Konoha's Legion
Chapter 9
By Jeconais
Author Notes:
Still unbeated, still a bit fragmenty.
Naruto sighed. About the only good thing, was that the tar wasn’t moving very fast. He had just finished digging a large perimeter ditch, so that the tar couldn’t encroach to easily. It was a delaying tactic, but at the moment, that was all he could do.
His trench was around two miles long, and four feet deep, and had taken every bit of his will power to complete, especially when all he wanted to do was collapse.
He wouldn’t let himself, he had things to do, and being taken over slowly by some traitor was not on his list of things to do.
Suddenly, there was a roar. “Foxy-chan?”
“You’re damn right,” Kyūbi yelled. “Finally.”
Naruto created a clone, and smiled. “Hey, Three.”
“Boss,” he grinned. “One Elemental Seal, removed. One Foxy-chan, free.”
“Great work!”
Three scratched the back of his head.
Naruto looked at the tar, and shook his head. “You know what it’s time for?” he said to Three and Foxy-chan.
Three nodded and moved over to the cage. There was a single piece of paper in the middle, with the Kanji for seal on it. His hand started to glow. “Modify,” he yelled, slamming his hand in to the seal.
The paper glowed, and then turned red.
“What was that?” Kyūbi asked.
“Step one,” Three said. “I’ve still got to learn step two, but you know, better than nothing.”
“I don’t understand.”
Naruto walked through the bars, and took one of the huge paws. He heaved it up, and walked back through the bar. It didn’t stop the paw.
Kyūbi pounced forward, landing the other side of the cage.
“You can wander around here for now, like I said, this is just step one.”
Foxy-chan settled down before Naruto, his snout at ground level. “Thank you,” he said simply.
Naruto grinned cheerfully. Before he looked at the tar. “Want to help?”
“And get gunk on my paws?” Kyūbi asked with a foxy grin.
Naruto nodded.
“And stop this git from taking over, just when you were getting it nice,” Kyūbi finished. “You know what this calls for?”
“Enough clones to block out the sun?” Three suggested.
“Shadow Clone Technique,” Naruto yelled, filling his mental landscape with copies of himself.
“Shadow Clone Technique,” Kyūbi yelled, causing thirty huge foxes to appear.
“Charge!”
Sasuke found he didn’t actually mind sitting like this. Haku was pressed against him, his back to his chest. Haku was chatting with Sakura. Next to them, Anko and Kurenai had just arrived. Further down, Shizune, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Four and Eleven were playing cards. Hiashi, Naruto’s friends from the Ramen stand, as well as most of the other clan heads had stopped in for a few minutes during the last six hours.
Not only was it relaxing, it made him realise that he was slowly being accepted as a friend by two Sannin, and acknowledged as an actual adult, and not a spoiled brat, by a lot of important people.
By not doing things his brothers way, he was gaining more and more powerful allies, and the more allies he had, the easier it would be to not just kill Itachi, but make his clan great again.
Suddenly Four and Eleven looked up.
“Yeah!” Four yelled, as she jumped and landed on Anko, her hand reached out, and she pulled Kurenai in to a three person hug.
Eleven was on his feet, doing a small dance of pure joy.
“What’s happening?”
There was a pop, and a clone appeared.
Eleven and Four both looked, gasped, and then went down on one knee before him, their heads lowered, one hand across their chests.
“Hey guys,” the clone said.
“One,” Four said reverently.
“One?” Sakura asked.
“The first clone,” Four explained, not getting up. “Created a microsecond before anyone else. Has spent the most time awake of any clone, by a long way.”
“Guys,” One protested. “Get up, you’re embarrassing me.”
Four and Eleven grinned at each other, as they got to their feet.
One stretched. “I’ve not been out in ages,” he muttered. “So, the boss asked me to pop out and bring everyone up to date. That curse seal was trying to pollute the boss’s mind. At the same time, that elemental seal was playing havoc with the boss’s chakra, so he couldn’t do anything to help himself.”
“What did he do?” Sasuke asked.
“His mental mindscape is like Konoha, and the representation of Orochimaru’s taint was like tar. So the boss started to dig. He made a trench around it, to slow it down and trap it.
“That gave time for Three’s release to work, as soon as that seal was gone, Foxy-chan was back, as was the boss’s Chakra. Suffice it to say, Orochimaru’s curse is now being fought the proper way.”
“Yeah,” Anko grinned.
“Ahh, yes, Anko, I’m glad you’re here,” One said. “Means I don’t have to go looking for you.”
“Naruto-kun likes me more than you,” Anko said in a sing-song voice, needling Kurenai in the side.
“None of that,” One said. “The boss loves you both equally. No, it’s more that as soon as he’s done fixing his own seal, he’s going to do yours.”
Anko’s mouth dropped open. She had nice teeth.
There was a burst of yellow chakra from Naruto’s shoulder that seemed to eat the seal away, leaving tanned skin.
Naruto opened his eyes and leant forward. “Anko,” he demanded.
She moved over to him.
He pulled her on top of him on the bed. “This is gonna hurt,” he told her, his hands flew up, and he muttered something, before he seemed to chomp down on her neck.
Anko screamed under her breath, and then went very still.
“Well, as you can’t see what is going on,” One said, “I’ll give a running commentary. They’re on Anko’s mental landscape. Anko’s never been there consciously. She’s asking how he got there, and he’s explaining that the Jutsu came from the Yamanakas.
“They’re going through the mindscape now, which looks a lot like the forest of death, looking for anything that looks off.”
“One,” Tsunade said. “If Naruto’s mind was in Anko’s, how did he bite her?”
One smiled. “You think Naruto’s the only person inside there? I’ve been awake in his mind for months, and most of the other named clones hang around a lot.”
“That’s insanity,” Jiraiya said.
“Technically, you could be right,” One admitted. “I mean, he does hear voices in his head all the time, and they do tell him what to do.” He grinned. “Sanity is over rated anyway.”
Tsunade bopped Jiraiya on the head. “Enough of that, you,” she ordered. “Please continue, One.”
One grinned. “They’re just bouncing through the forest now. Foxy-chan thinks it’s hard to find, because her seal was an early version, and it wasn’t really complete yet.”
Everyone in the room went silent and looked at One.
“What?” he asked.
Four and Eleven groaned and banged their heads against the bed.
“Aww, crap,” he muttered.
“Please explain how you know what Kyūbi is thinking, when you are out here, and Naruto is in Anko’s mind,” Tsunade ordered.
One looked around. “Okay, we trust all of you. The second thing the boss did when he got his Chakra back, was set up the repeaters.”
