The Uzumaki Brigade
Sarutobi groaned as he put his Hokage robes over his battle armor. The things were not only heavy, they made him sweat like a fat boy during PE(trying to keep his sanity beside Shikamaru, Choji sneezed very violently. The sheer force behind it send the jiggling ball of flesh on top of his friend. To Shikamaru, it felt like a steam-roller attacked him!). The old man sighed, and walked out of the room, glancing at his clock one last time. It read, 4:21 a.m., and Sarutobi had a feeling it would be a very long day. If there was one thing the old man learned, it was that his feelings were usually right and they only came when something ominous was to happen. He felt it two nights ago on the meteor shower, and it was right. The strange thing was that he felt more than one that night, but the second vanished ten minutes before the Uchiha Purge (the name of the event that erased most of the Uchihas). Either way, he had a feeling now, and he grew worried.
Suddenly, an orange blur flashed past Sarutobi, heading in the direction of the Scroll Library. He dashed after the unidentified object, ditching the uncomfortable robes as he went. He stopped at the door to the Library, knowing that it was the only way in or out of there. He readied his chakra, planning of burning the intruder to a crisp. He listened closely, and heard to slow, calm slap of sandals on tile.
Sarutobi saw the intruder, and was about to release his jutsu. But before he opened his mouth to spit out a stream of fire, he identified who it was, and pulled his chakra back, scorching his mouth at the same time. It felt like eating a flaming marshmallow dipped in acid with salt covering the exterior. His eyes watered, and he shouted out in pain.
Naruto was extremely freaked out. Not only had he been busted returning the Scroll, but it was by the Old Man! But the strange part was when the guy shouted out in pain. Naruto thought he saw small embers flare out of his nostrils. It freaked Naruto out so much, he fell flat on his ass, crashing into a shelf and knocking the contents all over him. Naruto knew where this was going to go…
"…Naruto…Uzumaki…"Sarutobi said in between gasps, "WHAT…THE…HELL…ARE…YOU…DOING?"
"…Would you believe me if I told you I was returning something?" Naruto put a guilty, yet childish smile on his face. It seemed to say, 'I did it for a good cause'.
Sarutobi had encountered this look only three times in his life, all of them were from Naruto. But each time they told the truth, so he felt like he could belive him. But before he could clear Naruto, he had to get the full story.
"…Tell me everything…" He gasped.
They walked back into the old man's room, reclaiming his robes from the halls. After twenty minutes, Sarutobi had the entire story. While it was hard to believe, he did recall a Hyuuga dispute yesterday. It also explained those strange pieces of metal found at the Hokage's clearing, the personal training ground of every Hokage. Only ANBU and people close to the Hokage knew of its existence.
"…This is a predicament. You used not only one jutsu, but THREE! We are just lucky that you used the secret grounds instead of the other training areas. But if what you say is true, then we could have a war on our hands, one that ninjas alone can't win. While I hate to admit this, I need you to take position as leader of this group, and prevent the civilians from discovering the war."
"I will allow one exception to the genin team rules, and you may recruit your classmates for the upcoming events. But they must have worked with you for one c-ranked mission, and accept you as a leader. Also, if you can provide them with…what did you call them, gunmen? They will be our best defense against those things."
"…SERIOUSLY! I…get to lead an army? I get to recruit my friends for this? W-Well how many am I allowed?"
"…As a precaution, you can start off with ten for your crew...Yet I feel like that won't be enough…How good is your taijutsu?"
"About as good as Choji when he tries to go on a diet." This man the old man smirked, and he began to crack up.
"Tell you what Naruto, I'll grant you weapon access and jutsus, in case you have to fight an armed opponent without your…Lagann was it? I have the perfect weapons for you."
The Hokage walked over to his dresser, and pushed it aside, revealing a door outline on the wall. Sarutobi pushed it inward, and it moved in a few inches, then slid it the right. Inside was a small alter, decorated with ceremonial fans, drawings, and poems. In the center were two swords, each exactly the same, with an engraved sheath on both. Sarutobi pulled out the weapons, and he stared at them with something that resembled strong memories to Naruto.
"These…are Nodaichi. They belonged to my grandfather when he was a Ninja, during the time of the First Hokage. It is said these were forged by a legendary smith, who infused them with the soul of an angel. They supposedly held some kind of power that could only be released by people chosen by the swords. I…was not chosen, but I feel like they are speaking to me now. They ask to be placed in your hands, to feel your soul…Here."
He placed the swords in Naruto's hands, at which point, they began to glow. The two nudity pulsed white, beginning to match Naruto's heartbeat. He looked at the guard, it curbed down if front of the hilt. Naruto guessed it was to protect his hands from incoming blows. He slipped on the strap from one sheath, and held the other in his hands tightly. He gripped the hilt, and slowly pulled the sword from it's case.
The weapon itself was glowing brightly, to the point where both the people in the room were nearly blinded. It was engraved with a unique tribal pattern from guard to blade tip. It felt light as a feather, and Naruto liked the feel. Then the pulsing stopped, and something weird happened…
M-Master?
What the…
"Old man, did you hear that?"
"Hmm? No, I heard nothing. But the First was said to repeatedly talk to his swords like they had a soul. Have you heard something?"
"I-It was a voice. A girl's voice, and she called me 'master'."
"Then I think you might have been chosen Naruto…Keep these swords, they are my gift to you, in hope that they will assist you during times of need."
