New Update! From now on, I'll release chapters as soon as I finish them instead of trying (and failing) a weekly release. This chapter sets things up for the Chunin Exams, which I finished writing the outline of, so it should be out soon (couple of days hopefully)...
Haha, I'm sneakily updating this, instead of studying for my summer finals :) Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...
A Mission to get to the Root of Things
"So, they've found out about the seals after all," a grizzled old man rubbed his chin with his one good arm. Standing up, he walked over to the stand labeled: DNA from the village. "This changes things," he mused picking up a vial of blood and toying with it. He dropped the crystal vial and watched it shatter, the blood splattering across the floor. "Dispose of it," he commanded a white masked figure who immediately bowed and followed his orders. "Rise," he absentmindedly waved at the rest of his kneeling underlings. They stiffly straightened up at stood there waiting for their next command. "I wonder how they found out… No matter, I'll send someone in to investigate. It's a few years early, but this should work as well." He surveyed the crowd, his eyes landing on a certain teen. "You, stay behind. Everyone else, leave!"
"As you will, Danzo-sama," they droned and left the hall mechanically. The teen stilled and waited for the elderly man to approach him.
"I have a new mission for you. Recently, my surveillance on the new batch of clan heads has been discovered. I need you to ingratiate yourself with them and report their movements back to me. Aim for the carrier's trust, he seems dim-witted enough to fool. Hiruzen won't be expecting me to make my move so soon," Danzo relayed, liking his idea more and more as he spoke. It was a pity that Hiruzen forbid him from training the Jinchuuriki. But that didn't matter. Soon, everything would be within the palm of his hands.
A Chance Encounter in the Library
"Subject appears to be unaware of his surroundings. His gait is evenly-paced, suggesting the subject is not in a hurry nor stressed despite the civilians' constant surveillance. Their furrowed brows and tensed postures indicate either hostility or confusion towards the subject. Considering their criticisms of the subject, hostility is more likely. Even after trailing the subject for fifteen minutes, he has yet to stop displaying his teeth in a manner most find to be pleasing," a pale-faced man recorded into his headpiece as he followed a blonde genin down the street.
"Alright!" Naruto announced as he stood in front of the Konoha library. "Now, I just need to find those books Kaka-sensei wanted…" Shoving open the doors, he strolled into the library and headed to the "Recreational Reading" section. The lean, black-haired boy shadowed the blonde easily and continued his notes.
"Subject is browsing books that describe exotic human procreation habits, despite not showing interest in copulation other than a means to prank people, according to his file…"
"Not this one either," Naruto groaned and replaced the book, picking up the next one. Kakashi had sent him away from the hospital on a scavenger hunt as more training. Normally he'd be stoked at the idea of more training, but picking out new porn for his sensei was not what he had in mind.
"Subject has stood in the same spot for exactly five minutes. Commencing the first part of the mission. Approaching the subject with a book specifically tailored to match both mine and his interests. As a conversation opener, it is important to find something in common to discuss with the target to put them at ease. According to the mission file, the subject enjoys playing practical jokes and wishes to become the Hokage. It can be concluded that a joke book catering to adults will interest him. Also, humor is the first step in understanding human nature. Similar to smiles, jokes can instinctually place people at ease," he intoned into his device. The pale-faced black-haired man clutched A Guide to Humor: 101 Adult Jokes to Make Anyone Laugh and silently approached the blonde. He sidled up to Naruto's side and said, "Hello, I couldn't help but notice that you were interested in the procreation habits of mammals. I am too! Would you like to look up other methods of reproduction with me? I've heard Humans: A Guide to Understanding Yourself was a good read." He then faked a smile and waited for Naruto to respond.
The blonde stared at the other boy, not comprehending what was going on. Did I just get propositioned? Naruto thought in disbelief. He had been sorting out his memories from the clones in the females-only classes at the academy when he came across this word. He wasn't really sure what they were talking about, but he knew that when a guy asked to procreate it meant that they were propositioning the other person, and from what he'd heard, procreation didn't sound that fun anyways… Getting taken to a room, drugged, and then stripped of all his belongings wasn't his idea of having a good day.
The subject seems to not have heard my opening statement. The man mentally noted and spoke up again, taking a different approach this time. "I heard you were good at pranks. I've been meaning to get back at my landlord. Would you help me take revenge? I even have this book here we can use!" He held up the book and tried to insert eagerness in his voice.
Naruto turned to look at the other boy, tilting his head. I must have heard wrong before… He dismissed his misgivings and looked at the book and laughed. "You're not going to get anywhere with that book," Naruto snickered seeing that the author of the book was Kiba Inuzuka. He didn't think Kiba would actually write a book when he'd dared him to back at the academy! Finally composing himself, he asked, "Why do you want to get back at your landlord anyways? And what's your name by the way? Mine's Naruto!"
"Hello, Naruto. I am Sai," he told him the name Danzo had assigned him. "I wish to get back at my landlord because he kicked me out of my apartment for not paying the rent this month and now I have nowhere to go," Sai told the blonde his fabricated backstory.
"Ohhhh," Naruto nodded in understanding, putting back the book he picked out from earlier. "Why don't you just stay with your parents?" he asked.
"I have no parents, I do have a brother, but he's gone now, so I'm on my own. And the orphanage kicked me out once I became a ninja, so I can't rely on them," Sai explained a concocted past that was half-truth and half-lie. His backstory was similar to that of the genin standing in front of him to purposefully evoke the Jinchuuriki's sympathetic feelings and make it easier to slip into his group undetected. Already, he could see the blonde looking at him in compassion.
"Wait! Does that mean you don't have anywhere to live right now?" Naruto asked, concerned. He knew what it was like to be homeless after being kicked out of the orphanage. He was surprised that this stranger had so much in common with him.
Sai nodded silently, waiting to see what the blonde would do before planning out his next actions. According to the file, Naruto should take him to the Hokage or to Iruka-sensei, his family figures. This would give him a chance to add credibility to his story and forgo any in-depth background checks. Danzo had already taken measures to make his backstory appear real, so he wasn't in any danger of being found out.
"Then you can stay with me," Naruto resolutely decided. Sai's face twitched, not expecting this outcome but welcoming it nevertheless. It would be easier to watch the boy if he lived with him.
"Okay," Sai agreed, faking a smile. Naruto beamed back at him, and he felt something churn in his gut. Note to self: Lay off the Dango, it doesn't agree well with my physiology. He thought as he was dragged away from the library by the blonde who'd already forgotten about his mission.
At Ichiraku's Ramen
Ino banged her head on the table and turned her head to the side, blowing on her bangs. Shikamaru stared at her before averting his eyes, deciding not to get involved. Choji just ignored her antics and continued munching on his chips. "That's it!" Ino jumped up, startling Team 8 who had just entered the stand. "Let's go see Team 7 in the hospital, it's not the same without Naruto here…" She dragged Shikamaru away, Choji following behind her. Team 8 looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to just follow Ino.
"Pease," Shikamaru scoffed. "You just want to visit Sasuke," he muttered.
Ino's face reddened and she shouted, "Shut up, Shika!"
"Don't call me that, troublesome woman!" Shikamaru said back, annoyed. Ino huffed. The rest of the genin watched the two teammates bicker.
"Are they always like that?" Kiba asked Choji who was eating his chips, unaffected by the fight.
"Crunch… Ya, they're always -crunch- like that," he said in between bites.
"And it doesn't bother you at all?" Kiba asked in disbelief. He couldn't imagine having to be on a team with Ino. That shrieking… He shuddered and silently thanked whoever made these teams for putting him with Shino and Hinata. Though they were weird, they also were very very quiet.
