Flash of Red and Black

Chapter X

"Orochimaru! I'm not letting you slip away this time!" I yelled, charging at him, Rasengan in hand next to all my other clones.

"Oh?" he said as he dodged attack after attack. "Really, you've been alive more than two years longer than him and you still haven't caught up to Sasuke's strength. Pretty pathetic, don't you think?" he said as he slipped out of the way of each attack. "You have no right to be Hokage," he said, suddenly right in front of me, and instantly I knew that it was over. Strangely, the pain that I'd expected never came and all I saw was a mess of black, red and silver in front of me.

"Sorry, Naruto. I can't save you from this pain either," he said before coughing up blood and collapsing against me.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Naruto! What's wrong?"

I choked on my own scream when I heard his voice and looked around frantically in the dark until I felt the covers next to me shift and his hand rested on my shoulder.

"Naruto. It's alright," he said softly, gently pulling me to him just as I noticed the tears that had already been streaming down my face for what was probably a while now.

"It's been a while since this has happened, huh?" he asked, his voice just as soft.

I just shrugged, not trusting my voice yet. It's true that it had been a long time since I'd had a nightmare while Kakashi was next to me, but every time he was gone on a mission, I would have a nightmare every time I tried to sleep, without fail.

"What was it this time?"

I just shook my head.

"Sasuke?"

I shook my head again.

"What then?"

"You," I said, pausing to cough a little. My voice was rough from crying in my sleep and screaming myself awake. "I was useless against Orochimaru. You protected me," I said, pushing my head into his shoulder a little bit.

"That won't happen, Naruto. We'll bring him down, and no one will get hurt. I know that you won't let it happen."

I nodded and relaxed a little more the longer I sat there. After a few quiet moments though, I sighed and got up. I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep again for a while, so I decided to go ahead and get ready for the day. Kakashi followed suit despite my protests.

"It's fine, Naruto. I have guard duty in a few hours anyway."

I just sighed a little and apologized for waking him up before getting ready for the day. Just as I was about to head out, though, he stopped me, grabbing my hand just before I could open the door.

"Do you have any meetings tonight?"

"None yet. Why?"

"Try to keep it clear, then. I'll meet you in your office at seven," he said, wearing a sly smile before giving me a quick kiss. Then he went back to getting ready and I glared at him for a moment before leaving. Was I just a fox magnet or what? Annoying tricky people.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama!" said a familiar little voice just before I walked into the training school.

"Kyou-kun! What are you doing here so early?" I asked, smiling at the young shinobi in front of me.

"I'm helping my mom and Yamanaka-san get ready for the open house today," he said, grinning up at me. I smiled back, giving an approving nod until a kid standing on one side of him gave him a nudge.

"Oh! Um, these are my friends. Yori and Naoki. They're both in a different class from me, but we all live close together," Kyou said, smiling up at me. I looked at the other two boys and remembered their faces from the free-for-all at the academy not long ago.

"Nice to meet you both. I've heard that you have been getting extra training from your parents after school too," I said, smiling at them. They looked at each other before nodding a little shyly at me.

"Good! I'd like to sit in on your practices sometime. I already watched Kyou-kun a while ago," I said, still smiling at them both, hoping to break them out of being so reserved around me. I remembered that they were both more hesitant about attacking when I was at the Academy a few weeks before.

"I-is that really okay? I mean, I'm sure you're busy, Hokage-sama," Yori said. He was a little short for his age and had hair that would remind me of Sai's if it was a little longer, but his eyes were a normal brown color.

"I just said it was, didn't I? And I've already told you guys that you can come visit me in my office anytime, right?" I said, still smiling at the two.

"But we're not even genin! And—" Naoki started, but I cut him off.

"Listen. You all have the potential to become great shinobi one day, and my job is to make sure that you get there. So don't say that you're only Academy students. You are Academy students at Konohagakure no Sato and in the future you will be the shinobi that Konoha will rely upon. Got it?" I said seriously, looking each of them individually. They sat there silently for a moment, but then they nodded slowly. "Good! Now, how about we go see what we can do to help Hojo-san and Ino, okay?" I said, smiling at them again. Once they all nodded, smiling back at me a little, we headed inside.

"Hojo-san, Ino! We're here to help, so make good use of us," I said, grinning at the two as a few other med-nin walked in and out of the room, moving materials about to make sure that enough fliers and applications would be available in each room.