“Repeaters,” Haku said slowly. “Automatic clones that just appear and disperse, sending all current knowledge to all existing clones?”
“Every three minutes,” One agreed.
“So that’s why you two felt so lonely,” Shizune said. “You weren’t getting updates.”
“It was like the boss was dead,” Four agreed with a shudder. “There wasn’t time for the boss to send an emergency repeater before he was hit, so we had no clue, until Sakura-chan told us, that he had been sealed like that.”
“Still, the boss has put some measures in place to help in the future,” One said cheerfully. “Three’s not going to get much sleep.”
“That’s the way he likes it,” Eleven said.
“Oh, they’ve found something. It’s a giant tree, and it’s sucking all the cool stuff out of Anko’s mind. It’s slowly killing Anko. She’s shocked, especially as they’ve just found that the bastard can make it worse.”
Kurenai moved forward and grabbed Anko’s hand.
“Relax,” Sasuke said. “The idiot will stop him, that’s what Naruto does.”
One grinned at him. “Actually, Eleven, if you wouldn’t mind?”
Eleven grumbled to himself, and then vanished.
“What happened?” Sakura asked.
“We needed to know what happened,” One said. His, and Four’s, eyes suddenly went wide. “Good,” they said in unison.
“What?” Shizune asked.
“Eleven, while possibly a tad over the top, did the right thing with his execution of the Sound bitch,” One said. “She tried to attack one of our precious people, she deserved to die.”
Haku smiled and nodded.
“Sasuke, good execution of the Dragon Jutsu, did you notice how stunned the old man was?”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Kurenai said. “Some of the foreign Jounin demanded to know where Kakashi found that Jutsu. It was fun to watch him squirm, before Asuma pointed out that it must have come from Naruto-kun. Yugito was highly amused, as Nibi said it came from a fighter called Liu Kang.”
Sasuke nodded. “Yeah. Naruto demonstrated it, Eleven taught it to me. It only worked like that because I’m far about Genin level. If it had been against a Jounin, they would have smacked me through the wall when I was transforming.
The Jounin and Sannin in the room all nodded in agreement.
One smiled. “The boss has decided to apply some focused Naruto on to the problem.”
“Spamming the skyline with clones?” Sasuke asked.
“And beating it until its dead?” Sakura added.
“Exactly,” One agreed.
“Well,” Four said, “With One out, and the Boss back in business, I’ve got a few things to take care of.”
“Be careful,” One said.
Four grinned and opened the window. “Smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.”
“What’s a kipper?” Haku asked, as Four vanished.
Four dashed down to the shopping district, aware that it was now really late. She was hoping that some shops would still be open.
The darkness, with light only coming from restaurants and nightclubs, quickly put paid to that idea.
She pouted to herself and put her hands on her hips. It was alright for the boss, who could just create an endless amount of clones to henge as clothing, but she – who had already recharged Eleven earlier – didn’t have the chakra.
“F-four?”
Four looked up. “Hey, Ino-chan,” she said. Before she stopped. “Tell me, where does a Kunoichi go to get some clothes for a seduction mission?”
“The ANBU headquarters I think. Why?”
“Oh, nothing,” Four grinned. “Thanks Ino-chan.” She took off toward the main ANBU building, leaving the other blonde in her wake. She should have thought of that herself.
As she neared the ANBU building, she jumped on to the wall, and continued to run sideways. It was the easiest way to get to the entrance. The ANBU did not like dealing with civilians, so they had guards on the ground.
She jumped off the wall, skidded through the doors, and came to a halt in front of the desk.
“What do you need, Naruto?” the Chunin on guard asked with a smile.
“I need a costume for a mission.”
“Basement three,” the Chunin said. “Second door on the right.”
Four smiled at him, and headed down the stairs, sliding down the banister rail. She jumped off at the correct floor and skidded to a halt next to the door.
She opened it warily, and smiled as the lights came on, revealing the single biggest collection of clothes she had ever seen.
From nightclub dresses to nurse uniforms that would have had Shizune-chan blushing like Hinata-chan.
She walked over to the uniforms section, and soon found what she wanted. She walked over to the changing rooms and quickly put the new outfit on, stuffing her jeans and t-shirt in a locker.
She posed in front of a mirror, giggled, before she let her hair out of the twin pigtails she normally kept it in, and replaced it with one long pony tail. A few wisps of hair to frame her face, a cute beret on top, and she was done. She headed back to the stairs. She met a couple of masked ANBU on the way up. Two of the three looked at her, lost their balance, and tumbled down the stairs, causing her to have to jump over them.
“What’s their problem?” she asked the still standing ANBU wearing a butterfly mask.
“They’re perverts,” she sighed. “Mission?”
Four nodded.
“Live free.”
“Die hard,” Four responded traditionally. She bowed to the ANBU member, and continued her journey upstairs.
The Chunin at the reception desk had been joined by Izumo and Kotetsu, who were sat on the edge of the counter. As she walked, both turned, before their eyes went wide, and they fell of the counter.
Four shook her head and walked out the door. She took the slow route out, ANBU members on guard allowing her through without hesitation.
She smiled at them, before deciding she had enough chakra to complete her self-imposed mission, and get their easily. She made the hand signals, and sighed in pleasure as the lightning embraced her.
“Please,” Kotetsu begged. “Please tell me that the CCTV is working!”
Izumo was already over by the computer. “It is,” he said in relief.
“What is?”
Kotetsu looked up, to see an ANBU member in a butterfly mask staring at him.
“The CCTV,” he said slowly.
“And why would a Chunin want to be looking at ANBU CCTV recordings?” she asked softly.
“A mission,” he said proudly. “By order of Jiraiya of the Sanin.”
“Oh, really,” Butterfly said, her voice now low.
“Yes,” Izumo agreed. “He needs to know what is going on in ANBU for his spy network.”
“I think,” Butterfly said, “that I’ll wait for the Sandaime to authorise this request. Unless, of course, you can provide signed papers?”
Kotetsu cursed in his mind. “No, ANBU-san,” he replied. “But I can get a hold of Jiraiya.”
“Off you go then,” she said, making a shooing motion. “I’ll wait here for you to get back.”
As the two Chūnin ran away, Chihiro reached open and took a piece of paper. She wrote a quick note, signing it with a small butterfly, and whistled for a messenger bird.
“They’re about half-way through,” One stated. “It’s taking longer, because this damn thing is entranced in Anko-chan’s mind.”
Jiraiya looked up. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said, and walked out the door.
Kurenai frowned. A messenger bird flew in the window and perched on her shoulder. She took the message and read it.
