A/N: I don't own Naruto. The pairing is an eventual Yuugao/Naruto/Kurenai
Hunter of the Night
Chapter One: ANBU Captain
He stood before his team, waiting for their signal; his blonde hair covered with some dirt and his mask, with the abstract design of a wolf, painted in dark blue. Behind him were five other people, each and every one of them in place, using stealth techniques that made sure that they could not be detected by their targets. The short blonde, his special sword in his hand, stood before his teammates; the people under his command.
They stood in a bunch of trees, observing the opposing forces below them, who were guarding a chest that had the emblem of Konoha on it; meaning that the chest was stolen from their home village. It was their job to get it back at all costs.
The blonde watched as the oppposing ninjas took their turns to patrol around the chest.
The short ninja counted that there were at least ten Jounins; high-ranked ninjas, to deal with for the moment. They had to work swiftly and efficiently. The darkness around them worked to their advantage, but once they charged in for a direct assault, that advantage would be lost. The blonde slowly stood up, and motioned with his fingers for one of his teammates to come to his side. One of the ninjas, a white-haired male, came up to him.
'There should be more than ten out there, according to intelligence.' he said.
'That should be true; but you know how the ninjas of Ichi work.' he replied.
'They want us to strike first so that we lose the mission and the chest, huh?' the blonde turned to face his teammate, 'Typical Ichi ninjas to rip off our style.'
There was a small snigger heard from the white-haired ninja.
'So what do we do; Captain?' a male ninja with pitch black hair asked.
'Me and Kabuto will go in first; when there is an ambush, join in.' he said.
The blonde ninja, along with the white-haired ninja, Kabuto, vanshed from sight.
A group of three Ichi ninjas were around the large bonfire that was in the middle of their camp, surrounded by several tents. They stood in the silence of their surroundings. Seemingly prepared for whatever threat came their way. One of the ninjas looked around; his other seven teammates were either guarding the chest or out on patrol.
'Hey, don't you think that it's too quiet?' the ninja questioned his teammates.
'Peekaboo.' the shadow of a ninja, clad in light armor and arm guards, appeared.
The three of them were silenced by a quick work of the sword by Kabuto, cutting all of their heads off their necks, spraying blood upon ther ground and into the flames. As expected, more ninjas came to the scene; Kabuto smirked under his maks,under the abstract painting of a raven or a crow. There were three more to deal with.
'For actions against Konohagakure no Sato after the was, you are all hereby ordered to the sentence of prison by the Daimyou Council of the Five Shinobi Countries.' he said calmly, his sword at his side, dripping with blood, 'Surrender now or die.'
'And what would a lone leaf ANBU such as yourself be capable of?' one ninja questioned.
'Whoever said that I work alone?' Kabuto said; a trace of amusement and cold humor in his voice. The atmosphere seemed to darken at his words, 'Your turn, Captain.'
In an instant, the ninja who had spoken up watched his two teammates beside him die at the hands of a ninja that moved at incredible speeds; kunais digging deep into their throats. The Ichi ninja looked around in panic before finding a sword at his throat.
Behind him, was a short blonde ANBU with the mask that showed the design of a wolf.
'Remember this; ninjas of Konoha are never alone.' the blonde slit his throat.
'Nice work, Captain; though I suspect that the job should be considerably harder.'
'There are still at least four more, maybe some more in hiding, Kabuto.'
As if on cue, more ninjas appeared; more than four, each of them had their upper body heavily armoured with steel plates and all of them were masked. Kabuto smirked under his mask, counting at least eight more ninjas joining in on the fight. He looked towards his left and saw that there was a hulking figure with extremely spiky black hair; he looked like one of the ninjas who specialised in brutality and strength; Kabuto readied his blade.
'Che, you're pretty skilled to have disposed of my men that easily.' he said.
The blonde turned to face the tall man, calmly blowing his breath out under his mask.
'Ichi no Ryuuji; SA-ranked ninja in the shinobi books.' the blonde began, and if his mask was removed, he could be seen smirking, 'You are the only Ichi ninja to have been able to survive the infamous Shunshin no Jutsu of Konohagakure no Sato's Yellow Flash. You're incredibly strong, according to the history books, with your Taijutsu and the original Genjutsu that you have;the Ichi Sousou.' he finished, his tone calm at the end.
'So you've heard of me, have you?' Ryuuji questioned, slightly smirking as he took several steps towards them two ninjas, 'But even with all the books that you have read, could you still be able to defeat me, huh, shorty?'
Kabuto inwardly groaned at the mention of the word "shorty". Many ninjas, even though they were A-ranked nukenins, or normal ninjas, had called him that. Not many of them lived to see the light of day again, after the mentioning of the word.
'You will regret what you just said.' the blonde said, snapping his fingers loudly.
In an instant, the ninjas under his command leapt out of the tree and proceeded to do battle with the Ichi ninjas in the area. Kabuto immediately slew two more Jounins.
'So you want to take this battle on, shorty?' Ryuuji mocked the blonde.
'I let my actions do the talking.' he immediately disappeared from sight.
Ryuuji moved himself back, and began to block a barrage of kunai thrown at him from above. The Ichi ninja dodged them with ese, rolling back to avoid them.
'Is that all you've got, shorty?' Ryuuji began to perform several handseals, 'Doton…'
'Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' he shouted, this time throwing a barrage of shuriken.
Ryuuji spun himself out of range from the attack, and ended up just several feet away.
'You're pretty good; let's go, then! Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu' Ryuuji called out
The head of a dragon came out of the earth and blasted several projectiles towards him.
The blonde immediately performed a number of handseals, ending with the Rat Seal.
'Raiton: Raitoradan no Jutsu!' a tiger leapt out of his outstretched palm.
The two attacks met and the dragon head made of mud was destroyed.
He then came at him full speed, his ANBU sword in a thrusting motion.
Ryuuji moved to one side before attempting to execute a blow to the blonde's head, only to have him replaced by a rock. From behind him, his opponent came, this time without a sword, only his fists. Ryuuji caught the fist, and was met with a kneecap to his jaw.
He retreated several steps behind, and found that he had a cut lip from the attack.
'Damn you; not many people have successfully succeeded in injuring me, even the Yellow Flash of Konoha.' he said, grinning towards the short ninja as the ANBU did battle with several of the men under his command, 'You've penetrated my Bloodline Limit.'
'So that's how the Yellow Flash didn't manage to kill you, tell me, what is it?'
'Why don't we talk as we fight, boy?' Ryuuji disappeared from sight and reappeared behind the blonde, and succeeded in landing a blow to his back, or so it seemed.
He was replaced by a replication; by means of Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
'You really are good, care to tell me your name?' Ryuuji voiced out.
