Flash of Red and Black
Chapter XVII
"So everything's ready, then?" I asked, and the four nodded in response. "Alright. Kankuro, I will send a message to Gaara too, but Suna has our gratitude."
"I will pass on your message when I return after a successful mission," he replied with a small smirk. I nodded, glad for his confidence, but I felt the situation weighing on me too heavily to mimic it.
"If there's nothing else, you're all dismissed to rest up before the mission begins tomorrow morning," I said, and they all headed out, but I called after Shikamaru and Shikaku before they could leave.
"Shikamaru, Shikaku-san, I probably don't need to say this, but please try to focus just on the mission ahead. I know that the mystery around Danzo is still bothering you, but I want you both to be focused," I said, and the two Naras glanced at each other for a moment before turning back to me.
"Got it," Shikamaru drawled, though his eyes were determined. I nodded and the two left, leaving me with nothing but papers and my thoughts. Preferring the former to the latter, I got to work reading through the documents scattered about, but before I could make any headway, there was a knock at my door and Kyou appeared.
"Good morning Hokage-sama," he said as he walked into the room.
"G'morning, Kyou-kun. Is there something I can do for you?" I asked, slightly confused.
"W-well… I was hoping that you might be free for a while? Everyone's been running around the village a lot lately, so I thought that you might be getting busy soon," he said, trailing off. I just smiled and pushed the papers aside.
"Sure. What do you have in mind?"
"Really!? Then can we train some? Since Dad's still recovering, I haven't gotten to train taijutsu much," he said excitedly. I smiled and nodded, following him to one of the training grounds by the Academy.
"Have you already warmed up?" I asked once we arrived.
"Yeah!"
"Alright. Come at me whenever you're ready," I said, getting into position. Kyou nodded and readied a kunai before coming at me. His attacks had more power behind them than I'd expected, but he also had a lot of wasted movement, so I made a mental note to pair him up with Hinata or Neji sometime.
After a while, I sensed a familiar chakra approaching, and snickering to myself I threw a couple shuriken in that direction to be met with a small yelp. Kyou-kun was surprised and distracted, so I took the chance to end the match, grabbing his shoulder from behind.
"Checking up on your student's progress, Iruka-sensei?" I called as the man emerged from some nearby bushes. I snickered at the twigs and leaves that were stuck in his hair as I released Kyou-kun.
"I just happened to notice your chakra as I was walking by and decided to watch, but you ready didn't have to throw shuriken at me, you know," Iruka said, and I just laughed some more before turning to Kyou-kun.
"Nice job today, Kyou-kun. Sometime soon, I'll have one of my friends train with you, alright?" I said, smiling. He nodded eagerly and started to dash off before apparently thinking better of it. Then he ran back to me and grabbed my hand, putting a slip of paper in it. I looked at him, terribly confused.
"I was told to give that to you. Thank you for training with me, Hokage-sama!" he said, grinning before running off again. I just looked at his retreating figure, dumbfounded for a second. Then I looked at the paper in my hand, not understanding the significance of the little white piece of paper with a tiny heart painted in one corner.
"You should really think about taking on a team of your own sometime, Naruto," Iruka said as he watched Kyou leave, apparently not noticing the confusion on my face. I just shook it off and slipped the paper into the pocket of my robe.
"Maybe, but I have some things to take care of first," I said, frowning slightly. Iruka just looked at me carefully for a moment before speaking.
"What's on your mind, Naruto?" he asked carefully. I just sighed.
"Just an upcoming mission that I'm worried about. Nothing new, really," I said, trying to convince him as well as myself that it was really no big deal. Iruka just nodded and we stood there quietly for a few moments until he clasped his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Naruto," he said, giving me a reassuring smile. I forced myself to smile back a little and nodded.
"Well, I should get back to grading papers," he said as he grabbed my hand and put another piece of paper in it, identical to the one Kyou gave me. I just looked at him, totally confused, but he just grinned in response.
