Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto or any of its original characters, Kishimoto does duh!.
Blah….normal narration/ character talking
Blah….normal narration/ character thinking
Blah…. Kyubi/summon talking
Blah…. Kyubi/summon thinking and Jutsus
Chapter 5
It has been a long time since Naruto had slept in a proper bed. Sure his stay before the war was not uncomfortable but living on an island that was actually a giant turtle couldn't compare to the comforts of a proper home, even though it wasn't his own. Through the night he slept like a log and awoke only when he felt fully refreshed. As soon as he had completed his morning rituals and taken a shower someone knocked on the door.
"Good morning Naruto san. I see you are already dressed and ready. Please come down for the breakfast, everyone is waiting for you." Shikaku greeted Naruto and conveyed the message pleasantly.
"Good morning indeed Shikaku san. The homely comforts are something else especially when you have been lying on the uncomfortable hospital bed." Naruto smiled at his host.
"Sure they do Naruto san." Shikaku nodded in affirmative as they both descended towards the dining area.
When they reached downstairs Shikaku introduced Naruto to the rest of his family and Naruto greeted each one of them politely. He once again thanked him for their hospitality and expressed his regard for having him as a guest. After a satisfying breakfast Naruto and Shikau left for the Hokage office to take a D-ranked mission for Naruto.
"Shikaku san, before we take a mission can I get my gear first?" Naruto asked his companion.
"Oh right I almost forgot, of course." Shikaku led Naruto to a shop named wolf's claw.
Upon entering the shop Naruto found out that it was a shinobi only shop and had every item to fulfil his requirement.
"What can I do for you gentlemen?" a man who was apparently the owner of the shop greeted them from behind the counter.
"Ah, Hideki san, good you are here." Shikaku said to the man. "This is Naruto Uzumaki and he would like to purchase some gear and other equipment." he said pointing towards Naruto.
"Hello Uzumaki san. I am Dustin Hideki welcome to my humble store. Please feel free to browse and select your gear." Dustin said with a slight bow.
"Thank you Hideki san and its Naruto. I am not fond of formalities." Naruto replied with a smile.
Naruto quickly picked up 3 sets of clothes, several sets of kunai and shuriken, some storage scrolls, explosive notes, some paper, ink and brushes. He then moved to the counter where Shikaku and Dustin seemed to be having a light conversation.
"Well that was quick." Shikaku said giving Naruto an appreciative nod once he took in the items he had purchased.
"I will say I am a bit surprised. Are you planning to learn fuinjutsu Naruto san?" Dustin said pointing to paper, ink and brushes among Naruto's items.
"Hai hai Hideki san, you sure have discerning eyes." Naruto replied casually.
"Being an ex-shinobi helps Naruto san. Is there anything else I can help you with or that would be all?" asked Dustin as he calculated the cost of the items.
"I would actually like to have some training weights if you have some." said Naruto.
"I have got just the thing for you Naruto san." Dustin moved to the back of his shop as he rummaged through some goods. "Here these will suit your requirements." he said handing Naruto some training weights.
"These are chakra weights. You can adjust their weights by channelling your chakra in them. To remove them just send a quick pulse into them 2 times and voila they will be off." Dustin explained.
"Indeed these will be just perfect. Thank you Hideki san." Naruto thanked the shop owner and paid the bill.
"Training weights?" Shikaku eyed Naruto questioningly "You sure are using some harsh raining measures."
"In one month's time I will be facing a ninja of high calibre Shikaku san. If I don't use some harsh measures my body which was in a comatose state would hardly be able to keep up with a trained ninja." replied Naruto.
'Troublesome blondes' muttered Shikaku before shaking his head a little.
They reached the administrative building and obtained a D-rank mission from the chunin in charge. It was simple mission in which a farmer had asked assistance for painting his fence. Naruto formed a familiar seal and soon an army of Narutos appeared greatly surprising Shikaku.
"You know Kage bunshin?" he questioned the blonde with surprise. "That's a jonin level technique you know!"
"I know, it's my favourite technique. Oh I guess Hokage sama didn't give you details." Naruto replied scratching his head. "I got chakra reserves easily surpassing the hokage himself."
"I just got an idea Naruto san. We are going to have a talk with hokage sama and maybe we will be done with these troublesome D-ranks." Shikaku said thoughtfully.
After completing the job shortly thanks to Kage bunshins, they were now standing in front of the hokage who was mildly surprised to see them.
"Hokage sama I would like to make a request." Shikaku said bowing a little.
"I didn't expect you two to be back this early even if this was a D-rank." Sarutobi gave a small smirk. "Well speak your mind Shikaku."
"Hokage sama, I am sure we both know that Naruto san is well above the level of a genin given his chakra reserves only. Now I am sure you have your reasons for giving him D-ranks initially which aim to get him familiar with village and it populace as well as give him time to adjust to new life." Shikaku paused before continuing. "I am sure you want to appoint him at least as a chunin level ninja and thus completing the D-ranks will affirm to the official requirements."
"Correct as usual Shikaku, nothing escapes your reasoning. I guess your request is related to similar lines." Sarutobi inquired.
"Hai hokage sama. I would like to ask for all the remaining D-ranked mission to be assigned to Naruto san for 2 days. I am sure those will be enough to fulfil the requirements and will save us a lot of time and trouble." Shikaku asked the hokage.
