Chapter 7: Konoha's Council
The Sandaime Hokage of Konoha could currently be found sitting in the village council chambers feeling a headache of epic proportions coming on. He found himself on more then one occasion cursing his predecessor for his untimely demise and leaving him again to this job he should have rightfully retired from many years ago.
He was sitting in his rightful position at the head of the large circular table in the council chambers, flanked on each side by his old teammates, advisors and elder council members Mitokado Homura and Utatane Homura. Neither of the two, despite being long time friends of the old Hokage, were of the same mind as him in regards to protecting Naruto and keeping him safe. Where he would constantly preach that it was the late Yondaime's wish for him to be seen as a hero for keeping the nine tails prisoner, they saw him as a possible avenue for Kyuubi to return and begin its reign of terror again. They may not have been as close minded as most of the villagers in thinking he was the Kyuubi reincarnate – they weren't that stupid – because if that were the case, surely the boy would have killed them after the first sign of a lack of respect. Still, they seemed to be extremely happy when the boy was apparently 'killed' so imagine their surprise when Hatake Kakashi reports after a simple 'C' ranked mission that he had spotted someone who fits Naruto's description with excellent shinobi skills in the land of waves.
After Kakashi brought this news to him, he was forced to inform the council of said information. Most of the shinobi on the council like the Hyuuga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Aburame and Inuzaka were never 'Naruto haters' as he had dubbed those that called for the child's death, however, now that he has apparently been trained as a shinobi, they all, save him, agreed that he would be a threat to Konoha due to any anger – as rational as it may be – he would hold towards Konoha. At the time, Sarutobi had no choice but to allow them to do what they liked and when they had gotten word of him being able to use the 'Kage Bunshin' technique, a technique native to Konoha only as one of their Kinjutsu, they deemed that enough of a reason to deem him an 'S' class criminal – because he obviously stole it from either one of their shinobi or from a scroll owned by Konoha. Sarutobi tried to warn them that making him such a high ranked criminal would only drag attention to the boy but they wouldn't listen – they would discover at a later date how much danger they put their own village in by committing such an act.
What Sarutobi puzzled over however was the other bit of information Kakashi reported in that the council deemed irrelevant. The boy was wearing a slashed Konoha forehead protector. That alone was weird as he was never a shinobi of Konoha, therefore he could not be a missing-nin of Konoha, so why wear the mark of a missing-nin from a village? His own one on top of that?
The wise Hokage could only come to one conclusion in regards to that question. He wants people to know that he was from Konoha, yet not a part of it. For what other reason would there be for not hiding his features like the obvious whisker marks on his cheeks or his rare golden blonde hair? Naruto didn't care if people knew who he was and meant either one of two things, he was reckless and not as smart as he gave him credit for, or he was strong and confident enough in his own abilities to simply not care to the point where it doesn't matter. It hardly matters if hunter-nin knew who you are if you could kill them for engaging in combat with you.
Aside from the Naruto issue though, Sarutobi had other problems to deal with. That being Orochimaru having being spotted within the forest of death and marking the last Uchiha loyal to Konoha with his curse seal – this was an issue for debate currently for the Konoha council. There were arguments that they would have to be more delicate with the boy with his 'fragile' mind being harassed more, while others opted to throw him in prison the minute he shows a desire to use its powers. The only reason the other shinobi of Konoha with the Curse Seal, Mitarashi Anko, had not been locked away in the deepest of Konoha's dungeons with the key thrown away was because she had shown no desire to use the curse seal's power, quite the opposite, she had developed a legendary hating for her previous sensei – something a lot of the villagers fail to see when they address her as the 'snake slut' or 'serpent whore'.
Sarutobi sighed again as the council continued to bicker about Sasuke while he pretended to listen. He was certain his headache would only increase soon with Anko reporting to him about having information on a certain blonde haired criminal. He had told her that she would report her findings about Orochimaru and Naruto before the council and jounin of the village in this very meeting, mainly because he didn't want to deal with the bickering and annoying people who will make themselves known quite vocally during the report.
