"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked again.
"Heh," Iruka grumbled flashing him a bloodied smile. "You look good little bro."
"Release him!" Naruto demanded as he turned towards Tadashi. Naruto's eyes glistened with tears as he begged for the release.
"You will do as instructed!" Tadashi yelled. "With this kill we have official started our crusade!"
Naruto's mind was on overdrive as he slowly turned back to Iruka. Standing on opposite sides of him where four guards each with swords drawn and pointed towards Iruka's neck. Naruto looked down at his hands to see his tanto pointed directly towards Iruka's neck. Naruto checked one glance towards Tadashi before he pulled his weapon back. Naruto sighed deeply as a tear fell from his eye and he swung his sword cleanly. Naruto panted for a second as he turned towards Tadashi who was staring at him slacked jawed as a mist of blood erupted from his four guards. Naruto heard the sound of four bodies hitting the floor as his bloodied wires returned to his gauntlets. He jumped behind Iruka and quickly slashed through his bindings, pulling him to his feet. Not thinking twice, Naruto and Iruka sprinted from the scene.
"NARUTO!" Tadashi yelled as he finally reacted, charging forward, wire ripping apart the dead bodies of the guards as he shot it forward towards the retreating figures. The Shadow jumped back retreating to the safety of his other guards.
"Run!" Naruto yells as he chances a glance back. Tadashi is gaining on them and he knows the other guards have been notified. Naruto looks over to see a large lantern and flicks out his wrist. His wire wraps around the Lantern and he flings it towards a stack of large boxes and stacks straw. The fire is almost instance and Naruto starts sending other lanterns to the ground and other objects at the same time. There is an explosion and the Monastery rocks slightly. Nartuo glanced around and noticed the place was slowly being consumed in flames.
"What was that?" Iruka asked as they round a corner and five guards are waiting with their swords drawn. Naruto jumped forward and striked out with his wire slicing through two of the guards and causing the others to jump back in defensive positions.
"Naruto!" Tadashi's voice cuts him from his thoughts. Naruto slowly turns and keeps himself in the middle between Tadashi and his guards with Iruka at his back also taking up a defensive postion. "What are you doing?"
"I won't allow it!" Naruto yelled as he held his sword to Tadashi and his other hand towards the guards waiting for one side to attack. "I can't allow you to condemn my village to death. Especially one of my precious people."
"Have you forgotten what The Black Hand has done for you?" Tadashi yelled, spit spray form his anger. "You sit there now, after everything we have given you and turn your back on us. To what? A village that has seen fit to torture a little boy for their leader's mistakes? I ask you why you would protect this cesspool of hatred and corruption."
"Because it can be saved!" Naruto yelled with distain.
There was a flash and the side of the hallway was blown to bits and two figures landed inside. The three remaining guards where disposed of from the blast and Tadashi was blown outside. Naruto slowly picked himself off the ground, pushing debris off of himself and looked up to see two ANBU standing on either side of him. One was crouched next to Iruka while the other took a defensive position around the group with her three hounds. Naruto felt a pang and touched his head, blood was flowing freely and he felt light headed. Slipping in and out of consciousness he vaguely heard the conversation between the two ANBU.
"Iruka-kun," Viper whispered to the passed out form of Iruka. Viper shouldered Iruka and turned towards the boy and Dog. "We need to get out of here! Dog get the boy!"
"Hai!" Dog said as she walked up to Naruto who was staring at Tadashi who was slowly standing and looking back at the burning Monastery. Tadashi flashed through hand signs and a giant fire dragon erupted from his mouth and he sent it speeding towards the opening. "Oh looks like it's time to go. Clench up Naru-kun!"
Naruto awoke the next morning in the Hospital of Konoha. Naruto sighed as he slowly picked himself up only to hear a coughing sound from the chair next to him.
"Oh no you don't!" Iruka said as he stood up and stretched his back. "You're not leaving my sight till you're fully healed."
"Iruka-sensei," Naruto whispered. "You came for me?"
"We searched for three years Naruto-kun," Iruka said as he put a hand on his head. "And now that you're back you're staying with me."
"You mean," Naruto asked as he slowly pieced the puzzle together.
"Yes," Iruka said as he pulled out a couple sheets of papers. "I will only sign this if you give me your permission, it's for guardianship…"
"Yes!" Naruto said with a smile. "That you would be….Iruka-nii-san. I can't put into words what this means to me!"
"Well this means we need to go house hunting," Iruka said as he put pen to paper and turned to Naruto. "We can't be living in my small apartment now can we?"
