Naruto sighed as he leaned back against the bridge's support column, it had been three weeks since the fight with Zabuza, and the only thing that had happened was him and Kakashi sitting on the bridge, while Haku helped keep their host's home clean and tidy. She'd seemed to have accepted being his slave easily, leaping to any task he asked eagerly. So during the day, Naruto helped guard the bridge, while at night he was free to do any training he wanted to.
One thing he had studied was the slave's scrolls, in particular he studied how to make and improve on them. Hey, with almost no money usually, the amount he saved by making the scrolls instead of buying pre-made ones was an amazingly substantial amount. Any other training he did usually had Haku in the vicinity, as a training tool, an adviser, or both. She was especially useful in helping him study up for Master's duels, giving personal experiences to the various tools and tactics one might encounter. In their practice spars, she constantly had him on the ropes, but out of the twenty duels, only ten of them had been close to getting him captured, and not a single one had ended with her holding the scroll in the end.
His techniques had been honed to a razor sharpness, right along with Haku's. In many more ways than one... The spiked tipped chain that Haku had suggested for him to train with had ended up imbedded deeply through the training dummy, having thankfully missed Haku herself. He really needed to work on his aim, since hitting a person with that would likely have crippled or killed them in a single hit. Especially if it was coupled with the new ice attack Haku had created, in which she shot out a wave of ice; that froze anything, and anyone, that it came into contact with. They agreed that it was not a technique to use outside of last resorts.
But back in the here and now, it seemed that the bridge builder was coming over to talk with him again, the brother of the trader that had paid for their mission was almost as annoying as Tanzo himself. "What now Tazuna? I haven't heard anything about Tsunami's rehabilitation yet..."
"That's super fine, I just wanted to let you and Lord Master Kakashi know that you have a few invitations to join people for lunch today..." Tazuna stated calmly while scratching his chin and nodding to the line-up of fans watching Naruto and Kakashi from the shoreline. "I told them I would let you two know, and so I have..."
"Thank you Tazuna..." Naruto answered, while looking at the flock of people waving to him and cheering him on. Giving them a small wave, he smiled warmly as they let out a cheer. Sure they were annoying after the first week, but it was still kinda nice to be noticed and appreciated, instead of ignored and hated.
"Oh, and it looks like we'll be able to finish up tomorrow..." the bridge builder stated with a huge grin on his face. What that meant was that Naruto and Kakashi could leave in two days, and he wouldn't have to seal the doors and windows every night to prevent the strange women trying to break into his room while he slept.
"Be sure to tell Kakashi that," Naruto answered after turning back to face the bridge itself. It wouldn't have been the first time that Tazuna 'forgot' to tell Kakashi something. The bridge builder waved before heading off towards where Kakashi was reading his novel again. Leaning back against the support, he sighed heavily, and kept an eye out for any more trouble. After Gato's capture there hadn't been a single attack on the bridge, and his life had been mostly boring. Well save for the crazy women acting like all those submissive girls around Sasuke, they were just weird...
Looking towards the mainland side of the bridge, he wondered briefly when the new representatives of the guild would be showing up to take over the hall that had been set up. So far only a few psychologists, and office personnel had shown up, but there was no Judgenatrix to run the show. The day to day management of the guild-house was left to the staff, but there were several decisions that required either Kakashi or Naruto to stop in and determine the path for them to take.
Last night, Naruto had jokingly suggested to Haku that the guild were testing him and Kakashi for some reason he couldn't fathom at the moment. Haku simply smiled and patted him on the head, before suggesting they spar again. Why did he think she was covering something up?
Moving on, his attention was returned to the present when he found himself watching as a Judgenatrix walked out of the trees themselves at the far end of the bridge. Instead of the red eye with a white backing of the one he'd known, this one had a green eye with a bluish hue to the main mask. From what he could see, her hair was pulled up into a high top-knot ponytail that swirled behind her like a ribbon of black. As she approached, he could feel his knees begin to turn to jelly, especially when her eye locked with his. After what felt like an eternity, she arrived and stood before him, tilting her head down slightly to observe the young blond. "Are you Master Uzumaki?"
"Y...yes ma'am..." Naruto squeaked out, feeling his entire future would be judged in every word he spoke. He'd never felt such a dominating presence before, and he prayed deep in his heart of hearts that it wasn't going to be a reoccurring phenomenon.