As the argument about Sasuke being allowed to compete further in the exams reached its apex, he raised his hand in a gesture for them all to shut up so he could call on Anko to give her report, and shut up they did.
"While Sasuke-kun receiving the curse seal from my ex-student is an interesting and important to a degree, I have another issue of importance to bring to the council's attention" he said, his voice calm and weary, yet every syllable cut through the silence of the council chambers like a gong. He had now successfully grabbed the attention of the shinobi council who were now looking at him in confusion as if his claims were the stupidest thing in the world; however, he ignored the stares and motioned to one of the two jounin who were present at the meeting standing beside the entrance to the chambers. As he did so, every shinobi on the council swiveled their heads so that they were facing the door when they saw Mitarashi Anko's face, normally jovial and in a large grin looking oddly serious expression, warranting attention.
"Arigato Hokage-sama" she began, in an all business tone "While I was in Training ground 44 monitoring the second phase of the Chunin exams, my subordinates informed me of finding a team of Kusa genin with their faces melted off – a sign that Orochimaru is around and trying to infiltrate. My suspicions were confirmed when I felt a spike in chakra somewhere in the forest that felt exactly like his used to, vile and evil" she explained, this part the council already
knew however "after feeling his chakra, I pursued it until I came upon his location where we had a…quick yet ineffective fight…" she said, looking like she was sucking on a lemon when she had to describe the fight.
"What happened Anko-chan, we need details" asked the Hokage, not trying to sound too demanding but urging her to elaborate.
"I engaged and I tried to use a suicide technique on him, unfortunately, he angered me enough to cloud my judgment along with the fact that he recognized the technique I planned to use on him, for he was the one who taught it to me" she said, getting shocked looks from the other jounin in the room as well as many of the council members who doubted her allegiance to the leaf after her sensei turned traitor "after interrupting the jutsu, he proceeded to torture me through the curse seal, and when he did so, I couldn't move…the pain was unlike anything I've ever felt before…it felt like my skull and brain were being crushed under an enormous pressure and that there was acid instead of blood running through my veins" she explained, getting winces of sympathy from some of the people in the room.
"How did you get out of that situation Anko-san? Surely Orochimaru wouldn't have just let you escape?" asked Homura, snidely, still not believing her story one hundred percent.
Anko sighed, knowing that her answer would cause chaos but continued anyway "Somebody else happened on the scene and proceeded to fight with Orochimaru" she said, hoping they wouldn't ask who. That was not to be the case however and it shall be known that Mitarashi Anko had her ass saved by a child.
"Who arrived? Surely no genin could hold off Orochimaru for long and Uchiha Sasuke had already received the cursed seal by this time" commented Koharu, getting a snort out of Anko, which made the two elder advisors glare at her "something funny Mitarashi-san?"
"You actually think the Uchiha would have been a match for Orochimaru?" she asked, with humor as that ever present grin returned to her face "no, the person who fought with Orochimaru was much more…capable…and powerful" she answered.
This caused the two elder advisors along with Danzo, the head of a separate branch of ANBU, who also sat in on the council meeting along with any other Uchiha supporter to frown in concern and annoyance.
"Are you implying that there is a genin in the Chunin exams more powerful, yet alone, 'much more' powerful then Uchiha Sasuke?" asked Koharu, attempted to be intimidating, however the old woman had no effect on Anko, especially when one had Orochimaru as a sensei.
"Pfft, no, this person was no genin, this person wasn't even a part of the Chunin exams" she said, earning more curious glances "the person that happened on the scene and proceeded to fight Orochimaru was Uzumaki Naruto" there, she said it, and she got the exact result she assumed she would get. Chaos.
Danzo, Koharu and Homura all shouted objections and insults at both Anko and the Hokage while the other council members looked around in shock, worry and concern. 'If the vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune could take on Orochimaru, the demon must be taking over!' was the general consensus of everyone in the room.