'ANBU don't reveal their identities to anyone on missions.' his voice came.
Ryuuji was hit in his face by an elbow, sending him crashing into the woods. The blonde followed him, his ANBU sword drawn and held tightly in his right hand.
Ryuuji slowly got up, showing a grin, as if he was enjoying the battle.
'For one so young to have such skill; tell me, how long have you been an ANBU?'
'One year.' he replied, taking another step forward as Ryuuji continued grinning.
'So you still lack experience, but no matter, a fight with you will gladly add to my collection of blood and wars.' Ryuuji replied, grinning before charging at the ANBU.
The ANBU parried the attack with his sword, and was surprised when the fists of the Ichi ninja gripped his blade firmly; he was then kicked back deeper into the woods than he had when he kicked Ryuuji. He nursed his slightly bruised shoulder before looking back at Ryuuji, who had just tossed his blade, or what was once a blade, now just two pieces of steel aside and walking towards him, his smug grin in place.
'Hah; you won't be needing that sword, kiddo!' he then readied himself, getting into a Taijutsu stance, one that the blonde found alien to him, 'Let's settle this in Taijutsu! Show me what the Taijutsu of Konoha can do against the Ichi Taijutsu!' the blonde slowly staggered to get up, ' Let me show you my favourite Taijutsu Style; Ichi Senka!'
The blonde watched as his opponent came charging at him with incredible force, knocking him back even deeper into the woods and away from his team.
His mask was now cracked; and one of the ANBU armpads was heavily damaged.
If he wants to settle this in Taijutsu; let's just see how he fares against the Tekken-fu of Konoha, he quickly got up, and blocked an oncoming blow from Ryuuji.
Ryuuji grinned, he was impressed by the skill that the boy had in his arsenal. He was truly surprising. They leapt away from each other and proceeded to charge once more at one another, dealing blows to each other's oncoming fists and kicks.
The blonde dodged a low kick from Ryuuji and proceeded to land a blow to the left side of Ryuuji's neck. It was successfully bloacked by the man, and the blonde turned himself to issue more force into one of his kicks and successfully landed a successive blow to his attack. Ryuuji took this opportunity to grab the ANBU undershirt and draw him closer.
'Take this; Shun Ichi Rokujuu-Yonshou Rendan!' Ryuuji shouted, landing an incredible instant of blows to the blonde; sixty-four incredible hits in one second to him.
The force of the attack was incredible; he was thrown back almost seven hundred metres into a river that reflected the dark sky and the moon above.
Ryuuji appeared in an instant after that, more than ten feet away right from ninja.
'Come on, kid. You seem like you're holding back in this fight.' Ryuuji said.
The blonde slowly got up, revealing a mask that was almost broken; the lower part of the mask was gone, and three whisker marks either side of the blonde's cheeks could be seen. Ryuuji didn't matter what the blonde looked like; he just wanted a battle.
There were traces of blood visible around the blonde's mouth, a result of coughing it up.
'Che; if you're so slow at even getting up, let alone attacking, let's just finisthis battle with your death!' he began to perform several handseals, ending with the Monkey Seal, his eyes were closed with seriousness and suddenly, they flashed open, 'ICHI SOUSOU!'
The surrounding area around the blonde turned into rocks and stones,ad above him, it began to rain rocks, and they seemed as though they were getting larger by the second.
'Just try to escape my Genjutsu! Its nullifies your senses to the world around you; the only things that you can see are stones raining down on you, the only thing that you can feel is pain from those stones and the only thing you can hear is my voice!'
'Katon: Karyuu Endan!' the blonde shouted, breathing out a flurry of white-hot flames.
Ryuuji watched in horror as the flames engulfed him, and screamed in agony as it licked his skin, penetrating his Bloodline Limit; his extremely hard body.
The water that they were standing on was letting out steam from the heat created from the flames, and Ryuuji tried desperately to get up. As he did, he saw the form of a blonde, with sky-blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek.
His opponent had escaped his Genjutsu and defeated him thoroughly.
And this opponent felt so familiar to him; and then it hit him.
'The Yellow Flash?' Ryuuji questioned, hunched over in pain, looking towards him.
'No.' the blonde shook his head, 'The Blue Wolf of Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto.'
'The Blue Wolf that defeated the nukenin Koshimaruki?' his eyes slightly widened.
Naruto did not answer the question; Ryuuji laughed, admitting his defeat to him.
'To be able to fight you to this extent; I am glad…' Ryuuji said, slowly grinning at the boy before him, 'Though I never did expect for you to be so young.'
'Tell the Tsuchikage this for me; if the treaty is ever broken once more by his dealings, there will be no excuse for us to go after his head.' Naruto turned his back to him.
'I will tell him that; it's the least I owe you for such a fight.'
Naruto then watched as a member of his squadron, Kabuto, appeared before him.
'We have retrieved the scroll, Captain.' Kabuto said, nodding in his direction before seeing that behind Naruto was a heavily wounded Ryuuji, 'Captain, what about him?'
'I let him live to deliver a message for me.' Naruto said, slightly grinning.
'And let me guess, "Comply to the Law or we kill you"?' Kabuto said, smirking.
'When is it not?' he replied, smiling as they both went back to their team.
The ANBU team lead by Naruto made it back to Konoha the day after the assignment was completed, and Naruto was glad that his team was once again, alive and well.
They were one of the few ANBU teams that did not have any casualties for the past year. Naruto was glad that he did not have to put up with any death in his team. He had seen people die, and it was in no way, in blazes of glory. They arrived in the outskirts of Konoha, and saw their village, and its guards guarding the main entrance, a huge gate that had, inscribed on it, the Konoha ninja emblem, proudly blazed upon the door.
'Man, it's only been six days, but it feels like we've been gone for a whole year.' a purple-haired girl said, taking off her ANBU mask, 'I wonder how Hayate's doing.'
'Yuugao-chan, put your mask back on.' Naruto said, although it seemed half –hearted.
Uzuki Yuugao was Naruto's latest recruit into his squadron; she seemed to have an affinity for weapons, especially her sword. At twenty-two, she was a ninja of the upper Chuunin class, almost towards the Jounin level. She lacked in her Taijutsu and had a very short temper; she could go from calm to explosive in a matter of seconds.
'What about you? You get to leave your mask off.' Yuugao pointed out.
'That's because my mask was smashed to pieces.' Naruto indicated.
'Captain's right, Yuugao; you better leave your mask on unless you want people to see your face.' a brown-haired man with a ponytail said, his hands on his hips.
'Can it, Maki! You've never felt the how hot it is under my mask!'