"You get used to it," Choji shrugged as he followed after them.
Kiba just shook his head again, and hurried up as he heard Ino shout, "Hurry up! Visiting hours close soon!" The rest of the genin sped up, heading towards the hospital, none of them wanting to have to wait until tomorrow to see Team 7.
Meanwhile, Naruto stood with Sai in front of his apartment complex. "Are you ready? Do you have all your stuff with you?" he fretted like a certain mother hen from the academy. Sai nodded and gestured to the seals on his arms. "Alright, let's go talk to my landlord," Naruto said and pushed open the door. He wasn't really sure about what to think of the other boy. Although it was an impulse decision to let him stay with him, and probably not the safest idea considering they both were shinobi, he couldn't help it. The other boy reminded Naruto of his darker self and he didn't want to leave him alone…
I hope you know what you're doing, Kit. Kurama grumbled in the back of his head.
It'll be fine, Naruto reassured. He had a haunch that everything would work out. Besides you said he didn't have any negative emotions directed towards me, so he won't hurt me.
Yeah, Kurama grudgingly agreed. He couldn't find anything to nitpick at, but something just felt off about the other boy. Something almost artificial… If you're sure…
I am, Naruto replied firmly and Kurama nodded before going back to sleep. They'd reached the building's office and it looked like the owner was in today. He held the door open for Sai, and walked in behind him.
"What do you want?" the landlord asked in disgust, saying "you" in the same tone he used to talk about rotting garbage.
"He's moving in with me," Naruto jerked a thumb at Sai as the pudgy man fumed. He'd never wanted the blonde to stay there in the first place, but he couldn't evict him unless the Hokage allowed him to. He glowered at the thought of one of the loudmouth's friends staying with him and not paying rent, when a thought struck him. He smiled maliciously. He might not be able to kick the blonde out, but that didn't mean he couldn't make things harder for him.
"Sorry," he grinned his ugly yellow teeth. "But he can't stay with you. Your contract states that only family members can stay with you, not friends. And well, you're an orphan so…" He shrugged, feigning indifference.
"But that's not fair!" Naruto yelled, biting back an insult. He knew from past experiences, that those didn't help in these types of situations.
"Tough luck, brat," he greasily smiled as Naruto glared at him.
"That's okay, Naruto. I'm sure I can find somewhere else to stay. Thank you for the offer," Sai said as he saw this wasn't getting anywhere. It was a pity he couldn't stay with the blonde, but that wouldn't stop him from completing his mission. He figured the missed opportunity was why he felt bad right now.
"What? But…" Naruto trailed off as he saw the pained smile Sai was giving him. He couldn't just let this happen. It just wasn't fair! But what could he do? He looked back at Sai and noticed him tracing the storage seal on his hand. Wait! That could actually work! "Sai is part of my family," he watched his landlord's face turn puce in anger.
"No, he isn't, you're an orphan! No way-" the landlord yelled.
Naruto calmly cut him off. "Sai might not be blood-related to me, but he's still part of my family. As the last member of my clan in Konoha, I'm the clan head and I accepted Sai into my clan as he's a promising orphan. And according to the charter, that makes Sai a part of my family!" he gloated as he restated the things he read about. Who knew reading that boring treaty actually came in handy! He'd have to thank Iruka-sensei later.
"You… you…" the landlord gripped the few wisps of hair he still had on his head and tried to think of a way to retort but was unable to come up with anything. He knew how protective the clans were when someone tried to threaten their rights and that he couldn't deny the brat's friend if he wanted to continue living in Konoha.
"So, can he stay?" Naruto grinned cheekily at him. Sai just watched, silently noting that middle-aged civilians appeared to change face colors in anger.
"Get out!" the landlord bellowed, not denying that Sai could stay.
"Fine," Naruto huffed and pulled Sai up to his room. Once he shut the door behind him and made sure it was locked, he turned towards Sai. "It's not much, but you can stay here. I've got an extra blow-up mattress in my room," Naruto pointed at a door behind him. "Just in case of a sleepover, not that it ever happened…" he muttered the last part under his breath. "So, what do you think?" he asked, strangely nervous.
Sai stayed silent, trying to think of a response that would make sense. It's cleaner than I expected. According to the file, there shouldn't be as many books strewn about… As he was inspecting his surroundings, he forgot to answer.
Naruto took the silence, as hesitation. "Oh, you must be wondering about what I said back in the office…" He rubbed his nose sheepishly. "I just said that you were part of my clan so you could stay here. You don't have to be part of it, if you don't want too…" He looked up at the ceiling.
"No, that— I'd like it. To be part of your clan, I mean," Sai answered hurriedly. Surprisingly, he actually meant it. He wanted to be part of this boy's clan, part of a family again. It'd been so long, since he'd last had a brother… But, no, he was doing this for a mission. Right, I'm joining his family to report his movements back to Danzo-sama. It's more… convenient this way. He tried to justify his actions.
"Really?" Naruto said eagerly. "That's great!" he whooped when he saw Sai nod his head. "We gotta do the ceremony and stuff!" he bounced on his heels and picked a book up of the table. Flipping it to a page, he shoved it at Sai and spoke again. "I have to ask you if you want to join and then you have to read this chant," he pointed at the book. "And then I just have to check you for any seals and give you a gift!" he babbled excitedly. He never expected he'd actually ever be able to do this! Although he'd learned about this ceremony, just in case, it was a whole another thing to actually do it.
Sai glanced at the book open in front of him, and said, "I'm ready."
Naruto nervously wiped his palms on his jumpsuit and began the ceremony. "Do you want to join the Uzumaki Clan headed by me? Upholding its principles listed in the book?"
Sai replied, "Yes. I'd like to join the Uzumaki Clan led by Naruto Uzumaki." He then began reading the rest of the statements of the book. "To protect and love. To not fight in blind hatred. To always help friends and family when they're in trouble. To lead the next generation by upholding our values and by protecting peacefully. To go against the swirling currents and to combine against and danger, unleashing a maelstrom on our enemies!" With each word he read, Sai noted how different the Uzumaki Clan's ideologies were from Danzo's. It would be strange following these two dogmas that opposed each other. But as he was a sworn-in member of the clan, he needed to uphold its principles. At least on the surface, anyways…
Naruto clapped his hands together when Sai finished and gestured for him to step forwards. "Okay, I'm going to scan you now!" He held his hands in front of Sai and concentrated. The pale-faced boy watched the blonde frown. "You have four storage seals, two on your arms and two in your pockets and… There's a weird seal in your mouth." Naruto opened his eyes. "Hey, stick out your tongue," Naruto's forehead wrinkled in thought. Sai obediently stuck out his tongue. He didn't think an amateur seal beginner would be able to unravel Danzo's work. "Who put this on you? It sucks…" Naruto frowned and continued. "It's an old seal used by Root to make someone not able to talk about certain things. Why would someone put it on you?" He asked curiously.
"Ah, I think an enemy-nin put it on me when I was on a mission… I didn't know about it," he lied through his teeth, surprised that Naruto was able to decipher the seal.
"Oh, that makes sense. Here, I'll remove it for you," he stuck his hand out and released the seal before Sai could even think to stop him. "There, now you have nothing to worry about," Naruto hummed, proud of his fast work. Sai didn't really know how to feel about this. That seal had been hanging over his head ever since he was old enough to go on missions. It felt… strange to have the freedom to do whatever he wanted and not have to worry about it.
"Thanks," Sai said and used his customary fake smile.
"Your welcome!" Naruto grinned at the other boy. "Come on, let me give you a tour of the house," he said, dragging the other boy behind him.