"Mm... I am a High Judgenatrix of Konoha, I am here to relieve you and Lord Master Hatake. That is all you need to know," she explained, showing him her black scroll containing her orders to take over the guild-house that had been built. "The Judgenatrix you met previously sends her regards, and asks whether she may visit you at your dungeons sometime to help train a slave that has... been brought to our attentions. Now, where is Lord Master Hatake?"
Naruto swallowed nervously as he pointed over to where Kakashi seemed to be trying to hide behind his book. "T...there ma'am..."
Oh this was wonderful, not only did he have a Judgenatrix taking a personal interest in him, but here he was meeting with one of the ten High Judgenatrix of Konoha. Add to that, there was the small fact that his slave was under their eyes as well. Oh, he was sure this couldn't possibly be a bad thing...
Watching Kakashi squirm under the High Judgenatrix's presence made him feel a bit better about being intimidated by her. After all, if the great, powerful, and awe-inspiring Kakashi Hatake: Lord Master of over a thousand techniques, could be cowed by her, having to nearly change your pants couldn't be a bad thing for a new Master like Naruto, right?
Judging by how she stroked his chin, and the tense, almost terrified expression on Kakashi's face, Naruto knew that there was a bit more than what he knew going on here, but for the life of him he couldn't place it. So like he'd done for most of his life, he put it out of his mind, and instead focused on trying to figure out what dungeon the other Judgenatrix was talking about. All he had was a small, measly apartment that was more often than not on the verge of being destroyed, if not falling apart of its own violation.
Thinking about it, the last time he priced out dungeons, he'd nearly choked at how much they were asking for a simple ten-by-ten cell. No wonder most of his class were the richer clans of Konoha, only they could afford the cells and equipment costs.
His musings were cut off again by Kakashi's arrival, turning to look at the higher ranking master, he found a curious ashen hue to the man's exposed face. "I take it you know her too..." Naruto quipped dryly before pulling out their lunches from the scroll he'd stored them into before they left. It wasn't ramen, but the food that Haku and Tanzo's wife prepared was excellent.
Someday he'd have to teach Haku the glories of ramen, and get her to learn the humble practice of crafting such divine ambrosia.
Apparently Kakashi decided to ignore his inquiry, as he settled in to sit on the bridge and eat his lunch. Naruto copied him silently, eating the packed meal instead of pressing matters with Kakashi. After a few the Lord Master spoke up. "We can leave tomorrow, or the day after..."
"Which would you prefer?" Naruto asked before eating a piece of meat. One of the benefits of having Haku cooking for him meant that his food actually tasted like real food, instead of charcoal. There was a big difference as he was learning. Ramen would still wear the crown of all holiness as the perfect food blessed by kisses of angels... but real food wasn't too bad either.
"Tomorrow morning, I'd rather not give your fangirls too many openings..." Kakashi mused quietly as he indicated the screaming mob on the shoreline. "Oh, I've been informed that our mission has been officially upgraded, and our pay will reflect that once we get back home."
Naruto finished the mouthful of rice and vegetables before answering, giving his brain a chance to catch up before his mouth took off again. "That's good, I could use the bonus of a two crop if I'm buying a dungeon I guess... Need to also build up my tools I guess..."
He could almost hear the smirk on Kakashi's lips as he bit into another helping of rice and vegetables, which he actually managed to swallow before Kakashi spoke up again. "Actually it's been listed as a whip mission, and we'll be getting another three crop's pay for our work at the guild-house... so..."
Naruto's jaw hung open as he realized just the sheer amount of money being talked about. A one whip mission was equal to five one crop missions, and then another three crop on top of that meant he was getting roughly eight crops worth of pay for a single mission. His FIRST mission, some part deep in his mind reminded him. That's right, it was his first mission, and he'd started it off as the lowest of the low, without even a slave to his name. Now he had a slave that had the Judgenatrix core's attention, he was being watched himself, and he had a healthy start on his financial base once he got home. It was about here that a flaw sprung up in his mind. "Can they afford that?" he asked, indicating the village.
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders with a tired expression. "Most likely they'll work out a payment plan, but some of those that are going into the guild do not have a family to pay their slave tithing to... it's a token gesture true, but they can use it to defer some of the cost. We're not out to make them go broke after all."
"Makes sense..." Naruto answered while sipping a cup of tea. "Think we'll be able to slip out without a lot of fanfare?"
"Not likely..." Kakashi answered while sipping his own cup of tea.
Tomorrow, instead of making out like thieves in the night, Kakashi and Naruto were forced to stand in the front of an entire throng of cheering people while the High Judgenatrix gave a speech. It wasn't that they were forced to stand up there, like huge targets, but the alternative was that she give all the fangirls in the village Naruto's home address.
