited. Had Kurenai awoken on time, she knew that the kunoichi would have already been sitting and waiting for the meeting. The dark-haired chunin was always punctual to any meeting or gathering, so it was obvious to Anko that at least a part of her plan was successful.
The sound of footsteps along the long hallway put Anko on alert but she settled when the person that had groped her came around the bend. A brief look between the two instantly caused both faces to sour. Asuma chose another bench that was a good distance away and began lighting up a cigarette.
Giving the newcomer a devious smirk while he wasn't looking and then going back to her nails, Anko ignored the mumbled comments and cigarette smoke from the man as they awaited the Hokage's arrival. It didn't take long as the elderly Kage could be heard moving down the hallway just a few minutes after Asuma's arrival.
Glancing to the two on the benches, the Sandaime kept in his slight frown at the fact that Yuhi Kurenai hadn't arrived yet. It was still about five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin, but he was getting a little worried. 'She must be running a little bit late, happens to everyone once in a while,' the Hokage surmised as he unlocked his office door and went to his desk while his two ninja continued to wait outside in the hallway. It never crossed his mind in that moment that foul play might be involved or that the key witness to his son's innocence could have been waylayed by the accuser.
Sitting behind the old wooden desk in his comfy chair, he let out a small sigh at the amount of paperwork that was present on the flat surface. 'Did it reproduce during the night?' he questioned as he didn't remember leaving such a large amount the previous afternoon after going home. The thought of papers spontaneously reproducing brought a small smile to his face and a chuckle as he jokingly wondered if that was how note cards came about.
Glancing to the waste bin that was located up against the side of the desk, he wondered what would happen if he just pushed all of the paperwork off the desk and right into the bin. 'Would the village fall apart in an hour or would anyone even notice?' he idly wondered and seriously contemplated the action with a raised brow and a stern stare at the stacks on his desk.
Inhaling deeply, he checked the clock and sensed his surroundings for the individual that had not shown up yet. His eyes flashed to the double doors of his office when he felt others approaching his but turned back to the paperwork with when he realized that it was just his former teammates who were arriving. As much as he wanted it to be only himself to make judgments on the complaint, the ruling would also involve some say from the Village Council, especially considering it was a member of his clan and immediate family in question.
The remaining minutes until the agreed upon time were almost up and he allowed the waiting ninja and Village Elders to enter his office and sit in the chairs which had been positioned around his desk. They didn't need one of the larger conference rooms for what was supposed to be a short hearing.
x-x
Huffing and puffing, Naruto rounded the corner and caught sight of the upside-down Gai about ten or more meters ahead of him. Shouting in his head because his mouth was too dry to vocalize anything, he pushed his body forward and tried to shorten the gap between them. Somewhere on lap two he had lost his breakfast in the woods just off the trail and had passed it at least once since then.
'He's running on his hands and I'm having trouble keeping up with him,' Naruto admitted as he continued to sprint across the village. The path that they were following truly did meander throughout Konoha and avoided the normal village roads and most crowded areas, only to return right back to the training ground.
While Naruto had been able to keep up with the green spandex wearing man for the first few laps, that was no longer the case. His legs were burning and his breathing ragged but he wasn't about to lose, 'I outran him the other day,' he recalled and couldn't understand why he was having so much trouble. They should either be neck and neck or he should be winning.
Going slightly uphill, the ground leveled out and the competitors found themselves back at the starting point. 'Four laps done,' Naruto realized and for the first time that day, the thought of losing the race began to gnaw at the back of his mind, 'Only four laps done?' He then questioned and the task of ten laps seemed far more daunting at that moment than it had at the beginning.
x-x
A pair of weary red eyes opened and stared at the blinds on the window until they came into focus and she found light flooding in through the window which normally had the curtains pulled shut. Slightly confused but thinking that she had woken up before the alarm again, Kurenai began to sit up but groaned in pain as a pounding headache made itself known. Gently putting her head back to the pillow and laying back down on her side, she tried to remember what had happened the previous night.
'I remember going out with Anko and she offered to pay for drinks..,' and a slight amount of dread filled her when she recalled the scene in her head. 'But what happened after that?' She wondered and her eyes opened slightly as she consider the possibility that she had gotten drunk and ended up going back to her place with someone.