This mission is more interesting than I thought it would be… Sai thought before he gave in and followed the blonde around the house, ignoring the warmth he felt spreading through him.
Back at the Hospital
What's taking him so long? Kakashi thought as he looked up from his Icha Icha. Sasuke skillfully was ignoring Sakura's chatter as he finished off the tomatoes Naruto brought him. Both genin had woken up last night, but they still had to stay in the hospital for the rest of this week to see if there were any adverse effects on them. Luckily it was already Saturday, so they only had to stay until tomorrow morning. Although Sasuke woke up first, he said that his confrontation was postponed for later. It made sense he couldn't let go just yet, considering his brother murdered his whole family in front of him. Kakashi didn't know what Sasuke had seen in his mind, but he noticed that Sasuke seemed more pensive and that there was a determined glint in his eyes. Sakura, on the other hand, had awoken two hours after Sasuke had. After meeting her 'inner self', whatever that meant, she'd become more motivated to build up her physical body. If she didn't want to hold back the others on her team, she'd have to work hard on her stamina. Kakashi looked up from his book, when he heard a knock on the door. That must be Naruto…
Kakashi opened the door, and stepped back in surprise when he saw it was the rest of the genin. "Hello, Kakashi-san. Is Naruto-kun here? And have Sakura-san and Sasuke-san awaken yet?" Hinata asked, when no one else spoke up.
Kakashi ran his hand through his spiky gravity-defying hair, ignoring the glares the rest of the genin sent him, and answered, "Ah, Naru-chan is out on a mission." He eye-smiled, purposely using the nickname to annoy them. "But Sasuke and Sakura are awake right now." He moved aside, letting the genin enter.
"As if, sensei! You just sent him to get your porn!" Sakura scoffed and crossed her hands. Kakashi looked away from the genin whose hostile looks had strengthened.
"Maa maa, Sakura-chan, you're going to hurt sensei's feelings," Kakashi said as he edged his way towards the window. "I'll go and find our wayward teammate, while the rest of you talk," he eye-smiled at them again for good measure, and left though the window.
The genin shuffled around awkwardly until Sakura broke the silence, "So, what's up?"
"Nothing much. We were just bored, so we came by to see how you guys were doing. How's it feel, Billboard-brow? Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked the last part with little hearts in her eyes.
Shit not another one. Sasuke thought, as Sakura replied, "I'm feeling fine, Ino-pig! What about you?"
"Just fine," Ino answered through gritted teeth as they both fake-smiled at each other, until Ino dropped the grimace. "No, but seriously, how do you feel?" she asked, frowning. "You both were out for about three days, and from what I heard your trip to Wave was more than eventful." Although their friendship had died, Sakura was still her first friend.
"Yes, how are you feeling Sakura-san? Naruto-kun was very worried about you both. He barely left the hospital room, while he waited for you both to wake up. Kakashi-san had to force him to go home to get some sleep," Hinata joined the conversation.
"You're lucky. He really cares for your team," Ino said seriously.
"I know," Sakura said, remembering how the first thing she saw when she woke up was a pair of deep blue eyes staring at her in concern which quickly changed into joy when he noticed she was awake. "I have to get stronger to protect them," she mumbled, clenching her fists together. Ino and Hinata exchanged glances, before looking back at Sakura's burning eyes.
"You could join us… To train, I mean. Hinata and I have been practicing together to keep up with our teams," Ino offered hesitantly.
Sakura struggled with what to say, before noticing the sincere look in Ino's eyes. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. That sounds nice," she smiled at the other girls, watching the tension drain out of their shoulders.
"Great!" Ino grinned at Sakura before cockily saying, "But don't think you can win! I'll beat you down, Billboard-brow!"
"You're going down, Ino-pig!" Sakura teased back.
"Ano, sorry, but actually we all know that I'm going to win," Hinata's timid voice drifted forward, surprising the other two girls. They looked at each other wide-eyed, before they all succumbed to giggles.
Meanwhile, at Sasuke's bed, the boys were talking about other matters. "And other than the poison from the Demon Brothers, I think Haku hurt him with a few senbon. The only other injury I can think of would be when he gave Sakura nearly all of his chakra to power up her gauntlets. He tried to make us believe it was no big deal, but he slept all the way to Whirlpool. He definitely had chakra exhaustion, not that he'd ever admit it out loud…" Sasuke said.
Shikamaru snorted, "Yeah, he's a troublesome, stubborn blonde, but he wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't."
"He's reckless too," Sasuke added. "He didn't tell us anything and just jumped off a cliff with no warning," Sasuke complained.
"What? He didn't tell us about cliff diving! He said you guys went to Whirlpool to unlock his bloodline or something!" Kiba exclaimed. Shino shifted closer to the group, wanting to hear about his new friend's exploits.
"Yeah, well, what he didn't tell you was that we had to jump off the highest cliff into a whirlpool just to get to the place. And there was this huge fiery bird that let us into the place. I'm still not really sure what actually happened…" Sasuke trailed off, lost in his memories.
"You sure you guys didn't eat any bad mushrooms while you were there?" Choji asked in suspicion.
Sasuke ignored his question and continued eating his tomatoes. Pinching one between his fingers, he stared at Shikamaru. "Why?"
"Why what?" Shikamaru answered in confusion.
"Why do you care so much about Naruto?" Sasuke clarified. "He's not your teammate," he stressed.
"No, he's not," the pineapple-haired boy agreed. "He's my friend, something way closer than a teammate…" Sasuke just stared at the other, waiting for an answer. Shikamaru sighed. "You know, when I was younger I once asked my dad why everyone didn't use shadow clones. Although they have a high chakra cost, jounin should still be able to make one or two when they're not fighting." Sasuke nodded, not really understanding what this story had to do with Naruto. Sure, the blonde used a lot of shadow clones, but why did that matter? "Well, my dad said that although shadow clones are helpful, they had a nasty side effect. When the clone pops, the one who made it gets all its memories," Shikamaru continued. Still not understanding, Sasuke just waited for Shikamaru to explain. "And I thought, wow, that'd really help with spying reports. So, I told him. And you know what he said? He laughed and told me that when he said all memories, he literally meant all the memories, including those of dying. And that he didn't know about me, but he wasn't itching to experience death just to have another helper…" Shikamaru waited for this to sink in.
Sasuke dropped his tomato. He pushed the rest away, not feeling hungry anymore, if the twisting in his gut was anything to go by. "But, he makes hundreds of them…"
"Yeah, we know. We've trained with him before," Kiba cut in, staring Sasuke straight in the eye. "That's why we're willing to go so far for him. Because he's willing to die over and over again just to help us train, protecting us and helping us get stronger. He literally throws his life away for us at the drop of a hand."
"A bright smile on his face as he does so," Shino added.
"He's going to be the Hokage one day, I know it. And we're going to be right by his side as it happens. What about you?" Shikamaru quirked his eyebrow at Sasuke, while the other two looked at Sasuke with intense looks.
"I…" Sasuke swallowed. He wanted to agree, but the works his inner self told him, echoed in his head.
"Naruto really cares for his team, you know. He spent ages making that picnic for you both. So, it really hurt him, when you threw it back in his face," Choji spoke matter-of-factly. "We don't want another thing like that to happen, so, we need to know, can we trust you with him?" Surprised that the larger boy had spoken up, Sasuke looked up and met his burning gaze. "To not hurt him, to be there for him, even if it's only as a teammate?"
"Yeah, I-I can do that much at least," Sasuke muttered the last part, ignoring the mocking words of his inner self. He met their gazes and repeated sternly, "Yes, I'll protect him as I would any other teammate." The words and as a friend were unspoken, but conveyed nonetheless.
