Chapter 7: a little trick

A/N: I received a review that pointed out a few obvious mistakes. I'm really sorry. Somehow, my computer decided that I need to update my Flash Player. I didn't even install it! When I tried to, my anti-virus program doesn't let me. So now, I can only go on a few websites. Sadly, none of them can help me with my grammar. Hell, I can't even download music! And by the way, my Microsoft Word (and my computer) is in the Chinese version, so I can't run a spell check. I'm sorry if there will be more mistakes in the next chapters, but I'll try to fix the problem as soon as possible. Leave me a review if you notice any mistakes! Thank you and sorry for the inconveniences!

Older men declare war. And yet, it's us that have to fight and die.

Time skip: two months later

'''ke-teme! Why the friggin' hell did you have to do that?! What did you say? I can't hear you! Wha-kyaaa! Argh! I swear, I'm gonna kill you some day, 'ke-temeeee!''

In the other room, a young girl just sighed in defeat. After enduring 60 days of almost constant yelling from the pair of new patients, her and her colleagues grew used to it. After all, no one dared to get in the way of their fights: she learned it the hard way. Rin had to suppress the memory to not shiver; she was stitching a wound of a younger academy student who was a little bit too nervous when he threw his first kunai and she don't want him to get more hurt because of her inattention.

'Three, two one...'

''AND I SWEAR, NARUTO-CHAN, THAT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO REMAIN IN YOUR HOSPITAL BED FOR ANOTHER WEEK, THEN YOU'D BETTER SHUT UP NOW!''

'...and Tsunade-sensei comes in the picture.'

Rin decided to focus on her task and finished her job quickly. After all, academy students do not appreciate stitching since they don't have a very high pain tolerance, especially the civilians. They would hopefully develop one before they will be thrown into the war, but most of them won't have one until they become chuunin, that is if they manage to somehow get out of their first war-related mission alive. As the apprentice of a renowned medic-nin, she had already seen death before, and a few of them were rather...messy. And yet, nearly all of them were gennin merely a year or two older than her. Her family wasn't a ninja clan, but a lot of the members were shinobi since most of them had nearly perfect chakra control: that was why she wants to become a medic-nin. Her grandmother on her father's side was an Inuzuka, which explains her markings, and her grandfather of her mother's side was a Nara. Rin isn't lazy since her somewhat wild Inuzuka blood cancelled out her Nara blood, but she inherited a calm and thoughtful attitude with the ability to understand animals to a certain extent, not to forget the perfect chakra control that seemed to be a trait in her family. But when she was three years old, her father went missing on an A rank mission. Four years later, her cousin was assassinated. Two years ago, her mother was killed on an S rank mission, leaving her as the sole survivor of the family living in Konoha. Since she became an orphan, she decided to use her ability to help the others: she just knew too well the pain to lose a family member.

At the same time, two floors below, a grumpy Tsunade was sorting through a week worth of paperwork. She hated paperwork; half of it is just good enough to be thrown into the garbage can. The worse part is that her assistant, Shizune, who normally read and stamp the paperwork for her, is sick and so she has to do all the work alone. Glancing at the clock, she noted that she still has three hours left before she can go home, which means it's time to do the final check before she can finally release her annoying new friends from the hospital. She arched her back, feeling the vertebrates crack with satisfaction, picked up her keys and her notepad before locking the door to her office and climbing out of the nearest window. Using chakra to stick to the wall, she walked past two windows, ignoring the incredulous looks she got from a few patients who saw her pass, and knocked on the third window before entering. The scene inside made her eyebrows disappear behind her hairline; she didn't know if she should laugh or remain standing there and watch the show. Deciding that the wall was more comfortable when she doesn't stick to it since she don't need to anymore, she stopped the chakra flow to her feet and silently sat down on the chair nearest to the window she used.

'''ke-teme! I'm going to fucking murder you!'' Naruto was currently strapped to her bed, her normal blond hair now fierce red. Tsunade had to admit that the color suit her well. It gives her a more... feline appearance. Since it was herself who attached the girl to the bedpost, nothing is wrong there. But what she certainly didn't do is the fact that the now red-head is soaked wet and screaming obscenities to her friend who was sitting on the other bed beside the struggling girl, slightly smirking. From the shaking of the raven's shoulders, Tsunade guessed she was trying to not laugh like a maniac.

''Ara, Naru-chan is mad? Here, let me fixe this little problem...'' Naruto shivered: Sasuke's voice practically screamed danger in big, bright letters.