"Hokage-sama! It's nice to see you again."

"Naruto, you're early!"

I grinned at the two and nodded before setting the boys to work helping the other med-nin dashing about.

"Are you going to address everyone when they come, Hokage-sama?"

"Ah, I don't really think that I'm the one for that job. Don't you think, Ino?" I asked, grinning at her.

"Wh-what? I can't! I mean, I haven't prepared a speech or anything!"

"C'mon, Ino. You were great at the meeting last night. You know how this place is going to work better than anyone, and I know that you're as proud of it as I am of you," I said, smiling meaningfully at her. She looked a little surprised and her cheeks darkened slightly, but then she nodded slowly.

"I guess I can say something, if you think it's for the best."

I grinned at her before glancing at Hojo-san. She nodded too when Ino looked to her. Then Ino smiled back and nodded, looking more confident. Confidence definitely suited her better than nervousness.

"Good. Now, what can I do to help get everything ready? Anything? It starts in a couple hours, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. If you would set up the baskets for filled-out applications, that would help. I don't know how many people will immediately fill the applications out, but after what happened in your office, I figured that we should be prepared for it."

"Sure! Anything else?"

"Just talk to people when you can. Everyone has really been looking forward to showing you what has come of your idea," she said, smiling at me. I grinned back.

"Will do."

"I'll come with you, Hokage-sama," Hojo-san said, picking up a couple trays for papers as I picked up the rest. I nodded and left the room, glancing back just for a second to se Ino smile as she looked around the room. I was glad that she was proud of the school. I knew that she would be great at her job.

As I walked around, I chatted with Hojo-san some about her son and his friends. Apparently they were all still improving and practicing after school, but she mentioned their timid natures too. I was sure that they would get over that though, especially once they realized just how strong they could really become. She seemed surprised that I was so confident in them, but I could tell that she was pleased that I thought so highly of her son and his friends.

I also talked to the other med-nin that were walking about, and after I finished putting the paper trays in each room I helped some of them carry papers to their respective rooms. They all seemed a little flustered at first when I started talking to them, but they calmed down quickly enough. Some of them also had children in the classes that I visited in the academy, and they all mentioned their rising scores. I laughed a little, surprised that a few academy visits could have such an effect, but if a visit or two really was all it took to raise everyone's scores, then I was happy to keep visiting.

Soon though, people began arriving to look at the new school and Ino ushered them all into the largest seminar room to speak.

"Well, first of all, thank you all for coming to the open house of the Konoha Medical Training School. I really look forward to running this program, and I invite you all to ask as many questions as you like and look around to your hearts' content today. Basically, this school is set up so that students graduate in two years. Anyone who has graduated from the Academy of their respective village can apply, so we will accept anyone from genin to Kage as students," she said, smiling a little when the crowd chuckled. "There will be med-nin in each classroom to discuss the curriculum in more detail with you, and there are applications and fliers with more information in each room too. Now, please enjoy yourselves!" She said, grinning at the crowd. I stood once most of the room had started to file out and thanked her for the speech before I left to wander around the classrooms myself.

I didn't understand half of the training that the med-nin were explaining, but I was glad to see that those interested were paying attention. I wandered for a while before I saw Sakura doing demonstrations in one training room. I smiled and watched and waited for her to finish and for the crowd to file out and head into the next room before I approached her.

"Did Tsunade really teach you by trying to bring fish back to life?" I asked, grinning at her before looking at the fish now swimming around in the tank next to her.

"Yup! I used to think it was pretty gross, but I got used to it once I started to get good at it," she said, laughing a little. I smiled and nodded, chatting with her a while longer until another crowd had formed in the room. Then I left her to it and continued wandering around. The open house was still going strong by the time I had looked in at all the classrooms, and I saw that some rooms had run out of applications while the paper collection trays were piled high. I couldn't help grinning at the sight and I knew that once the open house was over, I'd have to congratulate Ino again. But since I'd filled my use there for the moment, I went ahead and left, heading to my office while summoning three soon-to-be chuunin.

"Have you three recovered yet?"

"Ready to go anytime, Naruto-niichan," Moegi said, smiling at me. I grinned and nodded. I knew that it had only been one day and they were probably still tired, but I was glad that they wanted to work still.