Ikazuchi Maki was one of the Chuunin proctors five years ago when Naruto took the exam and passed as the top rookie of the round. He was not actually proficient in anything, a very average ninja; but he had incredible calculative skills, able to pin-point any plan.
He was also knwn as one of the many heart throbs of the generation, his popularity only rivalled by the Elite Jounin with the farmboy face, Shiranui Genma and Naruto's former mentor,the legendary Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi He was a Jounin now, but had to take the duties of ANBU for a chance to be an Elite Jounin.
'Makoto; Okita; a little help before she hits me again.' Maki begged.
Komamura Makoto and Ichijouji Okita were two more of Naruto's teammates, both of them bringing the edge in the team with their devastating tag-team attacks in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Makoto was the shorter of the two, with light blonde hair and and brown eyes, and was the ninjutsu front in the team, while Okita was a tall, broad-shouldered dark-haired ANBU with the tattoo of a tiger pouncing on his left arm; he was quite peaceful, despite his size, and had a gift with Genjutsu and chakra control.
'You try to cool her down yourself, Maki-san; we're not going to be a part of it.'
'Ya; we get hit too if we cross her off.' Okita replied, walking away.
Naruto thought that it would be the right time to make his voice heard.
'Guys, we're ANBU. That means we wear our masks whther we like it or not.'
'Captain's right; where would we ANBU be without our masks?'
'Kabuto, don't butt in when you're not needed.' Yuugao said to the white-haired man.
Yakushi Kabuto was Naruto's second-in-command when Naruto had taken the position as the Captain of an ANBU squadron. He was a ninja that specialised in the use of scrolls, Healing Jutsus, Taijutsu and weapon usage. Under his mask he wore glasses that were fitted to not fall off or get into awkward positions when they were under his mask.
He was as good as Kakashi in battle, and just as perverted. Naruto and Kabuto were like rivals and friends when they met, Naruto being the cocky Captain and Kabuto being the reluctant right hand man to the blonde. Kabuto was also one of the two apprentices that the Sannin Orochimaru had taken in. Orochimaru had since left the village after Naruto's father, the Yondaime had taken over the duty from the Sandaime.
'Yuugao-chan, stop complaining about the mask and put it on; or else…'
Naruto left the threat hanging with a smirk; Yuugao scowled as she put the mask on.
They then went over the Great Wall that surrounded Konoha, via the ANBU entryway. ANBU were much like the secret task force of Konoha, and that meant they had a much cooler way of entering, as Naruto had said in the past. Kabuto agreed with him.
They then appeared, just as sudden as their disappearances, in front of the door of the Yondaime Hokage's office. Naruto turned to face his teammates before looking back to the two ANBU on either side of the doorframe, giving him a salute, as he was a Captain.
Naruto opened the doors and saw his father, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, perched so cosily on his chair, fast asleep, dreaming about things unreal.
'Hokage-sama.' Naruto tried to arouse his father, who was still smiling in content, asleep; Naruto, not one to give up, tried his luck again, 'Hokage-sama.'
'Eiko…' the thirty-six year-old Hokage spelled out his wife's name, still asleep.
'DAD!' Naruto finally screamed, not wanting to know what his father was dreaming about.
The Hokage's reaction was instant; he rose, looked around and saw his son and glared.
'YOU, UZUMAKI NARUTO, ARE ONE OF THE MOST OBNOXIOUS BRATS IN KONOHA!'
'AT LEAST I DON'T SLEEP ON THE JOB LIKE YOU, OLD MAN!'
Naruto's father looked indignant, and saw the ANBU members that were present, and saw that they were sniggering at him. He silenced all of them with a glare.
'Well, what can you say for yourself, Old Man? What kind of Hokage sleeps when he's supposed to sign and give approval to the laws that are given out in Konoha?'
'What I do on the job is none of your business, Naruto.' he said.
Naruto snorted before taking a seat before his father, who took his seat behind the desk.
'So I take it the retrieval of the scroll was a success?' his father grinned in his direction.
'Yeah; I didn't expect to have a run in with Ichi no Ryuuji, though.'
'Ichi no Ryuuji? My son had a run in with the only Ichi ninja that I failed to land a wound on in the war?' the Yondaime smirked at his son's words, 'So how did it go?'
'He was definitely of the SA-rank. I doubt Kakashi-sensei could keep up without the Sharingan in his eye. Well, we just fought and I won. The guy said he was impressed.' Naruto then turned his face into a slight scowl, 'You know, the fight could have been easier if you had just taught me the Kirameki no Jutsu and the Shunshin no Jutsu.'
'Only when you've reached fourteen.' the Yondaime smirked once more at him.
'I let him live; he's an asset to the Ichi anyway, and we don't want to start a war.'
'I trust you left him with your calling card, as always?' the Yondaime kept smirking.
'Yup. The Tsuchikage won't be going against the Law of the Five Countries anymore.'
'I'm not really sure about that, Naruto; he's a pretty slick guy.' he warned.
'Okay, to business.' Naruto got into his business-like tone, 'The target as been retrieved, as you ordered, Hokage-sama. May we take our leave?'
The Hokage smiled to his son as he set the scroll they had been sent to retrieve on his Hokage's desk and began to rise and give a respectful bow to his father.
'Naruto, Itachi would like to see you in the Uchiha Compunds. He told me to tell you as soon as you came back from your mission.' the Yondaime said, as his son nodded and began to walk away from him with his teammates, 'And have a nice vacation.'
Uchiha Itachi stood outside the Konoha Police Force Headquarters, where he was currently the Chief of Police, despite being eighteen. He was one of the best ninjas in the village, the "Genius" of the Uchiha Clan, the forefront of Law Enforcement in Konohagakure no Sato. He was single, a brunette, and held his hair in a ponytail, reaching halfway down his back.
He was a former ANBU Captain, retiring from the task force two years before.
Currently, the Chief of Police was on a self-given vacation from the task of signing numerous piles of paperwork, and he had another two days to use it. His father, Uchiha Fugaku, was not an easy man to please, even with Itachi's skill and power. He shook his head at the idea of his son taking a vacation of his own and leaving the duties to his elder cousin. Itachi didn't care about that; he wanted a period of rest from his duties.
He was, at the moment, waiting for one of his colleagues, Uzumaki Naruto.
'Hey, Itachi; my dad said that you wanted to see me.' a familiar voice rand in his ears.
'Naruto,' Itachi lifted his head and came face-to-face with a blonde ANBU Captain, who was currently clad in his everyday clothes, his hitai-ate not in sight, 'I take it the retrieval of the scroll was a success?' Itachi questioned; Naruto gave a slight grin.
'I had a run-in with one of the Ichi Elite; Ichi no Ryuuji, hell of a Taijutsu Specialist.'
