DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN NARUTO! Thought you'd know by now...
(A/N): OK guys, I am officially pumped about this new story.
"The Caged Bird" isn't all that action based like Oracle is and it is quite a bit darker. Takes a more psychological turn. Hehe, I'm excited.
And, I finished writing the first chapter for it yesterday and I've got Anonymous Jonin editing it as we speak!
But enough about that story! TO THIS STORY!
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Chapter 75: The Next Step
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She was met by the thunder of applause and overwhelming shouts of her people. "All Hail Hokage-sama!"
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Two days passed quickly as Konoha celebrated the inauguration of its fifth Hokage. Several food stands were put up and the main streets of Konoha and lights of the village stayed on from dusk to dawn. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and groaned when the morning light assaulted him. He quickly put his arm over his eyes and groaned even louder over the quick movement. He had a splitting headache from the night before and noticed he woke up on his couch. He blearily looked around the room and saw Kiba and Akamaru passed out in the floor while Ino and Sakura were curled up on his other couch. He noticed Shikamaru and Chouji we both passed out and leaning upright against the wall near the kitchen and Sasuke was laying in the middle of the floor snoring lightly. Naruto tried to sit up but found a weight holding him down. Hinata was laying on top of him sleeping happily. Naruto's eyes widened a bit as he woke up and took in more of his surroundings. He noticed the empty food containers and bags laying all over the place, as well as a couple decks of cards with fake poker chips.
But what he noticed the most were the several empty bottles of Sake. Then his memories of the night before hit him. He also took into account the number of bottles on the floor. 46. 46 bottles of Sake. 37 of which he remembers drinking himself. He groaned and let his head rest back down on the couch. "Good lord...Kurama~...Do you know what happened?" he asked in a half whining half groaning tone. Kurama snickered in his mind before erupting into full blown laughter. "Well Kit, why don't I just start listing off what kind of drunks you friends are." he said before clearing his throat and moving something that sounded like a stack of papers. "Dog Breath is our sloppy drunk. Hell, his mutt has better tolerance than he does. Just after his first cup he was plastered. Blonde Banshee is a happy drunk. Nothing but smiles and what not. Pink Banshee is, yes you guessed it, an angry drunk. I'm pretty sure she is the reason the stupid Uchiha is sleeping in the middle of the floor with a lump on his head. Now the Uchiha brat is the brooding and sad drunk. He even started crying. I'm filing that memory away for shits and giggles later. The Fat one actually held his liquor pretty well until he collapsed. And Pineapple head is just a smart ass when he's in his cups. Noooowww~ to the interesting part. You little vixen there is quite the clingy one when she's tipsy. I think she either held your arm or sat in your lap the entire night after her first cup. And YOU, my little vessel. I must say you can power your way through so much alcohol that even the old woman Tsunade would have died from the poison." Kurama listed off with a defining laugh. Naruto groaned from the foxes booming voice and cut the connection before his headache could get any worse.
He opened his eyes again when he felt Hinata start to wake up. She opened her eyes slightly and stretched her arms and legs. Wincing in her movements and clutching her head slightly. She yawned and looked at Naruto's face with half asleep eyes. "Hey there you~, what happened last night?" she asked dreamily. Naruto would have reeled back if he could because of the powerful smell of Alcohol coming from her, but couldn't with her on him. He waved his hand in a general direction to all of the bottles on the floor. "Take a guess Hime..." he groaned to her. She looked around like he suggested. Once she figured out what happened she sobered instantly. She brought her hands up to he mouth and gasped. "O-o-o-o-o-oooh n-n-n-nooooooo! What did we do! Father's going to be so mad!" she started yelling causing everyone to wake up and groan from their headaches. Naruto just gave her a lazy wave. "Don't worry about it Hina-chan. Remember, old enough to kill old enough to drink right?" he said in with a lazy drawl as he rubbed his head. "Though, I'd have to agree with you. The old geezer will probably be mad..." he said as he sat up.
"And who exactly would this, 'Old Geezer' be?" A loud and stern voice said behind Naruto. The blonde froze upon hearing the voice and shakily looked behind him and saw a very angry Hiashi next to a not as angry, but still angry Seinaru and Anko. "O-oh...Hey...Hiashi-sama...Uh...how are you?" he asked shakily trying not to let loose a nervous sweat. Cole just pointed to the door. "Everyone out." he said in his no nonsense tone. And like that all of the hungover teens bolted for the door. When Naruto tried to sneak away with the group his father grabbed him by the top of his head. "Not you..."
Naruto just started to weep Anime tears as he watched his girlfriend leave him there for his fate.
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After a severe tongue lashing from his parents about parties and drinking in moderation, his father sat him down to talk about some events that will be happening soon.
"Okay, now that that's out of the way," Cole said as he finished his lecture. "We have a mission."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at his father. The last time he went on a mission was nearly a year ago, and that was to defeat the Mizukage and end a war! What the hell could he need both himself and Naruto? "What kind of mission?" Naruto asked skeptically. Cole smirked at his son. "It's time to finish you training. We're going to Kumo in two days to have you master Kurama's chakra. But, we will only have three days to work once we get there. One day travel, three days training, and one day back. We only have five days to do this. And we have to remain under Kumo's radar for as long as we're there. This is a infiltration mission and an S rank one. So, be ready." he explained to his son.
Naruto and Anko's eyes were wide. Naruto's were wide from excitement to finally finish his training. And Anko's was from worry. "You can't be serious!" she yelled at him. "You're going to break into Kumo, train Naruto how to use Kurama's chakra, and come out of it like nothing happened?"
Cole shook his head negative. "Not quite. We aren't going to the actual city of Kumogakure. We are going to a moving Island that is in its country." he clarified. It didn't help much. "Still," she argued. "I can't believe you are willing to take our son somewhere so dangerous to just train!" she said as her eyes started to water. Cole smiled sadly and took her hands in his. "Don't worry Anko-chan. As long as I am there I promise nothing will happen to Naruto. And besides, the brat isn't much of a brat anymore. He's strong enough to handle just about anything. And when he's done with training...I can't even imagine how powerful he will be." he sad with a sad smile. Anko took a indignant sniff. "Still, he's my little baby boy. Don't let anything happen to him you hear! I don't care how strong he is, he's still my baby!" she said with an angry pout.
Naruto smiled at her. "Come on Mom, you gotta admit. I'm kind of a badass." he said with a smirk. Anko narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe, but I'll still beat your ass brat." she said in a challenging tone. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "You wanna bet?" he challenged back. Cole cut in before things got out of hand. "Okay, okay. Why don't we settle this little squabble with a Dango eating competition?" he said with a sly smile.
Naruto's jaw dropped and Anko jumped up in excitement. "You're ON!" she shouted and ran out of the house. Cole looked over to Naruto and snickered at his look of defeat. "Let's just call this payback for drinking all of my Sake." he said as he left. Naruto just grumbled and walked out of the house and lock the door behind him.
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(A/N): To be continued...
Okay okay I know these last three chapters were kinda short, I AM SORRY.
But hey, next chapter starts the Kumo Training Ark, sooooo YAY!
Don't forget to check out "The Caged Bird" on Sunday, we are working really hard on it and so far, I think it's going to be even better than Oracle. But that's just me.
Remember to REVIEW AND LEAVE A QUESTION FOR THE Q&A TOMORROW! And as always, I'll see ya next time!