"I think I will be able to help with that," Naruto said as he smirked. "But first we need to talk to Hokage-jij."
"You're skills have grown tremendously Naruto," Iruka said as he tilted his head. "I'm sure he will be glad to have you part of this year's Genin crew."
"I don't want to be a Ninja anymore Iruka-nee," Naruto said getting a baffled look from Iruka.
"But what of your dream?" Iruka croaked hoarsely as he fell from his chair.
"I want to protect this village," Naruto said as he looked out the window. "But there is only one way I can ensure this villages safety now. I can't do that as Uzumaki Naruto…I need to become something more."
"And what's that?" Iruka asked as he leaned forward. Naruto just smirked and turned towards him.
"A Namikaze!" Naruto answered.
"You what?!" The civilian councilmen shouted as Naruto stood in the middle of the room.
Three days of reading up on his parents company and he was beyond pissed. Before his parents died they both set up individual companies that supplied all of Konoha with seals. From the everyday storage, to the seals that powered their houses and brought them water. Everything was either through Namikaze Foundation or Uzumaki Seals Inc. After their deaths, the contracts that were signed to continue funding the businesses where restructured and Konoha was getting away with murder. This would be his third time this week in front of the council. The first two where him demanding his parents inheritance and denying his spot on the Hokage's Ninja rosters. Naruto finished moving into Namikaze Manor earlier that day, Iruka was putting the final boxes away when Naruto was called to the meeting.
"Yes I'm retracting all contracts that the Namikaze Foundation has issued to this village," Naruto started as he shuffled a section of papers in front of him. "To put under a, how do you say, reconstruction. Your abuse of my father's company ends now!"
"Namikaze-sama," One of the Merchants started. "Please, we don't mean to cause any distress, but you will be forcing our hand to go to Uzumaki Seals Inc."
"That's quit fine," Naruto said as he turned toward the Hokage. "Hokage-sama…Who's the sole heir of Uzumaki Seals Inc?"
"You are Naruto-kun," The Hokage said as he watched Naruto put the vice to the civilian merchants.
"Thank you," Naruto said as he tapped his forehead. "I totally forgot about that. Now as I was saying, because of The Merchant Class that had abused my Father's company, I will be revamping not only The Namikaze Foundation, but also Uzumaki Seals."
"You could very well bankrupt the entire Konoha economy!" Danzo yelled from his side. "You are foolish enough to do something like that?"
"Oh heavens no," Naruto started as he turned to Danzo. "You will have your business, and life will continue on. But you will pay your dues. Effective immediately, there will be a tariff on all merchant tags. Merchants will no longer be running this Village for free."
"Fine we will take our business else were," Yelled one of the Merchants.
"You will be stuck with the same imposed taxes that the other villages have established for decades," Naruto answered quickly. "Not to mention the cost of moving and no guarantees that they will let you in council. Hey business is a risk, take yours!"
"I will not take this from a snot nosed brat!" Yelled another merchant.
"This snot nosed brat controls the power seals that you use day in and day out," Naruto said slowly. Naruto turned towards the Hokage. "The tariff will be in place today so the seals that are out will begin tracking usage and amounts. Now with that we will be able to bill accordingly and equally. Portion of my tariff will be given to Konoha as a tax on myself. Say five percent."
"Twelve!" Danzo said quickly countering his offer.
"You forget that I can just as easily say no and keep it all," Naruto countered his offer. "Four percent. Don't make me continue."
"Thank you Naruto-sama," The Hokage said as he raised a hand to a grumbling Danzo. The Hokage stood and stretched a bit he checked the time. "Now we are finished with the issues. We are glad you're back Naruto."
"It's good to be back Hokage-sama," Naruto said as he sealed his folders and begain to walk from the room.
"Well that went well," Naruto mumbled to himself as he walked towards Namikaze Manor.
Naruto stared at the giant mansion that was both regal and modern. He walked towards the house, but stopped and turned around back towards the village. Naruto's perfect view was only interrupted by thoughts of this village being under attacked. Naruto knew that Tadashi survived and he would be back, so he needed to be ready. He needed to show that this village could be saved, and he would be the one to save it.
Naruto turned and headed back in. Instead of seeking out Iruka in one of the many rooms he instead walked into his father's study that was littered with storage scrolls. Naruto walked over to the many scrolls and started to unseal them. Placing the possible useful ones in one pile while the others went back to the shelf. Iruka appeared at the door way and looked down at the blond.
"What are we doing?" Iruka asked as he walked in and around the stacks of scrolls that were thrown about. "And I'm not cleaning this."