Kurenai, I think the Pervert is going to try something perverted with Naruto. I could use your help to stop him at ANBU Headquarters.
It was signed with a simple butterfly.
“Tsunade-chan,” she called. “An ANBU friend of mine thinks that Jiraiya is trying to do something perverted with Four.”
“Four?” Tsunade asked, looking up from her game of patience.
“It says Naruto, but as he’s here...”
“I’ll stay,” Shizune offered. “Go and stop him.”
Tsunade smiled and cracked her knuckles.
“Can I get anyone anything on the way back?”
“Sake,” Sasuke suggested.
“You’re a good kid,” Tsunade grinned. “Come on, Kurenai.”
Together, they swirled out, arriving in the ANBU entrance hall. Jiraiya was already there.
“I demand the CCTV,” he was saying to Chihiro.
“Why,” Tsunade demanded.
Jiraiya jumped. “No reason.”
“No reason?” Tsunade asked.
He nodded.
“I think,” Tsunade said, “that we’ll have a look at this tape and see for ourselves.”
Kurenai frowned at the eagerness shown by the three Chunins.
“I think we can handle this,” she said.
The look of disappointment on their faces was comical, and made her very wary.
“In fact,” Tsunade said, “Jiraiya, about face.”
“What?”
“I said, about face,” Tsunade growled. “Or I’ll eject you from the building.”
Jiraiya pouted and grumbled as he turned.
Kurenai concentrated on the screen, as Chihiro pushed the last button.
The picture that showed up was of the staircase, leading down to the basement.
Blonde hair appeared, and was quickly followed by a familiar whiskered female face, and then Kurenai had to grab her nose to stop herself passing out from bloodloss.
The girl smiled, and bounced through the hall, and then out the door.
“Sweet Kami,” Tsunade whispered.
A sentiment Kurenai could agree with wholeheartedly.
“Does she kiss as good as she looks?” a voice asked.
“Better,” Kurenai answered, before she could help herself. She growled, as she looked to find Jiraiya writing in his notebook, a perverted look on his face.
It didn’t last long, as a single punch from Tsunade had him flying out the door. He didn’t seem to care, as he kept scribbling as he flew backward.
“I’ll take that,” Tsunade said, as she moved over and ejected the tape. She put a fresh one in, and then moved over to the side. It took her another five minutes to write out all the paperwork needed.
Kurenai just shook her head, unsure if she was trying to lock the image in her mind, or get it out.
In, definitely.
There was a small sound from outside, and she looked up, aware that Tsunade and Chihiro were doing the same.
The guard ANBU were not stopping the person as she trotted back toward them.
“You do realise,” Chihiro said, “that our safety is now dependent on guards like that?”
“I’ll get Ibiki to have a word,” Tsunade agreed. “Where the hell did he learn to walk like that?”
Kurenai found herself almost hypnotised by the girl walking toward them. She had never had fantasies, not like this, but now she had seen it, it was going to live with her for the rest of her life.
She started at the top, and slowly worked her eyes down. The beret that was just a little lopsided was cute. She allowed her eyes to wander down over the deep blue eyes, and the generous smile.
A golden pony tail swayed behind her with every step. She continued her journey down, drinking in the startling innocence of the white blouse, and the way the blue tie hung over the girl’s breasts.
Further down, the shirt was tucking neatly in to a blue pleated skirt, that flared with each step, and it was there that the outfit turned from cute innocence, into devastating attractiveness.
The skirt barely came down to mid-thigh, and revealed endless legs. Kurenai tried to move her eyes down further, but the way the skirt moved was to beguiling, to hypnotising.
“Hey guys,” Four said cheerfully, as she stopped in front of them. She absently tugged the front of her skirt down, and Kurenai had to force herself not move.
“Nai-chan, can I borrow some Chakra?”
Kurenai found herself nodding, wondering how the hell she was going to stop herself from grabbing Four and taking her to bed. She wrapped her arms around the clone and let her Chakra out.
Four moaned softly, and Kurenai admitted to herself that she was completely in love with Naruto’s female form.
“Mission successful?” Chihiro asked.
Four nodded happily. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m going to get changed. It’s cold out there.”
Four bounced off, and Kurenai couldn’t take her eyes off of Four’s rear.
“It is not fair that a guy should have an arse like that,” Tsunade muttered.
The girl vanished from sight, and Kurenai found herself collapsed against the counter.
“What was the mission?” Chihiro asked.
“Hmm,” Tsunade muttered. “I bet that tomorrow, we’ll hear that a Genin from Sound was found dead.”
Kurenai nodded in agreement.
“What?” Chihiro asked.
“Naruto-kun doesn’t believe in leaving threats to Konoha alive,” Tsunade explained softly. “The Sound Genin were ordered kill Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun doesn’t let things like that go.”
“So he got dressed up as the girl-scout from heaven, knocked on the door, killed him, then walked back?” Chihiro asked.
“Yes,” Jiraiya said, as if he’d been there all along. “I had a clone follow her, just in case.”
“What happened?” Kurenai found herself asking.
“She knocked on the door, and as the door opened, she bent over to do her shoelace up.
The boy looked down at her, and well let’s just say that he was pleased to see her. She said that she was collecting for a new scout hut, and wondered if he would make a donation.
“He invited her in, and led her in to the living room. He was reaching for a weapon, when she cut his throat. She didn’t say anything, just turned and left. At the door, she called out thank you, before she went down the rest of the street, finishing her alibi.
“Oh, and she used her Lightning to give the money to the Girl Scouts fund, before walking back here. You might want to have a word with her, Tsunade, because I don’t think she quite realises that she looks like most men’s wet dream.”
Tsunade looked like she was itching to punch Jiraiya, but recognised that he was correct.
Kurenai didn’t bother to add that Four was also more than a few women’s dream.
“As a first assassination mission,” Jiraiya continued, “I’d give it an A minus. She established an alibi, approached the subject, gained entrance, killed swiftly, and had the presence of mind to continue her alibi. No panic, nothing to draw attention to herself. And deliberate or not, not one person could describe her face. Every single person my clone has asked has, however, got a perfect description of her legs.
“It would be better if no one had seen her at all, but this way was pretty good as well.”
“So what’s with the meeting?” Four asked, as she walked back over to them. She’d changed back into a pair of tight jeans and a white t-shirt with an orange Uzumaki symbol down the middle.
“How do you feel?” Tsunade asked.
“Sleepy,” Four replied.
“I meant, about your assassination of the Sound Genin.”
