Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.

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Memories Of Others

Chapter 17

Fame Of A New Genin

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"Do you have to leave?" Inari sniffled as Ino hugged him.

"Yeah, we need to go back to Konoha." Ino said with a small, tearful smile of her own. "But I'll ask Naruto-san to bring me back at least every other month to visit."

"I'll only charge it as a D-rank." Naruto half-joked, earning a glare from both Inari and Ino. "What, I'm an independent genin, remember? I don't get the team support that you do, I need to earn money to pay for my training."

Ino sighed as she finally released Inari and ruffled his hair, eliciting an annoyed protest.

"You know, the Chunin Exams are coming up in about three months." Naruto mused. "I suppose I could accept a mission to come and bring you over to cheer Ino on…"

"Yeah!" Inari shouted with glee, then he sighed. "But I don't want you to go…"

"We have to." Ino said gently. "Other people need our help too, you know. It wouldn't be right to deny it to them."

Inari let out a huge sigh, then stepped back and glanced behind Ino at the bridge that linked the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire.

"Come on." Kurenai said as Asuma stood beside her. "Let's go."

"Come back soon!" Inari called to the departing Ino, who smiled as she waved back at him.

"Far be it for anything to separate you from your toyboy." Kiba laughed. "Ow!"

"You take that back!" Ino snarled. "He's a friend! That's all! I just… helped him get over a few issues of his. All of us Yamanaka are trained in psychology, after all."

"I was just kidding." Kiba grumbled, rubbing at his head where Ino had hit him.

"Don't." Ino commanded, managing to make her young voice sound somewhat authoritarian.

"Once we get across to the other end of the bridge and place the tag, can you jump us back to Konoha?" Kurenai asked and Naruto nodded.

"Wait!" Hinata half-shouted. "Your mission, the one that sent you to Wave alongside us…"

"Pretty much complete, Hinata-hime." Naruto smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Hinata gave him a long, suspicious look. "Just what was your mission, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gave Hinata an innocent smile, causing her frown to deepen.

"You can worry about that later, Hinata." Kurenai laughed.

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"I'll miss them." Inari sighed as he watched the group of ninja vanish into the mist covering the bridge. "Ino and her dad really helped me."

"You do seem happier since Naruto brought us back from Konoha." Tsunami agreed, then she turned to glance at her father.

"So, have you decided what to name the bridge?"

"The Super Awesome Bridge That Tazuna Built?"

A long silence was his only response and he sagged. "It was worth a try."

"How about… the Bridge of New Hope?" Tsunami suggested. "I mean, the bridge did help us regain our hope and our freedom as well."

"The Bridge of New Hope…" Tazuna mused. "That would work. Now all we need do is build the outposts for the Leaf Ninja who'll be stationed here to help collect the tithes from the traders who'll soon be coming through."

"…what exactly did you promise to get them to help?" Tsunami asked suspiciously.

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"Ah, welcome back teams eight and ten." Hiruzen smiled. "And Naruto, congratulations on completing your first solo C-rank."

"Thanks, Hokage-jiji, but it's not quite complete yet." Naruto grinned back, causing several of the genin to stare at him in shock and confusion.

"Now, I've had the rewards for the prisoners that Team Gai returned with put into your accounts and you've done very well out of them." Hiruzen continued. "Especially when we discovered that one of their primary missions was to kidnap you, Naruto."

"As long as I can escape for five seconds, I can escape anything." Naruto stated.

"Indeed you can." Hiruzen agreed. "I've already sent a message to the Tsuchikage invoking the usual trade-back agreements for his ninja… did you know that eight of them were members of SOAT? That's Iwa's equivalent of our ANBU, albeit used more for missions outside the Land of Earth."

"Whoah." Kiba breathed. "We took out some of Iwa's elite? We rock!"

"A crude, but not inaccurate summation." Shino added.

"And I am proud of you all." Hiruzen agreed. "Now, Kurenai, since you were Lead Jonin for this, please start the report."

"Of course, Lord Hokage." Kurenai said with a slight bow. "Our mission started off with the addition of an extra member, Genin Uzumaki Naruto whose mission was to ensure that Hinata was not kidnapped by those desiring her byakugan…"

Hinata gave Naruto a wide-eyed stare, then she smiled at him.

… … …

"…and then Naruto brought us back." Kurenai finished. "I feel that I must commend Yamanaka Ino of Team Ten for taking on an extra duty in providing psychological counselling for Inari."

"I'm a Yamanaka." Ino said with an embarrassed shrug. "It's kinda what we do, you know?"

"That and gossip." Shikamaru snarked, reflexively ducking the dope-slap Ino unleashed at him.

"Anyway." Kurenai said firmly, sending a quelling glance at the two genin, "I can confirm the mission was a success."

"Excellent." Hiruzen smiled. "Naruto, just so you know, you still have to escort Hinata home for your mission to count as complete."

Naruto nodded and offered his arm to Hinata.

"My lady?"

With a giggle, Hinata accepted his arm.

"If you will pardon us, Lord Hokage, Kurenai-Sensei?" Naruto continued, getting amused nods from the two adults. "Then I shall escort this princess back to her family."

"That was so romantic." Ino breathed as the door closed behind the duo.

"Perhaps you can train your boytoy to do that for you. Ow!"

"Shut it, mutt!" Ino snapped before remembering where she was. "Ah! Errrrrrrr… oops?"

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"So, your entire mission was to keep me safe?" Hinata asked as they exited the tower, her hand still tucked into his elbow.

"Yep." Naruto confirmed. "Your father asked me to do it."