Sarutobi knew, he just knew, his headache was going to get worse in this meeting "Enough!" he barked, his usual calm demeanor absent in favor for silencing the room to ease his throbbing headache. He really was too old for this shit "please continue Anko-chan, what happened next?"
Anko seemed to be deliberating mentally whether she should actually answer the question, it seemed, and when the Hokage was going to call her on it she began to speak "It was weird and oddly familiar at the same time…it's hard to explain" she said, gaining the interest of everyone in the room.
"Firstly, he was able to land a sneak attack on Orochimaru in the first place, actually hurting him and stopping him from continuing the torture, which is a surprise on his own because anyone who has ever worked or trained with the man would know that that's an impressive feat on its own – the man is almost impossible to sneak up on" she said, getting nods from the three elderly members of the council, one the man's sensei and his sensei's teammates.
"The following ten minutes was utterly strange yet very informative at the same time" she said, seemingly lost in thought "Orochimaru began his usually routine when he engages an enemy – taunting" she began "the man will always taunt his opponents to get them angry so that their fighting abilities will decrease before he begins his attack hard and fast" she explained from memory "but when he tried that with Uzumaki, he was unsuccessful to say the least" this got the attention of everyone in the room, Anko though, but she hid a smirk at what the rest of her report would do to them once they heard it "not one ounce of killing intent or the slightest change in posture to any of the words Orochimaru said to him, and considering what he was saying, it seemed like an impressive feat" she began, pausing to let them absorb that information.
"Orochimaru taunted Uzumaki about how he had killed Uzumaki's sensei and about Uzumaki wanting revenge" she said, officially now gaining her Hokage's attention "and the sensei he mentioned killing was someone named 'Sasori'
though I'm not sure who that is…even though I know the name rings a bell" they were interrupted when someone in the council room gasped softly. Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the sound to see none other then Danzo looking incredulously at Anko before turning to the Sandaime.
"You said that Uzumaki was seen using puppets as a technique in the land of waves?" asked Danzo as Sarutobi immediately picked up on where his old rival was going with this.
"Akasuna no Sasori" Sarutobi said, much to everyone's surprise "a missing-nin from Sunagakure no Sato, and also a master of the puppet technique" he said, explaining "if he was Naruto's sensei ever since the boy disappeared, he would no doubt be strong in that field, eerily so" he said, sounding grave, before they were interrupted by Anko clearing her throat to get their attention.
"That's nice and all" she said, sounding completely uninterested "but Uzumaki didn't even use any puppets to defeat Orochimaru" she said, once again, shocking everyone in the room.
"Anyway, after his unsuccessful attempt to goad Uzumaki, the boy in response simply took out…a stick of pocky and ate it pretty much in his face…" she said, getting an incredulous look from everyone in the room now at the proclamation "the reason why the situation was so bizarre was because had I not known the boy was Uzumaki in the first place, I would have sworn that it was Uchiha Itachi from before he turned traitor…his voice, the lack of emotion, the pocky obsession, yet at the same time, annoyingly polite and…well…annoying" she said. Sarutobi seemed amused at how Anko too seemed annoyed.
"The gaki was not only 'scolding' me for letting 'anger cloud my judgment'" she said, putting air quotations around the quote she took from him "but he was almost polite about insulting Orochimaru too, it was the most…bizarre thing ever, because it actually worked, he goaded Orochimaru into making the first move…" she explained, by this time, the admissions that the boy reminded her of Uchiha Itachi, him having beaten Orochimaru and who he was had gotten everyone's attention completely, even the ever indifferent Hyuuga Hiashi.