'The SA-ranked ninja of Ichi? That is certainly an interesting encounter. You won?'
'I'm alive; what do you make of that?' Naruto raised an eyebrow, smirking.
'You ran away from the battle like the coward you are.' Itachi smirked; Naruto glared.
'Cut to the chase, what is it you wanted to see me for?' Naruto questioned.
'There are some loose ends that I need your help to tie up.' Itachi said seriously.
Itachi took out a letter from his pocket; a red letter. Naruto's expression turned serious.
'Who is the target this time, Itachi?' Naruto questioned, taking the envelope from him.
'Mizuki from the Ninja Academy; he's been linked to several illegal activities with nukenins from outside the village.' Itachi explained, his hands in his pockets, 'You are to kill him tonight, along with everyone else that is incolved with this.' Itachi then looked towards the short ninja, who was looking back at him seriously, 'I'm sorry to call you on this on such short notice, but I'm on vacation. I can't be bothered with Mizuki at the moment, and I think that this could just lead to something bigger than him.'
'You know, having a second job as a Police Force Hunter-nin really sucks.'
'You'll get your payment from your father soon enough; and it's not like you're one of those Hunter-nin Special Units like Jin-san and Sakagami-sensei.' Itachi said.
'Sakagami-ojiisan is still a Hunter-nin? I thought he retired after that incident.'
Mohijiro Sakagami was Naruto's hero, despite being at the old age of fifty-seven. He was a Jounin, and was one of the best ninjas that Konoha had ever produced, with the skills of a Sannin and incredible experience, he was a powerhouse to the village. Naruto had only met him on his first assignment as an ANBU, running into the man, who was heavily wounded from a fight with several A-ranked nukenins of Tree Country. Ten were already lying on the floor dead, and there were another ten. Sakagami was already tired.
Naruto's Captain ordered the five members of his team to assist Sakagami, and the old Hunter-nin survived, as did Naruto's teammates. Naruto also took this opportunity to get himself an autograph from his hero ever since he was a child, much to the embarrassment of the his ANBU Captain and his teammates. Sakagami signed the notebook happily.
'He's still going to be in the business for another two years, that old man told me. He even said that fighting as a Shinobi of Konoha was still worth the honor.'
'Just like Sakagami-ojiisan. I wonder when he'll be back from his duties?'
'He'll be back after another six months from the jobs.' Itachi said.
'Alright, then. I'll be seeing you, Itachi. And tell Sasuke and your mom I said "Hi".'
Naruto disappeared in a whirl of leaves, leaving a very relaxed-looking Itachi, who then smirked as he whirled around and looked towards a wall across the street.
'Come out, Sasuke. There's no use hiding from me like that.' Itachi called out.
On cue, a much younger version of the Chief of Police appeared, clad in a black jacket and white shorts, the symbol for the Uchiha Clan on the back of his jacket. He was taller than Naruto by three inches, and had Academy goggles on his forehead.
'So you've finally learned to control your chakra; didn't think you'd get so far this soon.'
'What is it with you always looking down on my achievements?' Sasuke scowled at his older brother before glaring at him, 'And why did you just assign Naruto a mission, not knowing the abilities of the enemy; Mizuki is a teacher at the Academy, Nii-san!'
'Naruto is one of the best Elite Jounins that this village has to offer, Sasuke. He may be younger than you, but he's just as skilled as me.' Itachi said, his tone serious, 'I doubt that I could have the confidence to beat him if I did not master the Sharingan.'
'He's only my age. How in the world did he become an Elite Jounin?'
'I told you; he's skilled. Just as strong as I am. If you're still insistent on pushing the matter further, otouto, let me show you his full details.' Itachi went on, smirking.
'I don't want any details on that guy; just because his father is the Yondaime Hokage-'
'Sasuke, I would not go there if I were you. Yondaime-sama is not the kind of person that would just give out the rank of a Jounin to a normal ninja of Naruto's age. I just told you that he's younger than you, Sasuke. He's already in the higher ranks and you're just about to graduate from the Ninja Academy, although your record for Rookie of the Year was impressive, I might add.' Itachi said, Sasuke smirked in triumph, 'You underestimate your opponents and your peers too much, Sasuke. And that will result in your downfall.'
Sasuke scowled once more, and Itachi went on with his lecture.
'There are people in this world, Sasuke, that are younger than you, but stronger than me. If you want to have that match with me when you come of age, and win, I suggest that you change the way you look down on your opponents.'
Itachi walked away, leaving his fuming younger brother to his lonesome.
Naruto's mother was an overly-dramatic woman, with her blue eyes and raven-black hair. She was quite worried for her son at all times, with him being an ANBU Captain and being at the risk of being killed by the powerful ninjas out in the world. She was quite old as well, in her mid-forties; much older than his father. She used to be a Chuunin, a teacher at the Ninja Academy, and was his father's teacher several years ago.
She was also known for her extremely tight hugs whenever Naruto returned home.
'Mom, I am perfectly fine; can you please let go?' Naruto begged as his mother held him just as tight as she did when he came back from his first B-ranked mission.
'Not on your life; what if you had died? Your father should know better than to send a twelve year-old boy like you on such a dangerous A-ranked mission!' she shrilled.
'Mom, I'm an ANBU. I do A-ranked missions all the time.' Naruto reasoned.
'You should stop being one then; why did you have to be such a radical and wild boy? You're only twelve years-old and already doing all these dangerous duties!'
'Mom, I'm a ninja, I always do dangerous duties. It's natural.'
'I know, but you're such a delicate young boy!' his mother went on, still hugging him.
'Could you please let go of me now, Mom? I have a mission to do.'
'Another mission?' his mother withdrew herself from him and started to do her overly-dramatic act once more, crying into he hands, exaggerating, as usual, 'Naruto, why do you and your father have to be so cold towards me? I'm only worrying about your safety.' Naruto sighed as he rolled his eyes, 'Just go; go and fulfil your mission.'
'Dear, I'm home. Early break today.' the familiar voice of the Yondaime was heard.
'HONEY, YOU'RE BACK!' the shrill voice of his mother filled the household as she hugged her husband in the doorway, as they shared a kiss; Naruto blanched, 'So how was work?'
'Great, in fact they let me go early today because Sandaime-jiisan decided to help me with the paperwork, although I do suspect that he just wants to use that crystal ball.'
Naruto scowled at the mention of the lecherous predecessor to the Hokage's title while the raven-haired woman just raised an eyebrow at his mention.
'Dad, you still owe me money for that mission, and my team as well.'
'Go to the Old Man tomorrow; he'll have them ready for you and your team.'
'Oh, okay; I think that I'll be going to go training before my mission, then.'