“Oh, that,” Four said with a grin. “He was dead the moment he attacked us.” She tilted her head to one side, and then smiled. “They’ve about finished. We need to get back. Come on, ‘Nai-chan,” she said, and Kurenai felt herself embraced once more, first by Four, then by the Lightning.”
Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared seconds later, as they arrived back in the hospital room.
Anko suddenly threw her head back, and the same light that had escaped from Naruto’s shoulder, escaped from Anko’s. And when it was gone, the curse seal was no more.
“See,” Naruto said. “Told you I could fix it.” He smiled, and then passed out.
“Heh,” One said with a grin. “Chakra-exhaustion, Foxy-chan’s having a nap too.” He stretched and looked at Four. “All done?”
She nodded.
“Right, I’m gonna hit a bar. Anyone coming?”
“I’m in,” Tsunade agreed. She, and Jiraiya both left with One. Sakura, Sasuke and Haku walked out together, just leaving Shizune, Kurenai, Anko, Four and the sleeping Naruto.
Anko was staring at Naruto’s face, her head shaking in disbelief. “Just like that,” she muttered.
Four walked over and helped Anko down from Naruto’s hospital bed. “Let’s get you home, come on Kurenai-chan, Shizune-chan.”
The four made their way home, before Anko was put to bed. Four went back to watch over Naruto, and Shizune made her way to bed.
Kurenai entered her room, and slowly stripped, replacing her clothing with a man’s shirt. She looked at her bed thoughtfully, and then turned abruptly.
“Anko?”
“Hey,” Anko called.
“How are you feeling?”
“Apart from being stunned? Better than I have in years.”
Kurenai turned, and rested her back against the door frame. She lifted one leg up. “So,” she said, as she placed her foot next to her knee. “I was wondering if you didn’t want to sleep alone tonight?”
Even in the dark, Kurenai could see the light in Anko’s eyes. The women moved the covers back.
Kurenai put extra effort into her walk, as she approached the bed, and slid in.
Four turned over the page of the book she was half-reading, and looked up as there was a light knock.
“Come in,” she called.
The blonde form of Yugito entered silently. Four blinked at her in confusion. They hadn’t told anyone that Naruto was here, and the guards down the hall were keeping everyone else away.
“The clone did a good job, but Nibi could tell that he didn’t have Kyūbi inside him.”
“Oh,” Four said. She smiled. “Well, pull up a chair.”
“How is he, and what happened?”
“He was given a curse seal by the snake gimp, Orochimaru. So we swapped him with Eleven.”
“Is that why your team had a grudge?”
Four giggled and nodded.
“My Genin suddenly got a massive wakeup call as to what life as a Ninja is like. They were terrified.”
“Sorry,” Four apologised.
“Normally, they get that wakeup call on a mission. So this was actually good for them. They’ve all doubled their efforts in training. As I suspect every Genin who lived did. You do know that the other Sound Genin will be out for revenge? He’ll be training even harder.”
“I killed him earlier,” Four said with a smile. “No point in leaving someone potentially troublesome alive.”
Yugito raised an eyebrow. “You are ruthless.”
“To those that threaten us.”
Yugito nodded. “Can I ask that you not kill my Genin if you meet them in the final?”
“They’re yours,” Four said, “so of course we won’t.”
“Thanks.”
Four made her way back to their house, happy that Yugito was looking after the boss. She paused by Anko’s door, and smiled. Kyūbi’s advice of playing innocent worked as a girl, as well as a boy, and her little adventure in a short skirt had obviously got someone worked up.
She was pretty sure it was the first time that Kurenai had actually slept with Anko, and didn’t want to disturb them.
It was time for her to start sorting out the next problem. She kicked off her jeans, after toeing off her trainers. Her socks were quickly yanked off and thrown in to the corner. She reached under her t-shirt and pulled off her bra, contorting to get it off her arms, before heading toward Shizune’s room.
She opened it softly. “Shizune-chan?”
“Four?” the other woman asked sleepily.
Four walked in and shut the door behind her. She didn’t wait to be invited, she just climbed in to bed.
“What are you doing?” Shizune asked, sitting up.
Four pushed her back down again, and snuggled against her. “Sleeping with you,” she said. “I don’t like to sleep alone, and Anko-chan and ‘Nai-chan are finally together.”
“Oh,” Shizune muttered. And even in the dark, Four could see her blush.
Four draped an arm over Shizune and settled in to sleep.
Naruto yawned before he opened his eyes. “That,” he said to himself, “was really stupid.”
“Naruto?”
Naruto looked up and smiled. “Hey, Haku.” He looked around; One was asleep on the chair the other side of the bed.
“Sasuke’s getting some breakfast; I’ve only just got here. Yugito was staying with you, she’s gone to get some sleep. Sakura will be joining us shortly, we were going to stay all night, but Four sent us home. Might I ask, what was really stupid?”
Naruto smiled wryly. He stretched.
“Put it away, idiot,” Sasuke said as he walked in, carrying two large paper bags. “No one here wants to see your stomach.”
Naruto pouted at him. “Just because you like the cute dark types...”
“Exactly,” Sasuke agreed. “Now, you were about to embarrass yourself for my amusement?”
“That depends,” he said. “What you got in there?”
“I was only going to get breakfast for three,” Sasuke grunted. “But I had a feeling you’d wake you, so this bag is yours.”
He smiled in thanks, and was aware this his smile grew as he found a stack of six ramen bowls. He appreciated the gesture, and tried to eat sensibly. He was a little amused by the very couple-y behaviour of the two boys, as Sasuke hovered a little, ensuring that Haku had enough food.
There was a knock on the door, and Sakura entered. She looked like she was still half-asleep. Sasuke held up a bowl, that she took with a nod of thanks, and sat down next to the still sleeping One.
“So?” Haku asked, the second Naruto had finished.
“Huh?” Sakura asked
“The idiot was about to confess something stupid,” Sasuke said. “He’s been dragging it out.”
“It’s not that bad,” Naruto mumbled. “Look, I was trying to save your worthless life, and what did I do?”
“Replaced me with yourself, then yourself with an exploding clone?”
Naruto nodded. “And the problem with that was?”
Haku giggled. “You could have replaced Sasuke with an exploding clone directly.”
“Exactly, although, if that had been the case, I wouldn’t have learned how to beat the snot out of Orochimaru’s curse seal.”
“How are you feeling, Naruto?” Sakura asked.
“Pretty good. Foxy-chan and I just needed a nap. I’m pretty much back to my best.”
“Good,” she said.
There was a swirl of leaves, and Kakashi appeared. “What, no breakfast for me?”
“Breakfast is for people who arrive on time,” Sakura said, and defiantly took the last bite from her bowl.