"However, right before Orochimaru was going to land a hit on Uzumaki's face, he stopped, like he had seen something to make him want to stop. He then leapt back and proceeded to fire kunai and Katon jutsu at seemingly nothing" she said, with a frown "I had no idea what was going on, but eventually, I came to the conclusion that Uzumaki had put Orochimaru under a Genjutsu without the use of hand seals or with single handed hand seals while distracting us both with his Pocky…which is incredible because…well, who the hell could catch Orochimaru in a Genjutsu without him knowing about it…bastard he may be…but the man's is smart…" she said, not sure if the praising of his intelligence would anger the council.
Everyone in the council room however was silent, absorbing the information they had recently received about the latest addition to Konoha's criminal list. Not only was the boy trained in puppetry techniques by one of the greatest puppeteers ever, but he seemingly was at a masterful level of Genjutsu, to be able to possibly place a Sannin of all people under a Genjutsu without the use of hand seals and without him realizing was just scary.
"See what we're been saying Sarutobi" Koharu suddenly said, breaking the silence "the Kyuubi has obviously taken over if the boy has shown such skills, remember Hatake-san also reporting the boy having red slitted eyes? Eerily similar to the Kyuubi's wouldn't you say?!" she said, getting angry at her former teammate.
Sarutobi just frowned at his teammate before turning back to Anko "Did you feel any malice or any of the Kyuubi's chakra at all during the encounter? Even slightly?"
Anko shook her head dismissively "The only sign of even the slightest bit of anger that the boy gave off during the whole encounter was when I almost refused to eat the stick of pocky he offered me…but that probably just proves he's obsessed with pocky to an irrational level, not that he's a demon hiding in a human's body…besides, I don't know many demon's with a pocky obsession…" she said, with a smirk, however she received several glares stating that her humor was not appreciated, regardless of the muffled chuckle coming from the other jounin in the room.
Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and took a few puffs of his pipe before speaking, as everybody seemed to be waiting for his input "A boy who after being nearly killed by his own village's people and left for dead in the forest that saves damsels in distress, frees villages from oppression and tries to kill or at least stop Orochimaru to some degree doesn't sound like a demon, or even remotely like one, even if you do think that the stealing of scrolls from different shinobi villages suggests so" he said, stating the obvious "though I doubt that if I ask for him to be removed from the wanted criminals list you would listen either – though I must confess that should we put a bounty on his head, we could be needlessly endangering our own shinobi by sending them to their death after him, for it wouldn't be much of a crime to kill someone if he was just protecting himself, hm?" his warnings seemed to be ignored though and their original idea of placing him as an 'S' class criminal all the more valid.
"How do we know if we can trust…her…report Hokage-sama?" asked Koharu, to Sarutobi's right. The only people in the room that noticed how much the comment hurt Anko were Sarutobi, Hiashi and the other jounin present for the meeting, Hatake Kakashi and in response, Sarutobi sent her a reassuring glance which she accepted with a small almost unnoticeable smile.
"You can be sure to trust her because I trust her – are you implying that my ability to judge one's character is flawed Koharu-san? That would be most…inappropriate to suggest to the leader of the village" he said, easily, while taking another puff of his pipe, completely ignoring the glare sent at him by his old teammate.
"I thank you for your report Anko-chan, I daresay that you should listen to Uzumaki-kun's advise next time you are in battle with Orochimaru, a fine shinobi like yourself should not let anger cloud their judgment" he said kindly, getting an embarrassed look from Anko, though inwardly, she was wondering how much fun it would be to ram a kunai with an explosive note up his colon and set it off.
"Kakashi-kun, what do you have to report?" asked the Hokage, already knowing but acting like he didn't anyway as the man stepped up to report what he had heard earlier.
"As I was applying the Fuja Hoin on Uchiha Sasuke earlier today, we were interrupted by an unexpected appearance by a Tsuchi Bunshin of Orochimaru himself. He informed us that should we call off the exams or remove the Uchiha from the exams due to his appearance or the application of the curse seal on Sasuke, he will attack the village with all his might" he said, in a respectful tone while reporting to so many elders.