Naruto exited his house, clad in his black match of clothes and went on to the Ninja Academy to visit one of his close friends, and a former Suna ninja. He was also part of the Ninja Exchange program from Sunagakure no Sato two years ago, and that was when they first met. The youngest Academy Instructor in the history of Konoha; Gaara.
In reflection to Naruto being the Yondaime Hokage's son, Gaara was the son of the Yondaime Kazekage, who was, for some strange reason, missing from his post for the last year. Things were currently run by Gaara's uncle, the Godaime, Yashamaru.
Naruto walked for a while, and saw his red-headed friend, clad in his Chuunin Uniform and his hitai-ate around his left arm. He was as impassive as usual, and was currently alone in front of the Ninja Academy; there was no sign of Naruto's target.
'Hey, Gaara!' Naruto waved to get his friend's attention; Gaara turned to face him.
'Oh; hello, Naruto,' Gaara greeted the blonde boy, slightly smiling as he ran towards him, and stopped, hands in his pockets, 'You're already back from your mission as an ANBU?'
'Yeah; had a run in with one of Ichi's best, though. How have you been?' he asked.
'We're once again, on a shortage of Chuunins Academy teachers.' Gaara said, as they walked away from the Ninja Academy, 'Two of my co-workers have left the Academy and taken up careers as active Chuunin instead, leaving a very big hole in the staff office.'
'Is Iruka-san still there? He;s not the typr that would rush into a career of blood.'
'He is still here.' Gaara said, slightly bowing his head, 'He's having a handful, watching over one of our fellow teachers.' this raised Naruto's interest, 'Mizuki-san, I think.'
'So, what has Iruka been telling you about Mizuki-san?' Naruto inquired.
'He said that Mizuki has been acting too lazy lately; being late for classes, not handing in paperwork, and sometimes, he even does not turn up for his lessons.' Gaara went on.
'Hm; I see. Well, would you like to get some food at Ichiraku ramen?'
'Sure; I'm not in the mood to decline to a meal at the moment.' Gaara nodded.
Naruto and Gaara walked for a while, greeting the occasional passer-by who saw the Chuunin and the relaxed and out of uniform Elite Jounin. Naruto liked attention, but not too much of it, while Gaara favoured peace and quiet, with no people there to look at him and try to score points with the son of the Yondaime Kazekage.
They stopped in front of Ichiraku Ramen, and Naruto saw the familiar duo of Yakushi Kabuto, who was wearing a purple shirt that had tails going down to his knees, as well as a brown pair of pants and shoes; and Uzuki Yuugao, who was wearing a blue t-shirt that hugged her upper body and a pair of extremely short shorts. Dangling around her shorts was a chain that had a purple heart that her name attached to it, in neat silver.
'Yuugao-chan; Kabuto, how are you guys?' Naruto greeted his two teammates.
'Oh, Cap-' Kabuto almost let the secret of ANBU Captaincy out to public, 'Naruto-kun.'
'Good day, Uzuki-san, Yakushi-san.' Gaara greeted, slightly bowing his head to them.
'So, what is on the agenda, people?' Naruto took a seat next to Yuugao.
'Nothing much, it's not very often that you get a vacation from an ANBU Squadron.'
The identities of ANBU were not exactly a private matter, but the names that people were forbidden to divulge were the identities of Hunter-nins and ANBU Captains, because they had higher-ranked clearance than most ninjas of the normal level.
Hunter-nins and ANBU Captains had their names kept within the grapevines of te ninjas among them, because of the trouble that could result in divulgation of their identities.
'So you have a seven day vacation from my dad; what are you planning to do?'
'I'm going to spend the time to redecorate my place; it's a big mess.'
'I am going to spend the week not doing anything but sleep and eat and be with Hayate.'
'You're not a very lady-like person, Yuugao-chan.' Naruto said; Yuugao scowled. Naruto turned to the Ichiraku Ramen waitress, Ayame, with her bandana and pan, and she smiled at him as a form of greeting, 'One large miso ramen please, Ayame.'
'One medium chicken for me, thank you.' Gaara said to the girl; she nodded.
'Okay, then; that's one large miso for Naruto-kun, and one medium chicken for Gaara.'
She told the owner to prepare the food, and he gave the girl a nod before starting to prepare the meals. Naruto turned to face Gaara, who was tapping the counter.
'So are you planning to join the Jounin ranks anytime soon, Gaara; I mean,' Naruto scratched himself behind one ear, 'don't you feel awkward teaching a bunch of kids just two years younger than you? It must be feeling a little strange.'
'Not really, Naruto. I kind of like being a teacher; it's a very good experience.'
'So you're not going to be joining the Jounin ranks with me, then?'
'Not for another three years or so, Naruto.' Gaara smiled at his blonde friend.
Their orders then arrived, and Ayame placed a bowl of hot ramen in front of each of them, much to Naruto's delight. Yuugao and Kabuto got up from their seats.
'We'll be seeing you, Naruto.' Kabuto said, giving his Captain a small wave.
'I'll be seeing you once the week is over, Naruto.' Yuugao told her Captain.
Naruto ate his food very slowly, as his mother had taught him.
Half an hour passed, and Naruto had finished five bowls of ramen, and Gaara had finished two. The day had passed quickly and it was almost three o'clock.
'That was a nice lunch; I don't think that I'll be having any dinner tonight.'
'You eat too much, Naruto.' Gaara said, his eyes showing signs of amusement.
'I know, but thank God for my high metabolism.' Naruto said, slightly grinning.
Gaara could not help himself but smile too at the humor his friend had.
It was midnight in the village; most of the people were sleeping, save for some ninjas and couples that were engaged in intimate activities. It was a Saturday night, after all.
In a small patch of forest, there was a small cabin that was not used very often. It was beaten up and slightly rough on the outside, and its chimney was cracked at the top. Around the area was nothing but the sound of silence, and a ninja clad in a bandana and a Chuunin flak jacket, leaning against a tree, with a particularly large pair of shurikens strapped across his back. He looked around, as if waiting for someone.
'Where are they?' the man said out loud, looking left and right, searching.
He looked around more, and got up from his leaning position.
Suddenly, three figures leapt from the trees up high; three men, all thug-like, with Chuunin vests and their hitai-ates missing from where they should be.
'I didn't think that you guys would have made it.' the white-haired man mocked.
'Shut your trap, Mizuki; we're all in this together, remember that!' one of them snapped.
'I remember that; so, do you think that the Hokage would notice it missing?'
'I don't think so; he had been negligent of the scroll for several years now. And even if he does find out about the Scroll of Forbidden Seals going missing, he'll be too late to stop us; because by then, all the Kinjutsus in there will be in our possession.'
The group laughed; and then stopped when Mizuki found out something strange.