"We are looking for ones of use," Naruto answered curtly.
"Of use for what?" Iruka asked as he tilted his head.
"I need to protect this village," Naruto said as he looked up. "I need to be able to help with both sides."
"Both sides?" Iruka asked
"Yes," Naruto sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I need to be in both places. The council room during the day and then at night…"
"In the streets," Iruka finished. "Vigilante work?"
"It's not just to stop common street thugs Iruka-nii," Naruto started. "Konoha needs something, to show the people that there is nothing to fear anymore. The corruption and crime will stop, and I will spear head the people to fight against it. Especially Danzo! He's planning something and I happened to know that he was behind the Uchiha Massacres."
"But you can't be in both places Naruto," Iruka said as he crossed his arms. "You'd be wise not to bring your work home with you, especially if you make enemies like Danzo."
"You mean don't let them know that it's Naruto Namikaze in the streets fighting them?" Naruto asked with a smirk. "I'm not wearing tights and a cape now!"
"I wasn't saying that," Iruka said with a smirk. "But may be a keeping your actual ideninty a secret wouldn't be a bad idea. A mask and hiding that blond hair of yours would go far."
"Let's see what we can find," Naruto said as they dived into the scrolls. The scrolls were filled with unfinished inventions that Minato was working on. Naruto and Iruka stayed up till the wee hours when they stumbled across something.
"It says here that this armor was made for absorbing physical blows and has chakra absorbing metal mesh that will not only absorb some jutsus, but also helps with channeling extra chakra to your hands legs," Iruka read as Naruto practically drooled over the dark blue body suit that was in front of him. Naruto touched the glass plates that covered the chest and abs. Naruto looked down at the gauntlets that had three barbs like his ones from The Black Hand. Naruto's fell on the mask. The simple design left the bottom half of his face uncovered. It was the same dark, almost black blue, as the body armor and had lenses over they eye slots that looked to be tented white. "It also masks your chakra signature. Was made for deep infiltration missions. Seems we found your suit."
"Yes," Naruto said as he slowly picked it up. "Now time for a test run."
Naruto was sprinting atop the village without the use of chakra and maintaining beyond chunnin speed. Naruto's smile couldn't have been wider as he jumped and flipped into the air. He flew across an alley way and landed with ease on the other side. The armor was like a second skin and he was beyond happy at the moment. His mask was a huge shock as it turned on once he place it over his head. He noticed a small cross hair that would move on its own pointing out the quickest path, next target, or incoming danger.
Naruto smirked as the mask flashed red and he looked left to see a small plume of smoke rising over the merchant quarters. Naruto turned and begin to run towards it keeping to the shadows. Naruto arrived at the scene to see three ANBU sitting there. He crouched and hid behind a chimney on the roof opposite of the ANBU. He peaked out, staying in the shadows and looked down at the three. One was Viper-san, the other two were new. One wore a Pig mask and seemed too large to be an ANBU, must have been an Akimichi. The other was another girl with long purple hair and a Cat mask. Naruto tapped his ear and his mask heightened his hearing.
"So you're saying that not only was the man robbed, but his guards were taken down by a girl," Cat continued to repeat. "A young girl, with a whip and a leather suit. This city is going to hell in a hand bag. What did she take this time?"
"Well," Pig started as he looked at the Merchant who walked out. He was red faced and fuming. "Asides his pride, three diamond pendants that where worth, according to him a couple of million Ryu a piece."
"We will track this burglar down to the best of our abilities," Viper said to the merchant who was about to continue to argue but the three ANBU left in a swirl of leaves. Naruto tapped his ear again and his hearing returned to normal. His mask flashed dark red, indicating danger, which caused Naruto to duck out of the way of a Kunai that imprinted itself in the chimney. Naruto turned with his fist raised to see a young woman leaning against the railing of the roof. She was dressed in what looked like a painted on leather suit that had the zipper up the middle. Over her head was a leather mask with what looked like cat ears and red goggles that covered her eyes. On her hip was a rolled up whip that had diamond studs in the handle. A playful grin cracked over her face as she sauntered towards him, her heels clicking softly on the roof tiles.
"Hmmm," She purred out as she raised her hand. Naruto noticed the lethal looking claws that she was slowly dragging across her shoulder as she approached him. "What do we have here?"
"I was about to ask the same thing," Naruto answered as she reached him and placed hand on his chest. She walked around him dragging her clawed left hand over his body before she came to a stop in front of him. "Who are you?"
"Oh I'm no one important," She answered. With a purr she continued. "But you on the other hand…you are very important aren't you, sweetie."