The elders in the room seemed to be silent in contemplation until Nara Shikaku interrupted the silence "The only reason he would want the Uchiha to remain in the exams or the exams to continue for that matter is if he had plans involving those two subjects" he paused "I believe regardless of what we do, he will most likely try to attack Konoha during the Chunin exams, what better way to show up Konoha in front of the Uchiha he has recently marked then to attack Konoha during a time when our security should be the tightest and still succeed, hm? Such a troublesome man that Orochimaru…" he finished, earning a small chuckle from Sarutobi, Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza.
"I believe Nara-san is correct in his assumption, it would make sense if his overall goal is to lure the Uchiha to his side" commented Hyuuga Hiashi, agreeing with the Nara clan head.
"For what purpose does Orochimaru want the Uchiha though? He may be the rookie of the year but he isn't so great as to risk all that he has in attacking Konoha…" offered Inuzaka Tsume, head of the Inuzaka clan.
"My foolish apprentice's life ambition was always to learn every jutsu in the world – or as many as he could for that matter" he didn't mention the other main ambition of Orochimaru, not thinking they needed to know that yet "if he were to obtain the Sharingan for his own uses, such an ambition would become much easier" he finished.
The council continued to debate after dismissing Kakashi and Anko about what they were going to do in response to the possibility of invasion and Orochimaru's plans late into the night.
Two figures stood in a dark alleyway conversing in secret in Konoha. One of these figures had his whole body covered with a white cloak while his face was obscured by a porcelain ANBU mask while the other appeared to be a regular old traveling merchant. Normally such a meeting would draw the attention of any competent shinobi in the area were it not for the well placed triple layered Genjutsu covering the area and causing even the most accomplished of Hyuuga to completely ignore the alley.
"What are the Hokage's opinions about the 'S' class criminal Uzumaki Naruto" asked the aged merchant to the ANBU captain he was speaking to.
"He doesn't agree that he should be made an 'S' class criminal and disagrees with the shinobi's council's views of him" he replied in a respectful if not slightly monotonous tone.
"What are the council's views on him" the man asked the ANBU captain.
"They think he is a threat and that there is no possible way for such a young child to be so skillfully without being influenced by the demon he keeps imprisoned" he answered immediately.
"What are the village's plans in regards to Orochimaru and his appearance during the Chunin exams?"
"I have not been completely informed of what will happen, but I have been instructed to inform my squad to remain hidden within the spectators of the third phase of the Chunin exams and blend in with the general populace – we are ordered to stop any threats that may arise"
'So they know of a possible invasion, not as incompetent as I thought' thought the old man before speaking up again "What do the council intend to do with the Uchiha now that he has been marked by Orochimaru?" he asked, more curious then actually needing to know.
"They have assigned jounin-sensei Hatake Kakashi to personally train him for the month before the third phase of the Chunin exams and teach him his personal jutsu, regardless of whatever protests he had to doing so. He is instructed
to ignore the other two students of his team in favor of making the Uchiha has powerful as possible before the exams continues" he finished, no sign of emotion that would show his thoughts on the issue.
The old man scoffed internally, not allowing the ANBU captain to see his reaction to the news, not that it mattered anyway; he wouldn't remember this meeting.
"Have you been given orders regarding Uzumaki Naruto and if not, who has and what are they?" asked the old man.
"We are instructed to keep up a patrol and search for someone matching Uzumaki's description of blonde hair, tanned skin, straw hat and grey cloak and bring them in for questioning. We were authorized to kill on sight should he resist capture by the council. This was only told to ANBU, Mitarashi Anko and Hatake Kakashi respectively" the ANBU captain supplied, making the old man smirk slightly.
"Does Konoha suspect anyone other then Otogakure willing to invade during the Chunin exams?"
"The Council believed that it wasn't inconceivable that Iwagakure would team up with Orochimaru and attack, but other then that, no.