"I think Ino was looking for you earlier. You may want to go find her," he said, still grinning, apparently pleased with himself for being in on whatever secret I wasn't, and walked off. Once I wiped the confusion off my face, I sighed and left the grounds heading towards the flower shop, wondering what on earth was going on.
"Naruto! How are you?" Ino called once I walked into the shop.
"Fine. Iruka-sensei said you were looking for me earlier?" I said. I was still confused, but I decided to just go with it.
"So you did see him then! Could you give me a hand with this?" she asked, wearing that same I-know-something-you-don't smile that Iruka had as she pointed to a stack of papers on the counter. I sighed and shrugged.
"Why not?" I said, picking up the stack and following her out.
"The training program is going great, by the way. Those papers are actually graded tests. About half are perfect scores," she said, pointing at the stack I was carrying.
"Woah! Really?"
"Yup. Looks like you'll have plenty of great medic-nin soon," she said, grinning at me.
We continued chatting as we walked to the training school, and once I set the papers down on her desk, she handed me another little slip of paper that looked just like the others.
"Wha—"
"Thanks for your help, Naruto!" she said, grinning. (And here I thought that she couldn't keep a secret.)
I sighed again and waved good-bye before heading out and almost walking straight into Hojo-san.
"Oh, Hokage-sama! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Just helping Ino out with a few things. How are you, Hojo-san?"
"I'm doing well. I just saw Kyou, and he said that you helped him train this morning."
"Yeah, he came into my office this morning. I'm just impressed by how much he's improved since we first met," I said, smiling at her while pushing the mystery of the random paper slips out of my head.
"Thank you so much for always helping him. I hope he isn't bothering you."
"Not at all. I enjoy it. Sometime I'd like to train with Yori-kun and Naoki-kun again too," I said, smiling at her.
"Of course! Please let me know when you want to. I'll be sure to have some snacks prepared," she said, smiling.
"I'll look forward to it, then," I said, and I was about to leave when she called after me again.
"Oh! Hokage-sama, I almost forgot! This is for you," she said, handing out another slip of paper to me.
"Thank you, Hojo-san. Do you know who I'm supposed to see next?" I asked, trying to keep from laughing.
"Well, I—"
"Oiiii! Naruto!" I heard Kiba calling, and this time I couldn't help laughing.
"I guess he's already here, then. Thank you, Hojo-san," I said before leaving, putting the fourth paper in my pocket with the others.
"Naruto! There you are. C'mon. You've got places to be, man," Kiba said, grinning at me. I just laughed and followed behind him as he dashed off on Akamaru.
"Where exactly are we going, Kiba?" I asked once we'd darted around for a while.
"Almost there!"
I rolled my eyes and kept following until Akamaru skidded to a stop in front of the hospital.
"Now I've done my part," he said, grinning and handing me two more slips. I just looked at him, even more confused since it was the first time I'd gotten two from one person.
"Well, one of those is from Akamaru, but we decided that I would carry them both to keep his drool from getting on it," Kiba said, grinning at me.
"Of course. Thank you both," I said, smiling back at them. I patted Akamaru on the head before walking into the building, wondering who was next. I didn't have to wait for long, though.
"Naruto-kun! Take this and go talk to Sakura, alright? She's in room 202," Shizune called as soon as she saw me walk in. I laughed and thanked her for the paper before following her instructions. Once I walked into the room, I found more than just Sakura there, though.
"Hey guys! Shizune-neechan told me to come here," I said, grinning. Sakura was hovering over Choji, apparently doing a check-up, and Shikamaru was sitting on the other bed, waiting for his friend.
"Naruto! Just wait there for a few minutes, will you?" Sakura said as she finished up with Choji. He looked like he was in even better health than a few days ago, so I was glad.
"So you've been running around all day today, huh?" Shikamaru said, glancing at me. He might not have been wearing a smile, but even I could see the mischief in his eyes. I really started to wonder what the heck was going on if even Shikamaru was getting into it.