Rolling her body enough that she could turn her head and look at the other side of the bed, she held her breath until she found the bed empty and it did not appear that she had woken up with a stranger, colleague, or just Anko. There also didn't appear to have been another person in her apartment besides herself. Exhaling in relief she rested her tired eyes for a moment laying flat on her back before other pieces of information began to fit together in her mind and caused her further trepidation.
'Now to answer the real question,' she thought and glanced down to her body, which was completely devoid of any clothing. 'Why am I sleeping naked in my bed, with no covers or bed sheet? I know it's my bed and my apartment but something has certainly changed since I got up the previous morning?' she analyzed and groaned at the fact that she would have to get up in order to discover these answers.
It wasn't as if the questions that she had weren't troubling her greatly but the aftereffects of the alcohol consumed the previous night was a strong deterrent to getting up and doing any sort of investigating. Before doing so, she glanced over at the alarm clock to see what time it actually was. Kurenai quickly became more awake and alert when she found it flashing 12:00.
'Power outage,' was her immediate thought as such a thing had happened before in her building, but something about that explanation didn't seem right to her. 'I didn't have a mission this morning, did I?' she questioned but remembered that she didn't have another mission for a few days. The actual scheduled appointment that she had that particular morning, however soon came to the forefront of her mind and coupled with Anko's actions, Kurenai's eyes widened and she jumped out of bed, "SHIT!"
Headache and nausea forgotten, she ran naked through her bedroom door and down the hallway. Rounding the corner to the kitchen, Kurenai looked to the analog clock hanging on the wall. Cursing loudly at the fact that the meeting she was supposed to attend had already started, she ran back to her room and went for the closet. The sliding door smacked into the wall and immediately came to a stop...as did Kurenai.
Staring open-mouthed at her closet space, she was dumbstruck at the fact that there was absolutely nothing in her closet. No shoes, no dresses, no shirts, no chunin vests and no ninja equipment. Whereas the previous day it had been full to bursting, now it was completely empty.
Realizing why the sheets on the bed were gone, she moved to her nearby dresser and began opening the drawers. Each drawer was empty of all panties, socks, and any other items of clothing. Moving away from the dresser and looking around the room, Kurenai began to realize as to what lengths her friend had gone in order to keep her from the meeting, 'She got me drunk, stripped me, took out my alarm clock, and then left me with nothing to wear should I wake up close to the meeting time. She even ripped down my fucking window drapes!'
Shock and surprise quickly turned to rage and she screamed her former friend's name in frustration.
x-x
The attention of several individuals in the Sandaime's office was diverted to a point across the village when they all noticed the simultaneous movement of a large group of birds. All but the Hokage, seated with his back to the window, noted the soundless disturbance which had briefly caught their gaze but no one made mention of it and the silence in the room resumed. They also didn't mention what was on all their minds, mostly because the Hokage was refraining.
Glancing again at the clock for a fifth time since entering the room, Anko ground her teeth slightly but waited silently and as patiently as possible with the others. The minute hand had already gone past the allotted time for the meetings start and nearly fifteen minutes had elapsed since then. The only words that had been spoken during that time were those of the Sandaime when he had told them to give the late individual a few more minutes before starting.
It was a fine line between being Hokage and being a father that the Sandaime was walking. As Hokage he should have started the meeting already. However, as a father and with the only credible witness that greatly favored his son missing or just running a little late, the order to wait a little longer had been quickly given and was now being stretched to the limits. The occupants of the room were trying to pass the time in complete silence and dignity, but all the while were giving furtive glances towards each other and the clock to see if possibly everyone was thinking the same thought. That particular thought was along the lines of, 'Why isn't this meeting starting already?' or perhaps, 'This is getting a little ridiculous. How much longer are we going to have to wait?'
With pipe in mouth to relax his nerves, the Sandaime puffed away as he tried to calm down. However, he was simply too nervous and tense to let the pipe do it's job, or so he believed. While the meeting itself and the complaint were rather worrisome, the conversation the previous day led him to believe that everything would be fine. Yuhi Kurenai had been very explicit during the meeting that it was all just an accident and so he felt that there wasn't anything to worry about and didn't have much trouble sleeping that night.