"Are you sure Shikaku? You are asking me to give him about 20 D-rank missions to be completed in a single day. Naruto do you think you will be able to manage all those missions during the given time frame?" Sarutobi's eyebrows were raised in question.
"It won't be a problem Hokage sama." replied Naruto.
"Very well be it on your head then. Who am I deny you D-ranks when they are the bane causing a significant increase in paperwork." said Sarutobi with a sigh.
The chunin who gave out the missions was in for the shock of his life when a Nara and a blonde shinobi stood in front of him and asked for all the D-ranked missions for the day. He soon complied when Shikaku told him that they had express permission form the hokage himself. He gave them both a disbelieving look before handing them 25 scrolls marked with a D.
"Naruto san please go ahead and do the formalities." Shikaku grinned to Naruto.
"Troublesome…." Naruto borrowed the familiar word from his companion's dictionary as he formed the seal for Kage bunshin and soon an army of Narutos stood in front of them.
"Okay guys get into groups of 5 and take these missions. Get them completed as soon as possible." Naruto instructed his clones who took the scrolls and disappeared soon after.
3 hours later once again Shikaku and Naruto stood in front of a baffled Sarutobi who was having a hard time believing that all the D-ranked missions for the day had been completed so quickly.
"How….?" he stammered out.
"It's quite easy hokage sama once you know the right technique." replied Naruto coyly. "Hmmm if I think about it this particular technique may even be helpful in overcoming your paperwork problem too."
Suddenly Sarutobi jumped up from his seat and soon was tugging at Naruto's sleeve like a child who was promised candy.
"Please oh please do tell me oh great shinobi. I shall be forever in your debt." Sarutobi cried much to the amusement of Shikaku who was shaking his head and trying hard to prevent laughing out loud at the antics of his leader.
"Let's see, I want two wishes granted to me and they are not even how shall I put it troublesome I guess…" Naruto said stoically
"If it is in my power it will be done but please tell me the secret" Sarutobi almost cried
"Very well hokage sama, I want you to cover my expenses for next two meals at Ichiraku's ramen and that would be all" Naruto replied grinning mischievously.
Sarutobi hurried pulled out two paper slips, wrote down 'hokage's tab' on them marked with his seal and handed them to Naruto. Shikaku's eyes were now bugging out of their sockets and he almost bit his tongue to stifle his laughter that threatened to burst out.
"Thank you hokage sama, however before I tell you the secret I must say that I am quite surprise that God of Shinobi was unaware of this technique." Naruto smiled coyly "So here is your answer hokage sama, I will say two words 'Kage Bunshin'." With that he bowed and left the office calling out to Shikau to get going.
Sarutobi was left gobsmacked as he heard the answer. He smacked his head twice to get over his shock and thought that it wasn't that bad of a deal even if Naruto had told him a technique that was developed by his own sensei when he noticed Shikaku who was giving him a pitying look.
"Is there something you would like to share Shikaku?" asked Sarutobi.
"How can I put it? Well the straight forward answer will be you just got pranked and you didn't even get it." replied Shikaku shaking his head in amusement.
"What are you talking about?" replied Sarutobi huffing a bit. "I got the solution to my biggest problem in exchange of what two tabs at Ichiraku. It's a sweet deal."
"And that is why I said you got pranked." Shikaku replied.
"Get to the point will you? I want to cherish this sweet moment." Sarutobi said as he made two shadow clones to do his work.
"You know about Minato's fetish for ramen don't you?" questioned Shikaku.
"Of course who doesn't know about his demonic hunger for ramen? He is solely responsible for half of Ichiraku's total income." answered Sarutobi casually
"And his twin has his dreaded fetish too." said Shikaku pointing to the door through which Naruto just left. "He even beat Choza in ramen eating contest yesterday."
Sarutobi went slack jawed at this as he mimicked a goldfish before pointing first at the door then at Shikaku who just gave him a grin and a short bow before leaving Sarutobi to bang his head on his table.
"That was definitely fun wasn't it?" Naruto grinned at Shikaku as he came out of the building.
"I don't believe that you just pranked the God of shinobi, one of the strongest if not the strongest shinobi in the elemental nations." Shikau said amused by the blonde's antics.
"It's a cruel world Shikaku san, everyone has a coping mechanism. Mine is pranking." Replied Naruto.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Shikaku said as they walked back
"Naah you are too shrewd to be pranked. Although it would be quite a challenge." Shikaku eyed the blonde "But I can't prank my landlord now can i?" mused Naruto "So you are safe." 'for now' he added in an undertone.
"Anyways I want to train now. Would you be kind enough to point me in the direction of training ground 44?" Naruto asked smirking.
"I see that you are choosing to ignore my advice" said Shikaku.
"Mah mah Nara san it isn't like that. Its just that I like to train away from prying eyes. Also I won't be made aware of my opponent's abilities so its just fair that I keep mine hidden too." Replied Naruto.
"I guess I can't dispute your knowledge. Go north for about 2 miles and you will reach the gates." Shikaku let out a heavy sigh. "Try to come back in one piece otherwise it will be my head they will be after."
"Sure Shikaku san. See ya later." Naruto replied and rushed in the direction knowing fully well about the place where his interrupted chunin exams were held.
'Troublesome blonde, troublesome Uzumakis….' Muttered Shikaku as he headed back to his home to get a nap. Somewhere a red headed Uzumaki female sneezed as she trained to relieve her stress.