'There!' he threw a shuriken in one direction towards the trees.
Out of the trees came out two ninjas; a female Jounin with red eyes and black hair reaching past her shoulders and a chocolate-haired Chuunin with eyes of the same colour.
'Mizuki, how could you betray our village!' the Chuunin exclaimed.
'The theft of the Scroll of Forbidden Seals is a crime punishable by thirty years of life in prison, according to the laws of Konoha. Do not move or you will die.' the woman said.
'Ah, Iruka-san, you have been spying on me these past few days, haven't you?'
'I suspected that something was wrong with the way you acted during the day.' Iruka said, drawing a kunai from his weapon's pouch and stepping into a fighting stance.
'And you even brought this pretty Jounin to assist you in our capture.'
The red-eyed woman frowned at the mention of her, positioning herself.
'But we're not going to go without a fight. In fact, I don't think that you'll be able to stop us.' Mizuki boasted as his fellow traitors grinned maliciously, 'Because we already have the Scroll within our possession, and I myself have learned a thing or two from it!'
The woman's eyes widened as Mizuki proceeded to put his two hands in a cross.
'Behold the power of the Scroll of Forbidden Seals: Tajyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'
In an instant, the surrounding area was covered with almost a hundred copies of Mizuki, each of them, in their hands, having a large shuriken and the same malicious grin.
'This is only one of the many Jutsus that the Scroll can give, Iruka; I offer you a chance to join us, and we can together grow more powerful than the Yondaime himself.'
The red-eyed woman looked around, and saw that they were surrounded by masses of replications of the real Mizuki. She gritted her teeth as she backed a step.
'This Ninjutsu allows you to create real copies instead of false illusions, we have to be careful, Iruka.' the woman said, and Iruka nodded to her as a response.
'Mizuki; you know my answer; my loyalty is to Konoha and Konoha only.'
Mizuki gritted his teeth in frustration before raising his hand, signalling his clones to attack Iruka and the red-eyed woman. And raining down upon the two they came.
'Iruka, back-to-back! We'll team up to destroy them!' the woman shouted.
The clones came at Iruka and the woman, attacking relentlessly with quick blows and slashes. Iruka took out one clone with a slash of his kunai, while the woman showed great skill with her Taijutsu and grace, taking out a total of three in a series of strikes.
Iruka dodged a blow from one clone, but it resulted in splitting him and the woman up.
Damn it, there's just too many of them, Iruka thought, gritting his teeth.
A clone came at Iruka from behind, slashing downwards with a kunai. The scarred Chuunin replaced himself just in time with another one of Mizuki's clones with a well-used Kawarimi no Jutsu. The woman slashed at another clone, but their numbers were endless.
Iruka whirled around and saw another clone coming at him, and this time, a kunai found its place, piercing Iruka's skin in his right arm, and another kick was delivered to his stomach, knocking him back into another group of clones, who began to knock him senseless with their blows. The woman watched Iruka fall and took out a kunai, rushing over to save him. More clones came at her, and three kicks were taken in by her body, sending her flying into a tree. She cursed as she felt a clone grab her and pin her to the ground, locking her arms behind her, almost breaking them if she did not release her weapon. She did so, not wanting to lose the function of her hand.
She looked up from her downed position to Iruka, who was panting hard, as several clones held him to a tree, one of them registered a kick to his stomacj, making the man spit out blood in pain. Mizuki grinned in triumph as his partners did the same.
He approached Iruka, his smirk now replacing the grin that was there.
'It was futile to struggle against me in the first place, Iruka. With the power in the scroll under our power, we could have ruled not only Konoha, but all the villages! I offered you a chance for recognition and strength, and you just threw it away; noble Iruka.'
Iruka got punched in the face by Mizuki, cutting his lip as a result.
'Mizuki; how could you betray Konoha!' the woman voiced out, outraged.
Mizuki turned to the woman, before nodding to one clone as he grinned.
The woman's screams were heard; the clone had broken one of her hands.
'And you; I did not expect to see you again, Kurenai-san, after all, you left the duty of active Chuunin to pursue a career as an Elite Jounin; I'm glad for you.' Mizuki neared her, as laughter was heard from Mizuki's partners, 'But your success in life is short-lived. Because you are about to die right here, right now; after I've had my fun.'
Kurenai's eyes widened in horror as she saw the gleam in Mizuki's eyes.
'You should blame this on yourself; on your beautiful body.' Mizuki said.
Kurenai was scared. One of her hands were broken; she could not move. And this man before her was about to do the most horrendous of torture methods on a kunoichi.
He pulled out a kunai, and slowly put a shallow cut on her neck, grinning maliciously.
'This kunai is covered with an extremely powerful paralysing solution. One small drop of this could make your body stop working for hours, Kurenai-san.' Mizuki whispered into her ear; Kurenai feared for her life as he withdrew, 'Blame this all on yourself.'
Suddenly, crimson blood was visible in the air, and the three thug-like Chuunins were on the ground, lifeless. Their heads were rolling upon the green grass as theior necks seeped out the crimson colour of blood, Mizuki whirled around, surprised at the intrusion.
'What the hell? Who is it?' Mizuki called out; not a soul answered him in the night.
A kunai came at high speeds, cancelling out the clone that Mizuki had assigned to hold Kurenai to the ground. Iruka tried to look around, to see who the newcomer was; he saw nothing but the trees and the darkness that surrounded them.
Mizuki turned to his other clones; the ones that were pinning Iruka down. The Chuunin found himself with a kunai to his throat, threatening to spill blood.
'Show yourself, coward!' Mizuki called out once more, 'Or watch this man die!'
Suddenly, a flash was seen, dashing right through the field, and Iruka found himself free. The clones that were all around Iruka were cancelled out by the mysterious newcomer.
'Damn you, show yourself!' Mizuki shouted to the night; there was no reply.
'Mizuki, your judgement for the crime that commited,' a voice, not unlike a youthful boy's, rang throughout the small area; Mizuki whirled around, 'is your execution.'
A person leapt from the trees above, and onto the grass below. The person looked as short as a twelve year-old boy with blonde hair. He was clad in a black attire, save for his white mask, that had an abstract design of a wolf. Mizuki took a step back, not knowing who the newcomer was, except for the fact that he was a threat.
'You are sentenced to death; let's make this quick and easy, Mizuki-san.'
'Do you think a person like you can stop me? I haven't shown my true skills yet. Behold the most powerful jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage!' Mizuki called out.
The sound of a small tornado was heard, as Mizuki had his hands clasped over a small orb that seemed to be blowing wind out of it, like a typhoon. The person was unfazed.