"Moegi! Udon! Konohamaru!"

"Yes, sir!" they replied in unison.

"If the three of you are prepared to take on the responsibilities of becoming chuunin, sign these papers," I said, gesturing to the three papers with each of their pictures on my desk. Immediately, they each stepped forward and signed before returning to their earlier positions.

"Then, I hereby name all three of you chuunin of Konohagakure no Sato! Congratulations!" I said, stamping the official seal onto each of the papers before grinning up at them. Konohamaru gave an enthusiastic yell, jumping into the air for a moment as Moegi and Udon both grinned back at me.

"Now, I know that you're all good to get to work, but I want you guys to rest up a little bit. You've basically been working nonstop for over two months now, and I want to make sure you're all fully recovered. Also, you can get your chuunin vests downstairs. Congrats again, guys. Great work."

They all nodded, still smiling back at me before heading out, each of them with an almost-skip in their step.

Once they were gone, I headed to the Academy and waited just a few minutes until the classes let out for the day. I greeted everyone that walked out until I saw the three that I was waiting for.

"Kyou-kun! Yori-kun! Naoki-kun!" I called, waving the three over.

"Do you need something, Hokage-sama?" Naoki asked. He was the same height as Yori, but they couldn't look more different with Naoki's light-brown, course hair and stout stature.

"Well, I'm free for a few hours, so I thought that I could watch you guys train with your parents if you don't mind."

"O-of course!" Yori said instantly, smiling a little even though he still looked nervous. Naoki nodded too, but Kyou-kun looked at me a little sideways.

"Well, my mom is still at the open house and my dad's on a mission, so I can't really—"

"How about I train with you today, then?" I asked, grinning at him. He flushed a little, but nodded furiously. I wanted to laugh when his friends looked at him a little enviously, but I smiled anyway.

"Good. You guys can lead the way then," I said before they nodded and headed towards their homes on the edge of the village. Yori and Naoki's houses were right next to each other, but Kyou's was only a few houses down, so I quickly realized where they were heading. Once there, I watched them all go through their warm-ups, and I chatted with their parents, all of us together at Yori's house. His mother brought out tea and snacks for everyone, but soon the real training began. Yori and Naoki practiced the tree-walking exercise and though they weren't quite at the same level as Kyou, I was still impressed with how far they could reach in one go. With Kyou, we did tree-walking for a little bit as well and I called out pointers to the three of them as I saw it, but there wasn't much that I could really tell them since they had already advanced pretty well.

So after a while, I had them all spar, Yori and Naoki partnered with their fathers while I partnered up with Kyou. I could tell that Kyou was telling the truth when he said that he was better at sparring than his friends, but there was still a lot of work that needed to be done for all three of them. So I called out tips to all of them as we went, and occasionally instead of attacking, I would nudge Kyou's positions into better alignment. I knew that they all still had another year left at the academy, but that didn't mean that I couldn't help out now.

After a while longer, though, I took my leave and headed back to the training school since the open house had finally ended.

"Hey, Ino! Great work. If those baskets are any sign, I'd say you've done a great job today," I said, grinning at her. She grinned back, obviously tired but still filled with excitement.

"Thanks! I can't believe it went so well! But anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I'm just here to help carry all the applications back to my office to go over…But I'm really not looking forward to all this paperwork," I said, mumbling at the end. Ino snickered a little before grabbing up a stack of papers and heading to my office. I grabbed a stack from another room and followed along with several others. Really, all the papers could've made a stack as tall as me!

Once all the paper was filling my office, I got down to work and let Ino and the other med-nin go home for the day, thanking them for all their hard work. I was really glad that it had gone together well. Then I started approving what applications I could, but I couldn't approve them all since the ones from other countries had to be approved by both the Kage from the other village and pass the security clearance that Neji outlined, so I made a stack of applications that had to go through that process, but I was glad that there would be so many people that would start attending classes the next week.

By the time I'd gotten a fourth of the way through the stack of applications from Konoha, Kakashi appeared in my office. He looked bewildered for a moment by all the stacks and stacks of papers, but his face returned to its usual neutrality quickly.

"The new school has got your hands full, huh?"

"Yeah. Looks like i."

"Can you still take the rest of the night off?" he asked, eyeing all the papers everywhere.