"And I'm guessing that none of you are going to explainwhy exactly I've been running around?" I said, looking at the three. Sakura only smiled "innocently" and Choji just laughed.
"Just enjoy it, ne? Here's mine," Choji said, handing me another slip, and Shikamaru and Sakura did likewise.
"Room 212 is your next stop," Sakura said, grinning at me once I put all the papers in my pocket.
"Alright. See you guys later," I said, heading to the next room.
Inside room 212, I found another trio.
"Naruto! There you are. You're nearly behind schedule!" Tsunade called as I walked into the room.
"I didn't even know that I was on a schedule," I said, laughing a little.
"It can't be his fault that he's running a little behind, Tsunade-sama," Tenten said, apparently finished with her check-up.
"We're not allowed to tell him anything anyway," Shin-san said, grinning at me. I just looked at them, slightly confused but amused all the same, and Tsunade sighed.
"I guess it's up to us to get you back on schedule. Come on, you two," she said before handing me her paper. Then Tenten and Shin-san did the same.
"I know Mei probably already told you, but thank you for training with Kyou this morning, Hokage-sama," Shin said, and I just shook my head.
"I'm always glad to help…Though I'm starting to wonder if I even had a choice in the matter," I said, laughing a little. Shin laughed too, and the two women just sat there with those same knowing smiles.
"Come on, Naruto. You have a lot more people to see before this evening and you're already running behind. Your next stop is just outside the building," Tsunade said, shooing me out. I nodded and waved before doing as told.
Outside of the hospital, Temari was talking with Shikamaru and Choji. Shikamaru noticed me first and stopped me. I was confused since I'd already gotten a paper from him, but then Temari spoke up.
"Naruto, these are for you," she said, handing me three slips. I was even more confused then, and apparently she noticed since she explained. "Kankuro is busy going over security again, and Gaara can't be here, obviously, so two of them are on their behalf."
"Oh, okay. Thank you," I said, smiling. I didn't really know why I was thanking everyone for making my fill my pockets with little slips of paper, but I didn't know what else I was supposed to say.
"The next person's supposed to be here by now, isn't he?" Choji asked, looking at the other two. I looked at them, confused until I sensed a familiar chakra.
"No worries. I know where he is," I said before vanishing to a tree nearby.
"So what's next, Sai?" I asked, grinning at him.
"These are for you," he said, handing me two more slips.
"Whose is the second one?"
"That one is on behalf of the Suna ANBU."
"Alright. Where to next, then?" I asked. I might have been going crazy with curiosity, but I was starting to enjoy it.
"Ichiraku," he said before vanishing, and I laughed and jumped out of the tree to go do as told.
"Ossan! I was told to come here!" I called, waking into the little stand.
"Yo! Naruto! You're just in time," Teuchi said before reaching out with two more slips of paper. I grinned and took them, assuming the second one was on behalf of Ayame, but then another hand offered another slip out on my right.
"Naruto-kun, please take this one too," Hinata said next to me, a bowl of ramen half-emptied in front of her.
"Thank you guys. What's next?" I asked, and Hinata reached into her pocket. When she took her hand out again, there was a little bug sitting on her index finger.
"This is Shino's. It will lead you to him," she said, smiling at me.
"Okay! See you later!" I called before dashing off to follow Shino's bug.
After running across the village, Shino finally came into view next to the training ground that I'd been at that morning, and within the training ground I could hear the youthful enthusiasm of Lee and Gai-sensei.
"Naruto. Please take this. Why? Well, I can't tell you that," Shino said in that same slightly-creepy way as always. Still I couldn't help laughing this time.
"Thanks, Shino. I guess I have to go in there for my next one?" I asked, and he nodded, so I entered preparing myself for talk about spring, despite the leaves changing colors all around.
"Naruto! It's good to see you! Are you ready to continue this most youthful puzzle?" Gai asked once I walked in.
"Of course he is, Gai-sensei!" Lee responded, grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help laughing a little at their antics, with Moegi, Konohamaru and Udon covered in dirt and sitting on the ground in front of them.
