"Yes, now is the time to strike!" said the would-be leader of the strike force.
"To kill an eleven year old boy," said Onoki. "Who managed to bring his mommy and daddy back from the dead."
"Uhm, yes, Tsuchikage," said the jonin, a little put off by his leader's expression.
"Said child being the child of the FOURTH HOKAGE, the damnable Yellow Flash," said Onoki, sneering at his subordinate. "What are your forces for this?"
The jonin named names.
"So, we have four jonin joining you to form a five man band," said Onoki, back to calm apparently. "To sneak into Konohagakure to kill the son of the Yellow Flash. You'd probably have to kill the Yellow Flash himself to do it and get away."
"Uh, yessir," said the subordinate.
"I see, I see," said Onoki. "Let me put it to you simply so that your simple mind can grasp it. No."
"But... if the boy is this strong at eleven, when he gets older," said the subordinate, "he may be unstoppable."
"Everyone and everything in this universe can be stopped," said Onoki. "Nothing lasts forever. If anything, this just demonstrates that even death can be overcome - if you just learn the trick of it. On the other hand, if you try to do this and fail - what do you think Konoha will do?"
"We won't fail," said the jonin.
"That's right, you won't fail - because you won't try," said Onoki. "Get out of here, soak your head in the river, and try to get your brain working again before I have you decapitated to see if that helps better."
Onoki let out a deep sigh as the jonin left.
The heavy Akatsuchi stirred and stepped out of a side door. "He's gonna go anyway."
Kurotsuchi followed Akatsuchi. "He knows."
"Yes, as soon as the fool goes, he'll be declared a missing-nin," said Onoki. "We'll be able to judge how ready for war Konoha is. Shame to lose five jonin though."
"Should we send Han?" asked Akatsuchi.
"No, let's not go there right now," said Onoki. "Have to keep something in reserve."
"Naruto's ninjutsu skills need work, but his genjutsu is nearly hopeless," said the Fourth Hokage. "Now that Sarutobi has retired again..."
"Paperwork," Kushina summed up. "I was rather surprised that after he met with us, he was out the door with a fishing pole."
"I wonder if the death-god or that cat have to deal with paperwork," mused Minato.
"Troublesome," summed up Shikamaru.
"Today is the day I shall defeat Naruto and free my mother," declared Sasuke, putting one foot up on his desk so that he could righteously declare that.
"Your mother was brought back to life by a contract with the god of death as part of Naruto's household, right?" asked Shikzmaru Nara.
"Yes, and that that THING she's wearing!" said Sasuke, snarling at the thought.
"It's a maid outfit, as I understand it she's head maid," said Shikamaru, not seeing the point.
"It's a SERVANT'S outfit," shot back Sasuke, not knowing why Shikamaru was arguing.
"So if you break the contract that is keeping her alive, what happens?" asked Shikamaru, putting his own conclusion out there as bluntly as he could. From several reactions in the classroom, he thought other people had just put the dots together.
"We'll go home and things will be back to the way they ought to be," vowed Sasuke.
Shikamaru decided not to further go with this argument was entirely too troublesome. He'd done his part to avoid potential tragedy - that was enough.
"Sakura?"
"Ino-pig?"
"Lay off, would you? This isn't about Sasuke."
The pink-haired eleven year old considered the blonde eleven year old, who looked VERY serious all of a sudden. "Huh. What gives?"
"Naruto's not an idiot any more," said Ino.
"What?" asked Sakura.
"He's taller, got more muscle on him, and he's the son of the Fourth Hokage," said Ino.
"What?! Where did you get something like that?!" asked Sakura in disbelief. "The Fourth?"
"Did you miss that?" asked Ino, staring at her friend. "I was there. I saw them. The iron gates of the Underworld opened. Naruto came out, leading over thirty people back to Konoha. People who were alive. The info's been a piece here and a piece there but I SAW them - the Fourth and some redheaded woman. I heard it when the Third met the Fourth, and the Fourth put his hand down on Naruto's shoulder and proclaimed that this all happened because of his son. Naruto is the son of the Fourth."
"That's crazy," said Sakura. "I mean I heard the Fourth Hokage was back somehow, but Naruto?!"
"You saw yesterday, Sasuke couldn't touch him, and when he hit Sasuke in return," said Ino, holding up a forefinger to waggle it at Sakura, "Sasuke was down for the count!"
"So maybe you should give up on Sasuke!" said Sakura, with a certain sneer.
"Maybe I should," admitted Ino.
"Yeah, maybe you... excuse me?" asked Sakura.
"Yup, he was the Class Clown last week," said Ino. "It's only been five days and look how much he's changed. Give him a little time and he might be quite a catch. Unlike Sasuke - he's got absolutely nobody interested in him. Yet."
Naruto was nervous. He was going to be late for class - because his MOTHER had cornered Hinata Hyuga and was giving her a Talk. Naruto didn't know much about that but he knew that it was likely bad. After all, when Iruka-sensei had a Talk with him - it was BAD.
His mother finally finished it up, and... Hinata looked different somehow. Huh. Oh never mind that. "We're gonna be late!"
"So you'll have to pick Hinata up and run as fast as you can," said his mother, ignoring the startled squeak from Hinata. "So I'm counting on you to look after her!"
"No problem," said Naruto, kneeling and presenting his back to her. "Well?"
"W-w-w-well?" squeaked Hinata, turning all shades of red.
"Piggy back ride," said Naruto as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Kushina ignored the resulting squeak and the way the girl swayed as if she were about to faint, physically interceding and making sure she was held in place. "Hold her here and here. Hang on tight yourself, Hinata. Go!"
Poom!
Kushina shook her head at the blur heading towards the Ninja Academy. Girl was going to need some serious work.
Meanwhile, someone else was watching Naruto. Determined that this was his new rival!
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(Posted Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:23)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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