The circumstances and events following the rather unfortunate incident concerning genin Team 4 were, in short, excruciating.
Haihachi Tora was quickly found guilty of the charges filed against him, and, with the extensive political influence of Sakurazaki's family on either side of the line, the punishment was meted out to the fullest extent of the law. After a slow climb out of a long history in the seedy underbelly of organized crime and shadowy dealings with unsavory types, the Haihachi name was now solidly buried in the mud.
As hasty as the patriarch of the family was to disown his son and ship him off to prison, he and his estate were not spared the wrath of the wronged party by any measure. His titles were taken away from him, and a significant portion of possessions and royalties seized as measured recompense for the grievance.
Impressive though this legalized socioeconomic thrashing was, it didn't heal the damage done; Mifune, once so loud and joyful and full of youthful exuberance, was now sullen and withdrawn from the world, a hollow remainder of the person she once was. Rumor was that she hadn't spoken a single word since that awful day, not even after her malefactor had been dealt his just desserts.
As for what became of Naruto, well…
~xxx
Although his actions were understandably justified, they did not sit well with the civilian council, as relevant as the situation wasn't to them. After some small time spent arguing, a decision was reached in terms of treatment toward the boy of not-even-10: Passed down by the military council, given some excessive armtwisting by the ethics committee of the civilian council, Naruto was to serve a minimum of 500 days community service in the form of "E" missions.
The function of E missions for the ninja society in Konohagakure was to make use of fractured genin teams and other resident shinobi with various grievances filed against them to make themselves useful during their time outside of professional service. In short, E class missions were essentially D class missions without pay and the right to refuse service withheld.
Anybody else relegated to this form of community service would have protested, but Naruto simply nodded and got to work. As humbling as it was to those who had been reared in comfier settings, it had little to no impact on the boy as far as "disgrace" went. It was a relief to simply have to serve a simple work sentence rather than be stripped of his rank and cast out.
~xxx
Time passed quickly enough, Naruto making the best of his situation. Extensive hours spent toiling away at various odd jobs as they continued to pile up made it hard to find time to buy the essentials for living. However, if anything could be said of Naruto, regardless of whom you asked, one would always say he was tenacious- and on that strength of will he managed and eventually thrived.
With a majority of his waking hours spent in manual labor- plowing fields, running packages, moving furniture, and the like- the effects showed. Although the boy was still a couple years away from true muscle building age, he developed a strong, whipcord lean body, tough throughout and in remarkable condition. If there was any doubt before that he was meant for a grownup world, it was gone now.
When the time came for the sentence to be up, Naruto ignored it. He was used to the routine, and came to enjoy the experience of getting knuckle deep in the mud, as it were. On some level he knew that it would be some time before he'd find a team to be placed on, as controversial as his brief rap sheet was, so he concentrated on what situations he could control.
Then came a couple odd surprises.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Naruto's stipend increased in size. Staring at the total amount, it took the boy a moment to notice the extra title added to the positive values field- "Assignment Pay, Genin – D". The number next to that was a ridiculously high sum- higher than Naruto had ever thought his labor worth. Sure, there was a percentage taken out for the various taxes and fees, but he'd be damned if it wasn't his money.
At the soonest opportunity he could, the boy went shopping. Oddly enough, the first things he'd bought weren't new clothes or food- instead, he'd nearly broken the bank getting lightbulbs, a small floor safe, and a toaster. As foolish as it seemed, being able to have a well-lit home for the first time since he'd gotten it from the village municipality was like a dream.
It also revealed how much of a dump Naruto's apartment really was- holes and cracks and some areas missing significant chunks. The boy maintained no illusions that this apartment was anything but a step up from being an opium den, but with proper lighting it was immediately apparent that the place was an armpit.
Naruto forgot about coming to grips with this revelation and in the following month he bought tools, drywall, plaster, paint, and plenty of other, non-interesting things to children his age to fix up his home. The skinny blond turned plenty of heads on his excursions to the home improvement shops, industriously packing along a proportionally ridiculous amount of token contractor supplies, tucked under either arm and strapped to his deceptively sturdy back.