'So they knew nothing of Sunagakure or they haven't told their ANBU…interesting'
"That will be all ANBU-san, I hope you enjoyed your hour long private training session this afternoon" the old man said, his eyes flashing red showing slitted pupils before he disappeared in a gust of wind.
Shortly after the man disappeared, the ANBU captain shook his head as if it was filled with cobwebs and leapt out of the alley, heading back towards ANBU headquarters now that he was done with his private training.
An old man could be seen walking down the street in Konohagakure no Sato before turning into a Dango store for a late afternoon snack. Spotting his companion, a young girl in a pink Kimono, he took a seat across from her and took out a stick of Pocky as he munched on its chocolaty goodness, much to his companion's annoyance.
"Those sweets aren't good for your health or your teeth Ojisan" commented the girl, with a disapproving glare.
"Gomen Haku-chan, I'm afraid I wasn't listening, you said something about Pocky being unhealthy?" the old man asked, with his own frown in return.
The newly dubbed Haku glared right back at her 'ojisan' now with an annoyed expression, if the twitching of the eyebrow was any indication.
"I told you not to call me that, I'm a boy!" he hissed, quietly enough for no one to hear them. The old man just raised a bushy eyebrow and smirked slightly.
"You're wearing a pink kimono and are looking quite…pretty" he commented, in an amused voice, getting his companion more irritated.
"I'm in disguise!" he hissed out, his voice notably more baritone now then it was before, making his gender more believable.
"Yes, I noticed" the old man said "you seem quite fond of disguising yourself as a girl, I wonder" he said, inquisitively as he took out another stick of pocky from god knows where "is it a fetish or are you really trying to woo some of the males in this establishment because that boy and his dog over there seem to be quite…interested" he said, with a small quirk of his lips as he tried to suppress a grin.
Before Haku could strangle Naruto for calling him gay yet again, said boy and dog walked over with a, well, what was supposed to be, a charming grin on his face making Naruto actually smirk visibly as the color drained from Haku's face.
"Hey there beautiful" the boy began "my name's Kiba, Inuzaka Kiba and I was wondering if you'd want to come and share a drink and some dango with me, oh" he paused, smiling at Naruto "that is if your father doesn't mind, I promise to be a perfect gentleman" he finished, with a million watt smile.
If Naruto ever showed much emotion, he would be laughing his ass off, but seeing as it would ruin his 'rep', he merely smiled kindly at the 'young lad' and nodded "Not at all lad" he said, internally laughing as Haku glared daggers at him and made 'neutering' gestures at him if he continued "I'm sure you are a respectable young man, have fun and make sure to bring her home before 9 pm, she has choirs to complete, after all" Naruto finished, smiling at Haku who would
be foaming at the mouth in rage if he wasn't so concerned with not causing a scene and causing suspicion amongst the veteran shinobi around.
"What about all of my responsibilities tousan?" he asked desperately "we need to meet out quota for the month and if we don't how will we live?" he asked, feigning desperation.
"Nonsense Haku-chan" he began brightly "we are only young once, you should go and enjoy your youth while you still can"
"Arigato…Tousan" he said, with an extremely forced smile as his eyebrow was still twitching. Kiba just looked like Naruto made his day.
"Thank jiji, I promise to bring her home on time, let's go beautiful" he said with a large smile, almost forcefully pulling Haku away from Naruto.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do" he commented over his shoulder with his impression of a perverted giggle, causing Kiba to blush and Haku to glare at him even harder.
As Naruto congratulated himself he discreetly performed two jutsu before a familiar person sat down across from him where Haku was sitting glaring at him eating his Pocky.
"Don't think I don't know who you are" began Mitarashi Anko, with a fresh plate of Dango in front of her "your Genjutsu covering your appearance may be spectacular but I very much doubt there are many older men with similar Pocky obsessions and poor acting abilities such as yourself" she said, with a grin as she finished a stick of pocky and held the pointed stick that was left suggestively as if wanting to do something very uncomfortable with it to Naruto.