“Right,” Kakashi drawled slowly. “So, I wanted to talk to you about training for the next month?”
Naruto sorted through his mind quickly, and extracted Eleven’s memories. “Sakura’s got Ino, Sasuke’s got Lee, and I’ve got Tenten?”
Kakashi nodded. “It’s in a month, to give the dignitaries time to visit. A lot of gambling happens at these events.”
“How nice, gambling over the fate of people fighting for their lives. How civilised,” Naruto snorted.
“Contrary to popular belief,” Kakashi retorted, “Genin don’t normally get their heads bitten off by dragons, or get decapitated by irritated clones. The vast majority of them live. No point in sending kids to their deaths.”
“Oh,” Naruto went quiet. “Still don’t like it,” he pouted.
Haku reached out and patted him on the hand.
Naruto gave him a quick grin. “Anyway, you were saying?”
Kakashi sighed. “I figured that you’ve got enough people hanging around, such as, you know, half the ANBU, oh, and by the way, if I hear one more ANBU tell me how impressed they were at your first assassination mission I will have to vomit, a multitude of Jounin, two Sannin and a Kage, that you don’t actually need me?”
Naruto nodded in agreement.
“Excuse me,” Sakura said, raising her hand like she was in school. “Assassination mission?”
“Four took out the last Sound Genin,” One explained, as he opened his eyes and stretched.
“Oh, good.”
“So yeah, I’m good,” Naruto agreed.
Kakashi nodded. “Sakura, I’m going to arrange a Jounin instructor for you, while I take Sasuke.”
“Can I borrow Stick?” Sasuke asked Sakura.
Sakura made a half seal, and her staff appeared. She handed it to Sasuke, who nodded approvingly, before braining Kakashi. He handed it back to Sakura. “What did we talk about?” he asked Kakashi.
Kakashi groaned. “That you’re a team.”
“Exactly. Want to try again?”
Kakashi’s one visible eye looked faintly embarrassed.
“Actually,” Naruto interrupted. “It’s not a bad idea. Kakashi and Haku go on a training trip with Sasuke, I’ll sort myself out.”
“And Sakura?” Kakashi asked.
Naruto smiled. He nodded to the side, and Eleven appeared. He had a staff in his hand.
“Welcome to Bootcamp, Sakura-chan,” Eleven stated. “By the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll be at least mid-Chunin level. Don’t expect to get much sleep for the next month.”
Sakura paled.
“And you better tell your family that you won’t be around much, we’re going to live at the training ground.”
“Yay,” Sakura mumbled.
“It will be fun,” Naruto promised. “And remember, no pain, no gain.”
Sakura poked her tongue out at him.
Eleven offered his hand to Sakura, who took it. Eleven pulled her up, into a hug, made the hand seals behind her back, and vanished in the lightning.
“Poor Sakura,” Haku muttered.
“Poor Ino,” Sasuke said with a cold smile.
“Hmm, to make it fair,” Naruto muttered. He created a level one. “Nip down and tell Asuma that we’re giving Sakura private lessons.”
“Sir,” the clone said, and jumped out the window.
“Level ones,” One snorted. “They’re so cute. I love the way you have to tell them what to do. Like a puppy.”
“One,” Naruto chided. He stretched. “Right, Sasuke, in two weeks, come and see me, if you’ve worked hard, you should be able to learn the Flame Ingulf. Haku, I’ve got a Snowball for you.”
“Snowball?” Kakashi asked.
“Ice grenade.”
Sasuke and Haku both smiled. “Come on, Kakashi,” Sasuke said, and turned. “See you in a couple of weeks, idiot.”
“Bastard,” Naruto responded, as he was left alone with One.
“How’d it go last night?”
“Four was pretty amazing. She’s got Kurenai and Anko together properly, and now she’s working on Shizune.”
Naruto nodded. “Good.”
“Tsunade, Jiraiya and I spent most of the night down the bar. Boy, can those two drink. I put the Pervert to bed in the bottom of the hot tub – it is empty, still, and Tsunade I put to bed with a level One.”
“Why the hot tub?”
“Seemed like something you’d do.”
“True. So, what have I forgotten?”
“You promised Tazuna that you’re going to have a party for the Wave people tomorrow.”
“Hire a couple of teams for a c-rank to escort them.”
“Oh, and there was a problem we hadn’t appreciated. When you got cut off, every level one and two dispersed.”
Naruto searched through his mind, looking in the dump where he normally put unimportant clone memories, and found that some of them had been mid work.
“Five and Six covered though, said you were in a serious fight. We were able to keep your injury under wraps as Six impersonated you.”
Naruto stretched again. “Think we should get out of here?”
“Yes,” One said promptly. “However, it will annoy Shizune and Tsunade.”
Naruto wrinkled his nose. “I guess.” He paused as he accepted the dispersal of the clone he’d sent to Asuma.
“Oh, he’s on,” One said. “What’s the prize?”
Naruto thought for a second. “The last of our Kiki island tobacco?”
“And from him,” One said slowly, “how about…” He paused. He grinned. “He has to advertise Teuchi’s Ramen stand, by spending the day dressed up as a giant chicken?”
Naruto sniggered.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to stay out for a while. I’ll take care of the negotiations with Asuma, keep an eye on the other rookies, check that they’re improving.”
Naruto shrugged. “Sure, give some advice if people ask, but don’t offer any. We don’t want to butt in where we’re not wanted.”
“Catch you later,” One said, and hopped out the window.
Naruto spent a few minutes amusing himself by recreating all the lower level clones that he had lost, while he went through the sealing memories that Three had left him.
There was some interesting stuff. Sealing things in a Euclidean space was clever, they were powered both by Chakra, and the result of the interaction between two fourth dimensional objects pulling in orthogonal directions.
Then you had things like the curse seal that ran chakra in a basic Möbius warp, with the tainting effect of Orochimaru’s own soul adding the filth to it. There was also an extra element that seemed slightly demonic, highly diluted, but there all the same.
Two disparate thoughts came to his mind. One, that Three really needed to get out more, if he found that interesting. Two, that it had just solved one of his biggest problems.
He chuckled to himself. He was that much closer to his goal now.
If only he could find a sweet hat, the day would be brilliant!
“Anko,” the Hokage said. “I’m sorry, but I need you on a mission.”
“But...” Anko protested. “Me, Naruto, ten gallons of whipped cream, hot tub, sake, not being able to move because we’re sore!”
The Hokage pinched his nose slowly. “As much as I want to hear about Naruto-kun’s sex life, I do still have a village to run.”
