Just before you get bitchy with me about how long it has taken this update to come out, I'll let you guys know that I'm currently on vacation in a party town in a different country. I've taken time off of snowboarding, mountain climbing, meeting random people and getting drunk every night to bring you this chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

...

"Hold still," instructed Renku as he grabbed Naruto's nose making the blonde boy wince in pain. That was all the warning Naruto was given before the man snapped Naruto's nose back into place. "There, at least it'll heal itself properly now," said Renku as he admired his handiwork. "If you'd left it as it was it'd heal out of shape, and as entertaining as it would be you'd hate me for it down the track."

"So who was that man?" asked Naruto as he tried to get his attention off of his nose, figuring that the less he thought about it the less it would hurt. "He seemed like he was important."

"Not really," said Renku. "Or at least that's how it is for the moment. He's just a small fish in a big ocean, problem is though he's targeting those with less than him and gaining his finances in less than discreet ways. Give it a few years and he'll likely be someone to keep an eye on."

"So what does he want with Boss?" asked Naruto.

"Who knows, guys like him who came from the bottom will use any means necessary to get to the top. He might be here to get a loan or he might even be here to buy Boss off," said Renku with a shrug. "Chances are though Boss won't buy into whatever Gato's selling."

"If it's a potential business venture though, wouldn't it be profitable to take whatever deal it might be?" asked Naruto recalling the various teachings that he had been given. Had nobody seen the boy at that time they could have sworn that the question had came from a middle aged business man, minus the unbroken voice of course.

"Seems you've been paying attention to Makina's lessons after all," said Renku, a rare smile crossing his lips. For a boy who had barely turned the tender age of five years he seemed to know more about the real world than people many times his age. "In any business, you need to weigh up your pros and cons not only in monetary situations but in every other venture as well. This is the only reason why the Hokage allows us to operate in Konoha."

"Wait, the Hokage knows that we're here?" asked Naruto. "I thought this place was all hush hush and stuff."

"Yes, while we don't operate on the same line as ninja we aren't simply allowed to do what we please. There's a long list of unspoken rules that we have to follow and Boss has to make sure that any deal he makes does not break these rules."

"How does he know what these rules are if they're unspoken?" asked Naruto, his busted nose all but pushed to the back of his mind.

"Years in the business, you'll learn them all one day even if we're not the ones to tell you," said Renku as the sound of a nearby door opened. Both he and Naruto turned to see Gato walk out of the Boss' office with a scowl caressing his lips in a twisted way. The short man tossed a spiteful glance at Naruto, as if the failure of his proposition was solely on the fact that he had abused Boss' son. Without another word Gato and his cronies stormed past Renku and Naruto and quickly left.

"Somehow I don't think the meeting went that well," noted Naruto.

"No shit kid," said Renku as he rubbed the top of Naruto's hair. "Let's go talk to Boss."

Getting up from his seated position, Naruto followed Renku into Boss' office where they found the man calmly smoking on a pipe, the tobacco fumes gently gliding through the air. Neither Naruto nor Renku said the first word, for Boss to be puffing away on his pipe meant that he was calming himself down, which in turn could only mean that while Gato was angry Boss was fuming. Several minutes passed before Boss looked directly at the two in front of him rather than at the pipe he held in his hand.

"Naruto, I believe you still have a task to accomplish," he said recalling the assignment he had set earlier in the day.

"Crud, I completely forgot," said Naruto as he rushed out of the room, his mind suddenly back on track to what Boss had told him to do earlier. As he left, Renku closed the door and shut out everybody else from Boss' office.

"Do you want me to have him taken out?" asked Renku.

"No, as much joy as that would bring me I promised myself that I wouldn't my hands anymore. You recall that day, all those years ago," said Boss as he reminisced.

"Yes, but that was years ago, I thought you would have gone back to your old ways by now," said Renku.

"The only reason that I haven't is because of Naruto," said Boss with a content sigh. "Years from now when we're dead and gone I want him to be able to make a difference, and not in the same way we did."

"Well are you still keen on putting him through the ninja academy?"

"Absolutely, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten him his present for tonight," said Boss with a small grin.

...

"..all because they couldn't get into the bathroom," concluded Naruto as he finished the report he had written to Boss, Renku and Makina. Holding the paper in front of him, he watched as Makina walked forward and looked at Naruto's piece.

"There are a few grammatical and spelling errors but that's to be expected," she said as she looked over his work. "I still don't quite know how you spelt my name wrong or how you managed to find something wrong with me but you're definitely improving."

"Thank you," said Naruto beaming.

"Of course that means that I can go even harder on you now," said Makina with a twisted smile that Naruto was used to now.

"Now, since you completed the task that I set out for you to do, it seems only fit that I reward you somehow," mused Boss. "You can come in now."

Confused, Naruto turned to face the door as it opened to reveal a shinobi standing there, garbed in a Chunin jacket, headband and everything. Naruto turned back to Boss with a look in his eye much like he would at Christmas and was given the one thing he wanted most of all. "Really!" he exclaimed.

"Indeed, Itachi here will be teaching you some basics over the next week, I trust that you take these lessons to heart as it may be some time before we can hire another tutor," said Boss.

"Nice to meet you Naruto," said Itachi. "I hope this week I'll be able to teach you some things that you'll find useful down the track."

"Your lessons begin tomorrow morning Naruto, so for the next week instead of lessons with me you'll have them with Itachi," explained Renku.

"Thank you so much," said Naruto with a big cheesy grin plastered on his face.

"Now go get some sleep, Itachi wants you at Training Ground 4 at sunrise," said Boss to which Naruto quickly nodded and rushed out the room, closing the door behind him as he passed Itachi.

"Thanks for agreeing to this," said Renku to the ninja. "Pretty sure the kid's dream is to have his face carved on the monument."

"I had to agree to something, how would I have erased my debt otherwise," said Itachi with a shrug of the shoulders. "If that is all I shall take my leave."

"By all means," said Boss with a wave of his hand.

Leaving the office, Itachi made his way through the maze of corridors and had to push a few needy hands away as he walked through one area in particular. Recalling what he had seen of the blonde boy he knew that he could begin to construct his report to the Hokage. The village leader would be glad to know that the child he thought of as a member of his family was doing well.

...

Hope you enjoyed, even though I know it's a short chapter.

No guarantees on when the next chapter will be out, like I said in the beginning I'm on vacation so I can't predict the next time I'll have computer access, or want to be on a computer for that matter. Until next time.

Ja ne.