Sarutobi had seen many missions go horribly wrong. It was the cost of doing business, part of the ninja lifestyle. Good men died, horrible people succeeded, clients skipped out on the check. Shinobi lived dramatic lives where a mission going as planned, while not exactly rare, was nothing to be counted on.
A mission going horribly sideways, that was different. Even a little sideways demanded all kinds of creative paperwork for analysts to pour over. Team ten's escort mission, followed by team seven's rescue mission, almost called for new kinds of paperwork to be created.
Sarutobi held his head and downed a concoction of asprin and mineral water laced with whatever was in the bottle on the top shelf. Then he took a long draw from his pipe. He wasn't sure if he was trying to dull the headache or kill himself before he had to deal with the paperwork tsunami on the horizon, but either way was kinda a plus. "So you would say Naruto is coming into his own as a jinchuriki?" he asked hopefully.
Kakashi, for once without his book and sitting down with an attentive expression, shook his head. "No. I have never seen a jinchuriki fight, but Naruto made considerable use of the chakra aura of his prisoner. He channeled it and forced it into useful forms without thinking about it."
"That sounds a great deal like how jinchuriki fight," Sarutobi pointed out.
"Only after they manifest the tails," Kakashi corrected. "Naruto was not creating the forms of the kyuubi, he was just manipulating the chakra in ways he thought were fox-like."
Sarutobi frowned. "So he's not pulling on the fox more than we expected he would at first, but he's emulating a much more powerful jinchuriki. How?"
"Dragon slayer jutsu," Kakashi said. "I had my Sharingan on him most of the fight. He manipulated the fox's chakra the same ways he manipulates his own ice chakra."
Sarutobi stopped himself from taking another hit of sake. "He turns into a dragon slayer with bijuu as his element," he groaned.
Kakashi nodded. "Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja lives up to his reputation. Can I have a glass of that?"
Sarutobi slid the bottle over. "Find something higher than S class and classify this as that," he said. "So, after the fight, the report seems…vague."
Kakashi took a hit of the elixir of wonder and sighed. "Neither team currently has a viable medinin, so I sent word back to Konoha."
"Right, a request for a medical imprisonment team. You neglected to mention who the injured prisoner was."
"That's not something we want to advertise to the other villages," Kakashi said reasonably.
"Quite right," Sarutobi agreed. Zabuza was an invaluable source of information in Ibiki's gentle hands. His sword was an artifact with its own legend. And the boy was of a verified, true-breeding kekkei genkai clan that was thought dead before Naruto had manifested his talents. "And the client?"
"Team ten's responsibility," Kakashi said.
"Asuma gave me his report yesterday," Sarutobi warned.
"…oh. Well he lied about the mission so he was told to go the rest of the way himself. With Zabuza in custody, it should have been safe."
"Should."
"Yes he didn't make it out of the cave before Zabuza's employer showed up."
"Get to the good part," Sarutobi said tiredly.
"Well after Gato said that he was going to have his mercenaries kill us all Naruto surrounded him with clones and froze his feet to the ground."
"Yet your report says Naruto had exhausted his chakra reserves."
"He is an Uzumaki," Kakashi pointed out. "And a dragon slayer."
"You'd be amazed how often those two come together in the histories," Sarutobi grumbled. "So he tapped into hitherto unknown reserves to perform what he believed was an awesome jutsu."
"It was fairly impressive," Kakashi agreed. "He forced Gato to disband his mercenaries and then sent him with the client back to his village."
"That explains the new trade negotiations with Wave Country," Sarutobi mused. "They will be a useful economic ally, once they recover."
"Then Asuma declared that they had failed the escort mission, which was invalidated anyway, and refunded payment to Tazuna."
"Despite having resolved everything that the mission was based on."
"Yes."
"That is coming out of Asuma's pay," Sarutobi decided.
"Then Tazuna decided he would share the story of the powerful and generous Leaf Ninja with every traveling merchant on his bridge."
"…Half is coming out of Asuma's pay. The rest can go under operational expenses."
Kakashi nodded. "What do you think will happen when the Council finds out?" he asked.
Sarutobi blinked idly and held his pipe to the reports. "Finds out about what?" he asked over the burning documents.
The sight of Naruto at Ichiraku's was nothing new.
The sight of Hinata at Ichiraku's was also fairly common.
Naruto and Hinata at Ichiraku's was at least worthy of comment.
Naruto, sitting next to Hinata, and talking to her…Ayame had her camera out and snapping pictures. This did nothing for Hinata's embarrassment. The girl kept her head down, focused on her ramen, and tried to produce intelligent responses to Naruto's commentary.
"…so we brought back a guy that can use ice techniques like me," Naruto was saying. "I wonder if I can learn that mirror thing? So what kind of mission did you get?"
"Eh?" Hinata jumped, surprised by the direct question. "Oh. B-b-border patrol," she mumbled.
"Really? Wow, I guess they really knew what they were doing after all," Naruto said.
Hinata sagged. Even Naruto wanted her away from the village and everything important where she couldn't screw up.
Naruto gave Hinata a huge grin. "You're really awesome at spotting stuff. I bet that was the most secure part of the border!"
Hinata choked as her broken heart stopped, called in a repair crew, and delivered an emergency blood order to her face. "Na…Naruto-kun?" she whimpered.
Naruto's grin faded slightly and he blinked. "Yeah? Something wrong?"
Hinata's world blurred as the urge to glomp the boy warred with her sense of propriety. She didn't notice when the blurring turned to swirling turned to darkness.
"Whoa!" Naruto yelped. He made an impressive lunge and slid under Hinata, catching her as she slipped off her seat. "Aaand safe!" he sighed. He looked at the girl in his arms and frowned. Shifting her weight he freed a hand and brushed some hair out of her face. He smiled. "That's better," he said softly.
Now why was Ayame going crazy with that camera?
"Lord Hyuuga!"
Hiashi sighed. A branch member running into his study, while he was busy with clan duties, yelling his name. It was important or the messenger was a dead man. "Speak."
"Lady Hinata has entered a most improper relationship!"
Hiashi blinked once. "My daughter has entered a relationship?"
"Yes, Lord Hyuuga! With the Uzumaki child!"
Hiashi frowned. "Leave," he ordered.
The branch member ran before Hiashi decided this wasn't important.
Hiashi got up and sealed the doors to his study. He could not afford interruptions until he had determined what this news meant.
But first, now that he was alone and beyond even the byakugan, he allowed himself a small, sad smile. "My little girl is growing up," he whispered.
And if Uzumaki mistreated her, he would kill him!
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(Posted Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:19)
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