“But, Lord Hokage,” Anko whined. “He, above everything else, removed my curse seal! I need to say thank you, repeatedly, in as many position as we can manage!”
“Go,” the Hokage ordered, ignoring the pout.
Anko snatched the mission scroll and stormed out.
The Hokage watched her go with an amused smile. At least Naruto would be able to concentrate on his training now.
Now, if he could just distract the others, he might be able to teach the kid some things himself.
Gekkō Hayate was in trouble. Deep trouble. The sort of trouble that Ninja’s normally didn’t survive. He’d just launched his best attack, and Baki, the Jounin from Suna, had blocked it.
He could see the wind blade coming in and braced himself.
There was the sound of wind rushing by his face, and Hayate gasped. He recognised the sword that was in front of him. It had glowing blue edge, like the owner had run his own chakra running through it.
Naruto!
He jumped back, as Naruto was attacked furiously by Baki. Naruto looked surprised by the ferocity of the attack, and struggled to keep up with the better fighter.
Hayate launched himself back in to the fight, spinning his sword into different dances, as he did what he could to take the enemy.
Baki snarled, and slid to the side, so that Hayate was next to Naruto. He pulled out his own blade and saluted them.
“Give up,” Naruto said. “Reinforcements will be here in seconds.”
Baki didn’t, he just seemed to vanish, as did Naruto. Hayate looked down, to see the point of Baki’s sword poking out of Naruto’s back.
He slid to the side, his sword moving automatically. He noticed, as if through frosted glass, that Naruto was holding on to Baki’s wrist, keeping the sword inside him.
He swiped, and watched with grim amusement as Baki’s head bounced on the floor twice.
He turned to Naruto, who spat up some blood, and then collapsed. Hayate was on his knees, holding Naruto’s head.
“Naruto!”
Hayate shook himself, as others arrived. Tsunade, the Hokage, Jiraiya, ANBU, and Yugao, who tore of her mask.
“He saved me,” he said, aware his voice was distant. He shook himself. Tsunade was on her knees, her hands glowing.
“Spinal column separated at the second lumbar,” she said. “And his insides are a mess. He needs operating on, immediately. Kyūbi is going to need all the help it can get. We need to be careful though, a stretcher.”
“Can’t I use lightning?” a clone, and Hayate had no clue which one, asked.
“I don’t want to risk it. We screw up, and he’s paralysed.”
The clone gulped, and six more appeared, including the only truly recognisable clone, Four.
An ANBU member with a blank mask pulled out a stretcher. The clones, working in perfect unison placed Naruto on it, and then carried it. Their synchronicity was so absolute that the stretcher had no unwanted movement.
Four walked up to the body of Baki. She looked at the other clones. “They die,” she said simply.
Every other clone nodded.
“Hayate,” the Hokage said, as Tsunade and some of the ANBU followed the clones. Another group of ANBU appeared, and cleared the path for them. “What happened?”
“Sir,” he said, saluting, feeling his mind come back to him as he retreated to his professional persona. “Some of the information may be S-ranked. Suffice it to say that Naruto arrived at an opportune moment, stopping me from being decapitated. Baki attacked Naruto, so hard and so fast that Naruto couldn’t do anything but defend. I attacked Baki, but he was a superior opponent.
“Naruto wanted Baki to give up, as you were coming, but he attacked me again. Naruto took the blow, then held Baki against him. I killed Baki.”
“Why was Baki trying to kill you?” Jiraiya asked.
“That’s part of the information, sir,” Hayate said. He relaxed a little, as Yugao took his arm.
Jiraiya grunted. “Form a perimeter,” he ordered the remaining ANBU, before he muttered under his breath, and an orange dome shot up around them.
“Report.”
“Sir, I stumbled across Baki talking to a ninja I believe to be the S-ranked missing nin, Orochimaru. Sand and Sound have joined together, and are preparing an invasion of Konoha. Orochimaru ordered Baki to kill me as a sign of their alliance.”
“Crap,” Jiraiya muttered.
“Thank you,” the Sandaime said slowly. “As you noted, this is S-ranked information. As far as anyone else is concerned, you have no idea why Baki attacked you.”
“Yes, Hokage-sama,” he said, hearing Yugao echo his words.
“Jiraiya, we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“’Kay.”
The orange column Jutsu fell to the ground.
“Clear up this mess,” the Hokage ordered the ANBU. “No one talks.”
“Yes, Hokage-sama.”
“Let’s get to the hospital.”
Hayate nodded. He made the signs and used the body flicker technique to get to the hospital.
“Waiting room three,” the nurse at the desk said without looking up.
Hayate found himself following the Hokage and Jiraiya into the sort of room that professional killers hated.
He slumped down. Yugao sat next to him.
The Hokage pulled a staff out of nowhere, and stood, his eyes blank, a sign his mind was on the upcoming invasion.
Jiraiya pulled out a notebook and started to scribble.
“It was the Blade of Wind,” he said softly. “Naruto blocked it.”
“How?”
“Chakra laced blade.”
“How did he know that you were in trouble?”
Hayate paused. “I have no idea.”
Four entered the room, accompanied by a bunch of clones. One of them henged into a comfortable chair for her. She sighed as she sat down. The others flopped down in various places around the room.
“Four?”
The girl looked up.
“How did Naruto know that Hayate-kun was in trouble?”
“What do you think, One?”
“Save him explaining when he wakes up.”
“True,” she agreed. “Look at your watch, Hayate.”
Hayate did, staring at the present that Naruto had given him a few months ago. He frowned. It seemed a little smaller. “It’s smaller?”
Four nodded. “Dot clone.”
The Hokage and Jiraiya snapped to attention.
“The brat placed a non-sentient clone on a watch?”
Four nodded. “It monitors for trouble, and disperses if a bunch of things occur at the same time, like if Hayate was fighting for his life. As Naruto knew where Hayate was, he sent a couple of clones to get help, while he turned up.”
“Who has these dot clones?” Jiraiya asked.
“All of you,” Four said with a shrug.
“Even me?” The Hokage asked in surprise.
“Your pipe.”
The Hokage shoot his head as he looked at his pipe. His eyes widened. “How in Kami’s name did he do that?”
“You were out of it when he gave you the tobacco.”
“And me?” Jiraiya asked.
“Your notebook. ‘Nai-chan’s hair clip, Anko-chan’s handcuffs, we thought of things that you’d always wear, and made a few different ones for each of you.”
The door burst open, and Sakura entered with a clone. “How is he?” she asked Four urgently.
“We don’t know. He’s unconscious, the repeaters are off, Tsunade-chan is operating on him. He had his spine severed.”