"Th-Thank you sir! I will treat them with care."
Naruto bowed and walked out of the room, placing the nudity within it's sheath and slipping it on over his other shoulder. He walked down the hall, and suddenly stopped when he passed the Armory. He took a few steps back, an idea forming in his head. He opened the doors quietly, weary of other people around. He looked at the tools on the walls, shelves, and chests within the room. He saw katanas, knives, slingshots, and bows. Naruto quietly browsed the weapons, looking for something particular, he had no idea what it was though.
Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks, and looked at the tool beside him. It was a sickle, with a rabbit engraved on the blade. It was perfect in Naruto's opinion, and he put it in his shirt, then he shunshined out of the room, reappearing in front of his apartment. He opened the door, and immediately smelled eggs, toast, and ham. It was strange to him, since he never bought those things. He walked in and found Hinata at his stove, a pan in her hands, eggs, ham, and toast on a plate on the counter. She had made him breakfast, and that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him. He felt a single tear flow down his cheek.
"Naruto-kun, hi! I made you breakfast. I figured you might be hungry after all that happened, so I went to the store and bought some food so I could make you this. I hope you like it."
Naruto sat down, and picked up a fork. He cut his eggs, and soaked them in the yoke. He placed it in his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. It tasted good, and he began to dig in, consuming every scrap of egg on the plate. He proceeded to the toast, which was dry, but had a tasteful crunch to it. The ham was moist and was devoured within seconds. It was a delicious, and Naruto liked Hinata even more for her cooking ability (even though he thought it was impossible to like her more).
As he got up, Hinata sat down and began to eat her share. Naruto took his plate to the sink, and began to scrub it down. He looked back and saw Hinata was finished. He took her plate too and began to clean it as well.
Hinata thought it was nice of Naruto to clean for her. But it felt like she was back in her clan, where everyone waited on her. She had left them to be with Naruto, so why should he do the work?
"Hey Hinata, when I finish these, I need to tell you something. Can you wait a minute?"
"Sure Naruto-kun!"
A minute later, they were sitting on the bed, and Naruto pulled the sickle out of his shirt. Hinata looked at it and gasped. It had a rabbit on it, something that made her think of Minato, who had been quiet since the bathroom incident.
"Where did you get this Naruto?"
"The Armory in the Hokage's Tower. Same place I got these swords. Let me explain what happened…"
Naruto told her about what Sarutobi said: the mission, the recruiting, and the weapons. When he mentioned hearing a female voice in the sword, she got a bit ticked off, but she didn't let it show. He said that he thought the weapon rule should apply to her, and so he grabbed her a weapon. The fact that it was a sickle with a rabbit on it just struck Naruto as perfect.
"I think it has some sort of ability too. So I picked it up for you."
"Thank you Naruto, but are you sure that it was a good idea? What if they come looking for it?"
"Then I take full blame and explain the weapon situation to the Hokage. I'm sure he would understand."
Then they heard a knock at the door. Naruto got up and opened it, seeing that it was his landlord. Naruto was expecting some kind of ear-splitting shriek to come out, but the man spoke in a calm voice, with a creepy smile on his face.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I have been informed that you now have someone sharing a room with you. Under normal circumstances, you would be thrown out like a beggar, but this time it is different. Lord Hokage has instructed me to send you to another complex where you will receive new living quarters. Your new apartment is a single room apartment with two beds, a large shower, and reasonable rent. That being said, you have ten minutes to retrieve and move out all of your valuables before you will be unable to return and everything will become my property. Thank you for your patronage, I hope to NEVER see you again."
He walked away, leaving Naruto and Hinata to digest what he said. So the old man had given them an upgrade huh? They were glad about this, but Naruto was going to miss this place. No, not the landlord, but the secret cabinet, and the tar for his glue. They held importance in his heart…at least until he remodeled his other place with a cabinet and found tar in the new basement. Hinata was also depressed as the new place had two beds and the two would not be able to share a single. She had looked forward to snuggling with Naruto.
"Hey Hinata, I'm going to scope out the new place. I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't worry about packing, I'll be back to help with that."
Naruto dashed out of the room, to where he had no idea. He forgot to ask the landlord where to go. But he figured the man wouldn't tell for his life, just to torture Naruto. He didn't care, he'd ask the Old Man where to go. It was also a good chance to thank him for the new room.
Hinata wasn't sure what to do since Naruto had said not to pack yet. She decided that maybe she could get all the food ready, as well as her few pieces of clothing she grabbed before leaving the Hyuuga district. She walked over to the closet to grab her stuff. She slid the door open to see orange all over the small space. She didn't realize Naruto had TWENTY sets of that orange suit. When they went shopping, they'd have to fix that…
Naruto shunshined back into the room a minute later.
"Okay Hinata, I got the address, so let's get packing!"
Naruto looked around, seeing that they only had a few pieces of furniture, some food, clothing, and toiletries. They could easily get all of this in a single load. Naruto pulled out the scroll with the new address on it. He went to the front door earlier, just to make his job simpler. Yet he didn't go inside as he wanted Hinata to see it with him. They wrapped everything up, and summoned Ryu on the roof. He was to carry it for a minute while they shunshined. Naruto placed the image in his head, and they were there with a 'poof'.
"Would you like the honor Hinata?"
Hinata nodded and walked over to the door. She twisted the knob, and the pair gasped…