Hinata hmmmm'd contentedly as she placed her head on his shoulder.

"Once this is over, do you want to see my new house?" Naruto asked and Hinata nodded.

"I'd like that." She murmured.

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"So, anything else to report?" Hiruzen asked after the other genin had all departed.

"Nothing that wasn't either covered in my verbal report or in the written one I handed in, Hokage-sama." Kurenai replied.

"Same here, pops." Asuma shrugged. "Ino's getting almost vicious with her traps, she's started to include paralytics in them. I told her not to use actual poisons as there's always a chance of a friendly triggering the trap and lethal traps are something you should only use when you know that there aren't any friendlies in the area."

"I've noticed that Shikamaru has bulked up a bit." Hiruzen added and Asuma laughed.

"Yep. It's those weekly spars against Op-force Uzumaki. He needs to keep in shape otherwise Naruto humiliates him, then sends a report to his mother on how badly he did!"

Hiruzen chuckled. "He certainly knows how to motivate people, doesn't he?"

"He does." Asuma agreed. "In fact, I'd suggest that he be marked as being a high-probability prospect for promotion to chunin sometime in the next two years, if not sooner."

"When he demonstrated the Hiraishin for me, I decided that his eventual promotion was assured." Hiruzen agreed. "I've already sent out a message to Jiraiya for him to come back. Once Naruto learns the Rasengan and Jiraiya has a chance to test him, I'll find an excuse to promote him."

"Huh." Asuma mused. "Okay, I hadn't expected that, but… okay."

"I think it's almost overdue." Kurenai smiled."I look forwards to seeing him in a chunin vest."

"Means he'll be able to charge more for providing his nickname." Asuma commented.

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"Lord Hiashi." Naruto bowed.

"Father." Hinata said in greeting.

"Hinata-chan. Naruto-san." Hiashi replied. "I assume the missions were a success?"

"On country freed and permanently allied to Konoha, one tyrant defeated and Hinata took down the grand-daughter of the Tsuchikage!"

"Neji-san helped." Hinata protested.

"And the resulting boost to the Hyuuga coffers is appreciated." Hiashi agreed, then he caught Naruto's puzzled expression.

"It is traditional for a portion of all mission pay, three-quarters in the case of the Hyuuga Clan, to be given to the clan by active shinobi. In exchange, the clan provides food, shelter and the other services which a shinobi living by themselves would otherwise be forced to waste time doing rather than training or taking more missions."

"Kiba was going on about getting a private den for himself…" Naruto mused and Hiashi gave a slight shrug.

"The Inuzuka, since they are more independent, tend to only take a tenth of what their members earn." Hiashi said. "Of course, their houses are built along different lines to ours, being sturdier, but less… polished."

"Speaking of houses," Naruto said slowly, "Do I have your permission to show Hinata my new house?"

"May I see it too?" Hiashi asked. "If it is the house I believe it to be, I have only seen it once before."

Naruto nodded. "My next request would have been for a chaperone, I don't think I can get one much better than Hinata's father and the Hyuuga Clan Head."

Hinata stared in shock as her father briefly smiled.

"Indeed not. So, I assume that you will use Hiraishin to transport us there, but what about the return journey?"

Naruto pulled out a small metal tag. "This is the one that Asuma-san was carrying during our mission. If you put it in your study for now, I can send you back whenever you want. In fact, having the tag in a small and otherwise unused room would be quite useful if I need to get Hinata back quickly."

"I will make the arrangements." Hiashi said as he accepted the tag. "Wait here."

"Damn, he scares me." Naruto whispered after Hiashi had vanished. "I mean, he's an elite Jonin and I'm still just a genin, and one dating his daughter! I'm amazed he hasn't threatened me with a sword or something."

"I believe you to be honorable enough that I do not need to." Hiashi said from behind them, causing both genin to jump in shock. "I am ready, shall we go?"

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Hinata lay down on her bed with a content smile on her face. Although Naruto's house was rather small by the standards that she was used to, having only one bedroom, it was located in a small valley filled with dozens of different types of flowers, several of which she had never seen before, only read about in books and scrolls.

The house itself had been surprisingly clean, especially given its open-plan nature, and the cupboards well stocked with vegetables and, to Hinata's pleased surprise, a few freshly-baked cinammon buns baked by Naruto's clones and fresh out of the oven.

Hinata looked forwards to the day when she could join Naruto in his house, although she would have to ask if she could learn the Hiraishin as well due to how out-of-the-way it was.

Hinata closed her eyes and was soon dreaming peacefully of eating cinammon buns while sitting in Naruto's lap in the middle of a field of ever-changing flowers.

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"FUUUUUUUUCK!"

"Tsuchikage-sama?" Akutsuchi asked worriedly as he barrelled into the office, his gaze darting round looking for whatever had enraged his leader.

"Get to the treasury." Onoki snarled, waving a message scroll in the air. "My grand-daughter not only failed her mission, she and her entire team were captured by the very ninja she intended to kill, and apparently none of them took any serious injuries!"

Akatsuchi gaped at his diminuative boss in shock.

"What?"

"We need the ransoms for them." Onoki growled, jumping out of his chair and stalking around the office. "And get me the shinobi in charge of the Bingo Books! I want the son of the Yondaime to be in the next issue! If he thinks that he can… Arrrgh! My back!"

Akatsuchi backed out of the office slowly and turned to run to the mission room. Once he found out exactly who had been on the mission, he could then visit the records office to pull up their files and find the pre-agreed ransom levels for those of them in Konoha's Bingo Book.

He hoped that the mission hadn't included any of the elite since they would be really expensive to get back.