"Good," Shikamaru said, sitting down. It seems like Naruto was right, Sasuke's really changed. He actually cares for his teammates now. Much better than the cold indifference he had back at the academy… "Now, that that's out of the way. We have another important matter to discuss." Sasuke tensed up slightly. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was really important. "We heard that you said Naruto was your best friend?" The genin turned their shark-like gazes towards Sasuke who just slumped over the table and groaned.
Dobe, what're you telling people? He thought as he avoided the other boys. He's not getting back at me, is he? Setting these overprotective dogs on me by revealing I'm his best friend. Does he really want me to live? Sasuke couldn't help but thinking and sweat-dropped when he noticed the other genin were serious. "About that…" Sasuke tried to think of something to say, when the door flew open and Kakashi walked in with Naruto slung over his shoulder.
"Found him!" Kakashi eye-smiled and dropped Naruto on the bed next to Sasuke who scooched over a little. "He forgot about his mission and went to see Iruka," Kakashi pouted slightly.
"That wasn't a mission, pervert-sensei!" Sakura shouted out, noticing Kakashi was back.
"It was an information-gathering mission," Kakashi corrected and then slumped down. "Why can't you call me Kaka-sensei like Naruto does. Pervert-sensei is such a horrible nickname," Kakashi grumbled.
"We call it like we see it," Sasuke deadpanned, relieved that Kakashi's entrance had distracted the other genin. It was surprising to see them focus their glares on Kakashi, but as long as it wasn't him, he didn't care anymore.
"What were you doing there, Naruto?" Hinata asked, attracting the others' attention.
"Yeah, what took so long?" Ino wondered.
"Oh, I was asking Iruka-sensei about how to make my clan legal again in Konoha," Naruto snuck some food off of Sasuke's bedside table and ate it. "He said I was all set and I just needed to register the members of it with Jiji and declare it at a clan head meeting. I asked him if he wanted to be part of it, but he said that he had to remain unaffiliated because he was an academy teacher." Naruto pouted. "That's a stupid rule, I'm going to change it when I become Hokage!" he proclaimed, puffing out his chest.
"Hn, sure you will," Sasuke smirked at Naruto. "Why are you finalizing your plans now anyways?"
"I needed to get it done because my landlord's being stupid," Naruto groaned. "Actually, that reminds me, Sakura-chan, wanna join my clan?" He waggled his eyebrows at her.
"Me?" Sakura asked, taken aback. She was surprised Naruto wanted her to join after the way she had treated him. Her inner self had forcefully pried open her eyes to reality.
"Yeah, you can't just let everyone join your clan," Ino pointed out.
"Why not?" Naruto pouted. "Sakura-chan is awesome! And you guys already have clans, so I can't ask you to join!"
"Hmm, I don't know, what would it mean?" Sakura asked. She didn't mind joining a clan and Naruto was cool… Most of the time.
"You'd get special privileges like being able to leave the village whenever you want and more holidays! Plus, you'd get to sit in on clan head meetings with me. You're smart so you won't let them take advantage of us," Naruto said, telling her the real reason he wanted her to join. "Oh, and you'd get discounts on seals," he added as an afterthought.
"Where do I sign up?" Sakura immediately inquired. After the mission, she'd seen what seals could really do and how useful they were. So, when she got back to the village, she asked a few shops about how much they cost before giving up on them. Although she'd wanted to buy them, they were just way too expensive!
"Yes! Second member, get!" Naruto fist pumped the air. The other genin watching him smiled, figuring he counted himself as the other member. "Okay, now I just have to ask you if you want to join, and then you have to read out something from a book. And then I check if you have any seals on you, and finally I give you a present for joining! Oh, and you can live at the clan compound if you want. Right now, it's just my apartment, but in the future, I'll get an actual house!" Naruto grinned at Sakura.
"Alright!" Sakura agreed. For now, she'll continue living with her parents, but in the future, she might just join her blonde teammate. Either that or get my own house on the clan compound…
"Now I get to register two people! Ha, Jiji will never believe it," he gloated. "You have to come to the next clan head meeting with me," Naruto pleaded with his big blue eyes.
"I'll be looking forward to it," she answered, wondering what she'd gotten herself roped into. Kakashi made a note to sit in on the next clan head meeting. It was going to be a public one this time, so there would be civilians sitting in. This will be interesting…
"Are you coming too, Sasuke? It's tomorrow afternoon…" Naruto turned towards Sasuke, who nodded after a moment, figuring his whole team was going to be there, so why not?
"Aw, no fair! I want to come too!" Kiba complained.
"Why don't you just ask your mother to let you come?" Shino suggested, already making plans to accompany his father.
"Yeah! That's a great idea," Kiba perked up.
"In that case, I'm coming too!" Ino piped up and then looked expectantly at Shikamaru and Choji.
"Do you even have to ask?" Shikamaru shot her a dirty look and rolled his eyes. "Women…" he muttered under his breath. Of course, he was coming! As if he could leave these troublesome blondes alone…
"I-I'll be there too!" Hinata made up her mind to gather her nerves and ask her father to come. He shouldn't protest too hard. After all, she was the next clan head by birth. Maybe she'd even get him to bring along Neji and ask Naruto to remove the seal!
"Cool!" Naruto chirped and Hinata blushed. "I guess this will be our meeting for the week, huh?" he grinned at the genin in the room.
"Meeting?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah, we get together every week and train or just hang out. We also tell each other about our missions and stuff," Naruto explained. He rubbed the back of his head and then added, "I asked you guys if you wanted to come, but you didn't seem that interested…" Sakura blushed in shame. She remembered the one-time Naruto invited her out after the genin exams. She'd thought it was a date and had rejected him mercilessly. To find out now that it was actually a get together with the rest of the genin, it was mortifying!
"Oh, in that case, I'll be glad to join these meetings from now on," Sasuke spoke up. He was beginning to see the benefit of working together with people. It's not like I want to check up on Naruto's new friends or anything… This, is just to help me track Itachi by using their connections, yeah.
"I'll come too!" Sakura hurriedly joined in, not wanting to be left behind by her teammates.
"Great, we'll see you there then!" Ino excitedly said.
"Maybe I should come too~" Kakashi eye-smiled at them.
"Sorry, no adults allowed," Shikamaru lied blatantly, not wanting Kakashi to spend more time with their blonde.
"Yup, you're way too old to come! Your hair's already white!" Kiba added in.
"I heard he was a Chunin back when the Third was Hokage for the first time. Who knows how old he is with his mask on," Ino gossiped with Sakura.
"Yeah, he won't show us what's under his mask," Sakura pouted.
"I've seen under it," Naruto casually admitted. Noticing the other genin staring at him, he explained, "It was back in Wave when you two were still knocked out. Kaka-sensei removed his mask for me before we slept together…" He trailed off, remembering Kakashi's face. "Sensei's really good looking!"
This caused the genin to glower even harder at Kakashi, who just hid behind his orange book. Why are the other genin so un-cute? They're nothing like mine… Kakashi griped in his head. They were about to move towards Kakashi, when a nurse came in.
"Visiting hours are over. Kindly escort yourselves out. Team 7 will be able to leave observation tomorrow morning," she said. Yeah, leave us! Then I can have my cute little genin all to myself! Kakashi thought with glee.
"Okay, see you later Naruto!" Choji waved at him and pulled Ino away with him. He nodded at Sasuke and Sakura as he left the room.
"Yeah I'll see you guys at tomorrow's meeting!" Naruto yelled back, watching Ino and Shikamaru wave back at him.