'The delayed start of this meeting, however, is quite worrisome,' he commented because the best person to help his son out of the complaint was late, a fact which was looking more and more suspicious as time past. Being less than five minutes late was not very significant in his book. Everyone could run a few minutes late, so upon her absence from the specified time, he waited those five minutes. When the minute hand had had gone past the five minute mark, he had suggested that they provide a little bit more time for her to show up. Now he was encroaching upon an area of time from fifteen to thirty minutes of lateness, which usually entailed a person running very late or forgetting about the meeting until glancing at a clock and realizing that they were late.
Anything over thirty minutes and most would assume that the individual was not going to show up at all to the meeting. And anything over two and a half hours was venturing into a fanciful world that only Hatake Kakashi seem to live in, where, outside of ANBU related activities, someone could show up so late after a designated meeting time and expect people to wait for them, 'And also provide a very shitty excuse.'
Though tension in the room was building, the real thought on the Sandaime's mind was the whereabouts of his usually very prompt kunoichi. Looking to a very stern faced Mitarashi Anko, though he swore she was moments away from smiling, he remembered how readily she agreed to the private meeting and her behavior at the time. 'I really should have seen this coming. I only hope Yuhi-san is unharmed,' he thought as various scenarios of foul play filled his head concerning what Anko may have done to her fellow ninja. Only a few of those scenarios were of a perverted nature, involving ropes, restraints, and other paraphernalia.
As the clock on the wall continued to slowly tick away, seemingly getting louder by the second, and fifteen minutes would soon turn into twenty, he considered sending out one of his ANBU to her residence in order to check on her. While the thought did have it's merits, it would be rather embarrassing to send one of his ninja in order to fetch another one of his ninja because they were late.
'I really should have seen this coming, especially from Anko. It could be that she is unable to make it here, but there is also no guarantee that Yuhi-san is inside of her apartment. Maybe I should have the ANBU check Anko's apartment as well?' he thought and was about to resign to calling for one of his ninja when he felt a chakra signature headed towards the room.
x-x
Moving swiftly through the Hokage tower, Kurenai made sure to keep herself at least three feet away from other people and one foot away from the walls or doors. A heavy blush adorned her face and she continually clenched and loosened her hands which were stiffly at her side and purposely not touching her clothing.
'Oh Kami, this was a bad idea,' she lamented and tried not to look suspicious, though everyone was giving her looks, especially with how embarrassed, tense and uncomfortable she looked. This of course only served to worsen matters and increase her blush.
'I should have just stopped for a few minutes and bought some clothes,' she thought and debated about turning around and heading to the nearest shop. Seventeen minutes late to an important meeting was a problem, but showing up in only a henge of her normal clothing while being naked underneath was an entirely different situation.
In her mind and under the current circumstances, a simple bump into another individual or scrapping against a wall or brush by a door could possibly dispel the simple illusion that kept herself from being labeled as a streaker or exhibitionist. Though the henge was more robust than that, being near-naked and moving through the village to an important meeting with the village leaders made her be overly cautious.
'Do they know?' Kurenai questioned as she passed a few shinobi that gave her a particularly long look. Her face only seemed to get hotter and though she couldn't see it, she was positive that the blush had spread over a portion of her body. 'Damnit it's cold,' was her next thought and she went to move her hands to at least cover her chest but quickly moved them back to her sides for fear that the henge may be compromised.
'If I pass by any Uchiha or Hyuuga with active dojutsu I may have to leave the village,' she acknowledged as she moved quickly but cautiously up the staircase to the level with the Sandaime's office.
Carefully scouting the hallway before fully opening the door, Kurenai speed walked to the double doors of the Hokage's office and furtively knocked while making sure the hallway was still clear of other ninja.
"Enter!" came the Sandaime's voice from inside and taking a deep breath, Kureani opened the door and carefully moved inside.
x-x
Sweat was pouring off of him and Naruto struggled to keep moving as he trudged along the path, trying to continue the race. Everything below his knee seemed to be seized and he couldn't even bend his ankles, jogging the entire sixth lap on flat, plodding feet because he could no longer run anymore. Coming around a corner, a nice breeze provided some comfort for him, until he realized what had created the sudden breeze.