Sakura swore under her breath. “Should I call for Sasuke and Haku?”
Four shook her head. “Let’s see what happens first. They’re hard at work, as you should be, Sakura-chan.”
“It’s her one evening off per week,” the clone said.
“Damn, Eleven,” Four said. “You slave driver.”
“Sakura-chan’s gonna be the fourth best Genin.”
“Fourth?” Jiraiya asked.
“The boss, Sasuke, Neji,” One said. “Sasuke’s been working with Kakashi and Haku, and Neji co-opted every Jounin Hyūga he could lay his hands on, and Hiashi called in some favours for him.
“The others have been working hard with their teams, but nothing beats one on one training.”
The door bust open again, and Anko and Kurenai burst in. “How is he?” One looked at the clones. “Three, can you bring them up to date?”
One of the clones stood, pushed his glasses back a little, and walked over to two women, and started to talk quietly.
Hayate wrapped an arm around Yugao and sighed. He was trying to come to terms with just how close to death he had been.
He had seen the blade flying to his neck.
More of Naruto’s friends turned up, the Ramen waitress, the Jounin Jinchūriki – who was immediately pulled to sit with Four, who snuggled in to her, showing just how worried the clone was – the old man from Wave, Hyūga Hiashi, and a couple of other clan heads.
People from every end of the social spectrum, sat in a waiting room with uncomfortable chairs.
“One, you need to get the boss to refurnish this place. If he’s going to insist on taking shots that belong to clones, I am not going to spend my time sat on uncomfortable chairs waiting for him!”
“Six, you want to take charge of that?”
A clone on the floor nodded. “Hey, I’ve got an idea.”
He jumped up, and rested against the ceiling.
One looked up, and did the same, stretching out. “Man, that’s comfy,” he exclaimed.
With the exception of Four and Eleven, who was being used as a pillow by Sakura, the other clones did the same thing.
“Naruto did that when he came back from Wave,” Hiashi chuckled. “While we were going through his bounty.”
Tazuna chuckled as well. “It took ten of us close to a day to sort that mess out. It allowed us to clear of the entire country’s debts, and import everything we needed to get the country back running.”
The doors swung open again, as the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio entered, with their Sensei, Asuma.
“So what did the idiot do now?” The Yamanaka demanded.
Hayate blinked, as Yugao vanished from his side. The Genin was pinned to the wall by his girlfriend, her feet a good foot of the ground. One of Yugao’s hands were holding her up by the throat, the other holding a kunai to her neck. “The ‘idiot’ saved my love,” Yugao spat.
“Yugao-chan,” he said, moving over to her slowly. “Let the Genin down, she didn’t think about what she was saying.”
Yugao snarled.
He reached out and took her hand, moving the kunai back from blonde girl’s neck. Yugao dropped the girl, and turned, pressing her face in to his shoulder. He hugged her, suddenly aware that she was crying.
He guided her back to their chair, his eyes meeting Asuma’s for a moment.
“Shika, Choji, why don’t you take Ino down to the canteen?”
The two boys grabbed Ino and marched out with her.
Asuma looked up. “Is that Chakra?” he asked curiously, of the clones resting on the ceiling.
One nodded. “Use it as a sticky anchor against the ceiling. It’s like the opposite of water walking.”
Asuma shrugged and jumped up. He blinked in surprise. “Man, this is comfy!”
There were some chuckles from the clones.
“I nearly lost you,” Yugao whispered.
“Yes, but remember that Naruto gave his word,” he whispered back.
“None of you get to die until you’re as old as the old man,” One stated. “That’s the bosses Nindo, and we subscribe to that one hundred percent.”
“Hayate,” Yugao said. “I want children.”
He looked at her for a second, and then nodded slowly.
She smiled at him, and then rested her head down.
Children. Maybe not now, but it was the first real sign that she was thinking about the future, and he liked that.
The Hokage absently tapped his staff three times. Hayate surveyed the room, seeing who had picked up on the signal. As expected, the Jounins in the room, along with Hiashi had seen it. Yugito was stroking Four’s hair, but Hayate could see that Four was focused on the old man as well. A scan of the ceiling showed that all of the clones looked at each other, and then started an amusing anecdote about training with Shino.
The old man’s hands moved, in short signs, as he gave a couple of orders. After he had finished, Four looked up. “Why do I smell blood?” she asked.
“What?” Hiashi demanded.
Four sniffed, looking around.
“Damn it, Hayate, why the hell didn’t you tell me you were injured!” Yugao yelled.
“Medic,” Jiraiya called, as Four slid on her knees over to Hayate. Her hand went under his shirt, and when she pulled it back, it was covered in blood.
He met Four’s eyes for a second, but gave no other sign as he felt a little prick on his side, and he started to pass out.
His last memory, was that of his girlfriend shouting his name. Anyone with the skill would know it was fake, but the people with the skill knew how to keep secrets.
Four walked back in to the waiting room. “He’s going to be fine,” she said. “Chakra exhaustion and blood lost. Hard headed idiot.”
No one commented on the irony of a clone of Naruto calling someone else hard headed.
“Might take him a week or two, so we’ll need to get someone to cover for him at the exams.”
“I’ll do it,” Asuma said.
“Thank you,” The Hokage said. “And thank you, Four, for your prompt action.”
Four turned and beamed at him.
“When we know how Naruto is, we will have a meeting to discuss the events of this evening. Asuma, could I trouble you to grab a few ANBU, and to ask some question of the Sand Genins to see if they know why Hayate was attacked so bad that he is now unconscious?”
Asuma dropped down from the ceiling. “Yes, Lord Hokage.” He vanished out the door.
The Hokage went silent again, and Four returned to her spot with her little sister. She hated waiting like this, not knowing. She was going to have to have a word with the boss, his idea of sacrificing himself for others was noble, but that’s what clones were for!
She felt Yugito start to stroke her hair again, and gave in to the urge to purr.
It was another hour before the door opened again, and Tsunade and Shizune entered, looking tired.
“When he won us in a card game,” she said dryly, “I was expecting some fun and games, not to spend my time wrist deep in his organs.”
Four bit her lip hard to stop herself from making a comment, a quick glance up showed that she wasn’t the only clone with that problem.
Eleven woke Sakura up gently. She looked around, and then focused on Tsunade.
“Brat’s going to be fine, probably awake the day after tomorrow.”
“Good work, Tsunade, Shizune,” the Hokage said.
Four pounced out of the chair and grabbed Tsunade, giving her a searing kiss, before she broke it, grabbed Shizune, and did the same.