Suddenly, the other girl was sitting beside Naruto, her hand slowly reaching for a precise spot behind Naruto's right ear while she grinned evilly.

''What the heck are you d-hyaa!''

The hand scratched slowly that spot, making its victim struggle even more. After a few minutes of scratching and squirming, the girl gave up and she closed her eyes, her body relaxing from the treatment. Tsunade heard a curious noise she identified as... purring? She misheard... did she? In a vain attempt to prove herself as a perfectly sane woman, she moved closer, not caring if the younger girls notice her presence. Sadly, she was proven correct. Finding the scene rather cute, she didn't interrupt their scene, but after half an hour, it became boring and she started to fall asleep. Seeing as it was a bad idea, she coughed in her hand.

It was fun to see Naruto's body match her hair color from her toes all the way to her ears in a matter of seconds, and Sasuke wasn't much better, her pale skin not helping at all. She was turning her head to hide her blush despite how cute she looked with a rosy tint to her cheeks.

''Tsunade-san.''

''Tsu-tsunade-san!''

The medic-nin just laughed as Naruto blushed even more at her stuttering, turning into a whole new shade of red.

''Naruto-chan, I believe it is time for your last checkup. You too, Sasuke-chan.''

''Another one?'' the girl was pouting, until she understood the entire meaning of the sentence. ''Wait, did you just say 'the last one'?'' said the girl, her blue eyes shining with joy.

The slug sannin chuckled again. The girl looked like a happy puppy.

''I believe so, sunshine.''

''Yatta! Isn't it great, Sasuke?'' Naruto took her raven friend's hands and proceeded to jump on every surface she can stand on, dragging Sasuke in her crazy dance, making Tsunade's grin widen.

''Hn.'' The girl only grunted back, too dazed to be able to say anything else.

''Well, shall we begin?''

Naruto stopped dead in her track and gulped. The look in Tsunade's eyes had a very, very dangerous gleam in them. Oh please sweet Kami not this. Tsunade just went into her crazed-lunatic-and-so-curious-that-I-don't-care-if-I-scarred-dismembered-or-mutilated-you-medic-mode; the two girls wondered if they'll live to see the daylight tomorrow. Maybe not if the drill in the medic's hands is any indication.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was currently sitting in his office, peacefully enjoying his black tea, looking at the village he protected by any means for years with a proud expression on his face. It felt good to not hear the constant sound of papers being stamped after having to deal with it for the most part of his life. For once, he was relaxing in his office. War reports, new missions, complains from greedy merchants, name them. The list just went on, seemingly never ending. He'll have to go to the hospital to thank a certain girl for telling him the little trick that allowed him to rest like he's doing right now. Talking about the girl, wasn't she supposed to be released from the hospital soon?

Flashback

Sarutobi Hiruzen, third Hokage of Konoha and the God of shinobi, was currently facing a very, very dangerous situation. He was trapped in an unofficial S-rank jutsu and he was struggling to snap out of it. Said jutsu is not harming him in any physical way, but it was tearing him apart in the inside. He felt so guilty... and the puppy eyes in front of him do NOT help him at all. Big, blue eyes shining with unshed tears... are those tears ever real? Nevertheless, he still found himself unable to refuse the silent plead in those sinful cerulean orbs that looked like those Minato had. He didn't even know the owner for more than 2 weeks and he was already falling in her charm. Sighing, he forced himself to turn his back to her and closed his eyes. He can literally feel her tears with his back turned if such a thing is even possible.

''Naruto… you know that I can't be with you all day. I still… I still…''the words refused to come out, and so, he spent a few minutes closing and opening his mouth, making a very good impression of a gold fish.

''Yes?'' the girl asked with shining, pleading puppy eyes. This ability of hers should be a curse, he thought.

''I… I still have tons of paperwork to finish! And my assistant dumps a new pile on my desk every 5 minutes, and, and…''

''Yes?''

''Look, I can't, okay?! I'm the Hokage and it's NOT an easy job! And I don't even get paid…''

''But… But…'' Naruto's lower lip was quivering as if she was going to cry.

''… You know what, I'll stay if you can find out a way for me to do the paperwork quicker.'' As soon as he finished the sentence, a huge grin appeared on the blonde's face, and she was looking at him with an expression that clearly says 'I win!'. The old monkey is already starting to regret his decision.

''Do you know where is the forbidden scroll?''

''Of course!''

''What is the third jutsu in the A-rank section?''