'He passed me again!' Naruto quickly recognized as the green machine ran right by him in the same ridiculous handstand position as the man had started with. 'Did he speed up?' questioned Naruto until he reexamined his pace and realized that he had slowed down considerably.
'I've never been this tired before,' he admitted as his chest ached from breathing so hard. It was not a simple path either. The trail went on a dizzying array of twists and curves that took them both in a general path presumably around the entire village. It was hard to tell as they stayed away from the villages main roadways and the trees blocked out the village wall, Hokage mountain, or any other landmark to help orient oneself.
If what Gai said was to be believed and he really 'forged' the trail, then that meant that he had been doing laps around the entire village enough that it left a permanently worn path. 'Just how often does he do this kind of thing?' Wondered Naruto as he tried to keep his mind off how bad his body was protesting to his continued participation in the race.
'Must keep going. Can't lose to this guy, especially when he's running on his hands,' thought Naruto, desperate to pull on the last of his reserves or looking for a second wind.
x-x
'This is mortifying,' thought Kurenai as she sat through the meeting completely red faced and embarrassed. The fact that those around her were giving frequent glances, likely due to her blushing and tardiness was certainly not helping matters and was creating a very bad cycle.
'Do they know?' she questioned but couldn't be completely sure of the answer. She was however certain that none of the other ninja in the village showed up to a meeting naked and only wearing a henge of clothing to cover themselves.
'This is the worst thing that you ever done to me, Anko. You are going to pay for this. You will pay,' thought Kurenai with her glare like sharp kunai trying to carve into the back of purple haired head sitting just ahead of her. Despite her anger and embarrassment, Kurenai continued through the fiasco, waiting for her turn to tell everyone the real side of the story and not Anko's side.
Unable to ignore the intense feeling of someone staring at the back of her head, Anko refrained from taking notice or reacting to it, 'This is probably the worst thing I've ever done to her...no, wait...yes, yes it definitely is,' lamented the special jonin as she tried to sit through the remainder of the meeting. With Kurenai present, her entire case was pretty much out the window, 'Along with Nai-chan's dignity,' she quickly commented before pushing the thought back down.
'I had no idea she was this damn stubborn or would resort to a henge. I never considered it...should have sealed her chakra too, and maybe tied her to the bed,' she considered before coming back to reality and seeing that the Hokage was starting the testimonials from both parties and the witness.
x-x
'I can't move anymore,' acknowledged Naruto as he sat on the ground, collapsing just a few feet short of where they started the race and unable to complete his seventh lap. Gai had already passed him another time and despite feeling humiliated by being outdone in such a way, there was nothing he could do. His legs were unresponsive and he couldn't stand back up. The thought of crawling to reach the starting point, had gone through his mind several times but had been pushed aside in favor of taking a rest and hopefully recovering.
The noises of his surroundings, the breeze through the leaves and different soundss from insects were all drowned out by the sound of his heart beating out of his chest. Drenched in sweat, it didn't take long for him to realize that he simply wasn't going anywhere and would certainly lose the race. In fact, he could even hear the Green Beast coming up behind him and about to finish what was likely the tenth and final lap, which would end the race.
Turning his head, Naruto watched as the man came to the finishing line in a mad dash on his hands, with a large cloud of dirt trailing behind him. With a shout or perhaps a roar of triumph, the man crossed the imaginary starting and finishing point, stopping and getting to his feet with a loud shout of, "Yosh!"
Wiping the sweat off his brow and noting that he was slightly out of breath, Gai looked to see where his opponent was. Turning to see Naruto on the ground, the bowl-cut man stopped his jubilation for a moment as he thought about what to say, 'Perhaps ten laps around the village was a little too much for our first challenge,' he considered as he realized that Naruto had not managed to complete the ten laps and quickly remembered that he had passed the boy more than once.