"Team 8 is out! See you tomorrow!" Kiba yelled as he pushed the door open.
"Bye!" Hinata called out before leaving with Shino who just waved goodbye, leaving Team 7 alone in the room. They remained silent, before Sakura spoke up.
"So, sensei, what's this about letting Naruto see your face alone?" Sakura fake smiled at him, causing Kakashi to twitch.
"Ah, it wasn't like that, Sakura-chan," Kakashi backpaddled and avoided looking at her glare.
"Yeah, why did he get to see your face first sensei?" Sasuke pressed on.
"Alright, I'll let you two see my face too, but only on one condition!"
"Yes?" Sasuke and Sakura leaned in as Naruto watched on, curious.
"You have to… call me Kaka-sensei from now on!" he spoke dramatically.
"Tch, pervert-sensei," Sakura said, dissatisfied, but relented. Sasuke grunted his agreement. They watched closely as Kakashi hooked his fingers around his masks and tugged them down.
"Sensei, you…" Sakura couldn't say anything else. Sasuke's eyes widened, seeing Kakashi's unmasked face. It was too… He couldn't describe it. Naruto watched his teammates stare at Kakashi, scared to see their eyes turning into hearts.
"They've been infected!" Naruto hissed at Kakashi who noticed his students' faces matching those of his fans. Shit, I forgot to tell them to not fall in love with me… He hurriedly raised his mask up, relieved to see the hearts in their eyes diminish.
"What just happened?" Sakura blinked out of her stupor. Sasuke tried to remember the last few minutes, but could only remember a blur. Naruto and Kakashi glanced at each other before silently agreeing to not tell the other two what just happened.
"Nothing," Naruto lied and tried to distract them. "Hey, Sakura I found my book, want to join our clan now?" Sakura nodded excitedly, but couldn't help but feel she was missing something. Sasuke watched the proceedings in interest.
"I thought only family members could be part of a clan?" he asked Kakashi as Sakura began reading out the words in the book.
"That would be the case for clans in Konoha, but the Uzumaki clan is a special case. They actually are from Whirlpool so they have a different treaty with Konoha and can invite whoever they want into their clan on the basis of rebuilding their village. Even members of other clans if they wished…" Kakashi explained. Sasuke filed away that piece of information for later. He looked up to see Naruto scanning Sakura for any seals.
"You just have an old toddler tracking seal made by your parents, but it's unraveling so I don't have to do anything to it. Ino had one too, I think," Naruto said.
"Yeah, our parents put them on us together. We used to hang out at the park a lot when we were younger," Sakura reminisced as she rubbed the disintegrating seal on her shoulder.
"Welcome to the clan!" Naruto grinned at her and placed a small box on her lap
"What's this?" Sakura asked as she unwrapped the gift.
"It's a joining gift. Well, I would've given to you anyways even if you didn't want to join because they're yours. I just upgraded them. They should be harder to destroy now," Naruto explained.
"Thanks," Sakura choked up, giving Naruto a big hug. She didn't know what she did to deserve this, but she knew she'd have to get stronger. Her inner self was right, no more sticking to only books! From now on, she was going to run around the village like those green people she saw in the morning. Nothing was going to stop her from getting strong enough to protect her team. She'd even wear the green spandex if she had too! Kakashi shuddered. He felt as though one of his genin was slipping into the Gai-way of life.
"Hey, why don't you scan Sasuke now for any seals too, just in case," Kakashi hurriedly distracted his genin, trying to remove any Gai-like thoughts from their minds.
"Okay," Naruto agreed and walked over to Sasuke, his hands held up high. "You don't have any seals on you, other than the weird one your using on your eyes. Did you get it off a history book somewhere?"
"No, my father passed it down to me before…" Sasuke trailed of, tracing the invisible seals on his eyelids.
"You should stop using them," Naruto bluntly said. Seeing Sasuke about to protest, he explained, "I have records of this seal in my clan history book. It's unfinished, I'll give you the finished version. This one isn't as good, I think it makes you more vulnerable to trauma…"
"Okay," Sasuke agreed. A finished version was always better than an incomplete version, right? Plus, this was Naruto, he wouldn't hurt him. Sasuke trusted the blonde.
Kakashi watched his genin interact, with a smile on his face. Looking at the time, he offed the light. "It's time to sleep, you don't want to be late to tomorrow's meeting," he reminded them.
"As if you can say that," Sakura retorted before yawning. "Goodnight!"
"Yeah, night," Naruto mumbled.
"Hnn," Sasuke grunted.
"Sleep tight," Kakashi whispered as he left the room. He still wanted to get Naruto's medical reports today before he went to sleep. Still tomorrow was going to be interesting. He couldn't wait to see what those old ones on the council would do… If they tried anything… His eye glinted. They'll definitely regret it! His creepy laugh echoed in the hallway, causing people to wonder if someone had escaped from the prison. No one, except for Team 7, slept well in the hospital that night.
Hokage's Mission Assignment Desk
Naruto sat down in the front row next to Sasuke and Sakura, craning his head to look behind him. "Wow, there's a lot of people here," he stared at the huge crowd sitting in the foldable chairs set up on the usually empty pavilion.
"Normally, there aren't this many people," Sakura explained to her teammates. "But someone heard that Sasuke was going to take his position as Clan Head today so they all came." Sasuke frowned hearing this. He'd only come for his team, not for some random civilians to stare at him all day.
Naruto, sensing Sasuke's discomfort, patted his back. "Don't worry, we won't let the scary villagers get to you," he said in joking voice. Sasuke snorted, but relaxed, ignoring the villagers.
"Looks like everyone's already here," Hiruzen said from the head of the mission desk table, quieting everyone down. Turning over to Koharu Utatane, who was sitting on his right, he asked her, "Will you take the attendance, Koharu? We have new members today!" He rubbed his hands together in excitement. Usually, new members entered in private meetings, not the public meetings, so this was very different! But what can you expect from Naruto? He has the guts to paint the Hokage Monument in bright orange clothing, why would a public meeting stop him from claiming his position as clan head? And he dragged young Sasuke to following his footsteps! How exciting! He smiled and handed Koharu a list of all the registered clans in Konoha. Koharu sighed but still took the attendance sheet from Hiruzen.
"Aburame Clan?" she read off.
"Present with heir in attendance," Shibi's quiet voice drifted. Shino's bugs buzzed in greeting. Koharu nodded and checked them off, noting the extra presence.
"Akimichi Clan?"
"Here with my son!" Choza's booming voice filled the room as he patted Choji's back hard, causing him to choke on his chips. Danzo raised his one eyebrow, wondering why the next generation genin were all present. Must be because of the Uchiha heir…
Koharu placed another two checkmarks on the register and called out the next name, "Hatake Clan?"
A lazy voice called out, "Yo!" Kakashi waved a hand in greeting. Everyone's eyes popped out when they saw him there. No one could believe he'd actually shown up on time for a meeting. The last time he'd done this was when Icha Icha was about to be banned. They shivered, something bad must be happening today…
Homura Mitokado frowned, wondering why the perpetually late masked jounin had come today. He usually only came to clan head meetings if something interesting was going to happen, and that too, he'd only show up at least an hour after the meeting began. With the next generation of clan heads in attendance, it couldn't be anything good. He narrowed his eyes.
"Hoki Family" Koharu's crisp voice echoed across the still silent crowd.
"They're in Suna with extended family… They won't be coming back until after the Chunin Exams," Hiruzen spoke up when no one answered.
Koharu pursed her lips and went to the next name, "Hyuuga Clan?"