"I'm very aware you know who I am Anko-san" replied Naruto, his demeanor changing immediately "I had sensed your arrival and have already replaced myself with a Doku Bunshin, suffice to say, if anything happens to this clone, many innocent people will die when the poison spreads around this enclosed area" he finished, taking out another stick of Pocky.
Anko just glared at him but let it go "How do I know you're not lying?" she asked, not believing his story for a minute.
"You are fooling no one Anko-san" he replied, still chewing on the magnificent bread stick "I know you discovered my abilities with Genjutsu while I had that little…altercation with Orochimaru, surely a quick Bunshin technique and Kawarimi aren't out of my league" he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"I really don't like you" she admitted making Naruto shrug.
"Join the club Anko-san" he replied, indifferently "I hear they have special T-shirts now" he said, attempting to anger the woman before him, he found it amusing to do so in the forest of death after all – it was almost as fun as getting Haku angry.
"You think you're so cool, don't you punk?" she shot back, her glare intensified.
"Is there a reason you chose to spend this lovely afternoon glaring at me Anko-san?" Naruto replied, changing the subject. How dare this woman insinuate that he wasn't 'cool'?
"Yeah, you're an ass" she said, as if it was the most brilliant and perfect answer in the world "and you have the entire ANBU force concentrating on locating you, it won't take long for them to do so" both Anko and Naruto knew that this was a lie, but Anko didn't know that he knew.
Naruto just shrugged and ignored her in favor of his pocky, which annoyed her just as much as it did in the forest of death – how could this BOY be so INFURIATING by doing absolutely NOTHING?!
"What is your purpose here in Konoha?" she asked, pushing her annoyance aside "if you harm one citizen's head, I'll kill you myself" she threatened while Naruto continued to munch away, seemingly blissfully unaware.
"Three things" he began, holding up three fingers "One is that you are unable to back up that threat" he said, cleaning the edges of his mouth now that he was done with his snack "Two is that my reasons are my own" he continued "and three is that even if I wanted to, what makes you so protective of them?" he asked, completely catching her off guard "you think I don't know about you Mitarashi Anko-san? Former pupil of Orochimaru and generally disliked, slurred, mistrusted and verbally abused by the local populace?" he commented, making Anko's eyes go wide in shock.
"Yes, I know about you Anko-san, most certainly more then you know about me" he finished, getting up "I wonder if your fiery determination to protect the villages actually stems from loyalty to the villages or rather your need, your
desire to prove them wrong about you" he said, leaving Anko to her own devices while he left the store to apply a new Genjutsu over his appearance so she couldn't find him again any time soon.
Anko, who had her eyes opened wide with shock just sat there wondering how this child knew so much about her. Her original goal after realizing who it exactly was sitting there was to get under his skin just like he did her in the forest, but in the end, he leaves her shocked, annoyed and furious, more so then she was before.
Quickly looking up in the direction he had left to, she saw that it was empty with no signs of Naruto, Genjutsu or not. Sighing, she chose to do what she normally does when something was troubling her, drink it away with saki. Lots and lots of saki.
Naruto stood in the middle of a decimated clearing, trees destroyed, the ground with large craters in it, rocks flung all over the place – as was common lately whenever he would train with his wind affinity. He had to find a location where he could train as much as he pleased without worrying about whether ANBU would stroll upon his training grounds and notice the unnatural destruction caused by him on the environment, therefore warranting an investigation. With the threat of invasion on the horizon, he wouldn't put it past them to track him until they found him either. He wouldn't be a very good 'criminal' if he would allow himself to be so easily captured either.
So instead, he found a clearing that had previously been used for intensive training, thereby destruction already somewhat present, before placing a Genjutsu around the area to discourage any weak shinobi 'happening' upon him before training.
It was late at night now that he had finished training and he idly wondered whatever happened to Haku when the object of his thoughts appeared in front of him with a glare to rival all glares from a puddle of water.