Making a rather guilty face and then giving a slightly sad smile to Naruto, Gai realized that he needed to keep up the boy's spirits and gave him a much bigger smile before trying to apparently cheer him up, "That was an amazing race, our fires of youth burned brightly. Though you couldn't finish, your performance was exemplary. I was certainly put through my paces this morning and this was an excellent warm-up. Don't let your fires of youth get doused by a defeat. I come here every morning at the same time to train, unless I have a mission, and you may challenge me again to any physical event you want."
Giving Naruto a rather exuberant 'thumbs up', Gai waited to hear a response to his offer in the pose. At least five seconds went by in which Gai made no movements from his struck prose before Naruto realized something, 'He won't leave unless I say something.' Trying to speak, he found that his mouth was so dry that he simply couldn't form any words and so he resorted to nodding.
Satisfied with the response, Gai smiled and said, "Excellent, I'm off to finish my morning training and I hope to see you again here soon. Let your flames of youth shine brightly!" he yelled before taking off towards another area of the training ground, or so Naruto assumed.
'I completely lost,' Naruto repeated and though he wanted to think about anything other than the race, a few of the things that the man said were sticking around in his mind. 'An excellent warm-up,' was what the green guy had said and though Naruto wouldn't have normally believed it, considering how sore and exhausted he was, the fact that Gai was not very out of breath by the race was proof enough that the words were likely true. 'All that distance and this guy was going at such a pace the entire time, but it was merely a warm-up for him,' it dawned on the blonde and the thought struck hard at his ego. He'd never felt so inferior before.
'Can the Old Man do that too?!' he suddenly questioned as he recalled that the Hokage was supposed to be the strongest ninja in the village. An image of the elderly Hokage running circles around himself and Gai, while laughing, quickly formed in his mind. It really pissed him off and made him even more depressed.
'Jiji is a geezer, but he must really be that fast if he's the strongest in the village. Otherwise that green guy would be Hokage. That's just messed up,' he thought, conceding that the Hokage must be faster and stronger than Gai and by proxy, much faster than himself.
'How strong and fast do I have to become in order to become Hokage?' Naruto wondered but he wasn't completely sure. 'I would definitely have to be able to leave that Gai guy in the dust,' he thought and sighed at how tired he felt mentally and physically over the still recent defeat.
Realizing that he was still sitting in the carved race track, Naruto tried to stand but couldn't and so he crawled to the nearest tree so he could help himself get up. 'Maybe I should set my alarm clock and come here again tomorrow,' he initially thought before groaned at the state of his body and decided to rethink it, 'Maybe same time next week.'
x-x
"In light of all the evidence presented, and a very long, well thought out attack on my son's and by proxy, my own credibility and character," began the Sandaime with a frown as he proceeded to deliver the verdict on the case, "After hearing the eyewitness testimony, it has been voted on and decided by this board that this complaint is not legitimate and what happened was simply an unfortunate accident."
Only a second went by before Anko was out of her seat and saying in a dramatic voice, "This ruling is farce! There is a serious conflict of interest and I believe a strong bias has been given to the guilty party!"
"You mean to the defendant?" Koharu quickly asked and Anko replied without hesitation, "No difference." The Sandaime inwardly sighed while thinking, 'So you were saving this until the end.'
"Anko, even if my vote was removed from the ruling, you still would have lost," the Hokage said, informing the kunoichi who quickly took her seat and quietly cursed. 'Wait, there's only three judges. That means it was a unanimous vote against me,' she realized and her frown deepened.
Thinking over the matter again and looking to the sheer lengths that Anko had gone to in order to try and win the case, the Sandaime decided that perhaps he should make some consolidation. The case was well known by the villagers and still a serious matter. Something had to be done and he had just thought of an idea.
"However," the Sandaime began, and Anko's hope began rising again, "Taking into consideration public opinion on the matter and to make this incident go away," he quickly emphasized with a direct look at Anko, "We are willing to offer you some form of compensation."
'We are?!' questioned the other members of the Village Elders. 'Payday!' inwardly cheered Anko and she eagerly listened to what the Hokage would say next. Not only her, but every person in the room was also interested. "We currently have a young man who needs to complete a great deal of community service. Such service will take the form of D-ranked mission to help out the villagers. This boy will need to be supervised during his completion of the service and I can think of no one better than you."