“W,,,”
Everyone turned to Jiraiya, to find him surrounded by angry looking clones, each with a sword at his neck.
“…ell, that is good news,” he finished, a little lamely.
“It went easier when Shizune realised that we were treating Naruto-kun like a normal person. We were trying to heal him, but were conflicting with Kyūbi. What we had to do was place things in the correct place, and join them up, so that Kyūbi could rejoin them. It was different, and his back was hard because we had to remove some bone fragments from his spinal cord.”
“Naruto will receive a commendation for his work,” the Hokage said. “I think that we can all relax now, now that Naruto is over the worst of it. We’ll have a meeting of the Jounin at ten tomo…” he paused. “This morning,” he corrected himself. “One, Four, please attend.”
“And Yugito,” One suggested. “I’m vouching for her.”
The Hokage slowly nodded.
Four smiled. She looked at everyone. “Thank you all for your support,” she said with a big smile. “But go home, relax. Eleven, carry Sakura, and don’t forget that she’ll need to be fresh for the exam.”
“I won’t,” Eleven said, as he picked up the pink haired girl. She snuggled in to his arms.
“Guys, each of you escort everyone home. I’m taking Tsunade-chan, Shizune-chan, Kurenai-chan and Anko-chan.”
The other clones dropped down, and shortly afterward, the room was empty.
Tsunade flopped down on her bed and smiled. Despite everything, she was enjoying herself. She had no worries about debt collectors, and she had some where nice to sleep every night.
She was at an age where she enjoyed the idea of sleeping in a gorgeous bed every night far more than traipsing around the Elemental Countries.
Konoha had changed, and it was for the better. For so many years, since her grandfather, Ninja’s had tried so hard to fit in, to be normal.
It took a Genin to point out that one fact. They weren’t normal. They were ninja, highly trained killers, with the goal of keeping people alive.
And strangely, the civilians seemed to appreciate them more now, it wasn’t forced, it was pride. Konoha had strong people, like Naruto, completely dedicated to keeping them safe.
The new civilian council was exactly that, it took care of civilian matters only, the stuff that she, and most of ninjas, really didn’t care about. Zoning permits, and stuff like that bored her beyond tears.
The new council knew its place – they were to keep the village running, while the Ninjas did what they had to do to make sure they could keep the village running.
The village council did not even discuss what Ninjas were doing. Well, at first, some of the remnants from the old council had tried, but the Sandaime had simply killed them. Not with a flashy move, or mass amounts of power, he had just slit their throats and left them to die.
The ease with which it had occurred had finally made the council realise that when dealing with trained killers, it was better to follow the rules.
She rolled over on to her back, and settled down. She had a meeting in six hours.
For some reason, she wasn’t surprised when her door opened. She could tell it was Four. The figure walked over and climbed in to bed with her.
“Four?”
“Hi.”
Tsunade chuckled to herself. “So it’s your job to break down our emotional barriers?”
“Huh?” Four asked.
“My dear,” Tsunade said, “I’ve been alive for a very long time. I’m old enough to be Kurenai and Anko’s mother. I am also a Sannin, there isn’t much the slips by me.”
“Oh,” Four said. Tsunade imaged that she was wrinkling her nose in the dark. “Is it working?”
Tsunade sniggered. “Tell me, did you know what you were doing the other night?”
Four nodded. “I’m still Naruto, I know what a short skirt that barely covered my knickers would do. I hoped it would affect ‘Nai-chan as well.”
“It did. And Jiraiya.”
Four shuddered. “Unfortunately, it’s not something I can use just for one person.”
Without really realising it, Tsunade found herself stroking Four’s hair, and found the purr relaxing.
“You do know that Naruto could just order me in to bed?”
“Pfft,” Four said expressively. “We three know that this ownership is to cover your pride, you’ve been thinking about returning for ages.”
“True,” she sighed. “Shizune needs a home, and I do as well. When years pass when you’ve not done anything, except watch the most important person in the world to you die a little more inside, even I started to feel guilty.”
“My self-appointed job,” Four said, “is to make sure everyone here is happy. ‘Nai-chan and Anko-chan are, although Anko really wants to jump the boss’s bones. ‘Nai-chan is interested as well. Then you have Shizune, who is slowly starting to realise that this is home, and that she getting real friends. It won’t be long before Anko is trying to get in to her knickers.”
“And Kurenai?”
“She’s not so aggressive. She knows Anko, better than Anko herself. So she’s accepted and is happy with what is going on. Shizune going to be happy, it’s just her definition is going to change a little.”
“And me?” Tsunade asked.
Four paused. She slipped sideways, and rested her head against Tsunade’s shoulder. “You’ve got issues, many many issues. If we thought the Pervert could make you happy, we’d be pushing you two together, but you have a sibling like relationship. It would be like me and Yugito together.” There was a shudder from the younger blonde. “And we’ve yet to meet anyone else who can make you happy like we can.”
“I am old enough to be your grandmother.”
“Ahh,” Four grinned, she pushed herself up. Chakra from her hand illuminated her face. Like this, the female Naruto clone was breathtakingly beautiful. The hope, innocence, and passion that Naruto possessed was clear for all to see.
“Senior No Jutsu,” the clone whispered. She seemed to vanish as the light dimmed, when she returned, she was a he.
And he was old, in his late forties. His eyes crinkled as he smiled at her, and his spiky blonde hair had touches of silver at the temples. The eyes weren’t as youthful, they spoke of a life lived.
He was beautiful.
Four leaned down and kissed her gently.
She didn’t return the kiss, just watched.
Four smiled at her, and the light faded. “Illusions, Tsu-chan, that’s what we all are. We project what we want people to see, and ignore our hearts. In here, our hearts talk, and the forms we use are sops to our conscious, to the vague idea of normality.”
Tsunade smiled softly. “Three?”
“Seven, he’s the poetic one.”
The Sannin smiled. “So you’re saying that you don’t care, and if it bothers me, you’ll look how I need?”
Four nodded.
“So now you’re a female clone of a male transformed in to a male in his forties?”
Four nodded.
“You do know that you’re insane?”
The chuckle that followed sent shivers down her spine. “Sanity is over rated.”
“You do a good job, Four.”
Author Notes:
While I know it's the name of a rather famous film, I like the idea of "Live free, die hard," as the ANBU motto.
We're actually getting close to the end of the fic now, two or three more chapters at the most. I think I said (and can't be bothered to check) that this was only going to cover up to the Chunin exams, and that is still the same.
Now that I have the new code in place, I expect a few weeks of bug fixing, before I can get into writing again.