It took another couple weeks to essentially tear the whole place down and start from scratch, the entire project manageable enough for the boy who spent two years tackling near identical tasks in the name of community service. The whole ordeal was slow going, but satisfying, in the end Naruto's home finally seeming suitable for living in.
Of course, the paint was barely dry before the next, even bigger surprise came in the mail.
As per the inquiry of the standards committee of the military council, Uzumaki Naruto, genin, was to retake the final semester of Academy training in order to suitably induct him back into the ranks as shinobi in all capacities.
The boy could hardly help the grin that split his face- not that he felt the need to.
At long last, he was really, truly back in the saddle
~xxx
Walking down the hall, inhaling the familiar atmosphere of the Academy, Naruto felt renewed. Although he could hardly call his time here halcyon days, collected within these walls were memories of time well spent and important lessons learned.
Entering the same classroom as before, seemingly not changed at all since he last stood in its doorway, the now older boy climbed the short steps up to his old seat at the back, smiling to himself wistfully like a fool.
Being the earliest student like always, Naruto sat and waited, hands folded in front of him, twiddling his thumbs. Just like old times.
Of course, it was a bit of a shock when kids his own age started walking in, but then that was to be expected; after being ahead of the curve for so long, it was a little funny to see people just his size sitting in those seats.
What amused Naruto even further was that he'd started out and passed all these kids years ago. Sure, the outfits changed, but the boy noted all those familiar faces.
Kiba, the boy who always smelled of his clan's dogs, now possessing a dog to go with the smell. Chōji, the kid who was always eating something, now even bigger than before. Shino, the bug boy, seeming as still and implacable as he always was.
The girls were new- then again, the last semester was only the co-ed one. Plenty of these new faces seemed like spiritual successors to, well, the girls from the last time Naruto was here. Bother.
Sighing to himself, the returning student drummed his fingers on the desk, waiting for the teacher to walk in. Wonder of wonders as a friendly face entered the room, coming to stand in front of the desk.
Calling the class to order, the apparent teacher went down the list doing the roll call. When he got to Naruto's name, he looked over to the far corner of the room without a second thought.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka announced, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Present," the blond replied, lazily raising a hand.
"Glad to have you again. Let's make some memories now, eh?"
As Mr. Umino went down the rest of the list, Naruto resisted the urge to smirk. It was too much like old times.
Some students craned around to get a look at him, causing the boy's eyebrow to tick. Way too much like old times.
~xxx
And once again we've conquered the successful completion of another chapter. Hip hip hoorah.
Due to some rather pressing concerns and queries expressed in the reviews thus far, I'll try to spell some things out.
Yes, this is a crossover. Naruto with Men in Black 3. I'll eventually stick this story in the "correct" category.
Naruto is not going to be using his canon techniques- sorry to disappoint. Apparently saying right there in the summary that things were different doesn't convey the gravity of just about EVERYTHING being different.
He can use Bunshins competently, as well as Kawarimi and Henge- this is readily apparent if you read the first chapter.
As far as Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…that's a no go. Likely it will be the same with Rasengan, but you never know; perhaps all those extra fingers will come in handy.
Come to think of it, Naruto's chakra coils should be pretty interesting, seeing as he is a Boglodite and a vessel for the demon fox Kyuubi. If you didn't catch the hint at the end of Chapter 2, I'm here to inform you that, yes, Naruto is still the holder of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox.
However, allow me to make something clear- Naruto does not have those whisker marks.
"Why?" some Naruto fanatics will ask.
Well, the reason could easily be tacked down to this- I don't think it fits anymore. He looks weird enough with finger-eyebrows and double-pointed teeth to merit further mindfuckery.
In the long run, this is inconsequential to any part of the story- except in that it obliterates any connection to that "sensitive whisker marks" that random girls can just rub up because haha it's blatantly symbolic for handjobs lololol
I mean srsly I don't want any of that. This is a science fiction fic- let's keep it real, alright?
In any case, please let me know what you think of this so far in your reviews. Your opinions are genuinely appreciated and I will love you forever if you would review every chapter- at least from this point forward.
Alright? Pretty please with sugar on top, yo.