"Present with first born child," Hiashi said, not referring to Hinata as the heiress. Although she'd been doing better in spars against him lately, she still refused to practice with Hanabi so the elders didn't know who would be more qualified for the position as clan head. They were pushing for Hanabi as she'd shown a more aggressive nature than Hinata had thus far.
"Inuzuka Clan?"
"Here with my pup in tow. He said he wanted to come today. Don't know why, it's not like we'll be doing anything fun here… There must be something wrong with this one," Tsume shook her head at Kiba.
"Hey!" Kiba protested but was ignored.
Marking them off, she read the next clan off the list, "Kohaku Clan?"
"Their ambassador had to return back to their village. Something came up," Hiruzen interjected.
Koharu nodded. "Kurama Clan?" Naruto perked up when he heard Kurama's name. Hey, do you know them? He thought to Kurama.
No—Wait, actually, I think I do know them! A long time ago, when I was roaming the world in human form for the first time, I'd come across a group of nomads cooking dinner. They offered me some food, so I showed them a few tricks as thanks and told them my name before I left. They must've used it as a clan name in honor of me…
Woah! That's so cool! Naruto's eyes widened in amazement as Kurama puffed out his fur in pride.
"Not present," Homura said out loud, showing a disapproving look on his face.
Koharu clicked her tongue before continuing, "Lee Clan?"
"Ah, young Lee is out on a mission with his team. They should be coming back in time for the Chunin Exams though," Hiruzen rubbed his chin.
"Nara Clan?"
"Present with next leading clan head in accompaniment," Shikaku lazily answered. Shikamaru sleepily lifted his head from the table, and wistfully gazed out the window. I could've been cloud watching right now…
"Sarutobi Clan?"
"Here," Asuma grunted from the corner he was sitting with Kurenai.
"Shimura Clan?" Koharu said, not even bothering to ask about the Senju Clan. Everyone knew that Tsunade was out of the village and not coming back any time soon.
"Here," Danzo answered, finally taking his eyes off of Naruto. It's a shame he wasn't in root…
"Uchiha Clan?" Koharu listed, noticing the young Uchiha sitting among the other clan heads. So, the rumors were true. He really is taking over his clan!
"Present," Sasuke curtly stated. He'd already filed the necessary paperwork with the Hokage before the meeting, so he was set to assume his position as clan head despite his older brother still being alive.
"Do you have any members of your clan you'd like to report?" Koharu awkwardly asked the standard question of when a new clan head joins.
"No," Sasuke replied coldly.
"Yamanaka Clan?" Koharu read out.
"I'm here with my daughter," Inoichi said, ruffling Ino's hair.
"Dad, no, my hair!" Ino grumbled, as her dad just laughed.
"Alright, that's everyone. Here's the—" Koharu began handing over the list back to the Hokage but was cut off by an orange eyesore.
"Hey! You forgot my clan!" Naruto shouted out. Sakura frowned and nodded. Theirs should've come right after Sasuke's clan, but they were skipped over.
"Oh, my apologies, I didn't know you were part of a clan. Which one have you joined?" Koharu asked in a sickly-sweet voice. The other genin in attendance frowned at her, not liking her tone.
"What? No, I didn't join any. I'm part of my own clan! The Uzumaki's!" Naruto huffed.
"I think you're mistaken. You see, you were given the Uzumaki name because you didn't have a last name. The caretakers took pity on you and gifted you the last name of our fallen sister village. Who knew you'd actually think you were part of the clan?" a villager jeered.
The genin glared in the direction of where that voice came from. Ino had to stop Choji from storming over. "Stop, we'll get them later. Team 8's already on it. You're going to get us caught," she hissed. Inoichi and Choza were surprised to see that Choji was the first one to lose his cool. The usually mild-tempered boy never got angry or stood up for himself. It was strange seeing him rage while Ino, of all people, held him back.
"Yeah, you have no family!" Another voice from the crowd joined in bashing Naruto. Shikamaru clenched his fists tighter to stop from searching the crowd for whoever was insulting his friend. Shikaku narrowed his eyes at his son, seeing the lazy look on his face exchanged for a solemn look.
"Shino, Kiba," Hinata said. Hiashi was stunned, hearing his normally timid daughter's commanding voice. "Did you bug them?"
"Yes," Shino answered. Shibi looked at his son speculatively. He knew his son's nature very well and thought he'd have trouble working together in a team. He was shocked to see his usually stoic son work with his teammates perfectly for someone's else's behalf.
"Good. I can't wait to visit their houses with Akamaru later on," Kiba ferally grinned. Tsume was going to scold him, but was taken aback when she heard Akamaru's growl. It was the same one he used when a member of his pack was threatened. How close had the genin gotten if they'd already identified each other as pack members?
Sasuke overheard their conversation and locked eyes with Kiba, conveying his intent on joining them later on. Sakura made a fist embedded with chakra and solemnly nodded at Hinata, also agreeing to join. Kakashi stared out into the crowd and memorized each villager that looked even remotely dissatisfied with Naruto and made a mental note to… visit them later.
"They're right! The demon-brat—" a villager began but shut up when he saw Hiruzen's face.
"Silence!" the Hokage bellowed. "Naruto holds the Uzumaki name and therefore may take over as clan head if he wishes!" Some civilians frowned, but didn't open their mouths to protest when they saw the Hokage releasing Killing Intent at them.
"Hiruzen," Danzo spoke, catching the everyone's attention. "That's not your decision to make. According to the charter, only those who have the bloodline of the clan may take over, not charity cases…" He sneered at Naruto as he said this.
"But—" Hiruzen tried to speak but was cut off again.
"Unless… You actually know who the boy's parents were?" Danzo pressed. He knew his old friend knew the carrier's parents, yet still refused to tell him. But now, he had no choice but to tell unless he didn't want Naruto to inherit his clan's belongings.
"That is…" Hiruzen cursed internally. That sly old bastard! He knows very well why I won't announce Naruto's heritage! He just wants me to confirm his suspicions…
Naruto didn't really understand what they were saying, but got enough of a gist to know that they didn't believe that he really was an Uzumaki. "I am too an Uzumaki! Take that back!" he yelled.
"With what proof do you make that statement?" Danzo countered in a bored tone.
"I… I…" he tried to think of a way to prove himself as an Uzumaki. He went over what the Uzumaki Clan was known for. Shit, I don't have the red hair so I can't use that… What else? "I heal really fast!" he shouted.
"Humph, so what? That could be a mutated Bloodline Limit for all we know," Homura refuted, taking Danzo's side.
"I also have a lot of chakra!" Naruto remembered the next thing the Uzumaki's were known for.
"That doesn't prove anything! A lot of people in your condition have a lot of chakra. How do we even know if it's actually your chakra?" Koharu sneered. Hiruzen frowned at his advisors. If only Naruto had red hair, then no one could protest that he wasn't an Uzumaki. His acts just like Kushina!
"He's really good at making seals!" Sakura backed Naruto up.
"Anyone can learn with practice," Danzo scoffed.
"I, I like Ramen?" Naruto blurt out, trying to think of something else.
"Yeah! He likes Ramen!" Sakura echoed, before realizing what she was saying.
"That-That's not really a part of the Uzumaki heritage…" Homura stuttered, taken aback by the answer and sweat-dropped. The others looked at Naruto in disbelief, as he blushed.
"If you had any of the Uzumaki special techniques, then it'd be another story. But as the case stands, I'm sorry but you have none of what they're known for like—" Koharu started saying before she was cut off by Naruto.
Kit, show them your chakra chains!
"Chakra chains?" Naruto repeated what Kurama said and focused.