"Huh?" Anko said out loud, confused about the form that her compensation was taking. "The proceeds from the missions would normally go to those performing them but since it is community service, they will instead by split between his supervisor and to pay for the damages caused during the incident."
The room was silent for a moment as everyone considered what the Sandaime had said. 'Is he punishing her?' wondered Kurenai and her question was mirrored around the room. "Wait," Anko suddenly spoke up, "Are you telling me that my compensation is to waste my precious time supervising a brat and I only get some D-rank mission money for it?"
"Precisely," stated the Sandaime with a smile and Anko remained outwardly unfazed by his response but inwardly she was thinking, 'I should have worn something much more racy. I knew the proper look wouldn't work. There's no way he's getting away with this.'
"How about the one who groped me supervises the brat and I get the compensation?" the purple-haired kunoichi countered and Sandaime took on a more serious look before saying, "My offer is as stands, take it or leave it."
'Damn, well at least I can make the most of this,' Anko thought before saying, "Alright, I accept your less than gracious offer, but I want it in writing."
"Agreed, everyone is dismissed," said the Sandaime and no sooner had the words been said, than Kurenai was out of her seat and out the door.
x-x
Walking briskly down the street, Kurenai dodged Asuma who was trying to catch up to her and headed straight for Anko's place. 'She must be keeping my clothes there,' she believed as there had been time during the trial when she thought over what Anko would have done with them, 'I'll take them back and then I'll never speak to her again.'
Sliding to a stop at the intersection just ahead of her, Anko had managed to catch up. "Wait," she said and Kurenai barely looked to her before taking another route. "Come back, Nai-chan!" the purple-haired woman yelled out but Kurenai proceeded to walk even faster and then start running.
"Don't make me chase you down to apologize, you exhibitionist," yelled Anko and it made Kurenai come to a complete halt. Looking back in fury at the woman behind her and then embarrassment at those who had been within earshot, she walked back to Anko. Grabbing the purple-haired woman by the arm, the red-eyed woman dragged her into a nearby alley so that they couldn't be seen or overheard.
Stopping and staring at each other, it wasn't difficult for Anko to see the hurt and anger on her friends face and in her eyes. Inhaling sharply, Kurenai began, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Anko flinched at the decibels that the chunin reached before saying, "I won't argue with that. I went too far and crossed more than a single line but you heard the ruling, I was definitely punished for my actions."
The admission of guilt however, had the opposite effect as Kurenai only got madder. "I sat for an hour completely mortified in front of the leaders of the village because all there was between me and complete exposure was a single henge, Anko. A simple Henge," the red-eyed woman reiterated and Anko bit her lip before doing something that she hadn't in years.
"I'm sorry, Nai-chan. I've caused lots of trouble for you," and moving in, she tried to hug her friend. Dodging the hug, Kurenai said, "Don't touch me! If this henge dispels, I will murder you!" Forcibly stopping Anko from getting too close, Kurenai sighed before demanding, "Why Anko? Why did you feel the need to make me go through that and if you tell me it involved money or debts...!" but the chunin stopped as she recognized the face that Anko was making. It told her that everything she had just gone through definitely involved debts and she cursed out loud, "Damnit, Anko!"
In a placating manner the purple-haired woman approached her friend not trying to make any phsyical contact but profusely apologizing. Kurenai ignored the statements and simply asked, "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"You would have yelled at me," Anko said and Kurenai replied incredulously in a much louder voice, "I'm yelling at you right now, and even louder than I would have if you just told me!"
"I KNOW!" Anko yelled back even louder but then got quiet as he refused to meet her friends gaze. 'What do I say?" Anko repeated in her head over and over as she felt on the verge of losing her best friend. Inhaling sharply before making her statement, a garbage can at the entrance of the alley fell over. Both kunoichi instantly turned to see what caused the noise and they saw the individual responsible.
"Ohhh~ There's my cash cow now," Anko said, trying to change the subject and take advantage of the distraction provided by the small blonde boy. Leaning against the corner of the wall, Naruto was hunched over slightly and looked quite unsteady on his legs.
"He's not looking so good," commented Kurenai and they watched the blonde collapse to the ground in a heap. Seconds passed as both woman stared at the unmoving boy before yelling, "Don't die on me cash cow!"