"Ohhh! Then how about we make this more interesting! Naruto! You must fight us for the slips this time!" Gai called, waving his little paper slip about. I rolled my eyes, but then grinned.
"You should know better than to challenge the Hokage to something so easy, Gai-sensei," I said before vanishing from his view and reappearing behind him with the little slip in my hand. He stood there, shocked, but then let out a bellowing laugh.
"Indeed! You are a Hokage in his Springtime of Youth!" Gai called. Lee tried to challenge me too, but the results were the same. Then the three chuunin handed me their papers.
"So what am I—" I started to ask, but then I felt Neji's chakra enter the training grounds.
"Naruto, it seems that you're back on schedule," Neji said as he walked up.
"Well that's good, I guess. I have no idea what the schedule is supposed to be, though. So what am I doing now?"
"Please, come with me," he said and I nodded and followed after him after waving good-bye to the others.
"Am I still not allowed to know what's going on?" I asked as I followed him.
"I am not permitted to tell you," he said, and I just sighed a little, but still smiled. It was kind of fun, so I didn't mind. As we walked, some of the villagers called out to me, and I was going to wave, but I was surprised when I found more slips of paper in my hand. I just laughed and thanked them, collecting more and more slips as I followed Neji until we arrived at the Hyuuga residence.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, confused. I'd already gotten one from Hinata, so aside from Neji, I wasn't sure who else I would get a slip from, though apparently getting them from virtual strangers was now an option since I'd just collected more than fifty from the villagers.
"Please, come inside," he said, ignoring my question as he walked through the gates. Once inside, though I saw Yuu and his aunt sitting on a porch overlooking the impressive courtyard with Hiashi sitting next to them.
As soon as Yuu saw me, though, he jumped up and ran across the courtyard, bounding into my arms. I laughed and hugged him back before setting him down again.
"Hokage-sama! This is the Huuga Clan's residence! We got invited to come visit here today! It's so big! And Hiashi-sama even let us watch some of the clan members train! They're just as strong as Dad said they were!" he exclaimed, bouncing with excitement. I grinned and hunched down to be at the same level as him.
"So you're having fun, then?"
"Yeah!"
"Good. Maybe Hiashi-san will let you train with someone your age sometime," I said, smiling at him, while shooting a glance at the Clan Head. He gave a small nod in response, making me smile more before I stood up and walked over to join the Clan Head and Yuu's aunt.
"Hokage-sama, thank you for coming today. I was asked to present this to you," Hiashi said, handing me another slip of paper.
"Thank you, Hiashi-san," I said as I took it, but then Yuu tugged on my robe.
"That's not really true. Hiashi-sama asked to join in on the game too," he whispered to me, though Hiashi apparently heard because he turned just slightly red. I just managed keep myself from laughing, and Yuu grinned before handing out a slip of his own to me.
"Hokage-sama! Take this one too! Oh, and my aunt has one for you too!" he said, excited again. I nodded and took the little slip from him as his aunt stood and presented hers.
"Thank you for taking care of Yuu-kun," she said as I took the paper.
"The pleasure is mine, ma'am," I said, smiling at her.
"You're to go back to your office now," Neji said as he handed me another paper. I took it and nodded, absently wondering how many papers I was supposed to collect.
"Thank you all. See you again," I said before leaving, trying to mentally tally up how many I'd collected. Once I arrived at the Hokage Tower, I headed inside, only to be handed another slip from each and every person I passed. I knew that Tsunade said that I needed to see a lot more people before evening, but the sun was just starting to set and there seemed to be no end to the slips of paper slowly filling my pockets.
Finally, though, I made it to my office and sighed, almost relieved that no one was inside, but that relief soon turned to laughter when I saw a giant piece of paper sitting on my chair, cut into the shape of a heart, with countless other hearts painted onto it. When I went over to touch it, though, all the hearts suddenly flew off the paper and turned into various little animals, dashing out of the room. I was shocked for a second, but then decided it was one of Sai's jutsu, so I followed after them, only to end up in front of my own house.