"Yes, chakra chains are another technique that the Uzumaki's were famous for," Koharu continued as if she hadn't been interrupted and then faltered. "How did you kn—ow?"
Danzo smirked at Hiruzen. He'll have to reveal the Jinchuuriki's parentage now! He gloated as he heard Koharu's rebuttal. He was waiting for Hiruzen to reveal the secret, when he noticed everyone had gone quiet. Looking over at the crowd, he sucked in a breath when he noticed the carrier had manifested golden chakra chains.
So, he has them too? Hiruzen thought as he saw the golden chains swirl up into the sky into a swirl, mimicking the Uzumaki Clan symbol. "That's enough, Naruto," Hiruzen said aloud. "I think you've proved that you're an Uzumaki to everyone here," he said, looking straight at Danzo. "Alright, I think we've had a little too much excitement," he continued, turning back to the crowd. "Let's end the public meeting here," Hiruzen decided. He watched the villagers slowly filter out before turning to Naruto. "Come over here for a second," he beckoned the blonde over. Naruto moved towards the desk, closely shadowed by his two teammates, while the rest of the genin overprotectively watched from the side. It looks like he finally made some really good friends. Hiruzen smiled and continued speaking, "Congratulations on taking over the Uzumaki Clan. Do you have any members to report?"
"Yeah! I've got Sakura-chan!" Naruto excitedly told the Hokage, pointing at the pink-haired girl.
"Oh?" Hiruzen asked, bemused. He didn't expect Naruto to already recruit his teammate. Sakura blushed from behind him. "Do you have anyone else?" he asked, not really expecting Naruto to name anyone else.
"Yeah!" Naruto nodded his head. Danzo listened in closely, wondering who else had joined the Jinchuuriki's clan. He choked when he heard Naruto's answer. "Sai is in my clan too! He's an orphan and was my first member!"
What? Danzo thought in shock, wondering why his operative hadn't reported this development back to him yet. At least he's blending in well…
Shikamaru frowned, he didn't remember anyone named Sai in the village. He saw the other genin looking at him and shook his head no, signifying that he didn't know who this Sai was. He made a mental note to ask his father to run a background check on him later on. Naruto hesitated before adding, "And… And I've also got another member. His name's Kurama… and I met him in Wave," he improvised, carefully avoiding any mention that Kurama was actually the Kyuubi who was still stuck inside him.
Aww Kit! You're sooo nice! Kurama gushed sarcastically, but deep down was touched.
Shut up! Naruto thought back, embarrassed. I said you were part of my family, and I meant it, so it's only right that you're also part of my clan too! Plus, you'll need a place to stay once I get you out of that seal! Kurama felt a familiar warm feeling bubble over him again.
"Okay, that's good! I see you're already on your way to restoring your clan," Hiruzen chuckled, mentally noting to get his ANBU to do background checks on Sai and Kurama, as he didn't recognize who they were.
"Yup, Jiji!" Naruto happily agreed. "Do you want to get some ramen with me to celebrate?" he asked excitedly.
Hiruzen was about to agree when he saw the possessive faces of the other genin. "Not today, Naruto. I see your friends want to hang out with you," he teased. Naruto flushed slightly and looked away.
"That's right! We were thinking of going to Yakiniku Q's after this, they've got the best barbecue in the village!" Choji boasted.
"So, do you want to come? Team 8 and our parents are also coming!" Ino eagerly asked.
"Well, alright," Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking at his two teammates, wondering if they'd come.
"Sounds like fun," Sakura agreed while Sasuke just nodded.
"Let's go then!" Kiba exclaimed and dragged Shino away with him, leading the way. The genin trailed after the two, and were closely followed by their parents.
The Sixth Meeting: Yakiniku Q's
"So… How do you all like being genin?" Inoichi asked as he wiped the sauce of his fingers with a napkin. They'd crammed all 15 of them into a large booth and had just been served their food. Naruto was watching everything with wide eyes. He'd never set foot in this restaurant before. He mimicked what Sakura was doing and set a few skewers of beef onto the charcoal grill blazing in the middle of the table.
"It's good so far," Kiba answered in between ripping bites off his skewer. "I can't wait to go on a C-rank! Catching Tora sucks!" He wrinkled his nose up in displeasure.
"Hahaha," Choza chuckled. "You've only been genin for a few weeks! Wait another month for a C-rank. We didn't get ours until after four months!" He looked at Shikaku and Inoichi, who were grimacing, remembering the months of D-ranks they were forced to endure.
"That's not fair, Team 7 already got a C-rank!" Ino complained. The parents were surprised to hear this. They'd just come out of the academy a few weeks ago and were already taking C-ranks? Wow, the team with the two top ranked shinobi and dead last are a lot faster than the other teams… Hiashi thought, remembering how his nephew's team also went on their first C-rank just two months out of the academy.
"Oh? And, how was it?" Shikaku asked, glancing at Team 7.
Sakura answered, seeing Naruto was engrossed in grilling his food and knowing Sasuke wouldn't answer. "I don't really think you can use our mission as a standard for other C-ranks…" she began hesitantly.
"Ha, the curse strikes again!" Tsume laughed, spilling her wine on the table.
"What curse?" Kiba asked his mom, sopping up what she'd spilled with a napkin.
"There's a curse on C-ranks, especially first one genin take. Legend has it that there was a team of genin who'd just come out of the academy. Their sensei was away on a mission, so they decided to take a mission by themselves. Little did they know that the Chunin manning the mission assignment desk had a grudge against their sensei for stealing his girlfriend. Since he hated their teacher, he persuaded them to go on a C-rank all by themselves. So, they went, but the mission actually turned out to actually be a B-rank and they were ambushed by a group of jounin-level bandits! They fought bravely but in the end, couldn't win. Before they died, the bandits told them that they'd actually been hired by the mission assignment Chunin who had a grudge against their teacher and wanted revenge. With their last breath, they cursed C-ranks for all future teams to never turn out the way they're supposed to, especially if it was the team's first C-rank," Inoichi creepily narrated, spooking the children.
Choza smacked the back of his friend's head and spoke in a mollifying tone, "Don't listen to this idiot. He's just trying to scare you. The last time a C-rank turned bad was back before the fourth became Hokage." He rolled his eyes at Inoichi who was still pouting and rubbing his head. "At most, you'll only have to fight a few bandits on a C-rank," he tried to placate the genin, who didn't look convinced as they knew what happened on Team 7's supposed C-rank.
"Actually…" Sakura spoke up. "Our C-rank was mislabeled too! It was actually an A-rank…"
"What?" Shikaku sat up straighter in alarm. There's no way an A-rank could be relabeled as a C-rank. Even the client lied about it, they were ninja! Any lie should have easily been seen through by the interrogators. There was no way it could slip through and be added to the list of C-ranks for genin to complete. Someone would have to deliberately ignore the warning signs they got from the client and covertly add the mission to the genin's pile of missions. But that doesn't make sense! Why would they want a genin team to go on an A-rank? Unless… Unless, they wanted to test the team, or in this case, test a certain member of the team. He glanced at the orange genin who wasn't listening to the conversation, as he was too lost in savoring the food he'd just made on the grill.
"I said, t-that our C-rank was actually an A-rank?" Sakura stuttered slightly as she saw all the parents were sharply watching her. The other parents were grim. The only team that could've taken this mission was Team 7. Team 9 was still out of the village on an extended mission until the Chunin Exams, and Teams 8 and 10 couldn't leave the village yet due to their clan training. This mission specifically targeted Team 7. Either someone from the village was trying to kill then off, which wasn't very likely, or someone had wanted to test Team 7… This had Danzo written all over it.