"You don't know me," Naruto started but was cut off as she put her clawed finger to his lips. She hushed him with a smile and leaned in close. She placed a soft kiss on his check before whispering in his ear.
"Oh but I do Naruto-kun," She said and with that she kicked him square in the chest launching him off the roof. Naruto cursed as he watched the figure run off into the darkness. The ground came quicker than he thought as Naruto corrected himself and landed on his knee and looked up.
"I will have to get you back for that one," Naruto whispered to himself as he jumped off in the other direction.
Three months. Three long months had passed since Naruto was recovered from The Black Hand and he started his night patrols. The impending chunnin exams have created a lot of street brawls as Naruto found out night after night. Naruto groaned as the window covers where pulled open. Grumbling to himself he turned in his large bed and tried to hide himself under the large comforter and silk sheets. His body ached as last night he went up a couple of Chunnin that got a bit too frisky with a foreign Kunoichi. Naruto jumped in and subdued the two chunnin, stringing them up on the street light for the ANBU to take care of the next day.
"UP Naruto!" Iruka yelled as he put his hands on his hips. "You have three meetings today with the board and you will be meeting with the Hokage shortly. Now if you're going to be getting to any of your training before you raise suspicions you should get to it."
"I hate board meetings," Naruto grumbled into his pillow. "Why are we doing this again?"
"You have some master plan on turning Konoha around," Iruka said as he set a tray of food down and pulled out the daily paper. Naruto rolled out of bed and landed with a thud on the floor, slowly picking himself up he grabbed a piece of toast before stumbling towards the bathroom. "Seems to have been another robbery and no known leads."
"What was stolen this time?" Naruto asked as he popped his head out of the window.
"Some more shiny objects," Iruka said with a knowing smirk. "The Gem of Fire that was on display for the weekend."
"I feel we need a party Iruka," Naruto called form the bathroom. "Make it so we can invite all my old classmates to wish them luck for the upcoming Chunnin exams. Invite all the Clan heads and the top Civilian Council members. Let's show off the new sphinx statues we have in an exhibit as well."
"OOOOHHHHH NARUTO-KUNNNN!" Yelled a voice from down in the main room. Naruto and Iruka both sighed. She was early again.
"I will go stall Viper-san," Iruka said as he gulped down a bit of Naruto's coffee. Naruto nodded and started the shower.
"Viper-san," Iruka said as he entered the room. Viper turned and tilted her head. "You're early. Coffee?"
"I wanted to get this over with," Viper commented as she huffed in agitation. She followed him into the large kitchen and sat down at her stool at the bar. Viper was approached by Iruka and Naruto to help keep him in in shape. She said she would if she had time, so far she's never missed a day. Viper watched him move about the kitchen as he continued to make her a breakfast as well. "So….have you done anything about you're girl yet?"
"No," Iruka said as he turned his head. "I've been pretty busy getting Naruto situated and moving into this house. I saw her once, but didn't have the brass to even say hello."
"What are you waiting for?" Viper hissed.
"I guess I'm just," Iruka started as he paused in his breakfast making. "Maybe I'm just a chicken and better off being alone. I don't see how it would work. She's Konoha's Snake Mistress, I'm an academy teacher. She's Jonin level while I'm a Chunnin. We are from opposite worlds."
"That horse shit," Viper said as she slammed her fist on the table. "So what if she can kick your ass six ways from Saturday. You need to just go up to her grab her by the shoulders and lay one on her. She might chase you're ass and you might need medical treatment afterword's, but then remember you. The one man brave enough to kiss her and live to tell the tale."
"Yeah that would be the day," Iruka said with a smirk as if thinking about it. "I don't think I'm as brave as you are Viper-san."
Naruto walked into the kitchen to see Viper-san banging her head on the counter top while Iruka continued to prepare her breakfast. Naruto sat down next to Viper-san and put a hand on her back. She leaned into him as he gave her a half hug.
"He'll figure it out someday Nee-san," Naruto whispered. "Now what are we doing today?"
"Conditioning!" Viper-san answered a bit more cheery. "And target practice."
"Damn it," Naruto mumbled.
Hello All!
So thanks to all that reviewed the last chapter. I have to say that i'm starting to enjoy this a bit more the more i write. I really apprecieate all the great reviews that you guys left, you guys rock. Please as always Read Review and Enjoy!
Thanks again,
Take-It-Easy
So next question will be, Who is the Burglar? OHOHHHHHHHHH NNOOOOOOO! Who could it be? Find out next time! And what will happen at the Exams now that our hero is no longer a Ninja?