"Hello Haku-chan" he began "was your day…productive?" he asked, with barely contained amusement. He usually wasn't this 'evil', but ever since the day where Haku hid his Pocky stash from him, claiming that it was for his own good, he had to get his partner back. Honestly, what he had done for revenge was nothing compared to anyone stealing his precious pocky stash from him – now that was truly evil.
Haku on the other hand was livid. He had to spend his whole day masquerading as a young woman on a date with a loud, obnoxious, infuriatingly stupid and arrogant mutt of a boy while desperately warding off any physical advances the boy was making at him. He had contemplated simply fleeing from the boy but if he had used any of his shinobi skills to do so – which is what it would have required to actually flee from an Inuzaka as they were renowned for their incredibly astute senses of smell – he would have most likely aroused suspicion in his 'date' as well as any other experienced shinobi who got word of what happened. Haku couldn't allow that to happen for it would risk capture, and Naruto knew this too. The result? Haku having to spend an entire day with a 'dog-boy' and trying avoid suspicion. The kid even had the audacity to try and kiss him! Him!
"Naruto" Haku began, calming himself with a few slow and controlling breaths "I hope you are aware that what you did to me earlier was wrong and you will be punished for it" he said, eyeing Naruto who had forgone his grey cloak and straw hat, opting to train without the troublesome garments.
"Hardly" he retaliated "perhaps you will think as to the consequences of your actions the next time you decide to relinquish me of my Pocky, hmm?" he asked, seemingly paying him no mind as he unrolled a scroll and began to take down notes, most likely on his latest technique no doubt, one in which he refused to show him until it was completed and perfected.
"You mean…" Haku spoke, after several moments of silence "you mean to tell me that all of this" he said, motioning to his pink kimono, choker covering his Adam's apple and everything else in the Konoha direction in general "was some sort of payback for me trying to get you to maintain a healthy diet?!" he hissed out, disbelief in his voice.
There was several minutes of silence as Naruto continued to take notes on the scroll which Haku noticed with only slight interest due to his current mood was titled 'Uzumaki Clan Secret Techniques'. Every second that Naruto didn't respond to his question, Haku seemed to get angrier and right before the very second he was about to unleash thousand upon thousands of Ice needles in his direction to quell his rage, he responded.
"Iie" he answered, lying "I thought I would do you a favor and set you up with a respectable young man from Konoha, he also seemed very eager to…please, so it seemed at the time to be a perfect match" he answered "know this though, I will not have your love get me killed because your boyfriend suddenly realized who I am and who you travel with, then goes blabbing to every willing ear in the village, however I will not stand in your way. Should you wish to settle down, I'm sure you can remain here in Konoha, they are not looking for you after all"
Twitch. Two twitches. Three twitches. Haku was really starting to question whether the stress of hanging around with Naruto was worth it in the long run. Surely it would shorten his life expectancy. He was never this quick to anger when he was traveling with Zabuza; then again, Zabuza never continuously insinuated that he was gay either. His sense of humor was extremely weird, aggravating and only funny when not directed at you.
"I have obtained some information from one of my spies in Konoha about the council and their Hokage's plans" Naruto said suddenly snapping Haku out of his thoughts and getting him to focus on what Naruto was telling him.
After Naruto finished explaining what he learned from god knows where – he honestly would rather not know – they sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke up.
"What do you want to do? Will we interfere with the invasion?" asked Haku before continuing "I'd imagine messing with Orochimaru's plans would be a worthwhile way to spend the next month" he commented, with a small smile.
"Hm" Naruto replied, seemingly contemplating "I have a…personal…mission to conduct while we are here, do what you wish. If a few Oto shinobi should go missing, who am I to complain?" asked Naruto, nodding to Haku before vanishing in a gust of wind.
Haku took one last look around himself before melding into a puddle that suddenly appeared before his feet. The puddle seemingly evaporated into the air as soon as Haku disappeared.