Just before I could touch the doorknob, though, the door swung open and Kakashi appeared on the other side of the threshold, arms opened wide. I laughed and hugged him. I was glad to see everyone, but he was definitely the one that I was most happy to see after running around all day.
"This is for you," he said after we separated. Then he placed another slip of paper that was same size as all the others in my hand, but instead of a little heart painted in black ink like all the others, this one had a big red heart and the words "I love you" painted onto it. I couldn't help laughing and grinning as I hugged him again.
"I love you too," I mumbled against his neck as I clung to him. We stayed like that for a while, but then he pulled away.
"Come on, time to eat," he said, smiling at me. I nodded and followed him to the table, but I couldn't help questioning him as we ate.
"How did you set that all up?" I asked in-between bites. The food was delicious, but food wouldn't satiate my curiosity.
"I just asked around a bit, and gathered up a few volunteers."
"'A few'? That's an understatement," I accused.
"Well, I didn't have enough time to get the entire village involved, but I think that it worked out well," he said, smiling at me in a way that either made me want to either punch him or kiss him. (I hadn't decided yet.) So I just pouted for a while until I realized that I'd forgotten the most important question.
"Why did you set that up anyway?" I asked, and he frowned thoughtfully as he continued eating for a moment.
"I have a few reasons," he said before he continued eating, apparently thinking that that was a good enough explanation.
"Like…?" I proded.
"For one, I wanted to help you keep your mind off the mission tomorrow," he said quietly, and I leaned over the table, kissing him.
"Thanks," I said smiling before sitting back down.
"Also, I wanted to celebrate your birthday a little early, considering the circumstances," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the food, apparently knowing that this wouldn't earn him a kiss. I paused, staring at him for a while before finally speaking again.
"It could've waited until you got back," I said, staring at him hard. He sighed a little, but then put his emotions in order and looked up at me with a forced smile.
"Well, it felt like cheating if it was late, so I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss it," he said, and my chest was aching so bad from so many different emotions that I couldn't do anything but nod in response before turning back to the food in front of me.
We continued eating silently, and even once we were both finished and cleaned up the dishes together, never saying a word.
"I'll start the bath," Kakashi said once all the dishes were cleaned and dried and placed back where they belonged. I nodded and headed to the bedroom to grab out pajamas to change into after the bath. As I grabbed them out, though, the last slip of paper, the one Kakashi gave me fell out of my pocket and onto the floor in front of my feet.
I picked the paper up and smoothed it out, staring at it for a while until I couldn't stand the quiet anymore. I took my robe off and tossed it onto the bed. Then I took off my forehead protector and slipped the little paper into it before heading into the bathroom.
I grabbed Kakashi's arm and pulled him up. I just stared into his dark eye for a while and watched the emotions and confusion that passed through his expression before placing my hands on either side of his face.
"Thank you," I whispered, feeling like anything louder would somehow shatter the walls around us. He just gave a small nod, apparently confused, but I smiled and kissed him.
"Let's go in together, 'kay? I'll scrub your back for you," I murmured against his neck.
Apparently I didn't need to do anymore persuading. It wasn't long before our clothes were messily strewed about and we landed in the hot water with a splash.
"Naruto," he mumbled against my chest, and I reached to push his messy silver hair out of his face.
"I love you, Kakashi," I whispered before kissing him again, not giving him time to respond.
"I love you too," he mumbled between gasps once we pulled apart, but I kept kissing him along his jaw and neck, leaving a trail of marks along the way. I didn't get away unscathed, though, and ended up with a few as well—not that I minded in the least.
Eventually, we couldn't stand the heat of the bath and moved to the bed instead, but it wasn't long after switching that we were both too tired to continue. I just laid there with my head on his chest, listening to the best lullaby ever created.
"I'll come home safely," Kakashi mumbled into my hair, his words heavy with sleep.
"I know. I'm going to make sure of it."