Shikaku had been suspicious of the elderly councilman before, especially after the genin had found his seal inscribed inside his house and the seal on Shikamaru's earrings. But now, he was sure that Root was still up and running and that Danzo was definitely planning something big in the next few months. But what could it be? Wait… The Chunin Exams are coming up! Shit, something's going to happen there! I'm going to have to up the security… He rubbed his face tiredly, thinking of all the extra security measures he'd have to add to the plans.
"Yeah, they had to fight the Demon Brothers and Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist and his apprentice!" Kiba excitedly explained. The parent's eyes widened, wondering how they'd even survived. They knew Kakashi was good, but this good?
"And they defeated Gato and saved Wave!" Ino enthusiastically inputted. Wait, Gato? As in Gato corporation? As in the shipping magnate that took over Wave with a massive private army and was rumored to have hired jounin-level mssing-nin? They defeated that Gato without any backup? They thought in disbelief.
"There's even a bridge in Wave named after Naruto," Shikamaru dryly added on. The parents nodded. They'd heard that recently there was a mission to Wave and a bridge was built connecting it to the mainland, but they didn't know the actual details of the mission. To think that it was accomplished by all genin! Wave had been trying to overthrow Gato for years, and in the end, it only took a group of genin to set them free…
"Wow, that must be a new record! Only a few weeks out of the academy, and you've already went on your first A-rank!" Tsume teased.
"Yeah," Sakura blushed and Sasuke tilted his chin up in pride. Naruto was still engrossed in making the "prefect" grilled beef.
"I can't wait for my first C-rank!" Ino pouted jealously as she sipped her smoothie.
"I hope ours isn't as exciting," Shikamaru deadpanned, giving Choji the rest of his barbecue.
"Haha, well, it's getting late," Choza said, noticing that everyone was done eating. "This was fun! Let's do this again another time!" The others nodded and began packing up the leftovers and paying off their bills.
"Thank you for inviting us out to eat. As it is getting late, we shall take our leave first," Hiashi said as he stood up and bowed to the group.
"Thank you for the invitation and food. I had a lot of fun today!" Hinata politely thanked everyone and exited the restaurant with her father.
"See you all later!" Choji called out before leaving as Shikamaru just lazily waved goodbye at everyone and left with their dads.
Inoichi waved goodbye and left with Ino who yelled, "Bye!"
"Alright! See you guys later!" Kiba boisterously waved and raced his mother home. No one noticed when Shibi and Shino had silently left. All that was left in front of the empty restaurant was Team 7.
"So… I guess I'll be going now," Sakura turned to leave as she saw her teammates weren't saying anything.
"Sakura-chan! Let us walk you home, it's dark outside now," Naruto caught up with her. Sasuke stoically stood on her other side and nodded, indicating he'd join them.
"You guys!" Sakura was touched. She felt warm inside when she saw her team actually cared about her. It made her even more determined to begin training and catchup to her boys. If she started now and trained nonstop, she should catch up to them in time for the Chunin Exams… She clenched her fists, her resolution made.
Sasuke and Naruto waved goodbye at Sakura and walked in silence to their homes. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You… You have good friends," Sasuke finally said after some silence.
"Thanks," Naruto scratched the back of his head and squinted at Sasuke. The raven-haired boy looked even more gloomier than usual. "You know, they're your friends too now…" he said.
"Friends? I don't need friends," Sasuke scoffed. "They'll just get in the way." The two boys stopped walking in the middle of the street.
"You don't mean that," Naruto softly said in the same tone of voice he used to coax Konohamaru to eat his vegetables.
"…No, I don't," Sasuke whispered so quietly, Naruto almost didn't hear him.
"I knew you didn't mean it! After all, I am your best friend, and I'm super awesome!" Naruto joked, trying to lighten up the mood. Sasuke snorted, but his lips twitched upwards slightly. They continued walking down the path together.
"Thanks…(for not letting me be alone)" Sasuke said, not looking at Naruto who saw his ears slightly tinted red. The blonde didn't say anything and just hummed with his hands behind his head, looking up at the moon. The two walked back in a comfortable silence, not saying anything else for the rest of that day.
Replies to Reviews:
AndiDuel: Yay, glad you liked the chapter! Haha, let's go with friendship. I'm not that good at writing romance (the last one I wrote ended in everyone dying... My teacher was sad ;) ) I like writing fluff more! Thanks!
Truth Is What You Make Of It: Yeah, I'm a woman. Lol, since you wrote that review, can I guess you're a man? Yeah, I think I got a little too fluffy for the characters last chapter. I tried to tone it down in this one. :) I think reading Kenkyo Kenjitsu before writing may have influenced me! It's just so fluffy! Haha, yeah, I know, I actually have 2 best friends too! That's what Shikamaru was trying to say (that him and Choji were aruto's best friends), but I guess it didn't come out that way? I was worried that there friendship was way too fast, but I sort of thought of Kurama as a super lonely person who had no friends for over a hundred years and the only people he talked to hated him or tortured him. And then Naruto comes in, and he's nice and doesn't blame him and wants to free him from his prison. I think anyone would get attached rather quickly to someone who was nice to them and actually cared about them in this situation? (Also, I'll add something in the Chunin Exam chapter that might slightly explain it a little more...) Thanks for liking it!
Dracaro: Thanks! I lean towards Shika/Naru too, but this fic will probably just be a gen fic.
MegDBrew: Wow thanks so much!
King Cairo: Hahaha! Thanks for the review! Glad you liked the chapter!
ryo tadagachi: Thank you very much!
duchessliz: I have something planned for that, but I think it might take another two chapters before I touch on that.
Pingu The Reader: Thanks! Here's another update, with the next one coming soon!
YamiSlade: Mission Accomplish, lol :)
Magicvibes: Actually, it's more of a gen fic, but I'm guessing you won't read this so...
Guest: Haha, if I did have Naruto get with someone, it'd be only one person so he can devote all his affection to them :) But I'm leaning to the best-friends with everyone route...
Guest: I searched on google to see if dogs were colorblind after reading your comment, and it said: "Neitz confirmed that dogs actually do see color, but many fewer colors than normal humans do. Instead of seeing the rainbow as violet, blue, blue-green, green, yellow, orange and red, dogs would see it as dark blue, light blue, gray, light yellow, darker yellow (sort of brown), and very dark gray." So, Akamaru would see Naruto as light yellow in this case. Honestly, I didn't even think of this problem when I was writing, so ya... But if it turns out that dogs were colorblind, I would've replied: Chakra makes everything work, lol.
Teannava: Thanks for liking my story! There are a lot of good ones out there too, but I'm glad that you like mine! :)
xXSakuraBlossomsXx: Yay! Glad you like my story! I'll write the next chapter soon!
Ann: Fixed the distances! I'm more used to feet, but I actually meant it to be in meters... I was doing my physics homework while writing that part and the cars were traveling in km/h so I messed up there. Thanks for pointing that out, hope it makes more sense now.
hennessyswagg83: I'll show their inner demons in the next few chapters, so look forward to it! If there's anything confusing, you can always ask about it and I can try clearing it up? It's probably going to just stay a gen fic, but if I do pair him up with a girl, I'm leaning towards Hinata and then Ino. I still don't know if Sai and Ino will get together or not... And I'm trying to make Hinata not be so shy. As for Sakura and Karin, I think they'll be more like sisters to him. I don't think Temari will play a big part in the story...
Pffft ahahahaha: Glad you like the story and thanks for the review! I love when they're overprotective of Naruto too, so I want to make my story like that :) That would be hilarious in a side story, I can so see it happening! If I ever write it, I'll be sure to include where the idea came from :)