"Yup! I'll just be doing this all day tomorrow," I said smiling up at him before standing. "So what are we doing?"

"Maa, you'll see," he said, giving me an eye-smile that was more aggravating than usual, but I grinned anyway. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door, out of the building and across the village, holding my hand the whole way.

"Kakashiiii, where are we going?" I asked, whining after we'd been walking for half an hour. I really had no idea where we were headed, but I knew that we were getting farther and farther from Ichiraku.

"Just a little farther," he said. I sighed but continued going along anyway, not minding that much. Eventually, though Kakashi stopped and nudged me forward into a clearing that I hadn't ever seen before.

"Wha…"

"I may have asked Tenzo for a little help here," Kakashi said, slipping his mask off, and I could just barely make out the color in his cheeks despite the darkness. I grinned and looked around some more. There was a waterfall with a sizable pond at its base and even a blanket spread out with food covering it and even from a distance, I could smell the wonderfulness that was Ichiraku.

"You are definitely the greatest shinobi ever," I said, grinning at him.

"Something like that, yeah," he said, grinning before kissing me for a moment. He pulled away much too soon, but led me to the food. "Eat up!" he said, smiling at me before he sat down and handed me a bowl. That was all I needed before digging in happily, but for once I didn't eat as fast as I could manage. Instead, I talked about the school between bites and told him about how great Ino would be at her job. He smiled and agreed and we kept talking about all sorts of things, taking our time eating. After my third bowl, though, and his second, we were both stuffed.

"How does a swim sound?" Kakashi asked, looking at me lazily while lounging on the blanket. I smiled.

"I'll beat you to getting in," I said, grinning at him. He cocked an eyebrow but smiled back and in an instant we were both stripping to our underwear and dashing to the pond, immediately jumping in. We ended up hitting the water at the same time, but I totally could've beaten him if I really wanted. What surprised me, though, was that the water was actually pretty warm for the time of year.

"How'd you make it be this warm?" I asked once we both surfaced again.

"Mei might have helped me out before she left to return to Kiri this morning," he said, his voice neutral as always, but I could see his cheeks redden a bit again. I grinned and swam over to him.

"This is really awesome!" I said before kissing him.

"Maa, I figured the occasion was worth a little effort," he said once I pulled back, but he kept his arms wrapped around me. I looked at him, a little confused and his cheeks reddened a little more and this time he didn't keep eye contact.

"Well, I don't normally care to do anything on my birthday, but since you've been busy I decided that I could kidnap you for a few hours," he said, only glancing at me.

"What! No way! I'm the one that's supposed to do this sort of thing for you on your—" I started to exclaim, but he cut me off with a kiss.

"I'm just using my birthday as an excuse to spend time with you. I don't normally like doing anything for it," he said looking straight at me, though I could still see the red in his cheeks.

"Yeah, I guess most old people are like that," I said, grinning before dunking underwater and swimming away from him. I didn't get far, though, before I felt a hand wrap around my ankle.

"Hey, you, I'm not that old!" he nearly wined once I was above water again.

"Whatever you say, Jiji." I grinned before slipping from his grasp and dashing away again.

"You!" was all I heard before going underwater to swim away again. Still, it wasn't long before he caught me again.

"You should respect your elders more," he said, trying to give me a stern look, but I could see the smile in his visible eye. I grinned and started laughing, and he joined in soon after.

"You're just as much a troublemaker as always."

"A new title can't change my personality. Don't be surprised if you see my own face painted once it's put up on that mountain," I said, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Only you," he muttered and I just grinned more.

"Well, you're the one that fell for the kid who hit you in the head with an eraser the first time he met you."

"Maa, maybe I'm a masochist?" I burst out laughing at that and he cracked a grin too.

After a while I stopped laughing though and we both just swam around lazily in the water, enjoying the company.

"Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

He looked at me, a little confused, but I just shook my head and smiled. Really, there was too much to thank him for that I couldn't even be put into words. He smiled back and stepped over to hug me.

"Thank you too, then."

I smiled and pulled back just a little.

"And happy birthday," I said before kissing him and putting to use all the things that I'd learned from him in the past couple of years, plus a few things that I learned while having to edit the Ero-senin's books. His books had finally proven their worth to me.

As I said, fluff. So much fluff in this chapter. The next chapter will get back to more plot and action, but I'll try to work some fluff in sometimes. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!