'Do you know this Jutsu? It was the one that won the war! The Rasengan!' Mizuki said, gathering more power into his swirling orb, 'You don't stand a chance!'
The masked ninja did not say anything for a while, as the wind blew around him powerfully. Suddenly, a small chuckle was heard from the blonde boy, and that chuckle grew into a laugh muffled by the sound of his mask. Iruka was puzzled.
How could the ninja be laughing when he was going up against the most powerful Assasination Ninjutsu to have ever existed in Konohagakure no Sato?
'Forgive me for my laughter, Mizuki-san; but that is not the Rasengan.' he said.
Mizuki's eyes widened, before narrowing once again. The blonde let out another chuckle.
'The Rasengan is a Jutsu that rotates the air around it, not let the air within the sphere escape. What you have in your hands is the crudest version of the Rasengan, it's like a balloon with a number of holes in it.' the blonde said, taking a step forward; the tone of confidence and knowledge could be heard in his voice, 'Your Rasengan is not even a tenth of the power that the Rasengan of the Yondaime Hokage has. It's a cheap imitation.'
Mizuki stiffened, and then regained his smirk of arrogance and confidence.
'You're lying to me; there is no way that this could be an imitation.'
The wind blew stronger from the sphere that Mizuki was holding in his hands.
'Then let's compare your cheap imitation with Hatake Kakashi's most powerful Jutsu.'
A series of handseals were made by the petit young man, and he finished by putting his right palm so that it faced downwards, and and his left hand held his right wrist.
'Raikiri!' the blonde called out, and the sound of a thousand birds filled the air.
'Hatake Kakashi's only original Jutsu; interesting tool to test against! But you will still lose this one, boy!' the white-haired traitor shouted, charging at the ninja.
The masked ninja reacted by charging at an incredibly high speed, and appeared in an instant, behind Mizuki. The sound of a thousand birds was no more in the air.
He stood still behind Mizuki, a good ten feet away from the man.
'I already told you; that Jutsu you just used is nothing but a cheap imitation of the real Rasengan created by the Yellow Flash of Konohagakure no Sato.' he stated calmly.
Iruka watched as Mizuki screamed from pain. The Jutsu that the unknown ninja had just used had completely destroyed Mizuki's right arm from the shoulder down. There was nothing but a bloody end to where the arm now was. Mizuki turned around.
'Now, since you won't have a another chance to see it, let me show you the true Assasination Ninjutsu created by the Yellow Flash of Konoha.' he said.
Wind began to gather in the right palm of the masked ninja, and it haped itself into a sphere. Just like he had said, the Rasengan did not release the air from within the sphere itself, but rotated the air around it as the chakra spun around the caster of the Jutsu.
'Incredible; the true Rasengan of the Yondaime Hokage.' Iruka whispered in awe.
Before Mizuki could react, the ninja appeared behind him, saying the final words that the traitor would here in the world before he would be lead to his death.
'RASENGAN!' the blonde shouted, as a sphere containing a small typhoon ripped through Mizuki and out his chest, before exploding, vaporizing the target.
The wind blew strongly throughout the small area of the forest, shaking some of the leaves that were in the trees. Iruka was impressed by the display of power.
'Man, I guess I overdid it again.' the blonde complained, looking to the dead bodies of the treacherous Chuunin that he had just killed and began to perform several handseals.
The ground under their bodies began to shake, and the earth came up and seemed to swallow up the dead bodies, not leaving a trace of them but the patch of dirt.
He then turned to Kurenai, who was slightly shaking on the floor, paralysed from the solution that the traitor Mizuki had put into her system.
'Iruka-san, I'll help you in a minute; I have to heal Kurenai-san first.'
'Oh, yes; help her first; I'm just a little bruised and battered from the fight.'
The blonde neared the woman, before getting down on one knee and resting her head on his lap. Kurenai was still conscious, and still vulnerable to anything. The blonde undid his mask, revealing the face of the Hokage's son, Uzumaki Naruto.
Iruka smiled, proud that he had once taught this boy hwen he was in the academy.
'This may feel a bit awkward, Kurenai-san; please don't freak out.'
Naruto inserted a pill, a green pill into his mouth and lowered her head so low that it met hers. His breathing could be felt over her face. Iruka looked to the rather interesting scene that was before him, and could not help but slightly blush at it.
Naruto lowered himself more, and he slid his tongue into Kurenai's mouth, with his tongue was the cure ofr the paralysing solution. Naruto had many cures for different types of poisons, thanks to Kabuto, and this one was meant to regain the control of the muscles that the ninja had lost use of, much like a Recovery Pill. Kurenai was blushing very hard.
She was kissing someone for the first time in her life and it was the "Genius" son of the Yondaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. He was also a minor, at the age of twelve.
She did not know whether to feel grateful or disturbed by the kiss.
At the end, Naruto lfted himself, and Kurenai found that she could move again.
'Now that wasn't so bad, now, was it?'
Naruto's response was a very powerful punch by the woman, knocking him into a tree.
'What was the big deal with kissing me you perverted brat!' she shouted, not bothering to hide her face, that was red from the embarrassment of her first kiss.
'Hey, there was no choice; either I wait till that poison leaves a permanent scar in your system or I get rid of it before anything worse happens.' Naruto reasoned, rubbing his cheek, which was very red from her hit; he then smirked, 'Did you enjoy it?'
Kurenai blushed even harder, and looked like a tomato with black hair and a hitai-ate.
'Say this to amyone and I will track you down and kill you.' she threatened.
Naruto gave a sheepish grin and a nod before getting up from his position and walked over to Iruka, using a basic healing jutsu to close wounds. Iruka gave a nod of thanks.
That stupid brat, with his cocky attitude, stealing my first kiss, she fumed.
'Kurenai-san, what were you doing in the area, anyway?' Naruto turned to face the woman, who was still angry, 'You're in the Konoha Police Force, but you're not a Police Force Hunter-nin or even part of the Special Affairs Squad of the ANBU.'
'Well, Iruka here told me that we would only be fighting a Chuunin planning on becoming nukenin. I did not request any backup from the Force; I could have handled it alone.'
'And yet you almost lost your life, as well as Iruka-san's in the mission.' Naruto shook his head in disapproval, 'This was my assignment by Itachi, Kurenai-san, leave it to the Police Force Hunter-nins; never go in solo against what you don't know.'
Kurenai glared at the young ninja's back as he helped Iruka to his feet.
Naruto got up from his slumber and looked around his room and opened his mouth to a big yawn. The assignment that Itachi had given him the day before was a relatively easy task, and he had even kissed one of Konoha's most eligible spinsters, and he wasn't even eighteen yet. The mission was an overall success and he was to pick up his pay from his father at work today. Naruto took a towel from a towel rack near the window and headed towards the door, still clad in his green pyjamas. He went into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Naruto's mother was most probably out at the academy doing some demonstrations and his father was already at work. He discarded his clothes and entered the shower in the bathroom, thinking about the pay that he would get.