''Ummm… the kage bunshin no jutsu, I think?'' Slowly, a surprised look formed on the Hokage's face as his eyes widened. By his expression, realization had hit him rather hard.

''Oh.''

The blond girl was already laughing her ass off and rolling on the ground. Trying to suppress a chuckle, he bent down and tried to get her to sit back in her chair, but when he touched her, she turned her head and looked at him with clouded eyes.

''Sarutobi-jiji?''

''Hai?''

''Catch me well, I feel sleepy-ttebane.''

He didn't have the time to ask what she meant when he felt her weight in his arms. Looking down, he saw Naruto passed out in his lap.

''Naruto? Oi, Naruto! Damn it!''

Flashback end

The Hokage chuckled lightly at the memory. After that little episode, he went back to his office and proceeded to bang his head against the wall repeatedly. Seriously, how come no one ever found out this trick?! Even his sensei, the previous Hokage, had missed this detail and he was still known as a 'natural genius'. When he was younger, it was quite funny to watch his late sensei launch himself at a training log after a few hours in his office doing paperwork, but he soon found himself joining Tobirama-sensei after he began to do some himself. Looking at his three clones that were currently sorting through all the papers, he suddenly began to crackle madly, making his Anbu guards sweat. Suddenly, a loud bang made him stop laughing. At his door was a red-haired girl with big blue eyes. He thought at first that it was Kushina, but the Whirlpool kunoichi was not as tall as the girl who interrupted him.

''Long time no see, old man Sarutobi!''

That voice... could it be?

''Na-naruto?! What happened to you?''

Said girl scratched her head in a very familiar way, but he can't tell where he saw it. ''Oh, this? I thought that the colour looked good on me...''

''Hn, Hokage-san.'' A girl half hidden by the shadow grunted form behind.

''Hello to you too, Sasuke-san.'' After spending a few decades associating with the Uchiha clan, the Hokage is now able to translate their 'typical Uchiha language' almost perfectly and respond properly, which annoy the clan a lot. It took him nearly 5 years to understand it, though.

''So Naruto, I think you're released from the hospital?''

''Hell yeah!''

The older man couldn't stop himself from smiling warmly to her. This girl has a enchanting aura coming from her that makes people feel all warm inside, no matter who. Hell, she even managed to befriend an Uchiha, which is not a small feat.

''Hokage-san, sorry to disturb your conversation, but should we get to more... urgent matters?'' Sasuke said, finally coming out of the shadow of the room.

''If that's what you want, Uchiha-san.'' He made a few hand seals and activated a blue barrier with a 5 meters radius, successfully freaking out his Anbu guards again. ''Well Naruto, I thought a bit about this, and I decided to put you and Sasuke-san in Anbu. We couldn't have two shinobi popping out from nowhere, after all. If I put you in Anbu, we could just say that you two were on a long-term undercover mission and I had to destroy all you identities so if you ever get captured, the enemy wouldn't be able to tell where you come from. I believe you already have experience in this field?''

The girl chuckled a little bit. ''Yes, you can say that, but I actually made Anbu captain in less than a year and became commander in another 5 months, and shortly after that, I took the Hokage hat, so I left my place to Sasuke. Half a year after, well... you know what happened. I had enough time to comprehend how the system works, but I didn't get a lot of practice.'' The third Hokage only nodded in silent understanding. It's never pleasant to mention how you died, after all, and the man can only sympathize with them. He himself had been close to death too many times, and he know that talking about it is not exactly enjoyable. It brings back too many bad memories, especially if you lost a friend on the same day, or friends in their case.

Suddenly, the door slammed open for the second time of the day, and an Anbu with a tiger mask appeared, covered in blood. By the time the Anbu looked up, the barrier already disappeared.

''Tora, report!''

''Ho-hokage-sama, the mission had been successful. However, Tsuki had been forced to used that chakra, and something went wrong. It looks like chakra poisoning...''

''Where is she?!''

The Anbu turned her head so quickly that you can almost hear her bones crack, obviously surprised by the presence of the red head.

''In the hospital, third floor...''

''Sasuke!'' the girl half yelled.

''Hai!''

Without further warning, the two vanished without a trace in two swirls of fire, only leaving behind a gaping Hokage and a shell-shocked Anbu.

A/N: finally finished! Tsuki means Moon, and I forgot to say earlier, but Anbu is actually 'ANsatsu senjutsu tokushu BUtai', which means 'special assassination and tactical squad'. Hope you enjoyed it and REVIEW please!