"And it is with a warm heart and open arms that was accept the Land of Waves into the guild-league of nations. Our thanks go out to Lord Master Hatake," here the High Judgenatrix paused as cheers washed over the stage in a staggering wave. Once they died down, she continued. "And Master Uzumaki."
Again the crowd began to cheer, only to cut off as a confused murmur rippled through the mass of people. Some fainted, others dropped to their knees in supplication, and still others seemed ready to run if Naruto so much as sneezed in their direction. Naruto turned to look at Kakashi and the High Judgenatrix, both of whom gave him indications that they had no idea what was going on.
Slowly, one by one the populace of Wave returned to some semblance of normalcy, though there was still much that was being whispered, pointed, and physically indicated that none of the three outsiders understood. There wasn't anything malevolent about it, just... accepting, submitting, and loving. Those that were afraid however seemed to congregate towards the back, as though terrified of Naruto. Finally the High Judgenatrix sidestepped over next to the man in question and whispered as an aside, "I will personally look into this matter, and submit a report of my findings... this is odd..."
Naruto nodded mutely before she took a step back up to the podium, the assembled crowd paying even more rapt attention than before. Naruto for his part couldn't help but wonder about what had just happened. It was a daunting feeling to say the least. Naruto had never felt like this before, and for some reason, he didn't feel like he had really deserved it. Most of what he'd done was pure luck.
"Further, it is a pleasing honor to know that Master Uzumaki has impressed the citizenry of wave enough to have the bridge named after him. The Great Naruto bridge has such a delightful ring to it in my opinion, again thank you," the High Judgenatrix continued charmingly as the crowd died out, with no outright objections from the audience Naruto blushed heavily as he realized that it had actually been named after him. "Also, it saddens me to say that they are going to be returning to Konoha, however they will always carry a piece of Wave in their hearts."
"Let us all say farewell to the owners of Wave... Lord Master Hatake, and Master Uzumaki."
The Naruto's shout of 'WHAT?' was drowned out by the echoing cheers of the assembled citizenry of Wave. Kakashi decided to take this moment to guide Naruto away from the stand with polite waves.
It was about ten miles down the road that Naruto's shock wore off enough for him to form a coherent sentence again. And as such he had one single target to ask his questions to. "What did she mean I owned Wave? I... I... but..."
"Technically Gato legally owned Wave, and that means when we beat him, we gained all of his properties. The Guild will verify that his slaves were legal, and mentally able to continue their service before we find out about them, but I doubt any are going to pass either of those qualifiers..." Kakashi explained solemnly while his eye lowered darkly. "I won't lie to you, but many of the illegal slaves will likely be so broken they cannot even function without a lot of retraining."
"But... shouldn't that be you that got sole ownership? I mean you are the Lord Master," Naruto asked curiously as his mind continued to catch up with the world around him. "I'm just a Master with an unusually fast promotion rate..."
"By the laws themselves, you should really be the sole owner, since it was your slave who captured both Zabuza and Gato, but as a Master, and as new as you are... I was asked to take some of the land... but you are the de-facto landlord of most of the residential and half the business properties," Kakashi explained calmly while they continued walking. Reaching over he patted the blonde on the shoulder lightly with an eye smile. "Since you are from Konoha, the Guild will send you recommendations for people to work the land in your name, within a day of you returning home."
"I can't believe this! I just freed the place so I can own it? That makes absolutely no sense!" Naruto protested loudly, his body reflected the unease he felt about the matter. He stormed silently down the path, kicking a few of the stones out of his way.
"It's the rules kid... if we make an area into Guild-friendly area, by beating an illegal, we gain their properties, and any legal slaves they might have," Kakashi explained after a few minutes to let Naruto calm down a little bit. "For the most part you're a figurehead, and get a stipend monthly."
"Do I have to fill out any paperwork?" the pouting blonde asked while dragging his feet.
"Only every fiscal quarter, and don't worry about it, most times you can delegate it to a slave after getting them through the Guild-sponsored training program," Kakashi answered before letting out a heavy sigh, and shaking his head. "We'll see how it develops for you."
"And finally... what the hell was that?" Naruto asked, pointing back to Wave with an exaggerated gesture.
Kakashi barely reacted, looking back thoughtfully before shaking his head and turning away from the land that had all but worshiped Naruto after his surname was given. "I... have my suspicions... but I believe the Judgenatrix branch will find out more than either of us could..."