After around half an hour in the shower, Naruto exited and went back to his room to put on his black ensemble. A black jacket and pants, as well as a white t-shirt and a necklace that his mother had carved for him on his eighth birthday, made out of pure silver.
Naruto strapped on his hitai-ate and his ninja sandals before heading downstairs to have a fulfilling breakfast of cereal and eggs, made all by himself. His father had taught him how to cook, of all people, since his mother was slightly horrible in preparing meals. His mother was better at making food now, but he did not trust his dessert.
The young blonde could have sworn that his jell-o was alive at one point.
He headed out the door after dinishing his breakfast, and locked the door just like his father had always told him, before taking himself on a journey to the Hokage's Office to collect his pay. As he walked, he noticed several looks from the villagers of Konoha.
They looked at him with respect, but as the son of the Hokage, not as himself.
He hated it. He did not tell anyone about it, but his friends knew that he absolutely despised having an amount of attention, but an undeserved amount. He did not want to be known as the son of Yondaime Hokage, but as Uzumaki Naruto, ninja of Konoha.
He had already taken several advancements in his quest for excellence, having already made his name as the Blue Wolf of Konoha. Everyone in the village knew it was him, but the outsiders of the village thought the Blue Wolf as a ninja veteran from the old wars.
Naruto was an SA-ranked ninja by standards, and he was still growing. The strength of the blonde could be taken from the words of Naruto's friend, Uchiha Itachi.
The blonde walked for a while, and eventually arrived at the Administration Building, standing proudly in the bright sunlight of the day. He went up the steps, watching the birds fly by the Hokage monument, that showed the four faces of the Hokages, past to present, carved upon the stone wall of the cliff. He smiled as he watched it.
He was not looking in front of him, and bumped into a man on the stairs.
'Ouch!' he cried as he fell on his behind, and looking up to the person who had just knocked him down on to the steps of the stairs, 'Oh, Naruto-kun; it's you.'
Naruto recognized the man as Gekkou Hayate, his old Chuunin examiner. He wore a bandana over his shaggy mop of brown hair, and had droopy eyes. He was wearing a Jounin's vest, with a sword on his back, Naruto was not surprised at the presence of the sword; while most ninjas of Konoha preferred shurikens and kunais, Hayate had preferred to use a sword. He was quite skilful, being an advanced swordsman.
'Hello, Hayate-san, are you here to see my father?' Naruto inquired, slightly smiling.
'Oh; I've just finished seeing him. It's about the Chuunin Examinations in the next few months; I'm having some trouble finding volunteers to be proctors for them.'
'So who do you have on the examiner's list so far, Hayate-san?' Naruto asked.
'I had Genma for the First Stage, until he decided not to do it at the last minute. I'm having Itachi-san do the Second Stage of the Chuunin Exam, but I'm having some troub;e with finding proctors. I myself am doing the preliminaries for the Third Stage, and Raidou is going to be doing the Third Stage of the examination.' Hayate said.
'So you need proctors for the Second Stage and an examiner for the First Stage?'
'Yes, that is what I went to Hokage-sama for, and he said he'd find someone to help me for the First Stage of Examinations and some proctors.' Hayate said, brushing himself off.
'Why don't you find Kakashi-sensei for the First Stage, he'll be glad to do it.'
Hayate raised an eyebrow at the mention of Naruto's former Jounin Instructor.
'He'll probably arrive three hours late for the exam.' he said, smirking.
Naruto smirked as well before bidding goodbye to Hayate and being on his way.
Naruto walked through the hall, and saw the two ANBU guards outside his father's office door. They gave him a greeting of respect and a bow before he entered, and he found his father in a very serious mood, signing paperwork. It was quite a funny sight to see the great Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato stick his tongue out the side of his mouth as he scratched his head with his finger, as if trying to solve an extremely hard problem.
'Hokage-sama, I'm here to collect my pay for the mission that I succeeded in yesterday.'
The blonde man raised his head and saw his son before him, with a smirk. The Hokage frowned before smiling ever so slightly and pressed a button on his intercom.
'Tomoki-san, could you please take out the pay for Uzumaki-san for his B-ranked mission yesterday? The one for the Konoha Police Force?' the Hokage said.
'It's right here with me, sir.' the voice of a middle-aged woman was heard.
'Good; he's going to pick it up from you in a moment.' he said, before pressing the button on the intercom again, he looked up to his son, 'So did the mission go well?'
'It did. Well, except for a few unwanted reinforcements that came by.'
'Oh, you mean except for the fact that you kissed a woman.'
Naruto froze and looked to his smirking father. He glared at him.
'Who told you that?' Naruto growled menacingly at his father, who did not stop.
'Naruto, you know as well as I do that I have a crystal ball that can see anywhere.'
'Except for the bathhouses. Tsunade-hime tinkered with it a bit.' Naruto said.
'So, how did it feel like kissing the forbidden fruit of Konoha?' the Hokage kept smirking.
Naruto turned red from the mention of the incident the day before.
'None of your business, and it was just to cure her.' Naruto said, scowling.
'Naruto, you know that I can't say anything about kissing an older woman since I married you mother in the end, but don't you think that you're a bit too young?'
'I did not kiss her. I just had to cure her of paralysis.'
The Yondaime continued to smirk, until his son twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.
The Hokage then coughed, and put his hands together, slightly smiling.
'Naruto, I have something else to tell you, then you can go get your pay.'
Naruto crossed his arms. His father offered him a seat, which he took.
'Naruto, you know that an ANBU team consists of six members, right?'
'Yes, what are you getting at here?' Naruto raised an eyebrow, questioning the Hokage.
'Well, we have some recent entrees into the ANBU league, and I need to give you a seventh member.' the Hokage then smirked, 'I hope that you don't mind. She's still a rookie Jounin, and she'll be part of your team for the next year.'
'Cut to the chase; who is this addition to the team?'
There was a sudden knock on the door and the Hokage gave permission to enter.
Entering the room was none other than the person from the night before, Yuuhi Kurenai, clad in her usual uniform. She saw Naruto and her eyes narrowed at the sight of him.
'YOU!' they exclaimed at the same time, pointing to each other.
'I see that you two have met.' the Hokage continued smirking at the two of them; Naruto looked in confusion as his father rose up from his chair, 'Yuuhi-san, your ANBU Captain: Uzumaki Naruto, AKA my son. Naruto, your seventh charge: Yuuhi Kurenai.'
'WHAT!'